King Henry V | Page 5

this imperial
throne. There is no bar
To make against your Highness' claim to
France
But this, which they produce from Pharamond:
"In terram
Salicam mulieres ne succedant,"
"No woman shall succeed in Salique
land;"
Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze
To be the
realm of France, and Pharamond
The founder of this law and female
bar.
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm
That the land Salique is
in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe;
Where
Charles the Great, having subdu'd the Saxons,
There left behind and
settled certain French;
Who, holding in disdain the German women

For some dishonest manners of their life,
Establish'd then this law, to
wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salique land;
Which Salique,
as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen.

Then doth it well appear the Salique law
Was not devised for the
realm of France;
Nor did the French possess the Salique land
Until
four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of King
Pharamond,
Idly suppos'd the founder of this law,
Who died within
the year of our redemption
Four hundred twenty-six; and Charles the
Great
Subdu'd the Saxons, and did seat the French
Beyond the river
Sala, in the year
Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,
King
Pepin, which deposed Childeric,
Did, as heir general, being descended
Of Blithild, which was
daughter to King Clothair,
Make claim and title to the crown of
France.
Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown
Of Charles the
Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male
Of the true line and stock of Charles
the Great,

To find his title with some shows of truth,
Though, in
pure truth, it was corrupt and naught,
Convey'd himself as the heir to
the Lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son
To
Lewis the Emperor, and Lewis the son
Of Charles the Great. Also,

King Lewis the Tenth,
Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,

Could not keep quiet in his conscience,
Wearing the crown of France,
till satisfied
That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,
Was lineal of
the Lady Ermengare,
Daughter to Charles, the foresaid Duke of
Lorraine;
By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great
Was
re-united to the crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the summer's
sun,
King Pepin's title and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his
satisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female.
So
do the kings of France unto this day,
Howbeit they would hold up this
Salique law
To bar your Highness claiming from the female,
And
rather choose to hide them in a net
Than amply to imbar their crooked
titles
Usurp'd from you and your progenitors.
KING HENRY.
May I with right and conscience make this claim?
CANTERBURY.
The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!
For in
the book of Numbers is it writ,
When the man dies, let the inheritance

Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,
Stand for your own!
Unwind your bloody flag!
Look back into your mighty ancestors!

Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb,
From whom you
claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great-uncle's, Edward the
Black Prince,
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making
defeat on the full power of France,
Whiles his most mighty father on
a hill
Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp
Forage in blood of
French nobility.
O noble English, that could entertain
With half
their forces the full pride of France
And let another half stand
laughing by,
All out of work and cold for action!
ELY.
Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,
And with your
puissant arm renew their feats.
You are their heir; you sit upon their
throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them
Runs in your
veins; and my thrice-puissant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his
youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.

EXETER.
Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth
Do all
expect that you should rouse yourself,
As did the former lions of your
blood.
WESTMORELAND.
They know your Grace hath cause and means
and might;
So hath your Highness. Never King of England
Had
nobles richer, and more loyal subjects,
Whose hearts have left their
bodies here in England
And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.
CANTERBURY.
O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,
With
blood and sword and fire to win your right;
In aid whereof we of the
spiritualty
Will raise your Highness such a mighty sum
As never
did the clergy at one time
Bring in to any of your ancestors.
KING HENRY.
We must not only arm to invade the French,
But
lay down our proportions to defend
Against the Scot, who will make
road upon us
With all advantages.
CANTERBURY.
They of those marches, gracious sovereign,
Shall
be a wall sufficient to defend
Our inland from the pilfering borderers.
KING HENRY.
We do not mean the coursing snatchers only,
But
fear the main intendment of the Scot,
Who hath been still a giddy
neighbour to us;
For you shall read that my great-grandfather
Never
went with his forces into France
But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd
kingdom
Came pouring, like the tide into a breach,
With ample and
brim fullness of his force,
Galling the gleaned land with hot assays,

Girdling with grievous siege castles and towns;
That England, being
empty of defence,
Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood.
CANTERBURY.
She