b, His claim to estates refused. (Gairdner's H. vii., 9.)

c, Intrigues with Lancastrians.

of Gaunt (see Table on p. 115) but his position, influence, wealth, and the part he had taken in placing Richard on the throne, made him a dangerous supporter. He was in a position like that of Percy to Henry IV. or Warwick to Edward IV. He now claimed the estates of Hereford. Though his claim was sound, policy forbade the King to grant it and a coolness sprang up between them. Counting on Buckingham's disappointment, Morton of Ely (see page 135) conceived a great scheme by which Richard should be overthrown. Henry of Richmond, who was the most direct representative of John of Gaunt and the Lancastrians, being the son of Margaret Beaufort, ("the Lady Margaret,") was asked to invade Eng(for Table cf. p. 115.) land. He had been in Brittany since the battle of Tewkesbury. His invasion was to be the signal for many risings, the chief of which was to be headed by Buckingham. Success was to be crowned by the marriage of Henry and Elizabeth, Edward IV.'s eldest daughter, which was to secure the union of the rival Houses.

d, Failure.

As usual the plan was ruined by the lack of connection between the risings. There were risings for Henry in Kent, Berkshire, and Wiltshire. Buckingham moved from Brecknock. But Richard was already advised of the conspiracy. Buckingham's The duke was checked by floods in his endeavour to cross the

Flood."

e, Execution of

Buckingham, 1483.

III. Attempts to strengthen his position.

1. Parliament.

Severn, a general pardon was offered to the commons, and enormous prices were set on the heads of their leaders. Bad weather and lack of provisions soon scattered Buckingham's forces, whilst the great rewards brought about the betrayal of their leader. He was at once executed. The rebellion immediately subsided. The other leaders escaped abroad, and Henry, arriving too late, left again for Brittany on hearing of Richard's success.

For a brief year and a half England was quiet. It was but the interlude of peace between two storms. The King tried to strengthen his position, but the good fortune which had attended Edward IV. deserted Richard. The Parliament, which met on the conclusion of the rebellion, confirmed his title and that of his son Edward, and attainted Henry of Lancaster and all his followers. Benevolences were declared (for Table cf. p. 127.) to be abolished, for they had soon proved to be a great abuse. But the young heir-apparent died, so John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was named as heir-presumptive. By an agreement 2. Foreign policy. with Brittany Henry was driven to take refuge in France, whilst the recognition of the Pope was sought by Richard. (Stubbs iii. 237.) At home the King's success in raising a fleet which beat the Scots gave him a short-lived popularity. To increase this he disafforested some of the royal estates, whilst Elizabeth the late Queen and her five daughters were given assurances of safety. Recognising how great would be the danger of a

3. Home policy.

marriage-union between Lancaster and York, Richard went to incredible lengths. He knew a marriage was planned between Henry of Lancaster and Elizabeth of York and it is asserted

that he proposed to marry his own niece in order to prevent 4. Marriage proposal such a catastrophe.

In spite of a successful foreign policy and a submissive

sion, 1485.

Parliament threats of a foreign invasion were never absent. IV. Henry's InvaHenry was making great exertions. His friends abroad were few and powerless, but he knew that at home he could rely on open and secret aid. He accordingly determined to try his fortune there, and landed at Milford Haven in South Wales with but few followers. The inhabitants were in his favour for it was the country of his birth. His adherents soon increased in numbers and he advanced to Shrewsbury. Meantime, Richard, suspicious of the Stanleys, who were closely connected with Henry, tried to ensure their loyalty by taking Lord Stanley's son as a hostage. He thus thoroughly alienated them, though they dared not desert him as yet. Richard advanced from Nottingham to meet his foe.

They met at Bosworth. The King had about double the Battle of Bosworth force of Henry but his troops were filled with treachery and

1485.

disheartened by distrust. This was shown in the mysterious (Stubbs ini. 239.) warning which the Duke of Norfolk found fixed to his tent the night before the battle,

Jockey of Norfolk, be not too bold,

For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.

Lord Stanley with his men and his brother Sir William Stanley kept at a distance from both armies, waiting a favourable opportunity to join Henry. After a shower of arrows the battle became a hand to hand struggle, and the Royalists were driven back. By superhuman efforts Richard tried to retrieve the day and almost killed his rival in a personal encounter. At that moment the Stanleys joined Henry. Norfolk was killed, realising that his warning was all too true.

fell overpowered by numbers, whilst Henry was crowned on the field by Stanley. It was the last battle of the war, the last tragedy of a series of revolutions. Richard reaped the results of his own suspicious nature and vindictiveness, which led him to distrust everyone, and so to alienate everyone.

1490-1500.

1. Printing.

a, Caxton.
As a Printer.

The Tudor dynasty which the victory of Bosworth placed in power, was in many respects the most glorious in English history. It saw not only the settlement of law and order, the definite throwing off of Popish control, the rise of the country to the position of a first-class power, and the growth of a strong National spirit, but also the spread of education and the widening of men's minds. Even in the unsettled times of Civil War the seeds of the new influence had been sown, and came to full harvest in the outburst of poets' song and the sea-dogs' daring of the Elizabethan era. The events which chiefly caused the revival of learning were three :

(1) The invention of Printing.

(2) The fall of Constantinople.

(3) The discoveries of fresh sea-routes and of the New World. All these went far to extend the mental as well as the natural horizon, and quickened the curiosity of the civilized world.

