Wickliffe preaches against the pope, 1377. Edward III. reigned fifty years and a half, died at Sheen, (now Richmond,) and was buried at Westminster.

RICHARD II. eleven years old, succeeds his grandfather. Greenland discovered by a Venetian, 1378.

A poll tax is laid on the nation by parliament; this occasions a rebellion, headed by Walter, a tyler of Deptford, commonly called Wat Tyler. 'T'he rebels seize the Tower, behead the archbishop of Canterbury, the lord treasurer, and several other noblemen. The King meets Wat Tyler and the rebels in Smithfield. Wat, being insolent, is killed by Walworth, Lord Mayor of London. The rebels throw down their arms, 1381.

The first company of linen weavers settled in England, 1386.

The King's favourites endeavour to make him absolute. The nobles rise in arms against him; and compel him to banish them, 1388.

Richard entirely forfeits the affections of his subjects by his extravagance and injustice. A quarrel between Henry, Duke of Hereford, and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, proposed to be decided by duel. The King banishes them both. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, dies. His son, the Duke of Hereford's estate is seized by Richard. The Duke returns; the nation rises in his favour. Richard, then in Ireland, hastens back, is forsaken by all, falls into Henry's hands, is confined in the Tower of London, and publicly resigns his crown to Henry. He reigned twenty-two years, was murdered at Pontefract castle, 1400, and buried at Langley; but was afterwards removed by Henry V. and deposited in Westminster Abbey.

F

HOUSE OF LANCASTER.

HENRY IV. is crowned, 1399. The Earl of Northumberland, being obliged by Henry to give him up the prisoners, that he had taken in a battle with the Scots, is disgusted and conspires against the King. The forcesof the malecontents are defeated at Shrewsbury, and young Piercy, surnamed Hotspur, son of the Earl of Northumberland, is killed, 1403. Great guns first used in England, 1405.

Riotous excesses of the Prince of Wales: he is sent to prison by chief Justice Gascoyne for striking him on the bench, 1412.

Henry IV. died March 20th, 1413, and was buried at Canterbury.

HENRY V. crowned at Westminster, dismisses his profligate companies, and chuses the most able men of the Kingdom for his council. But persecutes the followers of Wickliffe, particularly Sir John Oldcastle. Henry renews the claim upon the crown of France. The Dauphin of France, in derision, sends him a tun of tennis balls, 1414. The King goes into France, and defeats the French at Agincourt, 1415.

Sir John Oldcastle is taken, and burned in St. Giles's fields, 1418..

A treaty was concluded in France, in 1419, by which Henry should marry Katharine, the French King's daughter; be Regent of France during the French King's life, and succeed him at his death. The King dies in France, aged thirty-four, leaving the Duke of Bedford, Regent in France, and the Duke of Gloucester, Regent in England, during

the young King's minority. Henry died in France August 31st, 1422, and was buried at Westminster

HENRY VI. at the age of nine months is proclaimed King of England and France. The Dauphin however takes the title of King of France, and maintains it by force of arms. The town of Orleans, which had declared for the Dauphin, is besieged by the English, and relieved by the famous Joan of Arc, 1429.

Joan of Arc, after being twelve months prisoner with the English, is burned for a witch. The first viscount created in England, 1439.

The Duke of Gloucester is murdered. The Duke of York asserts his title to the crown; takes up arms, 1452.

The first Lord Mayor's show in London. The English lose all their conquests in France, except Calais, 1453.

The Duke of York defeats the King's forces near St. Alban's, 1455.

The Duke is killed at the battle of Wakefield. His son, the Earl of Rutland, twelve years is murdered in cold blood, 1460,

of age,

Edward, the young Duke of York, marches towards London, and is proclaimed King, 1461.

Henry VI. reigned thirty-eight years and a half, and was then deposed. He was afterwards kept a prisoner in the Tower for several years, and there murdered, June 20th, 1471. He was buried first at Chertsey, but removed to Westminster,

HOUSE OF YORK.

EDWARD IV. was elected by the chief men of the Kingdom, and sung Te Deum the next day in Westminster Abbey. His election was confirmed by parliament. Henry's camp at Hexham is attacked, and his forces routed. The Queen flies to her father in Anjou, and Henry is taken in disguise, and carried prisoner to the Tower, with his legs tied under the horse's belly, 1464.

The Earl of Warwick, being offended with Edward, for marrying while he was abroad on an embassy, soliciting a foreign alliance, raises troops, surprises Edward in his camp, and takes him prisoner: he escapes and defeats Warwick, who flies into France, but soon returns with a large army, and Edward flies into Burgundy. Henry VI. is released from the Tower, reinstated, and Edward proclamed an usurper, 1470.

Edward returns, takes possession of London, and imprisons King Henry. Warwick is defeated by Edward at Barnet, and slain in the field. He also defeats the forces of Margaret, King Henry's Queen, at Tewkesbury, and takes her son, Prince Edward, prisoner, who is murdered in his presence,

1471.

Edward IV. died of a surfeit at Westminster. and was buried at Windsor.

EDWARD V. succeeded his father at eleven years of age, but was never crowned. The Duke of Gloucester, his uncle, secures him and his brother in the Tower. Jane Shore, concubine to King Edward IV. does public penance.

Edward V. was born in Westminster Abbey, (where his mother had taken sanctuary,) Novem, 4th, 1470, reigned two months and eighteen days, was murdered in the Tower, and buried there privately. His remains were afterwards found in 1674, and remoyed to Westminster,

RICHARD III. surnamed Crookback, usurps the throne, declaring his brothers Edward IV. and the Duke of Clarence, as well as the issue of Edward IV. illegitimate, The Duke of Buckingham, the principal instrument in raising Richard to the throne, demands the inheritance of Hereford, which the King denies him. The Duke retires to York, takes up arms against Richard; but his army dispersing on account of the floods, he is obliged to conceal himself, and is betrayed. Post horses and stages established.

The Duke of Buckingham beheaded at Shrewsbury. Henry, Earl of Richmond, lands and claims the crown. Richard is defeated by him, in Bosworth-field, near Leicester, and slain. Here ended the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, in which, almost all the ancient Nobility perished.

Richard III, was slain August 22d, 1485, and buried at Leicester,