without lessening or delaying the same And that they do not presume to require pretend or claim any other Liberties or Priviledges than what they reasonably had before the said Tumults And that all such as have any of Our said Letters of Manumission and Pardon in their Custody shall immediately bring and restore the same to Us and our Council to be Cancelled upon the Faith and Allegiance in which to Us they are bound and upon pain of forfeiting All that to Us they can forfeit for the future In testimony whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent Witness Our Self at Chelmsford the Second Day of July in the Fifth Year of Our Reign By this Revocation all Pretensions of pleading a Pardon being cut off procedings were next made against the principal Offenders several of them being convicted before the Mayor and beheaded as John Straw John Kickby Alane Tradder and John Sterling which last boasted that he was the man that slew the Archbishop Also Sir Robert Tresilian Chief Justice was impowr'd by special Commission to judge others of the Rebels before whom in sundry places above Fifteen hundred were found Guilty and put to death and amongst them the before mentioned Incendiary Ball the Priest who being taken at Coventry was brought before the King at S. Albanâ— and theâ—e drawn hang'd and quartered During these Uproars the Duke of Lancaster very happily for the preservation of his Person against whom the Commons had so great a spite was gone into the North against the Scots but having Tidings of the Insurrection thought fit to clap up a Truce for Two years which he got ratified upon Oath some days before the Scots had any notice of the Troubles in England but conceiving himself in danger for the general though false report was that the King to pacifie the Rebels had consented to abandon him to their pleasure when ever they could seize him and having receiceived some Affronts in that distress from the Earl of Northumberland he desired of the Scots a safe Conduct and to reside for a time amongst them who honourably entertain'd him till he was sent for by the King and then a new cause of grudge hapned between him and the Earl of Northumberland for in his return he was denied passage through the Town of Barwick by the Captain Sir Matthew Redman by vertue of a Command from the said Earl Lord Warden of the Marches not to suffer any from Scotland to enter the same which indeed the King had specially ordered forgetting the Dukes being then in that Kingdom However this bred such an Animosity in the Duke against the Earl that being come home he charged him with several things which the Earl as stoutly answered and great numbers of armed men followed each of them but the King taking their Differences into his own haâ—ds workt a Reconciliation About All-hallontide began a Parliament but had not accomplisht any thing of moment before they were adjourn'd till after Christmas by reason of the arrival of the new Queen Sister of Wyncelaus King of Bohemia and elected Emperor an Alliance of some honour but little profit to the Realm she being followed with a multitude of insatiate Bohemians who by the Kings facility drain'd abundance of Wealth out of the Kingdom It was observed that as soon as ever she set foot on shore at Dover an horrible Storm arose at Sea which so tossed the Ships in the Harbour that the same which her Majesty came in was immediately dasht to pieces which some then lookt upon as Ominous presaging Tempests of State to follow her 1382. The Nuptial Solemnities which were very splendid and costly being over the Parliament meets again to begin the New Year in which several wholsom Laws were ordain'd as to admit Merchant-strangers freely to sell their Merchandizes here to regulate Excesses in in the Apparel of inferiour people to settle the price of Wines and many other matters But what saith our Author Thomas Walsingham condemning such Practices signifie Acts of Parliaments when after they are made they take no effect or are nothing regarded for the King with his Privy Council took upon them to alter or wholly seâ— aside all things that by general consent had in Parliament been established Of the truth whereof there were too many unhappy Instances as amongst the rest in this very Parliament upon the request of the Lords and Commons Sir R. Scroop was by the King appointed Lord Chancellor as being a Person of known Judgment Learning and inflexible Integrity but within few Months he was turn'd out of that Office which he had laudably and prudently administred meerly because to do the King faithful Service he had displeased some of his unworthy Mâ—nors the Relation of which I shall set down in Walsinghams own Words Edmund Mortimer Earl of March and several other Lords being lately dead certain greedy and ambitious Knights and Squires and others of inferior Rank that were Servants to the King had begged of him Grants of divers Lands and Lordships lately belonging to the deceased that they might have the profits thereof for so long time as the King by the Custom of the Realm was to hold them in his Hands which the King not minding the value nor considering any reason they had to desire or merit to deserve such Revenues presently consents to ordering them to the Chancellor to have their Grants confirm'd under the great Seal but the prudent and honest Chancellor who zealously desired the prosperity of the Kingdom and just profit of the King absolutely refused to do it telling them the King was much in debt and 't was most necessary he should reserve such Contingencies to himself therewith in part to satisfy his Creditors and that since they well knew such the Kings urgent occasions they could be no good Subjects to his Majesty that consulting their own advantages more than his service and preferring private lucre before publick necessities should go about to circumvent and further impoverish him by such prejudicial Requests from which they should do well to desist and be content with his Majesties former Largesses which were sufficient for them Nettled with this repulse these Courtiers resort back to the King grievously complaining of the Chancellors Obstinacy that he contemned his Majesties Command and that it concerned his Majesty suddenly and with due severity to Chastise such an affronted disobedience for otherwise the Royal Authority would become contemptible to all his People and his Command be accounted of no value c. The young King therefore more regarding the false suggestions of these self-designing flatterers than the faithful allegations and advice of his Chancellor sends in his fury messengers to demand the Seal of him but the Chancellor would deliver it to no hands but the Kings To whom having surrendered it he was pleased to retain it for many days in his own Custody Sealing Grants therewith himself c. Till at length the keeping of it was conferr'd
of his Pillow was nothing so fierce next Morning but resolv'd to lay aside the thoughts of going himself and to send some body else To which purpose the Duke of Lancaster was nominated but so tedious in making Preparations that the Bishop in the mean time was glad to leave Graveling having first dismantled and destroyed it and so return'd home to England after a vast Treasure dissipated and many thousand Lives lost and more Souls cheated with as little Glory as he set forth with mighty Expectation the Success of his Armes being suitable to the ridiculous occasion of them And what was yet worse for the haughty Prelate soon after his coming home in a Parliament held at London about Alhallontide all his Temporalities were seized into the Kings hands for his Contempt in disobeying the Kings Writ when His Majesty sent to him to come back just as he was putting to Sea on this piece of Ecclesiastical Knight-Errantry and he refused to come as aforesaid In this Parliament also was granted to the King half a Fifteenth by the Laity and half a Tenth by the Clergy In the Year 1384 a Truce was made with France and the Duke of Lancaster and his Brother Thomas of Woodstock entred Scotland with a mighty Army but the Scots wholly declining to fight and many of the English being destroyed with Want and cold Weather they return'd making very small Advantages by that expensive Expedition Soon after which an Irish Carmelite Fryer made a discovery in Writing to the King of a Design the Duke of Lancaster had to destroy His Majesty and usurp the Crown but the King advising about the same only with certain young Favourites the Duke obtained notice of the Charge and cleared or seemed to clear himself so much to the Kings satisfaction that the poor Fryer was committed to Custody and 't is said on the Evening before the Hearing should have been was most cruely murdered Whose Information if real shews what aâ— Opportunity the King slipt of preventing his after misfortune and that some times it proves even more dangerous to discover Treasons than to act them which yet should discourage no good Subject from the discharge of his Duty But possibly this whole Accusation or the Relation of such a thing might be a Contrivance of the Duke's Enemies to render him suspected to the King and odious to the People for it 't is certain they entred not many Months after into a formal-Design against his Life the occasion whereof I do not find mentioned by Authors but only that the King by the Instigation of his young Cabal-Council had conceiv'd displeasure against him and that they had conspired to take away the said Duke's Life In order whereunto certain Crimes were suggested Appellors prepared and t was agreed that he should be suddenly Arrested and brought before the Lord Chief Justice Trysilian who had boldly untertaken to pronounce Sentence upon him according to the quality of the matters to be objected though by Law he could not be tryed but by his Peers and so Execution should immediately have followed But the Duke being fore warn'd of these Contrivances hastned to his Castle of Pomfret and there stood upon his Guard And the King's Mother considering the Dangers that would ensue such a Rupture took great pains by riding notwithstanding her Age and corpulency to and fro between the King and him to pacifie each side and at last brought them to such a Reconcilement that all appearance of Displeasure on the one part and Distrust on the other was for that time removed About the Feast of S. Martin was held a Parliament at London wherein the Earl of Nothumberland was Condemn'd for the loss of the Castle of Barwick Surprised by the Scots through the Treachery of one that he had put in there as his Deputy But the King after Judgment was pleased to Pardon him who went forthwith down and retook the said Castle In the Year 1385 the French made great Preparations for the Invading of England and to facilitate the Attempt by a Diversion â—end the Admiral of France with a considerable Force into Scotland the Common Back-door at which they were wont to Infest us Of which King Richard having notice raises a mighty Army and by speedy Marches pierces into the Heart of Scotland and reduc'd their chief City Edenburgh into Ashes as a Bonfire to give the whole Kingdom notice of his Arrival and Challenge them to Battel But they declined it and Victuals growing very scarce the King thought fit to return homewards the rather for that the Scots in the mean time had entred Nothumberland and besieg'd Carlile but hearing of the Kings approach fled back into Scotland During this Expedition the Lord John Holland the Kings Brother by the Mother side near York Killed the eldest Son of the Earl of Stafford for which he fled and the King was so highly incensed that he caused all his goods to be Confiscated the King's Mother interceded for him but could not be heard and resented the denial so heavily that soon after she died At a Parliament the latter end of this Year the Laity granted the King one Fifteenth and an half upon condition that the Clergy would give a Tenth and an half who took this Articulating of the Commons in grievous dudgeon protesting that the Laity should not Charge them and the Archbishop of Canterbury was so hot as to declare he would rather venture his Head in this Cause than that the Holy Church of England should thus Truckle whereupon the Commons and many of the Temporal Lords began to bid Battel to the Clergies Temporalities saying they were grown to that excess of Pride that it would be a Work of Piety and Charity to clip their Wings and reduce them to an Humility suitable to their Profession The Clergy at this were not a little Alarm'd and to prevent the worst make a voluntary offer of a Tenth to the King and so the Dispute is rock'd to sleep Also during this Parliament the King Conferred several Honours Creating his Uncle Thomas of Woodstock who before was Earl of Buckingham Duke of Gloucester and his other Uncle Edmund of Langley before the Earl of Cambridge Duke of York With whom too he prefer'd his pernicious Favorites as Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford to be Marquess of Dublin in Ireland the first man within the Realm that was Enobled with that Title and Sir Michael de la Pole the Son of a Merchant in London was made Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chancelor of England But these last grew in Hatred faster then they did in Honour the Ancient Nobility disdainfully resenting their undeserved as they deemed Advancement Nor were the People better satisfied but grumbled heavily for they durst not speak out against these Court Ear-wigs as Seducers of the King and occasion of all misadministrations of Affairs In this Parliament likewise the Duke of Lancaster desired Leave of the King Lords and Commons to go into Spain
that pretence committing horrible Oppressions Exactions and Insolencies in divers parts especially in Kent Norfolk and the adjacent Counties Hence immediately after viz. In the Spring of the Year 1381 arose one of the most formidable and mischievous Insurrections that had been heard of almost in any Age the old Bellum servile of the Romans was acted in England but with greater Impudence and mischief the Slaves are in Arms and the very Dregs of the people will be Lords and Masters The true Causes or Occasions of this unexpected Confusion are very differently related some Monkish Historians followed blindfold by some later Authors out of hatred to Wickliffe and his Tenets which now began to be much disseminated and of which we shall by and by give a further account attributed it chiefly to his Doctrine for 't is an ordinary thing to proclaim all Evils concurring with any Attempts of Reformation in Religion to be proper fruits thereof as the Heathens of old imputed all their Calamities to the then new and rising Sect of the Christians But as we find nothing in that good mans real Positions for several of his Works are yet extant to foment such a lewd Rebellion so neither do the more impartial Authors of that Age lay it at his Door though 't is agreed one Ball a factious Clergyâ—man was an Incendiary of that Combustion which seems in its Original ascribable to the natural desire of Liberty and pride of Humane Nature impatient of Superiority since the Villains or Bondmen were chief in the Tumult and partly to the heavy Taxes and Insolencies of the Collectors and especially of these New Farmers of the Subsidy or Commissioners which exasperated the common people into a Mutiny But whatever were the Provocations dismal were the Effects and might have prov'd fatal to the utter ruine of the Kingdom had not the Providence of God wonderfully prevented it Nor is it less disputable where the Uproar began some say in Essex some in Kent for the Flame wâ—s so suddenly spread into divers places that they could scarce tell where the Fire broke forth and who first headed them is also uncertain some speak of one Thomas a Baker of Fobhyngges others of Walter Tyler at Deptford in Kent to be the Ringleader but the most received Tradition is thus That one of the said Collectors of Poll-money coming to the house of the said Tyler so called from his Trade and requiring of his Wife to pay for a Daughter of hers whom she affirmed was not of age to pay the rude Fellow told her he would presently see whether she were so or not and forceably turn'd up her Coats whereupon the Mother made such an Out-cry that her Husband being at work hard by heard her and came running with his Lathing Staff in his hand wherewith he beat out the Collectors Brains and knowing that for the same he must be hang'd endeavoured to secure himself by greater Crimes drawing together the Rabble and incensing them who of themselves were but too ready unto a Rebellion Thus Multitudes flockt together broke open the Goal at Maidstone where the before-mentioned Ball the Priest was then a Prisoner who having gain'd his Liberty marched along with them and they growing still more numerous some write an Hundred thousand strong came to Blackheath where he made a seditious Preachment