"For to obeie without variaunce My lordes byddyng fully and plesaunce Whiche hath desire, sothly for to seyn Of verray knyghthood, to remember agayn The worthyness, gif I shall not lye, And the prowesse of olde chivalries." Lydgate, War of Troy. [92] Henry V. Act ii. Chorus. [93] He was kind and courteous to them immediately after the battle, and indeed as long as their deportment merited his friendship. The Duke of Orleans and four other Princes of the blood royal were taken prisoners at the battle of Agincourt, and for a while lived on their parole. But when they forfeited the titles of knights and gentlemen, by endeavouring to deceive and betray Henry while he was negotiating with the parties that distracted France, he then removed them to close confinement in Pontefract castle; nor did they obtain their liberty for many years. A great outcry has been raised against Henry for his conduct in this instance,--for his not showing a chivalric deportment to men who had forfeited their honour. [94] Thus the Chorus in Shakspeare's Henry V. addresses the audience: "So let him land, And solemnly, see him set on to London. So swift a pace hath thought, that even now You may imagine him upon Blackheath. When that his lords desire him, to have borne His bruised helmet and his bended sword, Before him through the city: he forbids it, Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride; Giving full trophy, signal, and ostent, Quite from himself, to God." [95] Caxton, of the Order of Chivalry or Knyghthood. [96] Ibid. [97] Comines, vol. i. p. 31. [98] Sir Tristrem, Scott's edition, Fytte first. st. 2. [99] Rymer's Foedera. [100] Warton pleasantly observes, that had Henry never murdered his wives, his politeness to the fair sex would remain unimpeached. [101] Holingshed, p. 805, 806, &c. Henry's passion for disguising himself was singular, and carried him beyond the bounds of chivalric decorum. "Once on a time the King in person, accompanied by the Earls of Essex, Wiltshire, and other noblemen, to the number of twelve, came suddenly in the morning into the Queen's chamber, all apparelled in short coats of Kentish kendall, with hoods on their heads, and hose of the same, every one of them carrying his bow and arrow, and a sword and a buckler, like outlaws, or Robin Hood's men. Whereat the Queen, the ladies, and all other there were abashed, as well for the strange sight, as also for their sudden coming,--and after certain dances and pastimes made, they departed." Holingshed p. 805. [102] Holingshed, p. 815. [103] Holingshed, p. 807, 808. [104] Holingshed, p. 85, &c. [105] Shakspeare, Henry VIII. Act i. scene 1. [106] Dr. Nott, in his life of Lord Surrey, prefixed to the works of His Lordship and Sir Thomas Wyatt, has by the evidence of facts completely overthrown this pleasing tale.