On the eve of St. George’s Day (April 22) Gloucester, exercising the functions of the sovereign, held the first chapter of the Order of the Garter at Windsor, and according to the wardrobe account Jacqueline was the only lady who received robes this year for the celebration of the Feast of St. George.[453] On October 20 Parliament met at Westminster, and the session was opened by Gloucester, acting as before on the authority of a special commission, which empowered him to preside over its deliberations and dissolve it, subject, of course, to the sanction of the Council.[454] During a part of the proceedings on November 17 the young King was present, sitting on his mother’s lap, though at an earlier date he had resisted removal from Staines so energetically, that he had to be carried back into the house.[455] The session, though it lasted more than three months, was not eventful, but there were renewed efforts to curb the power of the Protector; and probably the introduction of the King was part of this policy, in that it served to remind Gloucester that he was there only as the representative, not as the governor, of his little master. A strong protest was lodged against the practice of individual members of the Council answering petitions on their own responsibility. It was therefore enacted that neither Gloucester, nor any other councillor, should grant either Bills of Right, of Office, or of Benefice in answer to a petition made to him, but must refer the matter to the rest of the Council.[456] In a new set of regulations for the Council evidence is also found that matters were not running smoothly in that body. There were evidently misunderstandings on the subject of foreign policy, and the various members were forbidden to go behind the action of the Council, and to express opinions contrary to the decisions arrived at.[457] All this helps to prove the strength of the opposition to Gloucester amongst the magnates of the realm, both in and out of the Council. It seems also to point to the fact that Beaufort’s challenge had had the effect which was to be expected. Hampered by the restrictions on his power, Gloucester was too impatient to work against them quietly, and had evidently defied the Council in any way he could. The not unnatural result was exasperation on both sides. The second cause of complaint, with its distinct mention of ‘into strange countrees oure soverain Lord shal write his letters by th’ advyse of his Counsail,’ may have reference to Gloucester’s Hainault policy, which was rapidly reaching the stage of war, and of which we shall speak later.

On the other hand, Gloucester’s efforts towards procuring a treaty with Scotland were the subject of sincere thanks in this Parliament, and the wording of the note seems to imply that he had taken a very active part in the negotiations.[458] It was now almost eighteen years since James of Scotland had been taken prisoner, and it is probable that Humphrey and he had been fast friends ever since their boyhood. It was natural, therefore, that the Protector should take a leading part in the negotiations which were leading up to his release. On September 10 a treaty was signed at York, in which the Scotch agreed to pay £40,000 for their King’s maintenance in England, and to withhold further support from the French; allusion was also made to a conditional marriage with some high-born English lady.[459] James had fallen deeply in love with Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John, late Earl of Somerset;[460] in the following February he married her, and the April of 1424 found him a free man confirming the treaty as King of his country.[461] Gloucester can hardly have welcomed this choice of a bride, for he could not know how little the unfortunate lady would strengthen the hands of her family.[462]

Before Parliament rose it was called upon to pass an Act of Attainder against Sir John Mortimer, cousin of the Earl of March, who had been arrested on suspicion of treason in 1421. He had tried to escape from the Tower, apparently being instigated thereto by emissaries of the Government. For this offence he was condemned to death by a special Act of Parliament, and executed.[463] From the deposition of William King, who was instructed by the Lieutenant of the Tower to win Mortimer’s confidence, it would seem that the latter’s escape was to be a prelude to a rising in Wales in conjunction with the Earl of March, and that the Protector’s life was threatened. March was to usurp the throne, and the Bishop of Winchester was also marked out for distinction, ‘for Mortymer wolde pley with his money.’[464] How far these statements were true, and how far part of an organised attempt to remove a dangerous prisoner cannot be said, but at least it is clear that the Earl of March had already caused anxiety to Gloucester owing to the suspiciously large retinue he had brought with him to the meeting of Parliament, and the ostentation with which he kept open house at the residence of the Bishop of Salisbury.[465] It may be that a conspiracy was indeed on foot, and that Humphrey once more received a warning of the dangers which beset the house of Lancaster. If so, the warning was forgotten by the removal of the conspirators. Mortimer we have seen was put to death, and March was ordered to his government in Ireland, where shortly afterwards he died of the plague. His lands went to swell the already extensive possessions of Richard, Duke of York,[466] who, however, was a minor, and the custody of those lands which March had held from the King in chief was given to Gloucester, to be held by him so long as they remained in the hands of the King, that is to say, until Richard came of age.[467]

Thus Humphrey was launched on his independent career. With no one in direct authority over him he was the master of his own policy, and that policy had been slowly developing during the last nine years. Three great influences had come to mould his character and dictate his line of action. The crusading zeal of his brother Henry had wedded him to the idea of French conquests, without giving him the intellectual force to organise or help such a project. The flight of Jacqueline to England had thrown in his way one who, appealing to the desire for foreign dominion and roving knight-errantry he inherited from his ancestors, was to draw him away from his ordered line of policy and show up all the weaknesses of his character. The opposition of Beaufort had compelled him to face a new set of circumstances, and had aroused those factious instincts that had hitherto lain dormant. These three facts dominated all his future life. His policy was formed by them, and henceforth he followed whithersoever they led. Little he cared that they did not agree, that to follow one enterprise he must sacrifice the other two endeavours on which he had set his heart. His ruling passion was ambition, but he did not know how to satisfy it. Thus his future life will be found to be consistent in so far as it is governed by one overwhelming desire, but totally inconsistent in detail. To conquer Hainault was to abandon his position at home; to carry on the French war successfully was to resign his claim on Hainault; to concentrate his energies on the government of England was to abandon Jacqueline to her fate. All these he did in turn, and thus, unless we dip down into the fundamental facts of his character, we shall be unable to divine what led him into these extraordinary inconsistencies. His policy of self-aggrandisement was fixed, but his unsettled mind could not decide how best to satisfy his ambitions.

CHAPTER IV
GLOUCESTER AND HAINAULT

The Duke of Burgundy had deeply resented the asylum given to Jacqueline by Henry V., and his indignation had been still further increased by the rumour that a new marriage with the King’s brother, Humphrey, was under consideration. To the Duke’s protest, however, Henry had practically turned a deaf ear, for he seems to have put no check upon his brother’s actions; else he would not have sent him back to England in 1422, and thus placed him in near proximity to such dangerous attractions. More than this, he had gone out of his way to honour the lady, and it must have been with his consent that she was chosen to hold his infant son at the font, and to stand sponsor for him at his baptism in 1421.[468] This policy of favour to Jacqueline was not abandoned after his death, for her allowance of £100 a month—a really princely sum—was continued.[469]

Meanwhile Humphrey had not delayed his wooing. We have no definite evidence as to the personal appearance of the object of his attentions, for though the chroniclers allude to her beauty and attractive qualities, her portraits, such as they are, give us a rather heavy-faced woman with but moderate features. That she was lively and full of spirits none can doubt, and there may have been in her some strong attraction for the rather susceptible Duke, yet as Polydore Vergil shrewdly suggests, the territories which she claimed were probably a more potent attraction to Humphrey than the charms of her person.[470] Whatever his motives Gloucester had soon come to an understanding with Jacqueline, and their marriage was probably arranged before Henry V.’s death. The Countess had ordered declarations that her former marriage was null and void to be posted on the church doors throughout Hainault and Holland, and there exists a legend that the two lovers applied to the Antipope Benedict XIII., who had been deposed by the Council of Constance, for a dissolution of her marriage with John of Brabant, a request with which the prisoner of Peniscola immediately complied.[471] In proof of this statement there is not sufficient documentary evidence, yet in the absence of any action by Martin V., some form of divorce seems to have been gone through, and a contemporary writer, by no means favourable to the Duke, declares that Jacqueline was properly divorced by law after a complete examination of the question by learned doctors, and this before her third marriage.[472]

When exactly this marriage took place is uncertain. Certainly no public ceremony was performed, since such an event must have attracted universal attention,[473] and there is considerable disagreement among the various writers as to even the approximate date of the occurrence. That the marriage did not take place before Henry V.’s death on 31st August 1422 we know from a definite statement to this effect by Jacqueline herself in 1427;[474] but it must have been shortly after this that the two became man and wife. Even by October 25 a rumour had reached Mons, that the Duke of Brabant had received news that his wife had ignored his rights, and had married Gloucester, that she was already with child, and wished to come to Quesnoy for her confinement.[475] That this is no more than a story, inspired by the known intentions of Jacqueline, is shown by the obvious untruth of the last statement; but on February 9 following a writ was received at Mons from the Countess convening a meeting of the Estates, at which her marriage was to be announced.[476] All this goes to prove that Cocqueau spoke the truth when he wrote, ‘Gloucester married Jacqueline in the month of January of this 22nd year (O.S.), as I have seen in a letter belonging to John Abbot of St. Vast, notifying that the said Gloucester had written to the Duke of Burgundy telling him that he had married the said lady, whereby her territories belonged to him.’[477]

In spite of the declaration of a sixteenth-century writer that this marriage was ‘not only wondered at of the comon people, but also detested of the nobilite, and abhorred of the clergie,’[478] it seems to have aroused no adverse comment at the time. Gloucester’s new title was recognised as early as the March following,[479] and later in the year his new wife was recognised as Duchess of Gloucester, when she was made a denizen of England by Act of Parliament with the full rights of an English-born subject, at the same time as Bedford’s newly married wife, Anne of Burgundy, had the same privileges conferred upon her.[480] It is apparent from this that no distinction was made between the wives of the two dukes, and that at a time when Humphrey was being opposed in his ambitions at home no opposition was raised to his daring and uncanonical marriage with a foreign princess. It is strange to notice that on the same day were completed the last formalities of confirmation in the matter of two royal marriages—that of Bedford, of which the whole and avowed object was the maintenance of the Burgundian alliance, and that of Gloucester, which was to bring that alliance so near to a definite rupture. We must gather from this that as yet the significance of Humphrey’s action had not been realised, and that Jacqueline was still regarded—even as Henry V. had regarded her—as a valuable political asset, rather than as a possible stumbling-block in the way of English aggrandisement in France.

No sooner were the formalities of Jacqueline’s naturalisation accomplished, than she was taken by her husband to visit that monastery where above all Gloucester was popular owing to his friendship with the famous Abbot of St. Albans, John Bostock, better known as Wheathampsted, a name borrowed from his birthplace. They were accompanied by three hundred attendants, some English, and some ‘Teutonici,’ a term which alludes probably to the Dutch, Flemish, and possibly German retainers, whom Gloucester had collected in preparation for his coming campaign in Holland. At St. Albans Jacqueline was acknowledged as Humphrey’s true and legitimate wife, and they were met at the entrance by the Prior, who, representing the Abbot, at that time absent at the Council of Pavia, led a procession to welcome the visitors as they approached the monastery on Christmas Eve. The festivities of the season were there celebrated, though they were somewhat marred by the disorderliness of some of Gloucester’s servants, who took to poaching in the neighbouring woods, and were found in possession of a goodly collection of roebucks and hinds which they had already flayed. One of the offenders was secured and put into the stocks by the authorities, but this did not satisfy the impetuous Duke, who seized a mattress-beater and broke his unruly servant’s head, ordering at the same time the slaughter of his greyhound. ‘Thus,’ says the admiring chronicler, ‘he set at rest this evil appetite on the part of his servants by one striking example.’[481]

Jacqueline and Gloucester stayed at St. Albans for a fortnight, and having kept the Feast of the Epiphany there, they were the following day received into the fraternity. This admission into the brotherhood imposed no monastic severities, nor did it confer any new civil rights, but it was regarded as a mark of honour, and those admitted were allowed to vote in the Chapter. On the monastery itself it had a more important bearing, for Wheathampsted had restored the custom, long in disuse, in order to procure funds for the house over which he ruled. This was the last event of Gloucester’s visit, and having presented the monastery with two pipes of ‘good red wine’ as an acknowledgment of their splendid entertainment during the Christmas festivities, husband and wife left St. Albans.[482]

However gratifying the acknowledgment in England of Jacqueline’s right to be called his wife might be to Gloucester, he was determined to assert his right to control her territories abroad, and nothing would induce him to lay aside this project. At the same time it was beginning to dawn on the minds of Englishmen that the objection of Burgundy to Humphrey’s pretended rights was insurmountable, and that the assertion of those rights would jeopardise the Anglo-Burgundian alliance concluded in the preceding April at Amiens, and cemented by the marriage of Bedford to Duke Philip’s sister Anne.[483] Indeed the Council had already received a letter from the University of Paris warning them of the impending danger, and emphasising the fact that the position held by England in France had its ‘root and origin’ in Burgundian support.[484] It was at this time, too, that Burgundy gave a clear indication of the course of action he intended to pursue. As far back as March 14, 1422, during the siege of Meaux, Henry V. had secured his election to the Order of the Garter at a chapter held for that purpose in France. Philip, however, had not formally accepted the nomination when Henry V. died, and he then put off the acceptance on the ground that the Order demanded a strict union of its members and forbade them to bear arms against one another. For two years his doubts continued, until, in answer to a peremptory requisition from the Chapter at Windsor, he excused himself from accepting the honour conferred upon him, lest he should be reduced thereby to the dishonourable alternative of either violating the revered statutes of the Order, or infringing the sacred rights of kinship.[485] In such a way did the Duke assert his intention of resisting Gloucester’s claims on Hainault.

Bedford was now fully alive to the danger attending his brother’s ambitions, and he initiated a series of attempts to settle the matters in dispute between the Dukes of Brabant and Gloucester, with himself and the Duke of Burgundy as arbitrators.[486] To this end it was necessary to secure the consent of the two parties concerned, and in October 1423 John of Brabant published a formal acceptance of such arbitrament,[487] but at the same time gave to the world an agreement which he had signed with Burgundy in the previous June.[488] In this document, while accepting Burgundy and Bedford as arbitrators, and agreeing not to ally with any of the former’s enemies before the decision had been given, he at the same time stipulated that if his rival refused to follow the same course in the matter of arbitration, he himself should be absolved from this agreement. On the other hand, Burgundy agreed to certain stipulations which seem to bind him in a way that makes him appear as a very partisan arbitrator. He promised on oath that in the discussion of the case ‘he would ordain, appoint, and determine nothing which should not be with the knowledge, consent, and wish of the Lord of Brabant,’ and that if Gloucester refused to place his case in the hands of the arbitrators, he would help his cousin of Brabant to resist the attacks of his opponent, so long as the said cousin would agree not to make peace with Gloucester without his ally’s consent.[489]

It is hardly surprising that Humphrey hesitated to put his case in the hands of judges, when one of them was already bound to his opponent, and moreover he regarded his case as quite beyond dispute, and resented any suggestion that his brother should consider that there could be any question of right or wrong in the matter of his marriage. However, after an unsuccessful meeting between Bedford and Burgundy in the latter days of 1423,[490] the former induced his brother to acknowledge the court of arbitration, and to issue a formal declaration to that effect on 15th February 1424, with the proviso that the matter must be settled before the end of March.[491] Another attempt was made to bring about a reconciliation at Amiens, but the matter was again postponed until Trinity Sunday.[492] Bedford to satisfy Burgundy ceded certain French territories to him, and at the same time induced both Gloucester and Jacqueline to agree to the arbitrament, if matters were settled before the end of June;[493] but in the meantime Burgundian disinterestedness was put still more in doubt by the recognition of Duke Philip as the heir of the weakling John of Brabant.[494] However much we may condemn the way in which Humphrey was sowing discord between England and her ally, and helping to rob his country of the fruits of the victory of Verneuil, we cannot but understand his hesitation in submitting his case for decision to two men, one of whom was bound to gain by his loss, whilst the other was led by the single desire of conciliating his fellow-arbitrator.

Of the justice of his cause Humphrey was quite convinced, he was equally determined to assert his supposed rights, and he did not see that any advantage would accrue from these discussions. Nevertheless he sent representatives to the Council to be held in France, stating his case plainly in the instructions that he sent with them, and emphasising the fact that this was the second time that he had been put to the trouble of sending ambassadors about these affairs, for when he was represented at Bruges, Brabant was not. The basis of his case lay on the unalterable contention that he and Jacqueline were true man and wife by the laws of the Church, and that this marriage entailed for him the government not only of his wife’s person, but also of her dominions. Brabant, having contracted an illegal marriage with the heiress of Hainault, was now in wrongful possession of her lands. There were three reasons why this marriage was illegal. In the first place, consanguinity in the second degree was a bar to the union, since the parties concerned were first cousins; further there was the obstacle of affinity in the third degree through the relationship of the Dauphin John, Jacqueline’s first husband, to the Duke of Brabant—a relationship, be it noted, that also existed between her and this same first husband; besides all this, the fact that Jacqueline’s mother was also godmother to John of Brabant created a spiritual relationship between the two, which, according to the laws of the Church constituted a third obstacle. To the argument that these objections were removed by papal dispensation it was answered, that the dispensation was procured by fraud, and by the suppression of the truth, and that within four days it was revoked, Brabant being notified of this fact. If it were argued still further that reconfirmatory letters were received at a still later date, it was obvious that they were useless, for the revocation of the dispensation was absolute, and could not be rescinded save by a new dispensation; moreover the marriage was consummated before these last letters arrived, so that the actual marriage must have been illegal, and was so still, as no new ceremony had been performed.[495] It cannot be denied that, as a point of strict law, there is much to be said for this presentment of the case. The dispensation had originally been signed and sealed on December 22, 1417,[496] and the revocation had followed, under pressure from the Bishop of Liége, better known as John of Bavaria, and the Emperor Sigismund, on the following 5th of January, whilst it was not till September 5, when the Pope had left Constance and Imperial influence behind him, that he signed the letters which re-enacted the dispensation. Thus the statement of Humphrey was true and formed an arguable case, and he put aside all counter-arguments based on the ground of consent by the assertion that Jacqueline had retired to her mother’s protection so soon as she had realised the enormity of her offence.

By these means was the legality of Jacqueline’s last marriage to be proved, and the case was strengthened by the assertion, that at the time when negotiations for breaking off the Brabant marriage were on foot Duke John had agreed that the contracting parties were to be free, if no papal Bull to the contrary was issued before a certain date, and, since no such Bull had arrived, Jacqueline had acted honestly, as well as lawfully in the matter. As to the territories which were the main cause of dispute, Brabant had promised not to alienate them, and since he had broken his promise, Gloucester demanded their surrender to him with the income derived therefrom during this unlawful possession.[497]

These instructions contain an uncompromising demand for all the rights that Humphrey claimed, a demand which is strengthened by Brabant’s rejoinder. He does not dispute the foregoing arguments, but merely stipulates that, if the estates are adjudged to Gloucester, he must recognise all existing appointments, both ecclesiastical and secular, besides all judgments, laws, contracts, and pardons, and that he himself shall not be responsible for a dower for the Countess, for debts incurred in Hainault, nor for any further expenses at the Court of Rome.[498] In the light of these stipulations, which are in themselves a confession of defeat, it is the more surprising that the commissioners could not come to a decision. They declared that the evidence on both sides was insufficient to justify a definite judgment, and they recommended an appeal to the Court of Rome both on the question of the marriage, and on the question of the territories. The most they could do was to promise to forward an earnest request to the Pope to settle the matter out of hand should both parties agree to this course, and to notify his decision to them before August 1.[499]

The reasons for this equivocal reply are not far to seek. On the evidence produced Humphrey had an overwhelming case, but the interests of Burgundy, who meant to inherit the disputed dominions from his submissive cousin of Brabant, forebade a decision in the Englishman’s favour. Bedford, on the other hand, probably refused to consent to a verdict against his brother when the case against him was practically unsupported. The Duke of Brabant cared not what happened, so long as his safety and his pocket were secured, and henceforth he passed out of the struggle, which now became a contest between the two Dukes of Burgundy and of Gloucester, the former for a reversion, the latter for immediate possession of Jacqueline’s inheritance. Politically the policy of Humphrey was now more reprehensible than before. It was evident that Duke Philip intended to make it a matter personal to himself, and yet personal ambition was allowed to swallow up the advantage of a nation, and the man who later called for a continuance of the French war was now about to do his utmost to hamper its prosecution. We have no evidence whether the suggestion made by the arbitrators was followed, but we have a letter which was written by Bedford to the Pope at this time urging him to carry through the divorce of Jacqueline and Brabant very quickly, and pointing out the deplorable loss of life and the horrors of war likely to result if he did not do so.[500] Bedford at least had gauged the situation. He saw that his brother had a strong case, on paper at any rate, and that he meant to profit by it to the utmost of his power, but at the same time he realised that the only means of coercing Burgundy was to approach him under the shadow of a papal Bull.

