^^■' THE UBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL ENDOWED BY THE DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES DA32 .F559 1862 V.I This book is due at the WALTER R. DAVIS LIBRARY on the last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold it may be renewed by bringing it to the library. °^^^ RET DUE "^^- ^^^^ RET DUE ^^^- Form No. Si- Rev. im Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive in 2011 witli funding from University of Nortli Carolina at Chapel Hil http://www.archive.org/details/annalsofenglande01flah 7 p\t. \^.- THE ^^y^ L ■^Ac '(Tu. [imate n! iiiglaiitr; Al( EPITOME OF EI(GLISH HISTORY, FROM COTEMPORART WRITERS, THE ROLLS OF PARLIAMENT, AND OTHER PUBLIC RECORDS. VOL. 1 OXFORD AND LONDOirN.,Sl^^!!j--^ JOHN JTENRY avp JA^TES PARKER. in DCCC LXr. PRINTED BY MESSRS. PARKER, CORN-MARKET, OXFORD. many Histories of England already exist, tliat any fresli work of that class may be reasonably requii-ed to offer some new feature to establisb a claim on public notice. An endeavour has been made to provide this, by de- voting a larger share of attention than is usually done to the history of our island before the Kor- man invasion, an event which by some writers seems to be considered as almost the beginning of authentic British history. They implicitly receive the necessarily hasty and imperfect statements of Caesar as containing all that need be known of our earlier state ; pervert a passage from Milton into an authority for dismissing the events of the six hundred years of Anglo-Saxon rule as "no more worthy of attention than the combats of crows and kites ;" and are content to see in the victors of Hastings and their iron institutions, the orijiin of all that is desirable in a state, and the only sources of our country's elevation. In this work different views have been taken of these matters, and as they are based on the state- ments of the most nearly cotemporary writers, they will perhaps be regarded as sound. The passages from Grreek and Latin writers, accumulated with so much diligence by the Editors of our only National historical work^, afford most valuable corrections or elucidations of the statements of Caesar ; and the Saxon Chronicle and Anglo-Saxon Laws detail with minuteness and indisputable truth the state of our Anglo-Saxon commonwealth. These have been care- fully analyzed, and the following pages contain a summary of their contents ; while from Northern sources some brief notices have been drawn which may serve to correct the ordinary erroneous im- pressions regarding the Northmen, who had so great an influence on the fortunes of Britain for ^ " jNIonumenta Historica Britannica," edited by Messrs. Petrie, Shai-p, and Hardy. It is to be regretted that but a single volume has yet appeared of a work so well calculated to do credit to the liberality of Government, and which, if carried out in the manner proposed, -will be a -worthy rival to the " Recueil des Histonens des Gaules et de France," on which successive rulers in France have, to their own honour and the advantage of their country, for more than a century bestowed their patronagev many centuries, and several of whose institutions still prevail among us. Two liiglily important documents, Domesday- Book and Magna Charta, will be found described as fully as tbe limits of the work would permit ; valuable corrections of various kinds, (particularly of dates,) and some facts hitherto little known, have been derived from the Close and the Patent Rolls, from the Rolls of Parliament and Parlia- mentary Writs, but especially from the Statutes of the Realm '^; and, to meet in some measure a deficiency often felt in perusing history, brief bio- graphies have been given of many eminent persons. >" Since the above was written a volume of Osford Essays has appeared, one of which, from the pen of Mr. Froude, is " On the best Means of teaching EngHsh History ;" the coincidence of its main recommendation with the plan that has been followed in this work is both remarkable and gratifying : — "We recommend," he says, ". . . . the study of the old Sta- tute-book ; in which, notwithstanding all that is thought and beheved of the dependent position of Parhament, the true history of this English nation substantially Ues buried, — a history, dif- ferent indeed from any which has been offered to us as such. Every thing of greatest consequence is to be found there. All great movements, pohtical and religious, are treated of there ; and aU those questionable personal transactions which liave appeared so perplexing are there We believe, for our own part, that, for a serviceable study of EngHsh History, the Statutes are as the skeleton is to the body ; that in them is contained the bone and marrow of the whole matter, and around them as a sustaining and organising structure the flesh and colour of it can alone eflFectually gather itself." The Illustrations, mainly derived from tlie trust- wortliy sources of coins, great seals, and monu- ments, will be found to present a tolerably com- plete series of the portraits, arms, and devices of each ruler, and may indicate the importance of some acquaintance with heraldry as an aid to the study of history. The work, as its name implies, is mainly devoted to the affairs of England, but notices are given at suitable times of the course of events in Scotland and the Isles, in Wales, and in Ireland ; these are necessarily brief, but being drawn from the co- temporary Annals, Chronicles, and Laws of each country, they may perhaps be sufficient to shew what degree of connexion formerly existed between the long independent and often hostile States which now happdy unite to form the British Empire. Esto perpetua ! Hist of Illustrations. Page DoTJBLE Cromlech at Plas Newydd, in Anglesey . . i Roman Sepulchral Urns, from Fehningham . . . xiii Brass Coin of Severus, on occasion of his victories m Britain ......... xvi Gold Coins of Tasciovanus and of Cmiobelin ... 19 Silver Coin of Claudius, commemorative of his conquest of Britain 21 Brass Coin of Hadi-ian, on occasion of his visit to Britain 27 Brass Coin of Antoninus Pius, representing Rome seated on the rocks of Britain 28 Brass Coin of Commodus, commemorating the victories of Ulpius Marcellus 29 Brass Coins of Caracalla and of Geta, commemorating their father's conquests ...... 33 Gold Coin of Carausius, on his founding an empire in Britain 36 Silver Coin of Carausius, commemorative of his naval power ......... ib. Brass Coin of Carausius, representing liis association with Diocletian and Maximian ib. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Gold and Brass Coins of Allectus .... 37 Figure of Sb. Alban, from a brass in St. Alban's Abbey . ib. Roman Masonry, from the Jewry Wall, Leicester . . 47 Gold Coin attributed to Edward the Confessor . . 48 Statue of St. Cuthbert, with St. Oswald's head . . 65 Northman's Armlet ....... 77 Arms ascribed to Egbert ...... 80 Ethelwulf's Eing 83 Edmund of East Anglia; from a painted panel of the 15th century 89 Alfred's Jewel, obverse and profile .... 94 Thyra's Cup 102 Arms ascribed to Edward the Confessor . . . 134 Saxon Sceatta ........ 167 Armour of the Norman era 180 William I., from his Great Seal, and Arms ascribed to, . 181 William II., from liis Great Seal, and Arms ascribed to, 206 Anus of the Kingdom of Jerusalem .... 214 Henry I. and Queen Ivlaud, from Rochester Cathedi-al . 217 Henry I., from his Great Seal, and Arms ascribed to, . 218 Badge of the Templars 223 Cross of the Hospitallers , 224 Stephen, from his Great Seal, and Arms ascribed to, . 228 Arms of Geoffrey, earl of Anjou 237 The Escarboucle and Planta Genista .... ib. Henry II. and Eleanor of Guiemie, from their Monuments at Fontevraud 239 Arms of William Longespee ..... 242 Arms and Badge of Henry II 243 Richard I., from his Monument at Fonteyraud . . 263 Berengaria, from her Monument at Lespan . . . ib. Arms and Badge of Richard 1 265 John, from his Monument in Worcester Cathedral . 279 Isabella of Angouleme, from her Monument at Fontevraud ib. Arms of Richard, earl of Cornwall .... 2S1 LIST or ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Arms and Badge of John ...... 282 Arms of Robert Mtz-Walter . . . . . 287 Hem-y III., from his Monument in Westminster Abbey . 295 Arms of Henry III ii. the Earl Mai'shal ib. DeMontfort 297 Edmimd of Lancaster ..... 299 William de Valence, earl of Pembroke . .315 Mortimer 323 Clare, earl of Gloucester 324 Eai-1 Warrenne 330 Ferrers, earl of Derby ..... 832 Edward I., from Ms coins ...... 336 Eleanor of Castile, fi-om her Moniunent in W^estmiuster Abbey 336 Arms of Eleanor of Castile 339 Edward of Caernarvon ..... 340 Edward 1 341 Caerphilly Castle, a restoration 347 Arms of Scotland ....... 351 Lord St. Jolm ...... 356 Bigod, Earl Marshal . . . . . ib. Bohmi, earl of Hereford . . . . . ib. Lord Segrave ....... 360 Edward II., from his Monument in Gloucester Cathedral 363 Arms of Edward II ib. Ancient Arms of France 365 Arms of Thomas, earl of Lancaster .... 367 Despenser 371 Seal of Bohim, earl of Hereford 372 Edward III. and Plulippa of Hainault, from their Monuments, Westminster Abbey . . . .375 Edward the Black Prince, from his Tomb at Canterbm-y 377 Arms of Jolm of Gaunt 378 Edward III 379 b LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Arms of Montaeute, earl of Salisbury .... 386 ofNew College, Oxford 395 Eichard II. and Anne of Bohemia, from Jlouimients, Westminster Abbey ...... 397 Arms of De Vere, earl of Oxford 398 Arms and Badges of Eichai-d II 402 Arms of earl of Arimdel ...... 403 Jolm of Xortbampton 408 De la Pole, earl of Suffolk . . ' . .410 C^ Double Cromlech at Flas Nenydd, in Anglesey. -^ MTEODTJCTIO^^. jHE Saxon Chronicle, following the Venerable Bede, the earliest English writer who de- ^■'1 l^il serves the name of historian, commences its C>-^-v^* narrative with a brief description of Britain, and a legend of its first peopling. " The island of Britain is eight hundred miles long, and two hundred miles broad : and here in this island are five tongues, English, British, Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants of this land were Britons ; they came from Armenia (Armorica, now Britanny), and first settled in the south of Britain. Then befel it that Picts came from the south, from Scythia, with long ships, not many, and first landed in North Hibernia, and they entreated the Scots that they might there abide. But they would not permit them, for they said that thev could not all abide there together. And then the Scots VOL. I, B INTRODUCTIOK. said, 'We may nevertheless give you counsel. We know another island eastward of this, where ye may dwell, if ye will, and if any one withstand 3'ou, we will assist you, so that you may subdue it.' Then went the Picts, and subdued this land northwards ; the southern part the Britons had, as we before have said. And the Picts obtained wives for themselves of the Scots, on this con- dition, that they should always choose their royal lineage on the woman's side ; which they have held ever since. And then befel it in the course of years, that some part of the Scots departed from Hibernia into Britain, and conquered some portion of the land. And their leader was called Reoda, from whom they are named Dalreodi ^." The research of modern writers has failed to carrv the authentic history of Britain bevond the year 57 before the Christian era, when, as we are informed by Ceesar, Divitiacus, a Gaulish king, exercised a kind of feudal superiority not only over the north-eastern part of modern France, but also over at least a portion of Britain. Thus connected with the affairs of the Gauls, and, as we learn from Tacitus, in part of kindred race, the islanders were easily led to afford succour to them when assailed by the Romans ; and this succour, added to the report of pearls and other riches to be acquired, sufficed to attract to Britain the legions of the conqueror. In narrating his two campaigns, Ceesar asserts that he was the first to carry the arms of Rome into an un- known world ; yet, four centuries before his time, He- rodotus had made mention of the Cassiterides (now the * From this, i>robably the modern district of Lorn, in Argyllshire. rNTRODUCTIOIT. Scilly isles) and their tin mines ; Aristotle also alludes to them, and Polybius says that in his day (260 B.C.) writers discoursed largely on the subject. Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, shortly after Caesar's invasion, speak of the triangular form of the island, and give some vague idea of its size ; and Ptolemy, early in the second cen- tury, furnishes a table of the position of many of its promontories and rivers, and of its tribes and cities ; to which Marcianus Heracleota, in the third, adds further particulars of the " Pretannic islands," Ibernia (Ireland) and Albion. He describes the first as containing " sixteen nations, eleven celebrated towns, fifteen principal rivers, five remarkable promontories, six distinguished islands ;" and the latter, — which he says is by far the greater, not contracted like other islands, but drawn out and ex- tended over a great part of the northern ocean, with two particularlv extensive isthmuses, one greater than the other, in the form of feet, of wliich the lesser stretches out towards Aquitania, — has " thirty-three nations, fifty-nine celebrated towns, fortv noble rivers, fourteen lofty promontories, one notable chersonesus, five spa- cious bavs, three commodious harbours. The whole circumnavigation of the island of Albion is not more than 28,604, nor less than 20,526 stadia ^." At a later, but uncertain date, the Itinerary of Antoninus supplies detailed information as to the topographv of Britain, to which some addition may be made from the Peutin- gerian Table, a document probablv belonging to the fourth century, though only known to us from a tran- script of much later date. 1= Equal to 3,173 and •2,2S0 Eng-lish miles. INTRODTJCTIOX. The generally received ideas of the state of Britain at the time of its invasion by the Romans, are almost exclusivelv derived from the statements of Julius Ctesar, but it should excite no surprise that many of them are erroneous, when it is remembered that CtBsar's stay here was but brief, and that but a verv small part of the countrv fell under his own observation. His account is shortlv.that the people on the coast where he landed much resembled the Gauls, though they had no coinage, but used in- stead brass or iron rings as money ; and that the rest of the natives, who were reputed aborigines, were mere savages, clad in skins, and dyeing their bodies with woad, which gave them a terrible appearance ; they had vast herds of cattle and lived on milk and flesh, not cul- tivating corn ; they wore long hair, but no beards ; and they dwelt together in parties of ten or twelve, who had wives in common'^. Some of these statements are con- firmed bv Xiphiline*^ and Herodian®, when speaking of the unsubdued tribes in the time of Severus ; but others are quite contrary to fact, as a great number of British coins exist^ some of which are of gold, and bear an ear ' Diodonis makes no mention of this custom, which is perhaps to be regarded as a pure invention. i Xijihiiine was a Greek monk of the eleventh century, who has left an eiDitome of several of the lost books of the Koman Histon,- of Dio Cassius. « Herodian lived about A.D. 250, and wrote a valuable Histon- of his own times. ' The opinion of the learned Editors of the Monumenta on this point is thus stated (p. cli. ) : "The French numismatists have claimed as Gallic the coins which are called British, though they have not made out any title to their appropriation. It has been broadly stated tliat tlie Britons were too barbarous to need a coinage ; but if that were the case, sm-ely the Gauls could have had just as little need of a metallic currency, as they were at that time Uttle, if at all, more advanced in civihzation than their British INTRODUCTION. of corn on the reverse, thus testifying both knowledge and esteem of agriculture, (see coins of Tasciovanus and Cunobelin, p. 19,) and Diodorus Siculus says, "They who dwell near the promontory of Britain which is called Belerium (now the Land's end,) are singularly fond of strangers, and from their intercourse with foreign merchants, civilized in their habits." Strabo too says, " The Cassiterides^ are inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching to the feet, and girt about the breast, walking with staves, and bearded like goats." Cassar describes the inland regions as producing tin, and the maritime, iron ; but other writers more accurately tell us that tin was produced near the sea shore, that it was skilfully worked and fused by the natives, and by them conveyed in waggons in great abundance, to " a certain island named Ictis, lying off Britain ; for a sin- gular circumstance happens with respect to the neigh- bouring islands lying between Europe and Britain ; for at the high tides, the intervening passage being flooded, neighbours. It is absurd to supjDose tliat one only of two nations, so nearly allied to each other in religion and manners as were the Gauls and Britons^ and carrying on together an extensive commerce, should have known the use of money. It may therefore be assumed, that if the Gauls had a metallic currency before the time of Juhus Caesar's invasion of this island, wMch to a certainty they had, so also had the Britons It must be remenabered that there are extant coins pecuhar to this island ; or rather, coins have been discovered here unhke any which are found in any other countrj^, such as those, for instance, which haxe inscrijutions oii tablets. There is undoubtedly a great resemblance between some of the British and Gallic coins ; both are thick and dished, and appear to have been rudely formed after the model of the Grecian coins Camden was the first who claimed and estabhshed a coinage for the inhabitants of his country ; he has assigned about eighteen different types to Cunobehn, Boadicea, Caractacus, &c. ; but there are as many as seventy-two other types still extant." 5 This term probably here includes the coasts of Devon and Corn- wall, and is not, as in other cases, confined to the Scilly isles. INTEODTJCTION'. they seem islands ; but at the low tides, the sea retreat- ing and leaving much space dry, they appear penin- sulas ;" a statement Vv'hich has led to the identification of Ictis with the Mount St. Michael, in Cornwall, of our own day. Beside tin, lead and skins are mentioned as exchanged with foreign merchants for earthenware, glass beads, salt, and biazen vessels. To British exports were afterwards added slaves and fierce hunting dogs, and in the fourth century, if not before, vv-heat in large quan- tity. Tacitus informs us that the natives of Britain were of several distinct races, as evidenced b}^ their differences of personal appearance. The height and the yellow locks of the people on the north-east coast shewed their Ger- man origin, while the shorter stature and swarthy com- plexion of those in the west rendered it probable that they were a colony from Iberia. To all, the praise of desperate valour is due ; Ctesar acknowledges that their horsemen and charioteers contended vigorously with him ; and to the last period of Roman occupation, there were numerous tribes that had never been subdued. Xiphiline describes the state of these about the close of the second century of the Christian era. " The Masatae and Caledonians inhabit mountains wild and waterless, and plains desert and marshy, hav- ing neither walls nor cities nor tilth, but living by pas- turage, by the chase, and on certain berries ; for of their fish, though abundant and inexhaustible, they never taste. They live in tents naked and bare-footed, having wives in common, and rearing the whole of their progeny. Their state is chiefly democratical, and they INTRODUCTION. are above all things delighted by pillage ; they fight from chariots, having small swift horses ; thev fight also on foot, are very fleet when running, and most resolute when compelled to stand ; their arms consist of a shield and a shoil spear, having a brazen knob at the extre- mity of the shaft, that when shaken it mav terrify the enemy by its noise ; they use daggers also ; they are capable of enduring hunger, thirst, and hardships of every description ; for when plunged in the marshes they abide there many days with their heads onlv out of water ; and in the woods they subsist on bark and roots ; they prepare for all emergencies a certain kind of food, of which if they eat only so much as the size of a bean they neither hunger nor thirst. Such then is the island of Britannia, and such the inhabitants of that part of it Vi'hich is hostile to us." Herodian gives a very similar account, and adds, " Thev encircle their loins and necks with iron, deeming this an ornament and mark of opulence, in like manner as other barbarians esteem gold, ihey puncture their bodies with pictured forms of every sort of animals, on which account they wear no clothing, lest they should hide the figures on their body." The kingly form of government prevailed among the Britons before the coming of Coesar, and it vi^as con- tinued long after, though in subordination to the Roman governors, but the most trul}'' influential persons were the Druids. These men were the depositories of all the learning of the Britons, and they had numerous schools where they taught " many things i-especting the stars and their motion, respecting the extent of the world and INTRODUCTION. of our earth, respecting the nature of things, respecting the power and the majesty of the immortal gods." These doctrines were supposed to have originated in Britain, and in Ctesar's time those Gauls who wished to study them visited our island for the purpose. But the Druids were not merely teachers ; they im- posed ordinances on all classes, and enforced them bv terrible penalties ; they were the arbiters of peace and war ; they had sacred groves and rude stone temples, in which they offered human sacrifices ; and so powerful was their influence over their countrymen, that the Romans disregarded their usual policy of leaving un- touched the superstitions and priesthoods of conquered nations, and laboured ze'alously to destroy both the priests and the altars of Britain. Tacitus gives a livelj'' account of the assault for this purpose on the stronghold of Druidism. Suetonius " prepared to fall upon Mona (Anglesey '^), a country powerful in inhabitants, and a common place of refuge to the revolters and fugitives ; he built, for that end, boats with broad flat bottoms, the easier to ap- proach a shore full of shallows and uncertain landings ; in these the foot were embarked; the horse followed, partly by fording, partly by swimming. " On the opposite shore stood the enemy's army, in thick array compact with men and arms ; amongst them were women running frantically every where, to and fro, representing the wild manner and transports of furies ; dismally clad in funeral apparel, with their hair di- t The name Ttlona is often given to the Isle of Man, but it is cer- tain that Anglesey is meant in this instance. INTKODUCTION. shevelled and torches in their hands ; round the host also appeared their priests the Druids, with their hands hfted up to heaven, uttering direful imprecations, and invoking celestial vengeance ; insomuch, that at the amazing novelty of the spectacle, the spirit of the Roman soldiers was struck with dismay ; and, as if all their limbs had been benumbed, they stood motionless, their bodies ex- posed, like fixed marks, to wounds and darts ; till, bv the repeated exhortations of the general, as well as bv mutual incitements from one another, they were at last roused to shake off the scandalous terror inspired bv a band of raving women and fanatic priests ; and thus advancing their ensigns, they discomfited all that re- sisted, and involved them in their own fires." The aboriginal Britons are described as dwelling in slight cabins of reeds and wattles, and in some instances in caverns in the earth, many sets of which arranged with some degree of symmetry antiquaries have re- cognized ; but Ctesar tells us that the maritime tribes had buildings in the fashion of the Gauls, that is, of wood, of a circular figure, and thatched. They had, however, public edifices for the purposes of rehgion, of which we have an example m the stupendous fabric of Stonehenge\ Such towns as they had, were clusters of huts erected on a cleared portion of the forests which covered the greater part of the island, and they were in- variably surrounded by a rampart constructed of felled ' The cromlechs which are found in various parts of our island were formerly regarded as temples, but recent investigation has con- vinced the generahty of antiquarians that they are in reahty sepul- chral monuments. One of the finest exam23le3 is the double crom- lech at Plas Newydd, in Anglesey, figm-ed at the head of this chapter. INTRODUCTION. trees strongly interlaced and wattled, and a deep fosse, which together constituted a fortification that we may be- lieve even the veteran legionaiies often found it difficult to storm. The site of the modern city of London, with the river Thames in front, the river Fleet on the west, and an almost impenetrable forest in the rear, may be taken as a fair specimen of the locality usually selected for the residence of each British chief. At the time that the Roman supremacy in Britain had its greatest extent, we distinguish the two great districts of Albion Superior and Inferior (in a general wav, England and Wales, and Scotland) divided into the five provinces of Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia Caesariensis, Maxima Csesariensis, and Valentia. 1. Britannia Prima contained the country south of the Thames and the Severn, and, proceeding westward, we find tribes known to us by their Romanized names of the Cantii, Regni, Belgse, Atrebates, Durotriges, and Damnonii. 2. Britannia Secunda may be called Wales, and con- tained the Silures in the south and south-east, the Demetce on the western coast, and the Ordovices in the north. 3. Flavia Ccesarieiisis, the country between the Thames, the Severn and the H umber, contained the Trinobantes in the south, north of them the Cattieu- chlani and Iceni, and in the central and western part the Dobuni, Coritani, and Cornavii. 4. Ilaxima Ccesoriensis, between the Humber and the Tyne, contained the Parish on the Yorkshire coast, and the Brigantes, who occupied the rest of the north of En 2:1 and. INTKODITCTION. 5. YaJentia, between the Tyne and the Frith of Forth, was occupied by the Ottadini on the east coast, the Gadeni in the centre, and the Selgovias and No- vantse to the west. This province contained the Roman walls known as, (1) the Wall of Agricola (or of LoUins Urbicus), Avhich was the most northern, and (2) the Wall of Hadrian, to the south ; this last being re-edified in the third century, or rather replaced by a w-all of stone, the new structure is commonly spoken of as (3) the Wall of Severus ^. A wall, or rather chain of forts, also existed in the central part of the country,, stretching from the Nen to the Avon ; few traces of this remain, but of the other walls most of the stations have been identified, and many portions are still in a good state of preservation. Beside these walls strong fortresses were erected in many places, particularly on the coast, of which the remains at Burgh castle, in Sufiolk, Reculver, Rich- borough and Lympne. in Kent, and near Pevensey, in Sussex (probably Anderida), are especiallv interesting, as evidently built to guard a tract of country almost coin- ciding in limits vrith those of the famous incorporation of the Cinque Ports, and thus rendering probable the Roman origin of that peculiar system for the defence of the sea-board. Our early historians mention four great roads by which South Britain was traversed, and these have usually been considered the work of its conquerors, but t TMs wall was about 68 miles in length ; it had on its northern front a deep ditch, and on its southern side a turf wall and fosse ran parallel with it, at a distance generally of 60 or 70 yards ; the included space was traversed by a military road , along which were disposed nearly twenty stationes (permanent camps), Unked to- gether by numerous smaller posts and watch-towers. INTKODTJCTION. recent research has led to the conclusion that the Romans only kept in repair, and perhaps improved, the Toads which they found in use on their settlement in the island. These great roads, under their modern names, are, th© Watling Street, the Hermin Street, the Foss 'Way, and the Ikenild Street \ and along their course, or in their immediate vicinity, are found the principal cities which, in pursuance of their usual policy, the Romans either founded or re-edified, and to which, according to the privileges bestowed, the various names were given of colonies, municipalities, stipendiary, and Latian cities ; Richard of Cirencester, a writer of very doubtful authority, has given a list of them™. Many other Roman roads exist, one of which stretches beyond the Wall of Agricola to the foot of the Gram- pians, and a Roman camp is found near the mouth of the Spey, on the Murray Frith, which may probably be taken as the most advanced post of the Imperial rule. The names of several tribes beyond the Roman limits ' The Watling- Street from Kent to Cardigan Baj^ ; the Hermiu Street from St. David's to Southampton ; the Foss Way from Corn- wall to Lincoln ; and the Ikenild Street from St. David's to Tyiie- mouth. Such are the com-ses usually ascribed to these highways, but there appears reason for supposing that they are incorrect, and that the Watling Street extended from Kent to the Frith of Forth ; the Hermin Street from the Sussex coast to the Humber ; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincolnshire ; and the Ikenild Street from Caister to Dorchester. m His list (which is not to be accei^ted as complete) contains nine colonies, two municipalities, ten Latian cities, and twelve other towns called stipendiarj^ whose privileges are not accm-ately known. Among the colonies (wliich should be purely Roman) appear (using modern names) Bath, Caerlcon, Chester, Gloucester, Lincoln, Lon- don, Maldon, Eichborough, and perhaps Cambridge and Colchester; the municipia are St. Alban's and York ; among tue Latian cities, Carlisle, Chencester, Dumbarton, Old Sai'um ; and among- the stipendiariie, Canterbm-y, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester, Roches- ter, and Winchester ; the remainmg places are not satisfactoi'ily identified. INTRODtrCTION. occur in Ptolemy and other writers, but before the tune of Severus they appear to have been all merged in the general appellations of Caledonians and jMceatte, as these in their turn in after-times are known only as Plots and Scots. • The towns, and forts, and roads, already enumerated, are, however, verv far from being the only traces of Roman occupation that remain in cur country. Camps, occupving well-chosen positions, occur in numbers which testify the difficulty with which the subjugation of the island was accomplished ; while the remains of stately buildings, ornamented with baths, mosaic pavements, fresco paintings and statuary, and articles of personal ornament, which are discovered almost every time that the earth is disturbed to any considerable depth, prove the eventual wide diffusion of the elegant and luxurious mode of life which it was the aim of the conquerors to introduce"^. Roman Sepulchral UrDS, from Fclminjham, Roman glass and pottery, in great variety, and fre- quentlv of most elegant shape, abounds, but the most valuable are the sepulchral urns, which betoken the neighbourhood of towns of which perhaps no other " See A.D. 79j p. 25. INTRODUCTION. traces now remain. A few specimens are here engraved, whicTi were discovered at Felming-ham, in Suffolk °. Independently of a somewhat doubtful passage in Gildas, there seems sufficient ground for the belief that the hght of Christianity was diffused in ouf island as early as the apostolic age, as Clement of Rome says that St. Paul carried the Gospel to the extreme bounds of the West, a phrase used by other writers where Bri- tain is unquestionably intended. St. Peter, St. Joseph of Arlmathea, Aristobulus, and others, are also named, but with less probability, as agents in the conversion of Britain. The British Church is often spoken of by writers of the second and succeeding centuries ; and, as such an anomaly as a Church without a hierarchy was then happily unknown, the episcopacy of our island doubtless dates earlier than the era of King Lucius, (circa 180,) whose story has most probably its foundation in truth ; although, from the destruction of documents, no list of sees can be given on anything more than conjecture, and no names have come down tc us preceding those or the signers of the decrees of the council of Aries (a.d. 314). The Christian population of Britain, evidently numerous at the time of the Diocletian persecution, ap- pears to- have steadily increased, and when the Romans withdrew from the island they left behind them a people universally professing the truths of the Gospel, but cor- rupting them by the rash and dangerous speculations of the Pelagian and other heresies, and soon to be driven into the more remote quarters of the country, where o In the neighbourhood is Brampton, the Roman remains of which occasioned Sii' Thomas Browne to wiite his Hydriotaphia, or Urn £iu-ial. INTEODtrCTION. their faith, purified by affliction, shone more brightly than it had done in the days of their pi'osperity. Thev were visited by many holy men from Ireland, (which had early received the Gospel, and had as yet escaped the ravages of the northern nations,) such as St. Piran, St. la, St. Gwythian, and others, who, inflamed by missionary zeal, in the fifth and sixth centuries, pro- ceeded to the coast of Cornwall, and have left numerous memorials of their labours, not only in the names of villages, but in the sculptured crosses and humble ora- tories still found there^. To this period, prior to the coming of Augustine, and free from the influence of Rome, belongs the foundation of the Welsh sees of Caerleon or St. David (long considered metropolitan), Llandaft'i, St. Asaph and Bangor, which, as thej' ga- thered the scattered sheep to the fold, may be regarded as the living representatives of the Churches planted among us in the very earliest age of Christianity. p One of the most interesting of these is the claurch of St. Piran, near St. Ives, which, after being for ages buried in the sand, (hence the name of tlie hamlet, Perran-zabuloe) was brought to light b}' its removal in 1835. It is of very small size (about bO feet bj- 16) and simple architecture. 1 The foundation of Llandaff is sometimes ascribed to Lucius, but the succession of bishops cannot be traced higher than Duoritius, in the fifth or sixth centmy. THE ROMAN- ERA. B.C. 57. — A.D. 41! B.C. 57. DiviTiACTJS, king of the Suessones (in north-eastern Gaul), has the supremacy in Britain. B.C. 56. The Yeneti^ ohtain assistance from the> Britons against the Romans. B.C. 55. Caius Julius Csesar prepares for an expe- dition into Britain. The Britons, hearing of his preparations, dispatch ambassadors to C£esar, who sends them back accom- panied by Commius, king of the Atrebates ''. Commms is imprisoned by the Britons. Caius Vclusenus is sent to the coast of Britain to announce the coming of Ctesar and procure information, but returns on the fifth day without having ventured to land. » The Vcneti inhfihited the southern coast of Gallia Lugdunensis, in the modem department of Morbihan. b The Atrebates inhabited northern Gaul, in Artois, and the mo- dem department Pas de Calais : there was also a tribe of Atrebates in Britidn. THE ROMAN ERA. 17 Caesar sails from Gessoriacum (now Boulogne), Au- gust 25, and effects a landing after a severe contest near the South Foreland, August 26. Amhassadors come from the Britons to Caesar and a peace is concluded, August 30. The Roman fleet greatly damaged by the high tides. on the same night. The foraging parties of the Romans are assailed, and their camp unsuccessfully attacked by the Britons. Caesar, after losing many men in action with the Britons, accepts a promise of hostages, and retires to Gaul about September 20. Caesar having sent an account of his expedition to Rome, a twenty days' festival is in consequence decreed. Two only of the British states send the promised hostages. Caesar would appear to have retired somewhat preci- pitately from the island, as Xiphiline, in recording the speech which he ascribes to Bunduica (Boudicea) makes her speak of their ancestors having " driven far away that Julius Caesar." B.C. 54. Caesar builds a fleet of light vessels, which he employs in a second invasion of Britain. Sails from Itius Portus (near Gessoriacum) in May, having been detained 23 days by bad weather, and lands unopposed in Britain. Cassivellaunus, as generalissimo of the Britons, col- lects a force to oppose the Romans. The Roman fleet damaged by a storm. A party of the Romans defeated, and the tribune Laberius killed. The Britons harass Caesar's march. VOL. 1. C 18 THE EOMAN ERA. Caesar crosses the Tamesis (Thames). " C'cEsar attempting to pass a large river of Britain," says Polysenus, " Cassolaulus, king of the Britons, ob- structed him with many horsemen and chariots, Ccesar had in his train a very large elephant, an animal hitherto unseen by the Britons. Having armed him with scales of iron, and put a large tower upon him, and placed therein archers and slingers, he ordered them to enter the stream. The Britons were amazed on beholding a beast till then unseen, and of an extraordinary nature. As to the horses what need we write of them, since even, among the Greeks horses flee at seeing an elephant though without harness ; but thus towered and armed, and casting darts and slinging, they could not endure even to look upon the sight : the Britons therefore fled with their horses and chariots. Thus the Romans passed the river without molestation, having terrified the enemy by a single animal." The tribes of the eastern and central parts of Britain come to terms with Ctesar '^. Caesar takes the capital of Cassivellaunus, (afterwards Verulamium, now St. Alban's). Cassivellaunus incites the tribes in Cantium (Kent) to attack the Roman camp. Cassivellaunus is defeated, and surrenders. Cassar returns to Gaul before the end of Septem- ber. ■: The Trinobantes, Cenimagni, Ancalites, Bibroci, Segontiaci, and Cassi, dwelling in the district from the Thames to the Wash, and westward as far as Hampshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire. The Trinobantes, whose king Imanuantins had been killed by Cassivel- launus, were the fii-st to abandon the confederacy. THE ROMAN LEA. 19 B.C. 51. Coramius, the former ally of Caesar, hav- ing takeu arms against the Romans and been defeated, flees for refuge to Britain. B.C. 44. Ceesar is slain in the Senate-house, March 15. Octavianus, his nephew, succeeds to his power, and takes the style of Augustus and Emperor. The written history of Britain ceases with the second withdrawal of Csesar, and only recommences with the preparations of Augustus for a fresh invasion about 20 years after ; but the want is partially supplied by the information afforded by coins that have been discovered, from which we learn that Tasciovanus reigned in the interval, probably over the eastern districts ; and it is conjectured that his son was Cunobelin, whose capital occupied the site on which was afterwards planted the Roman colony of Camulodunum. Gold Coins of Tasciova nd of Cunobelin. These coins are of gold, and both in their devices and style of art evidence a degree of civilization very unhke what might be expected if Caesar's description of Bri- tain were considered to apply to the whole country, instead of being restricted to the small part that fell under his personal observation. B.C. 34. Augustus proceeds to Gaul Vvith the view 20 THE ROMAN ERA. of invading Britain, but is stopped by a revolt of some of the Gaulish tribes. B.C. 26. Augustus having resumed his preparations, the Britons send him ambassadors and tribute. A.D. 1. The birth of our Lord and Saviour. A.B. 14. Augustus dies, August 19. He is suc- ceeded by Tiberius, who is said by Henry of Hun- tingdon to rule over Britain. A.D. 16. Some Roman soldiers, shipwrecked on the shore of Britain, are protected and sent back by the chiefs. A.D. 32. Our Lord is crucified. A.D. 37. Death of Tiberius, March 26. Caligula succeeds. A,D. 40. Caligula, prevailed on by a fugitive Briton'', prepares to invade the island, but proceeds no further than the coast of Gaul. " Caius, arriving at the ocean," says Dio Cassius, " as though intending to war in Britain, and drawing up all his troops along the beach, went on board a trireme, and having launched out a little distance from the land, re- turned again. And shortly after this, sitting on a lofty throne, and giving a signal to the soldiers as if for battle, and exciting them by his trumpeters, he then suddenlv ordered them to gather up sea shells. And having taken such booty, for it would seem that he wanted spoils for the pomp of triumphal honours, he was as highly elated as though he had subdued the very ocean, * This man's name is variously given : Adminius, son of Cinobel- linus, king of Britain, by Suetonius, and Minocynobellinus, son of the king of the Britons, by Paulus Orosius. THE ROMAN ERA. 21 gave considerable largesses to his soldiers, and carried these shells to Rome that he might exhibit his spoils to the citizens." A.D. 41. Cahgula is assassinated, January 24. Clau- dius succeeds. A.D. 43. Bericus, a fugitive whose surrender had been demanded, persuades Claudius to undertake the conquest of Britain. Aulus Plautius invades the island, and defeats the Britons. Vespasian (afterwards emperor) sent to Britain. Claudius visits the island, captures the principal town of Cunobelin, (afterwards Camulodunum, now Maklon, in Essex,) and after sixteen days' residence in Britain returns to Rome. A.D. 44. Claudius celebrates the " conquest of Bri- tain" by a triumph at Rome, and, with his son, assumes the surname of Britannicus. Silver Coin of Claudius. A.D. 47. Aulus Plautius and Vespasian reduce the southern part of Britain, and obtain tribute from the more distant tribes®. = The Orcades were among the number, according to Eutropius, but Tacitus asserts on the contrary that they were first discovered and subjugated by Agricola. 22 THE ROMAN ERA. The Picts are subdued. Simon Zelotes is said by Dorotheus to have suffered martyrdom in Britain about this time. A.D. 50. Ostorius Scapula extends the conquests of his predecessors, builds a chain of forts between the rivers Nen and Avon, ravages both the west and the north ^ and defeats Caractacus, the king of the Si- lures^. Caractacus is treacherously delivered up to the Ro- mans, and being sent to the emperor is by him set at liberty^. . Ostorius is unsuccessful against the Silures, and dies. Valens and a Roman legion defeated by the Silures. A.D. 51. Aulus Didius sent to command in Britain. Venusius, at the head of the Brigantes, maintains the war. A.B. 54. Claudius dies, Oct. 13. Nero succeeds. A.D. 57. Veranius succeeds Aulus Didius as pro- praetor, and dies shortly after. A.D. 58. Suetonius Paulinus sent to govern Britain , Agricola serves under him. A.D. 61. The Britons, oppressed by Catus Decianus, the procurator, and Seneca, the money-lender, revolt. Boudicea, the widow of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, heads the Britons. Xiphiline, after recounting certain prodigies by which he savs this event was heralded, adds, " She, however, I The country of the Cangii and the Brigantes, now Somersetshire and Yorkshire, and the more northern counties. g The people of South Wales, Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire. h Welsh tradition ascribes the introduction of Christianity to Bri- tain, to Bran, the father of Caractacus, who is said to have been con- verted at Eome by the preaching of St. Paul. THE ROMAN EKA. 23 who chiefly excited and urged them to fight against the Romans was Bunduica, who was deemed worthy to command them, and who led them in every battle ; a Briton of royal race, and breathing more than female spirit. Having collected, therefore, an army to the number of about 120,000, she, after the Roman custom, ascended a tribunal made of marshy earth. She was of the largest size, most terrible of aspect, most savage of countenance, and harsh of voice : having a profusion of yellow hair which fell down to her hips, and wearing a large golden collar ; she had on a parti-coloured floating vest drawn close about her bosom, and over this she wore a thick mantle connected by a clasp : such was her usual dress ; but at this time she also bore a spear, that thus she might appear more formidable to all, and she spake after this manner," &c. The speech, beside being imaginaiy, is too long for quotation. " Hav- ing thus harangued, Bunduica led her army against the Romans, who were at that time without a chief, because Paulinus, then commander, was warring against Mona." Verulamium, Camulodunum, and other Roman posts, captured, and a great slaughter made of the Romans and their allies. Suetonius reduces Mona (Anglesey) \ but is recalled by the news of the revolt. Londinium (London), already, according to Tacitus " famed for the vast conflux of traders, and her abun- dant commerce and plenty," destroyed by the Britons. Petilius Cerealis and the Ninth Legion routed. Catus Decianus escapes to Gaul. "' See p. viii. 24 THE ROMAN EKA. The Britons are defeated with terrible slaughter near Londinium by Suetonius. Boudicea diesJ, and the Britons abandon the contest. A.D. 62. Suetonius recalled, and succeeded by Pe- tronius Turpilianus. A.D. 65. Trebellius Maximus is propraetor in Bri- tain. St. Peter visits Britain, erects churches, and appoints bishops'^. A.D. 67. Aristobulus, one of the seventy disciples, dies in Britain i. A.D. 68. Nero put to death, June 9 ; succeeded by Galba. A.D. 69. Galba is killed, January 16. Otho suc- ceeds, and Vitellius also is chosen emperor ; great dis- sension among the Roman legions in Britain in conse- quence. Venusius again heads the Britons. Trebellius Maximus, the Roman lieutenant, abandons his post. Vettius Bolauus sent as lieutenant to Britain by Vitellius. Agricola succeeds to the military command. Vespasian becomes emperor. A.D. 70. Petilius Ceerialis, lieutenant in Britain ; Agricola serves under him, and the Fourteenth Legion is designated the " Conquerors of Britain." A.D. 75. Juhus Frontinus, propraetor in Britain. i She committed suicide, according to Tacitus ; but according tc Xiphiline she died a natural death, and was interred with great funereal splendom-. '' According to the Greek Menology. ' Ibid. THE ROJTAN EKA. 25 A.D. 78. Agricola appointed to the command. In his first campaign he conquers Mona. A.D. 79. Vespasian dies, June 24, and is succeeded by Titus. Agricola's second campaign ; he overruns the whole country, and induces many of the chiefs to give hostages and to allow their sons to receive a Roman education. " To the end," says Tacitus, " that these people, thus wild and dispersed over the country, and thence easily instigated to war, might by a taste of pleasures be reconciled to inactivity and repose, he first privately exhorted them, then pubHcly assisted them, to build temples, houses, and places of assembhng. Upon such as were willing and assiduous in these pvirsuits he heaped commendations, and reproofs upon the lifeless and slow ; so that a competition for this distinction and honour had all the force of necessity. He was already taking care to have the sons of their chiefs taught the liberal sciences, preferring the natural capacity of the Britons to the studied acquirements of the Gauls ; and such was his success, that they who had lately scorned to learn the Roman language, were become fond of acquiring the Roman eloquence. Thus they began to honour our apparel, and the use of the Roman gown grew frequent among them. By degrees they proceeded to the incitements and charms of vice and dissoluteness, to magnificent galleries, sumptuous baths, and all the stimulations and elegance of banqueting. Nay, all this innovation was by the inexperienced styled politeness and humanity, when it was indeed part of their bon- daare." 