The king that morning, it happened, having spent the night at the private house down the river where his mother had sought refuge after making her escape from the Tower, concluded to go to Westminster to attend mass. His real motive for making this excursion was probably to show the insurgents that he did not fear them, and also, perhaps, to make observations in respect to their condition and movements, without appearing to watch them.

He accordingly went to Westminster, accompanied and escorted by a suitable cortege and guard. The mayor of the city of London was with the party. After hearing mass at Westminster, the king set out on his return home; but, instead of going back through the heart of London, as he had come, he took a circuit to the northward by a road which, as it happened, led through Smithfield, where a great body of the insurgents had assembled, as has already been said. Thus the king came upon them quite unexpectedly both to himself and to them. When he saw them, he halted, and the horsemen who were with him halted too. There were about sixty horsemen in his train.

Some of his officers thought it would be better to avoid a re-encounter with so large a body of the insurgents—for there were about twenty thousand on the field—and recommended that the king's party should turn aside, and go home another way; but the king said "No; he preferred to speak to them."

He would go, he said, and ascertain what it was that they wanted more. He thought that by a friendly colloquy with them he could appease them.

While the king and his party thus halted to consider what to do, the attention of the leaders of the insurgents had been directed toward them. They knew at once that it was the king.

"It is the king," said Walter. "I am going to meet him and speak with him. All the rest of you are to remain here. You must not move from this spot until I come back, unless you see me make this signal."

So saying, Walter made a certain gesture with his hand, which was to be the signal for his men.

"When you see me make this signal," said he, "do you all rush forward and kill every man in the troop except the king. You must not hurt the king. We will take him and keep him. He is young, and we can make him do whatever we say. We will put him at the head of our company, as if he were our commander, and we were obeying his orders, and we will do every thing in his name. In this way we can go wherever we please, all over England, and do what we think best, and there will be no opposition to us."

When I say that Walter gave these orders to his men, I mean that these words were attributed to him by one of the historians of the time. As, however, all the accounts which we have of these transactions were written by persons who hated the insurgents, and wished to present their case in the most unfavorable light possible, we can not depend absolutely on the truth of their accounts, especially in cases like this, when they could not have been present to hear or see.

At any rate, Walter rode up alone to meet the king. He advanced so near to him that his horse's head touched the king's horse. While in this position, a conversation ensued between him and the king. Walter pointed to the vast concourse of men who were assembled in the field, and told the king that they were all under his orders, and that what he commanded them to do they would do. The king told him that if that were the case, he would do well to recommend them all to go to their respective homes. He had granted the petition, he said, which they had offered the day before, and had ordered decrees to be prepared emancipating them from their bondage. He asked Walter what more they required.

Walter replied that they wanted the decrees to be delivered to them.

"We are not willing to depart till we get all the decrees," said he. "There are all these men, and as many more besides in the city, and we wish you to give us all the decrees, that we may take them home ourselves to our several villages and towns."

The king said that the secretaries were preparing the decrees as fast as they could, and the men might depend that those which had not yet been delivered would be sent as soon as they were ready to the villages and towns.

"Go back to your men," he added, "and tell them that they had better return peaceably to their homes. The decrees will all arrive there in due time."

But Walter did not seem at all inclined to go. He looked around upon the king's attendants, and seeing one that he had known before, a squire, who was in immediate attendance on the king's person, he said to him,

"What! You here?"

This squire was the king's sword-bearer. In addition to the king's sword, which it was his duty to carry, he was armed with a dagger of his own.

Walter turned his horse toward the squire and said,

"Let me see that dagger that you have got."

"No," said the squire, drawing back.

"Yes," said the king, "let him take the dagger."

The king was not at all afraid of the rebel, and wished to let him see that he was not afraid of him.

So the squire gave Walter the dagger. Walter took it and examined it in all its parts very carefully, turning it over and over in his hands as he sat upon his horse. It was very richly ornamented, and Walter had probably never had the opportunity to examine closely any thing so beautifully finished before.

After having satisfied himself with examining the dagger, he turned again to the squire:

"And now," said he, "let me see your sword."

"No," said the squire, "this is the king's sword, and it is not going into the hands of such a lowborn fellow as you. And, moreover," he added, after pausing a moment and looking at Walter with an expression of defiance, "if you and I had met somewhere alone, you would not have dared to talk as you have done, not for a heap of gold as high as this church."

There was a famous church, called the Church of St. Bartholomew, near the place where the king and his party had halted.

"By the powers," said Walter, "I will not eat this day before I have your head."

Seeing that a quarrel was impending, the mayor of London and a dozen horsemen rode up and surrounded Walter and the squire.

"Scoundrel!" said the mayor, "how dare you utter such threats as those?"

"What business is that of yours?" said Walter, turning fiercely toward the mayor. "What have you to do with it?"

"Seize him!" said the king; for the king himself was now beginning to lose his patience.

The mayor, encouraged by these words, and being already in a state of boiling indignation and rage, immediately struck a tremendous blow upon Walter's head with a cimeter which he had in his hand. The blow stunned him, and he fell heavily from his horse to the ground. One of the horsemen who had come up with the mayor—a man named John Standwich—immediately dismounted, and thrust the body of Walter through with his sword, killing him on the spot.

In the mean time, the crowd of the insurgents had remained where Walter had left them, watching the proceedings. They had received orders not to move from their position until Walter should make the signal; but when they saw Walter struck down from his horse, and stabbed as he lay on the ground, they cried out, "They have killed our captain. Form the lines! form the lines! We will go and kill every one of them."

So they hastily formed in array, and got their weapons ready, prepared to charge upon the king's party; but Richard, who in all these transactions evinced a degree of bravery and coolness very remarkable for a young man of sixteen, rode forward alone, and boldly, to meet them.

"Gentlemen," said he, "you have no leader but me. I am your king. Remain quiet and peaceable."

The insurgents seemed not to know what to do on hearing these words. Some began to move away, but the more violent and determined kept their ground, and seemed still bent on mischief. The king went back to his party, and asked them what they should do next. Some advised that they should make for the open fields, and try to escape; but the mayor of London advised that they should remain quietly where they were.

"It will be of no use," said he, "for us to try to make our escape, but if we remain here we shall soon have help."

The mayor had already sent horsemen into London to summon help. These messengers spread the cry in the city, "TO SMITHFIELD! TO SMITHFIELD! THEY ARE KILLING THE KING!" This cry produced universal excitement and alarm. The bands of armed men quartered in London were immediately turned out, and great numbers of volunteers too, seizing such weapons as they could find, made haste to march to Smithfield; and thus, in a short time, the king found himself supported by a body of seven or eight thousand men.

Some of his advisers then urged that the whole of this force should fall at once upon the insurgents, and slaughter them without mercy. This it was thought that they could easily do, although the insurgents were far more numerous than they; for the king's party consisted, in great measure, of well-armed and well-disciplined soldiers, while the insurgents were comparatively a helpless and defenseless rabble.

The king, however, would not consent to this. Perhaps somebody advised him what to do, or perhaps it was his own prudence and moderation which suggested his course. He sent messengers forward to remonstrate calmly with the men, and demand of them that they should give up their banners. If they would do so, the messengers said that the king would pardon them. So they gave up their banners. This seemed to be the signal of disbanding, and large parties of the men began to separate from the mass, and move away toward their homes.

Next, the king sent to demand that those who had received decrees of emancipation should return them. They did so; and in this way a considerable number of the decrees were given up. The king tore them to pieces on the field, upon the plea that they were forfeited by the men's having continued in rebellion after the decrees were granted.

The whole mass of the insurgents began now rapidly to get into disorder. They had no head, no banners, and the army which was gathering against them was increasing in strength and resolution every moment. The dispersal went on faster and faster, until at last those that remained threw down their weapons and fled to London.

The king then went home to his mother. She was overjoyed to see him safely returning.

"My dear son," said she, "you can not conceive what pain and anguish I have suffered for you this day."

"Yes, mother," said Richard, "I have no doubt you have suffered a great deal. But it is all over now. Now you can rejoice and thank God, for I have regained my inheritance, the kingdom of England, which I had lost."

* * * * *

After this there was no farther serious trouble. The insurgents were disheartened, and most of them were glad to make the best of their way home. After the danger was past, Richard revoked all the decrees of emancipation which he had issued, on the ground that they had been extorted from him by violence and intimidation, and also that the condition on which they had been granted, namely, that the men should retire at once quietly to their homes, had not been complied with on their part. He found it somewhat difficult to recover them all, but he finally succeeded. He also sent commissions to all the towns and villages which had been implicated in the rebellion, and caused great numbers of persons to be tried and condemned to death. Many thousands were thus executed. Indeed, the rebellion had extended far and wide; for, besides the disturbances in and near London, there had been risings in all parts of the kingdom, and great excesses committed every where.

