1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

by Mortimer, Ian

  *

  In France, John the Fearless and his troops came to the fortified town of Provins, less than fifty miles from Paris.

  Every day the tension in the capital was growing. People were wary of carrying knives now, afraid they would be accused of treason if found to have a weapon in the street, and thrown into one of the city’s prisons.3

  The dauphin entered the city. Yesterday he had passed the church of St Denis but had failed to pay his respects at the tombs of his ancestors or to pray at the shrine of the saint. He took up his lodging in the hôtel de Bourbon, near the Louvre. He had brought with him a large force of men-at-arms – six thousand, according to Monstrelet. Billeting them in and around Paris did nothing to calm matters. Whether they were in the suburbs of the city or at Corbeil, St Denis or Melun, they caused all sorts of damage to their hosts and neighbours. They forced their way into people’s houses, stealing what they deemed most valuable, thereby increasing the frustration and anger within and around the capital. No one could control them. Nor was the disquiet confined to Paris. At Laon, in Picardy, the people rioted while the bishop pleaded for a garrison to be sent.4

  France had experienced enough disasters. But soon after returning to Paris the dauphin fell seriously ill, and took to his bed. According to the official French chronicler, he had contracted dysentery.

  Monday 2nd

  Henry dictated a letter to an official at Newcastle upon Tyne concerning two Flemish ships that had been captured by Robert Hornsee and John del Strotherland. These two men had fitted out two balingers to defend the shores of England against the Scots, in line with Henry’s orders, and had captured the two Flemish vessels laden with merchandise. They had taken them to Shields – but there the ships had been impounded and removed to Newcastle. Feeling aggrieved, Hornsee and del Strotherland had appealed to the king.

  Henry’s letter is peculiar. It shows great concern for the costs that Hornsee and del Strotherland had incurred, and the likely damage to their estates, but pays no regard at all to the fact that their action was against the law. It was an incursion of the Statute of Truces, for there was an agreement in force between Flanders and England. Henry commanded the official to restore the ships to Hornsee and del Strotherland, if it had not already been done, or to appear before the council to explain himself.

  Clearly Henry was in the wrong. He might have originally drawn up the Statute of Truces simply to guarantee the security of his alliances against France, but his victory at Agincourt did not mean he could now turn a blind eye to those who broke the law. One can only suppose that the duplicity of the duke of Burgundy, whose brothers had both fought at Agincourt, now caused Henry to lay aside that agreement with Flanders. Such a course of action would have set an extremely dangerous precedent. The council understood this, and corrected the mistake: by the end of January 1416, the vessels had been restored to their Flemish owners, specifically in accordance with the terms of the truce.5

  *

  In Paris the council were facing a whole host of grave problems. John the Fearless was still at Provins but he was about to advance further towards Paris with his army. The collapse of law and order in the city was a further issue. It was decided that Robert Mauger, president of the council, should speak to the dauphin, and present him with the series of ordonnances for the better government of the realm, in line with the decision of 15 November.

  About this time the council sent for help from Clignet de Brabant and the lords of Barbazan and Bocquiaux. They also sent a message to Bernard, count of Armagnac, who had recently been appointed constable of France (following the death of Charles d’Albret at Agincourt), urging him to hurry to Paris with as many men as he could muster. Until his appointment, the count had been at Perpignan, following the fortunes of Benedict XIII and the emperor’s attempts to bring about Benedict’s resignation. On being appointed constable he had left Perpignan and hurried towards Paris. Thus he was already on the way, but such was the vastness of France that it would be the end of the month before he arrived.6

  Tuesday 3rd

  At the port of Lynn, in Norfolk, the disputes that had divided the town between the mayoral party (who had sought the removal of the influence of the bishop of Norwich) and the rest of the gild merchant continued unabated. On the death of the mayor, John Lakynghith, the alderman of the gild, Robert Brunham, had taken up the reins as acting mayor. In August 1415 a new man, John Bilney, had been elected mayor by the gild merchant. Extraordinarily, the duke of Bedford wrote to the gild to insist that the election results should be ignored, and that Robert Brunham should continue to act as mayor. Any failure in this respect would result in Bilney paying a fine of £1,000.

