Unto that godely faythfull truwe pryncesse.’[721]
Eleanor was an ambitious woman, who had undoubtedly had this end in view, but that she had been used by Bedford and Beaufort as a counter attraction to Jacqueline is a statement supported by no evidence, and merely suggested by the dramatic instinct of a poet. There was nothing unusual in this action of Gloucester’s, and if he married his mistress, it was no more than his grandfather had done before him. Even if he did not encourage the marriage, Beaufort could not object to it, for what claims he had to legitimacy were based upon such a union.
Henceforth the history of Jacqueline ceases to be bound up with that of Gloucester, and a few months later she was compelled to agree to a treaty with Burgundy, whereby she acknowledged the illegality of her former marriage. Bereft of her English husband, her life assumed a calmer aspect, and for the remaining years that she had to live she could not regret the loss of one for whom she had suffered so much, and from whom she had received so little.
The Duke of Gloucester and his wife Eleanor being received into the fraternity of St. Alban’s Abbey.
1428] THE PROTECTOR’S POSITION
While Jacqueline was making her last stand against her enemies, and sending her last appeals for help across to England, Humphrey was occupied with ambitions far nearer home and totally unconnected with his now forgotten Hainault policy. The Parliament of 1427, which had been opened by the little King in person on October 13, had been prorogued on December 8 by the Protector on the authority of letters-patent from the King,[722] and on both occasions the subordination of the Protector to the rules laid down for him were thus fully emphasised. Gloucester began openly to resent these limitations of his power, and even before the adjournment he had made some protest against the merely nominal privileges which he enjoyed.[723] No notice had been taken of this protest, and he was therefore left to reflect on the matter during the recess. Christmas he spent at his favourite monastery, and the St. Albans chronicler tells us of the splendid style in which he celebrated the Feast. When Epiphany was past, he moved on to Ashbridge near Berkhampsted for a stay of three days, and thence he returned to London for the reopening of Parliament.[724] His mind was made up. In spite of the previous ignoring of his protest, he now, on March 3, requested that the Lords should define his powers, and did so in such a way as to imply a demand for more extended rights and privileges than he at present possessed. He declared his intention of abstaining from attendance in Parliament till this matter was settled, and arrogantly declared that during his absence other questions might be discussed but not settled.[725]
The motive underlying the request is evident. Bedford was safely employed in the French wars and in Burgundian negotiations; Beaufort was also absent, and it seemed to Gloucester to be an ideal time to strengthen his hands against the Cardinal. Possibly he had been betrayed into the belief that he held the ascendency in Parliament by the alacrity with which that body had sanctioned the recent loan to him. Short-sighted as before, he could not distinguish between sympathy for Jacqueline’s sad plight and sympathy with his personal ambitions, and he did not realise that other men’s memories were longer than his. In point of fact he could not have chosen a worse time for this attempt to secure increased power in the kingdom, for the Lords would have less compunction in refusing anything to the ‘Good Duke’ at a time when his conduct was being openly censured even by his London supporters, than when his popularity was not under a shadow. As it was, the demand produced the inevitable result. The Lords took their stand on the arrangements made in the first Parliament of the reign, recalling how at that time Humphrey had claimed the government of the kingdom, both by right of birth and by the right of the will of Henry V., how records had been searched and precedents consulted, with the result that the claim was found to be unsupported by any legal authority, whilst the right of Henry V. to give away the government of the country after his death was also found to have no legal basis. Yet for the sake of peace and to ‘appese’ Gloucester, he had been made chief councillor of the King as long as Bedford remained abroad, and to distinguish him from the other councillors the name of ‘Protector and Defender’ was ‘devised’ for him, which should not ‘emporte auctorite of governaunce of ye land,’ but merely carry with it a personal duty to provide for the defence of the kingdom both from external and internal dangers, giving him therewith certain powers which were enumerated at the time. That was the intention of Parliament five years ago, and beyond this the Lords would not now go; indeed at the time Gloucester had agreed to the arrangement. In Parliament Humphrey had no rights beyond those of any other duke, and it was merely as Duke of Gloucester that he was summoned there. The Lords declared themselves surprised at his recent demands, and they told him pretty bluntly that he must be content with such power as he had got, even as was Bedford. In conclusion they expressed a hope that he would take his seat in Parliament, and make no more ado about his position there.[726]