When the rebellion was thus quelled, things returned for a time into substantially the same condition as before, and yet the bondage of the people was never afterward so abject and hopeless as it had been. A considerable general improvement was the result. Indeed, such outbreaks as this against oppression are like the earthquakes of South America, which, though they cause for the time great terror, and often much destruction, still have the effect to raise the general level of the land, and leave it forever afterward in a better condition than before.

The cause of these rebels, moreover, badly as they managed it, was in the main a just cause; and it is to precisely such convulsive struggles as these, that have been made from time to time by the common people of England in the course of their history, that their descendants, the present commons of England and the people of America, are indebted for the personal rights and liberties which they now enjoy.



CHAPTER XI.

GOOD QUEEN ANNE.

A.D. 1382-1394

The planning of Richard's first marriage.—Journey of the bridal party toward England.—Their way is cut off by sea.—The bride enters Calais.—Great display.—The bride arrives in England.—Great excitement in London.—A contrast.—The bride enters London.—Parades and rejoicings.—Character of the queen.—Why she was called Good Queen Anne.—Ancient drawings.—Curious fashions of those times.—Costumes of Richard's time.—The Cracows.—Origin of the name.—The horned caps.—Description of the horns.—Pins.—Side-saddles.—Queen Anne's useful and busy life.—Shene.—Grand celebration.—The tournament.—Knights.—Magnificence of the king's mode of life.—Death of Queen Anne.—The king inconsolable.—The funeral.—Inscription on Queen Anne's tomb.

King Richard was married twice. His first queen was named Anne. She was a Bohemian princess, and so is sometimes called in history Anne of Bohemia. She was, however, more commonly called Good Queen Anne.

The marriage was planned by Richard's courtiers and counselors when Richard himself was about fifteen years old. The negotiations were interrupted by the troubles connected with the insurrection described in the two last chapters; but immediately after the insurrection was quelled they were renewed. The proposals were sent to Bohemia by Richard's government. After suitable inquiries had been made by Anne's parents and friends, the proposals were accepted, and preparations were made for sending Anne to England to be married. Richard was now about sixteen years of age. Anne was fifteen. Neither of them had ever seen the other.

In due time, when every thing had been made ready, the princess set out on her journey, accompanied by a large train of attendants. She was under the charge of a nobleman named the Duke of Saxony, and of his wife the duchess. The duchess was Anne's aunt. Besides the duke, there were in the party a number of knights, and other persons of distinction, and also several young ladies of the court, who went to accompany and wait upon the princess. There were also many other attendants of lower degree.

The party traveled slowly, as was the custom in those days, until at length they reached Flanders. Here, at Brussels, the capital, the princess was received by the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, who were her relatives, and was entertained by them in a very sumptuous manner. She, however, heard alarming news at Brussels. The intention of the party had been to take ship on the coast of Flanders, and proceed to Calais by water. Calais was then in the hands of the English, and an embassador with a grand suite had been sent from Richard's court to receive the princess on her arrival there, and conduct her across the Channel to Dover, and thence to London.

The reason why the princess and her party did not propose to go by land all the way to Calais was that, by so doing, they would necessarily pass through the territories of the King of France, and they were afraid that the French government would intercept them. It was known that the government of France had been opposed to the match, as tending to give Richard too much influence on the Continent.

But now, on their arrival at Brussels, the bridal party learned that there was a fleet of Norman vessels, ten or twelve in number, that were cruising to and fro on the coast, between Brussels and Calais, with a view of blocking up the princess's way by sea as well as by land. Both she herself and the Duke of Saxony were much chagrined at receiving this information, and for a time they did not know what to do. At length they sent an embassage to Paris, and after some difficulties and delay they succeeded in obtaining the consent of the French government that the princess should pass through the French territories by land. The embassadors brought back a passport for her and for her party.

Although the King of France thus granted the desired permission, he did it in a very ungracious manner, for he took care to say that he yielded to the Duke of Saxony's request solely out of kindness to his good cousin Anne, and a desire to do her a favor, and not at all out of regard to the King of England.

The princess was detained a month in Brussels while they were arranging this affair, and when at last it was settled she resumed her journey, taking the road from Brussels to Calais. The Duke of Brabant accompanied her, with an escort of one hundred spearmen. This, however, was an escort of honor rather than of protection, as the duke relied mainly upon the French passport for the safety of the party.

As the party were approaching Calais, they were received at the town of Gravelines by the English embassador and his suite, who had come out from Calais to meet them. This embassador was the Earl of Salisbury. He was attended by a force of one thousand men, namely, five hundred spearmen and five hundred archers. Conducted by this grand escort, and accompanied by a large cavalcade of knights and nobles, all clad in full armor, and splendidly mounted, the princess and the ladies in her train made a magnificent entry into Calais, through the midst of a vast concourse of spectators, with trumpets sounding and banners waving, and their hearts beating high with ecstasy and delight. In passing over the drawbridge and through the gates of Calais, Anne felt an emotion of exultation and pride in thinking that she was here entering the dominions of her future husband.

The princess did not remain long in Calais. She set out on the following day for Dover. The distance across is about twenty miles. They were dependent wholly on the wind in those days for crossing the Channel; but the princess had a prosperous passage, and arrived safely at Dover that night. News then spread rapidly all over the country, and ran up to London, that the queen had come.

The news, of course, produced universal excitement. No certain tidings of the movements of the bride had been heard for some weeks before, and no one could tell when to expect her. Her arrival awakened universal joy. Parliament was in session at the time. They voted a large sum of money to be expended in arrangements for receiving the young queen in a proper manner, and in public rejoicings on the occasion. They then immediately adjourned, and all the world began to prepare for the arrival of the royal cortege in London.

The princess, after resting a day in Dover, moved on to Canterbury, admiring, as she journeyed, the beautiful scenery of the country over which she was henceforth to be queen. Richard's uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, with a large retinue, was ready there to receive her. He conducted her to London. As they approached the city, the lord-mayor of London and all the great civic functionaries, with a long train of attendants, came out in great state to receive her and escort her into town. The place of their meeting with her was Blackheath, the same place which a year before had been the bivouac of the immense horde of ragged and miserable men that Wat Tyler and his fellow-insurgents had brought to London. But how changed now was the scene! Then the country was excited by the deepest anxiety and alarm, and the spectacle on the field was that of one immense mass of squalid poverty and wretchedness, of misery reduced by hopeless suffering to recklessness and despair. Now all was gayety and splendor in the spectacle, and the whole country was excited to the highest pitch of exultation and joy.

At Blackheath the grand cavalcade was formed for passing through London. Splendid preparations had been made in London to receive the bride, and to do honor to her passage through the city. Many of these preparations were similar to those which had been made on the occasion of the king's coronation. There was a castle and tower, with young girls at the top throwing down a shower of golden snow, and fountains at the sides flowing with wine, with fancifully-dressed pages attending to offer the princess drink from golden cups. In a word, the young and beautiful bride was received by the civic authorities of London with the same tokens of honor and the same public rejoicings that had been accorded to the king.

In a few days the marriage took place. The ceremony was performed in the chapel royal of the king's palace at Westminster. The king appeared to be very much pleased with his bride, and paid her great attention. After a week spent with her and the court in festivities and rejoicings in Westminster, he took her up the river to the royal castle at Windsor. His mother, the Princess of Wales, and other ladies of rank, went with them, and formed part of their household. They lived here very happily together for some time.

The young queen soon began to evince those kind and gracious qualities of heart which afterward made her so beloved among the people of England. Instead of occupying herself solely with her own greatness and grandeur, and with the uninterrupted round of pleasures to which her husband invited her, she began very soon to think of the sufferings which she found that a great many of the common people of England were enduring, and to consider what she could do to relieve them. The condition of the people was particularly unhappy at this time, for the king and the nobles were greatly exasperated against them on account of the rebellion, and were hunting out all who could be proved, or were even suspected to have been engaged in it, and persecuting them in the most severe and oppressive manner, and they were bloody and barbarous beyond precedent. The young queen, hearing of these things, was greatly distressed, and she begged the king, for her sake, to grant a general pardon to all his subjects, on the occasion of her coronation, which ceremony was now soon to be performed. The king granted this request, and thus peace and tranquillity were once more fully restored to the land.

