Another letter informing them of the capture of Caen, 5 Sept.
On the 9th August the king addressed a letter to the mayor, sheriffs, aldermen and good folk of the City of London, informing them of his safe arrival in[pg 262] Normandy and of his success in making himself master of the castle of "Touque" without bloodshed.[779] To this the citizens sent a dutiful reply on the 28th day of the same month, assuring the king of the peaceful condition of the city. On the 2nd September an order went forth from the Common Council of the City that each alderman should immediately instruct the constables of his ward to go their rounds and warn all soldiers they might come across, to vacate the City and set out on the king's service before the end of the week on pain of imprisonment.[780] Success continued to attend Henry's arms. On the 5th September he was able to inform the citizens, by letter,[781] of the capture of Caen, excepting only the citadel, and this was to be rendered to him by the 19th day of the same month at the latest, unless relief should have previously arrived for the besieged from the King of France, his son the Dauphin, or the Count of Armagnac, Constable of France. The Duke of Clarence wrote a few days later to the citizens, notifying the extraordinary success which had followed the king. So many towns and fortresses had been taken that the only fear was that there were not sufficient men to keep guard over them.[782]
Proclamation by the Duke of Bedford, 18 Oct.
Supplies granted by parliament, Dec, 1417.
In order to keep the English force in Normandy better provided with victuals, the Duke of Bedford, who had been left behind as the king's lieutenant, caused the Sheriffs of London to proclaim that all persons willing and able to ship victuals to France for[pg 263] Henry's use, might do so without paying custom dues on their giving security that the victuals should be sent to Caen and not elsewhere.[783] Bedford, who was learning how to rule a free people—a lesson which, had he been allowed to practice in after years, might have saved the house of Lancaster from utter destruction[784]—presided in the parliament, which met in November, 1417. On the 17th December this parliament granted the king two fifteenths and two tenths. No time was lost in taking measures for collecting these supplies, the king's writ appointing commissioners for the City of London being issued the day following.[785]
Henry's conquest of Normandy, 1417-1419.
In Paris matters were going on from bad to worse. Whilst the capital of France was at the mercy of a mob, Henry proceeded to lay close siege to Rouen. Frequent proclamation was made in London for reinforcements to join the king, either at Rouen or elsewhere in Normandy.[786] This was in April, 1418, or thereabouts. On the 5th July, the Duke of Clarence informed Richard Merlawe, the mayor, by letter, of the fall of Louviers, and of the expected surrender of Pont de l'Arche,[787] from which latter place the duke wrote. On the 10th August Henry himself wrote to the citizens informing them of his having sat down before Rouen and of the[pg 264] straits his forces were in for lack of victuals and more especially of "drink." He begged them to send as many small vessels as they could, laden with provisions, to Harfleur, whence they could make their way up the Seine to Rouen.[788] In less than a month a reply was sent (8 Sept.) from Gravesend under the seal of the mayoralty, informing Henry that the citizens had been busy brewing ale and beer and purveying wine and other "vitaille," and that they had despatched thirty butts of sweet wine—comprising ten of "Tyre," ten of "Romesey," and ten of "Malvesy"—and 1,000 pipes of ale and beer. With these they had also sent 25,000 cups for the king's "host" to drink out of.[789] In the meantime, the besieged received no such relief from the pains of hunger and thirst, and on the 19th January, 1419, they were compelled to surrender their ancient town.[790] The war continued throughout the year (1419), all attempts at a reconciliation proving abortive. Pointoise fell into Henry's hands; and both Henry and the Duke of Clarence sent word of its capture to London. The duke took the opportunity of asking that the freedom of the City might be conferred on his servant, Roger Tillyngton, a skinner; but the citizens in acknowledging the duke's letter make no reference to his request.[791]
The king's letter to the City, 17 Aug., 1419.
On the 17th August the king wrote again to the mayor, aldermen and commons of the City, thanking[pg 265] them for their "kynde and notable prone of an ayde," which they had granted of their own free will, therein setting a good example to others, and prayed them to follow such directions as the Duke of Bedford should give them respecting their proffered assistance. The bearer of this letter having been taken prisoner at Crotoye, a duplicate copy of it was afterwards forwarded from Trie le Chastel on the 12th September.[792]
The treaty of Troyes, 20 May. 1420.