National Consciousness & English Language

FrancophobiaWar with France; English more PatrioticParliament, Nobility, King

Economic & Religious IssuesWilliam Langland, Piers PlowmanGeoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury TalesSocial Commentaries

Popular MysticismJulian of Norwich, Margery Kempe

Personal Experience

Vernacular BiblesJohn Wyclif: Theologian, Critic

Eucharist, Purgatory, Ceremonies

English Suitable for Bible

Julian of Norwich, Revelations

Chaucer, General Prologue, 1-181       Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote :              When April with its sweet-smelling showers2     The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,          Has pierced the drought of March to the root,3      And bathed every veyne in swich licour               And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid4     Of which vertu engendred is the flour;               By the power of which the flower is created;5      Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth               When the West Wind also with its sweet breath,6      Inspired hath in every holt and heeth               In every holt and heath, has breathed life into 7      The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne               The tender crops, and the young sun8     Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,               Has run its half course in Aries,9     And smale foweles maken melodye,               And small fowls make melody,10   That slepen al the nyght with open ye               Those that sleep all the night with open eyes11      (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),               (So Nature incites them in their hearts),12      Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,               Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,13     And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, And professional pilgrims (long) to seek foreign

shores,14     To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;               To (go to) distant shrines, known in various

lands;15     And specially from every shires ende               And specially from every shire's end16     Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,               Of England to Canterbury they travel,17      The hooly blisful martir for to seke,               To seek the holy blessed martyr,18     That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.               Who helped them when they were sick.

The 100 Years War, ContinuedEdward III & Henry IV

Victories at Sluys, Crécy, PoitiersFailings During the 1370s, ‘80sHenry’s Position

Henry VCharacter & French CrisisPreparations and War, 1414-5Northern Expanse

Reign of Henry VITurning Point, 1429Losses in the North, SouthThe End in 1453

Shakespeare’s Henry V, 1600

Edward III & Henry IV

Edward III (r. 1327-77)1337/8 Retaliation and Claim to FranceSluys, ‘40; Crécy, ‘46; Poitiers, ’56

French Resurgence (King Charles V, VI)1370s – Ed III’s Age, Leadership1380s – English Contraction

Intermission & Peace, 1389-1414King Henry IV, r. 1399-1413Usurper; Domestic RebellionsNo Position to Launch vs. FranceCourt Factions, Rise of Henry V Henry IV, c. Jacobethan

(James/Eliz) National Portrait Gallery

Henry V, 1386/7-1422 (r. 1413-22)Character

Strong, Confident, AristocraticProfessional Soldier, Chivalric

French CrisisYoung King Charles VI (12 at 1380)Insanity, ‘92; Nobility in Civil War, ‘07->

Preparations and War, 1414-5Henry V’s Small Forces (c. 6-9,000)Harfleur, Sept., 1415Agincourt, October 25, ’15 (St. Crispin’s)

French c. 15-50,000, c.7-9k dead

Northern ExpanseRouen, ‘19; Treaty of Troyes, ‘20

Henry V, c. JacobethanNational Portrait

Gallery

From Shakespeare’s Henry V

The End Under Henry VI, r.1422-Death of Henry V, August ‘22

Henry VI a Minor; Uncles in ControlJohn, Dk Bedford; Verneuil, ‘24

Turning Point, 1429English Seige of OrléansJoan of Arc’s Leadership

Captured, ‘30, d. ’31Burgundians Switch to French Crown

Losses in the North, SouthNormandy, Brittany, RouenGascony, Bordeaux, Bayonne

The End: Castillon, 1453French Cannons; English Calais

Joan of Arc, late 15th Cent.