Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography

by Kenneth Hotham Vickers

1424] RECEPTION AT MONS

Both the Dowager Margaret and the Count of St. Pol, Brabant’s younger brother, had done their utmost to avert the invasion of Hainault by Gloucester,[531] and the former had sent an urgent embassy to England for this purpose, to the expenses of which the various towns had contributed;[532] but when all chances of keeping the peace had passed away, she threw in her lot with her daughter, and seems to have entered into cordial relations with her new-found son-in-law.[533] The Mons embassy was therefore sent in vain, and in reply to their request the citizens learnt that the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their mother intended to enter their capital in triumph on the following Sunday.[534] Resistance was out of the question when on Monday the 27th Humphrey, with a force of about 5000 men, and accompanied by Jacqueline and her mother, left Crespin and appeared before the gates of the city. Making the beat of a bad business, the citizens determined to welcome their princess and her new husband, but they steadfastly refused to admit the whole army within the walls. After some discussion it was arranged that the soldiers should find accommodation in the suburbs outside the fortifications, and that an escort of not more than 300 horse should be admitted within the city, among which there were hardly any English, their number being mainly made up of the Dowager’s Hainault troopers, whom she had brought with her to swell the invading army.[535]

Thus early was Gloucester brought face to face with the fact that his wife’s subjects did not regard him as the saviour of their country, but rather as a foreign intruder, and one whose intentions were suspected. Yet, however suspicious they might be of Humphrey’s intentions, the men of Mons had quickly made up their minds to accept the inevitable and to make the best of it. On the Tuesday they waited on their lady and her husband at the Naasterhof, where they were lodged, and paid their respects to them, presenting the former with two butts of wine, the one idea of an acceptable present in the Netherlands of the fifteenth century, it would seem. At the same time the Estates of Hainault were summoned to meet on December 1, and the interval was spent by Gloucester in exploring the city. On the Wednesday he accompanied his wife on a visit to the garden of the archery guild, where he gave six nobles towards the completion of the chapel; thence they went to see the view from the hill in the park, and finished their tour of inspection at the castle.[536]

1424] RECOGNITION OF MARRIAGE

On the day appointed the Estates assembled at the Naasterhof at ten o’clock in the morning, and the business of the meeting was begun by a speech from Jan Lorfevre,[537] ‘subprior of the church of the scholars,’ who was appointed to set forth the grounds upon which Jacqueline and Gloucester based their united claims to the estates of the late Count William of Holland. The arguments he used against the marriage of the princess and the Duke of Brabant were the same as had been laid before the court of arbitration, and he added that Jacqueline had always disliked the alliance, and bitterly repented her of the sin she had committed in ever consenting to it. For this sin she had done penance, both in monetary payments and in bodily sufferings, and had received absolutions; then after having consulted several famous Italian ecclesiastics and other wise men as to the legality of the proceeding, she had married the Duke of Gloucester. In the light of these facts, as here set forth, she now demanded that her husband should be recognised as Regent and Protector of Hainault by reason of this marriage.[538] The Hainaulters were now compelled to make a definite decision between the two parties, and it seemed obvious to many that their only means of safety, for the present at any rate, was to acknowledge Humphrey to be the true and only husband of Jacqueline, and to throw in their lot with the party which could command the five thousand or more soldiers encamped hard by. Nevertheless, there was a strong minority which objected strongly to the English prince, and showed its objection by abstention from the meeting of the Estates. It was therefore three days before a quorum could be secured to transact any business, but finally on December 4 the Estates determined to recognise their lady’s last marriage, and to send letters to the Duke of Brabant renouncing all allegiance to him.[539] Thus Hainault officially decided to support the claims of Gloucester, though Holland and Zealand, at a safe distance from the reach of his forces, refused to have any part in these proceedings, and threw in their lot with the Duke of Brabant.[540]

The Hainaulters, however, were by no means unanimous as to the step that had been taken. The hesitation of so many members of the Estates was a reflection of the attitude of the whole county, and there was still ample evidence that there was no abatement of the feud of Hook and Cod, which distinguished the supporters of Jacqueline from their hereditary enemies. Though the towns might follow the lead of the Estates, and yield a grudging acknowledgment of their lady’s claims, there was still a very powerful nobility to be counted with, of which body prominent members openly defied the new ruler. Whilst the nobles as a whole dissembled their opposition, there were certain notable exceptions to this rule, for the Count of Conversan, his kinsman Messire Engilbert d’Edingen, and the Lord of Jeumont refused to accept the new state of affairs, and declared themselves firm adherents of the Brabant cause.[541]

