The Portable Medieval Reader

by James Bruce Ross

  From Flowers of History, trans. J. A. Giles.

  The Deposition and Death of Richard II

  ADAM OF USK

  1399-1400

  NEXT, the matter of setting aside King Richard, and of choosing Henry, duke of Lancaster, in his stead, and how it was to be done and for what reasons, was judicially committed to be debated on by certain doctors, bishops, and others, of whom I, who am now noting down these things, was one. And it was found by us that perjuries, sacrileges, unnatural crimes, oppression of his subjects, reduction of his people to slavery, cowardice and weakness of rule—with all of which crimes King Richard was known to be tainted—were cause enough for setting him aside, in accordance with the chapter: “Ad apostolicae dignitatis,” under the title: “Dere judicata ,” in the Sextus; and although he was ready himself to yield up the crown, yet was it determined, for the aforesaid reasons, that he should be deposed by the authority of the clergy and people, for which purpose they were summoned.

  On St. Matthew’s day (21st September), just two years after the beheading of the earl of Arundel, I, the writer of this history, was in the Tower, wherein King Richard was a prisoner, and was present at his dinner, and marked his mood and bearing, having been taken thither for that very purpose by Sir William Beauchamp. And there and then the king discoursed sorrowfully in these words: “My God! a wonderful land is this, and a fickle; which hath exiled, slain, destroyed, or ruined so many kings, rulers, and great men, and is ever filled and toileth with strife and variance and envy”; and then he recounted the histories and names of sufferers from the earliest habitation of the kingdom. Perceiving then the trouble of his mind, and how that none of his own men, nor such as were wont to serve him, but strangers who were but spies upon him, were appointed to his service, and musing on his ancient and wonted glory and on the fickle fortune of the world, I departed thence much moved at heart....

  On St. Michael’s day there were sent to the king in the Tower, on behalf of the clergy, the archbishop of York and the bishop of Hereford; on behalf of the superior lords temporal, the earls of Northumberland and Westmorland; for the lower prelates, the abbat of Westminster and the prior of Canterbury; for the barons, the lords Berkeley and Burnell; for the lower clergy, Master Thomas Stow and John Borbach; and for the commons of the kingdom, Sir Thomas Grey and Sir Thomas Erpingham, knights, to receive the surrender of the crown from King Richard. And when this was done, on the morrow, the said lords, on behalf of the whole parliament and the clergy and the people of the kingdom, altogether renounced their oath of allegiance, loyalty, submission, service, and what obedience soever, and their fealty to him, setting him aside, and holding him henceforth not for king, but for a private person, Sir Richard of Bordeaux, a simple knight, having taken away his ring in token of deposition and deprival, and bringing the same to the duke of Lancaster, and delivering it to him in full parliament on that day assembled. On the same day the archbishop of York delivered first an address on the text: “I have set my words in thy mouth”; and then, having been made by King Richard his mouthpiece, he, using the first person, as though the king himself were speaking, read in full parliament the surrender of his royal rank and the release of all his lieges and subjects whomsoever from all submission, fealty, and homage openly and publicly drawn up in writings. And this surrender, the consent of all and every in parliament being first called for, was openly and distinctly accepted. Which being done, my lord archbishop of Canterbury made an address on the text: “A man shall reign over my people,” wherein he highly lauded the duke of Lancaster and his strength and his understanding and his virtues, rightly exalting him to be their king; and, among other things, he spake of the shortcomings of King Richard, and specially how he had most unjustly stifled in prison his uncle, the duke of Gloucester, treacherously, and without a hearing or leave to answer; and how he strove to overthrow the law of the land to which he had sworn. And so, in short, although he had sufficiently made resignation, the sentence of his deposition, drawn up in writing, by consent and authority of the whole parliament, was there openly, publicly, and solemnly read by Master John Trevour of Powis, bishop of St. Asaph. And so, the throne being vacant, by consent of the whole parliament, the said duke of Lancaster, being raised up to be king, forthwith had enthronement at the hands of the said archbishops, and, thus seated on the king’s throne, he there straightway openly and publicly read a certain declaration in writing, wherein was set forth that he, seeing the kingdom of England to be vacant, by lawful right of succession by descent from the body of King Henry the Third, did claim and take upon himself the crown as his by right; and that, in virtue of such succession or conquest, he would in no wise allow the state of the kingdom nor of any man to suffer change in liberties, franchises, inheritances, or in any other right or custom. And he fixed the day of his coronation for St. Edward’s day next coming. And for that, through the deposing of King Richard, the parliament which was in his name assembled had become extinct, therefore, by consent of all, he ordained a new parliament in his own name as new king, to begin on the morrow of the coronation. He also thereupon made public proclamation that, if any thought that he had claim to do service or office in the coronation, by right of inheritance or custom, he should send in his petition, setting forth the why and the wherefore, in writing, to the seneschal of England, at Westminster, on the Saturday next following, and that he should have right in all things....

