of Richard, who had espoused for his second wife a daughter of the French king, being popular in the former country; but it did not go to the length of war, which Henry was not in condition to wage. He became unpopular shortly after his elevation to the throne, though as a subject he had been the favorite of all classes, as his father had been everywhere in England but London, and in those places which were immediately under the influence of the church. He never recovered his popularity, and something of the odium in which he was held by his subjects descended to history, of which he is not a favorite character. His first wife died in 1393, leaving 4 sons, who were among the most eminent men of that age, and 2 daughters. His second wife was Joanna of Navarre, widow of the duke of Brittany, whom he married in 1402, but without issue.

HENRY V., son of the preceding, and second king of the Lancaster branch of the Plantagenets, born, it is supposed, in Monmouth, Aug. 9, 1388, died in Vincennes, Aug. 31, 1422. But little is known of his childhood. On his father's banishment, Henry was seized by Richard II., who took him with the expedition to Ireland, and knighted him. When Richard returned to England, to meet the youth's father, he placed him in the castle of Trim. His father caused him to be liberated, and brought to London; and he was created prince of Wales, Oct. 15, 1399. He took part in the proceedings against the insurgent Welsh in 1401, before he had completed his 15th year, and gave indications of his future eminence, Percy, commonly called Hotspur, bearing evidence to his military talent and his personal goodness. He was then appointed to the command of the royal forces in Wales, and was made lieutenant of Wales in 1403. He had a prominent part in the battle of Shrewsbury. On March 11, 1405, he defeated the rebels at Grosmont. The constant rebellion that prevailed in England prevented the king from sending much assistance to his son, and he was thrown upon his own resources, which tended to the development of his character and prowess; and the speaker of the house of commons, in 1406, bore testimony to his good qualities as a son and as a man. He held a large place in the estimation of the country, and there is ground for supposing that his father was jealous of him. At the close of 1407 he commanded an expedition that was sent into Scotland, and after some successes made a truce with the Scotch. The house of commons thanked him for his conduct, at the instance of his father. His immediate connection with Wales is believed to have ceased in 1409. He was made warden of the cinque ports and constable of Dover the same year, and captain of Calais in 1410. The king gave him his house of Coldharbor, in London, which accounts for the prince's connection with the city. Councils were there held, at which the prince presided, as he did when they were held at other places. The stories respecting his irregularities, loose life, and association with high

waymen, rest upon very insufficient evidence, though Lord Campbell argues warmly in support of the long received tale that he was committed to prison by Chief Justice Gascoigne for contempt and disobedience, which was not published until 4 generations after the date of its supposed occurrence. There is no proof, either, that he was guilty of peculation, or that he sought to dethrone his father. So far as there is evidence of his character and conduct, the prince would seem to have been in theory and action above the average morality of his time. The popular idea of him is taken from Shakespeare, whose "Prince Hal" is not the historical Henry of Monmouth, but almost as ideal a character as Hamlet himself. Henry IV. dying March 20, 1413, Henry V. was proclaimed the next day. His accession caused great rejoicings, which could not have been the case had he been the notoriously vicious person he has been drawn, as no time had been allowed him for reformation. Parliament voluntarily tendered the oath of fealty and allegiance, an act without precedent. He behaved with magnanimity toward the enemies and rivals of his house, particularly in the instance of the earl of March, who was the legitimate heir to the crown. His legislation is not open to the same praise. He continued the original error of the house of Lancaster, by persecuting the Lollards. He was attached to Catholicism both from conviction and from supposed interest; and he sent representatives to the council of Constance to help to reform the church. He determined to renew the claim of the English sovereigns to the crown of France, though it was far less strong in his person than it was in that of Edward III.; and h's determination is attributed to the advice of the clergy, who wished to draw off the attention of the people from church questions, and to save the church's patrimony, the seizure of which had been called for by the house of commons. He first claimed the entire kingdom of France when negotiating an alliance for a marriage with Catharine, daughter of Charles VI.; and when that claim was scouted, the English envoys, waiving it without prejudice to their principal's rights, "demanded the sovereignty of the duchies of Normandy and Touraine, the earldom of Anjou, the duchy of Brittany, the earldom of Flanders, with all other parts of the duchy of Aquitaine, the territories which had been ceded to Edward III. by the treaty of Bretigny, and the land between the Somme and Gravelines; to be held by Henry and his heirs, without any claim of superiority on the part of Charles or his successors. To these demands were added the cession of the county of Provence, and payment of the arrears of the ransom of King John, amounting to 1,600,000 crowns. It was also intimated that the marriage with Catharine could not take place unless a firm peace were also established with France, and that 2,000,000 crowus would be expected as her dower." These monstrous terms were rejected

