II. tained their pardon: but Bolingbrooke was convicted and executed, acknowledging the guilt Nov. 18. of necromancy, but denying that of treason. 102 Though the duke himself does not appear to have been implicated in this ridiculous but tragical business, he must have deeply felt for the disgrace and punishment of his wife. The king's marriage. The character which the duke of Glocester had attributed to Charles of France, belonged with more justice to his own nephew, the king of England. Henry was free from vice, but devoid of capacity. Gentle and inoffensive, he was shocked at the very shadow of injustice: but easy and unassuming, was always ready to adopt the opinion of his advisers. He was now twenty-three years old; his council suggested, that it was time he should marry; and every one foresaw that the queen, whoever she might be, would possess the controul over the weak mind of her husband. When the count of Ar magnac quarrelled with the king of France, it was suggested that the power of that nobleman might form a bulwark of defence to the province of Guienne; and commissioners were appointed to offer to his daughter the hand of the 102 Wil. Wyrcester, 460, 461. Stow, 379, 380. Fabian, 438, 439. Some writers have attributed the prosecution of dame Eleanor to Beaufort's enmity to her husband. But their assertion stands on the slightest foundation, a mere conjecture of Fox that it might be so, because the witch lived, according to Fabian, in the neighbourhood of Winchester, of which Beaufort was bishop. See Faller, 174. English monarch.103 But the transaction did not elude the vigilance of Charles, who immediately invaded the territories of the count, and made him and his family prisoners. Two years later the choice of Henry was directed towards Margaret, the daughter of Réné, king of Sicily and Jerusalem, and duke of Anjou, Maine, and Bar. In personal beauty she was thought superior to most women, in mental capacity equal to most men of the age. But it was not the charms of her person, or the power of her mind, that recommended her to the notice of the king's ministers. She was a near relation to Charles, who had always treated her with marked partiality; and a hope was cherished that through her mediation a satisfactory and permanent peace might be established between the two kingdoms. The charge of conducting the negociation was intrusted to William de la Pole earl of suffolk, and was accepted by him with real or affected reluctance. He professed to believe himself unequal to the task. Perhaps he feared the subsequent resentment of Glocester, who opposed the measure: perhaps he felt uneasy under the menaces of an act of parliament, passed in the reign of Henry V., which made it highly penal in any man to conclude a peace with Charles, unless the consent of the three estates in both realms had been previously obtained. 103 Rym. xi. 6-8. CHAP II. 1442. May 20. II. 1444. Feb. 20. CHAP. To tranquillize his mind a singular instrument was signed by the king, and approved by the parliament, which authorised the earl to conduct the treaty to the best of his abilities, and pardoned beforehand every error of judgment, into which he might fall.10 He met the duke of Orleans at Tours: a truce preparatory to a peace was concluded: and the question of the marriage repeatedly discussed. On the part of the French no opposition was raised: but several alarming difficulties suggested themselves to the mind of the English negociator. The father of the princess with all his sounding titles was in reality a pauper. This nominal king of Jerusalem and Sicily possessed not one foot of land in either country; his dutchies of Maine and Anjou were, and had long been, in the possession of the English: and his territory of Bar was mortgaged to the duke of Burgundy for the payment of his ransom. Suffolk consented to take the lady without a marriage portion. But it was asked, could the king of England think of marrying the daughter, while he kept the father out of his patrimonial dominions? The earl felt the force of the objection, but foresaw the danger of making the cession. At length he yielded it was stipulated that Maine and Anjou should be restored: and at his return he prevailed on the majority of the council to ap 104 Rym. xi. 53. prove of his conduct. II. In a general promotion CHAP. of the chief nobility he was created marquess of Suffolk, and measuring back his steps, solemnly contracted, as proxy for Henry, with Margaret in the cathedral of Nanci. Justs and tourna- Oct. 28. ments for eight days testified the joy of the court Charles attended his fair kinswoman some miles from the city, and parted from her in tears. Her father accompanied her to Bar le Duc. She landed at Porchester, was married to Henry at Titchfield, and crowned with the May 30. usual ceremony at Westminster.105 If Henry had flattered himself that his marriage would be followed by a peace, his expectations must have been grievously disappointed. Charles had determined to exclude, if it were possible, the English from the soil of France: and would only consent to short prolongations of the armistice, that he might improve the first opportunity, which should be offered by chance, or by the imprudence of Henry. His hopes were encouraged by the disputes in the council of his adversary, whose ministers were too busily employed in struggles for power at home, to support with vigour the national interests abroad. The queen had already gained the ascendancy over the easy mind of her husband: and Suffolk, the favourite of them both, gradually supplanted all his colleagues. The car 105 Will. Wyrces. 462, 463 1445. Arrest and death of II. CHAP. dinal, who had retired to his bishopric soon after the last dispute with his nephew, appeared no more on the scene, unless it were to relieve the urgent wants of the crown by advances of money. Glocester still attended the council occasionally: but, if we may believe the unauthenticated accounts of some writers, was chiefly employed in opposing the plans, and protecting himself against the intrigues of the favourite. We may however question their accuracy. Certain it is that he publicly testified his approbation of the king's marriage; and that, when Suffolk in parliament detailed the particulars of the treaty, and the commons petitioned Henry to approve the conduct of that minister, the duke fell on his knees, and seconded their request.106 Of his conduct from that period we are ignorant; and our ignorance prevents us from unravelling the causes of the mysterious transaction which followed. It may be that Glocester, harassed by the accusations of his enemies, had formed a plan to make himself master of the royal person 107 or that Suffolk, to screen himself from the resentment of the duke, infused into the June 4. 106 Rot. Parl. v. 73. of 107 We are told that he was accused in the council of illegal executions, and of having unjustly enriched himself at the expense the crown. From a singular instrument in Rymer it appears that he had been compelled to resign some possessions in Guienne, which were immediately given to John de Foix, who had married a niece of Suffolk: both circumstances of a nature to irritate a proud and ambitious mind. Rym. xi. 147. 22 Aug. 1446. |