  The men of Lynn saw this as an outrageous and unjustifiable attack on their privileges, and they resented Bedford’s intervention bitterly. A riot ensued, and Bilney declared that he never wanted to be mayor of Lynn in the first place. Bedford replied on 18 October that Thomas Hunt should now be mayor, attempting to mollify the townsmen with the assurance that this imposition of an official by the government would not be a precedent, or lessen their traditional rights and liberties in future. Of course, that was simply a red rag to a herd of bulls. Bedford’s attempt at mediation resulted in another riot.7

  Into this fray stepped the king. In support of his brother, he upheld all of Bedford’s actions. Today he commissioned the sheriff of Norfolk and seven other local knights and esquires to enquire as to all the ‘evildoers’ who had supported thirty-eight named objectors in hindering Thomas Hunt from exercising office. At the same time he repeated the threat of a £1,000 fine on those who stopped Bedford’s appointee from being mayor.

  So much for the king observing the liberties of the people. This might have been an attempt at arbitration but it amounted to the imposition of local officers by the crown.8

  Wednesday 4th

  Henry confirmed the provision made on 12 November by his brother the duke of Bedford concerning Welsh lands with respect to the county of Cardigan. He specified that the sum of £1,000 was to be paid in four instalments: on the next two feasts of St Philip and St James (1 May), and on the next two feasts of All Saints (1 November). He also pardoned the sheriff of Kent the sum of £60 owed at the exchequer, due to the dilapidations in old farms in the county, and arranged for one of his aged servants, Stephen French, to be sent to Beaulieu Abbey for his maintenance.9

  *

  This evening, the fear in Paris reached its height. It was tonight that the Burgundian supporters expected to be slaughtered. The monks of St Martin des Champs and other places of refuge kept fires burning all night in their houses, and Burgundians gathered together for security, watching and waiting for the attack.10

  Thursday 5th

  In the summer Henry had deputed John Waterton and John Kempe to accompany the envoys of King Ferdinand of Aragon back to Spain. Waterton and Kempe had taken the Aragonese diplomats to London, and had returned with them to Southampton by way of Winchester, sailing on 8 September with twenty horses in the ship John the Baptist of Bayonne. They spent fifteen days at sea. Finding that Ferdinand was at Perpignan, seeing to the business with Pope Benedict XIII, they set off across land with their Aragonese counterparts, finally gaining admittance to the king today.

  Henry had been circumspect in his instructions regarding his own marriage to Maria, the king’s eldest daughter. Although he had not ruled it out completely, he preferred the idea of one of his brothers marrying her. However, when the ambassadors arrived in Perpignan, it transpired that Ferdinand had betrothed Maria to Henry’s young cousin, King Juan of Castile, who was in his guardianship. Ferdinand tried to persuade the envoys that Henry should marry his second daughter, Leonora, who was then thirteen; but the envoys knew that Henry would not even consider marriage with the second daughter of the king of Aragon. The possibility that she might marry one of Henry’s siblings remained open for discussion – for the time being, at least.11

  It was going to be a long period of negotiation for
Waterton and Kempe. They did not return to England until June 1416 – and with nothing to show for their efforts. Leonora was eventually betrothed to Henry’s cousin, Duarte, the future king of Portugal.

  *

  At Westminster, Henry’s focus remained on his bureaucratic duties. He instructed the constable of the Tower of London to accept custody of two men from Lynn, John Wyrom and John Sherman, who had been arrested for resisting the duke of Bedford’s mayor, and to keep them in prison until further notice. The receivers of the town of Boston were directed to pay the yeoman of the robes, Henry Somercotes, £10 yearly. Henry granted leave for the abbot of Canterbury not to have to attend court sessions on account of his ill health, and to appoint attorneys in his stead. He also agreed that the prior and monks of the London Charterhouse could alienate the advowson of a church in London, as part of an exchange of property with the bishop of London. Finally, three men from Newcastle upon Tyne were commissioned to requisition coal – or ‘sea coal’ as it was then known – for the king’s use in London. Henry would not have used coal to heat his palaces but it was employed in such industries as smithying, making steel (including armour, swords and arrowheads) and casting bronze (including cannon).12

