The Chronicle of Adam Usk 1377-1421 0198204833

Citation preview

OXFORD

MEDIEVAL

TEXTS

General Editors D. E.. GREENWAY

B. F. HARVEY

M. LAPIDGE

THE

CHRONICLE OF 1377-1421

ADAM

USK

»

»

THE OF

gh

tN

VINCI Reema ai

CHRONICLE ADAM USK 1377-1421

EDITED

AND

TRANSLATED BY

C. GIVEN-WILSON

CLARENDON

PRESS Aw

- OXFORD

Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires

D A Pia lal % C / S

1d f

Calcutta

Cape Town

Dar es Salaam

Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associated companies in Berlin

Ibadan

Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © C. Given-Wilson 1997

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press,

at the address above. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Adam, of Usk, fl. 1400. [Chronicon Adae de Usk, A.D. 1377-1421. English] The chronicle of Adam Usk, 1377-1421 / edited and translated by C. Given-Wilson. . cm.—(Oxford medieval texts) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Great Britain—History—Richard II, 1377-1399. 2. Great Britain—History—House of Lancaster, 1399-1461. 3. Wales—

History—1063-1536. I. Given-Wilson, Chris. II. Title III. Series. DA235.A3613 1997 941.03'8—dc20 96-20908 ISBN 0-19-820483-3 (acid-free paper) 1

Ge 7 CO) io Co cy

Typeset by Joshua Associates Limited, Oxford Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by

Biddles Lid., Guildford € Kings Lynn

—

os

e

.

on

te

y

El

ee

See

2

—

;

z

HANNAH

4

.

eee

Fe

; i

“*

=

aa

E

r

ae ~Le

sR gtrts / fF

é

y Tess A at Bak he

a “Eon EADESON a

:

3

+

POT

silathe)dn?

zr

»4

ee Sato SAE

ce Sa Es Shes as

PREFACE

I sHOULD like to start by thanking those who have given me the greatest help in preparing this volume, that is, the three general editors of Oxford Medieval Texts: Barbara Harvey, Diana Greenway and Michael Lapidge. Their help, encouragement, and expertise have been crucial in ensuring its completion. Friends and colleagues both at St Andrews and elsewhere have also demonstrated both patience and knowledge in answering my questions: I should particularly like to thank Margaret Harvey, Ian Doyle, Rob Bartlett, John Hudson, Adrian Gratwick, Hugh Kennedy, Michael Whitby, Steve Boardman, Peter Coxon, Alison McHardy, Bridget Harvey, Peter George, Nigel Saul, Philip Morgan, Rees Davies, Nigel Ramsay, Linne Mooney, Ruth Macrides, Neil Beckett, and Patricia Price, each of whom was subjected to interrogation about some aspect or other of the life or work of Adam Usk, and each of whom was unfailingly helpful. I hope that there are not others whom I have forgotten, but if so I apologise to them. The British Library was kind enough to provide me with a photocopy of the major portion of Adam Usk’s chronicle from which to work at St Andrews, and the staff at the Public Record Office and Lambeth Palace Library, as well as at the British Library, have always been helpful and courteous. The Neil Ker fund of the British Academy gave me a grant to go to Belvoir, and the Travel and Research Fund of St Andrews University funded more than one of my visits to the British Library and elsewhere. It is a pleasure, too, to thank the Duke of Rutland for allowing me to transcribe the final quire of the chronicle at Belvoir Castle, and his secretary, Mrs Dorothy Staveley, for her kindness during my visit to Belvoir; the Revd R. L. Davies, vicar of Usk, for taking me round his parish church on my visit to the town; and Mrs Rosemary Humphreys of Castle House, Usk, for showing me the room in her house where, ut fertur, Adam Usk was born. Usk’s chronicle exists in a single manuscript, from which it was edited and translated by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, firstly in 1876, and secondly (once the final quire had been discovered at

Till

PREFACE

Belvoir) in 1904. Thompson was an excellent palaeographer and Latinist, and, although his transcription and translation show signs of haste in places, they are not often actually wrong. I have, naturally, provided a new transcription and translation here, but the differences between Thompson’s text and mine are more in matters of detail and style than in essentials. What need, then, for a new edition? The answer to that lies more in Thompson’s introduction, historical footnotes, and apparatus criticus than in his edition of the text itself. Usk’s is one of those chronicles in which elucidation of the text is intimately bound up with knowing the story of its author’s life, and since 1904, thanks to the continuing publication of numerous volumes of chancery rolls, ecclesiastical registers, and so forth, it has become possible to discover a great deal more about Usk’s life than was known then, much of which bears crucially on our interpretation of his chronicle. This is, I hope, reflected in both the introduction and the footnotes. The apparatus criticus, too, is considerably fuller than that supplied by Thompson. Moreover, the wider question of the medieval approach to the writing of history has undergone considerable rethinking during the twentieth century: to take but one example, few would now agree with Thompson that the profusion of miracles, portents, dreams, and prophecies in Usk’s chronicle shows him to have been ‘hardly a wise man’, or ‘of a particularly credulous disposition’. On the contrary, they show him to be not only very well-educated, but also very much in tune with his times. They are, in fact, crucial to our understanding of what medieval authors thought to be the proper way to write history.! Adam Usk—that ‘strange flighty being’, as Oman called him?— lived a life of extraordinary interest, and his chronicle yields a multitude of insights both into the political world within which he moved and into the medieval mind. I have, I fear, become engrossed in his life and work to the exclusion of too much else during the past three years. Alice, as ever, has kept my feet somewhere near to the ground and my head roughly in their vicinity, which is much the most important thing.

St Andrews, October 1995 ' CAU, p. xix; and see below, pp. Ixiv—lxxix. ? Quoted in Wylie, Henry V, i. 112 n. 8.

C.G.-W.

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION i. Adam Usk’s Life and Career The rising lawyer, ¢c.1370-1400 The Llandygwydd dispute and the outbreak of the Glendower revolt Adam Usk in Rome, 1402-6 Outlawry and excommunication, 1406-11 Return to respectability and the last years, 1411-30 ii. The Chronicle of Adam Usk The manuscript Dating and structure Content iii. Adam Usk and the Writing of History Prejudices and perceptions God, saints, and miracles Portents and prophecies Dreams, fortune, and history

Reticence and the writing of a chronicle iv. Editorial Practice and Adam Usk’s Orthography THE

CHRONICLE

APPENDIX: INDEX

OF

GENERAL

THE

OF

ADAM

WILL

OF

QUOTATIONS INDEX

USK ADAM

AND

USK

ALLUSIONS

Xxi XXV XX1X XXXxiil XXXVili

ABBREVIATIONS

Annales

BIHR BRL BL BRUO CAU

‘Annales Ricardi Secundi et Henrici Quarti’, Johannis de Trokelowe et Anon Chronica et Annales, ed. H. T. Riley (RS, London, 1866) Bulletin ofthe Institute ofHistorical Research Bulletin of the John Rylands Library British Library, London A.B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to 1500 (3 vols., Oxford, 1955-9) Chronicon Adae de Usk, A.D. 1377-1421, ed. E. M. Thompson (Royal Society of Literature, London,

1904)

CCR CFR Chronicles ofthe Revolution Chronicon Angliae CIPM Concilia

Continuatio Eulogii

Corpus Turis Ciuilis

CPL CPR CYS Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr DNB EHD EHR

Calendar of Close Rolls Calendar of Fine Rolls Chronicles ofthe Revolution 1397-1400, ed. C. GivenWilson (Manchester, 1993) Chronicon Angliae 1328-1358, ed. E. M. Thompson (RS, London, 1874) Calendar ofInquisitions Post Mortem Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, ed. D. Wilkins (4 vols., London, 1737) ‘Continuatio Eulogii’, Eulogium Historiarum sive Temporis, ed. F. S. Haydon (3 vols., RS, London, 1863), iii. 333-421

Corpus Iuris Ciuilis, ed. P. Krueger (2 vols., Berlin, 1888) Calendar ofPapal Registers, Papal Letters Calendar ofPatent Rolls Canterbury and York Society R. R. Davies, The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr (Oxford, 1995) Dictionary ofNational Biography English Historical Documents English Historical Review

ABBREVIATIONS Foedera

xi

Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae et Cuiuscunque Acta Publica, ed. T. Rymer (original edn., 20 vols., Lon-

don, 1704-1735)

GEC

G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, ed. V. Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday et al. (13 vols., London, 1910-59)

HBC

Handbook of British Chronology, 3rd edn., ed. E. B. Fryde, D. E. Greenway, S. Porter and I. Roy (London, 1986)

Historia Anglicana

Thomae Walsingham Historia Anglicana 1272-1422, ed. H. T. Riley (2 vols., RS, London, 1863-4)

Historia Regum Britannie

The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey ofMonmouth, ed. N. Wright, i (Cambridge, 1984)

HR

Historical Research

Knighton

Knighton’s Chronicle 1337-1396, ed. G. H. Martin

(OMT, 1995) Lloyd, Owen Glendower

J. E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower (Oxford, 1931)

Polychronicon

Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis, ed. C. Babington and J. R. Lumby (g vols., RS, London, 1865-86)

POPC

Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council ofEngland, ed. N. H. Nicolas (7 vols., London, 1834)

PRO

Public Record Office (Chancery Lane), London

Proverbia Sententiaeque

Proverbia Sententiaeque Latinitatis Medii Aevi, ed. H. Walther (9 vols., Gottingen, 1963-86)

RP

Rotuli Parliamentorum, ed.J.Strachey et al. (6 vols., London, 1783)

RS

Rolls Series

SR

Statutes ofthe Realm (Record Commission, 11 vols., London, 1810-28)

Tratson et Mort

Chronique de la Traison et Mort de Richart Deux Roy Dengleterre, ed. B. Williams (London, 1846)

VCH

Victoria County History Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi, ed. G. B. Stow (Philadelphia, 1977) The Westminster Chronicle 1381-1394, ed. L. C. Hector and B. F. Harvey (OMT, 1982)

Vita Ricardi Secundi Westminster Chronicle

xii

Wylie, Henry

ABBREVIATIONS

IV

Wylie, Henry V

J. H. Wylie, History ofEngland under Henry the Fourth (4 vols., London, 1884-98)

J. H. Wylie, The Reign of Henry the Fifth (3 vols., Cambridge, 1914-29)

INTRODUCTION

ADAM Usk was born around the middle of the fourteenth century in the town of Usk (Gwent)—according to local tradition, in a room of the castle gatehouse there.' As a boy, he witnessed the abortion of a two-headed calf in the house of Llugu, the daughter of Watkyn, in Llancayo, two miles north of Usk.” Nothing else is known of his youth. A little more is known, or may be inferred, about his kindred. His claim to blood-relationship with several of the ‘virgins of noble stock’ to whom membership of Usk priory was restricted implies that he regarded himself as, in some sense, noble-born.’ In his will of January 1430 he bequeathed forty shillings each to a sister, Joan, and an unnamed brother, and a copy of Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon to his kinsman (consanguineo meo) Edward ap Adam.‘ At the height of his influence, in the months following the Lancastrian revolution of 1399, he secured livings near Usk for two further kinsmen, Thomas ap Adam ap William de Weloc, and Matthew ap Hoel.’ His affecting account of the last hours of John of Usk, abbot of Chertsey, who was born and baptized in Usk, is also suggestive of kinship—although it would probably be rash to make too much of the fact that, with almost his dying breath, the abbot bestowed upon Usk ‘that same blessing which the Blessed Virgin bestowed upon her son the Lord Jesus, and which Isaac bestowed upon his

son Jacob’.® Adam Usk died between late January and late March 1430, and was buried in the parish church of St Mary at Usk, to which he had already donated various books and vestments, and where his epitaph—two lines in Welsh on a strip of brass riveted to the choir screen—may still be seen.” The Polychronicon which he bequeathed ! | am grateful to Mrs Rosemary Humphreys of Castle House, Usk, for showing me round on my visit to Usk.

? Below, p. 86. > Below, p. 84.

3 Below, p. 192.

+ Below, p. 272. 6 Below, p. 98.

7 Below, p. 118. J. Morris-Jones, ‘Adam Usk’s epitaph’, Y Cymmrodor xxxi (1921), 112-34. I am grateful to the Revd R. L. Davies, vicar of Usk, for his help and guidance during my visit to the church.

Xiv

INTRODUCTION

to Edward ap Adam was his personal copy, and included his continuation of Higden from 1377 to 1421. It is from his chronicle, in parts autobiographical, that we learn much of what we know about Usk’s life. Fortunately—for he does not always tell us the whole truth about himself—he enjoyed sufficient prominence (not to say notoriety) to ensure that he also features steadily in the public records of the time.

i. ADAM USK’S LIFE AND CAREER The rising lawyer, c. 1370-1400 From 1368, as a consequence of the marriage in that year of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, to Philippa, daughter and sole heiress of Lionel duke of Clarence, until 1425, when his grandson, another Edmund, died childless, the lordship of Usk was held by three successive earls of March of the Mortimer family. It was from the Mortimers therefore that Usk initially sought patronage, nor was he disappointed, for Earl Edmund (d. 1381) it was who sent him up to Oxford, presumably around 1370, to study civil and canon law, also providing for him while he was there.’ No record of his studies at Oxford survives from the 1370s, but by 1381 he had made sufficient progress to be created a notary public (though ineffectually, apparently) by the papal legate Pileus de Prata, archbishop of Ravenna.’ Two years later, in September 1383, he was instituted to the rectory of Mitchel Troy (Monmouthshire), then in the king’s gift because of the minority of Roger, heir to the earldom of March, and in April 1384 he was ordained subdeacon by John Gilbert, bishop of Hereford, at Sugwas.'° He exchanged benefices regularly over the next decade: Mitchel Troy for Babcary (Somerset) in September 1385, Babcary for Upton Scudamore (Wiltshire) in March 1387, and Upton Scudamore for Potterne (Wiltshire) in

March 1393.'’ Meanwhile he read and taught law. He described himself in December 1387 as an ‘extraordinary in canon law living

in Oxford’,’” meaning that he must by now have been B.Cn.L. and receiving payment for lecturing while studying to become a Doctor Viriusque Iuris. He probably remained at Oxford for a further seven or eight years. The full course of study leading to the D.V.I. ® Below, p. 158. © CPR 1381-5, p. 307; BRUO ii. 1937. ” Below, p. 12.

* Below, p. 4. " CPR 1385-9, p. 22; BRUO ii. 1937.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XV

usually took between twenty and twenty-three years.'3 Usk says

elsewhere that he spent three years studying for his doctorate at

Oxford.'* He was still described as a bachelor (and subdeacon) in

November 1388, when he was granted licence of absence from Upton Scudamore to study at an English university for two years, and the first surviving reference to him as a doctor of laws is from 1393."° He tells us that he subsequently held a chair of civil law

(cathedram ciuilem), which, when he left Oxford, he resigned to Henry Chichele, and that after this he worked for seven years as an advocate in the Court of Arches for the archbishop of Canterbury." It is unlikely that he entered the archbishop’s service before April 1394, for in that month he was listed as one of Bishop John Waltham’s counsellors at his visitation of Salisbury simply as D.C.L., after two other men (John Aylmere and John Burbache)

who are described as ‘advocates of Court of Canterbury’.'” Yet he was still described as an advocate of the archbishop’s court in

February 1400,'* and there is no good reason to think that he ceased to act in that capacity before his departure for Rome in February 1402. Later, he says that when he returned to England in

1411 he was reinstated (restitutus) to the court.'? All this does not quite clarify the chronology of Usk’s career, but the likelihood is that he studied for his D.V.I. between c. 1387 and 1390, held his chair at Oxford between c. 1390 and 1395, and worked as an advocate in the Court of Arches between 1395 and 1402. This would mean that he acted as an advocate for three archbishops of Canterbury—William Courtenay, Thomas Arundel, and the intruder Roger Walden—and as will be seen there is some evidence to support this notion. But if Usk eventually got his chair, his career at Oxford was not without alarms, for, as he tells us, he was deeply implicated, as principalis dux et fautor of the Welsh faction, in the disturbances 13 For the meaning of extraordinarius and the pattern of legal study at Oxford, seeJ.L. Barton, ‘The study of civil law before 1380’, and L. E. Boyle, ‘Canon law before 1380’, both in The History of the University of Oxford, i (The Early Oxford Schools), ed. J. 1. Catto with R. Evans (Oxford, 1984), pp. 519-30 and 531-64, esp. 525-9 and 535— 44.

4 Below, p. 152. 15 The Register ofJohn Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury 1388-1395, ed. T. C. B. Timmins (CYS, Woodbridge, 1994), p. 4; Registrum Iohannis Trefnant Episcopi Herefordensis 13891404, ed. W. W. Capes (CYS, London, 1916), p. 3597 Waltham’s Register, p. 208. 16 Below, pp. 152, 250. 18 Tambeth Palace Library, Register of Thomas Arundel, i, fo. 265". ” Below, p. 240.

Xvi

INTRODUCTION

which took place there in 1388 and 1389. These riots, essentially between students from the north and those from the south (to whom the Welsh were allied), were serious enough, resulting in at least four deaths, and were only ultimately quelled by the intervention of the duke of Gloucester. However, Usk is not named in the

subsequent inquisition, and it is not impossible that he exaggerated his own part in them. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to credit his statement that he was indicted for treasonable insurrection and was ‘only with great difficulty’ acquitted by a jury in the presence of a royal justice. ‘Before this’, he continues, ‘I had lived in ignorance of the power of the king, but henceforth I feared him and his laws, and I placed a bit between my jaws’.”° Usk’s employment in the Court of Arches was soon to bring him into contact with the man who would act as his principal patron for much of the next twenty years, Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury 1396-7 and 1399-1414. Since the death of Edmund Mortimer in December 1381, Usk had lacked a powerful adult patron, for Edmund’s heir, Roger, was only seven at his father’s death (he was born, at Usk, in April 1374), and did not receive livery of his inheritance until February 1394.2! That Usk regarded the new earl of March as his patron, and maintained his connections with the Mortimer family, there can be no doubt. He speaks in fulsome terms of Roger as ‘a young man of the highest character’, and lamented his early death in July 1398, which he marked with the recitation of a genealogy demonstrating the Mortimers’ royal descent.” His continued service to the earl is indicated by the fact that in August 1397 he and Thomas Overton, confidential clerk and executor of the young earl, received 500

marks each for the earl from the royal exchequer.”* His association with the Mortimers also generated ties with other patrons: Philippa, the daughter of Usk’s first benefactor Earl Edmund, and herself one of his patrons,” married (as her second husband, in August 1390) Richard earl of Arundel, brother of Thomas Arundel; while Eleanor, the widow of Earl Roger, married Edward Charlton

of Powis in June 1399, just at the time when Charlton—later to

prove an invaluable supporter—began to patronise Usk.25 Usk has *” Below, pp. 14-16, and references cited there. 1 GEC viii. 448-9. ” Below, pp. 40-48. 2° PRO E403/555, 22 Aug. For Overton, see Reg. Arundel, i, fo. 228r. 4 Below, p. 114. > GEC viii. 450; below, pp. 146, 238-40.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XVli

good things to say about all his patrons: he describes William Courtenay, archbishop of Canterbury from 1381 to 1396 and thus his first employer in the archiepiscopal court, as a ‘most excellent man’, Edward Charlton as ‘a most dignified young man’, and even Roger Walden—despite his intrusion into the see of Canterbury at Thomas Arundel’s expense between 1397 and 1399, of which Usk disapproved—as ‘a modest, pious and courteous man, practical and sensible in his conversation’.** His admiration for Thomas Arundel was of a different order, however: Arundel is consistently referred to as dominus meus, the defender of the Catholic church

against both heresy and the laity, the man whom Usk hastened to join at Bristol in July 1399, at whose table he dined, who rehabilitated him following his pardon in 1411, and ‘through whom I was hoping to be promoted to greater things, as indeed he had promised me’.”’ It was Arundel’s death in February 1414—-foreseen by Usk in a vision the purpose of which was to underline the personal nature of their relationship—which seems finally to have persuaded him that his prospects of further advancement were now slim. Usk’s appointment to the Court of Arches precipitated his entry into the service of the crown as a civil lawyer, initially as royal commissioner to hear appeals from the courts of admiralty and chivalry.2 He was also present throughout the Westminster parliament of 17-30 September 1397, though whether as a crown lawyer or as a servant of Archbishop Arundel is not clear. This was Richard II’s ‘Revenge Parliament’, the chief business of which was the destruction of those nobles—including the Arundel brothers— who had opposed the king in 1387-8. The earl of Arundel was beheaded, Archbishop Thomas exiled. Usk was naturally appalled at this, and does not hide his feelings. It is, however, a little surprising that—despite his detailed account of the 1397 parliament and of Richard’s iniquities during its continuation at Shrewsbury in January 1398-he says so little about his own circumstances during the last eighteen months of Richard’s reign. The probability is that he continued to be employed in the Court of Arches under Roger Walden: the anecdotes that he tells about Walden’s humiliation during the revolution of 1399 indicate more than a passing acquaintance with the intruder, and, as already 26 Below, pp. 18, 146, 80. 7 Below, p. 248. 28 CPR 1391-6, pp. 636, 695; CPR 1396-9, pp- 23, 28.

XViil

INTRODUCTION

noted, he does not seem to have disliked the man.”’ If this was the

case, it may help to explain Usk’s reticence: the banishment of Arundel had presented him with his first significant conflict of loyalties, and he had chosen to accommodate. A second and greater conflict was not long in coming. Doubtless Usk welcomed the deposition of Richard II, and not solely because it entailed the restoration of Thomas Arundel. He also considered Richard a bad king, and his pleasure in recounting the revolution—especially the part which he himself played in it—is undisguised. Hearing of Henry Bolingbroke’s landing, he hastened to join him and Arundel at Bristol, accompanied them on their march to Chester (securing a number of favours on behalf of old friends and neighbours on the way), and apparently remained

there at least until the captive king was brought in.*? His account of these events is rightly valued, not only for its circumstantial detail, but also for its relatively impartial tone, for Usk—unlike Thomas Walsingham at St Albans, or the monk of Evesham—does not simply follow the ‘Lancastrian’ line on the revolution.*’ He points out, for example, that, despite having promised to spare Cheshire, Henry proceeded to ravage it, and that Richard only promised to surrender to him ‘on condition that his dignity would be saved’— which of course it was not. However, it is Usk’s account of what followed the king’s capture that is especially revealing. Once back in London, he was appointed to the committee which was to determine ‘the question of deposing King Richard and replacing him as king with Henry duke of Lancaster, and ... how and for what reasons this might lawfully be done.’ That he acquiesced in both Richard’s deposition and Henry’s accession is not to be doubted, but that is not to say that he did so without reservation—for the rightful (or at least primogenitary) heir to the childless Richard’s throne was, as Usk knew only too well, not Henry Bolingbroke but the seven-year-old Edmund Mortimer, eldest son of Usk’s recently-deceased patron, Roger earl of March. It is hard not to acknowledge that it would have taken a brave /egum doctor to have pressed the point, but nor is it hard to imagine that Usk felt a certain ambivalence about endorsing Henry’s accession. This ambivalence is reflected in his account of the deposition proceedings. Henry, he says, was ‘deservedly’ chosen as king, ‘with the ? Below, pp. 80-2. * For what follows, see pp. 56-60. 5! Chronicles ofthe Revolution, pp. 4-6.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XIx

consent of the whole parliament’: so far, so orthodox. Yet the original grounds for Henry’s claim to the throne, which, as Usk tells us, was intended to be based on the ‘Crouchback legend’, are carefully and conclusively demolished by Usk, without any attempt to provide an alternative. Instead, he simply records that Henry claimed the throne ‘on account of his descent from the person of King Henry the third’, which, given his earlier remarks, rings somewhat hollow. The effect of this judicious juxtaposition of fact and comment is to leave the reader wondering just what were the grounds upon which Henry’s claim was validated. It is with this in mind that we should read passages such as the ejaculatory finale to his genealogy of the Mortimer family (‘being united with the royal line, it is in truth worthy to rise to the very highest degrees of honour’), and his insistence on pointing out that Lionel of Clarence was the second son of Edward III (Henry IV’s father,

John of Gaunt, being of course the third).** Yet, despite the misgivings which he undoubtedly felt about it, the accession of Henry IV was to be a turning-point in Usk’s career. By allying himself so promptly with the winning side, and by demonstrating his reliability as a committee man, he had gained the confidence of the new regime, and the next two and a half years saw him at the height of his influence. His counsel, it seems, was sought by all: by the king, on great matters of state such as the Anglo-French negotiations over the return of Queen Isabella; by nobles such as Thomas Lord Morley and Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthin in the court of chivalry;*? and by prominent ecclesiastics such as the prior of Charterhouse, Henry Bowet, bishop of Bath and Wells, and, of course, Thomas Arundel.** He seems to have been frequently about the court: he attended Henry IV’s coronation (when he drafted the petition of the king’s champion, Sir Thomas Dymoke), spoke with the imperial ambassadors who visited the English king in February 1401, and, a few months later, witnessed the arrival at court of the count of Perigord and a delegation from Ireland, as well as the departure of Queen Isabella for France.*> His voice was heard in convocation, and he obtained

favours from the king for powerful neighbours such as Sir James Berkeley of Raglan.* It was also during this period, in March 14o1 32 Below, pp. 42, 46, 210. 34 Below, pp. 126, 134, 120. 36 Below, pp. 86, 92.

33 Below, pp. 102, 96, 122, 132; CPR 1399-1401, p. 231. 35 Below, pp. 72, 124, 132, 134.

Xx

INTRODUCTION

or thereabouts, that he began writing his chronicle.*’ These early sections of the work bear the unmistakable tone of a man rising in both the world’s and his own estimation, pleased with his newfound importance, and confident in his future. Remuneration naturally followed. For securing judgement on Lord Morley’s behalf against the pledges of the earl of Salisbury, Usk received a hundred shillings (£5) and twelve lengths of scarlet cloth.*8 As a churchman, however, his principal reward was inevitably in the form of benefices, and after 1399 he rapidly joined the ranks of the pluralists. He had already, in June 1396, exchanged his living of Potterne for that of Castle Combe (Wiltshire), the patron of which was Sir Stephen Scrope (later under-chamberlain of Richard II’s household),*? and which Usk continued to hold until his excommunication and outlawry in 1407. To this he added, on 27 September 1399, the rectory of West Hanningfield (Essex)— with papal dispensation, and at the presentation of Philippa, countess of Arundel, perhaps (given the timing) at the suggestion of her brother-in-law the archbishop as a token of Usk’s service on the deposition committee. He held this less than a month, however, exchanging it on 24 October for the rectory of Shirenewton (Monmouthshire). Within another month, on 24 November, he had passed Shirenewton to his cousin-german, Thomas ap Adam ap William de Weloc, in exchange for the latter’s rectory of Panteg (Monmouthshire), which he then surren-

dered to another of his kinsmen, Matthew ap Hoel.*® This he could afford, having one week earlier, on 17 November, been

granted by Arundel ‘the fine church of Kemsing, with its chapel of

Seal, in Kent’.*! He also received from the prince of Wales, on 3 May 1400, a prebend at Bangor, possibly that of Bangor Mona-

chorum

St Dinoth.”

His title to Kemsing was soon to be

challenged, however, as was his title to another benefice to which

he was presented by Arundel on 14 February 1400, namely the prebend of Llandygwydd and canonry of the collegiate church of

Abergwili, near Carmarthen (Dyfed).*° 37 Below, p. xlvi. 8 Below, p. 96. * BRUO ii. 1937; The Register of Robert Hallum, Bishop of Salisbury 1407-1417, ed.

—

. Horn (CYS, Torquay, 1982), pp. 6-7.

*° Below, pp. 84, 114; BRUO ii. 1937; CPR 1399-1401, pp. 22, 108-9.

*' Below, p. 84; Reg. Arundel, i, fo. 263°. ” Below, p. 96, and CAU, p. xvii. He is not, however, mentioned among the pre-

bendaries of Bangor in J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541, xi. The Welsh Dioceses, ed. B. Jones (London, 1965). 8 Reg. Arundel, i, fo. 265°.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XX1

The Llandygwydd dispute and the outbreak of the Glendower revolt The story of the dispute over Llandygwydd is complex, but of considerable significance for Usk’s career. Within weeks if not days of Usk’s presentation, one Walter Aumeney had protested to the archbishop that it should be annulled, since he was already the legal incumbent. Aumeney—whose alias was Walter Jakes—had acquired Llandygwydd on 8 July 1399, apparently in lawful fashion, by an exchange with Master Richard Wychecombe for his canonry and prebend at Hereford.** However, he claimed that after he had peacefully and without hindrance held the benefice for some time, a certain Matthew Ashton (one of the advocates to whom Arundel had assigned the task of inducting Usk to Llandygwydd), without any forewarning or summons, and acting throughout at Usk’s behest, ‘notoriously exceeding the terms of his pretended commission, if indeed he had one’, ejected him from it and granted it to ‘a certain M. Adam Usk, who neither has nor had any right whatsoever in the said canonry and prebend’. Aumeney therefore appealed against Ashton’s decision, and on 16 March (1400) Arundel commissioned John Barnet, official, Richard Brinkley, examinor general, and Thomas Stowe, advocate, all of the Court of Arches, to hear and determine the case.*® Perhaps not surprisingly, their verdict must have been in favour of their colleague, for Aumeney subsequently appealed to Pope Boniface IX, whose delegate James, elect of Aquila, ‘proceeding in possessorio only’, removed Usk and restored Aumeney on 16 July. However, Usk then appealed to the pope, arguing that Aumeney’s title was void ‘because Walter had detained the said prebend along with that of Lansanfreyd in the same church, and so long void that their collation had lapsed to the archbishop of Canterbury’; since ‘it is very onerous for him to litigate at the Roman court’, Usk asked that the matter might be committed to the precentor of St Davids, which, on 11 April 1401, Boniface granted, adding that if it were found that neither of them had a right to the prebend, it

should be given to Usk.** Since Usk was still described as holding

the canonry and prebend in November 1404, the precentor evidently found in his favour.‘” Meanwhile, however, the two men’s 4 The Episcopal Registers of the Diocese of St David’s 1397-1518, ed. R. F. Isaacson

(Cymmrodorion Record Series, vi, 2 vols., London, 1917), i. 119.

4S Reg. Arundel, i, fos 96".

46 CPL v. 298, 457.

}

47 CPL vi. 44-5.

Xxil

INTRODUCTION

quarrel had intensified, for, according to an indictment brought before the King’s Bench in Trinity term 1402, Usk and five of his accomplices—including one Edward Usk, a clerk—had, on 3 November 1400, lain in ambush at Westminster and there stolen a black horse with its saddle and bridle, worth a hundred shillings, and fourteen marks in cash, from one Walter Jakes (i.e. Aumeney) for which all six were indicted as common thieves. It was also alleged that Matthew Ashton and Simon Sydenham (another of those appointed by Arundel in February 1400 to induct Usk) had both aided and abetted these six and subsequently harboured them while knowing them to have committed the felony. Sydenham, like Ashton and Usk, was D. V.I. and an advocate of the Court of Arches, and was also lieutenant of the admiral in the court of admiralty. Professor Storey, who printed the indictment, suggested that Usk was probably the victim of a false indictment. Although he was unaware of the already bitter quarrel between Usk and Aumeney (and of Ashton’s and Sydenham’s part in it), this makes his conclusion more rather than less likely, for although it may be held to provide Usk with a motive for what he was alleged to have done, Aumeney’s inclusion of Ashton and Sydenham in the indictment sounds very much like an attempt to discredit as many as possible of those who had deprived him of Llandygwydd. Moreover, although some sort of incident may have lain behind the indictment, it is barely credible that three distinguished doctors of the archbishop’s court had jointly lain in ambush for Aumeney at Westminster, and the fact that he waited until Usk had left England before presenting his indictment does not increase confidence in his probity. At any rate, both Adam and Edward Usk were subsequently pardoned, the former on 18 January 1403, the

latter in the following June.** Whatever the truth of this incident, it did no serious damage to Usk’s career, and it was certainly not the reason why he left England in February 1402.” ** R. L. Storey, ‘Clergy and common law in the reign of Henry IV’, in Medieval Legal Records edited in Memory of C. A. F. Meekings, ed. R. F. Hunnisett and J. B. Post (London, 1978), PP. 343, 362-3. Adam’s accomplices were named as Edward Usk, clerk, John Derby alias Millward of Derby, Nicholas Brown of Stafford, Nicholas Edullfi of Gloucester, and

Richard Edvyn, alias Richard Welshman. Adam’s and Edward’s pardons are in CPR eee 188, 2343 Ihave found no record of the others being pardoned. ough it is worth noting a comment which he makes at the opening of his chronicle that he was temporarily ‘expelled from the council and company’ of the leader (ducis) of some of those who opposed him, possibly an oblique reference to this incident: below, p. xl.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXxlil

The reason why Usk went to Rome was in fact the obvious one: he sought clerical preferment. Not only is this what he himself tells us, but on 17 February 1402, two days before his departure, William Etchingham and Thomas Lytewyn of Kent mainperned in chancery for £40 on his behalf that ‘he shall make no attempt in the court of Rome which may tend to the prejudice of the king or the laws and customs of the realm, or of the Statute of Provisors’—a fairly clear indication of his intentions, and, in the light of what was

to follow, not unjustified.°° Among his priorities, perhaps, was a desire to secure confirmation of title to both Kemsing and Llandygwydd, but it is clear from the parting words in his chronicle that he hoped for much more than this—at the least, ‘to be numbered among the advocates or the auditors’ (of the papal court),°’ and preferably to obtain a bishopric, which he clearly regarded as his due. There was good reason to think that he stood a better chance of gaining a bishopric in Rome than at Westminster, for he clearly believed that he had been disadvantaged by the suspicion of Welshmen in England engendered by the outbreak of Owen Glendower’s revolt in September 1400. The Welsh revolt was to be a pivotal event in Usk’s life; it also presented him with yet another, and this time virtually insuperable, conflict of loyalties. At heart, Usk was a Welshman.

He was drenched in Welsh

history and genealogy, talks of the ‘kingdom of Britain’ as having been ‘once laid waste by the Saxons’, and—being himself almost certainly a Welsh speaker—bitterly resented the English attempt in 1401 to suppress the Welsh tongue, the revocation of which he attributed to God, at ‘the prayers and complaints of the afflicted’. Yet he was also a man of equivocal allegiance, for by the time of his birth the lordship of Usk had been under continuous AngloNorman rule for nearly two centuries, and, given the English domination of the Welsh church, he understood well enough that the only sure route to advancement for a Welsh clerk was to secure the patronage of great Englishmen. Thus, despite his Welshness, he was capable of talking about ‘our side, the English’, and about

Henry V (though not, significantly, Henry IV) as ‘our king.’ He

5! Below, p. 152. 50 CCR 1399-1402, p- 509. 52 Below, pp. 200, 146 and passim. 53 P. Courtney, Medieval and Later Usk (Cardiff, 1994); Usk was first conquered by

Anglo-Normans in the 1ogos, but subsequently held by the Welsh until ¢.1174.

4 Below, pp. 142, 254.

XXiV

INTRODUCTION

south Wales: it was ‘the source of all the after the two or three in c.1409-11, to ‘my proceeding thence to England.®> Yet, despite the fact that the Glendower revolt was initially confined to north Wales, the position in which Usk found himself as a result of its outbreak was an unenviable one, especially in view of the support given to Owen by many prominent Welsh

also drew a distinction between north and ‘Snowdonia in the north of Wales’ that was evils in Wales’, and he speaks of returning, miserable years that he spent at Welshpool native country’—i.e., the south-east—before

clerics and scholars.** Mistrust of Welshmen resident in England manifested itself in the unashamedly racist legislation of March 1401, at which point Usk closes the first section of his chronicle with a dream of persecution, ‘as a result of which I awoke with a sense of foreboding as to what might happen that day, and in my

fear I committed myself to the protection of the Holy Spirit’.*’ Such legislation naturally did nothing to curb the revolt, and during 1401 Glendower gradually moved his operations southwards into Dyfed—although, as Usk is careful to point out, the diocese of Llandaff (his ‘native country’) remained for the moment

unaffected.°* Whether Usk was in active sympathy with the rebels at this time is impossible to say. It has been suggested that the two letters from Glendower to the king of Scotland and the lords of Ireland dated November 1401 which he reproduces in his chronicle are indicative of his collusion with Owen at this time—for how else, it is argued, could he have known of them?*’—but since, as he tells us, the messengers carrying them were intercepted and beheaded, it is perfectly possible that he acquired copies of them through his contacts at the English court. Nevertheless, by the winter of 1401-2 the odds were becoming heavily stacked against Welshmen resident in England, who were liable to be regarded as potentially—if not demonstrably—treacherous both by their own ‘true’ compatriots and by their English masters. To an ambitious Welsh clerk already steeped in litigation over his benefices and hopeful of further advancement, the decision to try his luck at the

Roman curia must have seemed a reasonable one. Thus, on 19 February 1402, Usk took ship from Billingsgate. Nine years would pass before he set foot in England again. 5 Below, pp. 174, 240. °° G. Williams, The Welsh Church from Conquest toReformation (Cardiff, 1976), pp. 219-22.

*” Below, p. 126.

8 Below, p. 144.

*® W. Llewelyn Williams, ‘Adam of Usk’, Y Cymmrodor, xxxi (1921), 135~60.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXV

Adam Usk in Rome, 1402-6 Travelling with a company of archers by the ‘German’ route, for much of the time within sight of the comet which blazed across Europe that spring, Usk arrived in Rome on 5 April, and within a month had been appointed a papal chaplain and auditor of causes in the apostolic palace; he retained this office, and remained at the

Curia, until June 1406. His lodgings, he tells us, were ‘close by St Peter’s palace’, whence he ‘often used to get up in the night to observe the behaviour of the wolves and the dogs’.*! He may have spent some time at the English hospice in Rome, for in July 1403 he was mentioned in the will of Walter Taylor, a papal cursor much involved with the hospice, as having three kettles, an iron spit, and (apparently) a basin belonging to Taylor.” Yet once again—and once again, it seems, because he was a Welshman—Usk gives the appearance while in Rome of a man caught between two rocks. For the venality of the Curia, and the brutality and profanity of the Romans, he had nothing but contempt; by the English in Rome, on the other hand, he was regarded as untrustworthy—to say nothing of the English in England. It was ‘the Welsh war’, he says, which thwarted his promotion to the archdeaconry of Buckingham in 1403; the ‘envy of the English’ which blocked his provision by Boniface IX to the see of Hereford in the summer of 1404; and the ‘slanders of my enemies’ which persuaded him to write a fawning letter to Henry IV in the following September. Two months later, when Innocent VII attempted to provide Usk to the see of St David’s, he tells us that ‘violent and vociferous objections were made to the king’, and threats were issued not only against him but also against any cardinal with an English benefice who supported his cause and any merchant who advanced money to him.” Nor was this merely paranoia born of disappointment. A letter dated 19 December 1404 written by William Lovell, an English 6 Below, pp. 152-6; for examples of cases referred to him as auditor, see CPL v. 554, 578, and CPL vi. 35.

61 Below, p. 194.

;

6 Rome, Venerabile Collegio Inglese, Archives, membrane 163, where he is called ‘dominus Adamusc, auditor causarum’. I am grateful to Margaret Harvey for this reference, which I have not seen.

63 Below, pp. 158, 174-6, 188; his failed provision to the archdeaconry of Buckingham was presumably in 1403, following the death of the incumbent, Thomas Tutbury, in February: J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541, i. Lincoln Diocese, ed. H. P. F. King (London, 1962), p. 15.

XXVi

INTRODUCTION

clerk at the Curia, to William Strickland, bishop of Carlisle, and

preserved in the letter-book of William Swan, confirms that Usk was indeed under suspicion of collusion with the Welsh rebels at this time. Lovell’s letter was chiefly concerned with the complex negotiations then in train between the English court and the Curia on the question of episcopal promotions, about which he had held conversations, promised bribes, read letters and listened to rumours: ‘having heard which things’, he goes on, ‘I feared even more greatly, and when I had pondered within the secret places of my heart what ought to be done about the aforesaid, since lord John Tyer is dead, and lord Adam, albeit that you wrote to him, is reckoned amongst us all, on account of his words, to be in some degree not entirely faultless in relation to Owen de Glendower, and therefore we do not communicate with him openly about this or any other matter . . °° There can be little doubt that Usk is the ‘Adam’ referred to here. His own observation on his failure to secure the archdeaconry of Buckingham in 1403 implies that he had been under suspicion since soon after his arrival in Rome, and it is worth noting that his attempts to secure or retain his livings in England (as opposed to Wales) were uniformly unsuccessful. His title to the rectory of Kemsing, which was challenged by the abbot of Bermondsey on the grounds of appropriation, was revoked in

July 1402, and the eventual compensation for his intended archdeaconry of Buckingham was his provision in August 1404 to the archdeaconry of Carmarthen with the attached canonry and ° For Swan, an English clerk who worked at the papal court from c.1404 until 1435, see E. F. Jacob, “To and from the court of Rome in the early fifteenth century’, in Essays in Later Medieval History (New York, 1968), pp. 58-78, and Margaret Harvey, England, Rome and the Papacy: the Study ofa Relationship (Manchester, 1993), pp. 26-30. The letter was copied by Swan into his letter-book (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B. 23, fos. 60-61), and I am grateful to Margaret Harvey for first alerting me to it. It can be dated by reference to the projected promotions of the bishop of Lincoln (Henry Beaufort) to Winchester, and of the abbot of Leicester (Philip Repingdon) to Lincoln, with the remark that the king will write to the pope about this ‘post suum parliamentum’: this must be the parliament of Oct. 1404. Beaufort and Repingdon received their episcopal temporalities in March 1405. Lovell seems to have gone to Rome in the summer of 1403, and was one of six clerks ‘dwelling in the court of Rome’ in May 1407 who were ordered in no uncertain terms by Henry IV to return to England: CCR 1402-5, p. 175; CCR 1405-

9» PP 195-6. °° “.. quibus auditis plus multo timui, et cum infra pectoris mei archana reuoluebam quid circa premissa facturum fuerit, cum dominus Iohannes Tyer est mortuus, et dominus Adam, cui etsi scripsistis, propter sua uerba, inter nos omnes reputatur quodammodo non multum purus de Iuonis de Glendour, et ideo in hac nec in alia quacumque materia ut communiter secum communicamus...’

° CPL v. 506-7, 603.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXVIi

prebend of St David’s, the prebend of Llanbister, and the rectory of Llandefaelog Tregraig; these were granted on condition that he resign his canonry at Abergwili and prebend of Llandygwydd, the subject of his earlier dispute with Walter Aumeney.” Thus after 1402 the only living in England which Usk retained was the rectory of Castle Combe, which he had held since 1396; given the situation in Wales over the next few years, it is reasonable to ask how much profit he in practice derived from his benefices there. Yet if he had been under suspicion even in 1402, it is clear that by the autumn of 1404 matters had become a good deal more serious, for with Glendower now at the height of his power, Welshmen were doubly suspect. It was Usk’s attempt to gain papal provision to the see of Hereford in the summer of 1404 that caused his real rift with the king: “The English’, he claims, ‘. . . wrote letters to the king and poisoned his mind against me, so that, far from being promoted, I was humiliated, and spent the next four years undergoing dreadful hardships, condemned to suffer like an exile by land and sea, stripped of all my benefices and goods, reduced to the depths of poverty, and forced like Joseph to live amongst strangers whose language I did not know.’® Hyperbole aside, there is some rhetorical licence here; in fact several years were to pass before Usk was stripped of his benefices. His epistolary plea to the king, dated 12 September 1404, not to ‘lend your ears to those who speak ill of me’ (which was coupled with a request for ‘some further promotion’) apparently brought no comfort, while his next attempt to gain a see, that of St David’s in October-November 1404, drew forth unrelieved fury from Henry, seemingly including even the threat of the gallows.® As will be seen, he may also have tried to get the see of Bangor at this time. Was his failure really due to the ‘slanders of my enemies’ about his political sympathies, or might it be that, contrary to his own self-estimation, he was simply not regarded as a serious candidate for a bishopric? The reasons for professional disappointment are subject to all kinds of self-delusion, and his Welshness certainly provided him with a convenient excuse. More ominously, however, it also provided him—or at least soon would—with an alternative route to a see. By early 1405, Usk was probably growing disillusioned with life in Rome. Despite his manifest enjoyment of the protocol and swagger of the Curia, and his historical awareness of what it meant 67 CPL vi. 44-5.

6§ Below, pp. 174-6.

6 Below, pp. 178, 188.

XXVili

INTRODUCTION

to reside in the eternal city, he detested Roman arrogance and was nauseated—or at least claimed to be—by the corruption and violence upon which the city throve.”” The events of August 1405 confirmed his opinion: the slaughter of eleven Roman citizens by the nephew of the new pope, Innocent VII, was the catalyst for a riot which forced the Curia to flee the city and decamp to Viterbo for the next seven months. Usk himself was ‘stripped of everything, even down to my shoelaces’, barely escaped with his life, and then, once he reached Viterbo, greeted by Innocent with a far from charitable jibe. However, the pope did at least lend Usk the services of his doctor, ‘a certain Jew called Elias’, when, while still at Viterbo, he was poisoned—by his enemies, apparently—and almost died. Yet, despite his return with the Curia to Rome on 13 March 1406, the riots had done Usk irreparable harm: a merchant had fled taking all his money, and ‘my friends soon melted away when they saw that I had lost my worldly goods’; by early June, so

he claims, he was virtually bankrupt.” By this time, he had also probably heard of a meeting which had taken place in Paris a few months earlier between the French king and the envoys of Owen Glendower, the result of which was the declaration, on 31 March, at Pennal near Machynlleth in North

Wales, of the obedience of the Welsh church to the Avignon

papacy.’”” This was a logical consequence of the Franco-Welsh treaty of assistance of July 1404; whether it might ever be implemented was, of course, a quite different matter, depending as it did upon Glendower’s ability to achieve Welsh independence from England, but it should be emphasized—for it was without doubt

crucial to Usk’s thinking—that in the summer of 1406 the latter must have seemed far from unattainable. Central to the Pennal declaration was the complete separation of the Welsh church, under the arch-diocese of St David’s, from Canterbury, and the

appointment by Benedict XIII (the Avignon pope) of Welshspeaking prelates sympathetic to the rebel cause. Here, then, was Usk’s alternative route to the episcopacy. He knew by now that Henry IV would never allow him to be given a bishopric; four years at Rome had left him shunned and destitute; if his Welshness was

to stand in the way of his advancement in the Anglo-Roman

” Below, pp. 160, 182, 194-6. 7 Below, pp. 204-6, 210. ” The Pennal declaration is printed in Welsh Records in Paris, ed. T. Matthews (Carmarthen, 1910), pp. 83-99.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XX1X

church, why not throw off the shackles and ride the wave of Welsh nationalism? On 11 June 1406, Usk left Rome and crossed the Alps to France.

Outlawry and excommunication, 1406-11 In fact, the years 1406 to 1411 were to be the most hazardous and dispiriting of Usk’s life; they are also those during which his chronicle gives the widest berth to the whole truth. His own account is that, following a leisurely journey through France, he arrived at Bruges, where he met Richard del Brugge, Lancaster king at arms, presumably some time in the autumn or winter of 1406. Brugge ‘advised me strongly that, since the king was threatening to put me to death, under no circumstances should I return to England without obtaining a pardon from him.’ He promised to do what he could for Usk, ‘and I waited expectantly for him for two years there, but it was to no avail’. Usk also heard that ‘all my benefices had been granted to others’—following which remark there is an erasure of over a line in the manuscript, which presumably contained some explanation for his deprivation—so that he was ‘utterly impoverished’. ‘During these two years’, he goes on, ‘I wandered through the lands of Flanders, France, Normandy, and Brittany, making enough to live on from the payments which various bishops, abbots and noblemen gave me for my counsel.’ Yet all the while Usk was being drawn into deeper waters. The earl of Northumberland and Lord Bardolf, following the failure of their rising in the summer of 1405, had fled to the continent seeking help against Henry IV, ‘and because I was frequently in contact with them, King Henry was stirred to even greater fury with me when he heard about it’. Northumberland promised Usk ‘promotion to high office’ if he would accompany them back to England. Fortunately for him, Usk refused: ‘Adam, you are in a labyrinth’, he said to himself: ‘Put your trust in God... And so I turned my coat, and I decided to make my way to my lord of Powis, hoping, if God willed it, for a pardon from the king and the kingdom.’ When he

heard of the deaths of Northumberland and Bardolf at Bramham Moor in February 1408, he ‘gave thanks to God, the great seer, for

having stayed behind’.” Eventually—probably

some time in the summer of 1408, although his chronology is (perhaps deliberately) vague at this 73 Below, pp. 212-6.

XXX

INTRODUCTION

point—he met Brugge again in Paris, who explained to him that, ‘partly because of my contact with the earl of Northumberland, and partly because of smears written by my enemies at Rome and sent to the king’, no pardon would be forthcoming for the moment. He therefore ‘swore an oath to this king at arms that I would pretend to be one of Owen’s supporters, and that I would take my men and make my way to Wales to join him, but that once there I would, when an opportunity presented itself, secretly slip away from him and go and stay with my lord of Powis, hoping thereby to gain the king’s pardon. And that is what happened; and it was this promise which saved my life.’ This is indeed what happened. Despite various alarms on the way, Usk succeeded in landing at Barmouth and joining up with Glendower’s supporters. However, when they discovered that he had written for a safe-conduct to Edward Charlton, lord of Powis, he was ‘placed under close restraint by

pledges’. Nevertheless he managed to obtain his safe-conduct from Charlton, whereupon he ‘secretly slipped away by night’ to join him at Welshpool. Here Usk spent the next two years or so, ‘a poor chaplain in the parish church, not daring to venture beyond (Charlton’s) lands, receiving no food except what I could earn for saying masses, and shunned by my ungrateful kinsmen and former friends’. In the end, however, relief was forthcoming: at the request of Charlton and of ‘that excellent man David Holbache’, Henry IV finally relented and, on 20 March 1411, granted Usk a full pardon. He returned to South Wales, and thence, ‘with a trembling heart but a cheerful demeanour’, to England, where, ‘like another Job, I began once more to acquire servants, and books, and clothes, and a home; for which God be praised for ever and ever’.”4 From this tale of woe, one crucial fact is omitted. According to an enquiry of April 1408 into his tenure of the rectory of Castle Combe, when Usk left Rome in June 1406 he had ‘joined the antipope (Benedict XIII), who within half a year had conferred the bishopric of Llandaff on him. For this he had been excommunicated by the pope and deprived of all his benefices since (8 September 1407)’.’* This is confirmed by Pope Benedict’s register, which states that permission for Usk’s installation to Llandaff was

issued by Griffith Young (Glendower’s choice—and Benedict’s ™ Below, pp. 239-40. Register ofRobert Hallum, pp. 6-7 (no. 43); it was Gregory XII, who had succeeded Innocent VII in November 1406, who excommunicated him.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXxi

appointment—as bishop of Bangor); the date given there is 26 April 1407, the entry concluding with a note that the provision was ineffective (quod frustra est factum).’® Of course, the fact that Usk litigated on behalf of prelates and magnates while in France and the Low Countries probably meant that he was bound to acknowledge the Avignon allegiance, but even so it is difficult not to suspect that ambition was the chief motive behind his defection. It was clearly not something that he wished to be known, however, and one won-

ders whether the erased line in his manuscript following the loss of his benefices originally contained some mention of it. It also helps to clarify both Usk’s chronology and his thinking. According to John Hardyng, Northumberland and Bardolf went first to Scotland in 1405, then, in the summer of 1406, ‘unto Glendower’ in Wales, then (having been worsted by Edward Charlton in a skirmish in June 1406), to Brittany, and then to Flanders. They returned to Scotland ‘by the east sea’ in the summer of 1407, remaining there until their fateful invasion of England in February

1408.’ Their meetings with Usk must therefore have taken place between the autumn of 1406 and the summer of 1407, first in France and then in Bruges.” The first indication we have (apart from his own remarks) that Usk was in deep trouble is a royal writ enrolled in the exchequer recording that Adam atte Hulle and Robert Webbe were to be distrained by the sheriff of Wiltshire for

tithes worth {5. 6s. 8d. owed to Usk at Castle Combe on 5 May 1407 (die Ascencionis Domini anno regni nostro octauo), ‘which belonged to the said Adam on the day that he adhered, contrary to his allegiance, to our enemies and traitors of France, for which reason they were forfeited to us’, and had thus come into the hands of Hulle and Webbe.” Does this mean that Usk’s forfeiture was proclaimed

on 5 May 1407? If so, it is interesting to note that he was not at this stage accused of adhering to Glendower, but to the king’s French enemies—the consequence, presumably, of his contact with Northumberland and Bardolf, who by this time were on the point of leaving France. If the enquiry of April 1408 is to be believed, it was not until September 1407 that he was excommunicated and 76 Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, ed. C. Eubel (2 vols., Rome, 1898), i. 304 n. 6. Usk is called ‘Adamum Wesk’. The ‘true’ (Roman) bishop of Llandaff was Thomas Peverell, who was translated to Worcester on 4 July 1407.

7 The Chronicle ofJohn Hardyng, ed. H. Ellis (London, 1812), p. 364; Welsh Records in

Paris, p. xxxviil.

© Below, p. 218.

7 PRO E368/180, fo. 165.

XXXIi

INTRODUCTION

deprived of his benefices. Presumably this was decreed by Gregory XII more or less as soon as he heard of Usk’s defection to Avignon, which may well have been kept secret in the first instance. Later, in January 1410, he was said to have forfeited his tithes at Castle Combe because he was ‘an adherent of the king’s enemies and rebels of France and Wales’, and his pardon of the following year stated that he had been ‘ in the company of Owin de Glyndorduy

and the Welsh rebels’.*° It seems, then, that Henry IV’s fury with Usk in 1407 was initially due to his contact with Northumberland and Bardolf, and it was

not until some months later that the king learned of his provision to Llandaff. This may help to explain Henry’s apparent change of heart (for surely Brugge could not have been acting without royal authority when he made his bargain with Usk). Having at first (in the winter of 1406-7) been told that he would not be pardoned, he was later (in the spring or summer of 1408) told that he might be, but only under certain conditions. Yet why should the English king have been prepared to allow Usk to join the Welsh rebels? There is, surely, only one likely answer: he was going to betray, or at least to spy on, Glendower. As Henry must have realized by now, Usk was in an ideal position to do this; so far as the rebels knew, he had thrown in his lot with them, and suffered mightily for it. Why should they mistrust him? Only once they realized that he was in communication with Charlton did they begin to suspect and attempt to restrain him. Usk’s plan, presumably, was to barter what knowledge he could acquire of Glendower’s operations in return for his own freedom to resume his life in England. In the winter of 1406-7, embittered by English hostility and frustrated ambition, when he may well have truly believed that Glendower would shortly be prince of an independent Wales, he evidently reckoned that support for the Welsh cause was his likeliest route to advancement. By the summer of 1408, however, the tide had turned: Glendower had been pushed on to the defensive, his ally Northumberland was dead, and the Franco-Welsh alliance had been rendered virtually impotent by the murder of the duke of Orleans. Realizing the magnitude of his error, Usk set about repairing the damage. It says much for his instinct for selfpreservation that if the only way in which that could be achieved was through the betrayal of his own countrymen—to whose cause ®° CPR 1408-13, pp. 159, 283.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXXili

he had so recently adhered, and with whom, at heart, he surely

sympathised—he nevertheless did not demur.

Return to respectability and the last years, 1411-30 Usk’s pardon stated that he had been in the company of Glendower and the Welsh rebels ‘against his will’, and had ‘come away from them as quickly as he could to the king’s grace’—not strictly untrue, perhaps, but surely a charitable gloss on the real circumstances.*! Still, he had his pardon, and his old patron Thomas Arundel was prepared to be forgiving. Usk was reappointed as an advocate in the Court of Arches (he was still acting as such in

October 1419), and he says that he ‘sat in parliament with other doctors’—probably the parliament of May-June 1413. Arundel also gave him ‘the fine church of Merstham’ (Surrey), as his living,*? though he did not regain any of the benefices of which he had been deprived in 1407. Nor is there any indication that he regained the public confidence that he had enjoyed in c. 1395-1402: there is no record of his appointment as a crown commissioner after 1411, nor does he name any magnate or prelate who retained his counsel. And although his obituary for Arundel asserts that the archbishop had promised him promotion ‘to greater things’, this has more of a ring of hope than of expectation. Arundel’s death occurred on 19 February 1414, twelve years to the day since Usk had left for Rome; what it meant to him is evidenced by the tone of his obituary. He had foreseen the event, he claimed, in a vision the previous night, in which the archbishop, ‘dressed in short clothes and running with great speed, as if planning to journey afar’, had asked him to halve a candle and divide it between them, ‘whereupon, awakening, I realized that we would henceforth be parted’.** That Arundel’s death was a personal blow need not be doubted, but Usk was well aware that it was also a

blow to what small chance remained of salvaging his career. After 1414, the autobiographical element which is so prominent in the earlier sections of the chronicle largely disappears: apart from two brief notes—that he secured exemption from taxation for Welsh benefices in the convocation of November 1415, and that he acted 81 His pardon is printed in full in CAU, p. xxviii. 82 PRO C115/K2/6682, fo. 131", Register of Llanthony priory, in which ‘magistrum

Adam Vsk, curie Cantuariensis aduocatum’ is appointed one of the abbey’s proctors to convocation.

3 Below, p. 240.

54 Below, pp. 246-80.

XXXIV

INTRODUCTION

as respondent at the consecration of John Chaundler as bishop of

Salisbury in December

1417%°—the chronicler now disappears

from his chronicle, and what we know of the remainder of his life has to be pieced together from extrinsic sources. There is, at any rate, some information concerning his benefices, which he continued to exchange with regularity: Merstham for Hopesay

(Shropshire) in October 1414, and Hopesay for Llangibby (three miles south of Usk) in 1422-3, which he probably retained until

shortly before his death.** At some point before November 1419 he also acquired the rectory of Kingston Deverill (Wiltshire), which he then exchanged for that of Newton St Loe (Somerset).*’ The latter he resigned in January 1429 due to ‘old age and long-standing incurable infirmities’, in return for an annual pension of {10 from the income of the church, payable in half-yearly instalments at St Augustine’s abbey, Bristol.** The remaining notices of his life from this period are few, and generally uninformative: in December 1413 he was licenced (along with many others) to stay in England despite his Welsh birth;®? he attended the convocations of 1417 (where he represented the diocese of St Asaph on the committee to secure the promotion of graduates to benefices), and 1419 (as proctor for Llanthony Priory);°° and he was described in February 1417 as ‘patron for this turn’ of the church of Sherborne StJohn in

the diocese of Winchester.”! Of much greater interest are two letters written by Usk to William Swan and copied by the latter into his letter-book. Usk must have known Swan from his time in Rome, and sought his help on both personal and professional matters. The first (and much 5 Below, pp. 258, 266. 8° Registrum Roberti Mascall Episcopi Herefordensis 1404-1417, ed. J. H. Parry (CYS, London, 1917), p. 187; The Register of Henry Chichele, ed. E. F. Jacob (4 vols., Oxford, 1943-47), i. 132; Usk’s exchange with David ap Ieuan ap Meredith Goch of Hopesay for Tregruk (= Llangibby) is recorded twice on the patent rolls, firstly on 28 June 1422, secondly on 12 July 1423 (recte 1422?): CPR 1416-22, p. 436; CPR 1422-29, p. 111. His estate in Llangibby was ratified in July 1428: CPR 1422-29, p. 426. He was cited for nonresidence at Hopesay in Nov. 1418: BRUO ii. 1937.

*” The Register ofNicholas Bubwith Bishop ofBath and Wells 1407-1424, ed. T. S. Holmes (Somerset Record Society, 2 vols., Bath, 1914), ii. 376; coincidentally, Kingston Deverill had been one of the three Wiltshire churches which he had failed to acquire along with the archdeaconry of Buckingham in 1403 (below, p. 158). ** The Register ofJohn Stafford Bishop of Bath and Wells 1425-1443, ed. T. S. Holmes (Somerset Record Society, 2 vols., Bath, 1915), i. 66.

8 CPR 1413-16, p. 125. *° Register ofHenry Chichele, iii. 37, PRO C115/K2/6682, fo. 131". *! Register of Nicholas Bubwith, i. 277.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXXV

longer) letter is dated 16 January at London, and, partly for reasons given below, partly since it both mentions Constance and talks of ‘such a restoration of the church, as is most praisingly noised abroad’,” the year is probably 1418-ie, following the election of Martin V in November 1417, which ended the schism, but before the dissolution of the Council of Constance. It is full of biblical allusion, and largely devoted to apocalyptic foreboding for the future of the church, but the real purpose of the letter is revealed in the opening lines, where Usk begs Swan ‘in such a restoration of the church’, that ‘the cheating of my Bangor promotion should be extensively urged against that man Byfort, who formerly deceived

the first Adam’.* “The first Adam’ is clearly Usk, while ‘Byfort’ is Lewis Byford, who was provided by Boniface IX to the see of Bangor following the translation of Richard Young to Rochester on 28 July 1404. Byford, a Welshman and a supporter of Glendower, is a figure of some interest: despite falling out with Henry IV and joining Northumberland’s invasion of February 1408 (when he was captured and imprisoned by Henry), he maintained his allegiance to the Roman church and seems never to have sought provision from Avignon. Nevertheless he was obliged, in May 1408, to resign the see of Bangor as a condition of his release— although, as will be seen, he did not abandon his hopes of one day

regaining it.” It was given instead to Benedict Nicholls, the choice of the English crown, who held it until December 1417, when he was translated to St David’s. Meanwhile, back in February 1407, at about the same time as Usk’s provision to Llandaff, Glendower had secured from Benedict XIII the provision of his chancellor, Griffith Young, to Bangor. Thus at the time of Nicholls’s translation to St David’s in December 1417, the outstanding claims of both Young and Byford to Bangor still remained unresolved, and both attended the Council of Constance to press their case. Usk’s letter appears to raise a further possibility—that he too had, at some point, acquired a claim to the see, and still hoped to be 92 < in tanta ecclesie reparacione . . . ut perlaudanter uulgatur’; *. . . in nouo testamento inter Romam et Constanciam’ (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B. 23,

fos. 107’—108"). %3 « multum causanda promotionis mee Bangorensis fraus contra illum Byffort, priore qui primum Adam decepit.’ 4 He was pardoned in June 1409 for all treasons, etc: CPR 1408-13, p. 82. For Byford, and the tortuous story of the see of Bangor at this time, see Owen Glendower, pp. 94, 11524; and J. R. Gabriel, ‘Wales and the Avignon Papacy’, Archaeologia Cambrensis Ixxviii

(1923), 70-86.

XXXVI

INTRODUCTION

regarded as a serious candidate. If that was the case, the most likely occasion for him to have secured some fleeting expectation of Bangor was from Boniface IX back in the summer of 1404, following Richard Young’s translation to Rochester. This was, after all, precisely the time when Usk was at his busiest trying to acquire a see, and if he tried for Hereford and St David’s (as we know he did), it would actually be rather surprising had he not also tried for Bangor. Why he fails to mention the fact in his chronicle is difficult to say. He may, however, have taken some consolation from the fact that his ‘deceiver’ Byford also failed to regain the see, as did Griffith Young. Instead, on 14 February 1418, William Barrow was provided to it, Young and Byford being compensated in Scotland

and Italy respectively.” It seems, then, that even in 1418 Usk had still not given up his dream of elevation to the episcopacy. He must, however, have been well into his sixties by now, and before long other matters had come to occupy his mind. There is no clue as to the dating of the second of his letters preserved by Swan apart from the fact that it was written from London on 25 January (in festo conuersionis sancti Pauli), but it is clearly the letter of a man in his twilight years. Following a brief enquiry about some (unspecified) business on which Swan was already engaged on his behalf, Usk goes on, ‘there is one other thing, a most secret matter, concerning which my soul has been inwardly labouring: whether I may become a religious while at the same time, together with a profession in some nonmendicant order, retaining my benefices until the end of my life, for the relief of the monastery thus entered, for God.’ And he begs Swan to write back as soon and as discreetly as possible, to let him know.** What he was seeking was, in effect, a retirement home, where, as a corrodian, he could spend his last days while continuing to enjoy his income; and it may be that he was granted his wish, which would explain why he arranged for his pension from

Newton St Loe to be paid at St Augustine’s abbey in Bristol,” *® Gabriel, ‘Wales and the Avignon Papacy’, pp. 83-5. *° “Est unum aliud consilii secretissimi pro quo meus interius laborat spiritus, ut fiam religiosus dum tamen beneficia mea ad uite mee terminum, una cum professione in aliquo non mendicancium ordine, simul potero retinere, ad monasterii ingressi solacium, pro Deo. Iuxta fiduciam quam in uobis gero hic caute et secrete laboretis, de

rei circumstancia cito rescribentes’: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B. 23, fo. 140".

*7 Above, p. xxxiv.

ADAM

USK’S

LIFE

AND

CAREER

XXXVIi

although there is nothing else to indicate that he entered St Augustine’s or resigned his parish of Llangibby before his death. His will, at any rate, was dated at Usk, on 20 January 1430, and he must have died within the next two months, for it was proved on

26 March.” It reveals a man of some wealth, and strong local

attachment. He left cash bequests to the vicar of Usk, to each nun of Usk priory, and to Llandaff cathedral, and ‘trentals’ (sufficient money to pay for thirty masses for his soul) to the Dominican and Franciscan friars of Cardiff and the Austin friars of Newport. A further twenty-one individual legatees are named or specified, all of them Welsh (even “Thomas Went of Castle Combe’, who no doubt came from Went, a few miles south of Usk). They included a brother and sister, and several others may well have been kinsmen

too. The total value of these bequests was something over £30. Apart from the Polychronicon which he left to Edward ap Adam, the only book which he bequeathed (to the church of Usk) was the encyclopaedic Rationale diuinorum officiorum of Guillaume Durand, bishop of Mende, a further indication, perhaps, of that interest in ecclesiastical liturgy and protocol which surfaces on a number of occasions in Usk’s chronicle. He named as his executor his kinsman Edward ap Adam, possibly the same ‘Edward Usk’ who had

been indicted with him in 1400.” His soul he bequeathed to God and the Blessed Virgin, and his body to the parish church of Usk, to be buried before the statue of the Virgin. He was interred in accordance with his wishes, his grave (which was probably in the Lady chapel) being marked by a memorial brass strip containing an epitaph which is now riveted to the north-eastern side of the fifteenth-century choir screen. This is in Welsh, and for long defied all efforts at either transcription or translation, until in 1921 Professor Morris-Jones supplied the following, which subsequent scholars have had no hesitation in accepting:

After fame, to the tomb, from on the bench, The most skilled advocate of London, And judge of the world by gracious privilege, May the heavenly abode be thine, good sir. Lo! a Solomon of wisdom, Adam Usk, is sleeping here, ® Below, p. 272.

Above, p. xxii.

XXXVIIi

INTRODUCTION

Wise doctor of ten commotes,

Behold a place full of learning!’ The emphasis on his erudition would no doubt have pleased Usk (for he was not a man to wear his learning lightly), as would the stress upon his cosmopolitan employments: not just the ‘wise doctor of ten commotes’ (i.e., renowned as a lawyer in his native land), but also ‘the most skilled advocate of London’, and even judge of the world’, the title which, as he himself tells us, Pope Boniface conferred on him when he appointed him an auditor of

causes at the Curia.!”! Basing his analysis on the orthography of the couplets, Professor Morris-Jones concluded that while it is unlikely that Usk composed his own epitaph, he may well have been the one who actually wrote it down before passing it to the

engraver.!°? He was, after all, almost certainly a Welsh-speaker.'° His failure to join the ranks of the episcopate, the great disappointment of Usk’s life, naturally remains unvoiced. ii. THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

The manuscript The librum uocatum Policronica which Usk bequeathed to Edward ap Adam still survives as British Library Add. MS 10,104, and appears to be the unique copy of his chronicle. However, at some point between the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries the final quire of the book became detached, ending up among the manuscripts of the duke of Rutland at Belvoir castle, where it was discovered in 1885 (‘carelessly folded up ... among a number of

neglected documents in a loft’), and where it remains to this day.!™ ' The original consists of four cymydd couplets, as follows (Morris-Jones, ‘Adam Usk’s epitaph’, pp. 124, 127-33): Nole clode yi ethrode yar lleyn aduocade llawnhade Ilundeyn A barnour bede breynt apibe ty nev aro ty hauabe Seliff sunnoeir sinna se adam vske eva | kuske Deke kummode doctor kymmen Ilena loe i llawn o leue. © 101 Below, p. 154. '? “Adam Usk’s epitaph’, pp. 120-1, 127. 103 Below, p. xcii. '* CAU, p. v. I am grateful to the duke for allowing me to transcribe this section of the chronicle, and to his secretary, Mrs Dorothy Staveley, for her kindness during my visit to Belvoir.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

XXXIX

British Library Add. MS 10,104 is here referred to throughout as MS A, the (uncatalogued) Belvoir quire as MS B. That they were originally one, and that they belonged to Adam Usk, there is no doubt. They are of vellum, each folio measuring approximately 37 X 25 cm., with ample margins. MS A has its original wooden covers, encased in a nineteenth-century leather binding; MS B has a modern loose binding. Fos. 1'"-7' of MS A are taken up with an index to the Polychronicon; on fo. 7’ there is a note on the ages of the world, and on fo. 8" a world map. At the foot of fo. g', where the text of the Polychronicon begins, is a crude black and white drawing of a shield containing a naked man digging: Adam, the first creature. This was Usk’s shield of arms, quite possibly drawn by him. The text of the Polychronicon, which occupies fos. g'—154" at (usually) fifty-three lines per side, is that identified by John Taylor as the (AB) version, extending in this instance to 1342, with the standard (C) continuation to 1377, which ends with a

fulsome obituary for Edward III.’ The break between them comes halfway down fo. 149‘, sub anno 1342, with the underlined words usque hucscripsitR (i.e. Ranulf Higden). It is written throughout in a good late fourteenth-century hand, with extensive rubrication to punctuate chapters and sentences, to highlight passages of text, and to underline or enclose marginals; the openings of each of the seven books of the Polychronicon, and the start of Edward IIIs reign, are marked by floriated initials and borders of red and blue

highlighted with gold leaf. There are numerous

marginals,

mostly in the same hand as the text, and frequently underlined or

boxed in red, but occasionally in later hands.’ Most of the marginals either draw attention to noteworthy persons and events in the text or record the passage of the years. A few grotesque faces also adorn the margins. Halfway down fo. 154’, the words explicit

liber septimus et ultimus historie policronice mark the end of the 1343-77 continuation.

The remainder of fo. 154” and most of fo. 155" are taken up with some notes revolving around the name Adam and a copy of a letter addressed to Lewis de St Melans, treasurer of Llandaff cathedral

from 1368 until some time before 1402. The letter to Lewis de 105 John Taylor, The Universal Chronicle of Ranulf Higden (Oxford, 1966), pp. 114-16, 129

106 Fos, 953355 40572, 895 108" 1257, 149".

107 Below, p. xliv.

108 J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, xi. The Welsh Dioceses, ed. B. Jones (London,

1965), Pp. 27.

xl

INTRODUCTION

St Melans, which may have been penned by Usk, begins in the same hand as the notes on the name Adam, but changes in line two to a more cursive hand, probably the same one that was respon-

sible for the first section of Usk’s chronicle.!” It is a lament on the

miserable state of the diocese of Llandaff, said to be caused in part by the excessive subsidies imposed on the clergy, and was probably composed in the spring of 1401. The notes on the name ‘Adam’ are of greater interest. Several of them refer to Adam the first man, as for example the first (Adam de quo sancta refert trinitas: actus est Adam quasi unus ex nobis’: Gen 1—i.e. Genesis, chapter 1), and there are three lines of verse on Adam Orleton, bishop successively of Hereford, Worcester, and Winchester, who died in

1345.!!° There are also two longer passages which allude in tortuous and ungrammatical fashion to events concerning Usk, the first of which translates as follows: Albeit that jealousy of Adam, who was devoid of all misery on account of the virtues of his person, intervenes decisively between him and his origins [i.e. God], nevertheless special grace is found in him, as appears in Genesis |; for, having been expelled from paradise through the envy of the devil, he was restored to heaven through the blood of the son of God. And, albeit that he was deprived of his benefice by the jealousy of a certain knight, hearken to how splendid was his restoration, as was required by the evidence on behalf of Adam. Also, albeit that, through the jealousy of the hunters, he was expelled from the company and council of their leader, hearken to how glorious too was his reparation, as was required by the laws: Adam thereby conforming firstly to the character of April, in which he was created, and which submits to the manifold and perilous blasts of wind and storms, but eventually to that of May, which

brings forth the flowers and other delights of all the summer.!!!

The analogy between the expulsion of Adam from the garden of Eden, but subsequent restoration to heaven, and Usk’s loss of his 10 Designated below, p. xlii, as Hand One. "0 These are transcribed in CAU, p. viii. "I “Ade quamuis, propter sui uirtutes omni carentis miseria, finaliter principiis obstet inuidia, tamen praecipua in eo reperitur gracia, ut patet Genesi .i.; qui, expulsus paradiso per inuidiam diaboli, fuit restitutus celo per sanguinem Dei filii. Et quamuis per inuidiam cuiusdam militis fuit priuatus beneficio, ecce quam solempnis fuit eius restitucio, exacta de testimonio ex parte Ade. Et, quamuis uenatorum inuidia eorum ducis concilio expellebatur et consorcio, ecce quam gloriosa eciam eius reparacio, exacta de iurribus: ueniens Adam iuxta naturam Aprilis, in quo fuit creatus, primo uarias et asperas aurarum et turbinum subeuntis procellas, tamen finaliter Maii ac tocius estatis flores causantis et dilicias.’

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

xli

benefice through ‘the jealousy of a certain knight’, but subsequent restoration to it, may be a reference to his quarrel with Walter Jakes, which, assuming that this was written in the spring of 1401, was still unresolved at the time. The ‘envy of the hunters’ which removed him from the ‘company and council of their leader’ may refer to some temporary embarrassment at court, possibly occasioned by the Jakes case (the ‘hunters’ is probably a reference to Henry IV’s livery of greyhounds, which Usk later describes as having driven out the white harts of Richard II).!!* Whether his reference to Adam being created in April is an indication of his own date of birth or refers to the tradition that Adam the father of mankind was created in the spring is not clear. The second passage translates as follows: Hearken!—abandoning the spade of all misery,'” how glorious, with his manly qualities, becomes Adam! Usk: the prophet Merlin says of this name, “The River Usk shall be boiling hot for seven months; the fish shall die ofits

heat, and serpents shall proliferate’!*—thereby showing approval of serpents, as I take to be correct, according to what the gospel says, ‘Be ye wise as serpents’.!> But of whom does Merlin say these things? I believe it to be of the earl of March, the lord of that place, and the great-grandson of the noble King Edward and grandson of Lord Lionel, duke of Clarence, his son; the aforesaid prophet describes this King Edward as the warlike boar who should sharpen his tusks in the strongholds of France;!”° for, as is well known, he succeeded not only in conquering and laying waste those parts, but also in capturing their king on the battlefield and, through that same sharpness of his tusks, slaying the king of Bohemia.'””

As well as juxtaposing the words ‘Adam’ and ‘Usk’ and thereby revealing the chronicler’s name, this passage is also an early indication of Usk’s interest in prophecy and in the house of March, both 12 Below, p. 52. "13 Presumably a reference to the traditional ‘delving’ of Adam the first creature.

"4 Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 78. 15 Matt. 10: 16. 16 Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 7717 The battles of Poitiers (1356), at which King John of France was captured by the English, and Crecy (1346), at which King John of Bohemia was slain, are referred to. The Latin reads: ‘Ecce, omnis miserie reiciendo uangam, quam gloriosus uirtutibus efficitur Adam! Vsk: de isto cognomine canit uates Merlinus, ‘Fluuius Vsk per septem menses feruebit, cuius calore pisses morientur et serpentes grauabunt’—serpentes in bona parte sumendo, ut intelligo, iuxta illud euangelii, “Estote prudentes sicut ser-

pentes’. Sed de quo ista canit Merlinus? Credo quod (de) comite Marchie, domino loci et graciosi regis Edwardi pronepote, et domini [MS a domino] Lionelly ducis Clarencie, eius filii, nepote; quem regem Edwardum dictus uates uocat [MS uacat] aprum bel-

licosum, qui suos dentes infra tutamina Francie accuere deberet, quod, ut constat, fecit

partes deuincendo (et) depredando, necnon eorum regem in campestri bello captiu-

ando, regemque Boemie eodem dencium accumine perimendo’.

INTRODUCTION

xlii

of which figure significantly in his chronicle. Apart from the fact

that March was the lord of Usk, it is difficult to see the relevance to

his career of the quotation from the Historia Regum Britanmie, but this was in many ways the attraction of political prophecy: for Usk, as for many another medieval chronicler, the task of fitting the prophecy to the act was one that demanded both imagination and skill, and was certainly not to be undertaken lightly. Usk’s chronicle—or, more correctly, his continuation of Higden and Higden’s 1343-77 continuator—begins fifteen lines from the foot of fo. 155" with the words Predicto gracioso Edwardo (thus immediately establishing continuity with the Polychronicon), and continues to the foot of fo. 176” of MS A, where it breaks off in the middle of a sentence, the narrative having reached the year 1404. This sentence is completed at the top of fo. 1" of MS B, and the chronicle then runs on without interruption for nearly eleven sides, ending somewhat abruptly near the foot of fo. 6°, in the middle of the year 1421. It is written in eleven different hands, none of them very neat, but some at least relatively compact. These are as follows:

Hand Hand Hand Hand Hand Hand

One: Two: Three: Four: Five: Six: Hand Seven: Hand Eight:

(MS A) fo. 170°, fo. 171°, fo. 171", fo. 172", fo. 172",

fo. 1557, 1. 31-fo. 170°, 1. 18 1. 19—fo. 171°, 1. 26 ll. 26-35 l. 36—-fo. 172", 1. 16 ll. 16-17 1. 17-fo. 172”, 1. 42

Hand Nine: Hand Ten:

fo. 5’, 1. 8-fo. 6, 1. 6 fos Sl) G=17

Hand Eleven:

fo. 6°, Il. 11-29

fo. 172”, 1. 42-(MS B) fo. 4”, 1. 12 fo. 4°, 1. 12-fo. 5’, 1. 8

The entire text of Usk’s chronicle has a somewhat messy appearance, due partly to the indelicacy of the hands, partly to the profusion of additions, corrections, interlineations, and marginals. The number of lines per side varies considerably, from

thirty-eight (MS A, fo. 159°), to fifty-seven (MS B, fo. 2°). Hand Seven generally succeeds in compressing the greatest number of lines into a side, Hand One the fewest. As in the Polychronicon text, rubrication is used extensively (for capitals, marginals,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

xlili

punctuation, and deletions), especially by the scribe of Hand One;

after fo. 170", it is less frequent. Fo. 6° of MS B is blank, but following fo. 176” of MS A there is a flyleaf (now fo. 177°) on which a few jottings were made. The bind-

ing establishes that this originally came after MS B, for fos. 168-75 of MS A are bound together to form a quire of eight folios or sixteen sides (i.e. fos. 168 and 175 are attached, as are fos. 169 and 174, and so forth), and fos. 1-6 of MS B are similarly bound to form a quire of six folios; however, fos. 176 and 177 are bound in with short responds, and must originally have been attached to one another to form the enclosing folios of MS B, which thus conformed to the usual pattern of eight folios per quire. Fo. 177° was therefore originally the flyleaf to the whole codex. At the top of it are scribbled some notes explaining the succession to the English throne in the eleventh century: the fact that Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, was the mother of both St Edward (the Confessor) and Harthacnut (through her marriages to /Ethelred and Cnut), that Kings Edward and Harthacnut were therefore brothers, and that William the Conqueror was descended from Duke Richard. This is followed by further notes to the effect that William the Conqueror’s wife Matilda, the daughter of Baldwin of Flanders, came to England to be crowned, and that through her their son, Henry I, acquired a hereditary right to the county of Flanders. These notes may be written in Usk’s own hand; they demonstrate an interest in succession questions

which is revealed elsewhere in the chronicle." Following this there are several lines of Latin verse which seem to represent a series of attempts at an epitaph for Usk—“all of them’, in Thompson’s words, ‘vile literary productions’. They translate as follows: O grief unmeasured! Skill, or the virtue of insight, or wealth, will not compensate [for it], so that your case has not been weighed. ‘This stone encloses beneath itself one given the name of our common progenitor [Adam], thereafter named Usk. Justinian, he taught your laws, fulfilling the role of doctor; and your law too, Gratian. I, who instructed [human] character to shun the favours of the world, having attained ecclesiastical rank among the teachers, am here laid for worms, and thus try to show that, just as I am laid here, so too is laid all honour. This man read civil 18 Below, p. xlix.

xliv

INTRODUCTION

rward law as a doctor at Oxford; here he lies in peace, may he live hencefo in peace without end.’

Although these lines are in a different hand, it is not impossible that Usk composed them himself. The emphasis, once again, on his legal attainments—clearly regarded by Usk as the chief memorial to his fame—is self-evident. A little further down the page is written iste liber constat (‘this book belongs to’), following which some words have been carefully cut out. The missing name

was very probably Usk’s.'”°

The marginals to Usk’s chronicle are of three kinds: firstly, in the same hand as the portions of the text which they accompany; secondly, in fifteenth-century hands which appear elsewhere in the MS; and thirdly, by at least one sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century antiquary. The first kind are in effect headings, and are included as such in this edition. The second kind mainly comprise additions to or brief comments on noteworthy persons or events in the text, added either by Usk himself or by scribes copying later sections of the text. On fo. 156°, for example, where Usk indulges in one of his characteristic strictures against taxation, the words nota taxacionem cleri et populi are added in the margin; on fo. 162", where Richard II’s capture is described, we have nota fortunam et eius rotam; and on fo. 165%, the account of Richard’s death is embellished with a lengthy note in the top margin (in Hand Seven) recounting the ill omens which befell him at his coronation. The third kind do not appear until fo. 165’, and only become common from fo. 172” onwards; these marginals are all in Latin apart from two: ‘the devill’, on fo. 176", and ‘the popes comunion on Ester day’, on fo. 1" of MS B. Some of them at least may be the work of Francis Thynne (d. 1608), and the others, if not

by him, are of the same period.!”! At any rate, they demonstrate that MSS A and B were still together around the year 1600. How, "9 “© dolor immensus! Satis ars, uel gloria sensus, |Non rediment census, quin casus

sit tibi pensus. |Sortitum nostri prothoplausti nomen, ab inde |Vsk dictum, sub se continet iste lapis. |Iustiniane, tuas leges docuit, uice fungens |Doctoris, necnon ius,

Graciane, tuum. |Qui docui mores mundi uitare fauores, |Inter doctores sacros sortitus

honores, |Vermibus hic ponor, et sic ostendere conor | Quod, sicut hic ponor, sic ponitur omnis honor. |Legit hic Oxonie doctor ciuilia iura, |Hic iacet in requie, uiuat sine fine futura.’ Cf. CAU, p. x. Tt is not, I think, too fanciful to suggest that the ascenders and descenders of the

‘A’ of ‘Adam’ and the ‘s’ of ‘Vsk’ can still be discerned above and below the cut. ' J am grateful to Dr Ian Doyle for this suggestion. Thynne, if it is he, also annotated Higden’s text (e.g. fo. 52"). All marginals are noted in the apparatus criticus.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

xlv

why, and when they became detached, and how MS B arrived at Belvoir, are mysteries, but it occurred before 1836, when the

British Museum (now the British Library) acquired MS A at the sale of the library of Richard Heber. For forty years after its acquisition by the British Museum, Usk’s chronicle remained unnoticed and unknown, until in 1876 Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, having identified Adam’s authorship, published an edition (with translation) of that part of the

chronicle to be found in MS A, under the title Chronicon Adae de

Usk, A. D. 1377-1404.' As Thompson later remarked, ‘it would then have appeared rash to entertain a hope that the missing portion would ever be recovered.’ ‘But in the world of letters’, he went on, ‘as in other departments of human affairs, the unexpected happens with a surprising persistency.’ Thus when, in 1885, Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, discovered the final quire while cataloguing the duke of Rutland’s papers at Belvoir castle, it was soon identified as the ‘missing portion’, and in 1904 Thompson produced a second edition (again with translation), this time including the full text to 1421 as well as

a much-expanded introduction.’ This naturally became the standard edition, copies of the 1876 edition being now virtually unobtainable. Since 1904, therefore, Usk’s chronicle has been widely known and used, especially for what it has to say on the last years of Richard II’s reign and the revolt of Owen Glendower. Thompson was an excellent palaeographer and Latinist, and it is a pleasure as well as a claim of conscience to acknowledge my debt to his edition. The text of Usk’s chronicle is not easy to read, nor are his constructions always easy to follow: Thompson himself commented on his ‘involved sentences and execrable style’ (although Kingsford singled out his chronicle from others of the early fifteenth century as having some ‘literary merit’).!"* Without Thompson’s initial transcription and translation to follow, my own task would have been immeasurably more difficult. There are nevertheless signs of haste in his transcription, especially towards the end. On the question of the dating of Usk’s chronicle, moreover, Thompson went seriously awry. 122 Published by the Royal Society of Literature (London, 1876). 123 Chronicon Adae de Usk, A. D. 1377-1421 (Royal Society of Literature, London, 1904), referred to here as CAU.

124 Chronicon Adae de Usk 1377-1404, p. x; C. L. Kingsford, English Historical Literature in the Fifteenth Century (Oxford, 1913), p. 43-

xlvi

INTRODUCTION

Dating and structure Thompson believed that Usk did not begin writing his chronicle before 1414, that he finished writing it in 1421, and that it was

copied into the back of his Polychronicon around 1440- 50.7" There

is much evidence, both internal (palaeography, chronology, tempo and anticipatory digression) and external (the relationship of the chronicle to Usk’s life), to suggest that while he was correct on the

second count, on the first and third he was wrong.'”°

The first evidence to be considered is palaeographical. As has been seen, the manuscript is written predominantly by just two scribes (Hands One and Seven), with a series of auxiliary scribes employed on short passages in the middle and at the end of the chronicle. In other words, the chronicle divides palaeographically into four sections, as follows: Section

Hand(s)

One (A fos. 155"-170") One Two (A fos. 170°—-172") Two to Six Three (A fo. 172°-B fo. 4°) |Seven Four (B fos. 4’-6") Eight to Eleven

Narrative

June April Feb. April

1377—March 1401 1401- Feb. 1402 1402-Feb. 1414 1414—June 1421

The repeated changes of hand in sections two and four are sufficient in themselves to suggest contemporary composition, while the fact that sections one and three are each written in a single hand suggests that they were each written at one go. In addition, sections one and three both contain a good deal of anticipation as well as disordered chronology, whereas sections two and four are more annalistic in tempo, more factually accurate, and are almost entirely free of anticipatory digression. Section one, covering the period from the accession of Richard II to the end of Henry IV’s second parliament in March 1401, was written in the spring of 1401. It clearly was not started before then,

because of the reference to that parliament on fo. 156". Thus, from the start, it anticipates events; Usk made no attempt to create an illusion of contemporary composition. On the other hand, no event after March 1401 is anticipated, and it contains nothing that could

125) GAU, p: Vil. 2° For what follows, see C. Given-Wilson, ‘The dating and structure of the chronicle of Adam Usk’, Welsh History Review, (1995), pp. 520-33.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

xl vii

not have been written before April r4or.!”” It concludes with the

ending of the parliament on to March 1401 and the chronicler’s apprehension at the anti-Welsh sentiments expressed there,

followed by the words, ‘Here follows the year of the Lord rgor’.!8

This is not only a quite genuine but also a strictly contemporary expression of Usk’s concern. He had brought his chronicle up to date at the end of the (old-style) year 1400, and now looked—with some trepidation—to the future. Section two, which covers the period from April 1401 until February 1402, and which is written in five different hands, is quite different in tempo from most of section one, although it should be noted that the latter part of section one, dealing with the period from July 1399 to March 1401, is much more chronologically and circumstantially precise than the earlier part, suggesting that Usk began to keep a journal in the summer of 1399, which, in 1401, formed the basis of his account of the previous two years. Section two is chronologically very tight: one can almost count the months passing. It is full of the kind of circumstantial detail which with hindsight often appears irrelevant, but it contains nothing that

could not have been written before February 1402.'” It has a staccato feel to it, like a diary—and like a diary it records the author’s hopes and fears as well as the events which he found noteworthy. The brief prayer with which it concludes, in which Usk declares his intention to travel to Rome and begs God’s intercession to afford him a safe and prosperous journey, is quite genuine. It was written into MS A at precisely this moment, on the eve of his departure. When Usk left England in February 1402, he left his Polychronicon behind, and cannot have laid hands on it again for at least nine years. Nothing further was written into it for twelve years. Section three, covering the period from February 1402 to February 1414, was again written all at one go, in one hand, in the spring of 1414. It ends with Thomas Arundel’s death on 19 February 1414-twelve years to the day after Usk’s departure for Rome, a coincidence 127 The comment on fo. 166v that from the autumn of 1400 Glendower ‘tantum rupi-

bus et cauernis per annum quasi delituit’ is a later insertion, written over an erasure, in

a different hand. 128 Fo, 170", and below, p. 126. These words may have been inserted later (in 1401-2), but they undoubtedly express Usk’s intention at this point to adopt an annalistic approach. 129 It is important to note that the misdating of Reynald Grey’s capture by Glendower (which actually occurred in April 1402) is a later interlineation: fo. 170°, and below, p. 134.

xlvili

INTRODUCTION

which surely did not escape him—but says nothing about Chichele’s appointment to replace him, which occurred on 27 April 1414. It talks of Sir Roger Acton, one of the leaders of the Lollard rising, ‘whose body has now been hanging from the gibbet for a month’.'*° In character, section three is much like section one. From the start, events are anticipated: describing the battle of Bryn Glas in June 1402, for example, Usk noted that Edmund Mortimer’s wife and two of his daughters were now dead. They did not die until late 1413.'*! As in section one, the chronology is frequently confused, and there is a strong element both of thematic unity and of concentration on major events—those which, with hindsight, did not appear irrelevant. Yet it seems that during his years abroad Usk always intended to continue his chronicle, for he copied documents such as the papal bull confirming Rupert of Bavaria as emperor and the ‘Passion of the French according to the Flemings’, and his description of the papal ceremonies during Easter week must be based on notes made at the time. By April 1414, then, Usk had once more brought his chronicle up to date. Section four covers—although that is not really the word—the period from April 1414 to the early summer of 1421. It was written on and off, with growing indifference, between the winter of 1415-

16 and the early summer of 1421 (at the very end, Henry V is said to

be preparing to return to France, which he did on 10 June 1421). In tempo and character it is halfway between sections two and three—written up, not every couple of months like section two, but every couple of years, maintaining a clear chronology and intro-

ducing a certain amount of circumstantial detail, but generally concentrating on major events. The first part of section four (in Hand Eight), which begins with Chichele’s appointment to Canterbury and goes on to describe Harfleur, Agincourt, and the victory celebrations in London, was probably written in the winter of 1415-16, while the second part (in Hand Nine), which narrates the events of 1416-17, must have been written some time in 1418. By this time, however, the entries were becoming ever sparser, the years 1417-21 occupying less than one folio. At the very end (Hands Ten and Eleven), the same information concerning Henry V’s return to France in 1419 is repeated twice, and the handwriting degenerates into what Thompson aptly described as a ‘slovenly 30 Below, p. 246.

'5! Below, p. 160.

‘3 Below, p. 270.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

xlix

scrawl’.'°} The chronicle closes, characteristically, with a plea to the king to moderate his demands for taxation, which Usk feared would lead him to ruin. If Usk’s own hand is to be found anywhere in the manuscript, it is probably Hand Five. This is the hand which wrote just one and a half lines of text (Il. 16-17 of fo. 172"). The words written here form an afterthought to the preceding passage, which stated that the men of Cardigan were permitted to continue using the Welsh language despite Henry IV’s decision to suppress it—the clause in Hand Five adding, ‘for God the omnipotent, the king of kings and infallible judge of all things, had revoked this decree in response to the prayers and complaints of the afflicted’. This is a heartfelt sentiment, on a matter of deep personal concern to Usk, written

apparently after one scribe had laid down his pen and before another had taken his up. Hand Five also annotated other sections of both the Polychronicon and Usk’s continuation: two quite substantial marginals on fo. 142", concerning John’s succession to the throne in 1199 and his murder of Arthur of Brittany, are in this hand, as are four lines of verse on Richard II’s fall in the top margin of fo. 165" and two marginals about the wheel of fortune on fos. 162" and 162. As already noted, the remarks on fo. 177' relating to the English succession in the eleventh century are also in Hand Five. Taken together, these not only demonstrate an interest in the succession entirely compatible with Usk’s remarks about the Mortimers, but also raise the question of who was most likely to make jottings on the flyleaf of a manuscript during its owner’s lifetime—the most plausible answer being, its owner. There is no certainty that Hand Five is Usk’s hand, but it is at least a possibility. Thompson thought that Usk’s chronicle was not copied into his Polychronicon until some twenty years after his death. However, both Dr Ian Doyle and Dr Malcolm Parkes are of the opinion that all the hands employed in the chronicle are of the first quarter of the fifteenth century (rather than Thompson’s preferred 1440-50), which of course fits well with my own suggestions for the date of the composition of the chronicle.'** In fact, Usk’s chronicle was both composed and written into the present manuscript

13. CAU, p. vii.

134 | am most grateful to Dr Doyle for examining my photocopy of the manuscript, and for consulting Dr Parkes about it.

]

INTRODUCTION

progressively during his lifetime, either at his dictation or (more probably) from his rough drafts. It is his own working copy. This tells us something about his motivation, technique and intentions as a chronicler. Inspired by the great events he was witnessing, and by his own growing importance, he began to keep a journal during the summer of 1399,'°° and in March-April 1401 commenced writing. As a preamble to his chronicle, he briefly recorded what he could remember of the chief events of Richard II’s reign, largely it seems in order to provide an explanation for Henry IV’s accession. For Henry’s reign, his plan was to compile a full-scale contemporary annal, and this is just what he provides for the years 1399 to 1401. His departure for Rome in February 1402 made short work of this scheme, however, and on his return he was reduced to something much more cursory. In 1416-17 he seems again to have thought of compiling a more ambitious account of Henry V’s reign, but he was no longer at the centre of events as he had been in 13991401, and he soon wearied of his task, eventually abandoning it in 1421. He clearly did not plan any major revision of his work—it would be difficult otherwise to explain why he had it written straight into his Polychronicon—and it remains to this day (barring a few additions and corrections) essentially as copied down by his team of amanuenses. The special interest of the years 1399—- 1401 in the chronicle is that they afford us a glimpse of the kind of work that Usk hoped to write—a detailed annal, by someone very much in the thick of things, including both significant documents and much incidental information unrecorded in other contemporary

chronicles—and thus of what we have lost as a result of -his decision to leave for Rome; which suggests that this decision was for us, as it proved to be for him, a misfortune. Content

Usk was not a scissors-and-paste chronicler. For the most part, he composed what he wrote himself, rather than copying or reworking other sources and embedding them in his narrative. The sole substantial exception to this is his use of a tract on the parliament of September 1397, which he modified somewhat and

incorporated into his text as if penned by himself.!3* Generally,

'5 Possibly because he had been authorized, as a member of the deposition committee, to do so: below, p. lxxxiv n. 285. 136 Below, pp. 20-36.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

li

however, when he reproduces a document, he acknowledges and introduces it as such. His careful citation of sources, especially legal texts such as the Digest, the Codex, and the various canon law compilations, reveals his legal and university background. His subject-matter is largely that of most medieval chroniclers— politics, warfare, the church—but

he also had a taste for the

bizarre, even the profane, and rarely missed an opportunity to retail a good anecdote. He had a deeply inculcated belief in the potency of both God and fortune, to say nothing of prophecy, omens, and the saints. Compared to many medieval chroniclers he does not moralize excessively, though he was much given to lamenting the state of the world. His chronicle also has a much greater autobiographical element than those of most of his contemporaries, and his breast-beating about the world should to some extent be seen as an expression of what he considered to be his own ill-treatment—the life as (up to a point) a metaphor for the times. The chronicle begins with the coronation of Richard II and moves rapidly through the main events of his early reign: the 1381 revolt, the rise of Lollardy, the crisis of 1386-88. Writing with hindsight, in the knowledge of Richard’s fall, Usk is highly critical of the king and his counsellors. Certain themes, prominent throughout the chronicle, are present from the start: the intertwining of Usk’s personal experiences with the great events of the time (for example, his presence in Oxford when the Appellant army passed through the city); his intense dislike of taxation; the threat posed to the church by both heresy and the secular authorities; and an ingrained mistrust both of youth and of those who populated the royal court. All this is highly selective and frequently confused—Joan of Kent, for example, who died in 1385, is given a

role in the crisis of 1386-—88—and Usk acknowledges as much when he declares, ‘Be tolerant, reader, of the sequence of years in which I have narrated events up to this point, for I have simply set down from memory what I saw and what I heard, with more thought for the truth of what happened than for the order in which it hap-

pened’.!37 Such a remark is, nevertheless, indicative of what he

thought a chronicle ought to be—that is, chronologically accurate. He then moves on almost immediately to his well-known and much-quoted account of the parliament of 1397, “each day of 137 Below, p. 18.

lii

INTRODUCTION

which’, he claims, ‘was attended by the compiler of this present work’.!38 Although his claim need not be doubted, he chose to use as the basis of his account of the parliament a tract which was probably written in 1398 by a clerk of the royal chancery, and which evidently enjoyed a fair measure of circulation, for it was also used by the monk of Evesham. Yet Usk was not content simply to reproduce the tract as he found it: he added certain points of detail (for example, the king’s request to the commons to present their speaker ‘at eight o’clock’ the next day),!*° and interjected facts and comments designed to show the king in a less favourable light. The Evesham chronicler did this too. The Evesham version is also longer than Usk’s, including both a good deal of bureaucratic verbiage—which Usk evidently regarded as superfluous—and a continuation of the tract covering the second session of the parlia-

ment, held at Shrewsbury in January 1398.'*° Usk’s account of the Shrewsbury session may include snatches of derivative material (the account of Lord Cobham’s trial, for instance), but is essen-

tially his own, and soon metamorphoses into a panegyric on the earl of March and his ancestors, complete with genealogy emphasizing the earl’s royal descent on all sides and ascending to ‘Adam the first creature’. This is a collage, in which Usk has wrapped (unacknowledged) extracts from the Wigmore chronicle around a genealogy which, although expressed in his own words, is ultimately derived from well-known Welsh sources such as the Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan.

The chief events of 1398 and early 1399-the Hereford-Norfolk dispute and the death of John of Gaunt—are described chiefly with an eye to what followed (God, fortune and prophecy-fulfilment assume a new prominence at this point), whereupon the narrative moves quickly on to the revolution of 1399. At this point the chronicle becomes much fuller, Usk’s personal role in the proceedings (which he is at no pains to understate) making this one of the most valuable portions of his work. He describes Henry’s campaign in detail and not without equivocation. Nor are the deliberations of the deposition committee recounted with total clarity (for reasons already suggested),'*! but, as the memorandum of a member of this

momentous body, his account is at least the equal in value of any 38 Below, p. 20.

; 139 Below TpsZo: Sa Ge Given-Wilson, Adam Usk, the monk of Evesham, and the parliament of 1 397-

8, HR Ixvi (1993), 329-35.

41 Above, p. xviii.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

liii

other, while the celebrated tale of his interview with King Richard in the Tower on 21 September adds a uniquely personal touch to the story. Yet, despite his sympathy with the fallen king’s plight, there is no doubt that Usk saw him as deserving of his fate, and the narrative of the events of 1399 is spiced with digressions on Richard’s favouritism, rapacity, and unsound judgement. His account of Richard’s reign closes with a formal depiction of the deposition proceedings in Westminster great hall which, unlike . those of most of his contemporaries, owes little or nothing to the various versions of these events prepared by the new king and his

supporters.!” Immediate evidence of Usk’s intention to compile a full-scale contemporary narrative of Henry IV’s reign is provided by his detailed account of the coronation, in which he himself played a part, drawing up the petition of the king’s champion, Sir Thomas Dymoke. It also reveals his fondness for protocol and his desire to explain the symbolism of ceremony.!*’ Otherwise, his account of the first year of Henry’s reign oscillates between relatively straightforward reportage of major events (parliament, the January 1400 rising, riots in London, military hostilities against the Scots); retrospective commentary on King Richard—inspired by news of his death—and events which occurred at the time of the revolution (the humiliation of Roger Walden, the story of the king’s desertion by his favourite greyhound); and personal reminiscences, which include prodigies which Usk witnessed, a sermon he heard, favours which he obtained both for himself and for others, a speech he made in convocation, his eye-witness account from the deathbed ofJohn of Usk, abbot of Chertsey, and details of his legal work both for private clients and for the crown. All this must be based on a contemporary journal. It is on the whole chronologically accurate, but lacks any kind of thematic ordering: the account of the parliament of October-November 1399, for example, is in two halves, divided by digressions about a prodigy (five eggs which

resembled human faces) and the indignities inflicted on Walden.'* The outbreak of Owen Glendower’s revolt in September 1400 is

recorded in relatively low-key fashion, with no hint of the trouble it

was later to cause the chronicler. From the autumn of 1400 142 G_ O. Sayles, ‘The deposition of Richard II: three Lancastrian narratives’, BIHR ois liv (1981), 257- 70.

43, Below, pp. 70-4-

Below, pp. 76-84.

liv

INTRODUCTION

onwards there is more interest in European events (the election of

Rupert of Bavaria as emperor, laments on the schism and the decline of the Greek empire), but otherwise the chronicle runs on in much the same veins. However, his account of the parliament of January—March 1401, with which this section of the chronicle closes, reveals Usk’s growing concern with the Anglo-Welsh situation; his account of this parliament as a whole is more cursory, tending to concentrate on matters which affected him personally, such as papal provision for university graduates and the antiWelsh legislation, rumours of which disturbed his sleep, “as a result of which I awoke with a sense of foreboding that some disaster might occur that day, and in my fear I committed myself to

the special protection of the Holy Spirit’.!*° The opening words of the next section, ‘Here follows the year of the Lord 1401’, are indicative of Usk’s intention to continue his chronicle in annalistic style, and what follows bears this out. His coverage of the remainder of the (new-style) year 1401 resembles a journal, and what is noticeable is that increasingly it reads like a semi-private journal—which is to say that, although public events are still recorded, they tend to be those which had some special interest for Usk. In particular, there is a heightened interest in events in Wales, centring on, but not solely restricted to, the Glendower rebellion. Examples of lawlessness elsewhere culminate

with the reproduction of what Usk terms the ‘timely letter’ which Philip Repingdon (although he is not named as the author) sent to King Henry warning him that ‘law and justice are exiles from the kingdom . ., the will of the tyrant now suffices’.!** Otherwise, the fare consists principally of events with which the chronicler had some personal involvement (the return of Isabella, episcopal promotions, legal cases for which he was retained), interspersed with the odd note on matters such as the alleged ‘destruction of Jerusalem’ and the defection to the English cause of George, earl of Dunbar. The journalistic style and lack of thematic unity are apparent throughout: the return of Isabella, for example, is described in two stages (her departure from London, and her

arrival at Calais), bisected by Repingdon’s letter and several other entries, even though only a month separated the two events. The

section closes with the much-quoted letters sent by Owen Glen-

dower to the king of Scotland and the lords of Ireland (which are 5 Below, p. 126.

“6 Below, pp. 136-8.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

lv

unique to this chronicle), and Usk’s short prayer for a safe passage on the eve of his departure for Rome. By this point we are nearly two-thirds of the way through the chronicle; the events of September 1397 to February 1402 alone take up just over half of the entire text. Section three, having begun with a colourful account of Usk’s journey to Rome—via the St Gotthard pass, ‘where I was carried in an ox-cart, almost frozen to death from the snow, and blindfolded to stop me seeing the perils of the journey’*’—soon settles into a pattern of oscillation between events in Italy and events in Britain—which, to begin with, usually means Wales. His knowledge of English affairs between 1402 and 1411 is more or less epitomized by his remark that ‘meanwhile in

England several parliaments were held’!** (although he does preserve some interesting details about the battle of Shrewsbury), he was better informed about, and much more interested in, Welsh revolt, for which he remains, despite his distance, important source. Nor is he a negligible source for events

but the an in

Rome,!”? for although his account of Roman affairs reads in parts like a guide-book to the city (and may even be based on one), he also gives what are evidently eye-witness accounts of the interview with the envoys of Benedict XIII which precipitated Boniface IX’s death, the disorder which followed it, the carnival on Monte Testaccio, and Innocent VII’s flight from the city in August 1405

and triumphal return the following March.’*° A third theme running through Usk’s account of these years is, of course, the tale of his own woes: not just his failure to secure promotion (although this is a major preoccupation), but also his poisoning at Viterbo,

his bankruptcy, and his increasing sense of rejection."’ Between 1406 and 1413 Usk’s work barely merits the term ‘chronicle’. Following his departure from Rome, it comes increasingly to resemble a scrapbook of personal reminiscences, pleasing anecdotes and autobiographical jottings. Major political events are still occasionally recorded—the fortunes of Glendower and his followers, the deaths of Northumberland and Bardolf, the assassination of Louis of Orleans, even the battle of Tannenberg— but the fabric into which they are woven is that of the chronicler’s 48 Below, p. 176. 147 Below, p. 152. 149 See e.g. the remarks of U. Balzani, ‘La storia di Roma nella cronica di Adamo da

Usk’, Archivio della societa romana di storia patria, iii (1880), 473— 88.

