а vra statute “de heretico comburendo," "the first statute and butcherly knife,” says Prynne, "that the impeaching prelates procured or had against the poor preachers of Christ's gospel." The earliest victim was William Sawtre, rector of St. Oswyth's, London; and another noted martyr was a mechanic, named Badby. Henry very unjustifiably seized James, Prince of Scotland, and son of Robert III, as he was sailing to France in 1405; and he was kept as a prisoner in England till 1424. At the beginning of the reign the Order of the Bath was instituted. It was made felony to cut out any person's tongue, or put out his eyes; crimes which, the statute says, were very common (1403). A terrible plague raged in London, which carried off thirty thousand of the inhabitants (1407). Death.-Henry died, after a short illness, at Westminster, March 20, 1413. Birth.-Henry was born at Monmouth, Aug. 9, 1388. Marriage. He espoused Catherine, daughter of Charles VI, of France. In 1423, she married Owen Tudor, and by him became mother of Edmund Tudor the father of Henry VII. Child.-Henry, who succeeded his father. Important Events.-Henry V, while Prince of Wales, appears to have been somewhat fond of dissolute pleasures; but on his father's death he chose grave and able councillors, and conducted himself with eminent propriety in private life. In the first year of his reign, Sir John Oldcastle, (generally known as Lord Cobham) one of the most distinguished of the Lollards, was prosecuted for heresy, and condemned; but he succeeded in escaping from the Tower. His enemies alleged that he and his followers had formed the design of seizing the king, ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. and subverting the government, and that, for that purpose, 25,000 persons were to meet at an appointed time in St. Giles' fields, in consequence of which rumour, Henry ordered the city gates to be closed on the evening before, and proceeded about midnight to the ground, when, instead of 25,000 insurgents, he found not more than eighty men, who had collected together, probably to consult as to the course they should adopt in order that they might no longer be exposed to punishment for their religion; or it may be that the object of their meeting was secret worship. They were all arrested, and several were burned alive as heretics and traitors, though no evidence appears to have been brought forward to show that a conspiracy had been really designed. Cobham escaped into Wales, but he was at last discovered and apprehended by Lord Powis. Being brought to London, he was hung by the middle in iron chains, over a fire till his body was consumed. He met his fate with pious resolution amidst the lamentations of the spectators (1417). In France, Charles VI had fallen into a state of insanity or imbecility, and two factions, the Burgundian and Orleanist, struggling for the chief power, spread misery and disorder through the land. Taking advantage of these intestine commotions, Henry first demanded the ancient possessions of the English in France, and then the crown itself (1414), though he had not the slightest pretext of right for his claim. Negotiations having been carried on for some time without satisfactory issue, Henry made preparations for an invasion, and having suppressed a plot against his life, in which Richard, Earl of Cambridge, the son of the late Duke of York, was deeply implicated, he sailed to Harfleur, with a large army (Aug., 1415). He laid siege to, and captured the town, but his men suffered severely from disease, and were much decreased in numberindeed, it is said, that his army after this exploit did not exceed nine thousand fighting men. He, nevertheless, resolved not to return home by sea, but to march to Calais. Having passed the Somme, he found the French, to the number of a hundred thousand, drawn up on the plain of AGINCOURT, and he without hesitation determined to attack the tremendous host. The skill of his archers, and the bad generalship of the French commanders, enabled him to gain a decisive victory, and the flower of the chivalry of France was cut down on that fatal day (Oct. 25, 1415). Henry proceeded to Calais, and thence to England, where he met with a most enthusiastic reception. The war was renewed in 1416, and continued during the two following years with much success; but Henry's ultimate triumph was due to the assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, in the presence, and doubtless at the instance, of the dauphin (1419). The opposite party now threw themselves into the hands of the king, and the treaty of Troyes was signed (May 21, 1420), by virtue of which he was to receive the hand of the Princess Catherine, daughter of the demented monarch; to be regent of the realm, and to succeed Charles on his death. The dauphin, however, continued the struggle, and a body of Scotch