After this, during all her life, Anne watched for every opportunity to do good, and she was continually engaged in gentle but effective efforts to heal dissensions, to assuage angry feelings, and to alleviate suffering. She was a general peace-maker; and her lofty position, and the great influence which she exercised over the king, gave her great power to accomplish the benevolent purposes which the kindness of her heart led her to form.

The arrival of the young queen produced a great sensation among the ladies of Richard's court, in consequence of the new fashions which she introduced into England. The fashions of dress in those days were very peculiar. We learn what they were from the pictures, drawn with the pen or painted in water-colors, in the manuscripts of those days that still remain in the old English libraries. There are a great many of these drawings, and, as they agree together in the style and fashion of the costumes represented, there is no doubt that they give us correct ideas of the dresses really worn. Besides, there are many allusions in the chronicles of those times, and in poems and books of accounts, which correspond precisely with the drawings, and thus confirm their correctness and accuracy.

The engravings on the following page are copied from one of these ancient manuscripts.

Observe the singular forms of the caps, both those of the men and of the women. The men wore sometimes jackets, and sometimes long gowns which came down to the ground. The most singular feature of the dresses of the men, however, is the long-pointed shoes. Were it not that fashions are often equally absurd at the present day, we should think it impossible that such shoes as these could ever have been made.



These shoes were called Cracows. Cracow was a town in Poland which was at that time within the dominions of Anne's father, and it is supposed that the fashion of wearing these shoes may have been brought into England by some of the gentlemen in Anne's train, when she came to England to be married. It is known that the queen did introduce a great many foreign fashions to the court, and, among the rest, a fashion of head-dress for ladies, which was quite as strange as peaked shoes for the gentlemen. It consisted of what was called the horned cap.



These horns were often two feet high, and sometimes two feet wide from one side to the other. The frame of this head-dress was made of wire and pasteboard, and the covering was of some glittering tissue or gauze. There were other head-dresses scarcely less monstrous than these. Some of them are represented in the engraving. These fashions, when introduced by the queen, spread with great rapidity among all the court ladies, and thence to all fashionable circles in England.

It is said, too, that it was this young queen who first introduced pins into England. Dresses had been fastened before by little skewers made of wood or ivory. Queen Anne brought pins, which had been made for some time in Germany, and the use of them soon extended all over England.

Side-saddles for ladies on horseback were a third fashion which Queen Anne is said to have introduced. The side-saddle which she brought was, however, of a very simple construction. It consisted of a seat placed upon the horse's back, with a sort of step depending from it on one side for the feet to rest upon. Both feet were placed upon this step together.

Queen Anne, after her marriage, lived very happily with her husband for twelve years. She was devotedly attached to him, and he seems sincerely to have loved her. He was naturally kind and affectionate in his disposition, and, while Anne lived, he yielded himself to the good influences which she exerted over him. She journeyed with him wherever he went, and aided him in the accomplishment of all his plans. Whenever he became involved in any difficulty, either with his nobles or with his subjects, she acted the part of mediator, and almost always succeeded in allaying the animosity and healing the feud before it proceeded to extremes. She resided with her husband sometimes at one palace and sometimes at another, but her favorite residence was at the palace of Shene, near the present town of Richmond.

Although the king was crowned at the time of his accession to the throne, he did not fully assume the government at that time on account of his youth, for you will remember that he was then only about eleven years old; nor did he, in fact, come fully into possession of power at the time of his marriage, for he was then under sixteen. At that time, and for several years afterward, his uncles and the other influential nobles managed the government in his name. At length, however, when he was about twenty-one years old, he thought it was time for him to assume the direction of affairs himself, and he accordingly did so. At this time there was another grand celebration, one scarcely inferior in pomp and splendor to the coronation itself.

Among other performances on this occasion there was a tournament, in which knights mounted on horseback, and armed from head to foot with iron armor, fought in the lists, endeavoring to unhorse each other by means of their spears. The tournament was held at Smithfield. Raised platforms were set up by the side of the lists for the lords and ladies of the court, and a beautiful canopy for the queen, who was to act as judge of the combat, and was to award the prizes. The prizes consisted of a rich jeweled clasp and a splendid crown of gold.

The queen went first to the ground, and took her place with her attendants under her canopy. The knights who were to enter the lists then came in a grand cavalcade through the streets of London to the palace. There were sixty ladies mounted on beautiful palfreys, accoutred with the new-fashioned side-saddles. Each of these ladies conducted a knight, whom she led by a silver chain. They were preceded by minstrels and bands of instrumental music, and the streets were thronged with spectators.

After the tournament there was a grand banquet at the palace of the Bishop of London, with music and dancing, and other such amusements, which continued to a late hour of the night.

* * * * *

For some years after this the king and queen lived together in great prosperity. Outwardly things went pretty well with the king's affairs, and, as he was fond of pomp and display, he gradually acquired habits of very profuse and lavish expenditure. Indeed, he is said to have made it an object of his ambition to surpass, in the magnificence of his style of living, all the sovereigns of Europe. He kept many separate establishments in his different palaces, and at all of them gave entertainments and banquets of immense magnificence and of the most luxurious character. It is said that three hundred persons were employed in his kitchens.

At length, in the year 1394, when Richard was preparing for an expedition into Ireland to quell a rebellion which had broken out there, the queen was seized with a fatal epidemic which was then prevailing in England, and after a short illness she died. She was at her palace of Shene at this time. The king hastened to attend her the moment that he heard the tidings of her illness, and was with her when she died. He was inconsolable at the loss of his wife, for he had loved her sincerely, and she had been a singularly faithful and devoted wife to him. He was made almost crazy by her death. He imprecated bitter curses on the palace where she died, and he ordered it to be destroyed. It was, in fact, partially dismantled, in obedience to these orders, and Richard himself never occupied it again. It was, however, repaired under a subsequent reign.

Richard gave up, for the time being, his expedition into Ireland, being wholly absorbed in his sorrow for the irreparable loss he had suffered. He wrote letters to all the great nobles and barons of England to come to the funeral, and the obsequies were celebrated with the greatest possible pomp and parade. Two months were expended in making preparations for the funeral. When the day arrived, a very long procession was formed to escort the body from Shene to Westminster. This procession was accompanied by an immense number of torch-bearers, all carrying lighted torches in their hands. So great was the number of these torches, that a large quantity of wax was imported from Flanders expressly for the purpose.

The tomb of Anne was not made until a year after her death. Richard himself attended to all the details connected with the construction of it. The inscription was in Latin. The following is an exact translation of it:

"Under this stone lies Anne, here entombed, Wedded in this world's life to the second Richard. To Christ were her meek virtues devoted: His poor she freely fed from her treasures; Strife she assuaged, and swelling feuds appeased; Beauteous her form, her face surpassing fair. On July's seventh day, thirteen hundred ninety-four, All comfort was bereft, for through irremediable sickness She passed away into interminable joys."

By the death of his wife, Richard was left, as it were, almost alone in the world. His mother, the Princess of Wales, had died some time before, and Anne had had no children. There were his uncles and his cousins, it is true, but they were his rivals and competitors rather than his friends. Indeed, they were destined soon to become his open enemies.

Richard was afterward married again, to his "little wife," as we shall see in a future chapter.



CHAPTER XII.

INCIDENTS OF THE REIGN.

A.D. 1382-1396

Jealousy of Richard and his mother against the uncles.—Plots and manoeuvres.—Thomas, Duke of Gloucester.—Province of Parliament.—Prerogative of the king.—The Commons threaten the king.—He is compelled to yield.—Council appointed.—Richard's discontent.—The court at Nottingham.—Preparations for war.—Richard and his party overcome.—Execution of Burley.—Queen Anne's fruitless intercession.—The king determines to resume his power.—His interview with his council.—Surprise of the barons.—The great seal.—Richard appoints a new chancellor.—Richard appoints new officers of government.—The wars in which Richard was engaged.—Story of Sir Miles, the Bohemian knight.—The archers and the squires.—A squire killed.—Sir Ralph Stafford is displeased and alarmed.—Lord Holland is enraged.—He meets Lord Stafford in a narrow lane.—Stafford is killed.—Lord Holland's unconcern.—Richard's perplexity and distress.—His mother's anguish.—Extraordinary marriage of the Duke of Lancaster.—Indignation and rage of the ladies of the court.

In giving some general account of the character of Richard's reign, and of the incidents that occurred during the course of it, we now go back a little again, so as to begin at the beginning of it.

