Henry the Sixth Part 4

[43] _Sic, pro_ increduli.

[44] _Sic._

[45] _Commate forsitan post_ Angliae _non post_ pacifice _distingui malint alii. Sed distinctioni nostrae favet Codex, quo usus sum._

[46] _Sic, pro_ cunabulis.

A COMPILATION OF THE MEEKNESS AND GOOD LIFE OF KING HENRY VI.

GATHERED BY Master JOHN BLAKMAN, Bachelor of Divinity and afterward monk of the Charterhouse of London.

_A devout Prayer of his._

O Lord Jesu Christ, who didst create me, redeem me, and foreordain me unto that which now I am: Thou knowest what Thou wilt do with me: deal with me according to thy most compa.s.sionate will. I know and confess in sincerity that in thy hand all things are set, and there is none that can withstand Thee: Thou art Lord of all. Thou therefore, G.o.d Almighty compa.s.sionate and pitiful, in whose power are all realms and lordships, and unto whom all our thoughts, words, and works, such as have been, are, and shall be, are continually open and known, who only hast wisdom and knowledge incomprehensible: Thou knowest, Lord, what is profitable for me poor sinner: be it so done with me as pleaseth Thee and as seemeth good in the eyes of thy divine Majesty.

Receive, O compa.s.sionate Father and merciful G.o.d Almighty, the prayer of me thy most unworthy servant; and let my supplications, which I offer before Thee and thy saints, come unto the ears of thy mercy. Amen.

PROLOGUE.

It is written that we are to praise no man before his death, but that in the end shall be the exposing of his works: hence, now that every obstacle to sincere praise is out of the way, and inasmuch as the heavens declare the glory of Almighty G.o.d, and all things that the Lord hath made praise Him by the fashion of them, I have therefore thought fit to treat of some matters to the praise of G.o.d and of the serene prince King Henry VI now deceased; whom, though I be of little skill, I have taken in hand to celebrate; and this especially because to praise the saints of G.o.d, (in the register of whom I take that excellent king to be rightly included on account of the holy virtues by him exercised all his life long) is to praise and glorify Almighty G.o.d, of whose heavenly gift it cometh that they are saints.

Now of his most n.o.ble descent, how he was begotten according to the flesh of the highest blood and the ancient royal stock of England, and how in the two lands of England and France he was crowned as the rightful heir of each realm, I have purposely said nothing, as of a matter plainly known to all, and not least known because of that most unhappy fortune which befell him against all expectation in after-times.

_A commendation of his virtues._

But that I may set forth somewhat concerning the many virtues of that king, wherewith Almighty G.o.d adorned his soul, I will according to my small ability, with G.o.d's help, publish such things as I have known and have learned from the relation of men worthy of credit who were formerly attendant on him.

He was, like a second Job, a man simple and upright, altogether fearing the Lord G.o.d, and departing from evil. He was a simple man, without any crook of craft or untruth, as is plain to all. With none did he deal craftily, nor ever would say an untrue word to any, but framed his speech always to speak truth.

He was both upright and just, always keeping to the straight line of justice in his acts. Upon none would he wittingly inflict any injustice.

To G.o.d and the Almighty he rendered most faithfully that which was His, for he took pains to pay in full the t.i.thes and offerings due to G.o.d and the church: and this he accompanied with most sedulous devotion, so that even when decked with the kingly ornaments and crowned with the royal diadem he made it a duty to bow before the Lord as deep in prayer as any young monk might have done.

_The fear of the Lord was in him._

And that this prince cherished a son's fear towards the Lord is plain from many an act and devotion of his. In the first place, a certain reverend prelate of England used to relate that for ten years he held the office of confessor to King Henry: but he declared that never throughout that long time had any blemish of mortal sin touched his soul.

