4. The supply of free labourers made insufficient by the Black Death. 1348. a More than half the population swept away. In Bristol the living could scarcely bury the dead. b Lawless self-indulgence of the “landless men or free labourers," now masters of the labour market, who soon become "sturdy beggars." 5. The Statute of Labourers, to check the lawlessness of the "sturdy beggars wandering in search of work" (1351); labourers to accept the wages of two years before the plague (though not enough to live on, owing to the rise in the price of corn), and once more tied to the soil; fugitives to be branded. Attempts made to reduce villeins who have redeemed themselves and the lower craftsmen in towns to their old state. 6. Strikes and combination of craftsmen, especially in Kent and the eastern counties; John Ball the preacher of the movement-the defiance of socialism to the tyranny of property. 7. Gloom and discontent of the time reflected in Langland's Piers the Ploughman. 1362-1380. 8. (Accession of Richard II.) The labourers still masters of the market; with high wages at harvest time, but in the intervals with great scarcity of food and work. A severer poll-tax imposed for the French war; the labourers and craftsmen inflamed by a tax to which the poorest man contributes as much as the richest. 1380. a The revolt begins in Essex, Kent, under Jack Straw, and spreads over Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and even to Lancashire and Yorkshire in one direction-Sussex, Surrey, and westward to Devon in another. 6 Entrance of the Kentish peasants, under Wat Tyler, c Tyler slain in a scuffle. Brave conduct of the young d Suppression of the remains of the revolt, chiefly by e The Parliament of landowners refuse to ratify the King's letters of freedom: "Our consent we have never given and never will give, were we all to die in one day." 9. Fears of another outbreak; the work of emancipation continues in spite of a fresh legislation, forbidding villeins to send their sons to school, and excluding them from the colleges being founded at the Universities, that they may not enter the Church. b The substitution of sheep farming for tillage, which perpetuates a populace of “sturdy beggars.' 10. Spread of Lollardry, though dead in Oxford, through the country. Blending of religious and social discontent. Every third man in the streets is a Lollard. E The political progress of the Commons, i.e. of the propertyholding classes in the nation; a In matters of taxation, subsidies set upon wool without consent of Parliament made illegal, and purveyance restricted by enforcement of immediate payment. 1362. The Commons obtain that their petitions when as sented to by the King, become statutes and have the force of laws, but when consulted by the King on the subject of the war, they refer him back to the lords of the Council. 1354. c The Commons obtain additional weight from the struggle between the Church and the Baronage, headed by John of Gaunt; seen most in the Good Parliament, 1376, in which I The Commons complain of the mismanagement of the French war and of excessive taxation, and being supported by the Black Prince, force John of Gaunt to retire from the Council. 2 The Commons further complain generally of the (b) freedom of election for knights of the shire; (d) freedom of the Church from the Pope, by F Misrule of last years of Edward III. The King mainly under the influence of Alice Perrers. Death of Edward III., the merchant King; the King of all property-holding Englishmen. 1377. Richard II. 1377-1399. Pp. 254-257. A The Condition of the Nation social and religious discontent. (See Edward III., C and D.) B The King's Minority. 1377-1388. a The work of the Good Parliament continued. The Commons assign two members to regulate expenditure. 1377. b Fresh defeats in the French war under John of Gaunt, c The taxes imposed in pursuance of John of Gaunt's e Michel de la Pole, trying to make the Crown inde- C The King's Reign. 1387-1397. a His reign as a wise and constitutional King. 13881397. I The King being of age frees himself from the restraint of Gloucester and the Continual Council. 1389. 2 Pursues a peace policy and consents to govern by advice of Parliament. Third statute of Provisors. 1390. Second of Præmunire. 1393. 3 Protects the Lollard Reformers, owing to the influence of his first wife, Anne of Bohemia. 4 Undertakes a campaign to Ireland, reforms the English misgovernment, and receives the submission of the natives. 1394. 5 The peace policy strengthened by the second marriage of the King to Isabella, daughter of the French king, Charles V., and a truce of twenty-five years. 1396. b His reign as a revengeful and absolute King. 13971399. I Supported by John of Gaunt (returned from Spain) and his son Henry (afterwards Bolingbroke), he takes vengeance on his uncle Gloucester. Gloucester found dead in his prison at Calais, the pardons of 1388 recalled, seventeen counties outlawed at once for supporting the King's enemies. 1397. 2 He attacks the house of Lancaster to secure for himself absolute government. Banishes Henry of Bolingbroke (Hereford) and the Confiscates the Duke of Lancaster's estates. 1399. 3 He attacks Parliament by obtaining from packed assemblies: (a) the grant of a tax upon wool for life, 1397 ; D The Lancastrian Revolution. 1. Henry of Hereford, or Bolingbroke, lands at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, nominally to recover his lands. 2. Richard returns from Ireland to meet him, but finds Bolingbroke master of the realm. Submits to Bolingbroke at Flint, and finally resigns, Sept. 29, 1399, but is also deposed. Dies Feb. 14, 1400. 3. Parliament passes over Edmund Mortimer, the greatgrandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and confers the Crown on Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt, Clarence's younger brother. The Lancastrian title is, therefore, purely Parliamentary, though Henry also claims the Crowna by descent from Henry III.; b by conquest. Henry IV. 1399-1413. Pp. 258, 259. A Supremacy of the Parliament: i.e. of the property-holding classes. (See Richard II., D 3.) 1. The renewal of the French war, to win the support of the nobles. a Owing to the lunacy of Charles VI., France divided between the Duke of Burgundy and Flanders (head of the peace party), and the Duke of Orleans (head As yet no open warfare, but desultory fighting in the c The French encourage Scotch invasion of England, d Murder of Duke Lewis of Orleans; struggle between the Burgundians and Orleanists (now called Ar, magnacs) 1407; the Duke of Burgundy, by the help of the English, captures Paris. 1411. 2. The Persecution of the Lollards, to win the support of the Church. Statute "de Hæretico Comburendo "_" the first legal enactment of religious bloodshed." 1401. B Revolts against Henry, kept up by the resentment of the Lollards, the Welsh desire for independence and attachment to Richard II., and supported by the hostility of France. 1. Welsh revolt, under Owen Glendower, encouraged and finally supported by France. 1400-1415. Glendower, however, permanently crippled by a defeat in 1409. 2. Revolt of Henry Percy to put Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, on the throne; crushed by battle of Shrewsbury. 1403. 3. Revolt of Earl of Northumberland and Archbishop Scrope. Execution of Scrope, and flight of Northumberland to Scotland. 1405. 4. The Lollard conspiracy. a Sir John Oldcastle (Lord Cobham) opens his house to b On the accession of Henry V. he is condemned as a C Gradual decline of the King's health-leprosy and epileptic fits. Power passes into the hands of a Continual Council under the presidency of Prince Henry 1406-1411; the Council dissolved by the King 1411; death of the King, March 1413. Henry H. 1413-1422. Pp. 260-264. A Condition of France. The King, Charles VI., a madman; struggle for power between the Burgundians (the peace party) and the Armagnacs, Orleanists (the war party). |