118
Constitutional History.
[chap.
Gloucester lords were agreed among themselves, : he was, it was true, the
professes t о о ,
his desire king’s nearest kinsman, and Iiad been constituted by act of
of concord, , . , . .
parliament Iiis chief counsellor, but it was not his wish there-
fore to act without the advice and consent of the other lords ;
lie accordingly asked their assistance and promised to act on
their advice; the lords signified their agreement, and this
pleasing fiction of concord was announced by the chancellor to
the commons. The duke had by this assertion of his intentions
Formaicom- thrown down the gauntlet. Beaufort took it up and made a
Jardmafth'' successful appeal to the estates. He declared that, having
with due licence from the king set out for Rome, he had, when
in Flanders, been recalled to England by the report that he
was accused of treason. He had returned to meet the charge :
Tiieking let the accuser stand forth and he would answer it. The
tι∣e cardinal demand was debated before the king and Gloucester, and the
’ ' answer was that no such charge had been made against him,
and that the king accounted him loyal. Beaufort asked that
a com- this proceeding might be recorded, and it was done2. In the
promise. nlaffer 0f f]ιe jewels he was easily satisfied : they were restored
to him, and he agreed to lend Henry £6000, to be repaid in
ease the king within six years should be convinced that the
jewels had been illegally seized, and £6000 more as an ordinarjτ
loan. At the same time he respited the payment of 13,000
marks which were already due to him3. The victory, for it
was a victory, was thus dearly purchased ; but Beaufort
probably saw that the choice of alternatives was very limited,
and that it was better to lend than to lose. His sacrifice was
appreciated by the commons. On their petition a statute was
passed which secured him against all risks of praemunire4.
LordCrom- Encouraged by the cardinal’s success, lord Cromwell, on the
∖∖ ell asks to ɔ τ . . _ . ι ∙ ∣ ι z» ι it ι ι ι
Letoidthe 16th of June, laid his complaint before the lords; he had,
reason of his . _ . . . 1 .1
dismissal, contrary to the sworn articles by which the council was
regulated, been removed from his office of chamberlain : he
1 Rot. Parl. iv. 389. 2 lb. iv. 390, 39ς Î Ry∞er, x. 517.
3 Rot. ParL iv. 39i ; Rymer, x. 518. In 1434Henry promised that the
£6000 should be repaid, and then Beaufort lent £ 10,000 more ; Ordinances,
iv. 236-239.
4 Rot. ParL iv. 392 ; Rymer, x. 516.
хунт.] Parliament of 1432. 119
recounted his services, producing Bedford’s testimony to Iiis
character, and demanded to be told whether he had been
removed for some fault or offence. Gloucester refused to bring
forward any charge against him. He was told that his removal Hβ⅛
was not owing to his fault, but was the pleasure of the duke
and the council ; and this formal acquittal was enrolled at his
request among the records of parliamentl. On the 15tl1 of Grant of
July the supplies were granted : half a tenth and fifteenth was
voted, with tunnage and poundage for two years ; and the
subsidy on wool was continued until November 1435 2. Of the Minor trans-
minor transactions of the parliament some were important ; parliament,
Sir John Cornwall, who had married the duchess of Exeter, 4y*'
daughter of John of Gaunt, was created baron of Fanhope in
parliament3 ; the duke of York was declared of age ; and the
statute of 1430 was amended by the enactment that the
freehold qualification of the county electors must lie within the
shire4. The complicated grant of land and income tax of
1431, which it was found impossible to collect, was annulled5.
Two petitions of the commons, one praying that men might
not be called before parliament or council in cases touching
freehold6, the other affecting the privileges of members molested
on their way to parliament7, were negatived. The result of
the proceedings was on the whole advantageous to Gloucester ;
he had failed to crush the cardinal, but he retained his pre-
dominance in the council. He was not to retain it long.
338. The hopes of the English in France were rapidly
waning. The duke of Burgundy was growing tired of the
1 Rot. Parl. iv. 392.
2 lb. iv. 389. The Canterbury clergy granted a half tenth, the York
clergy a quarter of a tenth ; Wilk. Cone. iii. 521.
3 Rot. Pail. iv. 400 : t1^m0 die Julii ultimo die praesentis parliament!, in
trium statuum ejusdem parliament! praesentia de avisamento . . . domi-
norunι Spiritualium et temporalium in parliament© praedicto existentium,
praefatum Johannem in baronem indigenam regni sui Angliae erexit prae-
fecit et creavit.* Cf. Rymer, x. 524. The Chronicle published by Dr.
Giles, p. 9, states that Cornwall was made baron of Fanhope, and that the
lords Cromwell, Tiptoft, and Hungerford were created at Leicester in
1426.
4 Rot. Pail. iv. 409 ; Statutes, ii. 273.
’ Above, p. ιι6 ; Rot. Parl. iv. 409.
c lb. iv. 403. 7 lb. iv. 404,