Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/114

* ENGLAND. 92 were determined to wrest all authority fri Kin", and in the -Wonderful' or '.Merciless Par- [ the King's advisers. But the following year Richard secured lull au- thority, and ruled in accordance with the ( onsti- tution until 1397. In the meantime the Hundred Years' War had been dragging on. having been re- ind the French had reconquered inuitaine Richard was bent upon a French alliance, not a war. and in 1396 married Isa- bella, the eight-year-old daughter of King Charles VI. of France. "This marriage, and his surrender of Bresl and Cherbourg to the French, incensed ibjects. The surrender was just, as these cities had been pledged to him as security for a debt, and the debt had been paid: but his sub- did not understand this, and thought that sacrificing English interests. Moreover, his revenge, in 1397, on the leading members of ronial party, for which he had been biding raised up many enemies. While Rieh- is absenl in Ireland, in 1399, Henry Boling- Earl of Hereford, the son of John of Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward [II.), landed in England and was joined by manj of the lea. ling nobles. Richard was compelled [icate in 1399, and Hereford was chosen King bj the Parliament as Henry IV. Thus Parlia- isserted the right to regulate the sueces- ,:,,! ih,. House of Lancaster obtained the crown. Before leaving the reigns of Edward III. Rich ltd I [., it is neci ssarj to notice their long -cries of laws directed against the pre- tensions of the Papal curia. By the 'Statutes of Provisors' (1351 and 1390), the Pope was prevented from disposing of English living-. By ates nf Praemunire' i 1353, 1365, and the powers of the curia were greatly re- Btricted, and Englishmen wen- subjected to penalties if they appealed to the curia or ob- Romi llic 'Statute of Mort- main' ivas also reSnacted in 1 391 . reign of Henry IV. (1399- 1413) was marked bj a si rid adhi r< m e to constil a forms, by frequent rebellions, and bj the pi Hon of the Lollards. - he owed his title wholly to Parliament, Henrj fell obliged to pay to it due deference; and. as he bad received aid as a champion of the Church, he thoughl ii nei tu persecute here ' ■ atuteDi ffi n ' i pa ed againsi the I. ..Hard- in 1401, and iii the ensuing years ma ly were burned. i rebellions were caused by the adherents ! he mosl noted was 1 he conspiracy • ii the I .ii 'i Northumberland, bis son, Henry urnamed Hotspur,' and Owen Glendower. This v bed in the great Lain.' of Shrews- bury i I 103). The reigns of Henry V. ( 1 U3 22) and Henry VI. i I ere notable mainlyfor tin. continuation ol the Hundred 5fi irs' War. V. claimed, with practically no right, the French crown. The claim was popular in England, lool ed upon as a nal ional one. The brilliant victorj < 1415) llat- I pride In 14 !0, bj ' Preal j R declared heir to the French throni ly an infant tenrj I of the Ithougli the royal infant was crowned 1 i incc, and the English held mo I of the i hi ei i Joan ill nal ional risinir in II thi French posses ENGLAND. sions except Calais in 1453. The mental inca- pacity of Henry VI. and the ill success of the French War caused the House of York to put forward a claim to the throne, which resulted in the War of the Roses. (See Roses, Wars of the.) We cannot go into the details of the war, in which there were frequently apparent recon- ciliations and alternate victories. Edward, Duke of York, was proclaimed King, as Edward IV., in 1461, and ruled until 1483, although Henry VI. was restored for a time in 1470-71, through the efforts of the Earl of Warwick, the great king- maker. His successor was his young son, Edward V.. but the throne was almost immediately usurped by Richard III., brother of Edward IV. In 1485 Richard met his death on Bosworth Field, when Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, in- vaded England. The long war had thus caused two changes of dynasty — from Lancaster to Y'ork, and then again to Lancaster or Tudor. Almost all of the old nobility were destroyed while fight- ing on one side or the other. The Crown obtained great wealth through confiscation of the prop- erty of its opponents, and was thus rendered inde- pendent of Parliamentary grants. Consequently, Parliaments were seldom summoned. There was much illegal taxation, in the form of enforced 'benevolences,' or gifts from the subjects. This period paved the way for the despotism of the Tudors. With the union of the houses of Lancaster and Y'ork by marriage under Henry VII. (1485- 1509), the modern period begins for England. The great nobles having exterminated themselves in the Wars of the Roses, during which wars the House of Commons had become the mere tool of opposing factions, there was room for that in- creased strength of royal power which marks the beginning of the modern epoch. By enforcing the laws against livery and maintenance, Henry VII. curbed the nobles, while his court of Star Chamber gave justice to the weak against the strong, in cases which the ordinary courts could not reach. He levied illegal taxes, called 'benevo- lences.' from the richer classes without consent of Parliament. Although disturbed by invasions of pretenders to the throne, his reign was one of peace and economy. In 1497 John Cabot sailed from .Bristol and secured for England the credit of the discovery (or rediscovery) of the main- land of North America. It was during Henry VI I. 's reign that the Renaissance began to pre- vail in England, which had not developed there as early as on the Continent, owing to the un- settled run. lit ions resulting from the constant civic strife of the previous reigns. Henry Vlll.'s reign ushered in the Reformation. The origin of the Reformation in England was the divorce which Henry VIII. (1509-47) desired to have from his wife, Catharine of Axagon. Fail- ing to secure this from Pope Clement VII., who was under Spanish influence, he had the English clergy and some of the European universities de- clare the mania;'.' void, and married Anne Bo- leyn. He found in his aide minister, Thomas Cromwell, in Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury, and in a subservient Parliament, which sat from 9 to 1536, the willing agents of his schemes. Parliament passed a series of nets completely separating the Church of England from Rome. rendering the inferior clergy amenable to the civil courts, and placing the laws, as well as the ac- tion-, of the clerical convocation under the King's