to them taking for his Text or Theme the old Proverb When Adam Delv'd and Eve Span Who was then a Gentleman From thence telling them That by Descent from Adam all men were of one Condition That the Laws of the Realm were injurious to Christian Liberty and unjust by making such difference of mens Estates preferring some to be Peers and Potentates with great Authority and large Possessions whereby they took advantage of the humble plyable Condition of others to keep them in slavery hardly affording them Sustenance whereas there ought to be an equal sharing of all things and that in common c. This Doctrine was extreamly pleasing to these Raggamuffins who animated thus with Multitudes and holding Correspondence with others as mad as themselves in other Counties they Arrested all Strangers that they met with making them swear to be true to King Richard and to the Commons and never to own any King that should be called John which they did out of spight to the Duke of Lancaster against whom they had an implacable Malice They likewise beheaded all Lawyers they could catch saying Till they were rooted out the Land would never enjoy free liberty At Black-heath they sent for the King to hear their Grievances but the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Treasurer disswaded him from venturing his Royal Person amongst them which being understood by the Commons they were thereupon more enraged against those two calling them Traytors and to be revenged immediately march towards London in Southwark they discharge all Prisoners and when the Mayor of London would have pull'd up the Draw-bridge and shut the Gates against them the Rabble of the City would not suffer him so that all that Night they came in and out at their pleasure being the more favoured because hitherto they spoiled no man but honestly paid for all they had saying They came not as Robbers but to bring Malefactors to justice The King to prevent Mischief sent them word to meet Him at Mile-end where he would hear their Complaints and part of them accordingly went thither where the King gave them a Câ—arter under the Great Seal of England That thenceforth all the Men of England should be free and discharged from the Tenour of Villenage and all Bondage of that kind The Tenour of which Charter of Manumission as it was given to them and within few days sent into several Counties was as follows RICHARD By the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland to all his Bailiffs and faithfull Subjects to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Know yee that of our special Grace we have Manumiss'd or set free all and singular our Liege Subjects and other of the County of E. and them and every of them from all Bondage do Release and Acquit by these Presents And also we pardon to our said Liege-men and Subjects all manner of Felonies Treasons Transgressions and Extortions by them or any of them in any manner whatsoever done or committed And also all and every Outlawry or Outlawries if any be or shall be Published against them or any of them for or by occasion of the Premisses and do thereof to them and every of them grant Our highest Peace In witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent Witness Our self at London the Fifteenth of June in the Fourth Year of Our Reign Upon this Concession most of the Essex-men that met at Mile-end went home but while this was doing others that staid behind in London enter'd the Tower and dragg'd out thence Hen. Earl of Derby the Duke of Lancaster's Son and but a youth
the most part subdu'd and dispers'd by the active valour of Hugh Spenser Bishop of Norwich who gathering an Army together set upon the Rebels with incredible fury pursuing them from place to place and giving no Quarter to any of them It is to be noted That these Rebels in several Shires held correspondence and their Leaders sent abroad their Epistles of Advice and encouragement some of which as they were afterwards taken and own'd I shall insert for the Readers diversion that he may admire the style of these popular Orators and observe what strength of perswasion there was in Non-sense A LETTER of John Ball to the COMNONS in Essex IOhn Sheep sometime S. Mary Priest of York and now of Colchester Greeteth well John Nameless and John the Miller and John Charter and biddeth them beware of Guil in Borough and stand together in Gods Name and biddeth Piers Plowman go to his werk and Chastise well Hob the Robber and take with you John Trewman and all his Fellows and no mo John the Miller hath yground small small small The Kings Son of heven shall pay for all Beware or ye be wo know your Frende fro your Foe have ynough and say No and do well and better and flee sinne and seek peace and hold you therein And so biddeth John Trewman and all his Fellows Another IOhn Ball gretyth you wele All and doth you to understand he hath rungen the Bell Now ryght andâ—myght wyll and skyll God spede every yee dele Now is time Lady help to Ihesu the Sone and thid Sone to his Fadur to make a gode end in the name of the Trinity of that is begun Amen Amen pur Charite Amen Another IOhn Bell S. Mary Prist gretes wele all manner men and byddes them in the Name of the Trinity Fadur and Son and Holy Ghost stond manlyche togedyr in trewthe and helps trewthe and trewthe shall helpe yowe Now regneth Pride in prise and Covetous is hold wise and Lechery without en shame and Glotony without en blame Envie regneth with treason and slouthe is take in grete sesone God do bote for now is the time Amen in Esex Southfolc aud Northfolc Jack the Millers Epistle JAKK Mylner asket help to turn his Mylne aright He hath Grounden small small The Kings Son of Heven he shall pay for all Look thy Mylne do a right with the four Sailes and the Post stand in stedfastnesse With right and with might with skill and with will lat might help right and skill go before will and right before might than goeth our Mylne aright And if might go before right and will before skill than is our Mylne mysadyght Jack the Carter's JAKK Carter pryes yow all that yee make a gode end of that yee have begunnen and doth wele and ay bettur and bettur for at the even men heryth the day for if the end be wele than is all we le Lat Peres the Plowman my Brother duele at home and dyght us Corn and I will so with yow and help that yee may so dyght your mete and your drynk that yee none fayle Lokke that Hobb Robbyoure be wele chastised for lesing of your Grace for yee have grete nede to take God with yow in all yowr dedes for now is time to beware Jack Trewman's Scroll JAkk Trewman doth yow to understand that falseness and gile havith regned to long and trewth hath been sett under a Lokke and falsneth and gile regneth in everylk Flokke No man may come trewth to both syng Si dedero Speke spend and speed quoth John of Bathon and therefore sinn fareth as wilde flode trew love is a way that was so gode and Clerks for welth worth hem wo. God do bote for nowze is time The Storm being thus happily over-blown the Rebels suddenly master'd and a competent Force raised to secure the Peace of the Kingdom it was quickly thought fit to revenge such an Affront and bring the Delinquents to justice In order to which the King as soon as he could do it with safety to Himself and the Publick revokes his former Charters of Manumission and Pardon by a Proclamation under His Great Seal in these Terms RICHARD by the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Although in the late detestable Disturbance horribly made by divers of Our Liege People and Subjects rising up against Our Peace certain Letters Patent of Ours were made at the importunate Instance of the Rebels containing That We have freed all Our Leige People Common Subjects and others of the several Counties of Our Realm of England and them and every of them discharged and acquitted from all Bondage and Service And also That we have pardoned them all manner of Insurrections by them against Us made and all manner of Treasons Felonies Transgressions and Extortions by them or any of them committed As also all Outlawries Publisht against them or any of them on those Occasions Or that we have granted to them and every of them Our firm Peace And that Our Will was That Our said Liege People and Subjects should be free to buy and Sell in all Cities Burroughs Towns Markets and other Places within the Kingdom of England and that no Acre of Land which holds in Bondage or Villenage should be accounted higher than at Four Pence And if any were before held for less that it should not be raised for the future Yet for that such Our Letters did Issue without Mature Deliberation and unduly We well weighing that the Grant of the said Letters doth manifestly tend to the very great prejudice of Us and Our Crown and to the Disinherison as well of us and the Prelates and Nobility of Our said Realms as of the Holy Anglicane Church and also the the Damage and Incommodity of the Commonwealth Therefore by the Advice of Our Council We have Revoked made void and do utterly annul the said Letters and whatever hath been done or follow'd thereupon willing that none of what state or condition soever he be shall any way have or reap or enjoy any liberty or benefit whatsoever of or by the said Letters For We will and 't is our intention by the Advice of Our sound Council for the future to impart such Grace and Favour to all and singular although they have grievously forfeited their Allegiance as shall be well-pleasing and profitable to Our Realm and with which Our faithful Subjects may reasonably hold themselves contented And this we do notifie to all persons concern'd by these Presents Commanding the same to be Proclaimed in all Cities and Towns Villages c. And further We strictly require and command That all and singular as well Free as Bond-men shall without any contradiction murmuring resistance or difficulty do and perform the Works Customs and Services which to us or any other their Lords they ought to do and which before the said Disturbance were used to be done
Commons desire his Absence that they would rather want so much Treasure than have him here to Seduce and Infatuate the King As for Michael Pole he was committed to Windsor-castle Furthermore the Parliament observing that by the Covetousness of the King's Ministers the publick Revenue was vainly consumed the King insufferably defrauded and abused the Common People of the Realm by continual and grievous Burdens miserably impoverished the Rents and Profits of the Nobles and Great Men much impaired and their poor Tenants in many places forc'd to abandon their Husbandry and leave their Farms empty and desolate And yet still by all these things the Kings Officers only becoming unmeasurably Rich They therefore chose Fourteen Lords of the Realm and gave them leave and power to Inquire into Treat of and Determine all Affairs Causes and Complaints arising from the Death of King Edward the Third to that present time As also of the King's Expences and his Ministers and all other matters whatsoever happening within the time to them Assigned and caused the said Lords so chosen to be sworn on the Holy Evangelists well and truly to regulate all Burdens and other Affairs incumbent on the King and Kingdom and to do Justice to every one requiring the same according to the Grace and Understanding given them by God And also the King took an Oath to stand to their Ordination and to encourage them in their Actings and not to revoke any Article of their Power but to confirm and hold good and stable whatsoever the said Counsellors should do or order during such time of whom Six with the Three Officers of the King appointed by consent of Parliament viz. The Chancellor the Treasurer and the Lord Privy Seal should at any time make a Quorum And it was also Ordained by Act of Parliament That if any one should Advise the King to make any Revocation of their Power though the King should not Revoke it yet the Person probably Convicted only of such ill Counsel should for the same forfeit all his Lands and Goods and if he attempt it a second time be drawn and hang'd as a Traytor Whereupon the King issued forth his Commission under the Great Seal of England Confirming the said Lords in such power in the words following Translated from the Original French RIchard King c. To all those to whom these Letters shall come to be seen or heard Greeting We being duly Conscious of the grievous Complaints of the Lords and Commons of our Realm in this present Parliament Assembled That our Profits and Rents and the Revenues of our Realm by private and insufficient Council and the Ill-governance as well of certain our late Great Officers as of divers other persons being near Our Person are so much consumed wasted embeziled given away granted and aliened destroyed and evilly disposed of and expended That We are so much impoverished and stript of Treasure and Means and the Substance of Our Crown so diminished and destroyed that We are neither able to Sustain Honourably as We ought the State of Our Houshold nor maintain and manage those Wars wherewith Our Realm is Environ'd without great and outragious Oppressions and Charges on Our People greater than they can bear And also that the good Laws Statutes and Customs of Our said Realm to which we are bound by Oath and obliged to maintain are not nor have been duly observed nor executed nor full Justice or Right done to Our said People but many Disinherisons and other most great Mischiefs and and Damages have happened as well to Vs as to our People and whole Realm Now We for the Honour of God and for the good of Vs and our Realm and for the quiet and relief of Our People willing against the said Mischiefs to establish a good and meet Remedy as We have already of Our free Will at the Request of the Lords and Commons Ordained and Assigned such Persons for Our great Officers that is to say Our Chancellor Treasurer and Keeper of Our Privy Seal as We esteem good faithful and sufficient for the Honour and Profit of Vs and Our said Realm so also of Our real Authority certain knowledge good pleasure and free will and by the Advice and Assent of the Prelates Lords and Commons in full Parliament in Aid of the good Governance of Our Realm and the well and due execution of Our Laws for the Relief in time of that miserable Condition under which both We and Our Subjects have long labour'd having full confidence in the good Advice Sense and Discretion of the most Honourable Fathers in God William Archbishop of Canterbury Alexander Archibishop of York Our most dear Vncles Edmund Duke of York and Thomas Duke of Gloucester the Honourable Fathers in God William Bishop of Winchester Thomas Bishop of Exeter and Nicholas Abbot of Waltham Our beloved and faithful Richard Earl of Arundel John Lord Cobham Richard le Scroop and John Devereux Have Ordained Assigned and Deputed and do Ordain Assigne and Depute them to be of Our Great and Continual Council for One whole Year next after the Date hereof to Survey and Examine together with our said Great Officers as well the Estate Condition and Government of Our whole Realm and of all Our Officers and Ministers of whatever Estate Degree or Condition they be within Our Houshold or without and to Inquire and take Information by all such ways as they shall think meet of all Rents Revenues and Profits belonging to us or which are duâ— and ought to appertain to us either within the Realm or without And of all Gifts Grants Alienations and Confirmations by Vs made of any Lands Tenements Rents Annuities Profits Revenues Wards Marriages Escheats Forfeitures Franchises Liberties Voidances of Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbeys Priories Farms of Houses Possessions of Aliens c. And also of all Revenues and Profits as well of Our said Realm as of Our Lands Lordships Cities Villages and other Possessions beyond the Sea and of the Benefices and Possessions and other Revenues of all that are in Rebellion against the Pope And of the carrying Moneys out of the Realm by the Collectors of the Pope or the Procurators of Cardinals Lumbards or other persons And likewise of the Profits of Our Customs and all Subsidies granted to Vs by the Clergy and Laity since the day of Our Coronation to that time And of all Fees Wages and Rewards of Our Officers and Ministers great and small and of Annuities and other Rewards granted and Gifts made to any persons in Fee or term of Life or in any other manner And of Lands Tenements Rents Revenues and Forfeitures bargained or sold to the prejudice and damage of Our Crown And also touching the Jewels and Goods which were Our Grandfathers at the time of his Death and of Charters and General Pardon and how General Payments have been levied and expended how Garrisons and Forts have been maintained And of all Defaults and Misprisions as well in Our Houshold