When Richard was married, he was, as has already been said, only about fifteen or sixteen years of age. As he grew older, after this time, and began to feel that sense of strength and independence which pertains to manhood, he became more and more jealous of the power and influence of his uncles in the government of the country. His mother, too, who was still living, and who adhered closely to him, was very suspicious of the uncles. She was continually imagining that they were forming plots and conspiracies against her son in favor of themselves or of their own children. She was particularly suspicious of the Duke of Lancaster, and of his son Henry Bolingbroke. It proved in the end that there was some reason for this suspicion, for this Henry Bolingbroke was the means at last of deposing Richard from his throne in order to take possession of it himself, as we shall see in the sequel.

In order to prevent, as far as possible, these uncles from finding opportunity to accomplish any of their supposed designs, Richard and his mother excluded them, as much as they could, from power, and appointed other persons, who had no such claims to the crown, to all the important places about the court. This, of course, made the uncles very angry. They called the men whom Richard thus brought forward his favorites, and they hated them exceedingly. This state of things led to a great many intrigues, and manoeuvres, and plots, and counterplots, the favorites against the uncles, and the uncles against the favorites. These difficulties were continued for many years. Parties were formed in Parliament, of which sometimes one was in the ascendency and sometimes the other, and all was turmoil and confusion.

When Richard was about twenty years old, one of his uncles—his uncle Thomas, at that time Duke of Gloucester—gained such an influence in Parliament that some of Richard's favorites were deposed from office and imprisoned. The duke was imboldened by this success to take a farther step. He told the Parliament that the government would never be on a good footing until they themselves appointed a council to manage in the king's name.

When Richard heard of this plan, he declared that he would never submit to it.

"I am the King of England," said he, "and I will govern my realm by means of such officers as I choose to appoint myself. I will not have others to appoint them for me."

The ideas which the kings of those days entertained in respect to the province of Parliament was that it was to vote the necessary taxes to supply the king's necessities, and also to mature the details of all laws for the regulation of the ordinary business and the social relations of life, but that the government, strictly so called—that is, all that relates to the appointment and payment of executive officers, the making of peace or war, the building and equipment of fleets, and the command of armies, was exclusively the king's prerogative, and that for the exercise of his prerogative in these particulars the sovereign was responsible, not to his subjects, but to God alone, from whom he claimed to have received his crown.

The people of England, as represented by Parliament, have never consented to this view of the subject. They have always maintained that their kings are, in some sense, responsible to the people of the realm, and they have often deposed kings, and punished them in other ways.

Accordingly, when Richard declared that he would not submit to the appointment of a council by Parliament, the Commons reminded him of the fact that his great-grandfather, Edward the Second, had been deposed in consequence of having unreasonably and obstinately resisted the will of his people, and they hinted to him that it would be well for him to beware lest he should incur the same fate. Some of the lords, too, told him that the excitement was so great in the country on account of the mismanagement of public affairs, and the corruptions and malpractice of the favorites, that if he refused to allow the council to be appointed, there was danger that he would lose his head.

So Richard was obliged to submit, and the council was appointed. Richard was in a great rage, and he secretly determined to lay his plans for recovering the power into his own hands as soon as possible, and punishing the council, and all who were concerned in appointing them, for their audacity in presuming to encroach in such a manner upon his sovereign rights as king.

The council that was appointed consisted of eleven bishops and nobles. Richard's uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, was at the head of it. This council governed the country for more than a year. Every thing was done in Richard's name, it is true, but the real power was in the hands of the Duke of Gloucester. Richard was very angry and indignant, but he did not see what he could do.

He was, however, all the time forming plans and schemes to recover his power. At last, after about a year had passed away, he called together a number of judges secretly at Nottingham, toward the northern part of the kingdom, and submitted to them the question whether such a council as the Parliament had appointed was legal. It was, of course, understood beforehand how the judges would decide. They decreed that the council was illegal; that for Parliament to give a council such powers was a violation of the king's prerogative, and was consequently treason, and that, of course, all who had been concerned in the transaction had made themselves liable to the penalty of death.

It was Richard's plan, after having obtained this decree, to cause the prominent members of the council to be arrested, and he came to London and began to make his preparations for accomplishing this purpose. But as soon as his uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, heard of these plans, he, and some great nobles who were ready to join with him against the king, collected all their forces, and began to march to London at the head of forty thousand men. Richard's cousin Henry, the Duke of Lancaster's son, joined them on the way. Richard's friends and favorites, on hearing of this, immediately took arms, and preparations began to be made for civil war. In a word, after having successfully met and quelled the great insurrection of the serfs and laborers under Wat Tyler, Richard was now to encounter a still more formidable resistance of his authority on the part of his uncles and the great barons of the realm. These last, indeed, were far more to be feared than the others, for they had arms and organization, and they enjoyed every possible facility for carrying on a vigorous and determined war. Richard and his party soon found that it was useless to attempt to resist them. Accordingly, after a very brief struggle, the royal party was entirely put down. Richard's favorites were arrested. Some of them were beheaded, others were banished from the realm, and the government of the country fell again into the hands of the uncles.

One of Richard's favorites who was executed on this occasion was a man whose untimely death grieved and afflicted both Richard and the queen very much indeed. His name was Sir Simon Burley. He had been Richard's friend and companion all his life. Richard's father, Edward, the Black Prince, had appointed Sir Simon Richard's tutor while Richard himself was a mere child, and he had been with him ever since that time. Queen Anne was much attached to him, and she was particularly grateful to him on account of his having been the commissioner who negotiated and arranged her marriage with Richard. Richard made every possible exertion to save his tutor's life, but his uncle Gloucester was inexorable. He told Richard that his keeping the crown depended on the immediate execution of the traitor. Queen Anne fell on her knees before him, and begged and entreated that Sir Simon might be spared, but all was of no avail.

So Richard was compelled to submit; but he did not do so without secret muttering, and resolutions of revenge. He allowed the government to remain in his uncle's hands for some time, but at length, about a year afterward, he found himself strong enough to seize it again. The plea which his uncles had hitherto made for managing the government themselves was, that Richard was not yet of age. But now he became of age, and he resolved on what might be called a coup d'etat, to get possession of the government. He planned this measure in concert with a number of his own friends and favorites, who hoped, by this means, that they themselves should rise to power.

He called a grand council of all the nobles and great officers of state. The assembly convened in the great council-chamber, and waited there for the king to come in.

At length the king arrived, and, walking into the chamber, he took his seat upon the throne. A moment afterward he turned to one of the chief officers present and addressed him, saying,

"My lord, what is my age at the present time?"

The nobleman answered that his majesty was now over twenty years of age.

"Then," said the king, speaking in a very firm and determined manner, "I am of years sufficient to govern mine own house and family, and also my kingdom; for it seemeth against reason that the state of the meanest person in my kingdom should be better than mine. Every heir throughout the land that has once come to the age of twenty years is permitted, if his father be not living, to order his business himself. And that which is permitted by law to every other person, of however mean degree, why is it denied to me?"

The king spoke these words with an air of such courage and determination that the barons were astonished. The foremost of them, after a brief pause, seemed ready to accede to his proposals. They said that there should henceforth be no right abridged from him, but that he might take upon himself the government if he chose, as it was now manifestly his duty to do.

"Very well," said the king. "You know that I have been a long time ruled by tutors and governors, so that it has not been lawful for me to do any thing, no matter of how small importance, without their consent. Now, therefore, I desire that henceforth they meddle no more with matters pertaining to my government, for I will attend to them myself, and after the manner of an heir arrived at full age. I will call whom I please to be my counsel, and thus manage my own affairs according to my own will and pleasure."

The barons were extremely surprised to hear these determinations thus resolutely announced by the king, but had nothing to say in reply.

"And in the first place," continued Richard, "I wish the chancellor to give me up the great seal."

The great seal was a very important badge and emblem of the royal prerogative. No decree was of legal authority until an impress from this seal was attached to it. The officer who had charge of it was called the chancellor. A new seal was prepared for each sovereign on his accession to the throne. The devices were much the same in all. They consisted of a representation of the king seated on his throne upon one side of the seal, and on the other mounted on horseback and going into battle, armed from head to foot. The legends or inscriptions around the border were changed, of course, for each reign.

The engraving on the following page represents one side of king Richard's seal. The other side contained an image of the king seated on his throne, and surrounded by various insignia of royalty.

"I wish the chancellor," said the king, "to deliver me up the great seal."



