Виктория Холт - Passage to Pontefract

Before he left his men, he turned to them and said: ‘Do not stir from this spot until I give you a sign to do so.’ He raised his hand. ‘When I do this, come forward. Kill everyone but the King. Then we will put him at our head and ride through England. Thus we shall have the support of everyone when the King is our leader. He will obey us for he is young and we shall guide him.’

Then Wat spurred his horse and rode over to the King. He behaved towards Richard as though he were one of the ragged army and those about Richard were filled with resentment by the manner of this village tyler in the presence of their sovereign. How dare he behave towards the King as though he were more familiar with them than they were.

‘King,’ said Wat, ‘do you see all those men there?’

Richard held his head high, sharing the resentment of his followers for this man’s crude manners.

‘I could scarcely fail to,’ he replied. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Because they are under my command and have sworn to obey me.’

‘Why do they not return to their homes?’ said Richard. ‘That is what I wish them to do.’

‘I have no intention of letting them return home,’ retorted Wat. ‘Letters promising our freedom were to have been given us. Where are those letters? Every demand I have made must first be satisfied.’

‘It has been ordered that you have these letters,’ said Richard coolly. ‘Return to your companions. Bid them depart. Be peaceable and careful of yourselves for it is my determination that you shall have all I promised you.’

One of the squires beside the King had moved slightly forward and drawn his sword.

Wat’s eyes were on him. ‘What is in your mind?’ he cried. ‘Give me your sword.’

‘That I will not do,’ replied the squire. ‘This is the King’s sword and you are not worthy to touch it. You are a serf, a tyler of roofs and if we were alone you would not have dared address me as you have.’

Wat, sure of his power, very much aware of his army who at the lifting of his hand would have surged forward, cried out in rage: ‘By my troth, I will not eat this day until I have had your head.’

This was too much for the Mayor. He brought his horse forward and cried: ‘How dare you behave thus in the presence of your King, you scoundrel. You are impudent before your betters.’

‘He is so,’ said the King.

Wat was staring at the Mayor demanding: ‘What affair is it of yours? What have I done to you?’

‘It does not become such a stinking rascal as you are to use such language in the presence of our King.’

Walworth then drew his sword and struck Wat such a blow that he fell from his horse. Wat tried to rise but several of the King’s squires had surrounded him.

At first the peasants could not see what was happening. Some even thought for a moment that the King was knighting Wat Tyler, which would not have surprised them for they had begun to share Wat’s own opinion of himself; and although they were against riches and titles for the nobility they would not be averse to accepting them for themselves.

But there was no doubt now. Wat was dying. Their leader was taken from them; he had gone to parley with the King and they had killed him.

‘They have killed our leader!’ someone shouted. ‘Come let us slay the lot of them.’

In that moment Richard was inspired. It was then that he performed the most spectacular act of his life. He might have reasoned that there was little risk, for to stay where he was would be almost certain death, but he did not pause to reason. He was young; he was inexperienced in the ways of men. All he knew was that some impulse moved him.

He turned his head and cried: ‘I command you all to stay where you are. Not one of you shall follow me. That is an order.’

Then he rode forward.

The ragged army was waiting to attack, but the sight of this slender and most handsome boy riding towards them, godlike, unafraid, had stunned them into silence and inaction.

He pulled up before them. He smiled at them. He cried in his rather high-pitched voice: ‘My liege men, what are you about? Will you kill your King? Heed you not the death of a traitor. I will be your leader. Come follow me to the fields and what you ask you shall have.’

He sat there on his horse smiling at them. He charmed them; they could not fail to be moved by his youth and courage and beauty.

‘Come,’ said Richard. He turned his horse and moved away towards the fields of Clerkenwell.

They followed him.

* * *

Seeing what was happening William Walworth rode in all haste back to the City where several of the wealthy merchants had been mustering supporters. Sir Robert Knolles, a soldier of some experience, had kept men at arms guarding his own mansion and he brought these out now to join those who would stand against the rebels. Meanwhile supporters had come in from the surrounding towns and there was a considerable force to march against the mob.

Thus while the King was leading them out of Smithfield the loyal citizens and the men at arms were riding out to attack the rebels.

Wat Tyler’s body had been taken to the market place, his head cut off and stuck on a lance which Walworth carried to the scene of the battle.

To see their leader’s head thus displayed robbed the ragged army of their desire to fight. Some tried to escape, some fell on their knees and begged for mercy.

There were those who would have slain them all but Richard did not wish this. He was still living in the glory of the role he had chosen for himself. Mercy suited that role. Moreover, said the wise Walworth, we shall need men to till the fields and tyle our roofs. They should be sent back to their homes, and made to realise that they would be unwise to attempt such revolt again.

So the rebels went back to their villages. And on that very day William Walworth was knighted, Archbishop Simon’s head was removed from London Bridge and in its place was set up that of Wat Tyler.