where finding but cold Entertainment he went to Vtrecht and after two or three years rambling up and down as a Fugitive died at Lovâ—â—n in Brabant Though his War-horse and Armour being found on the Brink of the River raised a general Report that he was Drown'd which probably might facilitate his escape Amongst his Baggage was taken a very considerable sum of Gold and what was of greater value the Kings Letters ordering his present Repair to London and promising to live and die with him against all Opposers But this Disaster Thunder-struck the whole Cabal The Earl of Suffolk in disguise flies to Calice where his own Brother being Governour of the Castle refused to harbour him without the consent of the Lord William Beauchamp Governour of the Town who return'd him back as a Prisoner into England to the King But the King not onely let him go at large but sent for over and for some time Committed the said Beauchamp for such his honest diligence The rather 't is supposed because he had formerly for the Kings Interest thwarted his pleasure for on the late Bargains and private Intrigues with France King Richard having as aforesaid sold Calice to the French King sent a Knight with Letters under his Privy-Signet commanding Beauchamp to deliver up the Town to him and one Sir John Golofre with other Letters to the French King but he knowing the vast Importance of the place and believing the King imposed upon by wicked Councel resolutely answered That the Custody and Government of the Town was committed to him in the Presence and by the Authority of the King and the Nobles of the Realm openly and publickly and he would not surrender it in Hugger-mugger nor part with his Command but in their presence And also he took Golofre's Letters to the French King from him and privately transmitted them to the Duke of Gloucester For which Affronts fronts the King waited an opportunity to be reveng'd and had proceeded 't is thought more severely but that the said Beauchamp was a person extreamly beloved and the King was not at present in a condition to use rigours and so by the Mediation of Friends he was quickly discharg'd The rest of the hated Faction as the Archbishop of York Justice Tresylian and others ran every man like Coneys to their Covert and were not to be heard of Nay the King betook himself to the Tower of London and there made Provision for his Winter-Quarters all his Designes being frustrated first by Rashness in taking Arms and afterwards by Cowardise in using them And to adde to his Confusion about the same time an Envoy from the French King was taken with Letters whereby the French King Licens'd King Richard the Duke of Ireland and some others with Attendants to such a number to come into Boloign where he would be ready to receive them with great Pomp and from them receive the Possession of Calice and other strong Holds for which he had says Walsingham fol. 332. already paid King Richard The Lords therefore perceiving such considerable Territories ready to be lost abroad as well as Extravagancies practised at home hasten'd their March first to S. Albans and next to London where with an Army of Forty thousand men they Arrived on S. Stephen's day the Citizens furnishing them with Victuals and whether more out of Fear or Love I cannot say offered to let them into the City but they chose rather to quarter in the Suburbs proâ—â—sting not to depart without personal Conference with the King which at last he granted permitting them first to search the Tower to prevent any Surprize The Duke and Earls then waited upon him and after a few cold Complements laid before him the Confederacy against their Lives at Nottingham his Letters to the Duke of Ireland contrary to his Royal Word together with his dishonourable Treaty to deliver up Calice to the French King c. The King heard them at first with silence and patience and afterwards with a dejected Countenance and not without some Tears seemed to acknowledge that he could neither deny or justifie what they complain'd of and certainly the Stomachs of the Lords must needs more Relent to those luke-warm drops than they would to his greatest violence So agreed it was that he would meet them next day at Westminster there to treat of these and other necessary Affairs of the Realm But no sooner were they gone but some Abusers of the Royal Ear suggested that his going thither would be neither Honourable nor safe but bring both his Person into present danger and contempt and occasion a future Abridgment of his Authority Whereupon the Kings Mind turned and began to Retract his promise This heated the Lords so much that being flusht with opportunity and power they sent him peremptory word That if he did thus faulter with them and would not appear to Consult the good of the Realm they would take other measures Intimating no less than the Election of another This so work'd upon the King that he was pleased to meet them and to consent though not without some Reluctancy that several of his Minions should be banisht the Court as Nevil Archbishop of York the Bishop of Durham Friar Rushok the Kings Confessor and Bishop of Chichester but both he and York had already shewed them a fair pair of Heels The Lords Souch Harmyworth Burnel and Beamont and several Knights as Sir Alberick Vere Sir Balwyne Bereford Sir John Worth Sir Thomas Clifford Sir John Lovel c. Together with certain Ladies Quae non tantum inutiles sed infames Who were saith Walsingham not only unnecessary useless and unprofitable at Court but likewise scandalous and infamous And these were the Lady Mowen the Lady de Molyng and the Lady Ponyngs Wife to the said Sir John Worth who all were obliged to appear next Parliament There were likewise actually taken into Custody Sir Simon Burley Sir Thomas Trivet Sir Nicholas Brember and divers other Knights Clifford Lincoln and Motford Clerks John Beauchamp de Holt the Kings Steward or Privy-Purse Nicholas Lake Dean of the Chappel and John Blake Barrister at Law who were all disposed in several Castles After Candlemas 1388 the Parliament began at London though the King used many means to dash or defer the same The Lords came attended with sufficient Strength to suppress any Rebelliâ—n or Tumult that might happen and continâ—â—d their Sitting till Whitsuntide to the great Fear of some Hope of others and Expectation of all Part of their first Work was for several days to Summon the Duke of Ireland the Archbishop of York Michael de Pole Earl of Suffolk Tresylian the Chief-Justice and Sir Nicholas Brember Citizen of London to answer to the Treasons wherewith they stood charged but none of them appearing they were all Out-law'd and their Lands and Goods forfeited and seized into the Kings hands with a provision by common consent in Parliament that they should never be pardon'd or permitted to appear
his People that they might engross amongst themselves only the Government of the Realm whereby they have caused our Lord the King without the Assent of the Realm or any desert in them to have given away by their Abetment many Lordships Castles Towns and Mannors as well annexed to his Crown as others As particularly the Land of Ireland and Okam with the Forest and Lands which did belong to the Lord Dandelegh and great quantities of other Lands to the said Duke of Ireland and divers others whereby they unworthily are vastly inriched but the King rendred poor and unable to sustain and defray the Charges of the Government unless by Impositions heavy Taxes and Tributes laid upon his People to the disinherison of his Crown and the destruction of the Realm 5. Item By such Encroachment of the said Archbishop c. and by the Counsel of that false Justicer Tresylian and Brember the false Knight of London they have caused our Lord the King to have given away divers Mannors Lands Tenements Offices and Bailywicks to divers other persons their Creatures and such as they could confide in and to others of whom they have taken great Gifts by way of Brokage for that purpose and to stand by them in their false Suits and ill purposes to the great prejudice of the King and Realm such as Sir Robert Mansel Clerk John Blake Thomas Vsk and divers others 6. Item The said Duke c. Encroaching to themselves the Royal Power have caused the King to give very great Gifts of Gold and Silver as well of his proper Goods and Jewels as of the Goods and Treasure of the Realm as Tenths Fifteens and other Taxes granted by divers Parliaments to be expended for the defence and safeguard of the Kingdom which yet to the value of One hundred thousand Marks have been lavisht away upon the said Duke of Ireland and others And though many good Ordinances and Laws have been made in Parliament as well for maintaining and carrying on of Wars as for the defence of the Realm yet they have been by them disturbed and defeated to the great dishonour and damage of the King and Realm 7. Item By such Encroachment and the great Gifts and Brokages taken by the said Duke of Ireland c. it came to pass that divers unfit and insufficient persons were preferred to and intrusted with the keeping and government of divers Garrisons Castles and Countries involved in War as in Guyen and elsewhere both beyond and on this side the Sea whereby the said Strong-holds have been lost the Countries wasted and the People faithful Subjects to the King destroyed and great Seigniories newly rendred into the hands and possessions of Enemies without the Assent of the Realm as the Marches of Scotland c. to the disinherison of the Kings Crown and the great loss of the Kingdom as in Harpeden and Craddock and divers others 8. By the same means the said Archbishop and his Fellow-Traytors have caused divers people to be disturbed and deprived of Right and the Common Law of England and put to intolerable delays losses and costs and the Statutes and Judgments which rightfully for necessary Causes have been made and given in Parliament have been reversed and annull'd by the procurement of the said Malefactors and Traytors and all this because of the great Gifts and Brokages by them received of Parties to the grand mischief of the King and Realm 9. Item The said Archbishop and other Traytors have caused and counselled our Lord the King to grant Charters of Pardon of horrible Felonies and Treasons as well against the State of the King as of the Person injured and prosecuting which thing is against the King and the Oath of the King 10. Item Whereas the said Seignories of the Land of Ireland are and time out of mind have been parcel of the Crown of England and the People of Ireland Liege Subjects to our Lord the King and his Royal Progenitors Kings of England who in all their Charters Writs Letters Patents and in their Seals have for the Augmentation of their Renown and Royalty been intituled Lords of Ireland yet the said Archbishop c. as false Traytors by their said Encroachment have caused and counselled our Lord the King as much as in him lies to have granted and fully assented and accorded that the said Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland should be made King of Ireland And to compleat such their ill purpose have advised and excited our said Lord the King to send his Letters to our Holy Father the Pope to grant ratifie and confirm this their trayterous Designe without the privity or assent of His Realm of England and of the said Land of Ireland to the dividing the Liegance of the King between his Realm of England and the said Land of Ireland in diminution of his Majesties honourable Stile and open disinherison of the Crown of England and full destruction of the lawful Liege Subjects of our Lord the King and of the said Land of Ireland 11. Item Whereas by the Great Charter and other good Laws and Vsages of the Realm of England No man is to be taken nor any Prisoner put to death without the due process of Law The said Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London did take by night certain Prisoners to the number of 22 out of the Gaol of Newgate some of them being Indicted and Appealed of Felony and some Approvers in cases of Felony and some on suspition of Felony and carried them out of London into Kent to a place called Foulhoke and there encroaching on the Royal Power and in Defiance of the said Laws as a Traytor to the King did without any Process of Law cause them all to be Beheaded except one who was Appealed of Felony by an Approver whom he set at large the same time 12. Item The aforesaid Archbishop and other Traytors have in small Causes taken great Gifts in the Name of the King of divers Parties to maintain and abet them in their Suits and Quarrels and sometimes have play'd the Ambo-dexters and taken Money of both sides 13. Item Whereas divers of the great Lords Loyal Subjects to the King in divers Parliaments seeing the dangers and apprehending the destruction threatning the King and Realm by means of the Mischiefs of these Malefactors have moved to have good Governance under the King to avoid the said Perils The forenamed Archbishop and other Traytors by their Encroachment and fatal Influences have so ordered Matters that the King has not onely been deaf to all such Perswasions but also has Commanded some of those that moved it to depart from his Council and to speak no more of such Matters Nor touching the good Governance of the King and Kingdom on pain of Death to the great prejudice of the King and Kingdom 14. Item Whereas in the last Parliament all the Lords and other Sages there assembled seeing the loss and destruction of the King and Realm and the
Statute and Commission and great prejudice of the King and Realm 20. Item The said Malefactors and Traytors after they had Estranged both the Person and good will of the King from the said Lords so Commissioned and that he esteem'd them Traytors and Enemies and that they had obtain'd the Opinions of the Judges suited to their wicked purposes did agree and design That several of the said Lords and also divers Loyal Commons should be first Arrested and then Indicted in London and in Middlesex and by false Inquests Attainted of certain Treasons falsly imagined against them and so put to shameful Death To which purpose they had procured an evil and false person of their Conspiracy called Thomas Vsk to be Vnder-Sheriff by whose means the said false Inquests were to be taken and the wicked Design accomplished by colour of Law And for the more compleat effecting thereof they caused the King to send his Letters of Credence by John Rypon a false Clerk and one of their Crâ—w directed to the Mayor of London That he should seize the said Duke of Gloucester and others therein named to be Indicted for certain Treasons in such manner as the said Nicholas Brember the false Knight and John Blake who were thereof fully informed should direct By vertue of which Letters of Credence Brember and Blake carried to the Mayor the said false Indictment commanding him on behalf of the King that to his power he should promote the same And also they ordered that a strong Watch should be set to seize my Lord Duke of Lancaster upon his first Arrival 21. Item The said Traytors having trayterously informed the King that he should believe that the said Ordination Statute and Commission were made in derogation of his Royalty and Prerogative did further perswade him that the same was made with an intention to degrade and finally to depose our Lord the King And perceiving that thereby he lookt upon his Loyal Lords as Traytors and Enemies They yet further advised Him that by all means possible as well by the power of his own Liege People as by the force of his Enemies the French and others he should destroy and put to death the said Lords and others that assented to the making of the said Ordinance and that the same might be done so privily that none should know of it till it was done 22. Item In order to these Treasons by their Counsels they caused the King to send Letters to his Enemy the French King some by Nicholas Southwell Groom of his Chamber and others by other persons of base condition as well Aliens as Denizons requiring and praying the said French King that he would with all his Power and Counsel Aid and assist our Lord the King to destroy and put to Death the said Lords and others whom they had so falsly represented as Traytors to the great Disturbance of the whole Realm 23. Item That usurping to themselves Royal Power they caused the King to promise the French King by his Letters Patents and Messages for such his Assistance to accomplish the said Treason and Murder to give and surrender to the said French King the Town and Castle of Calice and divers other Forts and Places as Brest Chirburgh and others c. to the great dishonour trouble and prejudice of the Realm 24. Item That after this trayterous Contrivance it was agreed between our Lord the King and the French King by the instigation and influence of these Traytors that a Parley or Interview should be had in the Marches of Calice and a Truce of five years between the Realms of England and France At which Interview by Treachery the said Lords and others whom the King