CHAP. II.] MARRIAGE OF THE KING OF SCOTLAND.

61

mony of his confidence and gratitude, selected his body guard from the Scotch auxiliaries; and, as he had already granted to Stuart of Darnley the French lordships of Aubigny and Concressault, he gave to Douglas the still more valuable dukedom of Tourraine, Mar. which had belonged to himself before his accession. The 25. duke of Albany, the regent of Scotland, and the Scottish nobility, swore in the presence of the French ambassa- 19. dor to maintain the ancient alliance between the two Oct. countries, and promised, what it was not in their power 8. to enforce, that their king, in the event of his liberation, 16. should ratify their engagements *.

April

26.

A. D.

The necessity of interrupting the harmony between France and Scotland had now become evident; and with this view the English council proposed to king James to treat with him respecting his release from captivity. The offer was joyfully accepted; the Scottish envoys were permitted to join their sovereign; and after much negotiation it was mutually agreed, that the king should be set at liberty, and that in return he 1423. should forbid his subjects to enter into the service of Sept. France; should pay by instalments, in six years, the 10. sum of forty thousand pounds, as a compensation for his expenses during the time of his detention †; and should give hostages as a security till the whole of the money were paid. To attach the Scottish prince more firmly to the interests of England, it was wished to marry him to an English princess; and the ambassadors were in

* Du Tillet, 135, 136. Douglas was made the king's lieutenant and commander of the French armies, Apr. 19, 1424. In the Archives de France, Cartons k. 90-998, are numbers of letters of naturalization granted to Scottish archers of the royal guard from this time down to 1474. † As James could not enforce the return of the Scots already in France, they were excepted from the benefit of the treaty. Rym. x. 331.

The maintenance of James had been fixed by Heure V. at 7001. per annum; which in nineteen years would amount to 13,000%.

There can

be no doubt that of late his expenses had considerably increased. (See Rym. x. 293. 296.) But it is probable that so large a sum was demanded under that pretence, because it could not decently be claimed as a ransom. The English commissioners had private instructions to accept of 36,000, if the Scots objected to 40,000. Id. x 295,

structed to entertain the subject, if it were opened by the Scots, but not to be the first to suggest it, "because, “by the custom of England, it did not become the lady "to be the suitor." It was not, however, necessary to urge the willing mind of James by political motives. His affections were already engaged by a beautiful and A.D. accomplished woman, Jane, descended by her father, 1424. the earl of Somerset, from Edward III., and by her Feb. mother, Margaret Holand, from Edward I. He married Apr. her before his departure; and the protector, to express

his satisfaction, remitted, with the consent of the council, a sixth part of the sum stipulated to be paid by the treaty *. The event proved that an English education of nineteen years had not rendered James less fit to wear the crown of Scotland. He proved, as a monarch, a blessing to his country; but though he laboured to fulfil the conditions on which he had been liberated, his revenue had been so impaired by the regents, and his people appeared so unwilling to submit to taxation, that he was never able to discharge one third part of the debt.

In France the campaign of the present year was chequered with the same variety of events which marked that of the last. Arthur, brother to the duke of Bretagne, and several Burgundian lords, passed over to the service of Charles; his partisans surprised Compeigne and Crotoi; and the garrison of Ivri, consisting of Bretons, received and unfurled his standard. On the other hand, the duke of Bedford procured a reinforce

*Rvm. x. 323.

+ If we may believe Holinshed (p. 587), and Hall (f. 86), James, before his departure, did homage to the young Henry at Windsor, and swore fealty in these words: "I, James Stewart, king of Scotland, shall be true "and faithful unto you, lord Henry, by the grace of God king of England "and France, the noble and superior lord of the kingdom of Scotland, "which I hold and claim of you. And I shall bear you faith and fidelity, "&c." This we are told was done before three dukes, two archbishops, twelve earls, ten bishops, twenty barons, and 200 knights, and yet there can be little doubt that it is a mistake. For in all the public records James is treated not as a vassal but an independent sovereign; and Henry in a private letter styles him :-Rizt heigh and myghty prince by the grace of God kyng of Scotes. Rym. x. 635.

A. D. 1424.]

BATTLE OF VERNEUIL.