* * *

That was not entirely the end. Forces were gathered together for it must be shown that it was folly to attempt to overthrow the old order. Richard was still living in the glory of that moment when he had ridden forward alone and faced the rebels. They had accepted him. He had led them away … to defeat. Had they ridden forward; had they killed the King and his supporters it would have been a different story. But it was the young King, a boy of fourteen, who acting on sudden impulse had made history on that day.

Now of course he saw that the men about him were right. What the peasants had asked for was impossible. He had been horrified by the close proximity of Wat Tyler, a man who had no grace, who did not know how to behave in the presence of his King. Richard wanted no more contact with such as Wat Tyler.

Wat was dead. His head on the bridge was evidence of that and that was where it should remain, a warning to all of the fate of rebels.

But there must be more than the head of a traitor to warn them.

Accompanied by a small force and his Chief Justice, Sir Robert Resilian, Richard set out on a tour of the country and the first place to be visited was Essex, for the men of Essex had been the first to revolt.

It would only be the leaders who would be punished as an example. It had been seen through the Black Death what disaster could be produced by the loss of lives. Thousands had been involved in the peasants’ revolt but they could not all be punished. So it was to be the leaders.

When the King arrived in Essex many of the people gathered about him and shouted that they had been promised freedom. Had not he himself promised their leaders?

But those leaders were no more and those that remained would soon go the way of the others when justice caught up with them.

The King replied cynically: ‘Rustics you have been and are and in bondage you shall remain.’

It was betrayal. This godlike boy by his charm, beauty and courage, his seeming innocence and care for them, had deceived them. They would never trust him again. He was one of the masters. He had acted a part. Desolation came to the peasants. They should have known there was no way of escape.

It was some time before they found John Ball. He had known that he would most certainly be one of the victims. Wat had led them; but it was John Ball’s words which had inspired them. It was John Ball who had rung the bell summoning them from all over the country to join the forces of freedom.

John Ball could not escape.

He had left Smithfield after the fall of Wat and had travelled as far as Coventry; but it was not possible for a man so well known as he was to remain hidden. He was betrayed and taken when he was hiding in a ruined castle.

They brought him to St Albans where the Court was sitting and there he was quickly sentenced to the traitor’s death.

Richard himself witnessed the execution of John Ball which was that most cruel of all – hung, drawn and quartered, and the four quarters of his body were then sent to be exhibited in towns where the rebels had been most strong.

A grim warning to all who might think it was possible to change the old order.

Richard was nearly fifteen and there had been much talk for some time of his marriage. A King could not start too soon to get an heir; and there seemed no reason why Richard should not follow the example of his grandfather and beget a son or two.

It should not be difficult for the King of England to find a bride for, although England’s position at this time was scarcely prosperous, his bride would be a Queen and it seemed likely that with a young and energetic King much of what had been lost might be regained.

John of Gaunt had returned from Scotland to find his palace in ruins; but he could congratulate himself and his nephew on the lucky escape they had all had. John saw that the last months had been some of the most difficult through which the country had ever passed; and he shuddered to think what could so easily have happened.

Richard had behaved with promptitude and bravery. He had won the admiration of many; but those of his subjects who remembered the promises he had made both at Mile End and Smithfield would have had an ideal shattered. Richard would never be really popular again.

John of Gaunt had two daughters by Blanche of Lancaster. He had been thinking for some time that it would be admirable for his nephew to marry one of them. When he put forward the suggestion it was frowned on by the Parliament and all the King’s advisers. They had an excellent excuse. The relationship was too close. The pair would be first cousins. There would never be a dispensation for such a close connection.

No, the King must look elsewhere for a bride.

Some time ago an alliance with the daughter of Charles of France had been suggested but all thought of such a marriage was abandoned when there was trouble in Papal quarters following the outbreak of the Great Schism. There were two rival Popes, one holding court in Avignon, the other in Rome, each hurling accusations against the other, with threats of excommunication, and Europe was divided, France heading those who supported Clement, and England declaring for Urban.

When Wenceslaus of Bohemia denied his support to Clement this brought about a rift between his country and France with whom he had previously been on very cordial terms. Richard’s ministers then saw an advantage in forming an alliance with the enemies of the King of France. Moreover, before the disagreement Charles had been seeking a match for his son with Bohemia, for Wenceslaus had a marriageable sister.

Urban, in exchange for English support, offered to speak in favour of Richard with Wenceslaus, and the uncle of the prospective bride. Primislaus, Duke of Saxony, came to England ostensibly to discuss the union but in fact to see what kind of country his niece would be marrying into.

He returned to Prague not displeased by what he saw and Richard then decided to send Sir Simon Burley to Prague so that arrangements for the marriage could go ahead; and Wenceslaus sent the Duke of Saxony back to England for the same purpose.

* * *

There was mourning in the palace at Prague because the King and Emperor Charles had that day died. He had been a great ruler if not a popular one and at such times there was bound to be change. The new ruler was Wenceslaus, Charles’s son who was young and untried, but he had been brought up to know that he would one day rule. However there were changes in the air and the country’s old allies, the French, were deeply involved in them.