The return of Caxton in Edward IV.'s reign after thirty Green pp. 295-299; years sojourn in Flanders marked a new epoch in English Barnard 325-6.) literature. He was originally a copyist, but had been induced by weariness of hand and eye to learn the new art of printing which had been introduced into Bruges. He set up his press at the Almonry in Westminster Abbey, and soon tound customers, laymen as well as priests, for his issues appealed to all classes of men. He was careful to put into print the earliest efforts of English poets. The works of Lydgate, Gower, and "that worshipful man, Geoffrey Chaucer," were the first-fruits of his labours.

1477.

b, As a translator.

C, As a writer.

Caxton was much more than an ordinary printer, though even in that capacity English literature owes him much. But the debt to him as a translator is incalculable. The fact that he translated from the French the works of "that noble poet and great clerk, Vergyl," was not in itself important. But by translation into English Caxton went far to determine

the choice of English as it was in future ages to be written and spoken. He had to decide not only between French affectation and English pedantry, but also between the various country dialects. The choice he made did much to settle what the English language should be.

(Green 298.)

The general support given him urged Caxton to face and d, His patrons. surmount these difficulties. "The Almonry at the Red Pale became the meeting place of the great and cultured. Kings gave him their support and the nobles of the rival parties encouraged and helped him. Tiptoft, infamous for ingenious tortures, was famous for learning and culture. Rivers, Edward IV.'s favourite, was a scholar of no mean order. Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII. all had books printed at their command. The new art enabled books to be more readily multiplied. Thus Caxton, printer, translator, and writer, did much to pave the way for the New Learning in England.

learning.

Romola ch. 7 & 39.)

The capture of Constantinople in 1453 had driven scholarship, II. Fall of especially Greek scholarship, westwards. The city which for Constantinople. so long had jealously guarded its wealth of ancient learning a. helps diffusion of left it now as a legacy to Europe, especially to Italy. Scholars I. In Europe. flocked to Italy to study Greek. The enthusiasm was so widespread that hardly a country was unrepresented. In the (George Eliot's west culture had become barren, and knowledge stationary, but the advent of original manuscripts and new interpreters had a wide-reaching effect. Men began to feel a keen spirit of criticism, which extended even to Christianity, and to take more interest in human studies (hence their name of Humanists") than in theology.

1491

(Green 304-7.

Grocyn and Linacre of Oxford were among the first English- 2. In England. men to study the New Learning in Italy, and their return to their University marked a new era in English scholarship. In England Papal influence had been weaker and clerical decline a, Colet (1468-1519.) less noticeable than abroad, and the revival of letters took, Wakeman 193-195.) mainly, a religious form in England whereas in Europe it tended towards mysticism and infidelity. To Colet, who became Dean of S. Paul's, the sole reason for the study of Greek was to grasp the full meaning of the New Testament, which mediaval

308.)

traditions and allegories had obscured. In founding S. Paul's (Barnard 319; Green School he aimed at the high and true ideal of combining sound religion and good learning. His wide scholarship and personal character gathered round him a notable group of whom Erasmus and More were pre-eminent. In fact the former b, Erasmus became even more renowned than his teacher. His great work was an edition of the Greek Testament, which incorporated the results of the New Learning. But he was also well known for his Praise of Folly, a bold satire on contemporary life, and The Institutions, which contained many of the senti

1467-1536.) (Green 305-314.)

(Green 314-319.)

96-124.)

ments which More had already expressed in Utopia. He was for a time Lecturer in Greek at Cambridge, and, with Colet, made the two great Universities of England so enthusiastic that students rushed to Greek letters, endured watching, c, More 1478-1535.) fasting, toil and hunger, in pursuit of them." More applied his originality and depth of thought to statesmanship and literature. His reputation was European. He became Chancellor on Wolsey's fall in 1529, but resigned in 1532 because he could not follow Henry VIII. in all his changes.. (Gairdner's Hist. In 1535 he was executed for refusing to swear to the Act of Succession. He wrote a History of Richard III., but his bestknown work was Utopia (1516). This was a description of an imaginary and ideal Commonwealth, in which he satirised many of the evils of his time and indirectly suggested remedies. The whole conception was remarkably advanced and original both in social, political, educational, and religious matters. Besides these leaders of thought, there were many others who were equally enthusiastic. The Lady Margaret, Henry VII.'s mother, founded two colleges at Cambridge. The higher (Sidney Lee 19.) Clergy were patrons of learning. Cardinal Morton, Archbishop Warham, Langton of Winchester, Latimer and Fox, all spent time and substance in furthering the cause, and we shall see that Henry VIII. and Wolsey were warm supporters of it.

(Green 298, 307, 310, 313.)

III. Geographical Discoveries. (Green p. 297.)

1492.

C. 1500.

1497.

1497.

(Froude's English

in

Ireland. Green
P. 442.)

With the widening of human thought came the extension of greographical bounds. The world was doubled in size. From the countries of Spain and Portugal first came the most intrepid seamen, the most enthusiastic discoverers. England followed later. Columbus, sent out by Spain, tried to discover a short passage to India by the West, and reached what is now known as the West Indies. Amerigo Vespucci, a Portugese, touched at Brazil, whilst Vasco da Gama from Portugal successfully sailed round the south of Africa and reached India. Sebastian Cabot, a native of Bristol, landed in Labrador, being helped by Spain and also by England (Henry VII.) which was just beginning to take that interest in geographical discoveries which was later to lay the foundation of her worldwide Colonial Empire.

IRELAND IN THE XV. CENTURY.

The "Conquest of Ireland," had never been completely carried out. Its partial nature only added to the confusion and disorder which, through tribal feuds and national customs, were the natural condition in Ireland. The country was divided into three districts:

I. The Pale, an ill-defined district round Dublin, where English officials had some power, and English laws generally prevailed.