by the French, who, however, offered to make great concessions, in the vain hope of avoiding war. The English parliament strongly supported the king, and the guilt of one of the most unjust wars ever waged lies rather upon the nation than upon its sovereign. Parliament commenced the system of loans for the support of this war. French ambassadors were sent to England to labor for peace, but without success. A powerful force was assembled at Southampton; and a conspiracy was there detected, which was the first act in the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster. The earl of Cambridge, a grandson of Edward III., and the husband of the sister of the earl of March, was at the head of the plot, which had for its object the restoration of the crown to the legitimate line of Clarence. Cambridge and others suffered for their conduct. The expedition sailed from Southampton, Aug. 11, 1415, and reached France in two days. Harfleur was taken, Sept. 22, after a siege of 5 weeks. Henry challenged the dauphin to a personal conflict, to decide in that way the issue of the war, but his proposition was not accepted. Resolving to return to England by the way of Calais, Henry left Harfleur with a small army, his forces having suffered from sickness, and on Oct. 25 encountered a great French army at Agincourt, which he totally defeated. In a moment of panic, he caused his prisoners to be massacred, which has left a lasting blot on his name. He returned to England, Nov. 17. The English rejoiced much over the victory, but they found the war very burdensome, and it was not vigorously prosecuted. Sigismund, emperor of Germany, sought to mediate between the combatants, and visited both France and England; but failing, he joined the latter. Little was done in 1416. In 1417 Henry invaded France again, and met with considerable success. The French vainly sought peace. The Scots invaded England, and were beaten. Lord Cobham was captured in Wales, and executed as a traitor and a heretic. Rouen was besieged, and, after a long and terrible defence, was taken, Jan. 19, 1419. The duke of Brittany, following the example of the duke of Burgundy, joined Henry. An interview between the French and English authorities having produced no effect, the war was renewed, victory remaining with Henry. The murder of the duke of Burgundy by partisans of the dauphin caused the French king to denounce his own son, and to resolve that Henry should be made regent of France. At the end of Nov. 1419, an arrangement was made that Charles VI. should remain king while he lived, but that, because of his insanity, Henry should become regent, and, marrying the princess Catharine, should succeed him on his death. An armistice was concluded, from which the dauphin and his party were excluded. The two kingdoms were to be united, and a treaty was made at Troyes, May 21, 1420. The same day Henry and Catharine were affianced, and their marriage took place May 30. A large part of France contin

ned faithful to the dauphin, and he was aided by the Scots, but the successes of the English continued. Henry returned to England, where Catharine was crowned, Feb. 23, 1421. He made a journey to the north, during which he received news of the battle of Beauge, in which the French and Scots defeated and killed his brother Clarence. Making his brother Bedford regent, he returned to France, July 12, where his usual good fortune in war awaited him; but nothing could overcome the stubborn resistance of the loyal portion of the French nation, though they might have been entirely conquered, perhaps, had Henry lived; but he was seized with a fatal illness, the exact nature of which is unknown. At the time of his death he had formed a plan to embark on a crusade, the Mohammedans being then a source of terror to Europe.-"Memorials of Henry the Fifth, King of England," edited by Charles Augustus Cole, of the public record office, were published in London in 1858 by the authority of the lords commissioners of her Britannic majesty's treasury, under the direction of the master of the rolls.

