him, and while employed in France in the month of May 1384, the
council resolved upon his arrest, determined probably to this severe

1 Fox.



336 POLITICAL SERIES. [THIRD

measure by the information afforded by a Carmelite friar of a conspi-
racy having been formed for the purpose of placing the crown upon the
duke's head. Informed of what was intended against him, Lancaster,
on his return to England, contrived to escape the vigilance of his ene-
mies and reach his castle of Pontefract, where he prepared for open
resistance.

In 1386, at the invitation of the king of Portugal, and induced by
the hope of obtaining the crown of Castile, Lancaster, and his brother-
in-law, the earl of Cambridge, led an army into Portugal to assist
John against the king of Castile. His daughters, by both his wives,
accompanied him, and he left the care of his possessions in England to
his son, the earl of Derby. Richard beheld his uncle's preparations
for departure with great pleasure, and in his anxiety to hurry him out
of the kingdom, appropriated one-half of the supplies for the year to
defray the expenses of the expedition. The enterprise was in its re-
sults well-calculated to gratify the family pride of the duke, for the
king of Portugal accepted the hand of Philippa, his eldest daughter by
his first wife, while Henry, the son and heir of the king of Castile,
married Catherine, the duke's only child by his marriage with Constan-
tia. Two hundred thousand crowns were paid to Lancaster to defray
the expenses of his expedition, and an annuity of one hundred thou-
sand florins was settled on him, and another to the same amount on
his duchess. Meanwhile England was threatened with an invasion from
France, and the cabal headed by the duke of Gloucester, was formed
against Richard's administration. But the firmness which the young
king so unexpectedly betrayed, aided by the support which both the
duke of Lancaster and his son, the earl of Derby, animated by their
jealousy of the rival pretensions of Gloucester, hastened to tender him,
enabled him to avert the crisis, and chastise the aspiring insolence of
the new rebel.

When age had somewhat chilled the ambition of Lancaster, and he
had thus ceased to be formidable, his nephew rewarded his services
against the recent faction by granting to him for life the sovereignty of
Guienne. And when, upon the death of Constantia, his second wife,
the uxorious duke married Catherine Swynford, w r ho was only a knight's
widow, and had been employed by his first duchess to educate her
daughter, in which situation she bore him three sons, the marriage was
resented as a disgrace by all the other princes of the blood ; but the
king himself, to please his uncle, approved of it, legitimated the chil-
dren, and raised the eldest son to the dignity of earl of Somerset.
He died in 1399, soon after the banishment of his son Henry.



JHr Walter

DIED A. D. 1372.

FEW more illustrious names grace the annals of England's chivalry
than that of Sir Walter Manny. The son of one of the earl of Hain-
ault's bravest knights, he amply sustained the honour of his gallant
family in many a hard-fought field, and by his prowess contributed
more than any single arm, with the exception, perhaps, of the Black



PlHIOD.] SIR WALTER MANNY. ,337

prince himself, to the success of those chivalrous expeditions which
England undertook against the banded powers of France on their own
soil. Though a foreigner by birth as well as by lineage, he made Eng-
land the country of his adoption at an early age, and all his laurels
were won in her service. We, therefore, hold ourselves fully entitled
to class him amongst those illustrious men whose names and fortunes
are identified with the period of English history to which they belong.

When Isabella of England, accompanied by her son, arrived at
Valenciennes to solicit the aid of William, earl of Hainault, against
her husband, Edward II., the young Walter, whom the earl had taken
under his own guardianship after the death of his father, won the
friendship of the prince of Wales, and would have accompanied him
to England if his patron had not disapproved of the proposal at the
time ; but he was soon afterwards sent over in the suite of the lady
Philippa, Earl William's daughter, in the quality of page. His first
martial service was performed in the camp before Berwick, when that
place was vigorously besieged by Edward III. at the head of his
northern nobles, and gallantly defended by Lord Marr and Sir
Alexander Seaton. In the battle of Halidon-hill, so disastrous to the
Scottish arms, Walter de Manny bore himself so gallantly, that all
confessed him worthy of the honour of knighthood, which the king
bestowed upon him on the field.

