HENRY'S BOYHOOD 1387-1399

WHEN John of Gaunt espoused his son as a boy of thirteen to the little Mary de Bohun, younger daughter and co-heiress of the last of the old Earls of Hereford, he added yet another to the many ancient titles that found their representation in the House of Lancaster. But otherwise the match was of little public interest; there was no great likelihood that Henry of Bolingbroke would ever ascend the throne, and none could foretell the splendid destiny that awaited the offspring of his marriage. It is not, therefore, remarkable that the birth of Henry of Monmouth passed unnoticed in the records of the time. The very date is indeed uncertain. A late writer and a foreigner is the first to give the exact day, 9th August, 1387. The date thus assigned may, however, be accepted with tolerable confidence; it is in part confirmed by the wardrobe accounts of Henry, Earl of Derby, for the year 1387-88, where mention is made of the purchase of a demi-gown for the young Henry, and also of the birth of his next brother, Thomas.

The barrenness of historical records is compensated for by the traditions that gathered round the birthplace of the future King. At Goodrich it was told how the herald who brought the news from Monmouth was thrown from his horse and killed as he toiled up the rugged hill that leads to the castle; and how Henry of Bolingbroke, -- whom the legend makes already King, -- hurrying from Windsor, learnt the news of his son's birth through the joyous salutation of the boatmen at Goodrich Ferry. At Courtfield another legend finds the home of Henry's nurse, and a cradle traditionally believed to be his was preserved there within the last century.

More authentic history tells us that Henry's nurse was called Johanna Waring, as we learn from the grant of an annuity of £20 which the young King, ever mindful of his friends, made to her in the first year of his reign. His mother, after bearing her husband three other sons and two daughters, died when only four-and-twenty in July, 1394. His father was often absent from England and can have seen but little of Henry and his brothers. So the young Henry's childhood, after the manner of the time, must have been passed chiefly in the care of servants at one or another of his grandfather's manors or castles, at Hertford, Kenilworth, or Tutbury. At the end of 1395 there was some talk of a marriage for the little Prince with Mary, daughter of Duke John IV. of Brittany. But private records have more to tell of the childhood of Henry of Monmouth than can be found in state-papers. The accounts of the Duchy of Lancaster supply us with a variety of details bearing on Henry's boyhood. Thomas Pye has "6s. 8d. for a horse hired at London on 18 March 1395 to go with all speed to Leicester on account of the illness of my lord Henry." Other items are for soap and shoes, for cloaks and mantles, black straw hats, scarlet caps and green russet gowns for the little princes. In February, 1396, there comes "4s. for seven books of grammar bought at London for the young lord Henry." Next year we find "8d. by the hand of Adam Gastron for harpstrings for the harp of the young lord Henry." In the same year Stephen Furbour has 12d. for a new scabbard, and Margaret Stranson of London "1s. 6d. for three quarters of an ounce of tissue of black silk for the sword of the young lord Henry."

These details, trifling in themselves, are enough to show that Henry's education received careful attention. Tradition says that he spent some time at Oxford under the charge of his uncle, Henry Beaufort. The room over the ancient gateway of Queen's College opposite St. Edmund Hall long bore an inscription declaring that it had once been the modest chamber of the future lord of Britain and conqueror of Gaul. It is probable enough that Henry should have been under his uncle's care at Oxford during the year that Beaufort was Chancellor of the University in 1398. But beyond this there is no evidence either to confirm or disprove the tradition. However, Henry was but a boy of eleven at the time; and though in after life he showed some interest in the welfare of the University, his residence at Oxford can have had little influence on his character. It is of more interest to note the probability that the future King had thus early come into close relations with his kinsmen the Beauforts.