HENRY VI., son of the preceding and of Catharine of France, and last monarch of the Lancastrian dynasty, born in Windsor, Dec. 6, 1421, believed to have been killed in the tower in May, 1471. He was the most unfortunate of English sovereigns, and in nothing more so than in being left fatherless at the age of 9 months. Henry V. on his death-bed had appointed his elder brother, the duke of Bedford, regent of France, and his younger brother, the duke of Gloucester, regent of England; but parliament, which under the Lancastrian dynasty-its own creation-had risen to much importance, disregarded his wishes. Bedford was made protector and defender of England, and when he should be absent his office was to be held by Gloucester. Cardinal Beaufort had charge of the king's person and education. In Oct. 1422, Charles VI. died, and Henry was proclaimed king of France. A long struggle ensued between his supporters and those of Charles VII., in which the latter finally triumphed, and in 1451 the English had lost all their possessions in France, with the exception of Calais. Henry was crowned at London in 1429, and at Paris in 1430, the protectorate then ending. During his minority there had been much contention between Cardinal Beaufort and the duke of Gloucester, and the king's coronation was a triumph of the former, who then became supreme, and gave to the government a strong ecclesiastical tendency, which was offensive both to the people and to the aristocracy. As Henry grew up, it was found that he had inherited none of the martial qualities of his father, but that he resembled his maternal grandfather, Charles VI. When his marriage was resolved upon, the Beaufort party triumphed in securing for him (1444) the hand of Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René of Provence, titular king of Jerusalem, Naples, &c. The Beaufort party, too, was successful in making an arrange

ment, with which she won the victory of Wakefield, Dec. 23, 1460, in which York was slain. The second battle of St. Albans, Feb. 19, 1461, restored Henry to the hands of his friends; but the victory of Towton, won by Edward, duke of York, now Edward IV. in fact, March 29, 1461, compelled him to fly, with his wife and son, to Scotland. Margaret, having foreign assistance, renewed the war in 1463, but was defeated in 1464, and Henry was captured in 1466. He was imprisoned in the tower until 1470, when Warwick restored him to the throne after his quarrel with Edward IV. On the return of Edward, Henry again became prisoner, and was either killed, or died naturally, about May 21, 1471. According to one authority, he died of grief or vexation. Another account is that he was put to death by order of the king's council to take away all title from future insurrection. There is not a shadow of evidence that he was killed by Richard of Gloucester. Henry's misfortunes were principally owing to the loss of his French possessions, which offended the pride of his subjects; but that loss was a blessing to England, for if it had not happened the government would have been transferred to France, and England would have been degraded to the condition of a province.

ment with France, that of Gloucester upholding the high pretensions of Edward III. and Henry V. The earl of Suffolk negotiated the marriage and the peace, and, after the death of Beaufort and Gloucester in 1447, became the principal person in the kingdom, was first created marquis and then duke, and held high offices and received valuable gifts. He became very unpopular, and was banished in 1450, and murdered. Jack Cade's insurrection occurred in 1450, and its temporary success, from its leader assuming the name of Mortimer, showed the popularity of the legitimate line, and the unpopularity of the house of Lancaster. Philippa, daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, 3d son of Edward III., had married Edmund Mortimer, and their granddaughter Anne-daughter of Roger, earl of March-became the wife of Richard, earl of Cambridge, second son of Edmund, duke of York, 5th son of Edward III. Cambridge was beheaded for treason in 1415. His son Richard was now duke of York, and representative of the right of Clarence, while Henry VI. was descended from John, duke of Lancaster, 4th son of Edward III. Had Henry been an able monarch, the house of Lancaster could not have been disturbed; but his weakness, and the general unpopularity of the government, encouraged York to put forward his claims. He was much loved because of his bravery, mildness, and good conduct both in public and private life; and his immense possessions gave him vast influence. His wife was a Neville, and he had the support of the ablest members of that family, the earls of Salisbury and Warwick, father and son. So long as no offspring followed from the marriage of Henry and Margaret, it was believed that York would peaceably succeed to the throne on the king's death, though it is probable there would have been a contest between the two aristocratical factions into which the kingdom was divided, the great nobility having lost their possessions in France, and being thrown back entirely upon England, which was itself burdened with debt. But in 1453 Margaret gave birth to a son, whose legitimacy was doubted; and at the same date the king became imbecile. The Yorkists seized the government, overthrowing Somerset, who had succeeded to Suffolk; and the duke was made protector by parliament. On recovering his health, Henry restored Somerset to office, whereupon York levied an army, and demanded reform in the government. The first battle of St. Albans was fought May 23, 1455, and the Yorkists, or party of the white rose, were victorious. The administration passed into York's hands, and he was king in fact, but Henry's authority was restored in 1456. A partisan quarrel in 1459 renewed the war; and in 1460 the Lancastrians were defeated by Warwick and the king captured at Northampton. York now demanded the throne, and parliament decided that he should succeed to it on Henry's death, and the duke in the mean time administer the government. The queen raised an army in opposition to this arrange