63

ment from England, recovered Compeigne and Crotoi, and with two thousand men-at-arms, and seven thousand archers, laid siege to Ivri. A French army of eighteen thousand men, under the duke of Alençon, approached to relieve that fortress; but despairing of success, aban- Aug. doned it to its fate, and surprised Verneuil. The duke, 17. leaving a garrison to secure his conquest, marched to seek the enemy, who boldly came forward to meet him. The men-at-arms were arrayed in one compact mass: in front and on each flank was stationed a body of archers protected as usual by long stakes fixed in the ground; and in the rear were collected the baggage, servants, and horses of the army, under the protection of two thousand archers; who, to oppose the irruption of the enemy, had tied the horses to each other, both by their bridles and tails, and intermixed them with the car riages in such manner as to form an almost impenetrable rampart. The shock of the two armies is described as dreadful. They fought hand to hand, and with such resolution, that for near an hour neither party seemed to gain any advantage. In the hottest of the battle a body of French and Italian cavalry, instructed to annoy the rear of the English, endeavoured to charge through the horses and baggage; but unable to force their way, or to disentangle themselves, they stood exposed to the arrows of the archers; who, after they had slain or repelled the assailants, turned towards the front, and with a loud shout rushed on the enemy. This manœuvre decided the action. The courage of the French sank; their front was pierced in different points; and the plain was soon covered with fugitives and pursuers. According to the account of the enemy, they lost above three thousand men, the English sixteen hundred. The Scots were so reduced that they never afterwards formed a distinct corps in the French army. The new duke of Tourraine, and the earl of Buchan were left on the field: the duke of Alençon, and two hundred gentlemen, were made prisoners. The regent immediately called his

VOL. V.

6

officers around him, and returned thanks to God on the field of battle *

Hitherto the duke of Bedford had supported the honour of the English army, and displayed talents equal to the difficult situation in which he was placed. But in every measure he had the misfortune to be thwarted by the private ambition of his brother the duke of Gloucester. Jacqueline of Bavaria, heiress of Hainault, Holland, Zeeland and Friesland, had for her first nusband A. D. John, dauphin of France. After his death, Henry V. 1417, offered his mediation to compose the difference between April the widow and her uncle, and improved the opportunity to solicit her hand for his brother of Bedford. But Jacqueline, by persuasion of her mother, preferred John, A. D. duke of Brabant, a boy in his sixteenth year. Their 1418, union was unhappy. He was passionate and capricious ;

5.

she proud and revengeful. The duke dismissed the ladies and servants whom his wife had brought with her from Holland: his favourites in return were soon afterwards massacred in an insurrection of the people. At length she separated from him, repaired to her mother A. D. at Valenciennes, eloped from Valenciennes, and sought 1421. an asylum in England, where she was received with welJuly come, and obtained from the king a pension of £100 a month. The duke of Gloucester became enamoured with her charms, perhaps still more with her inheritance. But Henry, who saw that a marriage between them would be followed by a rupture with the duke of Burgundy, cousin-german and apparent heir to Jacqueline's husband, restrained the imprudence of his brother, and on his death-bed inculcated with extraordinary earnestness the necessity of making every sacrifice to preserve the friendship of his ally. Gloucester was too headstrong to regard the advice of the king, or to yield to the remonstrances of the council. Maintaining that the marriage of Jacqueline with the duke of Brabant was

* Monstrel. ii. 15.

+ Monstrel. i. 267. 299. 303. Pell Records, 368.

CHAP. 11.]

JACQUELINE'S MARR.AGE.

65

A. D.

void, on account of consanguinity, though a dispensation had been obtained from the council of Constance, he married her himself, and immediately laid claim to her dominions. Had her husband been left to his own decision, he might probably have yielded: but the duke of 1424. Burgundy espoused his cause, and declared that he would oppose force to force in his behalf. It was in vain that the regent employed all his influence to prevail on his brother to withdraw a demand, which would alienate the Burgundian from the interests of England, and might ultimately throw him into the arms of Charles. As a Oct. last resource, in a great council at Paris, it was deter- 24. mined, that the legitimacy of the two marriages should be referred to the pope, and that all parties should await his decision. The duke of Brabant acquiesced: the duke of Gloucester refused. He was already at Calais with Jacqueline and an army of five thousand men, and proceeding into Hainault, immediately obtained posses- Dec. sion of the county in right of his pretended wife. The 20. duke of Burgundy on this intelligence sent forces to the A.D. aid of his cousin; insulting messages passed between Mar. him and Gloucester; a challenge was given and accept-3. ed*; and the two combatants agreed to decide their Mar. quarrel on the feast of St. George in the presence of the 16. duke of Bedford, the regent. In the interval the Burgundian recalled his forces, and Gloucester prepared to return to England. Notwithstanding the objections of Jacqueline, it was resolved, at the request of the inhabitants, that she should remain at Mons. She parted from the duke with tears, predicting the evils which would result from their separation. The Brabanters renewed the war: the towns of Hainault returned to the obedience of the duke; and Jacqueline was delivered to

* On this occasion the duke of Burgundy paid a high compliment to the duke of Bedford. Si mieux vous plait, he says to his antagonist, je suis content, que nous prenons a juge mon tres cher et aimé cousin, et aussi votre beau frere le Regent duc de Bethfort-car il est tel prince que je scay, qu'a vous et a moy, et a tous autres il voudroit estre droiturier juge. Monst. ii. 20.

1425