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BEDELL, WILLIAM (1571-1642)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 617 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEDELL, See also:WILLIAM (1571-1642) , See also:Anglican divine, was See also:born on his return to See also:London he brought See also:Sir See also:John See also:Oldcastle to trial at See also:Black Notley in See also:Essex, in 1571. He was educated at See also:Cam- and was See also:present at his See also:execution. He appears to have governed See also:bridge, became See also:fellow of See also:Emmanuel in 1593, and took orders. the See also:country with considerable success until See also:December 1419, In 1607 he was appointed See also:chaplain to Sir H. See also:Wotton, then when he resigned his See also:office as See also:lieutenant and joined the See also:king See also:English See also:ambassador at See also:Venice, where he remained for four years, in See also:France. Returning to See also:England, he undertook the lieutenancy acquiring a See also:great reputation as a See also:scholar and theologian. He for the third See also:time in See also:June 1421, and in the following May See also:con-translated the See also:Book of See also:Common See also:Prayer into See also:Italian, and was on ducted the See also:queen to join See also:Henry in See also:Normandy. He then took terms of closest friendship with the reformer, See also:Sarpi (Fra See also:Paolo). his See also:brother's See also:place and led the English troops to the See also:relief, of In 1616 he was appointed to the rectory of Horningsheath (near See also:Cosne, but on See also:hearing of the king's serious illness he See also:left the See also:army to See also:Bury St See also:Edmunds, where he had previously laboured), which he and hurried to his See also:side. Henry's last wish was that See also:Bedford held for twelve years. In 1627 he became See also:provost of Trinity should be See also:guardian of the See also:kingdom and of the See also:young king, and See also:College, See also:Dublin, and, in 1629, See also:bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. that See also:Philip the See also:Good, See also:duke of See also:Burgundy, should See also:act as See also:regent He set himself to reform the abuses of his See also:diocese, encouraged the in France. But when Philip declined to undertake this office, use of the Irish See also:language, and personally undertook the duties it too was assumed by Bedford, who, after the See also:death of the See also:French generally discharged by the bishop's See also:lay See also:chancellor. In 1633 king See also:Charles VI. in See also:October 1422, presided at a session of the See also:parlement of See also:Paris, and compelled all present to take an See also:oath of fidelity to King Henry VI. Meanwhile the English See also:parliament had decided that Bedford should be " See also:protector and defender " of the kingdom, and that in his See also:absence the office should devolve upon his brother See also:Humphrey, duke of See also:Gloucester.

Confining himself to the conduct of affairs in France the protector took up Henry V.'s See also:

work of See also:conquest, captured Meulan and other places, and sought to strengthen his position by an See also:alliance with Philip of Burgundy. This task was rendered more difficult as Gloucester had just married Jacqueline, countess of See also:Holland and See also:Hainaut, a See also:union which gave the English duke a claim on lands which Philip hoped to secure for himself. Bedford, however, having allayed Philip's irritation, formed an alliance with him and with John VI., duke of See also:Brittany, at See also:Amiens in See also:April 1423, and himself arranged to marry See also:Anne, a See also:sister of the Burgundian duke. This See also:marriage was celebrated at See also:Troyes in the following June, and the See also:war against Charles, the dauphin of France, was prosecuted with vigour and success. Bedford sought to restore prosperity to the districts under his See also:rule by reforming the debased coinage, granting privileges to merchants and manufacturers, and removing various abuses. He then granted some counties to Philip to check the growing hostility between him and Gloucester, and on the 17th of See also:August 1424 gained a great victory over a combined army of French and Scots at See also:Verneuil. But in spite of the efforts of the protector the good understanding between England and Burgundy was partially destroyed when Gloucester invaded Hainaut in October 1424. The ambition of his brother gave Bedford trouble in another direction also; for on his return from Hainaut Gloucester quarrelled with the chancellor, Henry See also:Beaufort, bishop of See also:Winchester, and the See also:council implored Bedford to come to England to See also:settle this dispute. He reached London in See also:January 1426, and after concluding a See also:bond of alliance with Gloucester effected a reconciliation between the duke and the chancellor; and knighted the young king, Henry VI. Bedford then promised to act in accordance with the will of the council, and in See also:harmony with the decision of this See also:body raised a body of troops and re-turned to France in See also:March 1427. Having ordered Gloucester to desist from a further attack on Hainaut, he threatened Brittany and compelled Duke John to return to the English alliance; and the success of his troops continued until the See also:siege of See also:Orleans, to which he consented with reluctance, was undertaken in October 1428. Having assured himself that Philip was prepared to See also:desert him, Bedford sent orders to his army to raise the siege in April 1429.