HENRY VII., founder of the Tudor dynasty of English kings, born at Pembroke castle, in South Wales, July 26, 1456, died at Richmond, April 21, 1509. On the death of Henry V., his widow, Catharine of France, married Owen ap Tudor, a Welsh gentleman, of ancient lineage, but of moderate fortune. Of the 4 children born of this marriage, the eldest was Edmund Tudor, who was created earl of Richmond by Henry VI., his half brother; and Richmond in 1455 married Margaret Beaufort. John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, 4th son of Edward III., had married for his third wife Catharine Swynford, who had long been his mistress. None of their offspring were born in wedlock, but he obtained the legitimation of them all by a papal bull, a charter from Richard II., and an act of parliament. John Beaufort, duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt and Catharine Swynford, married Margaret, widow of Sir Oliver St. John, née Beauchamp, and their only child was Margaret Beaufort, who became countess of Richmond in 1455, and countess dowager Nov. 1, 1456, 3 months after the birth of her son. For some years after his birth, Henry of Richmond resided at Pembroke castle, where he continued even after that place had been given to the Herberts, the chief of whom had charge of him. He was attainted soon after the crown passed to the house of York. His education was conducted by his mother, a woman of piety and learning; and under her training he grew up a thoughtful and serious boy, much inclined to religion. The Herberts treated him well, and a union between him and the favorite daughter of their head was contemplated. When the house of Lancaster was restored in 1470, Richmond was taken from Wales, and placed in

Eton college, where he was seen by Henry VI., who predicted that he would be king. The next year saw the return of Edward IV., and the death of Henry VI. and his only son, when Richmond became chief of the Lancastrian party. By letters patent from Richard II. in 1397, granted to the duke of Lancaster, the Beauforts were to be "admitted to all honors and dignities," which placed them in the line of succession to the crown; but when Henry IV. ratified the act of Richard II., he added, after the words "all honors and dignities," these other words, "except to the royal dignity." Thus the Beauforts were not from the first excluded from claims to the throne, and Henry of Richmond had plausible ground for asserting that he was the lineal heir of John of Gaunt, and head of the house of Lancaster. Henry was sent to Pembroke castle after the triumph of the Yorkists, and going to Tenby, sailed thence to France. Landing in Brittany, he was seized by the duke of that country, who held him a prisoner many years, though he refused to surrender him to Edward IV., who sought to obtain possession of his person in various ways. At length, in 1484, when the usurpation of Richard III. had caused much discontent in England, Henry was recognized as chief of all parties opposed to the government, and a marriage was arranged between him and Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. The duke of Brittany finally liberated him, and with a small force he sailed for England. He was unsuccessful, and his fleet dispersed, and his party in England was crushed for the time by Richard. After a variety of romantic adventures, he raised a larger force, sailed from Harfleur, Aug. 7, 1485, and soon after landed at Milford Haven. The victory of Bosworth, Aug. 22, and the death of Richard III., placed the crown on his head. He was crowned at Westminster, Oct. 30. Parliament settled the throne on him and his heirs. He married the princess Elizabeth, Jan. 18, 1486, but her coronation did not take place until the close of 1487. Henry's reign was much disturbed by pretenders and plots. The first pretender was Lambert Simnel, the son of a mechanic or laborer, who claimed to be the earl of Warwick, son of that duke of Clarence who had been put to death by his brother Edward IV., and grandson of that Warwick who had borne so conspicuous a part in the wars of the roses. The true earl was a prisoner, and the pretender was exposed; but an army was raised, which was able, at Stoke (June 16, 1487), to dispute the day with the royal forces, and to place the Tudor cause in great peril. Victory at length declared for Henry, and the Yorkists lost all their leaders on the field. The king, with good-natured contempt, made Simnel a turnspit. A more formidable competitor was that person who is known in history as Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard, duke of York, 2d son of Edward IV., and whose claim, admitted by several monarchs, and by a large portion of the English people and aristocracy, has found strong defenders