took for Traytors attending him thither should there by Treachery be slain In order to which they procured several Letters of safe Conduct from the said French King for the said Duke of Ireland's going into France to accomplish this ill purpose and Treason which Letters are ready to be shewn 25. Item That the said Brember by the Assent and Counsel of the said other Traytors did come into London and without the Assent or knowledge of the King did cause all the Companies of the City to be sworn to hold and perform divers Matters as they are contained in the said Oath which is of Record in Chancery And amongst other things That they should hold with and maintain the Will and purpose of the King to their power against all that are or shall be Rebels or contrary to his Person or Royal pleasure And that they should be ready to destroy all those which do or shall purpose Treason against our said Lord the King in any manner and be ready with their Mayor to resist during life all such Traytors c. At which time the King by the Mis-information of the said Evil-doers and Traytors and by the false Answers of the Justices did firmly hold the said Lords and others who assented to the making of the said Ordinances Statute and Commission to be Rebels Traytors and Enemies unto him By all which the said Traytors endeavoured to stir up the said People of London to destroy the said Lords and other Loyal Subjects 26. Item The said Brember and other Traytors to the King and Realm usurping to themselves Royal Power Did of their own Authority without any Warrant from the King or his great Council cause Proclamation to be made through the City of London That none of the Liege Subjects of our Lord the King should Sustain Comfort or Aid Richard Earl of Arundel and Surrey one of the Lords of the Kings Great Council during the said Commission nor sell him any Armour Victuals or other Necessaries on pain of being preceeded against as Rebels carrying about and shewing a Patent of the Kings but of another Tenor the better to compass such their false Proclamation 27. Item They also caused it to be Cryed and Proclaimed in the said City of London That no person should be so hardy as to presume to speak any ill or utter any word or expression against them the said Malefactors and Traytors or any of them on pain of forfeiting all they had Which was an Encroachment on the Royal Power 8. Item The said Archbishop Chief Justice and other Traytors caused the King to command his Council to make certain persons throughout England Sheriffs who were named or recommended to him by them the said Traytors with an intent to get such persons as they should name returned for Knights of the Shire to serve in Parliament And to keep out from thence Gentlemen good and loyal against the good Laws and Customs of the Land 29. Item The said Traytors during the time that the King had so taken both Parties into His Protection as aforesaid did falsly counsel and prevail with the King to command by His Letters divers Knights and Squires Sheriffs and other Ministers of several Counties to Levy Men and assemble all their Power to joyn with the said Duke
of Ireland against the said three Lords now Appealing suddenly to make War upon and destroy them 30. Item During the time of the same Protection they caused the King by His Royal Letters to signifie to the said Duke of Ireland Not onely that he and others were Appelled of Treason as aforesaid but also that he should have sufficient Power to guard him and come with him to the King And afterwards caused Him to write again to the said Duke of Ireland That he should take the Field with all the Forces he could assemble And that the King would meet him with all his Troops and would expose and venture his Royal Person And that the King was in great peril for Himself and his Realm unless succor'd and aided by the said Duke And that the said Duke should shew and declare to all the people assembled with him That the King would bear and pay all Debts and Costs of the said Duke of Ireland and all that joyn'd with him By vertue of which Letters and the evil and trayterous Instigation as well of the said Duke as of his Adherents and other Traytors The said Duke of Ireland did actually Levy and Assemble great numbers of Men at Arms and Archers as well of the Counties of Lancaster Cheshire and Wales as of other places of the Realm in Warlike manner to destroy and put to death the said Lords who had consented to the making the said Ordinance Act of Parliament and Commission in Defence of the King and Realm 31. Item That having thus Trayterously Levied Forces the said Duke marched with them through the midst of England and usurping the Royal Power did cause the Kings Banner to be Displayed before him contrary to the Estate of the King and of his Crown In which March the said Duke and his Accomplices were by the Grace of God disturbed and prevented from their evil purposes 32. Item That the said Duke of Ireland by the Counsel and Abetment of the rest of the fore-named Traytors encroaching to himself the Royal Power without the usual Commission of the King or other sufficient Warrant Did make himself Justice of Chester by him and his Deputies to hold there all manner of Pleas of the Crown and thereupon to give Judgment and Award Execution And also caused divers Original and Judicial Writs to be Sealed with the Great Seal of the King in that behalf used And thereby compelled a great part of the people of those Counties to joyn with him or otherwise put some of them to grievous and tormenting Death Imprisoned others and Seized the Lands of others c. And all this to make War and destroy the said Lords and other Loyal Subjects of the King and against the Defence of the Realm 33. Item That the said Traytors have caused the King to grant great Retinues to divers people and give them Badges and Ensigns otherwise than ever was used in the time of any of his Progenitors and this with design to gain greater power to accomplish their Treasons 34. Item Fully to compleat all such their before-mentioned and other Treasons and to make the King wholly confide in and relie upon them and their Councels they caused the King to call before him divers Justices and People of the Law that is to say Robert Tresylian Robert Belknap John Care John Holt Reger Fulthorp William Burgh six Justices John Lockton Serjeant at Law and John Blake Of whom he did by the contrivance of the said Traytors demand Whether the before-mentioned Act of Parliament and Commission were made in derogation of his Royalty and Prerogative or not and several other Questions to which they Answered in manner and form before set forth c. These were the Articles Exhibited but the prime Delinquents as the Duke of Ireland the Archbishop of York and the Earl of Suffolk were fled and the rest absconded The Chief Justice Tresylian having disguis'd himself lay hid at an Apothecaries House near the Gate going into the Old-Palace at Westminster But on Wednesday the 11th Calends of March being discovered by his Servant he was taken and brought by the Duke of Glocester to the Parliament who immediately Awarded Execution against him so that he was the same day drawn from the Tower through the midst of the City of London to Tyburn and there hang'd That Judgment having formerly been pass'd upon him when ever he could be found in the same Parliament The very next day they met with Sir Nicholas Brember whom the King had often before preferred to be Mayor of London against the will of the Citizens and who had been the occasion of many Oppressions and Seditions in that City It was reported of him that whilst he was in power he had caused a common Hatchet to be made wherewith to cut off the Heads of all that opposed his Exorbitant doings and caused a List to be made of a vast number of the Citizens Names whom he designed for destruction of whom he had procured Eight thousand five hundred and upwards to be already Indicted But was now before he could bring to pass such his malicious bloody purpose Himself Beheaded with the very same Instrument the King interceding for him with the Parliament that he might not be Hang'd This Gentleman if he had lived was to have been made Duke of Troy meaning thereby London which anciently was said to have sometimes been called by that Name Shortly after Vske the under Sheriff of London and the before-mentioned John Blake the Lawyer were likewise drawn from the Tower to Tyburn and there Hang'd and Beheaded and the Head of the said Vske placed upon Newgate In the beginning of May Sir Simon de Burlee was Condemned for High-Treason but the King dispensing with his Drawing and Hanging he was Beheaded on Tower-hill This person by his ill Practises had in few years increas'd his small Patrimony of 20 Marks to an Estate of above Three thousand Marks per annum and was grown to that excess of pride that at a Christmass he would give Liveries to a great number of Knights and Squires of the Court and others bestowing therein sometimes an hundred and forty or an hundred and sixty nay sometimes two hundred and twenty Broad Cloaths and these of great price as being Embroidered with Gold and some of Scarlet About the same time Sir John Beauehamp was Condemned to be Drawn Hang'd and Quarter'd but by the Kings Mercy he had only his Head sever'd from his Body on Tower-hill The same punishment was inflicted on Sir John Berneys a Knight belonging to the Court Condemned for Treason and Sedition but Sir John Salisbury was drawn from the Tower and Hang'd at Tyburn And now the Judges are brought to Judgment which in the beginning of the Parliament were taken into Custody viz. Sir Robert Belknappe Sir John Care Sir John Holte Sir Roger de Fulthorp Sir William de Burgh and John Locton Serjeant at Law who were all condemn'd to be Drawn Hanged and Quartered But
the West that Terror and Dread cannot but Invade your Adversaries for evermore to this day as oft as the Gallant English have fought the French so oft have they carried Victory with them from the Field Let not therefore most Potent Prince the Heart of the Lion slumber longer against Nature in Pusillanimity But vouchsafe to apply that matchless Strength which Nature has conferr'd upon you to warlike Actions in defence of your Commonwealth the maintenance of your Hereditary Rights the encrease of your Merit and perpetuating the Renown of so incomparable great and Magnanimous a King Walsingham says That this Prince came also in person into England to perswade the King against making Peace either with the French or Scots and that he was very honourably entertain'd But it seems his motion was not much regarded for the time was spun out in further Truces and nothing done And now the Citizens of London fall into the Kings grievous displeasure the Causes whereof are said to be Two The first Their not only denying to lend the King a thousand pounds which he desired themselves but also affronting a certain Lombard who was willing to accommodate him and abusing him some Authors say they beat and half kill'd him for his forwardness The other an Accident which hapning just in the neck of this seem'd or perhaps was made a far greater Offence than otherwise it need have been reputed viz. A Baker carrying his Bread along the Street one of the Bishop of Salisbury's Servants took a loaf out of his Basket which the Baker demanded to be restored but the Bishop's man instead thereof broke his head for which Injury the people would have seized him but he fled into his Masters house Thither the Constable came and peaceably desired he might be surrendred up to Justice But the Bishop's Servants shut the Gates and made resistance This more exasperated the people who though sometimes they may be deceived bâ— Fiâ—â—sses and Craft are yet generally shrewd Guessers at Right and Wrong in Matters of Fact and 〈◊〉 of common life insomuch that many threatned to fire their way and began to use violence Of which the Mayor and chief Officers having notice they immediately repaired thither and by their Presence and Authority suppressed the Multitude and preserved the Kings Peace so that hitherto the harm was but small and all this Combustion might easily have been quenched and forgot had not the Bishop whose ill-govern'd Servant was the Beginner and Cause of all the Broil kindled the Fuel afresh And 't is said he the rather stirr'd in it out of an old grudge which he had against the Citizens because they were generally lookt upon to be Favourers of Wickliffs Doctrine But whatever the Motive was a loud Complaint was made by him and other Prelates to the King affirming That if upon every paultry pretence the Citizens should be suffered thus to Affront the Bishops without Chastisement they would endanger not only the Dignity but the Liberty of the whole Church The King was so incens'd hereat being prepared by former Provocations that he was once resolv'd to have raised an Army and utterly destroyed the City and made spoil thereof But being perswaded by more moderate Councils he only sent for the Mayor and two Sheriffs and Four and twenty Aldermen and Four and twenty others of the ablest Citizens to his Court then held at Nottingham where the said Tumult and divers other Offences were laid to their Charge As that they had forfeited their Obligations formerly given to the King c. They at first resolv'd to justifie their Innocency and faithfully engaged to stand by one another But it seems there was falshood in Fellowship and as it often happens in such Cases some timorous persons hoping to curry favour Impeach'd the rest who again recriminated upon them and so all were liable to be undone and therefore left themselves wholly to the Kings Mercy who committed the Mayor to Windsor Castle and the rest to several other places of Confinement seizes the Liberties of the City into his own hands and Annuls all their Priviledges commands there should be no more any Major be chosen but that he would himself appoint one who should be called Keeper of the City and accordingly did qualifie one Sir Edward Dalyngrygge other Authors call him Balerygge with that Title who being thought too favourable to the Citizens was quickly removed and Sir Baldwin Radington a person of a rougher temper put in his place And also the Terms and Courts of Justice were removed to York In the mean time the Duke of Glocester and others were not wanting to Intercede with the King on behalf of the Londoners of whom the Principal on Sunday next after the Assumption of S. Mary waited on him at Windsor and submitted to him Themselves and their Fortunes With which he seemed somewhat well pacified and on the Wednesday following came towards London being met from the City with four hundred Men on Horse-back clad all in one Livery an innumerable multitude on foot a solemn Procession of the Clergy and Five hundred Boys in Surplices The Fronts of the Houses adorned with Tapestry and Pictures the Conduits freely running Wine c. Besides they presented the King with a Crown of Gold of great value and another of the same Metal to the Queen together with a Picture of the Trinity worth 800 l. and several other great Gifts And so they obtained their Priviledges restored and confirmed to them the Election of a Mayor and all things as before And having been at all this Charge doubted not but to be quiet and free from further Fine or Penalty But herein they were deceived for notwithstanding all their Presents the King yet upon such submission before made demanded and forced them to pay after all this Ten thousand pounds or else they must have ventured the Effects of his new Displeasure The Duke of Glocester having been furnisht with Money to raise an Army for an Expedition into Ireland of which the King had lately created him Duke when his Troops were now just ready to march and all things prepared was on a sudden without any cause Recall'd and the Voyage Countermanded to the great Detriment as well of England as Ireland For upon the Report of his Coming almost all the petty Irish Kings had advised one with another and resolved to submit themselves to the English The Year 1393 a Parliament at Winchester gave the King half a Tenth for the Clergy and half a Fifteenth for the Laiety towards the Expences of the Dukes of Lancaster and Glocester who were going into France to Treat of a Peace between the two Crowns The French King sometime before had lost his Senses but was now pretty well recovered yet at this time narrowly escaped with his life from the Treachery of the Duke his Brother who over-greedily Aspired to the Crown For the King and several other Persons of Quality dancing a Rural Mask to make
themselves appear more like those Savages which they were to represent had got on strait Garments close to their Bodies cover'd over with Tâ—we which was fixt on with Rosin and Pitch to make it stick the faster Now when they were busie in the midst of their Dance by Torch-light a Villain suborn'd by the Duke clapt a Flambeau amongst them as if done by Accident whereby in an instant the Tow and other Combustibles took fire but a Lady seeing the danger snatcht away the King before the flames seiz'd him whilst Four of the other Maskers notwithstanding all the help imaginable was used were immediately burnt to Death In England the Lord Tho. Pierey is made the King's Steward and Sir William Scroop Chamberlain a Person saith our Author than whom in all Mankind there could not be found one more wicked or cruel The year following 1394 was chiefly remarkable for Funerals First the Dutchess of Lancaster Daughter to the King of Castile was snatcht away then the Countess of Derby her Daughter-in-Law next Queen Anne her self whose Obsequies were magnificently and at vast Expences Celebrated by the King and soon after died Isabella Dutchess of York Nor was Death onely content to Triumph over the Ladies but also mowed down the Noble Sir John Hawkwood a Knight whose Valour had rendred him Famous in many foreign Nations and no less dear to his own About August issâ—ed a Proclamation throughout England That all the Irish should forthwith return home and wait the Kings coming thither at Lady-day next following on pain of death And indeed it was but time to send them packing for such multitudes were come over in hopes of gain that they had left the English Pale in Ireland almost quite desolate So that the natural wilde Irish not yet Conquer'd taking thereby an advantage destroy'd or pillaged the few Subjects the King of England had remaining there at their pleasure And whereas King Edward the Third when he settled his Courts of Justice c. in that Country received from thence to his Exchequer Thirty thousand pounds per annum the same by reason of the want of Inhabitants was not only lost but on the contrary the King forc'd to be out of Pocket Thirty thousand Marks every year in the necessary defence of his Territories there Effectually to redress which the King in Person about Michaelmas sail'd into Ireland attended with the Duke of Glocester the Earls of March Nottingham Rutland c. The Irish unable to Cope with so great a Force endeavoured onely to weary him with Alarms Ambuscades and Skirmishes but at last divers of their petty Princes were glad to submit to King Richard of whom some he kept as Hostages for security others he dismist upon Parole And for the better settlement of Affairs Assembled a Parliament for Ireland at Dublin and continued in that Kingdom till after Easter In the mean time Anno 1395 the Duke of York Guardian of England during the Kings absence called a Parliament at London eight days after Twelfth-tide unto which was sent from Ireland the Duke of Gloucester who so zealously represented the Kings Necessities by reason of the vast Expence he had been at in this necessary and no less advantageous than honourable Expedition into Ireland that the Clergy were content to present his Majesty with a Tenth and the Commonalty with a Fifteenth But not without a Protestation first made That they were not bound to grant the same De stricto jure but did it purely out of their Affection to their King The Lollards so call'd as Tritemius says from Walter Lollard a German who flourisht about the year 1315. Or as others think from Lolium signifying Darnel or Tares for being Followers and Disciples of Wickeliff the Clergy and especially the Monks and Fryars were not wanting to brand them with ill Names and reputed them as the Tares sown by the evil One in the Field of Gods Church did about this time publickly affix on the Doors of S. Paul's Church Accusations of the Clergy charging them with sundry Abominations and also divers Conclusions touching Ecclesiastical Persons and the Sacraments of the Church At which the Bishops were much disturb'd and according to their usual Method instead of clearing themselves and confuting their Adversaries by Scripture or Reason endeavoured to silence them by Club-law dispatching away the Archbishop of York and Bishop of London into Ireland to the King intreating him to hasten his return to succour Faith and Holy Church that were both like to be undone by the Hereticks who were contriving how to take away the Possessions of the whole Church and overthrow all the Canonical Sanctions Upon this News back comes the King from Ireland and takes several of the Chief Favourites of the Lollards to task threatning most terribly if they shew'd them any Countenance for the future But the Hereticks were not the onely Afflicters of the Clergy at this time but Birds of their own Nests began to pluck their feathers too for William Archbishop of Canterbury got a Bull from the Pope Impowering him to levy throughout all the Diocesses of his Province Four pence in the pound of all Ecclesiastical Goods and Revenues as well of those Exempt as not Exempt and this without so much as pretending any true or lawful Cause for the same However the Execution of this Bull being committed unto the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London though many of the inferiour Clergy grumbled not a little and complained thereof as unreasonable yet they were generally forced to submit unto it Anno Domini 1396 the Duke of Lancaster to whom the King had given the Dutchy of Aquitain and who had been at inestimable Charges in those Parts to Conciliate to himself the Affections of the Inhabitants no sooner had obtained the same but he was suddenly recall'd from thence by the Kings Command To which though it seemed no less hard than unexpected the Duke paid a punctual Obedience and was received if not with love yet at least with a shew of honour by the King from whom having obtain'd License to depart the Court he hastened to Lincoln and there to the admiration of all the World by reason of the disparity of their Qualities was married to Katherine Swinford who for divers years before had been his Mistress This year also the Pope wrote to the King intreating him to assist the Prelates of the Church in the Cause of God and of him the said King and his Kingdom against the Lollards whom he declared to be Traytors not onely to the Church but likewise to the King and therefore did most earnestly press him That whomsoever the Bishops should declare to be Hereticks he would forthwith Condemn by his Royal Authority But it seems the King was too busie otherwise to attend his Holiness's Commands and to do his Prelates drudgery in butchering of Hereticks for he was making mighty Preparations for a Voyage not of War but of Galiantry into France where
Affections of the People it was not thought safe to bring him to a publick Tryal but concluded with more Policy than Justice to put him to death secretly without either Conviction or Examination And therefore being a close Prisoner as aforesaid at Callice he was by certain Ruffians ordered thereunto by Nottingam Earl Marshal suddenly one Night strangled or stifled to death between two Feather Beds Thus fell this Great and for ought we find in Writers of those times Good Prince the Son of One and Vncle of another King and so beloved of the People that with him saith Walsingham the general Hope and Comfort of the Commonalty of the Land expired And now the King caused the Parliament to be Ajourn'd till after Christmas and then to sit again at Shrewsbury Where in the beginning of the Year 1398 they met accordingly and the King by the Interest he had made amongst them caused not only all the Proceedings of the Parliament in the Tenth Year of his Reign to be Condemned and Annulled But also obtained a Concession from them That after the present Parliament should break up It s whole Power should yet be Conferred upon and remain in certain Persons by them particularly named or any Seven or Eight of them Who by vertue of such Power granted did afterwards proceed to Act and determine many things concerning the Publick State of the Nation and properly the Work of a Parliament to the great prejudice of the Realm And to six himself more firm with Friends or Illustrate his Triumphs over those he thought his Enemies The King about this time was most liberal in Conferring of Honours Creating no less than Five new Dukes of whom one was the Earl of Derby made Duke of Hereford and an other the Earl of Nottingham probably for his good Service in dispatching the Duke of Glocester raised to the Title of Duke of Norfolk One Dutchess One Marquess and Four Earls Amongst whom he made a Distribution of a great part of the Lands of the Duke of Glocester and of the Earls of Arundel and Warwick imagining by this double Bounty of Honour and Estate to support it to have tyed them with a double Obligation of Duty and Affection Not considering that hired Friends for the most part are seldom either satisfied or sure but rather like some Ravens that Naturalists tell of in Arabia which being full-gorg'd have very sweet tuneable Notes but empty scriech most horribly Furthermore to gratifie the Cheshire-men who had chieflly assisted him and his late Favorites he qualified that County with the Name and Dignity of a Principality and added to the rest of his own Titles that of Prince of Chester A General Pardon was also granted for all Offences to all the Kings Subjects but clogg'd with a strange Clause of Exception exempting Fifty Persons in number from the Benefit thereof whose Names were not expressed but left to the Kings own knowledge and pleasure to the end that if any of the Nobility should happen any way to displease he might nominate him or them to be of the Number excepted and so still keep them within his danger By which Reservation the General Pardon became no Pardon at all since no man in England could assure himself that he was included in it Lastly To Corroborate and add the greater esteem to the Acts and Proceedings of this Parliament King Richard purchased the Popes Bulls containing grievous Censures and Curses on all that should presume to break or oppose them Which were solemly published at Pauls Cross and other places throughout England All things succeeding thus suitable to the Kings pleasure the Heads of the Party that opposed his Will having lost their Heads the Nobles afraid and the Commons unable to express their Resentments any otherwise than in Sighs or whisper'd Murmurs and Complaints His Officers of State His Laws nay His very Parliament all modell'd to His Designs He could not but sing Requiems to His Soul and look upon himself in a Condition altogether happy and secure When yet to shew that there is still an over-ruling Providence that can blast all Projects though never so subtlely laid if not sounded on Equity and carried on with Justice A Monarch Paramount who confoundeth the Councils of Princes and is terrible to the Kings of the Earth when once they become disobedient unto and forgetful of him Behold on a sudden all his Affairs by unexpected Means and unlikely Instruments are embroil'd more than ever and this great Prince left so destitute of Power or Friends as to be forced without striking one stroke to surrender his Crown and which was yet more greivous to a generous Mind acknowledge himself both unworthy and unfit to wear it any longer This Wonderful Catastrophe has since been thought to have been fore-shewn by some prodigious Tokens that happened about this time As that in this Year 1398 when almost throughout all England all the Bay-trees withered and afterwards beyond all expectation grew green again And another perhaps more remarkable on New-Years Day following When a very deep River running between the Villages of Suelleston and Haâ—â—wod near Bedford on a sudden stopt its Course and divided it self so as that for three Miles space the Channel remain'd dry But waving such uncertain Presages if we consider the several Steps that led to this grand Mutation The first both in order of time and Influence may be reckon'd that of the Banishment of the Duke of Hereford Son of the Duke of Lancaster This was occasioned by means of a Quarrel between Him and Moubray Duke of Norfolk but what the grounds were of that Quarrel is somewhat differently reported by Authors for though all agree 't was about certain words spoken to the Kings dishonour yet of what nature those words were is not so certainly related But the best that is most probable account thereof that I can meet with is as follows The Duke of Hereford either disdaining the undesâ—rved Favours and Advancement of some Persons about the King or disliking that his Sovereign should be abused and his Countrey opprest by such ill Instruments or perhaps to shew his owm skill and sufficiency in the Art of Government happened one day in familiar Conference with the Duke of Norfolk to complain that the King too much undervalued the Princes of the Blood and much discouraged the rest of the Ancient Nobility from intermedling in Publick Affairs That instead of using their able Advice and Service He was engrossed by a few Vpstart Favourites of base Birth and baser Qualities having no sufficiency either for Council in Peace or Courage in War And whose dishonest Conditions had deservedly contracted an Odium and Contempt of the whole Realm whereby the Honour of the Kings Person was much obscured the safety of his Estate endanger'd and the Dignity of the English Nation not a little impaired And that it was high time that the King should provide some Redress herein And all this â—e protested he mention'd
not out of a Picque to ary perticular person but out of Compassion for so publick Grievance and zealous Duty to his Soveraign And therefore desired the said Duke that he being one of the Kings Cabinet-Council would be pleased to discover unto His Majesty these Enormities and Dangers that by removing the One he might happily prevent the Other To these or some such discourses the Duke of Norfolk seemed much to adhere assuring Hereford that in these Apprehensions he had but Copied his own Thoughts and seemed not only to approve of what he said but promised to improve his Interest towards a Regulation of the Matters Complained of And perhaps had the words been afterwards by him but as faithfully related and by the King as candidly taken as they were freely and 〈◊〉 intended many Mischiefs might have been avoided But on the contrary they were maliciously mis-recited and much mis-construed For the Duke of Norfolk had formerly sided with the Lords yet it seems Preferment had taken him off and he was now become wholly addicted to humour the King And therefore to sâ—rue himself yet further into favour acquaints him with these Complaints of the Duke of Hereford but so exaggreated and intermixt with reflective Additions that the King was highly incensed and calling Hereford before him charged him therewith who denying a great part thereof and Nâ—rfolk as stoutly asserting it the former challenged the latter to the Combate who readily accepted thereof which at last the King allows assigning Coventry the place and August following for the time of decision And though it be not much material to our History yet to gratify the vulgar Readers Curiosity it will perhaps be no unwelcome digression to relate the Formality of the intended Duel between these two Puissant Peers On the day therefore appointed each of them attended with a splendid and numerous Retinue appears The Duke of Albemâ—rlâ— was pro Tempore made High Constable and the Duke of Surry High Marshal who came to the Lists Honourably attended with Rich Liveries suitable to their greatness each of their Servants carrying Tipstaves for clearing the Field Where first the Duke of Hereford as Challenger mounted on a White Courser in Caparisons of Green and Blew Velvet Embroidered thick with Swans and Antilopes armed Cap-a-pe with his Sword drawn approached the Lists of whom the Marshal demanding who he was received this Answer I am Henry of Lancaster Duke of Hereford that am come hither to do my Devoir against Thomas Moubray Duke of Norfolk as a false Traytor to God the King the Realm and me And then taking his Oath that his Qurrel was true and just desired liberty to enter the Lists which being granted he put up his Sword pull'd down his Beaver sign'd himself on the Fore-head with the Cross took his Spear and passing the Barriers dismounted and sat down in a Chair of Green Velvet placed in a Travers of Green and Blew Velvet at one end of the Lists Then King Richard enters the Field with great Pomp accompanied with the Earl of S. Paul who came out of France on purpose to be a Spectator of the Combat and attended with most of the Nobles of England and a Guard of Ten Thousand men in Arms to prevent any sudden Tumult or disorders His Majesty being seated in a Chair of State one of the Kings at Arms made Proclamation That none but such as were appointed to Marshall the Field should touch any part of the Lists upon pain of Death Which ended another Herald cryeth Behold here Henry of Lancaster Duke of Hereford Appellant who is entred into the Royal Lists to do his devoir against Thomas Moubray Duke of Norfolk upon pain of being