SSiclapccesunsdevenasencanel i inaboosoeeeensesenenssiaemnininenneesnee

XXIV THE MASTER OF GAME

‘“hungery, wery, sore traveled and much vexed with colde diseases,” as we know it was, was led j
person by Henry, the incomparable leader of men, while the right wing, which formed the vangu i
was entrusted, at his particular request, to the Duke of York. The disposition of the ee i
was extremely injudicious, the horsemen crowded together in close masses in front, the archers a
crossbowmen in dense masses behind them.’ According to Zztus Livius the ‘Presch line :
thirty-one men deep, the English only four, and the bowmen were in front. When Sir che
Erpingham, according to Monstrelet, threw up into the air his warder, crying out “ Nestrocque a
word that has much puzzled historians, and which probably was “ Now strike,” the En lish a :
advanced, the archers* darkening the sky with their arrows, which they began to eis eee a a
distance. These carried dire confusion into the closely packed ranks of the arene Hae
whose steeds became unmanageable, and goaded by the arrows rushed about among the see
French files. Twice the French knights charged the archers: the first time eight hundred men-at
arms under Clugnet de Brabant dashed at the archers, but were foiled by the stakes, leaving all b :
seven score on the field. The second charge, under Duke Anthony of Brabant ide the ane a
At what period of the battle the Duke of York was killed is a disputed point. Aceordne to Leland
he was “smouldered to death by much heat and thronging,” as he was a very stout man. Sir
Harry Nicolas, on the other hand, lets him perish by the hand of the Duke of Alen aa who
managed to break through the English line, wounding and striking down the Duke of ark in
Henry, seeing this, rushed forward to his uncle’s assistance.? As he was stooping to raise a
Alengon gave the King a blow on his bacinet which struck off a part of the crown which Henr hed
placed on his helmet ere the battle commenced. Being surrounded by the King’s bod ai
Alengon found himself in the utmost danger, and lifting up his arm, cried out that he was ae
of Alengon, yielding himself to the King. Whilst the King was extending his hand to receive his
pledge Alengon was slain (Nicolas, p. cclii.). St. Remy, who fought on the English side, states
that the blow which struck off part of Henry’s crown was dealt by one of a body Gieigttcen Breach
knights, who had sworn that they would force themselves as near as possible to the King in order
to strike the royal crown from his head,‘ or that they would die in the attempt, a vow which was
literally fulfilled, for though one of them did succeed in striking a point from the crown
they were all cut to pieces. As the Duke of Alencgon was among the four or five drousand
French nobles who died that fateful October 25, it is very likely that he was one of the
eighteen.

The Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk were the only great English nobles that paid with

their lives for th i iati i
for that memorable victory. In the former's case no better expiation for his treason to

two of his royal kinsmen in his earlier career could have been offered. That he felt guilty of
treachery is shown by his will, which he made two months before his death, while the English arm

was besieging Harfleur.® In it he calls himself “of all sinners the most wicked and culpable,”
“the most criminal and unnatural of created beings,” and he provides that in the masses that Shall
be said for his soul’s salvation King Richard and King Henry uv. shall always be mentioned first
(four guex je suy tenuz en ma conscience a faire prier, soient compris aussi avant come moy

1 Henry had in his pay crossbowmen, but none appear to have been at Agincourt.—Nicolas.

2 The English archers wore very little armour ; they were habited in jackets and had their hosen loose, with hatchets
hanging from their girdles, many being barefooted and without hats, whilst others wore ozier caps ere de Saint
Remy, eye-witness of the battle of Agincourt, says the English archers were barefooted and eter armour. The
carried two carquois or quivers, the one held 24 arrows, the other contained the bow. The oe arch :
established later on by Charles vi. had shields (jaques) made of stag’s skin and thirty layers of canvas ed

B Elmham says that it was the Duke of Gloucester to whose aid the King rushed.