among historical writers. The assistance he received from Burgundy, France, Scotland, and Ireland alarmed Henry. He detected a conspiracy that was formed by some of the nobility, and put the leaders to death, including Sir William Stanley, to whom he owed the victory of Bosworth and the throne. Had the pretender been in condition to push his claim at an early period, he might have succeeded; but he came too late, and when he appeared with the Scotch army, his cause was lost. A Cornish rebellion, caused by taxation, was put down at Blackheath, June 22, 1496. To revive this rebellion, Perkin went to Cornwall, but failing, he became a fugitive, and fell into the king's hands. Henry had him set in the stocks, and forced him to admit that he was an impostor, he reading the confession which he had written with his own hand to the people assembled in Cheapside. He was then confined in the tower. Making there the acquaintance of Warwick, he persuaded him to accompany him in an attempt at escape. They were retaken, and Perkin was hanged at Tyburn in 1499. Warwick, who had been the object of a third plot, was beheaded, a deed as foul as any that has been attributed to Richard III. Henry's motive was, as he said, to satisfy Ferdinand of Aragon, who would not give his daughter Catharine to the prince of Wales while any Yorkist prince remained on earth. The son in behalf of whom this act was committed died in 1502. Henry became very avaricious in his last years, and by the revival of old laws, and other means of an oppressive character, was enabled to amass the sum of £1,800,000, according to some accounts, which are probably not to be trusted, as the amount would be equal to $130,000,000 of our money. He extorted money from his subjects under pretence of making war on France, which they demanded, but which he, "an exceedingly wise and politic prince," knew better than to undertake. He sold pardons, and drove a trade in offices of the court and the church. The two most noted of the instruments of his avarice were Empson and Dudley. In the 11th year of his reign the statute for the security of the subject under a king de facto was passed. Seven years earlier was passed the statute of fines, which was but a copy of that of Richard III., and probably reënacted only to give validity to that monarch's laws; so that Henry's act, which has been often mentioned as evidence of his depth of thought and subtlety of intention, was but an ordinary proceeding. In fact, Henry did but carry out the policy at which both Edward IV. and Richard III. had aimed. The statute protecting those who should adhere to a king de facto was made necessary by the slaughter that had occurred, judicially, among the aristocracy, while the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster distracted England, and which was essentially a contest between two factions of the nobility. The clergy were not friendly to Henry, and in each case of a pretender a priest was concerned.

Yet he followed the policy of the house of Lancaster, causing at least two Lollards to be burned, and severely persecuting many others. He sought the reform of the church, and we find in his reign the first indications of that course which ended, in his successor's time, in the English reformation. Henry encouraged commerce, and patronized voyages of discovery. His for eign policy was judicious; and by marrying his eldest daughter to James IV. of Scotland, he furthered that which all the vigor and victories of the Plantagenets had not advanced in the least, but prevented-the ultimate union of the two kingdoms. Worn out with anxiety and care, he died at the age of 53, his mother, who had better claims to the crown than himself, surviving him some months.

