Acts of suc-
cession to
tlιe crov n
in 1406.
Legislation,
against the
LoHaxds.
Reform in
county elec-
tions, 1406.
ʒs Constitutional History. [chap.
The whole time of the parliament was not, however, occupied
in these transactions ; one most important legislative act was
the resettlement of the succession. On the 7th of June the
crown was declared to be heritable by the king’s sons and the
male heirs of their body in succession ; this measure involved
a repeal of the act of 1404, by which the crown was guaran-
teed to the heirs of the body of the sons in succession. It was
no doubt intended to preclude a female succession. Such a re-
striction was, however, found to entail inconvenient conse-
quences '. and on the 22 nd of December it was repealed and
the settlement of 1404 restored1. A new statute against the
Lollards, founded on a petition of the commons and supported
by the prince of Wales, was likewise passed, with the royal
authorisation, in December 2. Sentence of forfeiture was passed
against Northumberland and Bardolf, but the lords avoided
giving a positive opinion as to the guilt of archbishop Scropes.
One most important statute of the year introduced a reform
into the county elections, directing that the knights should be
chosen henceforth, as before, by the free choice of the county
court, notwithstanding any letters or any pressure from without,
and that the return should be made on an indenture containing
the names and sealed with the seals of all who took part in the
electioni. The liberality of the parliament was, as usual, sup-
plemented by a grant of a tenth from the clergy in convocation
and by an exaction from the stipendiary priests of a noble, six
and eightpence, a head s.
the same principle would make £2854 16s. od. ; all together £5450 8.?. o<l.
See Prynne, Fourth Begister, pp. 477-481.
1 Rot. Parl. iii. 574-576, 580-583 ; Statutes, ɪi. 151 ; Rymer, viii. 462-
464. The act asserts that the reason for the change was ‘ quod Statutum
et ordinatio hujusmodi jus successionis eorundem filiorum suorum et libe-
rorum eorum, sexum excludendo femininum, nimium restringebat, quod
aliquo modo diminuere non intendebant, sed potius adaugere.’
2 Rot Parl. iii. 583, 584. The exact purport of this act will be found
discussed in another chapter ; below, § 404. It is not enrolled as a
statute.
3 Rot. Parl. iii. 593, 604-607.
4 lb. iii. 601 ; Statutes, ii. 156.
5 The convocation, which sat from May 10 till June 16, granted a tenth
and a subsidy ; Wilk. Cone. iii. 284. The subsidy was the ‘ priests’ noble ; ’
Record Report, ii. App. ii. p. 1S3. The York clergy followed the example,
Aug, 18 ; Wilk, Cone. iii. 303 ; cf. Stow, Cbr. p. 333.
xviτι.] Approach of Peace. 59
Theparliamentof 1406 seems almost to stand for an exponent importance
_ τ ∙ ∙ i p τ 1 . . , ,. f, of the par-
of the most advanced principles ot medieval constitutional hie ɪɪament of
in England. '4°6'
The foreign relations of England during the year were com- Foreign
paratively easy. The civil war which broke out in Scotland
on the death of Robert III prevented any regular warfare in
the north ; and against Owen Glendower1 with whom Northum-
berland and Bardolf sought an asylum, nothing great was
attempted. The intestine troubles of France, where the dukes
of Burgundy and Orleans were contending for supremacy, made
it unnecessary for Henry to do more than watch for his oppor-
tunity. Notwithstanding then a certain amount of disaffection
at home, and in spite of the somewhat impracticable conduct of
the parliament, the political position of the king was probably
stronger at this time than it had been since the beginning of
the reign.
314. It is, however, from this point that maybe traced the
growth of those germs of domestic discord which were in process
of time to weaken the hold of the house of Lancaster upon
England, and ultimately to destroy the dynasty. Henry him-
self was now a little over forty ; and his sons were reaching the
age of manhood. The prince of Wales was in his nineteenth The king’s
, bons,
year; Thomas, the second son, was seventeen; John, the thud,
was sixteen ; and Humphrey, the youngest, fifteen. Besides
these, the family circle included the king’s three half-brothers,
Jolɪn Beaufort, who now bore the title of earl of Somerset, and
was high chamberlain ; Henry, bishop of Winchester ; and Sir
Thomas Beaufort, knight. The sons were clever, forward, and
ambitious boys ; the half-brothers accomplished, wary, and not His hair-
less ambitious men. The act by which Richard II had legiti-
mised the Beauforts placed their family interest in the closest
connexion with that of the king ; for, although that act did not
in terms acknowledge their right of succession to the throne, in
case of the extinction of the lawful line of John of Gaunt, it
did not in terms forbid it1 ; and as heirs of John of Gaunt they
1 On this subject see Sir Harris Nicolas’s article in the Excerpta His-
torica, j>p. 151 s<∣.