4 Sir James Ramsay, the historian, falls into a prevalent error when stating (vol.i. p. 222) that the so-called Agincourt
ae in raed Abbey is the one that actually figured at this famous battle. Reference to the Deanery Guide to

estminster ey, 1900 edition, p. 67, shows th i oy iti i
en eee He a ae that this helmet “is not, as tradition says, the casque of Agincourt, but a

D Nichols, “ Royal Wills,” says the will is dated August 22, 1415, but this is not correct, the date being August x
The English fleet left Southampton on August 7, 1415, the army was landing on the 15th at Kideaux, near Harfleur pee
the siege was brought to a successful termination on September 22, when Harfleur surrendered.

sees aes

   

XXV

THE AUTHORSHIP

Ww. Ww: i th would make
mesmes) hich shows that his conscience was not as clear as his gallant dea d k
’

us wish.
St. Remy relates the curious fact that the bo

Suffolk were boiled, so as to enable the King to carry the bones :
former's remains were buried in the choir at Fotheringay, which hi
build,! and which one hundred and seventy-two years later was t

ution of Queen Mary.
Sie strangely varied career of this tumultuous Plantagenet prince 1s fitly illustrated by the

countless royal grants and subsequent cancellations of which the records of the time Bee a but
= . . .
yet interesting account with which many pages might be filled. The privileges and franchises

then still vested in the King’s hand were as numerous as they were varied. Manors, lar D
farms, rents, services of tenants, s fees, advowsons, courts, sheriff's turns, views
’ ’

of frank pledge, rhaglawships, excheats, treasure trove,

forfeitures, deodands, wreck of sea and royal fishes, ‘
fairs and market franchises, liberties, mines of lead and other metals and stone, chaces, warrens,

stanks, stews, marshes, moors, woods, chattels of felons, fugitives and intestates, escape of

y : :

felons, amercements, fines, and ransoms for felonies and toll of all persons; these and many
;

other emoluments Richard 11. and Henry iv. granted or cancelled. One of the most curious

the Duke of York at one time stood possessed was the grant of the fees
rth the then considerable sum

dies of the Duke of York and of the Earl of
back to England, where the
s father had commenced to
he scene of the dramatic

reversions, knight’

ryngildships, stewardships, amobrages,
customs, prises of wine and other merchandise,

privileges of which
and profits of the butchers’ stalls at Bristol, which were wo
of £24 p.a., and of which he was deprived on December 6, 1 Henry Iv. ,

Edward of York was also one of the two keepers of the lands and possessions of the late

Anne of Bohemia, Richard 1.’s Queen.
We are unfortunately unable to trace whether Henry tv. renewed in Duke Edward’s

favour the grant made 20 Richard u. to his father, Edmund of Langley, of the Castle of

Mouretaigne on the Gironde in Aquitaine.
Edward was succeeded in his dignities by his nephew Richard, only son of Richard of

Conisburgh, who, as we have already heard, was beheaded in the earlier part of the same

year, and the future York kings were his descendants.

Henry v. did not forget the Duke of York’s widow, for he granted to her (December 10,
1415, Pat. Rolls) the Isle of Wight and castle Carisbrooke and all lordships pertaining to
them, except the ‘constableship of the latter. Of the “castle of Caresbrok” itself Philippa was
already possessed, for on October 26, 1400, Henry tv. had granted to her on her marriage
this important fief as dower. She died in 1431, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

1 St. Remy says that Fotheringay was founded by Edward’s father, but this is not quite correct. The castle of
Fotheringay which was in existence in King John’s time, was granted by Edward m1. to his fifth son Edmund of Langley,
and when the latter’s son, our hero, died without issue, it descended to his nephew Richard, the son of his brother
Richard, Earl of Cambridge, who was beheaded in 1415. It was the birthplace of Richard 11. The college and church
of Fotheringay must be separately considered. Edmund of Langley was the original proprietor of the former, and began
to fulfil his intention by erecting a “large and magnificent choir.” His son increased the foundation, and proposed to
rebuild the nave of the church upon the same plan as the choir, but this was not done until after his death. When
Queen Elizabeth visited Fotheringay in one of her progresses, she observed the graves of her ancestors, the Dukes of
York, neglected amongst the ruins of the choir. She ordered that their bodies should be removed into the present church
and monuments to be erected in their memory. The latter are, of course, in the taste of the time and specimens of the

ro 6b

bad taste of the age.—Bonney’s “ Fotheringay.”