To all appearance, however, Humphrey’s power was supreme, and he decided to make a tour of inspection round the towns which had accepted his rule, even as Jacqueline herself had done when she first succeeded to her inheritance. He first took the oaths in the name of his wife as Countess, and for himself as governor of the county at Mons on December 5, receiving the usual present of wine after the ceremony,[542] and then, having appointed the Lord of Hainau to be bailiff of Hainault,[543] he left for Soignies, where he renewed his oaths next day. In turn he visited Manbeuge, Le Quesnoy, and Valenciennes, promising to guard the citizens and to respect the laws, and receiving in exchange the acknowledgment of his position as regent.[544] All the other towns seem to have followed the lead of these principal cities, and yielded obedience to Humphrey,[545] but it must be noticed that the authority acknowledged was merely that of regent for his wife. Nowhere do we find a suggestion that Gloucester had any power of his own right, or that his description as Count of Hainault was anything but a titular honour, and it may be that it was hoped by this means to avert the intervention of the Duke of Burgundy. Under the present arrangement there would be no obstacle to prevent the Duke from acquiring the Hainault inheritance on Jacqueline’s death, except in the now improbable event of the birth of a child, and it is likewise possible that in taking this precaution both Count and Countess thought that they had averted all chance of Burgundian interference, in spite of the threats of Duke Philip at Paris, which we must suppose had reached their ears.

The bare acknowledgment of his position as regent to his wife did not satisfy Gloucester, who had not undertaken the assertion of her rights with any single-minded or chivalrous intention of giving justice to the wronged, and on his return to Mons he summoned the Estates of Hainault, and demanded a grant of forty thousand French gold crowns to recoup him for his expense in bringing an army to Hainault. To this demand the representatives of the towns demurred, for they had never asked for this army, with which they would much rather have dispensed, and a stormy debate on the subject on December 28 failed to result in any decision. On the following day, however, the delegates were brought to realise that, left to themselves, they would be helpless now that they had defied Brabant, and they agreed to the grant on condition that it was reduced by only counting forty ‘sols’ to the crown.[546]

This half-hearted consent to Gloucester’s demands was wrung from very unwilling subjects. The English troops were not popular in Hainault. They had shown themselves but little under control, and had fully justified the fears felt with regard to them when they first appeared outside Mons.[547] At Soignies Gloucester had received urgent messages from the capital, begging him not to allow any of his English troops, except those of his household, to re-enter the town,[548] and again at Valenciennes he had been requested to put some restraint on the ravages of his men.[549] Discontent at the outrages perpetrated by their so-called protectors was increased by the unsettled state of affairs, and the lack of energy displayed by the regent; at St. Ghislain his officers had been refused admission, though only accompanied by four men.[550] Moreover, Gloucester’s authority was defied, at least in one instance, on the plea that a grant by Jacqueline overruled his commands.[551] Thus the oaths which Gloucester had sworn to keep law and order in the county were proved to be useless, and it was in vain that Mons insisted on their renewal in the most solemn manner,[552] when a divided authority and a reckless unrestrained soldiery combined to bring the horrors of war to the doors of the unfortunate Hainaulters.

It is not surprising, therefore, that projects for mediation between the two Dukes came to the front, and that the citizens of Mons appealed to their fellows of Valenciennes to join with them in invoking the towns of Ghent and Namur to intervene for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation.[553] Such a reconciliation was the only hope for the wretched Hainaulters, who on the one hand would court disaster should they rise against the dominant power of Gloucester, whilst on the other they reaped a bitter harvest from their association with his cause. To strengthen this movement, further efforts at mediation came in the shape of another embassy from Burgundy and Bedford, which arrived at Mons in February under the leadership of the Archbishop of Arras.[554] Mediation, however, whether by towns or Dukes, proved equally abortive, as it was not likely that either side would consent to conditions so long as each hoped to secure a papal decision in its favour.