26 THE KOMAN ERA. A.D. 80. Agricola's third campaign, in which he advances as far as Taua (the Frith of Tay). A.D. 81. Agricola's fourth campaign; he huilds a chain of forts between Glota and Bodotria (the Friths of Clyde and Forth). Titus dies, September 13, and is succeeded by Do- mitian. A.D. 82. Agricola's fifth campaign, in which he visits the north-western coast of Britain : a fugitive chief from lerne (Ireland) is received by him. " Agricola," says Tacitus, "placed forces in that part of Britain which fronts Ireland, more from future views than from any present fear. In truth, Ireland, as it lies just between Britain and Spain, and is capable of an easy communication with the coast of Gaul, would have proved of infinite use in linking together these limbs of the empire. In size it is inferior to Britain, but sur- passes the islands in our sea. In soil and climate, as also in the temper and manners of the natives, it varies little from Britain. Its ports and landings are better known, through the frequency of commerce and mer- chants." A.D. 83. Agricola's sixth campaign, beyond the Frith of Clyde. The Caledonians attack the Romans, and are de- feated. A cohort of Germans, attempting to desert, sail round the extremity of the island, are wrecked, and sold into slavery. A.D. 84. Agricola's seventh campaign, in which he defeats the Caledonians under Galgacus. THE KOMAN EEA. 27 The Horestani™ obliged to give hostages. Agricola sails round Britain, and discovers the Orcades, according to Tacitus. See a.d. 47. A triumph is decreed to Agricola, "R'ho resigns his command. A.D. 85. Sallustius Lucullus, proprietor in Britain, killed by order of Domitian. A.D. 86. Arviragus heads a revolt against the Bo- rn ans. A.D. 96. Domitian is killed, September 18. Nerva succeeds. A.D. 98. Nerva dies, January 21 ; is succeeded by Ti'ajan. A.D. 106. Neratius Marcellus praefect in Britain. A.D. 117. Trajan dies about August 10. Hadrian succeeds. The Britons endeavour to throw off the Roman yoke. A.D. 120. Hadrian visits Britain. Brass Coin of Hadria A.D. 121. Hadrian builds a wall from Tinna to '" A tribe on the north of the Frith of Tay. 28 THE ROMAN ERA. Ituna (the Tyne and Solway Frith), to separate the Roman province from the unsubdued tribes ; known as the Picts' Wall. A.D. 124. Platorius Nepos, proprsetor. A.D. 130. Majnius Agrippa, prsefect of the fleet on the British shore. A.D. 133. Licinius Italicus, propraetor. A.D. 138. Hadrian dies, July 10; is succeeded by Antoninus. The Brigantes despoiled of great part of their land. A.D. 139. Lollius Urbicus, propreetor, constructs a rampait between the Forth and Clyde, on the site of the forts of Agricola ; known as Graham's Dyke °. A.D. 140. Valerius Pansa proconsul ; Seius Satur- ninus, preefect of the fleet. A.D. 161. Antoninus dies, March 7; is succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, who takes for his colleague Lucius Verus. " Also called the Wall of Antoninus, in honour of the reigning emperor. THE EOilAN EEA. 29 A.D. 162. Calphurnius Agricola, in consequence of a threatened revolt, is sent to Britain as lieutenant. A.D. 169. Lucius Verus dies, about the end of the year. A.D. 180. Marcus Aurelius dies, March 17; is succeeded by Commodus. A.D. 181 (circa). Lucius, king of the Britons", sends an embassy to Pope Eleutherus on religious affairs. The northern Britons pass the rampart, and kill a Roman general ; they are defeated by Ulpius. Marcellus sent by Commodus against them. A.D. 183, Ulpius Marjcellus concludes the war. A.D. 184. Commodus takes in consequence the title of Britannicus. This title is given him by Nennius, who also informs us that his native name was Lever-maur (Great Light). Nennius ascribes the transaction to the year 164, and the Saxon Chronicle to 167. Arch- bishop Ussher has collected from various writers no fewer than twenty-three different dates, ranging fi-om 137 to 199, to which it has been referred ■ tb at given in the text is the one esteemed best supported by the Editors of the Monumenta. Lucius is traditionally said to have founded several bishops' sees, as at London and Llan- daff. A brass plate in the church of St. Peter, ComhiU, London, professes to point out his place of sepulture. 30 THE EOMAN EKA. AD. 185. Perennis, praetorian prsefect, is slain, as the enemy of the soldiers in Britain. A.D. 187. Helvius Pertinax quells the revolt. A.D. 192. Clodius Albinus, the commander of the Pioman forces in Britain, is suspected by the emperor, and a successor named. Death of Commodus, December 31. A.D. 193. Severus becomes emperor, after the deaths of Pertinax and Didias ; he confers the title of Csesar on Albinus, who has possession of Britain. Albinus is proclaimed emperor in Gaul. A.D. 196. Virius Lupus, propra3tor. A.D. 197. Albinus, who had crossed into Gaul, is defeated and killed by Severus, near Lugdunum (Lyons). The account given by Herodian of this, the first battle fought by a British army on the continent, mav be interesting. " "When the army of Severus had arrived in Gaul, there was some skirmishing in different places ; but the decisive battle was near Lugdunum, a great and opulent city, in which having shut himself up, Albinus remained, but sent forth his forces to the fight. A severe conflict ensuing, the fate of victory on either side for a long time continued dubious ; for the Britons yield nothing either in courage or sanguinary spirit to the lUyrians. Such noble armies, therefore, encountering, the over- throw of neither was easy ; and, as some of the his- torians of that time who write for truth's sake and not for favour I'elate, that division of Albinus' s army to which Severus with his army was opposed, had greatly the advantage ; insomuch that he was put to flight, fell THE EOMAN EEA. 31 from his horse, and threw off his imperial robe to con- ceal himself. " The Britons now pursuing, and shouting as though ah'eady victorious, they say that Lastus, one of Severus's commanders, came in sight with the array he com- manded fresh and untouched from not having yet been in action Severus's party took courage, placed him on his horse, and again clad him in his imperial robe. Albinus's troops supposing themselves already victorious, and, in consequence, having their ranks some- what disordered, when this noble and fresh army fell suddenly upon them, gave way after but little resistance. A desperate rout ensuing, the soldiers of Severus pur- sued, and slew them until they threw themselves into the city. The number of the slain and captive on either side is differently recorded, as the incHnation of the several historians of those times dictated. " Severus's army having plundered and burnt the city Lugdunum, and captured Albinus, they cut off his head, and brought it to Severus Such was the end of Albinus, who for a little time had partaken of honours which led to his own destruction." A.D. 201. Virius Lupus purchases peace from the MeatseP, who had joined the Caledonians. A.D. 204. Southern Britain, now considered as conquered, is by the emperor's order divided into two provinces ; Virius Lupus being still proprajtor. A.D. 205 or 206. Alfenus Senecio appointed pro- praetor. p The Meatte occupied the country in the immediate neighbour- Iiood of the Wall of Antoninus. 32 THE KOMAN ERA. A.D. 207. The wall of Severus in progress of con- struction 1. An insurrection of the Britons ; the proprsetor re- quests further forces or the presence of the emperor. A.D. 208. Severus repairs to Britain. A.D. 209. Severus, leaving Geta, his younger son, in the southern part of Britain, advances into Cale- donia, refuses all treaty with the natives, and subdues them*", not, however, without severe loss to his army. " Severus," says Xiphiline, " advanced into Caledonia, and in traversing the country underwent indescribable labour in cutting down woods, levelling hills, making marshes passable, and constructing bridges over rivers: for he fought not a single battle, nor did he see any armv in array. The enemy moreover threw sheep and oxen in our track, on purpose that the soldiers might seize them, and thus being enticed farther onward, might be worn out by their sufferings. From the waters too they suffered dreadfully, and ambuscades were laid for them when dispersed. And if no longer able to proceed they were dispatched by their very comrades lest they should be taken : so that by this means 50,000 of them perished." A.D. 210. The wall of Severus finished. Severus assumes the surname of Britannicus. Caracalla, the emperor's son, attempts his life. A.D. 211. Death of Severus at Eboracum (York), February 4. His sons Caracalla and Geta succeed him. ■5 This strengthening of the Wall of Hadrian is to be taken as an evidence of the unconquered spirit of the Britons, and not as indi- cating any advance of the Koraan power, which on the contrary was already giving way, as is shewn by the conduct of Virius Lupus. ' See Coin, p. 16. THE EOMAN EEA, BrasB Coin of Caracalla. Caracalla appoints Papianus praefect of Britain, makes a treaty with the natives, and leaves the island. Brass Coin of Gets. Very shght mention is made of Britain by historians for a period of more than 60 years after this time. The names of a few of its governors (given hereafter) have been preserved to us by inscriptions, but nothing is cer- tainly known of the part taken by them, or by the legions in Britain, in the struggles which for the greater pait of the time convulsed almost every other part of tiie empire, where aspirants to the purple rose and fell in rapid succession. It is probable that the governors were in reality almost independent ; for it is not till the vear 276 that any act of sovereignty over Britain is ascribed to a Roman emperor. VOL. I. jj 34 THE ROMAN ERA. A.D. 212. Geta is put to death, February 17. A.D. 217. Caracalla assassinated, April 8. Macrinus succeeds. A.D. 218. Macrinus killed, June 8. Succeeded by Heliogabalus. A.D. 219. M. T). Junius, propraetor, A.D. 221. Marias Valerianus, propraetor. A.D. 222. Heliogabalus killed, March 11. Alex- ander Severus succeeds. A.D. 235. Alexander Severus assassinated, March 19. Maximinus succeeds. A.D. 238. Claudius Paulinus, propraetor. Maximinus assassinated, in March. Gordian the Younger succeeds. A.D, 240. Gn. Lucilianus, propraetor. A.D. 244. Gordian assassinated, in March. Philip succeeds, and takes his son as colleague. A.D. 249. Philip and his son slain in October; Decius proclaimed emperor. A.D. 251. Decius dies, in November, Succeeded bv Gallus Hostilianus. A.D. 252. Volusianus associated to the empire. A.D. 253. Gallus and Volusianus slain, in May. Valerian and Gallienus emperors. A.D. 255, Desticius Juba, propraetor. A.D. 260. Valerian being taken by Sapor, Gallienus becomes sole emperor. A.D. 267. Gallienus assassinated, March 20. Clau- dius becomes emperor. A.D. 270. Claudius dies of the plague, in May. Aurelian succeeds. THE ROMAN ERA. 35 A.D. 273. Constantius Chlorus (afterwards empe- ror) marries Helena, a British princess'' ; their son Con- stantine is born in Britain about 275. A.D. 275. AureHan assassinated, in January. Ta- citus succeeds. A.D. 276. Tacitus assassinated, in April; his bro- ther jFlorianus holds the empire for 83 days, ruling in Britain among other countries. Florianus is killed, in July. Probus succeeds. A revolt in Britain quelled by Victorinus, a Moor. A.D. 277. Probus having conquered the Burgun- dians and Vandals, settles colonies of them in the east- ern part of Britain. A.D. 282. Probus is slain, in November. Succeeded by Carus, who associates his sons Carinus and Numeri- anus, assigning Britain to the former. A.D. 283. Carus dies, in December. Succeeded by his sons. A.D. 284. Numerianus is killed, in September. Dio- cletian chosen emperor. A.D. 285. Carinus is killed. A.D. 286. Maximian is associated in the empire with Diocletian. The Franks and Saxons infest the coast of Gaul. Carausius, to whom the command of a fleet against them had been intrusted, being suspected of conniving at their ravages, retires to Britain, taking the fleet with him, and assumes the purple. ' She is said by Henry of Huntingdon to have been the daughter of Coel, whom he styles king of C'olecestre (Colchester) ; William of Malmesbury, on what ground is unknown, asserts that she was a tsnder of cattle (stabularia). 36 THE ROMAN ERA. A.D. "287. Maximian prepares a fleet and army for the reduction of Britain. Silver Coin of C A.D. 289. Carausius repulses Maximian, who is obliged to make peace with him. Brass Coin of Carausius, repres A.D. 292. Di.cletian associates Constantius and Maximinus with him in the empire. Constantius, who now rules over Gaul, Spain, and Britain, divorces Helena. Constantius reduces Gessoriacum, which belonged to Carausius. * These coins of the Count of the Saxon Shore are particularly in- teresting ; the one as shewing by its proud inscription, '• Roma renova," the loftj' hopes the possession of Biitain inspired ; the other, as perhaps the earUest official recognition of the gi-eattnith that the real power of the country is based on its " wooden walls. " THE EOMAN ERA. 37 A.D. 294. Carausius is slain by Allectus, who as- sumes the purple in Britain. Gold Ccinof AllectuB. A.D. 296. Constantius, passing in a mist by th( British fleet, lands in Britain and burns his ships. Brass Coin of AUectus. Defeats and kills Allectus, and recovers Britain for the empire. A.D. 304. Alban^ and other Christians suifer mar- ' Alban was a pagan resident of Veru- lam,»T\-ho charitably gave shelter to a Christian priest, named Amphibalus, and was converted by him. Amphibalus hav- ing escaped by Alban's assistance, the latter was seized, and refusing to renounce his faith, was scourged and beheaded. On the spot where he suffered martyi-- dom " a chm'ch built of wonderful work- manship" afterwards arose, to which a monastic institution was added by Offa about 787) which enjoyed 'I'om him an exemption from the Kome-scot or Peter- pence paid by every family but its tenants for the support of the Enghsh college at Rome, and the abbot of which after- wards received fi-om Pope Adrian IV. pre- cedence over all others, on account of its patron saint being regarded the pro- to-martyr of England. The saint is thus depicted on the brass of Abbot Delamere (who died 1396) in St. Alban's Abbey. 38 THE ROMAN EKA, tyrdora ; according to Bede 1 7,000 Christians are mar- tyred in one month'. A.D. 305. By the abdication of Diocletian and Maxi- mianu Constantins and Galerius become emperors. Constantius chiefly resides in Britain, and makes a successful expedition against the Caledonians. A.D. 306. Constantius dies at Eboracum, July 25; is buried near Cair Segeint (Caernarvon), according to Nennius. Constantine, his son, being in Britain, is proclaimed emperor. Maxentius, son of Maximian, takes the title of Au- gustus at Rome. A.D. 307. Licinius, brother-in-law of Constantine, is declared emperor. A.D. 312. Constantine marches against Maxentius, having with him levies from Britain. Death of Maxentius. A.D. 313. Constantine embraces Christianity. Is baptized at Roaie by Pope Sylvester^. Leads an army against the Britons beyond the wall of Severus, and subdues them. A.D. 314. Certain British bishops are present at the council at Aries'*^, t This was in the tenth persecution, under Diocletian and Maxi- mian ; the former persecutions are not mentioned as extending lo Britain. D Maximian survived until .310, and Diocletian tUl 316. " This is the statement of Bede, but other writers assert that Con- stantine only received baptism a short time before his death, in 337. " From the signatiu-es to the canons it appears that they were Eborius of York, Kestitutus of Loidon, and Adelfius " de civitato Colonia Londineusiimi," (probably Eutupiae, now Richborough, but THE ROMAN ERA. 39 A.D. 319. Pacatianus, propraetor. A.D. 325. The council of Nice, at which British bishops are beheved to have been present. A.D. 332. Constantine makes a new division of the empire, which assigns Britain, Gaul, and Iberia to one prsefect. A.D. 337. Constantine dies; in the division of the empire, Constantine, his son, receives Britain, Gaul, and Iberia. A.D. 340. Constans acquires possession of Britain, on the death of Constantine the Younger. A.D. 343. Constans visits Britain, and restores tran- quillity there. A.D. 347. The council at Sardica, at which British bishops are present. A.D. 350. Magnentius, whose father was a Briton, kills Constans, and possesses himself of part of his dominions. The army in Britain favour Magnentius. A.D. 353. Magnentius is defeated and killed by Constantius, who thus secures the whole empire. Martinus, praefect in Britain, kills himself in en- deavouring to stab Paulus, who had been sent to inquire into his conduct in the time of Alagnentius. A.D. 357. Julian, nephew of the emperor, builds 800 vessels of small size to import corn from Bri- tain for the supply of the Roman garrisons in Ger- many. perhaps Colchester.) At the council of Nice, held in 325, British bishops ai-e believed to have been present, but the hst of signatures is imperfect. 40 THE KOMAK ERA. A.D. 359. Julian builds warehouses for the corn received from Britain. The council of Ariminium (Rimini), at which several bishops from Britain are present^. A.D. 360. Alypius, vicar (or lieutenant) in Britain. The Scots and Picts invade Roman Britain. Lupicinus is dispatched to oppose them. A.D. 361. Constantius dies. Julian, surnamed the Apostate, succeeds. A.D. 362. Julian reforms the fiscal abuses of the prajfects in. Britain. A.D. 363. Julian is killed, June 26. Jovian succeeds. A.D. 364. Jovian dies, Feb. 16 or 17 ; is succeeded by Valentinian, who associates with himself his brother Valens. Roman Britain harassed by the Saxons by sea, and the Picts and Scots by land. A.D. 367. Revolt in Britain, in which FuUofaudes and Nectaridus, the commanders of the army and fleet, are slain. Severus sent by the emperor mto Britain, but soon recalled, and Jovinus appointed prsefect, who sends Pro- vertuides thither before him. Theodosius appointed to the command in Britain. The Picts at this time divided into two tribes, the Dicalidonce and Vectunones. A.D. 368. Theodosius routs the Picts and Scots, and establishes peace. ' It is stated by Sulpicius Severus that three only of the British bishops accepted the allowance for expenses offered to all the pre- lates by the emperor, which is reasonably taken as indicating the opulent state of the island at that period. THE EOMAN EEA. 41 Valentinus (brother-in-law of the vicar, or lieutenant) conspires against Theodosius, and is put to death. Theodosius restores the cities and fortifies the bor- ders ; he recovers the country between the walls of Severus and Agricola, and forms it into a province called Valentia, in honour of the emperor. Is re- called. A.D. 372. Fresh disturbances in Britain ; Frao- marus is sent thither by Valentinian. A.D. 375. Valentinian dies, November 17 ; is suc- ceeded by his sons Gratian and Valentinian the yo-unger. Gratian has Gaul, Iberia and Britain. A.D. 379. Theodosius (son of the pacificator of Britain) is associated to the empire by Gratian. A.D. 382. Clemens Maximus repels the Picts and Scots who had made incursions on Britain. A.D. 383. The army in Britain revolt, and make Maximus emperor, who passing into Gaul, puts Gratian to death, August 23. A.D. 384. Maximus fixes his seat of government at Treveri (Treves). A.D. 387. Maximus, with a large army of Brirons and Gauls, invades Italy, and expels Valentinian. A.D. 388. Maximus defeated and killed in Italy, and his son Victor in Gaul. The Britons of the array of Maximus establish them- selves in Armorica (Britanny). A.D. 392. Valentinian killed by Arbogastes, a Gaul, May 15. A.D. 393. Chrysanthus, vicar (or lieutenant) of Bri- tain. 42 THE KOMAN ERA. A.D. 394. Ninias, a Briton, educated at Rome, is ordained to the bishopric of the Southern Picts by Pope Siricius. A.D. 395. Theodosius dies, January 17. His sons Arcadius and Honorius succeed, and the Roman empire is henceforth divided into the Eastern and Western. A.D. 396. The Britons, harassed by the Picts and Scots, apply to the emperor Honorius for aid. A legion is despatched to their assistance by Stilicho, the general of Honorius, and the invaders are re- pulsed. A.D. 400. The wall of Severus repaired. Pelagius, a Briton, begins to spread his heretical doc- trines about this time>'. A.D. 402. The Roman legion being withdrawn, the Picts and Scots resume their inroads. A.D. 403. The Goths invade Italy. A.D. 407. The Vandals penetrate into Gaul, and threaten Britain. The army in Britain revolts, and declares Marcus emperor. Marcus is killed, and Gratian, a native of Britain, assumes the purple. Gratian is deposed and killed in four months after his elevation. Constantine usurps the empire in Britain, and collect- ing a fleet and army invades Gaul and Iberia. A.D. 408. Sarus despatched against Constantine ; ^ He denied the doctrine of original sin, and the necessity of grace, and asserted that man could attain to perfection. Kearlj* thiity councils were called, and all condemned his opinions. His chief dis- ciple was Coelestus, an Irishman. THE KOMAN ERA. 43 besieges him ia Valentia, but is himself obhged to flee into Italy. Constantine makes his son Constans Caesar. Honorius recognises Constantine as his partner in the empire. Arcadius dies, and is succeeded by his son Theo- dosius II. A.D. 409. Rome captured by the Goths, under Alaric, August 24, in the 1162nd year of its foun- dation ^. Gerontius, a Briton, revolts against Constantine, The Britons arm themselves against the invading bar- barians, and also expel the Roman magistrates. A.D. 410. Honorius writes letters to the British cities absolving them from their allegiance, and urging them to provide for their own security A.D. 411. Gerontius kills Constans Caesar, and causes Maximus to be elected emperor. Constantius, the general of Honorius, defeats and kills Constantine and his son Julian. Gerontius is killed by his own soldiers, and Maximus deprived of the purple. A.D. 418. Pharamund founds the kingdom of the Franks. » This is according to the Dionysian computation. Bede says the 1164th j^ear, and the Saxon Chronicle "about tlie 1110th." Some authorities assign the year 409, others 410, on which Muratori remarks, " It is strange that tlie precise year of so great a cata- strophe should be so uncertain." 44 BKITAIN INDEPENDINT. BRITAIN INDEPENDENT. A.D. 418. "This year the Romans collected all the treasures that were in Britain, and some they hid in the earth, so that no one has since been able to find them ; and some they carried with them into Gaur." With this passage from the Saxon Chronicle the authentic history of Britain ceases for a period of nearly sixty years. In the interval are usually placed certain events mentioned in the writings of Gildas and Nennius, but nothing is to be drawn from their statements that can be reduced to chronological accuracy ; for the first gives no dates, and the few found in the latter are con- tradictory. Though some, perhaps several, of the events may be true, it is impossible to assign dates to the reputed marriage of Guorthigirn (Vortigern) to the daughter of Hengist; the murder of the British nobles ; the numerous battles said to have been fought with vari- ous success by Guorthemir (Yortimer) and Ambrosius against the invaders ; the death of Horsa, or the foun- dation of the first Saxon kingdom. By comparing, however, these statements with the few scattered notices to be found in Zosimus and other writers of the period, we learn that, the Roman power * Passages thus marked, during the Saxon Era, unless some other work is cited, are taken from the Enghsh version of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, pubUshed in the Monumenta ; and although I have occasionally thought it necessary, especially in the poetical portions, slightly to condense, I have the authority of the sur- viving Editor of that invahtable work for saying that the sense of the original has been carefully preserved. BRITAIN INDEPENDENT. 45 being finally withdrawn, a state of society prevailed in the island, much the same as had existed at the coming of Csesar, and which has since found its counterpart in the Italian republics of the middle ages. The British cities formed themselves into a varying number of inde- pendent states, usually at war among themselves, but occasionally united by some common danger into a con- federacy, with an elective chieftain whose power lasted no longer than the emergency. Such a ruler probably was Yortigern, who, — pressed at once by the northern tribes and the sea rovers, and by rivals for power, of whom one named Ambrosius, of Roman extraction, was the most formidable, — bears the reproach of calling in the aid of the Saxons against both his foreign and domestic foes. Recent researches have rendered it probable that the well-known names of Hengist and Horsa'^, ascribed to their leaders, are not proper names, but rather titles of honour, (signifying war-horse and mare,) bestowed on many daring leaders of bands, and that the first em- ployment of mercenaries, who soon leagued with the enemy, and at length became numerous enough to rule the country they were hired to guard, should be placed at least as early as the year 429, or twenty years before the era usually assigned. It seems hopeless to attempt to identify the sites of the numerous battles that ensued, much less to assign satisfactory dates to them ; and the whole sum of our knowledge on the matter may be said to be comprised in the statement of the Saxon Chronicle under the year 473, " Hengest and ^sc fought against the Welsh '' In the original Hengst, or Hengest and Hors. 46 BRITAIN' INDEPENDENT (Walas or Wealas), and took spoils innumerable; and the Welsh fled from the Angles (Englan) like fire." Several applications for aid are stated by Nennius to have been made to the Romans, particularly one ad- dressed to " ^tius thrice consul," which is couched in most abject terms, and is known in history by the title of the " groans of the Britons ;" some succour seems occasionally to have been afforded, but it had no perma- nent effect on the contest. In addition to the miseries of war the Britons suffered at this time from religious dissensions, until the spread of the Pelagian heresy induced them to apply to the bishops of Gaul for spiritual aid. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, twice visited the island for the purpose (pro- bably in 428 and 446), and on one occasion he also gave them military assistance, by leading a body of newly baptized Britons against their enemies, and gam- ing a victory known as the " Hallelujah," from the cry with which his converts fell upon their heathen foes. Meantime the mighty empire of Rome, of which Britain had so long formed a part, was falling into utter ruin. Rome was abandoned by the emperors, who, surrounded by barbarian mercenaries, sought ignoble safety amid the marshes of Ravenna, where they were in reality little more than puppets in the hands of their prime ministers. Iberia was occupied by the Vandals as early as 410; Gaul was about the same time parti- tioned among the Visigoths, the Burgundians, the Ger- mans, and the Roman settlers, and ere long became a Frankish kingdom. Germany was gradually occupied by Slavonic tribes, who drove the Goths and other BKITA.IN INDEPENDENT. 47 nations into Italy, where they took firm root, and it is a Gothic historian (Jcrnandes) who relates how, after the death of Valentinian III., Rome was in the course of twenty years occupied by eight " tyrants" in succession ; until the last of them, contemptuously styled Augus- tulus, was in 476 deposed by Odoacer, the captain of the Herulian guard, who, despising the empty name of emperor, governed the country for a while with wisdom and success under the modest title of Patrician, until he in his turn was defeated and soon after treacherously slain by Theodoric, the founder of the Gothic dynasty in Italy. Roman Masonry, from the Jewry 'Wall, Leice«ter. Gold Coin attributed to Edward the Confessor, THE SAXON ERA. PROM THE FIFTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. HE original country of the Saxons cannot be regarded as fully ascertained. A tale ac- cepted as authentic by Witikind of Corbie, in the tenth century, represents them as arriving in ships, and settling themselves by force among the Thuringians, in the time of the emperor Ves- pasian, and from the idolatrous estimation in which they are known to have held the war-horse, it has been con- jectured that they probably came from the country east- ward of the Baltic, that form of idolatry prevailing in those regions even to comparatively recent times. The first direct mention of them, however, is that by Ptolemy, who, before the close of the second century, speaks of the tribes on the shore and the islands at the mouth of the Elbe, as Saxons, and pirates. Of the form of government prevailing at that time among them, we know little more than that, as with other barbarous nations, it was based on their idolatry. Their chiefs claimed descent from Woden, the god of THE SAXON ERA. 49 war^, and they had manyother deities, the names of some of whom are still preserved in our English tongue, little altered, in those of the days of the week. War was the only honourable occupation, and each chief habitually set forth to plunder the richer nations which had fallen under the Roman sway ; and although when they first appeared on the coasts of the provinces their vessels were mere boats, and their arms rude and scanty in supply, their daring courage compensated these disadvantages. Each chief appears to have been wholly independent, acknowledging no superior, but we may fairly conclude from what is recorded of other nations, that confederacies were formed among them under some distinguished leader when any rich prize was in prospect ; and thus, and by the junction of other tribes whom the Romans had not been able fully to subdue, as well as by actual colonization in many quarters, the Saxons so extended themselves that their name became, before the close of the third century, a general one for the sea rovers of the North, without implying any national affinity, being in fact derived from the long knife ('' seax") which at first formed their principal weapon. Soon, however, either from the spoils of the vanquished or their own industry, or both, they were provided also with long spears and ponderous battle-axes, and their vessels, now denomi- nated chiules, or war- ships, were of sufficient size to » A chief of pi-iestly as well as warlike character, styled Sigge Fridulfseii, came from the region near the Caspian sea into the north of Em-ope, probably not long before the Christian era. The Nor- thern Sagas descrilse him as the wisest and best of men, and he was after death confounded with their deity by the loide natives, grateltL for some degree of civilization imparted. VOL. I. E 50 THE SAXON ERA. convey a body of several hundred men each. Such a number of hardy pirates suddenly landing, had little to fear from the comparatively unwarlike provincials, and what had been at first a mere plundering incursion often became a fixed settlement, in the neighbourhood of which fresh descents could be made with assured success ; and it is the opinion of many writers that scattered bodies of Saxons were located on various parts of the coast long before the period usually assigned for the first coming of their nation to Britain. There is abundant evidence that these people rapidly extended themselves along the east coast of the German ocean as far as the Rhine, and before the year 300 their ravages had become so frequent and so formidable that the whole district from the Elbe to the British channel was known as the Saxon Shore, and otHcers were appointed both in Britain and in Gaul to whom the task of guard- ing the sea-board of the Roman possessions was assigned, under the title at first of Counts of the Sea-Shore, and afterwards, as the Saxons came more prominently for- ward, of Counts of the Saxon Shore. One of the earliest of these maritime prefects was Carausius, who took ad- vantage of the fleet entrusted to him for the purpose of his otfice to establish himself as an independent ruler ni Britain. Meantime the Saxons pursued their ravages with little check, and spread such terror of their name that the emperor Julian and the historian Procopius, equally with Ammianus Marcellinus and Zosimus, speak of them as more fierce and formidable than any other of the barbarous nations. By land as well as by sea they THE SAXON ERA.. 51 appeared irresistible ; for when they had ravaged the coasts, they ascended the rivers ; when their chiules, or their smaller vessels, could penetrate no farther, they were abandoned, and the rovers, seizing on such horses as they could find, pushed fearlessly into the interior, as a mixed force of horse and foot, and wasted with fire and sword every district they approached, until at length some river was reached, descending which with such rude barks as they could hastily construct, they again launched on the ocean, to pursue another career of de- vastation. " We have not," says Sidonius Apollinaris, a Gaulish bishop of the fifth century, " a more cruel and more dan- gerous enemy than the Saxons : they overcome all who have the courage to oppose them ; they surprise all who are so imprudent as not to be prepared for their attack. When they pursue, they infallibly overtake ; when they are pursued, their escape is certain. They despise danger ; they are inured to shipwreck ; they are eager to pur- chase booty with the peril of their lives. Tempests, which to others are so dreadful, to them are subjects of joy ; the storm is their protection when they are pressed by the enemy, and a cover for their operations when they meditate an attack. Before they quit their own shores, they devote to the altars of their gods the tenth part of the principal captives ; and when they are on the point of returning, the lots are cast with an affectation of equity, and the impious vow is fulfilled." This picture, in which fear and hatred are alike ap- parent, might be suspected of exaggeration, but its main features are fully justified by the whole tenor of the 52 THE SAXON ERA. Icelandic Sagas, the nearest cotemporary accounts on the side of the ravagers that have come down to us ; for though immediately relating to the Northmen of the eighth and succeeding centuries, no reasonable doubt can be entertained that they are also fairly applicable to their Saxon precursors. In these writings we find it con- stantly affirmed, that " the gods are with the strongest ;" that human sacrifices are absolutely necessary to gain and preserve their favour ; that war is the only fitting occupation of free men ; that the only desirable death is that on the field of battle, or its substitute suicide^ ; and that those who fell by the sword were thus marked out as the especial favourites of their fierce divinities, and were alone admitted to the hall of Woden (Val- halla), where their time passed in alternate fighting and feasting ; whilst for cowards (for such seem to have existed among them) and those who died a natural death, were reserved all the pains of Niflheim (literally. Evil Home), a shadowy region of torment. Men holding such ideas would naturally be at least as regardless of the lives of others as of their own, and being also, after their barbarous fashion, devout, they thought they did their gods service by wreaking especial vengeance on the most sacred objects of the Christian communities that they invaded. Hence the destruction of churches and murder of priests which the Saxon Chronicle relates as part of every ravage committed by the Northmen, and which had been before practised by the Saxons themselves, as Gildas informs us, whose tes- '' Sigge, or Woden, their great exemplar, was supposed to have killed himself when he found the infirmities of age coming on. THE HEPTARCHY. 53 timony may in this case well be believed, for if they had not been actuated by a fierce hatred of Christianity, their reception of its saving doctrines, we naay presume, would not have been so long delayed. Yet these people, like all the branches of the great German race, had even in their rudest state qualities which shew that they deserve a more favourable judg- ment than is often formed of them. Their free spirit, their active, adventurous character, the lofty sense of personal honour shewn in their earliest codes of laws", and above all, that base of true civilization, their high estimate of woman, are noble features in themselves, but doubly interesting to us as shewing that our country owes her proud place among the nations mainly to the development of the feelings, the principles, and the in- stitutes of our Saxon forefathers. THE KEPT ARCH Yd. When the acquisitions of the Anglo-Saxon invaders assumed something of a settled form, they are found in the main to be mere subdivisions of the old Roman provinces. The Jutish kingdom of Kent, and the South Saxon kingdom, may be represented by the modern counties of <= See p. 167. '' The number of independent states founded by the invaders was at least nine, if not ten ; but as the small Mid- Saxon kingdom (now Middlesex) very soon ceased to exist, and the two Northumbrian states of Bernicia and Deira were frequently governed by one ruler, it is customary, though not strictly correct, to sxseak of the whok as the Heptarchy. 54 THE SAXON ERA. Kent, Surrey and Sussex, while Wessex occupied the remainder of the tract between the Channel and the Thames (Britannia Prima), having, however, for a very long period an unconquered British population beyond the Tamar (the West- Welsh). Immediately north-east of the Thames lay the small East Saxon state (Essex), but the Anglian kingdoms occupied the rest of the east coast and the interior (Fla- via CiBsariensis), the East Angles holding Suffolk and Norfolk, the Mid- Angles or Mercians extending from the Thames to the H umber, and from the fen districts to the Severn; while the tv/o Northumbrian kingdoms (also Anglian) occupied Valentia, or North England and South Scotland, but were bounded by independent British tribes in Cumberland and Strathclyde. Westward of Mercia extended "Wales (Britannia Se- cunda), divided into many small states, the independence of a part of which survived for more than 200 years the overthrow of the Saxon power. SCOTLAND. The whole country north of the Forth and west of the Solway v\-as in the sixth century occupied by the two great tribes of the Picts and the Scots^. The former, probably of German race, occupied the plains between the Forth and the Grampians ; the latter, who were settlers from Ireland, and still maintained a close union ' See p. xiiL 55 with that country^, were scattered over the west and the north, among islands and mountains ; the two peoples answering in fact to the popular division of Highlanders and Lowlanders of more recent times. Christianity had been introduced among the Southern Picts by the labours of Ninias, in the fourth centurv^; but the Scots received it from their kindred in Ireland, probably early in the following age. The Irish (or, as they are termed, Scottish) teachers were indefatigable in spreading the Gospel. Not only did they impart its light to their heathen countrymen, but, with true missionary zeal, they laboured alike among the fugitive Britons of the west^, and the triumphant Saxons of the north; and bv their exertions Northumbria was in part at least converted before the coming of Paulinus. The see of Lindisfarne (the mother church of Durham) was founded bv Aidan, one of their number, and was ruled by Scot- tish prelates until the middle of the seventh century, when the Roman system obtained the supremacy, mainly through the influence and address of Wilfred'. Little is accurately known of the relations between the two races, but, judging from the result, it would seem to have been much like what prevailed in South Britain with the Saxons and the Britons. The Nor- thiimbrian kings frequently ravaged the districts of the Picts, who were at the same time pressed on by the ' Two great invasions of Caledonia from Ireland are mentioned in the Irish Annals ; one, in the middle of the third centur}-, led by Carbre Riadre d^robabl}' the Reoda of Beda— seep, ii.), and another in the early part of the sixth, to support the earlier colony^ then threatened by the Picts. e See p. 41. h See p. 15. See p. 63. 56 THE SAXO?f ERA. Scots. At length the Picts were entirely subdued, (some writers say extirpated, but this is doubtless an exaggera- tion,) and early in the ninth century the Scots, become supreme, gave their name, and something like its pre- sent limits, to the ancient Scottish monarchy. IRELAND. This country, which was not attacked by the Romans'^, also escaped the ravages of the Saxons at their first com- ing, and long afforded a refuge to the distressed Britons. Christianity was generally received there early in the fifth century, churches and monasteries ' abounded, and, with- out crediting all that national writers of comparatively recent date have affirmed, we may well believe that, until the arrival of the Ostmen, the island enjoyed a much greater share of peace and civilization than fell to the lot of the states of the Heptarchy. A.D. 477. Ella and his three sons land on the south coast and commence the foundation of the South Saxon kingdom (Sussex). A.D. 488. Esc, son of Hengist, succeeds him as king of Kent. A.D. 491. Ella storms and destroys Andreds-cester (the Roman Anderida, probably near Pevensey), and assumes the title of king. A.D. 492. Ella is chosen Bretwalda. ' See p. 26. ' The Irish monks are styled Culdees. Little is known of them (their Rule ha^dng perished), beyond the statement of Beda, who praises their pious and ascetic life. THE BRETWALDAS. 57 THE BRETWALDAS. Beda enumerates seven earlv Saxon chiefs, who, he states, in succession ruled all Britain south of the Hum- ber ; " Ella, king of the South Saxons," says the Saxon Chronicle, " was the first who had thus much dominion,'' and it mentions that their title was that of " Bretwalda." Various theories have been suggested as to the origin of the term, and the power implied by it, but the most probable idea is, that the first Bretwalda™ was a chief of warlike renown in his own country, who was chosen as the leader of the rest when it was found that the Britons made a more stubborn defence than had been expected, and that it is in this sense, for military purposes, that the others are said to have been under his sovereignty ; he was their war-king against the common enemy. This idea is supported by the statement of Nennius, that the Saxons when pressed by the Britons drew kings from Germany to rule over them in Britain, and by the fact that the title is not ascribed to anv of the Mercian kings, though unquestionably the most potent princes of the Heptarchy ; the occasion for such combined action against the ancient owners of the soil did not exist in their time. Beda's list comprises Ella of Sussex, Ceawlin of Wessex, Ethelbert of Kent, Redwald of East Anglia, and Edwin, Oswald, and Oswy, of Northumbria. " The term is often understood to mean " wielder of the strength of Britain," but seems rather to imply "the widely-ruling chief.'' bS THE SAXON ERA. The appellation Bretwalda was also given to Egbert, as a glorious ancient title, but does not appear to have been bestowed on any of his successors. A.D. 495. Cerdic and his son Cynric establish them- selves in the west. A.D. 501. Port" and his sons Bieda and Mtegla land on the south coast. A.D. 514. Stuf and Wihtgar, the nephews of Cerdic, land in Britain. A.D. 516. The see of Bangor said to be founded". A.D. 519. Cerdic and Cynric establish the West Saxon kingdom (Wessex). To this period belongs whatever may be real of the achievements. ascribed to the famous Arthur. Caradoc of Llancarvan mentions him as a petty prince in So- mersetshire ; Nennius attributes to him triumphs over the Saxons in every quarter of the island ; but it is only in Geofirey of Monmouth? that we read of his conquests abroad, which are so extravagant as to have caused some doubt as to his actual existence. It seems, however, certain that he gained a victory over the Saxons at Caer " His memory is preserved in the name of the great naval arsenal, Portsmouth, (Port's mouth, or haven). o Dubritius, styled the tirst archbishop of Wales, is supposed to have hvcd about "this time, and to have held the see of Llaudaff, as well as that of Caerleon (now St. Da^-id's). He resigned both, and retired to Bardsey island, whei-e he died He was commemorated in the old English Calendar on November 14. p One of the latest investigators of Englishhistory. Dr. Lappenberg, treats C4eoffrey with more consideration than he usually meets with. " We will venture," he says, " to express a hope of one day seemg what is historical in Geoffrey of ilonmouth separated from that which is fabulous ; the latter honoured as a pleasing relic of the times of old, and the rest exalted into useful matter for the national history." THE HEPTAKCHY. 59 Badon (Bath) in 520, and that he met his death in the field at Camelon in 542. A.D. 526. Erkenwin founds the East Saxon king- dom (Essex.) UfFa lands on the east coast death they were divided into the two states of Doira and Bernicia. Ella, the son of Yffa, a Saxon jirince, seized on the fonner, and only the latter, which lay between the Tweed and t'r.e Frith of Forth, remained to Adda, the son of Ida. His nephew Ethel- frith, however, recovered Deira in 693. ' Ethelbert's kingdom was larger than the modern county of tl^e same name, but it was limited by the West Saxons. Co THE SAXON EKA. A.D. 584. Cutha, the brother of Ceawlin, killed in battle at Prethern (near Stroud, in Gloucestershire) : " and Ceawlin took many towns, and spoils innumer- able ; and wrathful he thence returned to his own." Crida founds the kingdom of Mercia. A.D. 588. Death of Ella of Northumbria; he is suc- ceeded by Ethelfrith of Bernicia'. A.D. 591. Ceawlin defeated at Woddesbeorg (per- haps Woodborough, in Wiltshire, but more probablv Wembury, in Devonshire), by his brother Ceol, and driven from his kingdom. A.D. 593. Ceawlin and Cwichelm, and Crida of Mercia, killed. Ethelfrith of Bernicia succeeds to the whole of Northumbria.. A.D. 597. Augustine, despatched by Pope Gregorv the Great to attempt the conversion of the Saxons, arrives with a few companions in Kent, Ceolwulf succeeds in Wessex. " He fought and con- tended incessantly against either the Angles, or the Welsh, or the Picts, or the Scots." A.D. 599. Redwald (Bretwalda) succeeds in East Anglia. A.D. 609 (circa). Ethelbert of Kent issues the earhest collection of laws now remaining to us". A.D. 602. Augustine fixes his archiepiscopal seat at Canterbury. A.D. 603. The Scots invade Northumbria, but are defeated at Degsastan (probably Dalston, near Carlisle). ■ Ella left an infant son, Edwin, who, after many years of exile, became the first Christian king of Northumbria. " See p. 154. THE HEPTAB.CHT. 61 Augustine holds two conferences with the British bishops; they decHne communion with him^. A.D. 604. The East Saxons converted by MelUtus. The sees of London and Rochester estabHshed. A.D. 605. Death of Augustine, May 26. A.D. 607. " Ethelfrith of Northumbria led his army to Chester, and there slew numberless Welshmen ; and so was fulfilled the prophecy of Augustinej wherein he saith, ' If the Welsh will not be at peace with us, they shall perish at the hands of the Saxons.' There also were slain 200 priests, who came to pray for the army of the Welsh ; their ' ealdor' was called Brocmail, who with some fifty escaped thence^'." A.D. 611. Ceolwulf of Wessex dies ; Cynegils suc- ceeds. A.D. 614. Cynegils defeats the Britons at Beandune (Bampton, in Devonshire). A.D. 616. Death of Ethelbert of Kent, Feb- ruary 23 ^. Eadbald succeeds him, and after some lapse of time is baptized. A.D. 617. Ethelfrith of Northumbria killed by Red- wald of East Anglia. Edwin, son of Ella (Bretwalda), ' The dates 599, 601, 602, 60-1 have also been assigned for these conferences, but that in the text is considered the best supported. The place is behoved to have been Aust, on the Severn. y One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle places this battle in 605 ; the Cambrian Annals and the Annals of Tigemach in 613. The "pro- phecy" was uttered at the second conference of Augustine with the British bishops. z Ethelbert was canonized, and was commemorated in the old Enghsh Church on the 24th of February. Ethelbert of East Anglia, kUled by Offa, was also sainted, and commemorated on the "iOth May. Several churches exist dedicated to the memory of one or the other of these holy kings. 62 THE SAXON EKA. succeeds, " and subdues all Britain, the Kentish-men excepted^ " A.D 619. Death of Laurentius, archbishop of Can- terbury, Feb. 2. A.D. 624. Death of Mellitus, archbishop of Can- bury, April 24. A.D. 625. Edwin marries Ethelburga, the daughter of Ethelbert of Kent. She is accompanied by Paulinus, who is ordained bishop of the Northumbrians'', July 21. A.D. 626. Eanfleda, daughter of Edwin, is baptized by Paulinus, at Pentecost, June 8. Edwin wars successfully against the West Saxons. A.D. 627. " King Edwin and his people are baptized by Paulinus on Easter-Day," April 12. "This was done at York, where he first ordered a church to be built of wood, which was consecrated in the name of St. Peter. There the king gave Paulinus a bishop's see, and there he afterwards commanded a larger church to be built of stone." Penda succeeds in Mercia. A.D. 628. Battle between the West Saxons and Mercians, at Cirencester. A.D. 632. Eorpwald, lung of East Anglia,isbaptized. A.D. 633. Edwin is killed in battle by Penda of Mercia, and his ally Cadwallader, a British chief, at Hatfield chase, in Yorkshire, October 14 <^. ' The conquest of the Picts and of the Jlevanian isles (Man and Anglesey) is also ascribed to him ; but if subdued, the Piets re- covered their independence soon after. I' A bishop's see had existed in the time of the Romans at York, but the names of oulj' three of the holders have been preserved. "= Edwin was canonized, and was commemorated on the 4th October in the ancient EngUsh Church. A church exists at ConisclifFe, in the county of Durham, dedicated to him. THE HEPTAECHY, 63 Paulinus retires to Kent, with Edwin's queen and daughter ^. A.D. 634. Osric, a cousin of Edwin, succeeds m Deira, and Eanfrith, the son of Ethelfrith, in Bernicia, but both are soon expelled by Oswald (Bretwalda), another son of Ethelfrith, who reigns over the whole of Northumbria. Aidan, a Scot, establishes a bishop's see at Lindis- farne. Birinus commences the conversion of the West Saxons. A.D. 635. Cynegils of Wessex is baptized by Bi- rinus'^ ; as is Cwichelm, his son, in the following year. A.D. 636. Felix preaches to the East Angles. A.D. 639. Cuthred of Wessex, son of Cwichelm, baptized by Birinus. A.D. 640. Death of Eadbald of Kent. "He over- threw all idolatry in his kingdom, and was the first of the English kings Vi^ho established the Easter fast." Ercombert succeeds in Kent. WALES. About this time^ Dyvnwal Moelraud, a descendant of the British settlers in Armorica^, is said, in the Welsh triads, to have come from that countrv, and having" esta- * She was named Eanfleda, and became the wife of Oswy of N orthumbeiiand. ' Birinus, a Benedictine monk, was the first bishop of the West Saxons ; his episcopal seat was at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire. f This is the era assigned by Mr. Aneurin Owen ; other writers place him far before the Christian era. s See p. 41. 