  On the morrow of the coronation, which was the first day of the new king’s parliament, the commons presented to the king their speaker, Sir John Cheyne, knight. The king received liege homage from all the lords spiritual and temporal. Also, the last parliament of Lord Richard, then king, was declared altogether void. And this took place on the Tuesday. On the Wednesday the king promoted his eldest son Henry, by five symbols, to wit, by delivery of a golden rod, by a kiss, by a belt, by a ring, and by letters of creation, to be prince of Wales. Also the causes of the repeal of that parliament were declared to be because of the fears of, and threats used towards, the peers of the realm if they obeyed not the king’s will; secondly, because of the armed violence of the king’s supporters, which blazed forth in the parliament; and thirdly, because the counties, cities, and boroughs had not had free election in the choice of the members of the commons. It was also declared that the parliament of the eleventh year of King Richard, which was all the work of the duke of Gloucester and the earl of Arundel, should remain in full force. Also, that anyone who had in any way been deprived of his right by Richard’s last parliament should then and there be restored to his own. And the king also granted and gave over to his eldest son the principality of Wales, as well as the duchy of Cornwall, along with the county of Chester....

  The lord Richard, late king, after his deposition, was carried away on the Thames, in the silence of dark midnight, weeping and loudly lamenting that he had ever been born...

  And now those in whom Richard, late king, did put his trust for help were fallen. And when he heard thereof, he grieved more sorely and mourned even to death, which came to him most miserably on the last day of February [1400], as he lay in chains in the castle of Pontefract, tortured by Sir N. Swinford with scant fare....

  Richard, farewelll king indeed (if I may call thee so), most mighty; for after death all might praise thee, hadst thou, with the help of God and thy people, so ordered thy deeds as to deserve such praise. But, though well endowed as Solomon, though fair as Absalom, though glorious as Ahasuerus, though a builder excellent as the great Belus, yet, like Chosroes, king of Persia, who was delivered into the hands of Heraclius, didst thou in the midst of thy glory, as Fortune turned her wheel, fall most miserably into the hands of Duke Henry, amid the curses of thy people.

  From Chronicle, trans. E. M. Thompson.

  An Imperialist View of the Lombard Communes

  OTTO OF FREISING

  Twelfth century

  NEVERTHELESS the Lombards had laid aside all the bitterness of their barbarous ferocity, in consequenc
e, perhaps, of their marriages with the Italians, so that they had children who inherited something of Roman mildness and intellect from their maternal parentage, or from the influence of the soil and climate, and retain the elegance of the Latin language and a certain courtesy of manners. They also imitate the activity of the ancient Romans in the management of the cities and in the preservation of the state. Finally, they are so attached to their liberty that, to avoid the insolence of rulers, they prefer to be reigned over by consuls than by princes. And since, as it is known, there are three orders among them, of captains, vassals, and the commons, in order to keep down arrogance, these aforesaid consuls are chosen, not from one order, but from each, and, lest they should be seized with a greed for power, they are changed nearly every year. From which it happens that that territory is all divided into cities, which have each reduced those of their own province to live with them, so that there is hardly to be found any noble or great man with so great an influence, as not to owe obedience to the rule of his own city. And they are all accustomed to call these various territories their own Comitatus, from this privilege of living together. And in order that the means of restraining their neighbours may not fail, they do not disdain to raise to the badge of knighthood, and to all grades of authority, young men of low condition, and even workmen of contemptible mechanical arts, such as other people drive away like the plague from the more honourable and liberal pursuits. From which it happens that they are pre-eminent among the other countries of the world for riches and power. And to this they are helped also, as has been said, by their own industrious habits, and by the absence of their princes, accustomed to reside north of the Alps. In this, however, they retain a trace of their barbarous dregs, forgetful of ancient nobility, that while they boast of living by law they do not obey the laws. For they seldom or never receive the prince reverently, to whom it would be their duty to show a willing reverence of submission, nor do they obediently accept those things which he, according to the justice of the laws, ordains, unless they are made to feel his authority, constrained by the gathering of many soldiers. On this account it frequently happens that, whereas a citizen has only to be restrained by the law, and an adversary must be coerced with arms according to the law, they find him, from whom as their proper prince they should receive clemency, more often having recourse to hostilities for his own rights. From which results a double evil for the state, both that the prince has his thoughts distracted by the collecting of an army for the subjection of the citizen, while the citizen has to be compelled to obedience to his prince, not without a great expenditure of his own substance. Whence, for the same reason that the people are in such an instance guilty of rashness, the prince is to be excused, by the necessity of the case, before God and man.

  Among the other cities of that nation, Milan, situated between the Po and the Alps, now possesses the supremacy.... And it is considered more famous than other cities, not only on account of its greater size and its large number of armed men, but also because it has added to its jurisdiction two other cities placed in the same region, namely Como and Lodi. Then, as happens in human affairs, through the blandishments of a smiling fortune, it swelled out into such daring of pride, being elated with success, that it not only did not refrain from attacking all its neighbours, but ventured even without alarm to incur the recently offended majesty of the prince.

  From Gesta Friderici, trans. U. Balzani, Early Chroniclers of Italy (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1883).

  City Politics in Siena

  POPE PIUS II

  Fifteenth century

  Siena is a very famous city of Tuscany and possesses wide lands. Many strange stories are told about its founders, but the stock originated at Rome and took from there the device of the she-wolf with the twins hanging on her teats. Some think they have been mixed with Gallic stock since the time when the Senonese Gauls invaded Rome and were defeated and routed by Camillus. For they say that the remnants of both armies settled where Siena now is and built two towns which afterwards, at the time of Charlemagne, were united in one great city. As evidence for this story they adduce the fact that to this day a third of the state is called Camillia from Camillus and they think that the name of the spring of Fontebranda is derived with a slight change of letters from Brennus, the Gallic chieftain. For our part we neither affirm nor deny these ancient tales, but we can assert that in this city there were many nobles and very powerful men who erected lofty palaces, high towers, and very splendid churches while they administered the state. When however the nobler families began to quarrel about the government and sometimes appealed even to armed force, the nobility decided to resign the management of affairs to the people, reserving for themselves only a few offices; for they thought that the popular party, though they might be administering the government, would do nothing without the permission of the nobles, of whose power they would continue to stand in awe. This turned out to be the case for a time, but when the people became accustomed to rule and had once tasted the sweets of office and the fruits of power, in their increased wealth and splendour they disdained the nobility, banished certain noble families, and sent the rest under the yoke like slaves, although they shared with them a few minor offices. There were five parties in the city (not counting the populace) as follows: the Nine, so named because when they alone were in power, they appointed nine chief magistrates; the Twelve, named on the same principle; the Reformers, so called because it was thought they had made certain reforms in the state; the Nobles who retained the title originally conferred because of their antiquity and influence; the rest were called the Populari. The Twelve had long since been deposed and no longer had any part in the government; the Nobles were entrusted with a fourth part of certain offices, but they were not permitted to command citadels or to live as priors in the palace or to keep the keys of the gates. The entire strength of the government remained in the hands of the Nine, the Reformers, and the Populari. In the course of time during the pontificate of Calixtus III bitter feuds grew up among these three parties and a considerable number of those in power were accused of having conspired to betray the city to Piccinino. On this charge some were beheaded, some driven into exile, some banished and fined; and the whole city was so torn with civil discord that it was the universal opinion that she would soon lose her liberty. But the great God looked with loving eyes on a state dedicated to His Mother, the Virgin Mary; for when Pope Pius succeeded to the papacy on the death of Calixtus, he at once took thought for his dearly loved country. He disrupted the schemes set on foot against her and frightened off her enemies by his authority. Moreover he thought it greatly concerned the city’s welfare that the places of citizens who had been removed from the government should be filled from the Nobles and that it did not befit her dignity that the Nobles, to whom he himself belonged by birth, should be regarded as slaves in his native city. The Sienese, suspecting this would happen, in order to forestall any complaint, elected to office Pius’s own family, the Piccolomini, thinking that he would demand nothing further. But Pius, who was concerned not for his own house but for the whole state, thought that nothing had been accomplished unless all the Nobles were returned to power, and he sent ambassadors to demand that all the rest of that order should be made equal to the Piccolomini. The people were violently excited by this demand; they declared that the pope’s request was outrageous and that the state would never consent, even if they were compelled to stand a siege and starved into eating their own children. Pius on the other hand insisted and swore that, if they did not obey, he would withdraw his favour from a city which refused to comply with just demands....