So the nobleman who had been chancellor up to that time delivered the seal into the hands of the king. The seal was kept in a beautiful box, richly ornamented. It was always brought to the council by the lord chancellor, who had it in charge. The king proceeded immediately afterward to appoint a new chancellor, and to place the box in his hands. In the same summary manner the king displaced almost all the other high officers of state, and appointed new ones of his own instead of them. The former officers were obliged to submit, though sorely against their will. They were powerless, for the king had now attained such an age that there was no longer any excuse for withholding from him the complete possession of his kingdom.

From this time, accordingly, Richard was actually as well as nominally king of England; but still he was often engaged in contentions and quarrels with his uncles, and with the other great nobles who took his uncle's part.

The queen—for good Queen Anne was at this time still living—was so gentle and kind, and she acted her part as peace-maker so well, that she greatly softened and soothed these asperities; but Richard led, nevertheless, a wild and turbulent life, and was continually getting involved in the most serious difficulties. Then there were wars to be carried on, sometimes with France, sometimes with Scotland, and sometimes with Ireland. Richard's uncles, the Dukes of Lancaster and Gloucester, generally went away in command of the armies to carry on these wars. Sometimes Richard himself accompanied the expeditions; but even on these occasions, when he and his knights and nobles were engaged together in a common cause, and apparently at peace with each other, there were so many jealousies and angry heartburnings among them, that deadly quarrels and feuds were continually breaking out.

As an example of these quarrels, I will give an account of one which took place not very long after Richard was married. He was engaged with his uncles in an expedition to Scotland. There was a knight in attendance upon him named Sir Miles. This knight was a friend of the queen. He was a Bohemian, and had come from Bohemia to pay Anne a visit, and to bring the news to her from her native land. The king, out of affection to Anne, paid him great attention. This made the English knights and nobles jealous, and they amused themselves with mimicking and laughing at Sir Miles's foreign peculiarities. The particular friends of the queen, however, took his part, one especially, named the Earl of Stafford, and his son, the young Lord Ralph Stafford. Lord Ralph Stafford was one of the most courteous and popular knights in England.

In the course of the expedition to Scotland the party came to a town called Beverley, which is situated in the northern part of England, near the frontier. One day, two archers belonging to the service of Lord Ralph Stafford, in riding across the fields near Beverley, found two squires engaged in a sort of quarrel with Sir Miles. The cause of the quarrel was something about his lodgings in the town. The squires, it seems, knowing that the knights and nobles generally disliked Sir Miles, were encouraged to be very bold and insolent to him in expressing their ill-will, and when the archers came up they were following him with taunts, and ridicule, and abuse, while Sir Miles was making the best of his way toward the town.

The archers took the Bohemian's part. They remonstrated with the squires for thus abusing and teasing a stranger and a foreigner, a personal friend, too, and guest of the queen.

"What business is it of yours, villainous knave, whether we laugh at him or not?" said the squires. "What right have you to intermeddle? What is it to you?"

"What is it to us?" repeated one of the archers. "It is a great deal to us. This man is the friend of our master, and we will not stand by and see him abused."

Upon hearing this, one of the squires uttered some words of defiance, and advanced as if to strike the archer; but the archer, having his bow and arrow all ready, suddenly let the arrow fly, and the squire was killed on the spot.

Sir Miles had already gone on toward the town. The other squire, seeing his companion dead, immediately made his escape. The two archers, leaving the man whom they had killed on the ground where he had fallen, made the best of their way home, and told their master, Sir Ralph Stafford, what they had done.

Sir Ralph was extremely concerned to hear of the occurrence, and he told the archer who killed the squire that he had done very wrong.

"But, my lord," said the archer, "I could not have done otherwise; for the man was coming up to us with his sword drawn in his hand, and we were obliged either to kill him or to be killed ourselves."

The archers, moreover, told Sir Ralph that the squires were in the service of Sir John Holland. Now Sir John Holland was a half brother of the king, being the child of his mother, the Princess of Wales, by a former husband. When Sir Ralph heard this, he was still more alarmed than before. He told the archers who killed the squire that they must go and hide themselves somewhere until the affair could be arranged.

"I will negotiate with Lord Holland for your pardon," said he, "either through my father or in some other way. But, in the mean time, you must keep yourselves closely concealed."

The Earl of Stafford, Lord Ralph Stafford's father, was a nobleman of the very highest rank, and of great influence.

It is a curious indication of the ideas that prevailed in those days, and of the relations that subsisted between the nobles and their dependants, that the slaughter of a man in an affray of this kind was a matter to be arranged between the masters respectively of the men engaged in it.

The archers went away to hide themselves until Lord Ralph could arrange the matter.

In the mean time, the squire who had escaped in the fray hurried home and related the matter to Lord Holland. Lord Holland was greatly enraged. He uttered dreadful imprecations against Lord Ralph Stafford and against Sir Miles, whom he seemed to consider responsible for the death of his squire, and declared that he would not sleep until he had had his revenge. So he mounted his horse, and, taking some trusty attendants with him, rode into Beverley, and asked where Sir Miles's lodgings were. While he was going toward the place, breathing fury and death, suddenly, in a narrow lane, he came upon Lord Ralph, who was then going to find him, in order to arrange about the murder. It was now, however, late in the evening, and so dark that the parties did not at first know each other.

"Who comes here?" said Lord Holland, when he saw Sir Ralph approaching.

"I am Stafford," replied Sir Ralph.

"You are the very man I want to see," said Lord Holland. "One of your servants has killed my squire—the one that I loved so much."

As he said this, he brought down so heavy a blow upon Sir Ralph's head as to fell him from his horse to the ground. He then rode on. The attendants hurried to the spot and raised Sir Ralph up. They found him faint and bleeding, and in a few moments he died.

As soon as this fact was ascertained, one of the men rode on after Lord Holland, and, coming up to him, said,

"My lord, you have killed Lord Stafford."

"Very well," said Lord Holland; "I am glad of it. I would rather it would be a man of his rank than any body else, for so I am the more completely revenged for the death of my squire."

As fast as the tidings of these events spread, they produced universal excitement. The Earl of Stafford, the father of Sir Ralph, was plunged into the most inconsolable grief at the death of his son. The earl was one of the most powerful nobles in the army, and, if he had undertaken to avenge himself on Lord Holland, the whole expedition would perhaps have been broken up into confusion. On the king's solemn assurance that Holland would be punished, he was appeased for the time; but then the Princess of Wales, Richard's mother, who was Lord Holland's mother too, was thrown into the greatest state of anxiety and distress. She implored Richard to save his brother's life. All the other nobles and knights took sides too in the quarrel, and for a time it seemed that the dissension would never be healed. Lord Holland, in the mean while, fled to the church at Beverley, and took sanctuary there. By the laws and customs of the time, they could not touch him until he came voluntarily out.

Richard resisted all the entreaties of his mother to spare the murderer's life until he found that her anxiety and distress were preying upon her health so much that he feared that she would die. At last, to save his mother's life, he promised that Holland should be spared. But it was too late. His mother fell into a decline, and at length died, as it was said, of a broken heart. What a dreadful death! that of a mother worn out by the agony of long-continued and apparently fruitless efforts to prevent one of her children from being the executioner of another for the crime of murder.

Besides these fierce, deadly contests among the knights and nobles, the ladies of the court had their feuds and quarrels too. They were often divided into cliques and parties, and were full of envyings, jealousies, and resentments against each other. One of the most serious of these difficulties was occasioned by a marriage of the Duke of Lancaster, which took place toward the close of his life. This was his third marriage, he having been successively married to two ladies of high rank before. The lady whom he now married was of a comparatively humble station in life. She was the daughter of a foreign knight. Her name, originally, was Catharine de Rouet. She had been, in her early life, a maiden in attendance on the Duchess of Lancaster, the duke's second wife. While she was in his family the duke formed a guilty intimacy with her, which was continued for a long time. They had three children. The duke provided well for these children, and gave them a good education. After a time, the duke, becoming tired of her, arranged for her to be married to a certain knight named Swinton, and she lived with this knight for some time, until at length he died, and Catharine became a widow.

The Duchess of Lancaster died also, and then the duke became for the second time a widower, and he now conceived the idea of making Catharine Swinton his wife. His motive for this was not his love for her, for that, it is said, had passed away, but his regard for the children, who, on the marriage of their mother to the father of the children, would be legitimatized, and would thus become entitled to many legal rights and privileges from which they would otherwise be debarred. The other ladies of the court, however, particularly the wives of the other dukes—the Duke of Lancaster's brothers—were greatly incensed when they heard of this proposed marriage, and they did all they possibly could do to prevent it. All was, however, of no avail, for the Duke of Lancaster was not a man to be easily thwarted in any determination that he might take into his head. So he was married, and the poor despised Catharine was made the first duchess in the realm, and became entitled to take precedence of all the other duchesses.