64 THE SAXON EKA. blished his authority west of the Tamar and the Severn, to have been recognised as " king of the Cymry." He is described as " the best legislator that ever ap- peared, and the best in securing privilege and protection both to native and ahen, lest any one should act wrongly and unlawfully." The laws ascribed to him are avowedly the basis of the legislation of Howel Dda ; they mi- nutely define the rights and duties of each class of the community, and exhibit the plan of an enlightened and orderly government such as it is little likely at anv time prevailed, either in Arraorica or Britain. Their origin is indicated by the fact that the supreme dignity and privileges of the bardic order are dwelt on at length, and it seems probable that what we now pos- sess is a mere poetic paraphrase, in which some traces of laws that had existed prior to the time of Howel Dda are preserved among a mass of fanciful rules, of which neither the age nor the authority can be satis- factorilv determined. A.D.- 642. Oswald of Northumberland killed by Penda, at Maserfield'^, Aug. 5. Oswy, his brother, suc- ceeds in Bernicia. A.D. 643. Cenwalch, son of Cynegils, succeeds in Wessex, and commences the minster at Winchester; it is finished in 648. h Perhaps near Winwick, in Lancasliire, but more probably near Oswestry, in Sliropshire. Oswald^ who had been baptized in his youth, while an exile in Scotland, was esteemed a saint and martyr, and commemorated in the early English Church on the 5th of August. "His sanctit}' and his miracles were afterwards manifested in vari- THE HEPTAKCHY. 65 A.D. 644. Death of Paulinus, Oct. 10. Oswine succeeds in Deira. A.D. 645. Penda drives Cenwalch from the kingdom of Wessex. A.D. 646. Cenwalch of Wessex is baptized. A.D. 651. Oswine of Deira is slain by Oswy of Bernicia, August 20 ; Adelwald succeeds. Death of Aidan, bishop of Linditfarne, Aug. 31. Finan, his successor, builds a church " in the Scottish mode," of wood. A.D. 653. Conversion of the Mid-Saxons, or Mer- cians, commenced. A.D. 654. King Anna, of East Anglia, slain. Death of Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, Sept. 30. A.D. 655. Penda is defeated and killed at Win- widfield, near Leeds, by Oswy of Northumberland (Bretwalda.) "And thirty men of royal race fell with him, and some of thera were kings." Peada, son of Penda, succeeds m Mercia. The Mercians become Christians. oils ways beyond his island, and his hands are lit Bamborough uncorrapted." His head being taken fi-om the stake on which it had been fixed, was kept as a relic for a while, and then placed in the arms of St. Cuthbert, the bishop of Lindisfarne, which is commemorated by a sculpture in Durham cathedral. Nearly sixty churches are to be fuund in England dedicated to St. Oswald, but some probably belong to the bishop of Worcester of that narne in the tenth eentm-y. 66 THE SAXON EKA. Oswy and Peada ia concert begin to build the abbey of Medeshamstede (afterwards Peterborough) "to the glory of God and the honour of St. Peter'." Oswy unites Deira to Bernicia, on the death of Adelwald A.D. 657. Peada of Mercia is killed at Easter. Wulfhere, his brother, succeeds. A.D. 658. Cenwalch defeats the Britons at Petherton. A.D. 661. Wulfhere of Mercia ravages Wessex and the isle of Wight. " And Eoppa, the mass-priest (chap- Iain), by the command of Wilferth'' and King Wulfhere, first of men brought baptism to the people of Wight." A.D. 664. Egbert succeeds in Kent. A great pestilence in Britain. A synod held at Streoneshealh (now Whitby), at which Wilfred advocates the Roman supremacy ; Col- nian, the Scottish bishop, retires. Wilfred is appointed to the see of York. A.D. 667. Wigheard, a priest, sent to Rome by Kings Oswy and Egbert, to be consecrated archbishop of Canterbury ; he died soon after his arrival, and Theodore of Tarsus was ordained in his stead, March 26, 668. A.D. 668. Theodore arrives in Britain. He is en- throned at Canterbury, May 27, 669, A.D. 669. A bishop's see established at Lichfield. ' A very long account of this transaction is to be found in tne Saxon Chronicle ; there are also several other notices of Medeham- stede, or Burh, and charters are cited, some of which are of very doubtful authority. '' Or Wilfred, then abbot of Ripon, afterwards the well-known arch- bishop of York. THE HEPTAKCHY. 67 A.D. 670. Death of Oswy of Northumbria, Feb. 15 ; Egfrid, his son, succeeds. A.D. 671. Egfrid defeats the Picts ; he also takes Lincoln from the Mercians. A.D. 672. Death of Cenwalch of Wessex ; Sex- burga, his queen, reigns for a year after him. A.D. 673. Egbert of Kent dies, in July. The synod of Hertford held, Sept. 24; a body of canon law then first introduced into England ; Winfrid, bishop of Mercia, deposed, and his vast diocese divided. Bishops' sees established at Domnoc (Dunwich) and Elmham, in East Anglia. A.D. 674. Escwin, a kinsman of Cenwalch, suc- ceeds in Wessex. A.D. 675. Death of Wulf here of Mercia ; Ethelred succeeds. A.D. 676. Escwin of Wessex dies ; Centwine, son of Cynegils, succeeds. Ethelred of Mercia ravages Kent. A bishop's see established at Hereford. A.D. 678. Wilfred driven from his bishopric^. ' Wilfred, the introducer of the practice of carrying appeals to Rome, born 634, was a page at the court of Noithumbria, who, adopt- ing the priestly profession, went to Rome in 654, and on his return became tutor to the son of Oswj- ; he received from his roj'al patron the monastery of Ripon, and having at the synod of Whitbj power- fully supported the Roman views, he was appointed to the arch- bishopric of York, which had remained unoccupied since the vrith- drawal of Paulinus. Considering the communion which the arch- bishop of Canterbury held with the Scottish teachers as schismatical, he decHned to receive consecration at his hands, and, instead, passed over into Gaul, to .iEgilbt-rt, bishop of Paris (formerly bishop of the West Saxons) ; but during liis absence Chad was appointed to York, and Wilfred, on his return, after assuming the power to aj)poii.t priests and deacons in Kent, in the vacancy of the see of Canterbury before the arrival of Theodore, found himself obliged to retire to Ri- 68 THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 679. Battle near the Trent between the Mer- cians and Northumbrians ; Elfwine, brother of Egfrid, is killed, Theodore, archbishop of Canterbur}^ mediates a peace. A.D. 680. The synod at Heathfield, Sept. 17, against the Monothelites. Bishops' sees established at Lindisse"^ and at Worcester. A.D. 680 (circa). A code regulating legal pro- ceedings, issued by Lothaire and Edric in Kent". A.D. 681. The Picts subject to the Northumbrians, and Trumwine appointed their bishop. Wilfred converts the South Saxons. A.D. 682. Centwine of Wessex has much success against the Britons. A.D. 684. The Northumbrians ravage the eastern part of Ireland ; " and miserably they plundered and burned the churches of God"." pon. In 667, however, Chad resigned York to him, and Wilfred held it till 678, but having given offence by his pompoiis style of living, he was then di-iven out, and his vast dioeese, which included the whole Northumbrian kingdom, was divided into the four sees of York, Lin- disfarne, Hexham, and Kipon. Wilfi-ed now appealed to Rome, (pass- ing the winter among the pagans of Friesland on his journey), and ob- tained a papal decree in his favour, but it was disregarded ; he then visited the heathen South Saxons, and converted them. At length, in 687, a i:)ortion of his diocese was restored, and he was established at Hexham, but was again driven out in 691, and spent several year^ in missionary labour among the Germans. In 705 he again repaired to Rome, obtained another decree in his favour, and passed the few remaining years of his life as bishop of Hexham ; dying at Oundle, Oct. 12, 709, he was buried in the monastery of 1 iipon. Being after- wards canonized, he became a popular saint in the north of England, where about thirty churches are still found dedicated to his memory. " Probably Stow in Lindsey, Lincolnshii-e, where a chm-ch of Saxon architecture remains. " See p. 1.54:. ° The Scots, whether settled in Scotland or Ireland, refased to ac- knowledge the supremacy of Rome, and were therefore now looked on as schismatics, although it was to Scottish teachers that the con- version of Northumbria was mainly due. See p. 55. THE HEPTAECHY. " 69 A.D. 685. Egfrid of Northumbria is killed, May 20, in war against the Picts, who in part recover their lands ; Aldfrith, his brother, succeeds. A.D. 686. Ceadwalla, and his brother Mul of Wessex, ravage Kent. A.D. 687. Lothaire of Kent is killed, Feb. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, dies, JMarcli 20P. Mul is burned in Kent, and Ceadwalla again ravages the country. A.D. 688. Ceadwalla goes to Eonie, is baptized by the name of Peter, and dies seven days after, April 20. Ina, a distant kinsman, succeeds in Wessex. A.D. 690. Theodore of Tarsus dies, Sept. 29. Berht- r P Cuthbert, originally a shepherd boy, became a monk of Melrose, \ and afterwards long led the life of a hermit on an islet on the Nor- -: thiunbrian coast. In 685 he was consecrated bishojo of Lindisfarne, - but he resigned the see soon after, and again retired to his hermitage, where he died March 20th, 687- His remains were buried at Lmdis- farne, whence, in consequence of the ravages of the Northmen, thej- were removed in 875, and after various wandeiings they found a rest- ing-place on the hill where now stands the cathedral of Dm-ham. In 1104 they were solemnly translated to the present edifice, being, it is affimied, found uncori'upt, and the splendid shrine that was raised over them continued to attract its crowds of pilgiims until its destruction in the year 1537 ; the bod)', still unchanged it is said, was after the lapse of five years re-inten-ed on the site of the shrine, and now reposes under a plain blue marble slab in the chapel of the Nine Altars, as was ascertained by an antiquarian examination made in the year 1827. Diy bones onl}', swathed in a number of richly em- broidered gaiTnents, were found on the latter occasion, instead of the perfect body said to have been seen by fomicr explorers ; the coffin also contained a golden cross and some other articles whose con- nexion viith the saint is uncertain. St. Cuthbert's festival was celebrated on the 20th of ilarch ; he was an exceedingly popular saint in the north of England, and mira- cles without number were ascribed to him, so that he was commonly known by the name of the Wonder-worker. I\Iore than sixty churches exist dedicated to him ; he was indeed regarded as the patron of the North, and the banner of St. Cuthbert (of red velvet embroidered with green silk and gold, and inclosing relics,) was borne not orly at solemn ceremonials (as the coronation of Kichard III. at York) but also to battle at least as late as the battle of Flodden field. 70 THE SAXON ERA. wald succeeds in the see of Canterbury. " Before this the bishops had been Romans, but from this time thev were English." A.D. 692. Two kings, Wihtred and Webheard or Suaebhard, reign in Kent. A.D. 694. The Kentish men compound with Ina of Wessex for the murder of MuiH. "Wihtred becomes sole king in Kent, and at the council of Baccancelde (Beaconsfield) he grants a charter secur- ing many immunities to churches and monasteries. A.D. 696. Wihtred of Kent forbids idolatry, and labour on the Sunday"^. A,D. 697. Ostrith, queen of Etbelred of Mercia, and sister of Egfrid of Northumbria, is slain by the Mer- cians. A.D. 699. Benedict Biscop dies, .Jan. 12^. The Picts revolt, and kill Beorht, their ealdorman. "I The various MSS. of the Saxon Chronicle differ as to the nature and amount of this composition ; some say they gave him 30,000 l-iounds, others that they gave him 30 men or 30,000 men ; the money payment seems most probable, from the general tenor oi the Anglo- Saxon laws. ■■ See p. 155. s Benedict, the founder of the celebrated monasteries of Wear- moutli and J arrow, was a Northumbrian noble, who at an early age devoted himself and all his possessions to the service of the Church. He made several journeys abroad, and brought back with him not only books and pictures and relics, but workmen in stone and in glass, so that the edifices that he raised, and over which he presided, surjjassed any thing that had before been accomplished in church architecture in Britain. He also brought with him John the Pre- centor, to instruct his community in the Roman mode of celebrating divine service, and he himself became the tutor of Bede. He was formerly commemorated in the English Church on the I'ith of January, and many churches exist dedicated to St. Benedict, but ivhetlier Benedict Biscop or Benedict of Nursia is meant, in any particular case, it seems impossible to decide, though we may well lielieve that so eminent a man as the former was not neglected in his own country. THE HEPTAKCHT. 71 A.D. 704. Ethelred of Mereia becomes a monk; Coenred succeeds, before June 13. A.D. 705. Aldfrith of Northumbria dies, Dec. 14 ; Osred his son succeeds. Bishops' sees established at Sherborne and at Win- chester. A.D, 709. Coenred of Mereia retires to Rome, and dies there ; Ceolred succeeds. Offa of East Angha goes to Rome. Death of Wilfred, at Oundle, Oct. 12. A.D, 710. Ina of Wessex defeats the Britons. A.D. 715. War between Wessex and Mereia. A.D. 716. Osred of Northumbria slain ; Cenred succeeds. Ceolred of Mereia dies ; Ethelbald succeeds. Egbert, a priest, " converted the monks in the island of Hii (lona) to right*, so that they observed Easter duly, and the ecclesiastical tonsure." A.D. 721. Ina of Wessex kills Cynewulf the atheling". Three victories of the Britons over the Saxons, in Cornwall and in Glamorganshire, recorded in the Chro- nicle of the Princes of Wales. A.D. 722. Ina drives out Aldbright the atheling, who finds refuge in Sussex. Ina makes war on the South Saxons. A.D. 725. Death of Wihtred of Kent, April 23. Eadbert succeeds. Ina defeats the South Saxons, and kills Aldbright the atheling. t See pp. .59, 68. 1 A general title for the members of the royal race, Hke "prince of the blood" in modern times. See p. 165. THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 728. Ina dies at Rome. Ethelheard succeeds in Wessex. A.D. 729. Egbert the priest dies in lona, April 25. A.D. 729 or 731. Osric of Northumbria dies, May 9. Ceolwulf succeeds. A.D. 735. Death of the Venerable Bede, May 26. A.D. 737. Queen Frythogith of Wessex goes to Rome. Ceolwulf of Northumbria receives the tonsure. Ead- bert, his cousin, succeeds. Ethelbald of ISIercia ravages Northumbria. A.D. 739 or 741. Ethelheard of Wessex dies. Cuth- red succeeds. A.D. 741. The minster at York burned, April 23. A.D. 742.. The synod of Cloveshoo^ held, early in September. A.D. 743. The Mercians and West Saxons make a joint attack on the Welsh. A.D. 746. Selred of Mercia is slain. A.D. 748, Eadbert of Kent dies. Ethelbert TI. suc- ceeds. Cynric, the atlieling of Wessex, is slain, A.D. 749. Aelfwald of East Anglia dies. A.D. 752. Cuthred of Wessex defeats Ethelbald of Mercia at Burford. A.D. 753, Cuthred also defeats the Welsh. A,D, 754. Cuthred of Mercia dies. Sigebert suc- ceeds. Canterbury is burned. A.D. 755. Sigebert is deprived of the whole of his » Probably Cliff, iu Kent, bxit perhaps Abingxlon. THE HEPTAKCHY. 73 kingdom except Hampshire, by his kinsman Cynewulf and the witan. Ethelbald of Mercia is killed. ' Ofta II. succeeds, driving out Beornred who had " obtained the kingdom, and held it a little while and unhappily." A.D. 757. Eadbert of Northumbria becomes a monk. Oswulf succeeds. A.D. 758. Oswulf of Northumbria is slain by his household, July 25. A.D. 759. Ethelwald (also styled Moll) after a time succeeds in Northumbria. A.D. 760. Ethelbert II. of Kent dies. Ceolwulf of Northumbria, who had received the ton- sure, dies. A.D. 761. Ethelwald kills Oswine, one of his great men, at Edwin's cliff, Aug. 6. A.D. 765. Ethelwald resigns the crown of Nor- thumbria. Alchred succeeds. A.D. 768. Eadbert of Northumbria, who had become a monk, dies Aug. 20. " The Easter of the Britons was altered by the com- mand of Elbot, a man of God y." A.D. 771. OfFa of Mercia makes war on Kent. A.D. 774. Alchred of Northumbria expelled by his subjects. Ethelred, son of Ethelwald, succeeds. The Kentish men defeated by Offa at Otford. A.D. 776. South Wales ravaged by OfFa of Mercia. A.D. 777. Offa of Mercia makes war on Wessex, and defeats Cynewulf at Bensington, in Oxfordshire. A.D. 778. Alfwold expels Ethelred from Northum- bria, and reigns in his stead f Chronicle of the Princes of Wales. 74 THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 779. " In the summer the Welsh devastated the territory of Offa, and Offa caused a dike to be made as a boundary between him and Wales, to enable him the more easily to withstand the attack of his ene- mies ; and that is called Offa's dike from that time to this day. And it extends from one sea to the other, from the south near Bristol towards the north above Flint, between the monastery of Basingwerk and Coles- hiU^" A.D. 784. Cynewulf of Wessex is killed at Merton, by the brother of Sigebert, Cyneheard, who is himself killed shortly after. Brithric succeeds. A.D. 785. A synod held at Calchythe^, when Lich- field is raised to the dignity of an archbishopric. A.D. 787. Brithric of Wessex marries Edburga, daughter of OfFa of Mercia. The Northmen commence tiieir ravages in Eng- land ^ A.D. 788. A synod held at Pincanheale, in Nor- thurabria, (probably Finchale, in Durham), Septem- ber 2. A.D. 789. Alfwold cf Northumbria is slain, Sept. 24. Osred, son of Alchred, succeeds. A.D. 790. Osred of Northumbria driven out ; Ethel- red resumes the government. A.D. 791. Aliwold's sons put to death. I Chronicle of the Princes of Wales. a The place is uncertain ; Chalk, in Kent, and Culcheth, in Lan- cashire, have been named. b The expression in the Saxon Chronicle is merely, "in his days first came thi'ee sliips of Northmen, out of Hseretha-land," but as the event is mentioned under the year 787, writers are generally agreed in assigning it to that date. THE NOUTHMEK. 75 A.D. 792. Ethelbert of East Anglia slain, and his dominions seized by Offa of Mercia. Osred attempts to regain the Northumbrian crown ; he is slain, Sept. 14. THE NOETHMEN. A.D. 794. The church at Lindisfarne destroyed by <* the Northmen, Jan. 8. " The heathens ravaged among the Northumbrians, and plundered Egfrid's monastery at Donemouth (Monks' Wearmouth), and there one of their leaders was slain, and also some of their ships were wrecked by a tem- pest, and many of them were there drowned, and some came on shore alive, and they were soon slain at the river's mouth." These acts of mutual atrocitv were the commence- ment of the deadly struggle which convulsed England for the remainder of the Saxon rule ; a struggle, how- ever, which is often misunderstood. Notwithstanding the invectives and almost abject complaints of the Saxon Chronicle'', there seems no good reason for supposing that the Northmen committed greater devastation than the heathen Saxons themselves had done three cen- turies before ; but as Anglo-Saxon literature survived the tempest, whilst the British generally speaking did not, a more detailed account of the Northmen's excesses has come down to us. Indeed, an inference directlv contrary to the received opinion has been drawm bv a distinguished Danish writer, from the fact that very ' See pp. 113—126. THE SAXON ERA. many of the vikings not oiily embraced Christianity in England, but laboured to diffuse its hght on their return to their own countries'^. The cotemporary accounts of the appearance, the arms, and equipments of the men who now began so signally to influence the fortunes of England® are but few, and antiquaries are by no means agreed in their interpreta- tion of them. Anglo-Saxon MSS. abound with illumi- nations in which figures of armed men appear, but it is not often clear whether Saxons or Northmen are meant, and the reference sometimes made to the Bayeux tapes- try is beside the question, the work being centuries too late. The Irish Chronicles (much nearer in point of time than the Icelandic Sagas) contain mauv notices of the invaders, and speak of them as consisting of two dis- tinct classes, Dubhgalls (Dark strangers) and Finngalls, (Fair strangers) ; these terms are pretty generally agreed to mean the Danes and the Norwegians, but whether they refer to the different complexions of the two peo- ples, or imply that the one had black equipments, black ^ Among them may he mentioned Hacon, who had dwelt in the court of Athelstan, and who retm-ning to Norway laboured \insuc- cessfully to introduce Christianity, but was killed in 960 ; and Anlat Trygg-veson, who ajspUed himseK to the same end with more zeal than discretion, and also lost his life in the attempt. His great counsellor was Thangbrand, who, calling himself a Christian priest, went about with a shield on which was embossed a representation of the crucifixion, and repaid the taunts of the idolaters by killing several of their number. He sold his shield to Anlaf, by whom it was regarded as a kind of tahsman, and also imparted some know- ledge of Christianity to that king Ijefore his expedition to England in the year 994. « They also estabUshed themselves in Ireland, and in the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrid'-s. and Jfan, but their frequent attempts ou the mainland of Scotland were less successful. THE NORTHMEN. ships, and black sails, and the others appeared in lighter colours, is a point not settled. There are, however, to be found in most earhr v,'riters phrases which shew that the Northmen were supposed to owe much of their success to the superiority of their weapons, and such would appear really to have been the case. It was, in heathen times especially, a very com- mon custom to bury his arms with the warrior ; and as numberless graves have been opened whose nation and era can from various circumstances be accurately ascer- tained, we thus get unimpeachable evidence as to the arms of the vikings. In England the vikings' tombs are w'ith difficult}^ to be distinguished from those of their opponents, but such is not the case in Scandinavia, nor in Ireland. Confin- ing our attention to recent discoveries in the latter country, we learn that the vikings carried heavy axes, spears and swords of large size, as well as daggers, bow^s and arrows ; the swords are furnished with a guard, often inlaid with gold, and sometimes have runic inscrip- tions ; shields too are found of wood strengthened with an iron boss, often ornamented with lines curved and curiously interlaced, but of defensive armour there ap- pears little traced It is stated in the Sagas that the f In tombs in Denmark are found bronze armlets of a spiral form a foot long, wliich appear strong enough to resist a sword cut, and are believed to have been worn coiled round the arm for that pui-pose. Korlhman's Armlet. THE SAXON EKA. chiefs had coats of chain-mail sewn on leather, and hel- mets with nose-pieces ; the common men seem to have been protected only by pieces of hide sewn on their ordinary coarse clothing. The ships of the vikings were probably at first not at all superior to those of the early Saxons, but before the time that the Northmen established their sway in Eng- land they were possessed of vessels in which certainlv Iceland and Greenland, and probably the American con- tinent, could be reached in safety. Their kings, too, if we could trust the glowing descriptions of the Sagas, had their Long Snakes and Dragons adorned with carv- ing, and magnificently ornamented with gilded masts, embroidered sails, and purple cordage ; but it is probable that this rather represents the royal vessels of more southern nations some three or four centuries later, than any thing that was seen in the North before the aban- donment of the vikings' expeditions. A.D. 794. Offa of Mercia dies July 25, or 29^; Egferth succeeds, but dies the same year ; Cynulf be- comes king. Edbert, surnamed Prsen, becomes king in Kent. A.D. 795. Ethelred of Northumbria is killed by Wada and others, April 19. Eardwulf succeeds to the kingdom. May 14^; is crowned at York, May 26. g The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales gives 796 as the date of his death, as do some IMSS. of the Saxon Chronicle. '' In the interval, Osbald, a noble, had usurped the throne, but after a reign of 27 daj-s he was driven out, and obliged to submit to the tonsiu'e. lEELAND. A.D. 795. "The Pagans first came to Ireland, and Racline was destroyedi." This is the first recorded hostile visit of the Northmen to Ireland, but it is probable that their merchants had established themselves in the country before. Certain it is, that various Ostman^ settlements existed along the coast a few years after, but quarrelling among them- selves^ they were subjugated by the natives about the year 850. In 853, Anlaf arrived with a powerful fleet at Dublin, was acknowledged as chief by all the Ostmen, and so firmly established their power, that from that period to the time of the English conquest, not only from Irish authorities, but by their coins, a constant suc- cession of their kings can be traced in Dublin, and for a great part of the time also in Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. They speedily became Christian, and had bishops of their own, who received consecration at Can- terbury, while the native Irish prelates acknowledged the supremacy of the archbishop of Armagh. The Ostman settlements are still the most important and commercial cities of Ireland, and indeed they would seem to have been selected rather with mercantile than po- litical views. Each " kingdom" appears to have consisted > Chronicle of Wales. Racline, now Ragtilin, an island on the north-east coast of Ireland, had a celebrated monastery, said to have been founded by St. Cohimba in the fifth century. ^ Ostman, or Eastman, probably as coming from the opposite coasts of England and Scotland, rather than direct from the North. ' An Irish Chronicle mentions, under the year 8^5, that the Dark strangers came to Dublin, destroyed the colony of the Fair strangers, and earned many of them into captivity ; other contests of the Dubhgalls and Finngalls (see p. 76,) occur at later dates. 80 THE SAXON EKA. of but a single town and a small surrounding district, strongly fortified, and its power was chiefly maritime; although from being better furnished with arms and more skilled in their use, its people possessed an influence over the adjacent country somewhat similar to that of European colonies in the East in more recent times. A.D. 796. Cynulf of Mercia ravages Kent; he takes Prten prisoner, and mutilates him. A.D. 797. Siric, tributary king of East Anglia, goes to Rome. A.D. 798. Wada, having rebelled against Eardwulf, is defeated and put to flight at Hwealleage or Billingahoth (Whalley, in Lancashire,) April 2. London burnt. A.D. 800. Brihtric of Wessex dies™ ; Egbert is chosen to succeed him. The Empire of the West re-established by the corona- tion of Charlemagne, Dec. 25. EGBERT. Egbert, the fourth in descent from Ingils, brother of Ina, being banished by Brihtric, sought refuge at the court of Charle- magne, and was in his company at Rome when the French king received the dignity of emperor of the West. On the death of Brihtric Egbert was recalled to Wessex, and ascended the throne. He warred successfully with " He was poisoned by Lis wife Edburga. She retired 5rs*i to France, then to Italy, and died miserably at Pavia. ibeci to Egbert. 81 the Britons, and thus increased the power of his kingdom while the other Saxon states were falHng into ruin from their ceaseless dissensions. At length in 819 he commenced a formal course of conquest, which in the course of eight years made him sole monarch, when he granted Kent to his son Ethelwulf, hut allowed the more remote states of Mercia, East Angha, and Northumbria to be ruled by tributary kings. This change being accomplished in the year 827, the ancient title of " Bretwalda" was revived, and Egbert is seen by a charter granted in 828 to have used the style of " King of the English," though more commonly terming himself merely king of Wessex. He married Redburga, a lady whose parentage is not ascertained, and left bv her, — Ethelwulf, his successor in the monarchy; Athel- stan, who is styled king of Kent ; and Ethelbald. Egbert died most probably in the year 837, but different MSS. of the Saxon Chronicle ascribe the length of 36, 37, and 38 years to his reign. The arms in the margin, " azure, a cross patonce or," have been ascribed to Egbert ; but it is now generally agreed that any thing resembling personal heraldic bear- ing's was unknown till the twelfth centurv. A.D. 800. The Hwiccians°, a people of Mercia, in- vade Wessex, but are defeated by the men of Wiltshire at Kempsford. A.D. 805. Cuthred of Kent dies. A.D. 806. Eardwulf of Northumbria, driven from his kingdom, retires to the court of Charlemagne. A.D. 812. Death of the emperor Charlemagne. ° Inhabiting the modern counties of Gloucestei* and Monmouth. VOL. I. G 82 THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 813. "Egbert laid waste West Wales (Devon and Cornwall) from eastw^ard to westward." A.D. 816. The English school" at Rome burnt. A.D. 8 19. Cenwulf of Merciadies ; Ceolwulf succeeds. A.D. 821 . Ceolwulf of Mercia deprived of his king- dom ; Beornwulf succeeds. A.D. 822. A synod held at CloveshooP. A.D. 823. Egbert defeats Beornwulf of Mercia at EUendune, (near Wilton). Ethelwulf, son of Egbert, drives Baldred of Kent be- yond the Thames. "And the men of Kent, and the men of Surrey, and the South Saxons and the East Saxons, submitted to Egbert ; for formerly they had been unjustly forced from him. And the same year the king of the East Angles and the people sought the alliance and protection of King Egbert for dread of the Mercians ; and the same year the East Angles slew Beornwulf, king of Mercia." A.D. 825. Ludeca of Mercia is slain; Wiglaf suc- ceeds. A.D. 827. " King Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Humber ; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda And Egbert led an army to Dore against the Northum- brians, and there they offered him obedience and allegi- ance, and with that they separated." A.D. 828. Wiglaf re-obtains Mercia, as a tributary to Egbert. Egbert makes war successfully on the North Welsh. " This sei-ved not only as a school, but as a place of entertainment for the English pilgrims ; it was situate near St. Peter's, but had its own churchj dedicated to St. Mary. P See p. 72. Another s^'nod waa held at ;he sume place in 824, BTHELWULf. 83 A.D. 832, The Northmen ravage Sheppy. A.D. 833. The Northmen defeat Egbert at Carrura (probably Charmouth in Dorsetshire). A.D. 835. The Northmen unite with the West Welsh (the Britons in Cornwall and Devon), but are defeated at Hengestdown, in Cornwall, by Egbert. A.D. 837. Egbert dies ; Ethelwulf succeeds. ETHELWULF. Ethelwulf is said, though on very doubtful authority, to have been designed for the Church, but at his father's death he succeeded to the kingdom, and granted the ad- ministration of the southern and eastern portions to his brother Athelstan. Ethelwulf s reign is chiefly remark- able for the ceaseless ravages of the Northmen, and his own journey to Rome, and liberal benefactions to the Church. Bv his first wife, Osburga, the daughter of Oslac, of the stem of Cerdic, he left four sons, who all became kings, and two daughters. His second mar- riage, and the coronation of his young queen, Judith, gave deep oft'ence to his sul)jects, and he was obliged to cede the greater part of his dominions to his eldest son. E- thelwulf died shortly after, and was buried at Wincbesteri. q In the medal room of the British Museum is preserved an interesting- me- mento of tliis king. It is a gold ring bearinvf his name, and having the ca- vities filled with a bluish-black ena- mel. It was found in a cart-rut in the parish of Laverstock, in Hampsuirc, and its weight is 11 dwts. 14 grains. Ethelwalfs Ri 84 THE SAXON EKA. A.D. 837. Athelstan, brother of Ethelwulf, rules the country of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and East Angha. The Northmen defeated at Southampton ; they are successful at Portland. A.D. 838. Wiglaf of Mercia dies; Beorhtwulf suc- ceeds. Kent, East Anglia, and Lincolnshire ravaged by the Northmen. The Northmen establish themselves in Dublin. A.D. 839. "This year there was great slaughter at London, and at Cwantawic (probably Canterbury) and Rochester." A.D. 840. Ethelwulf defeated at Carrum (Char- mouth) by the Northmen. SCOTLAND AND WALES. About the time that the states of the Heptarchy were brought under one head by Egbert, similar changes were effected among the other natioas of the island. The Scots closed a long struggle by the total subjugation of the Picts, and thus laid the foundation of the North British monarchy. The lands occupied by the uncon- quered Britons beyond the Severn and the Wye had long been in a state of anarchy, there being as many kings as districts, but in the year 840, Roderic (afterwards known as the Great), the descendant of the last chief rulers of the northern and eastern districts, succeeded to power, and marrying the heiress of the south he brought the whole country under subjection. He, how- ever, undid his own work by again dividing it among his three sons, giving Gwynneth (North Wales) to Anarawd, Dynevor (South Wales) to Cadel, and Powys SCOTLA^^D A^D WALES. 85 (the eastern portion, then extending far into what is now reckoned England) to Mervin^ Roderic ordained that Gwynneth should be the paramount state, to which the others should pay tribute, but this arrangement did not endure ; civil war broke out, Powys was seized by the ruler of Dynevor, and that state, under Howel Dda, about 910 became the chief kingdom. A.D. 842 (circa). The Scots, under Kenneth II., subdue the Picts. A.D. 845. The Northmen defeated at the mouth of the Parret by the bishop Ealstan of Sherboi'ne and Osric the ealdorman. A.D. 851. The Northmen defeated in Devonshire; Athelstan also defeats them at sea, near Sandwich. " This year the heathen men, for the first time, re- mained over winter in Thanet. " And the same year came 350 ships to the mouth of the Thames, and the crews landed and took Canterbury and London by storm, and put to flight Beorhtwulf, king of the Mercians, with his army, and then went south over the Thames into Surrey ; and there King Ethelwulf and his son Ethelbald, with an army of the West Saxons, fought against them at Ockley, and there made the greatest slaughter among the heathen array that we » These princes and their successors are often styled in the Welsh Chronicles, from the names of their capitals, the kings of Aberft-aw (in Anglesey), of Cardigan, and of Mathraval (near INIeivod, in Mont- gomeryshire), in the same way as their cotemporaries, the English kings, are called the kings of London. The South Wales state was the largest; but the greater part of its territory was held by the lords of Dyved (Pembroke), Morgan wg (Glamorgan) and Gwent (the district on the Severn and Wye), who were only nominal de- pendents on the king of Cardigan. 86 THE SAXON ERA. have heard tell of unto the present day, and there got the victory." Athelstan of Kent dies. The Northmen driven from Dublin ; they regain pos- session the following' year. A.D. 852. Beorhtwulf of Mercia dies; Borgred succeeds. A.D. 853. Ethelwulf assists the Mercians against the North Welsh. The Northmen in Thanet unsuccessfully attacked by Ealhere and Huda, the ealdormen of Kent and Surrey, who are both killed. Burgred marries Athelswith, the daughter of Ethel- wulf. Anlaf, a Northman, establishes his supremacy in Ire- land, and makes a truce with the natives. A.D. 855. " This year the heathen men, for the first time, remained over winter in Sheppy." " King Ethelwulf gave by charter the tenth part of . his land throughout his realm for the glory of God and his own eternal salvation^. And the same year he went to Rome in great state, and dwelt there twelve months, and then returned homewards," A.D. 856. Ethelwulf marries Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks (Charles the Bald), Oct. 1. A.D. 857. Ethelwulf parts his kingdom with his son. A.D. 858. Ethelwulf dies, January or June, and is buried at Winchester. ' This grant, which is only to be taken as a proof of the personal piety of Ethelwulf, in bestowing a tenth of his private estate on the Church, is often incorrectly spoken of as if it were the origin of tithes in England. See notice of Anglo-Saxon Laws, p. 154. ETHELBALD AND ETHELBERT — ETHELRED. 87 ETHELBALD and ETHELBERT. The two elder sons of Ethel wulf shared his domi- nions between them. Ethelbald, who only survived two years, is chiefly remarkable for his incestuous mar- riage with Judith, his father's widow, by whom, how- ever, he left no issue. Ethelbert contended vigorously with the Northmen until his death in 866, and left two sons : Ethelwald, who afterwards by leaguing with the in- vaders made himself for a short time king in Northum- brian ; and Adhelm, of the events of whose life no record has been preserved. A.D. 858. Ethelbald succeeds in Wessex, and Ethel- bert in the rest of Ethelwulf's dominions. A.D. 860. Ethelbald dies, and is buried at Sher- borne ; " and Ethelbert succeeded to all the realm of his brother, and he held it in godly concord and in great tranquillity." The Northmen storm Winchester, but are shortly after defeated. A.D. 864. The Northmen again winter in Thanet. A.D. 865. Kent ravaged by the Northmen. A.D. 866. Ethelbert dies, and is buried at Sher- borne ; Ethelred succeeds. ETHELRED. Ethelred, the third son of Ethelwulf, succeeded, to the prejudice of his brother's children, but this was not ' See p. 102. THE SAXON ERA. contrary to the practice of the age in regard to minors. He fought nine battles with various success against the Northmen, and died shortly after Easter, 871. His bro- ther Alfred was appointed to succeed him, as he left only young children, from one of whom Ethelwerd the historian traced his descent. A.D. 866. The Northmen make a truce with the East Angles, and obtain horses from them. A.D. 867. The Northmen pass from East Angha, and capture York ; the Northumbrians, who had ex- pelled Osbert and chosen a king, Ella, not of the royal blood, attempt to drive them from York, but are de- feated. Osbert and Ella are both slain, and a truce is made. A.D. 868. The Northmen pass into Mercia, and possess themselves of Nottingham, where they are in- effectually besieged by Ethelred and his brother Alfred ; the Mercians at length make a truce with them. A.D. 869. The Northmen retire to York, and re- main there during the year. A.D. 870. The Northmen pass again mto East Anglia, and take up their winter quarters at Thetford. "And the same winter King Edmund fought against them, and the Danes got the victory and slew the king, [Nov. 20,] and subdued all the land, and destroyed all the minsters which they came to. The names of their chiefs who slew the king were Ingwair and Ubba. At that same time they came to Medeshamstede (Peter- borough), and burned and beat it down, slew abbot and ETKELEEB. 89 monks, and all that they found there ; and that place, which before was full rich, they reduced to nothing"." Ethelred, archbishop of Canterbury, endeavours to expel the secular priests from his cathedral. A.D. 870. Anlaf the Northman ravages England, but dies shortly after his return to Ireland. A.D. 871. The Northmen pass into Wessex. They are defeated at Englefield, but gain the victory three days after at Reading. They are defeated four days after at Ashdown, (near Aston, in Berkshire,) and fourteen days after are victorious at Basing ; " and about two "■ King Edmund, described by Simeon of Dm-ham as a just and holy man, began his reign over the East Angles in 855. Having been defeated by the pagans, and captured, he was offered his life on condition of apos- tacy, but firmly refusing, he was first cruelly scourged, then pierced with aiTows, and his head being stricken off was cast into a thicket. Hence he was reverenced as a saint and martyr, and is still retained in the Church Calendar. The ancient service contains the following legend of the disco- very of his remains. A party of his fiiends having ventured in search of them, "they went seeking all together, and constantly calhng, as is the wont of those who oft go into woods, . . . 'Where art thou, comrade ?' and to them answered the head, ' Here, here, here. ' They all were answered as often as any of them called, until they all came through the calling to it. There lay the __ __ ...j,.,, . gray wolf that guarded the head, and with p»™'eiipanei of the i5th century. his two feet had the head embraced, greedy and hungry, and for God durst not taste the head, and held it against wild beasts. Then were they astonished at the wolfs guardianship, and carried the holy head home with them, thanking the Almighty for all His wonders. But the wolf followed forth with the head until they came to the town, as if he were tame, and after that turned into the woods again." The remains were interred at the place, since called in consequence, Bury St. Edmund's, and many churches still exist dedicated to St. Edmund, king and martyr. nd of F,a«t AnsTia 90 THE SAXOjST EEA. months after this, King Ethelred and Alfred his brother fought against the army at Meretun, and they were in two bodies, and they put both to flight, and during a great part of the day were victorious, and there was great slaughter on either hand; but the Danes had possession of the place of carnage ; and there Bishop Heahmund (of Sherborne) was slain, and many good men." Ethelred dies, " over Easter^," and is buried at Wim- borne. His brother Alfred succeeds. ALFRED THE GREAT. Alfred, the fourth son of Ethelwulf, was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, in 849. In his fifth year he was sent to Rome, and was there " consecrated king" bv the Pope, and again visited that city in company wath his father in the year 855. In 868 he married Elswitha, the daughter of Ethelred, an East Anglian chief, and for the next three years was actively engaged in second- ing the efforts of his brother Ethelred against the North- men. In 871 his brother's death placed him on the throne, and he continued the contest with various for- tune for seven years, when the overpowering force of the enemy compelled him to withdraw to the isle of Athelney, where he passed the early months of 878 ; ^ As he met his death from idolaters. King Ethelred was con- sidered as a martjT, and was canonized. His commemoration in the ancient English church was on Ajn-H 22, which is therefore most probably the day of his death, though Florence of Worcester says April 23. A church at Norwich is still found dedicated to him. ALFEED THE GREAT. 91 soon issuing from his retreat, he defeated the North- men, and at length concluded a peace by which their most powerful chief became in fact king of the east- ern part of the country, but also adopted Chris- tianity, and swore to assist in the defence of the land against all new assailants, an engagement which was but indifferently observed. The main body of the spoilers, however, withdrew, and although he had to repel an- other attack in 885, Alfred now found leisure not only for valuable literary labours, but to repair the ravages of war, and to form or remodel those admirable political institutions for which his name is still reverenced^. The year 893 witnessed a fresh return of the Northmen, but they were vigorously withstood, and at length ex- pelled, and to secure his coasts the king constructed ships better able to cope with those of the enemy than any that had been before seen in England, and is thus regarded as the founder of the royal navy. Alfred's few remaining years were passed in apparent tranquilhty, and he died on the 26th October, 901. Beside other children, who require no particular men- tion, Alfred left, — Edward, his successor ; Ethelfleda, who as " lady of the Mercians" acted a conspicuous part ; Elfrida, married to Baldwin II. count of Flanders^ ; and Ethelgina, who became abbess of Shaftesbury, A.D. 871. Alfred defeated by the Northmen at Wilton. Nine other battles are fought in the country y See p. 155. » He was the son of Judith, the step-mother of Alfred, and waa the ancestor of Matilda, the first Norman queen of England. 92 THE SAXON ERA. south of the Thames, in which the invaders appear to have been victorious, as the West Saxons make peace with them. A.D. 872. The Northmen take up their winter quar- ters in London ; the Mercians make peace with them. Cameleac consecrated bishop of Llandaff by the arch- bishop of Canterbury. We see from this that the spiritual supremacy of England extended at this period at least over the south- eastern part of Wales (Gwent), and it is probable that political power accompanied it, as when this bishop was captured by the Northmen in 918, he was, we are told by the Saxon Chronicle, ransomed by Edward the Elder, for 40 pounds of silver ^. The Northmen from Ireland ravage the west of Scotland, but are defeated near the Clyde by Con- stantine II. A.D. 873. The Northmen penetrate into Northum- bria, and take up their winter quarters at Torksey, in Lincolnshire ; the people make peace with them. A.D. 874. The Northmen drive out Burgred of Mercia, and make Ceolwulf, " an unwise king's thane," king in his place. Burgred goes to Eome'^. A.D. 875. Halfdane, a Northman, ravages Nor- thumbria, and also spoils the Picts and the Strathclyde Britons. The bishop's see and the body of St. Cuthbert re- moved to Chester-le- Street. Guthrum besieges Grantabridge (Cambridge). ' See p. 106. * Burgred died at Eome shortly after, and was buried in the church of the English college there. ALFRED THE GKEAT. 93 Alfred defeats a fleet of seven ships, capturing one, and putting the rest to flight. A.D. 876. The Northmen besiege Wareham. Alfred makes peace with them, when they " swear oaths to him on the holy ring", which they never before would do to any nation," to leave the kingdom. Their horsemen, however, take possession of Exeter. Halfdane apportions the lands of Northumbria among his followers. Anglesey ravaged by the Ostmen, and Roderic the Great slain. RoUo and the Northmen overrun Neustria (Normandy) . A.D. 877. The Northern fleet is wrecked at Swana- wic (Swanage). Alfred captures Exeter. The Northmen apportion Mercia. A.D. 878. The Northmen suddenly invade Wessex, in January, and take possession of the country ; " and many of the people they drove beyond sea, and of the remainder the greater part they subdued and forced to obey them, except King Alfred ; and he, with a small band, with difficulty retreated to the woods and to the fastnesses of the moors." Hubba, the brother of Halfdane, lands in Devonshire, but is defeated and killed, " and there was taken the war flag which they called Raven <^." «= Antiquaries diiFer as to the meaning of this passage. It seems probable that the Nurthmen, in their oath, reieired to a great ring- of silver, or orichalc, which Arngrim Jonas says was preserved in a temple in Iceland, and which was smeared with blood of vic- tims wlien they swore to the observance of matters of religion or jDublic law. '' It is remarkable that the Northern sagas do not mention this celebrated flag, to which magical jjowers were ascribed. Professca- Worsaae, from a laborious iuvestination of all the available authori- 94 THE SAXON ERA. " And after this, at Easter, King Alfred, with a small band, constructed a fortress at Athelney®, and from this fortress, with that part of the men of Somerset which was nearest to it, from time to time they fought against the army^" ties, is of opinion that it was a small triangular banner, fringed, bearing a black raven on a blood-red tield. ' Athelney, once an island, is now a marshy tract between the rivers Tone and Parret, near Langport, in the southern part of Somersetshire. f A very beautiful specimen of gold enamelled work is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, which is commonly known by the name of Alfred's jewel, as it bears his name, and was foimd in 1693 in the immediate neighbourhood of his retreat. It is of filagree work, inclosing a piece of rock-crystal, under wliich appears a figure in enamel, wh"ich has not been satisfactorily explained. The ground is of a rich blue, the face and arms of the figure white, the dress principally green, the lower portion partly of a reddish brown. The inscription is " •f' Aelfred mec heht gevvrcan" ( <^ Alfred ordered me to be made). THE ANGLO-DANES. 95 The Saxon Chronicle gives no particulars of Alfred's residence in Athelney, but Asser relates the well-known tale of the cakes suffered to burn whilst he prepared his weapons, and also tells us that it was in consequence of tyrannical conduct on his part, and neglect of the re- proof of his kinsman St. Neot, that the king was so ut- terly forsaken by his subjects. THE ANGLO-DANES. Alfred leaves his retreat in May. He defeats the Northmen at Ethandun (Edington, near Westbury), and besieges them in their fortress. The Northmen surrender after a fourteen days' siege, and give hostages. Guthrum " and some thirty men, who were of the most distinguished in the army," are baptized ; Guthrum has Alfred for his godfather, and re- ceives the name of Athelstan. Alfred makes a peace with the Northmen, ceding to them a large portion of territory, thus limited: " first, con- cerning our land boundaries : up on the Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its source, then right to Bedford, and then up the Ouse into Watling Street'''." By this formal cession of so large a tract, as well as the loss of what Halfdane already possessed, and held apparently only by the sword, the sole monarchy esta- blished by Egbert scarcely fifty years before may be re- r The other provisions of this trea.ty declare : "if a man be slain, we estimate all equally dear, English and Danish, at eight half marks of pure gold," and at 200 shillings each for the Saxon ceorl and the Danish liesing or freeman ; settle modes of trial, and the warranty "for men, for horses, and for cattle," and regulate tne intercourse between the two armies and their followers. 