King Edward the Third | Page 3

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King Edward the Third

The Reign of King Edward the Third, attributed in part to William Shakespeare.
PERSONS REPRESENTED.
EDWARD THE THIRD, King of England. EDWARD, Prince of Wales, his Son. Earl of WARWICK. Earl of DERBY. Earl of SALISBURY. Lord AUDLEY. Lord PERCY. LODOWICK, Edward's Confident. Sir WILLIAM MOUNTAGUE. Sir JOHN COPLAND. Two ESQUIRES, and a HERALD, English. ROBERT, styling himself Earl, of Artois. Earl of MONTFORT, and GOBIN DE GREY. JOHN, King of France. CHARLES, and PHILIP, his Sons. Duke of LORRAIN. VILLIERS, a French Lord. King of BOHEMIA, Aid to King John. A POLISH CAPTAIN, Aid to King John. Six CITIZENS of Calais. A CAPTAIN, and A POOR INHABITANT, of the same. Another CAPTAIN. A MARINER. Three HERALDS; and Four other FRENCHMEN. DAVID, King of Scotland. Earl DOUGLAS; and Two MESSENGERS, Scotch.
PHILIPPA, Edward's Queen. Countess of SALISBURY. A FRENCH WOMAN.
Lords, and divers other Attendants; Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, &c.
Scene, dispers'd; in England, Flanders, and France.
ACT I. SCENE I. London. A Room of State in the Palace. Flourish.
[Enter King Edward, Derby, Prince Edward, Audley, and Artois.]
KING EDWARD. Robert of Artois, banished though thou be >From France, thy native Country, yet with us Thou shalt retain as great a Seigniorie: For we create thee Earl of Richmond here. And now go forwards with our pedigree: Who next succeeded Phillip le Bew?
ARTOIS. Three sons of his, which all successfully Did sit upon their father's regal Throne, Yet died, and left no issue of their loins.
KING EDWARD. But was my mother sister unto those?
ARTOIS. She was, my Lord; and only Isabel Was all the daughters that this Phillip had, Whom afterward your father took to wife; And from the fragrant garden of her womb Your gracious self, the flower of Europe's hope, Derived is inheritor to France. But note the rancor of rebellious minds: When thus the lineage of le Bew was out, The French obscured your mother's Privilege, And, though she were the next of blood, proclaimed John, of the house of Valois, now their king: The reason was, they say, the Realm of France, Replete with Princes of great parentage, Ought not admit a governor to rule, Except he be descended of the male; And that's the special ground of their contempt, Wherewith they study to exclude your grace: But they shall find that forged ground of theirs To be but dusty heaps of brittle sand. Perhaps it will be thought a heinous thing, That I, a French man, should discover this; But heaven I call to record of my vows: It is not hate nor any private wrong, But love unto my country and the right, Provokes my tongue, thus lavish in report. You are the lineal watchman of our peace, And John of Valois indirectly climbs; What then should subjects but embrace their King? Ah, where in may our duty more be seen, Than striving to rebate a tyrant's pride And place the true shepherd of our commonwealth?
KING EDWARD. This counsel, Artois, like to fruitful showers,