The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (166 page)

Not yet, cousin. We need to be in agreement on some tasks concerning France before we hear him.

Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.

Canterbury

God and his angels guard your sacred throne


And make you long become it!

May God and the angels guard your sacred throne.

King

Sure, we thank you.


My learned lord, we pray you to proceed


And justly and religiously unfold


Why the law Salique that they have in France


Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim;


And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,


That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,


Or nicely charge your understanding soul


With opening titles miscreate, whose right


Suits not in native colours with the truth;


For God doth know how many now in health


Shall drop their blood in approbation


Of what your reverence shall incite us to.


Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,


How you awake our sleeping sword of war.


We charge you, in the name of God, take heed;


For never two such kingdoms did contend


Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops


Are every one a woe, a sore complaint


'Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the swords


That makes such waste in brief mortality.


Under this conjuration speak, my lord;


For we will hear, note, and believe in heart


That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd


As pure as sin with baptism.

Thank you. We ask you to explain the claims we have in France. Tell us truthfully, because only God knows how many will die based on your information. So, be careful how you interpret the law or else create a war. We trust that what you say is true, so speak.

Canterbury

Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers,


That owe yourselves, your lives, and services


To this imperial throne. There is no bar


To make against your Highness' claim to France


But this, which they produce from Pharamond:


"In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant,"


"No woman shall succeed in Salique land;"


Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze


To be the realm of France, and Pharamond


The founder of this law and female bar.


Yet their own authors faithfully affirm


That the land Salique is in Germany,


Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe;


Where Charles the Great, having subdu'd the Saxons,


There left behind and settled certain French;


Who, holding in disdain the German women


For some dishonest manners of their life,


Establish'd then this law, to wit, no female


Should be inheritrix in Salique land;


Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,


Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen.


Then doth it well appear the Salique law


Was not devised for the realm of France;


Nor did the French possess the Salique land


Until four hundred one and twenty years


After defunction of King Pharamond,


Idly suppos'd the founder of this law,


Who died within the year of our redemption


Four hundred twenty-six; and Charles the Great


Subdu'd the Saxons, and did seat the French


Beyond the river Sala, in the year


Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,


King Pepin, which deposed Childeric,

Did, as heir general, being descended


Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair,


Make claim and title to the crown of France.


Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown


Of Charles the Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male


Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great,


To find his title with some shows of truth,


Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught,


Convey'd himself as the heir to the Lady Lingare,


Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son


To Lewis the Emperor, and Lewis the son


Of Charles the Great. Also, King Lewis the Tenth,


Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,


Could not keep quiet in his conscience,


Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied


That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,


Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare,


Daughter to Charles, the foresaid Duke of Lorraine;


By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great


Was re-united to the crown of France.


So that, as clear as is the summer's sun,


King Pepin's title and Hugh Capet's claim,


King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear


To hold in right and title of the female.


So do the kings of France unto this day,


Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law


To bar your Highness claiming from the female,


And rather choose to hide them in a net


Than amply to imbar their crooked titles


Usurp'd from you and your progenitors.

Listen, my lord and peers who serve the king. There is nothing to keep us from making a claim in France, except what the law from Pharamond states. It says that no woman shall rule in Salique. The French think Salique is part of France, but it is actually part of Germany. Charles the Great left French settlements after conquering the Saxons, and the French settlers hated the behavior of the German women, so they passed the law. The area is now called Meisen, and the law was not meant for France. France didn’t even own the land until after the death of Pharamond in the year 426, so it was not his law. Charles established the settlement in the year 805. According to history, King Pepin, who took the crown from Childeric, based his right on his descendants from, Blithild, the daughter of King Clothair. Another example is Hugh Capet, who stole the crown form Charles the duke of Lorraine, based on his ancestor Lady Lingare, daughter of Charlemagne, the son of Lewis the Emperor, the son of Charles the Great. King Lewis the Tenth, the sole heir to Capet, did not rest until he confirmed his grandmother, Queen Isabel, was a direct descendent of Lady Ermengare, the daughter of Charles duke of Lorraine, reuniting through marriage the line of Charles the Great to the throne. So, it is clear the heir to the throne is directly related to females.

King

May I with right and conscience make this claim?

Can I, in good conscience, make this claim?

Canterbury

The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!


For in the book of Numbers is it writ,


When the man dies, let the inheritance


Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,


Stand for your own! Unwind your bloody flag!


Look back into your mighty ancestors!


Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb,


From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,


And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince,


Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,


Making defeat on the full power of France,


Whiles his most mighty father on a hill


Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp


Forage in blood of French nobility.


O noble English, that could entertain


With half their forces the full pride of France


And let another half stand laughing by,


All out of work and cold for action!

If you can’t, let the sin be with me, for it says in the Bible in the book of Numbers, when a man dies, let the inheritance descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord, make your claim and fly your war flag. Look to your ancestors, your great-grandfather’s warring spirit and your great uncle, Edward the Black Prince, who fought a battle on French soil with his father watching on a hill. The noble English can take on the French with only half of their army, while the other half stands by laughing.

Ely

Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,


And with your puissant arm renew their feats.


You are their heir; you sit upon their throne;


The blood and courage that renowned them


Runs in your veins; and my thrice-puissant liege


Is in the very May-morn of his youth,


Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.

Remember the brave dead for their feats. You share their blood and you sit upon the throne. You are young and ready to fight for what is yours.

Exeter

Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth


Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,


As did the former lions of your blood.

All the kings of the earth expect you to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors.

Westmoreland

They know your Grace hath cause and means and might;


So hath your Highness. Never King of England


Had nobles richer, and more loyal subjects,


Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England


And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.

They know you have cause, the means, and the power. You have financial support and loyal men who are already in France.

Canterbury

O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,


With blood and sword and fire to win your right;


In aid whereof we of the spiritualty


Will raise your Highness such a mighty sum


As never did the clergy at one time


Bring in to any of your ancestors.

Let the men fight, my liege. We, spiritual men, will provide a greater sum than ever seen by another monarchy.

King

We must not only arm to invade the French,


But lay down our proportions to defend


Against the Scot, who will make road upon us


With all advantages.

We must not only invade France, but also prepare a defense against Scotland, who will definitely attack us.

Canterbury

They of those marches, gracious sovereign,


Shall be a wall sufficient to defend


Our inland from the pilfering borderers.

We will build a wall of defense, oh gracious sovereign, against any who march against us.

King

We do not mean the coursing snatchers only,


But fear the main intendment of the Scot,


Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us;


For you shall read that my great-grandfather


Never went with his forces into France


But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom


Came pouring, like the tide into a breach,


With ample and brim fullness of his force,


Galling the gleaned land with hot assays,


Girdling with grievous siege castles and towns;


That England, being empty of defence,


Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood.