Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/21

 The Privy Council of the Time of Richard II 1 1 ment of the council is seen in the policy of the king, which tended to gain ground. This royal policy shows a reversion in some ways to the usages of Edward III. which Parliament had sought to coun- teract. For one thing, to offset the power of the older nobles the king added many new men, so that the membership, which had been limited to twelve or fifteen, immediately became larger. At one meeting of the thirteenth year there were twenty-one present,^ while during the year as many as thirty-four councillors may be counted. Of these a larger proportion than before were bannerets and knights, whose usefulness was plainly enhanced. On one oc- casion a series of ordinances was passed by the king in the presence of a council of thirteen, seven of whom were of knightly rank.^ At another time may be noted the presence of a clerk of the rolls, and again that of' a baron of the exchequer. It was upon these men of minor estate that the royal policy in hostility to the nobles came more and more to depend. In the matter of salaries and wages, in distinction from the policy of Parliament and in contravention of the ordinances of 1390, which required the equitable payment of all members, stands the king's policy of making payments only in special cases, and with greater generosity to the men of lower rank. To some of these, reviving a practice of his predecessor, he even granted life annuities. The character of the king's council in this phase can best be shown by a few personal instances. Edward Dalyngrugg was a knight connected with the council from the thirteenth to the sixteenth year. ' For his attendance he was granted a life annuity of one hundred marks, ^ which he re- ceived in addition to wages of ten shillings a day.* How assiduous a councillor he was is shown by his accounts, which state that from January 8 of the fifteenth year to February. 21 of the sixteenth year he served 207 days. Upon the council records no name ap- pears more frequently than his. For his good service in continually attending the council, as it was said, he received also a grant of two tuns of red Gascon wine each year.' Richard Stury, a knight of the king's chamber, was one of the councillors " familiar with the king " who had been removed by the Good Parliament of Edward III., and was reinstated by John of Gaunt. ° He was reputed to be a patron of the Lollards. In the council of Richard II. from the fourteenth to the eighteenth year he received wages of ten shillings a day." His faithfulness ^Ihid.. 17. ■'■Ibid.. 6. 'Ihid., 8. •Accounts E.xchequer, K. R. 96/1. ^Calendar of Patent Rolls. 15 Ric. II.. 37. ^ " Chronicon Angliae ", Archaeologia. XXII. 226.