For other reasons the year 1398 was a memorable one in the history of the House of Lancaster. On 23rd February the Duke of Norfolk had denounced Henry of Bolingbroke, now Duke of Hereford, as a traitor. A court of chivalry ordered the dispute to be decided by single combat. On the appointed day, 16th September, when the rivals had already entered the lists at Coventry, King Richard stopped all further action and condemned them both to banishment. Norfolk's sentence was for life; Hereford's for ten years. In the following February John of Gaunt, the old Duke of Lancaster, died, and the King, breaking his promise to his cousin, banished him forever, and confiscated his estates. But at the same time a sum of £500 a year was provided for the maintenance of the young Henry of Monmouth. Richard, who, whatever other faults he possessed, was a man of kindly feeling, took the boy under his own care, and kept him about his Court. Policy may have dictated the detention of the young Prince, but a feeling of genuine affection appears to have sprung up between him and the King. Richard was often heard to repeat an old prophecy to the effect that "a prince of the name of Henry will be born in England who, through the nobility of his character and the splendid greatness of his achievements, will illumine the whole world with the rays of his glory." Whether from a spirit of unconscious prescience, or from some peculiar liking that he had for the boy, the King would add: "And verily do I believe that this young Henry here will be he."

On 29th May, 1399, Richard went over to Ireland to quell the insurrection of a chief called MacMurrogh. He took with him his cousins Henry of Monmouth and Humphrey of Gloucester. Humphrey's father was the ill-fated Thomas of Woodstock, his mother was the elder sister of Mary de Bohun. The expedition landed at Waterford on 31st May, and on the morning of St. John's eve marched out against MacMurrogh. The Irish retreated into the woods without fighting, whereupon Richard ordered their villages to be fired. Whilst this was being done he had a space cleared on all sides and his standard erected.

"Then out of pure and entire affection he called to him the son of the Duke of Lancaster, who was a fair young bachelor and handsome. And so he dubbed him knight saying: 'My fair cousin, be henceforth gallant and brave, for little bravery wilt thou have unless thou dost conquer.' And the more to honor and encourage him by adding to his happiness and pleasure, and to the end, that he might remember it the better, he made yet other knights, eight or ten; but indeed I know not their names."

The warfare with MacMurrogh was attended with little success, and after a while Richard went on to Dublin. He could hardly have reached that city, when early in July the news came that Henry of Lancaster had landed at Ravenspur to claim his inheritance. Richard at once sent the Earl of Salisbury back to England, but unhappily for his fortunes delayed his own departure nearly three weeks. Before he left Dublin he called young Henry to his presence and said: "Henry, my boy, see what thy father hath done to me! He hath invaded my land and put my subjects to death without mercy. Certes, am I sorry for thee, since through these unhappy doings thou wilt perchance lose thine inheritance." Henry, though but a boy, replied in a manner beyond his years. "In truth, my gracious lord and King, I am greatly grieved at these rumors. But I believe your lordship understands that I am innocent of my father's deed." "Yes," answered Richard, "I know that thou hast no part in thy father's crime, and therefore I hold thee excused of it."

On Richard's departure Henry and his cousin Humphrey were sent for safe custody to the castle of Trim in Meath. Meantime the King's late coming to England had "robbed him of his friends, his fortune, and his state." On 19th August Richard made his submission to his rival at Flint, and accompanied him as a prisoner first to Chester and then to London. A Parliament was at once summoned in Richard's name to meet at Westminster on 30th September. On the previous day a committee of Henry's supporters obtained from the King his formal renunciation of the crown, and when the Lords and Commons assembled the throne was left vacant. After Richard had been solemnly declared unfit to govern, the Duke of Lancaster claimed the crown as descended in the right line from Henry III. The Estates gave their assent to his election, and Archbishop Arundel, taking him by the right hand, seated him on the throne.

Before the Duke of Lancaster left Chester he had sent one Henry Dryhurst to bring his son over from Ireland. The young Prince probably joined his father in London before the end of September. At all events he was present on 6th October, when the Parliament that had been summoned in Richard's name met for the second time as the Parliament of the new King. On Sunday, 12th October, in preparation for his coronation on the following day, the King made forty-five new knights. At the head of the list were Henry of Monmouth -- in apparent disregard of his previous knighting by Richard -- and his three brothers. In the afternoon the King went in procession from the Tower to Westminster. Before him rode the new-made knights clad in cloaks of green cut after a priestly fashion. On the Monday Henry was solemnly...