ements were hunting and hawking, contests at archery,
and tournaments. Plays were acted by amateur companies on stages on
wheels, which could be moved from street to street.

The subjects continued to be drawn in large measure from the Bible and
from legends of the saints. They served to instruct men in Scripture
history, in an age when few could read. The instruction was not,
however, always taken to heart, as profane swearing was so common that
an Englishman was called on the Continent by his favorite oath, which
the French regarded as a sort of national name before that of "John
Bull" came into use.

SEVENTH PERIOD[1]

"God's most dreaded instrument,
In working out a pure intent,
Is man--arrayed for mutual slaughter."
Wordsworth

The Self-Destruction of Feudalism

Baron against Baron

The Houses of Lancaster and York (1399-1485)

House of Lancaster (the Red Rose) House of York (the White Rose)
Henry IV, 1399-1413 Edward IV, 1461-1483
Henry V, 1413-1422 +Edward V, 1483
*Henry VI, 1422-1461 Richard III, 1483-1485

[1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will be
found in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all others
are in parentheses.
*Henry VI, deposed 1461; reinstated for a short time in 1470.
+Edward V, never crowned.

279. Henry IV's Accession.

Richard II left no children. The nearest heir to the kingdom by right
of birth was the boy Edmund Mortimer, a descendant of Richard's uncle
Lionel, Duke of Clarence.[2] Henry ignored Mortimer's claim, and
standing before Richard's empty throne in Westminster Hall (S257),
boldly demanded the crown for himself.[3]

[2] See Genealogical Table on page 140.
[3] "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of
Lancaster, challenge this realm of England and the Crown, with all the
members and the appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of
blood, coming from the good King Henry III, and through that right
that God of his grace hath sent me, with help of kin and of all my
friends to recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone by
default of government and undoing of the good laws."

The nation had suffered so much from the misgovernment of those who
had ruled during the minority of Richard, and later by Richard
himself, that they wanted n