The overall message of the plays, on the other hand, was one which the Queen would have taken instantly to her heart: the supreme importance - and the ultimate triumph - of the state. When Edward III came to the throne in 1327, there had been only one competent
GOOD FREND FOR IESVS SAKE FORBEARE, TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE. BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES, AND CVRST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.
monarch since the death of Henry II in 1189;1 though at last tolerably well governed, that state was still woefully immature. The tribulations and indignities which it was soon afterwards called upon to undergo, the dangers by which it was to be threatened, even the inanity of all too many of its rulers - against which Elizabeth's and her grandfather's formidable abilities stood out in a contrast which was itself dramatic enough - could all be seen in retrospect as necessary stages in the tempering of the national steel.
In what is essentially a pageant embracing five or more generations, the only possible hero - or heroine - can be England herself: blameless, as all good heroines should be, but disgracefully put upon by those in authority over her. They it is who ruin her, ravish her and ultimately tear her apart - a process which continues, almost without interruption, from the first rising of Shakespeare's curtain until a few minutes before it finally falls. In those few minutes Richard III is killed on Bosworth Field, Henry of Lancaster is acclaimed as his successor, and the country emerges, suddenly and spectacularly, out of its long darkness into the Tudor sun. There - in the very contrast between the chaos wrought by the Plantagenets and the peace and tranquillity introduced by Henry and his successors - was a subject fit for the Queen.
And Shakespeare knew it. His sources may have been few, and not invariably satisfactory; but where they were found wanting he always had his imagination to fill the gaps. He would never have claimed historical accuracy - and to establish just how close to it he came has been one of the principal purposes of this book - but then he was not a historian; he was a dramatist. The play was the thing; and if he could amuse, inspire and perhaps very modestly educate his audiences, that was enough. He did so, and he has continued to do so for four hundred years. He rests his case.
1. Edward's grandfather, Edward I. Before him, Henry III and John had both proved disasters; while John's predecessor and brother Richard I (Coeur de Lion), despite a ten-year reign, spoke hardly any English, took absolutely no interest in England and spent less than a year there in his entire life.
Chronological Table
Murder of Edward II; accession of Edward III
Death of French King Charles IV; accession of Philip VI
Edward does homage to Philip at Amiens
Birth of the Black Prince 1332 Scots capture Berwick
1337 Philip confiscates Gascony; Edward claims French throne; Hundred Years War begins
Edward invades France
Battle of Sluys; truce signed at Esplechin; birth of John of Gaunt
Scots capture Newcastle
Battle of Crecy; Siege of Calais begins; King David of Scotland captured
Capture of Calais
Black Death strikes France
Black Death strikes England
Death of Philip VI, accession of John II
Battle of Poitiers
King David of Scotland ransomed 1360 Peace of Bretigny
1362 Edward makes over Gascony and Poitou to Black Prince 1364 Death of John II; accession of Charles V
Birth of Richard II; and of Henry IV; battle of Najera
Resumption of war
Death of Queen Philippa
Black Prince, already sick, besieges Limoges
Truce signed at BrugesDeath of Black Prince
Mob attacks John of Gaunt's Palace of Savoy; death of Edward III; accession of Richard II
13 8 I Peasants' Revolt; death of Edmund Mortimer, third Earl of March
Marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia
Expedition to Flanders under Henry Despenser, Bishop of Norwich
Death of Queen Joan; Richard's expedition to Scotland
John of Gaunt's Spanish expedition; 'Great and Continual Council' appointed
Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick defy King; de Vere defeated by Bolingbroke at Radcot Bridge
Appellants and 'Merciless' Parliament bring Richard to heel; executions; Scots defeat English at Otterburn (Chevy Chase)
John of Gaunt returns to England
Four-year truce with France; death of Anne of Bohemia; Richard leaves for Ireland
Richard returns from Ireland
Richard marries Isabelle of France; truce with France (lasts 25 years)
Coronation of Isabelle; Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick eliminated
Parliament at Shrewsbury; Bolingbroke denounces Mowbray; both sentenced