96 THE SAXON EKA. garded as broken up. The Anglo-Danes, as they are now to be called, it is true, professed allegiance to Alfred and his successors, but seem never to have yielded it unless to princes who were able to enforce the claim, and they were ruled by chiefs whose coins prove them to have assumed the style of independent kings , They received constant accessions to their numbers in consequence of the attempts made by the kings of Nor- way early in the tenth century to render themselves ab- solute monarchs, many of the chiefs preferring voluntary exile to submission, and they thus speedily became in some districts, what the Normans afterwards were in the whole country, a fierce military aristocracy govern- ing without mercy or discretion a herd of serfs, it being recorded as a glorious achievement of Edmund I. that he freed the English inhabitants of certain districts " who had dwelt long in captive chains to heathen men\" They also extended theaiselves over Mercia, and as that state as well as their own district had its peculiar laws, the country was rather three separate kingdoms'^, of which Wessex was occasionally able to assume a supre- macy over the others, than one united monarchy, as it is usually represented. It appears, too, from the names h In 1840 a hoard of about 7,000 silver coins (beside many silver ornaments) vras discovered at Cuerdale, near Preston, in Lan- cashii-e, 3,000 of which bore such inscriptions as "Cnut Rex," " Alfden Rex," "Sitric Comes," and they are by the best informed numismatists considered indisputably to belong to the chiefs of the Danish invaders in the ninth century, and then- immediate successors. i See p. 109. k England is recognised as divided into the three states of Wes- sex, Mercia, and the province of the Danes, in the laws of Henry I. ; the latter province, sometimes styled the Danelagh, api^ears to have comprised the whole tract north and east of the Watling Street. THE ANGLO-DANES. 97 of the witnesses to contemporary documents, that the Anglo-Danes soon became possessed of important posts both in the Chmxh and at the court of the Anglo- Saxon kings, and the divisions thus introduced into its councils, and the help they constantly gave to their invading countrymen, reduced the country to a state of weakness which left it a comparatively easy prey, first to Canute, and next to Wilham the Norman. A.D. 879. Guthrum and his forces withdraw to Cirencester, and remain there during the year. A fresh body of Northmen take up their quarters on the Thames at Fulham. A.D. 880. Guthrum and his forces settle in East Anglia. The Northmen leave the Thames, and besiege Ghent. A.D. 881. The Northmen penetrate into France. The Northmen land in Scotland, and defeat and kill Constantino II. at Crail, in Fifeshire. A.D. 882. Alfred goes to sea, and captures four vessels of the enemy. A.D. 883. The Northmen ascend the Scheldt, and besiege Conde. Alfred sends alms to Rome, and also to India, " which he had vowed to send, when they sat down against the army at London." A.D. 884. The Northmen besiege Amiens. A.D. 885. The Northmen again land in England, and besiege Rochester. Alfred relieves the city, and drives the besiegers beyond sea. " This year the army in East Angha broke the peace with King Alfred." VOL. I. H 98 THE SAXON ERA. Alfred sends a fleet against them, which captures six- teen of their ships. Alfred's fleet is defeated on its return. A.D. 886. " King Alfred repaired London, and all the English submitted to him, except those who were under the bondage of the Danishmen ; and then he committed the town to the keeping of Ethelred, the ealdorman." The Northmen besiege Paris. England now seems to have had peace for a while, for the Saxon Chronicle for the next seven years only records offerings sent to Rome, which became so cus- tomary that it is thought worthy of special remark, that in 889 " there was no journey to Rome, except that King Alfred sent two couriers with letters." A bishop's see^ re-founded at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire. A.D. 887. The Northmen pass the bridge at Paris, and ravage the interior of France. Alfred founds the monasteries of Shaftesbury and Athelney. A.D. 888. Athelswith (Alfred's sister, and relict of Burgred of Mercia) dies on her way to Rome, and is buried at Pavia. A.D. 890. Guthrum dies. The Northmen in France defeated by the Bretons. A.D. 891. The Northmen defeated in the east of Trance, near Louvaine, Sept. 1. A.D. 893. The Northmen, having crossed France, embark at Boulogne, and land at Limenemouth (Lymne, in Kent). "They came over, horses and all, at one The bishop's see foiiuded herein 635 by Bh-inus (see p. 63), was romovecl to Winchester in 676. ALFRED THE GREAT. 99 passage, with 250 ships." They fortify themselves at Appledore"". Hasting enters the Thames, and builds a fort at Mid- dleton (Milton, on the East Swale of the Medway). The Northumbrians and East Angles favour the in- vaders. A.D. 894. Alfred places himself between the two armies of Northmen. The Northmen leave their forts for the purpose of passing into Essex, but are defeated at Farnham ; they reach the Colne, and are besieged there. The Northumbrians and East Angles attack Devon- shire. The Northmen defeated at Bemfleet, their shipping destroyed, and the wife and sons of Hasting captured. The Northmen re-assemble at Shoebury, are joined by the Northumbrians and East Angles, and pass up the Thames to the Severn. They are besieged at Buttington, in Shropshire, and obliged to surrender, " after having eaten a great part of their horses." The fugitives reach Essex, and assemble another army. They commit " their wives, and their ships, and their wealth" to the East Angles, and cross England to Chester, where they are besieged. ™ The nature of their ordinary fortifications appeal's from a cotemporary notice in the Annals of Fuida. " The Northmen, hav- ing made their foiiification with hedges according to their custom, securely encamped ;" whilst the annahst of Metz points out an im- proved mode of proceeding, "The Northmen protected themselves according to custom witli wood and a heap of earth ;" and such we may conclude was their fashion fifty j'ears later, from a passage in the Saxon Chronicle relating to the battle of Brunanburg — "The boai'd-wall they clove, they hewed the war-lindens." iOO THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 895 (circa). The Northmen establish them- selves in the Orkneys and Hebrides. The Northmen from Chester ravage North Wales, and then return to Northumbria and East Anglia. Sussex ravaged by the Northumbrians and East Angles. The Northmen reassemble in Mersey island, and thence proceed up the Thames and the Lea. A.D. 896. The Northmen build a fort on the Lea, probably near Ware, which is unsuccessfully attacked by the Londoners. Alfred encamps in the neighbourhood, and by cutting fresh channels leaves the ships aground. The Northmen retire to Shropshire, and pass the winter tliere. A.D. 897. The Northmen break up their array. ' Some went for East Anglia, some for Northumbria ; and they who were moneyless procured themselves ships there, and went southwards over sea to the Seine. Thanks be to God, the army had not utterly broken down the English nation ; but during the three years it was much more broken down by the mortality among cattle, and among men, and most of all by this, that many of the most eminent king's thanes in the land died daring the three years." The south coast of England harassed by plundering parties. Alfred builds ships of a new model to contend with them. Some of the pirate vessels are captured, and their crews put to death. Twenty more are wrecked on the south coast. EUWAKD THE ELDER. 101 A.D. 900. Wales ravaged by the Northmen, and Mervin, prince of Powys, killed; his state is seized by Cadel of Dynevor. A.D, 901. Alfred dies, Oct. 26", and is buried at Winchester. He is succeeded by Edward. EDWARD I., CALLED THE ELDER. Edavard, the eldest surviving son of Alfred, was born about 870, and as early as 894 distinguished him- self against the Northmen at Farnham. His accession to the throne was unsuccessfully op- posed by Ethelwald, his cousin, who obtained aid from the Anglo-Danes, and the greater part of his reign w'as passed in repelling the attacks of the insurgents and their allies from the North and from Ireland. Edward, however, several times defeated them, and by taking the precaution to erect forts as he proceeded, in which he was powerfully aided by his sister Ethelfleda, the " lady of the Mercians," he at length succeeded in putting down all opponents, and shortly before his death, in 925, he was acknowledged as " father and lord," not only by all the Danish chiefs in England, but also by vhe kings of the Scots and of the Strathclyde Britons. Edward left a numerous fam.ily, of whom three (Athel- ■>ran, Edmund, and Edred) became kings of England ; his other children were, —Edwin, who perished at sea ; Ogina, married to Charles the Simple of France ; Edith, to " "Six days before All-Hallow- mass ;" Florence of Worcester says October 28, and wrongly ascribes the event to the year 899. 102 THE SAXON ERA.. Otho the Great of Germany ; Thyra, to Gormo III. of Denmark, and thus the ancestress of Canute" ; Edgiva, to Louis, king of Provence ; and several daughters who embraced a religious life, or whose alliances have not been satisfactorily determined. A.D. 901. Ethelwaldthe athelingP, attempts to make himself king in Wessex, but failing, joins the Northmen in Northumbria. A.D. 902. Edward is crowned. May 16. A great battle at the Holm, in Kent, between the Kentish men and the Northmen ; the latter de- feated*^. Elswitha, the widow of Alfred, dies "". A.D. 904. Ethelwald obtains possession of Essex. A.D. 905. Ethelwald and the Northmen ravage Mercia. King Edward in return invades " all their land be- tween the dikes and the Ouse, as far north as the fens." » The sepulchre of this prhicess, who died in 935, still exists, at Jellinge, in Jutland ; it is a chamber formed of beams of oak, covered with woollen cloth, and inclosed in a vast tumulus. It has more than once been opened, and in it were found a round coffer, and the figure of a bird foiTned of thin plates of gold, as well as the cup here engraved ; it is of silver, plated with gold, is of very small size, and is remarkable as an example of the state of the decorative arts in the tenth century, p The son of Ethelbert, Alfred's prede- Thxra's c,.,,. cBssor. See p. 87. 1 This battle is ascribed to the year 904 by Florence of Wor- cester. ' Her death is ascribed to the year 905 in some MSS of the Saxon Chronicle. EDWABD THE ELDER. 103 The Kentish men, against his orders, remain behind, and are defeated by the Northmen. " There was great slaughter made on either hand ; and of the Danish men there were more slain, though they had possession of the place of carnage." .... "And on the Danish side were slain Eohric their king, and Ethelwald the atheling, who had inticed him to break the peace .... and likewise very many with them, whom we are now unable to name." The Northmen ravage Ireland. A.D. 906. " This year King Edward, from neces- sity, concluded a peace both with the army of East Anglia and Northumbria." A.D. 907. Chester rebuilt by Ethelfleda. A.D. 909. Bishops' sees founded at Wells, and at Wilton, and others in Cornwall and Devon. A.D. 910. " King Edward sent out a force both of West Saxons and of Mercians, and they greatly spoiled the army of the north, as well of men as of every kind of cattle, and slew many of the Danish men ; and they were therein five weeks." The Northmen defeated at Teotenheal, (probably Tet- tenhall, in Staffordshire,) Aug. 6. WALES. Howel Dda, having about this time become ruler of the whole of Wales °, summoned a numerous assembly to the White House on the Tav (near Whitland, in Car- • See p. 85. 104 THE SAXON ERA. marthenshire,) two-thirds being lavmen, and one-third clergy, to examine the ancient laws (those ascribed to Dyvnwal Moelmud*^) ; " some they suffered to continue unaltered, some thev amended, others they entirely abro- gated, and some new laws they enacted." These laws being submitted to the Pope, (Anastasius III.) and approved by him, were ordered to be observed through- out Wales ; but numerous modifications were soon made in them, and, as now known to us, they are in the form of separate codes for each of the three states of Gwyn- neth, Dynevor, and Gwent, into which Wales was in the tenth century divided. Each code presents the laws of the court, and the laws of the country. The first contain most minute regulations for every member of the royal household, from the king to the door-keeper ; state their various duties, privileges, and emoluments, some of which are of a singular nature ; and the second gives the rules applicable to all offences against person or property, which are earned to the extreme of defining the legal worth of most animals, whether wild or tam.e, the price of a blind kitten even bemg dulv laid down, as well as the sums to be paid for wounds or murder ; the principle of money payment, rather than of blood for blood, pre- vailing in the Welsh as fully as in the Anglo-Saxon communitv. After the death of Howel Dda usurpation and civil war ensued ; at length Gwvnneth was recovered by the descendants of Anarawd, and under Llewelvn ap Sitsylht it became the ruling state, Dynevor having lost much « See p. 04. Wales. 105 of the eastern part of its territory. Llewelyn was killed m 1031, when lago, his brother-in-law, obtained Gwyn- neth, and Rytherch, Dynevor ; they were, however, sub- dued by GrifBn, the son of Llewelyn, who held the su- premacy till 1056, when he being defeated by Earl Harold, and killed by his own people, the whole of Wales was reduced to a nominal dependence on Eng- land; Meredith, a descendant of Howel Dda, being ap- pointed prince of Dynevor, and Blethin and Rywallon (the half-brother of Griffin) princes of Gwynneth and Powys. A.D. 911. The Northmen overrun Mercia, but are overtaken and defeated on their retreat. The Northmen from Dublin ravage South Wales. A.D. 912. " King Edward obtains possession of London, and of all the lands which owed obedience thereto." A.D. 913. Edward advances into Hertford and Essex, and builds several forts there. Ethelfleda builds forts at Tamworth and at Stafford, and at Warwick and other places in the next year. A.D. 916. Ethelfleda's forces defeat the Welsh at Brecenan-mere (Brecknock) . The Northmen sustain a signal defeat from the Irish. A.D. 917. Derby captured from the Northmen. A.D. 918. Leicester surrendered by treaty to Ethel- fleda. " And the people of York had also covenanted with her, some having given a pledge, and some having 106 THE SAXON ERA. bound themselves by oath, that they would be at her command." The coasts of Wales and the Severn ravaged by a fleet from Britanny. The invaders are driven off by the men of Gloucester and Hereford and the adjoining towns, and retire to Ireland. Cameleac, bishop of Llandaff, having been captured, is ransomed by King Edward. A.D. 919. Edward continues his progress, and cap- tures Bedford. A.D. 920. Thurcytel, the Northman, and his fol- lowers, are allowed to withdraw to France. A.D. 921. Towcester ineffectually besieged by the Northmen. King Edward relieves his towns, and strengthens some with stone walls, " and much people submitted , to him, as well among the East Anglians as among the East Saxons, who before were under the dominion of the Danes. And all the army among the East Anglians swore oneness with him, that they would observe peace towards all to which the king should grant his peace, both by sea and land." A.D. 922. " King Edward went with his forces to Stamford, and commanded the fort (burh) to be built upon the south side of the river ; and all the people which owed obedience to the northern towns submitted to him, and sought him to be their lord." Ethelflieda dies, June 12. Edward takes possession of Mercia, "and all the people there, as well Danish as English, submitted to him." The North- Welsh kings seek him to be their lord. ATHELSTAN. 107 A.D. 923. Edward advances into Northumbria, and builds forts at Thelwall, in Cheshire, and at Manchester. Regnold, a Danish king, captures York. A.D. 924. Edward builds other forts, as at Not- tingham and in the Peak ; " and then chose him for father and for lord, the king of the Scots and the whole nation of the Scots", and Regnold and the son of Eadulf, and all those who dwell in Northumbria, as well English as Danes, and Northmen and others, and also the king of the Strathclyde Britons, and all the Strathclyde Britons." A.D. 925. King Edward dies, and is buried at Win- chester ; Athelstan succeeds. ATHELSTAN. Athelstan, the eldest, and perhaps the natural, son of Edward, succeeded him, and shewed great vigour and ability in contending with the Anglo-Danes and their confederates, to whom he gave a signal overthrow at Brunanburg. He also protected his young nephew Louis, the son of Charles the Simple, and assisted in placing him on the throne of France. He added many valuable provisions to the laws promulgated by Alfred, and like him favoured both literature and commerce. He ° This, and some similar transactions in Anglo-Saxon times, formed the ground for the claim of feudal subjection of the crown oi Scotland to that of England, which was urged by the Norman kings and their successors. The capture of William I. and the disputed succession on the death of Alexander III. occasioned its tempoi'ary admission ; but Wallace and Bruce, aided at first rather by the people than the nobles of Scotland, (many of whom joined the EngHsh,) successfully resisted the foe, and estfiblished the independ- ence of their country. 108 THE SAXON EEA was never married, and was succeeded by his brother Edmund, in the year 940. A.D 925. Athelstan gives his sister^ in marriage to Sihtric of Northumbria. A.D. 926. " Sihtric perished ^ , and King Athelstan obtained the kingdom of the Northumbrians. And he ruled all the kings who were in this island : first, Huwal, king of the West-Welsh (Cornwall) ; and Constantine, king of the Scots ; and Uwen, king of the Gwentian people (on the lower course of the Severn) ; and Ealdred, son of Ealdulf of Bamborough : and they con- firmed the peace by pledge and by oaths, at the place which is called Eamot, on the 4th of the ides of July (July 12) ; and they renounced all idolatry, and after that submitted to him in peace." A.D. 933. "This year Edwin the atheling [the half- brother of Athelstan] was drowned at sea^." Scotland ravaged by Athelstan with a fleet and army. He also imposes a tribute on Wales ^. A.D. 937. Anlaf, the son of Sihtric, with an armv of Northmen from Ireland, and Constantine III., king of the Scots, land at the mouth of the Humber; they are defeated by Athelstan and Edmund the atheling. at Bru- nanburg (probably near Ford, in Northumberland^). » Her name is variously given as Edgitha and Beatrix. y His two sons, Anlaf and Guthferth, sought refuge with the Scots, but soon retired to the Ostmen ia Ireland. ^ Some writers, as Simeon of Dui'ham, charge Athelstan with his murder ; but this early notice leaves the matter doubtful. " This tribute is stated in the North Welsh Code as three score and three pounds in money, when the kuig of Abei-fi-aw received his land from the king of London, beside dogs, hawks, and horses. '' The site of this celebrated battle is not fully ascertained. EDMUKD I. 109 " Five youthful kings and seven earls were laid in slumber by the sword, and of their army countless ship- men and Scots. The West Saxons onward throughout the day, in bands, pursued the footsteps of the loathed nations. Carnage greater has not been in this island, of people slain by the edge of the sword, since from the east hither came the Angles and Saxons." A.D. 940. Athelstan dies at Grloucester, Oct. 27 ; Edmund the athelinff succeeds. EDMUND I. The short reign of Edmund was almost entirely oc- cupied in an attempt to reduce the Anglo-Danes to some- thing like real submission to the Saxon monarchs. He was killed in his own court in the year 946, in the 25th year of his age ; and, his two sons, Edwy and Edgar, being minors, he was succeeded by his brother Edred. A.D. 941. The Northumbrians choose Anlaf of Ire- land for their king. Edmund recaptures the Five Burghs from the Danes". A.D. 943. Anlaf captures Tamworth in Mercia. He is besieged in Leicester by Edmund, but escapes. Anlaf submits to King Edmund, is baptized, and is "royally gifted" by him. ° These were Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford, and Derby, the inhabitants of wliich, "by need constrained, had ere wl\ile a long time dwelt in captive chains to heathen men." no THE SAXON ERA. Regnold also submits, and is baptized, near the close of the year. A.D. 944. Northumbria entirely subdued, and Anlaf expelled. Dublin captured from the Northmen by the Irish. A.D. 945. Cumberland ravaged by Edmund '^j and granted to Malcolm, king of the Scots, " on the con- dition that he should be his fellow- worker, as well by sea as by land." The Northmen retake Dublin. A.D. 946. King Edmund is killed in his own hall by Liofa, an outlaw, at Pucklechurch, (in Gloucester- shire, not far from Bristol,) May 26 ; his brother Edred succeeds. EDRED. Edred, the son of Edward I., was more successful than Edmund had been, and, though they more than once rose against him, finally reduced the Anglo-Danes to subjection. He then gave himself up mainlv to a re- ligious course of life, and entrusted the direction of public affairs to the celebrated Dunstan. He died in 955, and was succeeded by his nephew Edwy. A.D. 946. Edred crowned, Sunday, August 16. The Northumbrians revolt, but are defeated by Edred ; " and the Scots gave him oaths, that they would that he would." A.D. 947. " King Edred came to Taddenes-scylf, * It had been not long before seized by the Northmen ; it was ruled as a separate principalitj' by the Scottish heir- apparent, and was not reannexed to England till the time of Edward I. EDRED, 1 1 1 (Topcliffe, near Thirsk,) and there Wulstan the arch- bishop [of York] and all the Northumbrian witan plighted their troth to the king ; and within a little while they belied all, both pledge and all oaths." A.D. 948. The Northumbrians choose Eric, a Dane, for their king. Edred ravages their country, and the great minster at Ripon, built by Wilfred, is burnt. The Northumbrians abandon Eric, and submit. " King Howel the Good, son of Cadel, the chief and glory of all the Britons, died®." A.D. 949. Anlaf Cuiran, a son of Sihtric, comes to Northumbria, and is received as king. A.D. 952. Wulstan, archbishop of York, imprisoned, " because he had been oft accused to the king." The Northumbrians expel Anlaf Cuiran, and recall Eric. A.D. 954. The Northumbrians again expel Eric, and submit to King Edred ^ Wulstan is released, and appointed to the see of Dorchester s, A.D. 955. King Edred dies at Fi'ome, Nov. 23, and is buried at Winchester. Edwy, his brother's son succeeds. EDWY. Edwy, the elder son of Edmund, succeeded his uncle Edred. The chief events of his short, unhappy reign, ' Chronicle of the Princes of Wales. ' From this time, Simeon of Durham remarks, there were no more kings in Northumbria ; its rulers, though nearly independent, only had the title of duke, or count, or earl, e The statement in the Saxon Chronicle is doubtful ; some writers consider that it only means that Wulstan was restored the exercisa of his of&ce at Dorchester. 112 THE SAXON ERA. were the banishment of Danstan, his uncle's minister, and the revolt of the Mercian and Northumbrian pro- vinces. His marriage with Elgiva, who was " too nearly related" to him, called down the censures of the Church ; and he died in 959, before he had attained his 19th vear. A.D. 955. Edwy is crowned at Kingston by arch- bishop Odo. A.D. 956. The abbot Dunstan is banished by the king. A.D. 957. The Mercians and Northumbrians choose Edgar, the brother of Edwy, for their king. A.D, 958, "This year archbishop Odo separated king Edwy and Elgiva, because they were too nearly related." Elgiva is put to death. Edwy dies, Oct. 1 ; his brother Edgar succeeds. EDGAR. Edgar, the second son of Edmund, had so much more peaceable a reign than any of his predecessors, that he has received the title of the Pacific. He preserved his states from war by ever shewing himself prepared for it, favoured the restoration of religious houses ruined in the troubled times of preceding kings, and greatly patronized the monastic rule ; whence he is much praised by early writers, although his private conduct was marked by vice and cruelty. He died in 975, leaving by Ethelfleda, his first wife, Edward, who succeeded him, and a daughter, EDGAR. 1J3 Edith ; and b}^ Elfritha, his second wife, Ethelred, who also became king. A.D. 958. King Edgar recalls the abbot Dunstan, who receives the see of Worcester, and afterwards that of London in the same year. A.D. 959. "Odo the Good^," archbishop of Can terbury, dies ; Dunstan of London succeeds him. A.D. 961. The Northmen land in Scotland, and kill the king, at Forteviot. A.D. 962. St. Paul's minster, in London, burnt. A.D. 963. The abbot Ethehvold becomes bishop of AVinchester, and expels the secular priests. " After- wards, then came he to the king, Edgar, and begged of him that he would give him all the minsters that hea- then men had formerly broken down, because he would restore them; and the king blithely granted it." Ely and Medeshamstede (Peterborough), " where were nothing but old walls and wild woods," are accord- ingly restored. A.D. 964. King Edgar expels the secular priests from many minsters, and replaces them with monks. A.D. 965. Edgar marries Elfritha, the daughter of Ordgar, the ealdorman of Devonshire. s Such was the title among his cotemporaries of one whom com- paratively recent writers have described as a monster. He appears only to have carried out the recog-nised rule in separating- Edwy and Elgiva; and Eadmer, the author the nearest to his time, ex- pressly says that Elgiva's death was the act of the Mercian parti- sans of Edgar. Odo was the son of a Danish chief, and had been banished from his home in boyhood for frequenting a Christian church. Some canons of his and a synodical epistle, which remain to us, have been pronounced "grave and pious compositions, very creditable to his memory." VOL. I. I 114 THE SAXON ERA., A.D. 966. Thoreth, a Northman, ravages West- moreland. Oslac obtains the earldom of Northumberland. A.D. 968. " King Edgar ordered all Thanet-land to be ravaged."' A.D. 973. Edgar is crowned at Bath, May 11. " And soon after that, the king led all his ship-forces to Chester; and there came to meet him six kings'^, and they all phghted their troth to him, that they would be his fellow- workers by sea and by land." A.D. 975. Edgar dies, July 8, and is buried at Glastonbury ; his son Edward succeeds. EDWARD II., CALLED THE iMARTYR. After a reign of less than four years, in which much that his father had done to establish the monastic rule was set aside, this unfortunate young prince was assas- sinated by the oi'der of his step-mother, and he is re- tained in the calendar of the Anglican Church as a saint and martyr ; his feast is celebrated on the 18th of March, and the translation of his remains from their private resting-place at Wareham to Shaftesbury on the 20th of June. His half-brother Ethelred succeeded him. A.D. 975. "Oslac, the great earl [of Northumber- land], is banished from England." '' The cotemporary Saxon Cluonicle does not name them, but later writers, as Florence ofWorcester, mentions eight, and specify Kenneth, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of Cumberland, Maccus^ king of the Isles, and five Northman and British chiefs. ETHELRED II. 116 " The monastic rule was quashed, and minsters dis- solved, and monks driven out, and God's servants put down, whom King Edgar ordered the holy bishop Ethel- wold to establish." A.D. 976. "This year was the great famine among the English nation." A.D. 978. "In this year all the chief witan of the English nation fell at Calne from an upper chamber, except the holy archbishop Dunstan, who alone sup- ported himself upon a beam ; and there were some grievously maimed, and some did not escape it with life." A.D. 979. "King Edward was slain at eventide at Corfes-geat^ on the 15th of the calends of April (March 18,) and then was he buried at Wareham, without any kind of kingly honours. There has not been done among the Angles a v/orse deed than this, since they first sought Britain. He was in hfe an earthly king ; he is nov/ after death a heavenly saint." ETHELEED II. The long reign of this prince, contemptuously styled " the Unready'S" was little else than a series of vain struggles with the Northmen, whom he alternately met in the field, bribed to retire, or attempted to cut off by wholesale assassination, but with equal want of success, being obliged to take refuge in Normandy in 1013, and ' Corfe, in Dorsetshire, the residence of his step-mother, El- frith a. " Ethelred means "noble counsel;" so that the appellation is literally, " The noble counsellor who cannot advise." 116 THE SAXON EKA. only returning to die in England at the time that Canute was preparing the formidable armament with which he shortly after made himself master of the country. By his first wife, Elgiva, he left Edmund, who succeeded him ; Edwy, put to death by Canute ; Elfgina, married to Uhtred of Northumberland ; Edgith, married to Edric Streona ; and several other children ; by his second wife, Emma, Edward (aftei'wards king), and Alfred, murdered in 1036 by Godwin ; and Goda, first married to Walter, earl of Mantes, and afterwards to Eustace, earl of Boulogne, whose visit to England in 1051 was attended by a fatal result to many of his party. A.D. 979. Ethelred is crowned at Kingston, on Sunday, May 4th \ A.D. 980. Southampton, Thanet, and Cheshire ra- vaged by the Northmen. The Northmen in Ireland sustain a great defeat at Tar ah. A.D. 981. The coasts of Wales, Cornwall and Devon ravaged ; Padstow is destroyed. A.D. 982. Portland ravaged by three ships of pirates. Lotfdon burnt. A.D. 983. Elfric appointed ealdorman of Mercia. A.D. 984. " This year died the benevolent bishop of Winchester, Ethelwold, father of monks, on the calends of August" (Aug. 1). A.D. 985. Elfric, the ealdorman of Mercia, is banished. Florence of Worcester says, 14tli April, 978. ETHELRED II. 117 A.D. 986. "This year the king laid waste the bishopric of Rochester." " This year first came the great murrain among cattle in the English nation." A.D. 988. "This vear was Watchet ravaged, and Goda, the Devonshire thane, slain, and with him much slaughter made." The Northmen from Ireland levy a tribute on Wales™. Archbishop Dunstan dies. May 19°. A.D. 989. The Northmen in Dublin said to pay tri- bute to Melaghlin, king of Ireland. A.D. 991. " This year was Ipswich ravaged ; and after that very shortly was Brihtnoth, the ealdorman, slain. " And in that year it was decreed that tribute, for the first time°, should be given to the Danish-men, on ac- count of the great terror which they caused the sea- coast ; that was at first ten thousand pounds : this coun- sel advised first archbishop Siric" (of Canterbury). A.i^. 992. A fleet assembled at London to resist the ]S[orthmen. Elfric, who had returned and received a command, joins the enemy. A.D. 993. The Lincolnshire and Northumbrian coasts ravaged ; Bamborough taken by storm. The army raised against the Northmen disperses, Frena, Godwin, and other Anglo-Danes, setting the example of flight. " This is called the tribute of the black Pagans, in the Chi-onicle of the Princes of Wales. " Dunstan is retained in the Anglican calendar, his feast occurring on May 19, and eighteen churches exist dedicated to him. ° This fatal expedient had been proposed in 865, but whilst the matter was in debate the Northmen "stole away by night, and ravaged all Kent to the eastward." il8 THE SAXON ERA. Elfgar, the son of Elfiic, is blinded by the king's order. A.D. 994. Anlaf and Sweyn^, from Norway, attack London, but are repulsed, Sept. 8. They ravage Kent and the south coast, "and at last they took to themselves horses, and rode as far as they would, doing unspeakable evil." They take up their winter quarters at Southampton, where a peace is made with them, receiving food and sixteen thousand pounds of money. " Then the king sent bishop Alphage and Ethelward the ealdorraan after king Anlaf, and the while, hostages were delivered to the ships ; and they then led Anlaf with much worship to the king at Andover. And king Ethelred received him at the bishop's hands, and royally gifted him. And then Anlaf made a covenant with him, even as he also fulfilled, that he never again would come hostilely to the English nation*^." A.D. 995. Elfric of Wiltshire is appointed arch- bishop of Canterbury, April 21. The bishop's see and the body of St. Cuthbert re- moved from Chester-le-Street, and after a while settled on the bank of the Wear, where Durham now stands. f Swejm, surnamed Tveskjoeg', or Forked Beard, was the father of Canute, who conquered England, and he himself had possession of a portion of it a short time before his death, so that he is some- times considered as the first Danish king. 1 Anlaf (or Olaf, or Olaus) returned to Norway, where he zeal- ously laboured to introduce Christianity, which occasioned a quarrel with his brother-in-law and former ally, Sweyn, by whom he was driven out and killed in the year 1000. His kinsman, known as Olaf the Saint, reconquered Norway, but was slain through the in- ti-igues of Canute ; another kinsman of Anlaf was Harold Hardrada, who [eii at Stanford-bridge. See p. 150. ETHELRED 11. 119 A.D. 996. Elfric, having journeyed to Rome to con- sult the Pope (John XVI.), expels the secular priests from the minster at Canterbury. A.D. 997. Devon, Cornwall, and the coasts of the Bristol Channel, ravaged by the Northmen ; the monas- tery of Tavistock burnt by them. A.D. 998. The Northmen ravage Dorset and Hamp- shire, and establish themselves in the Isle of Wight. A.D. 999. The Northmen ravage Kent. Brien Ecru, king of Munster, captures Dublin '". A.D. 1000. Ethelred ravages Cumberland, while his ships attack Anglesey^. The Northmen land in Scotland, and capture Kinloss. Morgan, bishop of St. David's, killed by the Northmen. The Northmen withdraw to Normandy. A.D. 1001. The Northmen return to England, and ravage the western counties. They gain victories at Ethelingdene, and at Penhoe, in Devonshire. " And thence they went into Wihtland (the Isle of Wight), and there they roved about, even as they them- selves would, and nothing withstood them ; nor any fleet by sea durst meet them ; nor land force either, went they ever so far up. Then was it in every wise a heavy time, because they never ceased from their evil doings." A.D. 1002. "Twenty-four thousand pounds was paid as tribute to the fleet, and peace made with them, on condition that they should cease from their evil doings." ■■ He abandoned the city after plundering it, and was killed in battle against the Ostmau king of DubUn in 1014. See p. 126. s Cumberland was then possessed by the Scots (see p. 110), and Anglesey in league with the Northmen. 120 THE SAXON ERA. King Ethelred marries Emma, daughter of Richard 11., duke of Normandy. " In this year the king ordered all the Danish-men who were in England to be slain. This was done on Britius' mass-day (Nov. 13) ; because it was made known to the king that they would treacherously be- reave him of his life, and afterwards all his witan ; and after that have his kingdom without any gfiinsaying*." A.D. 1003. Exeter, betrayed by "the French ceorl Hugo, whom the lady Emma had appointed her reeve," is entirely ruined by the Northmen under Sweyn. Wilton and Salisbury sacked by them, Elfric again betraying his trust. A.D. 1004. Sweyn ravages Norfolk, and burns Nor- wich and Thetford. Ulfcytel, the ealdorman of East An- glia, collects a force against them. " And they there stoutly joined battle, and much slaughter was there made on either hand. There were the chief among the East Anglian people slain ; but if the full force there had been, they never again had gone to their ships; inas- much as they themselves said, that they never had met a worse hand-play among the English nation than Ulf- cytel had brought to them." A.D. 1005. "This year was the great famine through- out the English nation ; such, that no man ever before recollected one so grim. And the fleet in this year went from this land to Denmark ; and staid but a little space ere it came again." ' Such is the cotemporary account of this most atrocious and impolitic act. One of the sufferers was Gunhilda, the sister of Swej^n, on whom William of Malmesbury pronounces a warm eulogium. ETHELEED 11. 121 A.D. 1006. " The great fleet came to Sandwich, and did all as they had been before wont ; they ravaged, and burned, and destroyed wherever they went." A force is assembled against them, "but it availed nothing" . . . "for this army went wheresoever itself would, and the forces did every kind of harm to the in- habitants ; so that neither profited them, nor the home Army, nor the foreign army." The Northmen make the Isle of "Wight their winter quarters, and sond out plundering parties into Hamp- shire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. " And they went along Escesdun (Aston) toCwichelm's-hlajw", and there abode, as a daring boast ; for it had been often said, if they should reach Cwichelm's-hlaew, that they would never again get to the sea : then they went homewards another way." The Northmen gain a victory at Kennet, and King Ethelred retires into Shropshire. " Then became the dread of the army so great, that no man could think or discover how they could be driven out of the land, or this land maintained against them ; for they had every shire in Wessex sadly marked, by burning and by plundering. Then the king began ear- nestly with his witan to consider what might seem most advisable to them all, so that this land might be saved, " before it was utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed for the behalf of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that they needs must pay tri- bute to the army. Then the king sent to the army, and ' Now called Cuckamsley-hill, to the north of West Ilsley, in Berkshire. It is traditionally said to have been the usual place of assembly of the people of Wessex. 122 THE SAXON ERi. directed it to be made known to them, that he would that there should be a truce between them, and that tri- bute should be paid, and food given them. And then all that they accepted; and then were they victualled from throughout the English nation." A.D. 1007. "In this year was the tribute delivered to the army ; it was 36,000 pounds." Edric appointed ealdorman of Mercia. A.D. 1008. A great fleet prepared throughout Eng- land; "from three hundred hides and from ten hides, one vessel," doubtless of different size " and from eight hides a helmet and a coat of mail." A.D. 1009. The great fleet being ready, is rendez- voused at Sandwich. Wulfnoth, the South-Saxon, father of Godwin, being accused of treason, gathers twenty ships and ravages the south coast. Eighty ships being sent against him, many are damaged by a storm, and Wulfnoth burns the rest. The king quits the fleet, the remains of which are brought to London. "Then soon after Lammas (Aug. 1.) the vast hostile army, which we have called Thurkill's army, came to Sandwich," and having laid Kent under tribute, ravaged Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. Ethelred attempts to prevent their return to their ships, but is foiled by the treachery of Edric. The Danes take up their winter quarters on the Thames, " and oft thev fought against London ; but praise be to God that it yet stands sound, and they there ever fared evilly." Oxford is burnt by them ETHELEED IT. 123 during the winter, and in the spring they retire to Kent to repair their ships, A.D. 1010, The Danes land at Ipswich, and defeat the East Anghans, May 18. They procure horses, and ravage the whole country as far as Temes-ford, (Terapsford, near Bedford). A witan is summoned by the king, but nothing is done, "and at last there was no head man who would assemble forces, but each fled as he best might ; nor, at the last, would even one shire assist the other." The Danes burn Northampton, in November, and hav- ing ravaged the northern part of Wessex, retire to their ships. A.D. 1011. " In this year sent the king and the witan to the army, and desired peace, and promised them tri- bute and food, on condition that they would cease from their plundering." " And nevertheless, for all the truce and tribute, they went everywhere in bands, and plundered our miserable people, and robbed and slew them." The Danes capture Canterbury, through the treachery of Elmer, an archdeacon, " whose life the archbishop Alphage had before saved," and carry the archbishop and many other persons of rank to their ships; "and abbot Elmer they let go away." A.D. 1012. A witan held at London, which pays a tribute of 48,000 pounds to the army. "Then was the army greatly excited against the bishop (Alphage), because he would not promise them any money ; but he forbade that anything should be given for him. Tiiey bad also drunk deeply, for wine had been brought there from the south. Then took they 124 THE SAXON ERA. the bishop, led him to their hustings on the eve of Sunday, the octaves of Easter, which was on the 13th of the calends of May, (April 19); and there they then shame- fully slaughtered him : they cast upon him bones and the heads of oxen, and then one of them struck him with an axe-iron on the head, so that with the blow he sank down, and his holy blood fell on the earth, and his holy soul he sent forth to God's kingdom. And on the mor- row the body was carried to London, and the bishops Ednoth and Elfun, and the townsmen, received it with all reverence, and buried it in St. Paul's minster ; and there God now manifesteth the miraculous powers of the martyr^." Ethelred takes forty-five of the Danish ships into his pay. Canute, the son of Sweyn, lands in Scotland, near Buchan, but is defeated. A.D, 1013. Sweyn arrives at Sandwich with his fleet, in the summer. He overruns East Anglia and Northnrabria, and re- ceives hostages from every shire. Leaving his ships and the hostages with his son Canute, he proceeds southward, captures Oxford and "Winchester, but is repulsed from London, *' where much of his people was drowned in the Thames, because they kept not to any bridge." Sweyn proceeds to Bath, when the western shires submit to him. " And when he had thus succeeded, * A popular assembly, not in the open air, the word meaning lite- rally "house-court." y The body was removed to Canterbury in the year 1023, by command of Canute; before which this passage must have heen written. ETHELRED II. 125 then went he northward to his ships ; and then all the people held him for full king." "And after that the townsmen of London submitted, and delivered hostages, because they dreaded lest he should utterly undo them. Then Sweyn ordered a full tribute, and provisions for his army during the winter ; and Thurkill ordered the like for the army which lay at Greenwich ; and for all that, they plundered as oft as thev would." King Ethelred sends his queen and the atlielings, Edward and Alfred, to Normandy ; he soon follows them, and remains there till after the death of Sweyn. A.D. 1014. " In this year King Sweyn ended his days at Candlemas, (Feb. 3) . . . and all the fleet then chose Canute for king." " Then counselled all the witan who were in England, clergy and laity, that they should send after King Ethel- red ; and they declaimed that no lord were dearer to them than their natural lord, if he would rule them rightlier than he had before done. Then sent the king his son Edward hither with his messengers, and ordered them to greet all his people ; and said that he would be to them a loving lord, and amend all those things which they all abhorred, and each of those things should be forgiven which had been done or said to him, on condi- tion that they all, with one consent, would be obedient to him, without deceit. And they then established full friendship, by word and by pledge, on either half, and declared every Danish king an outlaw from England for ever. Then, during Lent, King Ethelred came home tc his own people, and he was gladly received by them all." 126 THE SAXON ERA, The people of Lindsey make a compact with Canute, " that they should find him horses, and that afterwards they should all go out together and plunder." King Ethelred attacks them with his full force, and Canute retires to his ships. Canute comes to Sandwich, " and there he caused the hostages to be put on shore who had been delivered to his father, and cut off their hands, and ears, and noses." A great sea-flood, which washed away many vills and a countless number of people, Sept. 28. The Northmen defeated at Clontarf (near Dublin), by Brien Boru, who is himself slain. A.D. 1015. Siferth and Morcar, the chief thanes in the Seven Burghs ^ treacherously slain by Edric. Edmund the atheling takes Siferth's widow from the convent of Malmesbury, marries her, and obtains pos- session of the burghs. Canute ravages Wessex, and subdues it ; he is joined by Edric with 40 ships. A.D. 1016. Canute and Edric pass into Mercia; " and they ravaged, and burned, and slew all that they could come at." A force is gathered against them, and headed by King Ethelred, but, being apprehensive of treachery, he retires to London, and the troops disperse. Canute passes into Northumbria, where, by the advice of Edric, he kills Uhtred the ealdorman, son-in-law of Ethelred, and appoints Eric in his stead. I Probably the Five Burghs akeady named (p. 109), with the ad- dition of Chester and York. EDMUND IKONSIDE. 127 Canute returns to Wessex, and prepares for an expe- dition against London. Edmund the atheling retires to London. " Then befel it that king Ethelred died, before the ships arrived. He ended his days on St. George's mass- day (April 23), and he held his kingdom with great loss and under great difficulties, the while that his life lasted." EDMUND IRONSIDE ». Edmund, the eldest son of Ethelred, succeeded him, but after many fierce contests with Canute, he found himself obliged to agree to a partition of his kingdom, and he died shortly after, most probably by assassination. By his wife Algitha, the relict of Siferth, he left two sons, Edward and Edmund, who were exiled by Canute. Edwy the Churl king (the king of the people, or popular favourite), banished by Canute, is by some writers said to have been a son of Edmund, but the point is not satisfactorilv established. A.i). 1016. "All the witan who were in London, and the townsmen, chose Edmund to be king ; and he strenuously defended his kingdom the while that his time lasted." Edmund leaves London, and overruns Wessex. " Then came the ships to Greenwich at Rogation davs (May 7). And within a little space they went to London, and they dug a great ditch on the south side, and drag- ged their ships to the west side of the bridge ; and » This popular name is first met with in Florence of Worcester. 128 THE SAXON ERA. afterwards they ditched the town around, so that no one could go either in or out ; and they repeatedly fought against the town, but the townsmen strenuously with- stood them." Edmund fights with the Danes at Pen, by Gillingham, in Dorsetshire, and at Sceorstan, (Shirestone, near Bur- ford,) then relieves London, and two days after defeats the Danes at Brentford. Edmund retires into Wessex, when the Danes again besiege London ; " and they beset the town around, and strongly fought against it, as well by water as by land. But the Almighty God delivered it." The Danes retire from London, proceed up the Orwell, and ravage Mercia. " Then King Edmund assembled, for the fourth time, all his forces, and went over the Thames at Brentford, and went into Kent, and the army fled before him, with their horses, into Sheppy ; and the king slew as many of them as he could come up with." Edric comes over to the king at Aylesford, and dis- suades him from following up his victory. The Danes again pass through Essex into Mercia. Edmund pursues them, but, being betrayed by Edric, is defeated at Assandun, (Ashdown, near Safiron Wal- den), " and all the nobility of the English race was there destroyed." Canute pursues Edmund into Gloucestershire. " Then counselled Edric the ealdorman and the witan who were there, that the kings should be mutually reconciled. And they delivered hostages mutually; and the kings came together at Olanege, near Deerhurst^, and they '■ The isle of Olney, near Gloucester. 129 confirmed their friendship as well by pledge as by oath, and settled the tribute for the army. And then they separated "with this reconcilement ; and Edmund ob- tained Wessex, and Canute Mercia. And the army then went to their ships, with the things that they had taken. And the men of London made a truce with the urniy, and bought themselves peace ; and the army brought their ships to London, and took up their winter quarters therein. " Then at St. Andrew's mass (Nov. 30) died King Edmund, and his body lies at Glastonbury, with his grandfather Edgar." CANUTE. Canute, the son of Sweyn, already in possession of the greater part of England, succeeded to the whole on the death of Edmund, and secured his throne by a mar- riage with Emma, the widow of Ethelred. He under- took several foreign expeditions, in the course of which he conquered Norway, and also made a pilgrimage to Rome, and did much to repair the ravages of war in England ; restoring minsters and churches, and pro- mulgating equitable laws<=. Canute died in 1035, leav- ing three sons, Sweyn, Harold and Harthacnuf^, and a daughter, Gunhilda, who married the emperor Henry HL A.D. 1017. " This year Canute was chosen king ; . . . he obtained the whole realm of the English race, and ' See p. 156. '' Commonly styled Hardicanute. 