Alençon, and the constable and admiral of France. The most distinguished of the prisoners were the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, and the counts of Eu, Vendome, and Richmond. The loss of the conquerors amounted to sixteen hundred men, with the earl of Suffolk, and the duke of York. They left Maisoncelles the next morning, and resumed their march towards Calais. As they crossed the field of battle, they killed such of the wounded, as still retained any appearance of life: and the moment they were gone, the hope of plunder conducted to the spot thousands of both sexes from the neighbouring villages. The foreign soldiers had carried off every article of value: these native plunderers stripped the slain of their clothes, and left more than ten thousand dead bodies exposed naked on the ground. The count of Charolois, son of the duke of Burgundy, ordered them to be interred at his own expense. Those, which it was possible to recognise, were buried in the nearest churches, or conveyed to the tombs of their ancestors. The rest, to the number of five thousand eight hundred, were deposited in three long and deep pits dug in the field of battle. This vast cemetery was surrounded by a strong inclosure of thorns and trees, which pointed out to succeeding genera 44 44 Et demourerent sur le champ tous desnuez, comme ils issirent du ventre leur mere. Id. i. 231. Among the slain was the baron de Helly. Id. 230. Liv. 21. I. СНАР. I. tions the spot, where the resolution of a few Englishmen triumphed over the impetuous but ill-directed valour of their numerous enemies.45 Henry reAt Calais Henry assembled a council, in turns to England. which it was determined to return to England. The army, indeed, wasted with disease, fatigue, and the casualties of war, was not in a condition to resume offensive operations: but the argument, which chiefly weighed with the king, will probably surprise the reader. It was maintained that his last expedition had sufficiently demonstrated his right to the crown of France: that God, by granting him the victory at Azincourt, had given the divine sanction to his claim: and that the same providence would hereafter furnish him with the opportunity of again seeking and ultimately recovering his inheritance. The fallacy of such reasoning could escape no one who recollected the events which followed the victories of Creci and Poitiers: but Henry was satisfied with a decision which allowed him to depart from France, and to receive in person the congratulations of his subjects. He sailed to Dover the crowd plunged into the waves to meet him and the conqueror was carried in their arms from his vessel to the beach.46 The 45 Monstrel. i. 230, 231, 232. Tit. Liv. 21. 46 Tit. Liv. 22. The French captives of distinction were in the king's ship. They had never been at sea and as it blew a storm, Henry was much diverted to hear them assert, that they would rather fight the battle of Azincourt over again, than encounter such another passage. Ibid. I. road to London exhibited one triumphal proces- CHAP. sion. The lords, commons, and clergy, the mayor, aldermen, and citizens, conducted him into the capital: tapestry, representing the deeds of his ancestors, lined the walls of the houses: pageants were erected in the streets : sweet wines ran in the conduits: bands of children tastefully arrayed sang his praise: and the whole population seemed intoxicated with joy." The parliament partook of the general enthusiasm. It ordered the tenth and fifteenth voted the last year to be levied immediately; added another tenth and fifteenth to be levied within twelve months; granted the king tonnage and poundage for the safeguard of the sea; and settled on him for life the subsidy on wool, woolfells, and leather. the empe mund. In the spring Henry's vanity was flattered by Arrival of a visit from several distinguished personages. ror SigisAmong those who sought to extinguish the schism, occasioned by the two pretenders to the papacy, no one had laboured more earnestly than Sigismund king of the Romans, and emperor elect: and as the co-operation of the kings of England and France was deemed necessary for the success of his endeavours, he cheerfully undertook to visit, and, if it were possible, to reconcile the two monarchs. In France he was received with honour, held several conferences 47 Liv. ibid. Elmh. 71, 72. VOL. V. D 48 Rot. Parl. iv. 63, 64. CHAP. with Charles and his Ministers, and with their I. 1416. approbation proceeded on his journey. Henry endeavoured, by the most magnificent preparations, to convince his guests of his opulence and resources. By royal proclamation all the knights and esquires in the kingdom were summoned to the capital to attend on their sovereign: a fleet of three hundred sail assembled at Calais for April 7. the conveyance of Sigismund and his retinue, amounting to a thousand horsemen and officers were appointed to escort him from Dover to London, and to defray his expenses on the road.49 But before his arrival a story was told, which created some perplexity in the king's mind. It had chanced that curiosity led the emperor to witness the proceedings in the parliament of Paris: through courtesy he was invited to occupy the throne: and as, during the pleadings, one of the parties was in danger of being nonsuited, because he was only an esquire, Sigismund drew his sword, and dubbed him a knight. It was probably a harmless action, proceeding from the mere impulse of the moment: but by the spectators it was reproved, and in England was represented as an undue assumption of power in virtue of the imperial dignity. Henry determined to preserve the rights and independence of his crown and as soon as the emperor's ship cast anchor in the 50 49 Rym. ix. 339, 340. 50 Monstrel. i. 235. HENRY V. 51 tory. harbour, the Duke of Glocester and several CHAP. noblemen rode into the water with their swords drawn, and inquired whether the imperial stranger meant to claim or exercise any authority or jurisdiction in England. He replied in the negative, and was immediately received with all the honours due to the first sovereign in Europe. Sigismund had been accompanied or followed Naval victo England by ambassadors from France: and his mediation between the two crowns was seconded by the presence and exhortations of William of Bavaria, duke of Holland, and count of Hainault. Before them Henry explained his right to the kingdom of France: and alluding to his late victory, claimed the praise of moderation, when he offered to resign that right, on condition that the treaty of Bretigny should be faithfully executed in all its provisions. It is hardly credible that the French ministers could have advised their sovereign to accept of a proposal, which must have deprived him of one half of his dominions: though the emperor, when he afterwards entered into an alliance with Henry, accused Charles of having given to it a full but treacherous assent.52 Nothing in reality was more foreign from the present policy of the French court than humiliating concession. To the dauphin, who was lately dead, had succeeded in the administration of affairs, the count ♫ Tit. Liv. 21, 22. Elm. 73. 77. $2 2 Rym, ix, 327. |