In 1337, Edward having resolved to invade France from the Flem-
ish frontiers, the joint command of the expedition to open the Scheldt
was intrusted to Sir Walter and the earl of Derby. The forces placed
under their command on this occasion, consisted of 600 men-at-arms,
and 2000 archers. The garrison, on the isle of Cadsant, commanding
the navigation of the river, amounted to 5000 ; 1000 of whom were
men-at-arms. As the English squadron bore down, Lord Derby,
standing on the poop of his vessel, exclaimed to Sir Walter, whose
ship was at a little distance, " What think you, Sir Walter, shall we
assail these Flemings, or delay ?" " As wind and tide are in our fa-
vour, it becomes us not to lose them," replied Manny, adding at the
same time, " In the name of God and St George, let us run close on
shore !" " In the name of God and St George, be it so !" rejoined
the earl, and the signal for attack was instantly given by the trumpets.
The English archers drew their bows ' stiff and strong,' and quickly
cleared the outworks of their defenders, while the barons and knights,
with their men-at-arms, plunging into the sea, made good their land-
ing, repulsed the headlong charge of the Flemish horsemen, and car-
ried the whole works by assault. This success having opened the way
for the English army, Edward soon afterwards arrived, and prepared
to invest Cambray. In the meanwhile, Sir Walter having collected
fifty lances, proceeded to redeem a promise which he had made in the
presence of certain noble knights and fair dames, that he would be the
first that should enter France, and take some castle or stronghold. For
this purpose he spurred with his gallant band through Brabant, and
having gained the wood of Blaton, he there broke his design to his
companions, and suggested that they should surprise the town of Mon-
taigne. The proposal was received with acclamations, and the gallant
band arrived at Montaigne a little before sunrise ; but although they
entered the town without opposition, they found the garrison of the

I 2 u



338 POLITICAL SERIES.

castle fully prepared for them, and would have been speedily over-
powered by numbers, had they not succeeded in making good their
retreat. Sir Walter, however, was not to be thus baffled in his ob-
ject. He persuaded his companions, instead of returning straight to
the English camp, to diverge by Conde and Valenciennes in search of
adventures, and the result gratified their most ardent wishes. The
governor of Bouchain, mistaking them for the advanced guard of a
great army, opened his gates to them ; and the castle of St Eveque, at
no great distance from Cambray, was taken by a coup-de-main.

In the fight with the powerful fleet of Philip of France, off the coast
of Hampshire, Sir Walter Manny was the first to board the enemy.
He sprung from his ship on the deck of the Christopher, and his ex-
ample being followed by other knights, that huge vessel was speedily
in the hands of the English. The fight has been described as a ' very
murderous and horrible' one, but it ended in the total defeat of the
Normans. We next find this star of chivalry engaged in the relief of
the fortress of Hennebon, then gallantly held out by Montford's count-
ess against Charles of Blois. At the head of a small, but select body
of men, Manny cast himself into the town at the very moment when
it was about to be given up to the enemy ; his arrival changed the face
of affairs, and the negotiations for surrender being broken off, the
troops of Charles renewed their attacks with more determined fury.
A catapult of more than ordinary dimensions had greatly annoyed the
townspeople by the enormous masses of stone which it cast into the
place. Sir Walter was at dinner with the countess, when one of these
projectiles came crashing through the roof of an adjoining house, to the
great alarm of the ladies ; but Sir Walter instantly vowed to destroy
the machine, and rising from table with the other knights, in a few
minutes sallied forth from a postern gate, overturned and hewed the
catapult to pieces, burned the sow, and threw the whole camp of the
enemy into confusion. On their return, after having performed this
gallant deed, the enemy, having recovered from their surprise, pressed
hard upon them ; but the knights stood their ground until their archers
and attendants had passed the ditch in safety, after which they crossed
the drawbridge themselves, and were received with hearty gratulations
by the townspeople, while the countess " came down from the castle to
meet them, and with a most cheerful countenance, kissed Sir Walter
and all his companions, one after another, like a noble and valiant
dame." The consequence of this sortie was, that the corps employed
in the siege under Prince Louis of Spain, abandoned their camp the
same evening, and marched to join Charles himself before the castle of
Arrai. From this latter place, Prince Louis marched upon Dinant,
which opened its gates to him, and then passing into Lower Brittany,
landed at Quimperle, and proceeded to lay waste the surrounding
country. But Sir Walter, hearing of these proceedings, resolved to
have another and bolder stroke at his enemy. With the sanction of
the countess, he placed his men-at-arms and 3000 archers on board of
ship, and set sail for the harbour, where the fleet of Louis lay. On
his arrival at Quimperle he found the enemy's vessels but slightly
guarded, and immediately made himself master of the whole. He
then set out to intercept the prince, who, with 6000 men, was hurry-
ing back to the coast, having learned the arrival of his antagonist.