O what great watchfulness, O what care to please G.o.d was found in this creature so high-placed and so young! Consider it, all ye kings and princes, young men and maidens, and all peoples, and praise the Lord in His saints. Imitate, too, this king in virtue, who could have done ill and did it not, but utterly eschewed, to his power, while he lived, in view of the displeasure of G.o.d, all evil and injury of this sort.

_He was a diligent worshipper of G.o.d._

A diligent and sincere worshipper of G.o.d was this king, more given to G.o.d and to devout prayer than to handling worldly and temporal things, or practising vain sports and pursuits: these he despised as trifling, and was continually occupied either in prayer or the reading of the scriptures or of chronicles, whence he drew not a few wise utterances to the spiritual comfort of himself and others. So to every sort and condition and age of men he was a diligent exhorter and adviser, counselling the young to leave vice and follow the path of virtue; and admonishing men of mature age and elders (_or_ priests) to attain the perfection of virtue and lay hold on the prize of eternal life, with those words of the Psalm 'Go from strength to strength[47]; hence shall the G.o.d of G.o.ds be beheld in Sion.'

_His devout habit in church._

In church or chapel he was never pleased to sit upon a seat or to walk to and fro as do men of the world; but always with bared head, at least while the divine office was being celebrated, and hardly ever raising his royal person, kneeling one may say continuously before his book, with eyes and hands upturned, he was at pains to utter with the celebrant (but with the inward voice) the ma.s.s-prayers, epistles, and gospels. To some clerics also he used to address letters of exhortation full of heavenly mysteries and most salutary advice, to the great wonder of many.

Moreover, wherever this king was, he always showed himself a venerator and most devout adorer of the Holy Cross and of other symbols and holy things of the Christian religion. When engaged in such devotion he went always with bared head, even when riding on a journey: so that many times he would let his royal cap drop to the ground even from his horse's back, unless it were quickly caught by his servants. So too he preferred a row of signs of the Holy Cross to be set in his royal crown rather than any likenesses of flowers or leaves, according to that word of the wise: 'A crown of gold _was_ upon his head marked with the sign of holiness.' He would be at the divine office quite early, nay at the very beginning: nor did he ever grow weary at the lengthy prolonging of it, even though it were continued until after noonday.

Moreover he would never suffer hawks, swords, or daggers to be brought into church, or business agreements or conferences to be carried on there: even his great men and n.o.bles he enjoined to give themselves frequently to prayer, according to the word of the Saviour 'My house is a house of prayer': and they obeyed him devoutly.

_His chast.i.ty._

This king Henry was chaste and pure from the beginning of his days. He eschewed all licentiousness in word or deed while he was young; until he was of marriageable age, when he espoused the most n.o.ble lady, Lady Margaret, daughter of the King of Sicily, by whom he begat but one only son, the most n.o.ble and virtuous prince Edward; and with her and toward her he kept his marriage vow wholly and sincerely, even in the absences of the lady, which were sometimes very long: never dealing unchastely with any other woman. Neither when they lived together did he use his wife unseemly, but with all honesty and gravity.

_Example._

It is an argument of his watch upon his modesty that he was wont utterly to avoid the unguarded sight of naked persons, lest like David he should be snared by unlawful desire, for David's eyes, as we read, made havoc of his soul. Therefore this prince made a covenant with his eyes that they should never look unchastely upon any woman.

_Another example._

Hence it happened once, that at Christmas time a certain great lord brought before him a dance or show of young ladies with bared bosoms who were to dance in that guise before the king, perhaps to prove him, or to entice his youthful mind. But the king was not blind to it, nor unaware of the devilish wile, and spurned the delusion, and very angrily averted his eyes, turned his back upon them, and went out to his chamber, saying:

Fy, fy, for shame, forsothe ye be to blame.

At another time, riding by Bath, where are warm baths in which they say the men of that country customably refresh and wash themselves, the king, looking into the baths, saw in them men wholly naked with every garment cast off. At which he was displeased, and went away quickly, abhorring such nudity as a great offence, and not unmindful of that sentence of Francis Petrarch 'the nakedness of a beast is in men unpleasing, but the decency of raiment makes for modesty.'

