Under the year 1419 Walsingham writes: “In this year the King’s stepmother, Queen Anne, was accused by certain persons of some wickedness that she had contrived3 to the injury of the King. All her attendants were removed, and she was committed to the custody4 of Sir John Pelham, who, hiring five new attendants, put her into the castle of Pevensey, there to be kept under his control.”
At Pevensey Queen Joanna remained till within a few weeks of Henry’s death. On July 13th, 1422, the King made a communication to the Council at home to the following effect:—That for reasons known to them he had for a time taken into his own hand the dower of his mother, Queen Joanna; that, doubting whether it106 would not be a charge on his conscience to keep the said dowry any longer, and being indeed advised not to suffer such a charge to lie, he now instructed them to make deliverance unto the said Queen wholly of her said dower. She was to appoint her own servants, so that they were the King’s liegemen. All her furniture was to be delivered to her again. She was to have five or six gowns of cloth, and of such colour as she was used to wear. As she would not choose to remain in the place where she then was, she might have horses for eleven cars to remove her goods, and she might go to any place which she might choose.
It is not difficult to see causes of an estrangement5 between the Queen and her stepson. Her eldest6 son, the Duke of Britanny, had been expected to become a warm ally of the English in the war against France. He had disappointed this hope. It would even seem that it was only by an accident that he had not fought against Henry at Agincourt. Her second son, Arthur, though an English subject, as having done homage8 for the earldom of Richmond, had been actually taken prisoner in that battle. Some accounts even represent him as having made an attack on the English camp during the night of the 24th of October. The Duke d’Alen?on was her son-in-law. Charles of Navarre, Constable9 of France, was her brother. A lady so closely connected with the enemy might well become an object of suspicion. And she was, or had been, unpopular in England. Parliament had complained of the foreigners whom she kept about her person, and with such effect that the King (Henry the Fourth) had dismissed all but a few. But one cannot help thinking that her dowry had more to do with the107 matter than anything else. Henry, compelled even to pawn10 the royal jewels for the expenses of his expedition, may have looked with coveting11 eyes on his stepmother’s wealth, wealth which she seems to have been careful to save, and even to increase by trade. A jointure of ten thousand marks had been settled on her by the House of Commons in 1406. She enjoyed, in addition, a large income as Dowager-Duchess of Britanny. We hear of various trading ventures, especially of the export of ore from certain lead mines which her second husband had granted her. Special privileges as regards export and import duties seem also to have been accorded to her. On the other hand, it has been pointed7 out that her charities were unusually small for a person of her exalted12 station. On the whole the impression is left that she had both the opportunity and the will to accumulate wealth. Such accumulations, if they existed, could hardly have failed to attract the attention of a sovereign who was doing all that he could to procure13 the sinews of war. Indeed we hear of Henry directing one of his officials to send all the money that he could possibly borrow from the dower of Joanna the Queen, leaving her only money enough for her reasonable expenses and to pay any annuities14 that she might have granted. This injunction was followed in the same year by the arrest of the Queen. It is not unlikely that she resisted the attempt to extort15 the money, and that her resistance was punished by the accusation16 which Walsingham records. The crime charged against her was probably sorcery: “she had compassed,” it was said, “the death of our lord the King in the most high and horrible manner that could be imagined.” On the Parliamentary roll that108 contains this statement there follows with suspicious promptitude the confiscation17 of all the accused person’s property.
Henry was not in England at the time when this happened, but he cannot be acquitted18 of responsibility in the matter. It is certain that when he returned he did nothing to redress19 his stepmother’s wrongs. This was left, as has been said, till nearly the end of his life, when her imprisonment20 had lasted for more than three years. The only excuse that can be offered is that he probably regarded the confiscation of Joanna’s wealth as a military necessity; and where a military necessity was concerned, no other considerations were allowed to interfere21 with his action.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
narrative
|
|
| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
conqueror
|
|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
contrived
|
|
| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
custody
|
|
| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
estrangement
|
|
| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
eldest
|
|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
constable
|
|
| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
pawn
|
|
| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
coveting
|
|
| v.贪求，觊觎( covet的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
procure
|
|
| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
annuities
|
|
| n.养老金；年金( annuity的名词复数 )；（每年的）养老金；年金保险；年金保险投资 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
extort
|
|
| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
confiscation
|
|
| n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
acquitted
|
|
| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
redress
|
|
| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
imprisonment
|
|
| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
interfere
|
|
| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |