The journey of Henry and Gloucester to Calais was taken with the definite object of cementing an alliance with John the Fearless of Burgundy, and of drawing the vassal duke nearer to his imperial overlord. Ostensibly the matter of chief importance was a meeting with the envoys from the King of France, but as might be expected from their recent behaviour, the French asked ridiculously high terms, and the only result of the conference was a truce between the two countries till February 2, 1417.[173]

1416] GLOUCESTER AND COUNT OF CHAROLAIS

The way was thus cleared for negotiations with Burgundy, but the duke showed himself very doubtful of the good faith of the English, and demanded elaborate safeguards for his person if he came to Calais. This difficulty was removed, and on October 1 a safe conduct was given him for himself and 800 men, only half of whom were to come further than the gates of the city; Gloucester was to meet him at Gravelines, and remain with the Count of Charolais as hostage for his safety till his return.[174] Accordingly on October 3 the French ambassadors were dismissed by Henry, for one of the most prominent of them, the Archbishop of Rheims, was very obnoxious to Burgundy, and Humphrey prepared a ‘reasonable escort’ of some 800 men, who were to accompany him to the Burgundian court. At two o’clock on the morning of October 5 trumpets sounded in the English quarters, and the little band made ready to accompany the duke to Gravelines, all unarmed. About four o’clock they left the city, and followed by a crowd anxious to witness the meeting of the two dukes, they reached the banks of the river Aa between six and seven, just as the tide was at its lowest. Lord Camoys and Sir Robert Waterton were then sent over to secure a signed and sealed security for the safety of the English prince, and when this had been given the Burgundian troops came out and faced the English across the river. The retainers of both parties passed over first, and then the principals, with a touch of that mediæval ceremonial which characterised the men of the new age, rode into the water from the opposite sides, and shaking hands in mid-stream, passed on, Burgundy to be met by the Earl of Warwick and escorted to Calais, Gloucester to be received with every courtesy by the Count of Charolais, Burgundy’s eldest son and heir, with whom he went to St. Omer.[175]

For nine days these two men, whom fate was to bring into bitter hostility before many years had passed, lived together, and when the conference at Calais came to an end, it was with warm thanks for courteous entertainment that Gloucester took his leave.[176] Nevertheless a jarring note had been struck during this visit, for we read that on one occasion, when the Count came to visit his guest, Gloucester treated him with scant courtesy, ignoring his presence save for a formal salutation, and continuing his conversation with his friends.[177] This event is recorded by a man who knew the history of the Burgundian States from internal observation, and who recorded facts with a justice unusual amongst many of his contemporaries, and we need not be slow to credit the story, when we remember Humphrey’s naturally imperious disposition. That he disliked his commission is at least probable in the light of his past opposition to a Burgundian alliance, and we may well find here the seeds of that strong personal hostility which embittered the later disagreements of the two dukes. To believe this account does not necessitate the discrediting of the story that Gloucester gave formal thanks couched in extravagant terms for his treatment at St. Omer, as this would be only part of the ritual of courtesy which still dominated the relations of the great men of the time. On October 13 Burgundy and Gloucester once more appeared at Gravelines, and having observed the same procedure as on the first occasion, they returned to their respective quarters.[178]

No definite alliance had been made between Henry and Burgundy, but the first step had been taken towards that policy, which in the hands of that young Count, whom Gloucester had now met for the first time, was to bring such loss and disaster to France. The Emperor’s visit to England had borne no useful fruit. While the complications of his policy and his perpetual penury prevented any advantage to England from the Treaty of Canterbury, at Constance his position was only still more complicated than before by the support of his new English friends, and the honour of being enrolled a member of the Order of the Garter could not hide the failure of his policy. To Gloucester fell the duty of escorting Sigismund on the first stage of his homeward journey, and for this purpose he was provided with four large English ships. The Emperor and his men, however, hugged the coast in small boats, and left Humphrey to ride the high seas and protect them from harm, as they feared an attack from the French in revenge for the Treaty of Canterbury. Gloucester accompanied Sigismund as far as Dordrecht, and there the two princes parted with mutual compliments, and presents from the slightly replenished imperial treasury.[179] They were never to meet again.

1416] GLOUCESTER AND SIGISMUND

Sigismund and Gloucester have much in common. Both loved pomp and display, and had equally enjoyed the high festival which had marked the reception of the Emperor in England; both scandalised a none too particular age by the laxness of their morals; both were possessed of that charm of personality which so often accompanies a lack of moral stamina; both basked in the smiles of the bourgeois class. In their future life, too, both were to find themselves opposed to a faction which prated of constitutionalism, and schemed but for its own aggrandisement. But deep down in the roots of their mental attitude we see a great dissimilarity. Sigismund lived in a world of ideas conceived in the spirit of mediævalism; he looked to the past to correct the future. On the other hand, Gloucester had drunk deep of the new ideas, which had begun to influence men’s minds; he had grasped that spirit of nationalism, which was to sweep away the traditional forces of mediævalism, and give birth to the nations of Europe; he had experience of a campaign, in which the tactics and the weapons of a new era had been used; he was beginning to perceive the true significance of the rising importance of the middle classes. With all his selfishness and with all his instability of character, he had got the right idea, and the failure of his life, and the impolicy of many of his actions, will be found due, not to any misconception of his age, not to any inability to follow the trend of human thought, but to grave defects of character. Like Sigismund, he had great abilities, but unlike Sigismund, he could not follow the course he had mapped out for himself. His policy has a consistency we might not expect to find, but he was not a man whose active life in any way represented his ideals.

On October 16 Henry returned to England. He realised that peace was not possible so long as he maintained the justice of his claims on France, and that for the end he had in view the war must be prosecuted with the utmost vigour. Peace was desirable, but the only means of procuring it was to continue the war with redoubled energy; and such was the burden of the Chancellor’s speech when Parliament opened on October 19.[180]

Seeing no means of evading the demand, Parliament resigned itself to granting two subsidies for the carrying on of the war; so that by the beginning of the new year preparations were in full swing. Privy seals were issued to the nobility and gentry in order to ascertain the probable numbers of those who were willing to take part in the campaign, and in February the necessary indentures were prepared.[181] Orders for the strengthening of the navy were also issued, and it was hoped that the expedition would sail by May 1.[182] Gloucester was busy probably with his own preparations. Doubtless he was anxious to guarantee himself against possible loss, for he, along with many others, had not obtained full payment for the last campaign. He had returned the jewels which had been pledged to him for his second quarter’s pay, but the officials of the Exchequer had refused to pay him for the forty-eight days of that period which he had spent in England after his return. They argued that this time was not spent in the service of the King, and ignored his plea that he had been ready to remain in France and had had to pay his men for the full period.[183] However, he prepared his retinue, which seems to have consisted of 90 lances and 266 archers under the command of Reginald Cobham and William Beauchamp,[184] and by July he had arrived with the other units of the army at Southampton, the earlier date in May having been found impracticable in view of all that had to be done. By July 23 the preparations were complete. Bedford was appointed Regent, the King went on board his ship at Southampton, and the sails embroidered with the arms of England and France were hoisted for the voyage.[185]