150 Below, pp. 178, 194-6, 204-6.

151 Below, pp. 204, 210-2.

lvi

INTRODUCTION

personal adventures, and there is no attempt to depict a consecutive record of public events. Nothing whatsoever is said of English affairs during the five years between the battle of Bramham Moor and the death of Henry IV. Of Usk’s own experiences during this time—his intrigues in France, his return to Wales and the lost years at Welshpool, and his eventual pardon and return to England—enough has already been said. His taste for the unusual also led him to note curiosities and doggerel which he heard on his travels, and to copy out longer documents such as the mock-chronicle on the battle of Courtrai which he found in a monastery at Bruges and a poem on the signs of judgement which he may also

have discovered there.!°” As he approached the time at which he was writing (the spring of 1414), however, Usk rediscovered some of his earlier zest for political reportage. It was probably the deaths of Thomas Arundel and Henry IV that persuaded him to rekindle his narrative—the former because he wished to provide Arundel with a fitting obituary, the latter because it led to the accession of Henry V, whom he admired, and whose reign he perhaps hoped to chronicle much as he had once hoped to chronicle that of his father. Not that Usk ever planned such a detailed work as he had in 1401-2. After a brief, and none-too-flattering, obituary for Henry IV, the only events from the first year of Henry V’s reign to which he devotes any space are the coronation,'*? the Oldcastle rising of January 1414, and Arundel’s death in the following month. Interspersed with these are brief comments on the king’s financial avidity and an embassy from France, and the usual quota of prodigies (two Welsh children aged nine and seven who conceived a child) and anecdotes (two jackdaws who stole Bishop Burghill’s secret treasure-hoard). Coverage of the period 1414-17 continues at much the same tempo: episcopal promotions, meetings of parliament and convocation, and foreign embassies are summarized,

and the occasional outstanding event from abroad such as the deposition of Pope John XXIII is recorded, but the focus of these years is very much on the French war, of which—at this stage, at any rate—Usk clearly approved. The capture of Harfleur and the 'S2 Below, pp. 218-36. '®S It is worth noting that the often-told story of Henry IV dropping a coin actually

refers to Henry V’s, not Henry IV’s, coronation; Thompson misplaced the marginal,

thinking it formed part of Usk’s obituary for Henry IV: below, p. 242.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

lvii

victory at Agincourt are related in exultant terms, as are the festivities which greeted Henry V on his return to London. Otherwise, the only events which merit more than a mention are the deaths of Owen Glendower and John Oldcastle and the ending of the schism. There is a certain flatness, almost propriety, about this last section of the chronicle. Usk himself virtually disappears from its pages, as do the anecdotes, the prodigies, even the documents. The sparkle had gone, the passion was spent. Right at the end, though, he experienced a change of heart about the war: ‘I fear’, he declared, ‘that both the great men and the money of the kingdom will be miserably wasted on this enterprise’,!* and he prayed that King Henry would not meet the same fate as other great leaders who had driven their people too far—following which, he laid down his pen. He may well have felt that he had seen it all before. Despite the fact that Usk was not a scissors-and-paste chronicler, it is nevertheless worth noting those occasions on which he does either reproduce or make use of written sources. Excluding fragmentary citations such as proverbs, prophecies, poems and other brief quotations (references for which, where identified, are provided with the text), these may be divided into two types: documents which are acknowledged and reproduced in toto, and—more difficult to identify—unacknowledged sources upon which passages of the text appear to be based. The following are of the first kind. Several of them, as will be seen, relate to matters in which Usk was personally involved, and their inclusion is essentially a form of self-advertisement. Apart from, perhaps, the papal bull confirming Rupert of Bavaria as emperor, there is nothing to indicate that sense of custodianship of public documents which is commonly found in monastic chronicles. (a) The petition of Sir Thomas Dymoke, the king’s champion, in October 1399, composed by Usk in French, and translated by

him into Latin for his chronicle.'*> A copy in the original French

survives in BL, Cotton Vespasian C. xiv, fo. 137’. (b) The writ and questions concerning the return of Queen Isabella, sent to Usk from the royal chancery on 12 September 1400; apparently drafted by John Prophet, clerk of the privy seal.!° 154 Below, p. 270.

155 Below, pp. 72-4.

456 Below, pp. 102-14.

lvili

INTRODUCTION

(c) The letter sent to Henry IV in the summer of 1401 warning him of the collapse of law and order in England. Two other copies survive. Usk does not name the author, but another copy identifies

him as Philip Repingdon, abbot of Leicester.'*’

(d) The letters from Owen Glendower to the king of Scotland (in French) and the lords of Ireland. The latter is dated 29 November

the same date.'** (1401), and the former is probably of

(e) The bull of Boniface IX confirming Rupert of Bavaria as king of the Romans and emperor-elect, dated 1 October 1403; derived

from the papal chancery. Several other copies exist.'” (f) The letter which Usk wrote to Henry IV from Rome, begging

his mercy and requesting promotion, 12 September 1404.” (g) The petition which the chronicler submitted to Innocent VII on behalf of the priory of Usk, presumably in early 1405 (it was

granted on 29 March 1405).!°! (h) The ‘Passion of the French according to the Flemings’, a biblical parody on the battle of Courtrai in 1302; presumably composed in the early fourteenth century, and discovered by Usk in the

chronicles of the monastery of Eeckhout in Bruges.'® No other copy is known to exist. (i) Notes and a lengthy poem on the ‘Signs of Judgement’—i.e. the upheavals which would precede the end of the world—which

Usk may also have found at Eeckhout. Numerous versions of this circulated in both prose and verse in the middle ages, although Usk’s version contains some additional stanzas the provenance of

which is uncertain.!* The following passages in Usk’s chronicle are or possibly derived from unacknowledged written (a) The account of the parliament of September tract which was probably written in 1398 by a which in turn was probably an abbreviation ofthe

the Rotuli Parliamentorum.' (b) The account of Lord Cobham’s

either definitely sources: 1397, based ona chancery clerk, official record in

trial in the Shrewsbury

session of the same parliament may be taken from another, unidentified, source—though not from the same tract as (a), the continuation of which was used by the monk of Evesham for the

Shrewsbury session.!® 57 Below, pp. 136-42. 160 Below, pp. 176-8. 163 Below, pp. 226-36.

‘8 Below, pp. 148-52. '! Below, p. 192. 't Below, pp. 20-36.

89 Below, pp. 162-8. ‘2 Below, pp. 218-24. ‘65 Below, p. 38.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

lix

(c) The accounts of the deaths of Edmund and Roger, earls of March, and the epitaphs for Earl Edmund and Countess Philippa, are taken from the Wigmore Chronicle; the compilation of the genealogy of the earls of March involved a process of selection based on a number of ancient and not-so-ancient Welsh

sources.!°6

(d) The account of the ‘Epiphany rising’ of January 1400 may be loosely based on a letter describing these events which, as Usk notes, King Henry sent to Archbishop Arundel, who had it

published in London.!°

(e) The description of the pageant in London following Agincourt is probably based on some written account, perhaps even the ‘official programme’ upon which the much more detailed account in the Gesta Henrici Quinti apparently drew. If this was the case, however, Usk greatly abridged his source. Moreover, as with the 1397 parliament, this should not rule out the possibility that he witnessed the pageant himself, for he adds details not found in the Gesta, such as the fact that the conduits in Cheapside ran with

wine.'® No doubt there are other passages in the chronicle which in some sense derived from written sources—his descriptions of papal liturgy and popular worship in Rome, for example, or his summaries of parliamentary proceedings—but in such cases his practice seems generally to have been to paraphrase rather than to copy.!® Very rarely does he use those expressions beloved of so

many a medieval chronicler such as ‘ut dicitur’ and ‘ut fertur’,'”° and for much of the narrative his principal source was simply his own eyes, ears, and memory. For the first two sections of the chronicle, this is manifestly the case, as demonstrated by his frequent use of such phrases as ‘I saw’, ‘I heard’, ‘I also witnessed’, ‘in my presence’, and so forth. The narrative covering his years abroad is less explicit about sources. What he says of events in Rome is clearly based on personal experience, but what of events in Britain, especially Wales? ‘I heard about these things in Rome’, 166 Below, pp. 40-6. 167 Below, pp. 86-8. (Oxford, 168 Below, pp. 258-62; Cf. Gesta Henrici Quinti, ed. F. Taylor andJ.S. Roskell ) ;

1975), PP- XXxvii, 102-12.

mstantial of Redeswire, for example, preserves circu

account of the battle 18 His ; which may be taken from a newsletter: below, p. 100. detail 170 But see below, p. 60, for an example of ‘ut dicebatur’, when reporting a rumour which was almost certainly untrue.

iy

INTRODUCTION

he says of the capture of Edmund Mortimer in 1402. This would not have been difficult, since both visitors and letters passed with frequency between Britain and Rome, but one wonders also how much of his knowledge of the Welsh revolt was acquired during the time he spent with Glendower’s supporters and at Welshpool in 1409-11. There are also one or two events in England, such as his account of the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, and of Scrope’s rebellion in 1405, when he preserves details otherwise unknown. In both these cases—bearing in mind their tone—the likelihood is that he derived his information personally from the earl of Northumberland or one of his sympathizers (Trevaur, perhaps) at the time of the earl’s flight to France. For incidental information, he relied on personal acquaintance: ‘I heard from one of my coauditors in the rota’; ‘I was told by a certain chaplain from the

diocese of Bangor’; ‘some Germans told me’; and so forth.'”! Following his pardon in 1411 he once again spent a fair amount of his time in London, and even in the relatively detailed passage covering the Southampton plot and the Agincourt campaign he was probably reporting no more than common knowledge (although the use of a newsletter is again a possibility here). The extent to which Usk relied on personal experience, and the autobiographical nature of so much of his reminiscence, combine to create one of the most personal and idiosyncratic of medieval chronicles, memorable not least for the ease with which the author slips in and out of his narrative. iii, ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY

Prejudices and perceptions In terms of high politics, therefore, the chief contribution of Usk’s chronicle lies in its accounts of the downfall of Richard II, of the revolt in Wales, and of the disturbances in Rome in 1404-6, although so brief a list does no justice to its confection of vignettes, sidelights, and circumstantial detail. It is also imbued with its author’s cast of mind, the product of his education, cultural and temporal contexts, tastes, prejudices, and powers of perception. Many of these emerge readily from a reading of the chronicle, and

need only be mentioned briefly here. The frequent and unflattering "! Below, pp. 172, 210, 218.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

lxi

references to youth mark it out as the chronicle of a middle-aged man (Usk was probably about fifty when he began writing it). It was also clearly the work of a man who thought of himself as gentle, if not noble-born: Usk had nothing but contempt for the quasi-egalitarian ideals of the 1381 rebels and, although he was not sorry to see the rebellious earls lynched by ‘common folk and workmen’ in January 1400, he feared their violence as ‘contrary to the natural order’.'” Still worse were heretics: among the many evils of Richard II’s reign, Lollardy was ‘the greatest of them all’. Usk had no illusions about the threat posed by the Lollards, believing that their aim was ‘to destroy (the king) and all the prelates and the churches’.!”? Among his other bugbears were taxation, courtiers, the power of money, and the Roman people,

who appeared to him as bestial, arrogant, drunken, and licentious. The Lombards he described as ‘viperish’ and given to eating the corpses of their enemies, the French as scornful and duplicitous.!” He considered Mohammed ‘a scourge’ and thought Tunis to be the ‘chief city of the barbarians’,'” but evidently enjoyed meeting the two monks from India who visited Rome in 1404-5, and

appears to commend the clemency of the ‘sultan of Babylon’.!”° There are also many flashes of respect for the Greeks, enhanced no doubt by the knowledge (conveyed to him by Greek ambassadors to Rome) that ‘the entire nobility of Greece is descended from... Constantine, his three uncles, Trahern, Loelinus, and Marius, and the other thirty thousand Britons whom he took with him when he went there from Britain’. This information prompted a comparison: ‘they told me too that their empire is on the brink of being overrun by Tartars and Turks, just as their homeland, the kingdom of Britain, was,

as everyone

knows,

once

laid waste

by the

Saxons’—a remark surely intended to echo Glendower’s vitriol towards ‘the Saxons, our mortal enemies’.'”” There are a number of occasions when Usk’s Welshness comes through strongly— most notably in his fearful reaction to Henry IV’s threatened '2 Below, pp. 2-4, 90. 173 Below, pp. 6, 246. Usk had some personal experience of heresy, having been one of the two doctors of laws commissioned to try the notorious Herefordshire Lollard Walter Brut in 1393 (Registrum Iohannis Trefnant, p. 359); see also his letter to William Swan of 1418, cited below, p. Ixxvii, n. 257. 1% Below, pp. 208, 162. 4 Below, pp. 194-6, 252. “7 Below, pp. 200, 150. 76 Below, pp. 192, 210.

INTRODUCTION

Ixii

‘destruction of the Welsh tongue”!”*—although rarely is it couched

in explicitly anti-English terms. He does, however, note the Greek emperor’s comment that the English attachment to fashion in

dress ‘signified inconstancy and fickleness of heart’.'” On the

other hand, he shows no sympathy for either the Scots or the Irish. What Usk particularly admired about the Greeks was the devotion of their priests'*»—one of many aspects of the western church which fell short of his expectations. The schism he deplored utterly, regarding its solution in 1417 as a miracle of the Holy Spirit, and describing it on several occasions as a ‘monstrosity’— language which indicates his belief in a unitary papacy as part of

‘the natural order’, like social differentiation.'*' He also deplored the encroachment of lay authority on ecclesiastical liberty, remarking bitterly at one point on ‘secular power, which prevails in all things’. ‘If you read through the corpus of the law and the chronicles’, he expostulated to a clerical gathering early in 1400, ‘you will find that more crimes have been committed against prelates in

England than in the whole of Christendom.’

His generally

favourable attitude towards papal provisions was probably due to his belief that it placed some limits on royal control of the church. He approved strongly, however, of lay rulers like Charlemagne and Henry V who worked together with the clerical establishment; he was particularly concerned that pilgrims should be able to reach their goals, noting that the deaths of strong rulers like Giangaleazzo Visconti and the ‘sultan of the Babylonian Turks’ made it

harder for them to do so.'*’ Kingship he took for granted, believing —despite his championing of ecclesiastical liberty—that firm rule was for the best: it was the illness of Charles VI, leading to the duke of Burgundy’s usurpation of royal government, which was ‘the root

of the problem’ in France.'** However, he also thought it incumbent on a king to distribute lands and titles to his subjects rather than hoard them for himself or concentrate power in the hands ofa few, apparently believing that the latter was liable to create ‘over-

mighty subjects’.'** God and ‘the support of the people’ were the lode-stars of a good king'*’—hardly a constitutional theory—and indeed his reporting of parliaments was generally quite factual, "8 Below, p. 146. '81 Below, p. 266. 184

B

elow, p. 216. 1

' Below, p. 120. '? Below, pp. 80, 92. 185

Below, pp. 82, 216.

180 Below, p. 118. '83 Below, pp. 156, 210. 186

Below, ‘ p. go.

i

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY

Ixiii

although he was not beyond pointing out constitutional niceties

when their non-observance was to the detriment of the church.!8”

Nor was Usk insensible to the corporeal world, whether it be ‘Lucerne with its wonderful lake’, a ‘beautifully written out’ charter, the workmanship of stone-cutters, goldsmiths and carpenters, or the splendour of Sheen manor and the Savoy palace,

‘the most beautiful in the kingdom’.'*8 In common with Gerald of

Wales and many another medieval Welshman, he had a keen interest in geography and topography, regarding them (like Higden) as an integral part of history.'*? One of the features of his

chronicle is the number of place-names mentioned in it.!% He describes carefully the route which he took to and from Rome, and noted that ‘France begins’ at Troyes, a comment symptomatic of his belief that what we call ‘France’ was, to him, rather less than

the sum of its parts.’”' Italy, despite its political fragmentation, existed nevertheless as a concept in his mind,'” unified presumably by its common language—which, along with blood descent, Usk seems to have regarded as at the heart of nationality. Topography also differentiated and thereby characterized regions, as witness his frequent references to Wales (especially North Wales) as a land of caverns and mountains and woodland—un-

cultivated and, by implication, barbarous.’ The topography of Rome also interested him, although the appearance of the city

appalled him—‘abandoned and full of slums’.'* Other towns left him more favourably impressed: Bologna was ‘the splendour of the

world and the glory of Italy’, Rouen a ‘great city’.!°° He appreciated good wine, describing Beaune as the ‘cradle of the best French 187 Below, p. 250. 188 Below, pp. 152, 86, 2, 18. 189 Polychronicon, i (passim); Robert Bartlett, Gerald of Wales 1146-1223 (Oxford, 1982); Beryl Smalley, Historians in the Middle Ages (London, 1974), p. 46. 190 According to Patricia Price, ‘Welsh traveler/English poem: geographical intersections between Adam of Usk’s chronicle and the alliterative Morte Arthure’ (unpublished paper delivered to the 27th International Congress on Medieval Studies at the University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, in May 1992), Usk mentions 358 different place-names in his chronicle (although this includes, for example, comital and ducal titles, individual churches in Rome, and so forth). She also points to the striking simi-

larity between the places mentioned by Usk and those mentioned in the alliterative Morte Arthure (now thought to have been written in the 1390s), and to other similarities between the two works, suggesting that ‘Adam of Usk and the Morte Arthure poet inhabited the same world, a world of political intrigue and turbulence, prophecy and univer-

sal history, and dangerous travel’—a point which, as far as Adam is concerned, there is no problem in accepting. I am grateful to her for sending me a copy of her paper.

91 Below, pp. 212-4. 4 Below, p. 188.

192 Below, p. 156.

193 Below, p. 100, for example. 1% Below, pp. 154, 268.

lxiv

INTRODUCTION

wine’, and regarded ‘servants, and books, and clothes, and a home’

as the essentials of a civilized life.!°° Pageantry and protocol in-

trigued him, not merely for their grandeur but also because he liked to elucidate the meaning behind the ritual; it ‘gladdens my

heart’, he declares, to recall that he had attended a papal corona-

tion, an English coronation, and the confirmation of a Roman

emperor.!°7 Women feature sparingly in his chronicle, and are

depicted conventionally though without hostility. He admired the probity of a noblewoman who threw herself to death rather than suffer dishonour at the hands of Saracens, and made no attempt— as many another chronicler might have done—to shift the blame for Robert Bowlond’s ‘unbridled lust’ on to the nun who bore his child. On the other hand, his failure to pass any comment on Queen Anne’s marriage to Richard II apart from the fact that it cost a great sum but proved childless is probably a fair indication

of his view of women in marriage.!” God, saints, and miracles

To dig deeper into Usk’s cast of mind, however, we need to look more closely at his perception of the relationship between the corporeal and the incorporeal world—that of miracles, portents and fortune. His belief in supernatural forces was, of course,

unquestioned. God’s intervention in—or, more correctly, ordaining of—human affairs is not merely implicit but frequently made explicit: He brought Wat Tyler to ruin in 1381, created dissension between Richard II’s lackeys in 1398, revoked the suppression of the Welsh tongue in 1401, ensured Usk’s safe journey to Rome in 1402 and restored him to health in 1405, helped him to re-build his life after his pardon in 1411, and granted Henry V victory over the French at Agincourt;'” for, as Usk pointed out, ‘it is not the saw which cuts the log, nor the axe which chops, but the hand of man;

and so too it is the hand of God alone that bestows victory’. Yet,

although God was unarguably on the side of the righteous, none of this could be taken for granted. Only by committing themselves to God andplacing their trust in Him could men expect Him to favour them: the first and second sections of the chronicle both

end with Usk committing himself to the protection of God;2°! 196 = Below, pp. 212, 240. as Below, pp. 120, 4—6, 18. Below, p. 174.

197 Below, pp. 70-2, 188. ' Below, pp. 4, 146, 204, 240, 256. 701 Below, pp. 126, 152.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

Ixv

debating whether or not to resist the blandishments of Northumberland in 1407, Usk thought to himself, ‘Adam, you are in a laby-

rinth. Put your trust in God.”? And God was naturally severe as

well as merciful: Henry V’s victories in France He may have approved of, but if the king continued to impose ‘unbearable impositions’ on his people, he would surely ‘incur the sword of the

Lord’s fury’?

After God came the saints. Usk’s special saint was the Blessed Virgin, to whom the parish church at Usk was dedicated, before whose statue he asked to be interred, and to whose honour he

bequeathed his books and priestly vestments. One of the reasons why John Oldcastle merited his gruesome death was because he

despised the Virgin.” The other two saints whom Usk explicitly identifies as his guardians are St Teilo and St Thomas of India. Teilo, a sixth-century Welsh bishop whose tomb was in Llandaff cathedral and who was much venerated in Dyfed, also spent several years in Brittany, and when Usk was forced to put in there on his way back to Wales in 1408-9, he says that he celebrated mass each day in the chapel which marked the spot where the saint had slain a dragon, and that he committed himself to Teilo’s care. It was also ‘through a miracle of St Teilo’ that an English raiding party was driven off after plundering Llandaff cathedral—‘Usk’s’

cathedral—in 1403.7” It is less easy to see why he regarded St Thomas (the apostle) as his special guardian; however, it was through Thomas’s prayers (after he had had a vision of the saint praying to God on his behalf) that he escaped capture after setting out for Wales, and he cites approvingly the devotion to St Thomas of the two ‘bearded and very dark-skinned’ Indian monks who

visited Rome in 1405. The only other saints to whom more than passing reference is made are Columba, Patrick, and Bridget, all

Irish,” and the Welsh king Cadwaladr (‘the last king of the British’). Usk’s chief interest, then, was in Celtic saints, although

he does not omit to mention that when in Amiens he saw the head

of St John the Baptist.”

That Usk regarded the saints as dramatis personae of the earthly world need not be doubted. His preference for the notion that it was St Patrick who had expelled snakes from Ireland, rather than 202 Below, p. 214. 205 Below, pp. 172, 238. 207 Below, pp. 208-10.

203 Below, p. 270.

204 Below, pp. 272, 266. is Below, pp- 192, 238. Below, p. 212.

Ixvi

INTRODUCTION

that it was a reward to the Irish for their service to the children of Israel, is indicative both of his deep-rooted belief in their workings and of his independence from Higden, who had rejected St Patrick’s

intervention in the matter.2” Nor did Usk doubt that the company of

the saints was intermittently augmented by his own contemporaries. ‘Would that I might be deemed worthy to accompany his soul’, he

exclaimed of the beheaded earl of Arundel, ‘for I have no doubt that

he has been admitted to the fellowship of the saints!’ Whether this meant that he actually regarded Arundel as a saint is not quite clear, but there is no doubt in the case of the miracle-working Archbishop Scrope, executed by Henry IV, who is said to have ‘now been acknowledged as a saint on account of his numerous miracles’.””” Neither Arundel nor Scrope was, in fact, canonized, but Usk is reflecting the contemporary view that a martyr’s death, miracleworking, and popular veneration were as good as papal

canonization. It was, above all, the manner of their death which set

these two apart: others who led virtuous lives—John of Usk, the earl of Warwick, Archbishop Arundel—were indubitably heavenbound, but Usk did not think of them as saints.”"! Miracles (miracula) figure only occasionally in the chronicle: St Teilo’s delivery of Llandaff from the English, the ‘numerous miracles’ (unspecified) of Archbishop Scrope, a recipe for dousing fire which featured among the ‘various miracles’ worked by St Columba, and the intervention of the Holy Spirit to end the schism are the only occasions on which Usk uses the word in a contem-

porary context.”’” The signs (signa, a word frequently used with the same connotations as miracula) preceding the day of judgement would surely be no less miraculous to Usk’s mind, but they had not yet occurred.”!3 Prodigies, or marvels, are mentioned with frequency, but their meaning was not always clear—or at least Usk did not always choose to clarify it. Two consecutive entries from late 1400 are instructive (Usk had a habit of recounting prodigies in groups, almost like miracle-collections). Firstly, the four little bells at the corners of the Confessor’s shrine in Westminster abbey rang mirabiliter (not miraculose, it should be noted) of their own accord * Below, p. 210. Higden (following Gerald of Wales) initially argued that it was more likely that Ireland had simply never had venomous creatures; later, however, he

appeared to accept that St Patrick had expelled them: Polychronicon, i. 338, v. 304. See also Bartlett, Gerald of Wales, pp. 139-40. 210 Below, pp. 30, 202. “11 Below, pp. 98, 128, 248. 212 Below, pp. 208, 172, 202, 266. ‘ 213 Below, p. 226.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY

Ixvii

‘much more loudly than if some person had rung them’, to the terrores et prodigia of the monastic community. Secondly, the spring near Builth in which the decapitated head of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd had been washed ‘flowed with pure blood throughout one whole day’.’* These are reported without explanation. Yet it would have been far from difficult to provide explanations for them. The Confessor was one of Richard II’s special saints, and Richard had recently been murdered—or at least he had died in highly suspicious circumstances; Llywelyn was the last prince of an independent Wales, and Owen Glendower had just proclaimed himself the heir to Llywelyn’s legacy. It is hard to believe that Usk was unaware of such obvious explanations. He preferred, however, to leave to his readers the task of construing them for themselves. Moreover, although their meaning might seem obvious, it had not yet been demonstrated by subsequent events. Was the ringing of the Confessor’s bells a sign of the saint’s disapproval of Henry IV’s accession, or of his approval? Henry had, after all, been crowned on the feast of the Confessor’s translation. Did the blood at Builth signify that Welshmen were about to regain their independence, or that Glendower would suffer the same fate as Llywelyn? Writing in 1401-as Usk was—it was too early to know. Other prodigies, such as the five eggs which resembled faces, the two-headed calf, the one-eyed boy, and the two Welsh children aged nine and seven

who conceived a child, are simply recorded as curiosities.”° Portents and prophecies Usk’s treatment of portents is in line with his approach to prodigies. Portents were different from prodigies, being ordinary—or at least materially explicable—events in themselves, but retrospectively ominous because of their context and relevance to what followed, such as the ‘ball of fire’ which struck the residences of

Northumberland and Bardolf in Bruges.”’® Events at the corona-

tions of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V also illustrate this point (unusual occurrences at coronations were, naturally, peculiarly susceptible to portentous interpretation). It is worth noting that all these were recorded by Usk in 1414 (even those which occurred at Richard’s coronation, which are inserted into the text in Hand Seven). At Richard’s coronation, according to Usk, ‘three symbols of royalty had foretold (portentebant) three misfortunes 214 Below, p. 116.

15 Below, pp. 78, 86, 244.

216 Below, p. 218.

Ixvili

INTRODUCTION

which would befall him’: firstly, he lost a shoe, signifying that the common people would rise against him; secondly, one of his spurs dropped off, signifying that the knighthood would rebel against him; thirdly, a sudden gust of wind blew off his crown, indicating

that he would be deposed.2”” In his obituary for Henry IV, Usk

notes that during his later years Henry suffered ‘festering of the flesh, dehydration of the eyes, and rupture of the internal organs’, and goes on to explain that events at his coronation foreshadowed (portentebat) these afflictions, ‘for as a result of his anointing then, his head was so infected with lice that his hair fell out, and for several months he had to keep his head covered’. Nevertheless his death in the ‘Jerusalem chamber’ at Westminster abbey meant that ‘he fulfilled his horoscope (genesim) that he would die in the Holy

Land’.?!® All this was simple enough to interpret: the portents at Richard’s coronation were easy to relate to his subsequent difficulties, nor did it require much ingenuity to make the connection—although Usk discreetly refrains from making it explicitly—between Henry’s usurpation, the unfortunate effect of his anointing, and his subsequent illness. The fulfilment of Henry’s horoscope was different. There was nothing flabby about astrology: in common with most of his contemporaries, Usk clearly

regarded it as a hard-headed deductive process.”!* Moreover, it was explicitly predictive; this did not mean that it was unambiguous (presumably the real Jerusalem would have done as well as the abbot’s chamber), but it limited the range of fulfilment patterns. The meaning of a portent, on the other hand, was not to be revealed until it had been fulfilled. Nevertheless it did not demand oracular powers to imagine the kind of event which might later be regarded as significant, as Usk shows in his account of Henry V’s coronation. Not only was the day of the coronation marked by ‘unprecedented storms’, but during the coronation mass the king dropped one of his oblatory gold nobles on the floor,

and it took a good while to find it.” Had Henry V’s regime proved

as tempestuous and insolvent as, say, that of his father, it is not difficult to imagine what might have been made of these, and nor is it difficult to avoid the thought that it was with half an eye to this 217 Below, p. go.

218 Below, p. 242.

219 See the remarks of C. S. Lewis, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (Cam-

bridge, 1966), p. 56: it was ‘the creed of men who wanted a universe which admitted no incalculables’, and ‘proclaimed nature’s power over man’. 220 Below, p. 242.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

lxix

possibility that Usk noted these events. Thus while lack of predictive specificity did not preclude the suspicion that an event might be portentous, as with prodigies it was advisable to delay the task of interpretation until such time as events had confirmed, modified, or invalidated the initial conjecture. Despite Usk’s reluctance to commit himself to the interpretation of prodigies and portents, prediction in its various forms was a quite normal part of his world: Joan of Kent foresaw (uideo imminere) her son’s downfall; the king employed a fortune-teller (sortilegio) to foretell the outcome of the Hereford-Norfolk duel; the comet which accompanied the chronicler on his journey to Rome in 1402 foreshadowed (it was a prefiguracio of) the death of Giangaleazzo Visconti; and Usk himself claims to have foretold

(predixi) the return from exile of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399.”" Political prophecy was equally integral to the scheme of things, although its inherent obscurity” sometimes required explanation: for example, the ‘ancient prophecy’ fulfilled by Thomas Arundel’s recovery of the see of Canterbury against Roger Walden was sufficiently obscure to demand quite detailed elucidation.””*? And occasionally prophecies might, if not exactly conflict (for it was up to the author to select the prophecies which best matched the outcome), at least require a degree of correlation. So it was, at any rate, with the prophecies which foretold Bolingbroke’s return in

1399, for, Usk tells us, ‘according to the prophecy of Merlin, this duke Henry is the eaglet, for he was the son of John; following Bridlington, however, he should rather be the dog... There was no real problem in assimilating the two ideas, but it did, so to

speak, require a footnote.””* The relevance of prophecy to the pattern of history was, of course, attested by the highest possible authority—the bible. Even so, its role in historical interpretation is peculiarly prominent in chronicles written during the early years of the fifteenth century: Thomas Walsingham, in his later works, and the author of the Continuatio Eulogii, are but two of Usk’s contemporaries in whose 221 Below, pp. 10, 154, 50, 178. 22 Robert Manning, for example, had declared earlier in the fourteenth century that he ‘has not wit to undo the knots that Merlin knit, for he spoke in such a way that till that thing happened, nobody knew it’ (quoted in Rupert Taylor, The Political Prophecy in England (New York, 1911), p. 152. 224 Below, pp. 50-2. 223 Below, p. 82.

Ixx

INTRODUCTION

writings it takes on an enhanced significance, and the unease which the dissemination of prophecies engendered in political circles at this time is amply demonstrated by two statutes passed in the parliaments of 1402 and 1406, the first of which banned the Welsh, and the second both Lollards and those who asserted that

Richard II was still alive, from circulating them.” It was, no doubt, the pervading sense of unease—the consequence of, among

other things, the usurpation, the schism, the spate of rebellions,

and the Lollard challenge to religious orthodoxy—which explains their prevalence, but Henry IV’s own well-known use of the prophecy of Thomas Becket and the Holy Oil to justify his usurpa-

tion can hardly have discouraged belief in their authenticity.” ‘Merlin’ apart (Usk regarded Merlin as the author not only of the prophecies in the Historia Regum Britannie, but also of the ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’), John of Bridlington is the prophet most frequently quoted by Usk, and here too he showed himself to be a man of his times, for it was in 1401, the year in which he began

writing his chronicle, that Bridlington was canonized.””’ His prophecies are used to justify Bolingbroke’s return, to explain the dissension which broke out between Richard’s supporters in 1398, and to demonstrate the dangers of taxation. Usk’s use of his prophecy on the latter occasion is instructive. Having already shown his hand by declaring that ‘ever since exactions of this sort, called taxes, were imposed, the realm has suffered a series of misfortunes’, he went on to cite the example of Edward III demanding

taxation with which to invade France in 1372, ‘but the wind turned against him and, despite the fact that he remained on the coast for six months in the hope that it would change, he and his army eventually returned home having accomplished nothing’—which prompted Usk to quote from Bridlington, While tax does reign, good fortune shall be gone, Thus work begun will soon be quite undone. 5 Annales, pp. 297-300, 365, 372; Continuatio Eulogii, pp. 389-94; RP iii. 508, 583-4 (the statute against the Welsh talks of ‘divinationes, messonges et excitations’, that against Lollards and Richard’s sympathizers of ‘fauxes pretenses prophecies et ... autres mensounges’). The most recent discussion is in Philip Morgan, ‘Henry IV and the shadow of Richard IP’, Crown, Government and People in the Fifteenth Century, ed. R. E. Archer (Stroud, 1995), pp. 1-31.

26 Annales, pp. 297-300.

7 Jonathon Hughes, Pastors and Visionaries: Religion and Secular Life in Late Medieval

Yorkshire (Woodbridge, 1988), p. 99. Bridlington was in reality John Thweng, and was

not in fact the author of the Bridlington prophecies.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

Ixxi

The basic point was simple: taxation was unjustified. What is interesting is the threefold nature of the evidence adduced to support it: historical example, natural forces (the wind), and the words of the prophet all demonstrated its wrongfulness.2 Similarly, when Richard’s favourites began to quarrel among themselves in 1398, God and prophecy worked in tandem: ‘God, by his own righteous judgement, stirred up a great storm of dissension between him and them, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the verse, “By the judgement of heaven, the throng of the wicked is rent asunder”.’””? Usk’s use of prophecy thus suggests more than simply a desire to demonstrate the operation of divine will or to tie up loose ends. It was a way of stating a desired objective (the reduction of taxation), or of indicating approval of an event (the return of Bolingbroke). It also served another purpose—as a substitute for direct comment: hence, for example, his resort to prophecy to ‘explain’ Henry IV’s victory at Shrewsbury, ‘whereby the prophecy was fulfilled that “the outcast beast [the once- exiled

Henry] shall bear away with him the two horns of the moon”.”° Shrewsbury was a battle the outcome of which Usk was very much in two minds about, but having noted that—‘sad to say —Hotspur was killed, he scarcely dared say more. To say simply that the prophecy was thereby fulfilled was a way of avoiding saying any-

thing more direct.”*! Dreams, fortune, and history Thus Usk clearly recognized the value of established predictive techniques such as astrology or well-authenticated prophecies. Similarly helpful in elucidating meaning were visions and dreams, several of which he records, with varying purposes. The medieval typology of dream-interpretation was based on that devised by Macrobius, who divided them into five types, three of which were truth-revealing and two of which were not.’” The first three were somnium (which veiled the truth in allegorical form), wisio (a direct and literal pre-vision of the future), and oraculum (in which a person of authority appeared and declared the future or offered advice). The last two were insomnium (which simply rehearsed 230 Below, p. 170. 229 Below, p. 48. 228 Below, p. 16. 231 For further examples of Usk’s discretion, see below, pp. lxxxi-lxxxvi. 232 On this subject, see C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (Cambridge, 1964), pp. 63-4,

and C. Holdsworth, ‘Visions and visionaries in the middle ages’, History, xlviii (1963),

141-53.

Ixxii

INTRODUCTION

mundane occupations), and wisum (the appearance of random images between sleep and wake). Some dreams combined the characteristics of these different types. Those which Usk considered it worth recording clearly fell into the truth-revealing categories. In one sense, his dreams and visions served a single purpose, to underline the symbiosis between heaven and earth, but they also served other purposes: they were an aid to understanding the earthly world, a warning as to what might occur, and a justification for events that had already occurred. Yet the meaning of a dream or vision might not always be clear at the time. For example, Usk recounts four dreams/visions which he himself experienced. Firstly, on the night of g March 1401, the day before the dissolution of parliament, he was awakened by a voice chanting cautionary psalms; this filled him with foreboding, but it was only on the following day, when he heard rumours about the harsh anti-Welsh measures that were being urged, that he understood what the

warning was about.”*> This was evidently a somnium, although Usk does not use the word (it is, however, worth noting that neither does he describe it as a uwisio). Secondly, on the night of 1 October 1404, the day that Boniface IX died, he experienced two visions (duas uisiones): the first, which involved St Peter hurling to the ground ‘a dejected and filthy-looking character who seemed to be a pope’, was easy enough to interpret, but the second was less clear-cut. This revealed a fox being chased by dogs, failing to escape by hiding in water, and eventually disappearing in terror down a hole. ‘I understood this to mean’, says Usk, ‘that the fox, despite always being greedy, constantly remains thin; and thus it was with [Boniface] too, for although he grew fat on the fruits of

simony, he was never satisfied, even to his dying day’. This too was, according to the Macrobian scheme, a somnium rather than a uisio: it might be doubted whether anyone else would have interpreted it in quite the same way, but that, in a sense, was the point: as with miracles (and visions were, of course, frequently regarded as miracles), the significance lay in the interpretation. Reading the signs was the art, not simply experiencing them. It is worth noting

that on this occasion Usk reinforced his interpretation of these dreams by asserting that ‘a holy man from far away’—a holy man, be it noted, not just any man—had

also experienced a vision of

Boniface being cast out by St Michael, ‘which, as already noted, is 33 Below, p. 126.

34 Below, p. 180.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY _ Lxxiii

precisely what happened when his day came’. The accumulation of visions susceptible to similar interpretation naturally helped as a guide to the correct interpretation, as did actual events. The world of dreams and the world of actuality worked together, revealing their meaning in tandem. Usk’s remaining two visions were easier to interpret. While in Brittany he experienced a vision (wisione) of St Thomas praying to God on his behalf, and on the night of 19 February 1414 he had a

vision (wisione) informing him of Archbishop Arundel’s death.?35

Usk’s recounting of these experiences was not meant to indicate that he enjoyed special powers of insight or foresight. Dreams and visions were an unexceptional (although, like miracles, an unusually meaningful) part of his world, occurring moreover at a time when the mind was specially receptive to higher influences— a point made by Usk’s contemporary John Gower in the prologue to his Vox Clamantis: From Daniel it is clear what dreams can mean, and Joseph’s vision in his dream was not meaningless. Indeed, the good angel who is the custodian of the inner man always guards him with vigilant love; and, although sleep may occupy the outer body, the angel visits the inside of his mind and advances its work; and often, in sleep, it provides prognostications in a vision, so that the man may know better the time by its causes. Hence, I reckon that those things which I saw in sleep at night-time furnish the

memorable signs of actual events.”

Dreams, then, were anything but a distraction from reality—quite the contrary. That they revealed underlying truths or prefigured events of significance was not to be doubted—provided, that is,

they were correctly interpreted. The two most interesting dreams that Usk records as being experienced by others reinforce these points. Richard II, he says, ‘continually dreamed that the earl of Arundel’s head would be rejoined to his body, so he ordered the

tomb to be uncovered’.”*” That dreams could haunt the guilty as

well as caution the vulnerable or justify the worthy was of course to be expected—more significant is the fact that Richard chose to act on his dreams, which Usk evidently regarded as equally to be 235 Below, pp. 238, 248; he also claimed to have foreseen (preuidi) the election of

Innocent VII as pope, though it is not clear whether he meant that he had had a vision of this, or simply foretold it (below, p. 184). 236 Trans. A. J. Minnis, Medieval Theory ofAuthorship (London, 1984), p. 169. 37 Below, p. 82.

lxxiv

INTRODUCTION

expected. The deathbed vision of the Blessed Virgin experienced by John of Usk demonstrates a further point: the coming together of heaven and earth at the moment of death. John of Usk communed with the Virgin and her helpers, and heard ‘a great host of angels, singing most sweetly’, but William Burton, the monk attending him, could not hear or see them: ‘O, that I were worthy to do sol’, exclaimed William, but unlike John he did not enjoy that special insight granted to those at the point of death which provides the basis for the visions of heaven and hell that feature so

commonly in medieval miracle-stories.“** Once again, it is the

closeness of the two worlds, intersecting at the moment of death, which is the principal message of the story. Also among the forces at work in the world was fortune. Its relationship to the all-pervading sway of God is not entirely clear, but it appears to have been regarded as having an influence which, although not independent of God, may perhaps be regarded as delegated authority. Henry V, for example, committed himself ‘to

God and to the fortunes of the sword’ in 1415.7? Warfare was peculiarly subject to turns of fortune: it was ‘the fortunes of war’ (belli fortuna) which accounted for the death of the earl of March in

1398, the capture of Edmund Mortimer in 1402, and the Percies’ victory at Homildon Hill in the same year.” The latter victory also demonstrated one of Usk’s (and many other medieval chroniclers’) favourite themes, the wheel of fortune, for ‘so puffed up with pride’ were the Percies at their victory that they soon afterwards fell to ruin. The fall of Richard II naturally prompted several such comments, including two marginals (possibly in the chronicler’s own hand), nota fortunam et eius rotam, and nota rote fallaciam fortunam;" mundi fallaci fortuna—‘the fickle fortune of this world’— is also the phrase that occurred to Usk after witnessing Richard’s anguished musings as he awaited deposition in the Tower; it was,

explicitly, the ‘wheel of fortune’ which cast Richard down.2” Thus,

although in theory (by the law of averages) the revolutions of the wheel of fortune were as likely to raise a man up as to cast him down, in practice it is usually cited by Usk as exercising a censorious or punitive influence. It had a ‘morally corrective character’*—although what gave it that character was, of course, the 38 Below, p. 98.

#8 MSA, £08; 1020s

8 Below, p. 256.

a

240 Below, pp.

40,

158,

174.

242 Han EiAts

** Louis Green, Chronicle into History: An Essay on the Interpretation of History in Florentine Fourteenth-Century Chronicles (Cambridge, 1972), p. 122.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

Ixxv

chronicler’s selectivity in deducing its influence. It was fortune which foiled Richard’s burial plans, but mischance (casu quodam) which carried off both the earl of March and Archbishop Arundel

before their time. Although fortune must clearly have operated

within the overall, God-inspired, scheme of things, Usk seems to have looked upon it more as a tool for divine correction than for

divine reward. Perhaps this was because fortune was not simply a matter of chance. Usk’s repeated use of the phrase ‘an evil hour’ (mala hora)—to describe, for example, Richard II’s decision to leave for

Ireland in 1399, the Percies’ defeat at Shrewsbury in 1403, and the capture of Glendower’s son Griffith at the battle of Pwll Melyn***—suggests that misfortune was something which they brought upon themselves through unsound timing or judgement. Owen Glendower, it is worth remembering, is reputed to have consulted his own seer before making crucial political or military

decisions.”*° The death of the earl of March also raises the question of the relationship between fortune and human judgement: he died, says Usk, ‘as the fortunes of war would have it . . . through an excess of military ardour which led him rashly to advance in front

of his own troops”*”—not just bad luck, in other words. Henry V’s victories are similarly portrayed not merely as ‘the fortunes of the sword’, but as the consequence also of the king’s piety, daring and

persistence.”* To call this making your own luck would be simplistic, but although fortune was a power to be reckoned with, virtue and good sense might mitigate it. All this made the writing of history a tricky matter. God, working sometimes through the saints, was naturally the great disposer, but much else too had a bearing on both the interpretation and the outcome of events. Prophecies and premonitions hovered, awaiting fulfilment. Portents and prodigies lingered in the mind, seeking revelation, although either ignorance or discretion might require that they be left unexplained. The animal world also acted as a source of intimation, as Usk explicitly states when describing his nocturnal ramblings in the vicinity of St Peter’s ‘to observe the behaviour of the wolves and the dogs’: watching the wolves drag off the smaller dogs while, despite their cries for help, the bigger ones 245 Below, pp. 50, 170, 212. 24 Below, pp. 46, 248. 247 Below, p. 40. 24 RR. Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 158-60. 248 Below, pp. 254-6.

INTRODUCTION

Ixxvi

did nothing about it, he remarked bitterly that this ‘seemed to me not dissimilar to the sort of comradeship shown by the powers that be to those who have been cast out from their country to wander through the forests’.?4” Equally instructive was the behaviour of the earl of Kent’s greyhound, which firstly, after its master’s death, found its way ‘by its own instinct’ to Richard II, but subsequently, after Richard had abandoned his army, deserted him and, ‘once again by its own instinct, alone and unaided’, attached itself to Henry. Neither party was slow to grasp the significance of its behaviour: Henry ‘thought that this must augur well for him’, and thus welcomed it and allowed it to sleep on his bed; while later when, presumably in order to test its intuition, the dog was taken back to Richard but failed even to recognize him, ‘the deposed king took (this) sorely to heart’. The story demonstrates a belief (common in all ages) not just in the discriminatory faculty in animal intuition, but also in its moral and revelatory significance. Like portents and prophecies, it deserved to be heeded, both as warning and as justification. And, again like portents and prophecies, it was to some extent self-fulfilling: assuming the story to be true (and it is worth noting that Usk witnessed the scene himself,

and that Froissart also tells it, in a slightly different version), it is not hard to imagine its psychological effect on both Richard and Henry. The morally retributive function of animals is also demonstrated in the story of the jackdaws—‘rightly called monedule from the word money’—which dispersed the ‘inordinately greedy’ Bishop Burghill’s hoard of gold, thereby providing a windfall for

many.”*! History itself was a kind of echo chamber. Usk’s historical knowledge was derived chiefly, it seems, from the Polychronicon. Where he quotes authority for historical events, it is generally to the Polychronicon that he refers (citing it simply as supra). The bible and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britannie were also important sources for historical examples, but there is little to suggest that Usk was well-versed in classical authors—or, if he was, he evidently found it more convenient to quote from Higden’s distillation of their work. Usk’s periodization of history was typical of his time. The six

ages of the world, and the four monarchies, he took for granted: hence his comments that, for example, the Roman empire (or 2 Below, p. 194.

*° Below, p. 86.

51 Below, pp. 248-50.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY _ Ixxvii

fourth monarchy) had been ‘transferred by (Constantine) from the Romans to the Greeks and then by Pope Stephen from the Greeks

to the Germans’.’** Hence too the special interest which he shows

in the misfortunes of each of these ‘empires’: he comments on several occasions, and in melancholy terms, on the indignities suffered by the Byzantine emperor, ascribes the death of Giangaleazzo Visconti to the fact that his ancestors had ‘usurped the rights of the empire’, and claims to have personally upbraided Rupert of Bavaria’s ambassador for overturning the election of Wenzel, since ‘that right belongs to the pope alone, for it was he

who transferred the empire from the Greeks to the Germans’.2™ His fascination with Rome stemmed largely from his knowledge of its imperial past: ‘O God’, he exclaimed, ‘what has become of you, ancient glory of Rome? Today, your imperial greatness lies in ruins for all to see.’ Or again: ‘O God, what has become of the glory of Caesar and Augustus, of Solomon and Alexander, of Ahasuerus

and Darius and Constantine the great?” The examples chosen here are instructive: biblical, ancient,

legendary and more recent history intertwined effortlessly in Usk’s view of the historical continuum. Richard II is compared in the same breath to Solomon and Absalom (biblical figures), Ahasuerus (Xerxes) of Persia (both biblical and classical), Belinus (one of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s British kings), and Chosroes II of Persia

(d. 628 ap).”> The genealogy of the earl of March ascended unhindered from British kings to Trojan, onwards and upwards to Olympian gods and Old Testament patriarchs, and thence to

‘Adam the first creature’.”° The only break that really mattered in history was the birth of Christ. Before that came the Old Testament, after it the New: the consequence of Roman venality, Usk feared, was that ‘what happened in the old testament . . . will come

to pass again in the new testament’.”*’ This seamless cloak of history provided the examples which acted as both exhortations and admonitions to the present. The British king Arthgallus ‘debased the noble and exalted the ignoble’, and as a result was deposed; so did Richard II, and so too 52 Below, pp. 158, 124. 253 Below, pp. 120, 198-200, 156-8, 124. 256 Below, pp. 40-2. 55 Below, p. 90. 254 Below, pp. 182, 120. 257 Below, p. 160; see also his letter to William Swan of ¢.1418:‘. . . utriusque et templi sequitur confusio in nouo testamento inter Romam et Constanciam ac in sacerdocio subsequens scisma Lollardensibus atque Begwinis operantibus’ (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B. 23, fo. 107’).

Ixxvili

INTRODUCTION

was he deposed. Like Rehoboam, son of Solomon, Richard ‘followed the counsel of youths’; Rehoboam ‘lost the kingdom of

Israel’, Richard lost the kingdom of England.** To say that this

was simply Usk being wise after the event is to miss the point. Such examples weighed—or at least should have weighed—significantly with any king. It was the fact that Henry V appeared to be ignoring the fates of Julius, and Ahasuerus, and Alexander, and Hector, and Cyrus, and Darius, and Macchabeus’ that caused Usk such

consternation in 1421.7? History deserved to be heeded; it con-

nected directly with the present. It was a world full of intersections, therefore, and the task of the historian to decipher them. This was not something which Usk felt the need to explain to his readers—an indication not only of how deeply infused such ideas were in his outlook, but also of the fact that he expected his readers to make the connections for themselves. He does not mention, for example—although he undoubtedly knew—that the ‘ball of fire’ (globus igneus) which landed at the doors of Northumberland’s and Bardolf’s residences in Bruges had been predicted in the Prophecy of the Eagle, which of course made what would in any case have been a portentous event doubly ominous: the prophecy had been fulfilled in a portent, now it was the turn of the portent to await revelation. This unalterably progressive accomplishment of the signs meant that both the past and the future bore continually upon the present. In one sense this simplified matters: God disposed all, and the universe moved forward within a finite time-scale, from Creation to Last Judgement. In several other senses it complicated matters. To say that an event—an event of significance, at any rate—‘just happened’ was not good enough. The historian also needed to know whether it had been prophesied or prefigured, whether it stemmed from the direct intervention of God, or one of his saints, or fortune, whether it might in turn furnish a portent or premonition of some future event. The closeness of the earthly and heavenly worlds meant that events were suffused with meaning which required interpretation: what did they signify? One final example will demonstrate Usk’s approach to the writing of history. In the spring of 1400, he tells us, factional warfare broke out among the London apprentice-boys, leading to a number of deaths, ‘which made a lot of people wonder *58 Below, pp. 62, 76.

* Below, p. 270.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

xxix

what this might portend (ad magnum populi mirum quid hoc prenosticaret); it was, I believe, the plague which occurred in the following

year, in which most of them were carried off from this life. Even so, it was not until the king had written to their parents and masters, threatening them in the strongest terms to put a stop to it, that they could be persuaded to desist from such violence’.2” The cycle of progressive fulfilment is here made clear. The violence of the apprentice-boys was not simply an event that had happened and could be consigned to the past: it also had a bearing on the future, prefiguring further misfortune. What that misfortune might be was initially unclear, although speculation apparently abounded. Once the plague had struck, however, its meaning was revealed. Simultaneously, both the occurrence and the specific retributive function of the plague were clarified: it was not something that Sust happened’ either (few would have denied, of course, that it had a general retributive function). Yet still the apprentice-boys (like a bad king) refused to heed the warning, and in the end only the intervention of Henry IV persuaded them to desist. Here, then, was the task of the historian: reading the signs, making the proper connections, fitting each event into its rightful place in the overall scheme. There are many other ways in which Usk’s world-view affected the way he wrote history. For example, both astrology and the idea of fortune encouraged the portrayal of history as a cyclical process,

a pattern of rise and fall.”°' On the other hand, the sense of existing within a unified chronological continuum had the effect of foreshortening history, of bringing the past closer to the present and heightening the relevance of historical examples. Like the bible, history taught moral truths and provided exempla. Apart from anything else, this demanded knowledge, which Usk had: his worldview is the view of a highly educated man. Reticence and the writing ofa chronicle The desire to use exempla from the past as models of moral or immoral behaviour also encouraged the chronicler to portray both history and his own times largely in terms of personalities. Great men fascinated Usk, such as Giangaleazzo Visconti, ‘a man before whom all the earth was quiet’, and who ‘ruled his territories with a rod of iron’, or Henry V, who ‘triumphantly conquered the great 269 Below, pp. 94-6.

261 Cf. Green, Chronicle into History, pp. 21, 33-

Ixxx

INTRODUCTION

city of Rouen and all the surrounding countryside, the wretched

French not daring to resist him’.”* It was men like these who made

history. His reporting of the revolt in Wales is a prime example, centred as it is almost exclusively on the figure of Owen Glendower: it was not ‘the Welsh’ who harried, plundered, took castles or captured prisoners, but, almost invariably, ‘Owen’ who did so. And it was great men too who shaped Usk’s life. Thus Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V all loom large in his chronicle; so do Archbishop Arundel and, to a lesser extent, Boniface IX and Innocent

VII; and so too do Glendower and the Mortimer family. Yet there are interesting comparisons to be made in the way Usk talks of these men. His comments on Richard II, Henry V, Archbishop

Arundel, and the Mortimers are relatively straightforward. From the opening words of the chronicle, it is clear that Usk regarded Richard’s reign as a calamity, and despite the fact that part of this could initially be put down to the king’s youth, there was ultimately no doubt that he brought about, and merited, his own downfall. He was extravagant, envious, deceitful, tyrannical, and easily led; he murdered his uncle, and strove to subvert the law;

deserted in the end by all, his deposition was inevitable.“ Henry V, on the other hand, is portrayed from the start of his reign as something close to the model of a perfect king—‘a most admirable youth, full of wisdom and virtue’. He was devout, courageous, firm yet capable of mercy, and of course a magnificent and victorious

warrior.”** He was also ‘a mighty zealot and champion of the Christian faith—a point not made about either of his predeces-

sors.”® Usk’s only reservation about Henry V was the persistence of his financial demands: he is shown from the start as avaricious,

and although the heavy taxation of 1415 was ‘no more than he deserved, as a recognition of his achievements’, within another two

years the king’s rapacity was beginning to aggravate Usk, and by 1421 his impositions had become ‘unbearable’.2” If it is Henry V’s avarice which saves him from plastic perfection, Usk’s portrait of Richard II awaiting deposition in the Tower similarly rescues him from the role of cardboard villain. This was

not deliberate on Usk’s part; he was not, in truth, interested in *62 Below, pp. 154, 268. ** Below, pp. 36-40, 48, 60-2, 76.

64 Below, pp. 242, 252-6. °° Below, pp. 242-4, 258, 264, 270.

65 Below, p. 246.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY

Ixxxi

depicting character in depth, but rather in using individual human behaviour as a window on to the eternal dilemmas of mankind. His treatment of dominus meus, Archbishop Arundel, for whom Usk clearly had a greater degree of affection than for any of the other grandees who populate his chronicle, is unreservedly favourable but equally two-dimensional; although Arundel’s personal patronage of the chronicler is apparent throughout, it was really his public stance—‘the strength, lamp, and wisdom of the people, the light and delight of church and clergy, and the unshakeable pillar of the Christian faith’ —which won Usk’s respect,” and while the praise which he lavished on the earls of March was as ingratiating as befitted his first patrons, it was also quite measured. Popes Boniface IX and Innocent VII, both of whom were also important patrons, are treated less generously but with greater animation: the

story of Boniface’s outburst shortly before he died, for example,”® or of Innocent’s self-satisfied smirk to the Greek ambassadors, or his cruel jibe to Usk when the latter eventually got through to Viterbo,” afford much sharper insights into their characters than

we are ever allowed with Arundel or the earls of March. Of even greater interest, however, is Usk’s treatment of Henry IV and Owen Glendower—not so much for what he says about them, but for what he omits to say. They were, after all, the two men whose mutual hostility divided Usk’s loyalty and in many ways shaped his destiny during the pivotal years of his life, and he surely knew both of them. Henry IV he certainly knew—quite well, possibly—and it is hard to believe that it was merely Glendower’s followers rather than Owen himself with whom he consorted following his return to Wales in 1408-9. Yet, although he speaks frequently of both men, only rarely does he pass direct comment on their behaviour in the way that he does on that of, say, Richard II or Henry V. This is perhaps less true of the first section of the chronicle (that written in the spring of 1401): he talks here, for example, of Henry ‘having triumphantly conquered both king and kingdom within the space of fifty days’, and notes his clemency following the first outbreak of rebellion in Wales,”” but in the second section of the chronicle the quality most in evidence in Usk’s references to the king is reticence, and by the time he came to write the third section in 1414 he was clearly determined to 267 Below, p. 246. 269 Below, pp. 198, 204.

265 Below, p. 180. 279 Below, pp. 60, 100.

lxxxii

INTRODUCTION

eschew any direct comment on Henry’s rule. There can be little doubt as to his reason for this: put simply, it was because he had come to dislike the king, but, given that his son now ruled the land, he was reluctant to say so. Occasionally, reading between the lines, Usk’s true feelings emerge: his description of the battle of Shrewsbury, for example, both hints at the king’s faithlessness and cowardice and laments the death of Hotspur, ‘the flower and glory of Christian knighthood’.””1 There is an unmistakable note of sympathy too for others who opposed Henry IV, such as the prior of Launde, Roger Clarendon, Archbishop Scrope and Thomas

Mowbray.2” As for his obituary for the king—which, after remarking (almost in an aside) that Henry had ruled powerfully for fourteen years, then dwelt at length on his revolting physical appearance and the growth of lice at his coronation which had foreshadowed it—it would be hard to deny that it avoids without

difficulty any semblance of greatness on the king’s part.?” Towards Glendower, his feelings were probably more mixed, for although Usk was a Welshman, he was a south Welshman, and from a lordship that was anglicized almost to the point of

schizophrenia. In the sections that he wrote before he left for Rome, it is hard not to detect a note of sympathy for Glendower and his followers: he says pointedly that the king regarded them as (rather than that they were) traitors and outlaws, noted with disapproval the brutality and sacrilege of Henry’s invasion of Wales in 1401, and supplied a generous epitaph for Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Vaughan, who suffered a gruesome death ‘because he had

supported Owen’. Not that Glendower’s own brutality escaped Usk’s notice, but the detail is less graphic, the tone less bitter.’ By 1414, his experiences during the intervening years had evidently persuaded him of the need to redress the speaks now of Glendower’s ‘unprecedented tyrannies’, ‘nor did he spare even the churches, which ultimately to his downfall’, and that ‘the people silently cursed

balance: he adding that was to lead his flagrant

barbarities’.”” When he came to record Glendower’s death in 1416, however, he passed no comment except to remark that he had to be re-interred because his enemies had discovered the location

of his grave.” Given what we know of Usk’s experiences in *71 Below, p. 170. 274 Below, pp. 134, 144. 277 Below, p. 262.

*? Below, pp. 174, 202. 75 Below, pp. 146-8

773 Below, p. 242. 276 Below, pp. 160, 172.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF HISTORY _ lxxxiii

1406-11, all this is rather strange. It is actually difficult to believe

that he did not, at heart, sympathize with Glendower’s cause, but, as with his true feelings about Henry IV, he was too cautious

to say so. This reticence was something that Usk had learned early. It is worth recalling his comment on his indictment in 1389: ‘henceforth I feared [the king] and his laws, and I placed a bit between my jaws’.”’* Nor was his reticence born of prudery or squeamishness: he provides an almost photographic account of Robert Bowlond’s sodomy with a nun, and did not shrink from the grisly details of execution or disease.”” On the contrary, Usk’s reticence was politically motivated. What are we to make, for example, of his account of Richard II’s death? There were essentially two versions of this: firstly, that Richard had starved himself to death of grief, secondly that he had been put to death on Henry’s orders, perhaps by starvation, perhaps by some more violent means.”*’ The latter, as Usk knew, was very probably true; whether he could say so was a different matter. What he did, therefore, was to conflate the two versions: when he heard of the failure of the Epiphany rising, says Usk, Richard’s ‘suffering deepened, and he pined away even unto death, which came to him in the most wretched of circumstances in Pontefract castle, on the last day of February, tormented, bound

with chains, and starved of food by Sir N. Swynford’.”*' What is Usk saying: that Richard starved himself, or that he was starved? Is he being ironic? If so, it was out of character; nowhere else does he employ irony. On the other hand, he enjoys giving the impression that he knows more than he tells. Hinting at Richard’s bastardy, he described Joan of Kent as ‘a mother given to slippery ways—to say nothing of many other things I have heard’.”** Twice when remonstrating against the iniquities of the papacy he pulled himself up

short with the words, ‘But here Plato bids me keep silent’.** He

introduces the withering letter which Philip Repingdon sent to the king in 1401 by saying simply, ‘Here is the text of a timely letter which was sent to King Henry’. Yet surely he must have known 278 Below, p. 16. 279 Below, pp. 120, 78, 242, 122. 280 Chronicles of the Revolution, pp. 50-1. *? Below, p. 62. 81 Below, p. go. 283 Below, pp. 118, 184: ‘Hic me iubet Plato quiescere’. He uses the same phrase in his letter of 1418 to William Swan, again when remonstrating against priestly corruption: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B. 23, fo. 108".

Ixxxiv

who wrote

INTRODUCTION

it—he had recently returned

from a visitation to

Nuneaton with Repingdon.™

All this is of a piece. It accords, for example, with Usk’s omission—erasure even, perhaps—of those few crucial facts which alone could make sense of his wanderings between 1406 and 1411, and it accords too with his self-presentation. Except on those occasions where he slips into first person narrative, Usk almost invariably refers to himself as compilator presencium—‘the compiler

of the present work’.?*> According to the theorists, a compilator was

different from an auctor (author). An auctor had authority (auctoritas), and deserved to be both believed and respected; a compilator merely ‘adds together or arranges the statements of other men, adding no opinions of his own’, which, although it meant that he could accept no praise for what he had ‘compiled’, also meant that he could deny both moral and literary responsibility for its content.”*° In calling himself a compilator, Usk was doubtless influenced by Higden, who had also described himself as such, but who evidently took a more exalted view of the task of compilatio

than the theorists.”*” In essence, this was probably no more than a humility topos, the customary and ostentatious medieval deference to higher authority (God, the ancients); on the other hand, in a chronicle in which silence is often more than a simple absence of noise, it is tempting to speculate whether Usk’s use of the term also had something to do with that denial of moral responsibility afforded to the compilator. For whom, then, did he write? He declared, in the spring of 1401, that he would ‘hate this account of my present follies to be seen during my lifetime’.”** This deserves to be taken at face value. 84 Below, pp. 136, 120. *8S ‘The only exceptions are when, describing his membership of the deposition committee and his visit to Richard II in the Tower in 1399, he twice describes himself as presencium notator (p. 62). ‘Notator’ had more of the meaning of a notary or scribe, a person publicly authorized to draw up memoranda and so forth. Usk’s use of the word is surely quite conscious and, given that he says that he ‘was conducted by Sir William Beauchamp’ to the Tower “for the specific purpose of ascertaining [Richard’s] mood

and behaviour’ (ipsius modum et gesturam explorando, per dominum Wyllelmum Beuchamp ad hoc specialiter inductus), probably indicates that he was entrusted with the task of drawing

up an official record of the deliberations or decisions of the deposition committee. It is not impossible that this was one of the factors which induced him to commence the journal which later provided the basis of his chronicle. *86 Minnis, Medieval Theory ofAuthorship, pp. 94, 101. 287 5 Polychronicon, i.] 10-12, 20. 88 Below, p. 118.

ADAM

USK

AND

THE

WRITING

OF

HISTORY _ lxxxv

There is nothing to suggest that Usk attempted to circulate or in any sense ‘publish’ his chronicle. It exists only in his personal copy of the Polychronicon, and seems to have remained virtually unknown for some four centuries after his death to anybody apart from (one presumes) some of his kinsmen, and a small number of Elizabethan antiquaries. So why the reticence, then? The answer to that question probably varies according to the section of the chronicle to which it is addressed, for the nature of Usk’s reticence

varies too. In the first two sections of the chronicle, it is really closer to political prudence—the prudence of a servant of the Lancastrian regime (who was also a Mortimer protégé) anxious to steer a course between what he knew to be the truth and what it was judicious to divulge: hence, for example, the circumlocution in his accounts of the deposition and death of Richard II. The third section of the chronicle is rather different: here the reticence is more directly related to Usk’s personal experiences, and is achieved more by absence of comment and simple omission than by equivocation. In fact, although it may be true that, even in 14012, Usk had no wish to see his chronicle circulated during his lifetime, he must at that stage have had in mind a wider audience than friends and family. The detailed nature and—once it became contemporary—formal structure of the chronicle (“Here follows the year of the Lord 1401’) certainly point in this direction, as do his direct appeals to the reader (/ector) to bear with his disordered

chronology and hasty translation.” This, surely, was written for eventual circulation, a true ‘chronicle of England’ which was both circumstantial and discreet enough to take its place in Lancastrian England as a worthy continuation to the work of Higden, and would also preserve for posterity the name and accomplishments of its author. By 1414, so much had changed. Usk’s nine-year absence from England had destroyed his chances of compiling an authoritative chronicle of Henry IV’s reign, and his own excommunication and outlawry had left him shunned and humiliated. Consequently, his chronicle too changed, becoming less formal, more anecdotal, more apprehensive and introspective. This reflects his motivation for writing, which was by now murkier: part-catharsis, part self-affirmation, perhaps even part selfdelusion: a means of making sense of his past. The audience he

envisaged had shrunk, however—to family and a few friends, 289 Below, pp. 18, 74.

Ixxxvi

INTRODUCTION

perhaps. Yet even from them, it seems, he still hoped to conceal his crowning folly, his defection to Avignon in 1406-7. His reticence now sprang not only from the need for political circumspection but also from embarrassment at his own indiscretions: indeed, so closely interwoven were his personal misfortunes and the political web that encompassed them during these years that any attempt to draw a distinction between them can seem at times misplaced. There is much in Usk’s chronicle which fits well with what are often regarded as the classic motives of the autobiographer: the use of his own life as a metaphor for his times, for example, or the identification of the self as representative of wider groupings (Welshman, clerk, lawyer). How long he may have agonized before deciding in 1414 to restart his chronicle can only be a matter for speculation—it was, after all, a story which required some care in the telling. But to have forgone the opportunity to pass down to his kinsmen and their progeny the knowledge that Adam Usk had once touched lightly the greatness of popes and kings, and had lived in dangerous times—that, surely, would have been too hard to bear. iv. EDITORIAL

PRACTICE

AND

ADAM

USK’S

ORTHOGRAPHY

Usk was a learned Latinist, with a sound grasp of syntax, although his desire not to waste words means that his constructions are at times intricate. His language can also be precious at times, as for example in his frequent use of adstatim (or occasionally ad statim) to emphasize the immediacy of ‘at once’, of depost for ‘behind’, and of the enclitic suffix - met, which he attaches not just to personal pronouns but to titles of great men: rexmet, for example, imperatormet,

and papamet.”” On the other hand, he had a tendency to slip into

cliché at times, especially when describing warfare, of which he had little or no personal experience: hence, presumably, his repeated use of phrases such as multitudine glomerata (to describe mobs or armies), and ferro et flamma (to describe military destruction). The phrase wt quid mora (or quid mora) also occurs fre-

quently, in the sense of ‘why delay?’ or ‘to cut a long story short’.

His use of this expression is symptomatic of his style as a whole, which is economical yet chatty, restless and discursive yet 290 Below, pp. 30, 190, 200. | am grateful to Michael Lapidge for his advice on Usk’s lexis and orthography.

EDITORIAL

PRACTICE

AND

ORTHOGRAPHY | lIxxxvii

frequently inquisitive and anecdotal, and at times pretentious and allusive: the style of a man who, for a variety of reasons, chose to tell less than he knew. Usk’s orthography was highly eccentric, as well as being inconsistent. Except where they can reasonably be inferred to result from scribal errors, eccentric spellings have usually been retained without comment in the text, but, to avoid confusion, it is worth noting them at this stage. They can be divided into four main types. Examples are given of each type, but different forms of the same stem (eg, reconsiliare and reconsiliacione) are omitted; also omitted are such common features of medieval orthography as the use of e for diphthongs ae and oe, the replacement of palatalised t with c, and the insertion of p into words such as dampna and columpna; all of which are common in Usk.

(a) Replacement ofone vowel with another There are frequent substitutions of e for i; of i for e; and of y for i: e for i: leberari (p. 4), interfecere (p. 4), clepeis (p. 56), ydeotis (p. 60), legulas (pp. 34, 204), fediles (p. 28), inconsutelem (p. 116), nemirum (pp. 122, 174, 176, 188, 208, 270), Hibernea (p. 150), optenere (p. 128), denoscitur (p. 82), derecte (p. 122).

i for e: rediunt (p. 252), inhorriato (p. 54), transiuntes (p. 58),

extranios (p. 64), debiat (p.74), dibita (p. 78), innocissibilis (p. 118), uixillum (p. 146), derilinquas (p. 152), expiticionem (for expedicionem, p. 206), irriquisito (p. 22) fediles (p. 26), diuictis (p. 44), redigit (p. 44), uirsimiliter (p. 46), contemporanium (p. 54), taciam (p. 62), tigurriis (pp. 188, 220), olium (p. 200), rubia (p. 206), ariffaccione (p. 242), subterania (p. 254), sepilitur (p. 262).

y for i (or ii, or hi): ymaginate (p. 12), plebey (p. 46), wygilia (for uigilia, p. 58), ydeotis (p. 92), ymmo (pp. 162, 176, 182), ydoneam (p. 176), confyngit (p. 176), yeme (for hieme, (p. 162), bymatri (p. 222).

(p. 26), byennyum (p.60), laycorum (p. 166), symulat p. 258), quinymo

i and u are also interchanged: i for u: pincto (p. 6), tumilata (pp. 46, 94), familancium (p. 8), nillatinus (p. 10), contimelia (p. 136).

INTRODUCTION

Ixxxviil

u for i: compulator (p. 16), exturpari (p. 112), confuscandas (p. 30), transfuguracionibus (p. 56), confluctus (p. 94), pugnus (p. 214), ictubus (p. 96), gradubus (p. 206). e, o, and a are sometimes interchanged: o for e (always before r): intollorabiles (pp. 2, 54), onorosa (p. 2), glomorosa (pp. 10, 264).

e for o: secordia (p. 166)

e for a: cercinis (for sarcinis, p. 252), sategens (p. 266), parliementum (pp. 8, 20) a for e: paticione (p. 22), maladiccione

(p. 270), callariorum

(p. 52) a for o: caranacione (for coronacione, p. 74), canapeum (p. 202) or canopeum (p. 206) (b) Replacement ofone consonant with another (see (d) below for interchangeability between consonants c¢, s, t and x) d for t: uelud (p. 6), condigit (p. 16), tande (p. 26), pudret (p.46), sodomidica (p. 62), radificare (pp. 6, 112), heredicus (p. 122), detendit (p. 138) , multidudine (p. 200) p for b: exturpari (p. 112), puplicauit (p. 88), Iacopum (p. 140), opturandum (p. 28), opsidionem (p. 266) k for c: clokca (p. 20)

t for d: expiticionem (p. 206) m for n: Naples is given alternately as Neapolym and Meapolym (pp. 158, 162, 172, 180)

w for consonant-u: wygilia (p. 58) c for g: neclexerat (pp. 222, 240) (c) Single and double consonants

Consonants are frequently doubled when they should not be and vice-versa:

Double (p. 240), cronica (p. 194),

consonants for single: consimillibus (p. 114), hillari Hillarii (pp. 36, 120), intollorabiles (pp. 2, 54), Polli(p. 66), palludes (p. 242), tolleratam (p. 90), fallanx phallerati (pp. 194, 198); asserruerunt (p. 2), sufferre

EDITORIAL

PRACTICE

AND

ORTHOGRAPHY _ Ixxxix

(p. 2), securritate (p. 62), tigurriis (pp. 188, 220), errogat (p. 254); neffandissime (p. 116), deffensiua (p. 20), defferentibus (p. G2); ariffaccione (p. 242); comittatibus (p. 4), prodittorie (p. 26), cognattos (p. 240); pertinencciis (p. 48), peccunie (p. 270); appertis(p. 270), (p.78), dupplicauit (p.244), suppremus simas appostolica (pp. 10, 36, 84), apperiens (p. 132); edditam (p. 26); asscendit (p. 36), depossicionem (p. 86), transsiens (pp. 10, 254), Blassii (p. 50); ommissionis (p. 138), flammine (p. 190); exinnanitio (p. 62), innito (p. 158), Hispannis (p. 210), Ennoc (p. 228). Single consonants for double: pupilus (p. 2), colegio (p. 30), coligebat (p. 62), calide (pp. 76, 86), humilimo (p. 86), solenizacionem (p. 104), pululabat (p. 248), rebelione (p. 138); coreccione (p. 130), teritorium (p. 240), miserime (pp. 160, 242, 270), occurendum (p. 166), pulcherimus (pp. 2, 18, 56), subterania (p. 254); comitti (pp. 50, 264), comissionem (p. 50), comendando (pp. 18, 60, 118, 136), imo (p. 256), amittenti (p. 76), comoda

(pp. 184, 244, 250); adiscens (p. 118); Oto (p. 64), dimitantur (p. 210); acusandum (pp. 8, 24), ocupando (pp. 56, 80, 84), mecanicos (pp. 88, go), oculta (p. 270); aplicando (p. 18), suplico (pp. 24, 74, 168), opressiones (p. 50), oportuno (pp. 8, 164, 192), oportunitatem (pp. 40, 50, 140, 172, 182, 188, 216, 238), opida (pp. 160, 220, 230); posessione (pp. 80, 82, 90, 134); byenium (p. 62), Britania (pp. 208, 214, 224), Normania (pp. 46, 264). f for ph, and ph for consonant-u: (p. 260).

fallanx (p. 194), phiolis

(d) Consonants c, s andx

c and s, when they precede e or i, are treated as virtually interchangeable: c for s: cedandum (pp. 4, 10), confucionem (pp. 6, 136), recistere (pp. 18, 54, 130, 134), concensu (pp. 24, 70), cerico (p. 26), occaciones (p. 38), pagencibus (p. 88), obcesso (p. 160), cenator (p. 194), cediciosorum (pp. 194, 216), cella (p. 194, for ‘saddle’), cecessum (p. 206), cercinis (p. 252), trancitu (p. 264), incistendo (p. 98), cisti (p. 210), Hybernences (pp. 18, 208), Francegenas (p. 142).

XC

INTRODUCTION

s for c: siuem (p. 4), excersitu (pp. 4, 12, 14, 16, 18, 38, 56, 86), sensuris (p. 36), uisinis (p. 56), proiesisse (p. 180), prinsipalis (p. 56), sertos (p. 62), circumsinctos (p. 70), ferositas (p. 140),

sensu (p. 184), selle (p. 208, for ‘monastic cells’), reconsiliare

(pp. 50, 176, 238), trusidauit (p.270), licensiando (p. 36), inbesillia (p. 178), Scosia (pp. 168, 170), prophesia (p. 16), presensium (p. 20), assumsionis (p. 58) Combinations of s and c, when they appear before e or i, are frequently varied:

s for se: seleratissima (p. 6), consios (p. 12), septrum (p. 72), sisma (pp. 200, 266), sedulas (p. 264) ss for sc: sussitata (pp. 58, 168), pisses (pp. 182, 226, 230), lassiuias (p. 38), innocissibilis (p. 118) sc for ss: discensionibus (p. 64) sc for c: pascietur (p. 16), trescenta (p. 204), innoscentum (p. 98)

sc for s: scisti (pp. 30, 32, 96) c for se: laciuiam (p. 8) ss for ce: discressionis (p. 138)

c for ss: ambaciatores (pp. 166, 198) Combinations of x, ¢ and s are unpredictable: xc for x: excercitum (passim), toxcicatus (p. 60), excistens (pp. 24,

26, 30, 44, 52, 58, 78), excercuit (p. 4) x for xe: exepto (p. 32)

xs for x: exspendo (p. 96), exstiterant (pp. 170, 176)

c for x: destrucit (p. 64) (e) Miscellaneous Additional examples of eccentric orthography include: tesaurum (for thesaurum, p. 256; also thezauros, p. 244) decenstissimo (for decentissimo, p. 202) quigintas (for quingentas, p. 210) pleibei (for plebei, p. 2) choortem (for cohortem, p. 222) ares (for maiestatem, pp. 4, 8, 22), Troge (for Troie, p. 42

EDITORIAL

PRACTICE

AND

ORTHOGRAPHY

xcl

trono (for throno, pp. 10, 68, 118) Sthephanum (for Stephanum, p. 1 58), Pentechostes (for Pentecostes, p. 192), cathena (for catena, p. 266) coronisis (for chronicis, p. 46) equuorum (for equorum, p. 50)

Analysis of Usk’s orthography leads to a number of conclusions. Firstly, his eccentricities are not applied consistently. For example, each of the following occurs within the same sentence as its variant: parliamentum and parliementi, exercitu and excercitum (and later, excersitu), maiestatem and magestatis, consensu and concensu, fideles and fediles, censuras and sensuris, coronacione and caranaclone, herode and herawd, and resistenciam and recistenciam®! In other words, Usk’s orthographic eccentricities did not arise from independently held (or inculcated) views on the subject, but, to some extent at least, from a simple lack of concern with consistency. It also seems clear that some of them reflect his pronunciation of Latin, ie, that in cases where he used i and e, e and 0, or e and a interchangeably, y for i, c for s and vice-versa, g for i (magestatem), and combinations of x, c, and s, it was because he did not distinguish between the pronunciation of those letters in those places. Secondly, Usk’s eccentricities occur in all the main hands in which the manuscript is written, indicating that generally speaking they reflect his own practice rather than that of his scribes. This also suggests that, rather than actually dictating the chronicle to his amanuenses, he wrote rough drafts which they copied into the manuscript, thereby reproducing his spellings. On the other hand, certain spellings are more common in some hands than others: for example, xe for x (eg, excercitum, excistens) is very common in Hand

One, but much less so in Hands Seven—Eleven, whereas the use of y for i in places other than the initial letter (eg, symulat, confyngit, bymatri) is especially noticeable in Hand Seven. Thus certain of Usk’s personal idiosyncrasies may have been exaggerated by the orthographical preferences of his scribes. Thirdly, none of the documents reproduced in the chronicle is wholly free of eccentricities: even the list of questions sent to Usk by the king in 1400 concerning the return of Queen Isabella to France—a document which originated in the royal chancery— 291 Below, pp. 8, 10, 16, 22, 28, 36, 74, 132, 134-

Xcli

INTRODUCTION

includes a small number of typical deviations such as consensu (as well as concensum), radificata, exturpare, and consimillibus. The same is true of the bull (from the papal chancery) confirming Rupert of Bavaria’s election as emperor, which includes oportunis, occurendum, both ydoneam and idonea, and suplentes, and of the poem on the signs preceding the Day of Judgement, which includes pisses and opida. However, these documents certainly contain a smaller proportion of abnormal spellings than the rest of the chronicle. The evidence suggests that in each case Usk made his own copy of the document, thereby (either through preference or carelessness) incorporating some of his own orthographic eccentricities, which were thus copied by the scribe. Fourthly, there arises the question of the extent to which Usk’s orthography was influenced by his knowledge of Welsh. Professor Morris-Jones thought the reverse to be true: that his spelling of

Welsh was affected by his knowledge of other languages.” He noted, for example, that, in the list of Welsh kings and his genealogy of the Mortimers, Usk failed to make the (in Welsh) distinction between i and y (Rodry), used the -e ‘so common in English and French, but foreign

princes in significant final mute to Welsh orthography’ (Rune), and wrote th for Welsh dd (Cunetha; and see Bladudd, which should be Bladud). On the other hand, his use of Welsh LI instead of Anglo-French Thl (Llewellyn), and the fact that in Thui (Welsh Ddu) he added i to indicate that it was the Welsh and not the English u, suggest that these were differences at

least some of which he was aware of.’”? Morris-Jones suggested that Usk was ‘thoroughly conversant with English and French, and probably possessed only a colloquial knowledge of Welsh’. This may well be correct. Unless one is to interpret both his own plea for the retention of the Welsh tongue and Glendower’s insistence on having Welsh speakers for his bishops as mere rhetorical stances, it would be hard to imagine that Usk was not a Welsh speaker. Whether he ever wrote much in Welsh is another matter. In fact, his orthographical eccentricities are so inconsistently introduced as to suggest that his knowledge of Anglo-Norman (notoriously capricious in its orthography) was a more decisive influence than his knowledge of Welsh; in other words, it may have bred in him a degree of carelessness. *? “Adam Usk’s epitaph’, pp. 120-1, 125-7.

°3 Below, p. 40.

EDITORIAL

PRACTICE

AND

ORTHOGRAPHY

XClil

Capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing have, in accordance with OMT conventions, been modernized in the Latin text. Latin j and v are rendered as i and u respectively, but U as V. Where the text appears to be corrupt, conjectural reconstructions are given in angle brackets (either adopted from Thompson’s suggestions, or supplied by myself). Where portions of the text are based on identified sources, and alternative copies exist, these have been used to correct manifest errors or supply omissions. Marginals which are in the same hand as the accompanying text are treated as paragraph headings and inserted in italics. All other (later) marginals are noted in the apparatus criticus. Names of persons and places are reproduced exactly as given:

where the text gives Lanc’, for example, I have given Lanc’, but where it gives Lancastrie, | have given Lancastrie. In the English text, names of foreign persons and places are anglicized (John, not Jean; Rome, not Roma). As to our chronicler’s name, he has of course generally been known as Adam of Usk. There is no doubt, however (as Thompson recognized nearly a century ago),’” that he both referred to himself and was commonly referred to as Adam Usk, and it is as the Chronicle of Adam Usk, therefore, that this

text appears. CER GA Cepaxt:

a

=

“is

_

1

‘=

THE CHRONICLE OF ADAM USK Se

ae

1377-1421

“¥ Watts

'

*

Rat Se SS 1s ieee

a

£

~

anes,

Pag? s.7

i ;

iii

se)

ye";

ee

/

i eH

fa

i

Sie

ia Micon “rete

.

pean: scar lootes ars viet

re

pute

“h O 0Or

eit

on - She

gee ae "ar

7 gaeathe repro +t

Pea wor oy

SO

Fesien eis

egiorcemee asLang: ian peer

ee

ae

mare _—

i

,

hele Ce

sf

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

.. 155" 1377 Predicto gracioso Edwardo in uigilia natalis sancti Iohannis baptiste anno regni sui quinquagesimo secundo ab hac uita subtracto, ipsius nepos Ricardus, Edwardi principis Wallie dicti regis primogeniti filius, undecim annorum pupilus, inter omnes mortales ac si secundus Apsalon pulcherimus, ei* successit aput Westm’ in festo sancti Kenelmi coronatus.’ Isti Ricardi regni sui tempore plura uotiue inclita® ferebantur. Et quia tenere etatis existebat, alii

1381

ipsius et regni curam habentes lasciuias, extorciones et alias intollorabiles iniurias regno irrogare non desistebant. Tac Straw. Vnde illud accidit monstruosum ut pleibei regni, et potissime Cancie et Essexie, sub misero duce lac Straw’ in regni dominos et regis officiarios, huiusmodi iniurias et potissime‘ taxacionum et collectarum, ut asserruerunt, sufferre’ non ualentes, in multitudine onorosa insurgendo London’ in uigilia corporis Christi anno Domini millesimo trecentisimo octogesimo primo uenerunt.

fo. 155°

Cancellarii et thesaurarii decapitacio. Et magistrum Symonem Sudbyry Cant’ archiepiscopum, tunc regis cancellarium, et dominum Robertum Hales eius thesaurarium, pluresque alios iuxta turrim® London’ decapitarunt;? ubi adhuc, in locis decapitacionis dictorum dominorum, in tanti prodigii memoriam due cruces marmoree eriguntur in perpetuum durature. |In isto plebeiorum tumultu, plures regni magnates quampluribus regni partibus fuerunt decapitati. Ducis Lancastrie palacium regni pulcherimum, Sauoy nuncupatum, prope London’ super Thamisii ripam, quia plebeiis exosi, per ipsos totaliter igne extitit destructum, ipseque dux ipsorum metu territus in Scosiam fugam arripuit.* Quibus ad 7 et expunged 4 interlined

> corr. by expunction from © turrum M.S

inclinata

© sax

expunged

' These dates are incorrect: Edward III died at Sheen on 21 June 1377, the 51st year of his reign. Richard was crowned on 16 July. For Absalom’s beauty, see 2 Kgs. (2 Sam.) 14:

258 * Like Knighton and others, Usk appears to confuse the elusive Jack Straw (or Rackstraw) with Wat Tyler. For Straw’s alleged confession, see Historia Anglicana, ii. 10.

* Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury 1375-81 and chancellor since Jan. 1380, and Hg SS pe Hales, prio eae ofth italotofSfigp2oe ru i England and treasurer since i salem in Feb.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

The aforesaid noble Edward having departed this life on the eve of 1 377

the Nativity of St John the Baptist [23 June] in the fifty-second year of his reign, his grandson Richard, a child of eleven years, the son of the same king’s first-born child Edward prince of Wales, and the fairest of men, like a second Absalom, succeeded him and was crowned at Westminster on the feast of St Kenelm [17 July].! Many great things were hoped for in the time of this Richard’s reign; but, because he was of tender age, other persons who had charge of him and of the kingdom did not cease to inflict wanton evils, extortions,

and other intolerable injustices upon the realm. Jack Straw. As a result of this, there came to pass that monstrous

time when the common people of the kingdom, and especially those of Kent and Essex, rising up with overwhelming force under their wretched leader Jack Straw against the lords of the realm and the king’s ministers,’ and declaring that they were no longer able to endure oppressions of this sort, and especially the taxes and other collections, made their way to London on the eve of Corpus Christi [12 June] in the year of our lord 1381. Beheading of thechancellor and treasurer. And they beheaded Master Simon Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, at that time the king’s chancellor, and Sir Robert Hales, his treasurer, and many others, just by the Tower of London;’ where, to this day, at the places where these lords were beheaded, two crosses of marble have been set up, to stand there for ever in memory of so terrible a deed. During this rising of the common people various magnates of the realm were beheaded in a number of different places. The palace called the Savoy, the most beautiful in the kingdom, which stood on the banks of the Thames close to London and belonged to the duke of Lancaster, was burned down and destroyed in its entirety by the common people because of their hatred for him, while the duke himself fled to Scotland in terror of them.’ The king, in order 4 The Savoy was burnt down on 13 June. It had been built by Gaunt’s father-in-law Henry, first duke of Lancaster (d. 1361), apparently at a cost of 52,000 marks (£34,666) (Knighton, p. 188). Gaunt had in fact left to hold a March-day with the Scots in late May (Anthony Goodman, John of Gaunt (Harlow, 1992), pp. 78, 304)-

1381

4

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

1381 placendum ipsorumque ferocitatem ad cedandum, rex concessit omnem seruilem condicionem tam in personis quam eorum operis de regno a cetero exturbari, libertatem penitus concedendam omnesque incarceratos leberari, hocque ubique in regni comittatibus publice mandauit et fecit proclamari. O quantus regni desolati tunc uibrabatur luctus, quia omnes regni nobiliores interfecere, ex seipsis regem et dominos erigere, nouas leges condere, et breuiter tocius insule et eius superficiem statumque renouare—ymmo uerius deturpare—iactabant. Quisque sibi exosum decapitabat, si diciorem spoliabat. Tamen Deo mediante dicti eorum ducis in Smythfelde iuxta London’, regi quia capicium non deponentis nec ipsius regis magestatem in aliquo reuerentis, in suorum miluorum* medio subtiliter per dominum Wyllelmum Walworth militem, London’ siuem, capite amputato et subito in gladii mucrone publice erecto et eis ostenso, ipsi plebeii, nunc penitus territi, subterfugia undique querentes, ibidem ipsorum inuasiuis dimissis armis ac si huiusmodi tumultus et facinoris inmunes, miserabiliter tanquam uulpes ad foueas' ad propria remearunt. Quos rex et domini insequentes quosdam post equos trahendo, quosdam gladiis trucidando, quosdam ad _ furcas suspendendo, quosdam membratim diuidendo, ad milia trucidarunt. Pilius cardinalis. Isto eodem anno uenit quidam in Angl’ dictus Pilius, tituli sancti? Praxedis presbiter cardinalis, ad tractandum cum concilio Angl’, ex parte imperatoris Almanie, regis Boemie, de et super matrimonio inter regem nostrum predictum et dominam Annam, dicti imperatoris sororem, postea ex eo capite Angl’ reginam benignissimam, licet sine prole defunctam; ineundo cardenalis¢ iste, false se fingens legatum a latere esse ac potestatem pape habere, uices papales tunc excercuit, me inter cetera notarium tunc, licet inutiliter, in domo fratrum predicacionis London’ ubi tunc morabatur, creauit. Infinitam pecuniam sic collegit et ab Angl’ cum@ eadem pecunia, eodem tractatu matrimonii expedito, * muluorum MS > sic MS. © cardenalus corr. to cardenalis MS

Usk evidently thought St Praxedes 4 eisdem del.

was

male

‘ Matt. 8: 20. Cf. the ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’ (BL, Cotton Faustina A. viii, fo. 115"): ‘et tunc erit tempus miluorum’. For Tyler’s death on 15 June, see The Anonimalle Chronicle 1333 to 1381, ed. V. H. Galbraith (Manchester, 1927), pp. 146-9. The king later revoked

his concessions to the rebels (RP iii. gg).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

5

to appease them and to calm their fury, granted to them that in 138: future all servile status, whether personal or relating to their labour, would be abolished in the kingdom, granting them absolute freedom and declaring that all those who were imprisoned should be set free; and he ordered this to be proclaimed publicly through all the shires of the realm. What anguish then gripped this forsaken land, for they boasted that they would kill all those in the kingdom who were nobler-born than them, and elect a king and lords from amongst themselves, and that they would make new laws; in brief, that they would transform—which meant, in fact,

destroy—this whole island and its existing society. Then each man beheaded whomsoever he hated, and robbed anyone wealthier than him. At length however, once their leader—because he would not doff his cap to the king, or show any kind of respect for his majesty—had, through God’s intervention, been summarily beheaded by Sir William Walworth, knight and citizen of London, at Smithfield near London, in the very midst of his kites, and his head promptly held aloft at the point of a sword and shown to them, the common people, now terror-struck, sought refuge wherever they could, throwing down their weapons of war where they stood, as if to pretend that they were quite innocent of rebellion or any such crime, and crept miserably to their homes, like foxes to their holes.! But the king and the lords, pursuing them, had some of them dragged behind horses, some put to the sword, some hanged on gallows, and some dismembered; and thus did

they slaughter them in their thousands. Cardinal Pilius. In this same year a man called Pilius, cardinalpriest of the titular church of St Praxedes, came to England to discuss with the English council, on behalf of the German emperor, the king of Bohemia, a proposal for marriage between our aforesaid king and the lady Anne, the sister of this emperor— and later, as a result of this, most gracious queen of England, even though she died childless; on his arrival this cardinal, falsely claiming that he was a legate a Jatere and was acting with the authority of the pope, promptly assumed papal powers, and among other things he appointed me a notary, in the house of the friars preachers in London, where he was staying at the time; this

appointment was, however, to no effect. Having thus collected

enormous sums of money, and having concluded the marriage negotiations, he left England, taking his money with him, to his

CHRONICON

6 1381 1382

ADE

VSK

ad sui recessit dampnacionem, credens tamen, licet in uanum, facta sua huiusmodi per papam radificari.'

Rex emit sibi uxorem. Post cuius recessum, dicta domina Anna, per dominum regem magno precio redempta, quia a rege Francie in uxorem affectata, in Angliam et Angl’ reginam transmittitur

coronanda.’

Salamonis iuxta prouerbium, ‘Ve regno cuius rex puer est’,’ eiusdem Ricardi iuuentutis tempore plurima infortunia, propter eam causata pariter a contingencia, regnum Angl’ non cessarunt perturbare, ut premittitur et inferius plenius notabitur, usque ad magnam eiusdem regni confucionem, ipsiusque Ricardi regis sibique nimis uoluptuose adherencium finalem destruccionem; inter cetera infortunia, ymmo omnium scelerum seleratissima, in fide scilicet catholica errorum et heresum per* semina cuiusdam magistri lohannis Wycleff, pestifere doctrine uelud lollio* eandem fidem corrumpentis, Anglia et potissime London’ et Bristolia extiterunt corrupte. Cuius magistri Iohannis, ut Machomdus, discipuli, potentibus et diuitibus placabilia, decimarum scilicet et oblacionum retencionem ac temporalium a clero ablacionum, juuenibusque incontinenciam meritorias existere predicando, multas clades, insidias, rixas et contenciones et sediciones adhuc durantes et, ut timeo, usque ad regni confusionem duraturas, nefandissime seminarunt. Vitulus Oreb. Vnde in pluribus regni partibus, et precipue London’ et Bristolie, uelud Iudei ad Montem Oreb propter uitulum conflatilem—Exodius? triginta duo*—mutuo in se reuertentes, uiginti tres milium de suis miserabilem pacientes casum merito doluerunt, Anglici inter se de fide antiqua et noua altercantes omni die sunt in pincto quasi mutuo ruinam et sedicionem inferendi; et timeo ita finaliter contingere, ut sic prius contingebat quod plures London’ fideles contra dictum ducem Lancastrie, quia dicti magistri Iohannis fautorem, ad eius interfectionem * interlined

> underlined

" Pileus de Prata, archbishop of Ravenna from 1370 (cardinal from 1378) until 1387, when he was deposed by Pope Urban VI for adhering to the Avignon pope, Clement VII (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 202, 203 n.) For his nefarious activities in England in the spring of 1381, see Historia Anglicana, i. 452; see also Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 61, and Foedera, vii. 284, 296.

* Anne of Bohemia, sister of Wenzel, king of Bohemia (1378-1419) and Holy Roman emperor (1378-1400), married Richard on 20 Jan. 1382 and was crowned two days later (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 22, 24). Knighton (pp. 240-2) says that Richard gave Wenzel

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

7

great discredit, believing, though wrongly, that what he had done

1 381

would be ratified by the pope.! The king purchasesawife for himself. After his departure, the afore- 1 382 said lady Anne was purchased by the lord king for a great sum, for she had also been sought as a bride by the king of France, and was brought across to England to be crowned queen of England” In keeping with the saying of Solomon, ‘Woe to the land whose king is a child’,’ during the time of this Richard’s youth, both because of it and because of what resulted from it, numerous misfortunes continued to plague the English kingdom, as has already been explained, and will become more apparent from what follows, leading to great confusion in this realm, and, in the end, to the destruction of King Richard himself and of those who clung to him too fondly. Among other evils—indeed the greatest of them all—there

arose errors and heresies in the catholic faith on account of the seeds sown by a certain Master John Wyclif, whose noxious doctrine contaminated the faith as if by tares,* whereby England, and especially London and Bristol, were polluted. Like Mohammed, the followers of this Master John, by preaching in favour of things that were pleasing to the rich and powerful, such as the withholding of tithes and oblations, the confiscation of temporalities from the clergy, and the immorality of the young, most wickedly incited numerous massacres, plots, disputes, quarrels, and rebellions, which continue to this day and will result, I fear, in the ruin of the kingdom. The calf of Horeb. As a result of which, in various parts of the realm, and particularly in London and Bristol, the English people—in the same way that the Jews at Mt. Horeb, turning upon each other because of the molten calf (Exodus 32),° justly had cause to bemoan the miserable fate suffered by 23,000 of their number—by quarrelling amongst themselves about the old faith and the new, are continually on the point of mutual destruction or rebellion; and I fear that is how it will in the end come to pass, as it did once on an earlier occasion when various of the London faithful rose up against the aforesaid duke of Lancaster, planning to kill him, because he was a supporter of this Master John, so that, £10,000 for the marriage, and its cost was criticized by a number of chroniclers (Foedera, vii. 282-3, 288, 290, 295-6, 301; Anthony Tuck, RichardITand the English Nobility (London,

3 Eccles. 10: 16. 1973), p- 61). For Anne’s death, see below, p. 18. 4 Cf. Matt. 13: 25. Knighton has John Purvey preaching at Bristol; he too compared the Wycliffites to the disciples of Mahomet (Knighton, pp. 290, 305). 5 Exod. 32: 28 gives 3000 as the number of idolaters slain on Moses’ orders.

CHRONICON

8 USI,

fo. 156"

ADE

VSK

insurrexerant, ita quod uix unam nauiculam captatam intrans a prandio ultra Thamisiam affugiens uiuus euasit.! Huiusmodi errores et hereses in ciuitate London’ in | tantum excreuerunt quoad huiusmodi occasione rixe et discordia quandoque infamati super eisdem coram ordinariis uenirent responsuri. Populus ad mille, quidam ad acusandum, quidam ad defendendum, eosdem conuiciis et rixis confluere solebant quasi mutuo irruere proper-

antes. 1401

Lollardria. Creuit eciam eorum malicia in tantum quod tempore secundi parlementi Henrici regis quarti, infrascripti, quidam huiusmodi Lollardi, ex omni parte regni London’ congregati, proposuerunt se clerum ad tunc ibidem conuocatum penitus destruxisse. Sed dominus meus Cant’, eorum malicie precautus, remedia

parauit oportuna, ut inferius liquebit. Propter plurima inoportuna tempore “regis Ricardi, eius iuuentute causata, solempne parliamentum Westm’ fuit celebratum, in quo duodecim regni magnates ad gubernandum regem et regnum, ac ad refrenandum laciuiam et excessus sibi familancium et adulancium, et breuiter ad regni negocia remediandum, plena parliementi prouisione, sed—pro dolor—ad° infrascripta tedia, prefecti extiterunt.’ Ipse ex huiusmodi prefectione* rex indignans sue magestatis libertatem debitam per suos ligeos refrenari, ad instigacionem sibi famulancium, propter eorundem turpis lucre suspensionem ob hoc inuidencium, usque ad eiusdem regis sicque instigancium pluriumque dictorum prefectorum? exterminium, dictos prefectos infestare non cessauit. Ex quo—pro dolor—quanti dolores et tedia fuerunt insecuta, et presertim de morte illorum nobilium ducis Glowcestrie et comitis Arundelie, plenius infra 1387 liquebit.* Vt quid mora, dicti instigantes, ad suffocacionem subitaneam dictorum duodecim prefectorum, unum concilium generale in turri London’ celebrari ordinarunt, in quo dictos duodecim per latentes armatorum insidias ad idem concilium conuocatos simul et subito perimere proposuerunt. Sed Deus omnipotens dictos

1386

* tempora MS

> interlined

© perfectione MS

4 perfectorum MS

' This incident occurred on 20 Feb. 1377. Gaunt and Henry Percy fled from dinner at the house of Sir John d’Ypres by rowing across the Thames to Princess Joan’s manor of Kennington: see Chronicon Angliae, pp. 121-6, and Goodman, John of Gaunt, p. 61. * For the parliament of r4or, see below, pp. 120-6. 3 The ‘wonderful parliament’ of Oct.—Dec. 1386; the Commission of Government, appointed on 19 Nov., contained fourteen members, not twelve (RP iii. 349-50).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

9

leaving his dinner unfinished, he only escaped with his life by seizing a little boat and fleeing in it across the Thames.! Errors and heresies of this sort increased to such an extent in the city of London that whenever those who were accused of such things were brought to answer before their ordinaries, riots and disturbances of this sort occurred. The people would hastily gather together in

1377

their thousands, some to accuse them, others to defend them, riot-

ing and quarrelling as if bent on mutual destruction. Lollardy. And their malice increased to such an extent that at the 1401 time of the second parliament of King Henry IV—of which more below—certain of these Lollards, assembling in London from every part of the kingdom, intended utterly to destroy the clergy, who were at that time meeting in convocation there. But my lord of Canterbury, forewarned of their evil schemes, had prepared suitable counter-measures, as will be explained below.’ Because of the numerous misfortunes of King Richard’s time, 1386 which were caused by his youth, a formal parliament was held at Westminster in which twelve magnates of the realm were appointed, in full parliament, to govern the king and the kingdom, to curb the lasciviousness and greed of his familiars and sycophants, and, in short, to reform the affairs of the realm—but with unfortunate results, as will be seen.° For the king, incensed that as a result of this appointment the royal liberty to which he was accustomed was being curtailed by his own subjects, tried ceaselessly, at the prompting of his familiars, on account of their jealousy at the loss of their ill-gotten gains, to undermine those who had been appointed, leading eventually to the downfall of the king himself, his aiders and abettors, and several of the aforesaid appointees. As a result of which, sad to relate, there followed untold misery and tedium, most notably the deaths of those noble lords the duke of Gloucester and the earl of Arundel—of which more later.* To be brief: these aiders and abettors, scheming 1387 secretly to annihilate the aforesaid twelve appointees, gave orders for a general council to be held in the Tower of London, at which they planned to have these twelve suddenly and simultaneously

assassinated by concealed men-at-arms who had been summoned to the same council to ambush them. But Almighty God arranged

4 Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Edward III, and Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel; for their deaths see below, pp. 30-2.

10

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

fortiter accedere dispo1387 duodecim, de tanta malicia precautos, tam

suit; ita ut per industriam militarem eorundem rex et ipsum instigantes perturbati, regnum assurgere cum eisdem duodecim timuerunt, unde pacem licet fictam se habere procurarunt. Hoc audito domina principissa regis mater, ad huiusmodi tumultum cedandum, nocturno labori non parcens,* a Walingforde uersus London’ cordis non modica’contricione iter arripuit; que London’ flexis genibus filium suum regem rogauit, sub sua benedictione, se uotis adulancium et presertim dictorum instigancium nillatinus inclinare, alias maledictionem suam sibi induxit. Quam rex reuerenter erexit, promittens se iuxta dictorum duodecim uelle gubernari consilium;° cui dixit mater, ‘Alias in coronacione tua, fili, gaudebam me tanti nati in regem coronati’ matrem promeruisse fieri. Set iam doleo quia tui ruinam uideo imminere per maledictos adulatores tuos tibi causatam.’ Tunc rex cum matre sua ad aulam Westm’ transsiens, et ibidem in trono regali sedens, eosdem duodecim, licet tamen ficte et dissimulatorie, per matris© media-

cionem reconciliauit.' Fuga comitis Oxonie et aliorum. Postmodum comes Oxon’ cum litteris regiis ad partes transit Cestrie, et ipsos Cestrienses in multitudine glomorosa et armata pro destruccionem dictorum duodecim secum adduxit.2 Cuius rei dux’ Glowcestrie, comes Derbeie, Arundelie, Notingamie et Warwycie precauti, in glorioso exercitu stipati, ante eorum Cestrensium’ excessum ad regem, dictum comitis excercitum in uigilia sancti Thome appostoli aput Ratcodbruch in comitatu Oxon’ disperserunt,’ ac dictum comitem Oxon’ in fugam, sine spe redeundi, quia in partibus transmarinis interiit, propulerunt. Fugerunt eciam tunc a facie eorundem dominorum Alexander Neuile, Ebrocenc’ archiepiscopus, et dominus Michael * corr. in marg. from 4 ac me tanti nati del. interlined

pascens > condicione expunged © sue del. f interlined above

comes

© interlined expunged

" Usk has confused at least two distinct events in this passage. The interview between the king and his opponents referred to here is probably that which took place on 17 Nov. 1387 in Westminster Great Hall, when Gloucester, Arundel, and Thomas Beauchamp

earl of Warwick came fully armed ‘with 300 horse’, according to the Westminster chron-

icler (pp. 208-14; see also Knighton, pp. 400-16). Richard’s mother, Joan, countess of

Kent and princess of Wales, had died in Aug. 1385, but in Mar. of that year she inter-

vened in a dispute between the king and John of Gaunt which had arisen out of a rumour that Richard was plotting Gaunt’s death (Historia Anglicana, ii. 126; Westminster

Chronicle, p. 114).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

II

for the twelve, who had been forewarned of their evil intentions, to 1387 arrive there in sufficient force, so that the king and his abettors, outwitted by their warlike preparations, and fearing that the realm would rise up with the aforesaid twelve, instead made a show of seeking peace with them. Hearing this, our lady the princess, the king’s mother, in order to calm this tumult, disdaining not to

labour in the night, hastened from Wallingford to London with a grieving heart; and, having reached London, fell to her knees and begged her son the king, as he valued her blessing, and under pain of incurring her malediction, to forsake utterly the advice of these flatterers, and especially that of the aforesaid abettors. The king, respectfully raising her up, promised that he would willingly be governed according to the council of the aforesaid twelve. His

mother said to him, ‘Formerly, my son, at your coronation, I rejoiced that I should have been worthy to have given birth to a child who would be crowned a king; now, however, I grieve, for I foresee your downfall, on account of these accursed flatterers of yours.’ Then the king went through with his mother into Westminster hall, and there, sitting on his royal throne, he pretended, though falsely, to be reconciled to the aforesaid twelve through his

mother’s mediation.! The flight of the earl of Oxford and others. Following this the earl of Oxford made his way to the Chester region bearing royal letters, and summoned a great crowd of armed Cheshiremen to join him, in order to destroy the aforesaid twelve.’ But the duke of Gloucester and the earls of Derby, Arundel, Nottingham, and Warwick, forewarned of his plans, gathered a splendid host and, before the

Cheshiremen could be brought to the king, defeated the said earl’s army at Radcot Bridge in Oxfordshire, on the eve of the feast of St Thomas the Apostle [20 December];* thus did they force the aforesaid earl of Oxford to flee without hope of return—for he died overseas. Alexander Nevill, the archbishop of York, and Michael 2 Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, marquis of Dublin (1385), and duke of Ireland (1386), one of the five ‘traitors’ appealed of treason by Gloucester, Arundel, and

Warwick on 17 Nov. 1387, fled to Cheshire to raise an army on Richard’s behalf. Following his defeat at Radcot Bridge, a number of letters to him from the king fell into his opponents’ hands (Historia Anglicana, ii. 169), which later formed the basis of one of the charges against him in the Merciless Parliament (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 266-8). 3 Henry Bolingbroke, earl of Derby, the son of John of Gaunt (and future King Henry IV), and Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham, probably joined forces with Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick in early Dec. after hearing of de Vere’s flight to Cheshire.

12

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

regis consiliarii, et numquam 1387 de Pole, comes Southfolchie, maximi fo. 156"

reuersuri“in exilio perierunt.’ Claues ciuitatis. Tunc presencium compilator Oxon’ in°iure

canonico extraordinarius existens, dictorum quinque dominorum excercitum a dicto conflictu uersus London’ transire‘uidit per Oxon’,? in cuius excercitus gubernacione Warwyci et Derbeie primam aciem/ comites, dux Glowcestr’ mediam, ac Arundelie et Notyngamie posteram comites tenebant. Maior London’, ipsorum aduentum audiens, eis ciuitatis claues transmisit.* Quo facto, dicti

1388

quinque domini turrem London’ in festo sancti Iohannis “euangeliste‘usque ad eius dedicionem obsiderunt.* Regem in ea existentem adstatim sub noua gubernacione ordinarunt, ipsius adulatorios consiliarios usque ad parliementum proxime extunc sequens dispersis carcerum custodiis tradiderunt.° In* crastinum purificationis beate Virginis dictos fugientes exularunt; omnes regis iusticiarios, quia mortis eorundem ymaginate ut premittitur consios, ipsiusque regis confessorem, Cicestranc’ episcopum, in

Hyberniam deportarunt.® Alios ipsius regis” suis excessibus inordinatos fautores, ymmo uerius’ causatores, dominos Symonem de Beuerley eius camerarium, Robertum Tresilian’ principalem iusticiarium, Nycholaum Brembil London’ maiorem, Iacobum Usk et Iohannem , Berners et lohannem Salusbiri milites, Thomam

Blake domicellos, et alios quamplures decapitarunt.’ * interlined above peruersi > interlined * bap(tiste) del. f dictum turrem del. ' interlined

° trasire MS £ Venerunt

4 aciam MS del. " rege MS

/ supplied in marg.

' De Vere was killed in a hunting accident at Louvain in Nov. 1392; in Sept. 1395 Richard had his body brought back to England and buried in the family tomb at Earl’s Colne (Annales, pp. 184-5). Alexander Nevill, archbishop of York 1373-88, died in May 1392, also at Louvain; he had been translated by Pope Urban VI to the see of St Andrews in Apr. 1388, but since Scotland recognized the Avignon pope this was a meaningless gesture. Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, died at Paris in Sept. 1389. * Knighton (p. 424) and the Westminster Chronicler (p. 224) also say that the victorious lords passed through Oxford after the battle. * This is confirmed by Knighton (p. 424); see also Historia Anglicana, ii. 171. The mayor of London was Nicholas de Exton; at a meeting with the king on 1 Dec., he avoided promising Richard the support of the city, and asked to be relieved of his office, which the king refused (Westminster Chronicle, p. 216 and n. 2).

* The lords entered the Tower on 30 Dec. 1387. Richard had moved there from Windsor after Radcot Bridge (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 224-6). * There are lists of those imprisoned or dismissed from court in Westminster Chronicle, pp. 228-30, Historia Anglicana, ii. 172-3, and Knighton, pp. 426-30. ° For the proceedings of the Merciless Parliament of Feb.—June 1388, see Westminster Chronicle, pp. 235-343, and RP iii. 228-56. Thomas Rushook, the king’s Dominican

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

13

de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, the king’s chief councillors, also fled at 1387

that time in the face of these lords, never to return; for they too

perished in exile.!

The keys of the city. The compiler of this present work was at that time an extraordinary in canon law living in Oxford, where he saw the army of the aforesaid five lords marching through the town on its way from this battle towards London.” The earls of Warwick and Derby commanded the vanguard of the army, the duke of Gloucester the centre, and the earls of Arundel and Nottingham the rearguard. The mayor of London, hearing of their approach, sent the keys of the city to them;? following which, on the feast of St John the Evangelist [27 December] the aforesaid five lords laid siege to the Tower of London until it was surrendered.’ Then they promptly placed the king, who was in the Tower at the time, under new tutelage, and ordered his sycophantic councillors to be sent away to various prisons until such time as the next parliament should meet.° On the morrow of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin [3 February] they declared the aforesaid fugitives to be banished; and they deported all the king’s justices to Ireland, because they had known about the above-mentioned plot to kill the lords, together with the king’s confessor, the bishop of Chichester.’ Others who had wickedly supported—or, more correctly, incited—the king’s excesses, that is, Simon Burley his chamberlain, Robert Tresilian his chief justice, Nicholas Brembre mayor of London, James Berners and John Salisbury knights, Thomas Usk and John Blake donzels, and a number of others, they beheaded.’ confessor, had been expelled from court in 1381, but was still promoted to the sees of Llandaff (1383-5), and Chichester (1385-8). Convicted of treason in 1388, the pope translated him to Kilmore; by 1393 he was dead (see Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 177-8). The justices were condemned because they had—however unwillingly—put their seals to the questions which the king had put to them in the summer of 1387 (see Knighton, pp. 394-6). Those involved were Robert Bealknap, John Holt, William Burgh, Roger Fulthorpe (all royal justices), John Cary (chief baron of the exchequer), and John Lokton (sergeant-at-law). Initially sentenced to death, they were eventually exiled to Ireland (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 284, 306, 316, 336; Foedera, vii. 590-1). 7 Simon Burley, under-chamberlain of the royal household 1377-88, had been Richard’s tutor. Tresilian and Brembre were two of the five original appellees in the appeal of treason of Nov. 1387. Tresilian was discovered in sanctuary at Westminster on

19 Feb. and executed forthwith. Brembre, a grocer, had been mayor of London 1383-6; the lords encountered considerable difficulty in securing his conviction (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 308-14). Thomas Usk was under-sheriff of Middlesex (he was also the author of The Testament of Love) and seems to have been involved in trying to raise London for the king. John Blake was alleged to have drafted the questions to the judges. Berners and Salisbury were knights of the king’s chamber; Salisbury was hanged rather

1388

CHRONICON

14

1383

1386

1388

ADE

VSK

Huius regis temporibus, propter scisma papatus, episcopus Norwyc’ cum cruciata in Flandream transiit, et ibidem Flandrenses circa nouem mille, quia Gallicis scismaticis adherentes, bellicoso peremit insultu; tamen partes deserere et ad propriam remeare regis Francie et eius excercitus potencia, pluribus Angli-

cis ad tunc uentris fluxu (morientibus),* compellebatur.' Dux

eciam Lancastrie, regnum Hispanie iure uxoris sue sibi uendicans, cum alia cruciata per duos annos post ad eas partes transiit, ubi plures regni Anglie nobiliores, et quasi ipsius iuuentutis flores militares, eodem morbo amisit; tamen cum rege Hispanie pro?

uno ducatu ad ipsius uite terminum habendo, ac magna auri summa pro expensis, ipsiusque filia dicti regis filio et herede collocata in uxorem, rediit in Angliam pacificatus.’ Boriales ab Oxon’ expulsi. Hiis diebus magnum infortunium Oxon’ contingebat, nam per biennium continue maxima discordia inter australes et Walences ex una parte et boriales ex altera extitit

suborta; unde rixe, contenciones, et hominum sepe interfecciones ‘*

(extiterunt).” 1389

Rixa Oxon’ inter scolares. Primo anno boriales ab uniuersitate totaliter fuerunt expulsi, quam expulsionem presencium compilatori multum imposuerunt. Secundo tamen anno, in mala eorum hora, Oxon’ regressi, noctanter congregati nobis exitum ab hospiciis® armis negantes, nos multipliciter per duos dies infestarunt, quedam nostratum hospicia frangendo expoliandoque, ac quosdam occidendo. Tercio tamen die, aule Mertonis fauore * supplied in CAU, p. 7 marg. from interfeccionis

> supplied in marg. in place of a deletion © corr. in 4 supplied in CAU, p. 7 © two words deleted

than beheaded, since he had been convicted of conducting treasonable negotiations with France. Also executed was John Beauchamp of Holt, steward of the royal household (AP iii. 240, 243). The careers of these men are discussed in Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 162-3. ' Henry Despenser, bishop of Norwich

1370-1406; for his ‘crusade’ against the

Flemish schismatics in 1383, see Historia Anglicana, ii. 84-104, and Westminster Chronicle,

pp. 34-46. He and a number of his captains were subsequently impeached in the parliament of Nov. 1383 (RP iii. 15-18; see also Margaret Aston, ‘The impeachment of Bishop Despenser’, BIHR xxxviii (1965), 127-48). * For Gaunt’s Iberian expedition of 1386-8, see Goodman, John of Gaunt, pp. 111138. Following the death of Blanche of Lancaster in 1369, Gaunt in 1371 married Constanza, daughter of the murdered King Peter of Castile (d. 1369), thereby acquiring a claim to the Castilian throne. In 1387-8 he agreed with King John of Castile, in return for an annual pension of 40,000 francs, to renounce his claim to Castile; it was also agreed that his daughter Catherine should marry Henry, John’s son and heir. The duchy to which Usk refers is not mentioned elsewhere; he may have been thinking of

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

15

During this king’s reign, on account of the papal schism, the 1383 bishop of Norwich led a crusade to Flanders, where, in a fierce campaign, he slew about nine thousand Flemings, supporters of the F rench schismatics; eventually, however, he was forced by the might of the king of France’s army to leave that land and return home, though not before many of the English had died of dysentery. ! Two years after this the duke of Lancaster, who claimed the king- 1386 dom of Spain for himself by right of his wife, led another crusade to that region, in which he lost many English nobles—virtually the bloom of the nation’s chivalric youth—from the same disease; nevertheless, having reached an agreement with the king of Spain whereby he would be given a duchy for the term of his life and a large amount of gold for his expenses, and his daughter would be married to this king’s son and heir, he returned to England.’ The northerners expelled from Oxford. At about this time a most 1388 unfortunate event occurred at Oxford; a great dispute broke out there between the southerners and the Welshmen on one side, and the northerners on the other, which lasted for a full two years, as a result of which there were riots, quarrels, and many killings.* Riot at Oxford between the scholars. During the first year the northerners were completely driven out of the university, their expulsion being widely attributed to the compiler of this present work. During the second year, however, in what was for them an evil hour, 1389 they returned to Oxford and, gathering together at night to prevent us by force from leaving our lodgings, they spent two days attacking us in a variety of ways, sacking and looting the lodgings of our com-

patriots, and putting some of them to death. But on the third day our countrymen, considerably reinforced by support from Merton hall, Gaunt’s acquisition in 1390 of the duchy of Aquitaine, though this was not, of course, in the gift of King John. 3 Knighton (pp. 430, 528) also noted these riots at Oxford, and Anthony Wood, Historia et Antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis (Oxford, 1674), pp. 194-6, summarizes an inquisition concerning them. The first outbreak occurred on 29 Apr. 1388, forcing

several scholars to return to their homes. As a result of this the chancellor of the university, Richard Rigg, was deposed by the king’s council in parliament (presumably that of Sept. 1388, of which no formal record survives), and replaced by Nicholas Brightwell. A further outbreak of violence in the fourth week of Lent 1389 was quelled by the intervention of the duke of Gloucester. Several Welsh scholars were now expelled from the university, after being taken to the gates and forced by the northerners to undergo various indignities. The inquisition names four scholars killed in the fighting, at least two of

whom were Welsh, but Usk’s name is not mentioned. Violence between northerners

and southerners was nothing new at Oxford: the university tried to curb it in 1313 and

on at least one other occasion (Munimenta Academica Oxoniensa, ed. H. Anstey (2 vols., RS, London, 1868), i. 92-3, ii. 462; CPR 1391-6, pp. 605-6).

CHRONICON

16

ADE

VSK

fortiter constipati, ipsos stratas publicas, per eos illis duobus diebus pro castris occupatas, uerecunde relinquere et ad propria hospicia affugere compulerunt. Vt quid* mora? Pacificari non potuimus quousque nostrum quamplures de insurrexione proditoria indictati fuimus, inter quos presencium compulator tanquam principalis Wallencium dux et fautor, et forte non inmer-

1389 nostrates

ito, indictatus

fuerat; sicque indictati, uix per duodenam

nos

obtinuimus coram regis iusticiario liberari. Regem de cetero michi prius in ipsius potencia ignotum et eius leges timui ipsum,” per maxillis meis frenum imponendo.' Aliud eciam infortunium‘ contingebat, nam ille nobilis miles 1379 dominus Iohannes Arundele, uersus partes Francie debellandas cum florida iuuentute patrie directus, quassata classe in uigilia sancti Nicholai—pro dolor—miserabili maris intemperie peremptus extitit.? Causa infortunii sui pecuniis a clero et populo exactis, non inmerito, imponabatur.? Semper a tempore huiusmodi exacfo. 157° cionis, taxe uocate, regnum memini, aut intestinis cladibus |atque 1372 transmarinis insidiis, nonnulla infortunia sustinere. Numquid sic de comite Pembrogie, in Hispaniam cum taxa secum ad debellandum Franciam deportata, cum suis iuxta Rochel depredato et in Hispaniam captiuato?’ Idem de rege Edwardo condigit, qui collectatus clero et populo cum magno excersitu Franciam inuadere affectans, aduersante uento, licet iuxta maritima eius prosperitatem per sex menses expectans, inutiliter rediit cum excersitu, ut

superius habetur de eodem.* Versus. Contra eam * taxam ecce quedam/ Bridlinton’ prophesia. Versa: Dum regnat taxa non erit gracia laxa, Sic opus inceptum lapsum pascietur ineptum.° * interlined > interlined © infotunum MS taxacionem cleri et populi © interlined f quid MS

4 marg. note,

nota

' Ezek. 29: 4; 38: 4. > The fleet commanded by John Arundel, younger brother of the earl of Arundel, was

shipwrecked off Ireland in Dec. 1379 with the loss of (according to Walsingham) 25

ships. Neither Walsingham nor the author of the Anonimalle Chronicle had much sympathy for Arundel, claiming that he had turned the expedition into a drunken orgy (Historia Anglicana, i. 418-25, Anonimalle Chronicle, pp. 131-2). The date of Arundel’s death

was 15 or 16 Dec. (CIPM xv (1377-84), nos. 179-89). * John Hastings, earl of Pembroke

1368-75, was captured with his fleet off La

Rochelle on 22 June 1372. He was making not for Spain but for Gascony, of which he

had recently been appointed king’s lieutenant, but it was by a Castilian fleet that he was

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

I7

forced them shamefully to abandon the public thoroughfares 1389 which, for those two days, they had occupied like castles, and to flee back to their own lodgings. Why delay? We were not pacified until several of our number had been indicted for treasonable insurrection, among whom, and perhaps not undeservedly, the compiler of this present work was indicted as the chief instigator and leader of the Welshmen. Having thus been indicted, it was only with great difficulty that we were set free by a jury, in the presence of one of the king’s justices. Before this I had lived in ignorance of the power of the king, but henceforth I feared him and his laws, and I placed a bit between my jaws.! Yet another misfortune occurred: that noble knight Sir John 79) Arundel, having been sent to make war in France with the flower of the nation’s youth, was shipwrecked in a terrible storm at sea on the eve of St Nicholas [5 December] and, sad to relate, died.? The reason for his accident, so it was said—and not unreasonably—was the money exacted from the clergy and people. Indeed, I recall that ever since exactions of this sort, called taxes, were imposed, realm has suffered a series of misfortunes, either from internal sensions or from external attacks; for was it not thus with the of Pembroke, when he journeyed to Spain taking with him

the disearl 1372 the

taxes raised to fight the French, and was attacked near La Rochelle and led away in captivity to Spain?’ This was true also of King Edward, when he levied money from the clergy and people planning to take a great army to invade France, but the wind turned against him and, despite the fact that he remained on the coast for six months in the hope that it would change, he and his army eventually returned home having accomplished nothing, as is

related above.’ Verses. Listen to the prophecy of Bridlington against tax. The verses:

While tax does reign, good fortune shall be gone, Thus work begun will soon be quite undone.’ defeated, and he was taken to captivity in Spain. He was released three years later in

order to raise his ransom, but died almost immediately (J. W. Sherborne, “The battle of

La Rochelle and the war at sea, 1372-5’, BIHR xiii (1969), 19-23). 4 This event also occurred in 1372. Edward III embarked at Sandwich on 27 Aug.; seven weeks later, on 15 Oct., having failed to progress beyond the channel due to adverse winds, he disembarked again at Sandwich (PRO E101/397/5, fos. 54-8). 5 The ‘prophecy of John of Bridlington’ (dist. iii, c. ii, Il. 14-15) reads: ‘Dum multat taxa non fiet gratia laxa. |Sic opus inceptum laxum patietur ineptum’ (Political Poems and

CHRONICON

18 1385

ADE

VSK

Et sic—pro dolor—labi dinoscitur. Eciam a facie istius regis Ricardi ille uir perfectissimus, Wyllelmus Corteney Cant’ archiepiscopus, quia huiusmodi taxe recistere uolens, per eundem regem in Thamesia persecutus, mortem fugiens in monastico habitu partes Deuonie peciit pro tutamine.' Tamen huiusmodi regis persecutionem causantes mala morte interierunt, de quibus supra ut domino Symone Beuerley et de aliis. Ordini annorum hucusque in gestis parcat lector, quia solum que uidi et audiui, forcius ex ueritate facti quam ex temporis ordine, memorie comendaui.

1394

1395

Anno domini millesimo trecentisimo nonogesimo quarto in festo pentecostes, moriebatur illa benignissima domina Anna Anglie regina in manerio de Schene iuxta Braynfort super Thamesiam situato. Quod manerium, licet regale et pulcherimum, occasione ipsius domine Anne mortis in eodem contingentis rex Ricardus funditus mandauit et fecit extirpari.’ Post cuius Anne sepulture solempnitatem in crastino ad uincula sancti Petri debitis honoribus decoratam,? statim rex lugubres uestes cum suis indutus ad domandum Hybernencium rebellionem maximo excersitu constipatus transiit in Hiberniam; sed modicum ibi profecit quia, licet Hiberniences sibi ad uotum placere tunc se? fingentes, statim post eius recessum rebellare noscuntur. Eodem anno in fine Maii rex rediit in Angliam,' Bristolie aplicando, et statim nuncios in Franciam pro secundo eius maritagio, de qua infra liquebit, direxit contrahendo; quam filiam nondum septennem,? regis Aragonie filia ipsius herede pulcherima et uirilibus amplexibus idonea * interlined

> corr. from septendem by interlineation

Songs Illustrative ofEnglish History, ed. T. Wright, 2 vols. (RS, London, 1859), i. 183). The verse prophecies, written during Edward III’s reign, are accompanied by a prose commentary by John Ergom, an Austin friar of York, but it has recently been argued that

Ergom could not also have been the author of the prophecy itself: see A. G. Rigg, ‘John of Bridlington’s Prophecy: a new look’, Speculum, lxiii (1988), 596-613. " William Courtenay, uncle to the earl of Devon and archbishop of Canterbury 138196, criticized Richard in the spring of 1385 for his willingness to allow Gaunt to be put to death. Later that day Richard met Courtenay crossing the Thames in a barge and, after angry words had been exchanged, ‘drew his sword and would have run the archbishop through on the spot’ had he not been restrained (Westminster Chronicle, p. 117). The king also threatened Courtenay with loss of his temporalities at this time. Later, at the Oct.

1385 parliament, Walsingham records that Courtenay resisted clerical taxation in parl-

iament (Historia Anglicana, ii. 128, 139). Usk seems to have confused these two events.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

19

And thus, sad to say, it can be seen that matters go ill. That most

excellent man William Courtenay, archbishop of Canterbury, also had to flee for his life from King Richard’s presence when the king assaulted him on the Thames because he tried to oppose this sort

1385

of taxation; whereupon, dressed in a monk’s habit, he sought refuge in Devon.! In the end, however, those who incited the king

to this sort of oppression suffered an evil fate—as witness what is written above concerning Sir Simon Burley and the others. Be tolerant, reader, of the sequence of years in which I have narrated events up to this point, for I have simply set down from memory what I saw and what I heard, with more thought for the truth of what happened than for the order in which it happened. On the feast of Pentecost [7 June] in the year of our Lord 1394, 1394 that most gracious lady Queen Anne of England died at the manor of Sheen, which lies on the Thames near Brentford; which, despite the fact that it was a royal manor and a most splendid one, King Richard ordered to be razed to the ground and destroyed, on account of the fact that this Lady Anne’s death occurred there.’ Once the solemnities of Anne’s funeral, which was held on the

morrow of St Peter ad Vincula [2 August] had been conducted with proper dignity,’ the king and his men, clad in mourning attire, immediately crossed over to Ireland with a great host to subdue the revolt of the Irish; he accomplished

little there, however, for

although the Irish pretended at the time to submit to his will, as soon as he had departed news arrived that they had rebelled. This same year, at the end of May, the king returned to England, landing at Bristol,’ and promptly sent messengers to France to negotiate his second marriage—of which more below. Astonishing to relate, he proceeded to marry the French king’s daughter, even though she was less than seven years old, having refused the daughter and heiress of the king of Aragon, a most beautiful and 2 By writ of privy seal dated 9 Apr. 1395, Richard ordered that Sheen be demolished entirely, ‘as well the houses and buildings in the court within the moat and the court without the moat, as the houses and buildings in la Neyt beside the manor’ (quoted in The History of the King’s Works, ed. H. M. Colvin, R. Allen Brown, and A. J. Taylor (London, 1968), ii. 998).

3 Queen Anne’s funeral was on 3 Aug. 4 Richard was in Ireland 29 Sept. 1394 to 30 May 1395: see Tuck, Richard II and the English Nobility, pp. 170-8, and Dorothy Johnston, “The interim years: Richard II and Ireland 1395-1399’, England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages, ed. J. Lydon (Dublin,

1981), Pp. 175-95:

1395

1396

20 1396

1397

fOm5

7

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

refusa, mirabiliter duxit uxorem.! Set quare illam nondum septennem,* licet cum maximis expensis et seculi pompis Caliciis sibi nuptam, preelegit? Dicitur quia regis Francie auxilio et fauore latens suum uenenum effundere affectando sibi exosos destruere proposuit; quod tamen ad suimet destruccionem suorumque complicum finaliter contingebat, ut inferius patebit. Vitimum parliementum regis Ricardi. Parliementum tentum London’, aput Westm’, in festo sancti Lamberti, die lune tunc contingentis, anno domini millesimo trecentisimo nonogesimo septimo, in quo parliemento omni die presensium compilator B interfuit.? Inprimis facta pronunciacione parliementi ad modum sermonis per Edmundum Stafford episcopum Exon’, cancellarium,’ in qua semper concludebat ‘ad unum, quod potestas regis esset sibi unica et solida, et quod eam 4 tollentes uel insidientes pena legis essent condigni; unde ad illum finem fuit per parliementum ordinatum, primo ad inquirendum qui turbant potestatem regis et eius regaliam, secundo* qua pena essent turbantes ferendi, tercium ut ordinetur ne ita in futurum turbetur. Et statim rex iussit plebeiis quod statim, et ante recessum, conuenirent de locutore‘ parliamenti, et in crastino ad octo de clokca eum sibi presentarent. Item rex fecit proclamari graciam |omnibus in premissis incidentis, quinquaginta personis et aliis in isto parliemento impetendis dumtaxat exceptis, dum tamen citra festum sancti Hillarii literas sue perdonacionis prosequantur cum effectu.* Fecit eciam proclamari quod nullus de cetero, sub pena mortis, arma inuasiua uel deffensiua gestaret in parliemento, immediata domini nostri regis retinencia® excepta. * corr. from septendem by interlineation © conolidebat MS 4 interlined f locutori corr. by del. from locutoribus

> first half of the word (compi) interlined above causa del. *secunda MS ® sui del.

' Isabella, daughter of King Charles VI of France (1380-1422), was born on 9 Nov. 1389. Her marriage to Richard was solemnized at Calais on 31 Oct. 1396. In the spring of 1395, negotiations had begun for a marriage between Richard and Yolande of Aragon (b.1381), but these were soon dropped (J. J. N. Palmer, England, France and Christendom 1377-99 (London, 1972), pp. 166-8). * From this point up to ‘iuramentis ordinatum fuit’ (below, p. 36), Usk’s narrative of the parliament of 17-30 Sept. is based upon a tract possibly compiled by a clerk of the royal chancery. The author of the Vita Ricardi Secundi (pp. 138-46) used the same tract, though both he and Usk added and deleted both information and comment to the text. However, this does not invalidate Usk’s claim to have been present in the parliament, which he presumably attended as a clerk of the archbishop of Canterbury (see C. Given-Wilson, ‘Adam Usk, the monk of Evesham, and the parliament of 1397-8’,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

21

becoming girl of full age.! Yet why should he have chosen her, a girl not yet seven—even if the marriage at Calais did entail enormous expense and worldly pomp? Rumour had it that it was because he was striving to win the help and favour of the king of France, in order to vent his pent-up hatred on those whom he detested, and whom he now proposed to destroy; in the end, however, it merely precipitated his own destruction and that of his accomplices, as will be seen below. The last parliament of King Richard. The parliament held in London, at Westminster, on the feast of St Lambert [17 September], which fell on a Monday, in the year of our Lord 1397; each day of which was attended by the compiler of this present work.’ To begin with, the opening address to the parliament was given in the form of a sermon by Edmund Stafford, bishop of Exeter, the chancellor,’ in which he continually emphasized one point, namely that the king’s power belonged solely and entirely to him, and that those who usurped it or deprived him of it deserved the penalties of the law. With this in mind, therefore, it was ordained

by parliament that enquiry should be made, firstly as to who had undermined the king’s power and regality, secondly as to how they should be punished, and thirdly as to how provision might be made to prevent it happening again. Whereupon the king immediately ordered the commons, before departing, to hold a meeting on the question of the speaker in parliament, and to present him to him at eight o’clock the following day. The king also had it proclaimed that, with the exception of fifty persons, and of those who were to be impeached in this parliament, he would pardon all those who had taken part in the above-mentioned events, as long as they sued successfully for their letters of pardon before the feast

of St Hilary [13 January].’ He also had it proclaimed that, with the exception of the king’s own personal retinue, no one henceforth was to bear arms in parliament, be they offensive or defensive, under pain of death. HR xvi (1993), 329-35). The official record of the parliament is in RP iii. 3478 *: Stafford was bishop of Exeter 1395-1419, and chancellor 1396-9 and 1401-3. Despite his support for the king, Walsingham described him as ‘irreprehensibilis et sine querela’ (Annales, p. 243). 4 Article 7 of the deposition charges against Richard in 1399 accused him of demanding fines in return for these pardons, sometimes twice from the same person (RP iii. 418). For this accusation, see Caroline Barron, ‘The tyranny of Richard II’, BIRR xii (1968), 6-10.

1396

1397

22, U3 977

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Item die Martis dominus Iohannes Buschei fuit per plebeios presentatus regi locutor parliementi, debita protestatione premissa; et rex eum acceptauit.! Item adstatim ille Buschei dixit regi, ‘Quia sumus, *(domine mi rex, precepto uestro uenerando) oner-

ati’ (uestri celsitudini regie intimare)* qui contra maiestatem et

regaliam uestram commiserunt, dicimus quod’ Thomas dux Glowc’, Ricardus comes Arundel’, anno regni uestri decimo, proditorie compulerunt? uos, per medium nunc Cant’ archiepiscopi, tunc cancellarii,? graues iniurias uobis inferentes, concedere unam eis commissionem ad gubernandum regnum uestrum ac eius statum disponendum, in preiudicium uestre magestatis ac regalie.’ Item eodem die ipsa commissio fuit annullata, cum omnibus et singulis ex ea dependentis et per eam causatis.* Regis perdonacio reuocatur. Item generalis perdonacio concessa post magnum parliementum, causata per eos, et una specialis perdonacio concessa domino comiti Arundelie, fuerant reuocate. Item

fuit per plebeios petitum, Iohanne Buschei uerba semper proferente,° quia illa specialis perdonacio pro proditore fuit impetrata per Thomam Arundellie Cantuarienc’ archiepiscopum, tunc cancellarium Anglie, ipsum impetratus qui potius ex officio restitisset, proditor adiudicaretur. Idemque archiepiscopus surrexit uolens respondere, et rex dixit sibi, ‘Cras’. De cetero tamen ibi non com- : paruit. Rex eciam super ista paticione dixit quod uellet deliberare. Item fuit statutum quod conuictus’ de cetero contra regaliam domini regis falsus proditor, pena prodicionis condigna sibi irroganda, adiudicaretur.’ Item fuit statutum, de consensu prelatorum, quod criminalia de cetero, eorum irriquisito concensu, in omni parliemento essent terminanda.’ Et tunc, habita licencia recessus, magnus ut. solet habebatur tumultus, unde sagittarii regis, in numero quattuor millia circumuallentes domum parliementi in medio pauiamenti palacii ex hoc capite tam factam, credentes additional words supplied from Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 139 > honorati MS © quia MS * punctuation break wrongly inserted © quia specialis perdonacio f conuicteus MS del.

' For Sir John Bussy, or Bushy, of Lincolnshire, see The House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J. S. Roskell, L. Clark, and C. Rawcliffe (4 vols., Stroud, 1992), ii. 449-54. For his death, see below, p. 52.

* Thomas Arundel, brother of the earl of Arundel, was archbishop of Canterbury 1396-7 and 1399-1414, and chancellor 1386-9 and 1391-6.

3 See RP iii. 349-50.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

23

On the Tuesday Sir John Bussy, once he had made the customary declaration, was presented to the king by the commons as their speaker in parliament; and the king accepted him.' Whereupon this Bussy immediately said to the king, ‘My lord king, since we have been charged, by your own gracious command, to make known to your royal highness those who have been guilty of acting contrary to your majesty and regality, we declare that Thomas duke of Gloucester and Richard earl of Arundel, in the tenth year of your reign, treacherously forced you, through the agency of the present archbishop of Canterbury, who was then chancellor,” to grant them a commission to govern your realm and order its affairs, which did you great wrong, and was to the prejudice of your majesty and regality.’ Then, on that same day, this commission was annulled, along with each and every act that depended upon it or

followed from it. The king’s pardon revoked. Also, the general pardon granted after the great parliament, which they pleaded in their defence, and a special pardon granted to the earl of Arundel, were revoked. Then, with John Bussy continuing to act as their spokesman, the commons requested that since this special pardon had been procured on behalf of a traitor by Thomas Arundel archbishop of Canterbury, who was then chancellor of England, and who, rather than trying to procure it, should, on account of his office, have opposed it, he should be adjudged a traitor. Whereupon the archbishop rose to his feet intending to reply, and the king said to him, ‘Tomorrow’; but he did not appear there again. And the king said that concerning this request, he wished to take advice. It was also decreed that in future anyone who was convicted of acting contrary to the lord king’s regality would be adjudged a false traitor, and that he would be sentenced to the penalty for treason.’ It was also decreed, with the assent of the prelates, that in all future parliaments criminal cases would be determined without their consent being required.° And then, when they had received permission to go, there was, as often happens, a good deal of bustle, whereupon the king’s archers, who numbered 4,000, and who were surrounding the building which had been specially constructed for the parliament in the middle of the palace yard, thinking that some 4 The ‘four points of treason’ were agreed on 25 Sept. (RP iii. 351-2). 5 This ‘statute’ was repealed the following day, and the prelates told instead to appoint a proctor to consent on their behalf. The official record omits this (RP iii. 348).

1397)

CHRONICON

24 1397

fo. 158°

ADE

VSK

fuisse in dicta domo aliquam rixam aut pugnam, arcubus detensis sagittas ad aures trahebant, ad magnum metum omnium ibidem excistencium; et rex eos pacificauit.’ Item die Mercurii dictum statutum prelatorum fuit penitus reuocatum, et fuit eis iussum, sub pena ammissionis temporalium, pro stabilitate agendorum in eodem parliemento, quod illo eodem die concordarent de aliquo certo procuratore ad consentiendum nomine eorum omnibus in eodem parliemento expediendis. Item rex habuit ista uerba, ‘Domine Iohannes Buschey, quia plures rogant me explanare illas quinquaginta personas in perdonacione generali exceptas, breuiter nolo; et hoc petens est morte condignus, primo quia fugerent, secundo eciam quia excepi impetendos in isto parliemento, tercio quia per expressionem illorum alii eorum socii timerent ubi* non esset timendum.’ Item die louis dominus Cant’ uenit ad palacium uersus parliementum, et rex misit sibi per episcopum Karlion’ quod rediret ad hospicium suum,’ et factum est ita, et de cetero non comparuit. Prelati in criminalibus per procuratorem, etc. Item prelati fecerunt dominum Thomam Percy, senescallum regis, procuratorem suum, cum clausulis de ratis, ad’ consentiendum omnibus in parliemento agendis.’ Item dominus Iohannes Buchey habuit ista uerba, ‘Domine rex, quia secundus articulus parliementi est de pena imponenda uiolantibus regaliam uestram, suplico quod me per uiam appellacionis, acusationis siue impeticionis, cum licencia uariandi de uno ad relilquum quociens et quando michi et sociis meis uidebitur expedire, autorizare dignemini.’ Et factum est ita. Tunc ille Buschei habuit ista uerba, ‘Ego accuso Thomam Arundellie, archiepiscopum Cant’, de triplici prodicione, primo de commissione regiminis regni uestri sibi, Thome duci Glowc’, Ricardo comiti Arundell’, ad instanciam suam et per ipsum, qui pocius ex officio, quia cancellarius uester,° ad tunc restitisset, proditorie concessa;“ secundo quia, pretextu illius proditorie commissionis, ® interlined above ibi

> ad repeated

© uestro MS

4 concessit MS

' The author of the Vita Ricardi Secundi (p.1 38) states that the hall used for the parliament was situated “between the tower and the entrance to the great hall’ (see also Annales, p. 209). The Vita Ricardi Secundi put the number of archers at only 2000, but

alleged that they not only drew back their bows but began to fire their arrows before the

king could quieten them (Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 140, where the figure of 200 is a misprint for 2000, the figure given in both of the manuscripts upon which the edition is based: BL, Cotton Claudius B. ix, fo. 296", and Cotton Tiberius C. ix, fo. 27). For Richard’s Cheshire archers, see below, p. 48; see also Annales, p- 208.

* For Thomas Merks, bishop of Carlisle 1397-9, see below, p. 92.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

25

quarrel or fight had broken out inside the building, bent their bows and drew back their arrows to their ears, to the terror of all present;

however, the king calmed them down.!

On the Wednesday, the aforesaid statute concerning the prelates was entirely revoked, and they were ordered, under pain of loss of their temporalities, and in order to ensure the perpetuation of this parliament’s acts, to agree that same day to the appointment of some specified person as their proctor, who would consent in the name of all of them to whatever should be done in parliament. Then the king spoke as follows: ‘Sir John Bussy, several people have asked me to name those fifty persons who are excluded from the general pardon, but, in short, I shall not; and anyone who asks it of me deserves to die: firstly, because they would flee; secondly, because I have also excluded those who are to be impeached in this parliament; and thirdly, because if they were named, then others, their accomplices, would take fright when they have no need to.’ On the Thursday my lord of Canterbury came to the palace on his way to the parliament, but the king sent the bishop of Carlisle to tell him that he should return to his lodgings, which he did;? and from that time onwards he did not appear again. Proctor for the prelates in criminal cases, etc. Also, the prelates appointed Sir Thomas Percy, the king’s steward, as their proctor, with letters authorizing him to agree to whatever should be done in parliament.’ Then Sir John Bussy spoke as follows: ‘Lord king, since the second article of parliament relates to the punishment to be imposed upon those who violate your regality, I beg you to do me the honour of authorizing me to proceed by way of appeal, accusation, or impeachment, with permission to alternate between them whenever and as often as seems appropriate to me and my fellows.’ And thus was it done. Then this Bussy spoke as follows: ‘I accuse Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, of threefold treason: firstly, for the commission concerning the government of your kingdom, which was traitorously granted, at his request, and by him—despite the fact that he should rather, since he held office as your chancellor at that time, have opposed it—to himself, Thomas duke of Gloucester, and Richard earl of Arundel; secondly, because under pretext of that treasonable commission, 3 Thomas Percy, brother of the earl of Northumberland, steward of the royal household 1393-9, earl of Worcester 1397-1403, died rebelling against Henry IV at Shrewsbury, July 1403. For letters appointing him proctor of the clergy, see RP iii. 348-9, and

Vita Ricardi Secundi, pp. 140-1.

1397

CHRONICON

26 1397

ADE

VSK

uestre regalie iurisdictionis prodiciose usurpando, ipsi solempne parliementum in preiudicium regalie uestre proditorie celebrarunt; tercio quia per dictam prodicionis usurpacionem domini Symon de Beruerlei et Iacob Bernyers, milites et fideles ligit uestri, proditorie fuerunt interfecti, de quibus nos plebey uestri petimus iudicium tantis prodicionibus condignum in* ipsum per uos fulminari. Et quia ipse archiepiscopus magnarum consanguinitatis, affinitatis, diuiciarum, ingeniique cautelissimi et crudelissimi uir excistit, in saluacionem status uestri tociusque regni uestri, et expedicionem presentis parliamenti, peto quod in salua ponatur custodia usque ad finalem sui iudicii execucionem.’

Rex quo(que)?’ ad hoc respondit quod propter tande persone

excellenciam

deliberaret in crastinum; ac omnes

alios in dicta

commissione incertos pronunciauit fideles legales, et dicta eciam* prodicione immunes, et specialiter Alexandrum Neuyll, nuper archiepiscopum Ebor’; et tunc dominus Edmundus Langley, dux Ebor’, auunculus regis, et dominus Wyllelmus Wykham, episcopus Wynton’, in dicta commissione incerti, lacrimantes pronius in terram ceciderunt, regi de tanto beneficio regraciando.' Item die Veneris, scilicet in festo sancti Mathei contingente, de Rotlond, de Kent, de Huntington, de Notyngham, de Somerset, de Sarum comites, dominus de Spenser et dominus Wylielmus Scroppe, in una secta rubiarum togarum de cerico rotulatarum et albo cerico literis aureis inmixtarum, appellacionem per eos regi prius aput Notingham edditam proposuerunt,” in qua accusabant Thomam ducem Glouc’, Ricardum comitem Arundell’, Thomam

comitem Warwyc’ et Thomam Mortumer, militem, de premissis prodicionibus, et eciam de insurrexione armata aput Haryncay Parke contra regem prodittorie facta;? prestitaque cautione de prosequendo appellacionem suam, Ricardus comes Arundell’ scistebatur in iudicio in rubia toga et capicio de scarleto, * interlined

> supplied in CAU, p. 12

© added in mars.

' For Nevill, see above, p. 12 n. 1; Edmund of Langley, duke of York 1385-1402, the king’s uncle, was the fourth (to survive infancy) son of Edward III; William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester 1366-1404, had been chancellor 1389-91. Apart from those convicted in this parliament, the only other surviving members of the Commission of Government were John Lord Cobham (see below, p. 38), and Richard le Scrope, lord of Bolton, who received a pardon on 29 Nov. (Foedera, viii. 26).

* Edward, earl of Rutland 1390-1415, the eldest son of the duke of York; Thomas Holand, earl of Kent 1397-1400; John Holand, earl of Huntingdon 1388-1400; Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham 1383-99; John Beaufort, earl of Somerset 1 397-1410; John Montague, earl of Salisbury 1397-1400; Thomas Lord Despenser; and William, son of

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

27

they treacherously usurped your royal jurisdiction by holding a solemn parliament, to the prejudice of your regality; thirdly, because as a consequence of that traitorous usurpation, Sir Simon de Burley and Sir James Berners, your knights and faithful liegemen, were treacherously put to death; for which we your commons beg you to pass on him a sentence which is commensurate with such treasonable actions. Moreover, since this archbishop is aman of such great wealth, family, and connections, and is of such untrustworthy and vengeful character, I beg also that, for the safety of your own person and your entire realm, and in order to facilitate the business of this present parliament, he should be placed securely in custody until such time as judgement is eventually passed on him.’ And the king replied to this that since this matter concerned so great a personage, he would consider it until the following day. He then pronounced that all the others who had been on the aforesaid commission had acted faithfully and lawfully, and were innocent of this treason, especially Alexander Nevill the former archbishop of York; whereupon Edmund Langley, duke of York, the king’s uncle, and William Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, who had both been on the commission, fell weeping to the ground, thanking the king for his kindness.! On the Friday, which was the feast of St Matthew [21 September], the earls of Rutland, Kent, Huntingdon, Nottingham, Somerset, and Salisbury, Lord Despenser, and Lord William Lescrope, dressed in a livery of red robes decorated with silken hoops and letters of gold on white silk, presented the appeal which they had already brought before the king at Nottingham,’ in which they accused Thomas duke of Gloucester, Richard earl of Arundel, Thomas earl of Warwick, and Thomas Mortimer, knight, of the above-mentioned treasons, and of having traitorously risen in arms against the king at Harringay Park.’ Then, once they had pledged themselves to prosecute their appeal, Richard earl of Arundel was brought to trial dressed in a red robe and a scarlet Richard le Scrope lord of Bolton; first presented the appeal of treason to the king at Nottingham castle on 5 Aug. All apart from Salisbury were rewarded with further promotion at the end of the parliament (see below, p. 36). 3 Sir Thomas Mortimer, later described as the uncle of the earl of March (see below,

p. 40), must have been the illegitimate son of Roger Mortimer, earl of March 1354-60. At the battle of Radcot Bridge he killed Thomas Molineux, constable of Chester castle: see J. L. Gillespie, ‘Thomas Mortimer and Thomas Molineux: Radcot Bridge and the appeal of 1397’, Albion, vii (1975), 161-73. For the charges against him see RP iii. 380-1; see also below, p. 30 n. 5. The muster at Harringay Park (now Hornsey, Middlesex) was on 13 Nov. 1387 (Westminster Chronicle, p. 210 and n. 2).

1397

CHRONICON

28 1397

fo. 158°

ADE

VSK

et statim dux Lancastrie dixit domino de Neuyll, “Tollas sibizonam et capicium’, et factum est ita.! Expositisque eidem comiti articulis, forti animo negando se proditorem, petiit sue perdonacionis beneficium “alias concessum,* protestando quod numquam a regis” sui gracia uellet recedere. Dux Lancastrie sibi dixit, ‘Proditor, illa perdonacio est reuocata.’ Comes respondit, ‘Vere mentiris, numquam fui proditor.’ Item dux Lance’ dixit, ‘Quare tunc impetrasti perdonacionem?’? Comes respondit, ‘Ad opturandum linguas emulorum meorum, quorum tu es unus, et pro certo quantum ad prodiciones ¢ tu magis indiges perdonacionem quam ego.’ Rex dixit sibi, ‘Respondeas appellacioni tue.’ Comes respondit, ‘Bene uideo quod ille persone accusantes me° de prodicione ostendendo appellaciones uere mentiuntur omnes. Numquam fui proditor. Ego semper peto beneficium perdonacionis mee, quam ‘michi infra sex annos ultimo elapsos, in plena etate et libera uoluntate uestris, ex proprio motu concessistis.’ Tunc dixit rex, ‘Ita concessi si non esset contra me.’ Tunc dixit dux Lane’, ‘Tunc* non ualet concessio.’ Comes respondit, ‘Vere de illa perdonacione plus nesciui tunc quam tu, qui in partibus transmarinis fueras.’”” Tunc dixit dominus Iohannes Buschey, ‘Illa perdonacio reuocata est per |regem, dominos, et nos, fideles plebeios.’ Comes respondit, ‘Vbi illi fideles plebei? Bene noui te et comitiam tuam, ibi qualiter congregati estis, non ad fidelitatem faciendam, quia plebei fediles regni non sunt hic, sed scio quod ipsi multum dolent me, et bene scio quod tu semper fuisti falsus.’ Et tune Buschei et socii sui clamauerunt, ‘Ecce, domine rex, qualiter iste proditor nititur suscitare sedicionem inter nos et regni plebeios domi existentes.’ Comes respondit, ‘Vos omnes mentimini, non sum proditor.’ Comes Derbey contra comitem Arundelle. Tunc surrexit comes de Derby et dixit sibi, ‘Nonne tu dixisti michi apud Huntingtonam, ubi primo ad insurgendum eramus congregati, quod melius esset 2-4 interlined > rege MS * ad opturandum linguas emulorum meorum quorum tu es unus et pro certo quantum ad prodiciones (from the earl’s next response) del. 4 perdiciones MS ©“ me repeated * interlined above the same word del. ® interlined above the same word del. » interlined above the same word del.

' Ralph Nevill, lord of Raby, was appointed constable of the Tower of London this same day, in which capacity he would have brought Arundel to Westminster (CPR 1396-

9 P- 194). Similar accounts of Arundel’s trial are in Annales, pp. 214-16, and Continuatio

Eulogti, pp. 374-5.

> Thompson (CAU, pp. 14, 158) assumed that ‘perdonacione’ was an error for “pro-

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

29

hood; and immediately the duke of Lancaster said to Lord Nevill, ‘Remove his belt and hood,’ which was done.! But when the

articles were read to the earl, he vigorously denied that he was a traitor, and claimed the benefit of the pardon which had previously been granted to him, declaring that it was never his intention to withdraw himself from the king’s grace. The duke of Lancaster said to him, “Traitor, that pardon is revoked.’ ‘That is a lie,’ replied

the earl, ‘I was never a traitor.’ ‘Why did you ask for a pardon then? said the duke of Lancaster. ‘To silence the tongues of my enemies,’ replied the earl, ‘of whom you are one. And I tell you this for sure, that when it comes to treasons you need a pardon more than I do.’ The king said to him, ‘ Answer your appeal.’ The earl replied: ‘I can see perfectly well that these people presenting these appeals and accusing me of treason are all liars. I never was a traitor. I insist on claiming the benefit of my pardon, that pardon which you, of your own volition, within the past six years, at a time when you were of full age and free to act as you wished, granted to me.’ ‘I granted it on condition that it was not to my own prejudice,’ replied the king.’ “Thus the grant is invalid,’ said the duke of Lancaster. ‘I tell you this,’ replied the earl, ‘I knew no more at the time about that pardon than you did, and you were out of the country.” Then Sir John Bussy said, “That pardon is revoked by the king, the lords, and us, the faithful commons.’ ‘Where are those faithful commons?’ retorted the earl, ‘I know you and your crew well enough, and why you have gathered here—not to act in good faith, for the faithful commons of the realm are not here. They, I know, are grieving greatly for me. But you, as I know only too well, have always been false.’ Then Bussy and his fellows cried out, “You see,

lord king, how this traitor is trying to stir up trouble between us and the commons of the realm who have remained at home.’ ‘You are all liars,’ replied the earl, ‘I am not a traitor.’ The earl ofDerby against the earl ofArundel. Then the earl of Derby rose to his feet and said to him, ‘Did you not say to me at Huntingdon, where we initially gathered in rebellion, that before doing dicione’, and translated the sentence as, ‘Surely of that treason I knew no more than thou who wast then beyond seas’. But the point Arundel is making is that he had not tried to persuade or force the king to pardon him, and had exercised no more influence over the granting of it than had Gaunt, who had been abroad at the time. The pardon in question had been granted to Arundel on 30 Apr. 1394 (CPR 1391-6, p. 406; RP iii. 351). Gaunt was in France from late Mar. until late May 1394 (Goodman, John of Gaunt,

p. 154).

1397

CHRONICON

30 1397

ADE

VSK

ante omnia capere regem?”! Comes respondit, “Iu, comes Derbey, tu mentiris* in caput tuum, numquam de domino nostro rege

cogitaui nisi quod sibi boni esset et honoris.’ Tunc dixit sibi rexmet, ‘Nonne tu dixisti michi tempore parliementi tui, in balneo depost albam aulam, quod dominus Symon de Beuyrley miles meus propter plures causas erat mortis reus? Et ego respondi tibi quod nullas mortis causas in eo sciui, et tamen tu et socii tui ipsum proditorie interfecistis.”” Sentencia contra comitem Arundelle. Et tunc dux Lanc’ mortis sentenciam sub hiis uerbis tulit in eundem: ‘Ricarde, ego, senescallus Anglie, te proditorem esse iudico, et te trahendum, suspendendum, decollandum et quatriperciendum, ac terras tuas taliatas et

non taliatas confuscandas, summaliter et diffinitiue condempno.’ Tunc rex ob reuerenciam sanguinis sui iussit eum tantum decollari, et duxerunt eum emuli sui, comes Cancie °ipsius nepos’ et alii terras suas sitientes,“ mala mortis peste ut inferius liquebit perempti, ad montem turris, et ibi ipsum decollarunt.? Cum cuius anima utinam me participem fieri mererer, quia pro certo ipsum sanctorum colegio non dubito aggregari! Corpus tamen suum, licet tunc irreuerenter aput Agustinenc’ London’ tumulatum, modo cum summa reuerencia et populi frequenti ablacione quam glori-

ose ueneratum excistit.* Item die Sabbati dominus Thomas Mortumer fuit preconizatus, sub pena proditoris exilii, infra sex menses se iudicio scisturus; et rex dixit, ‘Forte comes March’ eum capere non poterit, ideo tandiu eius certificatorium expectabo.’ Qui? quidem dominus Thomas, sic exulatus, tempore exilii morabatur in Scocia.° Item fuit declaratum quod omnia beneficia per dampnatos et dampnandos in isto @ mentiri MS

-b interlined

© cisientes MS

4 cui MS

' This appears to be the only reference to a meeting of Richard’s opponents at Huntingdon. Presumably, since Bolingbroke was present, it occurred in Dec. 1387. The Westminster chronicler says that the king’s opponents discussed his deposition, but rejected the idea on the advice of the earl of Warwick. They then moved westwards from Newmarket to Northampton, which presumably included a stop at Huntingdon (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 218-20). : * Burley was beheaded on 5 May 1388. His sentence was the subject of acrimonious exchanges between the lords, and both Richard and Queen Anne interceded for his life (Westminster Chronicle, pp. 328-32). Richard never forgave Burley’s death: see Continuatio Eulogii, p. 372. * The earl of Kent’s mother was Alice, sister of the earl of Arundel. He died rebelling against Henry IV on 8 Jan. 1400 (see below, p. 88).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

Bi

anything else it would be best to seize the king?! ‘You, earl of 1397 Derby, you are lying through your teeth,’ replied the earl. ‘I never considered any action against our lord king except what was in his interests and to his honour.’ Then the king himself said to him, ‘Did you not say to me in the bath-house behind the white hall, at the time of your parliament, that there were a number of reasons why my knight Sir Simon Burley deserved to die? To which I replied that I could see no reason why he should die—but even so you and your fellows treacherously put him to death.” Sentence against the earl of Arundel. Then the duke of Lancaster passed sentence of death on him as follows: ‘Richard—I, the steward of England, do adjudge you a traitor, and I condemn you, by final and definitive process, to be drawn, hanged, beheaded, and quartered, and your lands, entailed and unentailed, to be confiscated.’ In recognition of his birth, however, the king ordered him to be beheaded only. And so his enemies—his nephew the earl of Kent and others who coveted his lands, and who, as will be seen, were later to die an evil and accursed death—led him away to Tower Hill, and there they beheaded him.? Would that I might be deemed worthy to accompany his soul, for I have no doubt that he has been admitted to the fellowship of the saints! For, although at the time his body was buried without ceremony at the house of the Augustinians in London, it is now venerated with great reverence and glory, and people continually make offerings there.’ On the Saturday Sir Thomas Mortimer was summoned to stand trial within six months, under pain of exile as a traitor; whereupon the king said, ‘Perhaps the earl of March will be unable to capture him; I shall wait, therefore, until I hear that this has been accomplished.’ But this Sir Thomas, having thus been exiled, spent his exile in Scotland.’ It was also announced that all benefices and other gifts of any kind which had been granted out or alienated 4 Arundel was buried in the church of the Augustinian friars in Bread Street. Walsingham also commented on the courage he displayed both during his trial and at his execution. For the miraculous events which accompanied his execution, and his short-

lived cult, see Annales, pp. 214-19, and J. M. Theilman, ‘Political canonization and political symbolism in medieval England’, Journal ofBritish Studies, xxix (1990), 261-3. 5 For Thomas Mortimer see above, p. 26, n. 3. It was thought that he had taken refuge in Ireland, of which the earl of March was lieutenant. He was in fact given three months to appear for trial, and, having failed to appear, was duly convicted of treason in Jan. 1398. He fled to Scotland, where he died before May 1399 (RP iii. 351-2, 380-1; CPR 1396-9, p. 574; Foedera, viii.16).

CHRONICON

32 SO)

ADE

VSK

parliemento, et alia quaecumque ab anno regis decimo, concessa et alienata, essent reuocata. Mors ducis Gloucestrie. Item die Lune proxime sequenti, lecto certificatorio comitis Notingham adtunc capitanis Caliciorum, in cuius custodia dux Glowec’ fuerat, quod idem dux scisti in iudicio non potuit ideo? quod in custodia sua mortuus erat Calicie, ad peticionem dictorum appellantium eadem in eum que et in comitem Arundelie fulminata extitit sentencia. Item Thomas Cant’ archiepiscopus, confiscatis primitus eius temporalibus, a regno extitit exulatus. Item die’ Martis sequente Ricullus, iusticiarius domini regis de Hybern’ oriundus, legit certas confessiones inscriptis redactas supradictis prodicionibus emissis, asserendo* eas esse dicti ducis confessiones, per ipsum emissas ac eiusdem

ducis manu‘ scriptas.! Ducatus Cestrie. Item comitatus® Cestrie, ad honorem ducatus subleuatus, per annexum terrarum dicti comitis Arundell’ confiscatarum fuit augmentatus.? Item comes Sarum petiit sibi concedi breue scire facias contra comitem March’ super dominio de Dienebyeth de Walia, et super hoc rex respondit quod deliberaret.> Item die Mercurii tunc sequente fuit ordinatum quod terre dicti comitis Arundell’, dicto ducatui Cestrie annexe, eius libertatibus in omnibus gauderent, exepto quod‘ Wallens’ illarum terfo. 159°

rarum antiqua iura et | consuetudines continuarent. Item fuit ordinatum quod concilium, auxilium, uel fauorem filiis dampnatorum uel dampnandorum in hoc parliemento prestantes pena prodicionis plectarentur. Et parliementum ad diem Veneris proxime sequens extitit continuatum.* Item ipso die Veneris rex declarauit quales ex dampnatis et dampnandis descendentes ab * interlined expunged

> interlined © comes MS

© interlined above aserendo

4 proprie

f interlined

' Gloucester’s confession, in English, is recorded on the rolls of parliament, as is the account given by William Rickhill, justice of the common bench, of his interview with Gloucester at Calais on 8 Sept. 1397, at which he claimed to have heard the confession (RP iii. 378-9, 430-2): see J. Tait, ‘Did Richard II murder the duke of Gloucester?’, Historical Essays by members of the Owens College Manchester, ed. T. F. Tout and J. Tait (Manchester, 1902), pp. 193-216. * For the erection of the county of Chester into a principality, and the annexation to it of the former Arundel lands, see RP iii. 353-4. What seems to have happened is that it was originally made into a duchy (in Sept. 1397), and later elevated to the status of principality (in Jan. 1398, at Shrewsbury). The chancery clerks referred to it as a duchy

THE CHRONICLE

OF ADAM USK

33

since the tenth year of the reign by those who had been, or might yet be, condemned in this parliament, should be revoked. The death of the duke of Gloucester. On the following Monday the earl of Nottingham, who was then captain of Calais, and to whose custody the duke of Gloucester had been committed, read out an announcement that the duke could not stand trial because he had died in his custody at Calais; whereupon, at the request of the aforesaid appellants, the same sentence was passed on him as had been passed on the earl of Arundel. Also, Thomas archbishop of Canterbury was exiled from the realm, having first had his temporalities confiscated. On the following Tuesday Rickhill, a royal justice who came from Ireland, read out various confessions which had been set down in writing concerning the above-mentioned treasons, claiming that they were the confessions of the aforesaid duke, in the words spoken by the duke, and written in the duke’s

hand.! The duchy of Chester. Also, the earldom of Chester, having been raised to the status of a duchy, was enlarged by the annexation of the confiscated lands of the earl of Arundel.’ Also, the earl of

Salisbury requested that he be granted a writ of scire facias against the earl of March concerning the lordship of Denbigh in Wales, to which the king replied that he would consider the matter.’ On the following day, Wednesday, it was decreed that the lands of the earl of Arundel which, as noted above, had been annexed to the duchy of Chester, should enjoy all their liberties, except that the Welsh who lived in those lands should continue with their ancient laws and customs. It was also decreed that anyone who gave advice, help or support to the children of those who had been, or might yet be, condemned in this parliament, should suffer the penalty for treason. Parliament was then adjourned until the following Friday.’ On this Friday [28 September] the king announced that all the descendants

of those who had been, or might yet be,

between late Sept. 1397 and Jan. 1398, but as a principality from Feb. 1398 (CPR 1396-9, PP. 204-5, 339, 467). It was intended as an appanage for the king’s (unborn) heir. 3 Four days later this was granted: see below, p. 34. Denbigh had been disputed between the Montague and Mortimer families for over sixty years (see G. A. Holmes,

The Estates ofthe Higher Nobility in Fourteenth-Century England (Cambridge, 1957), pp. 14—19; and CCR 1396-9, p. 306). Thompson (CAU, p. 165 n. 3) quotes the chronicle of Wigmore abbey (a Mortimer foundation), which suggests that the main reason why March attended the Shrewsbury session was to defend his title to Denbigh. 4 The Vita Ricardi Secundi (p.144) gives the following item under Thursday, but Usk was probably right to say that no business was done that day (RP iii. 352).

1397

CHRONICON ADE VSK

34 1397,

hereditatibus? dampnatorum, consiliisque et parliementis regis, excluderentur, scilicet masculi et per lineam masculineam ex eis

descendentes in infinitum."

Dominus Cantuar’ exulatur a regno. Item rex prefixit dicto archiepiscopo Cant’ terminum sex septimanarum ad exeundum regnum suum. Item fuit ordinatum quod omnes domini spirituales et temporales iurarent se immobiliter obseruaturos quicquid in isto parliemento factum, statutum, uel expeditum fuerat fueritue, fulminatis eciam censuris per prelatos ex nunc? pro ex tunc in contrauenientes. Item comes Warwyc’ sciscebatur in iudicio, oblatoque sibi capicio et lecta appellacione, quasi misera et uetula fatebatur omnia in appellatione contenta, plorando et lacrimando et ululando per ipsum, tamquam‘* proditorem, esse perpetrata, regis gracie se in omnibus submittendo, dolens quod dictis appellantis umquam extiterat associatus. Et rex peciit ab eo per quem eis extitit allectus, et ipse respondit quod per Thomam ducem Glouc’, et abbatem tunc Sancti Albani, et monachum reclusum Westm’, et semper graciam regis peciit.? Et tunc, quasi omnibus pro eo plorantibus et sibi graciam regis petentibus, rex concessit sibi uitam perpetuis carceribus extra regnum lugendam, primitus ipsius bonis mobilibus et immobilibus ad modum dicti comitis Arundell’ confiscatis. Et tunc rex misit eum ad turrem Lond’, et demum ad castrum insule de Manna transmittendum sub custodia domini Wyllelmi Scropp, dicte insule adtunc domini, dictis carceribus perpetuo mancipandum. Item die Sabbati rex prefixit comiti Warwyc’ unum mensem dictum castrum de Manna se translaturo; concessit sibi,? licet ficte, et uxori sue quigintas marcas ad terminum uite eorundem, tamen nullum denarium sibi

soluit, set omnia usque ad legulas eis abstulit. Dynby. Item comiti Sarum fuit concessum breue scire facias * heredibus MS

> tunc MS

© interlined

4 sibi repeated

© marg. note, nota

' The equivalent item in the official record has a different sense, namely that the male heirs of the condemned should be barred in perpetuity from the councils and parliaments of the king and his heirs; there is no mention of the inheritances of the condemned (RP iii. 352, “Touchant les issues de les atteintz’). However, the Vita Ricardi Secundi (p. 144) has the same reading as Usk. * The abbot of St Albans must be Thomas de la Mare, abbot 1349-96. There was usually a specific ‘monk recluse’ at Westminster abbey, but he is not named in the surviving sources for this period (I am grateful to Miss Barbara Harvey for this information). Another, very garbled, source states that John de Wratting, prior of Westminster

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

35

condemned—that is, their heirs male and their descendants in the

male line—should be excluded for ever both from the inheritances of the condemned and from the king’s councils and parliaments.! The lord of Canterbury is exiled from the kingdom. Also, the king gave the aforesaid archbishop of Canterbury a time limit of six weeks within which to leave his kingdom. It was also decreed that all the lords spiritual and temporal should swear to observe unfailingly whatever had been or might yet be agreed, decreed, or ordained in this parliament, and the censures of the church were proclaimed against any who contravened this in time to come. Then the earl of Warwick was brought in to stand trial, and his hood was removed and the appeal read to him; whereupon, like a wretched old woman, he began to weep and sob and wail, declaring that he had indeed, like a traitor, done everything that was alleged in the appeal; and he placed himself entirely at the king’s mercy, bewailing the fact that he had ever become involved with the aforesaid appellees. The king asked him who had induced him to join them: Thomas duke of Gloucester, he replied, and the then abbot of Saint Albans, and a monk recluse at Westminster;’ and he kept on

begging for mercy from the king. Eventually, therefore, with almost everybody weeping and pleading with the king for mercy on his behalf, the king granted him his life, but condemned him instead to perpetual imprisonment outside the kingdom—having first confiscated his movable and immovable goods, as with the earl of Arundel. Then the king ordered him to the Tower of London, from where he was to be sent on to the castle on the Isle of

Man in the custody of Lord William Lescrope, the lord of that island, to be consigned to perpetual imprisonment there. On the Saturday, the king gave the earl of Warwick a time limit of one month in which to make his way to the aforesaid castle of Man, and granted him and his wife 500 marks for the terms of their lives; this was only a pretence, however, for he paid them not a penny, instead depriving them of everything, even down to their shoe-

straps.°

Denbigh. Also, the earl of Salisbury was granted a writ of scire

1382-1407, was involved in a plot against the king (Traison et Mort, pp. 1 17-27). See also J.J.N. Palmer, ‘The authorship, date and historical value of the French chronicles of the Lancastrian revolution’, BRL Ixi (1978-9), 400-5. 3 Warwick’s wife Margaret was granted 250 marks (£166) a year for life by the king on 2 May 1398, with effect from 27 Sept. 1397, but Walsingham agreed that the king did not keep his promises to the earl and countess (CPR 1396-9, PP. 339) 3573 Annales, p. 220).

1397

CHRONICON

36 1397

contra comitem March’ super dominio de Dynby, datis indutiis quadraginta dierum ad respondendum. Item ordinatum fuit quod debitores pontis de Rougestra ad usum eiusdem pontis exigentur.! Item rex expressit quod quoad excessum Scotorum, in dicto parliemento deuulgatum, per se et concilium suum ordinaret remedium. Item comes Derbey dux Herfordie, comes Rotlond’ dux Almarl’, comes Kancie dux Surreie, comes Huntingtoun dux Exon’, comes Notingham dux Northeff, comes Som’ marchio* Dors’, dominus de Spenser comes Glouc’, dominus de Neuyll comes Westhomerlond, dominus Thomas Percy comes Wygorn’, et dominus Wyllelmus Scroppe comes Wyltes’ creati extiterunt.” Et continuatum? fuit parliementum ad Salopiam, in quindenam Hillarii proxime sequentis perficiendum. Papa roborauit parliamentum. Item die Dominica rex fecit magnum conuiuium, licensiando recessum parliementi; ut supra in die Veneris de censuris et iuramentis ordinatum fuit.° Istud tamen parliementum, licet dominorum iuramentis, prelatorum sensuris in crimina facientes fulminatis, appostolicaque confirmacione, Petro episcopo Aquenc’ uice pape consimiliter censuras uibrante, extitit roboratum,’ tamen ad modum

0. 159” 1398

ADE VSK

statui Nabocodonosor in maxima

eius uanagloria ruit parliementum cum eius fautoribus, et merito forte iuxta premissa, ut plenius infra patebit. Exemplum Cosdre, ° de Baldesar, de Antioco, et aliis tirannis populum affligentibus.® Et sic rex aput Solopiam parliementum continuauit in tanta mundi pompa quantam nec auris audiuit nec in cor hominis asscendit,° quanta inutilia et regni destructiua in tanto populi * marchie MS

> est del.

© Cosdre repeated in marg.

" Rochester bridge had recently been rebuilt in stone by John Lord Cobham and Sir Robert Knolles, and had just been converted into a drawbridge. A local syndicate was charged with its upkeep. It may have been the arrest of Cobham which created the

uncertainty about its future maintenance (RP iii. 354; CPR 1396-9, pp. 83, 454, 488). * Richard also created Margaret Marshal, Thomas Mowbray’s grandmother, duchess of Norfolk for life (RP iii. 355). These promotions brought forth Walsingham’s famous remark that ‘the common people referred to them contemptuously not as “dukes” but as “duketti”, the diminutive’ (Annales, p. 223). * The oaths, and a list of those who took them, are given in RP iii. 355-6. * See CPL v. 259-60, for the confirmation by the pope in Jan. 1399 of the bishop’s earlier confirmation of the acts of both sessions of parliament. Peter du Bois, or de Bosc, bishop of Dax 1393-1400, was sent to England as papal nuncio in May 1398, chiefly in order to negotiate concerning the schism; he approved the concordat which was promulgated on 25 Nov. 1398 (CPL, iv. 302-7; CCR 1396-9, pp. 366-7, 372). A

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

37

facias against the earl of March concerning the lordship of Denbigh, with a respite of forty days in which to respond. It was also decreed that debtors to the bridge of Rochester should be called to account for the maintenance of that bridge.! The king also announced that, with regard to the outrages committed by the Scots, news of which had arrived during the parliament, he and his council would devise a remedy. Also, the earl of Derby was made duke of Hereford, the earl of Rutland duke of Aumale, the earl of Kent duke of Surrey, the earl of Huntingdon duke of Exeter, the earl of Nottingham duke of Norfolk, the earl of Somerset marquis of Dorset, Lord Despenser earl of Gloucester, Lord Nevill earl of Westmorland, Sir Thomas Percy earl of Worcester, and Sir William Lescrope earl of Wiltshire.* Following which the parliament was adjourned, to be concluded at Shrewsbury in the quinzaine of Hilary [27 January] next. The pope confirmed the parliament. On the Sunday the king held a great banquet and gave permission for the parliament to disperse, and orders were issued concerning the oaths and sanctions mentioned previously on the Friday.’ Yet, despite the fact that this parliament was confirmed by the oaths sworn by the lords, by the sanctions proclaimed by the prelates against those committing crimes, and by the apostolic endorsement of Bishop Peter of Dax, who pronounced similar sanctions on behalf of the pope,’ nevertheless, as will become apparent, like the image of Nebuchadnezzar in all its vainglory this parliament and its supporters came crashing to the ground—and quite rightly so, given what had been done there: the examples of Croesus, of Belshazzar, of Antiochus, and of other tyrants who have persecuted their people.”

Thus did the king continue the parliament at Shrewsbury with a display of earthly ostentation such as ears have not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man,° while the world stood amazed at number of English chroniclers commented on his rapacity, and when he died at Bordeaux on 27 Apr. 1400 his reputation was not high (Annales, p. 228; Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 151; CPL iv. 310-11). 5 Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon 605-562 Bc: for the image which he set up in the plain of Dura, see Dan. 3; Croesus, king of Lydia 560-546 Bc, famed for his wealth; Belshazzar, said to have been the son of Nebuchadnezzar (but in fact probably son of Nabonidus, last king of Babylon 556-539 Bc): for his impious feast and his downfall see Dan. 5; Antiochus IV ‘Epiphanes’, king of Syria 175-164 Bc, who sacked Jerusalem, provoked the revolt of Judas Maccabaeus, and went mad before dying.

en Cor. 2:10:

1397

1398

38 1398

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

confluentis ad modum hostilem armati incedendo excercuit miraretur mundus.! In quo, ultra alia populo suo nociua et annone destructiua, eciam pro uictualibus nihil soluit; ubi tunc dominus de Cobham, appellatus de prodicione quia unus de dictis duodecim regni gubernatoribus, dixit regi in iudicio, ‘Constat uobis quod uos iussistis* michi onus commissionis subire et eandem admittere.’ Rex respondit, ‘Constat tibi quod inuitus sic iussi.’ ‘Vere’, ° dixit idem dominus de Cobham, ‘non’. Et rex fecit eum per ducem Lanc’ proditorem adiudicari, sed uitam concessit ei perpetuo lugendam carceribus. Vnde dux Lance’ dixit sibi, ‘Regraciaris pro uita tua domino regi.’ ‘Vere’, dixit ille dominus, ‘nequaquam, quia potius* tardat michi uitam, quia credidi me citius uita eterna gaudere quam iam gaudebo.’ Vbi eciam et quando rex extorsit a clero decimam cum dimidia, et a populo quintamdecimam cum dimidia, et a quolibet sacco lane quinque marcas, et a quolibet dolio uini quinque solidos, et a qualibet librata ponderis omnis? mercimonii duos solidos, ad terminum uite sue, cum interna

populi maledictione.” Demum dictum dominum de Cobham ad perpetuos carceres insule de Gersey transmisit.' Ad istud parliementum ibidem uocatus uenit ille nobilis miles comes March’, locumtenens Hibern’,* summe probitatis iuuenis qui huiusmodi conciliis et lassiuiis regis expers erat et immunis, quem populus iocunde et gaudenti animo recepit, sibi in capiciis de rubeo et albo sui coloris partitis ad numerum uiginti milia in suo aduentu obuiando, sperans per eum a tanta regis calamitate liberari. Tamen ipse, sapienter et caute se gerens, quia rex et alii sua“ in parte fautores, probitatis sue inuidi, insidias sibi ponebant occaciones contra eum querendi, ‘ipse tamen‘ quasi non curaret de turbacione populi dissimulauit, penes regem ipsius facta sibi * justistis MS 4 onus MS

> interlined above the same word del. © sibi MS Ff interlined

© poscius MS

' The dates of the Shrewsbury session were 28 to 31 Jan. 1398 (RP iii. 356-69). * Only the wool subsidy was granted for life, and this was not to be treated as a precedent; however, Richard made his general pardon conditional upon its continuance (RP iii. 368-9). The official record confirms the grant of one and a half tenths and fifteenths, but makes no mention of tunnage and poundage, which had been granted for three years in the parliament of Jan. 1397 (RP iii. 340). Poundage was granted per pound’s worth, not per pound’s weight as Usk seems to have thought. * John de Cobham, aged about eighty, was initially sentenced to a traitor’s death, commuted to exile by royal clemency. Walsingham says he was exiled to Guernsey, but the official records support Usk’s Jersey (Annales, p. 224; RP iii. 381-2; CCR 1396-9, p. 245). He was released in 1399 and died in Jan. 1408.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

39

what might come from such futility, and at the destruction wrought upon the kingdom by this coming together of such a multitude of people all armed as if for war;! at this parliament, in addition to other deeds which were odious to his people and which threatened their very livelihood, he paid nothing even for his provisions. Here too Lord Cobham, on being appealed of treason because he had been one of the above-mentioned twelve commissioners of the realm, said to the king at his trial, ‘You know very well that you yourself ordered me to undertake and accept the burden of this commission.’ To which the king retorted, ‘And you know very well that I gave that order unwillingly.’ ‘That is untrue’, replied Lord Cobham. Then the king ordered him to be adjudged a traitor by the duke of Lancaster, though he granted him his life to pine away in perpetual imprisonment. Whereupon the duke of Lancaster said to him, “Be grateful to the lord king for your life.’ “That I shall not do’, replied the said lord, ‘for in truth he has prolonged my life, whereas I had expected to enjoy eternal life sooner than I now shall.’ Here too, at this time, the king extorted a tenth and a half from the clergy, a fifteenth and a half from the people, five marks on each sack of wool, five shillings from each tun of wine, and two shillings from each pound’s weight of merchandise, for the term of his life; for which his people silently cursed him.? Then he despatched the aforesaid Lord Cobham to perpetual imprison-

ment on the island ofJersey.’ That noble knight the earl of March, lieutenant of Ireland, also came to this parliament, having been summoned thither;* a young man of the highest character, he had no part in the king’s schemes, and was quite innocent of any complicity in his evils. The people welcomed him warmly and with joyful hearts; twenty thousand of them, wearing parti-coloured hoods of red and white—his livery— went out to meet him on his arrival, in the hope that through him they might be delivered from this king’s wickedness. He bore himself carefully and with discretion, however, for the king, and others

who took his side, envying the earl’s good character, set traps for him, searching out excuses to proceed against him; but he feigned indifference towards the misfortunes of the people, pretending when he was with the king that he approved of what he did, 4 Roger Mortimer, earl of March 1394-8, was summoned on 15 Oct. 1397 to appear at Shrewsbury (CCR 1396-9, p. 221). He was first appointed lieutenant of Ireland on 23 July 1392 (GEC viii. 449).

1398

CHRONICON

40 1398

ADE

VSK

placere fingendo, cum rei ueritate multum sibi displicuerant. Rex tamen hoc suspicans et in eum continue malignans, propriis manibus, exquo alii hoc non audebant, ipsum proposuit interemere, et oportunitatem ad sui destruccionem cum aliis ad hoc conspiratis rex semper ymaginauit; propositum suum malignum ita palliando, eo quod dominum Thomam Mortimer, militem strenuissimum, ipsius patruum, per eos exulatum, et quem ipsi summe timebant, aliquamdiu post huius exilium receptasset in Hibernia, ac ipsum ante sui recessum suis recreasset pecuniis.’ Dictumque comitem ideo inter se secrete dampnarunt, captantes tempus ad ipsius destruccionem, terras suas ex hoc inter se diuidendas iactando, et ad illum finem dominum? Surrey predictum,” uxoris sue fratrem malignissimum, pro ipsius capcione locumtenentem* direxerunt

din Hibern’.4 fo. 160°

Casus comitis Marchie in bello, et eius genelogia. Set, pro dolor, in festo sancte Margarete, iuxta Kenlasoe in Hibernia, nimia ipsius bellicosa animositate exercitum proprium incaute precedens, in suorum hostium animas‘* belli fortuna cecidit peremptus, ad magnam regni Angl’ tristiciam, suorumque emulorum ac inimicorum gaudium nimirum non modicum et letitiam.? Hec ipsius comitis genologia:’ Rogerus, filius Edmundi, filii Rogeri, filii Edmundi, filii Rogeri primi comitis March’, filii Cladus Thui, filie Llewellyn

ap Iorwerth Troynden principis* NortheWalie, filii? Oweyn, filii Griffith, filii Canaan, filii Yago, filii Ydwall, filii Mauric,

filii

Ydwall Voyll, filii Anaraud, filii Rodry Vawr ex Essill filia Kynan,> filii Rodry Maylwynnog, filii Ydwall Yeorth, filii? Cadualadre benedicti ultimi regis brytonum,° filii Cadwalonis, filii Caduani, filii Yiago, filii Beli, filii Rune, filii Mailgan Goynet, filii * dominos MS

© interlined

MS. (Cf Monasticon Anglicanum, vi (1). 355) ® marg. note, hic primo de regibus

© interlined 4d interlined ESIC f marg. note, hic primo de principibus

' See above, p. 30, n. 5. * Thomas Holand duke of Surrey was appointed lieutenant of Ireland on 26 July 1398, with effect from 1 Sept.; the fact that March had died six days earlier was not yet

known to Richard, who on the following day dismissed March from office (CPR 1396-9, p. 402; CCR 1396-9, p. 325). March’s wife was Eleanor, Holand’s sister. Usk’s account of March’s death derives from the Wigmore chronicle (W. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanine, ed.J.Caley, H. Ellis, and B. Bandinel (6 vols., London, 1846-9), vi (i). 355). This genealogy is based on ancient Welsh traditions as preserved in works such as The Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, ed. A. Jones (Manchester, rgro), and the Wigmore chronicle (see M. E. Giffin, ‘Cadwallader, Arthur and Brutus in the Wigmore manuscript’, Speculum, xvi (1941), 109-20). Verifiable errors going back to approximately the ninth century are noted below; before that, names are increasingly insecure.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

41

whereas in fact he strongly disapproved of it. Nevertheless the king remained suspicious and hostile towards him, planning to put him to death with his own hands—something which the others dared not do—and continually seeking a chance to destroy him, as did the others who were parties to the conspiracy; hoping, as a means of accomplishing their malicious schemes, to exploit the fact that Sir Thomas Mortimer, the earl’s uncle, a most vigorous knight, who had been exiled by them and whom they feared greatly, had been given refuge in Ireland by the earl for a time following his exile, and had been provided with money by the earl before his departure thence.' Thus did they conspire secretly together to condemn the earl, eagerly awaiting the moment when they could destroy him, boasting that once it was done they would divide up his lands between them; and it was to this end that they sent to Ireland as lieutenant the aforesaid lord of Surrey, a most evil man, the brother of the earl’s wife, to seize him. The death of the earl ofMarch in war, and his genealogy. Sadly, however, as the fortunes of war would have it, on the feast of St Margaret [20 July], near Kells in Ireland, through an excess of military ardour which led him rashly to advance in front of his own troops,

he fell amidst the ranks of his enemies and was killed, to the great distress of the English kingdom, though doubtless to the unbounded joy and delight of his rivals and enemies.” The genealogy of this earl is as follows:* Roger, son of Edmund, son of Roger, son of Edmund, son of Roger the first earl of March, son of Gladws Duy, the daughter of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth Drwyndwn prince of North Wales,’ son of Owain, son of Gruffudd, son of Cynan, son of Iago, son of Idwal, son of Meurig, son of Idwal Foel, son of Ana-

rawd, son of Rhodri Mawr by Ethil daughter of Cynan,* son of Rhodri Maelwynog, son of Idwal Iwrch, son of the blessed Cadwaladr last king of the British,° son of Cadwallon, son of Cadfan, son of Iago, son of Beli, son of Rhun, son of Maelgwn Gwynedd, son of + Usk has compressed several generations here: Roger Mortimer first earl of March (d. 1330) was the son of Edmund Mortimer (d. 1304), son of Roger Mortimer (d. 1282),

son of Ralph Mortimer (d. 1246) by Gladws Ddu (‘the dark-eyed’), daughter of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth (d. 1240), son of Iorwerth Drwyndwn (‘the flat-nosed’). 5 Rhodri Mawr (‘the great’), ruler of Gwynedd, Powys and Seisyllwg (d. 878), from whom most of the subsequent Welsh dynasties traced their descent; but he was the son of Merfyn Frych (‘the freckled’), son of Gwriad and Ethil (HBC, pp. 49-50;J.E. Lloyd,

A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, (2 vols., London, 1911), 1.

23-6. : ; Cadwaladr Fendigaid (‘the blessed’), who died c.664. For his significance in the genealogy, see Giffin, ‘Cadwallader, Arthur and Brutus’.

1398

CHRONICON

42 1398

ADE

VSK

Caduallon Lawyr, filii Yvor Hyrth, filii Cunetha Wledik,! filii Ederne, filii Padarne Peys Ruthe, filii Tegyt, filii Iago, filii Kunne-

danc, filii Caynan, filii Borgayn, filii Doly, filii Gortholy, filii Gwyne, filii Corthewyn, filii Amleweth, filii Anweyrid, filii Cuweth, filii Donkere, filii Brychwane, filii Ymwane, filii Analathas, filii Affleth, filii Beli Vawre, filii Mynagan, filii Enaye, filii Gerwyt, filii Creden, filii Dyffnach, filii Pryden, filii Aedmawr, filii Antony, filii Sirioll, filii Garowest, filii Ruallon, filii Cunetha* ex Regaw, filia Leyr qui fecit Licestriam,? filii Bladudd qui fecit balnea apud Bathon’, filii Rune, filii Llaan, filii Bruti uiridis scuti, filii Eboracy qui fecit ciuitatem Eborac’, filii Membryci, filii Madag, filii Locriny, filii Bruti primi regis britonum, filii Siluy, filii Escannyi,° filii Enee Scothewyn,’ filii Enchiges, filii Capus, filii Asseraci, filii Troysse, filii Elicony, filii Mercurii, filii Dardani, filii louis, filii Saturni, filii Seluis, filii Creti, filii Ceprii, filii Ieuan, filii Iaseph,? filii Noee, filii Lameth, filii Matusalem, filii Ennoc, filii Iaffeth, filii Malaleel, filii Caynan, filii Ennoc, filii Seth, filii Ade prothoplausti. Iam*° rediamus ad dictam Cladus Thui, filiam Iohanne, filie Iohannis regis,’ filii Henrici fyz Emperys, filie Henrici primi, filii Wyllelmi conquestoris,‘filii Ricardi,* filii Ricardi sine timore, filii Wyllelmi Longspe, filii Rolonis primi conquestoris Normanie. Vitra dictorum Brytanie, Ytalie, Troge, Anglie, Francie et Hispanie nobilium regum nobilissimum exortum, ut quid mora? Ecce quanta comitum March’ florens regalis prosapia: idem Rogerus comes predictus filius fuit Philippe comitisse March’, filie Leonelli ducis Clarenc’ secundogeniti Edwardi tercii regis Angl’ et Franc’,®* gloriosi filii Isabelle filie Phileppi regis Franc’,"® eiusque heredis et unice, et hoc in utraque linea directa. Item ex alio latere filius fuit dicte Philippe ex Philippa’ Clarenc’ ducissa, filia Wyllelmy Borchie comitis Vtonie * filia del. de tiranis torem

> marg. note, hucusque de britonibus 4 marg. note, hic primo de Obreys * marg. note, hic ad duces normannie

» marg. note, regis Francie

© marg. note, hic primo © marg. note, hic ad conques® marg. note, Edwardi tercii

' Cunedda Gwledig (‘the ruler’), said to have been the leader of a British tribe which came from the north and conquered Gwynedd during the sth cent. * The ancestry of the Trojans derives ultimately from Jliad xx. 21 5-89. * Joan was the natural daughter of King John, and married Llewellyn ap Iorwerth in 1205-6; Gladws may have been her stepdaughter (HBC, p. 51).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

43

Cadwallon Lawhir, son of Ivor Hyrth, son of Cunedda Gwledig,! son of Aetern, son of Patern Pesrut, son of Tacit, son of Iago, son of Cunedda, son of Cynan, son of Guorcein, son of Doli, son of Guordoli, son of Gwin, son of Corthwyn, son of Amleweth, son of Anarawd, son of Cuweth, son of Donker, son of Brychwane, son of Ymwane, son of Amalech, son of Affleth, son of Beli Mawr, son of Mynogan, son of Anna, son of Gerwyt, son of Creden, son of Dyffnach, son of Pryderi, son of Aedmawr, son of Antony, son of Sisillus, son of Gurgustius, son of Rivallo, son of Cunedag by Regan,

daughter of Lear who built Leicester, son of Bladud who built the bath-house at Bath, son of Rhun, son of Leil, son of Brutus Greenshield, son of Ebraucus who built the city of York, son of Mempricius, son of Maddan, son of Locrine, son of Brute the first king of the Britons, son of Silvius, son of Ascanius, son of Aeneas Scothewyn,” son of Anchises, son of Capen, son of Assaracus, son of Tros, son of Erichthonius, son of Mercury, son of Dardanus, son of Jupiter, son of Saturn, son of Silvius, son of Cretus, son of Ciprius, son of Javan, son of Japheth, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methusaleh, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam the first creature.

Now let us go back to this Gladws Duy, the daughter of Joan, daughter of King John,’ son of Henry the son of the empress, daughter of Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, son of Richard,’ son of Richard the fearless, son of William Longespee, son of Rollo the first conqueror of Normandy. Besides this glorious descent from the noble kings of Britain, Italy, Troy, England, France, and Spain, what more can be said? Harken to the way that the royal line of the earls of March has prospered: the aforesaid earl Roger was the son of Philippa countess of March, daughter of Lionel duke of Clarence the secondborn son of Edward III king of England and France,’ the glorious son of Isabella daughter of Philip king of France,’ and thus his sole heir, and this in each direct line. Following another line, he was the son of the aforesaid Philippa, who was the daughter of Philippa’ duchess of Clarence, daughter of William de Burgh earl of Ulster 4 William the Conqueror was the natural son of Robert I, duke of Normandy

(d. 1035), son of Richard II, duke of Normandy (d. 1026). 5 Lionel of Antwerp (b. 1338), duke of Clarence 1362-8, was the third born son of Edward III, but his brother William of Hatfield (b.1336) died in childhood.

6 Philip IV (‘the fair’), king of France 1285-1314. 7 Recte Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of William de Burgh earl of Ulster

(d. 1333).

1398

44

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

1398 ex Elezabeth, filia Johanne de Acris,’ filie Edwardi primi? regis Angl’ et conquestoris Walie, ex Alionora filia regis Hispanie“

prima eius uxore.®? Item ex alio latere filius fuit eiusdem Philippe

comitisse, filie ducisse Clarenc’ predicte, filie dicti comitis Vlton’ ex N, filia Thome comitis Lanc’,? filii Edmundi, filii “tercii Henrici

regis Angl’ ex N, filia comitis Prouincie,*** Westm’ inter reges honorifice tumulata.> Vitra nota de Edmundo iam comite March’,

fo. 160"

dicti Rogeri filio, inpubere et in custodia regis excistente,° ex Alianora, regis Ricardi secundi nepte, filia comitis Canc’, filii Philippe’ comitisse Canc’, filie Edmundi, filii Iohannis, |filii dicti Edwardi primi ex Margareta, filia regis Franc’,’ eitus secunda uxore,* ante summum altare in ecclesia fratrum minorum London’ tumulata.*% Iam redeamus ad dictam imperatricem, filiam Margarete regine Scocie,? filie Edwardi exulis, filii Edmundi Irynsid,* filii Athelredi, filii Edgarii, filii Ed(mundi), filii Edwardi, filii Aluredi, filir Athelu-

ulphy, filii Athelbryit,’° filii Aelmundi qui fuit unus de quinque regulis Angl’, qui quidem Athelbryit fugit a facie Bryithryit sibi inuidentis in Franc’ tempore Karoli Mayny; dicto uero Bryithryit mortuo, idem Athelbryit, reuersus in Angliam, ceteris regulis Anglie per eum uiriliter diuictis, Angl’ ad unam monarcham redigit, in ea pacifice regnando; et iacet Wynton’.

Iam redeamus ad dictum Radulphum,'! maritum dicte Wladus Thui, filium Hugonis, filii Rogeri, filii Hugonis fundatoris * marg. note, Edwardi primi b-b interlined © marg. note, regis Hispanie 4-4 pritten overan erasure, ina different hand, and linked by a pointertoa marg. note, in yet another hand: nota quod iste historiographus dicit libro septimo quod Edwardus Wallie con-

quesitor fuit primogenitus Henrici tercii, quanquam alii dixerint contrarium, scilicet quod Edmundus, de quo fit mencio supra; quod non credo; hec habentur libro 7, capitulo 39. © prima eius uxore del. f marg. note, regis Francie aaa

zoomorphic pointer fills the last 3 cm. of the line saxonum

» marg. note, hic primo de regibus

' It was not William de Burgh but his father John (d. 1313) who married Elizabeth, daughter of Gilbert de Clare earl of Gloucester by his second wife, Joan of Acre, the third daughter of Edward I. * Eleanor of Castile (d. 1290). * William de Burgh married Maud, daughter of Henry earl of Lancaster (d. 1345), the brother of Thomas of Lancaster. . 4 Eleanor of Provence (d. 1291).

* The marginal marked for insertion at this point reads: ‘Note that in book seven of this history it is said that the first-born son of Henry III was Edward, the conqueror of

Wales; others, however, have asserted the contrary, namely that it was this Edmund,

who is mentioned above; but I do not believe this. These things are related in book 7, chapter 39’ (of the Polychronicon, but recte ch. 35). ° Edmund Mortimer, earl of March (b. 1391, d. 1425), was, because of his proximity

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

45

by Elizabeth, daughter of Joan of Acre,! daughter of Edward I, king of England and conqueror of Wales, by his first wife Eleanor the daughter of the king of Spain.” Following another line, he was the son of the aforesaid countess Philippa, daughter of the aforesaid duchess of Clarence, daughter of the aforesaid earl of Ulster by N, daughter of Thomas earl of Lancaster,’ son of Edmund, son of Henry III king of England by N, daughter of the count of Provence,! who is buried with honour amongst kings at Westminster. Note also that Edmund, the present earl of March, whois under age and in the king’s wardship,’ is the son of the aforesaid Roger by Eleanor, niece of King Richard II and daughter of the earl of Kent, who is the son of Philippa’ countess of Kent, daughter of Edmund, son of John, son of the aforesaid Edward I by his second wife Margaret, daughter of the king of France,* this Margaret being buried before the high altar of the church of the friars minor in London. Now let us go back to the aforesaid empress, daughter of Margaret queen of Scotland,’ daughter of Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside, son of /thelred, son of Edgar, son of Edmund, son of Edward, son of Alfred, son of Athelwulf, son of A:thelbert,!” son of Ealhmund who was one of five rulers in England. This “Ethelbert was forced to flee from the onslaughts of Beorhtric to France in the time of Charlemagne; once Beorhtric had died, however, A‘thelbert returned to England, boldly overcame the other

English rulers, brought England under a single monarchy, and ruled there in peace; and he is buried at Winchester.

Now let us go back to the aforesaid Ralph''—the husband of the aforesaid Gladws Duy—who was the son of Hugh, son of Roger, son to the throne, kept in honourable confinement from 1399 until 1413, but released and allowed livery of his estates at Henry V’s accession (GEC viii. 451). 7 Recte Joan, countess of Kent and, through her second marriage, princess of Wales and mother of Richard II. 8 Margaret of France, daughter of King Philip III (1270-85); Edmund (of Woodstock) was her son, and Edmund’s son was John earl of Kent (d. 1352), brother of Joan. ® The empress Matilda was the daughter of King Henry I and Matilda (or Edith), daughter of Malcolm Canmore, king of Scots, and his queen St Margaret, daughter of Edward the Exile.

10 Ecgberht, king of Wessex 802-39, was driven into exile at the Frankish courtin 789 by

Beorhtric, ruler of Wessex c.789—802, and Offa of Mercia. His power, on his return, was

less extensive than Usk implies (F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (3rd edn, Oxford, 1971), Pp- 209-10, 225).

1 Usk has not mentioned Ralph Mortimer (d. 1246) before; he was not the son but the

brother of Hugh (d. 1227), son of Roger (d. 1214), son of Hugh (d. ¢.1 181), who completed

the foundation of Wigmore abbey (begun in 1141) in 1179. Hugh was the grandson of the Ralph Mortimer mentioned in Domesday book (GEC ix. 266-76).

1398

46 1398

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

abbathie de Wygmore,’ filii Radulphi Mortumer qui primo uenit cum Wyllielmo conquestore in Angliam; iste Radulphus,' dicto filio suo Hugone in dominio de Wygmore relicto, in Normaniam reuersus, ibi mortuus est, ut habetur in coronisis dicte abbathie. p

Iam de Edmundo,’ patre dicti Rogeri, aliquid proferre non omitto; iste Edmundus, qui infra byennyum, suarum uirtutum prosapia et industria pariter militari strenuitate, quibus diebus suis ceteris mortalibus prepollebat, totam Hybern’, in ipsius locumtenencie ibidem aduentu rebellantem, ad unitatem et pacem Anglieque subieccionem mirifice reduxit; presencium compilatorem ad utriusque iuris studium Oxon’ exhibuit honeste sustentatum. Demum aput Cork in Hib’, in festo sancti Iohannis euangeliste, pro dolor, casu quodam quo omnia tendunt in occasum, longe ante michi optatum terminum, tanta sui nobilitate mundum reliquit* orbatum. Et iacent eius ossa in abbatia de Wygmore, una cum dicta Philippa uxore sua, ante summum altare eiusdem abbatie tumulata,’ de quibus? ecce uersus:

Versus.

Vir constans, gratus, sapiens, bene nuper amatus, Nunc nece prostratus, sub marmore pudret humatus; Hic iacet Edmundus, moriens Cork, corpore mundus, Sisque pius, Christe, sibi quem lapis opprimit iste!

Item de dicta Philippa: Versus.

Nobilis hic tumilata iacet comitissa Philippa. Actibus hec nituit; larga, benigna fuit;

Regum sanguis erat, morum probitate uigebat, Conpaciens inopi; uiuat in arce celi!

Per istam Philippam, Leonelli secundogeniti Angl’ (filiam),° ut‘ premittitur, comitatus March’, una cum regali progenie ad summos honoris apices attingere uirsimiliter ualenti, per dominia de Clare, Walsingham, Sodbiry, Waddoun, Cramborne et Berdfeld in Anglia, de Usk, Kaerlioun et Tryllek in Walia, de comitatu Viton’ et dominio de Connache in Hib’, cum eorum nonnullis * marg. note, hic origo de Mortumer fondator abbathie de Wygmor > habetur repeated © reliquid MS 4 excursus expunged © suppliedin CAU, p. 23 et MS ' Recte Roger (d. 1078 X 1086), father of Ralph (GEC ix. 266-8). * Edmund Mortimer, earl of March (d. 1381); much of the eulogy which follows (including the epitaphs) is taken from the Wigmore chronicle (Monasticon Anglicanum, vi (i). 353-5). He went to Ireland as king’s lieutenant in May 1380, remaining there until

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

47

of Hugh the founder of Wigmore abbey, son of Ralph Mortimer who first came to England with William the Conqueror; this Ralph’ left his aforesaid son Hugh in the lordship of Wigmore and returned to Normandy, where he died, as is stated in the chronicles of the aforesaid abbey. Nor must I omit to say something about

Edmund,’ the father of this Roger: this Edmund, through his innate qualities, as well as his diligence and warlike valour, in which he surpassed all the other mortals of his time, succeeded remarkably, within the space of the two years that he spent as lieutenant of Ireland, in reducing that whole country, which was in rebellion at the time of his arrival there, to unity, peace, and submission to England; he also presented the compiler of this present work with the means wherewith to sustain himself honourably while studying the two laws at Oxford. But then, sad to relate—by that fate which lays all things low long before I would have wished it so—at Cork in Ireland, on the feast of St John the Evangelist [27 December], he was taken from this world, thereby depriving it of his nobility. His bones now lie in Wigmore abbey, buried together with his wife Philippa in front of the high altar;} these verses commemorate them: Verses.

Here Edmund, once steadfast, beloved and wise, Now laid low by death, under cold marble lies,

Dying at Cork, he left this world behind, Entombed now in stone, to him, Christ, be kind!

And, for the aforesaid Philippa: Verses.

Here lies noble Philippa, a countess entombed, Who strove by good deeds to succour the poor, Descended from kings, an example to all, May she live in heaven above evermore!

Through this Philippa, [daughter], as already noted, of Lionel the second-born son of England, the earldom of March enjoys and is most splendidly augmented by the lordships of Clare, Walsingham, Sudbury, Whaddon, Cranborne and Bardfield in England, of Usk, Caerleon, and Trelleck in Wales, and by the earldom of Ulster and the lordship of Connaught in Ireland, together with his death from pneumonia, contracted while fording a river in winter. His achievements = in Ireland were praised by several chroniclers (GEC viii. 447). 3 Philippa predeceased her husband; her will was proved on 9 Feb. 1381 (GEC viii.

448).

1398

48 1398

CHRONICON

et quamplurimis

magnorum

ADE VSK

dominiorum

pertinencciis, gaudet

quam honorifice augmentatus.' Iam ad parliementum predictum Salopie redeamus, *cuius tempore dux Northff, postea mortuus in exilio aput Veniciam, duci Lanc’ mortis insidias illuc uenienti posuit, quod magis doloris turbines causauit; ipse tamen de hoc precautus aliunde huiusmodi insidias euasit.2 Rex continue usque ad eius ruinam, inter cetera grauamina regno suo per ipsum accumulata, habuit secum in familia sua quadringentos excessiuos uiros de comitatu Cestr’, utique malignissimos et subditos ubique inpune affligentes, pulsantes et depredantes, qui, ubicumque rex diuertebat, secum armati diei et noctis uigilias circa eum ad modum guerrancium custodiebant, adulteriaque, homicidia et alia infinita mala ubique committendo; quos rex in tantum fouebat ita ut nullum contra eos querelantem audire dignaretur, ymmo illum tamquam exosum

pocius dedignaretur, quod ° fuit causa ipsius ruine maxima.

fo. 161°

Appellacio ducis Herffordie. In dicto parliemento dux Herfordie, filius dicti ducis Lanc’, de prodicione dictum ducem Norfolkie appellauit,* unde rex assignauit eis crastinum exaltacionis sancte crucis’ tunc proxime sequens ad duellandum in ea parte. |Dux Herfordie interim sub fideiussoria cautione quo uolebat se diuertit, duce tamen Northfolch’ aput Wyndersore carcerali* mancipato custodie, eiusdem officia aliis coappellatoribus suis fuerunt collata, officium scilicet marescallie Anglie duci Surreye, et officium capitanie Callicie duci Exon’,® propter quas concessiones inter ipsum et eos, iusto Dei iudicio, misit Deus magnum scismatis chaos, iuxta illud prophecie unde uersus, ‘Iudice celorum, rumpetur turba malorum.”’ 2 marg. note, parliementum Salopie

> que MS

© cacerali MS

' Usk has paraphrased the list of lands given in the Wigmore chronicle (Monasticon Anglicanum, vi (i). 353-4; for the de Burgh inheritance, see Holmes, Estates of the Higher Nobility, pp. 143-63). The Wigmore chronicle, this section of which seems to have been written in Henry IV’s reign, is much more explicit than Usk in its support for the Mortimer claim to the throne, stating that Edmund had been unjustly deprived by Henry IV (Monasticon Anglicanum, vi (i). 355). * For the plot against Gaunt, see C. Given-Wilson, ‘Richard II, Edward II, and the Lancastrian inheritance’, EHR cix (1994), 553-71. Mowbray died at Venice on 22 Sept.

1399. * The Cheshire archers were much hated: see Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 222-3, and works cited there.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

49

the numerous and diverse appurtenances belonging to these great lordships; and, being united with the royal line, it is in truth worthy to rise to the very highest degrees of honour.! Now let us return to the aforementioned parliament at Shrewsbury, at which the duke of Norfolk, who later died in exile at Venice, set a deadly trap for the duke of Lancaster as he was coming there, which stirred up a great storm of trouble; the latter, however, forewarned by some person, avoided the trap.’ The king, meanwhile, ever hastening to his fall, among the many burdens which he inflicted upon his realm also kept about him in his following four hundred supernumeraries from the county of Cheshire, men of the utmost depravity who went about doing as they wished, assaulting, beating, and plundering his subjects with impunity; wherever the king went, night and day, they stood guard over him, armed as if for war, committing adulteries, murders, and

countless other crimes; yet so inordinately did the king favour them that he would not listen to anyone who complained about them, indeed he regarded such people with loathing; and this was

the chief cause of his ruin.’ The appeal ofthe duke ofHereford. During this parliament the duke of Hereford, son of the aforementioned duke of Lancaster, appealed the said duke of Norfolk of treason,’ whereupon the king assigned them a day to do battle to decide their quarrel, namely the morrow of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross [15 September]* next following. In the meantime the duke of Hereford, having given sufficient sureties, went about as he wished; the duke of Norfolk, however, remained under close confinement in prison at Windsor, and his offices were conferred on his other co-appellants—that is to say, the duke of Surrey was given the office of marshal of England, and the duke of Exeter was made captain of Calais’—as a result of which God, by his own righteous judgement, stirred up a

great storm of dissension between him and them, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the verse, ‘By the judgement of heaven, the throng of

the wicked is rent asunder’.’ 4 For the Hereford-Norfolk dispute, see Given-Wilson, ‘Richard II, Edward II, and the Lancastrian inheritance’.

5 Recte 16 Sept. 6 RP iii. 368; GEC v. 198.

John of Bridlington’, dist. 7 Political Poems and Songs, ed. Wright, i. 166 (‘Prophecy of

ii, c. vi, 1. 13).

1398

50 1398

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Ducis Northff exilium. Ducis Herff bannicio. Quo duelli die ambo in magno apparatu ad ipsum? locum, fossa aquatica munitum, uener-

unt. Set dux Herfordie multum gloriosius cum septem equuorum diuersitatis apparatu insignitus comparuit. Et quia rex a sortilegio habuerat quod dux North’ tunc preualeret, ducis Herfordie destruccionem affectando, multum gaudebat; set in congressu eorundem sibi uidebatur quod dux Herff preualeret, rex duellum mandauit dissolui, dicto duci Northff perpetuum exilium inducendo, affectans tamen eundem captata se oportunitate reconsiliare, ducem uero Herff pro decem annis banniuit a regno.' Primus? Veniciis in exilio expirauit, secundus infra annum ad regnum gloriose rediit ac, banniente deposito, in eodem potenter

1399 1398

£399

regnauit. Moritur dux Lanc’. Isto anno, in crastino sancti Blassii,’ moritur dictus dux Lanc’ et in ecclesia sancti Pauli London’ prope summum altare multum honoratus tumulatur. In quo parliemento totalem ipsius regni potestatem rex sibi et sex aliis per ipsum designandis ad uite sue terminum, ubi et quando sibi placeret, optinuit comitti; per quam comissionem postea dictum ducem Herff, omnibus eius bonis confiscatis, perpetuo exilio condempnauit. Pluriumque memoriam post mortem dampnauit. Et demum ad partes Hyb’ debellandas, in mala sibi hora, se direxit, quia ut inferius apparebit inutilis fuit sibi ad sua regressus.* Aduentus sui exilii dicti Herffordie, et per mortem sui patris iam

Lance’, ducis, sic duplici ducatu functi, iuxta illud prophecie Brydlintoun ubi uersus, Bis dux uix ueniet cum trecentis sociatis,

Phi ffalsus fugiat, non succurret nece stratis.° Iste dux Henricus, secundum propheciam Merlyny iuxta * ipsius MS

> Primis MS

' Usk is the only chronicler to say that the dukes actually joined battle, which is almost certainly wrong (Cf. RP iii. 383).

> Recte 3 Feb. (Goodman, John of Gaunt, pp. 168-9). * For the parliamentary committee and confiscation of the Lancastrian inheritance (on 18 Mar. 1399), see RP iii. 369, 372, and J. G. Edwards, ‘The parliamentary committee of 1398, EHR xl (1925), 321-33. The committee numbered eighteen, with a ae of nine. For the posthumous conviction of Robert Plessington, see RP iii. 304. * Richard landed at Waterford on 1 June 1399. * Political Poems and Songs, ed. Wright, i. 156 (‘Prophecy of John of Bridlington’, dist.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

51

Exile ofthe duke ofNorfolk. Banishment ofthe duke ofHereford. On the day of the duel both men came, splendidly arrayed, to the appointed place, which was surrounded by a moat. The duke of Hereford was the more gloriously arrayed, however, arriving with seven horses decked out in a variety of remarkable trappings. The king had been told by a fortune-teller that the duke of Norfolk would win the contest, which pleased him greatly, since he longed for the downfall of the duke of Hereford; once they had joined

1398

battle, however, it seemed to him that the duke of Hereford was

going to win, so the king ordered the duel to be halted, and instead decided to send the duke of Norfolk into perpetual exile—planning, however, once a suitable opportunity arose, to recall him— and to banish the duke of Hereford from the realm for ten years.! The former died in exile in Venice; the latter, however, came back

in triumph to the kingdom within a year, and, deposing him who had banished him, ruled there with might. The duke of Lancaster dies. This year, on the morrow of St Blaise [4 February],” the aforesaid duke of Lancaster died, and was buried with great pomp next to the high altar of the church of St Paul in London. During this parliament the king announced that, whenever and wherever it pleased him, complete power over his kingdom would be committed to him and six other persons to be nominated by him for the rest of his life; as a result of which commission he subsequently sentenced the duke of Hereford to perpetual exile, having first confiscated all his possessions. He also condemned a number of people posthumously.’ Then at length, in an evil hour for him—for, as will be seen below, his return to his own land brought him nothing but adversity—he set off to make

war in Ireland.’ The return from exile of the aforesaid duke of Hereford—also now, through the death of his father, duke of Lancaster, and thus a duke twice over—fulfilled the prophecy of Bridlington, where the verse reads, The double duke will come with scarce three hundred men,

Let perjured Philip flee, regardless of the slain.°

According to the prophecy of Merlin, this duke Henry is the ii, c. ii, ll. 3-4), which reads, ‘Bis dux uix feriet cum trecentis sociatis,

/Phi falsus fugiet

non succurret nece stratis’. The commentator made the connection with the flight of Philip VI of France at Crecy in 1346.

1399

1398

1399

52 1399

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

propheciam, pullus aquile, quia filius Iohannis; set secundum Bridlintoun merito canis, propter liberatam callariorum leporariis conueniencium, et quia diebus canicularibus uenit, et quia infinitos ceruos, liberatam scilicet regis Ricardi in ceruis excistentem, penitus a* regno affugauit.' Iste dux Henricus, ab exilio suo? una cum Thoma Cant’ archiepiscopo et Thoma comitis Arundelie filio, mortis sui metu a custodia ducis Exon’ fratris regis Ricardi ad ipsum in Francia fugiente,’ uicesimo octauo die Iunii in loco applicari insolito uix cum trecentis, ut premittitur, terre in partibus borialibus applicauit. Cui primo in sui succursum ipsius foreste de Knarisborow archiforestarius, Robertus Waturtoun, aduenit cum ducentis forestariis,’ ac’ demum de Westhomerland et Northomerland comites, domini de Wylby et de Graystok.* Vt quid mora? Infra paucos dies centum mille bellicosis gaudenter extitit stipatus, Brystoliam cum exercitu antepenultimo die [ulii applicauit, et ibidem dominum Wyllelmum Scroppe, regis thesaurarium, dominos Iohannem Buschei et Henricum Grene milites, regis pessimos conciliarios et eius malicie principales fautores, decapitauit.° Vbi presencium compilator, cum dicto domino Cant’ reuerso, interfuit, eundemque ducem cum dominio de Vsk, originis sui loco, quem depredandum proposuerat propter recistenciam eiusdem

loci domine, regis neptis, ibidem ordinatam, graciose pacificauit, et dominum Edwardum Charlton, eiusdem domine tunc maritum, predicto duci retineri optinuit,’ ac totam patriam Vsce, pro dicta * interlined

> corr. by interlineation from et ad

' The eagle was the symbol of StJohn the evangelist. This imagery was evidently common at the time: Henry was also referred to as the eagle in ‘Richard the Redeless’ (The Deposition ofRichard II,ed. T. Wright (Camden First Series, iii, 1838), pp. 8, 13-14, 17; and see R. Taylor, The Political Prophecy in England (New York, 1911), p. 68); and the Dieulacres chronicle also speaks of Henry’s greyhounds driving out ‘that hated beast the white hart’ (Chronicles of the Revolution, p. 155). The reference to pullus aquile in the ‘prophecy of Merlin’ here is in fact to the ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’, frequently found along with the prophecies of Merlin in contemporary manuscripts (BL, Cotton Faustina A. viii, fo. 116"). For the Bridlington prophecy referred to, see Political Poems and Songs, ed. Wright, i. 168 (‘Prophecy ofJohn of Bridlington, dist. ii. c. vii, 1. 13), which reads, ‘cum canis intrabit, leo cum tauro uolitabit’; the commentator notes that the dog-days fell inJuly because that was when Sirius, the dog-star, was visible. Thompson (CAU, p. 173n.2) supports Usk’s identification of the greyhound as one of Henry’s livery badges. For Richard’s white harts, and livery badges in general, see Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 236-43. * Henry landed at Ravenspur (modern Spurn Head) on the Humber estuary, probably on 4 July. For his landing and subsequent campaign, see Chronicles of the Revolution,

PP: 32-9.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

53

eaglet, for he was the son of John; following Bridlington, however, he should rather be the dog, because of his livery of linked collars of greyhounds, and because he came in the dog-days, and because he drove utterly from the kingdom countless numbers of harts— the hart being the livery of King Richard.! Returning from his exile,’ this Duke Henry landed on 28 June— with barely three hundred men, as already noted—at a remote spot in the northern parts; with him were Thomas archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas the son of the earl of Arundel, the latter having fled in fear of his life from the custody of the king’s brother, the duke of Exeter, to join him in France.’ The first person to come to his aid was Robert Waterton, chief forester of his forest of

Knaresborough, bringing two hundred foresters with him,’ and after him came the earls of Westmorland and Northumberland and Lords Willoughby and Greystoke.° Why delay?—within a few days the duke was delighted to find a hundred thousand fighting men at his back. Two days before the end of July he arrived with his army at Bristol, where he beheaded those most evil counsellors of the king, the chief aiders and abettors of his malevolence, Sir William Scrope the royal treasurer, and Sir John Bussy and Sir Henry Green, knights.° Also there, in the company of the aforesaid newly-returned archbishop of Canterbury, was the compiler of this present work, and it was through his influence that peace was made between Duke Henry and the lordship of Usk—his birthplace—which the duke had intended to ravage on account of the resistance which the lady of that place, the king’s niece, had planned there. This compiler also arranged for Sir Edward Charlton, who was then that lady’s husband, to be retained by the duke;’ and he got all the people of Usk, who had been brought 3 Thomas Fitzalan, son of the executed earl, was committed to Exeter’s custody on 12 Oct. 1397 (CPR 1396-9, p. 214, where he is wrongly called Richard). He was helped by a London mercer, William Scott, to escape to the continent (Annales, p. 241; The Historical Collections of a London Citizen, ed.J.Gairdner (Camden Society New Series, xvii, 1876),

p. 101). 4 For Waterton, see Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 190-1. 5 Ralph Nevill, earl of Westmorland 1397-1425; Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland 1377-1405; Ralph, Lord Greystoke 1359-1418; William, Lord Willoughby 13961409; all northern lords. For Henry’s army, see Chronicles of the Revolution, pp. 252-3. 6 Scrope was treasurer of England 1398-9, having been under-chamberlain of the royal household 1393-8; Green and Bussy were members of the royal council (GivenWilson, Royal Household, p. 186). For Bussy, see also above, p. 22. 7 In June 1399, Edward Charlton (lord of Powis from 1401), married Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Holand earl of Kent (Richard II’s half-brother) and widow of the earl of March who died in 1398 (GEC iii. 161-2).