counted false and Reâ—reant Immediatly upon this appeared the Duke of Norfolk bravely mounted his Horse barbed with Crimson-velvet embroydered with Lions of Silver and Mulberry Trees proper and having taken a like Oath before the Constable and Marshal that his Quarrel was Right and Just entred the Field crying aloud God aid the Right and then lighted from his Horse placing himself in a Chair of Crimson Velvet opposite to Hereford at the other end of the Lists the Marshal viewed their Spears to see that they were of equal length and carried the one himself to the Duke of Hereford and sent the other by a Knight to the Duke of Norfolk This done Proclamation was made to mount and address themselves to the Combat Upon which the Dukes instantly mount their Horses closed their Beavers casting their Spears into their Rest when the Trumpet sounded and the Duke of Hereford put his Horse forward but before Norfolk stirred the King cast down his Warder and the Heralds cryed stay stay Then the King causing the Spears to be taken from them they returned to their Chairs whilst he retired to Council to debate what was fit to be done in so weighty a cause where after two Hours debate their doom was agreed upon without fighting and one Sir John Bouray by the Kings Command after silence proclaim'd read their Sentence which was thus That forasmuch as the Dukes Appellant and Defendant had honourably appeared in the List Royal and were not only ready but forward to entertain the Combat therefore it being an Affair of great consequence for avoiding the Effusion of Christian Blood the King by the advice of his Council had decreed That Henry Duke of Hereford should within 15 days depart the Realm not to return within the space of Ten Years on pain of Death without the Kings special Licence and after a Second Proclamation Sentence of Banishment was also read against the Duke of Norfolk but with these several aggravations First that the same was for Life Secondly that the Cause thereof was expressed to be for having urtered Seditious words whereof he could not produce any proof And Thirdly it was added as part of his further punishment That the â—ing should receive the Revenues of his Lands until he were satisfied all such Sums of Money as the said Duke had taken out of the King's Coffers on pretence of paying the Garrison of Callice And further it was proclaimed That no person from thenceforth should presume to Petition or Intercede with the King in the behalf of either of these Dukes to alter this sentence on pain of his Majesties high displeasure which being so declared the King called them both before him and took of them a Solemn Oath That they should never Converse together beyond the Seas nor willingly come into each other's Company The Duke of Norfolk soon after in great grief and trouble of mind departed into Germany and from thence to Venice where in a short time he died with sorrow leaving this cautionary Lesson to all Courtiers That greatness abused by whispering untruths draweth if discovered certainty of destruction And observable it is that his Banishment was pronunced on the very day Twelve Month on which the Duke of Glocester had by his order been Murdered at Calice so
same was very expedient did each man singly by himself and in Common with the People unanimously Admit the said Cession and Renunciation After which Admission it was then and there publickly declared that besides such Cession and Renunciation so as aforesaid admitted It would be very expedient and profitable to the Kingdom for the removing of all Scruples and taking away sinister suspitions That very many Crimes and Defects by the said King about the ill Governance of his Kingdom very often committed reduced into writing by way of Articles by reason of which as himself affirmed in the Cession by him made he was deservedly to be deposed should be publickly read and declared to the People And so the greatest part of the said Articles were then and there read through The Tenour of all which Articles is such But yet in the Roll before the Articles there are first these words Here followeth the form of the Oath used and accustomed to be taken by the Kings of England at their Coronation which the Archbishop of Canterbury hath used to require and receive from the said Kings as in the Book of the Pontifical Archbishops and Bishops more fully is contained Which Oath Richard the Second after the Conquest of England did take at his Coronation and the same was administred by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the very same Oath the King afterwards repeated as in the Rolls of the Chancery may more fully be found of Record Thou shall keep to the Church of God and People Intire Peace and Concord in God according to thy power The King shall answer I will keep them Thou shalt in all thy Judgements cause to be done equal and right Justice and discretion in mercy and in Truth according to thy power He shall answer I will do so Thou dost grant the just Laws and Customes as shall be held and dost promise the same shall by thee be protected and for the Honour of God Corroborated quas vulgus elegerit which the People shall chuse to the utmost of thy power He shall answer I do so grant and promise To the aforesaid Questions such others are added as shall be just and all things being so pronounced the King by his own Oath on the Altar before all the Assembly Confirms and Promises that he will 〈◊〉 and observe the same Then follow THE OBJECTIONS or ARTICLES Against the King touching his Deposition IMprimis It is objected against King Richard that whereas by reason of his ill Government viz. His giving away the Goods and Possessions belonging to his Crown and that to Persons unworthy and his indiscreet squandering the same away otherwise adn to that end imposing without cause Collections and other grievous burthens on his People more than they were able to bear and also innumerable other Evils by his assent and Command perpetrated there were by the whole Parliament certain Prelates and others Temporal Lords Elected and Assigned who might with all their power and at their own Charges faithfully labour about the just Government of the Realm Yet the King causing a Conventicle to be held by him with his accomplices the said Lords as well Spiritual as Temporal so occupied about the safety and profit of the Kingdom did propose to impeach of High Treason and did violently draw the Judges of the Kingdom for fear of Death and Corporal Tortures to such his wicked purpose most vigorously striving to destroy the said Lords II. Item The said King lately at Shrâ—wsbury caused several and the greater part of the Judges to come before him and his Favourites privatly in a Chamber and by Menaces and Various Terrors as such affrightments as might fall even upon men of constant Resolutions did induce cause and compel them severally to answer certain Questions there propounded on the behalf of the King concerning the Laws of his Kingdom besides and against their will and otherwise than they would have answered had they been at Liberty and unforced By colour of which answers the said King purposed to have proceeded afterwards to the destruction of Thomas Duke of Glocester and the Earls of Arundel and VVarwick and other Lords against whose deeds and behaviour the said King was much incensed chiefly because they desired the said King to be under good Guidance But Providence withstanding it by the resistance and power of the said Lords the King was not able to bring such his design to effect III. Item When the Lords Temporal defending themselves had withstood his malice and fraud and the said King had prefix'd a day for holding his Parliament to do them and other Inhabitants of the Realm Justice in that behalf and the said Temporal Lords were quietly and peaceably gone home and at Rest in their houses in hope and confidence of the said Parliament the King secretly sent the Duke of Ireland with his Letters and Standard towards Chester and there gathered multitudes in Arms and caused them to rise against the said Lords the Nobles of the Kingdom and Servants of the State publickly erecting his Standard against the Peace which he had Sworn to keep From whence slaughters of men Captivities Dissentions and other infinite mischiefs did ensue throughout the whole Kingdom By which Act he became Guilty of Perjury IV. Item Although the said King had in full Parliament and by the assent thereof Pardoned the said Duke of Glocester and Earls of Arundel and Warwick and all their Assistants and others all offences and had for many years shown Signs of Peace and Love to the said Duke and Earls and to the rest appeared with a pleasant and benign Countenance Yet the said King always and continually bearing Gall in his Heart did at last taking an Opportunity cause the said Duke of Glocester the Uncle of him the said King and also the Son of Edward late King of England of happy memory and Constable of England then humbly going to meet the said King in solemn Procession and the said Earls of Arundel and Wâ—â—â—ick to be taken and Arrested and him the said Duke out of the Kingdom of England to the Town of Callice did cause to be led and there imprisoned and under the Custody of the Earl of Nottingham and of the Appellors of the said Duke detained and without answer or any lawful process whatsoever did inhumanely and cruelly cause to be suffocated strangled and murdered And the Earl of Arundel though he pleaded as well the General Pardon as a Pardon afterwards to him specially granted and desired justice to be done him yet in his Parliament encompassed with armed men and innumerable Archers of the People by him gathered to that purpose by Pressing did damnably cause to be Beheaded And the Earl of Warwick and Lord Cobham did commit to perpetual Imprisonment wickedly and against Justice and the Laws of his Kingdom and his express Oath confiscating their Lands and Tenements as well Fee-simple as Fee-tail from them and their Heirs and giving the same to their Appellors V.
to free the Nation from all Invasions and Pyracies wherewith it was lamentably infested and to perform other very advantageous Services for the Publick Whereupon he obtained an Order for the same notwithstanding the Proviso in the Act so impossible it is de facto to bind up the Hands of Power But though some Naval Preparations were made yet little was effected to repel or prevent those Injuries and Depredations which the Nation suffered by Sea from the French on the one side and the Scottish Pickaroons on the other so that by the common neglect of securing the Coasts and scowring the Seas our Merchants durst not Traffick abroad for fear of Pyrates who hovered in every Corner but especially of one Mercer a bold and potent Scottish Rover who having drawn together a considerable Fleet of French Scots and Spaniards daily committed insufferable Outrages spoiling all they met Hereupon the said Alderman Philpot first complained of these Grievances to the Kings Council humbly Remonstrating the Damages sustained and imploring Redress But receiving from them only fair Promises and no Relief full of grief and disdain to see his Country-men thus devoured by those insolent Water-vermin He at length Provided Victualled and Man'd forth at his own proper Costs and Charges a competent Fleet of tall Ships himself in person putting forth with them to Sea where he soon encountred the Pyrates took the said Mercer destroyed his Ships and recovered most of the Prizes formerly taken with Fifteen Spanish Bottoms well fraught with Riches besides many French and Scottish Ships and so return'd with Triumph and the general Acclamations of the People But Envy is always the Attendant of extraordinary Vertue instead of Thanks or Reward several of the Nobles from whom he seemed to have snatcht by this his fortunate Attempt the Glory of that Service which their Country justly though in vain expected from them passed harsh Censures on his forwardness and particularly the Earl of Stafford called him in question at the Council-Table for presuming being but a private man for to levy Arms and equip a Fleet without Authority But Philpot with a prudent Gallantry composed of an undaunted Innocency and an humble Merit gave such a justifiable Account of the Act as satisfied the Board or at least silenc'd his Accusers For thus in particular to that Lord he is said to have answered I would have your Honour undoubtedly know that I did not adventure my Money my Person and my Men to the dangers of the Sea and hazards of War with any design to Rob your Lordship and your Collegues of the Glory of Chivalry or Fame of Military Atchievements and gain it to my self But condoling the losses of my fellow Citizens and misery of my Country which by your sloth from a most noble Kingdom giving Laws to all her Neighbours is sunk into so deplored a state as to ly open to the Insolencies and Pillagings of the vilest of Nations and men whilst yet not one of you lent a hand her defence I freely exposed my self and mine for her deliverance and the publick safety to which the Earl had nothing to reply About the same time viz. in the Second Year of the King there happened a Fray which not so much for the importance of the Quarrel as a rare Example of Fidelity and honesty attending it I cannot but Relate Though even the thing it self in those ignorantly zealous times wanted not its ill Influence on the Publick and the Monkish Historians cry out about it as Tragically as if Heaven and Earth were ingag'd all Christianity at Stake and the Pillars of Religion in danger The business thus Two valiant Squires Robert Haule and John Schakel in the late Wars in Spain under Prince Edward chanc'd to take the Count de Dena a Spanish Don of great Quality and Estate who was fairly by the Law of Arms adjudg'd their Prisoner and brought into England where he left his Eldest Son with them as a Pledge whilst he went home to raise his ransome the Son swearing to continue with them till it came but the Father being got into Spain never regarded to send the Money but in little time dies whereby the Honour and Estate devolves to the Young Hostage which being understood by King Edward for in his days happened this first part of the Story both he and Prince Edward's Son were very importunate with these two Gentlemen to release the Spanish Cavaleir which they desired either in favour to the Duke of Lancaster who thought by the help of this Nobleman to faciliate his pretentions to the Crown of Castile or else with an intent to Match him to Mathilda Relict of the Lord Courtney the Kings Sister but no matter what their Design was the Squires were so far from parting with him that they would not discover where he was and so were sent to the Tower whence making their escape they took Sanctuary in Westminster Abbey and there continued till now the Duke of Lancaster resolved to ferret them out to which purpose Fifty men at Arms were sent thither who entring the Sanctuary put a trick upon John Schakel and soon got him out and hurried him to the Tower but as for Haule he was more strongly Ensconc'd in the Church amongst the Monks and at Mass however thither they went and after a little expostulation why he would so refractorily disobey the Kings Command when even Majesty had condescended to a request they tell him he must go with them which he peremtorily refuses and draws a short Sword and makes at them whereupon they resolve to force him away who still making resistance was at last knockt on the Head amongst them which our Author calls Crown'd with Martyrdom the Monks would fain have rescued him but drust not because they saw the Souldiers too strong for them however the Archbishop of Canterbury presently thundred out an Excommunication against these Violaters of the Sanctuary and all their abettors the King and his Mother and his Uncle Lancaster only excepted And the Bishop of London did the like for several days together but about a Year after by the mediation of divers grave and venerable Persons the matter was composed on these terms that the said Schakel who was so sent to the Tower should discover and deliver up the said Count de Dena aud so be set at liberty upon consideration that the King should settle upon him Lands to the value of an Hundred Marks per annum and pay him down Five hundred Marks ready Money in lieu of the expected Ransom and also that his Majesty for satisfaction to the Church should at his proper Charges erect a Chauntry of Five Priests for ever to pray for the Soul of him whom his Officers had so slain though one would have thought dying in their Opinion a Martyr he might have had no great need of such everlasting Orisons But still the more surprizing Intrigue of the Tragedy is behind when Schakel came to produce his
