Humphrey’s wound was not so long in healing as might have been expected,[145] and he was soon back in England. Henceforward he was one of the King’s trusty warriors, and the war indeed was to monopolise most of his time for the next few years, though for the present there was a cessation. In the meantime he received the reward of his services. Part of the forfeited estates of the late Earl of Cambridge, executed at Southampton, the adjoining manors of Bristol and Barton, were given to him for himself and his heirs male, while he added the castle and lordship of Llanstephan to his already extensive possessions in South Wales.[146] Moreover, the death of the Earl of Arundel in October had rendered vacant the post of Constable of Dover and Warden of the Cinque Ports, an office which the King conferred on his youngest brother within four days of his return to London.[147] Evidently the appointment had been made before the letters-patent were signed, since we find reference to Gloucester as Constable and Warden in a petition of the Parliament before Henry’s return.[148] Towards the end of the year Humphrey was created Lord of the Isle of Wight and of Carisbrooke,[149] and in January he became Warden and Chief-Justice in Eyre of the Royal Forests, Parks, and Warrens south of the Trent.[150] Henry was evidently well pleased with his brother’s conduct in the recent campaign, and had therefore increased his importance and placed him in a position of greater trust. The Isle of Wight and the Cinque Ports were an important charge, in view of the French war now in progress.
1416] THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND
A lull in the French war gave Gloucester a period of rest before continuing the martial career on which he had now entered. While Burgundy intrigued against Armagnac influence in France, the chief figure in the political horizon of the two warring nations was Sigismund of Luxemburg, King of the Romans and Emperor elect. Sigismund had become Margrave of Brandenburg at the death of his father, the Emperor Charles IV., and King of Hungary on the death of Lewis the Great by reason of his marriage with Mary, the daughter of that monarch. As his brother Wenzel’s weakness had induced the electors to choose another Emperor, Sigismund, who had been selected for this honour, though nominally only King of the Romans at this time, bore the burden of the imperial duties, and was generally recognised as Holy Roman Emperor. He had conceived a great and far-reaching policy, which included the unification of Christendom in one fraternal bond of love, and a crusade against the Turk, who was threatening the Eastern borders of Western Europe. To this end he had secured the deposition of Pope John XXIII. as a step towards removing the scandal of two claimants to papal honours, and he now had turned his attention to the reconciliation of France and England, as part of his larger policy of Christian unity. To this end he had left the Council of Constance to visit these two countries, and to try the effects of his personal mediation.[151] Graciously received at Paris, he had nevertheless soon found that the gospel of peace was there preached to deaf ears, and driven thence by the hostility of the mob which had risen against him, he set his face towards England, reaching Calais at the end of April, and Dover on the 30th of that month.[152]
As soon as the contemplated visit of the Emperor had become known in England, preparations had been made for his reception. Early in April Gloucester, as Warden of the Cinque Ports, had been commissioned to send ships to Calais to bring over the imperial visitor,[153] and careful arrangements were made for the journey between Dover and London, with a special prohibition against charging the visitors for anything they required,[154] a most welcome provision for the penurious Sigismund, who, far more than his contemporary Frederick of Austria, deserved the nickname ‘mit den leeren Taschen.’ Gloucester, accompanied by the Earl of Salisbury and Lords Harrington and Furnival—the latter more recognisable under his later title of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury—went down to meet Sigismund at Dover, where the castle was made ready for his reception.[155] This was the Duke’s first official visit to the Cinque Ports, and the occasion was celebrated by a solemn reception at the Shepway, and a present of £100 from the towns under his command.[156]
1416] SIGISMUND IN ENGLAND
On the arrival of the Emperor at Dover, so says a sixteenth-century chronicler, Humphrey was the chief actor in a picturesque ceremony. Riding into the water with drawn sword before Sigismund had disembarked, he demanded whether he came merely on a friendly visit, or in his imperial capacity to claim suzerainty over the country; and it was not till a denial of all imperial rights over King Henry had been given that the visitor was allowed to land.[157] Though no contemporary writer mentions this event, there is a strong presumption of truth in the story. There are traces of the legend earlier than Holinshed,[158] and it seems very likely that some precaution should be taken, in view of Sigismund’s well-known claims to the allegiance of all Europe. Only a short time before he had exasperated French national feeling by knighting a plaintiff before the Parlement de Paris to secure his right to plead, and it was universally suspected—with considerable justice too—that imperial aggrandisement, as much as his desire for peace, had prompted Sigismund’s European tour.[159] Finally, the fact that the Emperor spent a whole day on board his ship at Dover before disembarking helps to strengthen the probability that some kind of negotiation took place, and that Holinshed’s story is true, and based on some authority which we have now unfortunately lost.
The landing was accomplished on the evening of May 1, and next day Gloucester escorted his charge as far as Canterbury, where the Archbishop welcomed the visitor. The following day, being Sunday, was spent in the Cathedral city, and on Tuesday the cavalcade moved on, being met at Rochester by Bedford, and at Dartford by Clarence. The King himself, with an escort of 5000 gentlemen, and accompanied by the Mayor and Aldermen of London in ‘rede gownes,’ received Sigismund at Blackheath, and with great pomp and circumstance the four Lancastrian brothers brought their guest through the city to Westminster.[160]
Henry had adjourned Parliament till Sigismund’s arrival, hoping to have its help in the ratification of a peace with France, which the French Embassy that came over in the train of the Emperor seemed to promise.[161] It is probable, therefore, that Sigismund was present at the reopening of the session; but no business of importance was undertaken, and when Gloucester with other of the lords had given his guarantee for the repayment of a loan, the meeting was dissolved.[162] On Rogation Sunday, May 24, the feast of St. George, which had been postponed till the arrival of the Emperor, was celebrated, and Sigismund was admitted to the Order of the Garter, attending High Mass in St. George’s Chapel, and the subsequent banquet in honour of the occasion.[163] Gloucester was amongst those who received robes of the order on this occasion, and with him we find William, Count of Holland, the father of the lady he was afterwards to marry.[164] Count William had been summoned by the Emperor to assist in the peace negotiations by reason of his relations with the French court, the Dauphin being his son-in-law; but his stay in England was cut short by the refusal of Sigismund to grant the investiture of his inheritance to his only child, Jacqueline, a refusal which induced him to withdraw in a rage.[165]
1416] SIGISMUND RETURNS HOME
In spite of the splendour of the feastings at Windsor,[166] the object of the imperial visit was not forgotten, but though Henry was ready to come to terms, the Armagnac faction at Paris opposed all efforts towards peace. A French attack on Harfleur and the Isle of Wight[167] threw Sigismund into the arms of the English, and on August 15 a treaty of alliance between King and Emperor was signed at Canterbury.[168] Meantime Bedford had been despatched to relieve Harfleur, in which he was entirely successful,[169] and he returned on September 4 to find that Henry, accompanied by Gloucester, had crossed to Calais, whither Sigismund had preceded them, carrying with him the maledictions of the London citizens for his failure to procure peace,[170] but himself leaving behind him a nattering record of the pleasant time he had had in England.[171] His mission had failed in its object, but writers of both nations agree that the fault lay not with the English but with the French.[172]