HENRY VIII., 2d king of England of the Tudor dynasty, and 2d son of the preceding king and Elizabeth of York, born at Greenwich palace, June 28, 1491, ascended the throne April 22, 1509, died Jan. 28, 1547. His father intended that he should become the head of the English church, and was educating him for the office of archbishop of Canterbury, when the death of his elder brother, Arthur, made him heir apparent, April 2, 1502. Arthur had married Catharine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, receiving with her 200,000 crowns, one half of which was paid down; and on his death her parents desired that she might be sent home, and the money refunded. Henry VII. objected, and proposed that Catharine should marry the new prince of Wales, who was 5 years her junior; and she was betrothed to him, June 25, 1503. Two years later the prince read and signed a protest against this contract, in presence of his father's counsellors, declaring that he did not mean to fulfil it. This was the work of his father, who wished to marry Juana, widow of Philip I. of Castile, and elder sister of Catharine. Henry VII. probably altered the date of the protest at a later period, so as to disguise the object of it. The prince of Wales was at that time at tached to Catharine, and a dispensation had been granted by the pope as early as 1504, allowing the parties to marry, on the ground that the marriage with Prince Arthur had not been consummated. The king, who was always conscientious when ill, appears at times to have had some scruples on the subject of the marriage, and would have restored the Castilian princess to her parents, but that he could not part with her portion. He died, and in less than two months Henry VIII. and Catharine were married. This hasty marriage was made, in the first instance, at the king's desire, but it was probably urged on by most of the statesmen around him because of their anxiety to establish the succession. The wars of the roses in the preceding century had made an indelible impression on the English mind, the effect of which was visible throughout the entire history of England during the existence of the house of Tudor, and to which must be at

tributed much of the vicious conduct of which they were guilty. Should Henry VIII. die without an heir, there would ensue an immediate contest for the crown between the houses of York and Tudor, both represented by women-the former by the countess of Salisbury, a daughter of the last duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV., and the latter by the daughters of Henry VII. Archbishop Warham opposed the marriage, on the ground of the too near relationship of the parties. Bishop Fox argued in its favor, though it was under his direction that the king, when prince of Wales, had protested against it. The privy council recommended the marriage, from motives, however, which had nothing to do with the question of relationship. The marriage was solemnized at Greenwich, June 7, and they were crowned, June 24. Few monarchs have been more popular than was Henry at his accession. He was the heir of both branches of the old royal house, his father representing that of Lancaster, and his mother that of York. His person was eminently handsome, his mind had been highly cultivated, and he was fond of martial pleasures. He gave up Empson and Dudley, the obnoxious ministers of the late king, to vengeance, together with their instruments. He returned fines that had been unjustly or oppressively exacted. Much was hoped and expected of him, and not altogether in vain. Though addicted to pleasure, he was not unmindful of business, and paid special attention to foreign affairs. His manners were pleasing, yet he evinced at an early period not a little of that obstinacy which became the chief trait of his character in later life. He is often spoken of as a lavish prince, but Wolsey said that he was the most avaricious man in the world. Had he died within 20 years from the date of his accession, he would have been the most popular monarch in English history. His foreign connections began early. In 1510 he received the golden rose from Pope Julius II., who wished to obtain his aid to expel the French from Italy; but at first he was disposed to be moderate, and to pursue substantially the policy of his father. He made a treaty with France, and then entered into engagements with his father-in-law, guarantying his Spanish dominions against the French, and sent an ambassador to Rome to promote a pacification. Gradually, however, he was drawn into the war on the side of the pope and Ferdinand, and English forces were sent to their assistance. In 1512 was formed a league against France by the pope, the emperor, Aragon, and Venice. Henry led a large army into France in 1513, after his fleet had experienced a check, and the French had threatened the English coast. Maximilian I., emperor of Germany, served under him as a volunteer. Great things were expected from this invasion by those who recollected what had been accomplished by the English in France in the two preceding centuries. "The pope and all other great men here," Henry's ambassador wrote