Captive he shew'd them his man that waited on him for the brave Spaniard had that regard to his Word which he had passed that he scorn'd to discover himself without his leave but on the contrary had all along both in the Sanctuary and in the Tower faithfully and submissively serv'd him in disguise neglecting both his Quality and Interest when they stood in competition with his Honour a piece of Gallantry and generous Honesty scarce to be parallel'd in Story About the Feast of S. Luke a Parliament was held at Glocester with an intent as was thought to have alipp'd the Wings of the Towering Church-men but finding their Interest too strong nothing of that kind was offered but for the Kings further supply it was granted that he should have of the Merchants for every Sack of Wool Exported a Mark and for every Twenty shillings of Wares or Merchandizes whatsoever Imported from beyound the Seas Six pence to be paid by the Buyer 1379. The next year another Parliament was called at London where the Priviledges of the Sanctuary at Westminster were regulated for whereas before great numbers of Persons when they were got in Debt would shelter themselves and waste in Revelling and Debauchery their Revenues which could not be touched for their just Debts to the grievous prejudice of their Creditors it was now Ordained That if upon Proclamation made they should not surrender themselves them their Goods should be sold and their Lands extended where-ever found till their Debts satisfied There was also a new Tax granted but because the Commons were already much impoverisht it was laid only on the Nobility Gentry and Clergy by way of Poll Viz. Dukes and Archbishops Ten Marks apiece every Earl Bishop and Mitred Abbot Six Marks besides each Abbot to pay Forty Pence per Head for all his Monks and so Justices Sheriffs Knights Esquires Rectors Vicars and even down to simple Chaplains every one his Allotment This Summer there was a most dreadful Pestilence in England especially in the Northern parts insomuch that whole Families were swept away Nay Towns and Villages left without Inhabitants During the Heat of which Calamity the Scots took their Advantage to enter the Land and committed great Spoils in small Parties but durst not stay for fear of the Infection and yet as our Author relates they had got a wonderful Preservative against it for asking some English the reason of so great a Mortality amongst them and being told it came by the Grace of God they therefore every Morning with great solemnity used this Charm or if any body will call it so Prayer God and Saint Mango Saint Roman and Saint Andrew shield us this day from God's Grace and the foul Death that English men die upon 1380. The next Year in Jan. the Parliament was again Assembled at London and continued till March wherein to avoid unnecessary Charge it was agreed that the Tutelage of the King should be committed but to one and by unanimous consent Thomas Beuchamp Earl of Warwick was pitch'd upon for the Man an Honourable allowance being assign'd to him out of the Royal Exchequer for his pains and care therein to be taken but the Young King though a Minor as to the Publick Affairs thought himself of Age sufficient at least to conduct himself in his private and personal concerns for though for want of ripening experience his Wisdom had not time to Bud yet his Will was grown to full Strength being already Plunged in the Gulf of pleasure and Vanities of Youth he set himself to Promote such as most pleased him with Flatteries rather than such as were truly qualified to serve him with solid Council and able conduct whence arose Three fatal mischiefs for First his Affairs were indiscreetly managed and without success by reason unfit Ministers were imploy'd about them Secondly debauchery was increased First in the Court and next throughout the Kingdom for many of the Young Nobility observing the secret favours and distastes of the King studying in all things to gratifie his pleasure gave up themselves to dissolute and dishonourable courses which ill precedents descended like an Infection amongst the Gentry and Commonalty for Vice always finds too many followers even when it hath no incouragers but much more doth it increase when flusht with Great Examples and made the Scale or perferment And lastly the King by thus misplaceing his favours impaired the Veneration due to Majesty became Cheap in the Eyes of his Subjects and less respected for it is almost as dangerous to a Prince to have evil and despised Favourites and Adherents as to be evil or despicable himself In this Parliament was granted a Tenth from the Clergy and a Fifteenth from the Laiety but on condition that from thence which was March 1380. to Michaelmas 1381. there should be no more Parliaments that is no more Money rais'd This Summer the King and Council sent a strong Army to assist the Duke of Bretaigne under the Command of his Unckle Thomas of Woodstock Sir Thomas Peircy c. who landing at Calice forced their passage through the Body of France leading their Troops to and fro and laying the Countrey waste at their pleasure without any resistance till they came to the Borders of Bretaign where they were joyfully received but the very Terror of their March had disposed the French to an accomodation so that they made peace with the Duke of Bretaign whereupon our Army without any other advantages but those of Renown and Glory returned home Notwithstanding it was agreed in the last Parliament to the contrary yet by the too great prevalency of some Counsellors a Parliament against the will and consent of almost all the Great Men of the Land was this same Year about the Feast of S. Martin which is Novemb. 10th Conven'd at Northampton a place most unfit for such an Assembly as well for that it was Winter and scarce any Fewel for Firing there to be procured as also because it afforded not Lodgings enow to entertain those that should have resorted thither but perhaps so much the more fit for the design of the small Politicians for here they got past a very severe Tax or Poll bill Whereby every Priest Secular or Religious was to pay a Noble and every Nun as much and every Man and Woman Married or unmarried being of the age of Sixteen years Twelve Pence Beggars onely excepted the paying whereof was esteem'd very grievous by the People especially of the poorer sort And that which aggravated their misery was that when it came into the Exchequer it was so handled by those imploied about it that it amounted not to so much as some former Taxes which were given in less proportion whereupon some of the Kings Ministers complained that it had not been duly Collected and one John Legg and three of his Associates obtained a Commission to inspect and review the Levy bargaining to give the King a great Sum of Money for the same But indeed on
of Premunice against Provisors and the abuses of Begging Fryars which so bridled and restrained the Popes Rampant Usurpations that he could but little prevail here in England during the Reign of King Edward the Third and King Richard the Second Towards making of which Laws Wickliffe's Doctrine struck a great stroak he maintaining very learnedly and stoutly the Kings jurisdiction Crown and Dignity against Papal and all kind of Encroachments by the Laws Civil Cannon and Common of which last especially he made great use and was well skill'd therein But for full satisfaction concerning this famous Man I shall here add the Testimonial of the University given in his behalf after his Death as follows viz. TO all singular the Children of our holy Mother the Church to whom these presents shall come the Vice-Chancellor of the Vniversity of Oxford with the whole Congregation of the Masters wish perpetual health in the Lord Forasmuch as it is not commonly seen â—hat the Acts and Monuments of Valiant men nor the praise and merits of good men should be pass'd over and hidden with perpetual silence but that true report and fame should continually spread abroad the same in strange and far distant places both in Testimony thereof and for the example of others Forasmuch also as the provident discretion of Mans nature hath devised this defence against slander that when ever Witnesses by Word of Mouth cannot be present the Pen by Writing may supply the same Therefore the special good will and care which we bare unto John Wickliff sometime Child of this our Vniversity and Professor of Divinity moving and exciting our minds as his manners and conditions required no less with one Mind Voice and Testimony we do witness all his conditions and doings throughout his whole life to have been most sincere and commendable whose honest manners good disposition profoundness of learning and most redolent fame we desire the more earnestly to be notified to and celebrated by all the faithful for that we understand the maturity and ripeness of his Conversation his diligent Labors and Travels tend much to the Praise of God the help and safeguard of others and the profit of truth Wherefore we signify unto you by these presents that his Conversation even from his youth upwards unto the time of his death was so praise-worthy and honest that never at any time was there any note or spot of suspicion noised of him but in his answering reading preaching and determining he behaved himself laudably and as a stout Champion of the Faith vanquishing by the force of the Scriptures all such who by their wilful Beggary Blasphemed and slandered Christ's Religion Neither was this said Doctor Convict of any Heresie or burned by our Prelates Note his Bones were not yet but long after ordered to be taken up and burnt by the Council of Constance after his Burial For God forbid thaâ— our Prelates should have condemned a man of such honesty 〈◊〉 an Heretick who amongst all the rest of the Vniversity had Written in Logick Philosophy Divinity Morality and the Speculative Art beyond comparison the knowledg of all which things we desire to testifie that the fame and renown of this said Doctor may be more evident and had in repute amongst those into whose hands these present Letters Testimonial shall come In Witness whereof we have caused these our Letters Testimonial to be Sealed with our Common Seal dated at Oxford in our Congregation House the 15. of October in the Year of our Lord 1406. About the same time several of Wickliffs followers as Nicholas of Hartford John Aston John Purney and other Priests were much troubled for the same and the like Opinions among the rest our Author Henry de Knyghton tells us that on Palm Sunday he heard one at Leicester Preaching these horrible Heresies and Errors in his Opinion following viz. That to Blabber with the Lipps and multiply Words in Prayer signified nothing That to give Money for Celebrating of Masses would not avail any body unless he led a good Life That Christ never commanded any Body to Begg That no Man is bound to give Almes to any that has better Clâ—athes and outward accomodation than himself That none is truly a Prelate nor capable of a Bishoprick unless he be a Teacher and Preacher That Money got by Confessions is accursed and as well the giver as receiver Excommunicate That Preachers carrying about Baggs and Scripps are false Teachers since Christ in his Gospel Commands the contrary and the true Disciples of Christ never practised it That for those to Begg who are able to work is Condemned by the Law Civil and no where approved by the Law Evangelical That Christ Converted many of divers States and Conditions to the Faith but we do not find in the Holy Scripture that ever he converted a Priest These Opinions spreading so fast and the Bishops perceiving that yet they had not sufficient Authority by any Law or Statute of this Realm to proceed unto Death or Imprisonment against any for matters of Religion they therefore solicited the King for the power of the Temporal Sword who overcome with their importunity or perhaps incited by hopes of some Subsidy to be given him by the Clergy was content to give his Assent to an Ordinance bearing the name of an Act made in the Parliament holden at Westminster Anno Quint. R. 2. Ca. 5. in these Words ITem forasmuch as it is openly known that there be divers evil Persons within the Realm going from Country to Country and from Town to Town in certain Habits under dissimulation of great Holiness and without the License of the Ordinaries of the places or other sufficient Authority Preaching daily not only in Churches and Church-yards but also in Markets Fairs and open Places where a great Congregation of People is divers Sermons containing Heresies and notorious Errors to the great emblemishing of Christian Faith and Destruction of thr Laws and of the Estate of Holy Church to the great Peril of the Souls of the People and of all the Realm of England as more plainly is found and sufficiently proved before the Reverend Father in God the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops and other Prelates Masters of Divinity and Doctors of the Canon and of Civil Law and a great part of the Clergy of the said Realm specially assembled for this great cause which Persons do also Preach divers matters of slaunder to ingender discord and dissention betwixt divers Estates of the said Realm as well Spiritual as Temporal in exciting of the People to the great Peril of all the Realm which Preachers cited or summoned before the Ordinaries of the places there to answer to that whereof they be impeached they will not obey their Summons and Commands nor care not for their Monitions nor Censures of the Holy Church but expresly despise them And moreover by their subtil and ingenious words do draw the People to hear their Sermons and do
as in our Courts and all other places of Our Realm And by what persons Our Revenues and the substance of Our Crown have been withdrawn or diminished or the Common Law interrupted or delayed or any other Damage that hath happened to Vs. Giving and by these Presents Granting of Our Authority and by the Advice and Assent of Our said Subjects unto Our said Counsellors or any Six of them and to Our Great Officers aforesaid full Power and Authority General and Special to enter Our Palace and Houshold and to call before them all Our Officers and to command all Rolls Records and other Minuments and Evidences and all Defaults Wastes and Excesses found in Our said Houshold and in other Courts and Places and all Deceits Extortions Oppressions Damages and Grievances whatsoever that are to the prejudice damage and distress of Vs and Our Crown and the Estate of Our said Realm in general though not herein particularly expressed or specified To Amend Correct Repair Redress Reform and put into good and due Order and Establishment And also to hear and receive the Complaints of all Our Liege People as well for Vs and themselves against our said Officers and Counsellors And all Oppressions Wrongs and Injuries which cannot so well be amended and determined in the Courts of the Common Law And to discuss and finally determine all the Matters aforesaid and full Execution thereof to Award as to them shall seem most meet for the Honour and Profits of Vs Our Estate and the Redintegration of the Rights and Profits of Our Crown and the better Governance of the Peace and Laws of Our Kingdom and the Relief of Our said People In which Proceedings if difference of Opinion happen amongst Our said Counsellors the same shall be concluded by Majority of Votes And We Command and Charge all Prelates Dukes Earls Barons Sheriffs the Treasurer and Controller and all other Officers of Our Houshold Justices de Banco and other Officers Ministers and Liege Subjects whatsoever That to Our said Counsellors and Officers in manner aforesaid they be Obedient Aiding and Assisting In Witness whereof c. Given under Our Great Seal the 19th day of November BUT notwithstanding all these Provisions no sooner was the Parliament Dissolv'd but the King look'd upon all they had done to be Dissolved likewise or at least De facto he esteem'd as nothing all their Complaints against de Pole the Duke of Ireland the Archbishop of York and the rest for he soon received them into greater Favour and Confidence if it might be than ever before Who being full of Revenge themselves were not wanting to blow their Poyson into his Royal Breast for thus their fatal Whispers and Suggestions are exprest by Trussel in his Continuation of Daniel's History of England Fol. 9. These Triumvirs saith he incensed the King against the Nobles that were best deserving partly upon Disgraces desertfully done unto them partly upon malicious Emulation to see others so generally Belov'd except of the King and themselves so Contemptible And that their private Spleen might carry some shew of Publick Respect they suggested to the King he was but half yea not half a King For said they If we respect matters of State you bear the Sword but they sway it you have the Shew but they have the Authority of a Prince using your Name as a colourable Pretext to their Proceedings and your Person as a Cypher to make their Number the greater by the Addition thereof without which they could be nothing neither are you