The first Navigation Act was passed in 1381; and in the same year we find the earliest mention of the use of bills of exchange. Westminster Hall, as it now stands, was rebuilt.

Peers were first created by patent by Richard II. In his reign we have the earliest act making a provision for "impotent beggars" (1388). The statute of præmunire was passed, which made it penal to purchase bulls or other instruments from Rome, and in other ways checked the pontifical authority (1392).

Wickliffe died in 1384 at his church of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, and his followers were much persecuted in this reign. About thirty years after his death, his body, by order of the council of Constance, was disinterred as that of a heretic, and burned; and his ashes were cast into the Swift, a small stream in the neighbourhood. "This brook," says Fuller, "hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean; and thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over."

[The great schism in the papacy commenced shortly after the king's accession, and lasted for forty years (1378-1417). In this noted conflict the vices of the rival popes were mutually exposed; and their precarious situation diminished their authority, relaxed their discipline, and increased their wants and exactions.]

Death Richard, after his capture, was imprisoned in the Tower, and subsequently in Pontefract Castle, where, according to the received account, he was murdered in 1400.

Notes on the Plantagenet Period.

THE condition of the people at the close of this period presents a singular contrast to that of the people of France, who were harassed by bodies of military adventurers recognising no law, as well as by the exactions of the aristocracy and the arbitrary

taxes of the government. In England the serfs were rapidly rising into the class of free labourers, and were thus acquiring the rights of freemen, though their freedom was checked and restrained in ways which would now be deemed intolerable. On the whole the poorer classes were sufficiently, though coarsely fed their diet consisted of fish, particularly herrings, and bread composed of rye, barley, peas, and beans.

Various changes took place in costume: that of Richard's reign was very extravagant. An anonymous writer of the time says that the commons were besotted in excess of apparel, 66 'some in wide surcoats reaching to their loins, some in a garment reaching to their heels, close before, and strutting out on the sides, so that at the back they make men seem like women, and this they call by a ridiculous name-gowne. Their hoods are little, tied under the chin, and buttoned like the women's; but set with gold, silver, and precious stones. Their tippets pass round the neck, and hanging down before, reach to the heels, all jagged. Their hose are of two colours, or pied with more. Their shoes are piked, more than a finger long, crooking upwards, and fastened to the knees with chains of gold and silver."

"A list of the various trades and handicrafts of the time will afford as good an idea of the general state of the useful arts as more detailed notices of each. Before the 50th Edward III (1376) the 'mysteries,' or trades of London, who elected the common council of the city, were thirty-two in number, but they were increased by an ordinance of the above year to forty-five, which were as follows :-Grocers, masons, ironmongers, mercers, brewers, leather-dressers, drapers, fletchers, armourers, fishmongers, bakers, butchers, goldsmiths, skinners, cutlers, vintners, girdlers, spurriers, tailors, stainers, plumbers, saddlers, cloth-measurers, wax-chandlers, webbers, haberdashers, barbers, tapestry-weavers, braziers, painters, leather-sellers, salters, tanners, joiners, cappers, pouch-makers,

pewterers, chandlers, hatters, woodmongers, fullers, smiths, pinners, curriers, horners.” *

Pilgrimages were frequent, the most noted shrine in England being that of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. The pilgrims often travelled in large companies; but their conduct and demeanor generally evinced that they were guided by superstitious feelings rather than by any deep religious emotion; and, in their mistaken solicitude to obtain the favour of a reputed saint, they forgot that the only means of reconciliation for sinners is by faith in Christ.

The most noted authors were John of Salisbury, (d. 1180); Roger de Hoveden (d. 1202?); William of Newbury (b. 1136, d. 1208); Giraldus Cambrensis (b. about 1146, d. after 1220); Gervase of Canterbury, Jocelin de Brakelonde, Matthew Paris (d. 1259); chroniclers or historians. Ranulph de Glanville (d. 1190), and Bracton (Henry III), law writers. All these wrote in Latin. Layamon, a priest, composed a poem in Semi-Saxon early in the thirteenth century. The most distinguished English writers were Sir John Mandeville, the traveller (d. 1372), and John Wickliffe, prose authors; and the poets, Langland (the composer of the vision of Piers Ploughman), Gower (d. 1408), and Geoffrey Chaucer (b. 1328, d. 1400), whose poetical reputation rests on his Canterbury Tales.

"Pictorial History of England.”

THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER.

HENRY IV.

Reigned from 1399 to 1413.

Birth. Henry was born at Bolingbroke, in Lincolnshire, in 1366.

Descent. He was the eldest son of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III. Through his mother he traced his descent from Edmund, Earl of Lancaster (brother of Edward I), who, he impudently asserted, was the eldest son of Henry III, but had been set aside on account of his deformity.

Marriage.-Henry was twice married: first to Mary de Bohun, daughter of the Earl of Hereford; and secondly to Jane, daughter of the King of Navarre.

Children.-Henry, his successor; Thomas, Duke of Clarence; John, Duke of Bedford; Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; Blanche, who married Louis of Bavaria; and Philippa, who married Eric, King of Denmark.

Important Events.-A few months after the king's accession the Earls of Kent and Huntingdon, half-brothers of Richard II, together with some other nobles, formed a conspiracy to restore the deposed sovereign; but the plot was revealed by the Earl of Rutland (one of the confederates, and son of the Duke of York); and the conspirators were either slain by the populace of the districts to which they fled, or were executed after legal trial (1400).

Henry invaded Scotland in August, 1401, but without important result; and in his absence an insurrection, which had broken out shortly before, assumed a formidable aspect. The leader was Owen Glendower (said by some historians to be the great grandson of Llewellyn, the last native prince), who had been deprived of some of his lands by one of the lord-marchers, and on petitioning for redress, had been told by one of the peers

that "they cared not for barefooted rascals." Sir Edmund Mortimer (uncle of the Earl of March, the legitimate heir of the late sovereign) was sent against him, but was defeated near KNYGHTON, in Radnorshire, and fell into the hands of his conqueror (1402); and Henry himself, though he headed a large army, was unable to gain any advantage over him.

The same year the Scots made an incursion into England, but they were overthrown at HOMILDON HILL, by the valiant Hotspur, son of the Earl of Northumberland, and Earl Douglas, their commander, was made prisoner (Sept. 14, 1402). Not long after, the Percies disagreed with the king, and a remarkable alliance was formed between the Percies, Earl Douglas, and Owen Glendower, who had liberated Sir Edmund Mortimer (Hotspur's brother-in-law) on his marrying his daughter. Proceeding with some forces to join the Welsh chieftain, Hotspur was met by the royal troops under the command of the king, and one of the most obstinate and bloody battles recorded in English history was fought at HATELEY FIELD, about three miles from Shrewsbury, which terminated in the defeat and death of Hotspur. Of fourteen thousand men engaged on each side, about one-half were killed or wounded (July 21, 1403).

The Earl of Northumberland, who had been pardoned by the king, made an attempt in 1405 to place the Earl of March on the throne, and, failing, fled to Scotland. Some of the leaders, however, were taken, and Scrope, Archbishop of York, and the Earl of Nottingham, were executed. This is the first instance in England of capital punishment inflicted on a bishop. In 1408, Northumberland again collected some troops, but he was defeated by Sir Thomas Rokeby, at BRAMHAM MOOR, near Tadcaster, and fell on the battle field.

Henry's reign is unhappily memorable for the persecution of the Lollards,* who were rendered liable to death, by virtue

A religious body, whose tenets were similar to those of Wickliffe. The word Lollard is said to be derived from the old German word Lollen or Lullen, to sing.