CHAPTER XII
Reign of Henry V. A.D. 1412 to A.D. 1422.
Henry V. succeeded his father, the year of his accession, he
confirmed the grant of twenty marcs to the priors of the Carmelite
monastery at Leighlin-bridge, which had been allowed by Richard II and
Henry IV., and ordered, that all the arrears then due should be
discharged.
A.D. 1414. Sir John Talbot, Lord Furnival, was this year appointed
Lord Deputy, and immediately after his arrival commenced a regular
military progress through the pale. He began with the Kavanagh, Birnes,
and others in the south, and compelled them to sue for peace. Having,
however, brought no forces with him from England, he was not possessed
of strength sufficient to make any approach towards a perfect conquest
of the Irish; indeed, this continued inadequacy of the military
department fully accounts for the narrow limits of the pale, and the
prolonged prowess of the Irish. That the services of the lord deputy
were, under the circumstances, very considerable, may be collected from
the fact, that the lords and gentlemen of the pale caused a certificate
declaratory of his merits to be laid before the king. Nevertheless, such
was the inability of the government to maintain the military, that the
English subjects suffered more from the expenditure on their support,
than they derived advantage by their services on the occasion. For a
considerable period afterwards, this circumstance continued in
operation; the extortion of coin and livery was not necessarily, and by
degrees, revived; nor did the penalty of treason prevent a recurrence of
the practice. A.D. 1419. In May, the lord lieutenant succeeded in making
prisoner of Mac Morrough, the chief captain of his nation and of all the
Irish in Leinster.
In 1 420, James, earl of Ormonde, lord lieutenant, summoned a
parliament, which met on the 7th June. It granted two subsidies to the
king, amounting to one thousand marcs. The proportion paid by the
commons of Carlow was four mares, one shilling, and four pence; while
the county of Louth, a district of nearly the same extent, paid
twenty-five marcs, twelve shillings and five pence. But the comparative
peace and prosperity which attended the latter county, will sufficiently
explain the superior amount of its contribution. Kilkenny, a much more
extensive territory than Louth, furnished but eighteen marcs, five
shillings, and eleven pence on this occasion. We need only add that
Kilkenny was frequently in a state of disturbance.
It appears that a prelate named Richard, Bishop of Leighlin, resigned
in the year 1420 but whether it was Richard Rocomb, or some' other, is
matter of doubt. The see continued afterwards vacant for two years.
John Mulgan, rector of the church of Lin, ' in the diocese of Meath,
succeeded, in pursuance of a bull of Pope Martin V. directed to Henry V.
He was restored to the temporalities on the 1st of September, 1422. He
instituted four petty canons in his church. Henry V. died on the 31st of
August, 1422.
("Spelling are as seen in the book")
CHAPTER XIII
The
information contained in these pages is provided solely
for the purpose of sharing with
others researching their ancestors in Ireland.
© 2001 Ireland Genealogy Projects,
IGP TM
By Pre-emptive Copyright - All rights reserved
Back to the top