History of the English People, Volume III | Page 5

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part in the overthrow of Richard, or had been more richly rewarded by
the new king. But old grudges existed between the house of Percy and
the house of Lancaster. The Earl of Northumberland had been at bitter
variance with John of Gaunt; and though a common dread of Richard's
enmity had thrown the Percies and Henry together the new king and his
powerful subjects were soon parted again. Henry had ground indeed for
distrust. The death of Richard left the young Mortimer, Earl of March,
next claimant in blood of the crown, and the king had shown his sense
of this danger by imprisoning the earl and his sisters in the Tower. But
this imprisonment made their uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, the
representative of their house; and Edmund withdrew to the Welsh
Marches, refusing to own Henry for king. The danger was averted by
the luck which threw Sir Edmund as a captive into the hands of Owen
Glyndwr in the battle of Brynglas. It was natural that Henry should
refuse to allow Mortimer's kinsmen to ransom so formidable an enemy;
but among these kinsmen Henry Percy ranked himself through his
marriage with Sir Edmund's sister, and the refusal served as a pretext
for a final breach with the king.
[Sidenote: Overthrow of the Percies]
Percy had withdrawn from the Welsh war in wrath at the inadequate
support which Henry gave him; and his anger had been increased by a
delay in repayment of the sums spent by his house in the contest with
Scotland, as well as by the king's demand that he should surrender the
Earl of Douglas whom he had taken prisoner at Homildon Hill. He now
became the centre of a great conspiracy to place the Earl of March upon
the throne. His father, the Earl of Northumberland, his uncle, Thomas
Percy, the Earl of Worcester, joined in the plot. Sir Edmund Mortimer
negotiated for aid from Owen Glyndwr; the Earl of Douglas threw in
his fortunes with the confederates; and Henry Percy himself crossed to
France and obtained promises of support. The war party had now
gained the upper hand at the French court; in 1403 preparations were
made to attack Calais, and a Breton fleet put to sea. At the news of its
presence in the Channel Henry Percy and the Earl of Worcester at once
rose in the north and struck across England to join Owen Glyndwr in
Wales, while the Earl of Northumberland gathered a second army and

advanced more slowly to their support. But Glyndwr was still busy
with the siege of Caermarthen, and the king by a hasty march flung
himself across the road of the Percies as they reached Shrewsbury. On
the twenty-third of July a fierce fight ended in the defeat of the rebel
force. Henry Percy was slain in battle, the Earl of Worcester taken and
beheaded; while Northumberland, who had been delayed by an army
under his rival in the north, Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, was thrown
into prison, and only pardoned on his protestations of innocence. The
quick, hard blow did its work. The young Earl of March betrayed the
plans of his partizans to purchase pardon. The Breton fleet, which had
defeated an English fleet in the Channel and made a descent upon
Plymouth, withdrew to its harbours; and though the Duke of Burgundy
was on the point of commencing the siege of Calais the plans of an
attack on that town were no more heard of.
[Sidenote: Henry's difficulties]
But the difficulty of Wales remained as great as ever. The
discouragement of Owen at the failure of the conspiracy of the Percies
was removed by the open aid of the French Court. In July 1404 the
French king in a formal treaty owned Glyndwr as Prince of Wales, and
his promises of aid gave fresh heart to the insurgents. What hampered
Henry's efforts most in meeting this danger was the want of money. At
the opening of 1404 the Parliament grudgingly gave a subsidy of a
twentieth, but the treasury called for fresh supplies in October, and the
wearied Commons fell back on their old proposal of a confiscation of
Church property. Under the influence of Archbishop Arundel the Lords
succeeded in quashing the project, and a new subsidy was voted; but
the treasury was soon as empty as before. Treason was still rife; the
Duke of York, who had played so conspicuous a part in Richard's day
as Earl of Rutland, was sent for a while to the Tower on suspicion of
complicity in an attempt of his sister to release the Earl of March; and
Glyndwr remained unconquerable.
[Sidenote: Turn of the tide]
But fortune was now beginning to turn. The danger from Scotland was
suddenly removed. King Robert resolved to