Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography

by Kenneth Hotham Vickers

1421] JACQUELINE OF HAINAULT

It was fated that England should be interested in the affairs of Hainault and Holland for some time to come, and the whole history of this interest is bound up with the story of Gloucester’s infatuation for Jacqueline, Countess of Holland, Zealand, and Hainault. This lady was daughter and heiress of that Count William who visited England whilst the Emperor Sigismund was in the country.[368] She had lost her father and her first husband John, Dauphin of France, within a few weeks of each other during the spring of the year 1417. With no natural protector, she had been left to face the factions of Hooks and Cods in her patrimony, and between them there was bitter strife; the former being the supporters of her late father, and the latter his bitter opponents.[369] But in the politics of these states of the Low Countries there was a still more potent factor than the internal divisions of party feuds. John, Duke of Burgundy, devoted his life to consolidating his territorial power, as well as in advancing claims to political ascendency in France, and in furtherance of the former ambitions he desired to add the inheritance of Jacqueline to his already extensive possessions. Not only would this acquisition strengthen his hands by increasing his territory, but it would also increase his line of seacoast in Zealand and Holland, and serve to join up his southern and northern possessions. Thus he would be able to show a stronger front to the Emperor, who regarded the increased power of his nominal vassal on the confines of the empire as a threatening danger.

With the direct object of attaining this end, John the Fearless set himself to arrange a marriage between Jacqueline and her neighbour the Duke of Brabant, hoping thereby to bring about a childless match and the acquisition to himself of the coveted territory, which, in the absence of children, he would inherit. In this project he was supported by the Princess’s mother, Margaret, [Dowager-Countess] of Hainault, who was his sister.[370] John of Brabant was a despicable weakling, much older than his proposed bride, and possessing qualities which would make the life of a young and spirited woman wholly unbearable. However, considerations of policy induced her relatives to force Jacqueline into this undesirable alliance, with the result which might have been expected. John fell entirely into the hands of his Brabançon followers, who induced him to add insult to the neglect with which he treated his young wife, and the culminating-point was reached when in Jacqueline’s absence he arranged for the disposal of her territory for a term of years to John of Bavaria.[371]

Among her few faithful followers the unhappy Countess found one whom the chronicler names ‘Robessart lord of Escaillon,’ who, though a Hainaulter by origin, was English in sympathies.[372] Doubtless he was one of that family of Robsarts of which more than one served in the French wars.[373] It was the Lord of Escallion who befriended Jacqueline when she fled from the insults of her husband to Valenciennes, and it was to him that she confided her intention to turn to England for help. He received the news with joy, and encouraged the idea, painting this land, which was unknown to his liege lady, in the brightest colours, not forgetting to lay emphasis on those brothers of Henry V., who were yet unmarried. At the same time he undertook to arrange her escape thither, so that she might safely reach Calais before any one knew of her intentions, and together they matured their plans.[374]

1421] JACQUELINE ARRIVES IN ENGLAND

In thus determining to throw herself on the mercy of Henry, Jacqueline was appealing to a relationship which dated back to Philippa, the wife of Edward III., and it is a sign that she had definitely determined to break with the husband whom she had never wanted to marry, and that she was in earnest in those preparations which she had already made for a divorce. If she had hopes of a third husband from amongst the brothers of Henry V., we must suppose that her past experiences had not taught her wisdom, and it is probably with a knowledge of subsequent events that one chronicler asserts an agreement of marriage with Humphrey before ever she left Valenciennes,[375] though the idea of an English alliance of this kind was quite natural, when we remember that Bedford had been a candidate for her hand in 1418.[376] Be this as it may, Jacqueline and her friend Escallion made their preparations for flight to Calais. Already on March 1, 1421, Henry had granted a passport to herself and her mother to visit her territories in Ponthieu, and this carried with it the right to enter Calais.[377] It was therefore probably in April that she told her mother at Valenciennes that she would leave her for a few days while she paid a visit to Bouchain. She had left the town but a short distance on this proposed journey when Escallion met her with a company of sixty men, and took her under his protection. Together they made for Calais, where they arrived at the end of the second day after leaving Valenciennes, and were courteously received as though their arrival had been expected. From Calais Jacqueline sent messengers to Henry to ask permission to land on the shores of England, and meanwhile spent the interval which must elapse before an answer could be received in quiet repose, mounting the bastions daily, and gazing across to the white cliffs of Dover, dreaming of the land and of the men of whom she had heard such glowing accounts, and welcoming every sail that appeared on the horizon as the bearer of the desired permission to put the truth of these stories to the test. At length a warm welcome was brought from King Henry, and with bright hopes the princess crossed the Channel, to be met at Dover by one of those unmarried brothers of the English King of whom she had been told.[378] For it fell to the lot of Humphrey, as Warden of the Cinque Ports, to meet this distinguished visitor, just as some five years before he had met the Emperor Sigismund. It was a meeting fraught with great consequences for both parties concerned. Little did the light-hearted Humphrey think, when he placed his charge on her palfrey, and escorted her to London, that he had met a woman who would deeply affect his destinies, and earn him the reputation of putting his private ambitions before the public weal.