any thing more by being so placed Look to the Duty of your Subjects and you shall finde it is at their Devotion For you cannot Command nor Demand but with such Limitations and Exceptions as they please to propose And for your private Actions your Bounty the most to be Celebrated Vertue in a Prince is restrained your Expences measured and your Affections confined to Frown or Favour as they shall please to prescribe you What Ward is so much under Government of his Guardian Wherein will or can they more abridge you except they should take from you the Place as they have done the Power of a Prince c. Thus these Scycophants whisper'd their venomous Suggestions to exasperate the King against his best Subjects whose Youth and Weakness rendred him too much disposed for such Impressions and framed his conscious Mind to a full but needless fear He was much incensed at the Removal of his Chancellor and Treasurer out of their Offices and that the Duke of Ireland rather than part with whom he would hazard All must go out of the Realm supposing it a Restraint to his Regal Authority not to have Absolute Power in all things to give and forgive at his pleasure Now when these private Incendiaries perceived the King's Humour once sharpned they so ply'd him with plausible perswasions that though naturally he was not of any cruel Disposition yet they drew him into many violent and indirect courses partly through negligence to search out the Truth partly through delight to be flattered and a vain resolute humour to support those beyond Reason whom he had Advanced without Merit In the beginning of March 1387. the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham pursuant to the Order of the late Parliament put to Sea with a Fleet which they manag'd with such Courage and Conduct that before Midsummer-day besides other famous Exploits they had taken about One hundred and sixty French Ships richly laden But the Court-Ear-wigs the Duke of Ireland and the rest enviously misrepresented all their Services unto the King whispering That they had onely undone a few Merchants which it would have been more for our Honour and Interest to have let alone so that at their Return instead of Respect and Thanks the King whose equal unhappiness it was to grace undeserving men and disgrace the deserving lookt upon them but ill and the Duke of Ireland would not look upon them at all Whereupon the Earls in discontent retir'd from Court to their own Country-houses And still more to exasperate both Nobles and People the said Duke of Ireland would now needs be divorced from his Wife Philippa Grand-daughter to King Edward the Third by his Daughter Isabel and the Arch-Duke of Austria a Lady of sufficient Beauty and irreproachable Vertue and in her stead preferred to his Bed one Lancerona a mean Bohemian that waited on the Queen Daughter some say of a Vintner or as others will have it of a Joyner The King took no notice of this Affront offered to his Cousin-german but the Duke of Gloucester her Uncle resented it highly and waited for an opportunity to Revenge it which the other well perceived and was resolved to strike first Easter was now come and past the time limitted by Parliament for the Duke of Ireland's being gone but he though so largely hired to it as aforesaid cared not for that Voyage Onely to wheadle the People the King went down with him into Wales on
should submit to the disproportionate force of the Invader But these Triumphs cost King Richard dear in the sequel for whilst he is thus engaged and absent from his discontented Kingdom of England the Duke of Lancaster thinks it the only proper time to put in execution what he and others his Confederates had been consulting of Wherefore dispatching some of his trusty Emissaries over to acquaint his Friends and provide Arms and all necessaries for his Arrival He addresses himself to the French King with a Complement That he intended to pay a Visit to his Kinsman John Duke of Britain and therefore desired his Majesties Royal Letters of safe Conduct which being granted he there very privately levied a few Souldiers with whom hiring three Ships of the Duke of Britain he put to Sea for England accompanied with the forementioned Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury Tho. Heir to Richard late Earl of Arundel the Lord Cobham Sir Thomas Erpington and Sir Thomas Ramstone Knights John Norbury Robert Waterton and Francis Coynt Esquires having not in all above twenty Lances and his whole Retinue besides consisting not of above sixty persons so that 't is hard to judge which was the greatest wonder that he durst attempt or that he did succeed in the Conquest of a Kingdom with so inconsiderable a Company But his Confidence was not so much in the People he brought with him as in the strength he should find here relying altogether on the favour and assistance of the people of the Realm whom he knew to be generally male-contented and eager to change their present Governours for any that would but promise them a Melioration of their Condition for the future Yet being wary not to push things on beyound Possibility of a Retreat As he did not presently Land but lay cruising up and down sometimes appearing on one Coast and sometimes on another that he might the better discover how the Inclinations of the people stood and what Forces were ready either to receive or resist him till at last being satisfied therein he put on shore without any opposition about the biginning of June at Ravenspurre in Yorkshire So did he not then make any pretensions to the Crown but gave out very solemnly that he came only to regain possession of the Dutchy of Lancaster and the rest of his lawful Inheritance which all the Nation knew was wrongfully detained from him and so were the more ready to pity and favour him in a Cause notoriously just and against which there was no objection His Arrival was no sooner known but there repaired to him the Lords Willoughby Ross Darcy and Beaumout and shorly after at Doncaster the Earl of Northumberland and his Son Sir Henry Piercy with the Earl of Westmorland and great numbers of the Gentry and common people Intelligence hereof being soon conveied to the Duke of York the Kings eldest Uncle and with whom during his absence he had intrusted the Governance of the Realm He calls together the Bishop of Chichester Lord Chancellor Scroop Earl of Wiltshire Lord Treasurer Sir John Bushy Sir Henry Green Sir William Bagot and Sir John Russel chief Favourites of the Kings Privy Council to consult what was to be done in this Exigency of Affairs Amongst whom whether designedly by some or ignorantly by others I cannot say but I am sure by all perniciously for King Richards Interest It was concluded to abandon London and appoint the Rendezvous for levying Forces against the Duke at S. Albans But when the people out of sundry Counties were drawn thither to be mustered they declared They would not act any thing to the prejudice of the said Duke who they affirmed was unjustly expelled his Country and unlawfully kept from his Inheritance This Refusal of the Commons to serve being looked upon as a very ill Omen to the Kings Cause The Earl of Wiltshire Sir John Bushy Sir William Bagot and Sir Henry Green forsook the Duke of York and fled to Bristol intending to pass the Seas into Ireland to the King And time it was especially for them to take their Heels for these Four were those that were said to have taken of the King his Kingdom to Farm and on that account and other Greivances and Oppressions which they had occasioned were become so odious to the People that their very presence turned away many of the Subjects hearts from their Soveraign it being the displeasure against them rather than any disatisfaction to the Kings Person that caused this general Revolt The Duke of York seeing their flight and the Humour of the Generality favouring Lancaster and loath to run the adventure of an improbable Resistance gave over the Cause and thereupou the rest of the Counsellors either openly declared for the said Duke or secretly held Correspondence with hm resolving to swim with the general Torrent in hopes of greater safety thereby than by stemming that impetuous Tide which bore down all before it For never did Snow-ball encrease so fast by rolling as the Duke of Lancaster's Forces were augmented by his March so that they were quickly grown sixty thousand strong and he resolving to â—ollow the Channel whilst the Current was fierce hastned with his Troops to London that possessing himself thereof being the chief place within the Kingdom for Strength and Store he might best there make the Seat of War and be easiest accommodated both with Provision and Ammunition In his whole March no Opposition was seen no Hostility shewn but all along Gentlemen of the best quality out of Affection or Fear or hope of Reward resorted to his Tents and where ever he stayed rich Presents were mad him and his Army supplyed with necessaries even to superfluity and particularly at London he was received with Triumphant Pageants and Shews solemn Processions of the Clergy and loud Acclamations of the People But he was more regardful of his Affairs than to stay long there and therefore having fix'd the Citizens firm to his Interest and knowing all the danger that could threaten him must be from King Richard's return out of Ireland To obviate that and overtake the fugitive Favourites who were fled to Bristol he with speedy Marches pursued them thither where finding the Castle fortified against him he assaults it so briskly that in Four daies time he forc'd it to a surrender and taking therein the Earl of Wiltshire Lord Treasurer Sir John Bushy and Sir Henry Green he the very next day Sacrificed them to the importunate rage of the incensed People causing them all Three to be beheaded But as for Sir William Bagot he was got to Chester and from thence shifting over into Ireland alone escaped the present vengeance This Execution if it had not been just must yet be accounted Politick for partly because it was so grateful to the People and partly because it excluded all hope of the Kings Pardon It became a great ingagement to all the Dukes followers to adhere more firmly to him for the future The Duke had
now been Six Weeks in England and the whole Land in effect had submitted to him during all which time there was no news of King Richard whether it were that by reason of contrary Winds he had no Intelligence as some write or that on the first advice he slighted it according to the Humour of some weak Spirits who contemn dangers remote but are astonished at them when they approach too nigh However at last upon certain news in what an hazardous condition his affairs stood he caused the Sons of the Dukes of Glocester and Lancaster to be imprisoned in Trim Castle and determined forthwith for England but the Duke of Aumerle his Principal Counsellor perswaded him to stay till all his preparations were ready Which fatal Council it was King Richard's ill Destiny to follow yet presently sent over the Earl of Salisbury to raise him an Army in Wales and Cheshire against his own coming which he solemnly promised should be withing six days at furthest The Earl imployed his pains so well that he had soon gotten together Forty thousand men but the six days and more being elaps'd and the King not appearing made them murmur and suspect he was dead or come to some disaster but the Earl perswaded them to have patience some few days longer which being likwise expired and no tidings of him they then in discontent broke up and retired to their respective homes At length eighteen days after he had sent away the Earl the King took Shipping attended with Aumerl Exeter Surry the Bishop of London Exeter and Carlile and others of the Nobility and landed in Wales having about him a Competent number of Cheshire men But when he understood that the other Forces he expected to joyn with him were baulk'd and disbanded that most of his Fortresses from Scotland to Bristol had surrendred to Lancaster that the Londoners espoused his Interest that the greatest number of the Nobility and Commons almost in general took part with him and especially that his principal Councellors had lost their Heads at Bristol he was so far from retaining the Magnanimity of a King that he almost left off to be a Man and totally abandoned himself to despair Perplext in uncertainties either where to stay or whither to stir destitute both of Knowledge and Resolution in himself for such amazing Difficulties and obnoxious to weak wavering and unfaithful Counsels from others some advised him to march further into the Land before those Forces he had fell from him alledging that Fortune seconds Valour That in all places he should find some who out of duty or affection or for hire would follow his Standard which was illustrated with Majesty and guarded with Right Others perswaded him to go back into Ireland or over to his Father-in-law of France and thence to return when the Paroxism was a little over and himself better strengthned But the King unacquainted with Marshal Affairs rejected both Counsels and taking a middle course which always in Extreams of that kind is the worst resolved to stay in Wales to attend to what Head this Humour would rise His Souldiers Endeavourd to encourage him to venture a Battel vowing they would live and die with him but this could not at all raise his drooping Spirits but in the Night he stole away from his Army and with the Dukes of Exeter and Surry The Bishop of Carlile Sir Stephen Scroop and half a score more retired to the Castle of Conway where the Earl of Worcester Steward of His Majesties Houshold seeing his Masters Affairs in that desperate state or to revenge the Proclaiming of his Brother the Earl of Northumberland Traytor as before was mentioned at the Kings going for Ireland did openly in the Hall before all the Kings Servants break his white Staff of Office and forthwith repaired to the Duke of Lancaster and the rest of the Royal Retinue by his Example scattered and shifted every one for himself Such Court-flies and treacherous Attendants being but like Crows to a dead Carcass who flock to it not to defend it but to devour it for no sooner have they pickt off the flesh to the bones and find no more sustenance but they are upon the wing to be gone The Duke of Lancaster upon Advice of King Richards Arrival out of Ireland left the Duke of York who was now joyned with him at Bristol and marched in the Head of his Troops to Glocester then to Ross afterwards to Hereford where repaired to him the Bishop of that See and Sir Edmund Mortimer on the Sunday following he went to Leymster and there the Lord Carleton came to him from thence he went to Ludlow and the next day to Shrewsbury and thither came to him Sir Robert and Sir John Leigh and other persons of quality being sent from Chester to offer him their Service as also the Lord Scales and the Lord Bardolph out of Ireland From Shrewsbury he repaired to Chester where he dispatcht an Express into Ireland to fetch over his Son and Heir and likewise the Duke of Glocester's Son and Heir both whom King Richard had left in Custody there but it seems their Keepers durst no longer detain them after Lancaster commanded them thence for his Son soon after arrived here but the other young Gentleman was unfortunately cast away at Sea About this time the King seeing himself so beset and straitned that he could neither Resist nor Escape desired a Conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Northumberland from whose Negotiation he could certainly hope for little good since the one he had formerly banisht and proclaimed the other a Traytor however they upon safe Conduct coming to him declared That if it might please his Majesty to promise that a Parliament should be Assembled and in the same Justice done and the Duke of Lancaster and his followers receive a General Pardon since what they had done was for the publick Weal of the Realm the Duke would be ready to cast himself at his feet and as an humble Subject obey him in all dutiful Services But the King whether perceiving that all this was but Complement and thinking more to oblige them by an early Voluntary offer of what he saw he must be forc'd to part with or whether confounded in himself he grew weary of wearing a Crown that he was not able to support required only that himself and eight more whom he would name might have an honourable Allowance with Assurance of a private quiet Life and then he would Resign the Crown which was readily condescended unto and the King also desiring to speak with the Duke was removed to Flint Castle Soon after the Duke arriving there with his Army the Archbishop of Canterbury the Duke of Aumerle and the Earl of Worcester were sent before to the King who spying them from the Walls where he stood went down to meet them and observing that they did their accustomed Reverence to him upon their knees courteously took them up