This the other duchesses could not endure. They could not bear it, they said, and they would not bear it. They declared that they would not go into any place where this woman, as they called her, was to be. As might have been expected, an interminable amount of quarreling and ill-will grew out of this affair.

About the time of this marriage of the duke, the king himself was married a second time, as will be related in the next chapter.



CHAPTER XIII.

THE LITTLE QUEEN.

A.D. 1395-1396

Some account of Isabella of France, the little queen.—Richard opens negotiations with the King of France.—A grand embassage sent to France.—Their reception.—Interview of the embassadors with little Isabella.—The negotiations go on satisfactorily.—The marriage ceremony is performed by proxy.—Richard makes arrangements to go and receive his bride.—Grand preparations for the expedition.—The meeting on the French frontier.—The pavilions.—Precautions to guard against violence or treachery.—Ceremonious interviews.—Grand entertainment.—Richard receives his bride.—The palanquin.—Excitement in London.—Reception of the little queen.—The little queen's mode of life in England.

King Richard's second wife was called the little queen, because she was so young and small when she was married. She was only about nine years old at that time. The story of this case will show a little how the marriages of kings and princesses in those days were managed.

It was not long after the death of good Queen Anne before some of Richard's courtiers and counselors began to advise him to be married again. He replied, as men always do in such cases, that he did not know where to find a wife. The choice was indeed not very large, being restricted by etiquette to the royal families of England and of the neighboring countries. Several princesses were proposed one after another, but Richard did not seem to like any of them. Among other ladies, one of his cousins was proposed to him, a daughter of the Duke of Gloucester. But Richard said no; she was too nearly related to him.

At last he took it into his head that he should like to marry little Isabella, the Princess of France, then about nine years old. The idea of his being married to Isabella was calculated to surprise people for two reasons: first, because Isabella was so small, and, secondly, because the King of France, her father, was Richard's greatest and most implacable enemy. France and England had been on bad terms with each other not only during the whole of Richard's reign, but through a great number of reigns preceding; and now, just before the period when this marriage was proposed, the two nations had been engaged in a long and sanguinary war. But Richard said that he was going to make peace, and that this marriage was to be the means of confirming it.

"But she is altogether too young for your majesty," said Richard's counselors. "She is a mere child."

"True," said the king; "but that is an objection which will grow less and less every year. Besides, I am in no haste. I am young enough myself to wait till she grows up, and, in the mean time, I can have her trained and educated to suit me exactly."

So, after a great deal of debate among the king's counselors and in Parliament, it was finally decided to send a grand embassage to Paris to propose to the King of France that he should give his little daughter Isabella in marriage to Richard, King of England.

This embassage consisted of an archbishop, two earls, and twenty knights, attended each by two squires, making forty squires in all, and five hundred horsemen. The party proceeded from London to Dover, then crossed to Calais, which was at this time an English possession, and thence proceeded to Paris.

When they arrived at Paris they entered the city with great pomp and parade, being received with great honor by the French king, and they were lodged sumptuously in quarters provided for them.

The embassadors were also very honorably received at court. The king invited them to dine with him, and entertained them handsomely, but many objections were made to the proposed marriage.

"How can we," said the French counselors, "give a Princess of France in marriage to our worst and bitterest enemy?"

To this the embassadors replied that the marriage would establish and confirm a permanent peace between the two countries.

Then there was another objection. Isabella was already engaged. She had been betrothed some time before to the son of a duke of one of the neighboring countries. But the embassadors said that they thought this could be arranged.

While these negotiations were going on, the embassadors asked permission to see the princess. This at first the king and queen, Isabella's father and mother, declined. They said that she was only eight or nine years old, and that such a child would not know at all how to conduct at such an interview.

However, the interview was granted at last. The embassadors were conducted to an apartment in the palace of the Louvre, where the princess and her parents were ready to receive them. On coming into the presence of the child, the chief embassador advanced to her, and, kneeling down before her, he said,

"Madam, if it please God, you shall be our lady and queen."

The princess looked at him attentively while he said this. She was a very beautiful child, with a gentle and thoughtful expression of countenance, and large dark eyes, full of meaning.

She replied to the embassador of her own accord in a clear, childish voice,

"Sir, if it please God and my lord and father that I be Queen of England, I should be well pleased, for I have been told that there I shall be a great lady."

Isabella then took the kneeling embassador by the hand and lifted him up. She then led him to her mother.

The embassadors were extremely pleased with the appearance and behavior of the princess, and were more than ever desirous of succeeding in their mission. But, after some farther negotiations, they received for their answer that the French court were disposed to entertain favorably the proposal which Richard made, but that nothing could be determined upon the subject at that time.

"We must wait," said the king, "until we can see what arrangement can be made in regard to the princess's present engagement, and then, if King Richard will send to us again, next spring we will give a final answer."

So slow are the movements and operations in such a case as this among the great, that the embassadors were occupied three weeks in Paris in advancing the business to this point. They were, however, well satisfied with what they had done, and at length took their leave, and returned to London in high spirits with their success, and reported the result to King Richard. He himself was well satisfied too.

The negotiations went on prosperously during the winter, and in the spring another embassage was sent, larger than the preceding. The attendants of this embassage were several thousand in number, and they occupied a whole street in Paris when they arrived there. By this embassage the arrangement of the marriage was finally concluded. The ceremony was in fact performed, for Isabella was actually married to Richard, by proxy as it is called, a customary mode of conducting marriages between a princess and a king. One of the embassadors, a grand officer of state, personated King Richard on this occasion, and the marriage was celebrated with the greatest possible pomp and splendor.

Besides the marriage contracts, there were various other treaties and covenants to be drawn up, and signed and sealed. All this business required so much time, that this embassage, like the other, remained three weeks in Paris, and then they returned home to London, and reported to Richard what they had done.

Still the affair was not yet fully settled. A great many of the nobles and the people of England very strenuously opposed the match, for they wished the war with France to be continued. This was particularly the case with Richard's uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. He had greatly distinguished himself in the war thus far, and he wished it to be continued; so he did all he could to oppose the consummation of the marriage, and the negotiations and delays were long protracted. Richard, however, persevered, and at length the obstacles were so far removed, that in the fall of 1396 he began to organize a grand expedition to go with him to the frontiers of France to receive his bride.

Immense preparations were made on both sides for the ceremonial of this visit. The meeting was to take place on the frontier, since neither sovereign dared to trust himself within the dominions of the other, for fear of treachery. For the same reason, each one deemed it necessary to take with him a very large armed force. Great stores of provisions for the expedition were accordingly prepared, and sent on beforehand; portions being sent down the Thames from London, and the rest being purchased in Flanders and other countries on the Continent, and forwarded to Calais by water. The King of France also, for the use of his party, sent stores from Paris to all the towns in the neighborhood of the frontier.

Among the ladies of the court on both sides there was universal emulation and excitement in respect to plans and preparations which they had to make for the wedding. Great numbers of them were to accompany the expedition, and nothing was talked of but the dresses and decorations which they should wear, and the parts that they should respectively perform in the grand parade. Hundreds of armorers, and smiths, and other artisans were employed in repairing and embellishing the armor of the knights and barons, and in designing and executing new banners, and new caparisons for the horses, richer and more splendid than were ever known before.

There was a great deal of heartburning and ill-will in respect to the Duke of Lancaster's new wife, with whom the other ladies of the court had declared they would not associate on any terms. The king was determined that she should go on the expedition, and the other ladies consequently found themselves obliged either to submit to her presence, or forego the grandest display which they would ever have the opportunity to witness as long as they should live. They concluded to submit, though they did it with great reluctance and with a very ill grace.

At length every thing was ready, and the expedition, leaving London, journeyed to Dover, and then crossed the Straits to Calais. A long time was then consumed in negotiations in respect to the peace; for, although Richard himself was willing to make peace on almost any terms, so that he might obtain his little bride, his uncles and the other leading nobles made great difficulties, and it was a long time before the treaties could be arranged. At length, however, every thing was settled, and the preparations were made for delivering to Richard his bride.

