Part 25 (2/2)
| | | +--PHILIP V, 1316-1322.
| | | +--CHARLES IV, 1322-1328.
| +--Charles, Count of Valois (_d_. 1325), _m_.
(1), Margaret of Naples.
| +--PHILIP VI, 1328-1350.
EARLY EVENTS OF THE WAR.--Hostilities began in 1337. _Edward_ entered France, and then for the first time publicly set up his claim to be king of France, quartering the lilies on his s.h.i.+eld; and he was accepted by the Flemish as their suzerain. The first battle was on the sea near Fort _Sluys_ (1340), where _Edward_ won a victory, and thirty thousand Frenchmen were slain or drowned. This established the supremacy of the English on the water. The fleet of the French was made up of hired Castilian and Genoese vessels. In 1341 the conflict was renewed on account of a disputed succession in Brittany, in which the ”Salic law” was this time on the English side.
_Jane of Penthievre_ was supported by _Philip_; while _Jane of Montfort_, an intrepid woman who was protected by _Edward_, contended for the rights of her husband. This war, consisting of the sieges of fortresses and towns, was kept up for twenty-four years.
BATTLE OF CReCY: CALAIS: BRITTANY.--In 1346 the _Earl of Derby_ made an attack in the south of France, while _Edward_, with his young son _Edward_, the Prince of Wales, landed in Normandy, which he devastated. _King Edward_ advanced to the neighborhood of Paris; but the want of provisions caused him to change his course, and to march in the direction of Flanders. His situation now became perilous. He was followed by _Philip_ at the head of a powerful army; and, had there been more energy and prompt.i.tude on the side of the French, the English forces might have been destroyed. _Edward_ was barely able, by taking advantage of a ford at low tide, to cross the Somme, and to take up an advantageous position at _Crecy_. There he was attacked with imprudent haste by the army of the French. The chivalry of France went down before the solid array of English archers, and _Edward_ gained an overwhelming victory. Philip's brother _Charles_, count of Alencon, fell, with numerous other princes and n.o.bles, and thirty thousand soldiers (1346). In the battle, the English king's eldest son --_Edward_, the Black Prince as he was called from the color of his armor--was hard pressed; but the father would send no aid, saying, ”Let the boy win his spurs.” It was the custom to give the spurs to the full-fledged knight. After a siege, _Calais_, the port so important to the English, was captured by them. The deputies of the citizens, almost starved, came out with cords in their hands, to signify their willingness to be hanged. The French were driven out, and Calais was an English town for more than two centuries. France was defeated on all sides. The Scots, too, were vanquished; and _David Bruce_ was made prisoner (1346). In _Brittany_ the French party was prostrate. A truce between the kings was concluded for ten months.
THE ”BLACK DEATH.”--In the midst of these calamities, the fearful pestilence swept over France, called the ”Black Death.” It came from Egypt, possibly from farther east. In Florence three-fifths of the inhabitants perished by it. From Italy it pa.s.sed over to Provence, and thence moved northward to Paris, spreading destruction in its path. It reached England, and there it is thought by some that one-half of the population perished (1348-1349).
ENGLISH AND FRENCH ARMIES.--At this time, when the power of France was so reduced, the king acquired _Montpellier_ from _James of Aragon_, and the Dauphine of _Vienne_ by purchase from the last _Dauphin, Humbert II._, who entered a monastery. _Dauphin_ became the t.i.tle of the heir of the French crown. It was constantly evident how deep a root the royal power had struck into the soil of France. At times, when the kingdom was almost gone, the kings.h.i.+p survived. But, unhappily, there was no union of orders and cla.s.ses. Chivalry looked with disdain upon the common people. The poor Genoese archers who had fought with the French at _Crecy_, and whose bow-strings were wet by a shower, were despised by the gentlemen on horseback. In the French armies, there was no effective force but the cavalry, and there was a fatal lack of subordination and discipline. In England, on the contrary, under kings with more control over the feudal aristocracy, and from the combination of lords and common people in resistance to kings, the English armies had acquired union and discipline. The bow in the hands of the English yeoman was a most effective weapon. The English infantry were more than a match for the brave and impetuous cavaliers of France. At _Crecy_ the entire English force fought on foot. Cannon were just beginning to come into use. This brought a new advantage to the foot-soldier. But it seems probable that cannon were employed at _Crecy_.
