Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/621

ENGLAND 609 sh history. He repressed the lawless men rho had had their way during his father's reign. L.iding Balliol in an attempt to obtain the crown 1 Scotland, he won over the Scotch the victo- m of Halidon Hill, July 19, 1333. Pie set up a'claim to the crown of France, in right of his mother, which led to that rivalry of France and England which has endured to this day. He had numerous allies on the continent, and he led an army into France in 1338, which ac- complished nothing. The great naval victory of Sluis was gained by the English in 1340. Troubles with parliament and want of money impeded the war, and it was not till 1346 that the battle of Crecy was won by the Eng- lish. Calais was afterward taken, and the king then made a truce with the French. While he was absent, an army raised by his wife defeated the Scotch at the battle of Neville's Cross, and captured their king, David Bruce. A naval war with the Spaniards followed, and the lat- ter were defeated in a great battle. The pesti- lence that ravaged the world in the 14th cen- tury appeared in England in 1349. The re- newal of the war with France led to the battle of Poitiers in 1356, in which Edward, prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince, defeated King John of France, and made him prisoner. In 1359 Edward III. again invaded France, and besieged Eheims, because he wished to be crowned king there. The next year peace was made between the two countries, Edward renouncing all claim to the French crown, but receiving large portions of French territory and an immense sum of money. The French king, finding himself unable to fulfil the terms of the treaty, went back to England a prison- er, and there died. The prince of Wales, from Guienne, interfered in the affairs of Spain, and won the battle of Najera in 1367, in behalf of dro the Cruel, and over the French, who ider Du Guesclin were aiding Henry of >astamare. The expense of this war made the prince unpopular, and his last days formed a miserable contrast with his early career. He died in 1376, a year before the death of his father. The latter years of the king were also embittered by failure in France, and by disputes with parliament. Much was done in this reign toward the development of English industry, and some constitutional questions were settled. The new king, Richard II., son of the Black Prince, was only 11 -years old, and a regency was appointed. The war with France languished. The peasantry, headed by Wat Tyler, rose in rebellion. The young king showed both tact and courage on this oc- casion, and gave greater promise of ability than was justified by his career. A war with Scot- land led to no results. The ambition of the king's uncle, the duke of Gloucester, caused internal troubles. The king wasted on frivo- lous pleasures money that had been granted him for other purposes, and he completed his unpopularity by making a long truce with France, and by marrying the daughter of Charles VI., a child of seven years. Glouces- ter sought to avail himself of this unpopularity, but was seized, imprisoned, and put to death, and his party was destroyed. Parliament stood firmly by the king. Two of his support- ers were the dukes of Hereford and of Norfolk, and they quarrelling, the king banished them both, the first for ten years, and the second for life. Hereford was son of John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster, and cousin of the king, and when on his father's death the king seized his cousin's estates, the new duke of Lancaster returned to England, and rapidly levied a force that placed him at the head of the country. He compelled the king to resign the crown, and assembled a parliament, which made him king on the ground of his descent from Henry III. According to the received ideas of suc- cession, he had no claim to the throne, which, failing Richard and heirs of his body, belonged to the earl of March, descended from the duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III., the new king being son of Edward's fourth son. The reign of Henry IV. began Sept. 30, 1399. Richard was imprisoned and is supposed to have been murdered in Pontefract castle, but nothing is certainly known of his fate. Hen- ry's reign was one of much interest. The fol- lowers of Wycliffe had become very numerous, and the king's father, John of Gaunt, had sup- ported WyclifFe ; but the son proved a firm ad- herent of the church of Rome, and consented to an act for the punishment of heretics passed in 1401, and under which much cruelty was perpetrated for two centuries. The Lancas- trian dynasty, by allying itself with the church, postponed the reformation for four generations. The reign of Henry IV. was short, but eventful. In a war with Scotland, the English won the victory of Homildon Hill. The rebellion of Glendower in Wales was successful for many years, and that chief was never formally sub- dued, though finally forced to remain quiet. A rebellion headed by the earl of Northumberland broke out in 1403, but the victory of the king at Shrewsbury established his power. Other re- bellions followed this, and the conspiracies were numerous. The French had insulted the Eng- lish frequently, and Henry IV. was on the point of renewing the war, when illness compelled him to refrain ; and soon after he died, March 20, 1413. His son and successor, Henry V., put down the Lollards with a vigorous hand, and renewed the war with France. In the summer of 1415 he reduced Harfleur. The battle of Agincourt, Oct. 25, 1415, was won by the Eng- lish against great odds. The war was contin- ued, and in 1420 it was settled by a treaty that Henry V. should marry Catharine, one of the daughters of Charles VI., and become heir to that king. Fortunately for England, which by its success would have been probably reduced to the condition of a province of France, this plan failed. Henry died Aug. 31, 1422, when apparently about to realize his scheme. He left but one child, a boy of nine months, who