Two magnificent pavilions were erected near the frontier, one on the French and the other on the English side. These pavilions were for the use of the two monarchs respectively, and of their lords and nobles. Then, in the centre, between these, and, of course, exactly upon the frontier, a third and more open pavilion was set up. In this central pavilion the two kings were to have their first meeting. For either of the kings to have entered first into the dominions of the other would have been, in some sense, an acknowledgment of inferiority on his part. So it was contrived that neither should first visit the other, but that they should advance together, each from his own pavilion, and meet in the central one, after which they could visit each other as it might be convenient. The first interview therefore took place in the centre pavilion. It was necessary, however, to take some strong precautions against treachery. Accordingly, before the meeting, an oath was administered to both monarchs, by which each one solemnly asseverated that he was acting in good faith in this transaction, and that he had no secret reservation or treachery in his heart, and pledged his sacred honor that the other should suffer no violence, damage, molestation, arrest, constraint, or any other inconvenience whatever during the interview.

As an additional precaution, a strong force, consisting of four hundred knights on each side, all fully armed, were drawn up on opposite sides of the central pavilion, the English troops on the English side, and the French on the French side.[I] These troops were arranged in such a manner that the King of England should pass between the ranks of the English knights in going to the pavilion, and the French king between the French knights.

[Footnote I: Besides these knights, each of the kings had a strong force stationed in reserve, at a little distance from their respective pavilions, to be ready in case of any difficulty.]

Things being thus arranged, at the appointed hour the two kings set out together from their own pavilions, and walked, accompanied each by a number of dukes and nobles of high rank, to the central pavilion. Here the kings, both being uncovered, approached each other. They saluted each other in a very friendly manner, and held a brief conversation together. Some of the accounts say that the French king, then taking the English king by the hand, led him to the French tent, the French dukes who had accompanied him following with the English dukes who had accompanied Richard, and that there the whole party partook of refreshment.

However this may be, the first interview was one mainly of ceremony. Afterward there were other interviews in the different pavilions. These alternating visits were continued for several days, until at length the time was appointed for a final meeting, at which the little queen was to be delivered into her husband's hands.

This final grand ceremony took place in the French pavilion. The order of proceeding was as follows. First there was a grand entertainment. The table was splendidly laid out, and there was a sideboard loaded with costly plate. At the table the kings were waited upon by dukes. During the dinner, Richard talked with the King of France about his wife, and about the peace which was now so happily confirmed and established between the two countries.

After dinner the cloth was removed and the tables were taken away. When the pavilion was cleared a door was opened, and a party of ladies of the French court, headed by the queen, came in, conducting the little princess. As soon as she had entered, the King of France took her by the hand and led her to Richard. Richard received her with a warm welcome, and, lifting her up in his arms, kissed her. He told the King of France that he was fully sensible of the value of such a gift, and that he received it as a pledge of perpetual amity and peace between the two countries. He also, as had been previously agreed upon, solemnly renounced all claim to the throne of France on account of Isabella or her descendants, forever.

He then immediately committed the princess to the hands of the Duchess of Lancaster, and the other ladies, and they at once conveyed her to the door of the tent. Here there was a sort of palanquin, magnificently made and adorned, waiting to receive her. The princess was put into this palanquin, and immediately set out for Calais. Richard and the immense train of knights and nobles followed, and thus, at a very rapid pace, the whole party returned to Calais.

A few days after this the marriage ceremony was performed anew between Richard and Isabella, Richard himself being personally present this time. Great was the parade and great the rejoicing on this occasion. After the marriage, the little queen was again put under the charge of the Duchess of Lancaster and the other English ladies who had been appointed to receive her.

In the mean time, all London was becoming every day more and more excited in expectation of the arrival of the bridal party there. Great preparations were made for receiving them. At length, about a fortnight after taking leave of her father, Isabella arrived in London. She spent the first night at the Tower, and on the following day passed through London to Westminster in a grand procession. An immense concourse of people assembled on the occasion. Indeed, such was the eagerness of the people to see the queen on her arrival in London, that there were nine persons crushed to death by the crowd on London Bridge when she was passing over it.

The queen took up her residence at Windsor Castle, where she was under the charge of the Duchess of Lancaster and other ladies, who were to superintend her education. King Richard used to come and visit her very often, and on such occasions she was excused from her studies, and so she was always glad to see him; besides, he used to talk with her and play with her in a very friendly and affectionate manner. He was now about thirty years old, and she was ten. He, however, liked her very much, for she was very beautiful, and very amiable and affectionate in her manners. She liked to have Richard come and see her too, for his visits not only released her for the time from her studies, but he was very gentle and kind to her, and he used to play to her on musical instruments, and sing to her, and amuse her in various other ways. She admired, moreover, the splendor of his dress, for he always came in very magnificent apparel.

In a word, Richard and his little queen, notwithstanding the disparity of their years, were both very well pleased with the match which they had made. Richard was proud of the youth and beauty of his wife, and Isabella was proud of the greatness, power, and glory of her husband.



CHAPTER XIV.

RICHARD'S DEPOSITION AND DEATH.

A.D. 1397-1399

Difficulties of Richard's position.—His rivals.—Plot discovered.—Richard arrests his uncle Gloucester.—Extraordinary circumstances of the arrest.—Richard becomes extremely unpopular.—His excesses.—Remorse.—His fear of Henry Bolingbroke.—Coventry.—Preparation for the combat.—The combat arrested.—Henry is banished from England.—Case of Lady De Courcy.—Her dismissal from office.—Richard seizes his cousin Henry's estates.—Ireland.—Richard's farewell to the little queen.—A rebellion.—Misfortunes of the king.—Conway Castle.—The king is made prisoner.—His interview with Henry at the castle in Wales.—The king is conveyed a prisoner to London.—Parliament convened.—Charges preferred against the king.—Interview between Richard and Henry in the Tower.—Rage of Richard.—Portrait of Henry.—The king is compelled to abdicate the crown.—Henry desires that Richard should be killed.—Assassination of Richard.—Disposal of the body.—The little queen.—Her return to France.—Sequel of the story of the little queen.

It was not long after Richard's marriage to the little queen before the troubles and difficulties in which his government was involved increased in a very alarming degree. The feuds among his uncles, and between his uncles and himself, increased in frequency and bitterness, and many plots and counterplots were formed in respect to the succession; for Isabella being so young, it was very doubtful whether she would grow up and have children, and, unless she did so, some one or other of Richard's cousins would be heir to the crown. I have spoken of his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke as the principal of these claimants. There was, however, another one, Roger, the Earl of March. Roger was the grandson of Richard's uncle Lionel, who had died long before. The Duke of Gloucester, who had been so bitterly opposed to Richard's marriage with Isabella, and had, as it seemed, now become his implacable enemy, conceived the plan of deposing Richard and making Roger king. Isabella, if this plan had been carried into effect, was to have been shut up in a prison for all the rest of her days. There were several great nobles joined with the Duke of Gloucester in this conspiracy.

The plot was betrayed to Richard by some of the confederates. Richard immediately determined to arrest his uncle and bring him to trial. It was necessary, however, to do this secretly, before any of the conspirators should be put upon their guard. So he set off one night from his palace in Westminster, with a considerable company of armed men, to go to the duke's palace, which was at some distance from London, planning his journey so as to arrive there very early in the morning. The people of London, when they saw the king passing at that late hour, wondered where he was going.

He arrived very early the next morning at the duke's castle. He sent some of his men forward into the court of the castle to ask if the duke were at home. The servants said that he was at home, but he was not yet up. So the messengers sent up to him in his bedchamber to inform him that the king was below, and to ask him to come down and receive him. Gloucester accordingly came down. He was much surprised, but he knew that it would be very unwise for him to show any suspicion, and so, after welcoming the king, he asked what was the object of so early a visit. The king assumed a gay and unconcerned air, as if he were out upon some party of pleasure, and said he wished the duke to go away with him a short distance. So the duke dressed himself and mounted his horse, the king, in the mean time, talking in a merry way with the ladies of the castle who had come down into the court to receive him. When they were ready the whole party rode out of the court, and then the king, suddenly changing his tone, ordered his men to arrest the duke and take him away.

The duke was never again seen or heard of in England, and for a long time it was not known what had become of him. It was, however, at last said, and generally believed, that he was put on board a ship, and sent secretly to Calais, and shut up in a castle there, and was, after a time, strangled by means of feather beds, or, as others say, by wet towels put over his face, in obedience to orders sent to the castle by Richard. Several other great noblemen, whom Richard supposed to be confederates with Gloucester, were arrested by similar stratagems. Two or three of the most powerful of them were brought to a trial before judges in Richard's interest, and, being condemned, were beheaded. It is supposed that Richard did not dare to bring Gloucester himself to trial, on account of the great popularity and vast influence which he enjoyed among the people of England.