  *

  In Paris an emergency meeting took place, to discuss the widespread fear of the preceding night and the threat of the approach of the duke of Burgundy. Four hours after dinner, in line with the advice of the great council and the leading men of the University of Paris, Robert Mauger prepared to read out the series of ordonnances to the dauphin and the dukes of Anjou and Berry. Unfortunately, the dauphin was indisposed. It was said that he had spent too long eating and drinking, and was not fit to hear anyone speak. Such was his reputation; but it is more likely that the dysentery – which could not be publicly admitted, for fear it would be seen as a sign of weakness, or worse, God’s judgment – was keeping him in his bed. The meeting was put off until the following day.13

  *

  Although John the Fearless had had no success with his first diplomatic contacts with the dauphin, at Troyes, he was not inclined to leave it at that. From Provins he renewed his diplomatic offensive, sending ambassadors to the king and dauphin, namely Jean de Luxembourg and the seigneur de St Georges. Through them he begged to be allowed to come to Paris, to explain the reasons for his approach. It was not a ploy likely to succeed. With such a large army behind him, the reasons seemed obvious.14

  Friday 6th

  Various French prisoners sought permission to come to Henry, presumably to ask to return to France to seek their ransoms. Among them were Charles Savoisy, who today received a safe conduct for himself, two esquires and four servants to enter Henry’s presence. Among the other French prisoners we read the name of Ghillebert de Lannoy, the man who had escaped from the massacre during the battle of Agincourt by fleeing from a burning house, only to be recaptured. In contrast to his luck that day, he did manage to persuade Henry to grant him a safe conduct to return to France – although he did not actually receive it until the following February.15

  Henry granted permission for Ralph Neville, earl of Westmorland, to make a settlement of his estates up to the value of £400. Westmorland was fifty-one, so his precaution might have been due to either a feeling of old age or a life-threatening sickness. Had he actually died at this time, it would have been a blow for Henry, as Westmorland was a solid defender of the north of England and utterly loyal to the Lancastrian cause, being the husband of Henry’s aunt, Joan Beaufort. But he lived another ten years; in fact, he outlived Henry.16

  Several of the men who had died on the recent campaign left underage heirs. Some of the wardships that fell to the crown in this way were sold to pay the expenses of members of the household, in line with Henry’s order of 28 November; others were handed out to other men as rewards for loyal service. The lands of Sir John Mortimer, who had been killed in the battle of Agincourt, were handed to Sir Roland Leinthal ‘in consideration of his great expenses on the king’s last voyage’, and so was the right to arrange the marriage of the dead man’s son and heir. Sir Roland seems to have been knighted on the campaign, as he was not described as a knight in Henry’s will in July; no doubt he deserved his reward. Nevertheless, it seems a poor return for the family of a man who had given his life fighting for the king: to see all but a third of his estate (which was reserved to the widow) handed to someone else. Doubly so, in fact, for Sir John’s widow had to acknowledge that Sir Roland now had the right to arrange her young son’s marriage, and make that all-important family alliance, not her.17

  Henry handed over Lord Scrope’s goods ‘to the value of £25’ to his servants John Turgess and Richard Hunt in consideration of their service on the recent campaign. This was just the latest in the string of grants he had made at the expense of the late disgraced lord. Within twenty-four hours of Scrope’s death two grants of his estates had been parcelled out to William Porter and Sir John Phelip. By 9 October a number of his silver and gold vessels, which had been placed in the hands of the mayor of London, had been sold for £458 on the king’s behalf. Another £100 was found in the possession of a London fishmonger; this too was confiscated.18 Later Henry gave some of Scrope’s estates to his grandmother, the dowager countess of Hereford.19 And many of the late lord’s mazers, cups and silverware were retained by the king. Some were still in the king’s possession in 1422. Other items were handed out as presents to visiting diplomats and dignitaries. The Danish messengers who had come to ask Henry to stop English fishermen taking cod from Icelandic waters had been given cups that had belonged to Lord Scrope.20

  *

  At the hôtel de Bourbon, the dauphin was fit enough to hear Robert Mauger speak. With the dauphin was his brother Charles, count of Ponthieu; his great-uncle, the duke of Berry; and the duke of Anjou, as well as many other members of the great council.