BATTLE OF POITIERS: INSURRECTION IN PARIS.--_Philip_ left his crown to his son, _John_ (II.) of Normandy, called ”the Good”
(1350-1364); but the epithet (_le Bon_) signifies not the morally worthy, but rather, the prodigal, gay and extravagant. He was a pa.s.sionate, rash, and cruel king. His relations with _Charles_ ”the Bad,” king of _Navarre_,--who, however, was the better man of the two,--brought disasters upon France. This _Charles II._ of Navarre (1349-1387) was the grandson, on his mother's side, of _Louis X._ of France. _John_ had withheld from him promised fiefs. Later he had thrown him into prison. _Philip of Navarre_, the brother of _Charles_, helped the English against _John_ in Normandy. Meanwhile the Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) ravaged the provinces near Guienne. The national spirit in France was roused by the peril. The _States General_ granted large supplies of men and money, but only on the condition that the treasure should be dispensed under their superintendence, and that they should be a.s.sembled every year. The army of the Black Prince was small, and he advanced so far that he was in imminent danger; but the attack on him at _Poitiers_ (1356), by the vastly superior force of King _John_, was made with so much impetuosity and so little prudence that the French, as at _Crecy_, were completely defeated. Their cavalry charged up a lane, not knowing that the English archers were behind the hedges on either side. Their dead to the number of eleven thousand lay on the field. The king, and with him a large part of the n.o.bility, were taken prisoners. _John_ was taken to England (1357). From the moment of his capture he was treated with the utmost courtesy. The French peasantry, however, suffered greatly; and in France the name of Englishman for centuries afterwards was held in abhorrence.
INSURRECTION IN PARIS.--The incapacity of the n.o.bles to save the kingdom called out the energies of the cla.s.s counted as plebeian,--the middle cla.s.s between the n.o.bles and serfs. It was not without competent leaders, chief of whom were _Robert le Coq_, bishop of _Laon_, and councilor of Parliament; and _Etienne Marcel_, an able man, provost of the traders, or head of the munic.i.p.ality of Paris. The _States General_ at Paris, at the instigation of such as these, required of the _Dauphin_ the punishment of the princ.i.p.al officers of the king, the release of the King of Navarre, and the establishment of a council made up from the three orders, for the direction of all the important affairs of government. The States General, representing _the South_, at Toulouse voted a levy of men and means without conditions; but the Dauphin _Charles_ was obliged, at the next meeting of the States General of Paris (1357), to yield to these and other additional demands. The king, however, a prisoner in England, at the Dauphin's request refused to ratify the compact. The agitators at Paris set the King of Navarre free, and urged him to a.s.sert his right to the throne. _Marcel_ and the Parisian mult.i.tude wore the party-colored hood of red and blue, the civic colors of Paris. They killed two of the Dauphin's confidential advisers, the marshals of Champagne and Normandy. A reaction set in against _Marcel_, and in favor of the royal cause. A civil war was the result.
REVOLT OF THE JACQUERIE.--At this time, there burst forth an insurrection, called the _Jacquerie_, of the peasants of the provinces,--_Jacques Bonhomme_ being a familiar nickname of the peasantry. It was attended with frightful cruelties: many of the feudal chateaux were destroyed, and all of their inmates killed. The land was given over to anarchy and bloodshed. _Marcel_ made different attempts to effect a combination with _Charles of Navarre_; but the revolutionary leader was a.s.sa.s.sinated, and the Dauphin _Charles_, having destroyed opposition in _Paris_, made peace with the King of Navarre, who had kept up in the provinces the warfare against him. The movement of _Marcel_, with whatever crimes and errors belonged to it, was ”a brave and loyal effort to stem anarchy, and to restore good government.” By its failure, the hope of a free parliamentary government in France was dashed in pieces.
TREATY OF BReTIGNY (1360).--The captive king, _John_, made a treaty with _Edward_, by which he ceded to the English at least one-half of his dominions. The _Dauphin_ a.s.sembled the States General, and repudiated the compact. _Edward III._, in 1359, again invaded France with an immense force. But _Charles_ prudently avoided a general engagement, and _Edward_ found it difficult to get food for his troops. He concluded with France, in 1360, the treaty of _Bretigny_, by which the whole province of _Aquitaine_, with several other lords.h.i.+ps, was ceded to _Edward_, clear of all feudal obligations. _Edward_, in turn, renounced his claim to the French crown, as well as to _Normandy_, and to all other former possessions of the Plantagenets north of the Loire. The King was to be set at liberty on the payment of the first installment of his ransom.
THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR:
PERIOD II. (TO THE PEACE OF TROYES, 1420).
DUCHY OF BURGUNDY.--There was an opportunity to repair a part of these losses. In 1361 the ducal house of _Burgundy_ became extinct, and the fief reverted to the crown. But _John_ gave it to his son, _Philip the Bold_, who became the founder of the Burgundian branch of the house of _Valois_. _Philip_ married the heiress of _Flanders_, and thus founded the power of the house of Burgundy in the Netherlands.
DU GUESCLIN: CONTEST IN SPAIN.--The provinces of France were overrun and plundered by soldiers of both parties, under the names of _routiers_ (men of the road) and _great companies_. King _John_ returned to England, because one of his sons, left as a hostage, had fled. There his captivity was made pleasant to him, but he died soon after.
_Charles V._, or _Charles the Wise_ (1364-1380), undertook to restore prosperity to the French kingdom. He reformed the coin, the debas.e.m.e.nt of which was a dire grievance to the burghers. Against the free lances in the service of _Charles of Navarre_, the king sent bands of mercenary soldiers under _Du Guesclin_, a valiant gentleman of Brittany, who became one of the princ.i.p.al heroes of the time. The war lasted for a year, and the King of Navarre made peace. In Brittany, _Du Guesclin_ was taken prisoner by the English party and the adventurers who fought with them. The king secured his release by paying his ransom; and he led the companies into Spain to help the cause of _Henry of Transtamare_, who had a dispute for the throne of _Castile_ with _Peter the Cruel_. The Black Prince supported _Peter_, and, for a time, with success. In 1369 _Henry_ was established on the throne, and with him the French party. The princ.i.p.al benefit of this Spanish contest was the deliverance of France from the companies of freebooters.
ADVANTAGES GAINED BY THE FRENCH.--King _Charles_ reformed the internal administration of his kingdom, and at length felt himself ready to begin again the conflict with England. _Edward III._ was old. The Black Prince was ill and gloomy, and his Aquitanian subjects disliked the supercilious ways of the English. _Charles_ declared war (1369). The English landed at _Calais_. But the cities were defended by their strong walls; and the French army, under the _Duke of Burgundy_, in pursuance of the settled policy of the king, refused to meet the enemy in a pitched battle. The next year (1370) they appeared again, and once more, in 1373, both times with the same result. The _Duke of Anjou_ reconquered the larger part of _Aquitaine_. _Du Guesclin_ was made constable of the French army, and thus placed above the n.o.bles by birth. The English fleet was destroyed by the Castilian vessels before _Roch.e.l.le_ (1372). _Du Guesclin_ drove the _Duke of Montfort_, who was protected by the English, out of Brittany. In 1375 a truce was made, which continued until the death of Edward III. (1377). Then _Charles_ renewed the war, and was successful on every side. Most of the English possessions in France were won back. The last exploit of the Black Prince had been the sacking of _Limoges_ (1370). After this cruel proceeding, broken in health, he returned to England.
STATE OF ENGLAND.--The Black Prince, after his return, when his father was old and feeble, did much to save the country from misrule, so that his death was deplored. The Parliament at this time was called ”the Good.” It turned out of office friends of _John of Gaunt_,--or of Ghent (the place where he was born),--the third son of Edward. They were unworthy men, whom John had caused to be appointed. At this time occurred the first instance of impeachment of the king's ministers by the Commons. When the Black Prince died, his brother regained the chief power, and his influence was mischievous. During Edward's reign, Flemish weavers were brought over to England, and the manufacture of fine woolen cloths was thus introduced.
JOHN WICKLIFFE.--In this reign the English showed a strong disposition to curtail the power of the popes in England. When _Pope Urban V._, in 1366, called for the payment of the arrears of King _John's_ tribute, Parliament refused to grant it, on the ground that no one had the right to subject the kingdom to a foreigner. It was in the reign of _Edward III._ that _John Wickliffe_ became prominent. He took the side of the secular or the parish clergy in their conflict with the mendicant orders,--”the Begging Friars,” as they were styled. He also advocated the cause of the king against the demands of the Pope. He contended that the clergy had too much wealth and power. He adopted doctrines, at that time new, which were not behind the later Protestant, or even Puritan, opinions. He translated the Bible into English. He was protected by _Edward III._ and by powerful n.o.bles, and he died in peace in his parish at _Lutterworth_, in 1384; but, after his death, his bones were taken up, and burned. His followers bore the nickname of _Lollards_, which is probably derived from a word that means _to sing_, and thus was equivalent to _psalm-singers_.
RICHARD II. (1377-1399): THE PEASANT INSURRECTION: DEPOSITION OF RICHARD.--_Richard_, the young son of the Black Prince, had an unhappy reign. At first he was ruled by his uncles, especially by _John of Gaunt_, Duke of Lancaster. Four years after his accession, a great insurrection of the peasants broke out, from discontent under the yoke of villanage, and the pressure of taxes. The first leader in Ess.e.x was a priest, who took the name of _Jack Straw_. In the previous reign, the poor had found reason to complain bitterly of the landlords; but their lot was now even harder. When the insurgents reached _Blackheath_, they numbered a hundred thousand men. There a priest named _John Ball_ harangued them on the equality of rights, from the text,--
When Adam delved, and Eve span, Who was then a gentleman?
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