PBRIOD.] SIR WALTER MANNY. 339

They met, and a fierce conflict ensued, in which Louis's whole force
was nearly cut to pieces, or made prisoners, the prince himself only
escaping with a small retinue.

On his return to Hennebon, Sir Walter assaulted and took many
places of considerable strength, but little could be done towards thV
ultimate deliverance of Brittany, without fresh reinforcements from Ed-
ward. Carhaix fell into Charles's hands, and Hennebon was again in-
vested. This time the siege was pressed more vigorously than before ;
but the courage and resources of De Manny seemed to rise with the
difficulties of his position. Hearing that his friends, Sir John Botelor,
and Sir Matthew Trelawney, who had been made prisoners by the
enemy, were about to be sacrificed to Prince Louis's thirst for revenge,
he called his knights around him, and proposed that they should im-
mediately attempt the rescue of their comrades. The plan proposed
was sufficiently daring ; but the courage and high enthusiasm of the
parties engaged in it, directed by the genius and indomitable valour of
De Manny, secured its success. The prisoners were relieved at the
very moment when they expected to be led forth to execution ; and
Charles, perceiving that Hennebon, with such defenders, was not likely
soon to fall into his hands, dismissed the greater number of his follow-
ers, and retired to Carhaix.

In the campaign in Gascony with the earl of Derby, Sir Walter
gave ample evidence of his being possessed of the higher qualities of a
military commander. The fall of Bergerac was chiefly due to his skill
in combining the most rapid movements with the most deliberate and
well-advised plans of attack. Town after town, and castle after castle,
fell before his genius, till the English standard floated over almost every
stronghold in Gascony. One of the most splendid victories obtained
by the English arms in this campaign, was wholly due to the valour
and sagacity of Sir Walter. The earl of Derby, with Manny in his
train, had marched to the relief of Auberoche, then closely invested
by the count de Lisle. Orders had been sent to Lord Pembroke, who
commanded at Bergerac, to join them on the march ; but before he
came up, they found themselves with a force of only 300 men-at-arms,
and 600 hobeler archers, in the presence of De Lisle, at the head of
10,000 men. In this emergency, De Manny's counsel was prompt, but
wise : " Gentlemen," said he, addressing a council of war, " it were
a shame to us were our friends to perish, and we so nigh to them.
Let us mount our horses, skirt this wood, and advance upon the ene-
my's camp. We will come upon them unexpectedly, just as they are
sitting down to supper, and with St George to aid us, they shall be
discomfited." The proposal was well received, and instantly put into
execution with complete success. The French were beaten down be-
fore they knew whence their assailants came, and De Lisle himself was
taken prisoner.

The winter of 1344-5 was spent by Manny in well-earned indul-
gence amid the gaieties of the viceregal court at Bourdeaux ; but the
campaign was early opened by the duke of Normandy at the head of a
large army, and the indefatigable Manny required no summons to the
post of danger or enterprise. The important castle of Auguillon was
threatened, and Sir Walter, in the face of 100,000 men, threw himself
into it with 300 men-at arms, a corps of archers, and good store of



340 POLITICAL SERIES. [THliiD

' meal.' In the month of May, the duke of Normandy sat down before
this stronghold, but October came and its gallant defenders still held
out as vigorously as ever. At last the besiegers determined to cross
the river and cut of all means of foraging from the garrison. A bridge
was with this view constructed at a prodigious expense of labour, but
just as the troops were about to put themselves in motion upon it,
Manny let slip three heavy vessels, which carried down by a rapid cur-
rent, struck the props and swept them away. A second bridge, stronger
and better provided with the means of warding off a similar attack, was
instantly constructed ; but Manny, in a single night, cut down or ren-
dered abortive the labour of several weeks. Again, De Lisle resumed
his bridge-building, and with more success ; his army crossed the Ga-
ronne, and the castle was assaulted without intermission for several
successive weeks. Battering-rams were wrought incessantly against the
walls, catapults and other engines poured showers of stones, beams,
and darts, upon the battlements, while from large moveable towers or
belfries, the cross-bow men and archers sent flights of arrows within
the walls. Still the brave De Manny, untired in spirit and unexhaust-
ed in resources, held out, till the assailants, despairing of conquest by
any other means, thought of converting the assault into a blockade ;
but the battle of Crecy changed the face of affairs, and the siege of
Auguillon was suddenly raised by the duke, who set off to support his
father.

