Shakespeare's Kings (18 page)

alliance'
-
had
long
been
a
vital
element
in
their
struggle
with
England. Early
in
1384
Charles
VI
had
already
sent
a
small
detachment
of
troops to
strengthen
Scottish
resolve,
and
in
the
spring
of
the
following
year these
were
followed
by
a
much
larger
company
under
the
command of
France's
foremost
admiral,
Jean
de
Vienne.
For
some
time,
too, reports
had
been
reaching
London
of
a
third
French
force
-
a
full-scale army
this
time
—
which
was
gathering
at
Sluys.
If,
as
seemed
likely, Charles
VI
was
preparing
a
two-pronged
pincer
attack,
with
England being
invaded
simultaneously
from
north
and
south,
decisive
action could
no
longer
be
delayed.

And
so,
in
the
summer
of
1385,
the
great
expedition
that
was
being prepared
for
France
was
suddenly
redirected
against
the
Scots.
It
would have
done
better
to
have
stayed
at
home.
The
fiasco -
almost
on
a
par with
that
of
the
Norwich
crusade
-
was
not
entirely
the
King's
fault. He
could
not,
for
example,
be
held
responsible
for
the
drunken
brawl near
York,
in
which
his
half-brother
John
Holland
—
who
had
been heavily
implicated
in
the
Latimer
affair
the
year
before
'—
killed
the
heir of
the
Earl
of
Stafford;
indeed
he
swore
to
deal
with
Holland
as
a common
murderer,
and
the
bitterness
between
the
two
is
said
to
have caused
the
death
of
their
mother
Joan
of
Kent
a
few
weeks
later.
Nor, having
advanced
as
far
as
Edinburgh,
could
he
be
blamed
for
his
failure to
engage
the
French
army;
Jean
de
Vienne,
learning
of
his
approach, had
moved
his
men
back
across
the
border
to
the
neighbourhood
of Carlisle
whence,
after
amusing
themselves
for
a
week
or
two
by
laying waste
the
few
and
primitive
villages
of
Cumberland,
they
returned
to France.
But
by
this
time
the
King
too
had
had
enough
of
Scotland
and the
Scots;
having
no
desire
to
sample
a
Scottish
winter,
he
wanted
to go
home.
He
delayed
his
departure
long
enough
to
confer
on
his
two youngest
uncles,
Edmund
of
Langley
and
Thomas
of
Woodstock,
the dukedoms
¹
respectively
of
York
and
Gloucester,
and
on
his
faithful Chancellor
Michael
de
la
Pole
the
earldom
of
Suffolk;
then,
without

its
having
loosed
a
single
arrow,
he
marched
the
great
army
back
to London,
where
it
was
disbanded.

For
John
of
Gaunt,
who
had
accompanied
his
nephew
on
the campaign
-
indeed,
his
own
Lancastrian
army
had
accounted
for
as much
as
two-thirds
of
the
entire
force
—
but
to
whose
advice
the
King had
pointedly
refused
to
listen,
the
Scottish
expedition
only
confirmed what
he
had
long
suspected:
that
there
was
no
longer
any
place
for
him in
England.
If
he
had
a
future
at
all
it
was
in
the
Iberian
peninsula where,
from
his
point
of
view,
the
situation
had
continued
to
improve. With
the
help
of
a
small
English
party
of
volunteers
-
mainly
archers -
the
Portuguese
had
succeeded
in
freeing
themselves
once
and
for all
from
Castilian
domination.
They
asked
nothing
better
than
the overthrow
of
the
Clementist
King
Juan,
and
had
assured
Gaunt
that they
would
do
everything
in
their
power
to
achieve
it;
if
he
came
to claim
his
rightful
crown
he
would
find
them
brave
and
faithful
allies. Once
again
Gaunt
appeared
before
Parliament,
accompanied
now
by envoys
from
Portugal;
and
this
time
he
found
the
assembly
sympathetic. True,
there
were
other
enemies
closer
at
hand:
the
French
were
continuing
to
mass
at
the
Channel
ports,
and
at
the
present
rate
it
looked
as though
invasion
could
not
be
long
delayed.
On
the
other
hand
a
swift and
successful
campaign
beyond
the
Pyrenees
would
radically
alter
the balance
of
power
in
western
Europe;
Charles
VI
would
be
obliged
to give
up
his
invasion
plans
and
come
quickly
to
terms.
On
8
March 1386
Richard
in
full
council
recognized
his
uncle
as
King
of
Castile, and
on
9
July
Gaunt
sailed
with
his
army
from
Plymouth.
It
need
hardly be
said
that
his
mistress
Katherine
Swynford
and
their
four
illegitimate children
remained
behind,
as
did
his
eldest
son
Henry
Bolingbroke, Earl
of
Derby,
whom
he
had
charged
to
watch
over
his
personal
interests while
he
was
away;
with
him,
on
the
other
hand,
went
his
Spanish
wife Constance
and
their
three
daughters,
Phili
ppa,
Elizabeth
and
Catherine. Elizabeth
had
rece
ntly
married
Sir
John
Holland,
constable
of
the
army and
the
King's
half-brother,
now
back
in
favour
after
the
fracas
at
York; as
for
Philippa
and
Catherine,
if
anyone
questioned
the
wisdom
of taking
two
young
unmarried
girls
on
a
distant
campaign,
their
father's reasons
were
soon
made
clear
enough.