Had the Duke of Gloucester confined his patronage to scholars of foreign birth, and taken no part in the intellectual life of England as a whole, he would deserve only a passing mention by those who would trace the development of English thought. His praises, however, were not sung by Italian humanist and French ecclesiastic alone. In England he was the acknowledged leader in the world of letters, the centre round which native scholar and poet alike revolved, and his patronage was extended to all who took an interest in intellectual pursuits. He therefore became the medium of introducing the new ideas from Italy to the English scholars, though it must be admitted that the latter were very slow to accept the message of the new movement. They were reared in an entirely different atmosphere to the Italians, and in most cases showed little or no interest in the new learning. Even Wheathampsted of St. Albans, who seems in some ways to have acted as the Duke’s literary adviser, showed but scant sympathy with the scholarship fostered by his friend and patron. On the whole, it is probable that this Abbot was more a political than a literary friend to Gloucester, and it has been considered significant that he resigned the Abbacy in 1440, just when his friend and supporter was losing his hold on the politics of the country.[1265] Wheathampsted, however, was associated with the Duke in literary matters, and was employed by him to adorn and increase his collection of books, though our authority for this statement seems to suggest that this was only part of his policy of securing his patron’s favour.[1266] He showed a distinct interest in books apart from his relations with Duke Humphrey, himself building a library for his monastery out of his own pocket,[1267] and presenting at least one book to the students at Oxford, probably to the foundation of Gloucester College, which was connected with the House of St. Albans.[1268] From time to time we find gifts of books to Humphrey entered in the accounts of the monastery, one of which alone cost £6, 13s. 4d.,[1269] a fact which may help us to estimate the enormous sums which the Duke must have spent in collecting his great library. On another occasion we hear of the gift of three books to the Duke of Gloucester, one of them being a Cato Glossatus, which we may identify with the Catonem Comentatum presented to Oxford in 1443,[1270] probably an annotated copy of Cato’s famous treatise De Re Rustica. The other two books of this gift were of the Abbot’s own compilation,[1271] probably two parts of his three-volume work, the Granarium de Viris Illustribus, which we also find included in the Oxford gifts.[1272] From his connection with Wheathampsted and his Abbey of St. Albans Humphrey may have imbibed that love of astrology which was so unfortunately shared by his wife, but there is no recorded gift of a work on this subject to him, though Bedford received a treatise of this kind at the hands of these monks, who were famous for the study of the occult sciences.[1273]
JOHN CAPGRAVE
Amongst monkish scholars to be found in the Duke’s following was John Capgrave, a native of Lynn, in Norfolk. He studied at Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and was for a time a tutor in the first-named University, ending his days as a member of the Augustinian community in its monastery at Lynn. He was a prolific writer on theological and historical subjects, and also a composer of English verse, into which he translated a Life of St. Catherine of Alexandria, attributed by some to St. Athanasius.[1274] He is said to have been intimate with Humphrey, who retained him to discuss matters of philosophy when the mood was upon him.[1275] It is interesting to note that Capgrave was one of the first monkish chroniclers to use the vulgar tongue for historical purposes, and his Chronicle of England is one of the most useful contributions to the history of his times still extant. This adoption of English as a medium for the writing of history casts an interesting gleam of light on the position of Duke Humphrey in the Renaissance movement, one of the most important aspects of which was the abolition of ‘Christendom’ as a political term, and the development of the nationalities of Europe, a development which is mirrored by the adoption of the vernacular languages for scholarly purposes.
