Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/42

Henry IV On 1 Oct. the renunciation of the homages of the estates to Richard completed the revolution, which established constitutional monarchy, and restored ecclesiastical orthodoxy. Men saw that the new king ruled, as his biographer says, ‘not so much by title of blood as by popular election’ (, De Ill. Henr. p. 98). Yet a delusive title by conquest, and a mendacious insinuation that Edmund of Lancaster was the elder brother of Edward I, were thought desirable to give Henry a threefold hold on popular allegiance (, Compleynte to his Purse, v. 22; cf. Gower in, Polit. Songs, i. 449).

On 6 Oct. 1399 Henry met his first parliament in Westminster Hall. It was then adjourned until after the coronation. Henry spent the evening of 11 Oct. in the Tower, where, in the presence of Richard, he made more than forty new knights, including his four sons and the young Earl of Arundel (, p. 33). From this ceremony the heralds date the foundation of the order of the Bath (cf., xvi. 205). Next morning Henry rode through London in great state to Westminster. On 13 Oct. he was crowned with extraordinary splendour by Arundel. First among English kings he was anointed with the oil which the Blessed Virgin had miraculously given to St. Thomas in his exile, and which his grandfather had brought to England (Ann. Henr. pp. 297–300, tells the whole history of this miracle). Prophecies of his coming good deeds were ascribed to our Lady and to Merlin.

On 14 Oct. parliament reassembled, and remained sitting until 19 Nov. After stormy scenes the chief supporters of King Richard were deprived of the honours gained in 1397. The deposed king was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, the acts of 1397 were repealed, the king's friends were rewarded, and a fairly liberal grant was made (Rot. Parl. iii. 424–53). The leniency of the king provoked much murmuring among his partisans.

Henry, his eldest son, and many of his household were now smitten with a malady generally attributed to poison. He had not recovered by Christmas. Meanwhile the degraded lords were conspiring to dethrone him. On 4 Jan. 1400 they assembled troops at Kingston, hoping to cut him off from London; while, on pretence of attending a tournament (‘ludum nuncupatum Anglice Mummynge,’ Chron. Giles, p. 7), 6 Jan., they proposed to get possession of Windsor and Henry himself. Rutland betrayed their plans (Chron. Giles, p. 7, says that the mayor of London discovered the conspiracy, and rode at night to Windsor to warn Henry). Henry at once hurried, almost alone, to London, arrived there late at night, and by the next afternoon had a large force on Hounslow Heath. The leading conspirators fled westwards, but Kent, Salisbury, and Despenser were slain by the mob, and Huntingdon was put to death by Henry's mother-in-law, the Countess of Hereford. Henry proceeded no further west than Oxford, where he ordered more formal execution for the lesser traitors. On 15 Jan. he was back in London, singing ‘Te Deum’ for his victory. This failure was quickly followed by the death of the deposed king at Pontefract, either, as Henry's friends maintained, of self-starvation, or, as his enemies believed, starved or murdered by his gaolers. Henry himself attended the solemn service held over his rival's body at St. Paul's, and ordered a thousand masses for the repose of his soul. To avoid future dangers a night watch was set about the king and his household provided with arms (Ord. P. C. i. 110–111).

Henry's great trouble was now from abroad. He had already sent on 29 Nov. 1399 to treat for the marriage of his eldest son with a French princess, probably Isabella, Richard II's widow. But the French court looked upon him as a usurper, and pressed for the immediate restoration of Isabella and her dower. Charles VI refused Henry the title of king of England. At his instigation the Scots, whose truce had expired at Michaelmas, threw every obstacle in the way of its renewal. But the defection of George Dunbar, earl of March, from the Scottish king strengthened Henry's position in the north. On 9 June 1400 Henry summoned his tenants to assemble at York to proceed against Scotland (Fœdera, viii. 146). His march was delayed by want of money and Scottish offers of negotiation. On 6 Aug. he summoned King Robert to perform the homage ‘due ever since the days of Locrine, son of Brut.’ Declining Rothesay's chivalrous challenge, he crossed the border on 14 Aug., and, meeting no opposition, reached Leith on 22 Aug. (ib. viii. 158). He obtained a vague promise that his demands should be considered, but was too weak and poor to keep the field. On 29 Aug. he was back over the border. Some months later a short truce was concluded. He now heard of the Welsh rising caused by Owain ab Gruffydd's [see ] feud with Reginald, lord Grey of Ruthin [q. v.] He hurried to Leicester, and on 19 Sept. summoned the levies of ten shires to join him in an expedition against Owain. Owain evaded his attack, and his Welsh expedition ended ingloriously within a month after he had penetrated to the shores of the Menai. On 19 Oct. he passed through