Meanwhile Gloucester had been preparing to assert his claims by force of arms. For some time past he had been in communication with the towns of Hainault,[501] and he had not been behindhand in collecting men in England. Unable to get any support from the Privy Council,[502] he had to fall back on his own resources, and he managed to raise a considerable body of troops, though in some cases his efforts to borrow money met with a curt refusal.[503] On the other hand, he used his position as Warden of the Cinque Ports to secure ships to transport his soldiers,[504] and when the arbitrators had acknowledged their inability to arbitrate, both he and his Duchess considered themselves absolved from their promise to await its decision, a promise, too, which had expired at the end of June.

All things were now ready, but before setting out on their expedition Gloucester and his wife went to take farewell of one, who in her sad confinement could sympathise with the luckless fate of the exiled Jacqueline. On September 14, the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Duchess of Gloucester passed through St. Albans after vespers with an escort of twenty-four horse on her way to Langley to visit Queen Joan, and two days later her husband, accompanied by ‘John Robessart,’ followed in the same direction.[505] By September 29 both Duke and Duchess were at Dover, where an embassy from Mons found them,[506] and Gloucester proceeded to turn his back on England, where in his absence the Bishop of Winchester, as Chancellor, was left to carry on the work of the Protector.[507] It is characteristic of Gloucester that this new attraction had made him forget his political ambitions at home, and that for the time he was content to leave the kingdom in the hands of his rival. For some days hostile winds kept him in port, but before long they veered round, and at ten o’clock on the morning of October 16 he set sail from Dover with forty-two ships, reaching Calais between three and four o’clock of the same day, in spite of a severe storm encountered on the way.[508]

At Calais Duke and Duchess rested for some time, as they had only brought over the vanguard of their army. But they were not idle. Immediately on arrival they each despatched letters to Mons, the capital of Hainault, in which they announced their safe arrival at Calais and their intention to come and take possession of their dominions; meanwhile the town was to make every preparation for their honourable reception.[509] At the same time speculation was rife in the neighbourhood of Calais as to the route which Gloucester would take in his advance on Hainault. On the day after disembarkation, ambassadors appeared from Flanders, and at an audience granted them on the 18th, urged the Duke not to pass through their territory, as it would be inconvenient to them, and since the roads were narrow, the bridges dangerous, and the waterways frequent, to him also. They were told that no decision had yet been taken, but that in any case their country would be unhurt. Following these came other ambassadors from Artois, who in quite another strain begged Humphrey to make use of their country as a means of access to Hainault. Both embassies were courteously received.[510]

To Calais also came messengers from Bedford with the news that Brabant had sent envoys to Paris to appeal once more to the arbitrators, and with an invitation from the English Regent in France to his brother to meet him at some convenient place to discuss the matter.[511] Gloucester, however, had made up his mind to proceed with his undertaking, and he returned an evasive reply. Nevertheless a Council was called in Paris, mainly it would seem to pacify Burgundy, who was furious at this interference in what he considered his own happy hunting-ground, and after mature consideration terms of agreement were drawn up and sent to the contending parties, Ralph de Boutillier and the Abbot of Fécamp being commissioned to bear them to Humphrey.[512] Though Brabant accepted the terms, neither the Duke nor the Duchess of Gloucester would have anything to do with them, and this last attempt at a settlement failed.[513] We have no record of what these terms were, but it seems likely that they were highly favourable to Burgundy’s protégé, for on hearing of their rejection Duke Philip flew into a mighty passion, and declared roundly to Bedford that he would resist the English claimant with all his forces, a course he could easily take as he had just signed a truce with the Dauphin. With a sad heart Bedford bore with the angry Duke, and attempted to appease his wrath by a round of dancing and jousting. Paris was very gay in her attempt to bolster up the Anglo-Burgundian alliance.[514] For a time these measures were successful, and though he coquetted with the party of the Dauphin, Burgundy did not abandon his friendship with England.[515]

