Constitutional History.
94
[chap.
Ne-n loans the kin" £14.000 more1. In these monetary transactions the
by Beaufoit, . _ . 1 _ 1
bishop probably acted as a contractor on a large scale, and
deserved the thanks of the country far more than the odium
which has been heιped upon him as a money-lender. It can
scarcely be supposed that the very large sums which he lent
were his own, for, although he held a rich see, he had not in-
herited any great estate, and he kept up a very splendid house-
hold. It was probably his credit, which was unimpeachable,
more than any enormous personal wealth, that enabled him to
pour ready money, when ready money was very scarce, into the
king’s coffers. In this session the Bohun inheritance was
divided between the king and the countess of Stafford, his
cousin, as co-heirs of the earldoms of Essex, Hereford, and
Northampton2.
Henry’s last 328. Thus provided with money, Henry on the ɪoth of June
expedition, ζ. u , ,
June 142x. Ielt England, never to return. He spent the rest of his life in
attempts to secure the remaining strongholds of the unhappy
Suppii‰ country which he desired to reform and govern. The need of
granted, j , ≡
Deo. 1421. further supplies brought together the parliament in December 3
under the duke of Bedford. A fifteenth and tenth was granted,
but little else was done4 ; the scarcity of money was already
alarming, and received some slight attention in the way of
legislation. On the 6th of December, 1421, the unhappy
Henrj V НеПГУ Windsor was born. In May, 1422, the queen joined
August 1’422. her husband, and on the 31 st of August he died. His last
v'ishes were that Bedford should be the guardian of both realm
and heir, and that the earl of AVarwick should be the boy’s pre-
ceptor. A strong command was laid on his brothers not to
make peace with the dauphin and never to quarrel with Bur-
gundy or to allow the duke of Orleans to go free. In a sad
foreboding he warned his youngest brother not to be selfish or
ɪ Itot. Parl. iv. 132 ; Ordinances, ii. 29S.
3 Hot. Parl. iv. 135.
3 This parliament met December ɪ ; Itichard Baynard was speaker ; the
grant was made apparently on the day of the meeting ; the speaker how-
ever was elected on the 3rd; Rot. Parl. iv. 151 ; Wals. ɪi. 332.
‘ Dep. Keeper’s Rep. ii. App. ii. p. 189; Rot. ParI. iv. 151. The clergy
granted two half-tenths.
XVIII.]
Death of LLenrg V.
95
to prefer his own personal interests to those of the country HisW
which he would have in part to govern. The duke of Exeter me∏te°and
was also charged with the care of the kingdom of England ɪ.
With his last breath Henry professed himself a crusader. His
last words were, ‘ Good Lord, thou knowest that my mind was
to re-edify the walls of Jerusalem2.' His death is recorded in Recordof
. . 1 _ , Iiis death.
the book of the acts of his son s council thus : ‘Departed this
life the most Christian champion of the church, the beam of
prudence and example of righteousness, the invincible king, the
flower and glory of all knighthood 3, Henry, the fifth since the
Conquest, king of England, heir and regent of the realm of
France, and lord of Ireland, at the castle of Bois de Vincennes
near Paris on the last day of August in the year of our Lord
1422 and of his reign the tenth : whom succeeded his illustrious
son Henry VI, on the ɪst day of September, in the first year of
his age and reign.’ The unhappy Henry of Windsor was
destined to lose all and more than all that Henry of Monmouth
had won.
Henry V was by far the greatest king in Christendom, and
he deserved the estimation in which he was held, both for the
grandeur and sincerity of his character and for the greatness of
the position which, not without many favouring circumstances
ɪ See Wavrin, p. 423 ; MonsireIet, Iiv. i. c. 264. According to the ac-
count in the Gesta, p. J 59, Bedford was to rule France, Gloucester
England ; and Exeter, Warwick, and bishop Beaufort to be governors of
tlɪe young prince. Elmham joins Sir Walter Hungerford and Sir Henry
Fitz Hugh to the duke of Exeter (ed. Hearne, p. 333). Hardyng likewise
says that the duke of Exeter was to be guardian to the young Henry :—
‘Thomas Beauforde his uncle dere and trewe
Duke of Excester, full of all worthyhode,
To tyme his soone to perfect age grewe,
He to kepe hym, Chaungyng for no newe,
With helpe of his other eme then full wise
The bishop of Winchester of good advise.’—p. 387.
He adds that it was on the duke of Exeter’s death that the earl of Warwick
became tutor; p. 394. See also Hall, Chr. p. 115 ; Tit. Liv. For. p. 95.
2 Leland, Coll. ii. 489 ; cf. Wavrin, p. 424 ; Hardyng, p, 388. The
report of Gilbert de Lannoy on the ports of Egypt, and Syria, ordered by
Henry V in contemplation of his expedition to the East, is in the Archaeo-
logia, xxi. 312-348.
3 ‘ The good and nobylle Kyng Harry the V aftyr the Conqueste of
Inglonde, йоиге of chevalrye of crysten men ; ’ Gregory, p. 148 : cf. Chron.
London, p. no.