in the vault which he had had made in his lifetime A.D. 1414. for himself and the queen his first wife, who was the daughter of the King of Bohemia. This thing having been thus accomplished, King Henry went to Windsor till near the day of Parliament, when he came to London in order to be at the Parliament which he had appointed, and to which he had summoned the estates of his kingdom as has been said.

Of a great army which the King of England raised, with the intention of crossing to France; and of the embassy which the King of the French sent to England. CHAPTER III.

THEN when King Henry saw those come whom he A.D. 1415. had summoned he ordered that his palace at Westminster should be prepared, to which he came, and was seated in his royal chair, and all being present, he made the ambassadors newly returned from France explain the mission which he had confided to them, with the reply and refusal which had been given them, with which he was much displeased, as were also all the princes and prelates of his kingdom [there assembled]; whom the king requested and in fact commanded to give each one his opinion of what appeared to him the best thing to be done. It was there deliberated, concluded, and confirmed by the common consent of all, that the king should make a call for men at arms throughout the kingdom in the greatest force that could be got, with the intention of entering France, and there conquering towns and fortresses, aye, and the whole kingdom if they could, and in order to have shipping enough to transport his said army, he sent messengers into the countries. of Holland and Zealand, who, by dint of assuring the This is the reading of H., the text of A. is corrupt.

A.D. 1415. mariners that they would be well paid, were promised that as many ships would be sent as were wanted to carry the whole army.

After this deliberation held as you have heard, King Henry made preparation of all matters necessary for warfare, as victuals, artillery, armour, horses, and generally all things pertaining to carrying on war. And for paying soldiers means were found of raising money largely throughout the kingdom of England, even to the amount of five hundred thousand nobles. And finally by the mature counsel and consent of the princes, with the advice of the estates of his kingdom, it was determined that the king in his own person should make a descent upon France as quickly as he could and in as great force as possible. Of these determinations and preparations the King of France was soon warned; and on this account when the Duke of Guienne, who had taken the government of the kingdom because of the malady with which his father was sorely afflicted, heard the news of these preparations, he assembled the great council of France, and summoned to his presence at Paris the Duke of Berry, his uncle, and numerous other lords and wise men of the kingdom, with whom he held several consultations, in order to have advice and deliberation as to how he could conduct himself in this matter. After several opinions had been debated it was at length determined that they should collect and prepare men at arms throughout all the lands of the realm to be ready to resist the enterprise and the power of the King of England as soon as they knew of his arrival; and besides, they ordered garrisons to be placed in all the towns and fortresses situated on the sea coast. Then it was considered whence they could take money to pay these men at arms, and further they determined that a solemn embassy should be sent to the King of England, to make some reason

able proposals concerning the demands which the late A.D. 1415. ambassadors of King Henry had made. To serve in this embassy there were deputed and commissioned the Count of Vendôme, Maitre John Bouratier, Archbishop of Bourges, the Bishop of Liseux, named Maitre Pierre Fannel, the Lords of Yuri and Bracquemont, Maitre Gaultier Col, secretary of the king, and Maitre John Andrieu, with some others of the great council of France; who, the truce still continuing between the two kings and kingdoms, set out from Paris, and proceeded by Amiens and Montreuil to Boulogne, whence they crossed the sea to Dover. The said French ambassadors were about three hundred and fifty horsemen, who rode from Dover to Canterbury, where they were received by the servants of King Henry, who conducted them through Rochester to London, and to Winchester, at which place King Henry was, and with him the great princes, prelates, and estates of his kingdom, before whom the Archbishop of Bourges propounded and explained his embassy, and the commission which he had from the King of France. All which the archbishop explained first in Latin, and afterwards in French, so eloquently, so distinctly, so fearlessly and wisely, that the English, and even his fellow ambassadors, marvelled greatly. At the close of his address, the archbishop offered the King of England a large extent of country, and a great sum of money, with the daughter of the King of France whom he should take to wife, on condition that the said king should break up the army which he was collecting at Southampton and other neighbouring ports with the intention of wasting the kingdom of France; and thus that the King of France and his council would be satisfied to make and agree to a permanent and perfect peace with him and his kingdom. After the said proposal and offer thus finished, the French went to dine with the king, where they were honourably

answers

A.D. 1415. feasted, and grandly received. On a certain day afterwards King Henry made reply to the said French ambassadors on the proposals above narrated by [the mouth of] the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in replying point by point to the articles of the French, added some things thereto and left others untouched, for which the said Archbishop of Canterbury was severely reproved by him of Bourges when occasion arose, answering, "I did not say thus, but thus, in such and such a way." At the close of these and objections, it was concluded by the English that if the King of France did not give King Henry with his daughter the duchies of Aquitaine and Normandy, Anjou and Touraine, with the counties of Poitou, Le Mans, and Ponthieu, together with all things formerly pertaining by inheritance to the Kings of England his predecessors, he would in no wise forego his expedition, enterprise, and army, but would in every direction and to the utmost of his power destroy the lands of his adversary the King of France and his kingdom, to which he said he had a very great right if justice were done him, which that the King of France wrongfully hindered as an unjust detainer of his inheritance, wherefore he intended to recover all his property, and even to take from him the crown of the fleur de lys. In the presence of the whole audience King Henry with his own mouth vouched for all that the Archbishop of Canterbury had said, protesting that thus he would do by the permission of God, and thus to do he swore to the said French ambassadors.

Of the reply of the Archbishop of Bourges, and of the letters which the King of England sent to the King of France. CHAPTER IV.

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WHEN the Archbishop of Bourges, chief of the A.D. 1415. French embassy, heard these words, he, according to the usage of France, requested leave of the king to speak, which was graciously accorded to him. Then the archbishop began to speak thus: "O king, with reverence [I ask], thinkest thou unjustly to expel and put down the most Christian King of France, our sovereign lord, the most noble and rightful of all living princes, from the throne and possession of so powerful a kingdom and so exalted a throne? O king [I ask] with reverence, believest thou that he has "offered or caused to be offered to give thee land " and treasure, with his own daughter to wife, through "fear of thee and of thy Euglish people and well"wishers or allies? Certainly not. But in truth, "moved by pity and the love of peace, he has done this, in order to avoid the shedding of innocent and "Christian blood; and calling to his aid the Almighty God, with the glorious Virgin Mary his mother, "and all the saints in favour of his good right "and just quarrel, [I say] with reverence, that by "his arms and those of his loyal vassals, well

1

wishers, and allies, thou shalt be driven from the regions of his kingdom, and of his entire dominions, or thou shalt be taken prisoner or die. Now, for "the honour of the noble king, whose messengers we

are, we pray thee only that thou wilt cause us to "be safely conducted out of thy dominious, and that "thou wilt write the answer to the said king our

1 Sains et saintes in the text.

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