Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Genealogy
- Introduction
- 1 Henry IV, the Royal Succession and the Crisis of 1406
- 2 ‘The Quarrels of Old Women’: Henry IV, Louis of Orléans, and Anglo-French Chivalric Challenges in the Early Fifteenth Century
- 3 'On account of the frequent attacks and invasions of the Welsh': The Effect of the Glyn Dŵr Rebellion on Tax Collection in England
- 4 Managing the North in the Reign of Henry IV, 1402–1408
- 5 Patronage, Petitions and Grace: the ‘Chamberlains’ Bills’ of Henry IV’s Reign
- 6 Henry IV: The Clergy in Parliament
- 7 The Rebellion of Archbishop Scrope and the Tradition of Opposition to Royal Taxation
- 8 An III and Infirm King: Henry IV, Health, and the Gloucester Parliament of 1407
- 9 Politics and Patronage in Lynn, 1399–1416
- 10 The Earl of Arundel’s Expedition to France, 1411
- Index
- York Medieval Press: Publications
2 - ‘The Quarrels of Old Women’: Henry IV, Louis of Orléans, and Anglo-French Chivalric Challenges in the Early Fifteenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Genealogy
- Introduction
- 1 Henry IV, the Royal Succession and the Crisis of 1406
- 2 ‘The Quarrels of Old Women’: Henry IV, Louis of Orléans, and Anglo-French Chivalric Challenges in the Early Fifteenth Century
- 3 'On account of the frequent attacks and invasions of the Welsh': The Effect of the Glyn Dŵr Rebellion on Tax Collection in England
- 4 Managing the North in the Reign of Henry IV, 1402–1408
- 5 Patronage, Petitions and Grace: the ‘Chamberlains’ Bills’ of Henry IV’s Reign
- 6 Henry IV: The Clergy in Parliament
- 7 The Rebellion of Archbishop Scrope and the Tradition of Opposition to Royal Taxation
- 8 An III and Infirm King: Henry IV, Health, and the Gloucester Parliament of 1407
- 9 Politics and Patronage in Lynn, 1399–1416
- 10 The Earl of Arundel’s Expedition to France, 1411
- Index
- York Medieval Press: Publications
Summary
The chivalric challenge and its anticipated outcome, the individual joust or multiple combat, could serve a variety of purposes in the knightly world of the later Middle Ages. Often enough the underlying intention was far from hostile: chivalry, after all, was an ideal which could help to foster a sense of supranational brotherhood among the ruling classes of warring nations, and it was far from unusual for a tournament not merely to provide the opportunity for knights to display their prowess, win renown and impress ladies, but also to double as a forum for informal or preliminary diplomatic talks, as happened on various occasions under Edward I, Edward III and Richard II. At times, however, a ‘chivalrous’ challenge was employed in a deliberately insulting manner, an expression of the desire to avenge some wilful or perceived slight inflicted upon the challenger, as when Otto, duke of Brunswick, accused Henry, duke of Lancaster, of telling lies about him in 1352. In such cases, the language employed by the challenger was generally unambiguous and shorn of the customary courtesies. During Henry IV's reign, a number of lettres de défi were exchanged between Frenchmen and Englishmen, the most famous of which was that sent by Louis, duke of Orléans, to the English king in person in the summer of 1402, the upshot of which was a bout of correspondence between the two men which lasted over a year. The monk of Saint-Denis, Michel Pintoin, took a dim view of these exchanges:
Several times have I read and thought about these abusive letters (litteras invectivas), full of provocations and outrages, and wondered whether they should be set out here in full. But since, like the quarrels of old women (contencionum anilium), their consequences were negligible, the reader will have to make do with this brief summary. Others, however, apparently less certain that their consequences were indeed ‘negligible’, took rather more notice of these letters. Enguerrand de Monstrelet transcribed them into his chronicle, and they were also copied into the register of the French parlement. Several English chroniclers commented on them, Henry IV's council and parliament expressed outrage at the affront to the king's honour, and the ill-feeling to which they gave rise threatened to become a serious sticking-point in the negotiations to preserve the everprecarious Anglo-French truce.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Reign of Henry IVRebellion and Survival, 1403-1413, pp. 28 - 47Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2008