a half that followed
the death of Chaucer appealed especially to Shakespeare. He wrote or
helped to edit five plays that deal with this period,--_Henry IV.,
Henry V., Henry VI., Richard III._, and _Henry VIII_. While these
plays do not give an absolutely accurate presentation of the history
of the time, they show rare sympathy in catching the spirit of the
age, and they leave many unusually vivid impressions.

Henry IV. (1399-1413), a descendant of John of Gaunt, Duke of
Lancaster, one of the younger sons of Edward III., and therefore not
in the direct line of succession, was the first English king who owed
his crown entirely to Parliament. Henry's reign was disturbed by the
revolt of nobles and by contests with the Welsh. Shakespeare gives a
pathetic picture of the king calling in vain for sleep, "nature's
tired nurse," and exclaiming:--

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

Henry V. (1413-1422) is one of Shakespeare's romantic characters. The
young king renewed the French war, which had broken out in 1337 and
which later became known as the Hundred Years' War. By his victory
over the French at Agincourt (1415), he made himself a national hero.
Shakespeare has him say:--

"I thought upon one pair of English legs
Did march three Frenchmen."

In the reign of Henry VI. (1422-1461), Joan of Arc appeared and saved
France.

The setting aside of the direct succession in the case of Henry IV.
was a pretext for the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) to settle the
royal claims of different descendants of Edward III. While this war
did not greatly disturb the common people, it occupied the attention
of those who might have been patrons of literature. Nearly all the
nobles were killed during this prolonged contest; hence when Henry
VII. (1485-1509), the first of the Tudor line of monarchs, came to the
throne, there were no powerful nobles with their retainers to hold the
king in check. He gave a strong centralized government to England.

The period following Chaucer's death opens with religious persecution.
In 1401 the first Englishman was burned at the stake for his religious
faith. From this time the expenses of burning heretics are sometimes
found in the regular accounts of cities and boroughs. Henry VIII.
(1509-1547) broke with the Pope, dissolved the monasteries, proclaimed
himself head of the church, and allowed the laity to read the _Bible_,
but insisted on retaining many of the old beliefs. In Germany, Ma