When the duke was fairly gone, Manny, loathing to be shut up in
inactivity whilst his brethren in arms were gaining such splendid lau-
rels elsewhere, sent for a ' great knight,' whom he had captured, and
demanded to know what sum he was willing to pay for his ransom.
" Three thousand crowns," replied his prisoner. " I know you are
nearly related to the duke of Normandy," answered Manny, " that you
are much esteemed by him, and one of his counsellors. I will set you
free upon your honour provided you will instantly go to the duke and
obtain a passport for myself and twenty others, that we may ride
through France to Calais, paying courteously for whatever we may
require. If you obtain this, I will hold you free from your ransom,
and also be much indebted to you ; but if you fail, you will return
within a month to this fortress as your prison." The knight accepted
the proposal and obtained the wished-for passport ; and such was the
high faith and courtesy of those days, that under its protection, Manny,
with his twenty companions, set out to travel the whole breadth of
France, and were well received and hospitably treated wherever they
came. At Orleans, however, Sir Walter was arrested by order of King
Philip and conducted to Paris, where he was cast into prison ; but the
duke of Normandy hastened to remonstrate against such a breach of
knightly faith, and declared, that unless Sir Walter was instantly li-
berated, he would never again wield sword or lance in defence of the
French crown. The king yielded to his son's representation, and Manny
was not only set at liberty, but received various costly jewels and other
gifts from Philip, which he accepted on the condition that he should be
permitted to return them if his royal master disapproved of his retain-
ing them. The conclusion of the story we give in Froissart's own
words : " He arrived at Calais," says the chronicler, " where he was
well-received by the king of England, who, being informed by Sir



PERIOD.] SIK WALTER MAXNY. 341

Walter of his presents he had from the king of France, said, ' Sir
Walter, you have hitherto most loyally sen-oil us, and we hope yon
will continue to do so : send back to King Philip his presents, for you
have no right to keep them. We have enough, thank God, for you
and for ourselves, and are fully disposed to do you all the good in our
power for the services you have rendered us.' Thereupon, Sir Walter
took out all the jewels, and giving them to his cousin, the lord of Man-
soe, said : ' Ride into France to King Philip, and recommend me to
him, and tell him that I thank him many times for the fine jewels
which he presented me with, but that it is not agreeable to the will and
pleasure of my lord, the king of England, that I retain them.' So the
knight did as he was directed," continues Froissart ; " but the king
of France would not take back the jewels, but gave them to the lord
of Mansoe, who thanked the king for them, and had no inclination to
refuse them."

During the prevalence of the plague in England, and while London
was threatened by that dreadful visitant, Sir Walter exerted himself
with great humanity to soothe the sufferings of the people. " It pleased
God," says Henrie, " in this dismal time to stir up the heart of this
noble knight to have respect to the danger that might fall in the time
of this pestilence, then begun in England, if the churches and church-
yards in London might not suffice to bury the multitude. Wherefore,
he purchased a piece of ground near St John's street, called Spittle-
croft, without the bars in West Smithfield, of the master and brethren
of St Bartholomew Spittle, containing thirteen acres and a rood, and
caused the same to be enclosed and consecrated by Ralph Stratford,
bishop of London, at his own proper costs and charges. In which
place, in the year following Stow reports were buried more than
50,000 persons, as is affirmed by the king's charter, and by an inscrip-
tion which he read upon a stone cross sometime standing in the Char-
ter-house yard."