  Mauger took as his theme the line ‘Lord, save us, for we may perish’ and expounded on the dangers to the realm. The cause, he said, was the bitter blood feud that existed between the princes of the blood, which had torn France apart ever since the murder of the duke of Orléans ‘to the great destruction of the realm and her poor people’. Evil men were causing disorder and crime everywhere. The problem lay with the enmity between the king and three men in particular: the duke of Burgundy, the duke of Brittany, and the king’s own son, John, the seventeen-year-old duke of Touraine. John lived away from the French court, at le Quesnoy, under the influence of the duke of Holland, and so was thought to be under the influence of the duke of Burgundy.21 Having made this view clear, Mauger read out the ordonnances concerning finance, law and order that the parlement had decided were necessary to restore the kingdom.

  The dauphin heard the sermon and responded with a promise – as the son of the king – that he would do all he could to bring the evildoers to justice, whatever their rank. He swore to restore the peace of the realm to the people and to the clergy, and to administer justice impartially, wherever necessary.

  The representatives of the parlement and the university were pleased with the dauphin’s response. But saying these things was one thing; doing them was quite another – especially when the principal ‘evil-doer’ had an army in the field, and was at that very moment marching towards Paris with the duke of Lorraine and an army said to number ten thousand men. Their next destination was Colomiers, thirty-five miles from the capital.22

  Saturday 7th

  John Calverton of Northumberland had suffered heavily due to the attacks of the Scots in the first year of Henry’s reign. Because of this, and also because he had served both Henry IV and the present king well, Henry granted him the office of porter in the castle of Newcastle upon Tyne, receiving 2s daily from the sheriff, his duty being to feed the prisoners in the castle ‘who suffer great hunger for the lack of victuals’.23

  *

  The English ambassadors to the duke of Brittany – one of the French king’s ‘three enemies’ – returned home today. John Hovingham and S
imon Flete had been given their instructions on 28 July; they had left London on 23 August and had sailed from the port of Topsham, near Exeter, with eight men and twelve horses. They had remained in Brittany throughout the period of the English march – and were still in Brittany in October when the duke had been with the king of France at Rouen. Given that the duke was still negotiating with Henry, and already had a treaty with him, it is hardly surprising that he failed to proceed with his army to Agincourt, even if he did send his brother Arthur, count of Richemont, to represent him.24 He was indeed no friend of the king of France.

  Sunday 8th

  William Porter had had a successful year. At the start of January he had been a mere esquire in the royal household. Then at the end of the month he had been deputed to go to Harfleur and spy out the place with Sir John Phelip. Returning in March, he had obviously found royal favour as he was named in the king’s will in July. On the fall of Lord Scrope he was given some of Scrope’s Leicestershire lands. He took part in the advance party that undertook the reconnaissance of the shore prior to the disembarkation of the army in August, and was knighted the next day. He also took part in the attack on the Porte Leure on 16 September, and then fought at Agincourt. Now the king wanted to reward him further. Henry granted him the reversion of lands that had previously been granted to Sir John Phelip and his wife Maud, both of whom had died without an heir.25

  In contrast to William Porter, the de la Pole family, earls of Suffolk, had suffered a double catastrophe on the campaign. First the earl himself had died at Harfleur, then his heir had died at Agincourt. Granting out the estates would not endear Henry to this potentially important family. Furthermore, it might impoverish the family, alienating the younger son of the late earl. Thus Henry granted the keeping of all the castles, manors and other income to the dowager countess and four other trustees, including Sir Thomas Erpingham and Sir William Phelips. The whole estate was valued at £232 yearly – not a large sum for an earldom, even though that sum did not include the dowers of the countess and the late heir’s widow. A further portion of the estate worth £40 was set aside for the late earl’s three daughters; this too was granted by the king to the trustees.26