1399

54 ¥3599

fo. 161°

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

recistencia Monsturri! congregatam,* cum maximo eorum gaudio ad propria fecit remeare. Demum idem dux cum excercitu suo aput Herfford’, secundo die Augustii, in palacio episcopi se hospitauit,” et in crastino se uersus Cestream mouit, et in prioratu de Lempster pernoctauit, et postea |nocte proxima aput Lodelaw in castro regis, uino ibidem inhorriato non parcens, pernoctauit; ubi presencium compilator ab eo et a domino Cant’? fratrem Thomam Prestburi, magistrum in theologia, ipsius contemporanium Oxon’, monachum de Solopia, tunc carceribus per regem Ricardum detentum eo quod contra excessus suos quedam merito predicasset, ab huiusmodi carceribus liberari, et in abbatem monasterii sui erigi, optinuit.° Demum per Solopiam transiens, ibi per duos dies mansit, ubi fecit proclamari quod excercitus suus se ad Cestriam dirigeret, tamen populo et patrie parceret eo quod per internuncios se sibi submiserant;* qua de causa plures patriam illam in predam sibi captantes ad propria recesserunt. Set modicum patrie ualuit proclamacio, ut infra apparebit. Cause quare dux decreuit illam patriam inuadendam: quia, assistens regi, ut premittitur, regnum per biennium continuum homicidiis, adulteriis, furtis, rapinis et aliis intollorabilibus iniuriis infestare non cessauit; et quia contra dictum ducem in eius aduentum surrexerant, ipsum destruere minantes; alia causa propter priuilegium exempcionis‘¢ patrie, in qua ipsimet quantumcumque aliunde facinorosi, siue alii sic debitis et criminibus irretiti, ad illam patriam tamquam nidum facinorum pro tutamine receptari solebant; unde totum regnum in eos

uindicari acclamauit.° Nono die Augustii,° dux cum * congetam MS

> optinuit del.

exercitu

in patriam Cestrie

© exepmcionis MS

' Monsturri or monstarri: I have not been able to identify this place. Perhaps the castle of Usk itselfismeant (mons turri). > Usk’s account of Henry’s march largely corresponds with that given in the Vita Ricardi Secundi, pp. 154-5. * Thomas Prestbury was committed to the custody of the abbot of Westminster ‘for

particular causes specially moving the king’ in Apr. 1399; his election as abbot of Shrewsbury received the ‘royal’ assent on 17 Aug. (CPR 1396-9, pp. 584, 592, 594; CCR

1396-9, p. 468).

‘ Henry spent 5-6 Aug. at Shrewsbury; Robert and John de Leigh were the messengers sent to him from Chester, which was formally surrendered to him on 5 Aug. (AgRicardi Secundi, p. 155; PRO SC6/774/10 (Chamberlain of Chester’s Account), m. 2d.).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

55

together at Monsturri' in order to oppose the duke, to go back to their homes, to their great relief. After this, on 2 August, the duke came with his army to Hereford, where he lodged in the bishop’s palace.” On the following day he set out towards Chester, spending that night in the priory of Leominster and the next night in the king’s castle at Ludlow, partaking liberally of the wine stored there. While they were there, the compiler of this present work arranged for brother Thomas Prestbury, M. Theol.—a monk of Shrewsbury, and a contemporary of his at Oxford—to be released by the duke and my lord of Canterbury from the custody to which King Richard had consigned him for preaching certain (entirely justifiable) things against his excesses; and he also secured him promotion to the abbacy of his monastery.’ Then the duke moved on to Shrewsbury, spending two days there and issuing a proclamation that his army would head for Chester, but that since they had sent messengers to offer their submission to him he would spare the people of that region and their land;* whereupon a number of people who had been hoping to plunder the area for their own profit now returned to their homes. Little good did this proclamation do for the region, however, as will be seen below. The reasons why the duke ordered the ravaging of the country were: because, siding with the king—as has already been noted—it had, for two years, ceaselessly inflicted murders, adulteries, robberies, assaults, and other insufferable wrongs upon the kingdom; also, because its people had risen up against the aforesaid duke upon his arrival, threatening to destroy him; another reason was because of the privilege of immunity granted to that region, which meant that the people who lived there, whatever evils they perpetrated elsewhere, or indeed other people from other regions who were suspected of involvement in crime or debt, could always find a safe haven there, so that it become a nest of evildoers; whereupon the whole kingdom cried

vengeance against them.* On the ninth day of August® the duke and his army entered the 5 For Richard and Cheshire, see R. R. Davies, ‘Richard II and the principality of Chester’, The Reign ofRichard II, ed. F. R. H. du Boulay and C. Barron (London, 1971), pp. 256-79; and P. Morgan, War and Society in Medieval Cheshire 1277- 1403 (Publications of the Chetham Society, third series, xxxiv, 1987). 6 Recte 8 Aug? See below, where Usk says that the next day was the eve of St Lawrence.

2399

56 1399)

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

intrauit, et ibidem, in parochia de Codintonum “et in* aliis parochiis circum uisinis, castra metanda et tentoria fingenda, pratisque et segetibus non parcendo, patriamque undique depredando, uigiliasque maximas nocturnas contra insidias Cestrencium habendo, pernoctauit. Vbi presencium compilator in tentorio domini de Powys noctem illam perduxit illugubrem,' ubi plures in locis uicinis poculis ueneno per Cestrences infestis perierunt toxicati.? Vbi eciam, ex diuersis aquaticis cisternis lanceis scrutatis et ex aliis locis abditis, uasa et alia bona quamplura ibidem inuenta in predam uersebantur, inuentoribus interessente presencium compilatore. In crastino, uigilia scilicet sancti Laurencii, ad ecclesiam de Codintonum predictam, uolens ibi celebrare, mane accessi, et

nihil ibi, nisi omnibus asportatis, hostiisque et cistis fractis, repperi.° Eodem die dux? cum suo excersitu Cestriam accessit, prius tamen in quodam magno campo pulcherima segete pleno, bene per tria miliaria a uilla in parte orientali eiusdem, sui excercitus monstracionem acies dirigendo ad numerum centum millia pignatorum, posuit;® et quorum clepeis ueraciter notari poterat resplendere montes.’ Et sic, castrum Cestrie ingressus, ibi et undique sibi cum suis per duodecim dies,‘ uino regis Ricardi sufficienter reperto et per eum ducem® usitato, agros depopulando, domos depredando, et breuiter omnia sibi ad usum uictumque et aliunde utilia seu necessaria ocupando ut propria, remansit. ? Decapitacio Perkyn de Lye. Tercio die aduentus sui ibidem, magni malefactoris reputati Perkyn de Lye caput amputari, et in palo ultra portam orientalem affigi, fecit. Iste Perkyn in forestia regia de Lamari prinsipalis custos, et eius officii maiestate plures opressiones et extorciones pagensibus fecerat monacalia indutus, quia sub talibus uestium transfuguracionibus plura dampnosa, ut dice-

batur, perpetrauerat,

merito

‘in eadem‘ captus transmigrare/

ss cinetw V5, > marg. note, wenenum © reperii MS 4 Lancastrie added in marg. © interlined remansit del. § interlined B interlined '' interlined ! interlined

' According to the Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 155, John Charlton lord of Powis joined Henry at Leominster on 3 Aug. On the devastation of Cheshire, compare the Dieulacres chronicle: M. V. Clarke and V. H. Galbraith, ‘The deposition of Richard II’, BJRL xiv (1930), 125-81, at pp. 171-2.

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

57

county of Chester, where he spent the night in the parish of Coddington, pitching his camp and setting up his tents there and in other neighbouring parishes; he devastated the land everywhere, wasting the meadows and the crops, yet keeping a sharp watch by night for any tricks which the Cheshiremen might try against him. The compiler of this present work spent a far from abstemious night there in the tent of the lord of Powys,! but several other people who were lodged there or nearby died of poisoning after taking drinks which the Cheshiremen had laced with poison. Numerous vessels and other valuables were also found there, in water-tanks which were probed with lances and other such hidingplaces, which were seized as booty—this compiler being present when they were found. On the following morning, namely the eve of St Laurence [9 August], I went to Coddington church hoping to celebrate mass, but I found nothing there except doors and chests broken open, and everything carried off. That same day, the duke of Lancaster and his host arrived at Chester; first, however, he displayed his troops, who numbered a hundred thousand fighting men, drawn up in battle order in a large field full of excellent crops, a good three miles to the east of the town; whereupon it could truly be said that the mountains shone with their shields.? And thus, having entered Chester castle, he remained there for twelve days, appropriating to himself and his men the ample stocks of King Richard’s wine which they found there, wasting the fields, destroying houses, and, in short, seizing for themselves whatever in the way of provisions or necessaries they could use or might need, no matter where they were found or to whom they belonged. Beheading of Perkyn de Leigh. On the third day after his arrival there, he gave orders that Perkyn de Leigh, who was reputed to be a great malefactor, should be beheaded, and his head set up on a stake outside the east gate. This Perkyn was principal keeper of the royal forest of Delamere, where, puffed up with the majesty of his office, he had inflicted countless oppressions and extortions on the inhabitants of the region, in the course of which he used to dress up as a monk, for it was said that while thus disguised he could perpetrate even greater cruelties; it was thus fitting that following his capture, he was put to death in the same garb. One thingIknow 2 1 Macc. 6: 39.

1399

CHRONICON

58 1399

ADE VSK

extitit. Vnum bene scio, quod de eius morte neminem ad tunc

dolere perpendi.' Rex Ricardus in Hibernia de huiusmodi ducis aduentu audiens, maxima hominum et diuiciarum gloria stipatus, in magno excer-

citu partes Wallie aput Penbroc peciit, in festo sancte Marie Magdalene terre applicando; dominum de Spenser ad sussitandum suos de Glanmorgane, licet sibi nequaquam parentes, in sui destinans succursum;’ quo audito, undeque stupefactus, quorum concilio tamen reputo? non sibi fidelium, ad castrum de Conwey in Northe Wallia, Northewalencium et Cestrensium succursu?

rele-

uari sperans, ad Carmerthyn circa mediam noctem cum paucissimis uecorditer affugit. Vnde duces, comites, barones, et omnes in magno exercitu secum excistentes, iuxta illud, ‘percusso pastore’,

et cetera,’ segregatim et per deuia uersus Angl’ transiuntes, a pagencibus totaliter spoliati fuerunt; quorum plures magnates sic ad dictum ducem uidi uenire spoliatos, et© quorum plures non fo. 162°

bene sibi credulos |custodiis tradidit diuersis.* Capcio regis aput Flynt. Dominus meus Cant’ archiepiscopus et comes Northomerye ex parte ducis ad regem, in castro de Counuey existentem, tractaturi transierunt in wygilia assumsionis beate Virginis. Et rex, sub condicione status sui saluandi, se aput castrum de Flente “duci dicto? se promisit redditurum; et sic, traditis eis duabus coronis suis, ualoris centum milliarum marcarum, cum aliis thesauris infinitis, se uersus castrum de Flent statim transtulit protinus.®* Vbi dominus dux cum uiginti millibus electis ad eum ueniens, aliis pro tutamine suique suorum hospiciorum patrieque castri et uille Cestrie a retro dimissis, ipsum regem in eodem castro de Flente,® quia sibi exire nolentem, adiit, et secum * repiteo MS

> interlined

© interlined

4-4 ducis dictum MS

© interlined * marg. note, marked for insertion at this point: cum armatis ex una et cum sagittariis ex altera partibus circumualando, illam propheciam implemendo, rex albus et nobilis ad modum scuti, et cetera

' For a more sympathetic view of Perkyn (or Peter) de Leigh, see Clarke and Gal-

braith, ‘Deposition of Richard II’, pp. 163-4; during the rising of Jan. 1400 his head was taken down and buried with his body in the Carmelite house at Chester. Usk is the only chronicler to mention his monkish disguise. * Thomas Despenser, earl of Gloucester 1397-9; for his death, see below, p. go. Usk’s date for Richard’s return is probably about right: see D. Johnston, ‘Richard II’s departure from Ireland, July 1399’, EHR xcviii (1983), 785-805, and Chronicles of theRevolution,

pp. 36-8. a ZECN, i337 * Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 155, lists several of those who defected to Henry, and Jean Creton, ‘Metrical History of the deposition of King Richard II’, ed.J.Webb, Archaeologia, xx (1823), 104-6, confirms that they were plundered by the Welsh. The ‘chronicle

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

59

for sure, that I know of nobody at the time who lamented his

death.!

King Richard, hearing in Ireland of the duke’s return, set out with a great army, attended by a splendid display of men and riches, for Pembroke in Wales, landing on the feast of St Mary Magdalen [22 July]. He sent Lord Despenser to raise his people of Glamorgan for his cause, but they refused to follow him;? stunned at hearing this, the king, taking the advice of certain persons who were not, I think, acting in good faith towards him, stupidly set off towards Carmarthen in the middle of the night with a tiny band of followers, making for Conway castle in North Wales, where he was hoping to get help from the men of North Wales and Cheshire; whereupon the dukes, earls, barons, and all the others who were serving in his great host—according to the saying, ‘Smite the shepherd’, etc.’—made their separate ways by back roads to England, being systematically despoiled by the local population in the process. I saw many of the great men who had been thus despoiled coming in to the aforesaid duke; and several of them, whom he did not fully trust, were sent off to various prisons.’ Capture of the king at Flint. On the eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin [14 August], my lord archbishop of Canterbury and the earl of Northumberland went to Conway castle, where the king was staying, to treat with him on the duke’s behalf; and the king promised, on condition that his dignity would be saved, to hand himself over to the duke at the castle of Flint; so, giving them his two crowns, which were worth a hundred thousand marks, together with countless other treasures, he set off at once, without any delay, for Flint castle.* The lord duke came to meet him there,

bringing twenty thousand chosen men with him—he had left rest behind, for his own safety, to guard his quarters and county, castle, and town of Chester—and advanced towards king in the castle of Flint,° for the king was unwilling to come

the the the out

of John Catesby’ names the duke of Surrey and the earl of Salisbury as being imprisoned by Henry (Chronicles ofthe Revolution, p. 136). 5 The meetings at Conway and Flint probably took place on 15 and 16 Aug. respectively, but whether Arundel was present at Conway is a point which has been much debated (see Chronicles of the Revolution, pp. 38-9, and works cited there). No other chronicler mentions the handing over by Richard of his two crowns. 6 The marginal marked for insertion at this point reads, ‘surrounding it with men-atarms on one side and archers on the other, thus fulfilling the prophecy “the white and glorious king in the manner of a shield”, etc.’ Cf the ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’: ‘albus rex

et nobilis... ad modum clipei formabitur’ (BL, Cotton Faustina A. viii, fo. 116°).

1399

60 109)

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

captiuatum ad castrum Cestrie perduxit, ipsum ibidem secure custodie tradendo; sicque diuersos dominos secum captos, usque ad parliementum in crastino sancti Michalis extunc incipiendum,

tradidit custodiendos.' Dum dux tunc Cestrie erat, tres de uiginti quattuor senioribus London’ ex parte eiusdem ciuitatis, cum aliis quinquaginta ciuibus eiusdem, ad ducem ueniebant sub sigillo communi ipsius, ciuitatem sibi recomendando et regi Ricardo diffidenciam mittendo;* referentes eciam qualiter Londonienses ad abbathiam de Westm’ regem Ricardum querentes, audito quod illuc clam fugerat, armati confluerant,? quo non inuento, dominos Rogerum Walden, Nycholaum Slak et Radulphum Selbi, regis speciales conciliarios, ibidem repertos,’ usque ad parliementum ordinarunt custodiendos. Et sic dux, rege et regno per eum infra quinquaginta dies gloriose conquesto, London’ transiit, in cuius turri regem captiuatum sub custodibus sufficientibus posuit.* Mors Vnfredi, ducis Glowce’ filii. Interim dux misit ad Hiberniam pro filio suo seniori Henrico, et Vnfredo filio ducis Glowe’, in castro de Tryme per regem Ricardum inclusis, quibus sibi cum

magno thesauro eiusdem regis transmissis; dictus Vnfredus, ueneno per dominum de? Spenser, ut dicebatur, in Hib’ toxcicatus, aput Anglesei insulam* in Wallia, ad magnum regni luctum, sic ueniendo moriebatur;> tamen predictus ducis Lancastrie? filius ad patrem uenit incolumis, domino Wyllelmo Bagot, infimi generis milite per regem ad alta promoto, secum inuinculato

ducto.° Nobiles depressit. Dicti regis Ricardi condicio talis fuit nobiles deprimere ac ignobiles exaltare, ut de ipso domino Wyllelmo et de aliis infimis in magnates, et de ydeotis in pontifices quampluribus * marg. note,

nota fortunam

et eius rotam

> interlined

© interlined

4 interlined

' Writs of summons to parliament were sent out from Chester on 19 Aug., in Richard’s name (CCR 1396-9, pp. 520-1). * This was apparently on 11 Aug. (J. W. Sherborne, ‘Perjury and the Lancastrian revolution of 1399’, Welsh History Review, xiv (1988), 217-41, at p. 239). For the Londoners’ role in these events, see C. Barron, ‘The deposition of Richard II’, Politics and

Crisis in Fourteenth- Century England, ed.J. Taylor and W. Childs (Oxford, 1990), pp. 132-

49.

* For Walden, Slake, and Selby, see Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 175-80. Selby became a monk at Westminster, late in life, in 1398-9 (E. H. Pearce, The Monks of Westminster (Cambridge, 1916), pp. 34, 128-9). I am grateful to Barbara Harvey for this reference.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

61

to him, and led him away in captivity to Chester castle, where he placed him in safekeeping along with a number of other lords who had been captured with him, with orders for them to remain there until the parliament which was due to begin on the morrow of Michaelmas [30 September] next.! During this time, while the duke was at Chester, three of the twenty-four aldermen of London, representing the city, and another fifty citizens, approached the duke under the authority of their common seal to commend the city to him and to convey their defiance to King Richard. They also told him how the Londoners had converged in arms upon Westminster abbey searching for King Richard after news had gone around that he had secretly taken refuge there;” him they did not find, but they did find Roger Walden, Nicholas Slake and Ralph Selby, the king’s special counsellors,? whom they ordered to be placed in custody to await the parliament. And thus, having triumphantly conquered both king and kingdom within the space of fifty days, the duke moved on to London, where he placed the captive king under safeguard in the

Tower.’ Death ofHumphrey, son of the duke of Gloucester. In the mean time the duke sent to Ireland for his eldest son Henry, and for Humphrey the son of the duke of Gloucester, who had been imprisoned by King Richard in Trim castle; and they were sent back to him, together with a large collection of the king’s treasure. This Humphrey, having been poisoned in Ireland by Lord Despenser, so it was said, died on the way back, on the island of Anglesey in Wales, to the great distress of the realm;° however, the eldest son of the duke of Lancaster came back safe and sound to his father, bringing with him in shackles Sir William Bagot, a knight of low

birth who had been raised by the king to high places.° He debased the nobles. It was in this King Richard’s nature to debase the noble and to exalt the ignoble—as he did with this Sir William, for example, and with other such low-born men whom he 4 Richard was consigned to the Tower on 2 Sept. (Annales, p. 251; Chronicles of the Revolution, p. 124). 5 Humphrey, Gloucester’s only son, born ¢.1381; the manner of his death is uncertain, the Vita Ricardi Secundi (p. 155) saying that he was drowned while returning to England. Only Usk claims that he was poisoned, and no charges were brought against

Despenser in relation to his death: see GEC v. 729. 6 Bagot, one of the king’s more infamous supporters, had fled to Ireland in July 1399, but was brought to trial in the Oct. parliament and kept in the Tower for about a year (Annales, pp. 223-4, 303-8; CPR 1399-1401, pp. 78, 204).

£599

62 1399)

per eum

ADE

CHRONICON

exaltatis,? postea

ruina

VSK

propter

eorum

inordinatum

saltum depressis.? Vnde de eodem rege Ricardo ut de Archallo, quondam Britonum rege, merito notari poterit, de quo sic Archal-

lus nobiles depressit, ignobiles exaltauit; cuique sua‘ diuiti auferebat et infinitos thesauros coligebat. Deponitur rex. Vnde heroes? regni, tantas iniurias diutius sustinere non ualentes, in ipsum insurgentes eum deposuerunt, ac fratrem suum in regem erexerunt.' Sic per omnia de isto Ricardo contingebat; cuius produccioni natalium, quasi non ex patre regalis prosapie set ex matre lubrice uite dedita, multum sinistri predicabatur in uulgo, ut de multis auditis taciam.’ Cause deponendi regem. Item per sertos doctores, episcopos et alios, quorum presencium notator unus extiterat, deponendi regem Ricardum et Henricum Lancastrie ducem subrogandi in regem materia, et qualiter et ex quibus causis iuridice, committebatur disputanda.’ Per quos determinatum fuit quod periuria, sacrilegia, sodomidica, subditorum exinnanitio, populi in seruitutem redactio,

uecordia, et ad regendum inutilitas, “quibus rex Ricardus notorie fuit infectus, per capitulum Ad apostolice, extractus de Re iudicata in Sexto, cum ibi notatis, deponendi Ricardum cause fuerant suffifo. 162°

cientes.* Et licet cedere |paratus fuerat, tamen ob causas premissas ipsum fore deponendum cleri et populi autoritate, ob quam causam tunc uocabantur, pro maiori securritate fuit determinatum. Sancti Mathei festo, ad byenium decapitacionis comitis Arundell’, in dicta turri ubi rex Ricardus in custodia fuerat, ipsius cene, presencium notator interfuit, ipsius modum et gesturam explorando, per dominum Wyllelmum Beuchamp’® ad hoc specialiter * licet del. uitilitas MS

> depressi MS

© interlined

4 erohes MS

© in-

' Usk is quoting almost directly from Geoffrey of Monmouth: Historia Regum Britannie, p. 32. * Various rumours circulated about Joan of Kent, Richard’s mother, raising doubts about the validity of her marriage to the Black Prince, and leading to the (probably spurious) allegation that Richard had been conceived in adultery: see K. P. Wentersdorf, “The clandestine marriages of the Fair Maid of Kent’, Journal ofMedieval History, v (1979), 203-31, and CAU, p. 181 n. r. * There is an enormous literature on Richard’s deposition, for which Usk’s account is of great importance: for summaries see Tuck, Richard II and the English Nobility, pp. 220-5; G. O. Sayles, “The deposition of Richard II: three Lancastrian narratives’, BIHR liv (1981), 257-70; and Chronicles of the Revolution, pp. 41-4, 162-97. This and the following paragraph are the only occasions on which Usk refers to himself as the ‘notator’ rather than the ‘compilator’ of his chronicle (see above, p. lxxxiv).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

63

elevated to great positions, or the numerous simpletons whom he raised to bishoprics, and who were later brought to ruin because of

such unwarranted promotion. Thus might it truly be said that this

Richard was like Arthgallus, former king of the Britons, for this Arthgallus also debased the noble and exalted the ignoble, seizing the goods of the wealthy and amassing indescribable treasures. The king deposed. As a result of this the heroes of the realm, unable to bear such evils any longer, rose up against him, deposed him, and set up his brother as king in his place.! Precisely the same things happened with this Richard, concerning whose birth many unsavoury things were commonly said, namely that he was not born of a father of the royal line, but of a mother given to slippery ways—to say nothing of many other things I have heard.’ Reasons for deposing the king. Following this, the question of deposing King Richard and replacing him as king with Henry duke of Lancaster, and of how and for what reasons this might lawfully be done, was committed for debate to a number of doctors, bishops and others, one of whom was the writer of this present work;> and they decided that perjuries, sacrileges, sodomitical acts, dispossession of his subjects, the reduction of his people to servitude, lack of reason, and incapacity to rule, to all of which King Richard was notoriously prone, were sufficient reasons— according to the chapter ‘Ad Apostolice’ taken from ‘Re Iudicata’ in the Sextus, and the other things noted there—for deposing him.* Moreover, although he was prepared to abdicate, it was nevertheless decided that, as a further precaution, he should be deposed by authority of the clergy and people, for the reasons already stated; for which purpose they were therefore summoned. On the feast of St Matthew [21 September], the second anniversary of the beheading of the earl of Arundel, the writer of this present work was conducted by Sir William Beauchamp’ to the aforesaid Tower where King Richard was imprisoned, for the 4 Usk is quoting from the sentence of deposition of Pope Innocent IV on the emperor Frederick II at the council of Lyons in 1245. This mentions sacrilege, heresy, dispossession of his subjects, and reduction of his people to servitude, but not sodomitical acts,

which Usk has substituted for heresy (‘Sexti Decretalium’, lib. ii, tit. xiv, c.ii, in Corpus

Turis Canonici, ed. A. Friedberg (2 vols., Leipzig, 1879-81), ii. 1008-11). Despite one aside by Walsingham (Historia Anglicana, ii. 148), there is no serious evidence that Richard was homosexual. 5 William Beauchamp, Lord Abergavenny (d. 1411), brother of Thomas earl of Warwick.

1399

CHRONICON

64 1399

ADE

VSK

inductus. Vbi et quando idem rex in cena dolenter retulit confabulando sic dicens, ‘O Deus, hec est* mirabilis terra et inconstans, quia tot reges, tot presules, totque magnates exulauit, interfecit, destrucit et depredauit, semper discencionibus et discordiis mutuisque inuidiis continue infecta et laborans.’ Et recitauit historias et nomina uexatorum a primeua regni inhabitacione. Videns animi sui turbacionem, et qualiter nullum sibi specialem aut famulari solitum, set alios extranios sibi totaliter insidiantes,

ipsius obsequio deputatos, de antiqua et solita eius gloria et de mundi fallaci fortuna intra me cogitando, multum animo meo recessi turbatus. Quodam die in concilio per dictos doctores habito,’ per quosdam fuit tactum quod iure sanguinis ex persona Edmundi comitis Lyncolln’,? asserentes ipsum Edmundum regis Henrici tercii primogenitum esse, set ipsius geniture ordine propter ipsius fatuitatem excluso,® Edwardo

suo fratre se iuniore in huius locum

translato, sibi regni successionem directa linea debere compediri.° Quantum ad istud, ecce quid historie P de Grw per totam Angliam, quod Edwardus primogenitus regis Henrici erat, et quod post ipsum, ante Edmundum, Margareta, postea regina Scocie, regi? predicto nata fuerat. In cronicis fratrum predicatorum Londor ita legi, ‘Natus est Edwardus primogenitus regis Henrici aput Westm’, quem Oto legatus baptizauit’, libro septimo, capitulo uicesimo quinto,’ anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo tricesimo nono.

Seisitura E(dwardi) primi. Item, ‘Rex Henricus Edwardo primogenito suo dedit Vasconiam, Hibern’, Waliam, Cestriam et Surreiam’, libro septimo, capitulo tricesimo septimo,’ anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo quinquagesimo tertio. Item, ‘Idibus maii, in bello de Lewys, barones ceperunt regem Henricum et primo-

genitum suum Edwardum’, libro septimo, capitulo tricesimo septimo, anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo sexagesimo quarto. Item, ‘Edwardus primogenitus regis Henrici cum uxore sua adiit * interlined

> interlined

© compedere MS

4 rige MS

, John Hardyng also describes this meeting, which took place on the same day as Usk’s visit to the Tower, 21 Sept.: ‘all the chronicles of Westminster and of all the other well-known monasteries were brought in to the council at Westminster and examined by the lords’, in order to disprove the ‘Crouchback legend’ (Chronicle ofJohn Hardyng, ed. H. Ellis (London, 1812), pp. 353-4).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

65

specific purpose of ascertaining his mood and behaviour, and I was present there while he dined. And there and then, during dinner, the king began to discourse dolefully as follows, ‘My God, this is a strange and fickle land, which has exiled, slain, destroyed, and ruined so many kings, so many rulers, so many great men, and which never ceases to be riven and worn down by dissensions and

strife and internecine hatreds.’ And he recounted the names and

the histories of those who had suffered such fates, from the time

when the realm was first inhabited. Seeing therefore the troubles of his soul, and seeing that none of those who had been deputed to wait upon him were in any way bound to him, or used to serving him, but were strangers who had been sent there simply to spy upon him, I departed much moved at heart, reflecting to myself on the glories of his former state and on the fickle fortune of this world. One day, in a council held by the above-mentioned doctors,' it was suggested by some people—who claimed that Edmund earl of Lincoln’ was really the first-born son of King Henry the third, but that he had been denied his birthright because of his imbecility and thus replaced by his younger brother Edward—that Richard should be deprived of his succession to the throne in the direct line in accordance with the right of blood descent from this Edmund. As far as that idea is concerned, look at the pedigree in the histories throughout England, which says that Edward was the firstborn son of King Henry, and that after him, and before Edmund, King Henry’s next child was Margaret, later queen of Scotland. In the chronicles of the friars preachers at London, for example, | have read the following: ‘Edward, the first-born son of King Henry, was born at Westminster and baptized by the legate

Otto’—book 7, chapter 25,' ap1239. Investiture ofEdward I. Also: ‘King Henry granted Gascony, Ireland, Wales, Chester and Surrey to his first-born son Edward’—

book 7, chapter 37,1 ap1253. Also: ‘On 15 May, at the battle of Lewes, the barons captured King Henry and his first-born son Edward’—book 7, chapter 37,° aD1264. Also: ‘Edward the first-born 2 Recte Lancaster: Earl Edmund died in 12096.

3 Recte 35 (Polychronicon, viii. 212).

4 Recte 36 (ibid. 240, where Surrey is not mentioned; Edward never held the earldom faire? of Surrey). 5 Tbid. 248, where the correct date, 14 May (‘pridie idus maii’) is given.

1399

66 1399

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

terram sanctam’, libro septimo, capitulo tricesimo septimo,' anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo septuagesimo uno—Pollicronica. * An Edwardus uel Edmundus senior. Item, ‘Rex Henricus tenuit festum natalie Wynton’, eodem anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo

tricesimo nono, regi Henrico) et A(lianore) regine natus filius

primogenitus Edwardus, quinto decimo kalendas Iulii.’ Item, “Rex uocauit reginam et primogenitum suum Edwardum in Franciam pro tractatu matrimonii inter ipsum et filiam regis Hispanie,’ anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo quinquagesimo quarto, et regis Henrici tricesimo octauo.’ Item, ‘Eodem anno missus est Edwardus primogenitus in magno apparatu in Hispan’, ad Alfonsum regem Hispaniie, pro dicto matrimonio’—Treuet.* * Item, ‘Alienora regina peperit filium suum Edwardum apud Westm’, anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo tricesimo nono.’ ‘Alienora regina peperit filiam suam Margaretam, anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo quadragesimo uno.’ ‘Alienora regina peperit filium suum Edmundum, anno Domini millesimo ducentisimo quadragesimo

quinto’—Cronica Glowe’.“? In festo sancti Michaelis, missi erant regi in turri* pro parte cleri archiepiscopus Eboracenc’”> et episcopus Herfordie,°® pro parte dominorum temporalium superiorum de Northom’ et de Westhomerll’ comites, pro inferioribus prelatis abbas Westm”’ et prior

Cant’, pro baronibus de Berkeley’ et de Burnel!? domini, pro plebeis cleri magistri Thomas Stow!’ et Johannes Borbach,” pro communitate regni Thomas Grey" et Thomas Erpingham" milites, ad recipiendum cessionem regis Ricardi. Quo facto et in crastino, iidem domini, ex parte totius parliementi clerique et regni populi, sibi legiancie, fidelitatis, subieccionis, attendencie et cuiuscumque obediencie iuramentum et‘ fidelitatem totaliter reddiderunt, ipsum * in red ink

’ Hipanie MS

© inred ink

4 inred ink

© inter-

lined

' Polychronicon, viii. 256. * These three extracts are not to be found in Nicholai Triveti Annales, ed. T. Hog (London, 1845), but are based on entries in Flores Historiarum, ed. H. R. Luard (RS, Lon-

don, 1890), ii. 230-1, 394, 399. * These extracts appear to be taken from the annals of Oseney or the chronicle of Thomas Wykes (Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard (RS, London, 1869), iv. 86-92). Margaret was born on 29 Sept. 1240, Edmund on 16Jan. 1245.

‘ The sources disagree on the composition of this deputation. Usk may have omitted the names of William Thirning and John Markham, justices, and Denis Lopham and William Ferriby, notaries: see Sayles, ‘The deposition of Richard II: three Lancastrian narratives’, pp. 260-3.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

67

son of King Henry visited the Holy Land with his wife’—book Ip chapter 37,' ap1271 (Polychronicon). Whether Edward or Edmund was the elder. Also: ‘King Henry spent Christmas at Winchester, and in that same year, 1239, on 17 June,

their first-born son Edward was born to King Henry and Queen Eleanor.’ Also: “The king summoned the queen and his first-born son Edward to France for negotiations concerning a marriage between Edward and the daughter of the king of Spain—ap1254, the thirty-eighth year of King Henry.’ Also: ‘In this same year, Edward the first-born son was sent with much pomp to the kingdom of Alfonso, king of Spain, for the aforesaid marriage’ (Trivet).’ Also: ‘Queen Eleanor gave birth to her son Edward at Westminster, AD 1239.’ ‘Queen Eleanor gave birth to her daughter Margaret, AD 1241.’ ‘Queen Eleanor gave birth to her son Edmund, ap 1245’ (Chronicle of Gloucester). On the feast of Michaelmas [29 September], the following persons were sent to the Tower to receive King Richard’s abdica-

tion:? the archbishop of York® and the bishop of Hereford’ on behalf of the clergy, the earls of Northumberland and Westmorland on behalf of the greater temporal lords, the abbot of Westminster’ and the prior of Canterbury’ for the lesser prelates, Lords

Berkeley’ and Burnell’® for the barons, M. Thomas Stow"! and M. John Burbach” for the lesser clergy, and Thomas Gray’ and Thomas Erpingham", knights, for the community of the realm. This having been done, on the following day the same lords, on behalf of the whole parliament and the clergy and the people of the realm, renounced entirely their fealty and their oath of allegiance, loyalty, 5 Richard le Scrope, 1398-1405. 7 William Colchester, 1386-1420. ° Thomas, Lord Berkeley 1368-1417.

6 John Trefnant, 1389-1404. § Thomas Chillenden, 1391-1411. 10 Hugh, Lord Burnell 1383-1420.

1! Stow was D.C. L. and acted as vicar-general for the bishop of London. In Feb. 1400 he, Usk and Denis Lopham (see n. 4 above) sat on a commission to hear an appeal from the king’s military court at Bordeaux; it is likely that they had sat together on the deposition committee mentioned by Usk. Stow held numerous benefices and had sat as a member of the court of chivalry under Richard II (CPR 1396-9, pp. 33, 89; CPR 13991401, pp. 56, 231). 2 Burbach was D. C. L., prebendary and official of Lincoln, and vicar-general of the bishop of Lincoln; like Stow, he had served on the court of chivalry under Richard II

(CPR 1399-1401, p. 55; BRUO, i. 305-6). 13 Sir Thomas Gray of Wark (Northumberland), retained by Henry IV in 1399-1400 as one of his knights (Given-Wilson, Royal Household, p. 289).

4 Erpingham, a Norfolk knight, was one of Henry’s most trusted servants; he became under-chamberlain and then steward of the royal household (Given-Wilson, Royal Household, p. 190).

1399

68 1399 fo. 163°

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

diffidendo nec pro rege set* pro priuato domino, Ricardo de Bordux, simplici milite, de cetero eundem’habituri;° ipsius anulo cum eis in signum depolsicionis et priuacionis adempto, et cum eis ad ducem Lanc’ delato, et sibi in pleno parliemento, eodem die incepto, tradito.! Eodem die, Ebroc’ archiepiscopus, facta per eum prius collatione sub hoc themate, ‘Posui uerba mea in os tuum’,” factus per regem Ricardum uocis sue organum, in prima persona ac si ipsemet/? rex loqueretur, ipsius status regii resignacionem et ‘quorumcumaque sibi legiorum seu subditorum* ab omni subieccione, fidelitate et homagio liberacionem,‘ palam et publice in scriptis redactas in pleno legit parliemento; quam resignacionem, requisito primitus omnium et singulorum de parliemento ad hoc concensu, palam et expresse admiserunt. Quo facto, dominus meus Cant’ archiepiscopus sub isto themate, ‘Vir dominabitur eis’,’ collacionem fecit, multum ducem Lancastr’ ipsiusque uires, sensus et uirtutes summe commendando, ipsum ad regnandum meritoque extollendo; ac inter cetera recitata per eundem de demeritis regis Ricardi, et presertim qualiter patruum suum, ducem Glowc’, dolose et sine *audiencia seu’ responsione iniustissime suffocauerat in carceribus, et qualiter totam legem regni, per eum iuratam, subuertere laborabat. Sentencia deposicionis. Et sic—ut quid mora?—licet seipsum deposuerat ex habundanti, ipsius deposicionis sentencia, in scriptis redacta, consensu et auctoritate totius parliementi per magistrum Iohannem Treuar de Powysia, Assauen’ episcopum, palam,

publice et solempniter lecta fuit ibidem.* Successio noui regis. Et sic, uacante regno, consensu totius parliementi dictus dux Lancastr’ in regem erectus, per archiepiscopos predictos in sede regali ad statim intronizari optinuit. Protestacio noui regis. Et sic, in trono regali sedens, quandam protestacionem in scriptis redactam ad statim ibidem palam et publice legit, in se continentem quod, regnum Anglie uidens uacare, per * interlined above et > interlined © marg. note, nota rote fallaciam fortunam 4 ipsimet MS ** quoscumque sibi legios seu subditos MS f interlined &-8 interlined

' Compare the ‘Record and Process’, which has Richard voluntarily placing his golden signet ring on Henry’s finger as a sign that he wished Henry to succeed him (RP

iii. 417).

? Isa. 51: 16.

> Cf. 1 Kgs. (1 Sam.) g: 17. Thomas Arundel delivered the sermon; Roger Walden was nominally archbishop of Canterbury, but was regarded by Henry as an intruder (CPR

1396-9, pp- 589, 591).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

69

submission, service, and obedience of any kind to him, declaring that they would no longer accept him as king, but would henceforth regard him as a private person, Richard of Bordeaux, a simple knight; and, having removed his ring as a sign of deposition and deprivation, they took it away with them to the duke of Lancaster, to whom they handed it over in full parliament, which assembled that day.’ On the same day the archbishop of York began by delivering a sermon on the theme, ‘I have put my words in thy mouth’; then, since he had been personally appointed by King Richard as his proxy, he read out publicly and openly, in full parliament, from a written script, speaking in the first person just as if the king himself were talking, the deed of renunciation of his royal dignity, and the release of each and every one of his liegemen and subjects from all submission, fealty, and homage to him; which resignation, once the assent to it of each and every member of the parliament had been sought, was clearly and expressly accepted. Following this, my lord the archbishop of Canterbury delivered a sermon on the theme, ‘A man shall rule over them,” in which he praised unreservedly the vigour, good sense, and other qualities of the duke of Lancaster, commending him, and deservedly, as ruler; he spoke also, among other things, of King Richard’s crimes, especially of how he had perfidiously and iniquitously had his uncle the duke of Gloucester suffocated in prison without giving him a hearing or the opportunity to reply, and how he had striven to subvert the entire law of the land, which he had sworn to uphold. Sentence ofdeposition. And thus—why delay?—even though he had self-evidently deposed himself, the sentence of deposition, which had been set down in writing, was, with the consent and authority of the whole parliament, clearly, solemnly and publicly read out there by M. John Trevaur of Powys, bishop of St Asaph.‘ Succession of the new king. The office of king being thus vacated, the aforesaid duke of Lancaster, having been chosen as king with the consent of the whole parliament, was conducted to the throne by the aforementioned archbishops and promptly enthroned. Declaration ofthe new king. Then, sitting there on the royal throne, he immediately read out from a written script, clearly and publicly, a certain declaration in which he stated that, seeing the kingdom of England to be vacant, he both claimed and assumed the right to 4 Trevaur was bishop of St Asaph 1395-1410; for his defection to the Welsh cause in 1404, see below, p. 218.

1D

70 0399

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

descensum iure successorio ex persona Henrici regis tercii sibi debito huiusmodi successionem quia sibi eidem debitam petiit pariter et admisit, et quod uigore huiusmodi successionis uel ipsius conquestus nullatenus regni statum uel alicuius eiusdem in libertatibus, frangesiis, hereditatibus, uel quouis alio iure uel consuetudine,? modo in aliquo mutare® permitteret.’ Soluitur parliementum per deposicionem regis. Et diem coronacionis sue, sancti scilicet Edwardi proxime futurum, ac, quia per deposicionem Ricardi olim regis parliementum eius nomine congregatum fuit extinctum, ideo ipsius noui regis nomine nouum parliementum in dicte coronacionis crastino, de concensu omnium, incipiendum, duxit statuenda.* Fecit eciam ad tunc publice proclamari die, si quis aliqua seruicia seu officia in ipsius coronacione iure hereditario seu consuetudinario sibi duxit uendicanda, coram senescallo® suo Angl’ suas inscriptis quo iure et quare peticiones proponeret die sabbati proxime sequenti apud Westm’, iusticiam in omnibus habiturus.* In uigilia coronacionis rex Henricus, presente domino Ricardo olim rege,‘ apud turrim London’ quadraginta duos creauit milites, inter quos quattuor °filios suos, °* necnon de Arundell’, de Stafford comites, ac Warwic’ comitis filium et heredem,® cum quibus et aliis regni proceribus glorioso apparatu ad Westm’ transiit.° Veniente coronacionis die, omnes heroes regni, in rubio, scarleto

et herminio ornanter induti, ad coronacionem huiusmodi magno gaudio uenerunt, domino meo Cant’ seruicium et officium coronacionis expediente. Quare habet rex quattuor gladios. Coram rege quattuor ferebantur gladii, unum uaginatum, in signum militaris honoris augmenti, duos in rubiis uolutos ac per ligamina aurea circumsinctos, 2 consuitudinis MS

7 regis MS

> mutaraue

ee filii sui MS

MS

© interlined above the same word

f heredium MS

" Henry had been advised by Justice Thirning not to claim the realm by conquest on account of the fears of disinheritance which this might arouse (Annales, p. 282).

* Henry’s first parliament initially met on 6 Oct., but was promptly adjourned to 14 Oct. (RP iii. 415). ; * Foedera, viii. go-1, has a report of the decisions concerning the coronation made on Saturday 4 Oct. by Thomas the king’s son (nominal steward, but aged only eleven) and Thomas Percy earl of Worcester (acting steward). * This was on 11 Oct. (Annales, p. 291), and marked the foundation of the order of the Bath. The number of knights created is variously put at between 40 and 54, but no reli-

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

71

succeed to it, this being his due by hereditary law on account of his descent from the person of King Henry the third; assuring them nevertheless that he had no intention whatsoever of allowing either the status of the realm or the liberties, franchises, and hereditary rights of any of his subjects, or any other law or custom, to be in any way affected by his succession in this fashion or by his conquest of the kingdom.! Parliament dissolved by the deposition ofthe king. Then he announced the date of his coronation, namely the feast of St Edward [13 October] following; and, since the parliament which had assembled in the name of the former King Richard was now invalidated by his deposition, he gave orders, with the agreement of all present, for a new parliament to meet in the name of himself, the new king, on the morrow of the coronation.’ He also had it publicly proclaimed that anybody who had a hereditary or customary claim to any service or office relating to the coronation should present his petition in writing, explaining how and why he made his claim, to the king’s steward of England on the following Saturday at Westminster, whereupon justice would be done to him in all mat-

ters? The day before the coronation [12 October], in the presence of the former king Richard in the Tower of London, King Henry created forty-two knights, including his four sons,’ the earls of Arundel and Stafford, and the son and heir of the earl of Warwick;° together with whom, as well as the other leading men of the realm, he made his way in great state to Westminster.° On the day of the coronation itself, all the famous men of the kingdom, splendidly attired in red and scarlet and ermine, came to the coronation with

great rejoicing; and my lord of Canterbury performed the coronation service and office. Why the king has four swords. Four swords were carried in the king’s presence: one in its scabbard, to symbolize the advancement of military virtues, two wrapped in red and bound with golden able record of their names has survived (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 42-4). It was the king’s three younger sons who were knighted, the future Henry V having been knighted by Richard Il in Ireland (P. McNiven, Heresy and Politics in the Reign ofHenry IV: The Burning ofFohn Badby (Manchester, 1987), p. 138). Only Usk mentions Richard’s presence at the

ceremony. 5 Thomas Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, Oct. 1400 to 1415 (GEC i. 246); Edmund, earl of Stafford 1395-1403; Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick 1401-39. 6 Annales, pp. 291-300, describes the procession (on 12 Oct.) in detail.

1399

CHRONICON

72 1399 fo. 163”

ADE

VSK

4in signum duplicis misericordie,* quartum nudum sine mucrone, in signum execucionis iusticie sine rancore faciende. Insignium regalium portatores. Primum gladium de Northom’,! duos uaginatos

de Som’

et de Warwic’,

comites,

et quartum

iusticie regis primogenitus princeps Wallie,” septrum dominus de Latemer,’ uirgam comes Westhom’, tam in coronacione portabant, quam in prandio circa eum continue stantes tenebant. In misericordia, ueritate. Regem ante recepcionem corone domino Cant iurare audiui quod populum suum in misericordia et ueritate omnino regere curaret. Officiarii. Officiarii fuerunt isti in festo coronacionis: de Arundell’ pincerna, de Oxon’ aque lauantis ministrator, comites,’ dominus Grey de Ruthyn mapparum dispositor.. Dum rex erat in medio prandio, dominus Thomas Dymmoc, miles, in dextrario totaliter armatus cum gladio uaginato de nigro manubrium aureum habente, aliis duobus, gladium nudum et lanceam ante eum defferentibus, in

dextrariis eciam sedentibus, aulam intrauit. Et per unum herowd in quattuor aule partibus proclamare fecit quod si quis dicere uellet quod” suus dominus ligius presens et rex Angl’ non erat de iure rex Angl’ coronatus, quod ipse erat corpore suo paratus ad probandum contrarium adstatim, seu quando et ubi regi placeret. Pugil regis in coronacione. 'Tunc rex dixit, ‘Si necesse fuerit, domine Thoma, in propria persona te de hoc releuabo.’ Huiusmodi seruicium habuit idem dominus Thomas ratione manerii de Screuilby in comitatu Lincoln’, et sic summaliter et diffinitiue obtinuit nomine matris sue, adhuc uiuentis, dicti manerii domine, contra dominum Balduynum Freuyl,° nomine castri

sui de Tamworth a2 interlined

hoc idem tunc uendicantem.®

> interlined

De concilio

© inserted in marg.

" This was Lancaster sword, worn by Henry when he landed ‘in the parts of Holderness’ in 1399; Northumberland carried it as service for his tenure of the Isle of Man (CPR 1399- 1401, p.27; Foedera, viii. 91, 95). Normally only three swords were borne at the coronation (Annales, p. 233). * The two sheathed swords were normally borne by the earls of Huntingdon and Warwick, but Huntingdon appears to have been passed over in favour of Somerset. The sword borne by the prince of Wales was the Curtana, traditionally borne by the earls of Chester (Foedera, viii. go-1; Annales, p. 293). * John Nevill, Lord Latimer (b. 1382) was still a minor in the king’s wardship (CPR 1399-1401, p. 42; GEC vii. 476). * Aubrey de Vere, earl of Oxford 1393-1400, had petitioned to be allowed to act as both chamberlain and ewerer at the coronation, but his claims were refused, and Sir Thomas Erpingham appears to have performed both offices (GEC x, Appendix F, 59-61).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

73

straps, to symbolize twofold mercy, and the fourth unsheathed and without a point, to symbolize the execution of justice without rancour. The bearers of the royal insignia. The first sword was borne by the earl of Northumberland,’ the two that were sheathed by the earls of Somerset and Warwick, and the fourth—the sword of justice— by the king’s first-born son the prince of Wales;? the sceptre was borne by Lord Latimer,’ and the rod by the earl of Westmorland; and they carried them not only at the coronation, but also at the an where they stood continuously around the king holding them.

Mercy, truthfulness. Before he received the crown, I heard the king swear to my lord of Canterbury that he would strive to rule his people with mercy and truthfulness in all matters. The officers. The officers at the coronation were as follows: the earl of Arundel was butler, the earl of Oxford ewerer,* and Lord Grey of Ruthin naperer.’ The king was still in the middle of his meal when Sir Thomas Dymoke, knight, came into the hall fully armed on a war-horse, carrying a sword sheathed in black with a golden hilt, and accompanied by two other men, also riding warhorses, who carried before him a naked sword and a lance. And he ordered a herald to proclaim in each quarter of the hall that if there was any person who wished to say that his liege lord the king of England, present there in person, had not lawfully been crowned king of England, he was ready to prove with his body, either there and then, or wherever and whenever the king might require it, that he had been. The king’s champion at the coronation. Whereupon the king said, ‘If need be, Sir Thomas, I shall personally relieve you of this task.’ The same Sir Thomas performed this service by right of the manor of Scrivelsby in the county of Lincoln, having finally and definitively secured it through the name of his mother, the lady of that manor—who is still alive—against Sir Baldwin Freville, who also claimed it at that time by right of his castle of Tamworth.° I acted 5 Reynold, Lord Grey of Ruthin 1388-1440, performed this service by right of descent from the Hastings earls of Pembroke (GEC vi. 155-6). 6 For further details of this dispute, see Annales, pp. 287-8. Freville’s father had

claimed the service at Richard II’s coronation, but his claim was refused and he died

before he could pursue it further (Chronicon Angliae, p. 161). Both families claimed the service by descent from the Marmion family. Dymoke’s descendants continued to perform the service until 1821 (GEC viii. 505-7, 513-14).

1399

74

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

1399 dicti domini Thome tunc fui, et hanc peticionem loco libelli sibi composui: Graciosissimo domino, senescallo Angl’, suplicat humiliter Margareta Dymmoc, domina manerii de Screuilby, quatenus placeat uestre gloriose dominacioni concedere dicte suplicanti quod ipsa poterit facere ad coronacionem potentissimi domini nostri regis seruicium dicto manerio pertinens, per Thomam Dymmoc suum primogenitum et heredem, tanquam dicte Margarete procuratorem in hac parte, in forma que sequitur: Petit Thomas Dymmoc, primogenitus et heres Margarete Dymmoc, domine manerii de Screuilbi, coram uobis, graciosissime domine senescalle Angl’, quatenus patiamini ipsum? habere seruicium manerio de Screuilbo in caranacione cuiusque regis Angl’ pertinens et debitum, quod seruicium dominus Iohannes Dymmoc, pater eiusdem et dicte Margarete maritus, et in iure eiusdem Margarete, fecerat in coronacione Ricardi regis Angl’ ultimi, et in cuius seruicii posessione eiusdem Margarete antecessores, dicti manerii domini, a tempore conquestus hucusque extiterunt; scilicet quod rex faciat sibi deliberare unum de melioribus dextrariis et unam de melioribus sellis domini nostri regis, cum armis, ornamentis, eorumque pertinenciis pro dicto dextrario ipsiusque equite perfectissimis, ac si ipsemet rex ad letale bellum ineundo perarmari deberet; ad effectum quod idem Thomas, in eodem dextrario sic armatus sedens, faciat quater in aula tempore prandii facere publice proclamari quod si quis uellet dicere quod Henricus presens rex Angl’ et suus ligius dominus non est de iure rex et de iure debiat in regem Ang!’ coronari, ipse idem Thomas paratus est ad probandum corpore suo, ubi et quando et qualiter rex uoluerit, quod ipse mentitur. Petit eciam idem Thomas feoda et remuneraciones huic seruicio debita et solui consueta, eo peracto cum effectu,

sibi® tradi et liberari. Translatio ex gallico in latinum hic non patitur modum endic-

tandi, ideo lector parcere dignetur.! Isto festo ad annum preterito, dominus Ricardus nuper rex * interlined

b

interlined in place of d expunged

' A copy of the petition in French is to be found in BL, Cotton Vespasian C. xiv, fo. 137V.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

75

as counsel to the aforesaid Thomas in this suit, and it was I who

wrote the following petition to serve as his libel:

To the most noble lord, the steward of England, Margaret Dymoke lady of Scrivelsby manor humbly begs that it may please your excellent lordship to grant this petitioner permission to perform the service pertaining to the said manor at the coronation of our most mighty lord the king, through the person of her first-born son and heir Thomas Dymoke, acting as proctor for the said Margaret in this matter, in the following way: Thomas Dymoke, first-born son and heir of Margaret Dymoke, lady of Scrivelsby manor, begs in your presence, most noble lord steward of England, to be allowed by you to perform the service pertaining and duly belonging to the manor of Scrivelsby at the coronation of each king of England, which service was performed, in accordance with the right of the aforesaid Margaret, by his father Sir John Dymoke, the husband of the said Margaret, at the coronation of Richard, last king of England, and which has been in the possession of the said Margaret’s ancestors, lords of the same manor, from the time of the conquest until now; namely, that our lord the king should order one of his finest war-horses and one of his finest saddles to be delivered to him, together with the appropriate arms, ornaments and trappings of the highest quality for both horse and rider, just as if the king himself were arming himself in readiness for mortal combat; whereby the said Thomas, armed in such fashion and mounted on this war-horse, may have it publicly proclaimed in each quarter of the hall at the time of the banquet that if any person should wish to say that Henry, his liege lord and king of England, present in person, is not the lawful king, and should not rightfully be crowned king of England, this same Thomas is ready to prove with his body, wherever and whenever and however the king might require it, that that person is lying. The same Thomas also asks that, once this service has been properly performed, the due fees and rewards customarily paid for it should be granted and delivered to him.

This translation from French into Latin does no justice to the style of the original, therefore be tolerant, reader. On this same feast in the previous year [13 October 1398], Richard the former king had driven into exile from the kingdom

1399

76 1399

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

istum eundum hodie coronatum regnum exire compulit. Item parliementum suum sub omnibus censuris per Petrum de Bosco pape legatum, ipsiusque auctoritate, confirmari apud Westm’ fecit. Item comitissam Warwic’, pro marito suo, ut premittitur, dampnato supplicantem,* minabatur ultimo supplicio destruere, et hoc

fo. 164°

iurauit nisi ob reuerenciam femine sexus adstatim se facturum. Isto eodem coronacionis die, nepotem suum comitem |Canc’ apud Dublineam cum magna mundi uanagloria in regem coronare Hibern’,! pluresque proceres regni Angl’ ad tantam solempnitatem calide uocandos interimere dampnaliter, proposuit, ipsum comitem et alios iuuenes, per ipsum ut premittitur exaltatos, cum eorum possessionibus ditare captando. Consilium Iuuenum. Sed Roboe, Salamonis filio, consilium juuenum quia insecuto, regnum Israel amittenti, iste Ricardus merito poterit cum suis iuuenibus consiliariis’ assimulari: tres

Regum, duodecim capitulo.’ Coronacionis “in crastino,° primo scilicet die noui regis parliementi, plebei suum locutorem, dominum Iohannem Cheyny militem, regi presentarunt.’ Rex ab omnibus dominis@ spiritualibus et temporalibus homagium ligium recepit. Item parliementum ultimum domini Ricardi tunc regis penitus fuit reuocatum;‘ et hoc die Martis contingente. Quinque sunt insignia principatus. Item die Mercurii sequenti, Henricum primogenitum suum per quinque insignia, scilicet per uirge auree tradicionem, per osculum, per circulum, per anulum, et per sue creacionis litteras, in principem erexit Walie.’ Item cause reuocacionis dicti parliementi declarate fuerant: propter terrores et minas paribus regni tunc, si regis uoto non parerent, inflictas, secundo 2 interlined

propter uim

armatam

> consialiariis MS

regi tunc

The executions of Kent and Salisbury (and Ralph Lord Lumley, a fellow conspirator) at Cirencester probably took place on 8 Jan. (Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 164). The trials and ie Sas at Oxford took place between 11 and 13 Jan. (Crook, ‘Central England’,

Pp. 404). * Traison et Mort, pp. 246-8, confirms the gruesome details, and describes Henry’s return to London.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

89

granted to them, were busy secretly preparing a great armed force with which they wickedly and treacherously intended to kill the new king and to bring the deposed one back from prison;! their plan was to go to Windsor castle pretending that they were going to hold a tournament there, and, having got in, to massacre the king, his sons, and his other close supporters. The king, however, having been forewarned, suddenly moved to London for safety;? whereupon the earls of Kent and Salisbury, hoping to make their way to Cheshire to win the help of the people there who had risen in their support, got as far as Cirencester, where, on the morrow of the epiphany, they were beheaded in an uprising of the common folk of the town. And several others who were with them were taken to Oxford, where they were hanged and beheaded;? and I saw their bodies, chopped up like the carcasses of beasts killed in the chase, being carried to London, partly in sacks and partly on poles slung across pairs of men’s shoulders, where they were later salted to preserve them.’ The earl of Huntingdon, trying to escape through Essex to France, was also captured by the local people, and beheaded by common folk and workmen on the very spot where the duke of Gloucester had given himself up to the former king Richard.* The king wrote about these events to my lord of Canterbury, who published the news to the clergy and people of London in the form of a sermon on the theme, ‘I bring you tidings of great joy’;° then, chanting the hymn, “Te Deum laudamus’, he led a solemn procession through the city to give thanks to God.’ Several others, including M. Richard Maudeleyn and M. William Ferriby, clerks, and Thomas Shelley and Bernard Brocas, knights, were later drawn, hanged, and eventually beheaded, because they too had known about and been parties to this crime.* The death ofRichard. When the former king Richard heard that > Huntingdon was captured in a mill at Prittlewell (Essex), and executed, probably on g Jan., at Pleshey castle, where Richard had arrested Gloucester in 1397 (Annales, pp. 327-9, which gives 15 Jan., but see GEC v. 198-9).

§ JLuke 2: to. 7 Henry returned to London on 15 Jan., and the procession was on 16th (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 107).

§ peices and Ferriby were both favoured clerks of Richard’s (Given-Wilson, Royal Household, pp. 179-81). Shelley, a Buckinghamshire knight, was a retainer of Huntingdon’s who had helped him try to escape after the failure of the revolt (CCR 1399-1402, p. 42, and Annales, p. 327, where he is called John). Sir Bernard Brocas of Hampshire was a former life-retainer of Richard’s (Given-Wilson, Royal Household, p. 284). They were tried in the Tower of London on 4 Feb., and executed the following day (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 108-10).

1400

go 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

habuit releuaminis ceciderunt, quo audito, magis usque ad sui mortem lugendo condoluit, in castro de Pomffret, catenis ligato et uictualium penuria, domino N. Swynford ipsum tormentante, sibi ultimo die Februarii miserabiliter contingentem.’ *In coronacione istius domini, tria regalitatis insignia tria sibi infortunia portentebant: primo, in processione unum de coronacionis sotularibus perdidit, unde et primo plebei, contra ipsum insurgentes, ipsum post per totam uitam suam detestabantur; secundo, unum de calcaribus aureis ab eo cecidit, unde et militares secundo sibi rebellando aduersabantur; tercio, in prandio subitus uenti impetus coronam a capite deposuit, unde tercio et finaliter a regno depositus et per regem Henricum supplantatus fuit.* Nunc, Ricarde, uale, ymmo rex, si fas est dicere, ualentissime, cum post mortem laudare licitum sit cuique, si cum Deo et populi tui releuamine acta tua dispo-

suisses, merito laudande. Sed, quamuis cum Salamone dapsilis, cum Absalone pulcher, cum Assuero gloriosus, cum Belino magno precellens edificator existens, ad modum Cosdre regis Persarum in manus Eraclii, sic in medio glorie tue, rota labente fortune, in manus ducis Henrici miserrime, cum interna populi tui maledictione, cecidisti.? Interim dominus de Spenser, dominus de Glanmorgan, quia eiusdem prodicionis conscius et fautor, Bristolie per mecanicos uilissime decapitatur,’ quorum sic ruencium capita, in palis ultra pontem London’ fixa, aliquamdiu publice patebant. Sed, quia omnia ista plebeiorum sola ferocitate extiterunt perpetrata, timeo quod gladii posessionem, eis iam tolleratam contra ordinis rationem, in dominos magis in futurum uibrare causabuntur.® “4 in top margin, marked for insertion at this point ' For the manner of Richard’s death, see above, p. Ixxxiii. The last day of Feb. is probably about two weeks too late: Annales (p. 331), and Vita Ricardi Secundi (p. 166) both

give 14 Feb., which is more plausible since on 17 Feb. the government despatched William Pampilion, esquire, from London to escort the former king’s body southwards from Pontefract. Sir Thomas Swynford, a knight of Henry’s chamber, may well have been his gaoler, for one of his valets was paid at this time for journeying from Pontefract to London ‘to inform the king’s council of certain matters relating to the welfare of the lord king’ (PRO E403/564, 17 Feb., 20 Mar.). ‘ * These incidents are not noted in Walsingham’s lengthy account of Richard’s coronation (Historia Anglicana, i. 331-8), but the loss of the shoe is confirmed in Westminster Chronicle, pp. 414-16 (I am grateful to Barbara Harvey for this reference). Usk is presumably referring to the events of 1381 and 1387-8, as well as 1399. * For Solomon’s liberality, see 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 4-10; for Absalom’s beauty, 2 Kgs. (2 Sam.) 14: 25; for the grandeur of Ahasuerus (Xerxes, king of Persia 485-465 Bc), Esther 1:

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

gI

those in whom he had placed his hopes of restoration were now dead, his suffering deepened, and he pined away even unto death, which came to him in the most wretched of circumstances in Pontefract castle, on the last day of February, tormented, bound

with chains, and starved of food by Sir N. Swynford.! At this lord’s coronation, three symbols of royalty had foretold three misfortunes which would befall him: firstly, during the procession he lost one of the coronation shoes, so that to begin with the common people rose up against him, and for the rest of his life hated him; secondly, one of his golden spurs fell off, so that next the knights rose up and rebelled against him; thirdly, during the banquet a sudden gust of wind blew the crown from his head, so that thirdly and finally he was deposed from his kingdom and replaced by King Henry.’ So now, Richard, farewell !—most mighty king indeed, if I may make so bold—for it is only right to praise the dead; had you been guided in your affairs by God and by the support of your people, then you would indeed have been deserving of praise. Yet, although you were as liberal as Solomon, as fair as Absalom, as grand as Ahasuerus, and as outstanding a builder as the great Belinus, nevertheless, just as Chosroes king of the Persians fell into the hands of Heraclius, so too were you, at the height of your glory, cast down by the wheel of fortune, to fall miserably into the hands of Duke Henry, amid the silent curses of your people.’ Meanwhile Lord Despenser, lord of Glamorgan, who was also a party to this conspiracy, was most despicably beheaded by workmen at Bristol;* and the heads of those who had thus been brought to ruin were stuck on poles and displayed for a time on the far side of London bridge. And yet, seeing that all these acts were perpetrated solely by the violence of the common people, I fear that possession of the sword, which, although contrary to the natural order, was allowed to them in such circumstances, might at some future time embolden them to rise up in arms against the lords.’ Also, all 1-7; Belinus was one of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s kings of Britain, builder of roads and cities, including Caerleon on the Usk (Historia Regum Britannie, pp. 26, 30); Heraclius, emperor of Constantinople, defeated Chosroes II, king of the Persians (who, like Richard II, died of starvation in prison) at Nineveh in ap 627. 4 Despenser was beheaded by a mob in Bristol on 13 Jan. (Vita Ricardi Secundi, pp. 164-5; GEC iv. 280).

5 Cf. Ps. 7: 12-14. Usk’s fears were shared by the government, which issued a decree

on 8 Feb. forbidding attacks on traitors or rebels without the king’s permission or proper legal process (Foedera, viii. 124).

1400

CHRONICON

g2 1400

VSK

Item omnes albe carte in quibus per totam Angl’ regni subditi regi Ricardo sibi sub? sigillis suis se ad uotum submiserunt, ac si nouus conquestus regni esset factus, in summitate lancearum publice delate London’, cremate fuerunt cum suorum infinitate sigillorum.! Episcopus Norwycen’, dicti domini de Spenser patruus, quia de dicta prodicione accusatus, non temporalium carceribus, sed domini mei Cant’ custodie traditur iudicium expectaturus ob reuerenciam pontificalis dignitatis; sed postea rex ipsum ecclesie et statui simpliciter restituit.” Episcopus Karlienc’, nuper monachus Westm’, de dicta prodicione coram ?regis iusticiariis per duodenam laycorum conuictus et dampnatus, in turri London’? aliquamdiu carcerum catenatus languoribus* cruciatus, alio enim in eius episcopatu subrogato, ? suo pristino monachaliter uiuiturus restituitur monasterio, licet Millatenci intitulatus pontificatu.* Isto anno

fo. 166°

ADE

dominus

meus

Cant’, suo

conuocato

clero, eis*®

lamentabiliter proposuit qualiter temporales libertates ecclesie Anglicane, et presertim in capiendo, carcerando et indeferenter quasi laicos episcopos iudicando, uiolare non formidant.* ‘Vere domine’, dixi, ‘discurrendo per corpus iuris et cronicas, plus crudelitatis inuenitur |in Anglia prelatis quam in‘ tota Cristianitate fuisse irrogatum.’ Allegaui capitulum Sicut dignum, De homicidio,° et plura alia, et breuiter quoad casum presentem, scilicet episcopos incarcerando, Clementinam, Si quis suadente, De penis,° que propter incarceracionem episcopi Lychff tempore Edwardi secundi regis

Angl’ emanauit.’ 2 interlined b-b underlined, with marg. note in a later hand, episcopus Kaerlyencis conuictus per laycos © langoribus MS 4 interlined * eius MS f interlined

' An order had been issued on 30 Nov. for the burning of Richard’s blank charters, or ‘raggemans’, following their cancellation in parliament on 15 Oct. (Foedera, viii. 109; RP ili. 426; Continuatio Eulogii, p. 385). The burning took place in Cheapside on 6 Feb. 1400 (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 64). * Bishop Despenser denied involvement in the conspiracy (Anglo-Norman Letters and Petitions, ed. M. D. Legge (Anglo-Norman Text Society, iii, 1941), p. 64), but remained under suspicion until pardoned by the king in Feb. 1401, despite accusations made

against him by Thomas Erpingham (RP iii. 456). * Thomas Merks, bishop of Carlisle 1397-9, was deprived of his temporalities in

Sept. 1399, and demoted before 6 Dec. (CCR 1396-9, p. 508; HBC, p. 235); he was suspected of involvement in both Gloucester’s death and the epiphany rising, but was eventually pardoned, on 28 Nov. 1400 (Annales, pp. 314, 330, 3343 Foedera, viii. 150, 156). Boniface IX translated him to the titular see of (probably) Salmas in Asia Minor (‘Turchia’), of which he was deprived in 1401-2 (Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica, i. 452; CPL iv. 351; V. 395-6, 504). It is possible that in 1402 he was translated to another titular see

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

93

the blank charters whereby his subjects throughout the realm of England had submitted themselves by their seals to King Richard’s will, almost as if there had been anew conquest of the kingdom, were publicly carried on the points of lances to London and burned, along with the numerous seals attached to them.! The bishop of Norwich, the uncle of the aforesaid Lord Despenser, was also accused of involvement in the above-mentioned treason, but out of respect for his episcopal office he was not consigned to a temporal prison but to the custody of my lord of Canterbury to await his judgement; later, however, the king simply restored him to his church and to his status.” Yet the bishop of Carlisle, a former monk of Westminster, was convicted of the same treason by a jury of laymen before the king’s justices, and sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower of London, where he languished in suffering for a time, bound in chains, while his bishopric was granted to someone else, before being sent back to his original monastery to live there as a monk, despite having been appointed to the see of Miletus.’ My lord of Canterbury summoned his clergy this year, and explained to them dejectedly how the temporal powers did not shrink from violating the liberties of the English church, particularly with regard to the arrest, imprisonment and trial of bishops, matters in which they were being treated no differently from laymen.*I said, “That is true, my lord. If you read through the corpus of the law and the chronicles, you will find that more crimes have been committed against prelates in England than in the whole of Christendom.’ And I cited the chapter, ‘Sicut dignum’, “De homicidio’, and several others, especially—for it concerned the matter under discussion, namely the imprisonment of bishops—that of Clement, ‘Si quis suadente’, ‘De penis’,° which was issued following the imprisonment of the bishop of Lichfield during the reign of

King Edward II of England.’ corresponding to Usk’s ‘Millatenci’, but he remained in England, permitted to enjoy a small number of benefices until his death in 1409 (DNB xxxvii. 282-5; BRUO ii. 1263-4). + Not apparently a formal convocation (though convocation did meet in Oct. 1399 and discussed judicial immunity of the clergy: Concilia, iii. 238-46), but a gathering of representatives of the clergy, probably in Jan.—Feb. 1400, occasioned by the king’s decision to try before a lay court the clerics who had been involved in the rising (Foedera,

Viii. S 6 7

123). oe Gregor. IX, lib. v, tit. xii (De homicidio’), ¢. vi (Corpus Iuris Canonici, ii. 794-5). Clementinarum, lib. v, tit. viii (De poenis’), c.i (Corpus Iuris Canonici, ii. 1187-8). Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield 1296-1321; for his imprisonment, see A. Beardwood, ‘The trial of Walter Langton, bishop of Lichfield, 1307-1 Rie Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n. s. liv (1964), 1-21.

1400

CHRONICON ADE VSK

94 1400

Libertas ecclesie ecce# Dominus Cant’ tunc retulit qualiter iam tarde Symon Yslep, predecessor suus,' uidens suffraganeum suum Wyllelmum Lyle, tunc Elienc’ episcopum, in aula Westm’ criminaliter tractus ante regis iusticiariorum stare tribunal, cepit eum per manum dextram? sic dicendo, ‘Subditus meus es. In uetito stas examine coram non tuo iudice. Veni mecum.’ Et sic inuito iusticiario eum secum abduxit. Episcopus tamen, in Anglia non audens remanere, ad curiam Romanam transiit, et ibi illum iusticiarium excommunicari, ac ipsum, interim mortuum, ecclesiastica sepultura exui et in foueam proici, obtinuit. Parcitur plebeis. Audito quod Francia et Scocia Angliam inuadere se parabant, rex dominos spirituales et temporales solum collectando, regni pepercit plebeis.? Corpus domini Ricardi, nuper regis Angl’, ad ecclesiam sancti Pauli London’, non uelata facie sed publice cuique ostensa, ducitur, ubi, exequiis° ea nocte et in crastino missa habitis, aput Langlei inter fratres tumilatur. O Deus, quantas millenas marcas circa uaneglorie sepulturas sibi et uxoribus suis inter reges Westm’ faciendas expendidit, contra tamen huiusmodi propositum fortuna disponit contrarium!* Moritur frater Wyllylmus Botsame, episcopus Roffenc’, per prius Landauen’, et in eius locum erigitur magister Johannes Botsam, domini mei

Cant’ cancellarius.’

i

Lanternane. Moritur eciam graciosus uir lohannes ap Gr’, abbas de Lanternane, qui monasterium suum, totaliter casuate crematum, annis in paucis mirabiliter funditus restaurauit. Cui summe prudencie uir Iohannes ap Hoel, eiusdem monasterii prior, suc-

cessit.° Confluctus puerorum. Ista quadragesima ciuitatis London’ pueri, sepius ad millia congregati reges inter se erigendo, ad modum a

MS

marg. note in later hand, Symonis Yslep episcopi Cantuar’ audacia © exeqiis MS

> texteram

' Simon Islip, archbishop of Canterbury 1349-66; for Thomas (not William) de Lisle,

bishop of Ely 1345-61, seeJ.Aberth, ‘Crime and justice under Edward III: the case of Thomas de Lisle’, EHR cvii (1992), 283-301. Lisle fled to Avignon on 19 Nov. 1356, where he died in 1361. The only English bishop who dared publish the bulls excommunicating the royal justices was Gynwell of Lincoln, who ordered the bodies of two of them (as excommunicates) to be exhumed. ; * Minutes of the great council of g Feb. 1400 record the bishops’ grant of a clerical tenth; various magnates agreed to serve for three months at their own expense (POPC i. 102-6;J.L. Kirby, Henry IV of England (London, 1970), pp. 92-7; Foedera, viii. 125). > Walsingham says the corpse was brought from Pontefract to London ‘with that part

of his body by which he could be recognized exhibited, namely from the base of his fore-

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

95

Behold, the liberty of the church! My lord of Canterbury then told the story of how, not long previously, his predecessor Simon Islip,!

seeing one of his suffragans, William Lisle, then bishop of Ely, being led in to Westminster hall to stand trial as a criminal before a tribunal of royal justices, took him by the right hand and said to him, ‘You are my subject. This place where you are standing is prohibited to you, and this man before whom you stand may not judge you. Come with me.’ Whereupon, even though the judge did not assent, he led him away. Nevertheless, the bishop did not dare to remain in England, but made his way to the Roman curia, where he managed to have the judge excommunicated and—since he had died in the meantime—also ensured that he was denied a church burial and instead thrown into a pit. The commons are spared. Hearing that France and Scotland were preparing to invade England, the king imposed a levy, but only on the lords spiritual and temporal, thus sparing the commons of the realm.” The body of Richard, former king of England, was brought, with its face uncovered so that all could see it, to St Paul’s church

in London, where, once the obsequies had been performed that night and a mass said on the following day, it was buried with the friars at Langley. O God, how many thousands of marks did he spend on vainglorious tombs for himself and his wives amidst the kings at Westminster, only for fortune to foil his plans!? Brother William Botsham, bishop of Rochester, and before that of Llandaff, died, and M.John Botsham, my lord of Canterbury’s chancel-

lor, was promoted in his place.* Llantarnam. That much-respected man John ap Gruffydd, abbot of Llantarnam, who had splendidly re-built his monastery in just a few years following its accidental destruction by fire, also died; he was succeeded by John ap Hywell, prior of the same monastery, a

most prudent man.° The battle of the boys. During Lent this year the [apprentice-]boys of the city of London constantly banded together in their thousands head down to his throat’ (Annales, p. 331); the requiem mass was on 6 Mar., followed by burial at King’s Langley (Herts.), where his brother Edward was buried (PRO E403/ 564, 20 Mar.; Issues of the Exchequer Henry III to Henry VI, ed. F. Devon (London, 1837), p. 248). Henry V re-interred Richard in Westminster abbey in 1413. For his and his wives’ tombs, see Isswes of the Exchequer, pp. 258, 262-4, 270; Foedera, vii. 795, 797): ; John 4 William Bottlesham, bishop of Llandaff 1386-9, of Rochester 1389—Feb.1400 Bottlesham, bishop of Rochester 1400-4. 5 John ap Hywell, abbot of Llantarnam near Usk 1400-5; see Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 212; for his death, see below, p. 212.

1400

96 1400

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

bellicosum iuxta uires eorundem mutuo pugnabant, unde plures, ictubus percussi, pedibus calcati, locorumque artitudine oppressi, moriebantur, ad magnum populi mirum quid hoc prenosticaret;’ credo quod pestilenciam anno sequenti contingentem, in qua pro maiori parte ab hac luce transierunt.? ,Tamen ab huiusmodi eorum confluctibus, quousque rex sub grauibus minis eorum parentibus et magistris hoc cohibere scripserat, restringi non poterant. Prebenda Bangoren’. Contulit michi princeps, tercio die mensis Mai, unam prebendam in ecclesia Bangoren’.* Sentencia post mortem. Item, quarto die istius mensis Mai, domino

Henrico rege in aula sua infra turrim London’ regali more condecenter pro tribunali sedente, dominus de Morlei, qui alias comitem Sarum de prodicione accusauerat, eo quod die ad duellandum eis assignato idem comes termino non satisfecerat, ipsum iuxta formam accusacionis proditorem adiudicari, et in exspensis 4suos fideiussores* condempnari, petiit.7 Ymmo nomine suo, licet capellanus, quia ipse comes, ut premittitur, mortuus fuit, summaliter et diffinitiue pecii. Pars aduersa excepit de morte? ante diem indicti scisti; unde* replicaui quod proditorie insurgendo mortem sibi causauit, et sic aggressu proprio ruit. Per cy in lege Si

decesserit, “de custarum lege contentariendum,’ Qui satisdare

fo. 166"

cogantur, in Iustiniani operibus;> et Si homo scisti, lex Sieum, titulus Si quis caucionibus;° et Iudicatum solut, lex Iudicatum;’ et codex, De custodia rerum, lex Ad commentariensis;* |et breuiter contra fideiussores dicti comitis pars mea obtentum habuit, me in centum solidis et duodecim uirgatis scarleti remunerando.° *4 interlined > punctuation break wrongly inserted here © interlined 4-dinterlined above titulus si quis cautionibus per cy del. * remenerando MS

' Walsingham (Annales, p. 332) says the riots began on 4 Apr. (‘in festo sancti Ambrosii’) in St Paul’s churchyard, and confirms that many were killed. See also Wylie, Henry IV, i. 119. ” Plague struck in the summer of 1400; presumably Usk (using the old style calendar) dated the riots to March or earlier (cf. Annales, p. 332). * The temporalities of the see were in the king’s hands until 20 May, hence the

presentation by Prince Henry (CPR 1399-1401, pp. 231, 288). * Thomas Lord Morley (1379-1416) appealed Salisbury of treason in parliament, Oct. 1399; trial by battle was to be held at Newcastle in Feb. 1400, but was pre-empted by Salisbury’s death in the epiphany rising (RP iii. 451; PRO E403/564, 21 Feb.; The Great Chronicle ofLondon, ed. A. H. Thomas and I. D. Thornley (London, 1938), pp. 7981; Annales, pp. 313-14).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

97

to choose their kings, during which they began fighting amongst themselves with all the fury of which they were capable; many of them died as a result of this, being struck by blows or trampled underfoot or crushed in confined spaces—which made a lot of people wonder what this might portend;! it was, I believe, the plague which occurred in the following year, in which most of them were carried off from this life.? Even so, it was not until the

king had written to their parents and masters, threatening them in the strongest terms to put a stop to it, that they could be persuaded to desist from such violence. A prebend at Bangor. On the third day of the month of May, the prince conferred upon me a prebend in the church at Bangor.’ Judgement post mortem. Also, on the fourth day of that same month of May, a petition was submitted by Lord Morley to our lord king Henry, sitting in royal splendour on the judgement seat in his hall at the Tower of London, requesting that since the earl of Salisbury, whom he had earlier accused of treason, had failed to appear on the day which had been assigned to them to do battle, he should be adjudged a traitor in accordance with the form of the accusation, and that expenses be awarded against those who had stood surety for him.* Despite being a chaplain, I acted in Lord Morley’s name, and I requested a summary and definitive judgement, seeing that the earl was—as already noted—dead. The other side objected on the grounds that his death had occurred before the day assigned to him, to which I responded that he had brought about his own death by traitorous insurrection, and it was thus his own violence which had destroyed him: for which see the law, ‘Si decesserit’, concerning the law on the payment of costs, ‘Qui satisdare cogantur’, in the works of Justinian;> and ‘Si homo scisti’, the law ‘Si eum’, the title ‘Si quis caucionibus’;® and ‘Iudicatum solui’, the law ‘udicatum’;’ and the codex, ‘De custodia rerum’, the law, ‘Ad Commentariensis’.’ And, to be brief, my side obtained judgement against the guarantors of the aforesaid earl, and I was rewarded with a hundred shillings and twelve lengths of scarlet cloth. 5 Digest, lib. ii, tit. viii (Qui Satisdare Cogantur’), c. iv (Corpus luris Civilis, i. 21-2). 6 Digest, lib. ii, tit. xi (Si Quis Cautionibus’), c. x (recte, ‘Homo scisti’) (Corpus Iuris

Civilis, i. 24-5). Bi UTNE 7 Digest, lib. xlvi, tit. vii (Iudicatum Solvi’), c. vi (Corpus Luris Civilis, i. 759-60).

8 Codex, lib. ix, tit. iv (De Custodia Rerum’), c. iv (recte, ‘Ad Commentariensem’) (Corpus Iuris Civilis, ii. 370-1).

1400

98 1400

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

Moritur abbas de Certeseya.* Hoc anno, scilicet Domini millesimo quadringentesimo, per totam Angliam magna et presertim innoscentum regnauit pestilencia, subito quasi irruens et animas tollens. Moritur dominus Iohannes de Vsk, abbas de Certeseia, cum tredecim monachis.° Iste bone memorie, in theologia inceptor, uir utique maxime sanctitatis beate Virginis obsequius incistendo, die natiuitatis eiusdem Virginis, ad hoc per eum quia in eius* parochia natum et in lauacro baptizatum aput Vsk sub eodem festo semper peroptatum, suum Domino direxit spiritum.' Vtinam eius uie consors fieri mererer! In transitu suo secum fui, et benedictionem suam, de quo gaudio, recepi sub hiis uerbis, ‘Illam benedictionem quam beata uirgo filio suo Domino Iesu, et quam Isaac filio suo Iacob,’ contulerunt, tibi confero.’ Iste abbas, per beatam Virginem in sopore suo consolatus, recte in ipso transitu suo quasi fratribus suis et michi dixit,? ‘Inimicus dedit michi insidias, sed benedicta uirgo Maria cum duabus aliis dominabus michi in succursum superueniens inimicum penitus expulit, me consolando quod de cetero me non turbaret, et quod ipsa cum aliis dominabus a me non recederet quousque spiritum meum secum saluum haberet.’ Et quasi lenis® sopor ipsum tunc occupauit; et quidam frater suus, Wyllylmus Burtoun, excitauit eum dicens sibi,

‘Bene‘Quid caneneius in eternam tibi hereditatem”.’* Tunc ille, ‘Non audio. Vtinam dignus audire essem!’ Et sic spiritum, sine aliquali turbacionis motu, direxit ad Dominum. Eodem anno rex cum magno et glorioso exercitu transiit in Scociam ad Scotorum ferocitatem domandam.‘Ipsi tamen propria rura, domos et predia, ne regi nostro aliquid cederet, in refugium preueniendo, deuastarunt et denudarunt, ac se delitentes ad frutices ac deuiarum cauernarum£ et nemorum abdita a facie regis ‘Sitis forti animo, quia bene ualebitis.’ Respondit abbas, dictus Deus, bene ualebo. Tace et audi.’ Dixit monachus, audiam?’ ‘Multitudinem angelorum, cum summa melodia cium, “Veni, benedicte fili patris celestis, posside regnum

* marg. note in later hand, pestilentia presertim innocentium > interlined © interlined 4 interlined * lenus MS * marg. note in later hand, transitus regis in Scotia § interlined

' Usk parish church was dedicated to the BVM. John of Usk was abbot of Chertsey 1370-1400; licence to elect a new abbot (Thomas Culverdon) dated 21 Sept. 1400 (VCH Surrey, ii (ed. H. E. Malden, London, 190s), 58; CPR 1399-1401, pp. 336, 365). Despite

Adam’s ‘in theologia inceptor’, John is not known to have attended a university; but he engaged in pamphlet-controversy with Wyclif in the 1370s, so Adam may well be right

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

99

The abbot of Chertsey dies. In this year, namely the year of Our Lord 1400, a terrible plague raged throughout England, breaking out all of a sudden and carrying off many souls, especially amongst the children. Among those who died were John of Usk, the abbot of Chertsey, and thirteen of his monks. This man of holy memory and surpassing sanctity, who incepted in theology, and lived his life as a servant of the blessed Virgin, gave up his soul to God on the feast of the nativity of the aforesaid Virgin [8 September], which was exactly as he had always wished, for he had been born in her parish and baptized in the font at Usk on that same feast.! Would that I might be deemed worthy to accompany him on his journey! I was with him at his passing, and, to my joy, I received his blessing, in the following words, “That same blessing which the blessed Virgin bestowed upon her son the Lord Jesus, and which Isaac bestowed upon his son Jacob,’ I bestow upon you.’ The abbot was continually comforted on his deathbed by the blessed Virgin; when he was almost at the point of death he said to his brethren and to me, “The enemy laid snares for me, but the blessed Virgin Mary with two other ladies came to my help and drove the enemy utterly to flight; and she assured me that he would no longer trouble me, and that she and the other ladies would not leave me until they had safely gathered my soul up with them.’ And then it seemed as if a gentle slumber came over him; but one of his brethren, William Burton, roused him, saying, “Be of brave heart, for you shall fare well.’ ‘Blessed be God, I shall fare well,’ replied the abbot, ‘Be silent now and listen.’ ‘Listen to what?’ said the monk. ‘A great host of angels, singing most sweetly, “Come, blessed son of the heavenly father, and enter into his kingdom, which you have inherited for eternity”. ‘I cannot hear it,’ he replied. ‘O, that I were worthy to do so!’ Whereupon the abbot, without any struggle or commotion, gave up his soul to God. This same year the king took a large and splendid army to Scotland to curb the depredations of the Scots. They fled before the face of the king to seek safety, however, destroying and laying waste their own fields and houses and farms lest anything should fall into the king’s hands, and lying low in the depths of woods and thickets and remote caverns, from which refuges they would (lohannis Wyclif Tractatus de Officio Regis, ed. A. W. Pollard and C. Sayle (Wyclif Society, London, 1887), pp. xvi, 98, 129-32). Usk’s account of his death suggests a close blood-

relationship between chronicler and abbot. 2 Gen. 27: 23.

S GfeMatteeses4-

1400

100 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

se subtraxerunt, tamen ex huiusmodi absconditis sepius exeuntes in desertis deuiis ac diuersoriis nostratum quamplures interfecerunt et captiuarunt, plus nobis quam nos eis dampni inferendo.' Rex in festo decollacionis sancti Iohannis baptiste in Angliam rediit, et audito aput Leicestriam qualiter *Oenus dominus de Glyndordee,* cum Northewalen’ eundem Oenum principem erigentibus, rebellando hostiliter insurrexerat, ac castra quamplura occupauerat, burgas? ubique per Anglicos inter eos inhabitatas, ipsas depredando et Anglicos profugando, cremauerat,” sui armata iuuentute collecta, suas bellicosas acies in Northewaliam direxit. Quibus edomatis et deportatis, dictus eorum princeps cum septem aliis tantum rupibus ‘et cauernis per annum quasi delituit.° Rex cum aliis se paci reddentibus, paucissimos interimendo, misericorditer egit, ipsorum tamen principaliores secum Salopiam ducens captiuos. Et postmodo, sub condicione alios adhuc in Snowdona et aliunde rebellantes prosequendi et capiendi, “dimisit eosdem.” Bonus dolus contra hostes. Circa Northom’ et filius suus® dominus

festum beate Fidis, comes Henricus Perci cum Scotis,

Angliam post recessum regis inuadentibus, habuerunt magnum

conflictum, unde centum milites et armigeros ‘ex Scotis’ cap-

fo. 167°

tiuando et ceteros in fugam propellendo.* Causa uictorie fuit ista: Anglici garciones, a tergo dominorum suorum tempore pugne equis insedentes, caute et optime® hostili dolo unanimiter clamabant, ‘Scoti fugiunt, Scoti fugiunt.’ Hoc Scoti in belli fronte pugnantes |nimium timendo, dum rei ueritatem exploraturi a tergo respicerent, geminatis ictibus in auribus et collis malleis pulsati ceciderunt. Breue regium. Ex parte regis huiusmodi breue presencium compilatori directum extitit: ‘Rex dilecto sibi M. A. U., legum 24 underlined; marg. note in later hand, Owen dominus de Glyndordee MS ‘© apritten over an erasure 4-4 interlined FS interlined * optima MS

> burgus © interlined

' The English were barely two weeks in Scotland, 14-29 Aug., despite being 1520,000 strong (A. L. Brown, “The English campaign in Scotland, 1400’, British Government and Administration: Studies Presented to S. B. Chrimes, ed. H. Hearder and H.R. Loyn

(Cardiff, 1974), pp. 40-54).

* The revolt erupted on 16 Sept. 1400, with Glendower proclaimed prince of Wales at Glyn Dyfrdwy; Henry heard of it at Northampton, not Leicester, on 19 Sept. (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 102; RP iii. 486). * Hugh Lord Burnell hanged ten rebels at Ruthin on 28 Sept.; Henry arrived at

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

IOI

continually issue forth in order to kill or capture our men in deserted and out-of-the-way spots, thus doing us more harm than we did them.’ On the feast of the Decollation of St John the Baptist [29 August] the king returned to England; while at Leicester he heard that Owen lord of Glendower, being put forward by the men of North Wales to be their prince, had risen up with them in armed rebellion and had seized numerous castles, and was everywhere plundering and burning the towns inhabited by the English who lived amongst them, and forcing the English to flee;? so, assembling his young warriors, the king led his troops into North Wales, where he overcame them and put them to flight, leaving their prince to spend almost a year hiding away on cliffs and in caverns with no more than seven followers. Those who submitted peacefully to him, however, the king treated mercifully, executing only a very few, and taking their chieftains away with him as captives to Shrewsbury, where he later released them on condition that they would pursue and capture the others who were still holding out in Snowdonia and elsewhere.* A good ruse against enemies. On about the feast of St Faith [6 October], the earl of Northumberland and his son Sir Henry Percy had a great battle with the Scots who invaded England following the king’s withdrawal, during which they captured a hundred Scottish knights and esquires and put the rest to flight.* This victory was won in the following way: while the battle was going on, the English grooms stationed to the rear of their masters employed a clever and highly successful piece of trickery against the enemy, mounting their horses and all crying out together, “The Scots are fleeing, the Scots are fleeing!’ This terrified the Scots in the forefront of the action, and as they turned round to see whether or not it was true, they were cut to pieces by a continuous rain of hammer-blows around their ears and necks. A royal writ. The following writ was sent on behalf of the king to the compiler of this present work: “The king to his beloved Shrewsbury on 26 Sept., toured North Wales, and arrived back at Shrewsbury on 15 Oct. (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dir, p. 102). Glendower lay low until May 1401. All were pardoned except the ringleaders (Foedera, viii. 167, 181). 4 Usk seems to mean the battle of Reidswire (by Carter Bar), fought according to Hardyng on 29 Sept. (Chronicle ofJohn Hardyng, ed. Ellis, p. 355); it was not the Percys but Sir Robert Umfraville who led the English, but the Percys, as wardens of the march, were ordered to safeguard the Scottish prisoners (Foedera, viii. 162; CCR 13991402, pp. 220, 226, 260).

1400

102 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

doctori, salutem. Nonnulla dubia in scriptis que statum et honorem regni nostri concernunt uobis mittimus, sub pede sigilli nostri, rogantes attencius et firmiter iniungentes ut hiis cum bona et matura deliberacione inspectis ac, materia eorundem plenius intellecta, uestrum sanum consilium et responsum in scriptis, uos

in singulis per iura fundantes, nobis aut consilio nostro citra festum sancti Michaelis proxime futurum, omni excusacione postposita et absque difficultatis obstaculo, transmittatis. Et ulterius, propter diuersas opiniones aliorum iuris peritorum, que forsan expedicionem negocii illius poterunt retardare, uolumus et mandamus quod in propria persona uestra sitis coram dicto consilio nostro aput Westm’ in octabis festi predicti, una cum hiis qui uobiscum in examine predicto studiose concurrent, uestrum in premissis ibidem consilium inpensuri, et finem ac conclusionem super dictis opinionibus inposituri. Et hoc sub fide qua nobis tenemini, et sicut honorem et conseruacionem status regni nostri diligitis, nullatenus omittatis. Teste meipso aput Westm’, duodecimo die Septembris anno regni nostri primo. Sequuntur questiones super articulis tangentibus matrimonium initum inter dominum Ricardum, nuper regem Angl’, et dominam Isabellam,

filiam regis Francie.”! Questiones inter Anglie et Francie regna. Et prime, motiua et cause super matrimonio huiusmodi contrahendo sequuntur. Factum. In tractatu nuper habito ratione matrimonii inter Ricardum regem Anglie et filiam regis Francie—spe concepta quod grandia et communia innumerabilia scandala, mala, inconueniencie, dampna et effusio sanguinis humani, que ratione discordiarum et guerrarum inter regna et cetera hactenus euenerunt, cessent in posterum, et quod melius et celerius peruenire ualeat ad bonas conclusiones, pacem et concordiam inter regna predicta, longe futuris temporibus duraturas, ac inter reges illos et successores suos uinculum affinitatis existere, necnon inter regna sua et eorum subditos amicicia et conuersacio mirifice enutriri—fuerat inter cetera concordatum quod dicta regina dicto Ricardo debet matrimonialiter copulari, et quod rex Francie, contemplacione dicti maritagii, solueret dicto ' For the truce and treaty of marriage (11 Mar. 1396), see Foedera, vii. 813-30; for comment, see Palmer, England, France and Christendom, pp. 169-75. Similar—if not the same—questions, apparently drafted by John Prophet, were sent to chancellor Repingdon at Oxford for consideration by the ‘sages doctours’ on 12 Nov. 1400 (Foedera, viii. 164; and see POPC i. 117-18).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

103

M. Adam Usk, Doctor of Laws, greetings. We are sending you in writing, under authority of our seal, a number of disputed points which concern the welfare and honour of our kingdom, requesting and strictly enjoining you to give them careful and mature consideration, and, when you have fully considered the substance of them, to send to us or our council in writing, before the approaching feast of Michaelmas [29 September], without fail and without any ambiguity, your best advice concerning them, basing your replies in each case upon the law. Moreover, since differing opinions have been received from other legal experts, as a result of which the conclusion of this business is in danger of being delayed, we wish and order you to be present in person before our aforesaid council on the octaves of the said feast, along with those who, together with yourself, are busy looking into these questions, at Westminster, where you shall expound your views with regard to these matters, so that a final decision can be made concerning the afore-mentioned opinions. On the fealty by which you are bound to us, and as you value the honour, welfare, and security of our kingdom, do not in any way fail to do this. Witnessed by myself at Westminster on the twelfth day of September in the first year of our reign [1400]. The questions, which relate to the articles touching the marriage entered into between Lord Richard, former king of England, and Lady Isabella, daughter of the king of France, are as follows.’ Questions between the kingdoms ofEngland and France. Firstly, the motives and reasons why this marriage was contracted are set out. Premise. In the treaty formerly agreed by virtue of the marriage between Richard, king of England, and the daughter of the king of France—the hope being expressed that the numerous great and widespread outrages, evils, enormities, wrongs, and shedding of human blood which have occurred until now on account of the disputes and wars between these kingdoms and others should henceforth cease, and that beneficial agreements, peace and harmony between the aforesaid kings should be swiftly and effectively brought into being, to last for a long time in the future, and that bonds of kinship should be established between these kings and their successors, and that friendship and co-operation of an exemplary kind should be fostered between their kingdoms and their subjects—it was agreed among other things that the aforesaid queen should be joined in marriage to this Richard, and that, in consideration of the marriage, the king of France should pay

1400

104 1400

CHRONICON

VSK

regi Ricardo octingintos mille francos, unde soluti fuerant quingenti mille franci.' Factum. Item concordatum erat quod si, post solenizacionem dicti matrimonii, rex Anglie decesserit sine liberis de dicto matrimonio procreatis, et quod dicta regina ipsum regem superuixerit, ipsa existente infra etatem uel etate duodecim annorum plenarie non* completorum, summa quingentorum mille francorum, aut illud quod fuerit solutum de dicta maiori summa

fo. 167”

ADE

ultra summam

trecentorum mille francorum, deberet

restitui prefate regine; ad quod dictus rex Anglie obligauit se et heredes ac successores suos et habentes causam, ac omnia bona sua mobilia et immobilia tunc presencia et futura, consensu tamen parliementi ad hoc non interueniente. Questio. Numquid rex Ang!’ modernus ex hoc fuerit obligatus per dominum regem Ricardum, et teneatur ad restitucionem pecunie sic recepte ultra trecenta ° millia francorum; attento quod in‘ obligacione antedicta, per regem Ricardum, ut premittitur, facta, regnum non prestiterit suum concensum? Questio. Et si non, numquid cause et suggestiones in tractatu matrimonii expresse ac superius enarrate, que utilitatem publicam utriusque regni uidentur respicere, regem modernum ad restitucionem dicte pecunie poterunt |astringere et sufficienter obligare? Factum. \tem, uigore tractatus, dominus noster rex modernus,

tempore quo fuerat comes Derbeie, et alii domini proximiores de regali sanguine, omnes simul et singuli, pro se et particulariter propriis heredibus et successoribus et habentibus causam, per suas literas promiserunt, ex certa sua sciencia et plenaria uoluntate, quod si dictus rex Ricardus decederet ante consummacionem dicti maritagii, dicta regina, libera et soluta ab omnibus ligamentis et impedimentis matrimonii et aliis obligacionibus quibuscumque, deberet plene restitui cum omnibus

iocalibus et bonis suis regi Francie, patri suo, (uel)? heredi et successori suo; obligantes et expresse ypothecantes dictus comes et alii domini supradicti se ipsos, heredes et successores eorum predictos et habentes causam, et eorum bona quecumque mobilia et immobilia tunc presencia et futura, pro premissis et quolibet * interlined

> tria MS

“ non MS

4 suppl. ed.

' The 300,000 francs paid at the marriage, plus two annual instalments of 100,000 (Foedera, vii. 846; viii. 25, 53). 800,000 francs = £133,333 sterling.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

105

eight hundred thousand francs to the said King Richard; of 1400 which five hundred thousand francs were paid.! Premise. It was also agreed that if, following the solemnization of this marriage, the king of England should die without having begotten any children of the marriage, and if the aforesaid queen should survive him but should still be under age, or should not have fully completed her twelfth year, then the sum of five hundred thousand francs, or whatever had been paid of the afore-mentioned larger sum over and above the sum of three hundred thousand francs, should be restored to the said queen; to this agreement the said king of England bound himself and his heirs and successors and representatives, and all his movable and immovable goods, present and future—without, however, obtaining the consent of parliament to it. Question. Whether the present king of England is obliged and bound, as a result of this agreement made by the lord king Richard, to restore the money thus received over and above the sum of three hundred thousand francs; bearing in mind, as noted above, that the kingdom did not give its consent to this undertaking entered into by King Richard?

Question. And if not, whether the motives and aspirations expressly set out above in the treaty of marriage, which are clearly to the public benefit of both kingdoms, are sufficient in themselves to oblige and compel the present king to restore this money? Premise. Also, by virtue of this treaty, our present lord king, at that time earl of Derby, and other lords close to the royal blood, all jointly and severally promised by their letters, of their own certain knowledge and free will, on behalf of themselves and their own individual heirs and successors and representatives, that should the said King Richard die before the consummation of this marriage, then the said queen, free and quit of all ties and impediments arising from the marriage and of all other obligations of any kind, should be fully restored together with all her jewels and goods to her father the king of France, [or] to his heir and successor; and the aforesaid earl and other lords bound and expressly pledged themselves and their said heirs, successors and representatives, and all their movable and immovable goods, present and future, to the upholding, security, and

106 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

eorum tenendis et seruandis, fiendis, et plenarie adimplendis, iuxta formam et tenorem dictarum literarum obligatoriarum et tractatus de et super maritagio supradicto. Questio. Queritur quomodo debet intelligi de bonis huiusmodi: an de illis dumtaxat que cum regina fuerat liberata, an tam illa quam alia extunc hactenus acquisita per eam; et an ducenta millia francorum de quibus supra in tractatu matrimonii supradicti fit mencio! sub et in bonis huiusmodi debeant comprehendi? Sequuntur questiones super aliis articulis tangentibus tres milliones scutorum per regem Francie regi Angl’ soluendorum: Factum. Olim, in tractatu pacis finalis inter lohannem, regem Francie, et Edwardum, regem Anglie, fuerat inter cetera concordatum quod rex Francie solueret regi Angl’ uel suo deputato tres milliones scutorum auri, certis terminis limitatis; ad quam solucionem faciendam rex Francie aput Calisias, dum erat in potestate regis Angl’, obligauit se et heredes suos et eorum bona mobilia et immobilia, unde medietas restat soluenda.’

Questio. Numquid rex Angl’ modernus poterit iuste petere de rege Francie moderno huiusmodi pecuniam non solutam? Questio. Et si non, an competat accio executoribus regis Edwardi? Et si sic, numquid rex Angl’ modernus, iure directo et utili ab executoribus regis Edwardi sibi cesso, tamquam cessionarius poterit eandem pecuniam petere? Litere. Sequitur tenor effectus literarum dicti regis Francie super premisso articulo, in quibus cause tractatus huiusmodi continentur: ‘Iohannes Dei gracia rex Francie omnibus et singulis presentibus et futuris, notum uobis facimus per presentes quod super omnibus dissencionibus et discordiis quibuscumque motis inter nos, pro nobis et pro omnibus illis ad quos pertinet ex una parte, et regem Angl’ et omnes illos quos tangere poterit ex altera parte, pro* bono pacis, extitit concordatum, tali die et tali loco modo, qui sequitur: in primo, quod rex Angl’ habebit talia castra et talia loca, etc. Item concordatum est quod rex Francie ® interlined ' i.e. the two instalments of 100,000 each.

* John II of France (1350-64), captured at Poitiers, agreed by the treaty of Bretigny (ratified at Calais, Oct. 1360) to a ransom of three million ecus d’or (= £500,000 sterling). At least £215,200, perhaps as much as £280,833, was paid before 1369: “The ransom of John II, king of France, 1360-70’, ed. D. M. Broome, Camden Miscellany, xiv (London, 1926).

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

107

complete fulfilment of each of the above-mentioned agreements, in accordance with the form and tenor of the said letters obligatory and of the treaty of and concerning this marriage. Question. The question is how one should define these goods: whether they merely include those which were delivered along with the queen, or whether they include not only these but also those which she has acquired between then and now; and whether the two hundred thousand francs mentioned above in the treaty of marriage’ should also be included as an integral part of these goods? The following questions concern other articles relating to the three million crowns owed by the king of France to the king of England: Premise. It was formerly agreed, among other things, in the treaty for a final peace made between John, king of France, and Edward, king of England, that the king of France should pay to the king of England or to his deputy three million gold crowns, within a certain time limit; and the king of France, while he was a prisoner of the king of England at Calais, bound himself and his heirs and their movable and immovable goods to the payment of

that sum, half of which is still unpaid.’ Question. Whether the present king of England may justly demand payment of the unpaid residue of this sum from the present king of France? Question. And if not, whether an action might lie with the executors of King Edward? And if so, whether the present king of England, through the direct and lawful right assigned to him by the executors of King Edward, may demand this money as cessionary? Letters. There follow the substance of the aforesaid king of France’s letters concerning this article, in which the reasons behind this treaty are set out: John, by the grace of God king of France, to each and every person, present or future, we hereby inform you that in place ofall the quarrels and disputes of any kind which have arisen between us, it has been agreed, in the cause of peace, on behalf ofus and all those whom it affects on the one side, and by the king of England and all those whom it affects on the other side, on such and such a day and at such and such a place, as follows: firstly, that the king of England shall have certain castles and certain places, etc. It has also been agreed that the king of

1400

108

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

soluet regi Angl’ uel deputato suo tria millia millium scutorum

1400

auri certis terminis, etc.’ Factum. Item, ex quo

rex Francie, captus in guerris per regem Angl’, in concordia pacis finalis obligauit se et heredes suos ad soluendum regi Anglie tres milliones auri, idem rex Francie Calesiis? in potestate regis Angl’ erat, non facta mencione in literis dicte concordie quod illa solucio fieret ratione financie redempcionis eiusdem regis Francie. Questio. Numquid illa obligacio uitiatur ex eo quod pretenditur metum interuenisse, non obstante quod sit notorium toti mundo quod summa pecunie pro redempcione seu financia debebatur huiusmodi? Factum. Post dictam obligacionem, prefatus rex Francie, aput Bolaniam, in sua libertate, ut asseruit, constitutus, in literis suis recitauit illum articulum in quo cauetur quod rex Francie solueret regi |Angl’ uel deputato suo dictam summam terminis, ut premittitur, limitatis; et subsequenter in eisdem literis narrat se soluisse carissimo fratri suo regi Angl’ certam summam pecunie in parte solucionis dicte maioris summe, et

fo. 168°

in illis literis obligauit se et heredes suos et eorum bona quecumque ad soluendum dicto fratri suo residuum non solutum, uolens quod omnes alie obligaciones in hac parte prius facte pro nullo penitus habeantur. Questio. Queritur sicut prius in dicto articulo, et presertim numquid hec secunda obligacio regis Francie, facta Bolonie, de predicta pecunia soluenda regi Angl’, uideatur primam obligacionem factam regi Angl’ tollere, seu ipsam quouismodo nouare, cum de ipsius consensu expresse circa hoc non appareat per scripturam. Factum. Item in alio articulo in eodem tractatu expresse continetur quod, rege Francie certa castra etc. restituente, simili modo rex Angl’ certa castra alia per se et suos occupata teneatur restituere. Questio. Numquid, si appareat quod rex Francie castra etc. restituerit, ac premissa omnia pro parte sua adimpleuerit, ac rex Angl’ promissa per eum non profecerit, solucio pecunie a

altered by expunction from Calesius

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

109

France shall pay to the king of England or his deputy three million gold crowns within a certain time limit, etc.’ Premise. Also, although the king of France, having been taken prisoner of war by the king of England, bound himself and his heirs, in the agreement made fora final peace, to pay the three millions in gold to the king of England, that same king of France, when he was at Calais and a prisoner of the king, did not mention in the letters relating to the said agreement that this payment was on account of the money for his own ransom as king of France. Question. Whether that obligation is nullified by the argument that he was under duress, notwithstanding that it is well-known to all the world that this sum of money was indeed owed on account of his ransom or release? Premise. Having entered into this obligation, the aforesaid king of France later, at Boulogne, having, as he declared, been restored to his liberty, cited in his letters that article in which it was stipulated that the king of France should pay the aforesaid sum to the king of England or to his deputy within a certain time limit, as noted above; and subsequently in the same letters he records that he has paid to his dearest brother the king of England a certain sum of money in part payment of this larger sum, and in these letters he also pledges himself and his heirs and all their goods for the payment of the unpaid residue to his aforesaid brother, and declares his wish that all the other obligations previously entered into with regard to this matter should be regarded as entirely invalidated. Question. The question is the same as the previous one relating to this article, and especially whether this second obligation concerning the payment of the aforesaid sum to the king of England, entered into by the king of France at Boulogne, can be regarded as cancelling or in any way modifying the first obligation made to the king of England, seeing that the latter’s express consent to it does not appear in writing? Premise. It is also expressly stated in another article in the same treaty that once the king of France has restored certain castles, etc., the king of England is similarly obliged to restore certain other castles occupied by him and his men.

