Public School History of England and Canada/England/Chapter 9
CHAPTER IX.
THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR—THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT.
1. Edward III.—For four years young Edward was a king in name only, the power being in the hands of his mother and her favourite, Lord Mortimer. Edward was early married to Philippa of Hainault, a noble and brave woman. In 1330, seeing how Mortimer abused his position, he had him seized and put to death. He then began to rule for himself.
Edward III. like his grandfather, Edward I., was fond of war, and tried to bring Scotland under the control of England; but in this he did not succeed, although for a time he placed the son of Balliol on the Scotch throne. His invasion of Scotland led to trouble with Philip VI. of France, who was an ally of the Scotch. Philip attacked Gascony which belonged to Edward, and Edward made this attack, and the French interference with the Flemings, an excuse for beginning a war with France, which lasted on and off nearly one hundred years. The English were very anxious that nothing should stand in the way of their wool trade with Flanders. This trade was a great source of wealth to many English farmers who kept large flocks of sheep and sold their wool to the Flemish manufacturers.
2. Beginning of Hundred Years’ War.—Not content with fighting the battles of the Flemings, Edward claimed the crown of France. He said his mother, Isabella, had a better claim to the throne than Philip VI., as she belonged to an elder branch of the French royal family. This claim was worthless, for by French law no person could succeed to the throne through a woman. Edward knew this but he was anxious to win fame and gain territory in France. The English nobles and knights, who were fond of military displays and feats of arms, encouraged Edward in his claims, as it gave them a chance to win renown. It was a sad war for the French peasants and labourers, whose fields and homes were destroyed and burned without mercy by the gay lords and knights. It was also a bad thing for England whose men and money were wasted on a war that could never bring any good to her people.
3. First Campaign.—The war began in 1338, and the first campaign ended in 1347. In 1340, the English won a famous naval victory at Sluys, off the Flemish coast, when thirty thousand French were lost. In 1346, a still more important battle was fought at Crecy, in the north of France. Several things make this battle noteworthy. At it Edward, Prince of Wales (called the Black Prince, on account of the colour of his armour), by his daring and skill, won his knightly spurs—although only a lad of sixteen years of ages. At it, too, the English archers proved that they were more than a match for mounted knights clad in heavy armour. Gunpowder is said to have been first used in this battle. Next came the siege of Calais which lasted nearly a year. When the town was taken in 1347, Edward was so angry at the resistance the inhabitants made that he would have hanged six of the chief citizens who offered themselves with halters around their neck, as a sacrifice for the people, had not Queen Philippa begged their lives, and Edward, to please her, spared them. The French inhabitants were, however, turned out of the city, and English people put in their place, so that the city remained English until retaken by the French in 1558.
4. Second Campaign.—The war began again in 1355. Philip was dead, and John II. was King of France. The Black Prince now led the English, and once more the English archers showed their skill and prowess by defeating a large army, composed of the flower of French chivalry, at the battle of Poitiers in 1356. The English had but 12,000 men to the French 60,000; but the Black Prince drew up his men at the end of a narrow lane among the vineyards, and posted his archers so that they could shoot down the French as they came on. Sad havoc was made in the ranks of the knight who fell from their horses, and, cumbered with their armour, could | offer but little resistance. King John was taken prisoner and carried to London where he died. To nobles and knights mercy and courtesy were shown; to the poor peasants there came nothing but the ravages and cruelties of a rude soldiery. At last the peace of Bretigny was made in 1360, and Edward gave up his claim to the French crown, keeping, however, Aquitaine, Poitou, Gascony, and Calais.
5. Third Campaign.—What was gained in the second campaign was lost in the third. The Black Prince foolishly plunged into a war in Spain, and the French king, Charles V., took advantage of it to recover his lost territory. Charles would not come to open battle, but harassed the English in every possible way. The Black Prince was ill, and this made him irritable and cruel, so that people turned from him. Finally, he had to return to England, and then the English gradually lost ground until all Edward’s gains were gone except Calais, Bordeaux, and Bayonne. So ended Edward’s attempt to win a French kingdom.