Meanwhile Gloucester had had some correspondence with the Pope, partly with reference to the slanders which he thought a certain Simon de Taramo had uttered against him, and partly on the subject of the delay in admitting Martin V.’s nephew, Prospero Colonna, to the Archdeaconry of Canterbury, a delay probably fostered by Gloucester, as a hold over the man who could make his marriage undeniably legal.[516] The correspondence on both sides was of a most friendly nature, and in one letter the Duke urged a speedy granting of the divorce, which he desired not only because of his great love for Jacqueline, but also because of the underhand behaviour of his opponents.[517] This complaint of underhand dealings would be hardly justified were we to accept as genuine another correspondence attributed to this time, and preserved in the Archives at Lille. According to these letters, a plot, to which Bedford was privy, was on foot between Gloucester, Suffolk, and Salisbury to murder the Duke of Burgundy, much in the same way as his father had met his end at the Bridge of Montereau. Much circumstantial evidence is to be found therein, showing that Gloucester’s motive was to prevent Burgundian interference with his Hainault plans.[518] It is, however, beyond dispute that these letters were the work of one William Benoist, who forged them at the instigation of the Constable de Richemont for the latter’s political purposes.[519] Neither Bedford nor Gloucester would have stooped to such an expedient, for though the younger of the two brothers might be unscrupulous and ambitious, yet murder was a crime of which no one could imagine him guilty. With all his faults he would never have thus tarnished his fair name.

The month of October was now passed, and the Earl Marshal had arrived in the early morning of November 2 with forty-two sail and the second detachment of Gloucester’s army, and on the evening of the same day four more ships arrived. A week later the troops marched out as far as the castle of Guisnes, there to await the last contingent which was now due. They had not long to wait, for on November 13 twenty-two more ships arrived at Calais, and immediately preparations were made for the start.[520] Early in the morning of November 18 Gloucester led out his men on the first stage of the march to Hainault.[521] The vanguard consisted of 1100 horse, or thereabouts, with 800 horse and 300 men-at-arms in the main battle, while the rearguard comprised 2000 men, in all, therefore, the force consisted of some 4200 troops.[522] Over this army the Earl Marshal had supreme command.[523] It is strange that with his military experience Gloucester did not undertake to lead his troops in person, but the explanation may be found in the report of his physician as to his state of health, which seems to have been anything but good at this time.[524] The route chosen for the march was through Artois, by way of Thérouaune and Béthune, and passing to the north of Lens, the army reached Hainault territory, making its first halt therein at Bouchain.[525] All through the county of Artois, which was Burgundian territory, the utmost care was taken to keep the soldiers in strict order; neither were the people annoyed nor was the country injured by the passage of the English forces.[526] All this was done to the end that no personal injury should induce Duke Philip to resist the invasion of those territories which were claimed by the Duke of Brabant.

In Hainault there was no rejoicing when the return of their long absent princess was announced. The traders and merchants of the towns had increased their prosperity during the Regency of John of Bavaria, the able and unscrupulous ex-Bishop of Liége, to whom Brabant had yielded the government of Jacqueline’s dominions for a term of years. Whatever might be the private convictions of the citizen class, they cared for nothing so much as for peace, and this new invasion, though undertaken in the name of hereditary right and good government, only promised a long civil war and the consequent disturbance of trade and commerce.[527] The nobles might champion Jacqueline, or range themselves under the banner of Brabant, but they were not the most important factor in the country. It was on the support of the towns that any governmental authority must be based, for these strong trading communities had been enabled to strengthen themselves against the rural nobility by superior organisation and co-operation, and by superior wealth. All that they needed was a strong hand to govern the country with impartiality and justice, to keep the turbulent nobility in check, and to give untrammelled opportunities for expanding commerce and acquiring wealth. This ideal had been practically realised under the government of John of Bavaria—though his energies had been devoted more to Holland and Zealand than to Hainault—a realisation which was not expected from the rule of Jacqueline and her unknown English husband. It was in this spirit, therefore, that the town of Valenciennes refused to admit her Countess within her walls,[528] and that the citizens of Mons sent an urgent embassy to the Dowager-Countess, asking her to use her influence to induce her daughter not to enter their city, nor to bring ‘Monsieur de Gloucester’ with her;[529] indeed, if we are to believe an English chronicler, the various states of Jacqueline’s heritage had united in offering Humphrey an annual tribute of £30,000 to be left in peace.[530]