“In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of Lancaster, challenge this realm of England, and the crown with all the members and appurtenances, as I that am descended by right line of the blood coming from the good lord King Henry the third, and through that right that God of his grace has sent me, with help of my kin and of my friends, to recover it; the which realm was in point to be undone for default of governance and undoing of the good laws.” In one way, it was plain speaking: unadorned English, intended to reach the ears of all the people of England, and noted in full within the clerical Latin and French of the official record. In another way, it was not plain at all. Was he claiming the throne by blood? Or by conquest? Or by the acclamation of the people? The last could not stand, since it would imply that his sovereignty somehow derived from the people, rather than directly from God. Nor could a claim by conquest, which might mean that he was free to rewrite England’s existing laws at will, rather than protect and uphold them. And blood had its own complications. Henry, through his father, Gaunt, was Richard’s nearest heir in the male line. But if the female line were counted, the superior claim belonged to Edmund Mortimer, the seven-year-old earl of March, great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp. Henry’s best option therefore rested in this delicately worded compound of all three, allusively cited in support of his role as an instrument of God’s will to save England from Richard’s misgovernment.
Dönem: Lancaster
Henry 5’in Esirleri İnfaz Etmesi
His contemporaries understand this. What’s more, they allow it. The French had, after all, brought the oriflamme out of Saint-Denis Abbey – an explicit statement that they were prepared to show no mercy and give no quarter on the battlefield. And in the aftermath of Agincourt, many writers do not even see fit to mention the killing of the prisoners. Instead, they express great shock at the numbers of French killed – more than three thousand noblemen, knights and squires, including three dukes and five counts, and nearly the same again in ordinary men.
Oriflamme: When the oriflamme was raised in battle by the French royalty during the Middle Ages, most notably during the Hundred Years’ War, no prisoners were to be taken until it was lowered. Through that tactic, they hoped to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, especially the nobles, who could usually expect to be taken alive for ransom during such military encounters.
Lollard: Protestant Early Access
‘Lollard’ is an insulting term applied to people inspired by the teachings of John Wyclif – the radical Oxford theologian who was active in the 1370s and 1380s under the protection of Henry’s grandfather John of Gaunt. Lollards believe in Church reform. They despise the idea of churchmen holding wealth and property. They dismiss as superstitious nonsense concepts such as transubstantiation (the bread and wine of the Eucharist literally becoming Christ’s body and blood). They reject many other commonplaces of Christian practice – including baptism, confession, priestly ordination and the adoration of images.