But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir Thomas More, and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, who was a good and amiable old man, had committed no greater offence than believing in Elizabeth Barton, called the Maid
Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to marry Anne Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, and directed Queen Catherine to leave the Court. She obeyed; but replied that wherever she went, she was Que
When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show himself in his truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty little girl who had gone abroad to France with his sister, was by this time grown up to be very beautiful, and was one of the
The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had taken part against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the English general, advanced to meet him when he came out of his own dominions and crossed the river Tweed. The two armies came
Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a son, who was called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old British prince of romance and story; and who, when all these events had happened, being then in his fifteenth year, was married t
Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary [庇护] of Beaulieu in the New Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken refuge, he sent a body of horsemen to St. Michael's Mount, to seize his wife. She was soon taken and brought as a ca
Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, and the boy, and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to invade England. The King, who had good intelligence [情报] of their movements, set up his standard [旗帜] at Nottingham, where v
Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great defeat of the Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get rid of some of his fat (for he was now getting too corpulent [肥胖的] to be handsome), the King thought of making war on France. As
They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the Archbishop of York made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, and the Duke of Clarence, at his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. The King was washing his hands before supper, when some one
Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant changes, tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose Wars. They brought about a great council in London between the two parties. The White Roses assembled in Blackfriars, the Red
PART THE THIRD Bad deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English cause gained no advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For a long time, the war went heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; the alliance with the Duke of Burgundy was bro
So, at last, by dint [means] of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and the Dauphin, and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes unbelieving men, came to Rheims. And in the great cathedral of Rheims, the Dauphin actually was crowned Charles
CHAPTER 22 ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH PART THE FIRST It had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son King Henry the Sixth, at this time only nine months old, was under age, the Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The English
But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of the first, closed up in a firm mass [块,堆]; the English, headed by the King, attacked them; and the deadliest part of the battle began. The King's brother, the Duke of Clarence, was st
The late King had watched these dissensions [争执] from England, sensible (like the French people) that no enemy of France could injure her more than her own nobility. The present King now advanced a claim to the French throne. His demand being, of course,
CHAPTER 20 ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE During the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride and cunning of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in England. Whether the new King wished to be in favour with
Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire abolition of the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the rest, but, while that meeting was being held, broke into the Tower of London and slew the archbishop and the treasurer, for wh
The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his royal prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, and, when they afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous procession, mounted the French King on a fine cream-coloured ho
'Is my son killed?' said the King. 'No, sire, please God,' returned the messenger. 'Is he wounded?' said the King. 'No, sire.' 'Is he thrown to the ground?' said the King. 'No, sire, not so; but, he i
The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left old Despenser in charge of the town and castle, while he went on with the son to Wales. The Bristol men being opposed to the King, and it being impossible to hold the town with enemies ever
The Barons were so unceremonious [不客气] with the King in giving [cause] him to understand that they would not bear this favourite, that the King was obliged to send him out of the country. The favourite himself was made to take an oath (more oaths!) that h
Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. That he was betrayed - probably by an attendant [侍从] - is too true. He was taken to the Castle of Dumbarton, under Sir John Menteith, and thence [从那里] to London, where the great fame of his b
King Edward being much renowned [获得声誉] for his sagacity [wisdom] and justice, it seems to have been agreed to refer [交给...处理] the dispute to him. He accepted the trust, and went, with an army, to the Border-land where England and Scotland joined. Ther
Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this hanging of the innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife [冲突] it caused, there came to be established one of the greatest powers that the English people now possess. The preparations for th
To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry to add that in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged [掠夺]. They were hanged in great numbers, on accusations of having clipped the King's coin - which all kinds of people h
