Richard was now completely invested with the badges and insignia of his office. The archbishop then, raising his hands, pronounced upon him his apostolic benediction, and the ceremony, so far, was ended. The bishops and nobles then came up to congratulate and salute Richard on having thus received his crown, after which they conducted him to his seat again.
Richard now began to be very tired and to wish to go home, but there was a great deal more yet to come before he could be set at liberty. There was an anthem to be sung by the choir, and more prayers to be said, after which there came what was called the offertory. This was a ceremony in which a person was led to the altar, to lay down upon it whatever offering he chose to make for the service of the Church. The king rose from his seat and was led forward to the altar, having, of course, been previously told what he was to do. He had in his hand a sum of money which had been provided for the occasion. He laid down this money first upon the altar, and then his sword. It was the custom in these coronations for the king thus to offer his sword, in token of the subordination of his royal power to the law and will of God, and then the sword was afterward to be redeemed with money by the sword-bearer, the officer whose duty it was, on leaving the church, to bear the sword in procession before the king.
Accordingly, after Richard had returned from the altar, the earl whose office it was to bear the sword went to the altar and redeemed it with a sum of money, and carried it back to the place where Richard was sitting.
Then came the service of the mass, which occupied a long time, so that Richard became very tired indeed before it was ended. After the mass came the communion, which it was necessary for Richard to partake. The communion was, of course, accompanied with more prayers and more chantings, until the poor boy thought that the ceremonies would never be ended. When at last, however, all was over, and the procession was ready to form again to leave the church, Richard was so worn out and exhausted with the fatigue that he had endured that he could not ride home; so they brought a sort of litter and placed him upon it, and four of the knights bore him home on their shoulders. His uncle the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl Percy went before him, and a long train of bishops, nobles, and grand officers of state followed behind. In this way he was brought back to the palace. As soon as the party reached the palace, they carried Richard directly up to a chamber, took off all his grand paraphernalia, and put him to bed.
He rested a little while, and then they brought him something to eat. His troubles were, however, not yet over, for there was to be a great banquet that afternoon and evening in the hall of the palace, and it was necessary that he should be there. Accordingly, after a short time, he was arrayed again in his royal robes and insignia, and conducted down to the hall. Here he had a ceremony to perform of creating certain persons earls. Of course it was his counselors that decided who the persons were that were to be thus raised to the peerage, and they told him also exactly what he was to do and say in the programme of the ceremony. He sat upon his throne, surrounded by his nobles and officers of state, and did what they told him to do. When this ceremony had been performed, the whole company sat down to the tables which had been prepared for a banquet.
They continued their feasting and carousing to a late hour, and then amused themselves with various boisterous games common in those days. In the court-yard of the palace a pillar was set up, with pipes at the sides of it, from which there were flowing continually streams of wine of different kinds, and every body who pleased was permitted to come and drink. A part of the amusement consisted in the pushings and strugglings of the people to get to the faucets, and the spilling of the wine all over their faces and clothes. The top of the pillar was adorned with a large gilt image of an eagle.
The next day there were more processions and more celebrations, but Richard himself was, fortunately for him, excused from taking any part in them. In the mean time, the people who managed the government in Richard's name heard the news that the French had learned, in some way, the tidings of King Edward's death, and had landed in the southern part of England, and were burning and destroying all before them. So they made all haste to raise an army to go and repel the invaders.
It was finally concluded, also, to appoint Richard's two uncles, namely, John, Duke of Lancaster, and Edmund, Earl of Cambridge, as his guardians until he should become of age. Some persons thought it was not safe to trust Richard to the Duke of Lancaster at all, but others thought it would be better to conciliate him by treating him with respect, than to make him an open enemy by passing over him entirely.
Richard was considered, at this time, a very amiable and good boy, and it was generally believed by the people of England that, with a right and proper training, he would grow up to be a virtuous and honest man, and they anticipated for him a long and happy reign. And yet, in a little more than ten years after he became of age, he was disgraced and dethroned on account of his vices and crimes.
CHAPTER VIII. CHIVALRY.
A.D. 1378-1380
Edmund, Earl of Cambridge.-Thomas of Woodstock.-Richard's young cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke.-A boy king in France.-Richard and Henry Bolingbroke.-French incursions into the Isle of Wight.-Curious story of the Scotch borderers.-Their strange ideas of the grace of God.-Nature of the royal government.-The House of Commons.-Luxury and extravagance of the nobility.-Wars.-Modes of warfare.-Mining.-Besieging engines.-The Duke of Lancaster's sow.-Gunpowder.-Story of the Welsh knight, Evan.-Siege of Mortain.-Situation of the castle.-Evan's hostility to the English.-Hatred of the English against Evan.-John Lamb.-John Lamb arrives at Mortain.-His reception by Evan.-State of the siege.-Curious manners and customs.-John Lamb accomplishes his purpose.-Death of Evan.-Interview between John Lamb and the governor of the castle.-The knights loved fighting for its own sake.-Their love of glory.-Story of De Langurant.-His men.-He challenges the governor of the castle to single combat.-Encounter of the knights.-Use of lances.-Manner in which such combats were fought.-Result of the combat between De Langurant and Bernard.-De Langurant refuses to surrender.-His fate.-Intolerable tyranny of the nobles in those days.-Oppression of the tax-gatherers.-Richard's helplessness.
Besides his uncle John, Duke of Lancaster, Richard had two other uncles, who each acted an important part in public affairs at the commencement of his reign. They were,
1. His uncle Edmund, who was the Earl of Cambridge, and
afterward Duke of York. Of course he is sometimes called, in
the histories of those times, by one of these names, and
sometimes by the other.
2. His uncle Thomas. Thomas was born in the palace of
Woodstock, and so was often called Thomas of Woodstock. He
was the Earl of Buckingham, and afterward the Duke of
Gloucester.
Besides these uncles, Richard had a cousin just about his own age, who afterward, as we shall see, played a very important part indeed in Richard's history. This cousin was named Henry Bolingbroke. He was the son of Richard's uncle John, the Duke of Lancaster. He and Richard were now both about eleven years of age; or rather, Richard was eleven, and his cousin Henry was about ten.
Of course, Richard was altogether too young to exercise any real control in respect to the government of the country. Every thing was, consequently, left to the Parliament and the nobles. His uncles endeavored to assume the general direction of affairs, but there was nevertheless a strong party against them. There were no means of deciding these disputes except by the votes in Parliament, and these votes went one way and the other, as one party or the other, for the time being, gained the ascendency. Every one watched very closely the conduct of Richard's uncle John. He was the next oldest son of Edward the Third, after Edward, the Prince of Wales, Richard's father. Of course, if Richard were to die, he would become king; and if he himself were to die before Richard did, and then Richard were to die before he grew up and had children of his own, then his son, Richard's cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, would be entitled to claim the kingdom. Thus, while Richard remained unmarried and without heirs, this Henry Bolingbroke was in the direct line of succession, and, of course, next to Richard himself, he was, perhaps, the most important personage in the kingdom. There was, it is true, another child, the grandchild of an older uncle of Richard's, named Lionel; but he was very young at this time, and he died not long afterward, leaving Henry Bolingbroke the only heir.