130 THE SAXON ERA. divided it into four parts ; Wessex to himself, and East Anglia to Thurkill, and Mercia to Edric, and Nor- thumbria to Eric," as his viceroys. Edric, boasting of his treasons, is shortly after slain in London, by order of Canute, " very justly." Canute puts to death Edwy, the brother of king Ed- mund, and several of the chief English nobles, and banishes Edwy, king of the churls. Canute marries the widow of Ethelred, " called^lfgive in English, and Ymma in French." A.D. 1018. The tribute paid to the army, amounting to 82,500 pounds. Canute takes forty ships of the army into his pay, and the rest retire to Denmark. Edgar's law received both by Danes and Angles®. A.D. 1019. Canute goes to Denmark, and remains the whole winter. A.D. 1020. Canute returns to England. He builds at Assandun " a minster of stone and lime, for the souls of the men who there were slain \ and gave it to one of his priests, whose name was Stigands." A.D. 1021. Thurkill, the earl of East Anglia, is out- lawed. A.D. 1022. "This year King Canute went out with his ships to Wight." A.D. 1023. Canute returns to England. Thurkill is restored to favour, and appointed governor of Denmark. The remains of Alphage removed, " with much state and bliss, and songs of praise," from London to Can- See p. 156. !-'ee p. 128. Afterwards archbishop of Canterbury 131 terbury ; Canute, and his queen, " with her royal child Hearda-Cnut," assisting. A,D. 1025. Canute. goes to Denmark, but is defeated by the Swedes. A.D. 1026. The Northmen of Dublin do homage to the king of IMunster. a!d. 1027. King Canute makes a pilgrimage to Rome^. A.D. 1028. Canute goes to Norway, "with fifty ships of English thanes," drives out Olaf, and conquers the country. A.D. 1029. Canute returns to England. " Hacon, the doughty earl," [husband to Gunhilda, the niece of Canute] is banished ; he died at sea the next year. A.D. 1030. Olaf returning to Norway, is slain ; " he afterwards was sainted^" " So soon as Canute came home from Rome, then went he into Scotland ; and the king of the Scots, Mal- colm, submitted to him, and became his man [vassal], but that he held only a little while." Melbethe (Macbeth) and Jehmarc, two Scottish chiefs, also submit. >■ The Saxon Chronicle ascribes this event to the year 1030 ; but Wippo, who was secretary to Conrad II., says that he saw Canute at the coronation of the emperor, which took place at Rome, March 26, 1027 Florence of Worcester has preserved a long letter fi'om Canute to the archbishop of Canterbury and others, giving an account of his esei'tions for the benefit of the English clergy and others having business with the papal court, which are not even alluded to in the Chronicle, the entry simply being " 1030, Canute goes to Rome." ' St. Olave, king and martyr, was fonnerly commemorated in the English Church on the 29th of Jul j^, supposed to have been the day of his death. Fourteen chm-ches exist dedicated to him. 1 32 THE SAXON ERA. A.D. 1032. "This year appeared the wild-fire, such as no man before remembered ; and moreover on all sides it did harm, in many places." A.D. 1035. Canute dies, Nov. 12, and is burid at Winchester. Harold succeeds. HAROLD I. HxVKOLD, the second son of Canute, though he at first agreed to a partition of England with his half-brother Harthacnut, soon obtained the whole, and banished the queen Emma, after murdering her son Alfred. He died suddenlv in the vear 1040. A.D. 1035. Harold despoils Queen Emma of her treasures ; she is allowed to dwell at Winchester, under the guard of the house-carles*^. William the Bastard succeeds his father Robert as duke of Normandy. A.D. 1036. Alfred and Edward, the sons of Ethel- red and Emma, are treacherously invited to England. Alfred is blinded, and dies in confinement at Ely. " God- win and other men who had much power" are stated as the perpetrators by the Saxon Chronicle. Edward es- capes to Normandy. A.D. 1037. " Harold was chosen king over all, and Harthacnut forsaken, because he stayed too long in Den- mark ; and then they drove out his mother Elgiva, the queen, without any kind of mercy, against the stormy t See p. 166. HARTHACNUT. 133 winter; and she came to Bruges, where Baldwin the earl' well received her." A.D. 1039. Harthacnut joins his mother at Bruges. " The Welsh kill Edwin, brother of Leofric the earl, and Thurkill, and Elfget, and very many good men with them." A.D. 1040. Harold dies at Oxford, March 17 ; Har- thacnut, invited, comes to Sandwich, June 17. HARTHACNUT. Hakthacnut, the son of Canute and Emma, is only remarkable for the indignities he offered to his prede- cessor's corpse, and the heavy taxes he laid on the peo- ple. He, however, kindlv received his half-brother Ed- ward, and thus unwittingly prepared the way for the re- storation of the Saxon line of kings. He died, without issue, after a reign of about two years. A.D. 1040. Harthacnut is acknowledged king, " as well by English as by Danes." " Harthacnut caused the dead Harold to be taken up, ud had him cast into a fen." A heavy tax is imposed for the support of the fleet -hich had accompanied Harthacnut, " and all were then iverse to him who before had desired him." The bishops' sees of Cornwall and Devon united. A.D. 1041. Worcestershire is ravaged in conse- ' Baldwin IV., the husband of her niece, Eleanora of Normandy. 134 THE SAXON EUA. quence of the death of two of the house-carles employed in collection of the tax. Edward (afterwards king) returns to England from abroad. " Harthacnut betrayed Eadulf the earl [of Novthum bria], while under his protection, and he became then a belier of his • wed'^^'" A.D. 1042. "King Harthacnut died as he stood at his drink, and he suddenly fell to the earth with a ter- rible convulsion ; and they who were there nigh took hold of him, and he after that spoke not one word, and he died on the 6th of the Ides of June" (June 8). His death occurred at Lambeth, at the marriage of the daughter of Osgod Clapa, his staller, or high steward, and he was buried in the old minster at Winchester. " His mother, for his soul, gave to the new minster the head of St. Valentine the martyr." Edward is chosen king. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. Edward, the son of Ethelred and Emma, being in England at the time of the death of Harthacnut, was chosen king, al- though a son of Edmund Ironside (called Edward the Outlaw, the fa- ther of Edgar Atheling,) was still alive. He acquired great popularity among his Anglo-Saxon subjects by the banishment of several eminent " " Pledge" or "security." A reference to the summary of Anglo- Saxon laws (p. 161. ) will shew how grievous an offence this was es- teemed. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 135 persons of the Danish party, and he was universally admired for his munificence and piety"^; yet his reign was little more than nominal, the real power being ex- ercised by Godwin and his family. From politic motiyes Edward married Edgitha, the daughter of Godwin, but treated her harshly from dis- like to her kindred. Instead of conciliating his great nobles, the king surrounded himself with the Norman friends among whom he had been brought up, and he unsuccessfully endeavoured to avail himself of their ser- vices both in Church and State. He was, indeed, a foreigner in his habits ; the language of his court was French, and he had French chaplains, on whom he be- stowed bishoprics ; French governors of his castles, and French body-guards ; but these were all dismissed on the return of Godwin from the banishment into which their intrigues had driven him ; after this event the king is hardly named in the Chronicle, Harold and his bre- thren occupying instead the most conspicuous place. He died Jan. 5, 1066, at Westminster, and was there buried. Although he was the immediate cause of the Norman invasion, King Edward's ascetic life procured him cano- nization", and he was esteemed the patron saint of England until superseded in the 13th century by St. George ; the translation of his relics from the old to his new shrine at Westminster, in 1263, still finds a place on the 13th of " He is also said to have remodelled the laws that Canute had es- tablished, but the fact is very doubtfal. See p. 157. o From Pope Alexander ill. in 1166. Numerous miracles are as- cribed to him, as cm-ing the disease since known as " the king's e\Tl," by his touch ; others are said to have been worked by his rehcs. 136 THE SAXON ERA, October in the English Calendar, and more than twentv churches exist dedicated either to him, or to Edward the king and martyr. The arms ascribed to this king, " Azure, a cross patonce between five martlets, or," though of course in- vented long after his time, are of historical importance, they having been assumed by several kings, and borne as one of the royal standards ; and the quartering of them by a private individual having in the reign of Henry VIII. been punished as treason. A.D. 1043. Edward is crowned at Winchester, on Easter-day, April 3. " Archbishop Eadsige hallowed him, and before all the people well instructed him ; and for his own need, and all the people's, well admonished him." The king repairs suddenly to Winchester, in Novem- ber, and despoils his mother of her lands and treasures, " because she had done less for him than he would, be- fore he was king, and also since." Stigand, bishop of East Anglia, her chief adviser, is deprived of his see, " and all that he possessed was seized into the king's hands." A.D. 1044. Archbishop Eadsige resigns the govern- ment of his see, by reason of infirmity, to Siward, abbot of Abingdon °. Stigand re-obtains his bishopric. A great famine in England. A.D. 1045. The king marries Edgitha, the daughter of Godwin, Jan. 23. o Siward died in 1046, when Eadsige resumed the see, and held it till his death, in 1050. ED'n'ARD THE COXFESSOK. 137 A large fleet collected at Sandwich, an invasion being threatened by Magnus of Norway p. Gunhilda, the widow of Hacon, and niece of Canute, and her sons, are banished from England"!. A.D. 1046. Sweyn, the earl (son of Godwin), ra- vages South Wales, and carries off the abbess of Leo- minster. Osgod Clapa, the favourite of Harthacnut, is banished ; he retires to Bruges. The Cornish and Devonshire sees fixed at Exeter. A very severe winter ; " even birds and fishes perished through the great cold and famine." A.D. 1047. SwejTi, not being allowed to marry the abbess, flees to Bruges, when his lands are forfeited. Kent and Essex ravaged by the ships of Lothen and Yrling, two Danish chiefs, who retire to Flanders with their plunder. A.D. 1048. Sandwich and the Isle of Wight plun- dered, and their chief men slain. A.D. 1049. King Edward assembles a fleet to assist the emperor (Henry III.) against Baldwin, count of Flanders. SwevTi joins the fleet with seven ships, and endea- vours to obtain the restitution of his lands. His brother Harold and his kinsman Beorn prevent it, when Sweyn murders Beorn, and then again flees to Bruges. p It was averted by Magnus being himself attacked by Sweyn of Denmark. 1 They retired to Bruges, then the capitaJ of Baldwin IV. of Flan- ders, who had man-ied Eleonora, the niece of Queen Emma ; he seems to have been the general pi-otector of the English fugitives, but his lawless proceedings brought upon himself the vengeance of the emperor, in which King Edward readily joined. 138 THE SAXON ERA. Osgod Clapa ravages the coast of Essex. A fleet from Ireland, assisted bv the Welsh, devastates the country on the Bristol channel, in July. A.D. 1050. " Sweyn the earl was inlawed''," and restored to his possessions. Two English bishops sent to the great synod at Rome^. A.D. 1051. " Rotbeard the Frenchman" (Robert of Jumieges) is appointed archbishop of Canterburv, during Lent. Eustace of Boulogne (husband of Goda, the king's sister) visits England. On his way home he has a con- flict with the people of Dover, and more than twenty men are killed on each side. " And Eustace escaped with a few men, and went again to the king [at Glou- cester], and made known to him, in part, how they had fared. And the king became very wroth with the towns- men. And the king sent off Godwin the earl, and bade him go in a hostile manner to Dover ; for Eustace had made it appear to the king that it had been more the fault of the townsmen than his ; but it was not so. And the earl would not consent to the inroad, because he was loth to injure his own people." The king summons a witenagemot at Gloucester, in September, to which Godwin and his sons repair with the forces of their earldoms', and demand that Eustace ' See p. 168. ' It was held in May, and condemned the opinions of Berengarius, respecting the eucharist. ' Godwin ruled the whole south and west of England, Sweyn pos- sessed the tract between the Thames and the Avon, and Harold held the eastern districts, as far north as the Wash : the Mercian and Northumbrian earldoms occupied the rest of the country. EDWARD THE COKFESSOE. 139 and his men shall be placed in their hands. The king calls on Siward of Northumbria and Leofric of Mercia for aid. The witenagemot removed to London, where it assem- bles Sept. 21. Sweyn is outlawed. Godwin and Harold are sum- moned to appear, but being refused " safe conduct and hostages, so that they might come, unbetrayed, into the gemot and out of the gemot," they keep away, and are then allowed " a safe conduct for five nights to go out of the land^." Godwin and Sweyn retire to Bruges, Harold and Leofwin his brother go to Ireland ; " and soon after this happened, then put away the king the lady who had been consecrated his queen [Godwin's daughter], and caused to be taken from her all which she possessed, in land, and in gold, and in silver, and in all things, and delivered her to his sister in WherwelP." . ..." It would have seemed wondrous to every man who was in England, if any one before that had said that it should be so, for Godwin had been erewhile to that degree exalted, as if he ruled the king and all England ; and his sons were earls and the king's darlings, and his daughter wedded and united to the king." William of Normandy visits England " with a gj'eat band of Frenchmen ; and the king received him, and as many of his companions as it pleased him ; and let him away again." ° Notwithstanding this, "the king sent Bishop Aldred [of Wor- cester] from London with a force ; and they were to overtake Harold ere he came on shipboard ; hut they could not, or they would not.''' » His sistec was abbess of the nunnery at Wherwell, near Audorer. founded by Elfiitha. 140 THE SAXON EEA. Spearhafoc, the Saxon bishop of London, is expelled, and his place supplied by William, a Norman. The king dismisses a portion of his fleet ^. A.D. 1052. Emma, the king's mother, dies, March 6 or 14^ ; she is buried at Winchester. Harold sails from Ireland, and ravages the shores of the Bristol channel. Griffin, the Welsh king, ravages Herefordshire. Godwin sails from Bruges, and, evading the king'r, fleet at Sandwich, joins Harold P. "And they did not much harm after they cair^e together, except that they seized provisions ; but they enticed to them all the land folk by the sea coast, and also up the country ; and they went towards Sandwich, and collected ever forth ■with them all the butse-carles [seamen] which they met with ; and then came to Sandwich with an overflowing army." The king-'s fleet having: withdrawn, Godwin and Harold follow it to London, where, after some delay, a witenagemot was held, before which " Godwin bore forth his defence ; and there justified himself, before King Edward his lord, and before all people of the land, that he was guiltless of that which was laid against him, and against Harold his son, and all his children. And the king gave to the earl and his children his full friendship ; ' He is said by Florence of Worcester also to have abolished the Danegelt, being moved thereto by a miraculous appearance tegtiiy- ing the injustice of the tax ; but the cotemporary Chronicle does not mention the matter. ' One MS. oi the Saxon Chronicle says the 2nd of the Nones of March, while another places her death on the 2nd of the Ides. " Sweyn had gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in returning from which he died at Constantinople. ED"WARD THE CONPESSOR. 141 and gave his earldom clean to Qodwin as full and as free as he before possessed it, and to his wife and his laughter as full and as free as they before possessed it. And they then established between them full friendship, and to all the people they promised good law. And then they outlawed all the Frenchmen, who before had upreared unjust law, and judged unjust judgments, and counselled ill counsel in this land ; except so many as they agreed upon, whom the king liked to have with him, who were true to him and to all his people. " When Archbishop Robert and the Frenchmen leai'ned that, they took their horses, and went, some west to Pen- tecost's castle, and some north to Robert's castle. And Archbishop Robert, and Bishop Ulf [of Dorchester, in Ox- fordshire], and their companions, went out at Eastgate, and slew and otherwise injured many young men, and went their way direct to Eadulf's-ness*^; and he there put himself in a crazy ship, and went direct over sea, and left his pall and all Christendom here on land, so as God would have it, inasmuch as he had before ob- tained the dignity so as God would not have it"." Stigand succeeds to the archbishopric. A.D. 1053. " Hris, the Welsh king's brother, was slain, because he had done harm ; and his head was brought to Gloucester on Twelfth-day eve." " In this year was the king at Winchester at Easter, and Godwin the earl with him, and Harold the earl his ^ Eadnlf s-ness is probably the Xaze, in Essex ; perhaps Dunge- ness, near Roinney. The situation of the castles mentioned is nut known. "^ Some MSS. make this expulsion of the Frenchmen precede the restoiatiou ul Godwin and his family. Robert died at Jmnieges in the same year, but Stigand was treated by the Normans as an intruder. 142 THE SAXON ERA. son, and Tostig. Then on the second day of Easter (April 12) sate he with the king at the feast ; then sud- denly sank he down by the footstool, deprived of speech and of all his power, and he was then carried into the king's chamber, and they thought it would over-pass ; but it did not so ; but he continued on, thus speechless and powerless, until the Thursday, (April 15,) and then resigned his life ; and he lies there within the old min- ster. And his son Harold succeeded to his earldom, and resigned that which he before held, and Elfgar [son of Leofric of Mercia] succeeded thereto." The Welsh make an incursion, " and slay a great num- ber of the English people, of the wardmen, near West- bury." A.D. 1054. "This year went Siward the earl [of Northumbria] with a great army into Scotland, both with a ship force and with a land force, and fought against the Scots, and put to flight King Macbeth, and slew all who were the chief men in the land, and led thence much booty, such as no man before had obtained. But his son Osbarn, and his sister's son Siward, and some of his house-carles, and also of the king's, were there slain, on the day of the Seven Sleepers," (July 27.) Bishop Aldred, of Worcester, is sent as ambassador to the emperor (Henry HI.) at Cologne. " In this year died Osgod Clapa, suddenly, even as he lay on his bed." " In this year was there so great a murrain among cattle, as no man remembered for many years before." A.D. 1055. Siward the earl dies, early in the year, and is buried at Galmaho, (near York,) " in the minster EDWAED THE CONrESSOK. 143 which himself caused to be built, and hallowed in God's and Olave's name." Tostig, Harold's brother, succeeds to the government of Northumbria. A witenagemot is summoned at London, in Mid-Lent, at which Elfgar is outlawed, " well-nigh without guilt ." Elfgar hires a fleet in Ireland, and with the help of Griffin, king of South Wales®, defeats Ralf the earl^, and burns Hereford, Oct. 24. Harold marches against them, and having fortified Hereford, peace is made. " And then they inlawed Elfgar the earl, and gave him all that before had been taken from him ; and the fleet went to Chester, and there awaited their pav, which Elfgar had promised them." A.D. 1056. Leofgar. the mass-priest (chaplain) of Harold, is appointed bishop of Hereford. " He forsook his chrism and his rood, his ghostly weapons, and took to his spear and to his sword, after his bishophood ; and so went to the field against Griffin, the Welsh king ; and there was he slain, and his priests with him, and Elftioth the shire-reeve, and many good men with them ; and the others fled away ; this was eight days before Mid- summer," (June 17.) " It is difficult to tell the distress, and the marching all, and the camping, and the travail and destruction of men, and also of horses, which all the English army en- '' "Without any kind of guilt," according to another MS., whilst a third says, "It was cast upon him that he was a traitor to the king, and to all the people of the land. And he made a confession of it before all the men who were there gathered ; though the word escaped him tmintentionally." ^ The husband of his daughter Githa, who afterwards married Harold. ' The son of Goda, the king's sister, and commander of the Nor- man mercenaries. He died the following year. 144 THE SAXON ERA. dured, until Leofric the earl came thither, and Harold the earl, and Bishop Aldred [of Worcester], and made a reconciliation there between them ; so that Griffin swore oaths that he would be to King Edward a faithful and unbetraying under-king." A.D. 1057. "Edward the atheling, King Edmund's son, came hither to land, and soon after died ; and his body is buried within St. Paul's minster at London s." " In the same year died Leofric the earl, on the second of the calends of October, [Sept. 30] ; he was very wise for God, and also for the world, which was a blessing to all this nation. He lies at Coventry ; and his son Elfgar succeeded to his government." A.D. 1058. Elfgar is again outlawed, but soon're- instated, " with violence," by the aid of Griffin of North Wales. " And this year came a fleet from Norway ; it is long- some to tell how all these matters went." The sees of Wilton and Sherborne united. Bishop Aldred, of Worcester, having built the min- ster at Gloucester, goes to Jerusalem, by wav of Hun- gary, " with such splendour as none other had displayed before him, and himself there devoted to God; and a worthy gift he also offered to our Lord's tomb, that was a golden chalice of five marks of very wonderful work." Although Palestine had fallen into the hands of the Mohammedans early in the seventh century, it was not until about the close of the tenth that anv serious diffi- ^ One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle has a poetical lament for him, manifestly written after the Norman invasion. EDWAllD THE CONTESSOH. 145 culty was opposed to the pilgrimages which, at least as early as the time of Constantine (a.d. 313 — 337), it had become usual to make to the scenes sanctified by the presence and sufferings of the Redeemer. The caliph Hakem, who ruled Egypt and Syria, in the year 1009 forbade the resort of pilgrims, and destroyed the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem ; but this persecu- tion ceased with his death, and, warned by the outrages they had suffered, the pilgrims now generally travelled in bodies able and wilHng to defend themselves if as- sailed. Such, probably, was the case with the Bishop Aldred and his company, as it certainly was a few years after (a.d. 1064) with the archbishop of Mentz, who, accompanied by three bishops and 7,000 men, proceeded to the Holy City, and on the way sustained a siege in a deserted castle until relieved for a sum of money by a Saracen emir. These armed pilgrims were the pre- cursors of the vast hosts which, before the close of the century, established the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. A.D. 1061. Tostig and his wife^ make a journey to Rome. A.D. 1063. Harold and Tostig invade Wales, both by sea and land. The country is subdued, Griffin is killed by his own people, Aug. 5, and his head sent to Harold, who brings it to the king. Blethgent and Rigwatla*, Griffin's brothers, swear fealty to the king, and are allowed to govern the land. t Judith, daughter of Baldwin IV. of Flanders: Tostig was con- sequentlj' brother-in-law of William of Normandy. > Or Blethia and Ry wallor. 146 THE SAXON EKA. A.D. 1065. The Welsh, under Caradoc, son of Grif- fin, destroy a fort at Portskeweth, (Forth Iscoed, near Chepstow,) which Harold had erected, Aug. 24. The people of JSTorthumbria rise against Tostig's go- vernments outlaw him, and kill his house-carles, and seize his treasures, in October. They choose Morcar, son of Elfgar, for their earl. Morcar, being joined by his brother Edwin and many Britons, marches south as far as Northampton. Harold being sent against them, " thev laid an errand upon him to King Edward, and also sent messengers with him, and begged that they might have Morcar for their earl"^. And the king granted it, and sent Harold again to them at Northampton, on the eve of St. Simon's and St. Jude"s mass, (Oct. 27) ; and he made known the same to them, and delivered a pledge thereof unto them, and he there renewed Canute's law '. And the northern men did much harm about Northampton the while that he went on their errand, inasmuch as they slew men, and burned houses and corn, and took all the cattle which they might come at, that was many thousand ; and many hundred men they took and led north with them ; so that that shire, and the other shires which there are nigh, were for many years the worse." • Tostig was then at Britford, in Wiltshire, frith the king. I' Harold is often blamed, as if he had acted in an unfriendly way by Tostig, but the following testimony from the Cottonian MS. of the Saxon Chronicle is strongly in his favour : "There svas a great gemot at Oxford ; and there was Harold the earl, and would work a reconcihation if he might, but he could not ; but all Tostig's earl- dom him unanimously forsook and outlawed, and all who with hiiu lawlessness upreared, because he robbed God first, and all those bereaved over whom he had power of hfe and land." i See p. 156. HAROLD II. 147 Tostig, with his wife, '' and all those who would what he would," retires to Flanders, to Earl Baldwin. " King Edward came to Westminster at midwinter, (Christmas,) and there caused to be hallowed the minster which himself had built to the glory of God and of St. Peter, and of all God's saints ; and the church-hallow- ing was on Childermass-day," (Dec. 28.) A.D. 1066. King Edward dies, Jan. 5 ; he is buried at Westminster the next day, " within the newly hal- lowed church." HAROLD II. Harold, the son of Godwin, immediately succeeded Edward, either chosen by a general assembly, or, as is with less probability asserted, named by him on his death-bed™ ; the claims of Edgar Atheling being in either case passed over ; but though at once hallowed king, " he with little quiet abode therein, the while that he wielded the realm." His brief reign of " forty weeks and one day" saw two formidable invasions of the coun- try, and three great battles, the last of which swept away the Saxon rule, which, though undergoing many " Perhaps both statements are true, as one MS. of the Saxon Chronicle says, " Harold the earl succeeded to the kingdom of Eng- land, even as the king had granted it to him, and men also had him chosen thereto." The Heimski-ingla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, in the saga of Harold ilardrada, gives this account of Harold's accession : " It is said that when the king was approaching Ms last hour, Harold and a few others were with him. Harold first leant down over the king, and then said, ' I take you all to witness that the king has now given me the kingdom, and all the realm of England,' and then the king was taken dead out of bed. The same day there was a meeting of the chiefs, at which there was some talk of choosing a king, and then Harold brought forward his witnesses that Kmg Edward had given him the kingdom on his dying day." 148 THE SAXON ERA. modifications, and having received a much greater ad- mixture of Northern or Danish institutions than is usually supposed, had endured for more than six centuries. The crown of England was immediately claimed by William of Normandy, on the strength of an alleged bequest, which Edward was not entitled to make, and a promise which shipwreck had enabled him to extort ft'om Harold. Compliance was not of course expected, and William collected a force not only from his own state, but from foreign countries ; Tostig, Harold's brother, (but recently driven from England,) in conjunction witli the king of Norway, invaded Yorkshire, and though de- feated and killed, left the Anglo-Saxon state so weak- ened, that the success of the Norman adventurers was assured. It may be regarded as certain, that Harold, as well as his brothers Gyrth and Leofwin, fell at Hastings, and as most probable that he was buried at Waltham, in the church of his own foundation ; although WiUiam of Poitiers says that he was insultingly interred on the sea-shore, by the order of the conqueror, and a tra- dition met with in Giraldus Cambrensis, and repeated by later writers, asserts that he escaped from the field with the loss of his left eye, and lived as a hermit at Chester until the time of Henry I.'' Harold was twice married ; his first wife's name is unknown, his second was Edith, (or Eddeva the Fair, as " Another tradition afi&iTns that Gyrth also survived the battle, and lived till the time of Henry II., with whom he had an interview, and to whom he affirmed that Harold had not been bmied at Wal- tham ; but the tale is considered a mei'e fabrication intended to damage the renown of that abbey. HA.K.OLD II. 149 she is stvled in the Domesday Survey,) the rehct of Griffin, prince of North Wales, and sister of the earls Edwin and Morcar ; she survived him, and lived in England until her death, which is beheved to have hap- pened in 1075. His sons, Godwin, Edmund, and Mag- nus °5 retired to Norway with their sister Githa, who married Waldemar, a prince of Holgard ; Gunilda, another daughter, (who is said to have been cured of blindness by Wolstan, the bishop of Worcester,) fled to Flanders with Harold's mother Githa, and his sister Gunilda ; the latter became a nun at Bruges, and died (as appears bv her monumental plate, still in existence,) Aug. 24, 1087. Alfgar, Harold's brother, and Wulf- noth, his son, who had long been imprisoned by William in NormandyP, were at last allowed to secure their lives by assuming the tonsure, the one at Reims, the other at Salisbury. Of all Harold's brothers, Tostig alone seems to have left issue. Skule, his son, married Gudrun, the niece of Harold Hardrada, and founded a powerful house in Nor- way"! ; and Judith his widow re-married with Guelph of Bavaria, of the same stock as the House of Brunswick. « " Harold, the son of King Harold," is mentioned by William of IMalmesbury as accompanying Magnus III. in his expedition to the Hebrides and more southern islands in 1098. P They appear to have been given as hostages, when Harold fell into his power by shipwreck, (about the year 1063,) and was obhged to swear to support William's claim to the crown ; a less probable account represents them as sent prisoners to Normandy in 1051, when Godwin and his family were exiled, but the Saxon Chronicle does not mention this ; on the contrary, it says expressh- that " the king gave to the earl and his cbildren his full friendship," (see p. 140,) in the following year ; a declaration inconsistent viith. the im- prisonment of two of their number in a foreig-n land. 1 Ketil, a second son of Tostig, is mentioned in the Sagas. 150 THE SAXON EEA. A.D. 1066. Harold is crowned at Westminster, by Archbishop Aldred, January 6. The earldom of Oxford bestowed on Edgar Atheling. Harold visits the north, but returns to Westminster at Easter. William of Normandy makes a formal claim of the crown of England ; it is refused, and Harold raises a fleet and army to watch the sea-coast, whilst William prepares for an invasion. Tostig arrives at the Isle of Wight, with a fleet, at the end of April ; he attempts a landing on the Isle of Thanet, but is repulsed. Harold repairs to his fleet at Sandwich, and Tos- tig retires to the Humber, where he ravages Lin- colnshire,, but is defeated by the earls Edwin and Morcar, and deserted by his sailors ; he flees to Scot- land. Harold is obliged to dismiss his fleet for want of pro- visions, Sept. 8. Harold Hardrada"^, king of Norway, arrives in tlie Tyne early in September; Tostig "submits to him, and ^ Harold Hardrada, or the Stem, (a descendant of Harold Har- fagar, and cousin of Olaf the Saint,) is the subject of the last saga of the Heimskringla. He had long served in the armies of the East- em emperors, had made himself master of Norway, married the daughter of the Czar of Russia, and was esteemed one of the most renowned warriors of his time. He was in his fiftieth year when he invaded England. "He was," says his saga, "stern and severe to his enemies, bountiful to liis friends," a patron of bards, and a bard himself. " He was a handsome man, of noble appearance ; his hair and beard yellow. He had a short beard, and long moustachios ; tha one eye-brow was somewhat higher than the other ; he had large hands and feet, but these were well made. His height was five ells," or more than eight EngUsh feet, and he appeared in his last field attired in "a blue kirtle which reached his knees, and a beautiful helmet." HAHOLD II. 151 becomes his man ;" they burn Scarborough^, and after- wards land near Selby. Edwin and Morcar defeated at Fulford, near York, by Harold Hardrada and Tostig, Sept. 20. The people about York submit to the Norwegians, and agree to assist them. Harold advances from London by forced marches against them. Harold arrives, and passes through York, Sept. 24' ; » The Heimskringla thus describes the burning of the town, which may give an idea of the mode in which warfare was then usually carried on ; "The king went up a hUl and made a great pile upon it, which he set on fire, and when the pile was in clear flame, his men took large forks, and pitched the burning wood down into the town, so that one house caught fire after the other, and the town surrendered." ' The castle of York surrendered on Sunday, September 24, and the Heimskringla says, the Norwegians retired to their ships, with the understanding that on the following daj' hostages were to be given them at Stanford-bridge. They landed accordingly in the morning ; " the weather was uncommonly fine, and it was hot sun- shine. The men therefore laid aside their armour, and went on the land with their shields, helmets, and spears, and girt with swords, and man}' had also arrows and bows, and all were very merry." An approaching crowd, at first taken for the hostages, was soon found to be the English army, and Tostig counselled a re- treat to their ships, but his advice was rejected. Harold advanced with a small party, and offered the third of his kingdom to Tostig rather than fight with a brother, but refused more than a grave for the Norwegian king. Tostig declined to break faith with his ally, and when afterwards reproached by him for allowing his brother to withdraw in safety, is said to have made a reply, the noble senti- ment of which, however it may redeem his own character, usually painted in such dark colours, aflbrds no compensation for the e\'ils that his invasion brought upon his country. "I saw," he said, "that he was going to offer me peace, and a great dominion, and that on the other hand I should be his murderer if I betrayed him ; and I would rather he should be my murderer than I his, if one of the two be to die." Hardrada at once prepared for battle, merely maldng a remark which is worthy of preservation as one of our few notices of Harold's personal appearance : "He is a little man, but he sat firmly in his stirrups." He probably spoke with reference to his own stature, as Orderic tells us Harold was distinguished for his 152 THE SAXOX ERA. he encounters the Norwegians at Stanford-bridge, where they are totally defeated, Sept. 25. Harold Hardrada and Tostig are slain, and " the king then gave his pro- tection to Olaf, son of the king of the Norwegians, and to their bishop, and to the earl of Orkney, and to all those who were left in the ships ; and they then went up to our king, and swore oaths that they ever would ob- serve peace and friendship towards this land, and the king let them go home with twenty-four ships." William of Normandy sails from St. Valery, Sept. 26, and arrives at Pevensey, Sept. 28, " on the eve of St. Michael's mass"." The Normans fortify a camp near Hastings, and from it plunder the country. Harold, hearing of their aiTival, marches southward, and arrives in sight of their position, Oct. 13. The battle of Hastings, Oct. 14. " William came against Harold unawares, before his people were set in order. But the king nevertheless strenuously fought against him with those men who would follow him ; and there was great slaughter made on either hand. There was slain King Harold, and Leofwin the earl, his brother, and Gyrth the earl, his brother, and many good men ; and the Frenchmen had possession of the place of carnage, all as God granted them for the peo- ple's sins This fight was done on the day of Ca- lixtus the pope'^." great size and strength, also for his polished manners, firmness, eloquence, ready wit, and " many other excellent quahties." ° Another MS. of the Sason Chronicle says, " St. Michael's-mass- aay ;" Noi-man authors, too, differ in theu- dates for the sailing of the fleet ; but there is no real contradiction, as so large a force could hardly be embarked or disembarked in a single day. * The Chronicle of Wales relates the brief reign of Harold in a HAEOLD II. 1 53 The Normans return to Hastings, expecting the sub- mission of the Saxons. Edgar Atheling is meanwhile chosen king at London, " as was his true natural rights." William the Norman, seeing the people do not come in to him, goes upward, "with all his army which was left to him, and that which afterwards had come from over sea to him ; and he plundered all that part which he overran, until he came to Berkhampstead." Archbishop Aldred, of York ^, Edgar Atheling, Edwin and Morcar, and all the chief men of London, meet him there and submit to him ; " and he vowed to them that he would be a loving lord to them ; and nevertheless, during this, the Frenchmen plundered all that they overran." very different spiiit ; but it must be remembered that lie bad been their conqueror. "Harold king of Denmark meditated the subjec- tion of the Saxons; whom another Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, who was then king in England, surprised, unexpectedly and unarmed, aud by sudden attack, aided by national treachery, struck him to the ground, and caused his death. That Harold who, at first earl through cruelty, after the death of King Edward unduly acquired the sovereignty of the kingdom of England, was despoiled of his kingdom and hfe by William the Bastard, duke of Normandy, though previously vauntingly victorious. And that William de- fended the kingdom of England with an invincible hand, and his most noble army. " 1 He seems to have been considered as king for some time after tlie fatal battle of Hastings, for upon the death of Leofric, abbot of Peterborough, on Nov. 1, Brand the provost was chosen to succeed him, and sent for approval to Edgar, "who granted it him then bhthely. When King William heard that, then was he very wroth, and said that the abbot had despised him : then went good men be- tween them, and reconciled them, by reason that the abbot was a good man. Then gave he the king forty marks of gold for a recon- ciliation ; and then thereafter hved he a httle while, but three years. After that came every evil and every tribulation to the minster — God have mercy on it !" » He had been bishop of Worcester, but was removed to York, shortly after his return from his pHg-rimage. See p. 144. ANGLO-SAXONS^ LAWS AND GOVERNMENT. This, the closing period of the Anglo-Saxon rule, appears the proper place for a brief sketch of the social and political state of their commonwealth, such as may be deduced from what remains to us of its laws and institutes. These laws are manifestly only a very small portion of the jurisprudence of our forefathers, but their provisions establish the fact that their state was one in which the ranks of society were accurately defined, and the rights of property strictly guarded. The earliest of these documents is a code issued (circa 600) by Ethelbert of Kent^, which, though com- mencing with a provision for the protection of the pro- perty of God and the Church'', gives no other evidence of proceeding from a Christian ruler, being probably little else than a summary of the laws prevailing in hea- then times ; it imposes penalties for slaying, for house- breaking, for highway robbery, and for personal injuries, which are minutely detailed, and defines the portions of widows and orphans. Lothaire and Edric of Kent (circa 680)'^ add directions for conducting lawsuits, make ^ See p. 60. "" The tei-in used is "God's fee," but whether tithes are included has been disputed. It is, however, quite certain that tithes existed in England in the time of Archbishop Theodore (a.d. 669 to 690) ; and the laws ascribed to Edward the Confessor speak of them as claimed by Augustine and conceded by the king, with the approba- tion of the chiefs and people, which is probably tine, though no di- rect e%-idence of the fact has come down to us. " See p. 68. ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT. 155 hosts responsible for the conduct of strangers who had resided three days with them, and forbid quarrels and slander. The laws of Wihtred of Kent (circa 696'^), present the first distinct picture of a Christian state in our island. They grant to the Church freedom from im- posts®, forbid immorality and Sunday working, regulate fasting at certain times, and prohibit idolatry ; they also contain severe enactments against thieves. The " dooms" of the great Alfred were, as he him- self informs us, a selection made by him and his witan from those which their forefathers held : he com- mences them with the decalogue and other portions of the Mosaic law, but he modifies their strictness, " as synods had ordained that secular lords, with their leave, might, without sin, take for almost every misdeed, for the first off"ence, the money-bote (compensation) which they then ordained, except in cases of treason against a lord, to which they dared not assign any mercy." Ina of Wessex and OfFa of Mercia had issued laws, which were published with his own by Alfred^, and through the whole runs one great distinction from the Mosaic law ; for although avowedly basing all legislation on the Bible, " blood for blood" is not the rule, but everv homicide can be atoned for by a money payment (termed tvere) varying according to the rank of the parties. Alfred is commonly spoken of as the great lawgiver of the Anglo-Saxon period, but he informs us that the laws which he promulgated contained but little of his 1 See p. 70. « See p. 163. ^ Those of Offa are now lost. 156 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS own, " for it was unknown to him what of it would please those who should come after him ;" he therefore merely made a selection from existing laws, and it is certain that the division of England into shires did not originate with him, the "shire-man or other judge" being mentioned by Ina ; the division into hundreds may probably be his. The laws of succeeding monarchs are chiefly remark- able as proving that the Danes settled in England lived under their own laws ; Edward the Elder (901 — 924) says that penalties which among the Saxons are esti- mated in shillings, are by the Danes reckoned by ores, twelve of the latter being equivalent to forty of the former^ ; and Edgar (circa 970) expresslv allows them to make " such good laws as they best may choose." Ethel- red, indeed, issued an ordinance from Woodstock " for the whole nation, according to the law of the English," but there seems no reason for supposing that so feeble a ruler could effect any alteration in their state. Under Canute, of course they preserved their own institutions, but they do not seem to have imposed them upon the rest of the nation ; for he expressly and separately mentions the king's rights under the Wessex, and the Mercian, and the Danish laws. Canute's " secular ordi- nance" (which embodies many of the provisions of an ordinance of Ethelred dated 1008) commences, "That is then the first that I will ; that just laws be esta- bhshed, and every unjust law carefully suppressed, and that every injustice be weeded out and rooted up vrith See note, p. 165 AND GOVEKNMENT. 1 5'! all possible diligence from this country. And let God's justice be exalted, and henceforth let every man, both poor and rich, be esteemed worthy of folk right, and let just dooms be doomed to him." Such, indeed, seems its intention, and it strongly impresses the duty of mercy on the judge. " We command that Christian men be not, on any account, for altogether too little condemned to death : but rather let gentle punish- ments be decreed for the benefit of the people, and let not be destroyed for little God's handy-work, and His own purchase which he dearly bought." He then pro- ceeds to prohibit selling slaves to heathens, and the prac- tice of any kind of witchcraft, and decrees that manslayers and perjurers and others who will not reform, shall " with their sins retire from the country." What follows differs little from the laws of preceding kings, but Canute also ordains that councils shaU be held in the towns twice, in the shires thrice in the year, at which the bishop and the ealdorman are to be present, to expound both the law of God and the secular law; protects women from forced marriages, regu- lates the term of widowhood, also wills and successions, relieves from the payment of heriot the property of those who fall in battle, decrees the forfeiture of life and land to cowards, alleviates pubhc burdens^, and concedes the •^ " This then is the alleviation which it is my will to secure to all the people, of that which they before this were too much oppressed with. That then is first ; that I command all my reeves that they justly provide on my own, and maintain me therewith ; and that no man need give them an3'thing unless he himself be willing." Thus we see that the custom of aids or benevolences has an origin at least as old as Anglo-Saxon times. 158 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS liberty of hunting' ; and though this liberty is somewhat limited by his Constitutions of the Forest, these are reasonable ordinances compared with the forest laws of the Norman kings. Edward the Confessor is often said to have remodelled the laws of Canute^, but no mention is made of the cir- cumstance in the Saxon Chronicle, and what have come down to us as the " laws of Saint Edward" are merely a compilation, made, as stated in the document itself, four years after the Norman invasion, of the laws and cus- toms of the land, which had been approved by Canute, and, it is alleged, derived their origin from Edgar, though many of their provisions are the same as those of the laws of Alfred and Ina. It is apparent from these various codes that the people were the source of power, and that the kings were only their ministers, not their masters ; all the land was con- sidered originally theirs, and hence termed folkland, being ordinarily granted out on lease for brief periods to the freemen of each district ; but power was conceded to rulers to assign permanently portions by charter in certain cases (often to the Church, but more frequentlv for military service), which then became bookland, and was devisable by will. The possession of land, indeed, was essential to dignity and freedom, and the various classes of freemen were mainly distinguished by the amount of their landed pro- ' " And I will that every man be entitled to his hunting, in wood and in field, on his own possession. And let even' one forego my hunting ; take notice where I will have it untrespassed on, under penalty of the full wite." '' See p. 135. AND GOVERNMENT. 