following letters between the King, i.e. the Protector in the King’s name, and the Mayor are quoted by Maitland to show certain claims and alleged immunities made by the Corporation at this time.
“Henry, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, to the Mayor and aldermen of the City of London, greeting. Willing for certain Causes, to be certified upon the Tenors of divers Liberties and Customs of the aforesaid City, and concerning the Records and Memoranda of Servants and Natives coming to the aforesaid City, and tarrying there for a Year and a Day, without complaint of their Lords or Masters before you had, and inrolled in our Court of our Chamber of Guildhall of the aforesaid City as is said: We command you the Mayor, distinctly and openly to send the Tenor of the Liberties, Customs, Records, and Memoranda beforesaid, to us in our Chancery, under your Seal and this our Brief. Witness myself at Westminster the twentieth of January, in the seventh year of our Reign.”
To which the Mayor and Aldermen returned the following answer:—
“Be it remembered that in the Time of Holy King Edward, heretofore King of England, and before from all time no Memory of Man, then was extant such dignity, liberty, and Royal Custom, among others was had, used, and approved in the City of London, which is, and from all time hath been called The free Chamber of the King of England, as from ancient Time it was used, and had in the great city of Troy: to wit, That every Servant whosoever he were, that came to the City of London, and tarried in it for a Year and a Day, without Reclamation of his Lord there, afterwards he may, ought, and hath accustomed through his whole Life so freely and securely to tarry there, as it were in the House or Chamber of the King: And thence it is, that the same holy King Edward, amongst other things, by his Laws remaining of Record in the Treasury of Guyhald of the said City, and reciting the City itself to be the head of his Kingdom, and that it was founded like and after the manner of old Troy; and that it containeth in it the Laws, Liberties, Dignities, and royal Customs of great Troy: He appointed and ordained, that the said city of London may have and keep everywhere, by one Inviolability always, all her old Usages and Customs, wheresoever the King himself shall be, whether in an Expedition or otherwise.
And afterwards King William the Conqueror, King of England, by his charter, which remaineth of the Record in the same Treasury, granted to the Men of London, that they be worthy of all that both Law and Right, as they were in the days of the aforesaid Edward. And moreover, the said William the King, among other laws at the said City made, with the consent of noble and wise men of the whole Kingdom, and remaining in the said Treasury, likewise remaining of record, appointed and ordained, that if Servants remain, without Complaint, by a Year and a Day in a Burgh compassed with a Wall, or in Castles, or in the cities of the said King; whence the said City of London, to that Time, and from all Time before, was one, and the more principal of the whole Kingdom, as is said before; from that Day let them become Freemen, and let them be for ever free and quit from the Yoke of their Servitude. And the Record continues, viz., It is to be noted, that the Laws, Recitements, and Statutes of holy King Edward, of which Mention is made above, are contained in Folio 34 of this Book, in the Title De Heretochiis and Libertatibus, London; and in Folio 113 of the Book of Customs of the said City: and in Folio 36 of the Book called Recordatorium London, etc. It is also had in folio 162 of the Red Book of the Exchequer, called the True Charter; by which the foresaid lord the Conqueror hath confirmed to the citizens of London all Rights and Laws which they had in the time of holy King Edward, together with certain other charters, by which the said Lord, immediately after the Conquest, gave the whole Hyde and land of the City of London, whereof he had then been possessed in his Demesne, to the Men of the said City, patent and remanent under the Seal of the said King, in the Custody of the Chamberlain, in the Treasury of the said City; which Charters are contained and incorporated in the Great Charter of the Liberties and Customs of the City of London, and are confirmed by the Lord the King (Henry the Sixth) and his progenitors. But the Tenors of the said Charters are patent in the Latin Tongue, in Folio 238 of the Book of Ordinations of the said City.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 188.)
The fifteenth century is full of the disasters and violent deaths of great nobles. The history of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, brother to Henry V., belongs especially to London. On the death of his brother, being then about twenty-seven years of age, he was, as we have seen, named joint-guardian of the infant King, and was to rule England by consent of Parliament, until his elder brother returned from France. The wars and the threatening aspect of things kept the Duke of Bedford abroad except for occasional visits to England until his death. Gloucester is spoken of as a man of profligate habits and great ambition. These general adjectives are convenient for the historian; they sum up a man, and present him in bold outline. Now in nature there is no outline, only gradual shadings. He was, it is said, ambitious. The Court of the young, weak-minded King was full of intrigue and plottings and conspiracies for power and place. The courtiers were all ambitious. What any one wanted, if not power, it is not possible to arrive at with certainty. They all wanted power and place, nor is it easy to see that any one of the ambitious lords was in that respect worse than any other. And as regards Gloucester it must be remembered that if Henry died without heirs he stood next to Bedford in the succession, and that Bedford had no children. As for Gloucester’s morals, we have seen that London at this time, thanks to the Lollard movement, was exacting in the point of morals: yet Gloucester remained popular with the citizens: they made him presents—500 marks on one occasion and 1000 on another—though the latter gift was for the Duchess Jacqueline. It is said that Eleanor Cobham was his mistress before he married her. Perhaps he had the sense not to parade the liaison, in which case the good citizens would not be scandalised. But the morals of kings and princes have never been very jealously watched by their subjects. Charles II. and George IV. are by no means alone in immorality: and the world has forgiven or forgotten most of the others. In other words, there is nothing to show that Gloucester was specially blameworthy on the score of morals. It is, however, quite certain that he was a splendid and lordly Prince, a patron and a lover of the fine arts.
THE DUKE OF BEDFORD
The stormy career of Jacqueline de Brabant, his first wife, belongs to the history of her time rather than that of London. Yet because her misfortunes first awakened the voice of the women of London her life may be briefly noted in this place. She was the only daughter and the heiress of William, Count of Hainault and of Margaret of Burgundy his wife. No one, to outward seeming, could be more strongly protected or in safer hands than this girl. She was married at five years of age to John, second son of Charles VI. of France, the young prince being like herself, a child. On the death of the Dauphin John took the title of the Dauphin du Viennois. He was killed by poison immediately upon arriving in France. Jacqueline was thus a widow at sixteen. They married her immediately to John, Duke of Brabant, her cousin german, by dispensation of the Pope. The Duke was an imbecile, with whom his wife refused to continue. In 1420 she left him and came to England. Here Duke Humphrey proposed to consider the marriage null and void. On the death of Henry V. a bull was obtained to that effect from the anti-Pope Benedict XIII., and she and Gloucester were married. Gloucester then demanded of the Duke of Brabant the restitution of his wife’s estates. On his refusal he entered the country with 5000 English troops prepared to encounter the allied forces of Brabant and Burgundy. But the latter withdrawing, Gloucester returned to England leaving Jacqueline in Mons. She was taken prisoner, conducted to Holland, escaped in the disguise of a soldier, and, then being reduced to great straits and receiving no succour from Gloucester, who could probably get none, she concluded peace with the Duke of Burgundy, her cousin. The Duke of Brabant was now dead. In the treaty of peace she acknowledged that she was not the lawful wife of Gloucester; she named the Duke of Burgundy her heir; and she engaged not to marry again without the Duke’s permission.
It was before this treaty, which separated Jacqueline entirely from English sympathies, that the women of London, for the first time in history, made their appearance in public. Filled with sympathy for the misfortunes of this unhappy heiress, thus driven out of her estates, a prisoner, a wanderer, deserted by her cousin and her husband, they presented themselves before
