Royal Children Of English History Part 4

So they led him in and he was killed.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1356.]

The battle of Poictiers was fought entirely under the direction of the Black Prince, and this was another splendid victory to England; and in this battle the French king was taken. The king was brought to the Black Prince as he was resting in his tent, and he behaved like the true gentleman he was. He showed the deepest respect and sympathy for his vanquished foe. He ordered the best of suppers to be served to the king, and would not sit with him to eat, but stood behind his chair and waited on him like a servant, saying--"I am only a prince. It is not fitting I should sit in the presence of the king of France." And King John said--

"Since it has pleased Heaven that I am a captive, I thank my G.o.d I have fallen into the hands of the most generous and valiant prince alive."

King John was taken as a prisoner to London. They rode into the city, King John mounted on a beautiful white horse that belonged to the Black Prince, while Prince Edward himself, riding on a black pony, was ready to wait on him, and to do his bidding.

It was this generous temper which made the Black Prince beloved by all who knew him; it was only during his last illness that his character seemed to be changed by the great sufferings that he underwent, and it was only during the last year of his life that he did anything of which a king and an Englishman need be ashamed.

He seems to have inherited his skill in war from his father, and from his mother, Queen Philippa, he inherited gentleness, goodness, and true courtesy. There are many stories told of the goodness and courage of this lady. Among others, this:--

[Sidenote: A.D. 1347.]

When Edward the Third had besieged Calais for a year, the good town which had held out so long was obliged to surrender, for there was no longer anything to eat in the city, and the folks said: "It is as good to die by the hands of the English as to die here by famine like rats in a hole." So they sent to tell the king they would give up the town to him. But Edward the Third was so angry with them for having resisted him so long, that he said that they should all be hanged. Then Edward the Black Prince begged his father not to be so hard on brave men who had only done what they believed to be their duty, and entreated him to spare them. Then said the king--

"I will spare them on condition that six citizens, bare-headed and bare-footed, clad only in their shirts, with ropes round their necks, shall come forth to me here, bringing the keys of the city."

And when the men of Calais heard this, they said: "No; better to die than live a dishonoured life by giving up even one of these our brothers who have fought and suffered with us." But one of the chief gentlemen of Calais--Eustace de S. Pierre--said:

"It is good that six of us should win eternal glory in this world and the sunshine of G.o.d's countenance in the next, by dying for our town and our brethren. I, for one, am willing to go to the English king on such terms as he commands."

Then up rose his son and said likewise, and four other gentlemen, inspired by their courage, followed their example. So the six in their shirts, with ropes round their necks and the keys of the town in their hands, went out through the gates, and all the folk of Calais stood weeping and blessing them as they went. When they came to the king, he called for the hangman, saying--"Hang me these men at once."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

But Queen Philippa was there, and though she was ill, she left her tent weeping so tenderly that she could not stand upright. Therefore she cast herself upon her knees before the king, and spoke thus:--

"Ah, gentle sire, from the day I pa.s.sed over sea I have asked for nothing; now I pray you, for the love of Our Lady's son Christ, to have mercy on these."

King Edward waited for a while before speaking, and looked at the queen as she knelt, and he said--"Lady, I had rather you had been elsewhere.

You pray so tenderly that I dare not refuse you; and though I do it against my will, nevertheless take them. I give them to you."

Then took he the six citizens by the halters and delivered them to the queen, and released from death all those of Calais for the love of her.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

"THEREISNOTHINGIN FRANCETHATCANBEWON WITHADANCEORASONG."

HENRY the FIFTH and the BABY KING]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1399.]

HENRY the Fourth was the Black Prince's nephew, and he came to be king of England. His son was Henry the Fifth, the greatest of the Plantagenet kings. When he was a young man, and only Prince of Wales, he was very wild and fond of games and jokes. They used to call him Harry Madcap.

Once, when he got into some trouble or other, his father, who was ill, sent for him, and he went at once in a fine dress that he had had made for a fancy dress party. It was of light blue satin with odd puckers in the sleeves, and at every pucker the tailor had left a little bit of blue thread and a tag like a needle. The king was very angry with the prince for daring to come into the royal presence in such a silly coat.

Then Prince Harry said--

"Dear father, as soon as I heard that you wanted me, I was in such a hurry to come to you that I had no time to even think of my coat, much less change it."

And so the king forgave him.

Another time one of his servants got into trouble and was taken before the Chief Judge Sir William Gascoyne. The Prince went directly to the Court where the judge was and said--

"Lord Judge, this is my servant, and you must let him go, for I am the king's son."

"No," said the judge, "I sit here in the place of the king himself, to do justice to all his subjects, and were this man the Prince of Wales himself, instead of being his servant, he should be punished in that he has offended against the law."

The prince was so angry that he actually forgot himself so far as to strike Sir William Gascoyne. The good judge did not hesitate a minute.

"You have insulted the king himself," he said, "in my person, since I sit here in his place to do justice. The common folks who offend against the law offend merely against the king; but you, young man, are a double traitor to your king and your father."

And he sent the prince to prison.

Henry begged the good judge's pardon afterwards, and when he came to the throne he thanked him for having behaved so justly and wisely, and gave him great honour because he had not been afraid to do his duty without respect of rank, and Henry behaved to the judge like a good son to a good father.

No king of England was ever more wise or brave or just than Henry the Fifth; and even now he is remembered with affection. One of Shakespeare's most splendid plays is written about him, and, when you have once read that, you will always remember and love Henry the Fifth as all Englishmen should do.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1413.]

At the very beginning of his reign the wars with France began again. The king sent to France and claimed some lands that had belonged to Edward the Third; and the young prince of France sent back the message--"There is nothing in France that can be won with a dance or a song. You cannot get dukedoms in France by playing and feasting, and the prince sends you something that will suit you better than lands in France. He has sent you a barrel of tennis b.a.l.l.s, and bids you play with them and let serious matters be." Then King Henry was very angry, and said--"We thank him for his present.

When we have matched our rackets to these b.a.l.l.s, We will in France, by G.o.d's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

Before I was King of England I was wild and merry because I knew not how great and solemn a state waited for me. I have played in my youth like a common man because I was only Prince of Wales; but now that I am King of England I will rise up with so full of glory that I will dazzle all the eyes of France."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Henry sailed over to France and besieged a town called Harfleur. He spoke to the soldiers before they attacked the town.

"Break down the wall and go through," he said, "or close the wall up with our English dead.

Bend every spirit To his full height. On, on, you n.o.blest English, Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war proof.

Be copy now to men of grosser blood And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen, Whose limbs were made in England, let us swear That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not; Cry G.o.d for Harry, England and Saint George."

The Englishmen answered n.o.bly to his appeal, and Harfleur was taken.

Then the English advanced to a place called Agincourt, a name fated to be linked with splendid glory for ever in the hearts of all English folk. The French had a very large army, and the English soldiers were tired with their long march. Many of them were ill and many were hungry; but they loved the king, and for his sake, and for the sake of their country, they were brave in spite of hunger and cold. Though they were in a strange country and many times outnumbered by their foes, they kept up a brave heart as Englishmen have done, thank G.o.d, many's the good time, all the world over. So few were they that the Earl of Westmoreland said, just before the battle,--

"Oh, that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day!"

The king came in just as he was saying this, and said--