159 perty. If a churl possessed " a helm, and a coat of mail, and a sword ornamented with gold," and had not five hides of land, he remained of churlish degree, but ii he had the land also, he was thane-worthy, and capable of ofBce. With the increase of his property his pri- vileges and his value in the eye of the law increased also ; for one main feature of Anglo-Saxon legislation was inequality before the law, in consequence of which, not only damage to a man's person or property, but his protection to others {mtmd), his oath, and even his life, was estimated according to his rank. It was imperative on every man who desired to be accounted " lawful and true," to give borh (or surety) for his good behaviour and obedience to the laws, and this was accomplished by associations of small numbers of freemen, of which each member was pecuniarily re- sponsible for the acts of all the rest^. To regulate these matters, an assembly, termed hundred-gemot, was held monthly of all the freemen of each district, and from the king having a claim for tcite for every oifence, his reeve attended it twice in the year, a custom which prevailed long after Saxon times, and was called the sheriff's tourn, or view of frankpledge. Other meetings were held at stated periods, which seem to have had full power to do justice between man and man. Such was the folk-mote, or general assembly of the people, sometimes of a shire, sometimes of a 1 The wite and the bote (or fine and damages) seem iisually to have been di\aded into three parts, one payable by the kin of the offender, one part by his guild brethren, and the remainder by him- self. 160 ANGLO-SAXON LATTS town, held annually in May ; the shire-mote, or county court, which met twice, and the burgh-mote, which as- sembled thrice in the year ; and assemblies with more limited powers, called hall-motes and ward-motes, were apparently very frequent™. Very great importance was attached to the holding of these assemblies. No man was allowed to resort to the king for justice until he had applied first to the hundred, and then to the shire-mote, and it was the bounden duty of every freeman to attend them ; neglect entailed im- prisonment, and, if he could not give suitable security, a forfeiture of all his property. The king's special pro- tection was extended to every man going to or returning from the mote, " except he was a notorious thief." Tliese laws, however, only relate to a portion of the community, for it is unquestionable that a very consider- able section was in bondage ; but in this state there were many distinctions, arising from the different circum- stances that had placed them in this position. We mav clearly discern slaves by right of conquest, slaves by sale effected either by themselves or their parents", thieves sold into slavery, and slaves rendered such by non- payment of penalties for infraction of the laws (wite- theow). ^ After the settlement of the Northmen, the husting (an assembly within a house, as distinguished from the open air meetings of the Anglo-Saxons) is mentioned, but this, unUke its Northern original, (see p. 124,) seems rather to have been one of the king's courts than a poijular assembly. " The laws authorize the sale of a child of seven years by its parents, and the sale of himself by one of thirteen ; the consequence, probably, of the grievous famines which are often recorded in the Saxon Chrcmicle. AND GOVERNMENT. 161 Of these, the tirst class, called " Wealh" or foreigners, is mentioned in the laws of Ina ; they were the de- scendants of Britons who had preferred submission to a retreat to the mountain fastnesses of the west, and their state seems to have been rather that of the villeins of the middle ages than of absolute bondage. A class termed Lset is also noticed, who are supposed to have been slaves who accompanied the early Saxon invaders, and who, as thus standiug in an exceptional position, were treated with more consideration than the ^A'ealh ; an indulgence probably in some degree shared by those whose necessities had induced them to barter their free- dom ; but the wite-theow, and the thief sold into sla- very, seem to have been slaves in the full meaning of the word. Whilst the other classes are in some cases ordered to make compensation for injuries done by them, which shews that they must have enjoyed some rights of property, these are condemned to scourging, or mutilation, or death ; and all injuries done to them are to be paid for, not to themselves or their kindred, but to their master. The jealousy and conflict of jurisdiction between the Church and State which so unhappily marked succeeding ages seems to have been unknown to the Saxon com- monwealth. The archbishops and bishops appear pro- minently in the record of the proceedings of every great council which has been preserved to us, and both eccle- siastical and secular laws were commonly propounded in the same assembly °. The witenagemot, or great council " Ecclesiastical censures were employed to assist the civil power. The "wed," or pledge to abide trial or perform any lawful obhga- 162 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS of the nation, does not appear to have had any definite organization, at least there are no traces of such in the laws before us, although its powers were manifestly more extended than those of our modern parliament ; the names recorded shew that the clergy of every degree from the archbishop to the deacon, with the ealdormen, the great landowners, and men learned in the law, met together under the presidency of the king, but whether at his command, or according to custom, at given times and places, cannot be satisfactorily determined. Easter and Christmas are the times, and London, Gloucester and Oxford the places, most frequently named in the Saxon Clironicle in connexion with the meetings of the witan. The Church, its property and its ministers, were amply cared for by the Anglo-Saxon lawgivers. Ethelbert or- dained that property stolen from the Cnurch should be re- placed twelve-fold, whilst for that of the king a retribution of nine-fold sufficed ; and Alfred added the penalty of the loss of the hand for sacrilege, unless the offender re- deemed it by a heavy payment. The word of the arch- bishop, like that of the king, was sufficient without an oath, and a priest could clear himself of a charge by his own oath, whilst laymen of the highest rank w^ere obliged in addition to find a number of compurgators p. tion, being always accompanied bj^ an oath^ its breach was perjiuy, which by Alfred's law subjected the offender to forty days' imprison- ment in the king's tower, " and there to suffer whatever the bishop might prescribe for him :" to resist this arrest, endangered life ; "if he be slain, let him lie uncompensated ;" and to flee from it was to incur outlawry and excommunication. p See p. 169. AND GOVERNMENT. 163 Its lands, too, were by Wihtred freed from all imposts, but by this it appears that exemption from the customary payments for castles, bridges, and the military force {Ti'inodia necessitas), was not intended. The right of sanctuary was strictly guarded, and any breach of the Church's peace met with as severe punishment as that of the king. The clergy, as a class, ranked highly ; the arch- bishop's value in the eye of the law is never less than that of the atheling, and in some cases, as in extending protection to " death-guilty men," he appears, from the laws of Ethelred, to have been the equal of the king. The bishops are esteemed as highly as the ealdormen, and the simple priests as thanes ; but when the monastic rule prevailed, the married clergy were considered un- worthy of thane-right. As regarded the head of the State, the principle of hereditary succession was little valued, and on the death of a king the one of his kindred considered most eligible was frequently chosen to the exclusion of his son, as we see in the cases of Alfred and Edred*!. The Anglo-Saxon king and his family however pos- sessed most of the rights and immunities which have belonged to royalty in later times, and some to which it now lays no claim. Plotting against his life was "death-worthy," as also was any brawl in his house or presence ; his word sufficed, without an oath ; treasure- trove was his, a valuable matter in those times'' ; the s See pp. 88, 109. ■• Not onlj- did war cause manj' to bury their treasures in the earth, but while tlie country was yet heathen it was customary to 164 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS possessions of outlaws were forfeited to him ; he alone might have a mint^; all markets and all ordeals were to be held within his towns ; a wite, or fine, to him was incurred by every breach of the law, beside the amends to the party injured ; the breach of his grith, or peace, contempt of his commands, and violation of his mund, or security granted to any one, were severely punished. He alone had soc, or jurisdiction, over persons of high rank ; he had riglit to all wrecks, to tolls, to the profits of markets and of mines ; the forests were his (perhaps as the trustee of the people), and no hunting in them could be practised without his permission ; it also seems probable that neither bridge nor castle could be built without his leave. The king was the last resort of justice, and the fountain of honour and mercy ; he was to be " prayed for and re- vered of all men of their own will, without command;" he was the especial protector of all churches, of widows, and of foreig-ners*; he was bound to visit each district place many valuable articles in the tombs of chiefs, and it appears that tliis " heathen gold" was not always respected in later times. ' So says the law of Ethelred ; but that there were exceptions to the rule is proved by the very numerous coins of archbishops and others that have been xireserved. ' It does not appear that foreigners were considered under obliga- tion to conform to the ordinary laws of the country. Thus, if they refuse to lead an orderly life, Canute, copjdng Wihtred, does not attempt to restrain them, but says, "let them depart with their pro- perty and their sins ;" at the same time thej^ are declared under the especial protection of the king, and heavy jjenalties are denounced against judges who give unrighteous decisions against "men from afar." The Jews seem to have been well knovra in this country in very early times, as the canons contain many denunciations against those who hold any intercourse with them ; but in the laws called Edward tlie Confessor's they are stated to be under the king's protection. The resort of trading foreigners was encouraged by protection AND GOVERNMENT. 165 of his kingdom to dispense justice, but tlie inhabitants in return were to provide for his safety, and thus every freeman was obhged to assist in building or fortifying the royal residences ; he could grant land to his servants, and thus ennoble them ; he commanded, ordinarily in person, the national forces {fyrd), and was empowered to allow of money compositions instead of actual service ; he could remit punishments incurred, and in many cases had arbitrary jurisdiction, certain classes of offences leav- ing their perpetrators at his mercy (" ad miscricordiam"), either to slay, or fine, or imprison, or banish. Very little appears in these laws regarding the queen ; she would seem to have been regarded merely as the king's wife, as far as any mention in them goes ; but we know from the Saxon Chronicle that Ethelwulf caused his queen to be crowned, and it appears that Emma, the wife of Ethelred II., had the city of Exeter for her pos- session, and governed by her own officers ; whence it may be concluded that her rights and possessions were considerable, although the lawgivers may not have con- sidered it necessary to specify them. The same remark applies to the younger branches of the royal family ; they are all styled athelings, and where their rights are mentioned, the penalties for their violation are generally one-half of those for similar offences against the king. Among secular men, the ealdorman was next to the and imnronities, but with regard to the " Wealh," or Britons, inter- course with them was limited bj' the I'ule found in the Ordinance of the Dun-Seatas, (probably the people on the Wj^e,) that neither English nor Welsh should pass into the other's country "without the appointed man of the country," and if either was killed, only one half of the were was to be paid : "be he thane-born, be he churl-born, one half of the were falls away." 166 ANGLO-SAXON LAW'S king in dignity ; indeed, not unfrequently a viceroy ; but witli the settlement of the Northmen the title gra- dually was displaced bv that of earl, which has a more strictly military meaning, and as early at least as the time of Edward the Confessor (according to a somewhat doubtful passage of the laws ascribed to him), it was used in its present sense of a municipal officer. The military retainers of the king were of course of very various degrees of dignity, but, as is the case in Russia at the present day, military rank appears to have been the standard by which other orders were judged. At first they seem to have been styled gesithmen, after- wards thanes, and to have been supported by assign- ments of the folkland, or public property"; but thane- right was also possessed by priests and judges, in virtue of their office, and it could be acquired by merchants and even churls, in certain specified cases, as by the per- forming three distant voyages by the former, and the acquisition of a given quantity of land by the latter^. The laws assign pecuniary compensations ^ and penal- " In the later times of the Saxon rule we meet with House-carles, a kind of royal body-guard ; they seem to have been introduced, under the name of Thingamen, by Canute, and the custom of em- ploying them extended to the great nobles, as we read of the house- carles of Siward and Tostig, the earls of Northumberland. " In the treaty between Ethelred and Anlaf (a.D. 994) are several provisions relating to merchants, which prove that, instead of being mere ravagers, as they are often represented, the Northmen were in the habit of trading with many foreign countries, though doubtles.s well armed, and not unwilling to mix piracy with their traffic if the occasion arose ; but if this be considered a proof of barbarism, even our own nation must be condemned in much more modern times. y The pound, shilling, penny, and sceat, the mancus, marc, and ora, are mentioned in these laws, but their values are not accurately AND GOVERNMENT. 167 ties for every injury done to the freeman, either iu per- son or property. His life is atoned for by a were; for bodily injury a hote is payable, being, as amends to dignity, highest when any disfigurement is occasioned^ ; the breach of the peace of his household is heavily visited, and his stolen cattle or slaves are to be paid for, either by the offender or his kindred ; a ivite, or fine, in every case accruing to the king for the breach of his peace. Thus far the Anglo-Saxon laws avoid blood- shed ; but offences against the state, or its representa- tive the king, are far otherwise dealt with. Treason against a lord, Alfred declares he dare not pardon ; fight- ing in the king's hall, coining, and many other state oftences, are " death-worthy ;" and among the cus- tomary punishments are mentioned beheading, hanging, burning, drowning, casting from a height, stoning,and breaking the neck ; scourging, branding, and many kinds known. It seems probable, however, that the penny consisted of 4 sceats, the shilling of 5 pennies, the pound of 48 shillings; except iu Mercia, where the pound was divided into 60 shillings ; the mancus and the marc were about one- eighth, and the ora one-sixteenth, of the pound. The ordinary estimate is, that money was then about twenty times its present worth. '"'"' s«»"a- The coin in the margin is interesting as shewing how the early Saxon moneyers attempted to copy the devices found on Roman coins, then probably the chief cun-ency of the country. The monarch intended is altogether unknown, but the figiu-es on the reverse ai'e considered as meant for imitations of the seated figures vrith a winged Victory behind so common on the imperial coinage. ^ Ethelbert ordains a penalty of thi-ee shillings " for the smallest disfigurement of the face." Also, " If the bruise be black in a part not covered by the clothes, thu-ty sceats." And Alfred says, " For every wound before the hair, and before the sleeve, and beneath the knee, the bote is two parts more " 168 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS of mutilation, as scalping, loss of hands, feet, eyes, nose, and ears ; and exile ^ One essential part of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence whs the ordeal, which was divided into three kinds, — hot iron, hot water, cold water. The trial could only take place in the king's town, in a church, and under the superintendence of the priests ; and, however much de- rided in modem times, there was doubtless intended a reverent appeal to God, and a firm belief that He would not suffer the innocent to be put to open shame ^ ; the cold water ordeal was founded on the idea, unphilo- sophical no doubt, but as surely not irreligious, that water was too pure to receive anv guiltj' thing into its bosom. These tests of innocence gradually gave place to the " ornest," or trial by battle, founded on a like idea of a manifestation of God's justice, but in its practice more congenial to a warlike race, of which the origin must undoubtedly be sought in the holm-gang *= of the North, and which is still occasionally brought before our notice in the modern duel. The usually received idea as to the origin of trial by » By fleeing from trial, outlawry was incurred, when the person forfeited the protection of the king, and might be slain like a wild beast by any one. The sentence was sometimes reverse.!, as we see in the case of Sweyn (p. 138), when the person was said to be ' ' inlawed. " '' Athelstau says, " Let an equal number of men of either side, stand on both sides of the ordeal along the church, and let them all be fasting, and let the mass-priest sprinkle holj'' water over them all, and let each of them taste of the holy water, and give them aU the book and the image of Chiist's rood to kiss and let there be no other speaking within, excejat that they earnestly i:iray to Almighty God that He make manifest what is soothest." ■= So called fi'om the holm, or small isle, so numerous in the North, to which the parties usually retu-ed with their seconds, so as to avoid interruption while engaged in combat. AND GOVERNMENT. 169 jury has no support from these laws. The Anglo-Saxon mode of trial seems to have been, the " fore-oath" of the accuser, and the " lade" or purgation of the accused, each supported by the oath of given numbers of persons as to their trustworthiness, (styled compurgators,) and then a decision, sometimes by the ordeal — sometimes by " law men" or judges, or " king's thanes" — sometimes by the whole assembly before which the cause was heard ; but in no case by any select body resembling the modern jury. Without assenting to all the conclusions of an eminent ISTorthern antiquary, who has visited the British Isles, and who, with commendable national feel- ing, ascribes almost every valuable institution now found therein to their Anglo-Danish as distinguished from their Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, we may allow that he has satisfactorily established a Northern origin for the trial by jury as well as for the trial by battle. It is evident, however, that the laws that have been pre- served to us shew us rather what society was intended to be, than what it was in certain cases ; thus the earliest " dooms" speak of the money compensation for homi- cide as an established rule, but it appears to have been far from the ordinary practice. The relatives of the slayer seem rather to have protected him, and they thus put themselves at feud with the family of the slain, and " open morth," as it was termed, went on, as is still the case in certain parts both of Europe and Asia ; but when Anglo-Saxon society had attained to something resembling modern civilization, such a state of things could no longer be tolerated ; and we find Edmund the Elder (circa 940) charging the witan with the duty of 17C ANGLO-SAXON LATV^S appeasing feuds, and procuring the payment of the were, if possible, and declaring that the kindred of the slayer shall be " unfoe" towai ds the kindred of the slain ; but if they harbour the murderer, they are to forfeit all thev own to the king. The laws against thieves are numerous, and their enact- ments often appear contradictory, perhaps in consequence of the perpetrators of offences of very various degrees of enormity being confounded under one common term. In one place Ina says, " If a thief be seized let him perish by death, or let his life be redeemed according to his were;". in another he fixes a wite of 60 shill- ings for the offence, or slavery ; and although the citi- zens of London (in the time of Athelstan) claimed the right to slay all thieves and their abettors, and to take all they had, which they appear to have carried into effect as far as they were able, even with children of 12 years, it is manifest from the same document that the thieves and their kin often stood on their own de- fence, and set the law at defiance. We find other laws speaking of " notorious thieves," of thieves who are out- lawed, of those who have been " often condemned for theft ;" of the king's reeves who assist thieves, and of the duty of the king to ride after thieves, " with the aid of as manv men as may seem adequate to so great a suit." The laws of Athelstan denounce a variety of capital punish- ments against thieves of every rank, both slave and free, but he himself says that his peace was worse kept than was pleasing to him, and the latest Saxon code shews that the evil was not abated by the severity of the law. It has been said that both sacred and secular ordi- AND GOVERNMENT. I7l nances were often enacted at the same witenagemot, but several purely ecclesiastical documents have been preserved, of which the Penitential of Theodore of Can- terbury, that of Egbert of York, the Canons enacted under Edgar, and those of Elfric, may be named. We see in them a regularly organized hierarchy d, laying down laws for the regulation of almost every transaction ^ ; and apparently in the possession of unlimited power, from the freedom with which ecclesiastical censures and penalties are denounced against all classes in the state, but clearly, in fact, much less favourably placed. The numerous denunciations against those who break the Church's peace, or seize its possessions, or injure or slay its ministers, shew that these were by no means exempt from the insecurity of the times. Edgar's canons direct the assembly of a yearly synod, to which every priest shall repair, attended by his clerk, and an orderly man for servant, adding, " if anv man have highly injured him (any priest), let them all take it up as if it had been done to all, and so aid that bote (amends) be made as the bishop shall direct^." Difter- '' At the time of the Norman invasion there existed the two arch- bishoprics, Canterbury and York, and twelve bishops' sees, viz. Dor- chester (now Lmcohi), Dm-ham, Elmham (now Norwich), Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, London, Rochester, Selsey (now Chichester), Sherbourne (now Salisbury), Wells (now Bath and Wells), Win- chester, and Worcester. The Welsh sees and that of Man also ex- isted, but their connexion with the Anglo-Saxon Church seems to have been uncertain, and dependent on political circumstances. • These canons contain many of the prohibitions of the Mosaic law, a fact which is usually traced to the influence of Archbishop Theodore, who was of Oriental origin. ' This bote, it appears from another document, was to be seven- fold ; because " sevenfold are the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and seven are the degrees of ecclesiastical states and holy orders, and seven tim.es should God's servants praise God daily in chm-ch, and for all Christian people earnestly intercede." 172 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS ences between priests were not to be referred to the adjustment of secular men, but settled among them- selves, or by the bishop ; and Canute gave force to this by ordaining, that any priest who defiled himself with a crime worthy of death, should be held to the bishop's doom, or judgment. Fasting and penance are the ordinary modes of cor- rection for offences, and these are often extended to very lengthened periods ; so long, indeed, as to be im- practicable ; therefore means are devised by which they may be lightened. A sick man may redeem a day's fast with a penny, or with the repetition of 220 psalms ; a twelvemonths' fast may be redeemed by 30 masses ; and a seven years' fast may be atoned for in twelve months, "if he every day sing the psalter of psalms, and a second at night, and a fifty at even ;" but in all cases the value of the food that should have been eaten was to be given to God's poor ; otherwise it was declared to be no fast. Penance too was much redeemed by alms ; and in the case of the " powerful man and rich in friends," a seven years' infliction is atoned for in three days thus ; " Let him [after confession of his sins] lay aside his weapons and his vain ornaments, and take a staff in his hand, and go barefoot zealously, and put on his body woollen or haircloth, and not come unto a bed, but lie on a pallet : — let him take to him 12 men, and let them fast 3 days on bread, and on green herbs, and on water ; and get, in addition thereto, in whatsoever manner he can, seven times 120 men, who shall also fast for him 3 days ; then will be fasted as many fasts as there are AND GOVERNMENT. 173 days in 7 years." ..." He who has the abihty, let him raise a church to the glory of God ; and he who has less means, let him do diligently, according to his con- dition, that which he can doS." The following passage from Edgar's canons shews what penance uncompounded for really was, and it de- mands quotation as history, as we know that to this, in all its humiliating details, some at least of the highest and mightiest of the earth** have submitted " for their soul's health." " It is a deep penitence that a layman lay aside his weapons and travel far barefoot, and nowhere pass a second night, and fast and watch much, and pray fervently, and voluntarily suffer fatigue, and be so squalid, that iron come not on hair nor on nail. Nor that he come into a warm bath, nor into a soft bed, nor taste flesh, nor any thing from which drunkenness may come, nor that he come within a church ; but yet diligently seek holy places, and declare his sins, and implore intercession, and kiss no one, but be ever fer- vently repenting his sins. Roughly he fares who thus constantly criminates himself, and yet is he happy if he never relax till he make full ' bote ;' because no man in the world is so very criminal that he may not make atonement to God, let him undertake it fervently." e Among the good deeds to which penitents are incited, beside the more ordinary requirements of Christian charity, are the fur- nishing of bridges and roads, redeeming of slaves, help to foreigners, and " poor plundered men," and burjang the dead for the lo^'o of God. '' Sweyn, the brother of Harold, died at Constantinople, on his retm-n from a pOgrimage to Jerusalem made in this manner. THE NORMAN ERA. E have seen from the Saxon Chronicle that the Northmen frequently extended ^ their destructive inroads to France, and they appear to have had several permanent settlements in that country at least as early as the year 850 ; but it was not until they were headed by Rolf the Ganger*, that they obtained possession of the district around the mouth of the Seine, since called, from them, Normandy. Rolf, who had been banished from Norway about 875, for defiance of the orders of Harold Harfagar, having embraced Christianity, and married Gisele, daughter of Charles the Simple, governed his province with vigour and wisdom, and formed it into a barrier for the rest of France against the incursions of his former associates. He died in 920, and left his state to his son WiUiam, the third in descent from whom was William the Bastard^, — whose victory at Hastings commenced, but ^ Also called Eollo. He is said to have been too tall and too heavj' for any horse to carry, and so was obliged to joui'uey on foot ; whence Ms name, Eolf the Walker. '' From this term occurring in some ofWilham's charters, it has been asserted that it conveyed no rei^roach ; but the following anec- dote from a cotemporary MS. chronicle, while it exhibits the brutality of the man, shews that he regarded it, on one occasion at least, in a different light : — " Wilham sent to Count Baldwin of Flanders, and requested his daughter in man-iage. The matter jDleased the count, and he spoke THE NORMAN ERA. 175 bv no means completed, the last great change from abroad to which our island has been subjected. Its effects, however, have been greatly overrated, being in truth far inferior to those produced by former invaders. Although the most violent measures were used, the establishment of the Norman authority was slow, and its hold on the country was ever precarious, until with the fourth generation it may be regarded as virtually abolished, and the ancient Saxon royal race again called to the throne. There can be no doubt that England has profited in some respects from each of its invaders, but it is equally certain that its obligations are least to the Normans, tbeir whole career being one of iron rule and merciless confiscation. The private possessions of Harold and his kindred, and of most of those who had fought at Hastings, were seized, at the very beginning of William's reign, and the rest of the people "bought their land" at a heavy price. Unsuccessful attempts to shake off the yoke gave occasion for fresh seizures, and when the Domesday survey was made, the whole landed property of the country (exclusive of that of the Church) ap- peared vested in the conqueror, and about 600 tenants in of it to his daughter, but she answered that she would never have a bastard for her husband. Then the count sent to the duke, and decUned the marriage as courteously as he could. Shortly after, the duke learnt how the lady had answered, at which he was very angry. Taking some of his friends with him, he went to Lille, and entering the count's hall, passed through to the chamber of the countess. He found her with her father, when he seized her by her hair, dragged her about the chamber, and 'defiled her \^'ith his feet.' Then he went out, mounted his palfrey, and returned to his own country. At this thing the count Baldwm was greatly enraged, but by the advice of his councillors he accorded his wish to the duke, and they were good friends." 176 THE NORMAN ERA. chief, among whom a name shewiug a Saxon or Danish origin is rarely to be met with. The churches generally had retained their property, and some had even received additions, while with the spoil some were founded". Many foreign rehgious houses were also established or augmented from the same source, and, under the name of alien priories, their rights and duties formed frequent subjects of dispute in subsequent times'^. To the confiscations and ravages, which Norman writers do not deny, and which the Domesday Book indisputably establishes, were added many other griev- ances, well fitted to "make oppression bitter." "The king and the head men," says the Saxon Chronicler, " loved much, and overmuch, gold and silver, and recked not how sinfully it was got, provided it came to them. The king let his land at as high a rate as he possibly could ; then came some other person and bade more than the former one gave, and the king let it to the man that bade him more. Then came the third and bade yet more, and the king let it to hand to the m^n who bade him most of all ; and he recked not how very sinfully the stewards got it of wretched men, nor how many un- lawful deeds thev did. They erected unjust tolls, and •= The abbey of Battle, which William founded to commemorate his victory, was endowed with possessions in Esses, Kent, SmTey, Sussex, Berks, Oxford, and Devon. Many important privileges were granted to it, and the duty was imiiosed of jDreserving a hst of the leadei-s on the Noi-man side at the battle of Hastings ; several coi^ies of this list, called the Battle Abbey Roll, exist ; but they vary so much, and bear sach evident marks of interpolation, that they have little historical value. '' Most of these foundations were of the Cistercian order, which was a branch of the Benedictines, and had been devised not long before. THE NORMAN EKA. 177 many other unjust things they did, that are hard to reckon." Though the Normans founded or endowed monasteries (chiefly, however, abroad), they mercilessly destroyed the minster at York, and many other churches, and more than one Saxon bishop died in prison, whilst others were driven from their sees, for attempting to shield their people from the exactions and encroach- ments of the " mixed multitude" of soldiers of fortune, who, having conquered at Hastings, were prevented neither by mercy nor discretion from pushing their triumph to the uttermost. It is true that William, in the fourth year of his reign, granted certain laws and customs to the people of England, being, he says, the same as his cousin King Edward held before him'^, "but the more men spake about right law, the more unlawfully they acted," and soon, as far as the Saxons at least were concerned, the open and avowed law was the king's pleasure, and the sword the only instrument of government. The germ of the feudal system is probably almost coeval with government itself, and it had unquestionably been acted on, not only in the arrangements made in the latter days of the Roman empire for the protection of its frontiers by military colonies, but also by the Anglo-Saxon kings, but it was not until the time of William that it received its full development in England, and was applied to the whole property of the country. ^ These laws embody the main features of Anglo-Saxon legislation. already described (pp. 154 — 173) ; as they do not appear to have been observed, they require no further notice. 178 THE HOEMAN EEA.. The land was divided into portions, varying from about 600 to 800 acres, termed knights' fees, which were obliged to furnish 40 days' service of a fully equipped horseman each year ; these fees were more than 60,000 in number. The land was first granted in large dis- tricts to the tenants in chief, and by them subdivided ; homage, service, and various money payments were the considerations due for each grant, and were as fully ow- ing from the under to the chief tenants, as from the last to the king. No land could be alienated without d,Jine ; on the death of a tenant, some valuable chattel was given to the lord, as a lieriot ; and the successor paid a sum to be put in possession, called a relief. If the heir was under age, the profits of the estates belonged to the lord, as also did the control of the marriage of the ward. Under the name of aids, the lord claimed stipulated sums from his tenants on the occasion of the knighting of his eldest son, the marriage of his eldest daughter, or his own capture in war. These were all legal and established burdens, and perhaps did not amount to more than the rent of land and the or- dinary taxation of modern times : but the superiors did not confine themselves to them : on the contrary, new exactions were perpetually attempted, and the re- venues of both lords and kings were increased by the most various and often discreditable means. The forests had been in the hands of the kings in Anglo-Saxon times, and the laws of Canute shew that the game was " preserved" in his time ; but the Nor- man kings carried their passion for the chase to a pitch which Derhaps no other monarchs have equalled, and THE NORMAN ERA. 179 guarded their wild beasts by denouncing death against those who interfered with them. On some occasions, when the turbulence of their barons compelled them to attempt to conciliate their English subjects, they ])ro- mised an amelioration of their forest code, but uniformly retracted their concessions when the danger was over®. Between people thus treated, and their ralers, no cor- diality could exist, and it appeared necessary to the safety of the latter that no Englishman should hold any place of importance. The powers of government were entrusted to such rapacious adventurers as Ralph Flam- bard and William of Ypres*', Saxon bishops were re- placed by Norman abbots §, nnd an absurd attempt was made to supersede the language of the country by the Norman dialect, which, though long employed for official and court purposes, never gained ground with the mass of the people ; indeed, the change ran in the contrary direction, and the second or third generation of the vic- tors at Hastings spoke in common a language which was e William I. usually bears the whole odium of the afForestation which proved so grievous to the English people ; but it appears from the charter of Stephen, that WilUarn 11. and Henry I. had also added to the royal forests: these latter Stephen promises to restore to the owners, in terms which seem to imply that they had been forcibly seized. t Ralph, a Norman chaplain, of vile character, was by William E.ufus made bishop of Dm-ham, but by Henry I. deprived of his see, and imprisoned ; he escaped, and went into exile, but returned some years after, and held his bishopric till his death. William of Ypres, a Fleming, was Stephen's general, and received fi-om him the earldom of Kent, but was so unpopular, that on the king's death he fled from England, and entered a monastery, where he died in 1162. e One Norman monk, however, Guitmond, had the virtue to re- fuse such preferment, and the coiu-age to reproach the spoilers with their barbarous usage of the vanquished ; he afterwards became bishop of A versa. His eloquent letter to William has been pre- served by Orderic. 180 THE NORMAN ERA. much more intelligible to their Saxon countrymen than to their Norman kindred. In fact, the Saxon and Danish races, though borne down for a while, were not crushed ; and when the death of the last of the Norman kings left the throne vacant, the young Henry of Anjou was received as the lineal re- presentative of "the right royal race," the descendants of Cerdic. FioKi the Seal of Aleilnder I. of JcotUod (c. 1110.) ^a/>Jy =- ^a^^ /zTh^ //f^^'x^ ed lo VViHiam I. WILLIAM I. William, the illegitimate son of Robert, sixth duke e> M«-^- of Normandy, was born at Falaise about the end of the year 1027. In 1035 his father died, but Wiiham only obtained full possession of the duchy after several con- tests with his neighbour and the king of France, in 1056.-^,,. His father's sister, Emma, being mother to Edward the c7VKJ2>-'^^ Confessor, William alleged that that prince had named y r /lU-iyi him heir to the crown of England, and he successfully asserted his claim at the battle of Hastings, after gaining which, on the 14th October, 1066, he advanced on London and was crowned king at Westminster on the following Christmas- day ; the troubled character of his reign being Y^^"^'^ . aptly foreshadowed by a tumult on the occasion, in which _ some houses were burnt, and many people slain. William's reign was passed, after a brief attempt at conciliation'^ at his first coming, in a systematic endeavour /%D/r)i/dt^ to crush his new subjects. Churches and towns were , destroyed, and whole districts laid waste, sometimes to '' He gi-anted charters to several towns, among them to London, in which he promised that each man should be "law worthy" as ii:i King- Edward's days, and that no one should do them wrong, but forcibly resumed most of them a few years after. See p. 192. 182 THE NORMAN ERA. punish unsuccessful revolt, sometimes to provide against hostile invasion, and sometimes to furnish scope for the chase, though it appears from Domesday Book that this latter matter has been much exaggerated^ His wars with France were not altogether successful, and his latter years were embittered by the rebellions of his sons. He died Sept. 8 or 9J, 1087, at Rouen, from an accidental injury, and was buried at Caen. The splendid monument raised to his memory by his son William was destroyed in the religious wars in France in the 16th century ''. In 1054 William married his cousin, Matilda, daugh- ter of Baldwin IV., count of Flanders, by whom he had a family of four sons and five (perhaps six) daughters. Matilda died Nov. 2, 1083, and was buried at Caen. Their children were : — 1. Robert, known as Courthose, born probably about 1056, who became duke of Normandy, went to the tcC^dcJ^ Crusade, was twice defeated in his claim on the crown f^tc "^' of England, and at length, being made prisoner by his C?VA^ -brother Henry, died at Cardiff Castle, Feb. 10, 1135, ^♦^ after a captivity of 28 years. The tale of his having / ^^_^ been blinded by his brother Henry's order, does not rest ^v^ on satisfactory authority. He outlived his two sons, who ^ V both met violent deaths ; William, count of Flanders, ^77_I_, "being killed at Alost in 1128, and Henry, in May, (4- 1100, whilst hunting in the New Forest. 2. Richard, known as duke of Bernay^ was killed by i See page 195. i " On the day after the Nativity of St. IVfary," says the Saxon J Chronicle, i.e., on the 9th of September. ^ u M ' The spot is now marked hy a grey marble slab in the pavemect y^WO before the high altar. I « . ' A place in the baiHiage of Alen9on, in Normandy. ■WILLIAM I. 183 ^ _ a stag in the New Forest, or perhaps died fi-om a fever p-tX^i^ contracted there, before the death of his father. \\//v— 3. William, and 4, Henry, became kings of England. ck*i-*<^ 5. CeciHa became a nun at Fecamp, at Easter, 1075, JXCT^ and afterwards abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen, where she j-i/l-c*^ died, in July 1126. 6. Adeliza died young. 7. Matilda, betrothed to Alphonso of Castile, died on her journey to Spain, about 1079. 8. Constance, married to Alan, duke of Bretagne, died in 1090. 9. Adela, married to Stephen of Blois. She governed his dominions during his absence on the Crusade, and, at length taking the veil, died in 1137. Gundred, who became the wife of William Warrenne, and died in 1085, is often stated to have been a daughter of William I., but the fact is not to be regarded as fully ascertained. William Peverel, a natural son of the king, received large estates in Derbyshire and elsewhere. The arms ascribed to William I. are those of his duchy of Normandy : " Gules, two lions passant gardant in pale, or." The Norman writers praise W^ilham as a wise and pious king, but the Saxon Chronicler, who, as he him- self declares, "had often looked upon him, and lived some time in his court," has drawn a character far less favourable'". William, he says, was wise and rich, mild "' With, the main features of this agrees the character given in tlie Heimskringia, or Chronicle of the Sea-kings of Norway ; " Eaii William was stouter and stronger than other men, a great horseman and warrior, but stem ; and a very wise man, but not considered a man to be trusted." 184 THE NORMAN ERA. to good men, but beyond all measure severe to those who withstood his will. He affected great state and dignity, and held a splendid court thrice a year, in Westminster, Winchester, and Gloucester, to which all the nobles were obliged to repair. He also made " good peace," so that no man durst slay or rob anothern; yet in his time men had many sorrows. He ruled so absolutely, that he cast down earls and bishops, and abbots and thanes. His rich men moaned, and poor men ti'embled ; but he was so stern, he recked not the hatred of them all, for they must follow his will, if they would have his peace, or lands or possessions, or even life. " Alas !" he concludes, " that any man should thus exalt himself, and boast over all others ! May the almighty God shew mercy to his soul, and grant him forgiveness of his sins." A.D. 1066. Wilham is crowned at Westminster, December 25, by Aldred, archbishop of York"; "and he gave him a pledge upon Christ's Book, and also swore, before he would set the crown upon his head, that he would govern this nation as well as any king before him had at the best done, if they would be faithful to him. Nevertheless, he laid a tribute on the people very heavy p . . . and men delivered him hostages, and afterwards bought their land." " His own practice, however, did not conform to this ; for we read in the Saxon Chronicle (anno 1086) : " according to his custom, he collected a very large sum of money from his people, whenever he could, whether with justice or without." ° Stigand had been suspended from his office on the charge of irregular ordination. p This was probably the Danegelt, the collection of which had Q^^*M^ A;^ ^^-TDC^ cCl. y Ai 1»5 A.D. 1067. Godred Cronan, a descendant of Sihtric of Northumberland*!, who had escaped from the battle of Stanford-bridge, becomes king of the Isle of Man. William goes to Normandy during Lent, taking with him Edgar Atheling, Stigand the archbishop, the earls Edwin, Morcar, and Waltheof, " and many other good men of England." " And bishop Odo and William the earl'' remained here behind, and they built castles wide through the ^yt^,/^^ land, and poor people oppressed ; and ever after it greatly c-4yiit..rA grew in evil." hd-Ct^ Eustace of Boulogne^, invited by the Kentish men, at- tacks Dover, but without success. Copsi, who had been appointed earl of Northumber- land by William, is killed by his own people, March 1 2. Edric the Porester' makes a league with the Welsh, with whom he attacks Hereford, " where he did the castle-men [the Norman garrison] much evil." William returns to England". He seizes the lands of many of the English nobles, divides them among his followers, and lays heavy taxes on the people. Edgar Atheling, in the summer, flees to Scotland with been suspended by Edward the Confessor. It continued to be levied until at least 1175, and varied with the exigencies of the state from two to six shillings annuallj' on each hide of land. 1 See p. 108. "■ Odo of Bayeux, William's half-brother, and William Fitz-Os- bem, earl of Hereford. ^ See p. 140. ' He was the grand-nephew of Edric Streona, and, as appears from the Domesday Book, had large possessions in Hereford and Salop, of which it was attempted to deprive him. n The date is uncertain. Orderic says he returned in the winter, on the day of St, Nicolas (Dec. 6) ; the Saxon Chronicler also names St, Nicolas' Day, but as he places William's return at the head of the events of the year he favours the supposition that it was on the translation of St. isicolas (May 9). 186 THE NORMAN ERA. 'tOiuhUu:Jai» mother and sisters, accompanied by Merlesuain*^ -cxJ?. U^u^" and many good men." ^'^''*^'*^ William founds an abbey, on the field of Hastings, .t^P dedicated to St. Martin, "in order that glory and praise r(^,fOs might be offered up there to God for his victory, and that offices for the souls of the dead might there be perpetually performed." It is known in history as Battle Abbey. ■'j^JCs:^ ft^ The people of Exeter cut off a party of Norman sailors. -J C'lgf gl William marches against them, and "through the f , ' ^' treachery of the thanes," reduces the citv after a siege l/f/i-rWof 18 days^. Githa, Harold's mother, who had taken "^ 'refuge there, flees to Steepholra, " and the wives of many V^hA^ good men with her," and thence retires to Flanders. Baldwin, a Norman, advances into Powys, and builds a castle where now stands Montgomery. A.D. 1068. Cospatric^^, earl of Northumberland, and the people of the north take amis. Edgar Atheling comes to them from Scotland, and is received by them at York. William's queen arrives in England ; she is crowned by Archbishop Aldred on Whit-Sunday, May 11. William advances to the north, builds forts at Not- tingham and Lincoln, and bestows the earldom of North- umberland on Robert Comin, a Norman. 