IIO
Constitutional History.
[chap.
Tlie lords, at
Gloucester’s
request, de-
fine the
powers of
the protector.
.Argument of
the lords in
parliament.
definition of his powers as ‘ protector and defender of the realm
of England and chief counsellor of the king.’ He quitted the
assembly that the lords might consider the question at their
ease. They returned a written answer, in which they reminded
him that at the beginning of the reign he had claimed the
governance of the land in right of his blood and of the late
king’s will ; that thereupon the ɪ ecords of the kingdom had
been searched for precedents, and the claim refused as grounded
neither on history nor on law, the late king having no power
to dispose of the government of England after his death with-
out the consent of the estates. Notwithstanding this, in order
to maintain the peace of the land, he had been declared chief
of the council in his brother’s absence ; but to avoid the use
of the title of Tutor, Lieutenant, Governor, or Eegent, the
name of Protector and Defender was given him ; ‘ the which
importeth a personal duty of intendance to the actual defence
of the land,’ with certain powers specified and contained in
the act. If the estates had intended him to have further
powers, they would have given them in that act. On those
terms lie had accepted the office. The parliament however
knew him only as duke of Gloucester, and saw no reason why
they should recognise in him more authority than had been
formally given him. They therefore prayed, exhorted, and
required him to be content, and not desire, will, or use any
larger power. By this reply they were determined to stand,
and they subscribed it with their own hands, eleven bishops,
four abbots, the duke of Norfolk, three earls, and eight barons1.
Grants of The consent of the commons was not asked, but they showed
money in , , w ∙,
parliament. their confidence in the council by making liberal grants2;
they were empowered to give security for a loan of X24,ooo;
tunnage and poundage were granted for a year, and a new and
complicated form of subsidy was voted3. Such a very decided
1 Rot. Parl. iv. 326, 327.
2 lb. iv. 317, 318 : the grants were made on March 25, the last day of
the paɪliament ; Amund. i. 20.
3 The subsidy was very curious ; all parishes, the churches of which were
taxed above ten marks, were to pay ɪ3s. 4rf. ; below that sum 6.?. Sd. ;
parishes eontain`ng ten inhabited houses, with the parish church assessed
xvτ∏.] Beavfrrfs Legation. in
rebuff would have quelled the spirit of a braver man than
Gloucester ; but the council did not stop there. Henry V
had directed that the earl of AVarwick should be the preceptor
of his son. On the ɪst OfJuneAVarwick was summoned by Warwick
the chancellor to perform his office. Special instructions are to the king,
given him1 : he is to do his devoir and diligence to exhort, ɪ428'
stir, and learn the king to love, worship, and dread God, and
generally nourish him and draw him to virtue by lessons of
history ; he is further to teach him ‘ nurture, literature, lan-
guage, and other manner of cunning as his age shall suffer him
to comprehend, such as it fitteth so great a prince to be learned
of.’ He shall have power to chastise him if he does amiss, to
dismiss improper servants, and to remove the king’s person in
case of any unforeseen danger. Warwick, who. lived to attend
on Henry until he was eighteen, discharged his duties faith-
fully, and made his pupil a good scholar and an accomplished
gentleman. He could not make him a strong or a happy man.
Beaufort had made the great mistake of his life in 1426, Beaufort’s
in accepting the Cardinalate2. He may well be excused for θepting ‰
grasping at what was the natural object of clerical ambition 5S⅛i°4⅛
in his time, an object which ten years before he had foregone
at the urgent entreaty of Henry V, and -which now seemed all
the more desirable when he saw himself ousted for a time from
his commanding position in the English council. But it was
up to 20s., paid 2s. ; every knight’s fee paid 6s. 8<Z. The tax was to be
paid by the parishioners; Amund. i. 21 ; Rot. Parl. iv. 318; Dep. Keeper’s
Rep. iii. 9. The clergy in convocation also granted a half tenth and a
graduated tax on stipendiaries; ib. p. ιι. See below, p. ιτ2.
1 Ordinances, ili. 296 ; Rymer, x. 399 : further instructions were given
in 1432 ; Ordinances, iv. 132.
2 He was nominated to the Cardinalate as early as Dec. 28, 1417
(Wharton, Ang. Sac. i. 800), by Martin V at the council of Constance.
Chichele addressed a strong protest on the matter to Henry V ; this is
printed by Duck in his life of Chichele (ed. 1699, pp. 125-131). Ac-
cording to Gloucester’s letter of accusation written in 1440 (Stevenson,
Wars in France, ii. 441) Henry refused him leave to accept the dignity,
saying that ‘ he had as Ieef sette his coroune beside hym as to se him
were a cardinal’s hatte, he being a cardinal.’ The second nomination was
made on the 24th of May, 1426 (Panvinius, Rpitome Pontilicum, p. 291),
the title being that of S. Eusebius; on the 25th of the next March he
received the cardinal’s hat at Rouen. _ See Gregory, Chron. p. 161 ; Chron.
Lond. p. 115; Hall, p. 139; Amund. ɪ. II.