Besides, he took great precautions to secure not only his own chast.i.ty but that of his servants. For before he was married, being as a youth a pupil of chast.i.ty, he would keep careful watch through hidden windows of his chamber, lest any foolish impertinence of women coming into the house should grow to a head, and cause the fall of any of his household.

And like pains did he apply in the case of his two half-brothers, the Lords Jasper and Edmund, in their boyhood and youth: providing for them most strict and safe guardianship, putting them under the care of virtuous and worthy priests, both for teaching and for right living and conversation, lest the untamed practices of youth should grow rank if they lacked any to prune them. Not less diligence did he use, I am told, towards others dependent on him, advising them to eschew vice and avoid the talk of the vicious and dissolute, and to lay hold on virtue.

_Against avarice._

_His liberality._

Against that pest of avarice with which so many are infected and diseased, even princes of the earth, this king Henry of whom we speak was most wary and alert. For neither by the splendid presents given to him nor by the ample wealth which he owned was he ever entrapped into the unlawful love of them, but was most liberal to the poor in lightening their wants; and enriched very many others with great gifts or offices, or at least put all neediness far from them. Never did he oppress his subjects with unreasonable exactions as do other rulers and princes, but behaving himself among them like a kind father, relieved them from his own resources in a most comely sort, and contenting himself with what he had, preferred to live uprightly among them, rather than that they should pine in poverty, trodden down by his harshness.

Now that he was content with his own substance and in no way coveted that of others is shown by many true instances. Among them is this: a certain great lord offered the said king a precious coverlet for the bed in his chamber, which was all over set with gold n.o.bles in great number, and then he said: 'Be you careful of these and their like.' But the mind of the king thirsting rather for heavenly and spiritual things and making the things of earth of less account, regarded lightly the gift.

At another time when the executors of his uncle, the most reverend lord cardinal the bishop of Winchester came to the king with a very great sum, namely 2000 of gold to pay him, for his own uses, and to relieve the burdens and necessities of the realm, he utterly refused the gift, nor would receive it by any manner of means, saying: 'He was a very dear uncle to me and most liberal in his lifetime. The Lord reward him. Do ye with his goods as ye are bound: we will receive none of them.' The executors were amazed at this his saying, and entreated the king's majesty that he would at least accept that gift at their hands for the endowment of his two colleges which he had then newly founded, at Cambridge and Eton. This pet.i.tion and gift the king gladly accepted, and ordered them to make the gift to the said colleges for the relief of the soul of his said uncle; and they fulfilled the king's command with all speed.

Moreover to show the liberality for which with other virtues he was distinguished, to the confusion of avarice he was very bountiful in his gifts, as his former servants bore witness. For to one of his chaplains he gave, on hearing that he was busy repairing his priestly vestments, more than ten changes of chasubles of his own silk for the saying of ma.s.ses in the church which that priest then held.

At another time, hearing that one of his servants had lost much of his substance by theft, the king sent him in compensation for his loss twenty n.o.bles, advising him at the same time to be henceforth more careful in keeping his stuff, and not to take the law of the thief. See how mercy and truth met together, how righteousness and peace kissed each other, in the person of our earthly prince. O what loving pity and pitiful love to be found in a man!

The same prince when in the end he lost both the realms, England and France, which he had ruled before, along with all his wealth and goods, endured it with no broken spirit but with a calm mind, making light of all temporal things, if he might but gain Christ and things eternal.

Not only in the distribution of secular goods was he bountiful, but also in conferring ecclesiastical and spiritual benefices he was very wary, thoughtful, and discreet, lest he should give them to unworthy persons, or, as touched himself, in an unworthy, I mean a simoniacal, way, as was proved in those whom he did promote. From simony he was always free.