1 It appears from the Domesday Book that Merlesuain had great estates in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, as well as in York and Lincoln. He seems to have been sheriff of one of these latter coun- ties, and he had been very active in raising forces to sti'engthen Harold's army when it marched for Hastings. " The effects of this siege are probably to be traced in the mention in the Domesday Book, that the city then contained but 411 houses, while it had 463 in the time of King Edward. " Cospatric was of the royal race^ being grandson of Uhtred and Elg^'a, daughter of Ethelre'd II. 187 Harold's sons land in Somersetshire, plunder Bristol, and kill Ednoth, the stallere^ ; they then ravage Wales, about Midsummer, but are defeated, and obliged to re- tire to Ireland. On William's approach, Edgar Atheling again retires to Scotland. William builds two castles at York; "but St. Peter's minster he made a profanation, and all other places also he despoiled and trampled on." Malcolm of Scotland makes peace with William, and does homage to him for Cumberland. Godred Cronan establishes himself in Ireland. A.D. 1069. Comin is massacred at Durham, "and 900 Frenchmen with him," January 29. Edgar Atheling prepares for another attempt on the north. Aldred, archbishop of York, dies, Sept. 11. The sons of Sweyn, king of Denmark, amve in the Humber, early in September, with 240 ships ; they are joined bv Edgar Atheling, Merlesuain, Cospatric, and others, when they take York, put the garrison of 3,000 men to the sword-^, and demolish the castles. " But ere the shipmen arrived the Frenchmen had burnt the city, and also the holy minster of St. Peter had thev plundered, and entirely destroyed with fire." William arrives, when the allies retire to their ships, which remain m the Humber the whole winter. ^ Ednoth had held this office, which is variously rendered standard- bearer or master of the horse (the high constable of the Normans), mider Harold, but had taken ser\ace with WiUiam. y One of the few who escajjed was Gilbert of Gand, nephew ol Q'leen MatOda ; he was the refounder of Bardney Abbey, in Lincohi- shire, and possessed manors in that and in thuteen other counties. THE NORMAN ERA. William pa?ses the winter in the north: "he ordered the towns and fields of the whole district to be laid waste ; the fruits and grain to be destroyed by fire or by water .... thus the resources of a once flourishing province were cut off, by fire, slaughter, and devastation ; the ground for more than sixty miles, totally uncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to the present day^." Aegelric, the former bishop of Durham ^ is betrayed into William's hands, and confined at Westminster. AVALES. A.D. 1070. Rywallok, one of the princes of North Wales'', is killed. Wales was nominally subject to the English crown at the time of the arrival of the Normans, and although Wilham was too much occupied in other parts to enforce, except on one occasion, the claim of feudal superiority '^j it was only reserved for a more fitting season. As early indeed as 1067, one Baldwin built a castle, where now stands Montgomery, within the acknowledged border of Powys, and in 1069 and 1070 other adventurers seized on, and fortified, posts on the coast of Dyved, or Pem- broke. In this latter year, civil dissension opened the ' Such is the substance of the account of William of Malmesbury, in his " History of the Kings," which is usually considered to have been written about 1135, or nearly 60 years after the event, and it is fully borne out by numerous entries in the Domesday Book. The lands of the Saxon leaders appear to have been rendered so desolate, that on 411 manors described, only eight cottagers and 35 villeins are entered. » He had been abbot of Peterborough, but after holding the see of Durham 15 years he returned to his monastery ; he again left it to join his people against the Normans. He died in prison, at West- minster, Oct. 15,''1072. t See pp. 105, 145. ' See a.d. 1081, p. 197. ■WILLIAM I. 189 road to other parts of the country ; the purchased aid of a few Norman horsemen enabled Caradoc, lord of Mor- ganwg (Glamorgan), to seize the principality of South Wales ; but his treacherous allies soon returned as plun- derers, and next as conquerors and permanent settlers. Early in the reign of WiUiam II. they joined another rebellious lord of Glamorgan, killed Ehys ap Tudor, the lineal descendant of Howel Dda, and partitioned his territories •*. This success was followed by William's assertion of his feudal superiority, and his grant of other parts of Wales to certain of his favourites. In consequence, a crowd of desperate adventurers poured into the country, extending to it all the miseries that England then suf- fered. The Welsh strove fiercely against them, and more than once, according to their own annalists, cleared the land ; " but the spoilers had tasted of the sweetness of Wales," they returned to the charge, found allies among the numerous aspirants to sovereignty after the death of Rhys ap Tudor and the exile of his family, and in the course of the two following reigns, though almost con- stantly in a state of siege, and often in extreme jeopardy, Norman and Flemish^ castles and colonies spread along d The leader of this band was Kobert Fitzhamou ; the names of his twelve principal companions have been preserved, and to them is ascribed the foundation of the numerous castles still found in Gla- morganshire and its immediate neighbourhood. They were Gilbert HumfreviUe, Ohver St. John, Payen de Turberville, Peter le Soore, Reginald de Sulby, Richard Greenfield, Richard de Siward, Robert St. Quintin, Roger BerknoUes, John the Fleming, William the Easterhng, and Wilham of London. « Both were detested for their cruelty, but, according to Caradoc of Llancarvan, the Flemings had not even the reputation of corn-age ; on one occasion GrifEn ap Tudor (see p. 222) encouraged his men to attack them with the remark, that, though twenty times more numerous, they " were only Flemings ;" his followers justified his confidence by routing their opponents. 190 THE NORMAN EKA. the coasts of South and West Wales ; Powys was more completely occupied ; and Gwynneth alone, favoured by the nature of the country, was able to maintain a sem- blance of independence. It was indeed little more than a semblance, although the brave and often successful efforts of Owen Gwyn- neth, the descendant of Howel Dda, the " Owen brave and Owen strong" of the bards, and the internal trou- bles of England, long delayed the complete subjugation of the land. Their contact with the Normans, however, soon produced many important changes among the Welsh. The feudal institution was received among them ; nu- merous intermarriages, and consequent exchanges of pro- perty, took place ; the authority of the archbishop of Can- terbury was allowed to supersede that of the archbishop of St. David's ; some of their chiefs accepted the office of justiciary from the English kings, and such great al- terations were in consequence made in the institutes of Howel Dda, that as early as 1080 the prince of North Wales gave the parties to any suit the choice of being judged by the old or the new law. A.D. 1070. The laws called those of Edward the Confessor are promulgated in London, contrarv to the wish of the people of the east and north, who desire the Danish law. A council holden at Winchester, about Easter, in which Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, is deposed, and sentenced to imprisonment s. Lanfranc, a Norman abbot, is appointed archbishop • He escaped to Scotland, and is believed to have died there. WILLIAM I. 191 of Canterbury, Aug, 15, and consecrated August 29. Thomas, a canon of Bayeux, appointed archbishop of York, decHnes to take the oath of canonical obedience to him, which commences the contest for the primacy between the two sees^ -^ ^'^^'Y'-ZL- Waltheof, the son of Siward, who had held York against William, is taken into favour, and marries Judith, the king's niece. King Sweyn from Denmark arrives m the Humber, with many bishops and earls ; " the English people from all the fen lands came to them, conceiving that they would win all the land." Christiern, a Danish bishop, establishes himself at Ely. Hereward, the younger brother of the earls Edwin and Morcar, heads a band, which plunders and burns the abbey of Peterborough, it having been bestowed by William on Thorold, " a stern man," and one of his par- tisans, June 2 ; they deposit their plunder at Ely, but it is afterwards lost at sea. The Danish fleet comes into the Thames, when Wil- liam makes a treaty with Sweyn, and it withdraws. Malcolm of Scotland marries Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling. Caradoc, son of Griffin ap Rytherch, lord of Gla- morgan, obtains the sovereignty of South Wales by the help of the Normans. He is shortly succeeded by his son Rytherch. ' Wilfrid, in the seventh centxiry, had refused to be consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury, but probably as much from dishke of his communion with Aidan and otliers of the British church as from any claim to the primacy. The dispute, which in its course led to many indecent broils, even in the presence of ro5'alty (see anno 1175), was at length decided in 1354 by Pope Innocent VI. iu favour of Canterbury. 192 THE NORMAN ERA. A.D. 1071. "All the monasteries are ordered to be plundered," says the Saxon Chronicler s. The earls Edwin and Morcar become outlaws ; " they fled out and roamed at random in woods and fields." Edwin is treacherously killed, but Morcar takes ship and joins Hereward in the Isle of Ely. Hereward is also joined by Aegelwine, the expelled bishop of Dur- ham (brother of Aegelric)'^, Siward Barn', and many hundred men. " Then William beset the land all about, and built a bridge, and went in, and had ships at the same time on the sea-side .... the outlaws then surrendered, except Hereward and those who would join him, whom he led out triumphantlyj." The lands of Edwin and Morcar, in Norfolk and Lin- coln, are granted chiefly to Ivo Tailbois, who married their sister Lucy'' ; their Yorkshire lands had been de- vastated. B We learn from later writers that this plunder included not only the valuables which the oppressed English had there deposited in a place of fancied safety but also most of the charters which Wilham himself had granted. See p. 181. '' He was captured when the island surrendered, and died in prison at Abingdon soon after. Of the other prisoners it is said, " the king disposed of them as he thoiight proper •" he, however, spared the lives of Morcar and Siward Barn, and on his death-bed ordered them to be set at liberty. See p. 207. ' He is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having held, in the time of King Edward, large possessions in Gloucester, Norfolk, Warwick, and Yorkshire. •i Hereward's fate is uncertain ; the Chronicle of G-aimar says he led a wandering life for a time, and then was surprised and killed by a troop of Bretons in the pay of William. '^ Many of WiUiam's followei's were thus provided with wives as well as lands, which was perhaps intended to pave the way for a peaceable possession of the country by the next generation, though it niay well be doubted whether the ladies could regard themselves as more fortmiate than their despoiled or murdered relatives. WILLIAM I. 193 Edric the Forester is captured by Ralph de Mor- timer. The Normans plunder Cardigan, A.D. 1072. A council held from Easter to Pentecost, which affirms the primacy of Canterbury. William invades Scotland by sea and land, Edric the Forester being with him ; " but he found nothing there of any value." He grants peace to Malcolm, "who became his man ." William, on his return, fortifies Carlisle and Durham I A.D. 1073. William leads an army, principally of English, into Maine and subdues it. Blethyn, prince of North Wales, is murdered. Tra hern succeeds. Griffin ap Conan, an exiled descendant of Griffin ap Llewelyn"^, arrives from Ireland and conquers Anglesey. A.D. 1074. William goes to Normandy. Edgar Atheling, Vi^ho some time previously had gone to Flanders, returns to Scotland, July 8 ; being invited to the court of France (the king was at war with William), he sets sail, but is shipwrecked, when, by the advice of Malcolm, he passes over to Normandy to Wil- liam, " who received him with much pomp ; enjoying such rights as the king confirmed to him by law." Rytherch of South Wales killed ; Rhys ap Owen suc- ceeds. M'n k Or vassal ; not for Scotland, probably, but for Cumberland. (See p. 110.) The same remark applies to similar acknowledgments of a later date. 1 The number of castles built by William and his barons appears to have been forty-eight ; their existing remainsshew their strength, and of their size we may judge from an entrj"- in the Domesday Book, which states that 166 houses were destroyed to make room for the castle at Lincoln. ■" See p. 105. VOL. 1. 194 THE NORMAN ERA. A.D. 1075. Ralph de Guader and other Normans conspire against "William, on occasion of Ralph's mar- riage, at Norwich, and ask aid from Sweyn of Denmark ; Waltheof joins them. Their plans frustrated by William's sudden return. Waltheof flees over sea; "but he asked forgiveness, and proffered gifts of ransom. And the king spoke him fairly till he came to England, when he had him seized." A fleet of 200 ships, commanded by Canute, the son of Sweyn of Denmark, and Haco the earl, arrive on the east coast, but finding the conspiracy crushed, they plun- der York Minster and retire. William inflicts heavy punishment on the conspi- rators ; " some were blinded, some driven from the land, some towed to Scandinavia. So were the traitors of King WiUiam subdued™." Edith, the widow of Edward the Confessor, dies Dec. 18 ; she is buried with much pomp beside him at West- minster. A.D. 1076. A great earthquake in England. Waltheof (who had been betrayed into the hands of his enemies by his wife) is beheaded at Winchester, May 31 ; his body is buried at Croyland Abbey, and miracles are asserted to be performed at his tomb"^. ra This unpatriotic remark is probably an intei-polation. n These miracles were spread abroad by Ulchel, the abbot of Croyland, which gave so much oflfence, particularly to Ivo TaUbois, the possessor of the lands of Edwin and Morcar, that the unfortu- nate abbot was by his means summoned to London, accused of idolatry, deprived of his office, and committed to prison under the cliarg-e of Thurstan, (whose violent and ci-uel temper may be judged fi'om the occurrence in 1083, see p. 197,) and the treasures of the abbey confiscated. "WILLIAM I. 195 William is foiled in an attack on Britanny. Rhys ap Owen killed in war against North Wales. He is succeeded by Rhys ap Tudor, descended from Howel Dda. A.D. 1077. London burnt, March 24. Archbishop Lanfranc greatly advances the cause of the monks against the secular clergy. The coasts of South Wales ravaged, and St. David's plundered, by pirates, who also kill Abraham, the bishop. A.D. 1078. A council holden at London, when it was determined that several episcopal sees should be removed to more important places ; in consequence, Bath, Chester, Chichester, Exeter, Lincoln, Salisbury, and Thetford, become bishops' sees. Robert rebels ; and, in an action at Gerberoi, wounds his father. A,D. 1079. Malcolm of Scotland ravages Northum- berland, in the autumn. Robert, the king's son, ad- vances against him, and builds a fort on the Tyne, where Newcastle now stands. Trahern of North Wales killed. Griffin ap Conan becomes prince of North Wales and Powys. THE NEW FOREST. A.D. 1079. The New Forest, in Hampshire, is formed. The Saxon Chronicler, remarking on the barbarous penalties of the Norman forest law°, says that William ° "He made many deer-parks; and he established laws, so that whosoever slew a hart, or a hind, or a boar, should be blinded." 196 THE norma:n era. "loved the tall deer as if he was their father," and that ^ he and his great men made many deer-parks ; but he j'^'^^oes not state, as later writers have done, that well- ^■(^ peopled districts were reduced to deserts by the opera- ' - tion. WiUiam of Malmesbury (the next nearest autho- rity in point of time) says that William, in forming the New Forest, desolated the towns and destroyed the churches for a space of more than 30 miles ; and other authors affirm that as many as 52 churches were le- velled with the ground; but there is good reason for believing that this is a great exaggeration. A forest, called Ytene, (probably a portion of the great Andred's wood of the early Saxons,) existed in the region between the rivers Itchin and Avon, to which the Domesday Book shews that at least 17,000 acres had been added from the time of King Edward. Some open spots bear names indicative of former dwelling-places, as Church- place, Church-moor, Castle-hill, &c. ; and some evidences of former foundations are to be traced in various places within the forest, but they are quite as probably the re- mains of royal hunting-seats as of churches. The only fair conclusion seems to be, that, finding a rough and thinly peopled tract in the neighbourhood of the old royal seat of Winchester, one, too, whose poor soil pre- vented its making any profitable return to the husband- man, the new king enlarged its bounds?, and if here and there a few dwellings or a church opposed an obstacle to the design, we mav suppose they were at once demolished ; whether any compensation was made, it is of course p Several entries occur in the Domesday Book of the woods only of a manor having been taken to enlarge the king's forest. ■WILLIAM I. 197 impossible to tell, though the general tenor of the Nor- man rule would lead to the inference that it was not, and there is evidence in the Chartulary of Abingdon, that Windsor Forest was enlarged by William at the expense of that abbey. A.D. 1080. Walchere, the first Norman bishop of Durham, is slain, with all his attendants, by the people. May 14. Odo of Bayeux ravages the country in revenge. A.D. 1081. "This year the king led an army into Wales, and freed many hundreds of men." Caradoc of Llancarvan says that he advanced " after the manner of a pilgrim, as far as St. David's, where he offered his devotion to that saint, and received the homage of the kings and princes of the country." William issues certain laws modifying the laws of Edward the Confessor. An earthquake does great damage in England. A.D. 1082. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, falls into dis- grace ; his vast possessions are seized by the king. A.D. 1083. Thurstan, the abbot of Glastonbury, quarrels with his monks, and brings armed men into the church, who kill three and wound eighteen others around the altar. A heavy tax of 72 pence (or treble the former rate) is laid on each hide of landi. Queen Matilda dies, Nov. 2. A.D. 1085. Canute, king of Denmark, Olaf of Nor- ■» See p. 198. 198 THE NORMAN ERA. way, and Robert, count of Flanders, prepare a fleet for the invasion of England. William hires a large army in France and other coun- tries, brings them to England, where he quarters them on the people, and lays waste the sea-coast. A mutiny arises in the hostile fleet ; Canute is killed in a church by his own men, during the winter^', and the enterprise is abandoned. THE DOMESDAY BOOK. A.D. 1085. At his court at Gloucester, held at Christmas, a general survey of the land is ordered by the king. " So very narrowly indeed did he com- mission them to trace it out, that there was not one single hide^ nor a yard of land (quarter acre), nay, more- over, (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it,) not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine, was there left that was not set down. And all the re- corded particulars were afterwards brought to him ;" at Winchester, at the Easter of the year 1086. These recorded particulars have come down to us in the often-cited record termed the Domesday Book, or the Book of Winchester. The dispatch with which this survey was executed is remarkable*. Persons called the ' He was in consequence canonized, his feast-day being Jan. 19. ^ The hide, like the carucate, virgate, and acre, seems to have varied in its contents ; some passages of the Domesday Book appear to make it contain 120 acres, but others much less. ' Some historians say that it was begun in lOSO or 1083, but from internal evidence furnished by allusions in the record to public events of which the date is well estabhshed, it appears that they are mis- taken. ■WILLIAM I. 199 king's justiciaries were appointed, of whom the names of four have been preserved, viz. Remigius, bishop of Lincoln, Walter GifFard, Henry de Ferers, and Adam, brother of Eudo the royal stewai'd, who either in person or by deputy visited the greater part of the country u, and from the oaths of the sheriff, the lord of each manor, the priest of each church, the reeve of each hundred, and the bailiff and six villeins of each vill, ob- tained the particulars of the name of the place, who held it in the time of King Edward, who was the present holder, its extent, the number of tenants of each class, bond and free, the homages of each manor, the extent of wood, meadow, and pasture, the mills and ponds, the gross value in King Edward's time, and, which gives a key to the whole, whether any advance could be made in the value ; an expectation, however, doomed to dis- appointment, as the great majority of places are re- turned as of less value now than formerly, the natural consequence of the mal-administration of the conquerors^'. These particulars, which are found in an existing inqui- sition into property in Cambridgeshire and Hertford- shire, do not bear out the complaint of the Saxon Chronicle as to the cattle; but it is probable that the officials often exceeded their instructions, and inquired more minutely than they had been directed to do. When completed, these inquisitions were sent to Winchester, " Neither Korthumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, nor Dur- ham, appear in the return, — for ^vhich various causes have been assigned ; the most probable being that they were then in the hands of the Scots. ■■" The lands in the king's hands are more highly rated than before, and the rents exacted from the bm-giis gi-eatly increased, but the estates in the possession of his subjects are generally reduced in value. 200 THE nouman era. and being there digested, were entered in the book now preserved in the Chapter-house at Westminster, but formerly carried about with the king and the great seal, and termed indifferently the Book of Winchester, from the place of its compilation, and Domesday Book, either from a profane parallel instituted between its decisions and those of the day of doom, or judgment, or more probably from its being, while at Winchester, deposited in a chapel or vault of the cathedral, called Domus Dei. This most remarkable document is written on vellum, and forms two volumes of unequal size, — one being a folio of 382 pages, in a small hand; the other a quarto of 450 pages, in a larger one. The first volume com- mences with an entry of all the above particulars as re- gards the county of " Ghent," and the shires are ar- ranged in series running from east to west, and one from west to east, though their limits do not always agree with the modern divisions, and sometimes — for the sake, apparently, of bringing all the property of some great landholder together — a portion of one county is described in another. Commencing with Kent, the sur- vey proceeds along the coast (but including Berkshire) to Cornwall ; then, starting from Middlesex, proceeds through Hertford, Bucks, Oxford, Gloucester, and Wor- cester, to Hereford ; the third series begins with Cam- bridge, and embraces Huntingdon, Bedford, Northamp- ton, Leicester, Warwick, Stafford, and Salop ; and the fourth, Chester, Dei-by, part of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Lincoln. The second volume is occupied onlv with the three counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk ; and, besides the same matters as in the first, has lists of " in- WILLIA.M r. 201 vasions," as they are termed, or of lands possessed without a title from the king. The number of tenants in capite entered in the first volume is 510, in the second, 162"' ; but several of these are the same persons ; the number of under-tenants is about 8,000, the great majority of whom, or their an- cestors, had held the same lands in Saxon times, thoug-h then as principals. As might be expected, the great landholders are those who had held posts in the invading army ; thus, Robert, earl of Mortaigne, William's half-brother, had received the earldom of Cornwall, and 793 manors, scattered over 20 counties; Gilbert of Gand, the queen's nephew, had manors in 14 counties; Alan, earl of Richmond, had 442 manors, in 13 counties, and the bishop Odo of Bayeux, 439 manors, in 17 countiesx. William had in his own hands, beside quit-rents and various proceeds from others, about 1290 manors y, which had almost all belonged either to King Edward, or to Harold and his family. Though so liberal to his chiefs, it is re- markable that none of William's sons appear possessed of land, except the illegitimate Peverel, who had 162 manors in the midland counties, his Northamptonshire lands having belonged to Githa, the mother of Harold. William's inferior followers and personal attendants were w Exclusive of ecclesiastical coi-porations, which bring the total up to about 1400. ' That is, he had possessed such a number, as well as the earldom of Kent ; but ho had fallen into disgrace, and his acquisitions were sequestered, or had passed into the king's hands. y But 165 had belonged to Edward, and 118 to Harold ; so that William's revenue must have greatly exceeded that of any of the Saxon kings. 202 THE NOBMAN ERA. also rewarded, and among the tenants in chief appear, beside others of their class, Herbert the chamberlain, Alric, Hunfrid, and Tezelin, the cooks ; Rayner the carpenter, Walter the crossbowman, Roger the farrier, Richard the forester, and Bernard the falconer ; Robert the steward, and Milo the porter. The same record shews how many of the great nobles and landholders had disappeared, and the few who re- main are found usually holding a portion of their for- mer lands as the sub-tenants of the invaders. Thus the lands of Edwin and Morcar had passed chiefly to Alan of Britanny ; and though their mother Alveva possessed some manors in Leicestershire, her estates in Suffolk were in the hands of the king. Edgar Atheling had a single estate, of 700 or 800 acres, in Hertfordshire, his sister Christina had some manors in Oxford and Warwick, one of which had been given to her by William. On the other hand, Cospatric, the earl of Northumberland, whose estates had embraced a large portion of Yorkshire, held, at the time of the sur- vev, a few of them of Alan of Britanny, who had dis- possessed him ; Archil, his associate, who had formerly had lands in Warwick, Leicester, Lincoln, Cheshire, Nottingham, and York, had a single manor in Yorkshire ; but, as might perhaps be expected from the Norman love of the chase, several huntsmen appear as tenants in chief of the lands they had held under Edward the Confessor. Those who had been under-tenants in Saxon times seem to have usually continued in the same state, ex- cept in the instances where properties once productive ATILLIAM I. 203 are set down in Domesday Book as " wasted ;" and whose number in Yorkshire especially is so great as to justify the received opinion, that the whole country be- tween the Humber and the Tees (and perhaps beyond, but the survey goes no further north,) was reduced almost to a desert by the Normans after their capture of York in 1069. Although the Domesday Book is evidently not in- tended as a record of the population of the country z, it yet accurately shews the various ranks of society, and their relative importance. Next after the king stand the archbishops and other dignified ecclesiastics ; then the barons, — which term appears to include all the tenants in capite^; the thanes, meaning sometimes the remains of the Saxon nobility, sometimes the king's in- ferior officers ; the vavassors, or free men holding of the tenants in capite; the allodial tenants, who were free from many, but not all, of the restraints of the feudal system ; the knights, and the free men, in both which classes great differences of property and importance are apparent*^ ; the socmen, who held of some great baron, « The whole number of persons recorded amounts only to 283,242. » The greater tenants were known as peers {pares curice regis), and persons who held largely of them were often styled their barons ; the citizens of London, York, Chester, and other places (as the Cinque Ports), also bore the title of barons. ^ Sometimes the term knight evidently means nothing more than a horseman, sometimes the knight is fornid as holding large estates ; the knights holding of ecclesiastics appear to have had ordinarily the largest possessions of any of their class. The fi-ee men seem usually to have been in a state of dependence on a superior lord. A somewhat different class are the bm-gesses, mentioned as "pos- sessed" by the king in many towns ; they aj^pear to have been tree men who paid a certain yearly sum for permission to practise cer- tain trades 204 THE NOKMAN EEA. but not by military service ; the villeins, equivalent to the ceorles of Saxon times ; the borderers, coscets, and bures, vyhose conditions have been very variously de- scribed by different writers, but who may be taken ge- nerally as villeins'^; the servi and ancillse, equivalent to the bondmen and bondwomen of Holy Writ. A.D. 1086. William knights his son Henry at West- minster, at Pentecost; holds his court at Salisburv, in July or August, " where he was met by his councillors, and all the landholders bowed themselves before him, and became his men, and swore him oaths of alle- giance." William passes over to the Isle of Wight, and thence to Normandy, first collecting large sums from the people, "whether with justice or without." Edgar Atheling leaves his court, and goes abroad, " for he received not much honour from him," and his sister Christina becomes a nun at Ramsey. "A very sorrowful year in England, from tempests, and blight, and murrain among the cattle." A.D. 1087- A very great fire in London ; St. Paul's burnt. " In the same year also, before the Assumption of St. Mary (Aug. 25), King William went from Normandy into France with an army, and made war upon his own lord, Phihp the king, and slew many of his men, and •= Villenage is regarded by Sir Edward Coke as the oi-igin of the copyhold tenure, and, hke that, included a great variety of pririleges and burdens, which cannot be brought into any one satisfactory definition. "WILLIAM I. 205 burned the town of Mantes, and all the holy minsters that were in the town ; two holy men that served God, leading the life of anchorites, were bm'ned therein." WiUiam returns to Normandy, falls sick and dies, Sept. 9. He is buried at Caen, in St. Stephen's minster. "Alas! how false and how uncertain is this world's weal! He that was before a rich king, and lord of many lands, had not then of all his land more than a space of seven feef^ ! and he that was whilome en- shrouded in gold and gems, lay there covered with mould !" ■^ Even this small space, according to the account of WiUiam of Malmesbui-y, was pui-chased at the time of his funeral, fi-om a knight whose patrimony had been seized for the site of the abbey, and who interrupted the ceremony by a formal demand of justice. Arms ascribed to William H. WILLIAM II. This, the third son of William I., was born about 1 060. He appears to have attached himself more closely to his father than did his elder brothers, being his constant com- panion in war, and receiving the gift of the kingdom of England from him. He fulfilled his father's directions by setting at liberty several prisoners of consequence, but experienced little gratitude from them, as they mostly joined the party of his brother Robert; and his reign was passed in turmoil, arising from frequent con- spiracies among his Norman nobles, to which he op- posed the arms of the English, being lavish of the pro- mise of good laws which he never fulfilled, and from his constant endeavour to keep the property of the Church in his hands. He at length met a violent death, Aug. 2, 1 100, but whether by accident or design is not certainly known. His well-known name of Rufus was bestowed in con- sequence of his light hair and ruddy complexion. He pursued the chase with ardour, and although when his TVILLIAM II. 207 Norman nobles conspired against him he promised an alleviation of the forest laws, he never granted it ; he affected extravagant apparel, and led a most depraved life. He vras never married, and is not known to have left any illegitimate issue. William, like his father, has ascribed to him the arms of Normandy, " Gules, two lions passant gardant in pale, or." His contemporaries speak most unfavourably of this king. They describe him as harsh and severe, formi- dable to his neighbours, and avaricious ; yet both pro- digal and profligate, fierce and overbearing in his manner in public, but coarsely jocular with his intimate associates. " God's Church he humbled ; he held bishoprics in his hand ;" when he fell, he had long kept vacant the sees of Canterbury, Sahsbury, and Winchester, and eleven abbeys. " He was loathed by nearly all his people, and odious to God, as his end testified." A.D. 1087. WilHam hastens to England, is received as king, and is crowned by Lanfranc, Sept. 26**. Robert is acknowledged as duke in Normandy. William repairs to Winchester, distributes much of his father's treasure for masses for his soul to each monastery and parish church, and releases many pri- soners'', agreeably to his dying wish. •* The years of his reign are reckoned from this day. e Among them, Florence of Worcester enumerates Odo, bishop of Bayeux, (rekictantly pardoned by his dying brother,) the earl Morcar, Roger Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury, Siward Bam, Alfgar the brother, and Wulfnoth the son, of Harold ; Jlorcar and Wulfnoth, however, were shortly after again imprisoned ; when the former was killed by some of his own people, and the latter became a monk. 208 THE NORMAN ERA . The Welsh make an incursion, and ravage the coun- try as far as Worcester. A.D. 1088. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, WilHam, bishop of Durham, Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, and other Nor- man nobles, conspire against William, at Lent. They raise troops and burn his farms and kill his men. WilHam obtains aid from the English, by promising them good government, repulses an attack from his brother Robert's partisans, and after some time drives the two bishops from the kingdom, and confiscates the estates of the nobles. Godred Cronan dies. A.D. 1089. Archbishop Lanfranc dies, May 24. The king keeps the see vacant four years. A great earthquake in England, Aug. 13. Robert quarrels with his brother Henry, and im- prisons him. Jestyn, lord of Glamorgan, rebels against Rhys ap Tudor, prince of Dynevor, but is defeated. A.D. 1090. William makes war on Robert in Nor- mandy, and gains most of the strong places, but is foiled in an attempt on Rouen. Robert and Henry are reconciled. Einion^ procures Norman aid for Jestyn, and defeats and kills Rhys ap Tudor. " With him," says Caradoc f Einion, the son of the lord of Dyved (Pembroke), had served in the Norman armies ; the aid he procured consisted of Eoberd Fitzhanion and twelve other knights, and 3,000 men. The Normans erected their conquest into the Honour of Glamorgan, buUt eighteen castles in it, and divided it into thirty-six knights' fees ; it was the first of the palatine districts which were governed by the lords marchers. WILLIAM II. 209 of Llancarvan, "fell the glory of Dynevor, the land being afterwards rent in pieces and divided by the Norman captains." Jestyn quarrels with Einion, who then makes a new compact with the Normans ; they drive Jestyn from Glamorgan, establish themselves on the sea coast, and bestow the interior on Einion. The king grants lands in Wales to such of his knights as choose to attempt their conquest. In consequence, Bernard Newmarch subdues Brecknock; Henry New- Ijurgh, earl of Warwick, seizes on Gower ; Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, captures Baldwin's castles and Car- digan ; and Hugh, earl of Chester, ravages the sea shore by Conway, and occupies Anglesey. A.D. 1091. A treaty is concluded between Robert and William. Robert surrenders many towns and castles to William, in return for which his partisans have their forfeited estates restored. Edgar Atheling, deprived by William's wish of some estates in Normandy, goes to Scotland. Henry (afterwards king) is besieged in IMount St. Michael by William and Robert in concert, and driven into exile. Malcolm of Scotland invades England, but is re- pulsed. William, accompanied by Robert, marches against him, and compels him to do homage*". Edgar Atheling has restoration of his Norman lands. Robert, seeing the agreement badly kept bv William, f B Thiis fortress, built in 1067, (see p. 188,) had been soon after sm-- /TfT^ prised by the Welsh ; the captor gave it his own name, Montgomery / ^ J/i. which it still bears. >> See p. 193. ^ ■21U THE NORMAN ERA. returns to Normandy at Christmas, taking Edgar Athel- ing with him. A.D. 1092. The see of Wells removed to Bath by charter, Jan. 25. William obtains possession of Cumberland, driving out Dolfin, a Northman who ruled there, and sends many peasants to settle there and till the land. The see of Thetford removed to Norwich. The king of Scotland, accompanied by Edgar Athel- jng, conies to William at Gloucester, to treat about peace ; nothing is concluded, and they part in anger. The Welsh attack and destroy many of the Normsn castles; Pembroke and Brecknock hold out against them. A.D. 1093. William falls ill at Gloucester during Lent ; he promises righteous laws, and gives lands to churches, but on his recovery resumes them. Anselm is appointed to the see of Canterbury ; he is consecrated Dec. 5. Malcolm invades England, but is killed, with Edward his son, in Northumberland, November 13. The queen Margaret " was in her mind almost distracted to death ; she with her priests went to church, and performed her rites, and prayed before God that she might die ;" she died a few days after. Donald Bane, the brother of Malcolm, is chosen king ; he drives out all the English and Norman exiles. Duncan, Malcolm's illegitimate son, being a hostage in William's hands, does homage to him, and having English and French troops with him obtains the kingdom. The Normans ravage Kidwelly. A.D. 1094. The king refuses to surrender the tem- poralities of his see to Anselm. ■^VILLIAM II. 211 Robert demands from the king the fulfilment of the conditions of the treaty between them. William crosses the sea to Normandy. War ensues with Robert. The Welsh re-conquer Anglesey. The castle of Breck- nock is abandoned, and most of the other Norman gar- risons are either slaughtered or withdraw beyond the Severn and Wye. Donald Bane re-obtains the crown of Scotland. A.D. 1095. Henry (afterwards king) passes into Normandy to make war on Robert. William makes war on Robert Mowbray, earl of Nor- thumberland, and builds a castle called " Malveisin'^"' close to the earl's stronghold of Bamborough. The earl is captured after a time by the garrison of Malveisin, and, being threatened with blinding, his for- tress surrenders^ The Welsh capture the castle of Montgomery, and slay the garrison. William marches against them, but they elude his pursuit. He encourages the building of castles on the borders. THE CRUSADES. C/Uf^i The Egyptian rule in Palestine^ was overthrown about 1076 by the adherents of the Caliph of Bagdad, among whom a rude race from Central Asia, called Turkmans, was included, and to Ortok, their leader, the charge of " Literally, " Bad Neighbour." ' He was long imprisoned at Windsor, but at length became a monk at St. Alban's, where he died in 1106. j Seep. 145. 212 THE NORMAN ERA. Jerusalem was committed. These new comers treated both the native Christians and the pilgrims with every indignity and cruelty, and the narrative, spread through Europe by Peter the Hermit, one of the suflFerers, suf- ficed to determine its warlike princes and people to unite in a great and worthy effort for the rescue of the Holy Land from the hands of the infidels. It was at a council held at Clermont in November, 1095, under the presidency of Pope Urban H., that this step was determined on, and the following August was appointed for the departure of the expedition ; the time was anticipated by the impatience of a vast body of pea- sants, who, placing themselves under the guidance of Peter the Hermit and his lieutenant, Walter the Pen- nyless, advanced as early as March from the borders of the Rhine, but after suffering innumerable hardships they were cut off at their veiy entrance into Asia by the Sultan of Nice ; Walter fell among them, but Peter found shelter at Constantinople. About the appointed time, the main army of the cru- saders started, and passing, some through Germany, Hungary, and the Greek dominions, others through Italy and then by sea, they rendezvoused at Con- stantinople in May, 1097. Their chief leaders were Godfrey of Bouillon, the duke of Lorraine, accompanied by his brothers Eustace and Baldwin!^ ; Raymond, count of Toulouse, and Adhemar, bishop of Puy, the papal legate ; the Norman princes Bohemond of Tarentum and his nephew Tancred ; Robert, son of William of •= The'sr were the sous of Eustace of Boulogne, akeady mentioned. Sea pp. 140, 185. THE CETJSADES, 213 Normandy, and Stephen of Chartres, his brother-in- law ; Robert, count of Flanders, and Hugh, count of Vermandois, brother of Philip I. of France. The aid of the nations of the West had been invoked by the Em- peror Alexius, but when it came, his fears were roused, and he only consented to furnish the means of transport across the narrow channel of Constantinople after the leaders had done homage to him, and promised to hold any conquests they might make as fiefs of his empire. This point settled, the host advanced ; its numbers can- not be accurately ascertained, but it is stated by a co- temporary who was present (Fulcher of Chartres) at 600,000 men able to bear arms, beside a multitude of priests and monks, and women and children. Nice, the scene of the destruction of the first body of pilgrims, was besieged and taken before the end of June ; its sultan was defeated at Dorylteum, in Phrygia, on the 4th of July ; and traversing Asia JNIinor, Godfrey and his companions in October found themselves before An- tioch, the capital of Syria, which they immediately be- sieged, but did not capture until June, 1098. Here they re- mained, the prey of famine and discord, until May, 1099, when they again set forth, and passing along the sea- shore, overawing by their numbers, but not pausing to make conquests, at length, on the 7th of June, came in sight of the object of all their toils, the holy city, Jeru- salem. The city had changed hands wliile the crusade had been in progress, and was now held by Aladdin, the lieutenant of the Caliph of Egypt, who resolutely de- fended it for more than a month, but at length it was 214 THE NOKMAN ERA. stormed on the 15th of July; and on the 23rd of the same month Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen ruler of the new kingdom ; he, however, piously refused to wear a crown of gold where his Lord had worn a crown of thorns, and contented himself with the modest title of Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. His reign was brief, but, though surrounded by powerful states, his immediate successors enlarged their borders, and before fifty years had elapsed the whole country between Egypt and Mount Taurus, extending in- land nearly to Damascus, was in C^I5 Arms of the kiogdom of Jerusalem. the hands of the Christians, and was divided into the kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch, and the county of Tripoli ; with for some time the dis- trict of Edessa, beyond the Euphrates ; this last was soon lost again, but Antioch and Tripoli remained much longer in the hands of the Christians than Jerusalem itself. A.D. 1096. William, count of Eu, charged with conspiracy, is overcome in single combat, and is blinded and mutilated ; the earl of Champagne and other nobles, on the same charge, are deprived of their lands. Robert sets out on the crusade, having mortgaged Normandy to WiUiam. William visits Normandy. Several fruitless expeditions into Wales by the neigh- WILLIAM II. 215 bouring Norman lords. They, however, re-occupy An- glesey. The see of Waterford is founded by the Ostmen in Ireland, and Malchus, an Irishman, but educated in England, is consecrated thereto by Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, to whom he promises canonical obedi- ence. Anselm also consecrates Wilfrid to the see of St. David's. A.D. 1097- William makes a campaign in Wales, from Midsummer to August, without effect. The Nor- man lords build castles on the border. William builds a wall around the Tower, a bridge over the Thames, and a great hall at Westminster ; "and men were grievously oppressed . . . and many perished thereby." Anselm retires to Rome in October. A.D. 1098. Edgar Atheling, with English aid, es- tablishes his nephew Edgar on the throne in Scotland. Magnus III. of J^orway conquers the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, and ravages AngleseyJ 1 At Anglesey he was encountered by Hugh Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury, and Hugh de Abrincia, earl of Chester, who had re-captured the island. The death of the former, as recorded in the Heimskringla, affords an instance of clever marksmanship, which it is to be presumed could not often be paralleled : — " King ]\Iagnus shot with the bow ; but Hugo the Brave was all over in armour, so that nothing was bare about him excepting one eye. King Magnus let fly an arrow at liim, as also did a man who was beside the king. They both struck him at once. The one shaft hit the nose-screen of the helmet, which was bent by it on one side, and the other arrow hit the earl's eye, and went through his head, and that was found to be the king's. Earl Hugo fell, and the English tied, with the loss of many people." The story is also told by Giraldus Cambrensis. Magnus is said by William of Malmes- bury to have been accompanied on the expedition by Harold, a son of King Harold. The Normans withdrew, having conferred the government on Owen ap Edwin, who is said to have been the son of the widow of Edmund Ironside. tl\6 THE NORM AN ERA. and other parts of Wales ; on his death, a few years after, his conquests fall under the ecclesiastical influence of England^ ' A.D. 1099. William holds his first court in the new palace at Westminster at Pentecost. Ralph Flambard, the minister of the king, is made bishop of Durham, in May, and consecrated June 5^. William passes into France, and subdues Maine. A.D. 1100. William is killed in the New Forest, Aug. 2^ ; he is buried in Winchester cathedral, " at- tended by many of the nobility," says Wilham of Mal- mesbury, " though lamented by few." ' The see of Sodor (or the Isles) find Man is of remote antiquity, being ascribed by some writers to the time of the Diocletian per- secution. Eeymund, or Wymund, a Xorrnan monk, was consecrated to the see by Thomas, archbishop ot York, between 1109 and 1111. _ ' He is accused of having suggested to the king the keeping of bishops' sees and other preferments in his own hands, and of tra- versing the coimtry, not as a justiciary, but for the purpose of extorting money. 1 The dreams of the king and others, said to portend his death, need no remark ; but there is a singular statement on the subject in^Eadmer, that " Anselm, the exiled archbishop of Canterhm-y being with Hugo, the abbot of Cluny, the conversation tm-ned on K in g WiUiam, when the abbot obseiwed, — 'Last night that king was brought before G-od ; and by a dehberate judgment incurred the sorrowful sentence of damnation.' How he came to know this, he neither explained at the time, nor did any of his hearers ask ; nevertheless, out of respect to his piety, not a doubt of the tinath of his words remained on the minds of any present. Hugo led such a life, had such a character, that all regarded his discourse, and venerated his advice, as though an oracle from heaven had spoken." From Rochester Cathedral. HENRY I. Henry, the youngest son of William I., was born at Selby, in Yorkshire, in 1068. He received a more liberal education than was then usual with princes, and hence had the name of Beauclerc. He sided alternately with his brothers Robert and William, but on one occasion when they united against him he was driven into exile. On William's death, being on the spot, he secured the English throne, and gained Normandy a few years after. His reign was marked by quarrels with the king of France, and the partisans of his brother, and his latter years were devoted to a vain endeavour to secure his crown for his daughter Maud. He died in Normandy, after a considerable absence from Eng- land, Dec. 1, 1135. Henry was twice married ; first to the " good Queen Maud," the niece of Edgar Atheling, and secondly to Adelais of Louvain, who survived him. His only legi- timate offspring were, 1. William, duke of Normandy, who perished at sea, in 1120; and 218 THE NORMAN EEA.. 2. Maud, married first to Henry Y. the emperor, and secondly to Geoffrey of Anjou ; she long contested Stephen's possession of the throne, and died Sept. 10, 1165. Henry's illegitimate issue were numerous, and two of them were the firmest friends of his daughter Maud ; these were Robert of Caen, created earl of Gloucester"", and Reynald, earl of Cornwall ; Richard was drowned with Prince William ; of another Robert, of Gilbert, Henry, and William, nothing particular is recorded; of Henry I , from his Great Seal, Arms ascribed to Henry 1. two daughters named Maud, one became countess of Britanny, the other countess of Perche ; Juliana was married to Eustace de Pacie, Constance to the lord of Beaumont ; Elizabeth to Alexander of Scotland ; and of two other daughters, whose names have not been pre- served, one was the wife of the lord of Montmorency, the other of William Goet. "■ His mother was Nesta, styled a princess of Wales, in con- sequence of which he had gi-eat influence iu that country, which he used for the support of his sister's cause. He was a learned man, and a most skilful general. By his wife Mabel, the daughter of the earl of Corbeil, he had a large family, and one of his grand- daughters became the queen of John, but was divorced by him, that he might marry Isabel of Angouleme. 219 The arms ascribed to Henry, as to his two immediate predecessors, are the arms of Normandy, " Gules, two lions passant gardant in pale, or." Though relating many matters which place Henry in a very unfavourable light, the Saxon Chronicler yet awards to him the merit of making " good peace ;" and adds that on his death "there was soon tribulation in the land, for every man that could, soon robbed another." A.D. 1100. Henry, who had been chosen king at "Winchester Aug. 3, is crowned at London Aug. 5 °, by Maurice, bishop of London. He grants a charter re- establishing the laws ascribed to Edward the Confessor, and renews his grant at the following Whitsuntide". Ralph, bishop of Durham, is imprisoned in the Tower, Sept. 14. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, is recalled. Robert returns from the crusade to Normandy, " and he was joyfully received by all his people, except where the castles were held by King Henry's men." Henry marries Maud, the daughter of Malcolm of Scotland, Nov. 11. A.D. 1101. Ralph the bishop escapes from the Tower, Feb. 4. ° The years of Ms reign are reckoned from this day. ° Certain laws exist called those of Henry I., but they contain many matters which shew they were comi^iled, or at least added to, after his time. The above charter in general terms promises a re- formation of all abuses, and that only the lawful reliefs (see p. 178) shall be taken, while full freedom in regard to marriage is allowed to both wards and widows. 