Question. Whether—should it transpire that the king of France

restored these castles and lands, and duly carried out for his part

all the foregoing, but that the king of England did not fulfil his

1400

110 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

promisse per regem Francie regi Angl’ prout in tractatu continetur iuste poterit denegari? Factum. \tem in alio articulo in tractatu quo supra fit mencio continetur quod rex Francie certa castra promisit regi Anglie liberare, quoque post? liberacionem huiusmodi certas renunciaciones super certis iuribus?® et resorto ac aliis faceret, necnon literas super huiusmodi renunciacione et dimissione sigillo suo sigillatas certo termino, aput Bruges, regi Angl’ aut deputatis suis faceret liberari realiter et° tradi; et rex Angl’ promisit simili modo certa castra liberare,¢ ac iuri quoad coronam Francie renunciare, etc.

Questio. Si appareat quod rex Francie ex parte sua, predictis die et loco, premissa omnia paratus erat adimplere, nec appareat

quod rex Angl’ promissa per eum in hac parte perfecit, seu quod nuncios suos ad Bruges in termino limitato transmiserit qui promissa et oblata per regem Francie poterant acceptare et promissa per regem Angl’ eciam adimplere, numquid solucio pecunie, ut premittitur, per regem Francie regi Angl’ promisse, propter negligenciam seu defectum dicti regis Angl’ iuste poterit

denegari?! Questio. Item, si predicta summa de predictis tribus millionibus non soluta domino nostro regi Angl’ debeatur, iure proprio seu per executores regis Edwardi cesso etc., et ita contigerit quod idem dominus rex teneatur restituere domine regine, filie regis Francie, ducenta millia francorum de quibus supra fit mencio, numquid de summis huiusmodi hinc inde petitis et° debitis debeat de iure fieri compensacio, licet dicta regina in hoc casu censeatur esse tercia persona cui fienda est restitutio seu solucio? Quia, quamuis restitutio ducentorum mille francorum referatur ad ipsam reginam, obligacio tamen originaliter fuit contracta et radificata‘ inter Ricardum, regem Angl’, et Karo-

lum, nunc regem Francie, et sic uidetur quod rex Angl’ modernus, iure proprio seu cesso,* inter easdem personas poterit compensare. * interlined

4 liberari MS

» juribus del., re-written with capital 1

© interlined

f radicata MS

© interlined

® quia del.

' The ‘renunciations clauses’, omitted from the ratification at Calais, were supposed to be confirmed at Bruges in Aug. 1361, but never were: ‘Some documents regarding the fulfilment and interpretation of the treaty of Bretigny, 1361-1369’, ed. P. Chaplais, Camden Miscellany xix (London, 1952), 5-8.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

III

promises—the payment of that money mentioned in the treaty as being promised by the king of France to the king of England may be lawfully refused? Premise. It is also stated in another article in the aforementioned treaty that the king of France promised to hand over certain castles to the king of England, and that after these had been handed over he would also draw up various renunciations concerning certain rights, powers of resort, and suchlike, and that he would moreover order to be delivered and actually handed over to the king of England, at Bruges, within a certain time limit, letters sealed with his seal concerning this renunciation and abjuration; and the king of England similarly promised to hand over certain castles, and to renounce his right concerning the crown of France, etc. Question. Whether—if it transpires that the king of France for his part was ready on the agreed day and at the agreed place to carry out all the foregoing, but that the king of England did not fulfil his promises in that respect, nor did he send to Bruges within the agreed time limit messengers of his who could either accept the undertakings and offers of the French king or fulfil the promises made by the English king—payment of the money which, as noted above, was promised by the king of France to the king of England may lawfully be refused, on account of the negligence or default of the aforesaid king of England?! Question. Moreover—if the above-mentioned portion of the said three millions which remains unpaid is found to be owing to our lord the king of England, either through his own right or by assignment of the executors of King Edward etc., and it also transpires that the same lord king is obliged to restore the aforesaid two hundred thousand francs to our lady the queen, the daughter of the king of France—whether some bargain ought to be struck at law between the sums which are thus claimed and owed on each side, even though the said queen be reckoned in any such eventuality to be a third party in terms of any restitution or payment to be made? For, even if restitution of the two hundred thousand francs is made to the queen herself, nevertheless the obligation was originally contracted and ratified between Richard, king of England, and Charles, the present king of France, whereby it is clear that the present king of England, either through his own right or by assignment, may strike a bargain between the parties involved.

1400

EZ) 1400

fo. 168”

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Factum. \tem supposito, absque preiudicio ueritatis, quod si? rex modernus, ut comes Derbeie, teneatur predicta ducenta millia restituere, seu illa ut prefertur compensare poterit— Questio. Numquid alii nobiles secum obligati tamquam coreii seu confideiussores teneantur, iuxta beneficium epistole etc., ad solucionem dictorum ducentorum millium contribuere; seu eadem ducenta millia de bonis et iocalibus regis Ricardi idem rex primitus debeat excomputare? Factum. Item presupposito, absque preiudicio eciam ueritatis, quod si? rex modernus teneatur reginam cum bonis et iocalibus simpliciter restituere, iuxta formam clausule in tractatu expresse— Questio. Numquid idem rex modernus, iure proprio tamquam rex Angl’ aut iure cesso ab executoribus regis Edwardi ut prefertur excipiendo, restitutionem predicte regine una cum bonis etc. poterit impedire, ac iure retentionis uti, quousque rex Francie de residuo trium millionum notorie debito et non soluto regi moderno uelit satisfacere? Istud est querere breuiter: Questio. Numquid rex Angl’ modernus predictam excepcionem de residuo non soluto,° seu aliam excepcionem, poterit apponere, que restitutionem regine una cum bonis poterit impedire quousque excepcionem huiusmodi rex Francie poterit elidere seu remouere? Factum. Item ambassiatores domini regis moderni aput Caliciam ambassiatoribus regis Francie nunc ultimo in tractatu promiserunt reginam cum bonis, ante festum purificacionis beate Marie proxime futurum, simpliciter restituere, iuxta formam obligacionis inde facte. Questio. Si consilium regis Francie, seu eiusdem regine, recusauerit acquitanciam super huiusmodi restitutionem primitus cum effectu tradere—que mala non faciliter numerabilia, et presertim materiam scandali et effusionem sanguinis humani, poterit tollere et penitus exturpare (et ea omnia uerisimile est aliter euenire occasione huius matrimonii, prout * interlined

> interlined

© soluluto MS

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

II3

Premise. Supposing also, without prejudice to the truth, that if the present king is obliged, as earl of Derby, to restore the aforesaid two hundred thousand, or is able to strike a balance with it in the way mentioned above— Question. Whether the other nobles who bound themselves with him as co-pledges or guarantors are obliged, in accordance with the terms of the letter etc., to contribute to the payment of the said two hundred thousand; or should the king himself first of all discount these two hundred thousand from the goods and jewels of King Richard? Premise. Presupposing, again without prejudice to the truth, that if the present king is obliged simply to return the queen along with her goods and jewels, in accordance with the conditions clearly set out in the clause of the treaty— Question. Whether the same present king can, by presenting objections either in his own right as king of England, or by right of assignment from the executors of King Edward in the manner already explained, prevent the return of the said queen together with her goods etc., and exercise his right of retention, until such time as the king of France is willing to satisfy him for the residue of the three million, which as everyone knows is owed to the present king but not yet paid? To put the question briefly: Question. Whether the present king of England can put forward the aforesaid objection concerning the unpaid residue, or any other objection, in order to prevent the return of the queen and her goods until such time as the king of France is able to overcome or set aside the objection? Premise. The ambassadors of the present lord king also promised the ambassadors of the present king of France, at Calais, at their last meeting, that they would, before the next feast of the purification of the blessed Mary [2 February 1401], simply return the queen with her goods, in accordance with the terms of the agreement made on the subject.

Question. If the council of the king of France, or of the said queen, should refuse beforehand to hand over a proper acquittance in respect of this return—which might, although it is not an easy matter, overcome or completely remove numerous difficulties, and especially the causes of serious complaint and shedding of human blood (which will surely recur if this is not done, and which will thus be a consequence of this marriage, for this is

1400

114 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

sepius inter Angl’ et Franc’ acciderat retroactis temporibus in diuersis terminis consimillibus)— Questio. Numquid ergo ambassiatores supradicti restitutionem regine una cum bonis, non obstante promissione, ac eciam saluo honore regis et regni, poterunt denegare quousque talem acquitanciam exclusoriam etc., uelint liberare?? Factum. Item, olim in tractatu pacis finalis de quo supra in tercio dubio continetur, fuit inter alia inter eosdem reges concor-

datum, prout asseritur, quamuis de hoc non appareat scriptura, quod rex Edwardus stipendiarios suos, et alios sibi subditos per regnum Francie discurrentes, expensis suis a regno Francie infra certum terminum expelli et penitus remoueri faceret. Questio. Si appareat quod rex Edwardus premissa non adimpleuit infra predictum terminum, sed eisdem stipendiariis suis et aliis subditis in armis auxilium, consilium et fauorem prestitit, numquid, si liqueat de predicta concordia facta in primo tractatu pacis, siue post illum tractatum, ex illo capite solucio residui dicti trium millionum? iuste poterit denegari?”

Moritur comitissa Arundell’. Septimo kalendas Octobris nobilissima domina mea, domina Philippa, domini mei comitis Marchie filia, primo iuueni probissimo comiti Penbroch’, aput Wotstok in hastiludio perempto, et postea nobili comiti Arundell’ decapitato, tercio domino de Seynt Iohn, coniugata, modicum postquam michi ecclesiam de Westhanfeld in Essexia donauerat, nondum uicesimum quartum etatis sue annum attingens, aput Halnakyt iuxta Cicestriam uiam uniuerse carnis est ingressa, et in prioratu

de Bosgroue iacet tumulata.* Lumbardi restringuntur.° Lumbardi et alii mercatores transmarini aput London’, in propriis hospiciis morari soliti ac mercimonia sua libere exponere tollerati, in tantum more transmarino sunt restricti, quod non per se sed in domo alicuius ciuis in ea parte * millium MS

> retinguntur MS

' Acquittance for the queen and her possessions was granted by the French, but specifically excluding the 200,000 francs (Foedera, viii. 196-9, 215-18). * For the routiers, seeJ.Favier, La Guerrede Cent Ans (Paris, 1980), pp. 301-7. * Philippa, daughter of Edmund earl of March (d. 1381), born 21 Nov. 1375, married (i) John Hastings earl of Pembroke (killed while practising for a tournament by Sir John de St John, in Dec. 1389, aged 17); (ii) Richard earl of Arundel (beheaded, Sept. 1397);

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

115

what has always happened in the past between England and France in all sorts of similar circumstances)— Question. Whether the said ambassadors can, therefore, notwithstanding their promise, and saving the honour of king and kingdom, refuse to return the queen and her goods until the other party is willing to hand over an exclusory acquittance of

this nature?!

Premise. Among other things, it was also formerly agreed in the treaty of final peace between these kings mentioned in the third point above—or so it is claimed, although this does not appear in writing—that King Edward would, at his own expense, arrange within a certain time for the removal and total expulsion from the French kingdom of his mercenaries and any other subjects of his who were roaming through the kingdom of France. Question. Whether—if it transpires that King Edward did not fulfil this agreement within the agreed time, but instead provided these same mercenaries and other subjects of his with armed help, or advice or support, and if it is clear that this really was agreed in the original peace treaty, or at a later time—payment of the afore-mentioned residue of three million may be lawfully refused on this account?”

The countess ofArundel dies. On 25 September my most noble lady, the Lady Philippa, the daughter of my lord the earl of March, who was married firstly to that most honourable youth the earl of Pembroke, who was killed in a tournament at Woodstock, then to the noble earl of Arundel, who was beheaded, and thirdly to Lord St. John, went the way of all flesh at Halnaker near Chichester, before having even reached her twenty-fourth year, and shortly after having granted me the church of West Hanningfield in Essex; she

is buried in Boxgrove priory.’ Controls on the Lombards. The Lombards and other overseas merchants in London, who were used to staying in their own lodgings and being freely allowed to offer their goods for sale, were placed under controls of the sort that are common abroad, that is, they were not to live on their own but in the home of some citizen who (iii) Thomas Poynings, Lord StJohn of Basing. She died on 24 or 25 Sept (GEC x. 395-6, 666-7). Usk held West Hanningfield less than a month (27 Sept.—24 Oct. 1399) before exchanging it (CPR 1399-1401, p. 22).

1400

116 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

fideiussuri morari debeant,* nec sua mercimonia nisi iuxta eiusdem ciuis superuisionem exponere sunt aliquatenus permissi. Fit imperator dux Bauarie. Dux Bauarie, frater regine Francie, Boemie rege, a diu imperium occupante, quia inutili et nondum per papam coronato contempto, Francorum auxilio in imperatorem erectus, cum pluribus Francis campestri bello per dictum

regem deuincitur.' Campane per se pulsant.” Quatuor campanelle ad quatuor angulos tumbe sancti Edwardi aput Westm’ affixe propriis motibus, et multo plus quam uiribus humanis pulsate, ad magna conuentus terrores et prodigia, quater in uno die mirabiliter sonuerunt.

Fons manat sanguine.© Fons in quo caput “Llewelini ap Gr’, Wallen’ principis ultimi,’ in pago de Buellt situato,* post eius“ amputacionem lotum extitit, per diem naturalem integrum merissimo sanguine manauit. Duo pape per .xxii. annos. Vnum est quod hiis diebus dolenter refero, quod duo pape, quasi monstrum in natura, iam per uiginti et duo annos tunicam Christi inconsutelem,’ contra id Sapiencie, fo. 169°

‘Vna est columba | mea’,’ neffandissime diuidendo,‘ mundum animarum erratis,? corporum diuersis cruciatorum® terroribus, nimium perturbarunt. Et heu, si uerum est quod memorie reduco,

scilicet illud euangelii, ‘Vos estis sal terre, sed quid si sal euanuerit? Ad nichil ualet ultra, nisi ut eiciatur foras et conculcetur ab

hominibus.”° Venalitas in sacerdocio. Vnde quia sacerdocio modo quasi uenali, etc., nonne Christus ementes et uendentes in templo, facto funi-

culo, eiecit foras?® Et unde timeo ne cum magna flagellacione et conculcacione a gloria sacerdocii eiciamur, attendens quod in ueteri testamento, postquam uenalitas sacerdocium uiolarat, * interlined > marg. note in later hand, prodigium © marg. notein later hand, aliud 4-4 underlined © situati MS * interlined ® erratibus MS » crucietarum MS

' Wenzel, emperor since 1378, was eventually deposed at Oberlahnstein on 20 Aug. 1400; Rupert, duke of Bavaria and count palatine of the Rhine, was chosen the next day. He was not brother to Queen Isabella of France, but cousin-german to Isabella’s father, Stephen count of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. Both sides sought French help, which was refused (Chronique d’Enguerran de Monstrelet, ed. L. Douet D’Arcq (Société de Histoire de France, Paris, 1857), i. 36-8). Due to resistance by Wenzel’s supporters, Rupert was not crowned until 6 Jan. r4o1.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

ey)

would stand surety for them, nor were they allowed under any circumstances to offer their goods for sale except under the supervision of that citizen. The duke of Bavaria is made emperor. The king of Bohemia, who had been emperor for a considerable time, having been rejected on account of his uselessness, and because he had not yet been crowned by the pope, the duke of Bavaria, brother of the queen of France, was with French help chosen as emperor instead, but was eeaicd in battle, along with many Frenchmen, by the aforesaid king. Bells ring of their own accord. Remarkable to relate, the four little bells attached to the four corners of the tomb of St Edward at Westminster rang of their own accord four times in one day, and much more loudly than if some person had rung them, to the great terror and amazement of the convent. A spring flows with blood. The spring near Builth in which the head of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, last prince of the Welsh,’ was washed after it had been cut off, flowed with pure blood throughout one whole day. Two popes for twenty-two years. Something which it pains me to relate is that these days, and for twenty-two years now, two popes, like a monstrosity of nature, have most horribly rent in two the seamless robe of Christ,’ contrary to the bock of Wisdom, which says, ‘My dove is but one’,’ and thereby throwing the world into an utter confusion of souls led astray and bodies racked with all sorts of torment. Alas indeed, if I remember rightly the words of the gospel, ‘You are the salt of the earth, but what if the salt should evaporate? It is good for nothing then, except to be thrown out, and

trodden underfoot by men.” Venality in the priesthood. For was it not because of the venality, etc. of the priesthood of his time that Christ made himself a rope and cast the buyers and sellers out of the temple?® And I fear that we too shall, with great scourging and trampling underfoot, be cast out from the glory of the priesthood, for I remember from the old testament that, once venality had corrupted the priesthood, the 2 Llywelyn was killed at the battle of Irfon Bridge, near Builth Wells (Powys), 11 Dec. 1282. 3 John 19: 23. The schism began in 1378. #29:,0f 9.10%.9:

> Cf. Matt. 5: 13. 6 Matt. 21: 12.

1400

118 1400

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

fumus impressibilis, ignis inextinguibilis, fetor innocissibilis, cessarunt in templo.! Vt quid mora, an mater uirgo, iuxta id Apoca’, a facie bestie in trono sedentis in desertum fugit cum filio.** Hic me iubet quiescere Plato, cum nil sit cercius morte, nil incercius hora

mortis.* Ornamenta ecclesie de Vsk. \deo benedicatur Deus, in mei originis, scilicet de Vsk, ecclesia, iam° mori adiscens, memoriale meum in

1401

1400

competentibus missali, gradali, tropario, sequencia, antiphonario, nouiter et cum nouis addicionibus et notis compositis, ac plena uestimentorum secta cum tribus capis ornanter compositorum, meis signis, scilicet nudi fodentis in campo nigro,’ oracionum suffragiis ibidem me° comendando, relinquo; ulterius, si Deus dederit, ecclesiam eandem reparacione honestiori ad beate Virginis gloriam, in cuius natiuitatis honore est dedicata, perornare proponens; hoc ad mei laudem non reputando, quia presentis fatuitatis mee scripturam in uita mea uideri detestor. Filius regis Francie fit dux Aquitanie. Primogenitus Francie, in exheredacionem et detestacionem regis Angl’, in ducem creatur Aquitanie, quo statim mortuo, secundogenitus subrogatus, cum exercitu ad partes Aquitanie sibi transit subiugandas.° Imperator Grecorum uenit in Angl’. Imperator Grecorum, pro subsidio contra Sarazenos habendo, regem Angl’, ab eo honorifice receptus, in festo sancti Thome apostoli London’ uisitat, cum eodem rege, maximis suis expensis, per duos menses continue existens, et eciam in recessu maximis donariis releuatus.?° Iste imperator semper uniformiter et sub uno colore, scilicet albo, in

longis robis® ad modum tabardorum formatis semper ‘cum suis‘ incedere solebat, multum uarietatem et disparitatem Anglicorum = marg. note in later hand, 4 marg. note in later hand, F* interlined

Dobbisat Ornamentum

> interlined Imp’ Grec’

© interlined © interlined

' I can find no reference to this in the Vulgate; but for the ‘fire unquenchable’, cf. Luke 3: 17. 2 Rev. 12: 6. * Cf. Proverbia Sententiaeque, i. 518 (‘cum plausu loquitur Pluto, tacetque Plato’) and ii. 929 (‘mors est certa, tamen nil est incertius ipsa hora mortis’). * A crude representation of this image occurs at the bottom of fo. 9° of BL, Add. ro104, presumably drawn by Usk. * Charles, eldest surviving son of Charles VI, died on 11 Jan. 1401; there is no record

of his creation as duke of Guyenne. His brother Louis, aged 4, was made duke of Guyenne on 30 Jan. 1401, for which he did homage on 28 Feb., as noted by the English parliament of Jan.—-March (Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys 1380-1422, ed. M. L. Bellaguet (Documents Inedits sur lHistoire de France, Paris, 1840), ii. 771; P. Anselme,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

119

cloud of smoke, the unquenchable fire, and the sweet aroma dis- 1400

appeared from the temple.’ What more can I say? Even the Virgin mother, according to the words of the Apocalypse, fled from the face of the beast seated on his throne into the wilderness with her son.’ But here Plato bids me keep silent, since nothing is as certain as death, nor as uncertain as the hour of death.

The ornaments ofthe church of Usk. Blessed be God, therefore—for, anticipating my death, I have already left to the church of Usk, my birthplace, my own memorial in the form of a proper missal, gradual, tropary, sequentiary, and antiphonal, newly copied out, and with new additions and notation, and a full suit of vestments together with three copes ornately embroidered with my badges, namely a naked man digging on a black background,’ commending myself thereby to the intercession of those who pray there. Furthermore, should God spare me, I intend to embellish this same church with even finer ornaments, to the glory of the blessed Virgin in honour of whose nativity it is dedicated; but I do not say this in order to win praise for myself, for I should hate this account of my present follies to be seen during my lifetime. The son ofthe king ofFrance is made duke ofAquitaine. The first-born son of France was made duke of Aquitaine, to the disinheritance and contempt of the king of England; but he promptly died, whereupon the second-born son replaced him and took an army to Aquitaine in order to subdue the region to his rule.° The emperor of the Greeks comes to England. On the feast of St Thomas the apostle [21 December], the emperor of the Greeks visited the king of England in London to seek help against the Saracens, and was honourably received by him, staying with him for two whole months at enormous expense to the king, and being showered with gifts at his departure.® This emperor and his men always went about dressed uniformly in long robes cut like tabards which were all of one colour, namely white, and disapproved greatly of the fashions and varieties of dress worn by the English, deFrance (3rd edn. Paris, 1726), ii. Histoire Généalogique et Chronologique de la Maison Royale 588; RP iii. 454; Wylie, Henry IV, i. 155). For the situation in Guyenne, see M. G. A. Vale, English Gascony 1399-1453 (Oxford, 1970), pp. 27-47. 6 This was Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor 1391-1425. Cf. Annales, pp. 334-6; Continuatio Eulogii, p. 388; and D. M. Nicol, ‘A Byzantine emperor in England: Manuel II’s visit to London in 1400-1401’, University of Birmingham Historical Journal, xii (1969-70), 204-25. Manuel was in England for about two months from 11 Dec; Henry met him at Blackheath on 21 Dec.

1401

1400

120 1400

1401

fo. 169”

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

in uestibus reprehendendo, asserens per eas animarum inconstanciam et uarietatem significari.? ’Capita neque barbas capellanorum ipsius non tetigit nouacula.° In diuinis seruiciis deuotissimi erant isti Greci, ea tam per milites quam per clericos quia in eorum uulgari indifferenter cantando.” Cogitaui intra me quam esset dolendum quod iste maior et ulterior Christianus uersus¢ orientem princeps, ui per infideles compulsus, ulteriores occidentis insulas pro subsidio contra eosdem uisitare cogebatur. Miseria Rome. O Deus, quid tu facis, Romana olim¢ gloria? Tui imperii magnalia notorie sunt hodie scissa, unde tibi poterit id Ieremie merito dici, ‘Princeps prouinciarum facta est sub tributo.”’ Quis umquam crederet quod ad tantam deuenires miseriam, que in solio maiestatis residere solens toti mundo principabas, iam Christiane fidei nequaquam succursum prestare ualendo? Rex cum imperatore aput Eltam suum tenuit natale. Bowlond. Dominus meus Cant’ misit abbatem Leycestrie’ et me ad prioratum monialium de Nonetona, Lichf dioceseos,’ ad inquirendum contra dominum Robertum Bowlond super diuersis criminibus, heresibus et erroribus ibidem per eum, ut diffama|batur, tanquam a colubro sub sanctitatis simulate specie, nequiter perpetratis. Per sodomiticum seminis lapsum fit impregnacio. Vbi et’ quando inuenimus unam monialem, ipsius Roberti extraordinaria libidine, more sodomico, per seminis lapsum et non per instrumenti ingressum, tam per confessionem eiusdem monialis quam literas dicti Roberti, quam eciam inspexione corporis impregnate ante partum per matronas facta, fuisse impregnatam, et ex hoc filiam dicto Roberto similem in festo sancte Petronille iam ultimo lapso*® peperisse; et hoc idem ipse Robertus in plena cleri conuocacione

extitit confessus.* Lis super armis de Hastyngis. Rex in octauis sancti Hillarii, London’, aput Westm’, tenuit solempne parliamentum, et dominus meus Cantuarien’ in ecclesia sancti Pauli magnam cleri conuoca-

cionem habuit."*Tempore istius parliamenti dominus Grei de 2 marg. note in late hand, nota

5b underlined

nota bene 4 interlined © interlined » marg. note in later hand, item dobb’

© marg. note in later hand,

- © interlined

® lapsum MS

TG igleameniene * Philip Repingdon, abbot of St Mary’s, Leicester, 1393-1404. 3 Near Coventry (Warks.). * Bowland made his confession to convocation on 8 March 1401, admitting to

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

r2i

declaring that they signified inconstancy and fickleness of heart. No razor ever touched the heads or beards of his priests. These Greeks were extremely devout in their religious services, having them chanted variously by knights or by clerics, for they were sung in their native tongue. I thought to myself how sad it was that this great Christian leader from the remote east had been driven by the power of the infidels to visit distant islands in the west in order to seek help against them. The afflictions ofRome. O God, what has become of you, ancient glory of Rome? Today, your imperial greatness lies in ruins for all to see, so that it can with truth be said of you, in the words of Jeremiah, “The prince among provinces has been laid under

tribute."’ Who would ever believe that you, accustomed as you were to sitting on your throne of majesty and ruling the entire world, would now be reduced to such straits that you cannot afford any help whatsoever to the Christian faith? The king spent Christmas with the emperor at Eltham. Bowlond. My lord of Canterbury sent the abbot of Leicester? and myself to Nuneaton priory, a nunnery in the diocese of Lichfield,’ to hold an inquiry into various crimes, heresies, and iniquities of a heinous nature which, so it was rumoured, Robert Bowlond had committed there, like a serpent under the guise of sanctity. Impregnation through the semen dripping down during sodomy. When we got there we found that one of the nuns had, as a result of the unbridled lust of this Robert, become pregnant through the semen dripping down during the act of sodomy, not through penetration by the member; and this was confirmed not only by this nun’s confession and by letters of the said Robert, but also by an examination of the pregnant woman’s body which was made by matrons before the birth; as a result of which she gave birth, on the feast of St Petronilla last past [31 May], to a girl who resembled the said Robert. And this same Robert confessed in full convocation of the

clergy to having done this.’ Dispute concerning the arms ofHastings. On the octave of St. Hilary [20 January], in London, the king held a solemn parliament at Westminster and my lord of Canterbury held a great convocation of the clergy in St Paul’s church.’ During this parliament Lord ‘incestu et graui incontinentia’, and confirming Repingdon’s part in the enquiry. He was rector of St Anthony’s, London; the nun’s name was Alice Woodlow (Concilia, iii. 262-3). 5 Parliament met from 20 Jan. to 10 Mar., convocation from 26 Jan. to 11 Mar.

1400

1401

122 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Ruthyn, comitis (Penbrochi)* et domini de Hastyng ab intestato

heres, admissus in curia militari Angl’, super armis de Hastyng, scilicet manicam auream in campo rubio habentibus, contra dominum Edwardum Hastyng, quia ea integre portantem et se pro? herede in ea parte gerentem, litem mouit sumptuosam, ob quam me de consilio retinuit. Isti liti dominus Wyllylmus Bewchampe, dominus de Berkeney, quia in illo dominio et in aliis que dicti

comitis extiterant, ex dicti comitis dono si sine herede ex corpore suo procreato, de consensu regis factus “dimidium habens,° pro suo interesse cum dicto domino Grey uiriliter assistebat; et nemirum, quia uictoria dicti Edwardi utrumque in toto duceret excludendum.’ Heredicus crematur. In conuocacione quidam dominus Wyllylmus Sawtri, capellanus, de heresi conuictus et condempnatus, domino

meo Cant’ statim lata contra ipsum huiusmodi sentencia, magno impetu dixit ista uerba, ‘Ego, missus a Deo, dico tibi, quod tu et totus clerus tuus, et eciam rex, estis in breui mala morte morituri, et extranea nacionis lingua in regno superauerit? regnatura, et hoc est in hostio proxime expectans.’ Qui quidem, sic dampnatus, primo solempniter degradatus, postea in Smythfeld London’ posti derecte stando catenatus ac dolio, ignitis focalibus circumdatis, in

cineres redactus existit.’ Pena talionis. Istius parliamenti tempore, in festo carnipriuii, quidam Wyllylmus Clerk, scriptor Cant’, et oriundus in* comitatu Cestrie, militaris curie iudicio dampnatus, primo lingua quia in regem, hec aliis imponendo, protulerat, secundo dextra manu qua illa scripserat, priuatus, tercio pena talionis, quia falsa proposita

‘non probauit,‘aput Turrim decapitatur. Solempnes nuncii ex parte ducis Bauerie, in imperatorem ut premittitur nouiter electi, pro regis nata sibi copulanda in Angl’ aduenerunt.* Quibus ad partem dixi, ‘Numquid rex Boemie * suppl. ed. © interlined

> interlined © interlined

© interlined

4 superiueret MS

' The petition to parliament of Reynald, Lord Grey of Ruthin 1 388-1440, is in RP iii. 480-1. See R. I. Jack, “Entail and descent: The Hastings inheritance, 1370 to 1436’, BIHR Xxxviii (1965), 1-19. Sir Edward Hastings lost, and spent twenty years in prison. * William Sawtre, alias Chatrys, of King’s Lynn, was burned on 2 Mar., the first English heretic to suffer that fate: see Concilia, iii. 255-60, and McNiven, Heresy and Politics, pp. 81-91. + They arrived in late Jan. or early Feb. 1401, to discuss a marriage between Henry’s

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

123

Grey of Ruthin, heir by intestacy to the earl [of Pembroke] and Lord Hastings, having been admitted to the court of chivalry of England, brought a most costly suit there against Edward Hastings for the arms of Hastings—namely, a maunch or, on a field gules— for the latter was bearing these arms undifferenced, claiming that he was the heir to them; and Lord Grey retained me as his counsel for this suit. Lord William Beauchamp, lord of Abergavenny, who had, by gift of the aforesaid earl in the event of his failure to beget an heir of his body, and with the king’s consent, been informed that

he could have half of this lordship and others which had belonged to the said earl, strongly supported the said Lord Grey in this suit, it being in his interests to do so—and no wonder, for if this Edward were to win, it would lead to both of them being totally excluded.! A heretic burned. A chaplain, William Sawtre, was convicted of

heresy and condemned in convocation; as soon as the sentence had been pronounced against him, he spoke heatedly to my lord of Canterbury in the following way: ‘I, who am sent from God, say to you that you and all your clergy, and the king too, will shortly succumb to an evil death, and that a people’s foreign tongue will soon conquer and rule over this kingdom; and that these things are on the very threshold of coming to pass.’ Whereupon, having been condemned, he was firstly solemnly degraded, and then taken to Smithfield in London and bound, standing upright, to a post set in a barrel with blazing wood all around, and thus reduced to ashes.’ Penalty of talion. At Shrovetide, while this parliament was going on, a certain William Clerk, a scribe from Canterbury who had originally come from the county of Chester, was condemned by judgement of the court of chivalry firstly to have his tongue cut out, because he had spoken disrespectfully of the king—although he tried to impute this to others—secondly, to have his right hand cut off, because it had written these things down, and thirdly, by penalty of talion, to be beheaded at the Tower, because he had not been able to prove his false allegations. Ambassadors of state from the duke of Bavaria, who, as noted above, had recently been elected emperor, arrived in England to discuss the question of his marriage to the king’s daughter.’ I said to them, in an aside, ‘Surely, since the king of Bohemia has been daughter, Blanche, and Rupert’s son, Louis. Terms were agreed by 7 Mar., and they were married in Heidelberg on 6 July 1402 (Foedera, viii. 170, 176, 178, 200; Kirby, Henry

IV, pp. 138-9).

1401

124 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

electus est in possessione imperii? Vnde ista noua eleccio, prima non cassata?’ Vnus magnus clericus ex eis michi respondit, ‘Quia inutilis fuit, et quia per papam nondum coronatus, electores in ea parte hoc fecerunt.’ Tunc dixi, ‘Per capitulum Venerabilem, extractum De lectionibus,! ad solum papam hoc pertinere dinoscitur, quia ipse imperium a Grecis transtulit in Germanos.’ Tunc episcopus

Herffor’ michi silencium indixit.’ A quo clerico contra symoniam, de quibus gaudeo, hos habui uersus: Versus. —Hec duo dampna feres, si tu sis Symonis heres, Mortuus ardebis, et uiuus semper egebis.?° Sed ex quo tactum est superius de eleccione imperatoris, et quot et quas coronas, et a quibus electus recipiet easdem, et quid significant: septem sunt electores, unde uersus: Versus.

Maguntinensis, Treuerensis, Coloniensis,° Quilibet imperii fit cancellarius horum, Et palatinus® dapifer, dux? portitor ensis,

Marchio“ prepositus (camere), pincerna Boemis,‘ Hii statuunt dominum cunctis per secula summum. Extractus De re iudicata, capitulum Ad apostolice, in glossa pen-

ultima per Iohannem Andream.* Tres corone imperatoris. Primam coronam ferream, in signum fortitudinis, dabit electo archiepiscopus Colon’; secundam argenteam, in signum puritatis, dabit Treueren’ archiepiscopus; terciam auream, in signum excellencie, dabit Maguntinen’ archiepiscopus, quam papa, in confirmacione ipsius electi, pedibus capiti confirmati et genuflectendo in signum humilitatis et honorem* sancte Romane ecclesie, cuius uassalus existit, eam recipienti apponet. * marg. note in later hand, contra symoniam > archiepiscopi written above this line © comes written above 4 Saxonie written above © Brgborgien’ written above f id est rex Boemie written above ® interlined " Decretal. Gregor. IX, lib. i, tit. vi (recte ‘De electione’), c.xxxiv (Corpus Iuris Canonici, ii.

48, 79). Usk’s conversation was probably with Tilmann de Smallenborg, dean of Cologne, clerical leader of the embassy (Foedera, viii. 170). > Usk is referring to Charlemagne’s coronation by Pope Leo III in Dec. 800. John Trefnant, bishop of Hereford 1389-1404, was the chief English negotiator (Foedera, viii. 176). 3 Cf. Proverbia Sententiaeque, ii. 272 (Hec duo damna feres Gezi uel Simonis heres! Mortuus ardebis, et uiuens semper egebis’). 4 Sexti Decretal., lib. ii, tit. xiv, c.ii (Corpus Iuris Canonici, ii. 1007-8); the gloss, as given

in Sextus Decretalium Liber... Glossematum. . . Johannis Andree (Basel, 1511), fo. 77’, reads “‘Maguntinensis, Treuerensis, Coloniensis, |Atque palatinus dapifer, dux portitor ensis,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

125

elected, he holds the empire? Why then this new election, when the

original one has not been quashed?’ To which one of their senior clerks replied, “The electors have taken it upon themselves to do this because he was useless, and because he has not yet been crowned by the pope.’ To which I said, ‘According to the chapter “Venerabilem”, from “De lectionibus”,' that right belongs to the pope alone, for it was he who transferred the empire from the Greeks to the Germans.’ But at this point the bishop of Hereford told me to be quiet.’ This clerk also told me this rhyme against simony, which I liked: Verses.

Ifyou be the heir to Simon, these two evils shall you bear, In life you shall be always wanting, in death the flames of

hell beware. I return now, however, to what was said above about the election of the emperor, and to the number and types of crowns that he has, and from whom, once elected, he receives them, and what they represent: there are seven electors, hence these verses: Verses.

Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne,

From these the imperial chancellor comes, The palatine count a steward provides, The duke of Saxony carries his sword, The margrave of Brandenburg acts as his marshal, The king of Bohemia serves him as butler, Together, these seven combine to install, The man who over the world shall be lord. Taken from ‘De re iudicata’, the chapter ‘Ad apostolice’, the pen-

ultimate gloss of Johannnes Andreae.’ The emperor’s three crowns. The first crown, which is made of iron, representing courage, is given to the emperor-elect by the archbishop of Cologne; the second, of silver, representing purity, by the archbishop of Trier; the third, of gold, representing pre-eminence, by the archbishop of Mainz, and this is the one which the pope, when he confirms the election, places upon the head of the person whom he confirms, who, as he receives it, kneels at his feet as a token of his humility and of his respect for the holy Roman church, whose vassal he is. |Marchio prepositus camere, pincerna Bohemus, |Romanum regem statuendi dant sibi legem.’ Cf. also CAU, p. 224 n. 1. Johannes Andreae, jurist of Bologna, died in 1348.

1401

CHRONICON

126 I401 fo. 170°

ADE

VSK

Ordinatum fuit in isto parliamento quod homines marchie contra Wallen’ |sibiindebitatos uel eos ledentes, habitis prius ad emendandum unius septimane induciis,* represaliis possent usitare.' Item &

pro parte prelatorum fuit propositum quod cum ipsi tanquam barones ad parliamentum sunt uocati, sicque temporalia sua a rege tenendo, quod non sit eorum condicio deterior quam aliorum regni patronorum, quoad beneficiorum collaciones. Plebei tamen insteterunt pro prouisione papali in releuamine uniuersitatum et cleri. Prelati promiserunt infra regnum per se de beneficiis clericis uirtuosis prouidere, ipsorum mera et propria uoluntate.’ Noui unum monachum in domo Cartusien’ prope London’ satis sanum et fortem, licet se uoluntarie ab omnimodo uictualium usu

per quindenam continue abstinentem. Vnde prior domus, de cuius eram consilio, an si sic moreretur ecclesiastica sepultura gaudere mereretur, me consuluit. In isto parliamento et conuocacione concesse erant regi a clero

decima cum dimidia, et a‘ populo quintadecima omnium bonorum, cum duobus solidis ex quolibet uini dolio, et in aliis mercimontiis ex singulis uiginti solidis octo denariis, licet cum magno murmure et interna cleri et populi malediccione.’ Finitur istud parliamentum decimo die mensis Marcii, quo tamen die, modicum ante presens, audiui plurima aspera contra Wallen’ ordinanda agitari, scilicet de non contrahendo matrimonium cum Anglicis, nec de adquirendo

aut inhabitando in Anglia, et alia plura grauia.“* Et, sicut nouit me Deus, nocte preuia me excitauit a sompno uox ita auribus meis insonans, ‘Supra dorsum meum fabri’, etc., ‘Dominus iustus’, etc., ut in psalmo, ‘Sepe expugnauerunt’.’ Vnde expergefactus timens michieo die aliquid infortunii contingere, me Spiritus Sancti gubernacioni specialiter timidus commisi. Sequitur annus Domint .meccct.

Anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo uno intrante. Mors comitis Warmyc’. Comes* Warwyci, uir benignissimus, de quo supra, a * interlined © interlined

> marg. note in later hand, prelati ut barones temporalia tenent 4 marg. note in later hand, contra Wallos © at this point a new

scribe (Hand Two) begins

' RP iii. 472-6; cf. Lloyd, Owen Glendower, pp. 35-6. * There was much discussion of papal provisions in this parliament: RP iii. 458-9, 465-70. > Concilia, iii. 263; RP iii. 455. * For the anti-Welsh legislation of this parliament, see SR ii. 124, 128-9, and RP iii. 476. Ordinances for governing Wales were promulgated on 18 Mar. (CPR 1 399-1401,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

127

It was decreed in this parliament that the men of the March 1401 should be permitted to launch reprisals against Welshmen who were in debt to them, or who committed wrongs against them, though only after allowing a week’s respite for making amends.! Also, the prelates proposed that since they hold their temporalities from the king, and are thus summoned to parliament as barons, their rights in respect of collations to benefices should not be diminished as compared with those of other patrons in the kingdom. The commons held out for papal provision, however, in order to help the universities and the clergy. So the prelates promised, of their own free will, to provide worthy clerks to benefices within the kingdom.’ I knew a monk from the Charterhouse near London who, despite voluntarily abstaining from all kinds of sustenance for an entire fortnight, was perfectly fit and strong. Whereupon the prior of the house, for which I acted as counsel, consulted me as to whether, should he die as a result of this, he would be entitled to the benefit of a church burial. In this parliament and convocation the clergy granted the king a _ tenth and a half, and the people granted him a fifteenth of all their goods, as well as two shillings from each tun of wine and eight pence from each twenty shillings’ worth of other merchandise, albeit with much ill will and dark muttering by both clergy and people.* This parliament ended on 10 March, on which day—a little before the present time—I heard it being urged that all sorts of rigorous measures ought to be decreed against the Welsh, . namely that they should not be allowed to intermarry with the English, or make purchases or reside in England, and many other such harsh suggestions.* And, as God is my witness, the previous night I was roused from my sleep by a voice ringing in my ears saying, ‘The plowers plowed upon my back’ etc., “The righteous lord’ etc., as in the psalm, ‘Oft did they vex me’.’ As a result of which I awoke with a sense of foreboding that some disaster might occur that day, and in my fear I committed myself to the special protection of the Holy Spirit.

Here follows the year ofthe Lord 1401 The beginning of the year r401. The death of the earl of Warwick. The earl of Warwick, that most liberal man, of whom mention has been pp. 469-70; Foedera, viii. 184; and for comment, R. R. Davies, Conquest, Coexistence and

Change: Wales 1063-1415 (Oxford, 1987), pp. 458-9).

5 Ps. 128 (129): 1-4.

128 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

carceribus ereptus, in die parasceues, quem maximis elemesinis, penitenciis ac aliis multimodis deuocionibus colere solebat, ab hac uita subtractus, pro transitoriis celestia perhenniter commutauit, unicum filium suum sibi relinquendo heredem, cui rex, ueniam bienalis etatis largiendo, hereditatem liberauit paternam.’ Castrum de Conwey. Wyllylmus ap Tedur et Reys ap Tedur, fratres naturales de insula de Anglesey alias Mona, quia graciam regiam de dicti? Oweny insurrexione optenere non ualentes,” eodem die parasceues castrum de Conwey, armis, uictualibus tutissime instructum, duobus eius ianitoribus subtilitate cuiusdam carpentarii ad opus suum solitum se uenire asserentis interfectis, cum aliis quadraginta ingressi, occuparunt pro tutamine. Sed statim per principem et patriam obsessi, uicesimo octauo die mensis Maii tunc sequenti idem castrum, uecorditer quoad se et proditorie quoad socios, quia nouem eorundem, magis dicto principi exosos, post uigilias nocturnas dormitantes per ipsos dolose a tergo ligatos, sub condicione sui et aliorum uitas seruandi, reddiderunt. Quos nouem, sic ligatos et principi redditos, primo trahi, postea euiscerari, suspendi, decollari et quatriperciri, adstatim uiderunt.’ Fiz Pers. Isto eodem tempore quidam uille de Vsk burgenses,° clam ecclesiam de Vsk instante seruicio passionis® Dominice exeuntes, castrum ibidem fraudelenter intrantes, quendam Iohannem Fiz Pers, nuper ibi senescallum, mortalibus penis 4de adulterio cum domina quadam quia diffamatum‘¢ per fratrem suum naturalem tantum, dominum Edwardum Charleton, mirabiliter dampnatum, nudum in penis huiusmodi mancipatum, a uinculis per ipsos, fractis carceribus, absolutum, domino de Berkeueny in ipsius castro ibidem ad magnas eorundem grates, licet postea hac de causa propter perduccionem* per regem exulatum, apud Ber-

geueny perductum, reddiderunt.* * written over an erasure (ipsius?)

4-4 written over an erasure

> interlined

© interlined

© produccionem MS

5Earl Thomas died on 8 April; his son Richard was born in Jan. 1382 (GEC xii (ii).

378).

> Both brothers were exempted from the general pardon of ro March (Foedera, viii. 181); Grenowe ap Tudor, presumably a kinsman, had been executed and quartered the previous year (CPR 1399-1401, p. 359). ; * The siege probably ended in late June, not May (Lloyd, Owen Glendower, Pp. 37-8; Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 104); rebels’ pardon dated 8 July (Foedera, viii. 209). * Warrant for Fitz Piers’s re-arrest dated 29 Apr. 1401 (CPR 1399-1401, p. 520); William Beauchamp was lord of Abergavenny. There are a number of erasures in this passage, of which the only detectable one is ‘de adulterio cum domina quadam quia

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

129

made before, having been released from prison, departed from this life on Good Friday [1 April]—a day on which he usually performed a great number and variety of devotions, such as almsgiving and penances—thus exchanging this transient world for the eternity of heaven; he left as his heir his only son, to whom the king, generously overlooking the last two years of his minority,

delivered his father’s inheritance.! Conway castle. On this same day, Good Friday, the brothers William ap Tudor and Rhys ap Tudor, who came from the island of Anglesey or Mon, since they had failed to obtain the king’s pardon for their part in the rising led by the aforesaid Owen,’ along with another forty men entered Conway castle, which was most securely fortified with arms and provisions, and seized it as their stronghold, two of the watch having been killed after being tricked by one of the carpenters claiming that he was simply coming to do his usual work. Being immediately besieged by the prince and the people of the surrounding area, however, on 28 May following, having deceitfully bound from behind nine of their fellows, whom the prince particularly loathed, while they were sleeping following the night watch, they surrendered the castle on condition that their lives and the lives of the others would be spared—a most shameful thing for them to have done, and an act of treachery against their fellows. They then promptly stood and watched while these nine, still bound, were handed over to the prince, and firstly drawn, and then disembowelled, hanged, beheaded, and quartered.’ Fitz Piers. At this same time a number of burgesses of Usk, secretly slipping out from the town church in the middle of the Passion Sunday [20 March] service and gaining entrance by stealth to the castle, broke into the gaol and released from his chains a certain John Fitz Piers, a former steward of Usk, who was being held naked there as a punishment because he had been accused of adultery with a certain lady, for which he had, to much amazement, been condemned to death by Sir Edward Charlton, who was only her natural brother; they then took him to Abergavenny, where

they handed him over to the lord of Abergavenny at his castle, to

their great delight; nevertheless, he was later exiled by the king on this account, for seduction.‘

diffamatum’, in place of ‘propter adulterium cum domina. . ” Thompson (CAU, p. 227) thought the missing words might be ‘de Vsk priorissa’, which would explain the need for reticence. Having married the earl of March’s widow, Charlton exercised authority in Usk through his wife’s dower right.

1401

CHRONICON

130 1401

ADE

VSK

Destruccio Ierusalem. Hiis diebus, filius et heres regis Persarum

Aremirandinem, Turcorum Babylonie soldanum, magnum timorem Christianitati incutientem? ut ipsius fidem peruertere iac-

tantem, in centum mille bellicosos Christianos et presertim Hungaros inuadere solitum, in campestri bello per se deuictum obtinuit, Ierusalemque funditus destruxit et partes illas in magna pompa occupauit. Vnde Christianorum peregrinacio ad illas

partes iam extitit impedita.' fo. 170°

Resistencia pannariorum etaliorum mercatorum. Kalendis Maii, apud Philipis Norton, pannorum mercatores quendam regis |domicellum, literas regias secum deferentem, censum, uectigal siue tributum, contra promissum regis in ingressu suo felici eis remissum, exigere pro huiusmodi pannorum uendicione nitentem, in medio foro trucidabant. Vnde, quia regis iusticiariis, licet regni proceribus, huiusmodi excessum punire propter pagensium recistenciam non ualentibus, rex in propria persona pagum uisitando dictum excessum aliqualiter reformauit, licet modica coreccione.’ Alius huiusmodi exactor apud Dertmoth in comitatu Deuonie per uulgus inuasus uix mare per unam nauiculam captatam apprehendit.’ Vxores Bristoll’..

Bristolie

uxores,

maritos

inde

exonerando,

huiusmodi exactores huiusmodi repulsi aliquando et® uulneribus

intermixtis dederunt.* Dominus insularum Orcadum Vltoniam in Hibernea, ad magnum dampnum domini mei de Marchia iam in custodia regis existentis, ipsius comitis duxit hostiliter inuadendam.> Insurreccio de Berkeueny. In festo ascensionis Domini in hoc anno, subditi de Berkeueny contra eorum dominum, dominum Wyllelmum Bewchampe, insurrexerunt, et tres uiros propter furtum morti dampnatos, et eodem die, scilicet iuxta uoluptatem secunde 2 incusientem MS

> interlined

© interlined

' Not, as might be thought, a reference to the Ottoman sultan Bayezid’s defeat by Timur at Ankara in July 1402, but to a garbled report, which reached England in early 1401, of Timur’s first campaign in Asia Minor (Aug.—Dec. 1400), especially to his capture of Sivas from the Ottomans. There was no attack on Jerusalem at this time. ‘Aremirandine’ is Usk’s attempt at ‘admiratus’, the Latinization of ‘emir’, and thus ref-

ers to Bayezid, the victor of Nicopolis against Sigismund of Hungary in 1396. Walsingham’s report (Annales, p. 336) is equally confused. See Nicol, ‘A Byzantine emperor in England’, pp. 219-22. > The unfortunate collector of ulnage was Thomas Newton, who had ‘more than a

hundred mortal wounds’; one of his servants was killed too. This must have happened earlier than 1 May, as the commission is dated 29 Apr. (CPR 1399-1401, pp. 516-17).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

131

The destruction of Jerusalem. At about this time Aremirandine, sultan of the Babylonian Turks, who had terrorized the Christian world by boasting that he would destroy their faith, and who used to lead armies a hundred thousand strong to attack the Hungarians and other Christians, was defeated in battle by the son and heir of the Persian king, who then proceeded to raze Jerusalem and occupy the area in great force; as a result of this, pilgrimage to that area by Christians is now very difficult.! Resistance by the drapers and other merchants. On 1 May, in the middle of the market-place at Norton St Philip, the drapers killed one of the king’s servants who had arrived bearing royal letters and demanding from them a tax, or toll, or tribute for selling their cloths, which was contrary to the promise excusing them from such payments which the king had made to them at the time of his happy return. The royal justices, despite being great men of the kingdom, were unable to punish those who had committed this crime because of the opposition of the local people, so the king visited the area in person and exacted some sort of retribution for it, though he did not act harshly.” Another such tax—collector who was attacked by the people of Dartmouth in the county of Devon just managed to get hold of a little boat and escape by sea.’ The wives of Bristol. At Bristol, the wives undertook this task on behalf of their husbands, exchanging blows with another group of tax—collectors during a similar skirmish.* The lord of the Orkney isles led a military invasion of Ulster in Ireland, to the manifest injury of my lord of March, to whom it belonged, and who was still in the king’s wardship.° The Abergavenny insurrection. On the feast of the Lord’s ascension [12 May] this year, the tenants of Abergavenny rose up against their lord, Lord William Beauchamp, freeing three men from the gallows and killing with their arrows Sir William Lucy, knight, who had been given the task of executing them; these three had been condemned to death for theft, and were, by order of that 3 Cf. CPR 1399-1401, p. 520, commission of 5 July to investigate concealment of ulnage revenue in Devon. 4 Cf. CPR 1399-1401, p. 521, commission of 7 July to investigate disturbances at Bristol; also Wylie, Henry IV, i. 198 n. 2. 5 Possibly either Henry Sinclair earl of Orkney (d. 1396 X 1402) or his son Henry. G. W. S. Barrow, ‘Wales and Scotland in the middle ages’, Welsh History Review, x (1980-1), 314-15, thought this might be an error for the Lord of the Isles (i.e. Donald MacDonald, d. 1423), perhaps thinking that ‘Orcadum’ should have read “Ergadum’ (Argyll); but note that Walsingham (Annales, p. 333) says that some English invaded the Orkneys in 1400, for which this might have been retaliation.

1401

132 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

lIesabel loci. domine, festiuitati aut tempori non reuerendo, suspendendos, iuxta furcas liberantes, dominum Wyllelmum Lucy, militem, ad mortis execucionem eorundem deputatum sagittis? suffocarunt.' Recessus regine. In uigilia apostolorum Petri et Pauli, Isabella, regis Francie filia, Anglie regina, regis Ricardi olim Anglie uxor, licet inutilis quia nondum undecim annorum, a Londoniis uersus patrem, pluribus tractatibus intermediis ad hoc habitis, recessit, nigris induta, regi Henrico multum depressum et maleuolum in recessu, uix os apperiens, exhibendo uultum.’ De cuius recessu, quem uidi, uulgus tumultuabat, potestas frendebat, quibusdam aduentui eius ad regnum quia ipsius totam turbacionem causanti maledicentibus, quibusdam aliis quod post eius recessum, ob dicti regis Ricardi mortem, olim ipsius mariti, maiorem causaret uin-

dicte fomite inferri molestiam asserentibus procurari per eandem. Herowd Scocie. Isto anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo uno, in festo commemoracionis sancti Pauli, quidam regalis armorum ?de Scocis® descriptor, Anglice herode uocatus, propter obloquia sua de rege Henrico in regno Francie habita, suis insigniis primo spoliatus, facie uersa ad caudam equi per London’ equitaturus, et demum lingua priuandus, curie militaris iudicio adiudicatus extitit. Rex tamen eundem, cum literis ex causa ipsius herawd ignominiosa missiuis, ad dominum suum regem* Scocie, cum ipsius causa scripta, graciose “preter dictum‘ remisit equi-

tatum.°? Lis armorum. Eodem die lis magna in dicta curia inter dominum

de Grey de Ruthyn, pro quo in ea parte (eram),‘ et dominum Edwardum Hastyng, propter arma rubeii campi cum manica aurea, de quibus supra, que olim erant dominorum de Berkeueny, et inter? dominum Iohannem Coluyll de Dale, contra quem tunc aduocaui, et dominum Walterum Bytterley de comitatu Solapii, milites, propter arma de auro et una fees et tribus tortellis de rubio. * sittittis MS © interlined

b> interlined © Francie expunged * suppl. ed. ® interlined

4-4 interlined

' Commissions to investigate issued on 16 and 18 May; Sir William Lucy, sheriff of Hereford, was killed, and Beauchamp and his wife were besieged for a while in the

castle (CFR 1399-1405, pp. 84, 94; CPR 1399-1401, pp. 518, 520). She was Joan, daughter of Richard earl of Arundel. The ‘second Jezebel’ is curious, given Usk’s connections with the Fitzalans. Jezebel was wife of Ahab, king of Tyre c.888-853 Bc; presumably the

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

133

second Jezebel, the lady of the lordship, going to be hanged that very day, heedless of the festival being celebrated at the time.! The return of the queen. On the eve of the feast of the apostles SS Peter and Paul [28 June], following protracted negotiations on the subject, Isabella, daughter of the king of France, queen of England, and wife of Richard former king of England—though they had no issue, for she was not yet eleven years old—left London to go back to her father, dressed in black and scowling with deep hatred at King Henry, but saying scarcely a word.’ Her departure, which I witnessed, was the occasion of great debate among the people, and much agonizing among the powers that be, some cursing the fact that she had ever come and claiming that her arrival had been the cause of all the trouble in the kingdom, others saying that she would, in her burning desire for revenge for the death of her former husband, the aforesaid King Richard, stir up even more trouble once she had returned. A herald from Scotland. \n this same year of our Lord 1401, on the feast of the commemoration of St Paul [30 June], one of the Scottish kings of arms, called in English a herald, was sentenced by judgement of the court of chivalry firstly to be stripped of his insignia and to ride through London facing the tail of his horse, and then to have his tongue cut out, since he had made deprecating remarks about King Henry while in France. But the king graciously sent him back to his lord, the king of Scotland, without performing the said ride, with letters missive containing an explanation of the herald’s ignominious conduct.’ A dispute over arms. On this same day there was a major dispute in this same court between Lord Grey of Ruthin, for whom [I appeared], and Lord Edward Hastings, concerning the arms, a maunch or, on a field gules, already mentioned above, which had previously belonged to the lords of Abergavenny; and another between Sir John Colville del Dale, against whom I appeared, and Sir Walter Bytterley of the county of Shropshire, knights, concerning the arms, on a field or, a fess, three roundels in chief gules; the reference is to her procurement of Naboth’s death on a day of fast: 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 21:

I-14. 2 [sabella left London for Dover on 28 June, but was not handed over to the French at Leulinghem until 31 July (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 208-10). 3 This was Hugh Blowet, ‘Bruce herald of Scotland’: committed to the Tower on 25 May, brought before the king (pending release, presumably) on 27 June (CCR 1399-

1402, PP. 337) 343):

1401

134 1401

CHRONICON ADE VSK

in capite, interdicto utrobi iudicio scilicet posessorio, agentes quam tumultuose, habebatur.' Oweyn. Tota illa estate Oweyn Klyndor cum pluribus Wallie proceribus, regni exules et regis proditores habiti, in montanis et siluestribus delitentes, aliquando depredando, aliquando insidias et insultus eis inferentes interficiendo, partes WestWalie et NorthWalie non modice infestarunt. *Ac dominum de Grey captiuarunt;* °dominus de Grey per O captiuatur et pro sedecim mil-

libus libris redimitur. °” Comes Peragi. Gallici magnam partem Vasconie Anglie adherentis sibimet, et presertim totum comitatum de Perago, ciuitatem scilicet ipsam cum triginta castris et omnibus terris ipsius comitis, hostiliter ad eorum usum occuparunt. Ipsum comitem ad dominum regem de premissis uidi, die predicto, accedere querelaturum.? Hybernea. Tunc eciam uidi Hibernie nobiliores* contra mercenariorum Hybernicorum ferocitatem penes regem multum querelantes. Tytmannus Wygornen’ episcopus, sexto die mensis Iunii, olim de Haylys monachus, cuius consilio retentus fueram, quem rex Ricardus, a suo monasterio expulsum propter medicandi et incan-

tandi artes, primo in Landauen’, secundo in Wygornen’, erexerat, diem suum clausit extremum.° Vnde rex scripsit pape pro magistro Ricardo Clefford, ipsius priuati sigilli custode, quod, mutata ecclesie Well’ prouisione eidem Ricardo, nondum tamen propter regis recistenciam sacrato, facta, de Wygornen’, ac magistro fo. 171"

Henrico Bowet legum doctori, cum quo retentus fueram, de Well’, |iam per annum et dimidium propter dictam resistenciam uacante,

ecclesiis dignaretur prouidere.° Dicto commemoracionis* festo, dominus Georgius, comes de

Donbar in Scocia, homo legius regis Anglie deuenit, sibi omnia posessiones et castra sua in regno Scocie habita reddendo;’ tamen 2-4 interlined

b-b in marg., as a continuation of a—a

© comeracionis MS

" Jack, ‘Entail and Descent’, p. 13. Colville del Dale and Bytterley were both king’s knights (Given-Wilson, Royal Household, p. 288). > Grey was not captured until April 1402, and ransomed for 6,000 or 10,000 marks (£4,000 or £6,667) at the end of the year (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 107, 233). The last sentence of this paragraph is a later insertion. * Archambaud IV, count of Perigord, condemned for felony on 17 April 1 398, fled to England later in the year, followed by his son, Archambaud le jeune, in July 1 399, once the county had been granted to Louis duke of Orleans. It was probably ‘le jeune’ who returned to Guyenne with an English-paid force in Oct. 1401 (Anselme, Histoire Généalogique, iti. 74, 237; Vale, English Gascony, p. 44).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

135

judgement in both cases being that possession was denied, despite much vigorous argument.! Oweyn. All this summer Owen Glendower and several of the Welsh chieftains, whom the king regarded as traitors and outlaws from his kingdom, severely devastated West and North Wales, taking refuge in the mountains and woodlands before emerging either to pillage or to slaughter those who tried to attack or ambush them. And they captured Lord Grey; having been captured by Owen, Lord Grey was ransomed for sixteen thousand pounds.’ The count ofPerigord. The French seized for themselves by force a large part of Gascony which was loyal to the English, notably the whole county of Perigord, comprising the town itself, thirty castles, and all the lands belonging to the count. I saw the count when he came to the king, on the aforesaid day, to complain to him about

what had happened.? Ireland. On this occasion I also saw some Irish lords* complaining vehemently in the king’s presence about the cruelty of the Irish mercenaries. Tideman bishop of Worcester, a former monk of Hailes, by whom I was retained as counsel, and who, after he had been expelled from his monastery for dabbling in the arts of healing and weaving spells, was promoted by King Richard firstly to the see of Llandaffand then to that of Worcester, died on 6 June;> whereupon the king wrote to the pope asking him to provide M. Richard Clifford, keeper of his privy seal—once he had exchanged his provision to the see of Wells, to which he had been provided but not yet consecrated because of the king’s opposition—to the see of Worcester, and M. Henry Bowet, doctor of laws, by whom I was also retained, to the see of Wells, which had already been vacant fora year and a halfbecause of

the king’s opposition.° On this same feast of the commemoration [30 June], Lord George, earl of Dunbar in Scotland, became the liegeman of

the king of England, surrendering to him all the possessions and castles which he held in the kingdom of Scotland;’ 4 Presumably the archbishops of Dublin and Armagh (Foedera, viii. 208). 5 Tideman of Winchcombe, bishop of Llandaff 1393-5, of Worcester 1395-1401, died on 20 June. He was Richard II’s surgeon. Cf. Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 165.

6 Bath and Wells had been vacant since Ralph Erghum’s death on 10 Apr. 1400, and the king’s intransigence had created something of a stir (RP iii. 459-60). Clifford had been provided on 12 May 1400. He and Bowet eventually received the temporalities of Worcester and Bath and Wells respectively on 21 Sept. 1401 (Foedera, viii. 226). 7 George Dunbar, earl of March, quarrelled with Robert III of Scotland because his

1401

136 1401

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

dicebatur quod Scoti, factum suum huiusmodi precaptantes, eadem ad usum regis Scocie occupabant, sic quod huius deuencio et redditus modicum, ymmo minime, regi Anglie uidebantur proficere. Litera regi directa. Huiusmodi literam tempori conuenientem ecce regi Henrico transmissam:*! Illustrissime princeps et domine, dignetur uestra celsitudo solito benignissima me uestre sublimitatis seruulum, uere totum et integrum dolore nunc plenum, uestris pedibus prouolutum graciose habere recomendatum. Et quia uestra uncta serenitas michi, uestro seruulo minimo, in ultimo recessu a uobis corde tristissimo, demandauit quod si qua audirem? uestre excellencie significarem indilate, ut seruulus uester obedientissimus, pennam sumpsi in manibus que audieram et uideram ostensurus. Sane, illustrissime princeps, ut testatur sapiens Salomon in prouerbiis Spiritus Sancti, ‘meliora sunt uulnera diligentis quam fraudulenta oscula blandientis.” Ideo, ut uerus uester et regni uestri dilector, atque pro uiribus Dei et uestri fidelis seruitor, elegi abiectus esse in domo Dei, pro ueritate, cum baptista, quam regalibus interesse deliciis* et ferre osculum adulacionis in ore cum luda proditore. Igitur, totus in lacrimas resolutus, corde uulneribus lacerato pre dolore, assero cum propheta quod ‘qui beatum te dicunt ipsi te decipiunt, et semitas gressuum tuorum dissipant.* Vnde tantam desolacionem in cordibus prudencium, pre‘ confucione et turbacione quam timent infra breue in isto regno euenire, a tempore iuuentutis mee non memini me audisse. Quia lex et iusticia sunt exules a regno, habundant furta, homicidia, adulteria, fornicaciones, pauperum oppressiones, iniurie, iniusticie et diuerse contimelie, et nunc pro lege sufficit tirannica uoluntas. Et ideo certus sum, quod si euangelium sit uerum, asserens quod, ‘omne regnum in seipsum diuisum desolabitur’,’ et si dicta sapientis non sunt insana, affirmantis quod regnum de gente in gentem transferetur propter * Two other copies ofthis letterare known to survive, inBL, Stowe 67,fos. 67'—70° (here designated as Stowe), and Official Correspondence of Thomas Bekynton, ed. G. Williams (2 vols., RS, London, 1872), 1. 1514 (here designated as OCTB). Occasional additions or corrections to Usk’s text are sup-

plied from these

® OCTB:audiueram MS

© OCTB, Stowe: pro MS

daughter Elizabeth was jilted (following betrothal) by Robert’s son, the duke of Rothesay;

he promised homage to Henry as early as July 1400, but did not perform it until June/July 1401. He returned to the Scottish allegiance in 1409 (Foedera, viii. 153, 205, 212; R. Nicholson, Scotland: The Later Middle Ages (Edinburgh, 1974), pp. 218-19, 230-1).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

137

however, it was said that the Scots, anticipating such a move by him, had already occupied them on behalf of the Scottish king, so that the king of England gained little, indeed practically nothing, from his actions. A letter sent to the king. Here is the text of a timely letter which was sent to King Henry:! Most illustrious prince and lord, may it please your most gracious highness to look with your customary consideration upon me, your majesty’s most humble servant, who prostrates himself at your feet quite desolate with grief. At the time when, with heavy heart, I last departed from your presence, your excellent majesty requested me, your humble servant, to inform you without delay of anything that I might hear, and accordingly, being your devoted servant, I have now taken up my pen to tell you what I have seen and heard. For it is true, most illustrious prince, that, as the wise Solomon says in the proverbs of the Holy Spirit, ‘faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” As a true friend to you and to your kingdom, therefore, and, insofar as I am able to be, a loyal servant to God and to you, I have chosen, like the Baptist, for the sake of the truth, to be a doorkeeper in my God’s house, rather than to indulge in courtly pleasures? and to betray with flattering kisses like the traitor Judas. Racked by tears, therefore, and with

my heart borne down by grief, I declare like the prophet that ‘they which call thee blessed cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.’ Never since the time of my youth do I remember hearing such foreboding in the hearts of the wise, because of the disorder and unrest which they fear will shortly befall this kingdom. For law and justice are exiles from the kingdom; robbery, homicide, adultery, fornication, persecution of the poor, injury, injustice, and outrages of all kinds abound, and, instead of the rule of law, the will of the tyrant now suffices. Of this I am certain, therefore: that if what is said in the gospel is true, namely that ‘every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,* and if the sage is not wrong when he declares that it is crimes, outrages, and betrayals of all kinds which lead to the kingdom being transferred from one 1 This letter was apparently written by Philip Repingdon (see below, p. 142). 3 Cf. Ps. 83 (84): 11. 2 Cf. Prov. 27: 6. > Matt. 12: 25. Sai sass 12-

1401

138 1401

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

iniusticias, iniurias, contumelias et diuersos dolos,’ si, inquam,

omnia ista in regno superhabundent sine freno, nec sit aliquis potens in regno, fidelis Christi procurator, in clero uel in milicia, qui hiis et aliis innumerabilibus Dei nostri offensis et contemptibus obuiet uel succurrat, dico cum fideli propheta quod Dominus Deus fortis et potens ‘irascitur per singulos dies, et nisi conuersi fueritis, gladium suum uibrabit, archum suum detendit et parauit illum, et in eo parauit uasa mortis, sagittas suas ardentibus effecit.’”” Vt, post tam manifesta Dei miracula et eius stupenda gratissima beneficia in effectu et opere contempta uel neglecta, celerem et quasi furore plenam inferet* uindictam in eius ingratos seruos et manifestos contemptores. Nos autem sperabamus quod uester miraculosus ingressus in regnum Anglie, non dubito quin in manu Dei? factus, fuisset redempturus Israel, id est omnium pretactorum malorum et Dei contemptuum reformaturus, ‘ad uindictam malefactorum, laudem uero bonorum.” Nunc uero flent discreti et rident discoli; uidue, pupilli et orphani stringunt nunc manus, fluunt lacrime per maxillas, qui iam tarde in uestro ingressu in regnum Anglie erant omnes gentes plaudentes manibus et Deum uoce unanimi collaudantes, cum filiis Israel in die palmarum obuiam Christo procedentes, in celum clamantes, et de uobis, sicut de altero Christo, in regem uncto, concinentes, ““Benedictus qui (uenit)¢ in nomine Domini”,* rex noster Anglie’, in spe felicis regiminis huius regni. Nunc uero, ‘uersa est in luctum cithera nostra’,° gaudium transiit in merorem, dum omnia mala multiplicantur, et spes remedii a cordibus hominum recessit cum merore. Ideo, in iustam penam et uindictam negligencie et ommissionis gubernatorum populi, Deus iudex et iustus permittit plebeos, tanquam feras bestias, irregulariter et irracionabiliter iudicare et regimen superiorum innaturaliter presumere, et erga superiores, equales et inferiores sine discressionis libramine bestialiter desaeuire.“ Et reuera, nisi fallor, super rebelione populi indignetur uestra regalis dignitas, et ad tantum irritetur uestra * Stowe: inferat OCTB: infert MS 4 OCTB: deseruire MS Stowe

NC Ecchusiro: 8: * Matt. 21: 9.

> non repeated

2’ Ps. 7: 12-14.

© supplied in OCTB,

4 ielB Se, 2e iv, > Job 30: 31.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

139

people to another'—if I repeat, all these evils are allowed to flourish unchecked in the kingdom, and there is no one in the kingdom, be he a clerk or a knight, strong enough to stand up like a loyal minister of Christ and put a stop to them and to the other countless deeds which offend and insult our Lord—then I declare, like the faithful prophet, that this mighty and potent Lord God ‘is wroth with ill men every day, and if you do not turn again, then he his sword will whet; his bow he hath already bent, and hath it ready set; he also hath for him prepared the instruments of death; against the persecutors he his shafts ordained hath.’ Whereupon, once God’s manifest miracles and extraordinary graces and favours have gone unheeded and scorned in word and deed, he shall wreak swift and furious vengeance upon those ungrateful servants who thus openly defy him. And yet we hoped that your miraculous entry to the kingdom of England, in which I have no doubt that God took a hand, would lead to the redemption of Israel, in other words to the correction of all the aforesaid evils and indignities towards God, ‘for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.’ But now it is the wise who weep, and the depraved who laugh. Now widows, the fatherless and orphans wring their hands, and tears flow down their cheeks, whereas recently, at the time of your entry to the kingdom of England, all the people were clapping their hands and praising God with one voice, and going forth, as the sons of Israel did to meet Christ on Palm Sunday, crying out to heaven for you, their anointed king, as if you were a second Christ, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”, our king of England’, in the hope of good government for the kingdom. Now, however, ‘my harp also is turned to mourning,” joy has turned to bitterness, while evils multiply themselves everywhere, and hope of relief fades from the grieving hearts of men. Thus does God, a righteous judge, in his vengeance, and as a richly-deserved punishment for the neglect and carelessness of those who govern the people, permit the common people, senseless and uncontrollable like wild beasts, to sit in judgement and unnaturally to usurp the authority which belongs to those above them, ranting bestially and indiscriminately at superiors, equals and inferiors alike. Indeed, I do not believe it wrong to express the hope that your royal majesty might become so indignant at this insubordination of the people, and that your

1401

140 1401

fo. 171"

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

strenuitas et militaris ferositas, ut eciam in una plaga regni uestri, quod? absit, trucidentur in ore gladii uiginti milia uestrorum legiorum,! et exinde satietur” lictorum crudelitas—qui in uestro ingressu “Deo et populo* spopondistis, omnes et singulos regni uestri incolas, pauperes et diuites, maiores |et minores, defendere ab aduersis. Non eo magis cessabit murmur populi nec indignacio Dei uestri irati, sed magis incitabitur in furorem, et magis ac magis, captata oportunitate, desaeuiet in uindictam, donec, seruata lege et legali regni uestri iusticia, remotis et extinctis iniuriis, iniusticiis et populi oppressionibus supradictis, per rectam regulam legis iusticie, reddatur unicuique quod suum est, ut sic primo inter Deum et hominem pax reformetur,

et sic deinde inter hominem (et)? proximum suum ueraciter et non ficte deriuetur. ‘Quis enim restitit ei et pacem habuit?” Quia peccata‘ uestra et ‘iniquitates uestre diuiserunt inter uos et Deum uestrum, et absconderunt faciem eius a uobis’,’ ideo, digno Dei iudicio, ‘qui sine lege peccauerunt, sine lege peribunt’, et qui legem contempnunt, redarguti a lege, secundum legem iudicabuntur. Et secundum beatum Iacopum, ‘non auditores sed factores legis iustificabuntur’,’ et e contrario contemp-

tores confundentur, sicut (infra)* biennium in rege Ricardo, tanquam in speculo stupendo, uidemus exemplatum uniuerso orbi et omnibus seculis superuenientibus indelebiliter et indefectibiliter memorandum. Auferat ergo Deus meus, sol iusticie, uelamen ab oculis uestris, ut clare intueamini oculis mentis uestre quid in uestro ingressu felici in regnum Anglie Deo fideli (et)* inobliuioso promisistis publice et priuatim, et insuper quid iusticie et quid obsequii Deo grato et gracioso, et regno Anglie, pro omnibus beneficiis retribuistis. Et si quid minus iniusto libramine inueneritis, celeriter, pre timore uindicte, retribuere satagatis, et si quid iustum inueneritis, reddite gracias Domino, * astit del. > OCTB, Stowe: societur MS “© OCTB, Stowe: Dei populum MS 4 supplied in OCTB, Stowe © OCTB, Stowe: pacta MS * supplied in OCTB, Stowe ® OCTB, Stowe: exempla tamen MS » supplied in OCTB, Stowe ' Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 78: ‘Londonia necem .xx. milium lugebit et Tamensis in sanguine mutabitur’.

2 Job 9: 4. Belsaasguze Rom: 2512) > Rom. 2: 13 (cf. Jas. 1: 22).

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E USK

I4I

power and warlike ardour might be aroused to such a pitch, that, in one part of your kingdom alone—though one would not wish for it—twenty thousand of your subjects might fall by the sword,! whereupon the fury of the executioners will perhaps be sated— you, who promised to God and to the people, at the time of your return, to protect each and every person living in your kingdom, rich and poor, great and small, from their enemies. But the muttering of the people and the indignation of your irate God will not be silenced by means such as this; rather it will be roused to greater and greater fury, so that, when the opportunity arises, it will wreak its vengeance, until such time as law and justice are respected in your kingdom, and evils, outrages and oppressions of the poor of the kind mentioned above are eradicated and driven out by the proper application of law and justice, and to each person is restored what is his; thus may peace be established, first between man and God, and thereafter between each man and his neighbour, and may it be true peace, not merely a pretence. “Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” For your sins and ‘your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you;’’ wherefore, by the righteous judgement of God, ‘as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law,”* and those who defy the law shall be refuted by the law, and by the law they shall be judged. Moreover, according to the blessed James, ‘not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law shall be justified,’> whereas those who scorn it shall be confounded—of which we have seen a striking example, as in a mirror, during these last two years in the case of King Richard, an image which will forever be indelibly impressed upon the memory of the whole world and of future ages. Therefore may my God, the sun of justice, lift the veil from your eyes, so that you may see clearly in your mind’s eye what it was that, at the time of your welcome entry to the kingdom of England, you promised both publicly and privately to the faithful and unforgetting God, and then at the sort of justice and sense of duty with which you have repaid your merciful and deserving God, and the kingdom of England, for all the good things that have befallen you. And if you find the scales of justice to be on the debit side, consider swiftly, for fear of retribution, how you might balance them; if you do find justice, however, give thanks

1401

142 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

bonorum omnium largitori et unicuique secundum merita iustis-

simo? redditori; et benedicta sancta trinitas, (in) cuius manu

corda sunt regum et omnia gubernacula regnorum, det uobis cor docile et tractabile! et ad omne bonum ductile, ad peragendum fideliter iniunctum¢ uobis officium regie dignitatis, et ad intelligendum memoriter et efficaciter ad remediandum miserias populorum; adaperiatque Dominus cor uestrum in lege sua et in preceptis suis, et faciat pacem’ in regno Anglie per dies sempiternos. Scriptum, si uestre placeat dominacioni, corde tremulo, amore languido, London’, die Mercurie in crastino inuencionis sancte crucis, manu propria uestri soliti precatoris. Serenissime princeps, hec, in sentencia liberando animam meam, ut uerus Dei cultor et boni regiminis uestri zelator, reique publice et regni uestri fidelis amator et orator, uiue uocis oraculo locutus sum uobis, apud uos manens; et nunc, si placeat, hec scribo uobis

eodem accensus desiderio et amore, et amoris langore, ‘priusquam fiant, ut,4 cum factum fuerit, credatis’, et ‘ut, cum uenerit

hora, eorum reminiscamini quia ego dixi uobis.’* “Cum autem uenerit ille spiritus ueritatis, docebit uos omnem ueritatem, et que uentura sunt annunciabit uobis.” Ecce, ‘uir desideriorum’,

amore langueo.’*°° Item,*duodetricensimo die mensis Iulii anno Domini millesimo quadringentensimo primo, regina Anglie predicta, adhuc pupilla, Calicias transfretauit, et ibidem usque ad primam diem Augusti proxime sequentem, pendente tractatu inter nostrates Anglie et consiliarios regis" Francie, morabatur; quo die primo cum suis iocalibus et dotaliciis, patri suo regi Francie transmittenda, honorifice recipiebatur per Fransegenas, omnibus Anglicis utriusque sexus omnino ad propria remissis.° Ista estate, classes Anglie et Francie se multum in mari mutuo infestabant. Item, in crastino assumpcionis beate Virginis anni predicti, dominus rex Henricus, cum suis proceribus ab omni parte regni ad hoc’ uocatis, in magno * OCTB, Stowe: institissimo MS > supplied in OCTB, Stowe SOGIB, Stowe: inminutum MS 4 OCTB, Stowe: id MS ¢ in place of these words Stowe has Ecce uestrorum desideriorum amore langueo,.uestre si placeat celsitudinis indignus seruulus Philippus predicator uester assiduus * OCTB, Stowe: languido MS ® at this point anew scribe (Hand Three) begins » Anglie expunged ' interlined

' Cf. 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 3: 9. Gia Maccarsay 3 John 14: 29, 16: 3. * John 16: 13. *, Dan. 922335. 91 S12: 5 * See above, p. 132. Isabella was handed over to the French on 31 July, at

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

143

to God, the fount of all good, who gives righteously to each according to their deserts. And may the blessed holy trinity, in whose hands rest the hearts of kings and the entire governance of kingdoms, grant you an understanding and submissive heart, and one which may be led along the path of righteousness, so that you can fulfil faithfully the duties demanded of royal majesty and be brought to a proper and effective understanding which will allow you to remedy the miseries of the people. And may the Lord open your heart to his law and his commandments, and bring peace! to the kingdom of England forever. Written, if it please your highness, with a tremulous heart, aching with love, at London on Wednesday the morrow of the Invention of the Holy Cross [4 May], by myself, ever your humble intercessor. In thus opening my heart to you, most serene prince, in the spirit of a true worshipper of God and an ardent believer in good government on your behalf, as well as a loyal friend and supporter of the public good and of your realm, I am saying no more than I have already said to you by word of mouth when I was in your presence; and now, by your leave, I commit these thoughts to you in writing in the same spirit of affection, aching and burning with love, ‘before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, you might believe,’ and ‘that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.” ‘Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, and he will show you things to come.” Listen, ‘O

greatly beloved, I am sick of love.” On 28 July in the year of our Lord 1401, the afore-mentioned queen of England, who was still only a girl, was taken by ship to Calais, where she remained, while discussions were held between our men of England, and the councillors of the king of France, until 1 August following; on which day she was given a splendid reception by the French before being sent on, along with her jewels and her dowry, to her father the king of France, all the English having been sent back to their homes, men and women without exception.® This summer, the English and French fleets frequently attacked each other on the sea. On the morrow of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin [16 August] in the same year, King Henry, having summoned the leading men from all parts of the kingdom, Leulinghem; but the 200,000 francs of her dowry which the French still claimed were not restored (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 209).

1401

CHRONICON

144 1401

ADE

VSK

consilio et solempni apud Westm’ celebrato, aduersarios suos Francie et Scocie per eum fore militariter inuadendos decreuit.' Monasterium de Stratfleyr stabulum equorum.* Item,” isto autumpno Oweynus de Glendor, cum tota Northewalia, Cardikan et Poysia

sibi adherentibus, Anglicos in illis partibus habitantes, cum eorum uillis et presertim uilla de Pola, ferro et flamma multum infestabat. Vnde Anglici® in multitudine glomerosa illas partes inuadendo, totaliter depopulatas et depredatas ferro, fame et flamma, eciam pueris et ecclesiis non parcendo, et monasterium de Stratflur, in quo rexmet hospitabatur, et eius ecclesia et choro eciam usque ad summum altare pro stabulo utendo, ipsasque‘ pateras penitus spoliando, et ultra mille utriusque sexus pueros secum in Angliam uehendo ipsorum seruiciis mancipandos, desolatas reliquerunt easdem.’ Dictus tamen Oenus non modicum Anglicis nocuit, plures eorum interimendo, arma, equos et tentoria primogeniti regis et principis Walie ac aliorum dominorum hostiliter auferendo, et eadem pro usu suo ad montana sua et tutamina de Snowfo. 172"

don

secum

| transferendo.

presertim tota Landauen’ defensionis molestia satis LI. ap Gr. Vayan. Rex in ingressum predictum, Ll.

Hiis

diebus

australis Wallia,

et

diocesis, ab omnimoda inuasionis siue stetit pacifica. Wallia. Inter trucidatos per Anglicorum ap Greffit Vayan de Cayo in comitatu de

Cardikan, uir multum nobilis et dapsilis, sexdecem dolia uini in familia sua omni anno expendens, quia dicto Oeno confauens, in festo sancti Dionysii apud Lanamthyury, in presencia regis, et de eius mandato, cum filio suo primogenito trahitur, suspenditur, decollatur et quatripercitur.* Hoc tempore,° circa festum sancti Michaelis, quarterium frumenti a nobili ad duo nobilia, et in quibusdam partibus Anglie ad tria, ad annonam subito mutatur cariorem.‘ Vbique in Walia per muros et fossata renouantur tutamina. * marg. note in later hand, Owen de Glyndorde > at this pointanew scribe (Hand Four) begins © partes illas del. 4 que repeated © quam expunged * marg. note in later hand, annone caritas

" For lists of those summoned, see POPC i. 155-64, where the date is given as 15 Aug. (‘le jour de lassumpcion’); but the council favoured peace, not war (Kirby, Henry IV,

p. 120). : * The king spent most of October in Wales. Vita Ricardi Secundi, p. 170, gets the dates wrong but confirms the attack on Welshpool and the devastation of Strata Florida (‘ita ut nullum monachum in ea relinqueret’). Henry ordered reparations to the abbey in April 1402, blaming the Welsh as well as his own men for its destruction (CPR r4or1405, p. 61). * Apparently he had offered to lead Henry to Glendower, but deliberately misled the

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

145

held a great and solemn council at Westminster, where he announced his intention to lead military expeditions against his French and Scottish enemies.' The monastery of Strata Florida a stable for horses. During the autumn Owen Glendower, supported by the whole of North Wales, Cardigan and Powis, continually assailed with fire and sword the English living in those regions and the towns they lived in, especially the town of Welshpool. A great host of English therefore invaded the area, ravaging and utterly destroying it with fire, sword and famine, sparing neither children nor churches; even the monastery of Strata Florida, in which the king himself stayed, along with its church and choir, right up to the high altar, was converted into a stable, and was completely stripped of its plate; they carried off with them to England more than a thousand children, both girls and boys, whom they forced into service for them; and they left the country desolate. Yet Owen inflicted considerable losses on the English, killing several of them, and seizing by force from the king’s eldest son, the prince of Wales, and from a number of other lords, their arms, horses and tents, which he then carried

off to his mountain strongholds of Snowdonia for his own use. South Wales, however, and especially the whole diocese of Llandaff, remained undisturbed by any kind of trouble, either hostile or defensive, at this time. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Vaughan. The king in Wales. Among those killed during this invasion by the English was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Vaughan of Caeo in the county of Cardigan, an extremely well-born and generous man who used to get through sixteen tuns of wine in his household each year; on the feast of St Denis [9 October], however, at Llandovery, in the king’s presence, and at his command, he was, along with his eldest son, drawn, hanged, beheaded and quartered, because he had supported Owen.’ At this time, around the feast of Michaelmas [29 September], a quarter of wheat suddenly jumped in price from one to two nobles, and in some parts of England to three nobles. Throughout Wales, defences were strengthened with walls and ditches. king, ‘and gloried in his success’ (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 243-4). The date must have been a little after 9 Oct., when Henry was at Caernarvon (CPR 1399-1401, Pp. 555). Thompson (CAU, p. 237 n. 1) thought that ‘cum filio suo primogenito’ referred to the prince of Wales’s presence with the king, but Wylie points out that Llywelyn had two sons fighting for Glendower, and the context suggests that one of them must have been taken and

executed with his father (see also CPR 1401-1405, p. 22).

1401

146 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Mors domini Poysye. Moritur nobilis dominus, dominus Iohannes Charleton dominus Poysie, apud castrum suum de Pola, in festo sancti Luce, cui dominus Edwardus frater suus, iuuenis elegantissimus, de Vsk et de Kaerlyon in iure dotalicio uxoris sue comitisse Marchie, tunc dominus, iure successit hereditario.' Dominus Thomas, regis secundogenitus, in Hiberniam, ad Hibernicorum domandam rebellionem, cum magno transiit exercitu; sic eciam et comes

Rutlondie ad resistendum Gallicorum

inuasionibus transiit in Vasconiam.’ Scoti, cum Anglicis pacem aut treugam_tractare detestantes, diffidenciam et guerram Anglicis decreuerant in festo sancti Martini fore* inducendas.* Decretum destruccionis lingue Wallice.” Plebei de Cardikan, ad uite° perdonacionem recepti, Oeno dimisso, licet cum magna miseria, redierunt ad propria, lingua Walicana uti permissi, licet eius destruccio per Anglicos decreta fuisset, omnipotente? Deo, rege regum, infallibili omnium iudice, huiusmodi decretum ad grauatorum appellacionem et querelam misericorditer reuocante.* In*® crastino Omnium Sanctorum, Oenus, uolens obsidionem ponere circa Caernaruon, in multitudine glomerosa‘uixillum suum album cum dracone aureo ibidem displicuit,’ tamen per intraneos agegressus, trecentis de suis interemptis, in fugam propulsus est. Isto tempore pro maritagio filiarum suarum dominus rex totum regnum colectauit.° Domini de Percy, pater et filius, Scotorum rebellionem strenue domarunt, ipsos in magno numero interimendo et captiuando. Oenus* cum suis dominium de Rethyn in North Wallia et eius pagum, penultimo die Ianuarii, ferro et flamma crudeliter infestauit, predas patrie et presertim pecudum ad montana de Snowdon 2 interlined > marg. note in later hand, decretum de lingua Wall’ destruenda © interlined 4 at this pointanew scribe (Hand Five) begins © at this point a new scribe (Hand Six) begins f slomerosum MS ® trecentum MS » marg. note in later hand, Rythin uastata ' John Charlton died on 19 Oct. (GEC iii. 161); Edward was granted livery of the inheritance on 26 Nov. (CPR r4or- 1405, p. 21). For his wife, Eleanor Holand, see above,

p. 52. * Thomas of Lancaster was appointed lieutenant of Ireland on 27 June, with effect from 18 July, and arrived in Dublin on 13 Nov. (CPR 1399-1401, p. 507; Wylie, Henry IV, i. 231). Rutland was appointed lieutenant of Aquitaine on 5 July, and sailed about three months later (Vale, English Gascony, pp. 42-4). * Commissioners were appointed on 1 Sept. to negotiate for peace with the Scots, or for a year’s truce from 11 Nov., but the talks broke down in late Oct. (POPC i. 168-73; Wylie, Henry IV, i. 234-6).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

147

Death of the lord ofPowis. On the feast of St Luke [18 October], the

noble lord, Lord John Charlton, lord of Powis, died at his castle of Welshpool; by hereditary right he was succeeded by his brother Sir Edward, a most dignified young man, who was already lord of

Usk and Caerleon by dower-right of his wife, the countess of March!

The king’s second son, Thomas, went over to Ireland with a large army to put down the rebellion of the Irish, and the earl of Rutland similarly crossed to Gascony to counter the inroads of the French.’ The Scots, scorning the chance to sue for peace or a truce with the English, decided to defy them and make war on them, beginning on the feast of St Martin [11 November].° Decree for the destruction ofthe Welsh tongue. Having been pardoned their lives, the people of Cardigan deserted Owen and returned, though not without great suffering, to their homes; they were, nevertheless—even though the English had decreed that it should be suppressed—allowed to use the Welsh tongue, for God the omnipotent, the king of kings and infallible judge of all things, had revoked this decree in response to the prayers and complaints of

the afflicted.* Intending to lay siege to Caernarvon, Owen raised his standard, a golden dragon on a white field,’ in the midst of a great host there on the morrow of All Saints [2 November]; following an assault by the defenders, however, in which three hundred of his men were killed, he was driven off. At this time the king imposed a tax on the whole kingdom in order to marry his daughters.° The Lords Percy, father and son,

strove manfully to quell the rebellious Scots, killing and capturing a large number of them. On 30 January Owen and his men brutally ravaged with fire and sword the lordship of Ruthin in North Wales and the surrounding area, carrying the riches of the land, including the animals, away with him to the mountains of Snowdonia; for the most part, 4 There is no surviving record of a decree suppressing the Welsh language, though the blatantly racist legislation of 1401-2 would have made it easy to believe in one (cf. Davies, Conquest, Coexistence and Change, pp. 458-9). 5 Harking back to the golden dragon which, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, served as the war-totem of Uther, brother of Aurelius Ambrosius, whereby he was called ‘Pendragon’ (dragon’s head). Merlin had prophesied that it was through a dragon that Uther would become king (Historia Regum Britannie, p. 95). 6 Collection of an aid for Blanche’s marriage was ordered on 1 Dec. (Foedera, viii. 232).

1401

148 1401

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

secum deferendo, tamen dominiis comitis Marchie de Dynby* et

aliis multum parcebat,' "duos comitatus, scilicet de Kaernaruen et

Murionnit, sibi inclinatos quoad iurisdiccionem et guerram ad uotum habendo.° Quidam miles uocatus Dauit ap Ieuan Goz de comitatu de Cardigan, qui per uiginti annos continue cum rege Cypry et aliis Cristianis Sarazenos debellauerat, per regem Francie ad regem Scocie pro Oeno directus, per nautas Anglie tentus, carceribus Turris London’ mancipatur.’ Nuncii Oeni cum literis infrascripti tenoris, regi Scocie et dominis Hibern’ directis, in Hibernia capti, decapitantur. Litere ad regem Scocie.4 “Treshaut et trespuisant et tresredoute seigneur et cosin, je me recomande a vostre treshautisme roial mageste si humblement come suy dygne, en toutz maneres des honors et reverencez. Et, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygn cosin, pleser seyt a‘ vous et a vostre dit treshautisme mageste dasavoyr que Brutus, vostre4 tresnoble auncestre et le meyn, estoyt le primer roy corone qui primerment enhabita deinz cest realme dengleterre, qui jadis fuist nomme Brataygne graunt; le quel Brutus engendera trois fitz, cest assavoir® Albanactus,‘ Loctrinus et Kamber;* de quel dit Albanactus vous estez descenduz par droit lyne, de quel dit Kamber les issuez ount reygnes roialment tanque a Kadualadir, qui estoit le darrein roy coronne de ma dit nacioun, dount je, vostre simple cosin, suy descenduz par droit lyne.* Apres

fo. 172”

que decesse mes auncestres et tout ma dit nacion avons este, et ore sumes, en oppression et bondage desouz mes et vostres morteles enimys Sacsouns, come vous, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygn |cosin, ent avez bone conisance. Des quex oppressions et bondages le prophecie dit que je serray delivere par eid et socour de vostre dit roial mageste.° Mais, tresredoute seigneur et * underlined © Abba expunged

b-b underlined © interlined 4 vostre repeated MS inserts Locrus et Locrinus (i.e. three attempts at Loctrinus)

' Ruthin was the chief lordship of Reynald Grey, Glendower’s bitter foe. But Denbigh was not only March’s lordship, it was in the custody at this time of Hotspur, with whom Glendower was on good terms (CCR 1399-1402, pp. 437-8). In a sense the episode foreshadows the tripartite indenture of 1405 (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 166-9). * Possibly the same man as the ‘Gruffuth Goz ap David ap Yevan ap Gruffuth’ whose lands in Cantref Mawr were seized in Nov. 1401 (CPR rgo1-1405, p. 22). Cf Barrow, ‘Wales and Scotland’, p. 315. * Robert III, king of Scotland 1390-1406; a Scottish ship appeared off the Welsh coast in May r4o1, but was captured by the English (POPC i. 153). * Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 15. Glendower tactfully makes Albanactus the eldest

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

149

however, he spared the earl of March’s lordships of Denbigh and others;’ he had at his disposal the two counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth, which supported him in both the war and the administration of justice. A certain knight called David ap Ieuan Goz of the county of Cardigan, who had spent twenty years continually fighting alongside the king of Cyprus and other Christians against the Saracens, was sent by the king of France to the king of Scotland on Owen’s behalf, but was captured by English ships and imprisoned

in the Tower of London.’ Messengers of Owen’s carrying the following letters addressed to the king of Scotland and the lords of Ireland were captured in Ireland and beheaded: The letter to the king of Scotland’ ‘Most excellent, powerful and esteemed lord and cousin, I commend myself to your most excellent royal majesty with fitting humility, and with honour and respect in all matters. Most esteemed lord and royal cousin, may it please you and your royal excellence to know that Brutus, your most noble ancestor and mine, was originally the first crowned king to live in this kingdom of England, which used to be known as Great Britain. Brutus fathered three sons, namely Albanactus and Locrinus and Kamber;* you are descended from the direct line of this Albanactus, while the descendants of this Kamber ruled as

kings until the time of Cadwaladr, who was the last crowned king of my people, and from whose direct line I, your humble cousin, am descended.° Since his death, however, my forbears and all my people have been, as we still are, subjected and held in bondage by my and your mortal enemies the Saxons—a fact which you, most esteemed lord and royal cousin, know full well. The prophecy states that, with the help and support of your royal majesty, I shall be delivered from this subjection and bondage.° And yet, most son of Brutus, whereas Geoffrey of Monmouth had him as the youngest: cf. Barrow,

‘Wales and Scotland’, p. 306. 5 Cadwaladr Fendigaid (d. ¢.664), with whose reign and exile the Historia Regum Britannie (pp. 144-6) ends; he fled to Brittany, eventually dying in Rome, having been dissuaded from returning to Britain because God informed him that the time for the Britons to rule in Britain, as prophesied by Merlin, had not yet come. But Glendower forgot that he is said to have died without issue. ® Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 77. Glendower’s predilection for prophetic literature is well-known: see Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 158-60, 168-9 (and cf. R. Frame, The Political Development of the British Isles 1100—1400 (Oxford, 1990), p. 140). Yet the Scotsman Walter Bower’s account suggests that some of Glendower’s messengers reached their destination, and Scottish ears were not unreceptive to his prophetic allusions (Scotichronicon, ed. Watt, viii. 111).

1401

150 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

sovereigne cosin, je me grauntement complaigne a vostres ditz roall mageste et tressovereigne cosinage, que moi defaut graundment genz dez armez; pur quoy, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygne cosin, je vous supplie humblement en mez genoils engenuler, si pleiser soit a dit vostre roial mageste de moy maundre certeyn nombre de gentz darmez de moy eidir et resistre, en laide de Dieux, mes et vostres ennmys

susditz; eiant consideracion, tresredoute

seigneur et tressovereigne cosin, a le eschatisme de meschyf et meschifs que je et mes ditz auncestres de Gales susditz avons suffres et meyntes autres passez par mez et vostres mortuels enimys susditz. Entendant, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereigne cosin, que ensi soit que je serray jour de ma vie oblige de fayr service et plesance a vostre dit roial mageste et amendre a vous. Et pour ceo que je ne puis vous envoir touz mez bussoignes en escript, vous envoir les portours de cestez de toutz mez bussoygnes pleinement enformez, as quex vous pleaise doner foy et credens de ceo quils vous durront par bouche de par moy. Tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygn cosin, le

trespuisant seigneur vous (garde).’* Litere ad dominos Hibern’. ‘Salutem et amoris plenitudinem, domine reuerendissime et consanguinee confidentissime. Sciatis quod maxima dissencio siue guerra orta est inter nos et nostros uestrosque mortales inimicos Saxones, quam guerram uiriliter sustentamus hucusque fere per duos annos elapsos, ac eciam de cetero intendimus et speramus sustentare et ad bonum et effectualem finem perducere, mediantibus gracia Dei saluatoris nostri uestrisque auxilio atque fauore. Sed, quia uulgariter dicitur per propheciam quod, antequam nos altiorem manum in hac parte

haberemus, quod uos (et)° uestri carissimi consanguinei in Hibernea ad hoc manus porrigetis adiutrices, quocirca, reuerende domine et consanguinee confidentissime, uos corditer et effectuose requirimus quatinus de equestribus et peditatibus? uestris armatis, ad succurrendum nobis et nacioni nostre, a diu per inimicos nostros ac uestros predictos oppressis, necnon ad resistendum uoluntati fraudabili et deceptabili eorundem inimicorum nostrorum, talem numerum qualem commode et honeste poteritis, saluo in omnibus uestro honorabili statu, nobis tam cito quam bene uidebitis expedire, necessitatem nostram considerando, transmittatis. Istud amore nostro et sicut in uobis maxime confidamus, licet incogniti uestre reuerende persone fuerimus, facere non tardatis, * suppl. in CAU, p. 73. 4 pedibus MS

> altoriem

MS

© suppl. in CAU, p. is ee

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

I51

esteemed lord and royal cousin, it pains me greatly to inform your royal majesty that I am very short of men-at-arms; it is for this reason, most esteemed lord and royal cousin, that I beg you,

humbly and with bended knee, your royal majesty, please to send me a number of men-at-arms who, with the help of God, can help me to resist my and your enemies, most esteemed lord and royal cousin, and to punish them for the evils and injuries which I and my aforesaid forbears of Wales have suffered, and for the many other things inflicted upon us by these mortal enemies of mine and yours. Do not doubt, most esteemed lord and royal cousin, that I shall in consequence consider myself bound to serve and obey your royal majesty at pleasure for the rest of my days. I cannot send you all my news in writing, but these messengers whom I have sent to you are fully informed of all my affairs, and I beg you therefore to place your trust and confidence in what they tell you by word of mouth on my behalf. Most esteemed lord and royal cousin, may the Lord almighty keep you safe.’ The letter to the lords of Ireland. ‘Greetings and much love, most esteemed lord and trusted kinsman. As you will know, a great struggle, not to say a-war, has broken out between us and our, and your, mortal enemies, the Saxons, a war which we have maintained vigorously for nearly two years now, and which, by the grace of God our saviour, and with your help and support, we hope and plan to go on maintaining until it can be brought to an effective and favourable conclusion. It is commonly said in the prophecy, however, that, before we can gain the upper hand in this contest, you and your noble kinsmen in Ireland shall come to our aid in this matter; considering our plight, therefore, we warmly and earnestly request you, esteemed lord and trusted kinsman, to send over to us, as soon as you possibly can—saving your honourable estate in all things—as many mounted and unmounted men-at-arms as you can properly and honestly afford, in order to help us and our people, who have for so long been oppressed by these aforesaid enemies of ours and yours, to defeat the perfidious and deceitful purpose of these same enemies of ours. We beg you, moreover, for the love that we bear you and the great trust that we place in you, and despite the fact that we are unknown to your esteemed person, not to delay in

T401

152 1401

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

intelligentes, domine et consanguinee reuerendissime, quod quamdiu nos ualebimus istam guerram fortiter sustentare in partibus nostris, quod uobis satis constat sine dubio, quod uos et omnes alii magnates de partibus uestris Hibernie pacem desiderabilem et tranquilitatem placabilem medio tempore impetrabitis. Et quia,

domine (et)* consanguinee, latores ° presencium‘ uos plenius uiua?

uoce informabunt,° si placet, credenciam adhibeatis in omnibus

1402

que uobis ex parte nostra‘ dicent, et qua uolueritis, domine et consanguinee reuerende, que per nos uestrum humilem consanguineum fieri poterunt, uos mandetis cum fiducia. Domine et consanguinee reuerende, uestram reuerenciam et dominacionem in prosperis altissimus conseruet longeuam. Scriptum apud Northwall’, penultimo die Nouembris.’ Iam, Deus, qui me studium Oxon’ et ipsius doctoratus regimen trienale, ac demum in curia Cant’ septenale aduocacionis officium, tam honorem® quam utilitatem, ex tue infinitate gracie concessisti” perficere, ac in aliis meis agendis quibuscumque a iuuentute mea’ adiuuisti usque ad senectam/ et senium, ne me‘ derilinquas, et ‘fac mecum signum in bonum’, ut uideant qui me aderunt et confundantur, ‘quoniam tu Domine adiuuisti me et consolatus es me’;' meumque iam, Deo disponente, directum Romam aggressum,’ cum ibidem progressu necnon ad partes uotiuas™ regressu, siue aduocatorum siue auditorum numero aggregandum, ad tui nominis honorem et laudem, et mei utriusque hominis sospitatem, et cum honore triplici temporalibusque auxiliis, da misericorditer

consolari.” Quid” mora?° Vndecimo kalendas Marcii anno Domini millesimo quadringentensimo primo, presencium compilator, ut, Deo disponente, proposuit, London’ apud Byllyngsgate nauem ingressus, prospero flante uento et mari sulcato, in Brabancia terra satis uotiua, apud Berwk super sabulum, suos gressus uersus Romam dirigendo, infra diem naturalem terre applicuit. Et extunc per Dyst, Mestryk, Aquas Grani, Coloniam, Bunnam, Confluenciam, Warmeciam, Spiram, Argentinam, Brisacam, Basiliam, Luceriem et eius mirabilem lacum, Bernam, montem Godardi et eius * suppl. ed. © MS inserts qui

» lataros MS © MS inserts qui 4 una MS fuestra MS ® honore MS » consestisti MS ‘ me expunged / senestam MS * dilinquas del. ' qui ibidem pro del. ™ uotiuus MS "at this point a new scribe (Hand Seven) begins ° marg. note in later hand, iter compilatoris

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

153

doing this; understand, too—as you doubtless do, most esteemed

lord and kinsman—that for as long as we are able to go on maintaining this warlike struggle in our land, you and all the other lords in your land of Ireland will in the meantime be able to enjoy the sort of peace and quiet which you desire. Moreover, lord and kinsman, since the bearers of these letters shall keep you fully informed by word of mouth, may it please you to put your trust in whatever they say on our behalf, and if there is anything which you would like to see done by us, your humble kinsman, you may with confidence commit it to them. May the Almighty preserve your reverence and lordship in prosperity for many days to come, esteemed lord and kinsman. Written in North Wales, 29 November.’ And now, O God—you who have, in your infinite mercy, permitted me to complete with honour and profit my studies at Oxford, the three year course for my doctorate there, and thereafter my seven years in office as an advocate in the court of Canterbury, and who have, ever since my youth, been beside me in whatever I have done, right up to my old age and feebleness—do not forsake me; but ‘show me a sign for good,’ so that those whom I meet shall see me and be amazed, ‘because thou, Lord, didst help

and comfort me;”! and, through your mercy, comfort me with threefold grace and with earthly assistance on this journey, ordained by God, which I am now undertaking to Rome—not only on my outward journey, but also on my return to the land of my desire—which journey is undertaken to the glory and praise of your name, whether or not I come to be numbered among the advocates or the auditors, as well as for my benefit as either the one

or the other.’ Why delay? On 19 February in the year of our Lord [1402], I, the compiler of this present work— as I had proposed to do, God willing—embarked at Billingsgate in London at the start of my journey to Rome and, with a favourable wind, crossed the sea in one day, landing as I had hoped to do at Bergen-op-Zoom in Brabant. From there I went on to Diest, Maastricht, Aachen, Cologne, Bonn, Koblenz, Worms, Speyer, Strasbourg, Breisach, Basel, Lucerne with its wonderful lake, Bern, Mont St Gotthard ' Ps. 85 (86): 17.

:

2 On 12 Feb. 1402, William Etchingham and Thomas Lytewyn of Kent mainperned

in chancery for Usk that he would not seek any preferment which might prejudice the king, the laws and customs of the realm, or the statute of provisors (CCR 1399- 1402,

p. 509).

1401

1402

154 fo. 173° 1402

CHRONICON ADE VSK

cacuminis hermitogium,! in caruca per bouem tractus, niuis |fri-

goribus quasi peremptus, oculis uelatis ne loci discrimina conspiceret, ad Belson’ in Lumbardia Palmarum deuenit uigilia. Et inde per Cumam, Mediolanum, Plesanciam, Burgum Sancti Dionisii,

Carenciam,? Pontemtremulum, Petrum Sanctam, Pisas, Senas, et Viterbium—Bolonie, Florencie et Perisii, propter frementes ducis

Mediolani,? de quo infra, guerras ac obsidiones et earum discrimina, declinando uias—in omni notabili hospicio ad sui suorumque et presertim equorum refocillacionem per duos dies repausando, nonis Aprilis Dei fauore arcuumque terrore, Romam per omnia deuenit saluus. Ac infra quindenam extunc per dominum Balthasarum, tituli sancti Eustacii diaconum cardinalem, “postea papam Ioannem uicensimum tercium, ** domino Bonifacio pape nono’ cum sui commendacione presentatus, et per eum honorifice ad pedis, manus et faucis oscula receptus, et demum pro rigore sciencie sue examinis cardinali Bononiensi, postea pape

Innocentio septimo,® per eum commisus et approbatus,

Yinfra

quindenam? in pape capellanum, palaciique apostolici auditorem, urbisque et orbis iudicem, cum huiusmodi prerogatiue insigniis, capa scilicet, rochetto et capello, per ipsum papam insignitus, ipsius et rote consiliis exstitit sublimatus. Cui et papa infra octo dies extunc triginta magnas causas commisit ad sui audienciam delatas, ipsius industria terminandas.’ Stella. In dicto transitu, primo apud Coloniam et continue usque ad Pisas predictas, tam de nocte quam eciam de die, solem precedentem cometam terribilem, solis scilicet cleri et lune scilicet milicie mundi terrorem, ipsius ducis cito post defuncti mortis prefiguracionem, conspexi, cuius arma terribilia, quia serpentem blauium hominem rubium et nudum in campo albo deuorantem, 2-4 interlined

6b interlined

' See G. B. Parks, The English TravelertoItalyI: The Middle Ages (Rome, 1954), pp. 4967, 522-3, for an analysis of Usk’s route; he took the ‘German’, as opposed to the ‘French’, route, and is the first Briton known to have used the St Gotthard pass. Presumably Bern should come before Lucerne, though it was a roundabout way to go. > Parma would be the obvious stop between Borgo San Donnino and Pontremoli; but if ‘Carenciam’ is indeed Carrara, it would come between Pontremoli and Pietrasanta.