Richard was very much pleased with the success of his measures for thus putting the most formidable of his enemies out of the way, and not long after this his cousin Roger died, so that Richard was henceforth relieved of all special apprehension on his account. But the country was extremely dissatisfied. The Duke of Gloucester had been very much respected and beloved by the nation. Richard was hated. His government was tyrannical. His style of living was so extravagant that his expenses were enormous, and the people were taxed beyond endurance to raise the money required. While, however, he thus spared no expense to secure his own personal aggrandizement and glory, it was generally believed that he cared little for the substantial interests of the country, but was ready to sacrifice them at any time to promote his own selfish ends.

In the mean time, having killed the principal leaders opposed to him, for a time he had every thing his own way. He obtained the control of Parliament, and caused the most unjust and iniquitous laws to be passed, the object of which was to supply him more and more fully with money, and to increase still more his own personal power. He went on in this way until the country was almost ripe for rebellion.

Still, with all his wealth and splendor, Richard was not happy. He was harassed by perpetual suspicions and anxieties, and his conscience tortured him with reproaches for the executions which he had procured of his uncle Gloucester and the other noblemen, particularly the Earl of Arundel, one of the most powerful and wealthy nobles of England. He used to awake from his sleep at night in horror, crying out that the blood of the earl was all over his bed.

He was afraid continually of his cousin Henry, who was now in the direct line of succession to the crown, and whom he imagined to be conspiring against him. He wished very much to find some means of removing him out of the way. An opportunity at length presented itself. There was a quarrel between Henry and a certain nobleman named Norfolk. Each accused the other of treasonable designs. There was a long difficulty about it, and several plans were formed for a trial of the case. At last it was determined that there should be a trial by single combat between the parties, to determine the question which of them was the true man.

The town of Coventry, which is in the central part of England, was appointed for this combat. The lists were prepared, a pavilion for the use of the king and those who were to act as judges was erected, and an immense concourse of spectators assembled to witness the contest. All the preliminary ceremonies were performed, as usual in those days in personal combats of this character, except that in this case the combatants were to fight on horseback. They came into the lists with horses magnificently caparisoned. Norfolk's horse was covered with crimson velvet, and the trappings of Henry's were equally splendid. When all was ready, the signal was given, and the battle commenced. After the combatants had made a few passes at each other without effect, the king made a signal, and the heralds cried out, Ho! Ho! which was an order for them to stop. The king then directed that their arms should be taken from them, and that they should dismount, and take their places in certain chairs which had been provided for them within the lists. These chairs were very gorgeous in style and workmanship, being covered with velvet, and elegantly embroidered.

The assembly waited a long time while the king and those with him held a consultation. At length the king announced that the combat was to proceed no farther, but that both parties were deemed guilty, and that they were both to be banished from the realm. The term of Henry's banishment was ten years; Norfolk's was for life.

The country was greatly incensed at this decision. There was no proof whatever that Henry had done any thing wrong. Henry, however, submitted to the king's decree, apparently without murmuring, and took his departure. As he journeyed toward Dover, where he was to embark, the people flocked around him at all the towns and villages that he passed through, and mourned his departure; and when finally he embarked at Dover and went away, they said that the only shield, defense, and comfort of the commonwealth was gone.

Henry went to Paris, and there told his story to the King of France. The king took his part very decidedly. He received him in a very cordial and friendly manner, and condemned the course which Richard had pursued.

Another circumstance occurred to alienate the King of France still more from Richard. There was a certain French lady, named De Courcy, who had come from France with the little queen, and had since occupied a high position in the queen's household. She was Isabella's governess and principal lady of honor. This lady, it seemed, lived in quite an expensive style, and by her influence and management greatly increased the expense of the queen's establishment, which was, of course, entirely independent of that of the king. This Lady De Courcy kept eighteen horses for her own personal use, and maintained a large train of attendants to accompany her in state whenever she appeared in public. She had two or three goldsmiths and jewelers, and two or three furriers, and a proportionate number of other artisans all the time at work, making her dresses and decorations. Richard, under pretense that he could not afford all this, dismissed the Lady De Courcy from her office, and sent her home to France. Of course she was very indignant at this treatment, and she set out on her return home, prepared to give the King of France a very unfavorable account of his son-in-law. It was some time after this, however, before she arrived at Paris.

About three months after Henry of Bolingbroke was banished from the realm, his father, the Duke of Lancaster, died. He left immense estates, which of right should have descended to his son. Richard had given Henry leave to appoint an attorney to act as his agent during his banishment, and take care of his property; but, instead of allowing this attorney to take possession of these estates, and hold them for Henry until he should return, the king confiscated them, and seized them himself. He also, at the same time, revoked the powers which he had granted to the attorney. This transaction awakened one general burst of indignation from one end of England to the other, and greatly increased the hatred which the people bore to the king, and the favor with which they were disposed to regard Henry.

It must be admitted, in justice to Richard, that his mind was greatly harassed at this time with the troubles and difficulties that surrounded him, and with his want of money. To complete his misfortunes, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. He felt compelled to go himself and quell it. So he collected all the money that he could obtain, and raised an army and equipped a fleet to go across the Irish Sea. He left his uncle, the Duke of York, regent during his absence.

Before setting out for Ireland, the king went to Windsor to bid the little queen good-by. He took his leave of her in a church at Windsor, where she accompanied him to mass. On leaving the church after service, he partook of wine and refreshments with her at the door, and then lifting her up in his arms, he kissed her many times, saying,

"Adieu, madame. Adieu till we meet again."

As soon as Richard was gone, a great number of the leading and influential people began to form plans to keep him from coming back again, or at least to prevent his ever again ruling over the realm. Henry, who was now in Paris, and who, since his father was dead, was now himself the Duke of Lancaster, began to receive letters from many persons urging him to come to England, and promising him their support in dispossessing Richard of the throne.

Henry determined at length to comply with these proposals. He found many persons in France to encourage him, and some to join him. With these persons, not more, it is said, than sixty in all, he set sail from the coast of France, and, passing across the Channel, approached the coast of England. He touched at several places, to ascertain what was the feeling of the country toward him. At length he was encouraged to land. The people received him joyfully, and every body flocked to his standard.

The Duke of York, whom Richard had left as regent, immediately called a council of Richard's friends to consider what it was best to do. On consultation and inquiry, they found that the country would not support them in any plan for resisting Henry. So they abandoned Richard's cause at once in despair, and fled in various directions, intent only on saving their own lives.

The Duke of York went to Windsor Castle, took the queen and her attendants, and conveyed them up the river to the Castle of Wallingford, where he thought they would be more safe.

In the mean time, the king's expedition to Ireland resulted disastrously, and he returned to England. To his utter dismay, he learned, on his arrival, that Henry had landed in England, and was advancing toward London in a triumphant manner. He had no sufficient force under his command to enable him to go and meet his cousin with any hope of success. The only question was how he could save himself from Henry's vengeance. He dismissed the troops that remained with him, and then, with a very few attendants to accompany him, he sought refuge for a while among the castles in Wales, where he was reduced to great destitution and distress, being forced sometimes to sleep on straw. At length he went to Conway, which is a town near the northern confines of Wales, and shut himself up in the castle there—that famous Conway Castle, the ruins of which are so much visited and admired by the tourists of the present day.

In the mean time, Henry, although he had marched triumphantly through England at the head of a large, though irregular force, had not proclaimed himself king, or taken any other open step inconsistent with his allegiance to Richard. But now, when he heard that Richard was in Wales, he went thither himself at the head of quite a large army which he had raised in London. He stopped at a town in North Wales called Flint, and, taking his lodgings there, he sent forward an earl as his messenger to Conway Castle to treat with Richard. The earl, on being introduced into Richard's presence, said that his cousin was at Flint Castle, and wished that he would come there to confer with him on matters of great moment. Richard did not know what to do. He soon reflected, however, that he was completely in Henry's power, and that he might as well make a virtue of necessity, and submit with a good grace; so he said he would accompany the earl to Flint Castle.

They had not gone far on the road before a large number of armed men appeared at the road side, in a narrow place between the mountains and the sea, where they had been lying in ambush. These men were under the earl's command. Little was said, but Richard saw that he was a prisoner.

On his arrival at Flint Castle,[J] Richard had an interview with Henry. Henry, when he came into the king's presence, treated him with all due reverence, as if he still acknowledged him as his sovereign. He kneeled repeatedly as he advanced, until at length the king took him by the hand and raised him up, saying, at the same time,

[Footnote J: There is some discrepancy in the accounts in respect to the castle where this interview was had, but this is not material.]