Death of John of Gaunt; Richard sails for Ireland; Bolingbroke lands in England; Richard is deposed; Bolingbroke crowned as Henry IV
Risings in Scotland and Wales
Henry marries Joan of Brittany; Battle of Homildon Hill
Coronation of Joan; Percys rebel; battle of Shrewsbury
Death of Philip the Fair of Burgundy; accession of John the Fearless
Rising in north under Northumberland and Archbishop of York
Assassination of Duke Louis of Orleans; succession of son Charles
Battle of Bramham Moor; Northumberland killed
Fall of Harlech
1411 Expedition sent by Prince of Wales to help Burgundy in France
Expedition under Clarence sent by King to help Orleans
Death of Henry IV; accession of Henry V
Lollard rebellion
Henry invades France; Cambridge plot; siege of Harfleur; Agincourt
Relief of Harfleur; visit of Emperor Sigismund
Henry's second expedition; capture of Caen
Capture of Rouen after long siege
Murder of John the Fearless
Treaty of Troyes; marriage of Henry and Katherine; Henry rides into Paris
Coronation of Katherine; battle of Beauge; Henry's last campaign; birth of Henry VI
Henry's death; accession of Henry VI; death of Charles VI; accession of Charles VII
Siege of Orleans begins; death of Salisbury
Coronation of Henry at Westminster; coronation of Charles VII; Battle of Patay
1431 Burning of Joan of Arc; Henry crowned in Paris
1437 Charles VII enters Paris
1441 Duchess of Gloucester accused of witchcraft
Truce with France; formal betrothal of Henry and Margaret of Anjou
Marriage (by proxy) of Henry to Margaret
Death of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester; death of Cardinal Beaufort
Maine surrendered to France
Sack of Fougeres by Somerset; French regain Rouen; Richard of York goes to Ireland
Battle of Formigny; disgrace of Suffolk; his death; Jack Cade's rebellion; Richard of York returns from Ireland without permission
Richard of York marches on London
Henry seriously ill; birth of son; arrest of Somerset
Richard of York appointed Protector of Realm; Henry recovers
Somerset back in power; first battle of St Albans
1460 Richard of York makes fourth march on London and formally
claims throne; Act of Accord; battle of Wakefield; death of Richard
Battle of Mortimer's Cross; second battle of St Albans; Londoners rise against Lancastrians; Edward IV claims throne; Battle of Towton; death of Charles VII, accession of Louis XI
Queen Margaret appeals to Louis XI
1464 Revolt in the north; Battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham; Henry VI escapes, wanders through north for almost a year; Edward marries Elizabeth Woodville
George Duke of Clarence marries Isabel, daughter of Warwick; revolt under Robin of Redesdale; battle of Edgcote; capture of King Edward by Warwick and Clarence
Battle of Erpingham ('Lose-coat Field'); Warwick and Clarence flee to France; Margaret's reconcilia
tion with Warwick; Warwick lands in Devon calling for restitution of Henry VI; Edward, betrayed by Montagu, takes refuge in Holland; Henry VI reinstated, with Warwick in power
Edward returns to England; his recoronation; Battle of Barnet; death of Warwick; Margaret and her son Edward land at Weymouth; battle of Tewkesbury; death of King Henry in Tower
1475 Edward leads army to France; agreement at Picquigny;
Margaret ransomed 1478 Trial and death of Clarence
Richard of Gloucester leads army into Scotland, occupies Edinburgh
Death of Edward IV; coup at Northampton; Richard transfers two Princes to Tower; Richard arranges to be asked to assume crown; his coronation; death of the Princes; revolt of Buckingham
Death of Richard's son, Edward of Middleham
Death of Queen Anne; Henry Tudor lands at Milford Haven; battle of Bosworth
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Appendix
Shakespeare's Edward III
The following text of Edward III is an early
version taken from Elizabethan History Plays, William A. Armstrong (ed.), Oxford 1965.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
EDWARD THE THIRD, King of England
EDWARD, Prince of Wales, his Son
EARL OF WARWICK
EARL OF DERBY
EARL OF SALISBURY
LORD AUDLEY
LORD PERCY
LODWICK, Edward's Confidant
SIR WILLIAM MONTAGUE SIR JOHN COPLAND
Two Esquires, and a Herald, English ROBERT, styling himself Earl, of Artois
LORD MOUNTFORD (or MONTFORT) GOBIN DE GREY
JOHN, King of France
VILLIERS, a French Lord King of Bohemia ,
DAVID, King of Scotland
EARL DOUGLAS
Two Messengers, Scotch
PHILIPPA, Edward's Queen
COUNTESS OF SALISBURY
A French Woman
Lords, and divers other Attendants; Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, etc. SCENE - dispersed; in ENGLAND, FLANDERS, and FRANCE
Shakespeare's Kings Page 41