* Giangaleazzo Visconti, who succeeded his father Galeazzo in 1378, and was created duke by Wenzel on 11 May 1395 (D. M. Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, duke of Milan (Cambridge, 1941), p. 173).

* Balthasar Cossa, a Neapolitan, the ‘conciliar’ pope from 1410 (deposed 1415,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

155

and the hermitage at its summit!—where I was carried in an oxcart, almost frozen to death from the snow, and blindfolded to stop me seeing the perils of the journey—arriving at Bellinzona in Lombardy on the eve of Palm Sunday [18 March]. Then, stopping for two days at each of the well-known hostels to refresh myself, my men, and especially the horses, I moved on via Como, Milan, Piacenza, Borgo San Donnino, Carrara,’ Pontremoli, Pietrasanta,

Pisa, Siena and Viterbo—avoiding Bologna, Florence and Perugia because of the dangers threatened by the wars and sieges of the duke of Milan,’ of which more later—and came through it all safely, thanks to the mercy of God and to the fear inspired by our archers, to arrive at Rome on 5 April. Within two weeks I had been presented by, and with the recommendation of, Lord Balthasar, cardinal deacon of the titular church of St Eustace, who later

became Pope John XXIII,* to Pope Boniface IX,° and was honourably received by him with the kiss of feet, hands and cheeks;

whereupon, having been handed over by him to the cardinal of Bologna, who later became Pope Innocent VII,° to be rigorously examined as to my knowledge, and, having passed the test, I was, on the pope’s own advice and that of the rota, promoted within a fortnight to the post of papal chaplain and auditor of the apostolic palace, the judge of the city and the world, and invested by the pope in person with the insignia of that dignity, namely the cope, the rochet and the hat. And within a week of this the pope committed to me, to be decided by my labours, thirty major cases

which had been referred to his decision.’ The star. During this journey, firstly at Cologne and then all the way as far as Pisa, I could see both at night and during the daytime a fearsome comet, which moved ahead of the sun, spreading terror throughout the world, among both the clergy, who are the sun, and the knighthood, who are the moon, and foreshadowing the death of the above-mentioned duke [of Milan]—who did in fact die soon after this; his lurid arms, consisting of a blue serpent devouring a naked man in red against a white background, could also d. 1419). Cf. E. J. Kitts, Jn the Days of the Councils: a Sketch of the Life and Times ofBaldassare Cossa (London, 1908).

5 Pietro Tomacelli, also Neapolitan, Roman pope 1389-1404. 6 Cosimo dei Migliorati, also Neapolitan, Roman pope 1404-6; he was bishop of Bologna only in 1389-90, and could not enter the city because of the disturbances there, but persisted in using the title (Eubel, Hierarchica Catholica, i. 145). 7 For cases referred to Usk as a papal auditor, see CPL v. 554, 578.

1402

156 1402

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

eciam in aere sepius fuerant tunc uisa.' Dux Bauerie in imperatorem

eligitur

et Ytaliam,

Romam

pro

coronacione

anelans, .

ingreditur; sed apud Padwam per dictum ducem repulsum passus, frustrato negocio, ad partes rediit confusus.’ Mors ducis Mediolani. Dux iste, subiugata per eum Bononia,° mundi delicia et Ytalie gloria, et ante cuius conspectum quasi siluit terra,’ qui et magnum fluuium Powe per medium montium et multa miliaria abducens,> ad modum Ciri magni a Bablilone Efraten euertentis,° Padwamque lucratus, subita peste ad magnum peregrinorum dolorem succubuit,’ quia in uirga ferrea terras suas regendo, tutum uiantibus prestabat transitum per easdem; et certe credebatur quod si per annum diucius uixisset, quod Almanie et Ytalie in solidum imperasset. In cuiuslibet Europe principum familiis, pro nouis sibi explanandis, suis magnis expensis, eciam ipsos principes magnis muneribus sibi alliciendo, uotiuos exploratores habuit. Sed ecce iuxta illud uulgare, ‘in male quesitis uix gaudebit tercius’, eius auunculus, archiepiscopus Mediolanensis, uir magnanimus et imperii uicarius, in imperatoris castris suos nepotes, dominum Galias, istius ducis patrem, et dominum Bornabo, ipsius patruum, capitaneos, mortis sue tempore, dimittendo, eis elacionem et mutuam infestacionem, imperii iura subtrahendo, in persona istius tercii dedit male quesita eradicari.® Mediolanensi duce predicto defuncto, Bauarie dux, in imperatorem electus, ad papam pro confirmacione solempnes transmisit nuncios, quam obtinuit, ut infra. Bononia, Perisium, et alie ecclesie terre duci defuncto commendate rebellant, sed dicti cardinalis sancti Eustacii ad subieccionem reducuntur industria.’ Per totam ' The comet was visible through most of February and March; it was commented on by numerous British and continental writers, and variously interpreted (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 274-5; and see for example Annales, p. 338; Continuatio Eulogii, p. 389). ? Rupert of Bavaria was defeated by Giangaleazzo at the ‘battle’ of Brescia on 21 Oct 1401, and returned to Germany in April 1402 (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti,

pp. 269-70). * In June/July 1402 (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, pp. 279-80).

eo Maccwns3: * Giangaleazzo took Padua in 1388, but lost it again in 1390; in the summer of 1402 he tried unsuccessfully to divert the Brenta (not the Po) in the hope of retaking Padua (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, pp. 81, 122-3, 276-7, 284). ° The story that Cyrus (d. 529 Bc), biblical king of Persia (Ezra 1: 1) diverted the Euphrates during his siege of Babylon in 539 comes from Herodotus, History, i. 191. di Beene died on 3 Sept. 1402 (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, p. 298). * Giovanni Visconti, archbishop of Milan 1339-54, was not vicar of the empire, though his father Matteo was in 1311-22; at Giovanni’s death he divided his lands

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

157

frequently be seen in the sky at this time.! The duke of Bavaria was elected emperor and, desperate to be crowned at Rome, marched into Italy; but he was driven back by this duke at Padua and retreated in disarray to his own land, having failed in his attempt.” The death of the duke of Milan. Having conquered Bologna,’ the splendour of the world and the glory of Italy, this duke, a man before whom all the earth was quiet, and who had acquired Padua by diverting the mighty river Po for many miles in the middle of the mountains,’ just as the great Cyrus turned the Euphrates away from Babylon,° died suddenly of the plague’—to the dismay of pilgrims, for he had ruled his territories with a rod of iron, thereby

affording a safe passage to those who travelled through them. It was confidently believed that had he lived another year he would have united Germany and Italy under his rule. He kept paid informers in every princely family in Europe, who, even though it cost him a great deal, kept him informed as to what was going on, and by the generosity of his gifts he even won over the princes themselves to his side. Remember, however, that common saying that ‘ill-gotten gains scarcely descend to the third generation,’ for it was his [great-]uncle, the archbishop of Milan, a man of noble spirit, and vicar of the empire, who, at the time of his death, sent out his two nephews, namely Lord Galeazzo, the father of this duke, and Lord Bernabo, his uncle, to be captains of the imperial

castles, thereby usurping the rights of the empire and bequeathing to them a legacy of pride, mutual hatred, and ill-gotten gains, those very gains which were to be dissipated in the person of this third generation.’ Once the duke of Milan was dead, the duke of Bavaria, having been elected emperor, sent solemn messengers to the pope asking to be confirmed, which was duly done, as noted below. Bologna, Perugia, and the other lands of the church which had surrendered to the dead duke, now rebelled, but were brought under control through the efforts of the aforesaid cardinal of St Eustace.’ Throughout the between Bernabo and Galeazzo, which worked reasonably well until Galeazzo’s death in 1378, but in 1385 Giangaleazzo imprisoned (and may have murdered) Bernabo (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, pp. 6-9, 31-4). For the popularity of the proverb cited (‘de rebus male acquisitis non gaudebit tertius heres’), see J. W. McKenna, ‘Popular canonization as political propaganda: the cult of Archbishop Scrope’, Speculum, xlv (1970), 608-23, at p. 619 n. 60.

Cossa re-took Bologna for the papacy in Sept. 1403, and Perugia in October (Kitts, Baldassare Cossa, pp. 217-19).

1402

158 1402

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

Lumbardiam et Tuscaniam pacis et concordie dissoluuntur federa, et Gwelforum et Gyblynorum parcialitate ferro et flamma uibrantur disturbia. Vndecimo? kalendas Januarii indulgenciarum, unionum, excepcionum, pluralitatum, et aliorum curiam defamancium, me pre-

sente, reuocantur, ymmo uerius renouantur, excessus, quia heu, reuocatorum nouum forum reconciliacionum inualuit.' In uim

1403

1402

dicte unionis reuocacionum, presencium compilatori archidiaconatum Bogomham cum ecclesiis de Knle, Tysbury et Deuerell in Angl’, sed guerra Wallie hoc? impediente, archidiaconatus Landaw’ et de Kermerdyum, cum ecclesia de Landeuaelauc cum prebenda de Lanbistre, papa sibi contulit in Wallia.’ Anno Domini millesimo quadringentensimo secundo, Ladislaus rex Neapolis, regnum Vngarie iure hereditario pro se petens, manu id intrauit forti, sed, sola Sclauonia subiugata, per Sysmundum, Anne regine Angl’ fratrem, regno incumbentem, postea imperatorem, uiriliter repulsus, in Italiam cum rubore est reuersus.’ O Deus,* quam dolenter iam ecclesia duobus, et imperium tribus, presidentibus mutuis se infestant et deuastant cladibus; et presertim Grecorum, ex genere Constantini magni, Brutonum regis, et sancte Elene filii radicatum, imperium, per ipsum a Romanis in Grecos, et demum a Grecis per Sthephanum papam in Germanos,’ translatum,? Turcis et Tartaris noscitur desolatum. Captiuitas Edmundi Mortemer. In festo sancti Albani, iuxta Knyghton in Wallia, inter Anglicos sub domino Edmundo Mortemere et Wallicos sub Oueno Glyndour quam graui innito conflictu, et miseranda cede ad octo milia inde contingente, dicto O cessit uictoria. Et heu me, dictus dominus meus Edmundus, cuius me pater et dominus de Vsk ad scolas exhibuit, belli fortuna abducitur * marg. note in later hand, forum indulgentiarum renouatum > interlined ° marg. note in later hand, papae 2, imperatores 3 4 imperium repeated

'Walsingham was sufficiently alarmed at this bull to copy it in full (Annales, pp. 35060).

* Usk was granted these shortly before Boniface IX’s death in Oct. 1404 (CPL vi. 445). Llandyfaelog is in Dyfed, Llanbister in Powys; Knoyle, Tisbury and Deverill are in Wiltshire.

* Ladislas of Durazzo, king of Naples 1386-1414, claimed Hungary through his

father’s marriage; supported by Boniface IX, he was crowned at Zara on 5 Aug. 1403, but

was defeated near Raab and returned to Naples in Oct. (M. Creighton, A History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack ofRome (6 vols., London, 1903-5), i. 174-5).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

159

whole of Lombardy and Tuscany the bonds of peace and friendship evaporated, and the rivalry of the Guelphs and Ghibellines raged furiously with fire and sword. On 22 December, in my presence, wrongful indulgences, unions, exceptions, pluralities, and other things which brought discredit to the curia, were revoked—or rather, it is truer to say that they were renewed, for unfortunately there soon emerged a new trade in reinstatements to those things which had been revoked.! Despite the fact such that unions had been revoked, the pope conferred on the compiler of this present work the archdeaconry of Buckingham with the churches of Knoyle, Tisbury and Deverill in England; the Welsh war thwarted this, however, so instead he granted me the archdeaconries of Llandaff and Carmarthen, with the church of Llandyfaelog together with the prebend of Llan-

1402

bister.’ In the year of our Lord 1402, Ladislas king of Naples, who also claimed to be the rightful heir to the kingdom of Hungary, invaded that country with a powerful army, but only managed to subdue Slavonia before being forcibly driven out by Sigismund, the brother of Queen Anne of England, and later emperor, who held the kingdom at the time; whereupon he returned rather shamefaced to Italy. O God, what misery there is now, with two rulers of the church, and three of the empire, squabbling amongst themselves and tearing each other apart; and this is particularly true of the Greek empire, descended from the line of Constantine the great, king of the Britons, the son of St Helen, and transferred by him from the Romans to the Greeks and then by Pope Stephen from the Greeks to the Germans,’ which is now in the process of being overrun by Turks and Tartars. The capture of Edmund Mortimer. On the feast of St Alban [22 June], a fierce battle was fought near Knighton in Wales between the English under Sir Edmund Mortimer and the Welsh under Owen Glendower, in which as many as eight thousand persons died miserable deaths before Owen emerged victorious. And it grieves me to relate that this Edmund, my lord, by whose father, the lord of Usk, I was supported at the schools, was by the fortunes 4 Usk is referring to the ‘Donation of Constantine’ under Pope Sylvester I (314-35), and the ‘Donation of Quierzy’ under Pope Stephen II (752-7): cf. G. Barraclough, The Medieval Papacy (London, 1968), pp. 36-41. For Constantine as king of the Britons, see Historia Regum Britannie, pp. 50-1.

1403

1402

160 fo. 173° 1402

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

captiuus; qui eciam per emulos in Angl’ |omnibus bonis priuatus ac redimi impeditus, captiuitatis dolores mitius* ut euaderet, dicti Oweni filiam, de qua filium nomine Leonellum et tres filias, licet iam cum matre extra una filia mortuos, procreauerat, ad magnum populi rumorem noscitur duxisse uxorem.? Ac demum in castro de Hardeleghe, per exercitum Angl’ obcesso, de (quo)* adhuc mira canuntur in festo, dies suos quam dolorosos finiuit.! Isto? anno eciam dominus Grey de Ruthyn ad duorum milium de suis necem per eundem Owenum captus, mancipatur et carceribus, sed sexdecim milium librarum auri redempcione ab eisdem liberatus exstitit.2 De tanto infortunio Angl’ dominio per dictum Owenum causato mea, dum cogito, uiscera contremiscunt; nam totam Walliam cum eius marchia, triginta milium de cauernis exeuncium consorcio stipatus, omnia parcium castra, inter que de Vsk, Carlyon et Nuportus,’ subuertit ac opida succendit. Quid mora? Velut alter Assur, furoris Dei uirga,* inauditam tyrannidem ferro et flamma miserime uibrauit. Ista® Rome per auditum habui, in qua tunc omnia sub foro uenalium procedebant negocia, adeo quod non secundum merita, sed ad maiora precia conferebantur beneficia, unde quisque pecuniosus et inanis glorie cupidus ad sui promocionis effectum pecunias suas‘ in mercatorum habuerat banco.? Quare, sicut ueteris testamenti uenalitate sacerdocium corrumpente tria cessarunt miracula, ignis scilicet sacerdocii inextinguibilis, et odor interfeccionis non grauabilis, ac fumus inpressibilis, timeo quod in nouo testamento et ita continget. Et ad hoc, ut michi uidetur, indies ad ianuas ecclesie pulsat. Hoc anno rex, cum centum milibus et ultra in tres partes diuisis, Walliam militariter contra Owenum inuadit; sed ipso cum suis 7 miscius MS > marg. note in later hand, Edmundus Mortymer duxit filiam Oweyni © suppl. in CAU, p. 77 4 marg. note in later hand, Dominus Grey captus * marg. note in later hand, omnia uenalia Rome (cf. Lateinische Sprichworter, iv. 628) f sua MS

' This was the battle of Bryn Glas (near Knighton, Powys); Edmund, youngest son of Edmund earl of March (d. 1381), was rumoured, ‘probably unfairly, to have colluded with Glendower in his capture; as Usk suggests, it was probably English indifference to his fate which led to his defection. He married Owen’s daughter Catherine in Nov. 1402, and died at the siege of Harlech in 1409, when his wife and daughters were captured; they died in the Tower in late 1413 (Lloyd, Omen Glendower, pp. 50-2, 58-9, 137; Devon, Issue Roll of the Exchequer, pp. 321, 327).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

161

of war taken captive; whereupon, having been deprived of all his goods and prevented from ransoming himself by his enemies in England, and in order to mitigate the rigours of his captivity, he married Owen’s daughter, which occasioned a great deal of murmuring amongst the people; he fathered three daughters by her, as well as a son called Lionel, although all of them, including their mother, are now dead, apart from one daughter. He eventually

ended his unhappy life in Harlech castle, besieged by an English army;' and these remarkable events are still to this day sung about at feasts. Lord Grey of Ruthin was also captured and imprisoned by Owen this year, two thousand of his men being slaughtered in the process, but he regained his liberty by paying a ransom of sixteen thousand pounds in gold.” My heart trembles when I think of this dire blow against English rule inflicted by Owen; backed by a force of thirty thousand men who would issue forth from their caves, he seized castles everywhere throughout Wales and the march—including Usk, Caerleon, and Newport*—and burned the towns. What more can I say? Like another Assyrian, the rod of God’s anger,’ he vented his fury with fire and sword in unprecedented tyrannies. I heard about these things in Rome, where everything was for sale, and benefices were granted not according to merit but to the highest bidder; where anyone with more money than sense who sought to rise in the world would bank his money with merchants so that it could be used to secure his promotion.’ The result of which will be, I fear, that what happened in the old testament— when the priesthood became so corrupt through venality that the three miracles, namely the unquenchable fire of the priesthood, the harmless odour of the sacrifice, and the ceaseless smoke, ceased to exist—will come to pass again in the new testament. Indeed it seems to me that such dangers are even now hammering at the very portals of the church. This year the king led a force of a hundred thousand men and more, in three divisions, to attack Owen in Wales, but Owen and 2 For Grey’s capture and ransom, see above, p. 134. 3 These three castles were attacked by Glendower in Aug. 1402, apparently unsuccessfully (Lloyd, Omen Glendower, p. 54). Eilsayt0s 5: 5 Cf. Proverbia Sententiaeque, iv. 628 (Rome omnia sunt uenalia’). Comments on the venality of the curia were common in English chronicles: Cf. Vita Edwardi Secundi, ed. N. Denholm-Young (London, 1957), pp. 46-8.

1402

162 1402

1403

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

miseris in cauernis et nemoribus delitescentibus,* rex, deuastata patria, et cum infinita animalium preda, gloriose rediit ad propria.' ’‘Dominus de Fyz Water,’ dum Rome erat meis adquiescens consiliis, sed in hoc me inconsulto, uolens a Roma per mare Meapolym transire, a Saracenis capitur et Thony, principalis barbarorum ciuitatis, aduehitur carceribus; sed, per mercatores de Ianua redemptus, ad Angliam propter eius disturbia redire differ-

ens, moritur Veneciis.” Bulla confirmacionis imperatoris.* Pro dicta confirmacione imperatoris istud proponitur thema, ‘Pater, clarifica? filium tuum.” Et per papam respondetur ad modum collacionis in utroque, ‘Manus mea auxiliabitur ei.’* Et ecce confirmacionis bulla:°

Bonifacius episcopus, seruus seruorum Dei, karissimo filio nostro Roberto Bauarie duci, in regem Romanorum electo, salutem et apostolicam benediccionem. Pater inmense maiestatis altissimus‘ clementi prouidencia cuncta disponens, terrarum orbem disposuit sub distinccione regnorum, illaque consulte dirigi uoluit et salubri regimine gubernari, ne humane creature status,* que sui creatoris ymaginem et similitudinem representat, tempestuose fluctuacionis mundi confunderetur turbine, uel eius quietis dulcedine impediretur, quinymo ut omnes sub iuris

et honestatis regula limitati® uita pacifica uiuerent, et ab offensione alterutrorum

abstinerent,

ac naturali

affectu factorem

summum cognoscerent, cognitum colerent, et suo reuerendo imperio subiacerent. Demum Pater ipse, ex alto prospiciens populum, quem creauerat, dampnacionis sentenciam incurrisse, regem pacificum, unigenitum filium suum, Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, misericorditer in mundum pro ipsius redempcione populi destinauit; qui carnem’ nostre mortalitatis indutus, populum eundem ab eterne cruciatu mortis eripuit, et suo sanguine precioso redemit. Nos igitur, in hac terrestri patria @ delitentibus MS

imperator

6b underlined

4 carifica MS

© marg. note in later hand, confirmatur

© This bull is in O. Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesiastici,

ed. G. D. Mansi (34 vols., Rome, 1738-59), viii. 94-6. The text given there is longer, and has many different readings; occasional additions or corrections from this text are given below * Raynaldus: altissime MS ® Raynaldus: statum MS » Raynaldus: limitata MS " Raynaldus: carne MS ' Apparently the abortive royal expedition of Sept. 1402 (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 108-9). ? Walter Lord FitzWalter died on 16 May 1406 (GEC v. 481).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

163

his wretches remained in hiding in the caves and forests, so the king devastated the land and returned home in great pomp, taking with him an enormous booty in animals.! While he was in Rome, Lord FitzWalter accepted my counsel; one matter upon which he did not consult me, however, was his journey from Rome to Naples, during which he was captured at sea by the Saracens and carried off as a prisoner to Tunis, the chief city of the barbarians. Although ransomed by Genoese merchants, he later died at Venice, having delayed his return to England because of the disturbances there.’ The bull confirming the emperor. For the above-mentioned confirmation of the emperor, the following text is used: ‘Father, glorify thy son.’? To which the pope replies in the form of a sermon in each kind, ‘Mine arm shall make him strong.” And this is the bull of confirmation: Boniface, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our dearest son Rupert duke of Bavaria, who has been elected king of the Romans, greetings and apostolic blessing. In order that the human race, which is made in the image and likeness of its creator, should not be engulfed in the stormy vicissitudes of the world or prevented from enjoying peace, and, furthermore, in

order that all should live their lives in tranquility, bound by the rule of law and propriety, desisting from causing offence to their neighbours, acknowledging their maker with due affection, and, once they know him, worshipping him and submitting themselves with reverence to his authority, the almighty father, boundless in his majesty, by whose merciful providence all things are ordered, has divided up this earthly world into kingdoms, wishing them to be ruled and governed with fitting consideration and management. After some time, however, this father, looking down from on high upon this people whom he had created, and seeing that they had incurred sentence of damnation, mercifully sent into the world, for the redemption of his people, the king of peace, his only begotten son our Lord Jesus Christ, who, having taken on our fleshly mortality, delivered this same people from the agony of eternal death, and redeemed them with his precious blood. We therefore, who, albeit unworthily, exercise his office on this earth, keep watch like a 3 John 17: 1.

4 Ps, 88 (89): 22.

1402

1403

164 1403

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

gerentes, licet immeriti, uices eius, uigilias more pastoris tam corporales quam mentales erigimus,* uisuri quid gregi commisso expediat et quid operis inpendi debeat, ut, illius suffulti presidio, cuius sunt terre cardines,' cui cogitaciones hominum

fo. 174"

preparantur,’ quique actus mortalium superat, partes officii salubriter exponemus ad ea que fidelibus necessario expedire uiderimus. Sane dudum felicis recordacionis Vrbanus papa sextus,’ immediatus predecessor noster, prouida meditacione considerans mundum positum peccatis exigentibus in maligno, et quod, disponente Domino, cui obediunt uniuersa, Romana mater ecclesia super reges et regna, tanquam mater omnium et magistra, suppremum obtinet principatum, ut per eius ministerium regatur salubriter catholice fidei firmamentum, per diuersos nuncios atque literas repetitis uicibus paternis affectibus excitauit karissimum in Christo filium nostrum Wynceslaum, tunc Romanorum et Boemii regem, ut, pro defensione militantis ecclesie, ac honore et statu sacri imperii, prout|eius exigebat officium, ad suscipiendum imperiale diadema ad partes accederet Ytalie. Et uidens eum ad hoc nimia tepere desidia, imperii electores, tanquam imperii membra precipua, sepe eum monendo interdum literis nonnunquam nunciis, instantissime requisiuit ut prefatum Wynceslaum ad descendendum, premissorum causa, in Ytaliam oportunis modis atque remediis hortarentur, et instanciis ac monicionibus debitis pulsarent.° Demum autem, eodem Vrbano predecessore nostro, sicuti Domino placuit, ab hac luce subtracto, nos diuina clemencia ad apicem summi apostolatus assumpti, maximo anime feruore flagrantes ad obuiandum scandalis que Romane ecclesie, sponse nostre, ac consequenter imperio, cernebamus iugiter exoriri, tam per nuncios quam per literas paternis affectibus partes nostras intermisimus, ut prefatum Wynseslaum ad huiusmodi descensum diuersis modis quos oportunos putauimus, nichil possibilitatis penitus® omittendo quod expediens uisum fuerit, inducere ualeremus; et uidentes exortaciones dicti predecessoris et nostras nichil proficere, ne

quid (intentatum)? in tam graui causa ponderosoque negocio

prouidencia apostolice curie amitteret, uenerabilibus fratribus et

2 erigentes MS 4 supplied from Raynaldus

' 1 Kgs. (1 Sam.) 2: 8.

> Raynaldus:

propulsarent

> 1 Kgs. (1 Sam.) 2: 3.

MS

©“ amonendo

del.

* Roman pope 1378-89.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

165

shepherd over the affairs of both mind and body, in order to see what is to the profit of the flock entrusted to us, and what labours need to be undertaken, so that, supported by his protection, we can exercise our office with discretion in relation to

those matters which we consider to be beneficial to the faithful—“‘for the pillars of the earth are his,”! and ‘by him actions are weighed,” and he governs the actions of mortals. Recently, therefore, our immediate predecessor Pope Urban VI of happy memory*—bearing in mind, after careful consideration, that the

world, with all its sins, was in an evil way, and that, by the will of

the Lord, to which all things are subject, the mother church of Rome, mother and mistress of all things, has supreme lordship over kings and kingdoms, so that through its ministry the edifice of the catholic faith should be properly maintained—acting out of fatherly affection, sent a number of messengers and letters on several occasions urging our dearest son in Christ, Wenzel, then king of the Romans and of Bohemia, to come to Italy to receive the imperial crown, for the defence of the church militant, and for the honour and welfare of the holy empire, as his office required him to do. Seeing, however, that Wenzel was too idle to

take an interest in this, he also urgently requested the imperial electors, as the chief members of the empire—continuing all the time to send messengers and letters of admonition to Wenzel— to use whatever means they could to encourage him to come down to Italy, and indeed to urge and warn him that he must do this, for the reasons stated. Later, moreover, after it had pleased

God to take our said predecessor Urban from this world, and we had been raised up by divine mercy to this apostolic summit, and were burning with heartfelt zeal to root out the scandals springing up everywhere to the injury of the church of Rome, our spouse, and consequently of the empire as well, we too, for our part, tried with fatherly affection, through both letters and messengers, and in other ways that seemed appropriate to us, trying every possible means that we considered suitable, to persuade the said Wenzel to make this journey. Seeing however that neither our efforts nor the efforts of our predecessor came to anything, but still thinking, nevertheless, that in a matter of such importance and gravity the apostolic curia in its wisdom should leave no possible avenue unexplored, we recall to mind that we also wrote repeatedly to our esteemed brothers and

1403

166 1403

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

dilectis filiis sacri imperii electoribus crebro nos scripsisse memoramus, ut, attentis periculis ex tanta secordia Wynseslai prefati ecclesie et imperio ac Christiane religioni iugiter ingruebant, et signanter cum Gallia, quam semper animaduertimus ad usurpacionem uel saltim diuisionem ecclesie et imperii totis conatibus inhiare, imperialem ciuitatem Ianuensem in ipsius Ytalie faucibus positam, occupasset,' eundem W, ad ueniendum in Ytaliam more dominorum predecessorum suorum, ut e mani-

bus nostris imperiale diadema reciperet, et ad occurendum ne predicti Gallici pedem in Ytalia radicari ualidarent, necnon ecclesiam et imperium iuxta sui status debitum defensaret *(debitis modis et opportunis remediis et monitionibus excitarent).* Tandem electores ipsi, uidentes moram ipsius infinita dispendia causare, et exortaciones predictas frustra fore et inanes, ad hanc rem tam sanctam et Christianitati necessariam

penitus obduratas, ipsumque W ad regimen dicti imperii esse omnino inutilem, et ne bona imperii ipsius desidia tenderent irreparabiliter in collapsum, nobis per eorum nuncium significari curarunt quod, prefati W segnicia diligenter inspecta, ex qua?’ mundo pullularunt® discrimina, ipso amoto, ad alterius eleccionem qui eis potenter occurreret procedere disposuerunt;

(et) licet ipsius W deposicio ad nos totaliter spectare noscatur, ad ipsius W deposicionem a prefato regno Romanorum, auctoritate nostra suffulti, concorditer processerunt, et te, karissimum filium nostrum Bauarie ducem, comitem Palatinum Renicorumque coelectorem, inregem Romanorum et futurum imperatorem concorditer eligerunt. ‘Tuque, super hoc digesta meditacione prehabita, ad ipsorum et aliorum instanciam, huiusmodi eleccioni consensum tuum liberum prebuisti. Postmodum uero, per solempnes ambaciatores pro parte tua, nobis fuit humiliter supplicatum ut huiusmodi W deposicionem et tui eleccionem et quecumque inde secuta auctoritate apostolica approbare, et personam tuam abilem et ydoneam ad suscipiendam prefatam imperialis culminis dignitatem decernere et declarare de benignitate solita dignaremur. Nos igitur, de omnibus premissis fide ** supplied from Raynaldus 4 suppl. ed.

> Raynaldus: ‘quo MS

© ululurant

MS

' Genoa placed itself under French protection on 25 Oct. 1396 (Bueno de Mesquita, Giangaleazzo Visconti, p. 205).

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E USK

167

beloved sons the electors of the holy empire, urging them that— bearing in mind the dangers that are continually crowding in upon the church, the empire, and the Christian religion as a consequence ofthis idleness on the part ofthe said Wenzel, and remembering in particular that France, which, so it seems to us,

is constantly striving with all its might to usurp, or at least to divide, the church and the empire, has now seized the imperial city of Genoa, which is situated right in the jaws of Italy!—they should try by all possible means available to them to persuade Wenzel to come to Italy, as his predecessors did, so that he might receive the imperial crown from our hands, find a way to stop the French from strengthening their foothold in Italy, and defend the church and the empire, as he is, by his office, bound to do. At length, however, the electors themselves, seeing that his delay was creating innumerable dangers, and that, despite their persistence in this matter, so sacred and so vital to Christendom, their encouragement was futile and pointless, and seeing also that Wenzel himself was entirely incapable of ruling the empire, and being afraid that the integrity of the empire might be utterly destroyed by his sloth, took the precaution of informing us through their messengers that, having taken full account of Wenzel’s idleness, which had created such perils in the world, they had decided to remove him and to proceed to the election of someone else who would be able to cope better with such matters; and thus, despite the fact that it is well known that the deposition of the aforesaid Wenzel pertains to us alone, they agreed—backed by our authority—to proceed with the deposition of the said Wenzel from the kingdom of the Romans, and unanimously elected you, our dearest son the duke of Bavaria, count Palatine and co-elector of the Rhine, as king of the Romans and next emperor. And you, having carefully considered the matter, at the request of them and of others freely gave your consent to this election. Following this we were humbly requested by solemn messengers acting on your behalf that it might please us to approve by apostolic authority this deposition of Wenzel and election of yourself, as well as anything that might follow from them, and to declare and pronounce you, with our customary benevolence, to be a fit and suitable person to take up this exalted imperial dignity. We, therefore, having heard your request, and having been fully and faithfully informed of all

1403

168 1403

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

plenaria nobis facta, et de persona tua quantum tua paciebatur absencia, de tuis* quoque moribus et condicionibus uirtuosis, ac deuocione quam te erga nos et Romanam ecclesiam gerere comprobaris, et super hiis omnibus cum fratribus nostris sancte Romane ecclesie cardinalibus diligenti deliberacione prehabita, tuis supplicacionibus inclinati, de ipsorum consensu, ad laudem et gloriam Dei, ac gloriam uirginis Marie et beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli, ac honorem dicte Romane ecclesie, et bonum

ac proficuum sacri imperii et presertim statum mundi, discriminibus et periculis ex dicti W negligencia uerisimiliter uenturis, ipsius W deposicionem et tui eleccionem prefatam et quecunque inde secuta rata habentes et grata, te in specialem nostrum et dicte ecclesie filium suscipimus, tibi nostros graciam et fauores concedentes, tuaque persona idonea computata, te pronunciamus et in regem Romanorum assumimus, te idoneum ad hoc declarantes, ac decernentes unccionem et consecracio-

nem imperialem ac imperii diadema per manus nostras tibi fore inpendenda, suplentes omnem defectum que circa huiusmodi eleccionem inueniri poterit quouismodo, ex certa sciencia et apostolice plenitudine? potestatis. Precipientes omnibus fidelibus et uassalis imperii, cuiuscumque condicionis existant, eciam si regali aut pontificali dignitate prefulgeant, ut tibi sicut regi Romanorum, in imperatorem promouendo, pareant efficaciter et intendant. Nulli ergo° omnino hominum liceat, etc. Datum Rome, apud sanctum Petrum, kalendis Octobris, pontificatus nostri anno quartodecimo. fOmenAu

Mors Persy. Anno sequenti,' pro Angl’, ut dicitur, corona comiti Marchie captanda, sussitata inter regem et domum de Persy, scilicet comitatus Northumbrie, quia dicto comiti affinem,’ hostili discordia, ad commocionem regni permaximam cum utraque parte diuisi; et disposito in crastino sancte Marie Magdalene ob hoc bello, rex, ad consilium comitis Dunbar de Scosia, eo quod ad tunc pater domini Henrici Persy et Owenus de Glyndour * Raynaldus: uotiuis MS

> plenitude MS

© et cetera del.

' The battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403; the fullest contemporary account is in Annales, pp. 361-71.

* Hotspur’s wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund earl of March (d. 1381); in his

defiance to the king at Shrewsbury, he claimed that Edmund, the heir to the earldom

of March, should have become king in 1399 (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 358).

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E USK

169

these matters, as well as of your person—insofar as we can be in your absence—and of your virtuous disposition and conduct, and of the devotion which you acknowledge that you bear towards us and the Roman church, and after careful consideration of all these matters in consultation with our brothers the cardinals of the holy Roman church, and acting with their consent, and for the honour and glory of God, and the glory of the Virgin Mary and the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and the honour of this church of Rome, and in the interests of the holy empire, and above all for the welfare of the world—and bearing in mind the perils and dangers which are, in truth, likely to result from the negligence of Wenzel, and reckoning his deposition and your election, and whatever might follow from them, to be both valid and acceptable to us—accept you, of our certain knowledge and the fullness of our apostolic power, as our chosen one and as a son of the church; and we grant you our grace and favour, and declare you to be a suitable person, and nominate and elevate you to the office of king of the Romans, pronouncing you to be worthy of this, and decreeing that you should receive the imperial anointment and consecration and the crown of the empire from our hands, thereby removing any obstacles that might arise from the manner_of this election. Moreover, we enjoin all the faithful and all the vassals of the empire, regardless of their status, including even those who have been dignified with royal or priestly titles, effectively to acknowledge and be attendant upon you as king of the Romans, shortly to be raised to emperor. Therefore let no man in any way, etc. Given at Rome, at St Peter’s, 1 October, in the fourteenth year of our pontificate

[1403].’ The death of Percy. In the following year,' after a violent quarrel had broken out between the king and the house of Percy, that is, the family of the earl of Northumberland, who, it was rumoured,

wanted to seize the crown of England for the earl of March because of their kinship with him’—which caused turmoil in the realm, because it was divided between the two sides—a plan was formed to settle the issue by battle on the morrow of the feast of St Mary Magdalen [23 July]; the king, however, acting on the advice of the Scottish earl of Dunbar, pre-empted the appointed day, because Sir Henry Percy’s father and Owen Glendower were at

1403

CHRONICON

170 1403

ADE

VSK

cum multitudine glomerata contra regem aduenturi erant, diem statutum preueniens,! contra dictum dominum Henricum et dominum Thomam Persy, comitem tunc Wygorn’, dirissimum induxit bellum, et, facta ex utraque parte clade ad numerum sexdecim milium in campo uocato Berewyk cruentissima, ubi et idem rex pro ibidem cadencium animabus hospitale fundauit,’ per duo miliaria a Salopia, in uigilia dicte sancte, eidem regi bellum huiusmodi agegredienti cessit uictoria. In quo bello dictus dominus Henricus, milicie Christiane flos et gloria, cum dicto patruo suo dolenter occubuit; unde et illa prophecia exstitit? impleta, quod ‘bestia abiecta duo lune cornua sibi auferet.’? Ceciderunt eciam duo nobiles milites in armatura regis, ac si alter rex insigniti, qui? causa saluacionis regis in ultima belli acie® positi exstiterant. Vnde et comes de Duclas de Scosia, in campo cum dicto domino Henrico, et eius captiuus existens, cum regi Henrico uictoriam acclamari audiuisset, mirando dixit, ‘Nonne duos reges Henricos’—scilicet dictos milites innuendo—‘manibus meis interfeci? In mala hora nostra adhuc tertium uictorem patimur superstitem.”* Circuitus. Plene circuitus indulgencie, aliarum ecclesiarum uisitando labores diffusos alleuiando, in septem¢ consistunt ecclesiis, scilicet sanctorum Iohannis Latronens’, Marie Maioris, Crucis

in Ierusalem, Petri, Pauli, Laurencii extra muros, Fabiani (et)° Sebastiani.° Item, cum diffusum fuerit uisitare omnia loca indulgencie in ecclesia sancti Petri citra circuitum, septem sufficit altaria uisitare, scilicet sancti Petri maius, in quo et requiescit—prout et sanctus Paulus ita in ecclesie sue maiori altari, eorum licet capita apud dictum sanctum Iohannem Latronens’ auro existant ornata®°— * exstistitit

MS

’que

MS

© interlined

4 interlined

© suppl. in CAU, p. 83

' This passage is ambiguous, and may mean either that the king pre-empted the date agreed between himself and Hotspur, or that he pre-empted the date upon which Hotspur, Northumberland, and Glendower, having by then joined forces, hoped to fight the king. I suspect that what Usk meant was the latter; no other chronicler mentions any such agreement between Hotspur and the king. For George Dunbar, Scottish earl of March, see above, p. 134. ;

* The king founded a chantry on the site in 1409 (CPR 1405-8, p. 263; CPR 1408-13, p. 59; POPC i. liii), though the present chapel at Berwick House dates only from 1671; see Annales, p. 365, for a prophecy told to Hotspur that he would die at a place called Berwick, which he naturally thought to be Berwick-upon-Tweed. ’ Thomas Percy was captured in the battle, and beheaded on 23 July. The ‘horns of

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

I7I

that moment advancing with a great host against the king.' On the eve of this feast, therefore, he launched a fearsome assault against

this Sir Henry and Sir Thomas Percy, then earl of Worcester, about two miles from Shrewsbury, at a place called Berwick, where the king later founded a hospital for the souls of those who had fallen there.’ This battle saw terrible slaughter on both sides, leading to the loss of sixteen thousand lives, but in the end it was the king who, having begun the assault, emerged as the victor. Sad to say, this Sir Henry, the flower and glory of Christian knighthood, died in the battle, as did his afore-mentioned uncle, whereby the prophecy was fulfilled that ‘the outcast beast shall bear away with him the two horns of the moon.” Also among those who died there were two noble knights who were wearing the king’s armour, each of whom had been decked out to look like the king, and who, for the king’s safety, had been stationed in the last line of battle; as a result of which, when the Scottish earl of Douglas, who had taken the field with the aforementioned Sir Henry—having previously been captured by him—heard that victory was being claimed for King Henry, he exclaimed in amazement, ‘Have I not already killed two King Henrys’—by which he meant the two knights— ‘with my own hands? It is an evil hour for us, that we should have allowed a third one to survive to claim the victory.” The circuits. In order to alleviate the considerable effort required to visit the other churches, the circuits of full indulgence comprise seven churches, as follows: St John Lateran, St Mary Major, St Cross of Jerusalem, St Peter, St Paul, St Lawrence without the walls, and SS Fabian and Sebastian.’ Also, since it would be laborious to include within the circuit a visit to each of the places of indulgence in St Peter’s church, it is only necessary to visit seven altars, namely the high altar of St Peter, where he lies—as St Paul does in the high altar of his church, although their heads are at the aforementioned church of St John Lateran, adorned with gold°— the moon’ refer to the Percy livery badge of the crescent moon (R. Taylor, The Political Prophecy in England (New York, 1911), p. 113), but I cannot find the prophecy referred to. 4 Archibald earl of Douglas (1400-24), captured at Homildon Hill, remained a prisoner in England until 1408; this story is taken up by Shakespeare, The First Part ofthe History ofHenry IV, V. iii-iv, presumably from a different (now lost) source. 5 For comment on this passage, see Parks, The English Traveler 1, pp. 593-600. The full list of ‘stational churches’ numbered over forty. 6 They had been moved there from the Lateran palace by Pope Urban V on Easter Monday 1370 (E. Kirschbaum, The Tombs of St Peter and St Paul, trans. J. Murray (London, 1959), p. 206).

1403

172 1403

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

item, sancte Crucis, Veronice, sancti Gregorii, Fabiani et Sebastiani, Leonis pape, et sancti Andree. Patriarchales. Item, in urbe quatuor existunt patriarchales ecclesie, scilicet, sancti Iohannis Latronens’, que est mater urbis et

orbis,! in qua et est sedes papalis et per quam papa uocatur pontifex Romanus, olim Constantini magni palacium, sancto Siluestro per eum ad hoc donatum, sed per Neronem tamen prius constructum; secunda, sancte Marie maioris; tercia et quarta, sanctorum Petri et Pauli; in quibus omnes cardinales tanquam canonici intitulantur, et in quarum altaribus maioribus nemo celebrat nisi papa solus; licet in urbe multe sint alie ecclesie, prout hoc uersu continetur:* “Sunt Rome mille sexcente quinque capelle.’°’ A quodam coauditore meo in rota, Meapoli oriundo, habui quod hiis diebus quedam nauis eiusdem ciuitatis a Saracenis capta erat, in qua una nobilis domina existens, pocius eligens mori quam per ipsos uiolari, se subito misit in mare et ita submersa est. Post dictam cedem inter regem et dictum dominum Henricum

Persy contingentem, Owenus cum homunculis cauernas et nemora

(relinquens),4

quasi

oportunitatem

captans,

in multitudine

glomerata usque ad Sabrinum mare totam circuit Walliam, et quosque sibi resistentes, aut ultra idem mare, ubi per pagenses tanquam Wallici expoliati erant, (propulit),° aut ferro et flamma, eciam ecclesiis non parcendo, unde et ad ruinam finaliter deuenit, ad sui dedicionem subegit. Et cum maxima preda ad suas aquilonares Wallie partes, unde panditur omne malum Wallie, cum interna adulteriorum suorum publicorum malediccione, pro suo tutamine, et ad montes rediit Snowdonie.* Homines Bristoll’, cum armata classe sub capitaneis Iacobo Clyfford et Willelmo Rye, armigeris, Glanmorgancie partes, ecclesiam Landauens’ spoliando, inuadunt; sed per miraculum sancti Theliai a pagensibus diuicti, cum eorum ruina non modica, confuse sunt repulsi.* * marg. note in later hand, Versus

Henri(c)us in Walia

-b underlined

@ suppl. in CAU, p. 84

© marg. note in later hand,

© suppl. ed.

' Usk is paraphrasing the inscription on the pediment of the church, ‘omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput.’ Constantine donated the Lateran palace to Sylvester’s predecessor, Pope Miltiades (311-14), in 312, though it may have been Sylvester who began the construction of the basilica next to the palace in 314 (Barraclough, Medieval Papacy, pp. 19-20). > Recte ‘Sunt Rome mille quingente quinque capelle’ (Proverbia Sententiaeque, v. 213) * The ‘Annals of Owen Glendower’ say of his 1403 campaign that ‘all Glamorgan rose with him; Cardiff and Abergavenny were burnt’ (Lloyd, Owen Glendower, pp. 151-2).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

173

along with St Cross, St Veronica, St Gregory, SS Fabian and Sebastian, St Leo the pope, and St Andrew. The patriarchal churches. There are also four patriarchal churches in the city, namely St John Lateran, ‘the mother of the city and the world,” which houses the papal throne—from which the pope is called the Roman pontiff—and which used to be the palace of Constantine the great, but was given by him to St Sylvester for this purpose, although it was originally built by Nero; secondly, St Mary the greater; thirdly and fourthly, St Peter and St Paul; it is in these churches that the cardinals all receive their canonical titles,

and the only person allowed to celebrate mass at their high altars is the pope himself. There are, however, numerous other churches in the city, as is demonstrated by the verse, ‘one thousand six hundred and five, is the number of chapels in Rome.” I heard from one of my co-auditors in the rota, a Neapolitan by birth, that at about this time a certain ship from his city was captured by the Saracens, and that in this ship there was a noblewoman who, preferring death to ravishment at their hands, suddenly threw herself into the sea and was drowned. Following the battle mentioned above between the king and Sir Henry Percy, Owen, seizing his chance, emerged with his manikins from the caves and the woods and marched with a great host right across Wales as far as the Severn sea; those who resisted him he either drove across the sea—where, being Welsh, they were

persecuted by the local people—or forced with fire and sword into surrender; nor did he spare even the churches, which ultimately was to lead to his downfall. Then, taking enormous quantities of booty with him, he returned to the safety of the mountains of Snowdonia in the north of Wales, the source of all the evils in

Wales, while the people silently cursed his flagrant barbarities.’ The men of Bristol, captained by the esquires James Clifford and William Rye, took an armed fleet and raided Glamorgan, plunder-

ing the church of Llandaff, but through a miracle of St Teilo they were defeated by the local people and driven off in confusion, with considerable loss.‘ 4 The tomb of St Teilo is in Llandaff cathedral (D. H. Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford, 1978), p. 368); Clifford was a king’s esquire and keeper of Caldicot castle (Monmouth), Rye was keeper of Cardiff castle. The king was at Bristol in Oct. 1403,

whence he despatched a force to Wales (CPR 1401-5, p. 438; Wylie, Henry IV, i. 374-5,

445; iv. 257).

1403

174 1402

CHRONICON ADE VSK

Suspensio fratrum. Prior de Launde et dominus *Rogerus Claryndon, miles fraterque regis Ricardi spurius,* ac undecim de ordine fratrum minorum, in theologia doctores, quia dicto Oweno con-

federati, per proprios socios regi detecti, apud Tyborn’ London’ post tractum crudeliter furcis sunt suspensi; multique domini et domine, eciam comitisse, eadem causa carceribus sunt mancip-

ate.! 1405

Inuasio Brutonum. Rex ducis Brytanie relictam, regisque Nauarie sororem, per eam releuari sperans, duxit in uxorem. Sed statim, spe frustrata, Britones, nupcias detestantes, una cum Gaallicis,

comite marescallo Aquitanie et domino de Huguyle Normannie eorum ducibus, in magno exercitu in succursum et expedicionem Oweni

intrarunt Walliam, et totam marchiam

ferro et flamma

deuastando nocumenta non modica intulerunt Anglicis.” Maritacio filiarum. Rex duas filias suas, unam regi Dacie et

alteram (filio)® ducis Bauarie tunc imperatoris electi, de (quo)° supra, cum non modica regni collectacione, contulit in uxores.} 0. 175" 1402

Domus de Persy, modicum ante predictum eius |infortunium, apud Hyllyndon Hyll in marchia Scocie, in uno conflictu multa milia Scotorum trucidauit, necnon multos nobiles, de quibus et Duclas, de quo supra, captiuos fortuna belli sui aduexit carceres. “* Ex qua, ut creditur, uictoria, dicta domus in nimiam superbiam elata, iuxta illud uulgare, ‘ante ruinam cor hominis exaltatur’,° collabitur in occasum. Et nemirum, quia lignum non sarra cedit, nec securis secat, sed manus hominis. Ita manus Dei sola uictoriam

1404

tribuit. Hiis diebus ecclesiam Herforden’ uacantem pro presencium conpilatore papa disposuit,° sed Anglicorum sibi resistencium 2-4 underlined > suppl. in CAU, p. 85. 4 marg. note in later hand, domus de Persy

© suppl. in CAU, p. 85

" Roger Clarendon, natural son of the Black Prince, Walter de Baldock prior of Launde (Leics.), and their accomplices were hanged in May 1402 for proclaiming that Richard II was still alive (Annales, pp. 339-40; Continuatio Eulogii, pp. 389-94, which gives the number of Franciscans hanged as eight). The mention of ‘countesses’ probably refers to the conspiracy of the countess of Oxford in 1403-4 (Traison et Mort,

pp. 267-77).

* Joan was the sister of Charles III of Navarre (1387-1425) and widow of John de Montfort, duke of Brittany (d. 1399). She married Henry by proxy on 3 April 1402, the wedding being solemnized by the two parties in person at Winchester on 7 Feb. 1403 (Wylie, Henry IV, ii. 135-7, 149-51). A Breton force burned Plymouth in Aug. 1403; but Usk is referring here to the raid of Aug. 1405, led by Jean de Rieux, marshal of France,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

175

Friars are hanged. The prior of Launde and Sir Roger Clarendon, a 1402 knight, the natural brother of King Richard, along with eleven friars ofthe Franciscan order who were doctors of theology, were betrayed to the king by their fellows as being in alliance with the aforesaid Owen, and were drawn to Tyburn in London and cruelly hanged at the gallows there; and many lords and ladies, even countesses, were sent to prison for the same reason.! The invasion ofthe Bretons. The king took as his wife the widow of the duke of Brittany, who was also the sister of the king of Navarre, hoping through her to gain some assistance. His hopes were 1405 promptly dashed, however, because the Bretons, disapproving of the marriage, allied themselves with the French under the command of the count marshal of Aquitaine and the lord of Hugueville in Normandy, and took a large force to Wales to help and support Owen, devastating the entire march with fire and sword and inflicting sub-

stantial losses on the English.’ Daughters are married. The king gave his two daughters in marriage, one to the king of Denmark, and the other to the son of the duke of Bavaria, who was at the time emperor elect, as mentioned above; for which he imposed a heavy tax on the kingdom.’ The house of Percy, a short time before the foregoing disaster befell them, slaughtered many thousands of Scots in battle at Homildon Hill in the march of Scotland, where, by the fortunes of war, they also took many noble prisoners, including the aforementioned Douglas, whom they carried off into captivity;* and it was this victory, so it was thought, that made their house so puffed up with pride thatit later fell headlong to its ruin—as witness the common saying, ‘pride goeth before destruction.’ And let no-one be surprised at this, for it is not the saw which cuts the log, nor the axe which chops, but the hand of man; and so too it is the hand of God alone that bestows victory. There occurred at this time a vacancy in the church at Hereford, to which the pope provided me, the compiler of this present work;° however, this appointment was opposed out of envy by the English, and Jean de Hangest, lord of Hugueville (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 383-5; ii. 300-3; Foedera, viii. 325, 406, 412; Annales, pp. 375-6). 3 For Blanche’s marriage, see above, p. 122. Philippa married Eric, king of Denmark (deposed 1438) at Lund on 26 Oct. 1406, though they had been contracted to marry since May 1402; she died in 1430 (Wylie, Henry IV, ii. 434-54). 4°‘Homildon Hill’ (Humbleton, near Wooler, Northumbs.) was fought on 14 Sept. > Prov. 16: 18. 1402 (Wylie, Henry IV, i. 291-4). 6 John Trefnant bishop of Hereford died in Apr. 1404, and was succeeded by Robert Mascall on 2 July (CPL v. 583).

1402

1404.

176 1404

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

inuidia suisque literis una cum intoxicacione ipsum regi, unde

eciam *magnis infortuniis* °quatuor annis? in terra et in mari

uelut exul cruciatus exstitit, deprauancium, non promocionem sed depressionem ac ultimatam paupertatem omnibus beneficiis et bonis, inter extraneos cum loseph linguam quam non nouerat audiendo, licet pro consilio auro remuneratus, reportauit priuatus. In Anglia interim parliamenta celebrantur multa, in quibus et contra prouisiones apostolicas strictiora sunt statuta, et plus solito clerus et populus grauiori taxantur collecta. Et nemirum, quia ita erauantur et guerra contra Franciam, Scociam, Hiberniam, Walliam et Flandriam se defensando, ac sexaginta milibus auri libris a Wallia eis solui consuetis guerra causante destituti. Owenus* apud Machenllith? et montanis sua eciam miseria‘ cum duellorum et aliarum

regaliarum

usurpacione,

licet

ad

sui

confusionem,

celebrat—ymmo symulat seu confyngit—parliamenta.' Comes Northumbrie, pater predicti domini H incliti, ad instanciam et rogatum tocius parliamenti, licet ad cassum, in breui reconsiliatus exstitit domino regi. In quo parliamento quidam uernaculus, Serlo cognominatus, propter mortem ducis Gloucestrie, de quo supra, trahitur, suspenditur, euisceratur, decapitatur et quatripercitur.’ Litera regia. Presencium‘ compilator, propter emulorum suorum

detractaciones, suis scriptis regi factas, licet et in cassum, eidem regi transtulit directas, et per episcopum Sarum; sibi presentatas: Humillima ac deuotissima recommendacione premissis, cum iugibus oracionibus ad Deum pro salute regie maiestatis. Excellentissime et clementissime principum, quod, cum aliis, obtenta per me licencia a celsitudine regia ut curiam Romanam uisitarem, sicuti postea uisitaueram, placuit sancto in Christo patri ac domino nostro, domino Bonifacio, diuina prouidencia pape moderno, me, licet ad hoc indignum, ipsius sacri palacii dominorum auditorum aggregare collegio. Ego uero in eo confisus, qui aspera in plana conuertere* ac mentem aridam fonte *4 magnus infortunius MS >> interlined Owenus parliamentum tenuit ad Machenllith

© marg. note in later hand, 4 underlined © misera MS

* marg. note in later hand, litere ad regem

" Glendower is thought to have held ‘parliaments’ at Machynlleth in summer 1404, at Harlech in August 1405, and perhaps at Pennal in March 1406 (Lloyd, Owen Glendower, pp. 82-4, tor, 119; Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, pp. 163-6). * For Northumberland’s pardon in the Jan. 1404 parliament, see RP iii. 524-5. William Serle, an esquire of Richard II’s chamber who had escaped to Scotland in 1399, was captured on the northern border and brought to the king by William Clifford in June

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

Way

who wrote letters to the king and poisoned his mind against me, so that, far from being promoted, I was humiliated, and spent the next four years undergoing dreadful hardships, condemned to suffer like an exile by land and sea, stripped of all my benefices and goods, reduced to the depths of poverty, and forced like Joseph to live amongst strangers whose language I did not know—although I was at least paid for my counsel. Meanwhile in England several parliaments were held, in which even stricter decrees against papal provisions were passed, and even harsher taxes than usual were imposed on the clergy and the people; and no wonder, for they were hard pressed to hold their own in the wars against France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Flanders, and were also, as a result of the war, deprived of sixty thousand pounds of revenue which they used to receive from Wales. Owen, in his wretchedness, held—or rather aped, or mimiced—parliaments at Machynlleth, and in the mountains, where he would usurp rights of combat and other royal privileges, although it did him no good.' The earl of Northumberland, father of the famous Sir Henry mentioned above, was, at the insistent plea of the entire parliament, soon reconciled to the king, but the reconcilation proved a hollow one. And in the same parliament a certain villein called Serle was drawn, hanged, disembowelled,

beheaded, and quartered for his part in the death of the duke of Gloucester, for which see above.’ A royal letter. Because of the slanders of my enemies, I, the compiler of this present work, wrote in my own hand the following letter to the king, giving it to the bishop of Salisbury’ to be delivered to him—although it was of little avail: Despatched with most humble and devout greetings, and with unceasing prayers to God for your royal majesty’s health. Most excellent and merciful prince, I recently obtained from your royal highness, in common with others, a licence to visit the Roman curia, and once I had arrived there, our lord and holy father in Christ, lord Boniface, by divine mercy the present pope, was pleased to appoint me, unworthy as I am, to the noble college of auditors of his sacred palace. Whereupon, placing my trust in him who can smooth the rough paths,’ and who alone can water the 1404. Two months later he suffered a frightful fate, even the king declaring that ‘by reason of the judgement against him rendered and executed he endured great number of pains, more severe than other traitors heretofore’ (Annales, p. 390; CCR 1402-5,

PP- 203, 352-7)

3 Richard Medford, bishop of Salisbury 1395-1407.

* Cf. Luke 3: 4-5.

1404

178 1404

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

sue gracie solus potest irrigare, quod insufficienciam meam sue benignitatis rore fecundet, sperans, huiusmodi gratuitum munus, ad laudem Dei, et ut culmini regio suisque deuotis per hoc utilius obsequi possem, acceptando, illud exerceo, et aliquamdiu, si expensarum morandi fortuna arrideat, prout melius

sciuero,

diuina

gracia inspirante,

exercere

propono,

offerens me corde et animo regiis beneplacitis et mandatis, quibus iuxta paruitatis mee modulum seruire iugiter sum paratus; supplicans quam humiliter et deuote maiestati regie, sub cuius umbra uiuo et uolito, cum nichil aliud michi adeo sit acceptum sicuti incolumis status, felix processus, et insignis triumphus eiusdem, quatinus cum regie pietatis benigne memoria qualiter de absencia alias eiusdem, inuidie iaculis causata, teste domino meo, fratre uestro,! condolui (cui tunc? uestri prosperum, ut accidit, predixi regressum, de quo quam felici eciam gauisus, prout spero uestram regiam non latere bonitatem, ad quod particeps mea seruicia, licet inbesillia, usque ad apicem maiestatis regie condignissime adeptam, propriis expensis fidelissime adhibui) meeque tantillitatis etatem iam prouectam uberius promouendam, caritatis intuitu, eadem maiestas dignetur habere recommissam. Hanc mei humilis et fidelis sui oratoris ac seruuli bone uoluntatis oblacionem innatis sibi clemencia et mansuetudine placite accipiat, meis detractoribus °sue pietatis® aures nullatenus inclinatura, sed me cum rebus et amicis meis sub alis et protectione celsi brachii sui benignius dignetur confouere; cui contra hostes uotiue triumphare, hic quoque feliciter et diu regnare, et postea ad regna pertransire celestia, concedat ille per quem omnes reges et principes dominantur. Scriptum Rome, regni uestri anno quinto, mensis Septembris die duodecimo.’ Mors Bonifacii. In festo sancti Michaelis, Francie, Castelle, Arrogonie regum aliorumque Auinionensis® presidentis principum * ipsius del.

>

interlined

© Auionensis MS

' Perhaps Henry Beaufort (bishop of Lincoln 1398-1404, of Winchester 1404-47), the king’s half-brother.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

179

arid heart with the well of his grace, and hoping therefore that he 1404 might temper my inadequacies with the dew of his loving

kindness, I decided, for the glory of God, and in the hope that I might thereby be able to be of greater service to your royal highness and to your followers, to accept this gift, which is unpaid; moreover, I continue to exercise this office, and propose to go on doing so, with God’s help, and to the best of my ability, and provided that I am fortunate enough to find the wherewithal to meet my expenses while I remain here, for some time yet, thereby enabling me with heart and soul to put my services at your royal disposal and command, which I am, in my small way, always prepared to further. I most humbly and devoutly beg your royal

majesty, therefore, in whose shadow I live and act—for nothing is more desirable to me than your own safety, good fortune, and conspicuous success—that you will, in your kingly mercy and benevolence, bear in mind how distraught I was at your former absence, caused as it was by the darts of envy, as my lord your brother! will bear witness (to whom, indeed, I foretold your welcome return at the time, just as it turned out, an event which brought me great joy, a fact which I hope has not been concealed from your royal highness, and at which time I joined you and served you most faithfully, insignificant as my contribution was, at my own expense, until the time when you were most deservedly raised to the pinnacle of royal majesty), and that, moved by charity, your royal highness might accordingly deign to relieve the present deprivations of my old age with some further promotion. I beg you to receive this offering from me, your humble and loyal servant and most menial well-wisher, with your characteristic compassion and forbearance, and under no circumstances to lend your ears to those who speak ill of me, but to be kind enough to take me, my belongings and my friends under your wing, and to afford us the protection of your great and merciful power. And may he who is the king of all kings and princes grant you the successes against your enemies that you desire, and along and happy reign here on earth before passing on to the heavenly kingdom. Written at Rome, on 12 September, in the fifth year of your reign

[x404].

The death ofBoniface. On the feast of Michaelmas [29 September], a solemn embassy on behalf of the kings of France, Castile, Aragon, and the other rulers who gave their obedience to the Avignonese

180 1404

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

obedienciarium ex parte, ad Bonefacium papam, eis publicam audienciam prestantem, solempnis pro unione ecclesie uenit ambassiata.! Quem archiepiscopus sancti Poncii de Francia affatur in hec uerba, ipsum nullatenus papam approbando:* ‘Metuendissime domine, si non proprie aliorum saltim animabus compaciamini, dominus meus ad omnem unionis uiam, eciam usque ad mortem, inclinari se offert paratum.’ Vnde et dominus Bonefacius ita prorupit, ‘Dominus tuus est falsus, sismaticus, et ipsemet antichristus.’ ‘Salua reuerencia, pater, non ita. Dominus meus est sanctus, iustus, uerus, catholicus, et in uera sancti Petri cathedra

fo. 175”

residens’, et ultra cum impetu idem archiepiscopus hec protulit uerba, ‘et non est symoniacus’. "Vnde Bonefacius, illis uerbis adeo attonitus, in cameram rediens infra biduum post uita eradicatur humana.” De quo, eadem nocte, duas uisiones habui.*° Prima erat quod beatum Petrum, pontificalibus solempniter insignitum, ultra sui portam sedere, et alium figuratum tristem et squalidum papam a sinistris sedentem in terram proicere, conspexi. Secunda apparuit michi una uulpes, canibus insecuta et in aqua ramum salicis superexcrescentis |in ore pro sui sustentacione tenens, usque ad nares abscondita,? et iterum a canibus ibidem explorata timore quod aquam dimisit et, in foueam pro ultimato refugio intrans, de cetero disparuit. Vnde intellexi quod uulpes, licet semper rapax, macra tamen continue remanet; sic et ipse symonia plenus nunquam tamen usque ad sepulturam satiatus. Item, unus Teutonicus ostendit michi quandam literam per unum sanctum uirum a partibus directam, qua et ipse asseruit se sanctum Michaelem uidisse eundem Bonefacium uiolenta alapa ad terram proiesisse; et ita in die suo, etc., ut supra. Per mortem domini pape finitur saluus ambassiatorum conductus; unde per capitaneum castri sancti

Angeli in eo detruduntur captiui.? Pro* eleccione noui pontificis Romani cardinales intrant conclaue, regis Neapolitani suorumque sex mille militum custodie a marg. note in later hand, nota dialogum pape et archiepiscopi © marg. note in later hand, nota somnia 4 absconsa MS hand, electio noui pape

-b underlined © marg. note in later

' Cf. Creighton, History of the Papacy, i. 181-2 (who wrongly dates the interview to 22 Sept.). The Avignon pope was Benedict XIII (1394-1417). Pierre Ravat, bishop (not archbishop) of St Pons de Thomieres in France, and Pedro de Zagarrida, bishop of Lérida in Aragon, led the embassy. * Boniface died on 1 Oct., having long suffered from gout and a stone in the bladder.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF ADAM

USK

181

hierarch, arrived to discuss the unity of the church with Pope Boniface, and he granted them a public audience.! Whereupon the archbishop of St Pons in France, refusing to recognize him as pope, addressed him in the following fashion: ‘Most dread lord, even if you yourself feel no compassion for the souls of others, my master has declared himself willing to do all he can, even to the extent of laying down his own life, for the sake of achieving union.’ At which Boniface burst out, ‘Your master is false, schismatic, and the very antichrist!’ ‘Saving your reverence, father, that is not true. My master is holy, just, true, and catholic, and he is also sitting on the rightful throne of St Peter’—and then this same archbishop added more forcefully, ‘and nor is he a simoniac.’ And so dumbstruck was Boniface at these words that he retired to his chamber, where, two days later, he breathed his last.” That same night I had two visions concerning these events. In the first I saw St Peter seated outside his gate, solemnly dressed in his papal garb, hurling to the ground a dejected and filthy-looking character who seemed to be a pope, and who was sitting on his left. In the second there appeared before me a fox which, since it was being chased by dogs, jumped into the water and seized in its mouth a branch from an overhanging willow-tree in order to stay afloat, submerging itself right up to its nostrils; but when the dogs found it again, it came out of the water and, as a last resort, ran in terror down a hole, where it disappeared from view. I understood this to mean that the fox, despite always being greedy, constantly remains thin; and thus it was with him too, for although he grew fat on the fruits of simony, he was never satisfied, even to his dying day. A certain

German also showed me a letter which had been sent by a holy man from far away, in which he too claimed to have seen St Michael violently striking this Boniface and hurling him to the ground—which, as already noted, is precisely what happened when his day came. As a result of the pope’s death, the safeconduct granted to the ambassadors was invalidated, so the captain of Castel Sant’Angelo locked them up in the prison there.’ For the election of the new pontiff, the Roman cardinals went into the conclave, the protection of which was entrusted to the king His simony was notorious (Creighton, History of the Papacy, i. 183; Kitts, Baldassare Cossa, pp. 231-2). 3 The castellan of Sant'Angelo was Antonio Tomacelli; he released the envoys ten

days later on payment of 5000 ducats (Creighton, History of the Papacy, i. 185).

1404.

182 1404

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

commendatum.! Insurgunt Romani pestiferi in duas partes Guelforum? et Gybilynorum,” et per tres septimanas cladibus et spoliis et homicidiis se mutuo infestantes, et pro pape in parte illorum singulari creacione instantes, ad palacium tamen sancti Petri et conclaue propter dictam custodiam accedere non ualentes. Vnde eorum parcialitas unum extra utriusque gremium, Innocencium scilicet septimum, in Solmona oriundum,’ in papam eligi causauit. Cuius eleccione publicata, Romani ipsius hospicium inuadunt et, more eorum rapaces, ymmo uerius corruptela mordaces, ipsum spoliant, nichil penitus quantum fenestrarum barras in eo relinquentes. Conclaue‘ est locus continuus, nullo intermedio separatus, pro eleccione futuri pape cardinalibus deputatus, et debet esse undique conclusus et muratus, ita quod, preter unum paruum ingressus hostiolum, et post huiusmodi ingressum omnino claudendus, remanebit fortiter munitus. In quo et una parua fenestra pro uictualibus, propriis expensis cardinalium, eis attribuendis, et ad aperiendi et claudendi oportunitatem erit aptata. Et habent singuli paruas pro dormiendi et reficiendi necessitate tabulatas camerulas, loca tantum tria communia, scilicet priuetam, capellam, et eleccionis tractande locum solum habituri; post primos tres dies, dum in eo fuerint, unum solum carnium uel pissium ferculum in die, et post quinque extunc dies, solum panem et uinum, usque ad concordiam accepturi.’ O Deus, Cesaris et Augusti, Salamonis et Alexandri, Assueri, Darii et Constantini magni, quo pertransiuit gloria? Sed quo transibit et ista, futuro euentui sit committenda:

Sedet hic in trono et osculantur pedes; Regis atque Cesaris non curantur edes. * underlined

> underlined

© marg. note in later hand, conclave pro elec-

tionem pape

' The nine cardinals present in Rome entered the conclave on 12 Oct. Ladislas did not reach Rome until 19 Oct., so was not there at the time of Innocent VII’s election (F. Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, trans A. Hamilton, (8 vols., London, 1894-1902), vi (2). 568-9). * Cosimo dei Migliorati was from Sulmona in Abruzzo, then in the kingdom of Naples; he was elected on 17 Oct. For the Roman riots of Oct. 1404 see Creighton, History of the Papacy, i. 184. * Compare the much more detailed account by John Burchard, papal master of

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

183

of Naples and six thousand of his soldiers,' while the pestilential Romans of each party, Guelphs and Ghibellines, rose up and spent three weeks fighting and robbing and killing each other, each side insisting that one of its supporters ought to be chosen as the new pope—although they could not gain access to the palace of St Peter or the conclave because of the above-mentioned guard which was mounted there. The upshot of their rivalry, however, was that the man elected to be pope—Innocent the seventh, who came from Sulmona’—did not come from either party. Once his election had been announced, the Romans, with their customary rapacity— amounting almost to an addiction to vice—descended on his house and completely stripped it, leaving nothing behind, not even the bars on the windows. The conclave is an open-planned building with no internal divisions, built specifically for the cardinals to elect the future pope, and must be enclosed and sealed off on each side, so that,

with the exception of one little door by which they go in, and which is shut tight once they have entered, it can remain firmly guarded. In this door there is also one small window, which can be opened and shut as required, and through which is passed the cardinals’ food, which they pay for themselves. They each have a little chamber where they sleep and refresh themselves, all on different floors, and there are just three communal rooms, namely the privy, the chapel, and a room which is used for nothing except the business of the election. If they are still there after three days, they get only one dish of meat or fish each day, and after a further five days, bread and wine only, until they can

reach agreement.’ O God, what has become of the glory of Caesar and Augustus, of Solomon and Alexander, of Ahasuerus and Darius and Constan-

tine the great? And as to what will become of it in the future, only time will tell. Here he sits upon his throne, His feet are kissed by all, Not one of whom will spare a thought For a king’s or caesar’s hall. ceremonies, of the conclave of 1484, for which a special chamber was built (The Diary ofJohn Burchard of Strasburg, ed. and trans. A. H. Mathew (2 vols., London, 1910), i. 14-46).

1404.

CHRONICON

184 1404

ADE VSK

Christus dedit ueniam, nulla dat mammona.

Hic non intrat aliquis, nisi facta annona. Christus fuit humilis et eius uicarius piscator quam mitis. Sed hic me Plato quiescere iubet, etc. Promocionem huiusmodi domini mei Innocencii ita preuidi, quod a sacristia sancti Petri ad eius altare, rubiis de serico auri textis papalibus insignitus ornamentis, missam ascendebat celebraturus. Papa mortuus, pro obsequiis per nouem dies tentis, post eleccionis publicacionem ad sancti Petri defertur ecclesiam. A nouo papa cum Romanis feda fit concordia, quia cito post contrita, quod, retentis pape urbis dominio cum sancti Petri burgo et sancti Angeli castro ac sex milia florenorum sensu annuo, necnon senatoris, dum tamen ultra centum miliaria a Roma oriundi, prefec-

cione, cetera in Romanorum regimine cederent et comoda.' Rex predictus, Campania et Maritima ad annuum quinque annorum censum, quod postea causauit ecclesie tedium, a papa per eum captis, cum suo exercitu recessit a Roma.’ In* festo sancti Martini nouus papa pro sui coronacionis solempnitate a palacio sancti Petri ad eius ecclesiam descendit, et ad altare sancti Gregorii, auditoribus uestimenta sibi deferentibus, pro missa inuestitur. Et in capella® sancti Gregorii ad hoc egressu, capelle sue clericus unam longam cannam cum stupa in summitate gerens, qua stupa ignita per candelam, in hanc uocem clamat, ‘Pater sancte, sic transit gloria mundi’,° ac iterato in medio ita bis altiori uoce, ‘Pater sancte, pater sanctissime’, et tercia uice, ad ingressum altaris sancti Petri, trina ita uoce, ‘Pater sancte, pater sancte, pater sancte’, altissima uoce; et statim singulis uicibus extinguitur stupa.’ Prout et in coronacione imperatoris, in summitate glorie sue, cum omni genere artificii eorum instrumentorum cuiuscumque generis et coloris lapides per latamos sibi * marg. note in later hand, coronatio pape

® capelle MS

© marg. note in

later hand, nota

' This was in fact a tripartite agreement made on 27 Oct. between Innocent, Ladislas,

and the Romans, whereby the Romans recovered some of the autonomy they had lost under Boniface IX (Gregorovius, History ofRome, vi (2). 569-71; Creighton, History ofthe Papacy, i. 186-7). * Ladislas left Rome on 4 Nov. He continued to hold Campania and Maritima until his death in 1414 . He soon turned against the papacy, and in June 1413 his troops sacked Rome (Gregorovius, History ofRome, vi (2). 572, 628-9). * Cf. Diary ofJohn Burchard, i. 66-79; extinguishing the tow symbolized the passing of the world’s glory. See also L. Homo, Rome Medievale 476-1420 (Paris, 1934), pp. 165-7.

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

185

Christ forgave without a thought For what was cheap or dear, But he who will not give a bribe Will gain no entrance here.

Christ was humble, and his vicar was nothing but a lowly fisherman. But at this point Plato bids me hold my tongue, etc. I had foreseen the way in which my lord Innocent would thus be exalted: how, robed in the papal vestments of red silk woven with gold, he would ascend the path from the sacristy of St Peter to its altar to celebrate mass. After the announcement of the election, the dead pope was brought to St Peter’s church for the exequies, which lasted nine days. The new pope made a humiliating agreement with the Romans that he would retain the lordship of the city, the town of St Peter’s, and Castel Sant’Angelo, and would receive an annual tribute of six thousand florins and be entitled to appoint the senator—provided that this was someone not born within a hundred miles of Rome—in return for which he would concede control of other such matters to the Romans; but this agreement was soon disregarded.'! The aforementioned king [of Naples], having acquired Campania and Maritima from the pope in return for an annual tribute for five years, which was later to cause much trouble for the church, left Rome, taking his army with him.’ The new pope’s coronation ceremony was held on the feast of St Martin [11 November], when he came down from the palace of St Peter to St Peter’s church; and it was here, at the altar of St Gregory, that the auditors brought his vestments to him so that he could dress for mass. Just as he was leaving the chapel of St Gregory, the clerk of his chapel, who was carrying a long tube on the top of which was some tow, lit the tow with a candle, shouting out as he did so, ‘Holy father, thus does the glory of the world pass away! Then, as he walked forward, the clerk again shouted out twice, in a louder voice, ‘Holy father, most holy father!’ And then just as the pope approached St Peter’s altar, he shouted out for the third time, at the top of his voice, three times, ‘Holy father, holy father, holy father! On each occasion the tow was immediately extinguished.’ And this is just like the coronation of the emperor, when, at the moment of his supreme glory, stones of every type and colour, cut with the utmost skill by the tools of craftsmen, are

1404

186 1404

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

offerri solebant, ita ei clamando, ‘Excellentissime princeps, de quo genere lapidum uis tibi tumbam fieri?’ Triplex pape corona. Item, nouus papa, finita per eum missa, altum theatrum ad hoc ordinatum ascendit et ibi per cardinalem Hostiensem,! quia collegii decanum, triplici corona aurea solempniter coronatus existit. Prima designat potestatem in temporalibus, secunda paternitatem in spiritualibus, tercia et magnificenciam in celestibus. Et subsequenter, in eodem apparatu albo, prout et omnes prelati ita in albis, eciam abinde ad ecclesiam sancti Iohannis Latronensis, quia propriam pape cathedralem sedem, per Romam equitant, ad detestacionem tamen pape Agnetis, cuius ymago de petra cum filio suo prope sanctum Clementem in uia recta existit,’ per obliquum declinans, pro sui intronizacione, eandem ecclesiam papa, ab equo descendens, ingreditur. Vbi in porphiria cathedra, ob hoc forata, experto per iuniorem cardinalem quod habet uirilia, sedet;** et cum cantu “Te Deum laudamus’, ad

summum altare defertur. Lex Iudeorum. Tudei, in uia eorum, legem, hoc est uetus testamentum, ei obtulerunt, eius confirmacionem petentes, quam papa, eo quod per eam ad agnicionem filii Dei et fidem nostram deuenimus, dulciter in suis recepit manibus, "et ita respondit, ‘Lex uestra bona est; uos tamen non intelligitis eam, quia uetera transierunt,

omnia noua facta sunt.’°* Sed quasi obprobriose, quia eam non

fo. 176°

intelligunt in errore indurati, ultra sinistram scapulam, non infirmando nec confirmando, ipsam retradit eisdem. Missila in uulgus. Item, equitabunt cum papa non solum eius curiales et clerus, ymmo eciam tresdecim urbis regiones cum eorum capitaneis et uexillis |precedentibus. In transitu, ad euacuandum populi pressuram, tribus uicibus iactabantur missilia in uulgus, per quorum colleccionem facilior erat transitus.6 Iam * marg. note in later hand, exploratur papa an habet uirilia

b-b underlined

' Angelo Acciaiuoli (Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica, i. 25). * ‘Pope Joan’, whose story is almost certainly mythical, was supposed to have lived in the mid-ninth or late eleventh century. John Hus at the Council of Constance also called her Agnes. The story was that, as pope, she had given birth in the middle of a procession, between the Colosseum and San Clemente, on the present Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, which is where Usk must have seen this statue (R. Pardoe and D. Pardoe, The Female Pope (Wellingborough, 1988), pp. 25-32, 46). * Usk is probably wrong here, so can hardly have been present at this stage of the coronation; but the story of the ‘sexing’ of each pope at his enthronement was widely believed, and remained popular until modern times (Pardoe and Pardoe, The Female

Pope, pp. 50-1; Diary ofJohn Burchard, i. 77).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

187

presented to him by stone-cutters who shout out, ‘Most excellent prince, of what kind of stone do you wish your tomb to be made?” The triple crown of the pope. When the new pope has finished saying mass he goes up on to an elevated platform specially built for the purpose, where he is solemnly crowned with the triple gold crown by the cardinal of Ostia,! as dean of the college. The first crown signifies power in temporal matters, the second paternal guidance in spiritual matters, and the third pre-eminence in heavenly matters. Then, still robed in white, he and the prelates, also all dressed in albs, ride from there through Rome to the church of St John Lateran, the pope’s own cathedral church— taking a roundabout route out of abhorrence of Pope Agnes, whose stone statue, with her son, stands on the direct route close to St

Clement’s’—and, having arrived there, the pope dismounts and enters the church to be enthroned. Here he sits on a throne of porphyry through which a hole has been cut for this purpose, and is examined by one of the younger cardinals to ensure that he has male genitalia; whereupon, while “Te Deum laudamus’ is sung, he is led up to the high altar. The Judaic law. In their street the Jews presented him with their law, that is the old testament, asking him to confirm it; and, seeing that it was through this law that we gained our knowledge of the son of God and thus came to our faith, he took it from them with good grace, and replied, ‘Your law is good, but you fail to understand it; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ Whereupon, without either confirming or denying it, he passed it back to them over his left shoulder, intending this as a gesture of reproach for the fact that they do not understand it, and have for so long clung to their erroneous views. Offerings to the crowd. It was not just his courtiers and his clergy who rode with the pope, but also the thirteen regions of the city, preceded by their captains and their banners. In order to relieve the pressure of the throng, therefore, offerings were thrown into the crowd on three occasions during the journey, which made it easier to pass through while they were being gathered up. It 4 2 Cor. 5: 17. Diary of John Burchard, i. 75-6, says that in 1484 this ritual was performed near Castel Sant Angelo, though ‘on other occasions’ it took place in Monte Giordano (cf. also Homo, Rome Medievale, p. 166). 5 Three ‘handfuls of money’ were scattered as the pope left the piazza of St Peter, and more coins were thrown elsewhere during the procession (Diary of John Burchard, i. 75-6).

1404

CHRONICON

188 1404

ADE

VSK

gaudeo in tanta solempnitate me ministrum interfuisse, prout et ita in coronacione Henrici regis Angl’ quarti, ac confirmacione imperii, ut supra, eciam interfui. O Deus, in quantum Roma est dolenda; quia olim principibus et eorum palaciis plena, iam tigurriis, furibus, lupis, et uermibus, desertisque locis, eciam per ipsosmet Romanos se mutuo confringentes quam dolenter noscitur desolata. Ab Enea post Troianum bellum, prout et nacio mea eius pronepote, originem, Roma, traxisti;! unde et mutuo est locus dolendi. Et nemirum, primitus imperium per gladium, secundo eius sacerdocium per canteloquium, rodebant mundum. Vnde uersus, Versus.

| Romanus rodit, quos rodere non ualet, odit. Dantes exaudit, non dantibus hostia claudit.’

Vnde et quidam Teutonicus, coram me super uno beneficio litigans et, anticipacione date facta, per cameram pape uenditus, ait, Versus.

Roma dolenda, dole, quia laus perit et decus in te; Nam uendere defendis, tu tamen omnia uendis.

Sic quoque transibis, quia, heu, uendendo peribis. Vacante ecclesia London’, collegium auditorum unanimiter ad papam ascendit, rogando quatinus dominum Guidonem Mone, episcopum Meneuen’, ad ipsam transferret, et de Meneuen’ ecclesia istorum compilatori prouideret.? Quod et sibi summe placuit, ita dicendo, ‘Regracior uobis permaxime quod ipsum ita recommissum habetis, et nos gaudemus de tanta oportunitate qua sibi poterimus de meliori ecclesia patrie sue prouidere, quia solempnis ecclesia est; et bene eius statum et dictum Guidonem Mone, tempore quo fuimus collector in Anglia, nouimus.”* Sed, deuulgato negocio, cum clamore ualido et ore obtestantes regi? ac cardinalibus * regio MS

' Brutus, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth (Historia Regum Britannie, pp. 2-3). ? Alternatively, ‘Roma manus rodit’, etc. (Proverbia Sententiaeque, iv. 625, 629).

* Robert Braybrooke, bishop of London from 1381, died on 28 Aug. 1404, and Roger Walden was provided to the see on 1o Dec. (CPL vi. 6). Mone remained bishop of St David’s until his death in 1407. * Innocent was papal collector in England from 1379 to c.1386 (J. Favier, Les Finances Pontificales 1378-1409 (Paris, 1966), p. 730).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

189

gladdens my heart now to think of the part I played in such a ceremony, just as it does to think that I was also present at the coronation of King Henry the fourth of England, and at the confirmation of the emperor, which I have described above. O God, how pitiful Rome is! Once it was teeming with princes and their palaces; now it is abandoned and full of slums, thieves,

wolves and vermin, reduced to misery by the notorious internecine feuding of the Romans themselves. You, Rome, trace your origins from Aeneas in the aftermath of the Trojan war, my nation from his great-grandson;' and so our pity ought to be mutual. Yet this is hardly to be wondered at, for first of all its empire engulfed the world with the sword, and then its priests did the same with their double-talk. Hence these lines: Verses.

The Roman must have all he sees, And what he cannot have, he loathes. To those who give, he lends his ears,

But to the poor his gates are closed.’ It was in a similar spirit that a certain German who brought before me a case concerning a benefice which, in anticipation of a bribe,

was sold by the papal chamber, said, Verses.

Pitiful Rome, pity yourself, For your splendour and glory will die; You tell the world it must not sell, Yet a constant trade you ply. Alas, through such venality, Your doom approaches nigh.

When the church of London fell vacant, the entire college of auditors went to see the pope to ask him whether he might consider translating Guy Mone, the bishop of St David’s, to it, and providing me, the compiler of this work, to the church of St David’s’—a course of action which appealed to him greatly, whereupon he said, ‘We are extremely grateful to you for recommending him to us in this fashion; this is indeed a splendid church, and we are delighted to be given the opportunity to provide him with a better church in his own country, for we got to know much about this Guy Mone’s circumstances, and about the man himself,

while we were a collector in England.” Unfortunately, however,

news of this plan got out, as a result of which violent and vociferous

1404

190 1404

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

in Angl’ beneficiatis minando quod, si hoc permitterent, indig-

nante rege, beneficia sua perderent; iurarunt eciam quod rex eundem compilatorem ad carceres et furcas mitteret; insuper

mercatoribus, ne sibi de pecuniis prouiderent, et sub pena expellendi socios ab Anglia prohibuerunt. Et certe hic fuit summum negocii impedimentum, et ita frustratum. Die natalis Domini, misse pape et conuiuiis, prout et in aliis festis, cum aliis coauditoribus meis? officiariisque? interfui.° Et in prima missa, ad dextrum cornu altaris unus de auro perornatus gladius, erecto mucrone unum capellum cum duabus labellis ad modum mitre episcopalis portante, ponebatur, ad effectum quod imperatormet, si presens esset, cum illo gladio extracto euangelium, ‘Exiit edictum a Cesare’,’ tanquam diaconus, quia unctus,

legeret, et eundem gladium a papa pro se haberet.¢ Sed, propter imperatoris absenciam, uno diacono cardinale euangelium legente, comiti de Malepell’, quia tunc nobiliori presenti, eaundem gladium contulit papa.’ In eadem missa, dupliciter leguntur euangelium et epistola: in latinis per duos Latinos, et in Grecis, ad eorum approbacionem quia dicunt se expulsos ab ecclesia, et per duos Grecos.° Papa unum nobilem Romanum militem in hospitalis sancti Iohannis creauit priorem,’ ipsius mareschallo ipsum gladio cingente;‘ sed papa, extracto gladio, manu solum in fronte percussit eum, dicens, ‘Hunc ictum pro republica et fide Christiana sustineas.’ Nouus miles et alios circumstantes osculatur milites, et de

manu pape tunicam religionis induitur, talisque suis calcaria aurea de mandato pape per alium imponuntur militem. Duo? religiosi de Yndia nigerimi barbati papam salutant, et in signum fidei Christiane, cruces ad eorum pectora delatas necnon eorum baptisma ad aurem dextram, non flumine sed flammine, *mei MS > officiisque MS ° marg. note in later hand, missa pape 4 marg. note in later hand, gladium ad missam © marg. note in later hand, euangelium et epistola bis leguntur * marg. note in later hand, miles ® marg. note in later hand, Indi

1 Luke 2: 1. * The ceremony of the sword and hat went back at least to the mid-fourteenth century (and possibly much further), and was always performed at the Christmas midnight mass. The swords were commonly granted to monarchs, symbolizing their protection of

the church; ten papal swords still survive from the fifteenth century (C. Burns, Golden Rose and Blessed Sword (Glasgow, 1970), pp. 11-18). According to U. Balzani, ‘La Storia di Roma nella cronica di Adamo da Usk’, Archivio della societa romana di storia patria, iii

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

I9I

objections were made to the king, and threats were issued to those 1404 cardinals who held benefices in England that if they allowed it to go ahead the king would be so angry that they would lose their benefices; these people also swore that the king would send me to prison, or even to the gallows, and they forbade the merchants to advance money to me, threatening them with the expulsion of their partners from England. This was, indubitably, the chief stumbling block to the plan, and the reason why it came to nothing. On Christmas day I was present with my coauditors and other officers at the papal mass and the festivities, just as I was at other feasts. At the first mass, there was placed at the right-hand corner of the altar a sword, beautifully worked with gold, with its point facing upwards, upon which there was a cap with two tippets like a bishop’s mitre; the intention being that if the emperor were present he would, since he was anointed, hold up the unsheathed sword and read the text from the gospel as if he were the deacon, “There went out a decree from Caesar,’’ and the pope would then grant him the sword to keep for himself. But as the emperor was not there, one of the cardinal-deacons read the gospel, and the pope granted the sword to the count of Malepella, since he was the noblest person there.” During this mass the gospel and epistle are read twice over, in Latin by two Latins, and in Greek by two Greeks, to appease them, since they claim to have been driven out of the church. The pope created a noble Roman knight as prior of the hospital of St John,’ and his own marshal girded him with the sword; but, despite having drawn the sword, the pope simply touched him on the forehead with his hand, saying, ‘Suffer this blow for the good of all, and for the Christian faith.’ Then the new knight kisses the other knights present, and the pope with his own hands invests him with the tunic of religion and orders another knight to attach the golden spurs to his heels. Two men of religion from India, bearded and very darkskinned, came to greet the pope, showing him as proof of their Christian faith the crosses which they wore on their chests and the marks of baptism on their right ears, made not with water but with (Rome, 1880), 473-88, the recipient on this occasion may have been count Manopello. es 3 The prior was beheaded on the capitol by the civic governors on 25 March 1405 (Gregorovius, History ofRome, vi (2). 573-4).

192 1404

1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

ostendunt, dicentes, ‘A tempore quo in omnem terram apostolorum Iesu Christi sonus exiuit,! et presertim a tempore sancti Thome, apostoli nostri, licet alii deuiauerint a fide, nunquam tamen deuiauimus, sed ueri sumus Christiani.”” Et gratam audienciam habuerunt. Supplicacio. Vsk. Huiusmodi supplicacionem presencium compilator tradidit pape: ‘Pater sancte, in uilla seu burga de Vsk, Landauensis dioceseos, est quoddam monasterium priorisse et conuentus monialium honestissimum, sub professione ordinis sancti Benedicti, ab olim competenter in possessionibus, redditibus, et aliis prouentibus honeste dotatum, deuotissime Deo famulancium; in quo monasterio solum uirgines de nobili prosapia procreate recipi consueuerunt et solent. Iam uero, propter incendia, spolia, et alios fortuitos casus ex guerris in illis partibus frementibus et alias causatos, idem monasterium ad tantam inopiam deuenit quod, nisi eidem per sanctitatem uestram de remedio cicius prouideatur oportuno, eedem moniales pro uictu et uestitu aut discurrendo per patrias mendicari, seu in domibus amicorum priuatis morari, compellentur; ex quo uerisimiliter scandala timentur prouenire. Et cum infra cepta dicti monasterii sit quedam capella in honore sancte Radegundis uirginis monialis, olim Francie regine,’ constructa, ad quam homines illius patrie magnam gerunt deuocionem, et eam frequenter et presertim infra festa Pasche et Pentechostes uisitare solent, ideo supplicat sanctitatem uestram deuotus capellanus uester, sacri palacii apostolici causarum auditor, qui de eadem uilla seu burgo originem duxit, et cuius nonnulle* earundem monialium existunt consanguinie,° quatinus, monasterio priorisse et monialibus supradictis pro paterno compacientes affectu, omnibus Christicolis qui in secundis feriis dictorum festorum deuote, tociens quociens dictam capellam uisitauerint, perpetuis futuris temporibus duratis, et ad eam manus porrexerint adiutrices, aliquam, eidem sanctitati conplacentem, indulgenciam dignemini concedere graciose, cum clausulis necessariis et oportunis, ut in forma.’ Et ita papa signauit, “Fiat ut petitur, pro quinque‘ annis et totidem quadragenis’, prout in dicta capella patet. * nonnulli MS

> consanguinii MS

.** underlined in red

' Cf. Rom. to: 18.

* St Thomas, ‘apostle of India’, originally buried at Mylapore near Madras. Baptism by fire was not uncommon among certain Eastern Christians: see Thompson’s comments in CAU, p. 267 n. 2.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

193

fire, and saying, ‘Ever since the time when the call went out from the apostles of Jesus Christ to all the world,! and especially since the days of our apostle St Thomas, although others may have abandoned the faith, we have never deviated from it, but remain true Christians.’ And they had a fruitful audience. A petition. Usk. The compiler of this present work presented the following petition to the pope: ‘Holy father, there is, in the town or borough of Usk, in the diocese of Llandaff, a most reputable monastery with a prioress and a convent of nuns, professed under the rule of St Benedict, which has for a long time been properly and sufficiently endowed with possessions, rents, and other sources of income, and where God is served with the utmost devotion; and it is customary to accept into this monastery none but virgins born of noble stock. Now, however, because of the burning, pillaging, and other misfortunes resulting from the war which is raging in those parts, and for various other reasons, this monastery is reduced to such poverty that, unless your holiness can soon provide some fitting remedy for it, these nuns will be forced either to beg for their food and clothing in the open countryside, or to go and live in the private houses of their friends, from either of which there is a real danger that scandal would arise. Yet there is, within the walls of this monastery, a certain chapel built in honour of St Radegund the virgin nun, former queen of France,’ to which the people of that region show great devotion, and which they visit frequently, especially between the feasts of Easter and Whitsun; and I therefore beg your holiness—as your devoted chaplain and auditor of causes in the holy apostolic palace, who was born in that same town or borough, and who is related by blood to several of these nuns—that it might please you to show your fatherly compassion to the prioress and nuns of this monastery by graciously granting some form of indulgence, to be decided by your holiness, to all Christians who, from this time ever onwards, whenever and as often as they visit this chapel on the Mondays of each of the aforementioned feasts for their devotions, also reach out their hands to make some offering to it; and may this be drawn up in the correct form, with all the necessary and appropriate clauses.’ And the pope signed this as follows: ‘Let it be done according to the petition, for five years and the same number of quarantines;’ and this can be seen in this same chapel. 3 She was the wife of King Clotaire of the Franks, and died in 587. This petition was granted on 29 March 1405 (CPL vi. 65).

1404

1405

194 176" 1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Prope iam palacium sancti Petri hospitatus, luporum et canum, de nocte sepius ad hoc surgens, condiciones inspexi. Nam canibus pro domorum tutamine in dominorum suorum hostiis latrantibus, lupi in medio maiorum minores canes secum in predam abstulerunt, et, licet sic ablati, per maiores defendi sperantes, forcius inde murmurarent, de locis suis tamen, alcius ob hoc licet latrantes,

nullatenus se mouebant. Et sic cogitaui quod consimilis liga inter fortes patrie et exules silue in partibus dinoscitur esse. Gens Lumbardie uiperina,' in Guelfos et Gibilinos diuisa, in spolio et incendio mutuaque clade ac mortuorum carnes rodendo, prolesque proprias, si ex aduersa parcialitate productas, ad petras elidendo, se et eorum ciuitates nonnullas hoc tempore exterminarunt. Romani,’ circa Dominicam in Quinquagesima, cum capitibus regionum, ad agonem, tanquam fallerata fallanx, conueniunt, et iuxta id beati Pauli dictum, ‘Omnes quidem currunt’,etc.,” pro brauio fortiter certant. Tres magnos anulos argenteos, ad unam altam cordam ligatos, ponunt, et in equis, ut lanceas in eos mittant, currunt, inde huiusmodi anulos habituri. In isto ludo urbis cenator, duo conseruatores, et septem regentes eiusdem in magno apparatu, stipiti et securi pro cediciosorum decapitacione precedentibus, intersunt. Eodem ludo taberne crapula, sed miserie epula, cum indomita luxuria, ut Belial® et Belfagor filii,> quam bestialiter discurrunt Romani. Deinde in ipsa Dominica, ludeorum expensis, ad quatuor currus, octo apros uiuos continentes et scarleto rubio contectos, ad summitatem montis omnis terre,° ideo quia ex omni terra mundi in signum uniuersalis dominii illuc allata compositus, octo ponuntur tauri indomiti, et, per descensum montis dissolutis curribus et bestiis liberis, omnia cedunt Romanorum in predam; et tunc quilibet ac si dissoluto impetu? dictas bestias inuadit suo instrumento.* * marg. note in later hand, ludus © terra MS 4 infectu MS

> marg.

note in later hand,

the devill

1 Cf. Luke 3:7. ey Corl or 24. * For the ‘sons of Belial’, see 1 Kgs. (1 Sam.) 2: 12. Belphegor is the biblical ‘Baalpeor’, a false god (cf. Hos. 9: 10). * These were the carnival games, held annually on Monte Testaccio, an artificial mound, surrounded by open space, created by the accretion of centuries of rubbish

(mainly pot-sherds), close to the river, to the south of the Aventine. The Jews were

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

195

Since I had lodgings close by St Peter’s palace, I often used to get up in the night to observe the behaviour of the wolves and the dogs. Although the watchdogs used to bark at the doors of their masters’ houses to protect them, the wolves would prey on the smaller dogs virtually under the noses of the bigger ones, and despite the fact that the little ones howled even more loudly as they were being dragged away, in the hope of being rescued by the big ones, these big ones would do nothing about it except to bark even more; which seemed to me not dissimilar to the sort of comrade-

ship shown by the powers that be to those who have been cast out from their country to wander through the forests. At this time the viperish Lombard people,! divided between Guelphs and Ghibellines, attacked each other with fire and plunder, destroying themselves and several of their cities; and they even ate the bodies of the dead, and dashed their own children

against the rocks if they joined the opposing faction. Around Quinquagesima Sunday the Romans assemble for their games, drawn up in armed bodies under the heads of the districts, all eagerly competing to win the prize—for, as St Paul said, ‘they which run in a race run all,’ etc.’ Three large silver rings are fastened to a rope high off the ground, and they charge their horses at them trying to run their lances through the rings and thus win them. The senator, the two conservators, and the seven regents of the city are also present at the games, attended by much pomp, standing behind the block and axe used for beheading those guilty of sedition. During these games the Romans indulge, like the sons of Belial and Belphegor,’ in incessant drinking and bestial licentiousness, so that it is in truth an orgy of misery. Then on the Sunday itself, at the Jews’ expense, four carts, covered with scarlet cloth and containing eight live boars, are yoked to eight wild bulls and taken to the top of ‘the mountain of all earth’—so-called because it is made of earth brought from every part of the world, as a sign of universal lordship—and when the carts come down the hill they break up, and the animals are set free, whereupon it all becomes spoil for the Romans to fight over, and everyone rushes about madly attacking the beasts with whatever weapon he has.’ obliged to contribute 1130 gold florins each year to the games—the last thirty as a reminder of Judas’s pieces of silver (Gregorovius, History ofRome, vi (2). 709-1 1):

1405

196

1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Itaque, si quis aliquid de huiusmodi preda uxori non attulerit, quasi miser *et uecors ad sancti Panchardi festum cum ea non coibit.* Et sepius in huiusmodi discursu cedes et uulnera, et presertim curtesanis, propter uxores et filias sibi exosis, inferunt. Postea tres pannos, primum aureum pro melioribus, secundum argenteum pro secundis equis, et tercium sericum pro equabus uelocius currentibus, in lancee ponuntur summitate; et si quis huiusmodi equester prius eos tetigerit, eos pro se in brauium reportat. Et demum a dicto bestiarum incursu, aliqui cum modicis frustis, ° aliqui cum intestinis et stercoribus, in gladiorum mucronibus, pomparum cum uilitate transiunt ad uxores. Candele. Papa in festo Purificacionis candelas benedicit, et in cathedra sua sedens, non solum singulis presentibus, sed eciam omnibus mundi principibus et principissis catholicis easdem distribuit, maiores et minores iuxta dignitatum et graduum distinctiones; et erant de alba uirginea cera. Et ita eciam in festo cinerum, in propria persona, omnibus presentibus cineres distribuit; me teste, quia dictas candelas pro rege et regina Angl’ recepi, et cinerum bassinam sibi tenui.! Pseudopropheta, genitor antichristi. In primo aduentu meo Romam, audiui de quodam propheta pseudo se Heliam esse, ac per Dominum Patrem ad generandum sibi Christum filium in terram missum, ac inpugnisse Christum pede, dum crucem ad tormenta portaret, ac illam mulierem, que ab eo inpregnari et Christum concepisse mereretur, benedictam in eternum et ultra fore, et ueram gloriam que ficte Marie attribuitur habituram, asserendo. In latebris et angulis tamen cerimonias et ritus suos faciendo, se caute occultabat. Vnde et domine Romane ab eo supponende, uictualium cum deliciis, quam auide ipsum uisitabant. Sed finaliter, a Romanis exploratus, a latebris extrahitur, ad capitolium ducitur, et ibi, se ultra centum dominas Romanas, uxores, uiduas et uirgines, et ita eciam Veniciis, uiolasse fatendo, crematur. 2-4 underlined

» frustris MS

' For the Purification and Ash Wednesday ceremonies, see Diary ofJohn Burchard, i. 126-7, 172-5, 237-8.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

197

Anybody who fails to bring home a piece of the spoil for his wife is 1405 regarded as a failure and a fool, and is not allowed to lie with her until the feast of St Pancras [12 May]. And all this commotion is accompanied by a great deal of killing and beating, especially of the courtiers, whom the Romans hate because of what they do to their wives and daughters. Following this three cloths are fastened to the points of lances, the first made of gold for the best horses, the second of silver for the second best, and the third of silk for the fastest mares; and whichever rider gets to each of them first carries it away as his prize. And then eventually they all leave off attacking the animals and swagger off pretentiously to see their wives, some with little bits of animal, and others with innards or dung, on the ends of their swords. The candles. On the feast of the Purification [2 February] the pope blesses candles, and then, sitting on his throne, distributes

them not only to all those present but also to all the catholic princes and princesses in the world, giving larger or smaller ones according to the differences in rank and status between them; and these candles were made of pristine white wax. And then again on Ash Wednesday he personally distributes ashes to everybody present—a fact to which I can bear witness myself, for I received the candles on behalf of the king and queen of England, and I held

the bowl of ashes for him.’ The pseudo-prophet, begetter of antichrist. When | first came to Rome, I was told about a certain pseudo-prophet who claimed to be Elias, and who said that he had been sent down to earth by God the father in order to beget his son Christ, and that he had kicked Christ with his foot while he was carrying the cross on the way to his crucifixion; he also said that the worship which was accorded to the false Mary ought by right to be accorded to whichever woman showed herself worthy to be made pregnant by him, and thus to bear Christ, and that she should be blessed for ever and ever. He concealed himself very carefully, however, performing his services and rituals in dark and secret places. As a result the women of Rome were very eager to visit him so that they could lie with him, and they took him delicacies to eat. However, he was eventually discovered by the Romans, dragged out of hiding, and taken to the capitol, where, after admitting that he had seduced more than a hundred Roman ladies, wives, widows and virgins— and had done much the same at Venice—he was burned.

198 1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Dominica? in medio Quadragesime, qua cantatur, ‘Letare lerusalem’, ad alleuiamen Quadragesime iam mediate, papa in missa unum magni precii rosarium, auro et argento mira arte conpositum, ac musta mirra et balsamo ad maximum suauitatis odorem per locum redolentem delinitum, manu sua gerit; ac post missam nobiliori militi misse interessenti elargitur, cum quo et ipse ac amici sui in sui honorem, ipsum in manu gerendo, ipso die postea phallerati equitant.' Ambaciata Grecorum. Ex parte imperatoris Constantinapolitani, solempnes ad papam uenerunt ambassiatores, iniuste se imperio Romano, eis ex persona Constantini magni descendentibus debito, priuatos, ac per Almanie tyrannum nequiter usurpato, allegantes,” et presertim cum toto regno Meapolitano et tota Lumbardia restitui, aut aliter diem et campum utrique parti ante urbem super huiusmodi iure ad bellandum per eum assignari, petentes. Papa respondit quod,” propter eorum hereses et scismata, et presertim de Spiritu Sancto, quia‘ ipsum solum a patre et nullatenus a filio procedere asserentes, nec uocalem confessionem facientes, ac quia in pane fermento conficientes, eodem imperio iustissime erant priuati; et subridendo hoc addidit, ‘Sanguinis Christiani effusionem tractare non affectamus.’ A quibus Grecis? et habui quod Grecie proceres a dicto Constantino eiusque tribus auunculis, Treharn, Leolyn et Mewryc,’ aliisque triginta milibus Britonibus cum eo de Britania illuc aduectis, omnino descenderunt; ac quod huiusmodi Britonum genus, sue nobilitatis et dominacionis in signum, ‘secures portant in terra et non alii.“ Habui ultra quod per Tartaros et Turcos ipsorum imperium stat * marg. note in later hand, rosmarium magni precii > marg. note in later hand, Grecorum hereses © male del. 4 marg. note in later hand, Britonibus nota ee underlined

' The ceremony of the golden rose, which took place on Laetare Sunday each year, went back to at least the eleventh century; the rose was awarded by the pope to some monarch, noble, or community (e.g. a city-state) as ‘a symbol of the pope’s esteem and a pledge of his benevolence’. It was musk, not myrrh, that was placed in the cusp of the rose with the balsam; the gold represented the incorruptible divine nature of the son of God, the balsam his soul, and the musk Christ’s human nature (Burns, Golden Rose and Blessed Sword, pp. 2-10).

> J. W. Barker, Manuel Palaeologus 1391-1425 (New Brunswick, 1969), p. 258, dismisses Usk’s report of this embassy, but this is because he misdates it to ‘the spring of 1404’, whereas Usk is clearly referring to 1405, when, as Barker points out (p. 257), there was indeed a Greek embassy to Rome, probably in Apr.—May, though little is known aboutit.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

199

On the Sunday in mid-Lent on which ‘Laetare Ierusalem’ is sung—for some relief, now that it is half way through Lent—the pope during mass holds up in his hands a very valuable and astonishingly ornate gold and silver rose, which has been rubbed with fresh myrrh and balsam so that it fills the air with a fragrance of the utmost sweetness, and when the mass is over he makes a gift of it to the most noble knight who has been present at mass; then later that same day this knight, accompanied by his friends, there to honour him, rides about in great state carrying it in his hand.! An embassy from the Greeks. Solemn ambassadors from the emperor of Constantinople arrived to see the pope, claiming that they had been wrongfully deprived of the Roman empire and that it ought to belong to them because they were descended from the person of Constantine the great, but that they had been perfidiously ousted from it by a German tyrant;’ and they specifically said that if the pope would not restore it to them, together with the entire kingdom of Naples and the whole of Lombardy, then he should nominate a day and a field outside the city where the two sides could decide by battle where the right lay. The pope replied that they had been deprived of the empire entirely lawfully, because of their heresy and schism, and especially because of their views on the Holy Spirit—for they asserted that he proceeded from the father alone, and not from the son at all—and because they did not practise oral confession, and because they put leaven in their bread; and he added, with a smile, ‘We have no desire to be involved in the shedding of Christian blood.’ Some of these Greeks also told me that the entire nobility of Greece is descended from the aforesaid Constantine, his three uncles, Trahern, Loelinus and Marius,’ and the other thirty thousand Britons whom he took with him when he went there from Britain, and that as a symbol of their nobility and of their dominion these people of British descent carry axes in that country, which others do not.* They told me too that their empire is on the brink of being overrun by Tartars and 3 Cf. Historia Regum Britannie, p. 51, where they are not the uncles but the greatuncles of Constantine. + Barker, Manuel Palaeologus, pp. 500-3, associates this remark with a letter of 1402 from Manuel to Henry IV which states that a number of Englishmen were then helping to defend Constantinople, perhaps stirring memories of the former Varangian guard, which many English had joined after the Norman Conquest; they were known for the axes they bore, being known as the ‘axe-bearing barbarians’ (H. R. E. Davidson, The Viking Road to Byzantium (London, 1976), pp. 180, 186).

