the populace of the capital, whose ephemeral superiority had been accompanied with the imprisonment or massacre of the lords and ladies attached to the court '; and lastly to the duke of Orleans, who persisted in waging a successful but impolitic war against the Burgundians, the ancient foes of his family. To the aspiring mind of Henry these troubles opened a most alluring prospect. He determined to revive the claim, and tread in the footsteps, of his great grandfather, Edward III.; and, if he consented to a succession of short truces at the prayer of Charles, it was only that he might have leisure to mature his plans, to provide and to open money for his expenses, the war with an army adequate to his object. A little more than a year had elapsed from his accession, when he unexpectedly demanded the crown of France, with all its appurtenances, as the heir of Isabella, daughter of Philip IV. The French ministers might have replied, that he was not the legitimate representative of that princess2: but they deemed the claim an insult to the national independence, and refused to admit it even as a subject of discussion. Henry therefore consented that Charles August. should continue to possess his throne, but required as the price of his forbearance conditions, which would have reduced France to a secondary station among the powers of Europe; that he should cede to balls. The king promised to return the compliment with English balls, which should batter to the ground the walls of Paris. Otterb. 275. See the letter of the king of France in Rymer, ix. 51. and the account of Monstrelet, i. 165-170. 2 The reader will recollect that our king claimed the French crown on the plea that it could descend by females. Now in that hypothesis it belonged not to Henry, but to the earl of March.. 1414. July 10. Oct. 3. England in full sovereignty the provinces of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou; the territories which formerly composed the dutchy of Aquitaine; and the several towns and counties included in the great peace of Bretigny : that he should put Henry in possession of one half of Provence, the inheritance of Eleanor and Sanchia, the queens of Henry III. and of his brother Richard, and two of the four daughters of Berenger, once sovereign of that country that he should faithfully discharge the arrears of the ransom of king John, amounting to twelve hundred thousand crowns; and that he should give his daughter Catharine in marriage to the king of England with a portion of two millions of crowns. To these demands the duke of Berri, the organ of the French government, replied: that Charles for the sake of peace was willing to restore all the territories anciently comprehended within the dutchy of Aquitaine; and to give with his daughter six hundred thousand crowns, a greater portion than had ever been given on a similar occasion by any of his predecessors. By a prince of ordinary ambition such offers would have been cheerfully accepted. It was evident that they were made not on account of the real superiority of England, but of the temporary embarrassments of France; and there was reason to fear, that, if they should be refused, the different factions might unite against the common enemy, and by their union defeat all his projects. Great, however, as they were, they did not satisfy the expectations of Henry 2. He recalled his ambassadors, summoned a parliament, avowed his inten 2 'Two crowns were equal to a noble English. The whole process of the negociation is to be found in Rymer, ix. 208. tion of vindicating his right by arms, and obtained a supply of two tenths, and two fifteenths. The grant Nov. 19. of so large a sum created considerable alarm in the French court and Henry resolved to make a second attempt by negociation. A few days before the conclusion of the armistice, the earl of Dorset, with the bishops of Durham and Norwich, and a retinue of six hundred horsemen, entered Paris, where by their parade and magnificence, they surprised and mortified the vanity of the French 2. Their first object was easily attained, to prolong the truce during four months. They next proposed a treaty of peace and alliance on a March 13. new basis. The claim of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou, was entirely abandoned: they consented to accept of 1415. Jan. 24. the princess with half the sum originally required: but every other demand made by the late embassy, was repeated and enforced. The duke of Berri gave the March 14. same answer, with this unimportant difference, that he offered eight instead of six hundred thousand crowns as the marriage portion of Catharine. The ambassadors immediately returned. 3 Makes preparations for war. It is probable that the result of the negociation was not displeasing to Henry. His counsellors might wish to avert the impending calamities of war: but the young hero longed to encircle his brow with the laurels of a conqueror. A council of fifteen spiritual and twenty- April 16. eight temporal peers was immediately assembled: the king declared his resolution «< to recover his inheritance by arms 4: and his speech was received with applause, and assurances of support. The duke of Bedford, one Dismisses the French envoys. of his brothers, accepted the office of regent during the The French minister had made no preparations to meet the tempest, with which they were threatened. Occupied in maintaining the ascendency over the do J The following were the terms, and the manner of raising the army. 1. Contracts were made by the keeper of the privy seal. with different lords and gentlemen, who bound themselves to serve with a certain number of men for a year, from the day on which they were first mustered. 2. The pay of a duke was to be 13s. 4d. per day; an earl, 6s. 8d.; a baron or banneret, 4s.; a knight, 2s.; an esquire, 1s.; an archer, 6d. 3. The pay, or security for its amount was to be delivered by the treasurer a quarter of a year in advance and if the money were not actually paid at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the engagement was to be at an end. As an additional remuneration, each contractor received « the usual : regard», or douceur of 100 marks for every 30 men at arms. 4. A duke was to have 50 horses; an earl, 24; a baron or banneret, 16; a knight, 6; an esquire, 4; an archer, 1. The horses were to be furnished by the contractor-the equipment by the king. 5. All prisoners were to belong to the captors: but if they were kings, the sons of kings, or officers high in command bearing commissions from kings, they were to belong to the crown, on the payment of a reasonable recompense to the captors. 6. The booty taken was to be divided into three parts. Two remained to the men : the third was again divided into three parts, of which the leader took two, and left the third to the king. See the several contracts in Rymer, ix. 223. 227-239. * Ibid. 241. 271. 284–287. : mestic rivals, they had flattered themselves that the king of England would accept of the terms which had been offered him: and with this fallacious expectation they even now sent the archbishop of Bourges, and the earl of Vendome, to repeat the proposals which had lately been made by the duke of Berri. The ambassadors were introduced to the king at Winchester: the next day Henry Chichely, who had lately succeeded to the archbishopric of Canterbury, informed them that his sovereign would accept nothing short of the restoration of all the territories which had ever been possessed by his predecessors and Henry following the primate, added, that the crown of France was his right, and that he would wrest it from its unjust possessor in defiance of all his enemies. These words aroused the spirit of the archbishop of Bourges, who having previously obtained permission, replied: that if the king attributed to fear the offers which had been made, he deceived himself. The throne of France was the most excellent in Europe. It would require more than the power of England to shake it. Let Henry, if he chose, make the attempt: he would either be driven back to the sea, or would pay the forfeit of his presumption with his liberty, perhaps with his life. As for himself, the archbishop added that he had nothing more to do in England. He requested his passports: but trusted that the king would give the answer in writing, and spare him the pain of delivering so insulting a message by word of mouth. Henry did not resent the freedom of the prelate, but dismissed him and his colleague with valuable presents. 1 See Monstrelet (i. 221), who praises the spirit, and Elmham |