6. Rise of the People.—There were, however, some good results of this foolish and costly war. The barons and knights spent a great deal of money abroad, and much of this money was obtained by leasing their lands for long terms of years. The rent paid was called feorm: hence the name of farm given to the land thus leased. They also allowed their villeins or serfs to buy their freedom. The king himself raised money by selling to his serfs their freedom.
In this reign an important change took place in the industries of the country. Edward brought over weavers from Flanders, who taught the people to weave their own wool into cloth, instead of sending it abroad to be woven by others and then brought back again to be worn. Trade grew with Normandy, Flanders, and Gascony, in fish and timber, wool and wine, and salt, respectively. Gold coins also came into use, the first being used in 1344. Parliament now began to meet in two separate chambers; the knights and burgesses in one, and the bishops and barons in the other.
7. Statute of Labourers.—in 1348, a great calamity came upon England. This was a dreadful plague, known as the ‘‘Black Death,” which swept over Europe from the Eaast, and which, it is estimated, destroyed one-half the population of England. The people died so fast that it was difficult for the living to bury the dead. One effect of the plague was that there were not enough people left to till the soil and harvest the crops. Labourers were now in great demand, and, naturally, they asked for higher wages. But the owners of the land made the laws, and they passed the “Statute of Labourers,” by which wages were not to be increased. The labourers tried to escape from places where wages were low to where they were high, so it was enacted that a labourer should not leave his own parish. If he did, he was liable to be branded with the letter F (fugitive) on his forehead. If a labourer was found unemployed, any land owner could make him work for him. These unjust laws made the people very unhappy and discontented.
8. Chaucer, Langland, and Wiclif.—We see this by the writings of a great poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived at this time. Also in the poem, The Vision of Piers’ Plowman, by Langland, who
wrote for the people, we find this discontent voiced in very plain and bitter words. At this time, too, lived John Wiclif a great religious reformer. Wiclif was a learned clergyman who seeing how the priests neglected their duties wrote against their greed and hypocrisy. He translated the Bible into English, and sent out ‘‘poor priests”’ to teach the people. His followers were accused of making the people discontented with their condition by pointing out how harshly they were treated.
9. Statute of Kilkenny—1367.—Besides the ‘‘Statute of Labourers,” many other important measures were passed in this reign. It was enacted that the Pope should not give livings in England to foreigners; that the people should not take questions of law to foreign courts for a decision; and that the English language instead of the French should be used in the courts of law.
Ireland, which was only partly conquered, was treated cruelly and unjustly. In 1367, the Statute of Kilkenny was passed. Its purpose was to prevent the English in Ireland from becoming Irish in language, dress, and customs, and from intermarrying with the Irish. In those days a price was set on an Irishman’s head, just as if he were a wolf or a bear. But these laws had very little effect, for most of the descendants of the English that went to Ireland adopted the Irish ways and customs.
10. Last Days of Edward III.—As Edward grew old, his mind gave way, and he passed under the influence of bad advisers and unworthy favourites. Queen Phillipa was dead, and a bold wicked woman, Alice Perrers, gained great control over him. The Black Prince was dying, and this left the chief power in the hands of Edward’s third son, John of Gaunt, or Ghent, Duke of Lancaster. His government was not a good one; so, in 1376, Parliament met, and the Commons for the first time impeached the king’s ministers; that is, had them tried before the House of Lords, who acted as judges. The ministers were removed and Alice Perrers was driven away from the poor old king, but they soon came back again. The Black Prince, who would have governed well had he lived, died in 1376. He left a young son, Richard, a lad of ten years of age, as heir to his grandfather’s throne. In 1377, Parliament under the guidance of John of Gaunt, put a poll-tax on the people, that is, a tax of so much a head on every person in the land, over a certain age. Shortly afterwards Edward died (1377) and left his grandson Richard to succeed him.
11. Richard II.—Richard, the son of the Black Prince, came to the throne when eleven years of age. A council was appointed to help him to rule; and although not on the council, the king’s uncle, John of Gaunt, had great influence. The oppressive poll-tax was again placed on the people, and was made so heavy that great discontent spread among them. Wiclif’s followers, the ‘‘Lollards,” went through the country and helped to make the labourers, villeins, and smaller farmers, more and more restless.
12. Peasant Revolt, 1381.—When a people are in a dissatisfied mood it takes but little to make them do acts of violence. So when a tax collector insulted the daughter of a tiler, her father killed the ruffian. This was a signal for a general rising in Yorkshire, Kent, Essex, and other counties. Wat Tyler headed the men of Kent, and John Ball, one of Wiclif’s priests, preached to the angry multitude at Blackheath, asking them the question:
Who then was the gentleman?’
Under Jack Straw, a thatcher, came the men of Hssex, armed with scythes, clubs, and other rude weapons. The mob moved on to London, opened the doors of the prison, and burnt and destroyed many buildings. No one among the nobles and ministers seemed to know how to treat these misguided people. The king alone, although a mere lad of sixteen years, kept cool and undismayed. He rode out to meet one body of the rioters, and asked them what they wanted. They asked to be freed from the hated poll-tax, to have the market dues taken off, to be allowed to pay rent instead of working for their lords, and to have the villeins set free. When the king promised to do these things, the people, glad at heart, went home. But while Richard was treating with these men, another body broke into the Tower and murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Treasurer; while a third body remained under Tyler in London. Richard went out to Tyler’s men and sought to quiet them. Tyler placed his hand on the rein of the king’s horse, and Walworth, Mayor of London, struck him and killed him. The mob would have killed the king and Walworth had not Richard cried out: ‘‘I am your Captain, follow me.” The king then led the way, and the crowd followed him quietly outside London, He gave the people written promises to remedy their wrongs, and then they went home. But these promises were never carried out, for the nobles and land owners collected their men, and went through the country putting many to death. Richard's charters, Parliament said, were no good, and the cruel laws against the poor labourers and villeins were once more put in force. It looked as if nothing had been gained by this rising; nevertheless, shortly after this time the laws were made less severe, and the villeins gradually were given their freedom.
13. Power of Parliament.—The first half of Richard's reign was full of the intrigues of the king's uncles, of whom there were five living, and of the nobles and bishops who made up the king's council. John of Gaunt for awhile had the most influence; but after the Peasant Revolt which showed the people's dislike of him, he withdrew to Spain for a time. Then another uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, was the chief man. Parliament had much power and could refuse to grant money until grievances were redressed; but it had no power to appoint the king's advisers. Besides, Parliament was much under the control of great nobles, and was often moved by a spirit of faction. In 1387, a Council of Eleven was appointed to look after the king's affairs, and this made Richard very angry. He was not yet strong enough to throw off the yoke of his uncles and rule alone, and had to look on and see some of his dearest friends put to death by his council. He, however, bided his time.
14. Richard's Rule.—Not long after this, in 1389, Richard suddenly announced that he himself would rule in the future, and his council, taken by surprise, gave the reins into his hands. For eight years he ruled well, and many good laws were passed. In 1393, it was enacted that all persons bringing bulls or sentences of excommunication from the Pope into England should lose their property. Richard also visited Ireland, and did something to bring order and good government into that unhappy country.
Well had it been for Richard if he had thus continued to rule wisely. But, in 1397, he began to take his revenge on his uncles and their friends for their treatment of him years before. Gloucester was sent to Calais and was there murdered, while others were either put to death or imprisoned. Now that the chief men were removed, Richard made Parliament do as he wished, and for a time he was an absolute king. He was very fond of dress and show, and wasted the public money by his foolish extravagance. Some good things he did, but they were done by his own will, and without the people's consent. For that reason they began to hate him.
15. Richard's Fall. 1399.—But the end was near. Among those who had been spared by Richard was his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt. Bolingbroke quarrelled with the Duke of Norfolk, and Richard, instead of allowing them to settle the quarrel by a public combat or trial by battle, banished them both; Norfolk for life, and Bolingbroke for six years. The next year old John of Gaunt died, and Richard seized his estates, which rightfully belonged to his son Henry. Then Richard, fearing no harm, went to Ireland. While he was absent, Bolingbroke landed in Yorkshire to recover his father's estates. He was soon joined by great nobles like the Percies of Northumberland, and when, a little later, Richard returned, he found his kingdom was gone from him. Deserted by the people, Richard fell into the hands of Henry and had to resign his crown. The next day Benry was chosen king by Parliament. Of Richard's end we know nothing with certainty, but his body was shown to the people a year later, and it is supposed he was murdered in one of the prisons by order of Henry.