1405

200 1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

quasi exinanitum; et ita Britonum regnum, eorum origo, per Saxones noscitur desolatum.' Palme. In festo Palmarum, papa palmas et frondes sanctificari facit, et demum easdem palmas, prout et supra candelas, eciam distribuit, expensis Ianuencium omnino transmissas; sed, ipsis palmis deficientibus, oliuarum dantur saltim presentibus* et rami. Sed papamet duas palmas et duos dactylorum” magni ponderis ramos portat plenos, ad cuius ponderis alleuiamen duo sibi assist-

unt milites.’ Cena Domini. In cena Domini, olium et crisma papa conficit, et nae

post missam, extra portam sancti Petri, cum omni solempnitate theatrum ascendit ac populum‘ | in misse uestimentis, auro et lapidibus preciosis resplendentibus, benedicit. Vnde, prius quia uisa veronica, peregrini in multidudine glomerata cordis cum leti-

cia? recedunt. Demum* nominatim antipapam cum suis cardinalibus et fautoribus, ac omnes hereticos, sismaticos, piratas et malendrinos, liberumque peregrinorum et uictualium ad Romam accessum, ac specialiter palacii apostolici impedientes, excommunicat. Et ad hoc ipse omnesque cardinales in manibus cereos albos tenent, ac facta excommunicacione in uulgus iactant cum illo fine, ‘Fiat, fiat.’ Demum post prandium suorum pedes conuiuarum lauat, duos singulis grossos* elargiendo, quos grossos eius seruitores a recipientibus et recipiunt, quia eos in humeris suis ad papam in hoc

portantes. Pascha. Die pasche officium pape ab aliorum officio modicum differt, excepto quod hostie unam partem suis subdiacono, et aliam diacono, et terciam sibi, communicandas tribuit; sanguinemque de calice, uersa ad populum facie, per longum canale aureum, armis regis Arrogonie in medio ornatum, sugit et attrahit.® Habent et arma eiusdem regis duas alias, propter antecessorum ® dantur repeated

> dactalorum MS

© MS A ends, and MS B begins, here

4 corr. from \etissencia * marg. note in later hand, excommunicatio in die parase * corrected by expunction from longuum ® marg. note in later hand, the popes comunion on Ester day

' Constantinople was blockaded by the Ottomans from 1394-1402, though by 1405 the situation had eased. Usk here seems to be confusing the Britons, overrun by the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth and sixth centuries, with the Anglo-Saxons who left for Constantinople in the eleventh century. > Cf. Diary ofJohn Burchard, i. 128-9. > Cf. Diary ofJohn Burchard, i. 130-1; the ‘veil of Veronica’, the cloth reputedly used

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

Turks, just as their homeland, the kingdom of Britain, everyone knows, once laid waste by the Saxons.! The Palms. On Palm Sunday the pope has the palms branches blessed, and distributes them just like the described above; and the Genoese pay the whole cost

201

was, as 1405

and the candles of their delivery. If palms are not available, olive-branches are given out instead, at least to those who are present. There are, however, two palms and two very heavy branches covered with dates which the pope carries himself, although since they are so heavy he has two knights to help him with them.’ Maundy Thursday. On Maundy Thursday the pope mixes the oil and chrism, and then after mass he ceremonially mounts a platform outside the gate of St Peter’s, where, glittering in his gold and jewel-encrusted mass-vestments, he blesses the people; whereupon the pilgrims, overjoyed at having seen the veronica, depart in

a great throng.’ Then eventually he excommunicates by name the antipope, his cardinals and supporters, all heretics, schismatics, pirates and bandits, and all those who impede the free movement of pilgrims and provisions to Rome, especially to the apostolic palace; and while they are doing this, he and all the cardinals hold white candles in their hands, and when they have pronounced the excommunication they throw them into the crowd, ending with the words, ‘So be it, so be it! And then finally, after the banquet, he washes the feet of his guests and gives each of them two grossi,' and his attendants carry those who have been given these grossi back to the pope on their shoulders, for which they in turn are given the grossi by the recipients. Easter. The pope’s office on Easter Sunday differs little from the usual office, except that for the communion he allots one part of the host to his sub-deacon, another to his deacon, and keeps the third part for himself; then, turning to face the crowd, he sucks the blood from the chalice and draws it up through a long golden tube inscribed half-way down with the arms of the king of Aragon. ‘Two

further privileges are also accorded to this king’s arms, originating

from grants made to his ancestors: for, as is well known, letters of by St Veronica to wipe Christ’s face when he stumbled on the way to his crucifixion, was one of the principal objects of veneration at St Peter’s. 4 Silver coins, between 2 and 4 grams in weight (P. Spufford, Money and its use in Medieval Europe (Cambridge, 1988), pp. 326-7).

CHRONICON

202 1405

ADE

VSK

suorum beneficia, in curia prerogatiuas, quia litere graciose sub

(coloribus)* eorundem armorum in filis sericis, et? pape cana-

peum flaui et rubii colorum noscuntur perornari. Sed post prandium in camera

cum

conuiuis communicans,

in cathedra sedet,

synziberum et piper propriis manibus, in signum piperis inter Darium et Alexandrum magnos intermissi, largitur et distribuit.' Agnus Dei.° Festo Pasche in Sabbato, papa in albis missam celebrat, ac agnos de alba cera benedictos, prout supra candelas et palmas, et distribuit; bassinam sepius euacuatam et tenui, et remanentes in fine pro me habui. Et de agno huiusmodi ecce uersus,

Balsamus et munda cera cum crismatis unda Conficiunt agnum, quod? munus do tibi magnum; Fonte uelut natum, per mistica reificatum. Pregnans saluatur, partus sine ui‘ liberatur. Fulgura de sursum depellit et omne malignum. Portatus munde saluat a fluctibus unde. Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis, ‘et angit’. Donaque® dat dignis, uirtutes destruit” ignis. Morte repentina saluat, sathaneque ruina; Si quis honorat eum, retinebit ab hoste triumphum.’ Mors archiepiscopi Eboracen’.' Magister Ricardus Scrope, iam sanctus ex multitudine miraculorum approbatus, Eboracen’ archiepiscopus, Angl’ primas et apostolice sedis legatus, una cum decenstissimo et illustri iuuene comite Notynghamie et mareschallo Angl’, quia ut asserabatur regi rebellabant, apud Eboracum decapitatantur. Ciues Eboracenses, femoralibus exceptis, nudi iacentes in terra ac si alter iudicii dies esset, propter eorum in hac parte fauorem, a rege ueniam petunt, et habent.? 2 suppl. in CAU, p. 98 Pa MS © added to marg. in later hand, albus 4cur MS ue MS ff abangit MS ® donat MS * astruit MS ' marg. note in later hand, seditiosus et sanctus

' I can find no reference to this in a western medieval source, but according to alTabari, Darius sent (among other things) some sesame seed to Alexander, as an indica-

tion of the size of his army, to which Alexander replied that, although numerous, it lacked pungency or bitterness, and, as an indication of the qualities of his own army, sent a sack of mustard seed to Darius, which, although small, was pungent, bitter and strong (The History of al-Tabari, vol. iv: The Ancient Kingdoms, ed. and trans. Moshe Perlmann (Albany, 1987), pp. 89-90). For a similar, but contemporary, story, see P. Ainsworth, Jean Froissart and the Fabric ofHistory (Oxford, 1991), pp. 117-18. The privileges of

the Aragonese kings at the papal court were granted to King Peter II by Innocent III in

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

203

grace are decorated with silken threads in the colours of his arms, and those same colours, yellow and red, also adorn the pope’s canopy. Then, after the banquet, the pope goes to his chamber, where he sits on his throne talking with his guests, distributing and personally handing round ginger and pepper to them, in memory of the pepper which Darius the great exchanged with Alexander

the great.'

Agnus Dei. On the Saturday in Easter week the pope celebrates mass in his albs before distributing the consecrated Agnus Dei cakes of white wax, in the same way as he did with the candles and palms mentioned above; and I held the basin, which continually needed refilling, and at the end I kept what was left over. Here are some lines about this agnus: Balsam and fresh wax, with chrism so pure, Make this precious agnus that I give to thee; Conceived in a font, and by mystery made real. She who bears children, from labour is free; Dispelling all harm, even lightning on high, Those who will bear it shall never fear waves;

Sin it will conquer, like Christ’s precious blood, It brings gifts to the worthy, from fire it saves; Over death that is sudden, and all satan’s woes, Its worshippers triumph, to conquer their foes.’ The death ofthe archbishop of York. M. Richard Scrope, archbishop of York, primate of England and legate of the apostolic see, who has now been acknowledged as a saint on account of his numerous miracles, and that most upright and noble youth the earl of Nottingham and marshal of England, were beheaded at York, for it was claimed that they had rebelled against the king. And because of the support which they gave them, the citizens of York had to take off their trousers and prostrate themselves naked on the ground, almost as if it were another judgment day, in order to beg the king’s

pardon—which they were granted.’ 1204, in return for Peter’s submission to Innocent (The Chronicle of San Juan de la Pena, ed. L. H. Nelson (Philadelphia, 1991), p. 57). 2 Agnus Dei cakes were of white wax, stamped with the figures of Christ and the lamb

of God, customarily distributed by each pope on the Saturday after Easter in the first year of his pontificate and each seven years thereafter (CAU, p. 275 n. 2). For a slightly different version of the lines quoted here, see ibid., p. 98 n. 8. 3 Scrope and the 19-year-old Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal, were beheaded on 8 June 1405. Although popularly acclaimed a saint, Scrope was never canonized. For these events see Wylie, Henry IV, ii. 228-44; Annales, pp. 402-10.

1405

204 1405

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Septimo die Augusti quatuordecim Romani maiores, quia in consistorio papam et eius facta deridentes, per eius nepotem, gentis armorum capitaneum, in eorum recessu apud Sanctum Spiritum trucidantur; unde et Romani ad trescenta milia crudeliter insurgunt, et mortem pape suorumque curtisanorum omnium ac extraneorum? acclamantes.° Fugit subito papa cum sua armorum gente ad Viterbium; trucidantur, incarcerantur et spoliantur eius remanentes.! Que dies illa presencium compilatori dies erat ire, calamitatis et miserie, quia usque ad legulas spoliatus, uix cum uita in habitu fratrum predicatorum per octo dies latitans uix eorum tirannidem euasit. Romani, tubis precedentibus, et per ciuitatem clamantes papam proditorem et ypocritam, foris eius arma transuertunt, et ipsum transuersum depingunt diabolo sibi diadema afferente. Statim rex Neapolitanus cum suis Gubilinis et exercitu occupauit urbem.’? Ope et fauore cuiusdam Romani, tamquam pauper prout eram, quia eciam mercator cum meis pecuniis in rumore efugerat, cum nautis uelut unus eorum per Tyberym et Hostiam ac ciuitatem Albanensem—ubi Brutus, nepos Enee, rex Britonum primus, natus exstiterat*—mare ingrediens per Cornetum ad papam Viturbii, ei omnia exponens, ueni; unde et michi burdando dicere solebat, ‘Ad fratres tuos uade, habitumque tuum resume.’ Romani miseri in festo epiphanie, quia per dictum regem oppressi, claues urbis pape mittunt, plenum ei urbis dominium promittentes. Intoxicacio. Compilator presencium apud Viturbium spiculo intoxicatur inuidorum, unde et sepcies extassi, positus extenditur pro mortuo; propter Romanorum spolium et mercatorum fugam, ut premittitur, amicisque propter bonorum recessum et recedentibus, aliqualiter sustentacione exstitit desolatus. Sed ad pape mandatum a quodam iudeo, eius medico, Helia nomine, in grossia eius urina intoxicacione experta post multos laboras et expensas, benedicto Deo sanitas recuperatur; ac ad rotam, iuxta Dei * mortem repeated

® marg. note in later hand, fuga pape

' The date was 6 Aug., and the number of Roman citizens murdered by Innocent’s nephew (Ludovico Migliorati) was eleven; Innocent fled Rome that same night, reaching Viterbo on 9 Aug. (Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vi (2). 576-8).

* Ladislas sent troops under the count of Troja to occupy Rome on 20 Aug. (Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vi (2). 579). } Brutus was great-grandson of Aeneas, whose son Ascanius was said to have founded the town of Alba Longa, now Castel Gandolfo (Historia Regum Britannie, p. 2). Corneto is modern Tarquinia, on the coast, south-west of Viterbo.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

205

On 7 August, fourteen of the chief citizens of Rome, who had ridiculed the pope and his actions at the consistory, were slaughtered by the pope’s nephew, the captain of the guard, at Santo Spirito, as they were returning from the meeting; whereupon the Romans rose up in fury, three hundred thousand strong, crying out for the death of the pope and his courtiers and all foreigners. The pope hurriedly fled to Viterbo, taking his guard with him, while those who remained behind were slaughtered, thrown into prison, and robbed.’ What a day of woe and calamity and misery that was for me, the compiler of this work: I was stripped of everything, even down to my shoelaces, and scarcely managed to escape their fury, only saving my life by disguising myself as a Dominican friar and staying in hiding for eight days. With trumpets blowing ahead of them, the Romans went through the city decrying the pope as a traitor and a hypocrite, reversing his arms in the streets and painting him upside down with a devil offering him the crown. The king of Naples with his Ghibellines and his army promptly occupied the city.? Nevertheless I managed, with the help and support of a certain Roman citizen—for I was in effect a pauper, since a merchant had fled with my money as soon as he heard the news—to escape with some sailors, pretending that I was one of them, down the Tiber to Ostia, then on to the town of Alba (where Brutus, the grandson of Aeneas, and the first king of the Britons, was born),* then by sea to Corneto, and eventually on to the pope at Viterbo, where I told him everything that had happened; as a result of which he used to say to me jokingly, ‘Go back to your brothers, and put on your costume again!’ On the feast of the Epiphany [6 January], however, the wretched Romans, tired of the king of Naples’ oppressions, sent the keys of the city to the pope, promising him

full control of the city. Poisoning. At Viterbo, I, the compiler of this present work, was poisoned by the dart of the envious, as a result of which I passed out seven times and was laid out for dead; moreover, following my robbery by the Romans, and the disappearance of the merchants, described above, my friends soon melted away when they saw that I had lost my worldly goods, and I was left without any means whatsoever of supporting myself. However the pope ordered his doctor, a certain Jew called Elias, to examine my polluted urine,

where, after much effort and expense, he discovered the poison, and I was, thank God, restored to health, and was reinstated to the

1405

206 1405

1406

fo. 1

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

parabolam, ‘factus est Adam quasi unus ex nobis’,! inter coauditores restituitur. Rome interim, in palacio sancti Petri et in cathedra pape, sedit Iohannes de Columpnis, fautor Gybilynorum principalis et dicti regis delegatus truculentus, pedes ad* oscula porrigit et alia inaudita in pape derisum facere non omittit. Vnde papa magnam expiticionem contra dicti regis et lohannis tirannidem Romam mittit sub Paulo de Vrcinis capitaneo, unde fugientibus dicti regis fautoribus, dissoluitur obsidio et quassatur inuasio.” Equitacio pape. Papa uersus Romam cum curia regreditur, et iuxta id, “nam rubia capa mortem denotat tibi papa’, et, ‘ut sis semper equus albus denotat tibi equus’,’*? quatuor solempnes albos dextrarios, pro cella sua, auro, lapidibus preciosis, et serico rubio stratos, habet; in uno sedet, tres cum tribus in eis nobilibus insedentibus et sequuntur. Canopeum de armis regis Arrogonie in summitate lancie ultra ipsum defertur. Capa latissima, ymmo perlatissima, de rubio scarleto, cuius fimbrie per sui cursores pedestres dilatate, ita quod equus uideri non poterit, et ad magnam undique obumbracionem, induitur. Ad mamillas, ultra stolam et rochetum subtilissimum, cingitur; quatuor capelli latissimi cum cordulis mire et preciose artis de rubio serico, quorum uno utitur in capite, et tres alii super tres truncos tribus equis |quam preciose stratis, et quorum cordule nodate ex utraque parte equorum col-

lorum terram attingunt, per tres nobiles eis insedentes et ipsum precedentes, secum cohabet; cum aliis inauditis mundo pomposis et a multis mirandis. Sequitur eum in uno dextrario albo una cathedra ad sedendum, ascendendum, descendendumque, et ad

nature operis cecessum, cum certis scalis siue gradubus ornantissime aptata. Obuiant sibi pueri cum oliuarum ramis clamantes, ‘Osanna’, etcetera. Multa uidit oculus meus, sed maiora hiis non audiuit auris mea;* et certe presencium compilator multociens secum in hac confabulabatur uia. Ventilata coram me in palacio apostolico de et super monasterio * et MS

b-b interlined

' Gen. 3: 22. Was this the same ‘Helias Sabot, a Hebrew, of Boleyne la Crase, doctor of medicine’, who came to practise in England in 1410 (Foedera, viii. 667)? * Colonna occupied the Vatican as soon as Innocent fled, and was referred to in jest as John XXIII. Paul Orsini was sent to retake the city on 20 Aug., Innocent returning on 13 Mar. 1406 (Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vi (2). 579-81). * Cf. Proverbia Sententiaeque, ii. 831 (Martirium, papa, tua signat rubea cappa, Et tuus albus equus, quod sis uir iustus et equus; Si non es equus, non decet albus equus’).

“Ci Jobigai

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

207

rota along with my co-auditors—thus fulfilling the word of God,

that ‘Adam the man is become as one ofus.”! Meanwhile in Rome,

John Colonna, the chief supporter of the Ghibellines and vicious henchman of the aforesaid king, was sitting on the papal throne in St Peter’s palace, not forgetting to stick out his feet to be kissed or to commit other such unspeakable acts in mockery of the pope. So the pope sent a large force under the captaincy of Paul Orsini to Rome, to curb the king’s and this John’s brutality, which soon succeeded in putting the king’s supporters to flight, thus raising the siege and crushing the invasion.’ The papal procession. And so the pope and the curia returned to Rome, and—in accordance with these sayings, ‘Death to thee, O pope, foretells the scarlet cope,’ and, “The white horse is a sign to thee, faithful evermore to be’—he has four majestic white chargers, their saddles bedecked with gold and jewels and red silk; one of them he sits on, while the other three, each ridden by a nobleman, follow behind. The canopy with the arms of the king of Aragon is carried above him on the points of lances. He is dressed in a very broad scarlet cape, so broad, in fact, that with its edges held up by the footmen who run along beside him, it is impossible to see his horse, and a large area all around him is cast into shadow. Around his-chest, in addition to a stole and a rochet of magnificent workmanship, he also wears a belt. He also has with him four very broad hats with cords of red silk, wonderfully worked and very valuable, one of which he wears on his head, while the other three are carried on stands borne by three gorgeously-apparelled horses in such a way that their plaited cords

hang down to the ground on either side of the horses’ necks, the horses themselves being ridden ahead of the pope by three noblemen. And there are numerous other such extravagances, incredible to behold, and the source of much amazement. Behind him on

a white charger a throne is carried for him to sit on, which also has an appropriate number of highly ornate steps or rungs attached to

it, to help him to mount and dismount, or to retire so as to attend to

the call of nature. Boys with olive branches come out to meet him, crying, ‘Hosanna!’ etc. My eye has seen many things, but never has

my ear heard the like of this;* there were, in truth, many occasions when the compiler of this present work thought such thoughts to

himself. A case was brought before me in the apostolic palace concerning

1405

1406

208 1406

ADE

CHRONICON

VSK

beate Marie Scotorum Vienne in Almania causa;* mirans unde Scoti ibi agere haberent, inde habui inquirens, quia per pestiferam Machameti per totam Alamaniam tam communi quam priuata religione extincta,® et postea per Carolum magnum communi restituta, sanctus Columquillus de Hibernia ad princi-

pum construccionem et fundacionem aduectus, quia ibi fides non defecit, priuatam reparacione instruxit.’ Vnde dicitur Scotia. Vnde per totam in eius locis insignibus Ala-

maniam, Scotorum—iam

Hiberniencium nominatorum—monas-

teria tamquam selle Hibernie, nuper a Scota filia Pharaonis sic dicta,? monasteriis subdite, et in professione huiusmodi Scotorum—iam Hibernicium—sanctorum, ad hoc transmissorum, occupate dinoscuntur. Et de nominis mutacione nemirum: nonne in® Britaniam? illis Scotis aduenientibus, mutato nomine

Albanie, ab ipsis dicitur Scocia? Nonne Britonibus Armoricam occupantibus, mutato nomine, iam ibi uocatur Britania?? Ac ex Anglis, Anglia, de Hiberis, Hibernia, subrogata sunt nomina. Et sic transit mundi gloria. Inter cetera istius sancti Columquilli, cum sanctis Patricio et Brigita in Duna Scocie tumulati,’ miracula, ipsius nominis inuocacio et in ignem in scriptis missa, igni dominatur, unde uersus, ‘Sancte Columquille remoue mala dampna fauille’, atque, ‘Columquillus saluet ab igne domus.’ Isti quia originaliter Scoti ab Egipto, post transitum filiorum Israel per mare rubrum, uidentes plagas Dei contra ipsos percutientes, solum natale* deseruerunt, et sub rege Hispanie in Basclow incoluerunt; sed quia regi notati, et in notam falsitatis scissuram perante, et secundo quia ita notati a retro in uestium scissura, quasi infideles expulsi, sub rege Britonum Barbtroc, Cantuarie

conditore, Bellini magni filio, (qui)’ a Norwegia pro eius tributo * interlined 4 Britania MS

> pestiferam © natalis MS

repeated

by interlineation f suppl. in CAU, p. 102

© interlined

' The Benedictine monastery of Our Blessed Lady of the Scots (or Schottenkloster), at Vienna, was founded by Henry Jasomirgott, duke of Austria, in c.1158 (J. P. Fuhr-

mann, Irish Medieval Monasteries on the Continent (Washington, 1927), pp. 97-9). St Columba (d. 597) lived two hundred years before Charlemagne (d. 814), and never went to Germany; perhaps Usk confused him with St Columbanus, who travelled widely on the continent—but who died in 615. * For the legend of Scota and her husband Gaythelos, see M. Drexler, ‘Fluid prejudice: Scottish origin myths in the later middle ages’, People, Politics and Community in the later Middle Ages, ed.J.Rosenthal and C. Richmond (Gloucester, 1987), pp. 60-76. ’ Historia Regum Britannie, pp. 15, 58.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

209

the monastery of the blessed Mary at Vienna in Germany; this made me wonder what the Scots were doing there, so I made enquiries, and discovered that since both public and private religion were wiped out throughout the whole of Germany by the scourge of Mohammed, and public religion was later restored by Charlemagne, St Columba was called across from Ireland, where

the faith had survived, to re-introduce and encourage it among the princes, and to teach them how to restore private religion. Why ‘Scotland’ is so-called. As a result of this, it is well known that in all the major towns throughout Germany, the monasteries of the Scots (now known as the Irish) are cells subject to monasteries

in Ireland—which

used

to be called

after Scota,

the

daughter of Pharaoh?—and are dedicated to these Scottish (now Irish) saints, who were sent over for this purpose. There is nothing surprising in this change of name: was it not the arrival of these Scots in Britain that caused the name Albany to be changed, so that it was called Scotland instead, after them? And was it not also the occupation of Armorica by Britons which caused its name to be changed to Brittany, which it is now called?? England and Ireland are also names which have been appropriated, from the English and Irish respectively. And thus does the glory of the world pass away! Among the various miracles performed by this St Columba, who is buried with St Patrick and St Bridget at Down in [Ireland],* if his name is invoked, and is also written down and thrown into a fire, it will put the fire out; hence these verses, ‘Cast out, Saint Columba, the evils of this fire!’, and ‘Save us, Saint Columba, from the fire that burns our house!’ After the crossing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel, these Scots, who originally came from Egypt, saw how they were being struck down by God’s plagues, and so they left their native land and went to live in the Basque country, under the king of Spain. However, they were accused before the king, and as a sign of their disloyalty their clothes were cut at the front; and then they were accused a second time, and their clothes were cut behind; and as a result they were expelled for their disloyalty; and this happened at the time when Barbtruc, the founder of Canterbury, and the son of the great Belinus, was king of the Britons, and it was he who, having just returned from 4 The supposed bodies of St Bridget (d. ¢.525), St Patrick (d. c.461) and St Columba were found at Downpatrick (co. Down) in 1185 (Polychronicon, v. 304).

1406

210 1406

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

recollecto (reuersus),* eis Hiberniam tunc non cultam? ab eo delegauit tenendam.' De serpentibus Hibernie. Et nobiles Hibernici—quibus non credo, sed magis sancto Patricio—michi Rome, eorum magnas promociones procuranti, asseruerunt quod post dictum transitum in deserto, et presertim serpentem eneum deferendo,’ filiis Israel seruierunt; sed quia in fide discrepantes repulsi, ad Bosclow descenderunt, ut supra, ac pro huiusmodi seruicio a filiorum Israel Deo remunerati, adhuc uenenosis serpentibus non comitantur. Soldanus Babilonie. A quodam capellano Bangoren’ dioceseos, de terra sancta reuerso,° habui quod ipse cum aliis quigentis peregrinis, aduersa maris tempestate infra districta soldani Babilonie propulsus, eius carceribus mancipatur et per annum detinetur captiuus. Interim, per regem Damasci campestri bello uictus, decollatur; nouus soldanus dictos peregrinos coram tribunali suo cisti faciens, pro misericordia se prostrantes, gladio nudo quem tenuit in manu uiolenter bis¢ tribunal percussit, sed tercia uice leniter et propicie in signum pietatis et clemencie—alias omnes mortui fuissent—ita dicendo, ‘Ianuenses, cum omnibus Francigenis et Hispannis quia de eorum liga, reducantur ad carceres, eo quod tres naues gentis sue depredassent, in reprisaliam redempcionem facturi. Ceteri Christiani dimitantur liberi, quia omnibus Christianis libenter cum iusticia confauerem.’ Et sic ille capel-

lanus euasit liber. In festo sancti Barnabe, expensarum penuria, quia spoliatus ut supra, et propter amicorum ingratitudines, ut infra, a curia uersus partes recedens per Senas, Ianuam, Marchionatum Mounteferati, Astham, Mountgalers, Susam, et in festo beatorum Petri et Pauli per Mountsynys, niuis frigoribus quasi peremptus, et per Sabaudiam et in ea Liburnam ac Egobellam, ubi in uno hospicio uidi domini Leonelli ducis Clarencie, secundi geniti Angl’, ac 2 suppl. in CAU, p. 102 del.

> colatam MS

© reuersus MS

4 throni

' According to Geoffrey of Monmouth (Historia Regum Britannie, p. 31), King Gurguint Barbtruc was returning from Denmark; but le does not mention the clothes cut at back and front. ? Cf. Num. 21: 9; 4 Kgs. (2 Kgs.) 18: 4. * This episode may have occurred in the autumn of 1405, when the Mamluk sultan Faradj was deposed for two months (20 Sept.—28 Nov.), or in 1412, when he was finally overthrown; but in neither case does Usk’s story fit well with the known facts.

THE

CHRONI OF CLE ADAM USK

211

collecting tribute in Norway, granted them Ireland, which was uninhabited at the time, to be held from him! Of snakes in Ireland. Some Irish nobles told me in Rome, while I was securing some splendid promotions for them (although I do not believe them, preferring rather to believe in St Patrick), that after this journey through the desert these Scots served the children of Israel, especially by carrying off the bronze serpent,” but that since they disagreed about the faith they were driven out, and thus—as noted above—made their way to the Basque country; and they told me that the God of the children of Israel rewarded them for this service, so that to this day they are still not pestered by venomous snakes. The Sultan ofBabylon. 1 was told by acertain chaplain from the diocese of Bangor who had returned from the Holy Land that he, together with five hundred other pilgrims, was driven by astorm on to the coast of the sultan of Babylon’s territory, who threw him into prison and kept him captive for a year. Meanwhile, however, this sultan was defeated in battle and beheaded by the king of Damascus, whereupon the new sultan summoned the pilgrims to appear before his throne of judgement, and as they lay prostrate before him begging for mercy, he twice struck the throne violently with an unsheathed sword which he was holding, and then he struck it a third time, but this time more quietly and gently, which was a sign of mildness and mercy (had he not done so, they would all have been put to death), saying as he did so, ‘Let the Genoese, along with all the French and Spanish, who are their allies, be taken back to prison, so that they can be ransomed as a reprisal for the acts of piracy committed by three of their ships. The rest of the Christians are to be set

free, for I have no wish to treat any Christians other than kindly and justly.’ And thus this chaplain was set free.” On the feast of St Barnabas [11 June], being by now unable to meet my expenses—partly because I had been robbed, as I have said, and partly because of the ingratitude of friends, of which I shall say more below—I left the curia and went on my way via Siena, Genoa, the marquisate of Montferrat, Asti, Moncalieri, Susa, Mont Cenis—over which I passed, almost frozen to death by the snow, on the feast of the blessed Peter and Paul [29 June]—and then on through Savoy via Lanslebourg and Aiguebelle, where I saw in a hostel a ceremonial depiction of the arms of Lionel duke of Clarence, the second-born son of England, and of the other

1406

CHRONICON

2 1406

ADE

VSK

ceterorum nobilium secum ad nuptias filie domini Galias, domini de Lumbardia, secum de Angl’ aduectorum, solempniter depicta

arma.' 1405

Capitur filius Oweni. Cedes apud Vscam. In festo sancti Gregori, Giffinus, primogenitus Oweni, in multitudine magna castro de Vsk, aliqualiter ad defensionem reparato, in quo tunc erat dominus Grey de Codnore, dominus Iohannes Greyndour,’ et multi alii regis soudati, in mala sua insultauit hora; quia dicti domini, uirili-

ter exeuntes, ipsum captiuarunt et suos ipsos usque ad montana superioris Wencie per Vsce flumen, ubi plures, et presertim abbas de Lanterna, tam fluminis quam gladii ore ceciderunt, et per

1406

monachorum siluam, ubi dictus Griffinus erat captus, indefesse contriuerunt. Ac uiuos captos, in numero trecentum, ante dictum castrum prope Ponfaldum decapitarunt; et quosdam nobiliores ad regem cum dicto Grifino captiuos duxerunt. Qui Grifinus, per sex annos in captiuate existens, finaliter in London’ turri morbo extinguitur pestilenciali;’ et de cetero in illis partibus uiluit sors Oweni. Demum a dicta Egobella sub saluo conductu per medium Burgundie, Cartusiam, Digcon, Beoniam—melioris uini Francie nutricem*—ad Troys in Champeyn, Francie initium, Prouinciamque et Vile Robarde ad ciuitatem Parisien’, et demum per Clermount, per Amyas, ubi (caput)? sancti Iohannis Baptiste uidi,° et per Aras ad Brugges in Flandria descendi; ubi Ricardus, Lancastell rex armorum,”° consuluit michi quod propter regem mortem michi minantem, citra eius graciam adeptam, et quam michi promisit, et pro qua ipsum expectaui in illis partibus per biennium, licet frustra, quod non intrarem Angliam consuluit omnino.

Spoliacio Ade. Habui eciam quod omnia beneficia mea aliis essent collata? [...] marcarum, totaliter erant exinanita. Quid * suppl. in CAU, p. 104

> alittle more than one line has been erased following collata

" Lionel of Clarence, second surviving son of Edward III, and father-in-law of Usk’s patron the earl of March, married as his second wife, at Milan in May 1368, Violante,

daughter of Galeazzo Visconti; but he died five months later at Alba in Piedmont (GEC

iii. 258).

* Richard, Lord Grey of Codnor (1392-1418), was captain of Hay and Brecknock, with 53 lancers and 140 archers; John Greyndour, a king’s knight, was captain of Usk, with 20 lancers and 60 archers (POPC ii. 68). * The battle of Pwll Melyn was probably fought in early May (Davies, RevoltofOwain

Glyn Dwr, p. 226). For John ap Hywell, abbot of Llantarnam, a Welsh patriot of heroic stature, see Scotichronicon, ed. Watt, viii. 101-9. Griffith spent most of his captivity at

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

213

nobles whom he had brought with him from England when he came to marry the daughter of Lord Galeazzo, the lord of Lom-

1406

bardy.!

The son of Owen is captured. Deaths at Usk. Griffith, the eldest son of 1405 Owen, attacked Usk castle with a great host on the feast of St Gregory [12 March]—an evil hour for him; however, the defences there had been considerably strengthened, and Lord Grey of Codnor, Sir John Greyndour,? and many more of the king’s soldiers were there, and they made a sortie in force from the castle and captured him and his men, driving them relentlessly through the river Usk, where many of them—most notably the abbot of Llantarnam —were killed either at the point of a sword or by drowning in the river, through Monkswood, where Griffith himself was captured, and on to the mountains of Upper Went. Of those whom they took alive, three hundred were beheaded in front of the castle, near Ponfald, although some of the nobler ones, including Griffith, were sent as prisoners to the king. This Griffith remained in captivity for six years, eventually dying of the plague in the Tower of London;? and from this time onwards, Owen’s fortunes began to wane in that region. After some time I left Aiguebelle and travelled under safe- 1406 conduct through the middle of Burgundy, via the Grande Chartreuse, Dijon, Beaune (cradle of the best French wine),* to Troyes in Champagne, where France begins, then on via Provins and BrieComte-Robert to the city of Paris, and eventually through Clermont, Amiens—where I saw the head of John the Baptist'—and Arras, until I arrived at Bruges in Flanders; here I met Richard, Lancaster king at arms,° who advised me strongly that, since the king was threatening to put me to death, under no circumstances should I return to England without obtaining a pardon from him; he promised to do what he could for me about this, and I waited expectantly for him for two years there, but it was to no avail. The Deprivation ofAdam. | also heard that all my benefices had been granted to others . . . marks, were utterly impoverished. What Nottingham castle, being moved to the Tower in Mar. 1411, shortly before his death

(CCR 1405-9, p. 213; CCR 1409-13, p. 148). 4 Usk presumably passed through Beaune before Dijon. 5 The alleged head of John the Baptist was pillaged from Constantinople during the

: 6 Richard del Brugge, ‘Lancastre king of arms of the north’, a life-retainer of Henry IV (CPR 1399-1401, p. 85). fourth crusade, arriving at Amiens in 1206.

214 1406

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

mora? Cogitaui plura, sed cum Iob exclamaui,* ‘Si bona suscepi-

mus de manu Domini’, et cetera.! Per dictum biennium, per Flanmultorum et Britaniam, Normanniam Franciam, driam,

episcoporum, abbatum et procerum consiliis satis inde lucrando,

perlustraui patrias. Et bis interim, per Wallicos in? quibus | fiduciam habui, totaliter, saltem altera uice, dormiens usque ad brac-

cas inclusiue, spoliatus fui. Et certe ex procerum predictorum largitate eodem die postea centum uiginti coronas” habui. Comes Northumbrie et dominus de Bardolle,’ post multa infortunia—primo a facie Henrici regis fugientes in Scociam, ibi dimisso in pugnus domini Henrici Percy filio, dicti comitis nepote et herede, inde ad Owenum sub saluo conductu pro succursu in Walliam, ubi aliquamdiu moram traxerunt, ac demum in conflictu campestri sub domino meo de Powys per Anglicos deuicti—et in Franciam, eciam sub saluo conductu, pro releuamine contra dictum regem,’ licet in uanum, duce Aurelian’ eis resistente,’ laborantes, deuenerunt. Cum quibus quia sepius communicaui, maiorem inde regis Henrici, in hoc experti, indignacionem reportaui. Demum comes iterato ad Scociam et inde in Angliam, sub fabricatis doli sigillis regnum pro se habiturus promittentibus, proditorie est seductus; ut transirem secum, magnas promociones michi promisit. Visitauit Deus cor meum, et cogitaui, “Tu, Adam, positus in labrintho, disponas te cum Deo.’ Malignum misit Deus spiritum, et merito, inter regem et istum comitem, ad modum Abymalech, ut legitur in libro Iudicum.° Et sic, uerti mantellum, ac ad dominum meum de Poisia, regis et regni graciam expectaturus, si Deus daret, gressus meos dirigere disposui; et factum est ita. 1408 Mors comitis Northumbrie. Predicti domini in Scociam, et deinde cum armata manu in Angliam, regnum pro se habere sperantes, transierunt; sed uicecomes Eboracen’, de eorum aduentu satis @ explanaui MS

> interlined

' Job 2: ro. 2 Ecus a la couronne, gold coins weighing slightly under 4 grams (Spufford, Money and its Use, p. 408). * Thomas, Lord Bardolf of Wormegay (1386-1408), deprived as a traitor in 1406, having joined Northumberland in 1405 (GEC i. 420). * Northumberland and Bardolf fled Scotland for Wales in the spring of 1406, fearing they were about to be sent back to England (Annales, p. 418); in early June they were defeated by Edward Charlton, lord of Powys (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 123). According to the Chronicle of John Hardyng, pp. 362-4, they went to Brittany, then

Flanders, returning to Scotland by ‘the east sea’ in the summer of 1407. The young

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

215

more can I say? Many things passed through my mind, and like Job I cried out, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, etc.?”! During these two years I wandered through the lands of Flanders, France, Normandy and Brittany, making enough to live on from the payments which various bishops, abbots, and noblemen gave me for my counsel. Twice during this time I was stripped clean by Welshmen in whom I had placed my trust—particularly on the second occasion, when I was asleep, and everything was taken, even my breeches. It is true, however, that later that same day I was generously given a hundred and twenty crowns? by those noblemen mentioned above. The earl of Northumberland and Lord Bardolf,} having suffered many reverses—for they had initially fled before King Henry into Scotland (where they left behind the son of Sir Henry Percy, who was also the grandson and heir of this earl, as a hostage), and had then gone under safe-conduct to Wales hoping for support from Owen, and had stayed there for a while before eventually being defeated in battle by the English under my lord of Powis—at length arrived in France, again under safe-conduct, seeking assistance against King Henry;’ but their efforts were in vain, for the duke of Orleans was against them.* And because I was frequently in contact with them, King Henry was stirred to even greater fury with me when he heard about it. Eventually the earl was persuaded to return to Scotland, and thence to England, through treachery—for counterfeit seals were used to make it look as if he was being promised the kingdom of England for himself; and he promised me promotion to high office if Iwent with him. But God visited my heart, and I thought, ‘Adam, you are in a labyrinth. Put your trust in God.’ Then God sent an evil spirit between the king and this earl, and rightly so, just as he did with Abimelech, as we read in the book of Judges.° And so I turned my coat, and I decided to make my way to my lord of Powis, hoping, if God willed it, for a pardon from the king and the kingdom; and so it came to pass. The death ofthe earl ofNorthumberland. Thus these lords crossed to Scotland, and from there with an armed force into England,

hoping to claim the kingdom for themselves; but the sheriff of Henry Percy, future earl of Northumberland (d. 1455), remained in Scotland from 1405 until 1416 (GEC ix. 715). 5 Louis, duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI.

ce Gtjude.9%23

1406

1408

216 1408

1407

1408

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

consultus, ipsos in campo contriuit decapitauitque, ac eorum capita ultra London’, pontem inde posita, ad regem Henricum transmisit.! Quo audito, presencium compilator de sua a retro remanencia futurorum regraciabatur scrutatori. Ope et fauore ducis Burgundie, dux Aurelie, propter eius inauditas excessus auaricias—regis Francie infirmitate hoc causante—licet eius frater, tanquam regiminis usurpator interficitur;’ unde et commocio cedicionum permaxima, adhuc non cessans, in regno Francie noscitur causata. Episcopus Leodien’, ducis Burgundie uxoris frater, in ipsius succursum cum quinque milibus armatorum uenit ad Parisium. Quem succursum statim post idem dux remunerauit ad plenum, nam diocese sua, eo quod ad sacerdotium nollet ordinari, totaliter rebellante, et alium auctoritate antipape subrogante, sub dicto duce in mortali bello cum sexdecim milibus et ultra perimitur in bello; et idem episcopus ad

suum restituitur statum.? Pares Francie. Et uerum est quod in Francia duodecim debent esse pares: tres duces, tres comites, spirituales, tresque duces et tres comites temporales, prout hiis uersibus patet: Lyngo, Remi, Laudu, Nor, Aqui, Burgundia sunt du; Belua, Chatel, No, Tholou, Campania, Flandria sunt co.

Verum quia rex, paritates dedignando, cum omni oportunitate eas sibi applicat, sic quod quatuor temporales corone unitas iam est adeptus, et duas alias, scilicet Burgundie et Flandrie, idem dux pro se habet.‘ Et hoc fuit causa malorum, quia infirmato rege dux Burgundie ad se solum regni gubernacionem uendicauit pertinere. 1410 Magister Prucie de ordine militari sancte Marie Teuthonicorum hiis diebus regnum Turcorum inuasit, et regem eorum, ' Sir Thomas Rokeby, sheriff of Yorkshire, led the force which defeated Northum-

berland at the battle of Bramham Moor (near Tadcaster) on 19 Feb. 1408. * Louis of Orleans was assassinated in Paris by agents of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy 1404-19, on 23 Nov. 1407. * For these events, see R. Vaughan, John the Fearless (London, 1966), pp. 49-66. John of Bavaria, prince-bishop of Liege and brother of Duke John of Burgundy’s wife Margaret, was opposed by the Liégeois mainly because of his arbitrary rule. He had brought troops to Duke John’s help in 1405, but did not do so in 1407-8 because faced with rebellion in his principality, nominally led by the anti-bishop Thierry de Perwez, whom Benedict XIII had recognized. Duke John mercilessly crushed the rebellion at the battle of Othee on 23 Sept. 1408, restoring John of Bavaria until his abdication in 1417. * The duchy of Normandy and the counties of Toulouse and Champagne were acquired by the French crown in the thirteenth century; the duchy of Aquitaine was nominally confiscated on several occasions, though still in fact mainly held by the English. The duchy of Burgundy and the county of Flanders were united by Philip the Bold, father of John the Fearless.

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

217

York, who was well informed about their movements, overpowered them in battle, beheaded them, and sent their heads to King Henry in London, where they were later set up beyond the bridge.! And when I, the compiler of this present work, heard what had happened, I gave thanks to God, the great seer, for having stayed behind. Because of his unprecedented and grasping avarice, and despite being the brother of the French king (whose illness was really the root of the problem), the duke of Orleans was murdered at the behest and with the connivance of the duke of Burgundy, for usurping the royal government;? a deed which, as is well known, caused terrible trouble and uprisings in the French kingdom, which are still going on today. Whereupon the bishop of Liége, who was the brother of the duke of Burgundy’s wife, brought five thousand armed men to Paris to help him. Soon afterwards the duke was able to repay the bishop in full for his help, for when his diocese rose up in open rebellion against him for refusing to be ordained a priest, and was transferred on the orders of the antipope to someone else, the duke slew the intruder along with sixteen thousand

others in a murderous

1408

1407

1408

conflict; and thus the

bishop was restored to his former position.’ The peers of France. There are, in truth, by right twelve peers in France: three spiritual dukes, three spiritual counts, three temporal dukes, and three temporal counts—as can be seen from these lines: Langres and Rheims, Laon and Normandy Are dukes, like Aquitaine and Burgundy, But Beauvais, Chalons, Noyon, Toulouse, Like Champagne and Flanders, a count’s name use.

Yet the king makes a mockery of these peerages, seizing every opportunity to take them for himself, with the result that four of the temporal ones have now been annexed to the crown, while the other two, namely Burgundy and Flanders, are held in person by the same duke.‘ And this was the cause of the trouble, because when the king became ill the duke of Burgundy claimed that he alone should hold the reins of government.

Around this time the Prussian master of the knightly order of St Mary of the Teutons invaded the kingdom of the Turks, defeating their king in battle and putting him and five hundred thousand

1410

218 1410

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

cum quingentis milibus aliis in fugam propulsis, in bello deuicit. Statim postmodum per regem Polonie, propter eius nimiam superbiam,* deuictus et est ipse.’ Honor Arthuri. A Teuthonicis habui quod ad honorem Arturi regis Britonum, quia eos liberauit de manibus Romanorum, per omnes ciuitates et loca insignia Almanie pro proceribus extraneis aduenientibus maxime fiunt solempnitates; locus communis uille, cum redditibus ad hoc fundatus, perornatur, uina species et tripudia cum omni musicorum melodia, dominorumque et dominarum solaciis, gloriosissime impenduntur.’ Magister Iohannes Treuaour, utriusque iuris doctor, Assauen’ episcopus, abiecta Anglicorum quibus erat specialis amicicia, particeps sortis Oweni pace et guerra efficitur, bis in Franciam pro subsidio armatorum transiens, transfertur ad Indos, et "abbas de Lan Eguestre? Assauen’ subrogatur episcopus.° Idem magister Iohannes, in tanto infortunio positus, Romam se transfert, et ibi

trans Tiberym, de anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo duo-

decimo, et de mense Octobris die quinta, moritur. 7 1406

Globus igneus. Dum eram apud Brugges, erant et dicti comes in monasterio de Ekows* ac dominus* in uno hospicio medie uille hospitati; in uigilia sancti Bricii, in crepusculo noctis, de Angl’ in aere uenit unus globus igneus, maior magno dolio, quasi illuminans mundun; in cuius aduentu omnes attoniti timebant perimi‘uillam, sed directe transit contra campanile sancte Marie, et ex ictu diuisus in duas partes, ipsas ante hostia dictorum comitis et domini eas dimittit, ad maximum ipsorum, ut apparuit postea, ruine presagium. Passio mirabilis. Et in dicti monasterii cronicis hoc quod sequitur, in derisum Francorum quia per Flandrenses alias deuictorum

compositum, inueni:° * superibiam MS b-b underlined © marg. note in later hand, abbas de Lanegwestre 4 interlined * domine MS f perimeri MS ' The Teutonic knights under their grand-master Ulrich von Jungingen were defeated by King Ladislas of Poland at Tannenberg on 15 July 1410. Usk’s reference to the ‘kingdom of the Turks’ seems to be a misunderstanding; Walsingham said that Ladislas had asked the knights to help him ‘contra Sarracenos’, but they refused and turned on him instead (The St Albans Chronicle 1406-1420, ed. V. H. Galbraith (Oxford, 1937), p- 58; E. Christiansen, The Northern Crusades (London, 1980), pp. 219-21). * These ‘Brotherhoods of King Arthur’ flourished in the German Baltic towns from the early fourteenth century (M. Schlauch, ‘King Arthur in the Baltic towns’, Bibliographical Bulletin of the International Arthurian Society, xi (1959), 75—80). * Trevaur was deprived of St Asaph by Henry IV in 1404, and transferred to St Andrews in 1408. He was replaced by Robert of Lancaster, abbot of Valle Crucis (Llyn Eglwystl) in June 1411 (Williams, Welsh Church, p. 227); it is usually accepted that

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

219

others to flight. Shortly afterwards, however, he was himself defeated by the king of Poland, a victim of his own inordinate pride.! Honour to Arthur. Some Germans told me that in honour of King Arthur of the Britons, because he liberated them from the grip of the Romans, great festivals are held in all the towns and other notable places in Germany for the foreign dignitaries who come there, during which the town square is magnificently decked out—rents being set aside for this purpose—wines and spices are provided, there is dancing to all types of music, and both lords and ladies are assured of a thoroughly enjoyable occasion.’ Master John Trevaur, doctor of both laws and bishop of St Asaph, abandoned the special friendship with the English which he had enjoyed, threw in his lot with Owen for both peace and war, and twice crossed to France in search of armed help; as a result of which he was translated to the Indians, and the abbot of Llanegwest was made bishop of St Asaph instead. Whereupon, having been reduced

1410

to such straits, this Master John took himself off to Rome, where, on

the fifth day of the month of October, in the year of our Lord 1412, he

died at Trastevere.’ The ball offire. While I was at Bruges, the aforementioned earl [of Northumberland] and lord [Bardolf] were also staying there, the former at the monastery of Eeckhout,* the latter at a hostel in the middle of the town. As twilight fell on the eve of St Brice’s day [12 November], a ball of fire bigger than a large barrel came flying through the air from the direction of England, which seemed to light up the world; everybody who saw it was dumb struck, terrified that it was going to destroy the town, but it crashed right into the belfry of St Mary’s, where it split into two pieces which then flew offin different directions and landed at the doors of the aforesaid earl and lord— a terrible portent of disaster for them, as later became apparent. An extraordinary Passion. 1 also discovered the following in the chronicles of this monastery, written to mock the French for the defeat they once suffered at the hands of the Flemings:° Trevaur died in 1410 rather than 1412 (HBC, p. 296; CAU, p. 287 n. 2). 4 Eeckhout abbey, in the oak wood (eeckhout) by the church of Notre-Dame (E. Gilliat-Smith, The Story ofBruges (London, 1901), pp. 78-9). The ‘globus igneus’ was foretold in the ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’ (BL, Cotton Faustina A. viii, fo. 115°).

5 The subtlety of this mock-passion—which celebrates the Flemish victory over the French at Courtrai on 11 July 1302, and was presumably written in the early fourteenth century—cannot always be conveyed in translation. In addition to the biblical quotations and allusions noted below, assonance is used extensively, as for example ‘infelix’ for ‘in celis’ (Matt. 16: 17), ‘uilis Dei’ for ‘filius Dei’ (Matt. 27: 54), ‘Deus neclexerat’ for

1406

220 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Passio Francorum secundum Flemingos: in illo tempore Philippus rex Francorum,! conuocatis discipulis suis, secreto ait illis,’ ‘Quem dicunt homines esse comitem Flandrie?’ Ac illi dixerunt, ‘Alii Carolum, alii Lodewycum,? aut unum ex prophanis.’ Dixit iterum eis rex, ‘Vos autem quem me esse dicitis?? Vnus ex eis, nomine Petrus Flot,‘ consilio accepto a Carolo, dixit, ‘Domine, tu es rex Flandrie.’ Dixit ergo ei rex, ‘Beatus es tu, Petre, quia “caro

1082)

et? sanguis non reuelauit tibi, sed frater meus qui est infelix. Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram edificabo consilium meum; et tibi dabo claues regni mei in Flandriam; et quodcumque ligaueris erit ingratum Deo celi.’> Rex uero, uocatis nunciis, dixit eis, ‘Euntes in Flandriam, dicite Flemyngis, “Omne regnum in se diuisum desolabitur, et domus supra domum cadet.”® Si ergo a regno meo diuisi fuerint, domos eorum demolliar,’ gladium meum uibrabo, et potestas mea regia |subiugabit eos, aut in mari, terram de eis mundando, ipsos fugere compellet. Congregaboque eos, quemadmodum’? gallina congregat pullos sub alis, et fiet unum ouile et unus pastor.”* At illi, uenientes in Flandriam, sicut rex precepit Flemyngis dixerunt. Ac Flemyngi, respondentes et singula singulis reddentes, dixerunt, ‘Ciuitates et opida gloriose construximus. Rex uester non pastor sed potius lupus dicendus est, quia uult oues deuorari et lupo subici. Et cum boues non sumus, timemus subiugari; et quia pulli non sumus, timemus sub alis congregari, et potius gladio perire. Cum potius pastorem deceat paci parcere quam gladio uibrare, nec credimus demollicionem domus, ymmo demonis, fieri, ymmo potius tigurrium sibi in deserto fieri.”” Nuncii ergo, responso accepto, abierunt, nunciantes regi omnia que audierant et uiderant sicut dictum est ad

illos.!° Indignatus ergo rex propter iusiurandum,!! et simul discumbentes uocauit comitem Arthasie” et alios condiscipulos suos, 4-4 interlined

> quemadmodo MS

‘Deus dilexerat’ (John 19: 26), and so forth. For a similar text of English provenance, dating from c. 1290, see “The passion of the judges’, EHD iii, ed. H. Rothwell (London, 1975), Pp. 922-4. See also P. Lehmann, Die Parodie im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1963), pp. 85,

202-4, where this text is printed and briefly discussed. ' Philip IV (1285-1314); he annexed Flanders to the French royal domain in 1300, imprisoning the count, Guy de Dampierre. 2 Matt. 15: 32. > The king’s sons, both future kings of France: Louis X (1314-16) and Charles IV

(1322-28). * Flote was keeper of the royal seals (effective chancellor), and chief minister to the king before his death at Courtrai. 5 Matt. 16: 13-19.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

221

The Passion of the French according to the Flemings: at that time Philip, king of the French,! called his disciples unto him and said secretly to them,’ ‘Whom do men say is the count of Flanders?’ And they said, ‘Some say Charles, some Louis,? and others, one of the profaners.’ The king said unto them again, ‘But whom say ye that I am?’ One of them, Pierre Flote by name,’ after taking counsel with Charles, said, ‘Lord, thou art the king of Flanders.’ And the king said unto him, ‘Blessed art thou, Peter, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my brother which is hapless; and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my counsel; and I will give unto thee the keys of my kingdom of Flanders, and whatsoever thou shalt bind shall be held in contempt by God above.’> Then, summoning his messengers, the king said unto them, ‘When ye go into Flanders, say unto the Flemish, “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falleth.”® If therefore they shall be divided from my kingdom, I will lay their houses waste,’ and I shall brandish my sword; and either they shall be made subject unto my royal power, or I shall cleanse the earth of them and drive them into the sea. And I shall gather them unto me, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.’* When they came into Flanders, therefore, these messengers told the Flemings that which the king had told them to say. Whereupon the Flemings, replying to each point in turn, said, ‘We have built splendid cities and towns. Your king does not deserve the name of shepherd, but rather is he a wolf, for he wishes the sheep to be devoured and delivered unto the wolf. And since we are not oxen, we fear to be yoked; and since we

are not chicks, we fear to be gathered under wings, but would rather die by the sword. And since it better befits a shepherd to keep the peace than to brandish the sword, we do not believe that any house will be destroyed, but rather the devil; or rather, that he will make unto himself a hovel in the wilderness.”? Having received this reply, therefore, the messengers departed to tell the king all

that they had heard and seen, as it had been told unto them.’

Whereupon the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, for his oath’s

sake,!! he summoned the count of Artois” and those of his fellow-

8 Luke 13: 34; John ro: 16. 7 Ezek. 35: 4. © Luke 11: 17. "Mark 6: 26. 10 Luke 2: 20. 9 Cf. John to: 12; Isa. 1: 8. 12 Robert count of Artois, first cousin to the king’s father Philip III (1270-85), was the French commander at Courtrai, where he died.

1406-8

222) 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

et dixit eis, ‘Euntes in mundum uniuersum, docete omnes gentes contumaciam Flemyngorum in nomine meo. Qui dederit eis mala, hic saluus erit. Qui uero non dederit, condempnabitur. Signa autem eos qui dederint hec sequentur: in nomine meo demonia suscipient; Deum despicient, et si mortiferum quid susceperint, hoc eis* nocebit.! Et cum fueritis euntes in Flandriam, occidite omnes Flemyngos a bymatri et infra.” Comes abiit facturus sicut dixit ei rex. Quidam uero Francorum dederunt quinque talenta, quidam uero duo, et quidam unum, unusquisque alteri propriam uirtutem; et congregans comes uniuersam choortem, profectus est statim et uenit in Flandriam.? Cumque Petro Cannyng?* hoc relatum fuisset, perrexit obuiam ei cum centum milibus uirorum comitatus. Conuersusque Petrus dixit, “Tu quis es?’ Respondit comes, dicens, ‘Jeo luy su; quis es tu qui interrogas?? Respondit Petrus Cannyng, ‘Sum ego.’ Dicit ei comes, ‘Amen amen, dico tibi, quia antequam gallus cantet, ter me negabis.’ Dicit ei Petrus, ‘Etsi oportuerit te mori mecum, non te negabo.”> Dixit iterum comes, “Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram euaginabo gladium meum, et non relinquam tibi membrum sub capite, eo quod non cognoueris

(tempus)? uisitacionis tue.”° Dicit ei Petrus, ‘Scriptus est enim, “Non occides, quia qui gladio percutit, gladio peribit”.’ Et ipse Petrus, extracto gladio, abscidit auriculam eius dextram.’ Tunc dixit comes, ‘Vsquequo non parcis michi ut gluciam saliuam meam?”® Petrus iterum percussit, et dixit, ‘Sic respondes pontifici?”’ Et procidit comes in terram et orauit, dicens, ‘Pater, si possibile est, transiat a me calix iste. Non tamen sicut ego uolo, sed

sicut tu uis, Petre.’'® Et terre motus factus est magnus ab hac hora tercia usque ad horam nonam. Et hora nona clamauit comes uoce magna,

dicens, “Bayard, Bayard, ou es tu? Pur quoy as moy

refuse?’—hoc est, ‘Equus meus, equus meus, ut quid me dereli-

quisti?? Et hoc dicto expirauit.'' Et recordatus est Petrus quod dixerat comes, ‘Jeo luy suy’, et iuit foras et clamauit alte.!? Et dixit unus ex Flemyngis, ‘Vere uilis Dei erat iste.'> Conuersus uero Petrus Cannyng, cum uidisset Petrum Flot, illum scilicet disci-

pulum quem Deus neclexerat;'* eratque monoculus homo ille,!5 * interlined

> suppl. in CAU, p. 109

" Mark 16: 15-18. 2 Matt. 2: 16. 3 Matt. 25: 15. * Peter de Coninck (‘the king’), dean of the guild of weavers at Bruges, and popular leader of the Flemish. 5 Matt. 26: 34—-5. ° Matt. 16: 18; Luke 19: 44. ” Exod. 20: 13; Matt. 26: 51-2. ® Job 7: 19.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

223

disciples who were present, and said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach to every creature in my name of the disobedience of the Flemings; he that shall do them harm shall be saved; but he that shall not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that shall do this: in my name shall they receive devils; they shall despise God; and if they take up any deadly thing, it shall hurt them.' And when ye go into Flanders, kill all the Flemings of halfblood or more.” So the count departed to do as the king had told him. Some of the French gave five talents, others two, and others one—each one to the other according to his ability. And so, gathering the entire host together, the count straightaway took his journey to Flanders.> And when Peter Coninck‘ was told of this he hurried to meet him, a hundred thousand men in his company. Peter turned to him and said, ‘Who art thou?’ The count replied, saying, ‘I am he. Who art thou that asks?’ Peter Coninck replied, ‘I am.’ The count said unto him, ‘Amen, amen, verily I say unto thee that before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.’ Peter said unto him, “Though thou shouldst die with me, yet will I not deny thee.”* The count said again, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will draw my sword, and I shall not leave in thee one limb below thy head, for thou knowest not the time of thy visitation.”® Peter said unto him, “Truly it is written, “Thou shalt not kill; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”.’ Then this same Peter drew his sword, and smote off his right ear.’ Then the count said, ‘Wilt thou not spare me at least until I may swallow down my spittle?’® Peter smote again, saying, ‘Answerest thou the high priest so?” And the count fell to the ground and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done, Peter.’!® And it was the third hour, and the earth did quake until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour the count cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Bayard, bayard, where art thou? Why hast thou forsaken me?’—that is, ‘My horse, my horse, why have you forsaken me?’ And having said this, he gave up the

ghost.'! And Peter called to mind that the count had said, ‘I am he,’

and he went out and wept.” And one of the Flemings said, “Truly this man was worthless in the sight of God.’'? And when Peter Coninck turned around and saw Pierre Flote, he knew him to be

the disciple whom God had spurned," for he was a one-eyed man,"° 4 Mark 15: 25-37. 10 Mark 14: 35; Luke 22: 42. ® John 18: 22. 4 John 21: 20. 13, Matt. 27: 54. 2 Mark 14: 72. 15 Apparently both Flote and de Coninck were one-eyed (CAU, p. 109 n. 1).

1406-8

224 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per scripturam dicentem,! ‘Si oculus tuus scandelizet te, eice eum et proice abs te.’ Vir autem ille sequebatur a longe, ut uideret finem, ut impleretur quod dictum est in euangelio,® ‘Melius est cum uno oculo intrare prelium Francorum, quam duos oculos habere et mori a Flemyngys.”* Ex quibus dixit unus, ‘Vere et tu ex illis es.’ At ille incepit detestari* et iurare quia non nouisset hominem; et continuo nullus Gallicus cantauit.° Et angariauerunt eum Flemyngi ut sequeretur comitem Arthesie; at ille, ablato capite, secutus est eum.® Putruerunt cadauera Francorum, ut impleretur id quod dictum est per prophetam dicentem, ‘Putruerunt, et corrupte sunt cicatrices eorum.’’ Venerunt Flemyngi ut uiderent corpora defunctorum, et dixerunt, ‘Dormite iam et requiescite. Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro uero infirma.’* Canes et uolucres celi pascebantur ex carnibus eorum, ut impleretur scriptura,’ ‘Posuerint morticinia Francorum tuorum escas uolatilibus celi, et carnes eorum bestiis terre.’”!° Dixit unus ex

Flemyngis, ‘Sepeliamus corpora Francorum, ne tumultus fiat in populo.”"! Dixit Petrus Cannyng, ‘Nolite sepelire eos in terra, neque in mari, neque in arboribus, quousque signemus eos Francos in frontibus eorum,” ne ueniant uicini et cognati eorum et furentur eos,’? et dicant plebi quia euaserunt a mortuis; et erit nouissimus error peior priore.’'* Et erat numerus: centum quattuordecim milia signati ex tribu Francorum, quadraginta septem milia signati ex tribu Picardorum, uiginti quattuor milia signati ex tribu Normannorum, sedecim milia signati ex tribu Britanorum, tredecim milia signati ex tribu Pictauorum, sedecim milia signati

ex tribu Andagauorum.’* Et multa alia facta sunt que non sunt? scripta in libro hoc.'® Post multum uero temporis uenit dominus seruorum ponere racionem cum eis,"’ et consilio accepto ne redirent ad Flemyngos pugnare paratos, per aliam uiam reuersus est in

regionem suam.'® a destari MS

> interlined

eMatinr22: 3 Matt. 26: 58; 1: 22. :Mark 14: 70-72. : Ps. 37 (38): 6; Matt. 1: 22. Gen. 40: 19; John 19: 36. 1 Matt. 26: s.

:

2 Matt. 18: 9. * Matt. 18: 9. ® Matt. 27: 32. 8 Matt. 26: 41, 45. © Ezek. 39: 4; Ps. 77(78): 2. 2 Rev. 7: 3:

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

225

whereby that which is written in the scriptures might be fulfilled,' namely, ‘And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee.” But this man followed afar off, to see the end, thereby fulfilling what is said in the gospel,’ ‘It is better for thee to enter into battle with the French with one eye, rather than having two eyes and being slain by the Flemings.”* One of them said to him, ‘Surely thou art one of them.’ But he began to curse and to swear that he had not known this man; and straightaway no Frenchman crowed. And the Flemings compelled him to go with the count of Artois; and so, his head having been removed, he followed him.’ The corpses of the French rotted, whereby what the prophet said was fulfilled, namely, “Their wounds do stink, and are corrupt.” The Flemings came to see the corpses of the dead, and they said, ‘Sleep on now, and take your rest. The spirit indeed is willing, but the

flesh is weak.’”® The dogs and the birds of the sky ate their flesh from off them, whereby the scriptures were fulfilled:? “They gave the corpses of thy Frenchmen unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.’ One of the Flemings said, ‘Let us bury the corpses of the French, lest there be

an uproar among the people.’"! Peter Coninck said, ‘Bury them not in the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed them

as Frenchmen in their foreheads,” lest their neighbours and their cousins come and steal them away,'’ and say unto the people, they are risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first.’!* And the number was: of the tribe of the French were sealed an hundred and fourteen thousand; of the tribe of the Picards were sealed forty-seven thousand; of the tribe of the Normans were sealed twenty-four thousand; of the tribe of the Bretons were sealed sixteen thousand; of the tribe of the Poitevins were sealed thirteen thousand; of the tribe of the Angevins were sealed sixteen thousand.'* And many other things were done which are not written in this book.'® After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them; and, having been warned that he should not return, for the Flemings were prepared to fight, he

departed into his own country another way.” 3 Luke 1: 58. 15 Rev. 7: 4-8. 7 Matt. 25: 19.

4 Matt. 27: 64. 16 Cf. John 20: 30. 18) Matt:2: 12:

1406-8

226 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

De natiuitate Christi. Item inueni ibi in cronica Martini, in historia Constantini secundi,! quod in uetustissima tumba defuncti apud Constantinopolim una aurea cum hac scriptura inueniebatur lamina, ‘Iesus Christus nascetur de uirgine Maria, et credo in eum.’ Item quod in Hispania quidam Iudeus, dum rupem frangeret ad plantandum in ea uineas, in medio petre per eum fracte

inueniebat librum foliatum lapideum eadem uerba continentem, et hoc addentem, scilicet de diuisione mundi ab Adam usque ad antichristum in tres partes, et singularum partium condiciones describentem. Et in Christo sic incipit, ‘Iesus Christus, Dei filius,

fo. 3"

nascetur de uirgine Maria; et pacietur pro populo; et credo in eum; et inueniar tempore Ferandi regis Castelli.” Et ita fuit; et baptizatus est Iudeus. Indicia iudicii. Ex annalibus Hebreorum ecce indicia diem iudicii precedencia. Primo die erigit se mare quadraginta cubitis supra omnes montes, non dispersim, sed ad modum muri stans in loco suo. Secundo die descendet, ut uix uideri posset. Tercio die omnes pisses usque ad celum dabunt mugitum, quem solus Deus intelligit; |et credo quod finale creatori testimonium reddent. Quarto die maria et omnes aque ardebunt. Quinto die omnes arbores et herbe rorem dabunt sanguineum, et omnia genera auium congregata nichil gustabunt, suum creatorem contemplancia. Sexto die ruent edificia, fulminaque ignea ab occasu solis ad ortum eius occurrencia. Septimo die petre se mutuo collidentes scindentur in quatuor partes, quorum sonum solus Deus nouit. Octauo die tantus erit terre motus quod omnia eius superficia penitus prosternet. Nono die omnibus aliis inequalibus in puluerem redactis, equabitur terra. Decimo die exibunt homines de cauernis, pre timore sibi mutuo loqui non ualentes. Vndecimo die omnia ossa mortua desuper sepulcra se ostendent. Duodecimo die stelle et sidera et firmamenti cetera turbidas et igneas comas emittent, animaliaque terre in campis congregabuntur cum mugitu maximo, nichil gustancia. ‘T’erciodecimo die morientur uiuentes, ut cum mortuis resurgant. Quartodecimo die ardebunt celi et terra. Quintodecimo die fiet celum nouum et terra noua, et resurgent omnes iudicium " Emperor Constantine II (337-340); the Chronica pontificum et imperatorum of Martinus Polonus (d. 1278) was a popular epitome of world history. > Presumably Ferdinand III (1217-52), hero of the Reconquista, canonized in 1671.

THE

CHRONICL OF ADAM E

USK

227

Concerning the birth of Christ. | also found it recorded in the chron-

icle of Martinus there, under the history of Constantine the second, !

that in a very ancient tomb at Constantinople, a gold plate was found with these words written on it, Jesus Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary, and I believe in him; also that a certain Jew who lived in Spain was breaking up some stony ground so that he could plant vines there, when he found, embedded in a rock which he had just broken, a book, the pages of which had been petrified, and which contained the same words, with an addition describing the division of the ages of the world into three parts, from Adam to the antichrist, along with the characteristics of each part. And the age of Christ began as follows: ‘Jesus Christ, the son of God, shall be born of the Virgin Mary; and he shall suffer for the people; and I believe in him; and I shall be discovered at the time of King Ferdinand of Castile.” And so it came to pass; and the Jew was baptized. The signs ofJudgement. These are the signs that shall precede the day of judgement, taken from the annals of the Hebrews: on the first day the sea will rise forty cubits higher than all the mountains, so that it will not be spread out but will stand in one place like a wall. On the second day it will fall again, so that it is barely visible. On the third day all the fishes will let out a great roar to heaven, which only God will understand: and I believe that they will be sending forth their last testimony to the creator. On the fourth day the seas and all the water will catch fire. On the fifth day all the trees and bushes will produce a bloody dew, and all the different types of birds will gather together, eating nothing, but simply contemplating their creator. On the sixth day buildings will crash to the ground, and there will be

thunderbolts of fire from sunset to sunrise. On the seventh day rocks will be dashed together and shatter into quarters, but only God will hear it. On the eighth day there will be an earthquake so violent that everything standing above ground will be utterly razed. On the ninth day everything that still protrudes will be reduced to dust, so that the earth is left flat. On the tenth day men will emerge from their caves speechless with fear. On the eleventh day all the bones of the dead will appear on the tops of their graves. On the twelfth day wild fiery rays will shoot forth from the stars, the constellations and everything else in the firmament, and the beasts of the earth will gather together in the fields with a mighty bellowing; but they shall eat nothing. On the thirteenth day all the living will die, so that they can rise again with the dead. On the fourteenth day heaven and earth will burn. On the fifteenth day a new heaven and earth will be created, and all

1406-8

CHRONICON

228 1406-8

ADE

VSK

recepturi; in quo ad dextram cum agnis nos collocet filius uirginis, mundum eo quod suo sanguine redemptum iudicaturus. Ante tamen dicta signa, quatuor fallaciis mundum decipere conabitur antichristus. Primo sacre scripture, Christum se a lege promissum asserendo, intellectum peruertere, ac legem Christi destruere, ac suam statuere, laborabit. Et sedebit in templo tamquam Deus, ut legem Christi auferat: Danielis undecim, ‘Ibi dabunt abhominaciones’ et cetera,! iuncta sua glossa. Secundo per operacionem miraculorum, quia ignem de celo et cetera, per spiritum malignum, sicut Christus per Spiritum Sanctum: Apocalypsis tredecim,’ iuncta glossa. Tercio per donorum largitatem, quia thezauri terre per demones sibi aperientur, quos cum terra suis distribuet fautoribus: Danielis tredecim,’ cum sua glossa. Quarto per tormentorum illacionem, quia quos in premissis allicere sibi non poterit crudeliter interficiet, ut in Apocalypsi, de Elya et Ennoc et aliis sibi resistentibus.1 Vnde ecce metricum signa

describens iudicii:*° Signa ludicii. Antequam iudicii dies metuenda Veniat, sunt omnia mundi commouenda.

Nam per dies quindecim mundo sunt uidenda Signa nimis aspera, nimis et horrenda. Relegens? Ieronimus libros Hebreorum Ista signa reperit, que posteriorum Scripsit ad memoriam, ut suppliciorum Conuertantur impii metu futurorum. Nam in mundi uespere uenient portenta, Per que certa poterunt dari documenta, * Where preferable, readings have been adopted from the versions given in Lateinische Hymnendichtung, ed. G. M. Dreves and C. Blume (Leipzig, 1909), it. 462—4 (cited as LH), and M. Pelaez, ‘Un nuovo ritmo latino sui mesi ad altri carmi latini medievali’, Studi Medievali, nuova serie viii

(1935), 67-9 (cited as SM) Danese

> LH, SM: legens en MS Za Revangsi3s

)Dansnrs43:

* Elias (i.e. Elijah) and Enoch are evidently identified here as the two witnesses of Rey. 11: 3; they were commonly regarded as messianic precursors, since both had been translated miraculously to heaven. (The return of Elijah was also prophesied in Mal. 4: 5.) In 1491, the Newbury heretic Richard Hilling prophesied their joint return (J. A. F.

Thomson, The Later Lollards 1414-1520 (Oxford, 1965), p. 76). * Numerous versions survive of the first 22 stanzas of this hymn: for references see

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

2209

beings will rise again to receive their judgement; and may the son of the Virgin, who, having redeemed the world with his blood, shall pass judgement on it, place us on his right hand that day, in the company of the sheep! But before these signs manifest themselves, the antichrist will employ four stratagems to try to ensnare the world. Firstly, claiming that he is the Christ promised in the law, he will endeavour to pervert the meaning of the holy scripture, and to destroy Christ’s law and replace it with his own. And he shall sit in the temple as if he were God, so that he can suppress the law of Christ: Daniel, chapter eleven, “They shall place the abomination, etc.,! including its gloss; secondly, by performing miracles through an evil spirit, such as fire from heaven etc., as Christ does through the Holy Spirit: Apocalypse, chapter thirteen,’ including the gloss; thirdly, by the liberal distribution of gifts, for devils shall open up the treasures of the world to him, so that he can distribute them to his followers, along with the earth: Daniel, chapter thirteen,’ with its gloss; fourthly, by the use of torture, for those whom he is unable to win over to his side by any of the above means he shall cruelly put to death, as in the Apocalypse with Elias and Enoch and the others who stood out against him.* Here, therefore, is a poem describing

the signs of judgement: The signs ofjudgement. Before the dreaded day of judgement, Chaos shall all things embroil; For fifteen days the world shall witness Signs of fear and bitter toil.

Reading in the Hebrew annals, Jerome found these signs, and passed Them to posterity, that men May fear, and thus repent at last. For, as the world comes to its end, These omens are a certain sign H. Walther, Initia Carminum ac Versuum Medii Aevi Posterioris Latinorum (Carmina Medii Aevi Posterioris Latina, 2 vols., Gottingen, 1959), i. 67. Ihave not been able to discover the source of the last 16 stanzas, although the Welsh prose version in W. W. Heist, ‘Welsh prose versions of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday’, Speculum, xix (1944), 427—

31, elaborates on the same kinds of sins and punishments, and contains verbal similarities to Usk’s later stanzas.

a number of

1406-8

230

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Prauis quam crudelia manebunt* tormenta Nimis qui amauerant? mundi blandimenta.

1406-8

i. Prima dies seculo talem signum dabit: Mare surgens turgidum¢ undas eleuabit. Quadraginta cubitis’ montes superabit, Terram non operiet, “sed ut murus‘* stabit. ii. Erit namque postea tale quod sequetur: Mare petet infima sic et abscondetur, Quod uix idem oculis hominum cernetur; Et ad statum pristinum postea reuertetur. it. Pisses die tercia supra fluctus stabunt, Et rugitus maximos uersus celos dabunt; Congregati uolucres plangent et clamabunt, Necnon omnes bestie planctum resonabunt. iii. Quarta lux horribile signum exhibebit: Mare cum fluminibus omnibus ardebit;

Omne genus hominum uidens hoc pauebit, Arens metu nimio pro se quisque flebit.

v. Nubem nimis horridam quinta lux monstrabit, Omnis herbe species sanguine rorabit, Totam terram sanguinis sudo occupabit, Omne genus arboris taliter sudabit. vi. Sexta die menia cuncta diruentur, Domus, turres, opida simul destruentur; Instrumentis bellicis hec sic non labentur,

Ymmo propter proximum finem confundentur. vi. Die uero septima lapides pugnabunt Et alternis ictubus inuicem crepabunt;* In cauernis homines metu latitabunt,

Et ut illos obruant montibus clamabunt. vii. ‘Totam terram tremere lux octaua dabit,

Supra pedes animal suos nullum stabit; ix. Cunctis terram partibus nona lux equabit, Valles *implens arduos montes* inclinabit. * manent MS

> amarunt MS

© SM: rugidum MS

SOLES SiMe

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

231

Of fearful torments that await Those who for earthly pleasures pine.

1406-8

1. The first day’s portent to the world: The sea shall cover not the land,

But, swelling forty cubits over Mountains, like a wall shall stand.

i. The next day’s sign is that the sea Shall shrink so deep and low and straight, Scarce visible to man, before Reverting to its prior state. it. On the third day, fish shall stand Upon the waves, and heavenward cry; The birds shall howl and weep as one, And beasts emit a mighty sigh. iv. The fourth day’s fearsome sign is this: The seas and rivers all afire; While men who gaze on it shall quake

And groan, for fear of heaven’s ire. v. The fifth day brings a ghastly cloud, While every kind of bush or bud Is covered with a bloody dew, And trees throughout the world sweat blood. vi. On the sixth day, walls crash down, Houses, towers, towns shall fall; But this is not the work of men At war; it means the end for all.

vii. On the seventh day, the rocks Shall crash and clatter as they fight; While frightened men, concealed in caves,

Beg mountains to obscure their flight. viii. The eighth day dawns, the whole world shakes, No being on its feet can stand; ix. While on the ninth, the peaks are razed, And chasms filled throughout the land. cubitus MS

® LH: clamabunt MS

e-e 1H

SM:

nec minus

MS

f LH, SM:

h-h SM: montens implens arduos MS

detuentur MS

232

1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

x. In cauernis homines prius delitentes Ibunt die decima campos per patentes, Et errabunt undique ueluti dementes, Pre timore nimio loqui non ualentes.

xi. Post terrorem siquidem talium signorum, Die sub undecima, claustris defunctorum Fractis, foras* salient ossa mortuorum Et horrorem facient oculis uiuorum. xii. De supernis partibus postea pressure Die duodecima mundo sunt uenture; Et de celo desuper stelle sunt casure,

Et per partes °aeris flamme?

uolature.

xii. Die ternadecima cuncti morientur, Qui uiuentes seculo tunc reperientur, Cum defunctis aliis ut resuscitentur, Et secundum merita sua iudicentur.

xiii. Ignis quartadecima die succendetur, Vt quod homo polluit, ignibus purgetur; Vnde superficies celi comburetur, Atque terre facies idem pacietur. xv. Dies quintadecima celum renouabit, Atque terre pariter nouam formam dabit; Et post hoc angelica tuba mox sonabit, Ac defunctos insimul omnes suscitabit. Dies iudicii. Aer post incipiet totus rutilare, Nam in luce ueniens Christus nubis clare, Viuos atque mortuos omnes iudicare, Iosaphat uidebitur supra uallem stare.

Surgent ad iudicium omnes qui uixerunt; Hic corona, lancea, crux et claui erunt. Et uidebunt reprobi quem reprobauerunt, Eis tunc terribilem, in quem pupugerunt.

Hic occulta cordium omnium patebunt, Opes et potencia nihil tunc ualebunt; Celi sed diuicias iusti possidebunt, Amatores seculi flebunt et lugebunt. * LH, SM: foris MS

>> LH, SM: altis flammis MS

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

x. On the tenth day, those who hid In caves before shall issue forth; Demented, speechless, wandering men, Terrified of heaven’s wrath.

x1. The horrors of such portents past, The eleventh day brings sights more grim: Tombs break apart, and while men watch, Skeletons burst from within.

xu. On the twelfth day, from the sky, A crushing force shall grip the world; Flames shoot forth on every side, While stars are from the heavens hurled. xiit. The thirteenth day, and every man And woman then alive shall perish, To rise again and, with the dead, Be judged according to their merits. xiv. The fourteenth day, and fire shall rage, That all man’s filth it thus might purge; Through heaven above, and earth below, The purifying flames shall surge.

xv. And now the fifteenth day is come, A second heaven and earth He makes;

And soon the angels’ trumpets sound, And every man from death awakes.

The day ofJudgement. Then brilliant lights illume the clouds; Christ descends, the skies glow red; Above the vale stands Josaphat, To judge all men, both quick and dead.

To this dread judgement all must come, And those who once him crucified With crown and lance, and cross and nail, Shall stand before him, terrified. Each heart must then reveal its all;

Wealth and might shall naught avail; Virtuous men receive their due, While pleasure-lovers weep and wail.

233

1406-8

234 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Nullus ineffabilem? gloriam sanctorum Vel dolorem dicere poterit dampnorum, Nisi quod fons omnium hiis est honorum,

Illis erit ?omnium cumulus? malorum. Ergo quisque properet reus emendari, Studeat® criminibus lacrimis lauari, Et uenturum iudicem bene contemplari,

Vt in die ualeat mala liberari.¢ Quid dicturi ‘miseri sumus ‘ante thronum, Ante strictum iudicem, ante summum bonum? Nam ibi aduocatum non dat aut patronum, Sed nostrarum premia reddet accionum. Nam ad tronum stando tunc iudicis seueri, Non erit distancia laici aut cleri;

Nulla nos exempcio poterit tueri, Cum peruentum fuerit ad examen ueri. Neque erit licitum quemquam allegare, Aut tunc phas excipere, siue replicare, Nec ad apostolicam sedem appellare; Reus condempnabitur; dicit nullus‘ quare. Nichil ibi dabitur bulle uel scriptori, Nichil camerario siue ianitori; Sed tradentur miseri pessimo tortori, Quibus erit uiuere sine fine mori.

Ad terrorem omnium surgo locuturus; Omnis clerus audiat, simplex et maturus; Nichil est quod timeam, ualde sum securus, Nam hic sermo percutit uelut ensis durus. Puniendi presules sunt et cardinales, Abbates et monaschi, male moniales, Sacerdotes emuli, clerici uenales, Congregantes insimul opes temporales. Quanto plus accumulant, tanto plus marcescunt, Sunt uelut ydropici quorum morbi crescunt, Dum plus bibunt 4sciciunt magis® et arescunt; Sic auari miseri nunquam requiescunt. ® LH, SM: tam lucidam MS

6b LH, SM: cumilus omnium MS

EL

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

235

The boundless glory of the saints, The anguish of those damned to hell:

1406-8

From perfect bliss to unplumbed grief, Of such things, no man’s tongue can tell. So let each man desist from sin,

Repent the evil of his ways, And contemplate this judge who comes, That freedom might be his that day. For when the moment comes to plead Before that strict yet perfect throne, No lord or counsel will be there; Our pleas, our dues, shall be our own.

Nor will that judge distinction make, Between the laity and the church; No special pleading shall be heard, When every secret soul is searched. No man may then approver turn, Nor plead excuse, nor make reply, Nor to the holy see appeal; For guilt is guilt; God asks not why. No fee will then secure a bull; No chamberlain or guard attends; The wicked shall be cast adrift, To suffer torments without end.

So listen, churchmen, when I speak, The terror of the world am I; I fear no man, and like a sword, My words shall smite you from on high. Prelates, abbots, wayward nuns, Cardinals and monks I chide; Jealous priests and greedy clerks, None who covet wealth can hide.

The The The The

more they seek, the more they thirst, more they strive and never cease, more they shall grow weak and parched; grasping wretch shall know no peace.

4 the editions in LH and SM end at this point SM: studens a MS ££ plus sciciunt MS f stimulus MS miseri MS

€-€ sumus

236 1406-8

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Apud nostros iudices iura peruertuntur, Et qui leges faciunt lege non utuntur; Non attendunt miseri mala que sequuntur, Nam qui dampnant alios primo dampnabuntur. Homo, postquam moritur, statim fit sepultus; Quid est auaricia nisi uilis cultus, Vanitatum uanitas, cordium tumultus? Periunt diuicie, perit homo stultus.

In sepulcro tegitur uili tegumento, *Deportatur postea* miser in tormento, Patitur supplicia, ut arundo uento, Redimi non poterit auro uel argento. Cogitate, iudices, qui et quales estis, Quid in hoc iudicio dicere potestis; Non utentur? codice iuris nec digestis; Idem erit Dominus iudex, actor,‘ testis. Vos in lectisterniis, clerici, iacetis, Curtinis et plumeis, laneis tapetis; Vnde uobis nuncio, qui modo gaudetis, Tunc in hoc examine dolenda dicetis.

Quare, dum in prandio diuites sedetis, Hostium pauperibus claudere iubetis? Pauper clamat uocibus admodum quietis; Nil datis, sed aspere eis respondetis. Semper carnem carnibus implere curatis, Cum priuatis opibus multa deuastatis, Vino nobilissimo ciphos uacuatis, Ventrem cibis sordibus sepe reseratis.

Pietatis opera iudex recitabit, Prout ea fecerint quosque iudicabit; ‘Egentes non curastis’ malis ‘Ite’ dabit: ‘Venite’ curantibus quam dulce sonabit. Cunctis en preteritis, quicquid horrens erit Dampnatos tunc ad ‘Ite’ sine fine terit; Et quicquid solacii honorisque res gerit Vocatis ad ‘Venite’ certe nunquam perit. «4 deportantur postes MS

> utetur MS

© actorque MS

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

Our judges, who pervert the laws, Condemning all, themselves shall be Condemned without recourse to law,

To yet unheard of agony. Man dies, and is at once interred;

And what use now is all his gold, But pride, vexation, worldly pomp? Like him, his riches shall grow cold. And while his stinking body rots, His soul is swept up like a reed To where no hand accepts his bribes, And where no ear shall hear him plead. So think well, judges, who you are, And how you might present your plea; Discard your codex, digest too, Judge, plaintiff, witness, God shall be. You clerks, who feast upon the couch With hangings rich, or idly sleep, I tell you now, such joys are brief, When judgement comes, each one shall weep. Why should you, as you gorge and feast, While at the gates meek paupers knock, With hardened heart, and grudging mien, Close fast the door and bolt the lock?

You stuff your bodies full of flesh, Your riches lay the world to waste, Your jugs are filled with choicest wines, Your bellies crave each vulgar taste. This judge shall reckon deeds of grace, Mete out to each as he has done; To those who cared not, He cries ‘Go!’

To those who did, a joyous ‘Come!’ And then, when all is done, the damned, Dismissed, in ceaseless torment lie; While those whom He has called shall live In everlasting joy on high.

237

1406-8

238 1408

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

Longcastell armorum rex predictus, ab Angl’ reuersus, presencium compilatori intimauit Parisiis quod, facto per eum uerbo regi pro sua reconsiliacione, quod tum propter dicti comitis Northum-

brie communionem, tum propter detracciones suorum a Roma

emulorum? suis literis regi factas, modus non erat sibi se reconsiliare, quia indies magis ac magis sibi indignato. Vnde coram eodem armorum rege protestatus fuit idem compilator quod fingeret se hominem fore Oweni, ac cum gente sua ad Walliam ad ipsum transiret, et inde, captata oportunitate, ab eo ad dominum suum Powys, sub ipso graciam regis expectaturus, latenter recederet. Et factum est ita; et hec protestacio sibi saluauit uitam. Insidie michi erant in mari posite, et octo naues de Deuonia me per duos dies naturales sequebantur, et sepius prout et lepus inter tot leporarios agitatus est, et® exstiti. Sed finaliter, sancti Thome de Yndia precibus, et quem in uisione pro me Deum deprecari quod benedicatur conspexi, ad portum Seynt Poule de Lyons in Britannia euasi, et ibi in sancti Theleai capella, ubi et draconem centum uiginti pedum longitudinis destruxit, me sibi commendando mis-

sas indies celebraui.' Abermo.” Et demum, captata oportunitate, in Wallia ad portum Abermo applicui, et ibi in montibus, cauernis, fruticibus et siluestribus, antequam ad dictum dominum meum de Powys accedere ualui, eo quod in partibus Deuonie ipsius comitis filiam in uxorem tunc duxerat,’ delitui, multis ac magnis mortis et captiuitatis falsorumque fratrum famisque et sitis, noctesque nonnullas° hostium inuadencium metu insompnes ducendo, periculis satis cruciatus. Vlterius, per partem dicti Oweni, explorato quod ad dictum dominum meum pro saluo conductu miseram, sub strictis caucionum custodibus positus eram. 1409 Pauper capellanus. Et demum,? dicto domino meo ad sua reuerso, habitis ab eo ad eum ueniendi et cum eo saluo* standi licencie literis, ad eum et castrum suum de Pola noctanter et clanculum me 2a Roma © interlined

repeated

© interlined

° nullas MS

4d MS inserts a

' Usk had now been created ‘anti-bishop’ of Llandaff, where St Teilo’s body was. Teilo was widely venerated in Brittany, having spent several years there. * Abermo, the Welsh name for Barmouth (A Gazetteer of Welsh Place-Names, ed. E. Davies (Cardiff, 1958), p. 2).

* Edward Charlton’s first wife Eleanor died in Oct. 1405. His second marriage, c.1408, is usually thought to have been to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Berkeley of Beverstone (GEC iii. 161-2). Her name was certainly Elizabeth (CFR 1413- 22, pp. 399,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

239

When the aforementioned Lancaster king at arms returned to Paris, he explained to me, the compiler of this present work, that he had spoken to the king about the question of a pardon, but that, partly because of my contact with the earl of Northumberland, and partly because of smears written by my enemies at Rome and sent to the king, there was no way I could be pardoned at the present time; on the contrary, the king’s anger with me was increasing every day. I, this same compiler, therefore swore an oath to this king at arms that I would pretend to be one of Owen’s supporters, and that I would take my men and make my way to Wales to join him, but that once there I would, when an opportunity presented itself, secretly slip away from him and go and stay with my lord of Powis, hoping thereby to gain the king’s pardon. And that is what happened; and it was this promise which saved my life. Traps were laid for me at sea; for two whole days I was pursued by eight ships from Devon, and frequently it seemed to me that I was like a hare hunted by so many hounds. Eventually, however, through the prayers of St Thomas of India, whom I had seen in a vision praying to God for his blessing on my behalf, I escaped to the port of St Pol de Leon in Brittany, where I celebrated mass every day in the chapel of St Teilo (built on the spot where he slew a dragon one hundred and twenty feet long), and committed myself to his care.’ Barmouth.’ Finally, I took my chance and landed at the port of Barmouth in Wales, where—since I could not for the moment go to see my lord of Powis, because he was at that time in Devon, having just married the earl of Devon’s daughter’—I hid away amongst the mountains and caves and woods and forests, hungry and thirsty, constantly afraid that I would be killed or captured or betrayed, and passing many sleepless nights in fear of attack from my enemies. Moreover, once Owen’s men discovered that I had sent to my lord of Powis for a safe-conduct, I was also placed under close restraint by pledges. A poor chaplain. Eventually, however, once my lord had returned home, and I had received a letter from him allowing me to go and appear before him under safe-conduct, I secretly slipped away by night and made my way to him at his castle of Welshpool; and here 442), and I can find no evidence to support Usk’s statement, but it is curious that he

should be wrong on such a point. Moreover, John Berkeley is said only to have had two daughters (John Smyth of Nibley, The Lives of the Berkeleys, ed. J. Maclean (3 vols., Gloucester, 1883-5), i. 350), and Dr Bridget Harvey tells me that they were Eleanor,

who married John de Arundel, and Joan, who married Thomas Stawell.

1408

1409

240 1409

1410

I4II

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

transtuli, ubi et in eius ecclesia parochiali, extra teritorium exire non ausus, tamquam pauper capellanus, solum pro missa alimenta recipiens, ab ingratis cognatis et olim amicis nullatenus uisitatus, talem et in corde Deus nouit qualem languidam satis duxi uitam. Interim me ibi commorante, inter ceteros generosos de parte Oweni, per castri predicti capitaneum tres incliti uiri, scilicet Philippus Schidmore de Troya, Rys ap Gryuyth de Cardigann, et Rys ap Tydyr de Angleseya, captiuati, primus Salopie, cuius caput adhuc ibi ultra pontem stat fixum, secundus London’, et tercius Cestrie, ad patibula trahuntur et suspenduntur.’ Litera regis. Ad instanciam demum dicti domini et Dauid Holbech, magnifici uiri, regis graciam per suas literas, ac ipsas Salopie proclamari, obtinui;’ et tunc illuc pedester antiquos uisitaturus amicos transiui. Duos ab eis equos et centum solidos gratanter habui; famulum conduxi; tamquam denuo natus, statum ante exilium aliqualiter refigurare incepi; ad partes proprias, per antiquos amicos et cognattos, promotos et alioquin* per me non modice releuatos, ac debitores, et releuari sperans, accessi. Quos non solum ingratos, dum eciam obprobria incucientes, ymmo eciam, ne quid ab eis de proprio exigerem, meam ruinam appetentes, reperii; illud uulgare quod ‘non propter me sed propter mea alii dilexerunt’, unde infortunia labente me neclexerunt. Ac illud poeticum, ‘amicum mutuam me rogante pecuniam, ipsum et pecuniam perdo’,’ et recordaui.° Inde in Angliam, corde cum tremulo, licet cum hillari uultu, dominos et amicos antiquos uisurus, me transtuli, omnia beneficia et

bona perdita irrecuperabiliter exploraui. In parliamento cum aliis doctoribus interfui;* ac paulatim, Deo operante, cor, uultum et animum dilataui. Per dominum meum Cant’ in curia sua Cant’ restitutus, ‘ad bonam ecclesiam de Merstham promotus fui,’ seruientes, libros, pannos et lares ut alter lob accumulaui,° quare benedicatur Deus in eternum et ultra! * aliosque MS

> reportaui MS

© interlined

' Lloyd (Owen Glendower, pp. 141-2) assigns this incident to 1410, noting that the Annals of Owen Glyn Dwr said Scudamore and Griffith were taken in 1409, Tudor in 1412. If Lloyd is right, Scudamore’s head would have been on display for some four years, for Usk was writing in early 1414. > For Usk’s letter of pardon, dated 20 Mar. 1411, ‘at the supplication of David Holbache, esquire’, see CPR 1408-13, p. 283. There is a full transcription in CAU, Pp. Xxviii. * [have not been able to find the sources of these quotations. we the parliament of May-June 1413, of which Usk gives an account (below,

Pp- 244).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

241

it was that I passed my days, a poor chaplain in the parish church, not daring to venture beyond his lands, receiving no food except what I could earn for saying masses, and shunned by my ungrateful kinsmen and former friends; a listless enough life, as God in his heart well knows. During the time while I was staying there, various gentlemen who supported Owen, of whom the three most notable were Philip Scudamore of Troy, Rhys ap Griffith of Cardigan, and Rhys ap Tudor of Anglesey, were captured by the captain of that castle, and drawn to the gallows and hanged; the first at Shrewsbury, where his head is still stuck up on the far side of the bridge, the second at London, and the third at Chester.' The king’s letter. Finally, however, at the request of the aforesaid lord [of Powis] and of that excellent man David Holbache, I received royal letters of pardon, which I had proclaimed at Shrewsbury;’ whereupon I set out on foot to visit old friends there. They gave me two horses and a hundred shillings, for which I was grateful; so I hired a servant, and began slowly, like a man reborn, to rebuild the life I had led before my exile. I returned to my native country, among old friends and kinsmen, men for whom I had secured promotion, or had helped in other ways, or to whom I had lent money, hoping that they in turn might help me; but not only were they ungrateful and reproachful, they actively sought my ruin, so that I would not be able to claim from them anything that was rightfully mine; and I remembered the saying, ‘they loved me not for myself, but for what I had;’ and thus, when fortune deserted me, they shunned me. And I remembered also what the poet said: ‘I ask a friend to lend me money, and lose both money and the friend.’ And so, with a trembling heart but a cheerful demeanour, I went on into England to visit lords and old friends, and to see whether all my benefices and goods had indeed been lost beyond recovery. I sat in parliament with other doctors;* and, little by little, with the help of God, I took heart, and my countenance grew brighter, and my spirits lifted. My lord of Canterbury reinstated me to his court at Canterbury, and I was promoted to the fine church of Merstham;? and, like another Job, I began once more to acquire servants, and books, and clothes, and a home;° for which God be praised for ever and ever! 5 Usk was given Merstham by Archbishop Arundel before Feb. 1414, when Arundel died; on 28 Oct. 1414 he exchanged it for Hopesay (Salop): Registrum Roberti Mascall Episcopi Herefordensis 1404-17, ed.J.H. Parry (CYS, London, 1917), p- 187.

§ Cf. Job 42: 10-11.

1409

1410

1411

242 fo. 4" 1409

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Vxor Oweni, cum eius duabus filiabus et tribus neptibus, domini

Edmundi Mortemeri filiabus, et omnibus laribus, captiuatur, et

London’ ad regem transmittitur;! Owenus cum unico filio suo, Meredyth nomine, in terre cauernis et montium fruticibus delitet miserime. Ad bonam cautelam, regis expensis, per eius soldatos

(ad)* rebelliones nouas refrenandas,’ de Snowdon et aliorum

1413

montium ac siluarum Northewall’ saltus et passus custodiunt. Mors Henrici quarti. Henricus quartus, postquam quatuordecim annis quosque sibi rebelles confringendo potenter regnauerat, dolenter intoxicatus, unde carnis putredine, oculorum ariffaccione, etinteriorum egressione per quinque annos cruciatus, apud Westm’ in camera abbatis, ipsius genesim quod in terra sancta moreretur

uerificando, infra sanctuarium, anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo duodecimo et mensis Marcii die uicesimo, diem suum clausit extremum; et per aquam transportatus sepelitur Cantuar’.’ ‘Istam putredinem portentebat sibi sue coronacionis unctio, quia pediculorum in capite presertim generantia adeo quod nec crines sustinet nec discoopertum ‘caput per plures menses habere potuit.° Henricus quintus, °suus ex filia comitis Herfordie primogenitus,° probissimus iuuenis ac uirtutibus et sagacitate plenus, quartadecima die a patris morte, Dominica scilicet in passione tunc contingente, apud Westm’ coronatus solempnissime exstitit. Eadem die niuis uehemens et inaudita tempestas regni montes cooperuit,‘ homines, bestias et domos suffocauit, ac ualles et palludes, cum nimiis hominum dampnis et periculis, mirabiliter submersit.* 6Vnum de oblacionis ipsius tempore in coronacionis missa nobilibus de manu sua in terram cecidit, quod tum per ipsummet et alios astantes diligenter quesitum et inuentum, ab ipso offertur.% Nouus rex omnibus quantumcumque eciam lese maiestatis criminosis, dum tamen citra festum sancti Iohannis baptiste literas regias inde facerent expediri, in conuiuio coronacionis perdonacionem fecit proclamari; unde pro ipsis literis magnas pecunias habuit.> Ac eciam in parliamento suo inmediate ex tunc apud Westm’ tento, * suppl. in CAU, p. 119 > refrenatas MS ©< intop marg., marked for insertion at this point 4 dicoopertum MS © marg. note in later hand, Henricus 5 f marg.notein later hand, tempestas inaudita ®-€ intopmarg., markedforinsertionatthis point ;

' They were taken at the siege of Harlech (1409), along with another of Glendower’s sons, Lionel. Glendower’s wife was Margaret, daughter of Sir David Hanmer (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 326; Wylie, Henry IV, iii. 266). * Henry died in the Jerusalem or Bethlehem chamber in the abbot’s palace at West-

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

243

Owen’s wife, together with her two daughters and three granddaughters—the daughters of Sir Edmund Mortimer—and all their goods, was captured and sent to the king in London;! and Owen in his misery hid himself away with his only son, called Meredith, in remote caves and wooded mountainsides. In order to prevent any fresh outbreaks of rebellion, the king for better security paid his soldiers to guard the valleys and passes of Snowdon and the other mountains and forests of North Wales. The death ofHenry the fourth. On the twentieth day of March in the year of our Lord [1413], after fourteen years of powerful rule during which he had crushed all those who rebelled against him, the infection which for five years had cruelly tormented Henry IV with festering of the flesh, dehydration of the eyes, and rupture of the internal organs, caused him to end his days, dying in the sanctuary of the abbot’s chamber at Westminster, whereby he fulfilled his horoscope that he would die in the Holy Land; and he was taken away by water to be buried at Canterbury.’ This festering was foreshadowed at his coronation, for as a result of his anointing then, his head was so infected with lice that his hair fell out, and for several months he had to keep his head covered. On the fourteenth day after his death, which was Passion Sunday [9 April], Henry the fifth, his eldest son by the daughter of the earl of Hereford,’ a most admirable youth, full of wisdom and virtue, was crowned with great solemnity at Westminster. That day was marked by unprecedented storms, with driving snow which covered the country’s mountains, burying men and animals and houses, and, astonishingly, even inundating the valleys and fenlands, creating great danger and much loss of life.* During the coronation mass, the king dropped one of his oblatory nobles on the floor, and both he himself and the others who were present had to search carefully to find it before it could be offered up. At the coronation banquet the king had it proclaimed that all criminals, even those who had committed treason, would be pardoned, so long as they successfully sued for letters of grace before the feast of St John the Baptist [24 June]; in return for which letters he received a great deal of money.° He also imposed a tax of a tenth on minster. For the king’s illness, see P. McNiven, ‘The problem of Henry IV’s health, 3 Mary de Bohun (d. 1394), Henry IV’s first wife. 1405-13’, EHR c (1985), 747-72.

4 Cf. St Albans Chronicle, p. 69. 5 See Foedera, ix. 3-4, where the date for suing out pardons is given as 8 Aug. (later extended to Christmas: RP iv. 7).

1409

1413

1413

1411

1414

ADE

CHRONICON

244

VSK

clerum in decima et populum in quintadecima bonorum parte collectauit;! item in stipendiorum annuorum quorumcumque confirsibi reseruauit;?> necnon macionibus, primi anni comoda creacionibus fieri solitas regum nouis quascumque financias in ut singuli in suas Hibernicos, et Wallicos dupplicauit. Ac contra ; et inde ab eis pro promulgauit edictum proficiscerentur? patrias, morandi licencia magnos thezauros sibi congregauit.* Hiis diebus, in uim cuiusdam exempcionis Bonefacii noni, uniuersitas Oxon’ unanimiter et manu forti metropolitane restitit? uisitacioni; unde tribulaciones permaxime, cedes hominumque nonnulle, propter superuenientes patrie proceres ad succursum dicti domini Cant’, mutue contingebant. Sed in cassum, ad tunc idem dominus recessit, at per IJohannem papam uicesimum tercium huiusmodi exempcionem reuocari obtinuit, et uniuersitatem’ eidem ad _ renunciandum compulit.* Ambassiatores solempnes Francie pro regis maritagio et regnorum tranquillitate

ad regem (uenerunt),’ suis cum eo expensis stantes per duos menses, et demum cum eis recedentibus et suos transmisit.> Dom-

ino comiti Marchie, et per ipsum domino regi, duo pupilli, alter nouem annorum et altera septem annorum tantum, ad magnam et inauditam miracionem, offeruntur, in Wallia cum eorum prole communi, matrem lactente, oriundi. 1413 Sub domino Iohanne Oldcastell, milite,“ dicto per uxorem

domino de Cobhan,° Lollardi eorum pestifera doctrina, et presertim circa sacramentum altaris, ecclesiam eiusque fideles ac regnum perturbant. Facultas eis in multitudine glomerata indies * profiterentur

MS

> resistere

MS

© sibi del.

4 suppl. ed.

© marg. note in later hand, \ohannes Oldcastell " RP iv. 6. Parliament met from 14 May to 9 June. * This may have been the effect of the king’s reservation to himself of £10,000 from the annuities bill (RP iv. 5; and cf. Given-Wilson, Royal Household, p. 245). For Henry’s financial measures at this time, see Henry V: The Practice ofKingship, ed. G. L. Harriss (Oxford, 1985), pp. 170-2.

* For the expulsion of the Welsh and Irish, see RP iv. 5-6, 13, and SR, ii. 173; Usk himself was given licence to remain in England, apparently without paying a fine, on 6 Dec. 1413 (CPR 1413-16, p. 125). * Usk is referring to Arundel’s attempted visitation of Oxford in 1411, which gave rise

to violence, though seemingly there were no deaths. Boniface’s bull to the university was dated 1395, and was revoked by John XXIII in Nov. 1411. The king upheld the archbishop’s right of visitation, and Richard Courtenay, chancellor of the university, temporarily resigned (Wylie, Henry IV, iii. 442-9 ; C. Allmand, Henry V (London, 1992), pp. 291-2). Arundel himself was presumably Usk’s source for this episode.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

245

the clergy’s goods and a fifteenth on the laity’s goods in the parliament held at Westminster immediately after this,! and whenever he confirmed anybody’s annuity, he kept it for himself during the first year;” he also doubled all the payments customarily made at the beginning of a reign. In addition, he issued a decree against the Welsh and Irish ordering them all to go back to their own countries, demanding large sums of money from them for licences to

1413

remain.}

Around this time, the University of Oxford, citing an exemption granted by Boniface IX, unanimously and forcibly resisted a visitation by the archbishop of Canterbury, which resulted in a great deal of acrimony and feuding, including several deaths, because the local dignitaries came to the help of the metropolitan. But, although the archbishop had to withdraw for the present, he persuaded Pope John XXIII to revoke the exemption, and forced the university to renounce it. Solemn envoys arrived from France to see the king, to discuss the question of his marriage and the prospects for peace between the two kingdoms, staying with him for two months at their own expense; and when they eventually left, he sent his own envoys back with them.* Two Welsh children, one of whom was nine years old and the other just seven, together with their own child, whom the mother was suckling, were presented to the earl of March, who in turn gave them to the king—an event which caused widespread amazement. Led by Sir John Oldcastle, knight, who through his wife bore the title of Lord Cobham,° the Lollards stirred up trouble for the church and its faithful and the kingdom with their pestilential teaching, especially concerning the holy eucharist. And since their numbers continued to swell all the time, in some places protection was withdrawn from them, although this was difficult to enforce, 5 The French ambassadors were William, archbishop of Bourges, Charles lord de le Bret, constable of France, and Goutier Col, secretary to the French king; they received safe-conducts to leave the kingdom on 23 Jan. 1414, with a retinue of more than 200 servants. On 28 Jan., Henry lord le Scrope, Hugh Mortimer, and Henry Ware were empowered to treat with France, and the king agreed not to marry anyone except

Catherine, daughter of the French king, before 1 May 1414, though he was in fact also discussing the possibility of a marriage to an Aragonese princess or a daughter of the duke of Burgundy (Foedera, ix. go-104; Allmand, Henry V, p. 68). 6 John Oldcastle, of Herefordshire, married Joan, grand-daughter and heiress of John Lord Cobham (d. 1408). He was excommunicated as an incorrigible heretic on 25 Sept. 1413, and imprisoned in the Tower, but escaped on 19 Oct. (GEC x. 46-8; Foedera, ix. 61-66; Gesta Henrici Quinti, ed. F. Taylor andJ.S. Roskell (Oxford, 1975), pp. 183-5).

