Perhaps the most interesting and wonderful thing in it was the statement of his belief that the world is a globe, and that a ship may sail round it “above and beneath,”—­an assertion which probably seemed to many who read it then as less credible than any of the marvelous stories in which his book abounds.

William Langland was writing rude verses (1369) about his “vision of Piers the Plowman,” contrasting “the wealth and woe” of the world, and so helping forward that democratic outbreak which was soon to take place among those who knew the woe and wanted the wealth.  John Wycliffe (S254), a lecturer at Oxford, attacked the rich and indolent churchmen in a series of tracts and sermons, while Chaucer, who had fought on the fields of France, was preparing to bring forth the first great poem in our language (S253).

247.  The “Good Parliament” (1376); Edward’s Death.

The “Good Parliament” (1376) attempted to carry through important reforms.  It impeached (for the first time in English history)[1] certain prominent men for fraud (S243).  But in the end its work failed for want of a leader.  The King’s last days were far from happy.  His son, the Black Prince (S238), had died, and Edward fell entirely into the hands of selfish favorites and ambitious schemers like John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.  Perhaps the worst one of this corrupt “ring” was a woman named Alice Perrers, who, after Queen Philippa was no more (S240), got almost absolute control of the King.  She stayed with him until his last sickness.  When his eyes began to glaze in death, she plucked the rings from his unresisting hands, and fled from the palace.

248.  Summary.

During this reign the following events deserve especial notice: 

1.  The acknowledgment of the independence of Scotland. 2.  The establishment of the manufacture of fine woolens in England. 3.  The beginning of the Hundred Years’ War, with the victories of Cre’cy and Poitiers, the Peace of Bre’tigny, and their social and political results in England. 4.  The Black Death and its results on labor. 5.  Parliament enacts important laws for securing greater independence to the English Church. 6.  The rise of modern literature, represented by the works of Mandeville, Langland, and the early writings of Wycliffe and Chaucer.

Richard II—­1377-1399

249.  England at Richard’s Accession.

The death of the Black Prince (SS238, 241, 247) left his son Richard heir to the crown.  As he was but eleven years old, Parliament provided that the government during his minority should be carried on by a council; but John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (S247), speedily got the control of affairs.

He was an unprincipled man, who wasted the nation’s money, opposed reform, and was especially hated by the laboring classes.  The times were critical.  War had again broken out with both Scotland and France, the French fleet was raiding the English coast, the national treasury had no money to pay its troops, and the government debt was rapidly accumulating.