In 1360, Sir Walter accompanied the army which Edward led to
the gates of Paris, and when it was proposed to withdraw without hav-
ing measured lances with any part of the garrison, deeming such a
thing a disgrace to English chivalry, he requested and obtained per-
mission to make an incursion as far as the barrier ; and he effected lii.s
purpose after a long and furious encounter with the Parisian knights.
Nine years after this, Sir Walter closed his military services with con-
ducting a destructive inroad from Calais into the heart of France. He
then retired to his home in London, where he employed the remaining
years of his life in calmly preparing for his last change. He died in
1372, and was buried with great pomp in the cloister of a Carthusian
convent founded by himself; the king himself, and a long train of no-
bility honoured his funeral with their attendance. He left behind him
one only child, a daughter, named Anne, who marrying the earl of Pem-
broke, transferred to that noble house all the possessions of her family
both in England and Hainault



342 POLITICAL SERIES.



ISUcJar*

BORN A. D. 1365 - DIED A. D. 1399.

IT was the great calamity of this worthless ruler, that he became, at
the mere age of childhood, to so great an extent his own master. He
was not more than eleven when he made, as king of England, his entry
into London, amid all the extravagance of splendour and pageantry
which characterized the public exhibitions of that age. There were
mock castles and turrets, and wine-fountains, and angels offering crowns
of gold, and bright maidens scattering golden showers, with all the
mirth and madness of popular festivals. Young as he was, it may
easily be conceived that so brilliant a display, contrasting so vividly
with the sad seclusion of his widowed mother's residence at Sheen,
might first kindle within him that taste for show and revelry which dis-
graced his riper years, and, by oppressing his people with taxation,
hastened his destruction. Now, however, his popularity was unbound-
ed. His father, the Black Prince, had supported the cause of good
government to the last, and the son, attractive in person and engaging
in manner, seemed destined to retrieve the errors which had accompa-
nied the decrepitude of the grandfather. In the following year, his
coronation renewed, with added splendour, the popular rejoicings ; but
the first meeting of parliament was ominous of a troubled reign ; and it
is exceedingly difficult, amid conflicting authorities and confused state-
ments, to determine the balance of delinquency between faction and
misrule. The king's uncles and the king's favourites were at fierce va-
riance, and, while to some of them the quarrel was fatal, none of them
came out of the contest unscathed. The middle classes seem to have
looked on with an observant eye, and with a shrewd estimate of Eng-
land's real interests. The Commons' house objected to the expense of
the government and the court, to the system of favouritism, to the
unprofitable cost of the continental fortresses, and in general, to the
entire system of national policy. To these just remonstrances, the
only reply seems to have been evasive promises of amendment, accom-
panied by urgent demands for heavy subsidies. Among other sugges-
tions as to the most expedient mode of raising the supplies, a poll-tax
was recommended by the lords ; and the commons, in evil hour, con-
sented to the imposition. It was rigorously levied ; and the severe
exaction, added to the gross misconduct of the collectors, raised the
people to almost universal insurrection, and they assembled from the
metropolitan counties, on Blackheath, to the amount of not fewer than
one hundred thousand men. They gained partial possession of Lon-
don, surprised the tower, and put to death the archbishop of Canter-
bury, Sir Robert Hales the ' treasurer,' Legge, one of the farmers of
the tax, and several others. In this crisis, Richard who seems to have
been personally popular with the insurgents behaved with uncommon
spirit ; notwithstanding the advice of those who dissuaded him from
conceding to a set of ' shoeless ribalds,' he boldly presented himself to
the furious mob, first at Mile End, and a second time in Smithfield.
This last interview was decisive. Wat Tyler, who appears to have



RICIIAHU n. 3.43

menaced the sovereign, was struck down by Wai worth, mayor of Lon-
don; and Richard, with singular promptitude and address, persuaded
the populace to follow him to the fields near Islington, where they
hastily dispersed at the appearance of an armed force. The govern-
ment, relieved from its apprehensions, revoked the amnesty which had
been proclaimed, and sent a special commission into the country, with
Tresilian at its head, and that worthy prototype of Jefferies is "said to
have saved himself much trouble by taking accusation as synonymous
with guilt. The nation, in fact, seems to have been at this time in a
state of strange commotion; and it is easy to perceive from the nature
of the doctrines said to have been enforced by some of the public
teachers of the day, that the lower orders were roused to a fierce re-
sentment of the encroachments and oppressions of their superiors.