He then acted with great See also:

energy and See also:judgment in attempting to See also:stem the See also:tide of disasters which followed this failure, strengthened his hold upon Paris, and sent to England for reinforcements; but before any engagement took place he visited See also:Rouen, where he sought to bind the See also:Normans closer to England, and after his return to Paris resigned the French regency to Philip of Burgundy in accordance with the wish of the Parisians. Retaining the See also:government of Normandy Bedford established himself at Rouen and directed the movements of the English forces with some success. He did not interfere to See also:save the See also:life of See also:Joan of Arc. He was joined by Henry VI. in April 1430, when the regency was temporarily suspended, and he secured Henry's See also:coronation at Paris in December 1431. In See also:November 1432 his wife Anne died, and in April 1433 he was married at Therouanne to Jacqueline, daughter of See also:Pierre I., See also:count of St Pol. But notwithstanding Bedford's vigour the English lost ground steadily; and the death of Anne and this marriage destroyed the friendly relations between England and Burgundy. Negotiations for See also:peace had no result, and when the duke returned to England in June 1433 he told parliament that he had come See also:home to defend himself against the See also:charge that the losses in France were caused by his neglect, and demanded that his detractors should make their accusations public. The chancellor replied that no such charges were known to the king or the council, and the duke was thanked for his great services. His next act was to secure an inquiry into the See also:national finances; and when asked by the parliament to stay in England he declared that his services were at the king's disposal. Aschief councillor he offered to take a smaller See also:salary than had been previously paid to Gloucester, and undertook this office in December 1433, when his demands with regard to a continual council were conceded. Bedford, who was anxious to prosecute the war in France, left England again in 1434, but See also:early in 1435 was obliged to consent to the attendance of English representatives at a See also:congress held to arrange terms of peace at See also:Arras. Unable to consent to the French terms the English envoys left Arras in See also:September, and Philip of Burgundy made a See also:separate treaty with France.

Bedford only lived to see the ruin of the cause for which he struggled so loyally. He died at Rouen on the 14th of September 1435, and was buried in the See also:

cathedral of that See also:city. He left a natural son, See also:Richard, but no legitimate issue. Bedford was a See also:man of considerable administrative ability, brave and humane in war, See also:wise and unselfish in peace. He was not responsible for the misfortunes of the English in France, and his courage in the See also:face of failure was as admirable as his continued endeavour to make the See also:people under his rule contented and prosperous. The See also:chief contemporary authorities for Bedford's life are: Vita et gesta Henrici Quinti, edited by T. See also:Hearne (See also:Oxford, 1727) ; E. de See also:Monstrelet, Chronique, edited by L. D. d'Arcq. (Paris, 1857–1862); William of See also:Worcester, Annales rerum Anglicarum, edited by J. See also:Stevenson (London, 1864). See also Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, edited by J. R.

See also:

Dasent (London, 1890-1899) ; W. See also:Stubbs, Constitutional See also:History, vol. iii. (Oxford, 1895) P. A. See also:Barante, Histoire See also:des ducs de Bourgogne (Paris, 1824). In 147o See also:GEORGE NEVILL (c. 1457—1483), son of John, See also:earl of See also:Northumberland, was created duke of Bedford; but after his See also:father's See also:attainder and death at the See also:battle of See also:Barnet in 1471 he was degraded from the See also:peerage. The next duke of Bedford was See also:JASPER TUDOR (c. 1430-1495), See also:half-brother of King Henry VI. and See also:uncle of Henry VII. He was made earl of See also:Pembroke in 1453. Having survived the vicissitudes of the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses he was restored to his earldom and created duke of Bedford in 1485. The duke, who was See also:lord-lieutenant of See also:Ireland from 1486 to 1494, died without legitimate issue on the 21st of December 1495.

End of Article: BEDELL, WILLIAM (1571-1642)

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