Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/51

Henry V thanked for his services, and bore witness in favour of his cousin Edward, duke of York, who was still under suspicion (Rot. Parl. iii. 611–12).

Glendower's power was now waning, and Henry took little or no part in such warfare as still went on. Early in 1409 he was made warden of the Cinque ports and constable of Dover. On 31 Jan. 1410 Thomas Beaufort [q. v.] became chancellor, and held the office for nearly two years. During this time it is probable that the prince governed in his father's name. The king was almost entirely disabled by illness, and in the council, which frequently met in his absence, the prince's name appears in the first place; a petition of Thomas of Lancaster in June 1410 was addressed to the prince and council (Proc. Privy Council, i. 339), and a petition granted by the king is endorsed ‘respectuatur per dominum principem et consilium’ (Rot. Parl. iii. 643). In the parliament which met in January 1410 Henry vigorously opposed a proposal to confiscate the temporalities of the church. His strong religious temper at this time is further illustrated by his conduct at the burning of the lollard, John Badby [q. v.], on 1 March. On 18 March Henry was made captain of Calais. At home, besides the religious question, there were difficulties as to the university of Oxford. Arundel claimed the right of visitation, and was opposed by the chancellor, Richard Courtenay [q. v.], who had previously secured the good services of the prince (, Concilia, iii. 323; Chr. Giles, p. 58; Munimenta Academica, i. 251). Courtenay had to give way, but the affair led to a breach between Henry and the archbishop, who henceforth absented himself from the council. Thomas of Lancaster about the same time quarrelled with the Beauforts, and as a result with his elder brother also (Chr. Giles, p. 62; Calendar Rot. Pat. p. 259). In 1411 the Duke of Burgundy, being hard pressed by the Armagnacs, applied for help from England; the ‘Brut’ expressly says that the application was made to the prince (Harl. MS. 2248, f. 278 b; cf. also Chron. p. 106). Henry overcame his father's reluctance (ib.), and in September an expedition was despatched to the duke's assistance under Gilbert Umfraville, earl of Kyme, who defeated the Orleanists at St. Cloud on 11 Nov. About the same time proposals which came to nothing were made for the prince's marriage with a daughter of Burgundy (Proc. Privy Council, ii. 19–24).

Meantime parliament met at Westminster on 3 Nov. 1410, and the king under Arundel's influence determined to get rid of the Beauforts. On the other hand a proposal was almost certainly made, probably on the first day of the session, to induce the king to resign his crown in the prince's favour. It is significant that when in 1426 Henry Beaufort was charged with having conspired against the prince, and incited him to assume the crown in his father's lifetime, he preserved a discreet silence on the latter point (Rot. Parl. iv. 298;, p. 133; Chr. Giles, p. 63; Cont. Eul. Hist. iii. 421). The king indignantly refused to abdicate, and on 5 Jan. 1412 Thomas Beaufort gave way to Arundel. At the same time the prince withdrew from the council, and on 18 Feb. received payment for his services. His place was taken by his brother Thomas, who became Duke of Clarence; the negotiations with Burgundy were dropped, and a treaty was concluded with Orleans in May, as a result of which an expedition was sent to Guienne under Clarence in August. The Monk of St.-Denys alleges that Henry endeavoured to delay his brother's departure, and only yielded to his father's representations (Rel. St.-Denys, xxxii. 32). Henry's loss of power did not satisfy his enemies, who charged him with having devoted money which was intended for the payment of the garrison of Calais to his own use. The accusation was, however, almost at once disproved (Proc. Privy Council, ii. 34; see, i. 279–81). In 1412 the prince is hardly mentioned, except as receiving payment for expenses incurred at Calais and in Wales. He was in London in July, and again in September (Chron. London, pp. 94–5). In the spring of 1413 the king was unable, owing to failing health, to transact any business. It is to this time that, if true, the well-known story of the prince coming into the king's chamber and taking away the crown as he lay in a trance belongs; it first appears in Monstrelet (ii. 338–9).

On 20 March 1413 Henry IV died, and his son succeeded as king. On Passion Sunday (9 April) he was crowned at Westminster, in the midst of a violent snowstorm. Some regarded this as an omen that the new king had put off the winter of his riotous youth (, Hist. Angl. ii. 290), and the incident is made the occasion by numerous writers for introducing a reference to a marked change in Henry's character on his accession to the throne. Elmham states that on the night of his father's death the new king visited a recluse at Westminster, and to him made confession of his former life, and promised amendment; but the most specific charges which he brings against him are that ‘he was in his youth a diligent follower of idle practices, much given to instruments of