Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/184

 176 THE WAR FINANCES OF HENRY V April distinctly disappointing, 1 and the collection of the clerical tenth met with open resistance. 2 Obviously England demanded a respite from taxation. The necessity, therefore, of establishing the new regime after Henry's death caused the Lancastrian princes to refrain from making demands for money on parliament, and to attempt to throw the entire financial burden of the war upon the conquered parts of France and Normandy. The first payment of wages to the reinforcements of 1423 must have been made from the ordinary receipts, while for those of 1424 the government borrowed from the bishop of Winchester, mortgaging to him the wool subsidy, and diverted over two-thirds of the king's household expenses to the needs of the war. 3 Not until the crisis at the end of 1429 did the English government again resort to direct taxation. 4 If we consider the period as a whole, it is patent that, despite the continuance of the war, the financial burden which Henry's ambition placed upon his kingdom tended to become lighter as he extended his authority in France. 5 The heaviest taxation came in 1416, when a considerable effort was necessary merely to hold the conquests of the previous year. In the four subse- quent years there was a steady decline in the sums collected or borrowed, with. a tendency to augment the revenue from miscel- laneous sources, until the new expedition of 1421 required additional funds. Even then it does not seem probable that the taxation as a whole was as heavy as in 1417, and the greater part of it was derived from those best able to pay, that is, by forced loans, and by increasing the miscellaneous revenue. From 1418 the real burden of the war was being gradually shifted to Normandy. Nevertheless, at Henry's death, the English exchequer was con- fronted with a deficit of some £30,000 accumulated during the 1 The sum collected (£29,920) in the three terms beginning at Michaelmas 1421 is £6,000 short of what Ramsay considers the average for such a collection, and this without subtracting the arrears (Receipt Rolls 698, 701-3 ; Antiquary, viii. 96). 2 Cal. of Pat. Rolls, Henry VI, i. 6. The commons had complained in May 1421 (Cobbett, Parliamentary History, i. 339). 3 Cal. of Pat. Rolls, Henry VI, i. 214, 227 ; Privy Council Proceedings, iii. 135, 144, 146. 4 Rotuli Parliam., iv. 336-7 ; Wilkins, iii. 515. 5 The following table will make this clear by illustrating the ratio of the war expenses to the total revenue of England : 1416. 1417. 1418. 1419. 1420. 1421. 1422. Household 37-94 17-58 7-86 15-78 1515 32-95 3103 French war 31-79 46-68 52-13 10-17 34-84 16-71 10-37 Navy 10-56 4 44 705 10-78 6-41 1-68 1-26 80-29 68-70 6704 36-73 56-40 51-34 42-66 It should be remembered that under household and navy there are necessarily many items which represent normal, as distinguished from war, expenditure. Under French war are included all expenditures for ordnance, material, &c. some of which would apply to home defence on the borders. See above, p. 173, n. 3.