Henry emphasised his hearty invitation to Jacqueline by the marked graciousness of his reception of her; and though he was on the eve of departure to France, he promised to help her, and made arrangements, completed on July 10, that £100 a month should be allotted to the Countess so long as she remained in England.[379] To Henry belongs the responsibility of bringing her over, and we cannot doubt that he saw the political significance of his action. He knew the state of affairs in the Low Countries, and he looked on the discontented Countess as a valuable asset in his schemes of French conquest; through her he might obtain some hold on his shifty ally Burgundy, who, like his father, looked to inherit the much-desired districts of Zealand, Holland, and Hainault. Whether he had hopes of a divorce for Jacqueline so that she might marry one of his brothers is doubtful—he was too near the end of his career for us to be able to fathom his intentions with regard to her; but that he was responsible for her presence in England, and consequently also partly responsible for the results of this visit, cannot be denied.[380] As for Humphrey, we have nothing to tell us of the growth of his plans, or of his first impressions of Jacqueline. It was probably towards the end of April that he first saw her, and it is unlikely that he had any time for love-making before his departure for France. It is therefore improbable that the project which later took shape in his expedition to Hainault had occurred to him when he left England, for he had probably never met the lady before, though he had known her father, and his attention was at this time concentrated on the French campaign.[381]

1421] THIRD FRENCH CAMPAIGN

As Warden, Humphrey had to see that the Barons of the Cinque Ports provided ships to the number of fifty-seven for the transport of the army;[382] at the same time he was busy collecting his own contingent. He entered into indentures with the King for one hundred lances, with their complement of archers, which would bring the numbers up to about four hundred men according to the usual computation; but he had not a full contingent by the time he left England.[383] However, he received reinforcements from England all through the campaign,[384] and by July his men were in full force.[385] On May 26 his passport was signed,[386] and he probably then went down to Dover to supervise the preparations for embarkation, which were ordered to begin on May 27.[387] Exactly a fortnight later Henry sailed from Dover, and landed the same day at Calais,[388] accompanied by Gloucester and the Earls of March and Warwick, with rather over a thousand men.[389]

The defeat at Beaugé had not been without its effect both in encouraging the French and in distressing the English. It had not been easy to raise men in England, as Gloucester had found, and it was necessary in many cases to resort to impressment. Accordingly Henry took the precaution of sending his ships back to England, for fear that deserters from his army might by their help regain their native land.[390] In Normandy the Earl of Salisbury had done something to restore the prestige of the English arms; but round Paris the French were becoming very dangerous, for the Dauphin was threatening Chartres and an advance on the capital.[391] Under these conditions Henry abandoned the idea of spending some time in Picardy, and the whole army marched down the seacoast to Abbeville. Here the passage of the Somme would have been disputed had it not been for the good offices of the Duke of Burgundy, who had joined the army at Montreuil, and induced the citizens of Abbeville to allow the English to pass.[392] Without any pause Henry pushed on by way of Beauvais to Gisors, where he left the army under the command of Gloucester, and went on to Paris to consult with Exeter.[393] Gloucester took the army to Mantes, where the King rejoined him, and Burgundy, who had left the English at Abbeville, also came up with reinforcements. Henry had hoped to bring the Dauphin to fight a pitched battle, but on his way to Mantes he learned with great regret that the French had raised the siege of Chartres and had retired into Touraine.[394] With a clear field before him Henry determined to besiege Dreux, a strong castle near the Norman border, which had been harassing its neighbours for some time.