It was probably at the instance of Humphrey that the Chronicle of England was compiled, as well as the Commentary on Genesis which was dedicated to him. To this book, of which the original copy is preserved in the Library of Oriel College, Oxford, is prefixed a dedication to Duke Humphrey, in which he is described as the extirpator of heresy and the protector of the poor. The author goes on to say that no one was so worthy as Gloucester to receive the gift of such a book, for ‘flourishing in the vigour of a most subtle intellect you give yourself, as is reported, with the greatest earnestness to the study of the works of ancient authors.’ Most especially was the Duke famous for his studies in the Scriptures, and, much in the spirit of the Italian Humanists, Capgrave thanks God that such a prince should devote himself to the pursuit of knowledge, especially in an age when even ecclesiastics abandon the cloister for the field of politics, and without studying themselves, discourage studies in other people.[1276] Had he set out to paint Humphrey in relation to his times, this author could not have drawn the picture more accurately than he has here done. The scholars of the Middle Ages had lost all traces of enthusiasm; their scholarship was in that state of decay which preceded its entire abolition. To such a state of affairs came Humphrey, the first of that long line of laymen who were to usurp the place which the Church could no longer hold in the vanguard of the pursuit of knowledge. The domination of the ecclesiastical mind over the intellectual development of the world was about to pass away; no longer would it be possible for a Gregory the Great to order the destruction of a library of ancient classics, for a poet such as Alcuin of York to declaim against heathen authors, or for any one to cry in the words of Gregory of Tours, ‘Let us shun the lying fables of poets, and forgo the wisdom of sages at enmity with God, lest we incur the doom of endless death by sentence of our Lord.’ Humphrey and Capgrave were both faithful sons of the Church in which they had been born, yet they did not hesitate to denounce the scholarship of the mediæval ecclesiastics which had developed into a science of superstition, and to herald a new era in which knowledge was to be the birthright of all men, a means whereby they might perfect their lives by a realisation of the goodliness of humanity.
Capgrave presenting his Commentary on Genesis to the Duke of Gloucester.
An equally interesting feature of this dedication is that Capgrave commends this commentary on Genesis to his patron on the ground that in it is to be found the science of judging literature.[1277] The new science of theology was to discard the crutches of tradition, and to take its place side by side with the other interests of the human mind. No longer was it to be a science apart, but rather one branch of a great and growing literature, which had for its object the improvement of man’s state, both mentally and morally. In these words of Capgrave may we not see some indication of that critical faculty, which plays so large a part in the new birth of the mind of man? That Humphrey could be addressed after this manner clearly shows the position that he held among those who aspired to more freedom of thought; it is significant that a theological treatise should be dedicated to him on the ground that in it full play was given to the critical faculty.
It seems likely from the wording of the dedication of this Commentary on Genesis, that Capgrave was not at that time patronised by Humphrey, for he alludes to the Duke’s love of learning as a matter of report and not of personal knowledge. Probably this book and its dedication served as an introduction for its author, even as the Republic of Plato had served for Pier Candido Decembrio, and from the autograph at the end we gather that it was personally presented by Capgrave in the year 1438. We have no other work by Capgrave with a dedication to Gloucester, though four books written by this author, including this same copy of the Commentary on Genesis, were presented to Oxford; yet we know of one which would have been of immense interest had it survived, for it seems an undoubted fact that Capgrave wrote a Vita Humfridi Ducis. In his De Illustribus Henricis he tells us that such a work was in contemplation,[1278] and it was known to exist in the days of Bale and Pits, the last of whom declares that in his time it formed part of the Library of Balliol College, Oxford.[1279]
Among other English authors patronised by Duke Humphrey we must place Nicholas Upton, a Fellow of New College, Oxford, who dedicated his work De Studio Militari to ‘Excellentissimio et illustrissimo Principi meo singulari, Humfrido.’[1280] It is a work of heraldic rather than of military interest, and bears more on the public than on the literary side of Gloucester’s character. Also a host of quite forgotten men, mostly clerics, circled round this famous prince and patron, such as John Homme, Canon of Hereford, and at one time the Duke’s secretary;[1281] Richard Wyot, his Dean of the Chapel;[1282] John Everdon, who successfully petitioned for a Canonry in the Collegiate Church of Hastings;[1283] and one Henry Abingdon, who for services rendered received an annuity of £8 per annum.[1284] All these probably were employed at one time or another in copying books for their master, and all found the reward they sought at the hands of their employer, a fact which leads us to believe that the complaints of Bruni and Candido were based more on cupidity than on justice.
ENGLISH POETS