auxiliaries under John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, defeated and slew the king's brother, the Duke of Clarence, at BEAUGÉ, in Anjou (March 22, 1421). But Henry raised fresh troops, and capturing Meaux, he became master of most of France north of the Loire. Soon after he was seized by a malady which the physicians pronounced incurable; and the command of the army was entrusted to his brother, the Duke of Bedford, a general of distinguished skill and courage. In this reign "the first commission of array which we meet with was issued. The military part of the feudal system, which was the most essential circumstance of it, was entirely dissolved, and could no longer serve for the defence of the kingdom. Henry, therefore, when he went to France in 1415, empowered certain commissioners to take, in each county, a review of all the freemen able to bear arms, to divide them into companies, and to keep them in readiness for resisting an enemy."* Henry * Hume's "History of England." ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. built several large ships, and seems to have been the first sovereign who had something of a permanent navy. The revenue at this time was 55,7007., and the expense Calais alone amounted to more than 19,000 of The Commons in Henry's reign, as well as in that of his father, increased their power, and they obtained from the former a confirmation of their claim, that no statute should be valid unless made with their assent. [John Huss burned, 1415. 1416.] Jerome of Prague also burned, Death.-Henry died at the Bois de Vincennes, August 31, 1422. HENRY VI. Reigned from 1422 to 1461. Birth.-Henry was born at Windsor, December 6, 1421. Descent. He was the only son of Henry V. Marriage. He espoused Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René, titular King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem. Child.-Edward, killed at Tewkesbury. Important Events. Henry was only nine months old at the time of his father's death, and the government of France was accordingly delegated to the Duke of Bedford, and that of England to the Duke of Gloucester. Seven weeks after the decease of his son-in-law, Charles VI followed him to the grave. The first conflict between the army of the regent and that of the dauphin, now called Charles VII by his party, was at CREVANT, on the Yonne, where the Earl of Salisbury was victorious (July 1, 1423); and in the succeeding year, Bedford himself defeated the French and Scots at VERNEUIL-"the greatest deed," according to the parliament, "done by Englishmen in our days, save the battle of Agincourt" (Aug. 17, 1424). The Duke of Burgundy, the most important ally of the English, was much incensed by Gloucester's marriage with the Countess of Hainault, who had abandoned her husband (a kins man of Burgundy); but Bedford succeeded in pacifying the duke, and the marriage was ultimately declared void. In 1428 the English generals, having already taken the chief strongholds on the north of the Loire, invested the city of Orleans; but in a few days the Earl of Salisbury, their most able commander, was mortally wounded. The siege was vigorously carried on by the Earl of Suffolk; and a small force, conveying provisions for the English camp, under Sir John Fastolf, vanquished a body of troops twice as large, sent to intercept them, at ROUVRAI. This battle, fought on the first Sunday of Lent, was called the BATTLE OF HERRINGS, from the stores of salted fish which were scattered on the field by the discharge of the French artillery (Feb. 12, 1429). It was now fully expected that Orleans would fall into the hands of the besiegers; but Joan of Arc (the youthful daughter of a peasant, residing at Domremy, a village near Vaucouleurs), who believed that she was Divinely commissioned to deliver her country, obtained an introduction to Charles VII, and with his consent headed some troops carrying supplies to the beleaguered city. The expedition was successful; and the English dreading the reputed sorceress, abandoned their enterprize (May). Six weeks later Lord Talbot was defeated at PATAY (June 18); and Charles succeeded in peaceably entering Rheims, where he was crowned (July 17). Joan, on this, begged to be allowed to retire home, as she had performed her promises; but being deemed a valuable political instrument, she was urged to continue with the army, and was unfortunately captured by the English at Compeigne (May, 1430). The next year she was charged with sorcery and heresy, and with adopting male costume-an abomination which was pronounced to be contrary to the law of God; and on the 30th of May she was burned alive in the market-place at Rouen, the name of Jesus being the last word which she was heard to utter. The Duke of Burgundy, about this time, became desirous of freeing himself from the English alliance; and in 1435, a con |