I4II

1414

1413

246 1413

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

pululantibus onerose sub pena interdicti in locis aufertur. Dictus dominus Iohannes per dictum dominum Cant’ et alios suffraganeos suos sibi assistentes dampnatur hereticus, et in turri Lon-

don’ (ab)* eo mancipatur intrusus; inde ultra muros de nocte

1414

euadens, suis literis et nunciis suos fautores sibi alliciendo regnum clanculo commouet. In uigilia epiphanie, regem fortem pro fide pugilem Christianissime zelantem, prelatosque ac ecclesias hostiliter ad inuadendum et destruendum omnes, ad congregandum Fykettysfelde noctanter sibi et confederatis suis facinorosis huiusmodi ordinat campum.! Sed campo ea nocte per regem in hoc consultum manu militari preuento, dum ita ueniunt in multitudine

capiuntur, trahuntur, suspenduntur et cremantur; inter quos et dominus Rogerus Acton,” miles de Salopia, adhuc et* per mensem in patibulo stat suspensus. Plures dampnati et dampnandi in London’ turri et ubique per regnum tenentur incarcerati.’ Iste miles, 4tegulatoris filius,4 ex infimo genere Salopie* oriundus, predis et spoliis guerre Wallie ditatus se nimis extollendo, ordinis militaris prerogatiua ac militie cingulo per Henricum quartum insigniri, ac per duos eius filios, primogenitum iam regem ac secundogenitum iam ducem Clarencie, calcaribus aureis adornari obtinuit. Post

tamen in ipsos tamquam ingratus recalcitrari non eribuit. Mors archiepiscopi Cant’. Mensis Februarii undeuicesimo die, anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo terciodecimo, dominus meus illustrissimus, domini nostri regis et fratrum suorum, necnon Marchie, Arundellie et Notynghamie ‘ac Stafford’’ comitum, necnon de Bergaueny et Spenser (dominorum),’ patruus, comitis Arundellie defuncti filius,? dominus Thomas de Arundell’, Cant’ archiepiscopus, totius Angl’ primas et apostolice sedis legatus, uirtus, lampas et sophia populi, lucerna ac delicie cleri ecclesieque, fidei Christiane columpna inpressibilis, qui michi de Kemsynge in Cancia et de Merstham in Suthreya, cum prebenda de Landogy in * suppl. in CAU, © interlined ® suppl. ed.

p. rar

4-4 interlined

> marg.

note

in later hand, © interlined

Rogerus

Acton *f interlined

' The rising was planned for the night of g-ro Jan., though some of the plotters were arrested as early as 6 Jan. (E. Powell, Kingship, Law and Society: Criminal Justice in the Reign

ofHenry V (Oxford, 1989), p. 150). For the site of Ficket’s Field, near Temple Bar, see Wylie, Henry V, i. 263. * Less than fifty rebels were executed in all. Acton had been a king’s knight under Henry IV; he was hanged at St Giles’s Field on 10 Feb. (Powell, Kingship, Law and

THE CHRONICLE

OF ADAM USK

247

and had to be done under pain of interdict. The aforesaid lord of Canterbury, assisted by the other suffragans, condemned this Sir John as a heretic, and ordered him to be thrown into prison in the Tower of London, but he escaped over the walls at night and began sending out letters and messengers secretly encouraging his followers to overthrow the kingdom. He ordered these degenerate followers to join him on the eve of the epiphany [5 January] at an open space called Fykettsfield,' so that they could launch an attack against the king—that mighty zealot and champion of the Christian faith—and destroy him and all the prelates and the churches. But the king was informed of their plans, and arrived there first that night with an armed force, so that when they came along large numbers of them were rounded up, drawn, hanged and burned, including Sir Roger Acton, a knight from Shropshire, whose body has now been hanging from the gibbet for a month. Many of those who have been convicted or who are awaiting conviction are being held prisoner in the Tower of London or elsewhere in the kingdom.’ This knight, the son of a tiler, was born into a lowly Shropshire family, and made his fortune from spoil and booty during the Welsh war, but he became arrogant beyond belief, getting himself honoured with admission to the order of knighthood by Henry IV, and being invested with the belt of knighthood by the king, and with the golden spurs by his two sons—that is, the present king, the eldest son, and the present duke of Clarence, the second son. Despite this, the ungrateful wretch later shamelessly turned against them. The death ofthe archbishop of Canterbury. On the nineteenth day of the month of February, in the year of our Lord [1414], my most excellent lord, Lord Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and legate of the apostolic see, the uncle of our lord the king and his brothers, as well as of the earls of March, Arundel, Nottingham, and Stafford, and Lords Abergavenny and Despenser, and the son of the deceased earl of Arundel’—the strength, lamp and wisdom of the people, the light and delight of church and clergy, and the unshakeable pillar of the Christian

faith—he who conferred upon me the fine churches of Kemsing in Kent and Merstham in Surrey, with the prebend of Llandygwydd in Society, pp. 150-7). A pardon, with named exceptions (including Oldcastle, who escaped from Ficket’s Field), was proclaimed on 28 Mar. (Foedera, ix. 110).

3 The archbishop was the son of Earl Richard (d. 1376); the only one of these lords to whom he was truly uncle was Thomas earl of Arundel (d. 1415).

1413

1414

248 1414

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

Wallia, bonas ecclesias contulit, et per quem me ad maiora, prout ita promiserat, promoueri sperabam, casu quodam quo omnia tendunt in occasum subita mutacione preuentus, dies suos longe ante optatum michi terminum—pro dolor—Cantuar’ terminauit,' regis celestis illam dulcedinis uocem, ‘Serue bone et fidelis, intra

fo. 4°

in gaudium domini tui’,? cum eternitatis gaudio recepturus. Quam terminacionem eadem nocte London’ in uisione habui, scilicet quod ipse, relicta tota familia, et in curtis uestibus quasi remote transiturus, uelocissime currebat solus; et cum ego omni nisu ipsum insequi laborarem, tradidit michi unam ceream candelam dicens, ‘Scindas istam in medio inter nos duos’, et sic a uisu meo disparuit; et sic euigilans intellexi quod diuisi eramus de cetero, et pro anima sua quam dolenter missam celebraui; et postea de morte sua certioratus fui. Qui |ad mortis sue tempus toto prouincie sue clero, nulli quantumcumque exempto ac laborare ualenti parcendo, pro fide qua stamus, in ecclesia sancti Pauli London’ solempnissimam celebrauit conuocacionem; in qua, pugil fortissimus existens, multa bona contra Lollardos et hereticos ordinauit, inter cetera de consensu regio quod committens in heresim, confiscatis eius bonis mobilibus et immobilibus, in crimen eciam ex hoc lese maiestatis incideret, ita quod ultra ignem heresi condignum eciam tractus et suspensus ad furcas adderentur pene;* eciam quod per comitatus per regis iusticiarios in hoc inquisiciones et indictaciones fierent; quas ordinaciones ante mortem suam bene

execucioni demandari obtinuit.°? Et dicta conuocacio® ad Oxon’ continuatur, ubi heresis nidus pululabat, pendente continuacione

decessit, ut supra.’ Frater Iohannes Burghhull,¢ uir auarissimus de ordine predicatorum, episcopus Lychfelden’,’ ad scandalosam eius per totum regnum famam, magnam summam auri in quodam camere sue foramine abscondit. Et quia in alia parte foramen erat apertum, due monedule, merito a moneta dicte, uolentes in eo nidificare, aurum * interlined © conuocacione MS

> marg. note in later hand, nota inquisitioni 4 marg. note in later hand, frater auarus

pro

hereticos

' He was ‘seized with a quinsy or stricture in the throat’, dying between three and four a.m. at Hackington, near Canterbury (Wylie, Henry V, i. 293-4).

2 Matt. 25: 21. * Convocation met at St Paul’s on 20 Nov. 1413, when stricter measures against Lollards were called for, though this legislation was not passed until the Leicester parliament of Apr. 1414 (Powell, Kingship, Law and Society, pp. 165-6; RP iv. 24-5).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

249

Wales, and through whom I was hoping to be promoted to greater things, as indeed he had promised me—was, sad to relate, by that fate through which all things meet their end, overcome by asudden turn for the worse, and, long before I would have wished it to happen, ended his life at Canterbury,! thereby receiving from the heavenly king not only that sweet call, ‘Good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy lord,” but also the bliss of eternal life. That same night, in London, I had a vision of his death, in which, having left his entire household behind, he was dressed in short clothes and running with great speed, as if planning to journey afar; but when I tried, with a great effort, to follow him, he handed me a

wax candle, saying, ‘Break this in half between the two of us,’ and then he vanished from my sight; whereupon, awakening, I realized that we would henceforth be parted from one another, and, with sadness in my heart, I said a mass for his soul; and later I was informed of his death. At the time of his death he was celebrating, together with all the clergy of his province, none of whom was for any reason excused or spared from attending provided that he was fit to work, a solemn convocation at St Paul’s church in London on behalf of the faith for which we stand; at which, great defender of the faith that he was, he issued many useful ordinances against Lollards and heretics, including one issued with the king’s consent to the effect that anyone found guilty of heresy, once his movable and immovable goods had been confiscated, should also, for that same offence, be regarded as having committed high treason, so that, in addition to being burned as a heretic, he should also suffer the penalties of drawing and hanging at the gallows; it was also agreed there that the king’s justices should instigate inquests and indictments concerning these matters in the shires. And before his death he obtained assurances that these ordinances would indeed be enacted.’ This convocation was resumed at Oxford, that teeming nest of heresy; and it was pending this resumption that he died, as noted above.’ Brother John Burghill, bishop of Lichfield, an inordinately greedy man from the order of friars preachers,’ hid away a large sum of gold in a hole in his chamber—a fact reported throughout the realm, to his great shame. But since this hole also had an opening on the other side, two jackdaws—rightly called ‘monedule’ from the word ‘money’—who wanted to build their nest there, cleaned out the 4 See Concilia, iii. 360, for a meeting summoned to Oxford in 1414, though not a formal convocation. 5 Burghill held Lichfield from 1398 until his death in May 1414.

1414

250 1414

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

per arbores et gardinum dispergentes, et foramen eo ad multorum comodum euacuauerunt. Quod una die in mensa dicti domini mei, ad magna solacia per nonnullos conuiuas regni magnates, fabulatum audiui. Ad? sedem transfertur Cant’ magister Henricus Chychley,’ legum doctor, Meneuen’ tunc episcopus, cui et subrogatur in Meneuen’ magister Iohannes Kedryk; dicto, iam Cant’, in recessu meo ab Oxon’ cathedram meam ciuilem dimisi.! Demum, et infra

medietatem anni extunc, predicto fratri lohanni Burchhill ab hac uita subtracto, et sibi N. de Patryngton’, ordinis Carmelitarum,

subrogatur in sedibus.’ Rex‘ apud Laicestr’ solempne tenet parliamentum, in quo prelatis et clero plures excessus et extorsiones ac negligencie, in approbacionibus testamentorum, in abusu hospitalium, et non residencia curatorum et aliis obiciuntur.’ Istorum reformacionem obiectorum rex conuocacioni remisit cleri, qua sub dicto Cant’ in ecclesia sancti Pauli London’ tenta, in multis fuerat reparacio ordinata, et presertim circa testamenta,“ scilicet quod infra centum solidos, duodecim denarii, et sic usque ad uiginti libras; et ultra usque ad centum libras, decem solidi; et sic usque ad mille libras, pro singulis centum libris, decem solidi; ita quod in quacumque summa bona testamenti existant, ordinarius ultra uiginti libras pro omnibus laboribus non recipiet. In ista conuocacione a clero, licet contra ordinem, quia talia primo laici concedere solebant, due conceduntur decime ante quintedecime temporalium concessionem.* Iam °expensis cleri ad consilium generale Constancie tenendum, regni et potissime cleri expensis, pro dictorum excessuum ac unionis uniuersalis reparacione,‘ solempnes mittuntur * at this pointanew scribe (Hand Eight) begins > marg. note in later hand, Magister Henricus Chychley episcopus Cant’ © marg. note in later hand, parliamentum ad Laicestr’ 4 marg. note in later hand, reformacio testamentorum © marg. note in later hand, ambassiatores ad generale consilium * marg. note in later hand, con-

silium generale

' Chichele was bishop of St David’s from 1408, translated to Canterbury on 27 Apr. 1414, and died in 1443; he probably succeeded Usk to the chair of civil law at Oxford in ¢.1395 (above, p. xv). * Catterick was bishop of St David’s until 1 Feb. 1415, and of Lichfield 1415-19; Patrington, the king’s confessor (Foedera, ix. 72), was bishop of St David’s 1415-17. * Parliament met from 30 Apr. to 29 May 1414; the petitions on wills and hospitals are in RP iv. 19-20.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

251

hole and scattered the gold amongst the trees and garden, thereby providing a lot of people with a windfall. This is a story which I heard told one day at the table of my aforesaid lord by various guests of his, great men of the realm, and it caused much amusement. M. Henry Chichele, doctor of laws, and at that time bishop of St Davids, was translated to the see of Canterbury, being replaced at St David’s by M.John Catterick; it was to the former—the present holder of Canterbury—that I resigned my chair of civil law when I left Oxford.’ Then, when the aforementioned brother John Burghill was taken from this life about half a year later, [Catterick] replaced him, and was himself replaced by [Stephen] de Patrington, of the Carmelite order.’ At a solemn parliament held by the king at Leicester, objections were raised about various malpractices, extortions and omissions of the prelates and clergy, notably in relation to the proving of wills, the abuse of hospitals, and the non-residence of curates, as

well as other matters.? The king decided that these objections should be dealt with in a convocation of the clergy, which was held under the aforementioned lord of Canterbury at St Paul’s church in London, and in which several reforms were decreed, particularly in relation to wills,* for which it was agreed that for [goods valued at] less than a hundred shillings, twelve pence should be charged, and the same up to twenty pounds; from twenty pounds up to a hundred pounds, ten shillings should be charged; and from a hundred pounds up to one thousand pounds, ten shillings should be charged for each one hundred pounds; provided that, whatever the total value of the goods in the will, the ordinary should not charge more than twenty pounds for all his work. In this convocation two tenths were granted by the clergy before the grant of fifteenths on temporal goods, despite the fact that this was contrary to custom, for such grants were meant to be made by the laity first.’ At this time the clergy also had to pay for the following solemn ambassadors to be sent to the general council which was to be held (at the realm’s expense, but especially at the clergy’s expense) at Constance, for the reform of the abuses mentioned above and in 4 Cf. Concilia, iii. 358-68, for the reforms of the convocation of 1 Oct. 1414; and for legislation concerning wills in 1416, ibid. 377-8. 5 Convocation met at St Paul’s from 1-20 Oct. 1414; parliament did not meet until 19 Nov. (Concilia, iii. 358; RP iv. 35).

1414

252 1414

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

ambassiatores, “episcopi Bathonien’, Sarum et Meneuen’, ac abbas Westmonasterii et prior Wigornie, ac comes Warwici, ac domini Fyzhw et de Swiche, necnon milites domini Walterus Houngerford et Radulphus Racheford.*! Hoc tempore Scoti partes Ang!’ boriales non modice infestant.? ° Ecclesia London’,¢ proprio et discrepante usu dimisso, indies Sarum officia prima Dominica aduentus sibi ad usum primitus accepit.’? Rex in hoc parliamento generalem perdonacionem omnibus literas huiusmodi citra festum sancti Michaelis expedituris concessit. Ordinatum est eciam quod capellani stipendiarii, si curati, octo alias septem marcas tantum recipient; sicut et alias lane, iam de cercinis panni, ordinatur tributum.* In uigilia concepcionis Beate Virginis dissoluitur parliamentum. Isto secundo regni sui anno, prope Schene super ripam Tamesii,

(rex)/ tres religiosas, unam Cartusie, secundam sancte Brigide, et terciam sancti Celestini, incepit fundare domos, de possessionibus monachorum Francie easdem dotando; prioratus de Goldclef et de Nethe, alias Gallice, iam indigenantur.’ Rex nonnullos suo lateri speciales ad quemcumque sui regni pecuniosum sibi pecuniam mutuaturos per totum suum regnum dispergit.° Rex ad requirendum regem Francie pro terris suis hereditariis in eius regno situatis, una pro filie sue maritagio sibi pro bono concordie habende, ambassiatores, scilicet de Duram et de Norwich episcopos, de Dorsett’ comitem, ac de Scrope dominum, * dirigit quam solemnes in Franciam; sed inde quasi derisi et infecto negocio rediunt in Angl’, unde ‘rex et‘regni heroes, indignati, ut infra, indignacionis arma dirigunt

in Francos.’ 24 all these names underlined bene 4 suppl. ed.

>> underlined © dominos MS

© marg. notein later hand, nota *f interlined

" The ambassadors to Constance were Nicholas Bubwith, bishop of Bath and Wells; Robert Hallum, bishop ofSalisbury; John Catterick, bishop ofStDavid’s; William Col-

chester, abbot of Westminster; Thomas Spofford, abbot of St Mary’s, York; John de Malvern, prior of Worcester; Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick; Henry Lord FitzHugh; Sir Walter Hungerford; Sir Ralph Rochford; and Master John Hovingham. Their commissions were dated 20-21 Oct. 1414, and did not include Lord Zouche. Convocation granted twopence in the pound on taxable benefices for their expenses (Foedera, ix. 167; Concilia, iii. 358). * In Dec. 1414 some northern towns and counties were excused payment of tax because of Scottish raiding (Calendar ofDocuments relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain (Edinburgh, 1888), iv. 172).

* This fell on 2 Dec. in 1414; but according to W. H. Frere (The Use ofSarum (2 vols., Cambridge, 1898-1901), ii. xxxi), St Paul’s adopted the Sarum rite in 1415, when the first

Sunday in Advent fell on 1 Dec. * For the wages of chaplains, see RP iv. 51-2; the general pardon is not mentioned here. For wool and cloth taxes, see Allmand, Henry V, pp. 390-1.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

253

the cause of universal unity: the bishops of Bath, Salisbury, and St David's, the abbot of Westminster and the prior of Worcester, the earl of Warwick, Lords FitzHugh and Zouche, and Sir Walter Hungerford and Sir Ralph Rochford, knights.! At this time too the Scots descended in force upon the northern parts of England.? The church of London, rejecting its own usage, which was different from the others, adopted for its daily use the Sarum office, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent.’ During this parliament the king granted a general pardon to all those who sued for such letters before the feast of Michaelmas [29 September]. It was also decreed that stipendiary chaplains who held cures should receive eight marks, or at least no more than seven; and a tax was imposed upon bales of cloth, as was already the case with wool.* Parliament was dissolved on the eve of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin [7 December]. In this second year ofhis reign the king began the foundation, near Sheen on the river Thames, of three religious houses, one Carthusian, the second Bridgettine, and the third Celestine, endowing them with the possessions of monks from France; the priories of Goldcliffand Neath, formerly French houses, have now been denizated.» The king despatched a number of his close supporters throughout the realm to borrow money from anybody in the kingdom who was rich.° He also sent a most solemn embassy to France, consisting of the bishops of Durham and Norwich, the earl of Dorset, and Lord Scrope, to demand from the French king those hereditary lands of his which were situated in his kingdom, and to ask for his daughter in marriage so that a proper peace might be made; but they were treated with derision, and returned to England without achieving any progress, whereupon the king and the heroes of the realm, in their fury, began to direct their wrath against France,

as will be seen below.’ 5 Henry’s two religious foundations were the Carthusian House of Jesus of Bethlehem, at Sheen, and the Bridgetine Syon Abbey, at Isleworth; his planned Celestine house never got off the ground (W. N. M. Beckett, ‘Sheen Charterhouse from its foundation to its dissolution’, D. Phil. thesis (Oxford, 1992), pp. 1-7). Neath abbey (Glamorgan) was a Cistercian house, founded in 1130, and not therefore in need of denization.

Goldcliff priory (Monmouth), founded in 1113, was dependent upon the Norman abbey

of Bec; in 1442 it was granted to Tewkesbury abbey (D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock,

Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales (2nd edn., London, 1971), pp. 67, 122). Usk may simply be using the term ‘denizated’ to indicate that these houses were now staffed by English monks, in accordance with the statute of 1414 on alien possessions (RP iv. 22). © Cf. Foedera, ix. 241. ‘Cash loans in the financial year 1414-15 amounted to some £27,000, over a fifth of the £131,000 made available that year’ (Allmand, Henry V, p. 396). 7 Thomas Langley, bishop of Durham; Richard Courtenay, bishop of Norwich;

1414

254 1415

CHRONICON ADE VSK

Papa deponitur. Vnum pennatum mirabile, noster papa Iohannes uicesimus tercius, contra sua ad unionem promissa—aliis duobus, scilicet Gregorio et Benedicto, secum, licet monstruose, concur-

rentibus—quia recalcitrans et alias de periuriis, homicidiis, adulteriis, simoniis, heresi et aliis excessibus, et quia bis latenter ac ignominiose in apparatu uili recedens transfigurate, per ipsum consilium perpetuis mancipatur carceribus.' Decimo sexto die mensis Iunii, Henricus quintus, anno regni sui tercio, locis sacris per eum primitus quam deuote uisitatis, in gloriosa facessia uersus Franciam debellandam ad litus maris de Portysmouth transsiturus London’ exit.” Quo ad eum regis Francie ambassiatores,

fictam pacem

querendo, uenientes, a certis eius

consiliariis, Ricardo scilicet Cantibr’ comite, ducis Eborac’ fratre, necnon de Scrope et de Gray dominis, ipsius mortem seu saltem uiagii impedimentum, in magno redimerunt auro.? Qui per comitem Marchie detecti, mortem tanta* prodicione dignam merito reportarunt. Veniuntque solemnes ambassiatores a rege Aragonie, eius filiam regi nostro in uxorem offerentes, cum quibus

suos inde transmisit ambassiatores.* Deinde’ mari sulcato sub prospero uelo tercio die Augusti> ad ripas Normannie prope Herflete cum suis uotiue applicat, tentoriisque fixis sibi insultat, subteraniaque fodina ipsius aream contribulat, suis machinis et bombardis ipsam et ipsius muros quassat, finaliter suis cum hominibus nudis in colla funatis et cordulatis, et omnibus eius

bonis, sibi in dedicionem reportat, °omnes olim indigenas expellit et suos Anglicos ibi collocat, comitem Dorsettie ipsius capitaneum

errogat.° Ventris fluxu in obsidione plures,? de quibus ‘Norwici interlined > marg. note in later hand, expedicio Henrici quinti in Galliam © marg. note in later hand, capcio Herflet 4 marg. note in later hand, uentris fluxus e¢ underlined a

Thomas Beaufort, earl of Dorset; Richard Lord Grey of Codnor; Philip Morgan; and

Richard Holme, the king’s secretary, were commissioned on 5 Dec. 1414 to treat for peace and for the king’s marriage to Catherine of France (Foedera, ix. 183-7). ' John XXIII fled from Constance on 20 Mar. 1415 dressed as a groom; pursued by envoys, he fled again from Breisach on 24 Apr. He was deposed at Constance on 29 May and imprisoned at Heidelberg, eventually dying at Florence on 22 Dec. 1419 (Creigh-

ton, History of the Papacy, i. 325-42). ; * Henry made offerings at St Paul’s and Southwark before leaving London. He was

bound for Southampton, not Portsmouth (Wylie, Henry V, i. 483-4). * The French embassy was led by William Boisratier, archbishop of Bourges, and met Henry at Winchester on 30 June (Foedera, ix. 282). The conspirators in the ‘Southampton plot’ were Cambridge, Henry Lord Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

255

The pope is deposed. Extraordinary to relate, our pope, John XXIII, having reneged on his promises of union—for the other two, Gregory and Benedict, remained popes at the same time as him, a monstrous

situation—and

because

he

was

recalcitrant,

and

because of his former perjuries, homicides, adultery, simony, heresy, and other crimes, and because he had twice ignominiously fled in secret in common disguise, was sentenced by this same council to perpetual imprisonment! On the sixteenth day of the month ofJune in the third year of his reign, Henry V, having first gone with the utmost devotion to visit the holy shrines, left London in glorious array on his way to make war against France, heading for the coast at Portsmouth.” There he was met by the ambassadors of the king of France; they pretended to be seeking peace, but in fact bribed a number of the king’s councillors, namely Richard earl of Cambridge, the brother of the duke of York, and Lords Scrope and Grey, with a large sum of gold, to kill him, or at least to put a stop to his expedition.’ Their plot was revealed by the earl of March, however, and they suffered the fate which they justly merited for such treason. Solemn ambassadors also arrived from the king of Aragon, offering his daughter in marriage to our king; and he sent his own ambassadors back with them.* From there a favourable wind carried him across the sea, and on 3 August® he landed, as he had intended, near Harfleur on the coast of Normandy, where, having pitched camp, he attacked the town, subduing the surrounding area with underground mines and shattering the town itself and its walls with his siege engines and cannons, until eventually the town, its inhabitants—stripped naked, and with halters and nooses around their necks—and all their goods, were surrendered to him; whereupon he expelled all the native inhabitants and replaced them with English people, appointing the earl of Dorset as captain there.® Many died of dysentery during the siege, including the bishop of Grey of Heton. Grey was executed on 2 Aug., the other two on 5 Aug. There is little evidence for French participation in the plot, for which see T. B. Pugh, Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415 (Southampton Record Series, xxx, Southampton, 1988). 4 John Waterton and John Kemp were commissioned on 25 July to negotiate with

Ferdinand I of Aragon (1412-16) for the hand of his daughter Mary (Foedera, ix. 293-6). 5 Recte 13 Aug., when Henry landed at the Chef de Caux, near Harfleur.

6 For the siege of Harfleur see Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 26-54. The town was surrendered on 22 Aug., and Thomas Beaufort appointed captain the same day. Henry ‘expelled a couple of thousand or so of the inhabitants, mostly women and children’ (Allmand, Henry V, p. 81).

1415

256 1415

fo. 5°

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

episcopus, de Arundell’ et Suthfolk* comites, perierunt; ad milia eciam, quidam honeste quia licenciati, quidam causarie quia infirmati, quidam ignominiose quia desertores milicie et cum regis indignacione, ad propria remearunt.' Rex, Deo se et gladii fortune animose et tanquam alter leo se committens, decem uix milibus bellicosis stipatus, uersus Calisiam perendinandam, per medium pagi, imo per medium Francie, pontium ob fracturam, cautus uias suas dirigit,’ cui hostes sui de Francia ad sexaginta milia nobiliorum et preelectorum occurrunt iuxta Agingcourt “in Picardia,* et conserto bello, benedicatur Deus, cessit uictoria regi nostro; de cuius parte tantum septem et uiginti ceciderunt, de quibus Eboraci dux, de Suthfolk comes iuuenis, ac de Kychlay et de Skidmore milites, et Dauid Game de Breconia, ceciderunt nobiles.°’ Ex parte Gallorum, ad mortem, captiuitatem seu fugam positorum omnium, tesaurum et uecturas regis, licet ad sui confusionem, secum habencium, de Aureliano et

de Borbon ducibus ac sex comitibus captiuatis, tres duces, sex comites, quattuor et uiginti barones, nonaginta domini, et mille quadringenti cum tunicis armature nobiles, septem‘ milia plebei

ceciderunt morti.’ Quarto die Nouembris,4 sub domino Iohanne Bedfordie duce,

regis secundo fratre et eius in absencia locumtenente, London’ incipit parliamentum solempne, ob regis in hominibus et expensis causatum releuamen; in quo per temporales conceditur quod integra quintadecima per eos ad festum purificacionis Beate Virginis extunc, ut supra, solui concessa proximum, quod ante festum sancte Lucie uirginis ad usum regis debeat indilate leuari.*> Concessa est eciam et alia quintadecima ad proximum annum sequentem in festo sancti Martini persoluenda, regi eciam ad terminum 4 interlined > marg. note in later hand, bellum de Agincourt © originally .xvii., but x is struck through 4 marg. note in later hand, parliamentum pro subsido ' Richard Courtenay, bishop of Norwich, died on 15 Sept.; Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, on 18 Sept.; and Thomas Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, on 13 Oct., after the surren-

der. The number who returned to England after the siege was probably about 5,000, leaving the king with 6,000 fighting men (Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 58, but see also ibid., nn. 5 and 6). ‘ > Henry left Harfleur on about 7 Oct.; for his campaign, and the battle of Agincourt (25 Oct.), see Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 60-100; Allmand, Henry V, p. 88, estimates the French army at 20,000 or more. 3 Edward, duke of York; Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, whose father had died at Harfleur; Kyghley was from Lancashire; Gam was ‘David ap Llywellyn of Breconshire,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

257

Norwich and the earls of Arundel and Suffolk, and thousands of others returned home: some went legitimately, having got permission to do so, while others were invalided home because they were sick; but there were some who, disgraceful to relate, simply

deserted the army, to the king’s fury.' Then the king, committing himself to God and to the fortunes of the sword, set off bravely like a lion with barely ten thousand soldiers right through the middle of the land—through the middle of France, indeed—for the bridges had been destroyed, intending to stay at Calais;? his French opponents, however, sixty thousand strong with nobles and picked men, confronted him near Agincourt in Picardy, where, blessed be God, once battle had been joined, the victory fell to our king. Only twenty-seven men died on his side, the casualties among the nobility being the duke of York, the young earl of Suffolk, the knights [Richard] de Kyghley and [John] Skidmore, and David Gam of Brecon; while on the side of the French, all of whom were either killed or captured or put to flight, and who had also brought with them, to their own loss, as it turned out, the royal treasure and baggage-train, the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon and six counts were captured, and three dukes, six counts, twenty-four barons, ninety lords, one thousand four hundred armigerous nobles, and seven thousand commoners

were killed.* On 4 November a solemn parliament, summoned because the king needed men and money, opened in London under John duke of Bedford, the king’s second brother and lieutenant in his absence; in which it was agreed by the laity that the whole fifteenth which, as noted above, had been granted by them, and which was due to be paid at the next feast of the Purificaton of the Blessed Virgin [2 February], would instead be raised immediately for the king’s use, before the feast of St Lucy the Virgin [13 December].* It was also agreed that another fifteenth would be raised in the following year, on the feast of St Martin [11 November], and the king was granted the following sums on merchandise for the term of his called Davy Gamme’; Skidmore was from Herefordshire. Estimates of English losses in

English chronicles are generally too low (Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 96, n. 9; Allmand, Henry V, pp. 212-13, where Kyghley’s retinue is discussed). 4 Charles, duke of Orleans (d. 1465), and John, duke of Bourbon (d. 1434); French losses were very high (Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 94-6; Wylie, Henry V, ii. 179-83). > Cf. RP iv. 63-4.

1415

CHRONICON

258 I415

ADE VSK

uite sue quoad merces, de* lane saccis, quatuor marce, uinique doliis, tres solidi, et aliis mercis libris duodecim denarii singulariter et in singulis—et merito, quia uirtutibus collaudando. Ad cuius laudem ita quidam metricus scripsit: Versus.

Anglorum cuncta prece pauset plebs operosa! Crispini luce uictoria sit speciosa; Qua de Francigenis acies ruit inuidiosa, Cui fit Angligena probitas quasi ridiculosa; Ridiculosa tibi, Francorum gens odiosa, Fit uota, qua nostri regis stat mens animosa. Mens animosa sibi datur, et tibi desidiosa. Desuper hec dantur; laus, Christe, tibi preciosa! Truditur artis opus; meat arte supersticiosa,

Excors, lapsura mens haurit amara morosa. Et in festo sancti Bricii dissoluitur parliamentum.' Ad proximum

extunc

mensis

Nouembris

die decima

nona,

in ecclesia

sancti Pauli London’, sub magistro Henrico Chicheley, Cant’ archiepiscopo, fit cleri conuocacio, ad regis subsidium quia rebus per hostem spoliati causata; in qua, non obstante quod ad proximum purificacionis festum una integra remaneat regi persoluenda decima, ut supra, due alie integre ad duo sancti Martini in yeme festa proxime futura, de beneficiis eciam non taxatis decem librarum et ultra annuum ualorem attingentibus et per ordinarium in ualore estimandis, regi conceduntur et decime. A qua tamen concessione, presencium compilatoris instancia, Wallie quia per guerram depauperata beneficia releuari causauit. Ambassiatoribus eciam cleri, in consilio apud Constanciam generali pro unione ecclesie existentibus, expensarum® conceditur et subsidium.? Dies sancti Georgii ab omni opere liberanda seruili ad instanciam regis

in duplex prorogatur° festum.* Vicesimo tercio mensis Nouembris die, anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo quintodecimo,? a Caleciis Londonias suis cum captis rex adueniens, ad unum miliare extra ciuitatem per clerum * da MS > MS inserts quia hand, spectacula in reductu regis e Gallia

© prerogatur MS

4 marg. note in later

' The usually accepted date is 12 Nov.; ‘le suis dit xvii iour de Novembr’ (RP iv. 64) seems to be an error. * Convocation met from 18 Nov. to 2 Dec. 1415; it was not until Apr. 1416 that the grant of twopence in the pound for the envoys to Constance was renewed (Concilia, iii.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

259

life: four marks per sack of wool, three shillings per tun of wine, and twelve pence per pound on each and every other kind of merchandise; and this was no more than he deserved, as a recognition of his achievements. This is what one poet wrote in praise of the king: Verses.

People of England, cease your work and pray, For the glorious victory of Crispin’s day; Despite their scorn for Englishmen’s renown, The odious might of France came crashing down. Invidious race of French, your scorn but taught Our brave king’s heart to turn that scorn to naught. To him it gave new heart, you it benumbed; Praise be to Christ, from whom these gifts have come! Thus artifice is vanquished, witchcraft gone, Dull, downcast minds drink bitter, deep and long.

Parliament was dissolved on the feast of St Brice [13 November].' On 19 November following, at St Paul’s church in London,

there was a convocation of the clergy under M. Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury, summoned to help the king because he had been deprived by the enemy of his possessions; at which, despite the fact, already noted above, that it had already been agreed to pay a whole tenth to the king at the next feast of the Purification [2 February], two further whole tenths were granted to the king, to be paid at the two subsequent feasts of St Martin in the winter [11 November]; moreover, these were to include nontaxable benefices estimated by the ordinary to extend to an annual value of ten pounds or more. At the request of the compiler of this present work, however, the Welsh benefices were exempted from this grant, since they were impoverished by the war. A subsidy was also granted towards the expenses of the clerical envoys remaining at the general council at Constance for the union of the church.’ At the instance of the king, St George’s day [23 April] was accorded the status of a double feast, on which no servile labour was to be

performed.3 On the twenty-third day of the month of November, in the year of our Lord 1415, the king returned from Calais to London with his

prisoners, being greeted on his way one mile outside the city by the 375» 377); Usk’s account of the terms of the clerical grant is confirmed in CFR 1413-22, 3 St George’s day was proclaimed a ‘greater double’ on 4 Jan. 1416 (Concilia, iii. 376).

PD: 157-8.

+e

see

1415

260 1415

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

in processione, et ad quatuor miliaria, in loco uocato Blakheth,

nobilium et ciuium per populum in equis ac rubeo cum capuciis partitis de albo et nigro ornanter ad decem milia indutum, cordis cum tripudio suscipitur obuio.' In ingressu pontis London’ unus gigantissimus armatus, ut alter Pallas, longitudine excedens muros, et cum lancia ut altera Turni—cuius lancea idem Pallas ad quatuor pedum cum dimidio longitudinis confossus uulnere, de quibus supra, * sexto libro, capitulo uno et uicesimo, in fine periit”’"—et cum una securi permaxima, eciam solo eius flatu non solum ad nemora struendum, uerumeciam ad exercitum cedendum; ac iuxta eum eius

uxor, tam grossa quod non solum ad generandum giganteos demones, uerumeciam ad producendum infernales turres, sua magnitudine apta, ultra portam cum armis regiis eius statuuntur custodes. In medio pontis, ante eius leuabilem pontem, duo stant propugnacula, in quorum uno a dextris unus leo lanceatus, et in altero antelupus cum armis regis circumcollatus,’ et ultra pontem ymago sancti Georgii decenter armata, ad ipsius pontis custodiam statuuntur positi. Aquarum conductus uino emanantes et preciose ornati potare uolentibus cedunt ad solacium. Ad crucem in medio Chepe, de una parte in aliam, ecclesiam sancti‘ Petri attingentem,' triplicatum gradatumque ascensum cum mira arte acierum, cumque turribus et propugnaculis, regnique et eius principum armis undique affixum, mira carpentariorum “et pictorum? arte tabulis confectum, ac grosso lineo uariis porphiricis, marmoriis et eburniis petrarum coloribus ad murorum, in quibus ita scribebatur, ‘Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, ciuitas Dei’,° apparenciam uelatum; angelorum, cantorum et organorum modulis plenum mirifice statuitur. Ex cuius portis ferreis duos basinos aureos auroque plenos, regi oblatos, sex fo. 5

magnifici deferentes |exeunt ciues.° Ad modum regi Dauid post Golye cedem, obuium iuxta inferiorem conductum, cum choris et tympanis et phiolis aureis tripidando cantantes occurrunt et uirgines.’ Quid mora? Omni iocunditatis indumento perornatur @ interlined

> interlined

© interlined

4-4 interlined

' Henry arrived at Calais on 29 Oct., crossing to Dover on 15-16 Noy. For the festivities of 23 Nov., see Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 100-12; Allmand, Henry V, pp. 96-9. * Cf. Polychronicon, vii. 148, for the discovery at Rome in the eleventh century of the incorrupt body of the giant Pallas, with its wound inflicted by Turnus. The original Pallas was not a giant, but the son of Evander the Arcadian, an ally of Aeneas, killed by Turnus (Vergil, Aen. viii. 104, x. 479-89). Later legends had him as a giant, killed by Athena. * The antelope was the king’s badge. * St Peter in Cheap, on the corner of Wood Street. > Ps. 86 (87): 3.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

261

clergy in procession, and four miles from the city, at a place called Blackheath, by ten thousand of the people, nobles and citizens mounted on horses and brightly dressed in red, wearing particoloured hoods of black and white, their hearts leaping with joy.! At the entrance to London bridge there stood an enormous armed figure, like a second Pallas, taller even than the walls, carrying a lance like that of Turnus—by whose lance this same Pallas died, impaled by a wound four and a half feet deep, for which see above, book six, at the end of chapter twenty-one’—and an enormous axe by the very breath of which not only might whole forests be piled high, but an entire army might be slaughtered; next to him stood his wife, so huge that her bulk was in truth fit not only to spawn gigantic demons, but also to bring forth the towers of hell. These two stood like guards outside the gate, bearing the royal arms; in the middle of the bridge, in front of the drawbridge, stood two bulwarks, with a lion armed with a lance on the right-hand one, and an antelope bearing the royal arms around its neck on the other,’ while beyond the bridge stood a fully-armed figure of St George; these had been placed there to stand guard over the bridge. Ornate aqueducts running with wine provided relief for those who wished to drink. At the cross in the middle of Cheap, reaching from one side to the other, as far as the church of St Peter,’ was a threestoreyed building mounted by a remarkable series of ladders, to which towers and bulwarks and the coats of arms of the kingdom and its princes were attached, the whole thing being constructed from planks, a remarkable example of the skills of both carpenters and painters; it was covered with a large linen sheet decorated in lapidary colours, so that it looked like a wall made of porphyry, marble, and ivory, and on it were written the words, “Things glorious are said of thee, thou city of the Lord’;° and it was completely filled with models of angels, singers and organs. Six citizens, magnificently dressed, came out of its iron gates carrying two basins made of gold and filled with gold, which were offered to the king.° As he approached the lower conduit, chanting virgins came dancing to meet him, accompanied by choirs and drums and golden viols, just as in King David’s time, after the slaying of Goliath.’ What more can I say? The city wore its brightest aspect, 6 According to Gesta Henrici Quinti (p. 112 and n. 3), the presentation of the golden eee basins took place the next day at Westminster. 7 Cf. 1 Kgs. (1 Sam.) 18: 6. Goliath symbolized French arrogance (Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 110).

1415

262 T1415

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

ciuitas, et merito facta est letitia magna in populo. Rex, ad sanctum Paulum descendens, Sanctam Crucem, beati Erkynwaldi sepulcrum,! ac summum altare cum magna deuocione et oblacione uisitat, inde ad Westmonasterium ibidem pransurus recedens, ac in crastino pro utriusque partis in bello defunctis per prelatos et clerum apud sanctum Paulum solemnes exequias celebrari faciens. Versus. Predictas de Harflu capcionem et de Agingcowrt belli uictoriam breui hoc habeas uersu, Harflu fert Mauric, Agincowrt prelia Crispin. Et hoc sub data anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo quintodecimo ex eodem uersu, M semel, C ter, L bis, et V bis, et I quinquies colligendo. Dicta sanctorum festa intulerunt prelia.” Moritur? Owenus de Glyndor post quatuor annos quibus a facie regis et regni latitasset, et sub noctis tempestate” per suos fautores sepilitur.° Sed per suos emulos funere detecto, sepulture resti-

1416

tuitur; sed ubi receptatus erat nesciri poterit.) Rex? cum magna deuocione ad fontem sancte Wenefrede in Northwalia et pedes a Salopia peregre proficiscitur.* Comes Dorsetie, capitaneus de Harflut, cum quingentis personis exiens insultum Francorum sibi obuium ad duo milia trucidauit et multos captiuauit.° Marcii tercio die apud Westm’ celebratur parliamentum, et in ecclesia sancti Pauli conuocacio, in quibus a clero et populo due decime et due quintedecime regi conceduntur subsidio.° Sismundus, ° rex Hongarie et Romanorum, postquam per annum pro unione ecclesie in concilio generali Constancie laborasset, ac Iohannem papam uicesimum tercium Rome presedentem propter suas fallacias carceribus mancipasset, regesque Castellie et tocius Hyspanie pro dicta unione uisitasset, per regnum Francie in Ang-

liam pro regnorum pacis reformacione (transiit).’ Sed cum ad * at this pointanew scribe (Hand Nine) begins > tempeste MS © marg. note in later hand, mors Oweyni 4 marg. note in later hand, Rex Henricus uisitauit fontem sancte Wenefrede * marg. note in later hand, Sismundus in Angliam

* suppl. ed. ' Earconwald, bishop of London (d. 693); his shrine was behind the high altar. > These verses were ‘common property’ at this time, reproduced in a number of chronicles (C. L. Kingsford, English Historical Literature in the Fifteenth Century (Oxford, 1913), p- 50). Maurice’s feast was 22 Sept., Crispin’s 25 Oct.

* Glendower ‘disappeared’ in 1412; he probably died in 1415-16, but his burial site remains unknown (Davies, Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, p. 327). * Winefride was a 7th-century Welsh virgin; her well was at Holywell (Clwyd), her relics at Shrewsbury. The status of her feast was raised on 4 Jan. (Concilia, iii. 376), and presumably Henry made his pilgrimage soon after this.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

263

and happiness filled the people—and rightly so. At St Paul’s the king dismounted and went devoutly forward to make offerings at the Holy Cross, the tomb of St Erkenwald,! and the high altar, before moving on from there to dine at Westminster; and on the following day he had a solemn funeral mass said at St Paul’s by the prelates and clergy for those on both sides who had been slain in the battle. Verse. The above-mentioned capture of Harfleur and victory at the battle of Agincourt are celebrated in this brief line:

1415

Harfleur Maurice hath undone, Agincourt hath Crispin won.

The date of the year of our Lord 1415 also appears in this verse, by adding together the following: M once, C three times, L twice, V twice, and I five times. It was the feast-days of these saints that provided the victories.” After four years in hiding from the king and kingdom, Owen Glendower died, and was buried by his followers in the darkness of night. His grave was discovered by his enemies, however, so he had to be re-buried, though it is impossible to discover where he was laid.’ The king most devoutly made a pilgrimage on foot from Shrewsbury to St Winefride’s well in North Wales. The earl of Dorset, captain of Harfleur, took five hundred men on a sortie to repel a French attack, slaughtering two thousand of them and capturing many others.’ On 3 March a parliament was held at Westminster and a convocation at St Paul’s, at which subsidies of two tenths and two fifteenths were granted by the clergy and laity to the

king.° Sigismund, king of Hungary and of the Romans, having spent a year at the general council of Constance striving for the unity of the church, and having consigned the Roman pontiff, John XXIII, to prison for his crimes, and having also been to visit the kings of Castile and all Spain in the cause of unity, came via the kingdom of France to England, in the hope of establishing peace between the realms. After he had spent some time in London at great expense 5 The Valmont raid of Mar. 1416; Usk’s figures are questionable (cf. Wylie, Henry V, ii. 333-7; Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 114-20). 6 Parliament met on 16 Mar., but only an acceleration of the subsidy granted in the previous parliament was agreed; it was the Oct. 1416 parliament which granted two fifteenths and tenths (RP iv. 71, 95). Convocation met twice in 1416, on 1 Apr. and 9 Nov., granting two tenths on each occasion (Concilia, iii. 37).

1416

264 1416

CHRONICON

ADE VSK

magnas regni expensas London’ stetisset, Francorum uersucia negocio frustrato, ad concilium rediit Constancie.' Dirum sub duce Bedfordie, regis fratre, cum Francis nauale comittitur bellum,* quorum plures captiuantur cum eorum nauibus in Angliam, sed eorum uictualia ad Harflut transmittuntur.? Rex Romanorum predictus, in suo recessu ab Anglia, propriis manibus huiusmodi tenoris multas sedulas dispersit per plateas: ° ‘Vale et gaude glorioso cum triumpho, O tu felix Anglia; et benedicta, quia‘ quasi angelica

natura (gloriosa)? laude Iesum adorans, es “iure dicta.°

Hance tibi do laudem, quam recto iure mereris.”’

1417

Venit eciam in Angliam pro dicte pacis reformacione dux Holandie, qui et infecto negocio cito post intoxicatus pericius ueneno periit.* Anno sequenti, parliamentum et conuocacio, scilicet anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo septimodecimo, celebrantur London’; ubi eciam in duabus decimis et totidem quintadecimis clerus collectantur et populus.* Et demum de mense Maii apud Redyng’ unito consilio,° exiit edictum a Cesare ut describeretur uniuersus pecuniosorum orbis,’ et, sic uocati, cistas euacuarunt. ‘Et sic dominus rex cum magno exercitu in Normanniam se direxit debellandam, Iberniensibus primitus de regno proscriptis;® rex in trancitu suo classem Francie sibi insidiandem® contriuit, tamen ad litus? maris regis exercitus uentum prosperum exspectans patriam non modice in anona depressit.? Scoti in multitudine glomorata sub duce Albanie, ipsorum rege in mari prius capto, captiuo in Anglia

existente, in fugam sunt coacti.'? Rex in Normaniam applicans * marg. note in later hand, bellum nauale > suggested alternative readings to these lines have been taken from the version in Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 156 (cited as GHQ) © que MS (GHQ, quia) 4 supplied in GHQ *« benedicta MS (GHQ, iure dicta) marg. note in later hand, describitur uniuersus orbis pecuniosorum ® insiandem MS » litis MS

' Sigismund arrived in England on 1 May 1416, sealed the treaty of Canterbury with Henry on 15 Aug., and left on 25 Aug.; he returned to Constance on 27 Jan. 1417 (Allmand, Henry V, pp. 105-9, 245). > This battle was fought off Harfleur, to break the French blockade, on 15 Aug. 1416 (Allmand, Henry V, pp. 107-8). Bedford had been appointed king’s lieutenant at sea on 22 July (Foedera, ix. 371). * These verses were distributed by Sigismund’s retainers on their way to Dover, and are reproduced in several chronicles. The initial letters of the words from ‘angelica’ to ‘adorans’ spell ‘anglia’: Cf. Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 156. * William, duke of Bavaria and count of Holland, reached London on 28 May, and left England on 21 June, having quarrelled with both Henry and Sigismund. He died on 30 May 1417 after being bitten by a dog, but the duke of Burgundy was rumoured to have poisoned him (Gesta Henrici Quinti, pp. 128, 132; Wylie, Henry V, iii. 78).

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

265

to the kingdom, however, the negotiations came to nothing because of the duplicity of the French, so he returned to the council at Constance.' The duke of Bedford, the king’s brother, fought a terrible sea-battle with the French, and carried many of them off to England as captives along with their ships, although their provisions were sent to Harfleur.* On his departure from England the aforementioned king of the Romans with his own hands distributed around the streets numerous proclamations worded as follows: ‘Farewell, O happy England, rejoice in your glorious triumph! For, worshipping Jesus as you do, with angelic nature and glorious praise, you are rightly designated as blessed. This praise which I offer you, you have most assuredly merited.’? The duke of Holland also came to England to further the cause of peace, but once again the negotiations came to nothing, and soon afterwards he died, having been deceit-

1416

fully poisoned.’ In the following year, namely the year of our Lord 1417, a parliament and convocation were held in London, at which two tenths and

two fifteenths were imposed upon the clergy and laity.” And when, some time after this, during the month of May, a council assembled at Reading,° a decree went out from Caesar to compile a record of anyone in the world who had money;’ and having thus been summoned, they emptied their coffers. Then, having first of all banned all Irishmen from the kingdom* the lord king set off with a great army to make war in Normandy, destroying on the way a French fleet which was lying in wait for him; while the royal army was still waiting on the coast for a favourable wind, however, it stripped the countryside of its produce.’ The Scots gathered in force under the duke of Albany—their king being in an English prison, having earlier been

taken captive at sea—but were put to flight. Landing at Caen, 5 Usk is confused: in 1417, parliament and convocation did not meet until 16 Nov. and 26 Nov. respectively; he seems to be referring to the parliament of 19 Oct. 1416, which granted two fifteenths, and the convocation of 9 Nov. 1416, which granted two tenths (RP iv. 95; Concilia, iii. 377). 6 On about 10-11 May (Foedera, ix. 453; Allmand, Henry V, p. 113).

Ch Luke 2sn: 8 Apparently a reference to the decision of Feb. 1417 to compel the Irish in England to return to Ireland for the defence of the land (POPC ii. 219; and cf. RP iv. 102)

July, after a long wait at the coast. On 29 ° The English fleet left Southampton on 30 June, John Holand, earl of Huntingdon, had defeated a French fleet waiting to intercept the English (Wylie, Henry V, iii. 46-50).

1 The ‘Foul Raid’ of Sept. 1417, led by Robert, duke of Albany (Wylie, Henry V, iii.

88-go). James I of Scotland was captured off Flamborough Head in 1406, and spent 18 years captive in England.

1417

266 1417

fo. 6°

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Cadonum, ubi Willelmus tumulatur conquestor, cum triginta duobus ciuitatibus, castris, uillis et fortaliciis, ad australem partem Secane sibi subiugauit.*! Sed ad opsidionem Valetie, incuria domini Talbot, ultra quingentos homines per capitaneum de Cherburow interemptos.2 Normanie spolia per totam Angliam exponuntur uenalia. Dominus Iohannes Oldcastell hereticus, sacramentum altaris, Beatam Virginem et confessionem detestans, et regem et regnum peruertere sategens, post longum exilium in Powysya per eius dominum, ad sui magnam remuneracionem, capitur, et parliamento ac conuocacioni—in quibus et due decime et quintedecime® in regis conceduntur subsidium—presentatus, quartodecimo die Decembris ad furcas cum cathena,° post eius tractum, suspenditur ferrea,4 ac feroci igne apposito ad semel et simul crematur,° |utriusque gladii penam merito persoluens.* Post triginta annorum, sisma Christianitatis orbem aliquando quatuor, aliquando tribus, aliquando duobus monstruose et dolenter presedentibus disturbans, per omnes cardinales et nacionum procuratores, Odo de Columpnis, nobilis Romanus et Gybylinus, tituli sancti Georgii ad uelabrum’ ¢diaconus cardinalis,* in festo sancti Martini, inde et Martinus quintus dictus, unanimiter et miraculose, Spiritus Sancti instinctu, in papam eligitur.* In dicta conuocacione ultima, ad promocionem graduatorum spirituales sub Henrico Chycheley, archiepiscopo Cant’, onerantur” patroni;> qui et tunc eciam magistrum Iohannem Chaundeler Sarum et, modicum ante, magistrum Edmundum Lacy Herfordensem, ubi et responsalis fui, electos, primitus per eum confirmatos, et consecrauit episcopos.° * marg. note in later hand, Normania subiugata ’ quindecime MS © changed by interlineation from thena 4 interlined ° marg. note in later hand, Oldcastell suspenditur et crematur fuelum aureum MS ®§ interlined » honorantur MS

' Henry landed at Touques, on the Seine estuary,.on 1 Aug., reaching Caen on 18th;

for his conquest of Lower Normandy, see Allmand, Henry V, pp. 113-20.

* The siege of Falaise lasted over two months, ending on (exaggerated by Usk) were sustained during a raid into the Talbot (Wylie, Henry V, iii. 72-3). * Oldcastle was arrested by tenants of Edward Charlton pool. Usk’s description of his death is not quite right: he was

16 Feb. 1418; these losses Cotentin by Gilbert Lord in late Nov., near Welshdrawn to St Giles’s Field,

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

267

where William the conqueror is buried, the king overran Normandy as far as the south bank of the Seine, taking thirty-two cities, castles, towns, and fortresses in the process;! at the siege of Falaise, however, more than five hundred men were killed by the captain of Cherbourg, because of the carelessness of Lord Talbot.2 The booty taken in Normandy was auctioned throughout England. The heretic Sir John Oldcastle, a man who despised the sacrament of the altar, the Blessed Virgin, and confession, and who had plotted to overthrow the king and the kingdom, was captured, after a long exile, in Powys, by the lord of that territory—for which the latter was handsomely rewarded—and, having been brought before parliament and convocation (which same assemblies also granted two tenths and fifteenths as a subsidy to the king), was drawn on 14 December to the gallows and hanged there with an iron chain, being simultaneously, once and for all, consumed by a raging fire which was lit there, thus paying the penalty of both

swords—and deservedly so.* After thirty years during which the Christian schism had monstrously and tragically confounded the world, with sometimes four pontiffs, sometimes three, and sometimes two, Oddo Colonna, a Roman noble and a Ghibelline, cardinal-deacon of the title of St George in Velabro, was unanimously and miraculously—through the guidance of the Holy Spirit—elected by all the cardinals and proctors of the nations to be pope; and since this took place on the feast of St Martin [11 November], he took the name Martin V.* During the convocation last mentioned above, spiritual patrons were directed by Master Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury, to promote graduates;° and he himself first confirmed and then consecrated as bishops Master John Chaundler, elect of Salisbury, and, shortly before that, Master Edmund Lacy, elect of Hereford; and I acted as respondent there.° where ‘an iron chain was passed about his body . . ., and they hung him roasting slowly above it, till the flames consumed his body and the gallows as well’ (Wylie, Henry V, iii. 92-4). For the grants of Nov. 1417, see RP iv. 107, and Concilia, iti. 38. 4 Martin V (1417-31) was elected at Constance, after a schism of 39 years; at the start of the conclave, the fathers of the council sang ‘Veni creator spiritus’ to invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit (Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vi (2). 648).

5 This was the convocation of Nov. 1417; the matter had also been raised in parlia-

ment in Mar. 1416 (Concilia, iii. 381-4, 401-2; RP iv. 81-2; and Cf. Allmand, Henry V, pp. 270-2). 6 Chaundler was consecrated on 12 Dec. 1417; Lacy had been consecrated on 18 Apr.

1417

268 1419

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

Rex? cum iuuentute patrie ac sue fortitudine milicie in Normanniam rediit,! ac magnam ciuitatem Rothomagen’ cum tota patria, miseris Gallicis sibi resistere non audentibus, ciuium uita pro quinquaginta milibus libris auri redempta, undeuicesimo die Ianuaril, post laboriosas obsidiones et molitos insultus, quam uictoriose sibi subiugauit.2, Vnde et Londoniis exultacionis cum tripidio solempnes processiones cleri et populi, a feretro sancti Erkenwaldi

ad feretrum sancti Edwardi, (non)? una uice sed omni die Mercurii

1420

1421

et Veneris, per totam ciuitatem facte fuerant.° Item dominus rex cum iuuentute patrie militariter et gloriose in Franciam ad ipsam subiugandam se direxit, quam infra biennium cum uillis, castris et municionibus quibuscumque sibi subegit; regem eciam et reginam ac eorum filiam Katerinam, in uxorem sibi applicandam, et regnum post mortem patris, et omnes magnates regni sue subiecit dicioni, unde heredem et regentem Francie in suis se scribit literis.* Ac inde cum eadem uxore sua in Angliam pro eius coronacione reuersus, fratrem suum ducem Clarencie sui in Fran-

cia locumtenentem dimisit.? Set langor stomagi perturbat negotium;° quia quidam reputatus filius regis Francie putatiuus, Dolfinus nominatus, et per reginam partus suppositus diffamatus, partem proiure suo faciens, comites de Penteuer et Armanak et nonnullos Scotos sibi aliciens,’ in uigilia Pasce anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo uicesimo, uicesimo tercio die Marcii contingente, 4dictum ducem? cum sua falerata et armata comitiua, comitibus scilicet de Suthfolk’, Somerset, Huntindon’, Kyme et Tangeruile et aliis multis nobilibus, subito insultu, ad magnum at this point a new scribe (Hand Ten) begins © at this point a new scribe (Hand Eleven) begins

' Contrary to the implication of this passage, throughout its conquest (Aug. 1417 to Jan. 1419).

> suppl. in CAU, p. 132 dd interlined

Henry remained

in Normandy

> That is, 300,000 écusala couronne (Allmand, Henry V, p. 126). 3 Prayers and processions every Wednesday and Friday, for the success of the king’s expedition, and to protect the army against necromancers, were ordered on 25 Sept.

1419 (Concilia, iii. 392-3). * Henry remained in France throughout 1419 and 1420. By the treaty of Troyes (21 May 1420), he became regent of France during Charles VI’s lifetime and heir to the kingdom after his death. He married Catherine on 2 June (Foedera, ix. 895-908, which includes the announcement of the king’s new regal style). * Henry returned to England, for the first time since 1417, on 1 Feb. 1421, with Catherine, who was crowned at Westminster on 23 Feb. (Allmand, Henry V, pp. 156-7). For Clarence’s appointment, see Foedera, x. 49.

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

269

The king returned to Normandy with the youth of the nation and the might of his army,' where, on 19 January, after a long siege and laborious assaults, he triumphantly conquered the great city of Rouen and all the surrounding countryside, the wretched French not daring to resist him; the lives of the citizens were spared in return for fifty thousand pounds of gold.’ In celebration of this, solemn processions from the shrine of St Erkenwald to the shrine of St Edward, accompanied by dancing, were held by the clergy and people throughout the city of London, not just once but every Wednesday and Friday.’ Then the lord king, accompanied by the youth of the nation, set out once again in his warlike glory to subjugate France, and within two years he had subdued it to his will, along with its towns, castles, and fortified places of all sorts. He also got into his power the king and queen and their daughter Katherine, whom he planned to marry, and—after the death of her father—the kingdom as well, as well as all the magnates; whereupon he began to describe himself in his letters as heir and regent of France.’ And then he returned to England with his wife to have her crowned, leaving his brother the duke of Clarence as lieutenant of France.* However, a stomach illness upset these arrangements,° whereupon a certain person called the Dauphin, putatively alleged to be the son of the king of France, but whose birth was denounced as spurious by the queen of France, gathered a party together to support his claims, which he persuaded the counts of Penthiévre and Armagnac and various Scotsmen to join;’ and, on the day before Easter, which fell on 23 March, in the year of our Lord [1421], he suddenly attacked and destroyed the aforesaid duke and his army, which was armed and arrayed and included the earls of Suffolk, Somerset and Huntingdon, Lords Kyme and Tancarville, and many other nobles, inflicting great slaughter upon them, which 6 If the king is referred to here, it is an important indication of early concern over his health, for Usk wrote this no later than June 1421. According to Walsingham (Historia Anglicana, ii. 343), Henry suffered from a long-standing disorder (‘diutina intemperie’) brought on by overwork, but it was not until June 1422 that his illness became serious. 7 The Dauphin, the future Charles VII (1422-61), was disinherited by his father in Jan. 1421 for his involvement in the murder of the duke of Burgundy, but there were also rumours about his legitimacy and his mother Queen Isabella’s liaisons (M. Vale, Charles VII (London, 1974), pp. 21, 30-2). Among his supporters were the Breton lord Olivier de Blois, count of Penthiévre, and John IV, count of Armagnac.

1419

1420

270 1421

CHRONICON

ADE

VSK

dolorem Anglie cede magna trusidauit.*? Quam cedem comes Sarum cum suis complicibus, pro custodia patrie dimissus, ferro et flamma crudeliter uindicauit et uindicat,’ et quam uindictam augmentaturus dominus rex quoscumque peccuniosos, diuites et pauperes, per totum regnum dilaniando, fortissime in Franciam redire disponit.* Sed heu me, ualide persone et regni peccunie circa hoc negocium dilabuntur miserime. Et nemirum exaccionibus populi importabilibus hoc exigentibus, cum murmure et oculta maladiccione, sed interna, sequentibus et excessum detestantibus. Vtinam non sit’ dominus meus suppremus gladii furoris Domini, cum Iulio, cum Assuro, cum Alexandro, cum Ectore, cum

Siro, cum Dario, cum Machabeo, finaliter particeps.* Inde uideat lector decretum uicesimum tercium, questione quinta, ‘Remittun-

tur eis cuiusque’.° * marg. note in later hand, dolosa cedes Anglorum

> scit MS

' The battle of Baugé (Maine) was on 22 Mar., the Dauphinist force being led by John Stewart, earl of Buchan, and Archibald Douglas, heir to the earldom of Douglas.

Apart from Clarence, the English dead included Sir Gilbert Umfraville, popularly known as earl of Kyme, and John Grey, earl of Tanquerville (GEC vi. 137; vii. 364). John Holand, earl of Huntingdon, and John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, were captured, but Suffolk was not present.

* Thomas Montague, earl of Salisbury, governor of Normandy and Maine, retreated

THE

CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM

USK

271

caused much grief in England.’ It is this slaughter which the earl of 142: Salisbury has been charged with his followers to avenge, and is fiercely avenging, with fire and sword, to keep the country safe; and it is in order to avenge it more completely that the lord king is now fleecing everyone with any money, rich or poor, throughout the realm, in readiness for his return to France in great force.’ Yet I fear, alas, that both the great men and the money of the kingdom will be miserably wasted on this enterprise. No wonder, then, that the unbearable impositions being demanded from the people to this end are accompanied by dark—though private—mutterings and curses, and by hatred of such extortions; and I pray that my supreme lord may not in the end, like Julius, and Ahasuerus, and Alexander, and Hector, and Cyrus, and Darius, and Macchabeus, incur the sword of the Lord’s fury.’ For which, reader, see the twenty-third decretal, question five, ‘Remittuntur eis cuiusque.’s to Normandy after Baugé, and in May led a successful raid through Maine and Anjou (Wylie, Henry V, iii. 301-15). 3 Henry returned to France on 10 June 1421; for his loans, authorized by the parliament of 2May, see RP iv. 130, and Allmand, Henry V, pp. 160-2, 397-8. 4 Julius Caesar; Xerxes I of Persia (= Ahasuerus); Alexander the Great; Hector of Troy; Cyrus II of Persia; Darius III of Persia; and Judas Maccabaeus. All died premature, and mostly violent, deaths. 5 Decretum ii, causa xxiii, qu. v, c.xlix : ‘Remittuntur peccata per Dei uerbum’ (Corpus Turis Canonict, i. 945).

TESTAMENTUM

ADE

VSK'

In Dei nomine amen. Vicesimo die mensis Januarii, anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo uicesimo nono,’ ego, Adam Vsk, legum doctor, compos et sanus memorie, timens mortis periculum michi euenire, condo testamentum meum in hunc modum. In primis lego animam meam Deo et beate Marie uirgini ac omnibus sanctis eius, corpusque meum ad sepeliendum in ecclesia parochiali de Vsk, coram ymagine beate Marie uirginis. Item, lego ecclesie parochiali predicte unum librum appellatum ‘Racionale Diuinorum’.’ Item, lego domino Iohanni, uicario de Vsk, tres solidos quattuor denarios. Item, lego

cuilibet moniali prioratus de Vsk uiginti denarios. Item, lego fratribus minoribus de Kerdeffe unum trentale,* et tantum fratribus predicatoribus eiusdem uille. Item, lego fratribus Augustinensibus de Newport unum trentale. Item, lego ecclesie cathedrali Landauensi tres solidos quattuor denarios. Item, lego Edwardo ap Adam, consanguineo meo, unum librum

uocatum ‘Policronica’.’ Item, lego Philippo Went centum solidos. Item, lego fratri meo quadraginta solidos. Item, lego Griffino ap* Guyllym quadraginta solidos. Item, lego Meric ap Ieuan ap M’ et uxori sue quattuor libras. Item, lego Johanne sorori mee quadraginta solidos. Item, lego Iohanni uab Jor’ uiginti solidos. Item, lego quattuor filiis dicti Griffini, cuilibet illorum unum nobile. Item, lego domino Griffino Vachan, capellano, tres solidos quattuor denarios. Item, lego domino Iohanni ap Guyllym quadraginta denarios. Item, lego Thome Went de Castell Cwm uiginti solidos. Item, lego Iohanni ap Dauid ap Griffin uiginti solidos quas sibi accommodaui. Item, lego Thome ap M’ quinque nobilia. Item, lego Wenllyan uerch Dauid ap Griffin quinque nobilia. Item, lego Alicie uerch Dauid ap Griffin quinque nobilia. Item, lego Ior’ ap Hopkyn quinque nobilia. Item, lego M’ ap Ior’ quinque nobilia. Residuum uero omnium bonorum meorum non legatorum lego dicto Edwardo et sue disposicioni; quem ordino, facio et constituo, ad exequendum presens testamentum, meum executorem. In cuius rei * et MS

' Somerset House, Probate Registry, Lufnam register, fo. 13; printed in CAU, pp. xxix—xxx, and E. Owen, “The will of Adam of Usk’, EHR xviii (1903), pp. 316-17. > 1430, new-style; the will was proved on 26 March following. * Presumably the Rationale diuinorum officiorum of Guillaume Durand, bishop of

THE

WILL

OF

ADAM

USK!

In the name of God amen. On the twentieth day of the month of January, in the year of Our Lord 1429,” I, Adam Usk, doctor of laws, being sound and sane of mind, fearing that the hazards of death are soon to befall me, compose my will in the following fashion. Firstly, I bequeath my soul to God and the blessed virgin Mary and all his saints, and my body to burial in the parish church of Usk, before the image of the blessed virgin Mary. Also, I bequeath a book called the Racionale Diuinorum? to the aforesaid parish church. Also, I bequeath three shillings and fourpence to John, vicar of Usk. Also, I bequeath twenty pence to each nun of the priory of Usk. Also, I bequeath one trental* to the friars minors of Cardiff, and the same to the friars preachers of the same town. Also, I bequeath one trental to the Augustinian friars of Newport. Also, I bequeath three shillings and fourpence to the cathedral church of Llandaff. Also, I bequeath a book called the Polychronicon to Edward ap Adam, my kinsman.’ Also, I bequeath a hundred shillings to Philip Went. Also, I bequeath forty shillings to my brother. Also, I bequeath forty shillings to Griffith ap William. Also, I bequeath four pounds to Meurig ap Ieuan ap M[eredith?] and his wife. Also, I bequeath forty shillings to my sister Joan. Also, I bequeath twenty shillings to John ap Iorwerth. Also, I bequeath one noble to each of the four sons of the aforesaid Griffith. Also, I bequeath three shillings and fourpence to Griffith Vaghan, chaplain. Also, I bequeath forty pence to John ap William. Also, I bequeath twenty shillings to Thomas Went of Castle Combe. Also, I bequeath twenty shillings to John ap David ap Griffith, which sum I loaned to him. Also, I bequeath five nobles to Thomas ap M[eredith?]. Also, I bequeath five nobles to Gwenllian daughter of David ap Griffith. Also, I bequeath five nobles to Alice daughter of David ap Griffith. Also, I bequeath five nobles to Iorwerth ap Hopkin. Also, I bequeath five nobles

to M[eredith?] ap Iorwerth. I bequeath the entire residue of all my unbequeathed goods to the aforesaid Edward, to be disposed of by him, and I ordain, appoint and constitute him as my executor for the execution of this will. In testimony Mende (d. 1296), an encyclopaedic work in eight books which covered all aspects of the public worship of the church. 4 That is, sufficient money to provide for thirty masses to be said for the soul of the deceased. 5 This was MS A, containing Usk’s chronicle. Edward ap Adam may be the ‘Edward Usk, clerk’ indicted with Usk for the robbery of Walter Jakes in 1400: above, p. xxii.

274

TESTAMENTUM

ADE

VSK

testimonium huic presenti testamento meo sigillum meum apposui, hiis testibus: dicto Iohanne filio Willelmi, lohanne Bays, et Thoma ap Ior’ ac multis aliis. Datum apud Vsk, die, mense, anno supradictis.

THE

WILL

OF

ADAM

USK

275

of which I have attached my seal to this same will, as witness the following: the aforesaid John son of William, John Bays and Thomas ap Iorwerth, and many others. Given at Usk on the above-written day, month and year.

INDEX OF QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS

teil

BIBLE

Page Genesis:

B22 27: 23 40: ig

206 98

224

Exodus:

20: 13 32: 28

222

7: 11-13

38: 5

Numbers:

78: 84: 86: 87: 89:

21:9

Judges:

9: 23 1 Kings (1 Samuel): 2)

18: 6

2 Kings (2 Samuel): 14: 25 3 Kings (1 Kings):

164

21: I-14

132

76

fi.I

Job: 2: 10

Song of Solomon: Das 6:9 Ecclesiasticus:

7: 36 10: 8

210

156

Isaiah: 1:8 2 2) TOG

51: 16

Esther:

I: 1-7

Ecclesiastes: 10: 16

2, 90

142 go

1 Esdras (Ezra):

Proverbs: 16: 18

27:6 260

3:9

4 Kings (2 Kings): 18: 4

2 10 17 3 21

129: I-4

2:8

2: 12 9: 17

Psalms:

go

59: 2 Lamentations:

214

ro

278

INDEX

OF QUOTATIONS

AND

ALLUSIONS

Page Ezekiel:

29: 4

16

35: 4

220

39: 4

224

38: 4

16

Mark: 6: 26

14: 35 14: 70-72

Daniel:

3

5 Up Zs) ue Bu II:43

36 36

142 228 228

190,

Hosea: g: 10

Zechariah:

13:7 1 Maccabees:

10.33 6: 39 2 Maccabees:

I:4

142

Matthew: 1722 2:12 2: 16

162

222 116

5: 13 8: 20

224 224 224 222 224

10: 16

12325 iB 2G 15332)

136

6 220 220, 222 224 (bis) 138

Romans:

pane 7B 10: 18 1 Corinthians:

2: 19 9: 24 2 Corinthians:

5:17 James: I: 22

1 Peter:

2: 14

140 140 192

INDEX

OF QUOTATIONS

AND ALLUSIONS

Page

Revelation:

Page 228 118 228

Tine

7B 7: 4-8

224 224

2.

CANON

AND

12:6 1g ig

CIVIL

LAW

TEXTS

Page Digest:

279

Page Decretalium Gregorii IX:

Lib. ii, tit. viii, c. iv ibe i, tit; xi, 62%

96 96

Lib. xlvi, tit. vii, c. vi

96

Codex Iustinianus:

Lib. i, titvi, c. xxxiv Lib. v, tit. xii, c. vi

124 g2

Sexti Decretalium:

Lib. ix, tit. iv, c. iv

96

Lib. x, tit. xii, c. ii

82

Gratian, Decretum: Dec. 11. Ca, xxii, |qu.S, Cc. xlix

270

Lib. ii, tit. xiv, c. ii

62, 126

Clementinarum: Lib. v, tit. viii, c. i

92

a~PROPHECIES Page John of Bridlington:

~

Dist. ii, c. ii, ll. 3-4

50

Dist.) c: vi, 113 Dist. ii, c. vii, 1. 13

48 52

Dist. iii, c. ii, Il. 14-15

16

c. 116 (30)

Page xli, 148

c. 116 (30)

62, 140

The Prophecy of the Eagle, attributed by Usk to Merlin (BL, Cotton Faustina A

viii, fos. 115"—116'): The Prophecies of Merlin (Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae):' C. 115 (20) go c. 115 (21) xli, 148

1 Chapter numbers are as given in The Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth I: Bern. Burgerbibliothek MS. 568, ed. N. Wright (Cambridge, 1985).

GENERAL

Abergavenny (Gwent) 130-2 Abergwili (Dyfed), see Llandygwydd

Abimelech 214 Absalom Ixxvii, 4, 90 Acton, Roger xlviii, 246

Aeneas 188, 204 Aethelred, king of England xliii Agincourt, battle of (1415) xlviii, lvii, lix—lx, Ixiv, 256, 262 Agnes, ‘pope’ 186 Ahasuerus, see Xerxes

Alba 204 Albany, Robert duke of 264 Alexander the great Ixxvii—Ixxviii, 182, 202, 270 Alice, daughter of David ap Griffith 272 Amiens

lxv, 212

Anglo-Saxon kings 44 animals, in Usk’s chronicle Ixxv—lxxvi,

86, 180, 194, 210, 248 Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II

Ixiv, 4-6, 18, 158 Antiochus IV, king of Syria 36 * Appellants (of 1387-8) li, 10-12 Aquitaine (Gascony), duke of 118, 146 Aragon, king of 18, 200-2, 206, 254 ‘Aremirandine’, Turkish sultan 130 Armagnac, John count of 268 Arthgallus, king of Britain Ixxvii, 62 Arthur, king of Britain 218 Arthur of Brittany (d. 1203) xlix Arundel, earl of, see Fitzalan John 16

Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury xv—xxii, xxxiii, xlvii, lvi, lix, xvi, Ixix, xxiii, Ixxv, 8, 52, 58, 68-72, 78-84, 88, 92-4, 120-2, 240, 244-503

trial and exile of 22-4, 32-4; Usk’s views on Ixxxi Ashton, Matthew

xxi—xxii

astrology, in Usk’s chronicle Ixvii—lxix, Ixxix audience, of Usk’s chronicle Ixxxiv—lxxxvi Augustus, Roman emperor Ixxvii, 182

INDEX

Aumeney (alias Jakes), Walter xxi—xxii, xxvil, xli

autobiographical material, in Usk’s chronicle li, lv—Ivii, lx, lxxxvi Aylmere, John xv

Babcary (Somerset) xiv ‘Babylon’, 156

sultan of Ixi—Ixii, 130, 210 Bagot, William 60 Baldwin, count of Flanders xliii Bangor, bishopric of xxvii, xxxi, XXXV—XXXVi

cathedral xx, 96 diocese of Ix, 210 Barbtruc, king of Britain 208 Bardolf, Thomas Lord (d. 1408) xxix, xxxi, lv, Ixvii, xxviii, 214-18 Barmouth (Gwynedd) xxx, 238 Barnet, John xxi Barrow, William xxxvi

Bath and Wells, bishop of 252 Baugé, battle of (1421) 268-70 Bays, John 274 Beauchamp, Joan 132 Richard, earl of Warwick (d. 1439) 70, 128, 252 Thomas, earl of Warwick (d. 1401) Ixvi, 10-12, 26, 72, 84, 126-8; Margaret, wife of 76; trial and exile

of 34

William, Lord Abergavenny

62, 122.

128-32, 246 Beaufort, Henry, bishop of Winchester 178 John, earl of Somerset (d. 1410) 26, 36,

72, 80 John, earl of Somerset (d. 1444) 268 Thomas, earl of Dorset (d. 1426) 252-4, 262 Beaune Ikxiii, 212 Bedford, John duke of (d. 1435) 256, 264 Belial 194 Belinus, king of Britain Ixxvii, go, 208

Belphegor 194

GENERAL

282 Belshazzar 36

Belvoir, castle xxxviii-xxxix, xlv

Benedict XIII, Avignon pope (d. 1423)

INDEX Bussy, John 22-8, 52 Byford, Lewis xxxv—xxxvi Bytterley, Walter 132

XXVili, Xxx, Xxxv, lv, 254

Bergen-op-Zoom (Brabant) 152 Berkeley, James, lord of Raglan xix, 86 Thomas Lord 66 Bermondsey, abbot of xxvi Berners, James

12, 26

Billingsgate (London) xxiv, 152 Blake, John 12 Bohemia, John king of (d. 1346) xli Bologna, Ixiii 154-6 Bolingbroke, see Henry IV Boniface IX, pope (1389-1404) xxi, XXV—XXVIi, XXXV—XXXVi, XXxviii, lv,

Iviii, Ixxxi, 154, 176 bulls of 162-8, 244 death of Ixxii, 178-80, 184 Bottlesham, John, bishop of Rochester 94 Bottlesham, William, bishop of Rochester 94 Boulogne 108 Bourbon, duke of 256 Bowet, Henry, bishop of Bath and Wells,

archbishop of York xix, 134 Bowlond, Robert Ixiv, Ixxxiii, 120

Boxgrove priory (Sussex) 114 Bramham Moor, battle of (1408) xxix, lvi Brembre, Nicholas

12

Bretons, Brittany 174, 208, 214, 238 Bridlington, John of, prophecies of Ixix—lxxi, 16-18, 48-50 Brinkley, Richard xxi Bristol xvii-xviii, 6, 18, 90, 130, 172

St Augustine’s abbey xxxiv—xxxvii Brocas, Bernard

88

Brugge, Richard del xxix—xxx, xxxii, 212, 238 Bruges xxix, xxxi, lvi, lviii, Ixvii, Ixxviii, II, 212, 218 Brutus, king of Britain 148, 204

Bryn Glas, battle of (1402) xlviii, 158—60 Buckingham, archdeaconry of xxv, 158 Burbache, John xv, 66 Burghill, John, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield lvi, Ixxvi, 248-50 Burgundy, John duke of (d. 1419) Ixii, 216 Burley, Simon

12, 18, 26, 30

Burnell, Hugh Lord 66 Burton, William, monk Ixxiv, 98

Cadwaladr (St), Welsh king Ixv, 40, 148

Caerleon (Gwent) 160 Caernarvon (Gwynedd)

146

Caesar, Julius Ixxvii—Lxxviii, 182, 270 Calais 20, 32, 106-8, 112, 142, 256

Cambridge, Richard earl of (d. 1415) 254 Canterbury 208, 242, 246 prior of 66 Cardiff, Dominican and Franciscan

friars at Xxxvli, 272 Cardigan, men of xlix, 146 Carmarthen 58, 86 archdeaconry of xxvi, 158 Castel Sant'Angelo (Rome) 180, 184 Castle Combe (Wiltshire) xx, xxvii, XXX—XXXI, 272 Catterick, John, bishop of St David’s

250-2 Charlemagne, emperor Ixii, 44, 208 Charles IV, king of France (1322-28) 220 Charles VI, king of France (1380-1422) Ixii, 6, 102-14, 132, 148, 216, 268 Isabeau of Bavaria, his wife 268

sons of 118 Charles VII (‘the Dauphin’), king of France (1422-61) 268 Charlton, Edward, lord of Powis XVi-XVli, Xxix—xxxii, 52, 128, 146, 214, 238-40, 266 John, lord of Powis 56, 146 Charterhouse (London), prior of xix, 126 Chaundler, John, bishop of Salisbury xxxiv, 266

Chertsey (Surrey), abbey 98 Cheshiremen, Richard II’s 48 Chester

10, 58-60, 88, 240

Bolingbroke at (1399) xviii, 54-6 duchy of 32 Cheyne, John 76 Chichele, Henry, archbishop of Canterbury xv, xlviii, 250, 258, 266 Chichester, bishop of (Thomas Rushook) 12 Chosroes II, king of Persia Ixxvii, go church liberties Ixii, 92-4 Cirencester (Gloucestershire) 88 Clarence, duke of, see Lionel; Thomas Clarendon, Roger Ixxxii, 174 Clerk, William 122

GENERAL

INDEX

283

Clifford, James 172 Richard, 134 Cnut, king of England yiliii

dreams and visions xvii, xxiv, xxxiii, liv, Ixxi-Lxxiv du Bois, Peter, bishop of Dax 36, 76

Cobham, John Lord lii, lviii, 38 Coddington (Cheshire) 56 Colonna, John 206

Durand, Guillaume, bishop of Mende

Colville del Dale, John 132 comet (of 1402) 154-6 compilator, Usk’s use of term Ixxxiyv Coninck, Peter 222-24

Dunbar, George earl of liv, 134, 168

XXXxVii Durham, bishop of 252 Dymoke, John 74 Margaret 74 Thomas xix, liii, lvii, 72-4

Constance, council of xxxv, 250-2, 258,

262 Constantine, emperor 172, 182, 198, 226

Ixi, xxvii, 158,

Constantinople 198, 226 Continuatio Eulogit, \xix convocation, Usk attends xix, XXXili-xxxiv, 92, 248

Conway castle 58, 128 Corneto (Tarquinia) 204 Courtenay, William, archbishop of Canterbury xv, xvii, 18 Croesus, king of Lydia 36 ‘Crouchback legend’, xix

curia, papal, ceremonies of 190-2, 196-202, 206 Cyprus, king of 148 Cyrus, king of Persia Ixxviii, 156, 270 Damascus, king of 210 Darius, king of Persia Ixxvii-lxxviii, 182,

202, 270 Dartmouth (Devon) 130 David ap Ieuan Goz 148 de Burgh, William, earl of Ulster (d.

1333) 42

Delamere forest (Chesire) 56 de la Pole, Michael, earl of Suffolk (d. 1389) 10-12 Michael, earl of Suffolk (d. 1415) 256 Denbigh, lordship of 32-6, 148 Despenser, Henry, bishop of Norwich 14, 92 Thomas, earl of Gloucester (d. 1400) 26, 36, 58-60, go, 246 de Vere, Aubrey, earl of Oxford (d. 1400)

72 Robert, earl of Oxford (d. 1392) 10 Deverill (Wiltshire), see Kingston Deverill Dorset earl of, see Beaufort Douglas, Archibald earl of (d. 1424) 170,

174

Edmund, earl of Lancaster (d. 1296) 44, 64-6 Edmund of Langley, duke of York (d. 1402) 26 Edward the Confessor (1042-66) xliii, Ixvi-lxvii shrine of 116, 268

Edward I (1272-1307) 44, 64-6 Edward II (1307-27) 92 Edward III (1327-77) xix, xxxix, xli, xx, 2, 16, 42, 106-14

Edward ap Adam xiii—xiv, XXXVIi-XXXVili, 272-4 Edward, the ‘Black Prince’ (d. 1376) 2 Edward, earl of Rutland, duke of Aumale, duke of York (d. 1415) 26, 36, 146, 256 Eeckhout, monastery (Bruges) lviii, 218

Eleanor ofCastile, queen of Edward I 44 electors, imperial 124, 166 Elias, the prophet 196, 228 Elias, Jewish physician xxvili, 204 Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy xliii England, the English 118, 148-52, 174-6, 190, 200, 208

Usk’s views on lxi Enoch, the prophet 228 ‘Epiphany Rising’ (1400) lix, lxi, lxxxiii, 86-92 Erpingham, Thomas 66 Etchingham, William xxiii Evesham, monk of, chronicler xviii, lii,

lviii Falaise, siege of 266 Ferdinand III, king of Castile 226 Ferriby, William 88 Fitzalan, Richard, earl of Arundel (d. 1397) xvi-xvii, Ixvi, lxxiii, 8-12, 22-4, 78, 82-4, 114, 246; trial and

death of 26-32, 62

284

GENERAL

Fitzalan (cont.) Thomas, earl of Arundel (d. 1415) 52,

70-2, 246, 256 FitzHugh, Henry Lord 252 Fitz Piers, John 128 FitzWalter, Walter Lord

162

Flanders, the Flemings 220-4 count of 220 ‘Flemish crusade’ (1383) 14 Flint castle 58-60 Flote, Pierre 22024

66, 116, 166, 174, 210, 216-24, 252 negotiations with lvi, 18, 102-14, 142, 244, 252 peers of 216 Usk in xxix—xxxiii, lvi, 210-38

war with lvi—lvii, 94, 142-4, 254-6, 264-70 Freville, Baldwin 72 Froissart, Jean, chronicler Ixxvi Gam, David 256 Gascony, see Aquitaine 162, 166, 200, 210

Gerald of Wales Ixiii Germans, Germany lx, lxxvii, 124, 158, 180, 188, 198, 208, 218

Gesta Henrici Quinti, lix Ghibellines and Guelphs, rivalry of 158, 182, 194, 204-6, 266 Gilbert, John, bishop of Hereford

Gower, John, poet lxxiii

Gratian xliii Gray, Thomas 66 Greeks, Greek empire, emperor of (Manuel II) 118-20 Usk’s views on liv, lxi—lxii, Ixxvii, Ixxxi, 118-20, 124, 158, 190, 198

Green, Henry 52 Gregory XII, pope (1406-9) xxxii, 254 Grey, Reginald, lord of Ruthin xix, 72, 122, 132-4, 160

fortune, in Usk’s chronicle Ixxiv—lxxvi, Ixxix France, the French Ixi-Ixiii, xxx, 14, 16,

Genoa, Genoese

INDEX

xiv

Gladws Duy, Welsh princess 40-44 Glendower, Owen xxvi, xxxi, xxxv, xi, Ixvii, Ixxv, xcii, 168-70, 174, 214, 218,

242 Catherine, daughter of 160

Richard, lord of Codnor

Thomas, lord of Heton Greyndour, John 212

212

254

Greystoke, Ralph Lord 52 Griffith ap William 272 Guelphs, see Ghibellines

Gwenllian, daughter of David ap Griffith 272 Hales, Robert, treasurer 2

Hall, John 78 Halnaker (Sussex) 114 Hardyng, John, chronicler xxxi Harfleur, siege of xlviii, lvi, 254-6, 262-4 Harlech castle (Gwynedd) 160 Harthacnut, king of England (1040-42)

xliii Hastings, Edward 122, 132 John, earl of Pembroke (d. 1375) 16 John, earl of Pembroke (d. 1389) 114 Heber, Richard xlv Hebrews, annals of 226

Hector Ixxviii, 270 Henry I (1100-35) xliii, 42

Henry II (1154-89) 42

Henry III (1216-72) xix, 44, 64-6, 70 Eleanor of Provence, his queen 66 Henry IV (‘Bolingbroke’), earl of Derby

death of lvii, 262 Griffith, son of Ixxv, 212

duke of Hereford and Lancaster,

letters from 148-52 Margaret, wife of 242 Meredith, son of 242 negotiations of, with France xxviii,

XXV, XXVIi-Xxxx, xxxv, xli, xlvi, lviii, lix, Ixvi, lxxi, Ixxvi, Ixxix, 8-12,

XXXil

parliaments of 176 revolt of xxiii—xxiv, xlv, liii—lv, Ix, 100,

128, 134, 144-50, 158-60, 172, 176, 212, 240 Usk’s relations with xxx—xxxiii,

Ixxx-Ixxxii, 238 Goldcliff (Monmouth), priory 252

king of England (1399-1413) xxiii, 28-30, 36, 48-50, 246 accession of Ixvii, 68-70 coronation of xix, liii, lxviii, 70-6, 188,

242 daughters of 174 death of lvi, Ixviii, 242

invasion of (1399) xviii, lii—liii, Ixix, 52-60, 86 letters to 136-42, 176-8 outlaws Usk xxxi-xxxii

GENERAL Henry IV (cont.)

pardons Usk xxx, 240 reign of 1, 76-242

threatens Usk 190, 212-14, 238 usurpation of xviii—xix, Ixx, 62-8

INDEX flight of 204-6 lorwerth ap Hopkin 272 Ireland, the Irish Ixii, Ixv—Ixvi, 12, 38-40, 46, 60, 76, 130, 134, 146,

Usk’s views on Ixxxi-Ixxxii

208-10, 244, 264 delegation from xix

and the Welsh revolt xlix, lxi-lxii, Ixxxi, 100, 144, 160-2, 176

lords of xxiv, liv—ly, lviii, 148-52

wife of (Mary de Bohun) 242 writ from, to Usk 102-14 Henry V, prince of Wales, king of England (1413-22) xx, xxiii, xlviii, Ivii, Ixxiv—Ixxv, 60, 72, 76, 128, 144

accession of lvi, 242 avarice of Ixv, Ixxx, 242-4 coronation of Ixviii—lxix, 242 reign of 1, 242-70 Usk’s views on Ixii, Ixxix—Ixx, xxx war with France lxiv—lxv Heraclius, emperor go Hereford 54 bishop of 66, 124 bishopric of xxv, xxvii, 174-6 duke of, see Henry IV heresy, see Lollardy Higden, Ranulf, his Polychronicon xiii—xiv, xxxvii—xl, xlvii, xlix, Ixiii, Ixvi, Ixxvi, Ixxxiv—lxxxv, 64-6, 272

history, divine influence on Ixiv—lxv, Ixxi, Ixxviii writing of Ixxv—lxxxi Holbache, David xxx, 240 Holand, John, earl of Huntingdon, duke

of Exeter (d. 1400) 26, 36, 48, 52, 86-8 John, earl of Huntingdon (d. 1447) 268 Thomas, earl of Kent (d. 1397) Ixxvi,

44, 86 Thomas, earl of Kent, duke of Surrey (d.1400) 26, 30, 36, 40, 48, 76, 86-8

Holland, William duke of 264 Homildon Hill, battle of (1402) Ixxiv, 174 Hopesay (Shropshire) xxxiv Hugueville, Jean de Hangest, lord of 174 Hulle, Adam atte xxxi

Richard II’s campaigns to (1394) 18,

(1399), 50

Isabella, queen of Edward II 42 Isabella, queen of Richard II xix, liv,

lvii, xci, 102-14, 132, 142 Islip, Simon, archbishop of Canterbury 94 Italy, Italians Ixi, lxiii, 166

Jakes, Walter, see Aumeney James, elect of Aquila, papal legate xxi Jersey, isle of 38 Jerusalem, liv 130 Jews, of Rome 186, 194 Jezebel 132 Joan ‘of Acre’, daughter of Edward I, 44 Joan, daughter of King John 42 Joan, sister of Adam Usk xiii, xxxvii, 272 Joan ‘of Kent’, Princess li, Ixix, Ixxxiii, 10, 44, 62 Joan of Navarre, queen of Henry IV 174 John XXIII, pope lvi, 154-6, 244, 254, 262

John, king of England (1199-1216) xlix, 42 John, king of France (1350-64) 106-14 John ap David ap Griffith 272 John ap Gruffydd, abbot of Llantarnam

94 John ap 94, John ap John ap

Hywell, abbot of Llantarnam 212 Iorwerth 272 William 272-4

John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster (d. 1399) xix, 2, 6-8, 28-30, 38, 48 campaigns in Spain 14

death of lii, 50 John, earl of Kent (d. 1352) 44 John of Usk, abbot of Chertsey xiii, liii,

Hungerford, Walter 252

Ixvi, Ixxiv, 98 Justinian, emperor xliii

India, monks from lxi, Ixvi, 190-92, 218 Innocent VII, pope (1404-6) xxv, xxviii,

Katherine, queen of Henry V 268

ly, lviii, Ixxxi, 154, 184, 192 coronation of 184-8 election of 182

285

Kemsing (Kent) xx, xxii, xxvi, 84, 246 Kent, earl of, see Holand

kingship, Usk’s views on Ixii

GENERAL

286

Kingston Deverill (Wiltshire) xxxiv, 158 Knoyle (Wiltshire) 158 Kyghley, Richard 256 Kyme, ‘earl of (Gilbert Umfraville) 268 Lacy, Edmund, bishop of Hereford 266 Ladislas, king of Naples 158, 182-4, 204 Lancaster, duke of, see Henry IV; John of

Gaunt earl of, see Edmund; Thomas Langley (Hertfordshire) 94 La Rochelle, battle of (1372) 16 Latin style, Usk’s lxxxvi-lxxxvii Launde (Leicestershire), prior of lxxxii,

174

legal texts, cited in Usk’s chronicle li Leicester 250 Leigh, Perkyn de 56-8 Leominster (Herefordshire) 54 Lescrope, see Scrope Lewes (Sussex), battle of 64 Liege, bishop of 216 Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, li Lionel, duke of Clarence (d. 1368) xiv, xix, xli, 42, 46, 210

Lisle, William, bishop of Ely 94 Llanbadoc (Gwent) 86 Llanbister, prebend of xxvii, 158 Llancayo (Gwent) xiii, 86 Llandaff, bishopric of xxx, xxxv, xxxvii,

Ixv—lxvi, 272

Llugu daughter of Watkyn xiii, 86 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (d. 1282) Ixvii, 116 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Vaughan Ixxxii, 144 Loelinus xi, 198 Lollard Rising (1414) xlviii, lvi Lollards, Lollardy li, lxi, lxx, 6-8, 122,

244-8 Ixi, 114-16, 158,

194, 198, 212 London, Londoners

bishopric of 188 Lollardy in 4-8 mayor of 12 pageant in (1415) xlviii, lvii, lix,

258-62 revolt of 1381 in 2-4 St Paul’s church

50, 94, 250-2, 258,

262 Usk in Ix Louis X, king of France (1314-16) 220 Lovell, William

xxv

Lucerne, xiii 152 Lucy, William 130 Ludlow (Shropshire) 54 Lytewyn, Thomas xxiii Maccabaeus, Judas Ixxviii, 270

Machynlleth (Powys) 176 Macrobius Ixxi—lxxii Malepella, count of 190 Man, isle of 34 March, earls of, see Mortimer Welsh 126

Margaret, queen of Edward I 44 Margaret, queen of Scotland (11th-century) 44 queen of Scotland (13th-century) 64-6 marginals, in Usk’s chronicle xliv—xlv, xcili Marius lIxi, 198

Martin V, pope (1417-31) xxxv—xxxvi,

diocese of xxiv, 144, 158, 172 Llandefaelog Tregraig xxvii, 158 Llandovery (Dyfed) 144 Llandygwydd (Dyfed), prebend of XX—Xxili, xxvii, 84, 246 Llanegwest, abbot of 218 Llangibby (Gwent) xxxiv, xxxvi Llantarnam abbey 94 see also John ap Hywell Llanthony priory xxxiv

Lombards, Lombardy

INDEX

60, 88, 240

apprentice—boys of Ixxviii—lxxix, 94-6

266

Matthew ap Hoel xiii, xx, 84 Maudeleyn, Richard 88 Meredith ap Iorwerth 272 Merks, Thomas, bishop of Carlisle 24,

g2 Merlin xli—xlii, lxix—Ixx Merstham (Surrey) xxxiii-xxxiv, 240, 246

Meurig ap Ieuan ap Meredith 272 Milan, duke of, see Visconti miracles, in Usk’s chronicle Ixvi-lxvii Mitchel Troy (Monmouthshire) xiv Mohammed lxi, 6, 208

Mone, Guy, bishop of St David’s 188 Monmouth, Geoffrey of Ixxvi Montague, John, earl of Salisbury (d. 1400) xx, 26, 32, 34, 86-8, 96 Thomas, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428) 270 Morley, Thomas Lord xix—xx, 96 Mortimer, family xiv, xvi, xviii, xlix, lii,

Ixxvii, Ixxxi, lxxxv, xcii; genealogy of 40-6; lands of 46

GENERAL Edmund (d. 1409) xlviii, Ix, lxxiv,

158-60, 242; children of 160, 242 Edmund, earl of March (d. 1381) xiv, xvi, lix, 46, 158 Edmund, earl of March (d. 1425) xiv, Xviii, 44, 130, 148, 168, 244-6, 254 Eleanor, countess of March

INDEX Oxford

248

earl of, see de Vere

Merton hall 14 riots at (1388-9) xvi, 14-16 university of xliv, 12-16, 244 Usk at xiv—xv, li, 12-16, 46, 152, 250

xvi, 44

Philippa, countess of Arundel xvi, xx, 114

Padua 156 palaeography, of Usk’s chronicle

Philippa, countess of March

xli-xliii, xlvi-l Panteg (Monmouthshire) xx, 84 papacy at Avignon xxviii, xxxi—xxxii,

xiv, lix,

42,46

Roger, earl of March (d. 1398) xiv, xvi, xviii, xli, lix, Ixxiv—Ixxv, 30-46

Thomas (d. 1399) 26, 30, 40

Naples 162, 198 king of, see Ladislas nationality, Usk’s views on Ixiii Neath (Glamorgan), abbey 252 Nebuchadnezzar 36 Nevill, Alexander, archbishop of York 10-12, 26

John, Lord Latimer 72 Ralph, earl of Westmorland (d. 1425) 28, 36, 52, 66, 72

Newport (Gwent) 160 Austin friars at xxxvii, 272 Newton St Loe (Somerset) xxxiv, xxxvi

Ixxxvi, 178-80, 200

parliament Ixii, 176 of 1386, 8, 78

of 1397-8 xvii, l-lii, lviii, 20-40, 48, 76 of 1399 liii, 70, 76-8, 82-4 of 1401 xlvi—xlvii, liv, lxxii, 8, 120-6 of 1404 176 of 1413 Xxxxiii, 240, 244 of 1414 250-2 of 1415 256-8 of 1416 262 of 1417 264 ‘Passion ofthe French’, the xlviii, lvi, lviii, 218-24 Patrington, Stephen de, bishop of St David’s 250

Nicholls, Benedict, bishop of Bangor XXXV—XXXVI

‘peasants revolt’ (1381) li, lxi, 2-4

Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray duke of (d.

Pennal (Powys), declaration of xxviii Penthiévre, Olivier count of 268

1399), earl of Nottingham lii, Ixix, Ixxxii, 10-12, 26, 32, 36, 48-50, 78, 246 Normandy 214, 264-8 Northumberland, Norton St Philip Norwich, bishop Nottingham, earl

earl of, see Percy (Somerset) 130 of 252-6 of, Thomas Mowbray

(d. 1405) 202 see also Norfolk Nuneaton (Warwickshire) Ixxxiv, 120 Oldcastle, John Ivi-lvii, Ixv, 244 death of 266

Orkney islands, lord of 130 Orleans, Charles duke of 256 Louis duke of xxxii, lv, 214-6 Orleton, Adam, bishop xl Orsini, Paul 206

orthography, Usk’s Ixxxvii—xcii Ostia 204 Overton, Thomas xvi

287

Pembroke, earl of, see Hastings

Percy, family Ixxiv—lxxv, 168-70, 174 Henry, earl of Northumberland (d. 1408) xxix—xxxii, xxxv, lv, lx, Ixv, Ixvii, Ixxviii, 52, 58, 66, 72, 100, 146,

168-70, 176, 214-18, 238 Henry ‘Hotspur’ (d. 1403) Lxxi, Ixxxii, 100, 146, 168-70, 176 Henry, earl of Northumberland (d.

1455) 214

Thomas, earl of Worcester (d. 1403)

24, 36, 170 Perigord, Archambaud count of xix, 134 Philip IV, king of France (1285-1314) 42, 220 Pileus de Prata, archbishop of Ravenna xiv, 4-6 plague (of 1400) 96-8 Plato Ixxxiii, 118, 184 Poland, king of 218 Polonus, Martinus, chronicler 226

Polychronicon, see Higden

288

GENERAL

Ponfald (Gwent) 212 Pontefract (Yorkshire), castle Ixxxiii, go

INDEX Rupert of Bavaria, emperor xlviii, liv, lvii-lviii, xxvii, xcii, 116, 122-4, 156,

174

portents, in Usk’s chronicle Ixvii—Ixviii Portsmouth (Hampshire) 254 Potterne (Wiltshire) xiv, xx

bull of confirmation of 162-8 Rutland, duke of, see Edmund

Prestbury, Thomas

Rye, William

54

prodigies, in Usk’s chronicle Ixvi—Ixvii prophecy, in Usk’s chronicle xli—xlii, xlix—lxxi Prophet, John_lvii provisions, papal 126, 176 Pwll Melyn, battle of (1405) Ixxv, 212

172

St Albans (Hertfordshire), abbot of 34 St Bridget Ixv, 208 St Columba Ixv—Ixvi, 208 St Davids, bishopric of xxv, xxvii—xxviii, xxxv, 188

prebend of xxvii Radcot Bridge (Oxfordshire), battle of

(1387) 10

Reading (Berkshire), council at 264 Rehoboam, king Ixxviii, 76

Repingdon, Philip, abbot of Leicester liv, lviii, Ixxxiii, 120, 136 Rhys ap Griffith 240 Richard II (1377-99) xvii, xli, xlv, lxiv, Ixvii, Ixx—Ixxi, Ixxvi-lxxvili, 54,

74-6, 92, 140, 174 accession of xlvi burial of Ixxv, 94 capture and deposition of xviii, xliv, xlix, lii-liii, Ix, Ixxiv—lxxv, 56-70, 86 coronation of li, lxvii—lxviii, 2, 74, go death of xliv, Ixxxiii, Ixxxv, 88-90 dream of Ixxiii, 82

imprisonment of 78 marriage of, to Isabella of France 102-14 reign of |-lii, lxi, 2-50 Usk’s view of xviii, liii, Ixxx

precentor of xxi St Erkenwald 262, 268 St George 258-60

St Gotthard pass lv, 152-4 St Helen 158 St John the Baptist lxv, 212 St John, Thomas Poynings, Lord St St St St

St Pons, archbishop of 180

St Radegund 192 St Teilo Ixv—Ixvi, 172, 238 St Thomas Becket lxx St Thomas of India Ixv, lxxiii, 192, 238 St Winefride 262 saints, Usk’s view of Ixv—Ixvi Salisbury, bishop of 176, 252 earl of, see Montague John 12

Richard, duke of Normandy xliii, 42

Saltwood (Kent) 80 Saracens lxiv, 118, 162, 172

Rickhill, William, justice 32

Sarum office 252

Rieux, Jean de, marshal of France Robert, count of Artois 222-4 Robert, duke of Normandy 42 Rochester (Kent), bridge 36 Rochford, Ralph 252 Rollo, duke of Normandy 42

174

Roman people, Rome 1xi, Lxiii, Ixxvii, 120, 158-60, 182-8, 218

carnival of 194-6 churches of xxv, 170-2, 184-6 riots in 204 Usk in xxiii—xxix, lv, lix, Ix, 154-210 Usk’s journey to xlvii, 1, lv, Lxiii, Lxiv,

Ixix, 152-6 women of 196 Rouen, Ixiii 268

114

Melans, Lewis de xxxix Michael Ixxii, 180 Patrick Ixv—lxvi, 208-10 Peter Ixxii, 180

Savoy palace (London) Ixiii, 2 Sawtre, William 122 Saxons, see England

schism, papal (1378-1417) xxxv, lvii, Lxii, Ixvi, 116, 180, 266 Scotland, the Scots Ixii, 2, 30, 36, 94, 100,

136, 144-6, 174, 208, 214, 252, 264, 268

herald of 132 invasion of (1400) liii, g8-100 king-of (Robert III, 1390-1406) xxiv, liv-lvy, lviii, 132, 148

king of (James I, 1406-37) 264 Scrivelsby (Lincolnshire), manor of

R-4

Scrope, le, Henry 252-4

GENERAL Richard, archbishop of York (d. 1405) Ix, Ixvi, Ixxxii, 66-8, 202

Stephen xx William, earl of Wiltshire (d. 1399) 26

34-6, 52

Scudamore, Philip, of Troy 240 Selby, Ralph 60 Serle, William 176 Sheen (Surrey), Charterhouse manor Ixiii, 18

252

>

INDEX

289

Usk’s view of li, Ixx—Ixxi, Ixxx Taylor, Walter xxv Teutonic knights 216-18 Thynne, Francis, antiquary xliv Thomas ap Adam ap William de Weloc xiii, xx, 84

Thomas ap Iorwerth 274 Thomas ap Meredith 272 Thomas, duke of Clarence (d. 1421) 146,

246, 268

Shelley, Thomas 88 Sherborne St John (Dorset) xxxiv

Thomas, earl of Lancaster (d. 1322) 44 Thomas of Woodstock, duke of

Shirenewton (Monmouthshire) xx, 84 Shrewsbury (Shropshire) 54, 86, 100, 240, 262 battle of (1403) lv, lx, Ixxi, Ixxv, Ixxxii,

Gloucester (d. 1397) xv, 8-12, 22-6, 30-4, 68, 78, 84, 88, 176 Humphrey, son of 60 Tideman of Winchcombe, bishop of Worcester 134

168-70 parliament at (1398) xvii, lii, lviii,

36-38, 48

Sigismund, emperor

158, 262-4

Tisbury (Wiltshire) 158 topography, in Usk’s chronicle Ixiii Trahern lxi, 198

signs of judgement, poem on lvi, lviii,

Tresilian, Robert

Ixvi, 226-36 Skidmore, John 256 Solomon, king Ixxvii—Ixxviii, 76, go, 182

Trevaur, John, bishop of St Asaph Ix, 68, 82, 218 Trim castle (Ireland) 60 Tudor, Rhys ap 128, 240 William ap 128

Southampton plot (1415) 1x

Tunis

Spain, the Spanish 14-16, 66, 208-10, 226 Alfonso X, king of 66

Turks Ixi-lxii, 130, 158, 200, 216 Tuscany 158 Tyer, John xxvi Tyler, Wat xiv, 4

Slake, Nicholas

60

Smithfield (London)

122

Stafford, Edmund, bishop of Exeter 20 Edmund, earl of Stafford (d. 1403) 70, 246 Stephen, pope Ixxvii, 158 Stow, Stowe, Thomas

xxi, 66

Strata Florida (Dyfed), abbey 144 Straw, Jack 4 Strickland, William, bishop of Carlisle Xxvi

Sudbury, Simon, archbishop of Canterbury 2 Suffolk, earl of, see de la Pole Sugwas (Herefordshire) xiv Swan, William xxvi, xxxiv—xxxvi Swynford, Thomas Ixxxiii, go

Sydenham, Simon xxii Syon abbey (Middlesex) 252 Talbot, Gilbert Lord 266

Tancarville, John earl of 268 Tannenberg, battle of (1410) lv, 216 ‘Tartars’, lxi, 158, 200 taxation 16-18, 38, 126, 130, 146, 174-6,

242-4, 250-2, 256-8, 262, 266

12

Ixi, 162

Upton Scudamore (Wiltshire) xiv—xv Urban VI, pope (1378-89) 164 Usk, Thomas 12 Usk (Gwent) xiii, 86, 128 castle, xiii 160, 212

church of St Mary at xiii, xxxvii, lxvi, 8, 118, 272 Edward, clerk xxii, xxxvii

John, vicar of 272 lordship of xiv, xxiii, 52 priory xiii, xxxvii, lviii, 192, 272 river xli Usk’s will dated at xxxvii, 272-4

Vaghan, Griffith 272 Venice 48, 162, 196 Vienna, Schottenkloster at 208

Visconti, Bernabo 156 Galeazzo 156, 212 Giangaleazzo, duke of Milan (d. 1402) Ixii, Ixix, xxvii, Ixxix, 154-6

290

GENERAL

INDEX monk recluse at 34

Visconti (cont.)

Giovanni, archbishop of Milan Viterbo xxviii, lv, 204-6

156

Walden, Roger, archbishop of Canterbury xv, xvii, liii, lxix, 60,

Westmorland, earl of, see Nevill Wigmore (Herefordshire), abbey 46 chronicle lii, lix William the Conqueror (1066-87) xliii, 42, 266 Matilda, his wife xliii

78-82 Walsingham, Thomas, chronicler xviii, Ixix—lxx Waltham, John, bishop of Salisbury xv Walworth, William, mayor of London 4 Warwick, earl of, see Beauchamp

Waterton, Robert 52 Webbe, Robert xxxi Welsh revolt, see Glendower Welshness, Usk’s xxiii—xxvii, XXxxli—xxxiv, xlix, ]xi, lxiii, Lxxii, Ixxxii—lxxxiii, xcii, 16, 126, 146, 244,

William Longespee 42 Willoughby, William Lord 52 wills, regulations concerning 250 Windsor (Berkshire) 48, 88 women, Usk’s views on Ixiv

Worcester, bishopric of 134 prior of 252 Wychecombe, Richard xxi Wyclif, John 6 Wykeham, William, bishop of

Winchester 26

258 Welshpool (Powys)

144

Usk at xxiv, xxx—xxxi, lvi, lx, 238-40 Went, Philip 272 Thomas xxxvii, 272 Wenzel, emperor, king of Bohemia

Ixxvii, 4-6, 116, 122-2, 164-8 West Hanningfield (Essex) xx, 114 Westminster 144

abbey Ixvi, Ixviii, 44, 60, 70, 94, 116, 242 abbot of 66, 252 great hall of liii, 10, 94

Xerxes, king of Persia Ixxvii—lxxviii, go,

182, 270 York 202 archbishop of, see, Scrope duke of, see, Edward sheriffof 214-16

Young, Richard xxxv—xxxvi Griffith xxx—xxxi, xxxv—xxxvi

Zouche, Lord 252