220 THE NOKMAN ERA. Robert prepares to invade England ; some of Henry's ships join him. Robert lands in England, July 19. Henry promises him the payment of 3000 marks of silver yearly, and the pardon of his adherents. Robert withdraws to Nor- mandy after Michaelmas. A.D. 1102. Robert Belesme, eai'l of Shrewsbury, a partisan of Robert, fortifies his castles, but is defeated, stripped of his lands, and driven from England. Part of his lands granted to Jorwerth, prince of South Wales. Olaf, son of Godred Cronan, obtains possession of Man and the Hebrides. A.D. 1 103. Magnus HI. of Norway invades Ireland ; he is killed at Moycoba, August 24p. A council at London in September. Anselm opposes the attempt of the king to compel bishops to receive in- vestiture from him. Reynelm, who had been appointed by the king bishop of Hereford, resigns the see, and Wilhara Giifard, bishop of W^inchester, is banished. Anselm also leaves England. A.D. 1104. Robert Belesme being received by Ro- bert in Normandy, a war ensues. William, earl of Mortaigne, is stripped of his lands, and flees to Normandy. A.D. 1 105. Henry passes over to Normandy, " and ' He is mentioned in the Heimskringla as Magnus Barbeen (Magnus the Barelegged), from having usually worn the Scottish kilt after his return from his expedition in 1098. (See p. 215.) The Irish are said to have received assistance against him from the NoiTnans settled on the Welsh coast ; and a design to invade England being attributed to him, Henry seized a large sum of money belonging to him, which he found in the hands of an Anglo-Danish merchant of Ijucoln. 221 almost all the castles and the chief men in that land were subdued." Robert Belesme comes to England to re-obtain his lands, but is unsuccessful. A body of Flemings settled in Pembrokeshire by the king. A.D. 1 106. Robert comes to Henry at Northampton, in Lent; "and because the king would not give him hack that which he had taken from him in Normandy, they parted in hostility, and the earl soon went over sea again." Henry passes into Normandy, and gains the battle of Tinchebrai, Sept. 28, where Robert, Edgar Atheling, the eai-1 of Mortaigne'' and others, are taken prisoners, and subdues the whole country. A council held at London, Aug. 1, in which it is agreed that bishops shall do homage to the king, but not receive investiture from him. In consequence, the bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, and Hereford, who had before received their sees, and new bishops of Exeter and LlandafF, are consecrated by Archbishop Anselm, August 11. A.D. 1107. Ralph, bishop of Durham, returns from exile. Cardigan conquered bv Gilbert Strongbow"^. Jorwerth, being considered an English partisan®, is killed by his son and nephew. "This year died the king Edgar of Scotland, on the Richard sent his chancellor (Wilham de Longchamp) to York to punish the rioters, when many fled to Scotland, and others had to compound for their oifence by heavy fines. 268 THE PLANTAGENETS. many smaller vessels, and was under the nominal com- mand of Gerard, archbishop of Aix, and Bernard, bishop of Bayonne, assisted by Richard de Camville-, Robert de Sabloil, and AVilliam de Fortz, who were styled " leaders and governors of all the king's ships," or ■' sea justices." The fleet, on its passage, assists the people of Lisbon against the Mohammedans, arrives at Marseilles Aug. 22, and reaches Messina, with the troops on board, Sept. 14. William de Longchamp°, bishop of Ely, is appointed guardian of the realm during the king's absence ; Earl JohnP, and Geoffrey, archbishop of York, are forbidden to repair to England. Richard assembles his army at Tours, and thence marches to Vezelai, where he joins the French forces, July 1 ; embarks, with his personal attendants only, at jMarseilles early in August, coasts Italy, and arrives at Messina, Sept. 23, The inhabitants of Messina, " commonly called Grif- fons '5, a wicked and cruel race, many of them of Sai-acen extraction," insult and injure the English crusaders. King Richard erects gibbets, and tries and executes the offenders ; " for, esteeming the country of the guilty of no consequence, he considered every one his subjects, and left no transgression unpunished." " He was a Norman of mean extraction, and had formerly been in the ser\T.ce of Geoffrey, the archbishop. 1* Thougli John had been most generously treated, the estates be- stowed on him amounting to nearly one-third of the kingdom, he had already begun to intrigue against his brother, and Geoffrey was known to be indignant at the elevation of Longchamp. 1 A corruption of Greeks, by which name the inhabitants of south- oi'n Italy were generally known to, and despised by, the crusaders. KICHARD I. 269 Richard seizes La Banniere, a castle in Calabria, which he bestows on his sister"^ for a residence, Oct. 1, and occupies a monastery on the straits of Messina as a stronghold, putting the garrison to death. The Messinese continuing their attempts to destroy his troops, Richard assaults and captures the city " in less time than a priest could chant matins," Oct. 4. He also builds a stout wooden fortress on the hill overlook- ing the city, styling it MategrifFon, and supports his men with provisions from the fleet, the Messinese re- fusing all supplies. Henry II., count of Champagne^, is sent forward with a portion of the armament for the relief of Acre. The kings of England and France quarrel, the latter siding with the Messinese. Richard obliges Tancred to pav a heavy compensation to Queen Joanna, and in return engages to support him on the throned Richard celebrates the Christmas festival in splendid style at his castle of Mategriifon, and bestows liberal gifts on his people. " The knights were amply relieved, who had spent great part of their substance, the foot- men and attendants received 100 sols each at least, and noble women of Palestine, whether widows or vir- gins, who had been despoiled of their inheritance and exiled, were bountifully enriched." "■ Joanna, the widow of William the Good ; she had been despoiled of her dower and imprisoned by Tancred, his successor. » He was the son pf Mary, daughter of Queen Eleanor, by her first husband, Louis VII. of France, and consequently Pdchard's nephew. • He thus made an enemy of Henry VI., who claimed possession of Sicily in right of his wife Constance, the aunt of Tancred. 270 THE PLA?JTAGENETS. A.D. 1191. The king grants a charter admitting Rye and Winchelsea to many of the privileges of the Cinque Ports, March 27. Queen Eleanor arrives at Messina with the princess Berengaria of Navarre. The French force sails from Sicily March 30, and arrives at Acre April 2 1 . The English fleet, which sails April 10, is scattered by storms ; Richard reaches Rhodes April 20 ; his queen and sister are driven to Limesol, in Cyprus, but do not land ; others of his ships are seized and plun- dered. Richard repairs to Cyprus, dethrones the tyrant Isaac", confirms their ancient laws to the people, and appoints Richard de Camville and Robert de Thurburn governors of the island, with directions to form magazines for the support of his troops in Palestine. The king marries Berengaria, at Limesol, jNIav IC ; she is crowned nest day. The fleet sails from Famagusta, June 3, and ofi" Bey- rout captures a verv large Saracen vessel, June 5. Richard arrives at Acre, June 8. Both the kings fell ill almost immediately after their arrival at Acre, but they vigorously pushed on the siege, and King Richard especiallv exerted himself in con- " He belonged to the imperial family of Constantinople, and having been appointed viceroy of the island iu 1182, made himself mdepen- dent, and ruled the people with gTeat cruelty. Being defeated and eaptm-ed by Pdehard, he was committed to the charge of the Hos- jntallers, and imprisoned at JIargath, a fortress on the Syrian coast. Tue Cypriotes soon revolted, and chose another of the Conineni for king, but he was taken and hanged. Isaac escaped after a while by i •rii,ing his guards, and endeavoured to establish himself in Asia Minor ; he was at last poisoned by one of his attendants. KICHAKD I. 271 structing mangonels and other battering engines, by means of which the city was speedily reduced to extre- mity, as the English fleet blockaded the harbour, and cut off the supplies it was in the habit of receiving by sea. Several partisans of Earl John take up arms ; he ar- rives in England, and seizes the castles of Nottingham and Tickhill. Acre is surrendered '^i July 12, and about 5,000 hos- tages given for the delivery of the cross (captured at Tiberias) and many Christian prisoners, and the pay- ment of a heavy ransom. The kings of England and France quarrel about the claims of Conrad of INIontferrat to the crown of Jeru- salem y. The king of France, after taking an oath not to in- jure the king of England in his men and possessions in Europe, sails from Acre July 31, " receiving, instead of blessings, execrations and maledictions from the army." Richard encamps outside Acre, Aug. 25, and prepares for his march on Jerusalem. The Saracens not fulfilling the conditions, the hostages are massacred, Aug. 30 ; Saladin kills his prisoners on receiving the news. " Durmg the two winters and one summer, and up to ■^ The duke of Austria (Leopold V.), having captured one of the )wers and placed his bannerthereon, it was thrown down bj- Richard's ^rder ; hence the hatred of the duke, and Richard's captivity. y Guy de Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat had married Sibylla md Isabella, the sisters of Baldwin IV. Guy's wife had died during- he siege of Acre, and his claim to the throne was generally con- ;idered to have expired with her ; he was, too, despised as wanting opacity and courage, whilst Conrad was popular from his gallant lefence of Tyre, (see p. 262). Conrad obtained the nominal king- lom, but was soon after assassinated. 272 THE PLANTAGENETS. the middle of the autumn, when the Turks were hanged (as they deserved to be)," says Geoffrey de Vinsauf, " in the sight of God and man, in return for the ruin of our churches and slaughter of our men, many of the Chris tians, who at great sacrifice had engaged in the siege of Acre, died. The common men of so great an army who perished appears to surpass computation, but the sum total of the chiefs a certain writer has thus estimated : We lost in the army six archbishops and patriarchs, twelve bishops, forty counts, and five hundred men of noble rank ; we lost also a vast number of priests and others who cannot be counted." Richard marches along the coast towards Ascalon his fleet keeping company ; the Saracens harass his march. He passes Csesarea, and at Arsoof defeats the Saracens, Sept. 6. James of Avennes being killed in the battle is solemnly buried the next dav at Arsoof, '' in the church of Our Lady the Queen of Heaven." Geoffrey, archbishop of York, comes to England, Sept. 14 ; is seized and imprisoned by Longchamp, Sept. 19. Earl John espouses his cause, Oct. 4 ; Long champ is expelled, Oct. 10, and retires to Normandy. Saladin destroys many of the fortresses, and Richard encamps at Joppa (Jaffa). Many of his troops return to Acre, but are brought back. Richard, while hawking with a small escort, is sur prised by the Saracens, and onlv escapes capture through the devotion of William de Pratelles^. ^ He had long served in Palestine, and could speak the Saraceni( language ; he cried out that he was the melech (king), and was carried off. Richard gave ten Saracen chiefs in exchange for him when about to quit the Holy Laud. KICHARD I. 273 Richard advances towards Jerusalem, restores several of the ruined castles, and rescues a body of Templars from destruction by his personal efforts, Nov. 6. Saladin makes overtures for peace. Richard encamps at Eamla, and remains there seven weeks ; Saladin retires to Jerusalem. The Christians suffer much from bad weather, and their sick and wounded are waylaid and murdered. " But," savs Geoffrey de Vinsauf, " surely these are all to be ac- counted martyrs, and there is this consolation, that though the Turks slew them with evil intentions, yet they suffered but for a moment, and gained the reward of a long service." A.D. 1192. A council held, at which it is deter- mined to abandon the march on Jerusalem, Jan. 4 ; the army retires to Ascalon, which it reaches, after much suffering from the weather, Jan. 20. The fortifications of Ascalon restored. Richard receives intelligence of the proceedings of his enemies in Europe, and prepares for his return, April. Conrad of Montferrat chosen king of Jerusalem ; he is assassinated at Tyre, April 27 or 29. Henry of Champagne is chosen king of Jerusalem; when Richard bestows Cyprus on Guy of Lusignan. Richard captures the fortress of Daron, May 21. The army resolve on the siege of Jerusalem, even though R,ichard should leave them. Richard, being strongly exhorted by his chaplain, Wilham of Poitiers, proclaims his intention (June 4.) uf not quitting the army before the following Easter. Richard sets out on his second march against Jerusa- VOL. I. T 274 THE PLANTAGENETS. lem, June 7. He encamps at Betenoble, and remains there until July 6 ; then, the siege of Jerusalem being found impracticable, breaks up his camp, dismantles Daron, strengthens Ascalon and Joppa, and reaches Acre July 26. Saladin attacks Joppa, July 26 ; he obliges the in- habitants to promise to surrender, Aug. 1, but they are re- lieved by Richard, who restores their ruined walls. Richard falls ill, and concludes a truce with Saladin, according to which Ascalon is to be demolished, Joppa, with the sea coast as far as Tyre, is secured to the Chris- tians, and the freedom of pilgrimage to Jerusalem esta- blished ^. Various companies make the pilgrimage, and are kindly treated by Saphadin and Saladin, who control the fana- ticism of their followers'^. " When the count [Henry of Champagne] and the bishop [of Salisbury] had returned from the sacred places," says Richard of Devizes, " they endeavoured to persuade the king to go up ; but the worthy indignation of his * Richard evidently only agreed to this tnice with reluctance, lor after it was concluded, "he sent ambassadors to Saladin, announc- ing to him that he had only asked this truce of three years for the pm'pose of revisiting his country, and collecting more men and money, wherewith to return and rescue all the land of Jerusalem from his domination." Saladin rephed in terms of high commendation ot Richard's valour. "^ The first party of pilgrims, advancing without precaution, fell in with a large body of 'lurks, who, as Geoffrey de Vinsauf says, "grinned and frowned on them, and made them wish themselves back again at Acre." Saladin afterwards posted guards on the roads for their protection, but still they could only visit the holy places in haste and fear. " We saluted them with tears, and then we de- parted together with speed, for it was imsafe to go anywhere but in a body ; the unbelievers secretly strangled three or four of our nion who strayed into the crypts of the church on Mount Zion The Turks spm-ned us from them, and we grieved over the pollution of the chui-ches and sepulchres, now used as stables by the infidels." RICHARD I. L'/O noble mind could not consent to receive that from the courtesy of the Gentiles which he could not obtain by the gift of God." Richard sets sail from Acre, Oct. 9^^. "All night the ship sped on her way bv the light of the stars, and when the morning dawned, the king looked back with yearning eyes on the land he had left, and after long meditation he prayed aloud, in the hear- ing of several, in these words ; ' Oh ! holy land, I com- mend thee to God ; and if His heavenly grace shall grant me so long to live that I may, in His good time, aiFord thee assistance, I hope to be able to be some day a succour to thee*^ !' " The king's fleet reaches Sicily, but his own vessel is driven to Corfu, Nov. 11; he is soon after shipwrecked in the upper part of the Adriatic, and attempts to make his way in disguise, as Hugh the merchant. He at length reaches Erperg, near Yienna, where, being recognised, he is seized by Leopold, duke of Austria®, Dec. 20. The emperor (Henry VI. claims the custody of Ri- chard, Dec. 28, and confines him in a castle in the Tyrol. A.D. 1193. Richard's prison is discovered by Long- champ ; the queen-mother appeals to the pope (Celes- tine IIL) who excommunicates his oppressors, but fails to obtain his freedom. Richard is brought before the diet at Hagenau, about Easter (March 28), where he clears himself by oath = His queen and his sister sailed with tlie main body of his fleet on Sept. 29. '' Geotfi-ey de Vinsauf. ° Though this prince has rendered himself detested for this base act, he had greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Acre. He was thi-own trom his horse in Lee. 1194, and died shortly after. 276 THE PLANTAGENETS. from the murder of Conrad ; a heavy sum is settled for his ransom, June 28. Richard receives the nominal crown of Provence from the emperor, and does homage to him, Sept. 22. Richard's ransom having been raised in England, Philip of France and Earl John promise large bribes to the emperor to keep him in prison. The emperor delavs his release. A.D. 1194. Earl John surrenders part of Normandv to Philip and does homage to hira for the remainder. Philip shortly after endeavours to seize the whole pro- vince. The German princes compel the emperor, against his will, to release Richard, who is set at liberty Feb. 4. The English fleet is despatched to Antwerp for the king, and he lands at Sandwich March 13^ Richard captures the castle of Nottingham, and dis- perses the adherents of John. Is a second time crowned at Winchester, April 17, the king of Scotland bearing a part in the ceremony, Richard passes over to Normandy early in May, and pardons his brother John and his adherents. Marches against the king of France, defeats him at Fretteval, in the Orleanais, and captures the records of his kingdoms, July 15. The French retire from Nor- mandy, Touraine, and Maine. ' He -was brought over in "Trenchenier," by Alan of Yarmouth, the same man and ship as had conveyed him to Palestine. = This misfortune led to the abandonment of the pi-actice of carry- ing all grants and charters about with the king. Commissioners were appointed, who laboured diligently to recover the lost documents or procure copies of them from the grantees, and when this was ac- complished thej^ were deposited in the monastery of St.Denys, as thi- first Pubhc Record Office, under the charge of Guein, bishop of Sens. KICHARD I. 277 David of ^Vales dies ; he is succeeded by his nephew Uewelyn ap Jorwerth. A.D. 1 195. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, who IS also papal legate and guardian of the realm, raises enormous sums of monev for the war against France , William Fitzosborne (called commonly William with the Beard) inflames the discontent of the Londoners against him. A.D. 1196. A truce concluded with the king cf France, but soon after broken bv him. A tumult in London, in consequence of which Fitz- osborne is seized and executed, April 6. Richard demands the guardianship of Prince Arthur^, which the Bretons refuse. A.D. 1197. Thecountsof Flanders and Champagne, and the Bretons, join Richard against the king of France. Philip, bishop of Beauvais, is captured ; the pope in- effectually claims his release ^ An indecisive action is fought at Gisors, Oct. 28. A truce for a year is agreed to. Richard builds a strong and statelv castle on an island at Andelys, on the Seine, above Rouen '^. *" The youns: prince was only in his tenth year, having heen born ]\rarch29, 1187. ■ He had served in the crusade, and shewn himself hostile to the English; he remained in confinement until Richard's death, when he was released by John for a ransom of 2000 marks ; his imprison- ment, however, had not quenched his martial spirit, as he fought at the battle of Bouvines, and there captured William Longespee, earl of Salisbury, the natural brother of the king. '' He is said to have planned it himself; and when it was com- pleted he so admired it that he exclaimed, "Is not it a saucy castle ?" (Chateau Gaillard. which name is still borne by its pic- turesque ruins.) He soon after exchanged it with the archbishop of Rouen for the town of Diejipe ; the French captured it from the 278 ' THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1198. The French are defeated at Gisors, Sept. 20, when Philip narrowly escapes with his life. A.D. 1199. A five years' truce is concluded by the mediation of the papal legate, Jan. 13. A. rebellion breaks out in Poitou ; Richard is mor- tally wounded before the castle of Chalus-Chabrol, March 26 ; he acknowledges his brother John as his successor, dies April 8, and is buried at Fontevraud, bequeathing his heart to the city of Rouen'. prelate, and Richard besieged it ineffectually ; indeed Hemingburgh and some other writers say that he received his death-wound there, and not, as is usually supposed, at Chalus-Chabrol. ' A cotemporary anonymous account of Richard's death has been published by Labbe.in his Bibliotbeca MSS. t. ii. p. 302, and carefully investigated by an eminent French antiquary of the neighbourhood, M. Verneilh, from which it appears that the king had forced his way into the mner court of the castle, but one small though lofty round tower (still existing) held out. " In the said tower were two knights, ■with about 33 other men and women. One of the knights was called Peter Bi-u, and the other Peter de Basile, of whom it is said there he shot the arrow from the cross-bow that struck the king, and of which he died witliin twelve days, namely, on the 8th day of AjDi-il, the 10th hour of the night. In the interval while he was ill, he ordered his people to besiege the castle of the viscount [of Limoges], called Nuntrvmi, and a certain other tower called IMontagut, which they did, but the death of the king being heai'd of, they retired in con- fusion. The king himself had proposed in his heart to destroy all the castles of the said viscount." Nuntrum or isontron. and Mont- agut or Piegut, {puy and mont are synonymous,) are a few miles Irora Chains There are remains of all these castles ; those of Chalus are considerable. AU these places, as well as Basile-CharapagTiac, a small town of the same neighbourhood, belonged to the viscount of Limoges, who was hah" brother of Aymer, count of Angouleme, and both were bitter enemies of Richard. See De Caumont's Bulletin Ivlonumental, vol. xiv. pp. 426 — 36. IsabeUaof Aog from her monument at Fonti JOHN. John, the voungest son of Henry II., was born Dec. 24, 1166, at Oxford. Though very early the nominal go- vernor of Ireland, he was not the holder of any fiefs, as h;s brothers were, and hence the name of Sansterre, or Lackland, by which he is commonly known. He did not openly oppose his father, but he treacherously allied himself with his enemies ; hence, although liberallv treated by his brother Eichard**, he was distrusted by bun, and forbidden to come to England during the latter's absence on the crusade. This injunction he disregarded, and he had hopes of placing himself on the throne, when Richard's return disconcerted his schemes and drove him into exile. He was soon pardoned by the generous king, and, by the influence of his mother, was even named his successor. This involved the setting aside of his nephew Arthur, and in the war thereby occa- sioned the greater part of the French possessions of the crown were lost. The remainder of John's reign was * See p. 267- 280 THE PLiNTAGENETS. filled up with quarrels with the pope (Innocent III), vain attempts to recover his lost possessions, and such oppression of his subjects as led them to seek foreign aid against him ; and when his troubled life was brought to a sudden close, Oct. 19, 1216, the dauphin of France was the acknowledged master of a great part of England. John, when a child, was contracted to Alice, daughter of Humbert, count of Savoy, but she died soon after ; he afterwards married his cousin Isabel (or Hawise, as she is sometimes called), grand-daughter of the cele- brated Robert, earl of Gloucester, receiving with her the earldom, but he divorced her on the plea of con- sanguinity to marry Isabel, daughter of the count of Angouleme, although she was already betrothed, if not married, to Hugh Lusignan, orle Brun, earl of Marche''. His legitimate children, who were all by Isabel, were — 1. Henry, who became king. 2. Richard, earl of Cornwall, born in 1209 ; he served with reputation and success both in France and the Holy Land, and he was in many respects a perfect contrast to his brother the king, being wise, valiant, and rich'^, and he often acted the part of a mediator • After John's death she married Hugh, and had by him a numer- rius family, who were greatly favoured by their half-brother Henry. She also induced Henry to go to war with Louis of France in sup- port of her husband, who had rebelled, and caused so much mis- chief by her intrigues that the French named her Jezebel. Hug-h, after acting most treacherously by his Enghsh allies, was obliged f o submit to l^ouis and to accompany him to Egj-pt, where he was killed, being, as his cotemporaries assure us, purposely placed in the front rank as a suspected man. His widow took the veil, and dying soon after was buried at Fontevraud. ■' Much of this wealth, however, was discreditably acquired. Be- side plundering the Jews, who were considered fair prey for all, he gained large sums by purchasing from the pope the power to release from their vows, on his own terms, such as wished to be excused from 281 between him and his subjects. Richard was induced to aspire to the imp.erial dignity, and [ Q Q bore the title of king of the Romans, but derived Httle else from his pro- fuse expenditure of money abroad. He fought on his brother's side at Lewes, and was made prisoner. Pie died at his manor of Berkhamp- stead, in 1272. He married first Eichard, can ot comwaii. Isabel, daughter of William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, and secondly Sanchia, sister of his brother's wife, Eleanor of Provence. He had several children, of whom one, Henry, was murdered in a church at Yiterbo, by his fugitive cousins the Montforts, in 1271, and another, Richard, was killed at the siege of Berwick in 1296. John left three daughters, of whom Joan was married to Alexander H. of Scotland ; Eleanora, first to WiUiam Mar- shal, the younger, earl of Pembroke, and next to Simon de Montfort; and Isabel, to the emperor Frederick II. This king had many illegitimate children, of whom may be mentioned, Richard, who put to death Eustace the Monk; Oliver, who served at Damietta in 1249; and Joan, married to Llewelyn II. (ap Jorwerth), prince of North Wales. The arms borne by John are the same as those used by Richard I. in the latter part of his reign, " Gules, three lions passant gardant in pale, or." His badge ap- pears to have been a star issuing from between the horns of a crescent. going on the crusade ; " from one archdeaconry only, " says Matthew l-'aris, "he is said to have carried off £600." William Longespee also raised money by hke means, but he expended it in the holy war. 282 THE PLANTAGENETS. No English king has been handed down to us with so bad a character as John, but we can hardly expect a perfectly fair account, when we remember that all our early historians belong to a body with which he was at open variance for the greater part of his reign. The treachery and ingratitude which he is accused of dis- playing to his father and his brother Richard seem un- deniable, as well as a licentious life, and manv acts of cruelty when he had become king ; but he probably was not the cowardly, incapable ruler which he is usually re- presented by English writers ; foreign annalists, on the contrary, speak of him as a fierce and warlike king. It is certain that he made campaigns in Scotland and in Ireland with success, and if he was less fortunate in France and in Wales, the cause is probably to be found quite as much in the disaffection of his followers, as in. anv want of courage or conduct on his own part. A.D. 1199. Earl John is received as duke of Nor- mandy at Rouen, April 25. Arthur, his nephew, is ac- knowledged in Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, and sup- ported by the king of France (Philip II.) 2S3 Archbishop Hubert, Geoffrey Fitz-Pierre, and William Marshal, being despatched to England, obtain the re- cog'nition of John as king at a council at Northampton. John lands at Shoreham, May 25 ; is crowned at Westminster, May 27 (Ascension-day^) ; he returns to Normandy before the end of June. A.D. 1200. John comes to England m February, and makes a progress through the country ; meanwhile, the king of France garrisons Arthur's possessions, and attacks Normandy. John goes to Normandy at the end of April ; Phihp makes peace and acknowledges him as kmg. Ma} 23. John divorces his wife, and marries Isabel of Angou- leme, who was betrothed to Hugh Lusignan, count de la Marche; is crowned with her at Westminster Oc- tober 8. The king of Scotland does homage to John at Lin- coln^, Nov. 22. A.D. 1201, John returns to Normandy in May; visits the king of France at Paris in Julv, and endea- vours to induce him to abandon the cause of Arthur. A.D. 1202. The king of France, urged by Hugh, count de la Marche, makes war on John, and endea- vours to establish Arthur in Poitou. Arthur and Hugh besiege Queen Eleanor in the castle ^ The years of his reign are calculated from one Ascension-day to another, and as tliis is a movable feast, their commencement varies from May 3 to June 3. ' English and Scottish historians diflfer as to what lands this homage was for ; but as Richard I. had formally abandoned all claim to homage for the kingdom, (see p. 267), it could hardly be for anything more than the earldom of Huntingdon and other lands in England. 284 THE PLANTAGENETS. of Mirabeau. John marches to her rehef, defeats the French and Poictevins, July 31, capturing' Arthur and his sister Eleanor, Hugh de Lusignan and his brother, and above 200 other knights^. A.D. 1203. John, on the complaint of the bishop of Rennes, is summoned by tlie king of France to answer for the presumed death of Arthur ; he neglects the cita- tion, and at length is branded as a felon and traitor, and adjudged to have forfeited all his lands in France. The Bretons take up arms in the name of the princess Eleanor, and the king of France invades Normandy. John passes his time idly at Rouen for a while, and then retires to England in December. A.D. 1204. The conquest of Normandy is effected by the king of France in July ; Anjou, Maine, and Tou- raine also submit to him. A.D. 1205. John prepares a force for the invasion of Normandy in May and June, but abandons the design. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, dies, July 13. The monks choose one successor (Reginsrld, their sub-prior), the king another, (John de Grey, bishop of Norwich,) but both are set aside by the pope (Innocent HI.) in favour of Stephen Langton, which gives rise to a breach between the king and the Holy See. e Arthur was sent to Falaise, and thence to Rouen, and, althoug-h the particulars are not known, there can be no reasonable doubt that he soon came to an untimely end, probably in April, 1203 ; his sister was removed to England, and kept sometimes at Corfe Castle, some- times at Bristol, until her death in 1241 ; from entries on the Rolls she appears to have been treated as became her rank. Many of the other prisoners were confined in Corfe Castle, where they are be- lieved to have been starved to death ; and there is proof on the Pa;e;;t RoUs that Hugh de Lusignan was long kept in fetters at Caen. 285 A.D. 1206. John invades France with a large army, landing in the neighbourhood of Rochelle, in June ; he captures Montauban, Aug. 1, and burns Angers in Sep- tember ; concludes a two years' truce, by which he re- nounces all the country north of the Loire, and returns to England in December. A.D. 1207. The king seizes a thirteenth part of all property, whether secular or ecclesiastical ; GeofFrev, archbishop of York, in consequence excommunicates the king's advisers, is deprived of his see, and flees to France *". The monks of Canterbury, having accepted the pope's nominee, are expelled, and their possessions seized by the king, July 15. A.D. 1208. The pope places England under an in- terdict, March 23. John exacts a fresh oath of allegiance from his sub- jects, and demands bonds and hostages from his barons ; " but the more powerful nobles, when the king required hostages, refused them to his face, saying, ' How can we trust him with our children, when he wickedly slew his nephew with his own hand ?' " Some strengthen their castles, others flee to Ireland or to Scotland. Many of the bishops also leave England. A.D. 1209. John marches into Northumberland, and obtains homage and tribute from the king of Scot- h:nd\ in Ausrust ; the fu^'itives retire to Ireland. John is excommunicated by the pope in November. He continues his exactions from the Church, and also •^ He died in exile in Normandy, Dec. 18, 1212. ' He is also said to have captured Berwick, and to have built a castle there. 286 THE PLANTAGENETS. extorts large sums from the Jews, who begin to retire from England. A.D. 1210. John goes to Ireland early in June, and reduces the English settlers to his obedience'' ; he returns to England in August, bringing with him numerous cap- tives, many of whom are imprisoned at Corfe or Windsor castles, and are believed to have been starved to death . Some of the fugitives turn pirates, against whom a fleet of galleys is fitted out. The king summons an assembly of the prelates, abbots, and other heads of rehgious communities, and extorts a very large sum of money from them. A.D. 1211. John invades Wales, but is obhged to retire from want of supplies. He again takes the field in July, and penetrates to the region of Snowdon, ravaging the country. Llewelyn is obhged to promise submission, and to give many hos- tages from the families of his chiefs '^^. Durand, a knight hospitaller, and Pandulph, a cardinal, are sent by the pope to endeavour to bring about a peace between the king and the Church, but without success. A.D. 1212. The pope, faihng to procure any con- cession from John, absolves his subjects from their * Hugh and Walter de Lacy, the sons of the late deputy, as well as others, had already adopted much of the manners of the native cliiefs, and acted like independent princes. ' Among them were the family of WilUam de Braose, a potent lord in Ireland ; he escaped to France, and died there soon after. One of his sons found refuge in Wales for a time, and committed many ravages in the marches, but at length, according to one of the Royal Letters in the Tower, he was hanged in the presence of a large assembly at Crokm, apparently by order of Llewelyn. " The peace was granted at the request of his wife Joan, who was John's natural daughter. JOHN. 287 allegiance ; he also forbids all persons, under pain of excommunication, to hold communication with him. Llewelyn ravages the marches, when John has all the hostages hung, and prepares for a fresh expedition aeainst him, but is deterred by the information from his daughter Joan, that his barons have resolved to betray him into the hands of the enemy. Robert Fitz- Walter'^ and other nobles, being thus compromised, flee to the continent, when the king seizes their estates, and hires mer- cenary troops. A fleet of gallevs despatched to ravage the coast of Wales, in August. Philip, king of France, prepares to ^,^, „f Robert Fitz-w»it< invade England. The king's brother William, earl of Salisburv, Wil- liam of Wrotham, the guardian of the Cinque Ports, the governors of Nottingham and other castles, the chan- cellor (Walter de Grey), the justiciary (Geoffrey Fitz- Pierre), the bishops of Norwich (John de Grev) and Winchester (Peter des Roches), the chief forester, and many Norman and Flemish militarv adventurers'^, adhere to him, and raise forces and a fleet for his service. The earl of Sahsbury sails with the Cinque Ports fleet, and ravages the coast of France,burning Barfleur, Dieppe, and other towns, and bringing home many prizes. Fitz-Walter belonged to the Clare family. He returned in 1214, and headed the " army of God and Holy Church," which extorted Magna Charta from the king. He was taken prisoner at Lincoln, in 1217, and soon after went to the Holy Land, where he died. - » These men became so obnoxious, that their dismissal forms one of the articles of Magna Charta, although some of them had been in the king's service almost from the beginning of his reign. See p. 291. 288 THE PLANTAGEXETS. A.D. 1213. The king of France marches against the count of Flanders (Ferrand), who is an ally of John and captures Bruges and other towns. The earl of Salisbury burns the French fleet at Damme, (probably early in April, but the exact date is unknown,) which obliges Philip to withdraw. Pandulph, the papal legate, is received by John ; the king is solemnly reconciled to the Church at Dover, May 13; he does homage for his dominions to the pope, and binds himself and his successors to an annual payment to the Holy See, May 15. The king issues letters of recal to the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Bath, Ely, Hereford, Liii- coln, and London, and the prior and monks of Can- terbury, May 24. The papal excommunication is formally revoked, Ju 20, and the interdict removed, Dec. 6. John prepares for an invasion of France, in August, but his barons refuse to follow him. A.D. 1214. John invades France, landing in the neighbourhood of Rochelle, February 15. The king of France gains the battle of Bouvines over the EngHsh. and Flemings, July 27 ; the earl of Sali; bury is there captured by Philip, the bishop of Beauvai- the count of Flanders is also taken. John is repulsed before the castle of Roche aux Moines,! in Anjou, in July ; hearing of the battle of Bouvines an the captivity of his brother^, he makes a truce, and re turns to England in October. p He was libei-ated in February, 1215, in exchange for Robert, son of the count de Dreux, and cousin of the king of France, v,uc had been captm-ed the year before in Britanny. 2R9 MAGNA CHARTA. A.D. 1214. Stephen Langton, archbishop of Can- terbury, and many of the barons, meet at St. Edmunds- bmy, Nov. 20, and agree on demands for a redress of grievances from the king. A.D. 1215. The barons present their demands'^ to the king at the New Temple, in London, Jan. 6 ; he defers his answer till Easter. The king endeavours to divide the confederates ; he grants free electron to the Church, Jan. 15 ; exacts anew the oath of allegiance, and assumes the cross, March 4, (being Ash- Wednesday,) in the Tower of London. The pope censures the archbishop and the barons, May 19; but they assemble at Stamford, and demand an answer from the king. The king continuing to temporize, the barons march to London, which they enter, Mav 24. The king meets the barons at Runnymede (near Eg- ham,) and concedes Magna Charta, June 15, but not in good faith. He at once appeals to the pope, and begins •i These demands, which foita the basis of Magna Charta, con- tradict the assertion sometimes made, that the barons had the in- terests of their own class only in view. They claim that no right shall be sold, delayed, or denied ; that the law courts shaU no longer follow the king's person ; that no penalty shall be laid on any free man, but by the judgment of his peer.s and according to law ; that for all offences only reasonable fines shall be imposed according to each man's degree, and " a viliein also shall be amerced in like man- ner." They demand that new afforestations and weirs in rivers shall be abolished ; that weights and measures shall be justly fixed, mer- chants protected, and freedom of passing to and from the land se- cured, except in ease of war. They also insist on the surrender of the hostages ar,d bonds that the king had obtained from them, and that he shall dismiss his mercenary troops. 290 THE PLANTA&ENETS. to hire fresli mercenary troops, which the barons sus- pecting, they have frequent angry conferences with him. This celebrated charter'" professes to be granted by the king "in the presence of God, and for the health of our soul, and of the souls of all our ancestors, and of our heirs, to the honour of God and exaltation of holy Church and amendment of our realm," by the counsel of the archbishops of Canterbury and Dublin, seven other bishops, " Master Pandulph, our lord the pope's subdeacon and familiar," brother Emeric, master of the Temple, the earls of Pembroke, Salisbury', Warren, and Arundel, Alan de Galloway, constable of Scotland, Hubert de Burgh, seneschal of Poitou, "and others of our liegemen." By modern writers Magna Charta has been divided into sixty-three chapters, according to the various sub- jects embraced. It is often erroneously considered as a grant of new privileges, but such is not the case as re- gards anv class ; it is rather a restoration of some portions of the Anglo-Saxon constitution, which had been sus- pended by the Norman kings, and a redress of injustices perpetrated by John himself. Following out the declara- tion, "to none will we sell, to none will we denv, to nont- will we delay right or justice," like the charters of former kings, it promises peace and freedom of election to the Church, a legal course of government, and a full redress of all grievances. It then proceeds to concede all the barons' demands; gives up their hostages and bonds'*; ' The charter was sealed, like other grants of the time, not si^ed. as is often stated ; the earliest royal signature known is one ui' Richard II. • See pp. 2 So, 2S9. JOHN. 291 abandons new-made forests and fisheries, amends weights and measures, and dismisses mercenary troops ' ; also makes special mention of, and promises redress for, many unjust acts, not only of the king, but of his pre- decessors, committed against Alexander of Scotland and Llewelyn of Wales. Magna Charta also requires the great tenants to con- cede to their dependants all customs and liberties as freely as they are granted to themselves'^; thus the humbler classes were interested in its due execution, and failed not to support those who in later times laboured for that end"''. Several copies of it were made, in order that one might be preserved in each cathedral, and a body of twenty-five barons was ap- pointed, whose duty it was to enforce its observance on all parties. Beside binding himself by oath not to attempt the revocation of the charter by means of an appeal to the pope (a promise he at once set about breaking), the king was obliged to agree that the Tower should be put into the hands of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the ' "All foreig-n knights and bowmen" are to be removed ; among- their leaders are mentioned Gerard de Atyes, Andrew, G3'on, and Peter de Cancel, Cj'on and Engelard de Cygony, Philip Marc, and Geoffrey de Martin. Gerard had been in the king's service in Poitou in l'J04 ; the others had apparently joined him more recently, as their names do not appear on the Patent or Close Rolls before 1211. In spite of the stipulatioo, they were still employed, and Engelard was warden of the honour of Windsor in the next reign. " Some writers have maintained that this clause was inserted by the king, against the wish of the barons ; but its equivalent appears aniong- their demands. See p. 289. ' Though endeavours wei*e constantly made by several succeeding kings to set it aside, they all eventually failed, and each monarch was obliged to learn that his most popular and politic act was a solemn confirmation of Magna Charta. 292 THE PLANTAGENETS. city of London confided to the care of Robert Fitz- Walter, " marshal of the army of God and Holv Church," as pledges of safety to the barons ; a ne- cessary precaution, as the document itself furnishes the clearest e\Tidence of the tyranny he had before ex- ercised, and of che grievous abuses that had been en- grafted on the originally severe requirements of the feudal system. John, knowing that the mercenaries are near, positivelv refuses to abide by the charter, exclaiming. " Why do not these men ask my kingdom }'' and withdraws to the Kentish coast at the end of August. The mercenaries arrive in September. John formally appeals to the pope, Sept. 13, and immediately begins to ravage the barons' estates ; he takes the castle of Rochester, after an eight weeks' siege, JN^ov. 30. " Now King John, accompanied by that detestable troop of foreigners, whose leader and general was Fulk de Breaute^, a man of ignoble birth, and a bastard, and carried away by his fury, began to lay waste the nor thern parts of England, to destroy the castles of the barons, or compel them to submit to his order, burning without mercy all their towns, and oppressing the inha- bitants with tortures to extort money." The pope annuls Magna Charta, excommunicates the y He had long- been in theking's service, and wasbailiff of Glamorgan in 1208 ; he was also one of his executors. After the war was over, he held Bedford castle, plundering parties from which did much mischief to the ahbey of St. Aiban's ; and hence perhaps he is re- presented as worse than all his fellows by Matthew Paris. After a long career of violence he was driven from the idngdom by Hubert de Burgh. See p. 305. 293 barons, at first generally, afterwards by name, and sus- pends the archbishop, December. A.D. 1216. The barons surrender Northumberland to Alexander of Scotland, and do homage to him. John advances into Scotland, ravaging the country, in January. The barons, who occupy London, ravage the surround- ing districts. "They plundered the farmers and the citizens, scarcely sparing the churches, and made them- selves masters of everything. From Yarmouth, Ips- wich, Colchester, and other towns, they exacted a heavy ransom."' The king marches southward ; De Breaute plunders the isle of Ely, and profanes the minster. The king reaches Enfield, March 30 ; the barons de- spatch envoys and hostages to offer the crown to Louis, the son of the king of France. John repairs to the Kentish coast, but, distrusting his mercenaries, on the approach of Louis he withdraws westward ; he passes some tune at Corfe castle, and tlien marches to Shropshire. Louis accepts the barons" offer, in spite of the pro- hibition of the papal legate, April 26; sends aid to the barons, and lands hmiself at Sandwich, May 21. He takes Rochester, and receives the barons' homage at London, June 2. Louis besieges Dover ineffectually ; the Cinque Ports fleet captures his ships. Louis takes Winchester in June, and other castles shortly after, but is repuksed at AYindsor. John, being joined bv some of tiie barons, who dis- 294 THE PLANTAGENETS. trust their French alhes, crosses the countrj-, and cap- tures Lincoln, Sept. 22. He marches southward, ravaging the country, and reaches Lvnn Oct. 9, where the inhabitants welcome him^, and remains there three days. He loses much of his baggage and treasure in his march on the shore of the Wash towards Wisbeach, Oct. 11, Is seized with illness at Swineshead, Oct. 12, pro- ceeds through Sleaford to Newark, Oct. 16, and dies there Oct. 19 ; lie is buried at Worcester, according to his own wish'^. ' The town received fi'om hire its present name of King's LjTin, and also a sword and cup, which it still presei-ves. Indeed, liowever hated bj' other classes, John seems to nave been attached to, and a personal favom-ite with, the seafaring peojjle, much of his time in each year being ordinarily spent on the coast, as appears fi-om the Close and Patent EoUs ; this probably gave occasion to the state- ment (now known to be incorrect) of Matthew Paris, that the king, immediately after the granting of Magna Charta, retired to the Isle of Wight, and there passed his time in famihar association with mariners anci fisheiTnen. " He bequeatlied his body to St. Wulstan, the patron of that cathedral, although he had before founded a Cistercian monaster}- at Beauheu (near Lymington, in Hampshire), intending it for his place of burial ; in 1228 his son made application to the pope for peiTnission to transfer the body to Beauliou, but the removal was not effected. Arms of Henry rtr. HENRY III. Henry, the eldest son of King John and Isabella of Angouleme, was born at Winchester, Oct. 1, 1207. The kingdom to which he succeeded in his 10th year was little more than nominal, but the vigour and ability of his guardians, Gualo, the papal legate, and William Marshal, earl of Pembroke^, soon effected a change; they regranted Magna Charta, on which the English barons, distrustful of their French allies, very generally returned to their allegiance, and Louis, the dauphin, retired from the field. " He was the son of John the Marshal, a zealous partisan of the Empress Maud, and obtained the earldom of Pembroke by marrying Isabel, daughter of Richard de Clare. He served the j'oung Henry, Richard, and John, with great fidelity, and received from the latter king a grant of the whole province of Leinster. On John'^ death, he took such measures as caused the j^outhful Henry HI. to be received as king, and acted as Pro- tector of the kingdom until his own death, which occurred in the year 1219. He left, beside daughters, five sons, who all in suc- cession became earls of Pembroke. See p. 314. oftheEarlMarshsl. 296 THE PLANTAGENKTS. On Pembroke's death, Hubert de Burgh (formerlv seneschal of Poitou)b and Peter des Roches, bishop nf Winchester, (" a man well skilled in war'=,") shared be- tween them the rule of the kingdom for a while, and, though hostile to each other, thev kept the refractory barons in check ; but as they failed to observe the pro- visions of Magna Charta, fresh quarrels continually arose, Des Roches was obhged to go on a pilgrimage, and De Burgh at length was deprived of power and imprisoned. Henry, now freed from tutelage, shewed himself quite unequal to his station, and the whole after-part of his long reign presents a melancholy picture of the evils that may occur to a nation from the weakness of its rulers. He engaged in tedious wars with France for the recovery "^ Hubert do Burgh was the nephew of William Fitz-Aldelm, one of the earliest Norman settlei-s in Ireland. He was frequently em- ployed in foreign embassies by King John, and strenuously sup- ported his cause against the barons. He was the chief ruler of the kingdom during the early years of Henry IH., held a number of the most important offices, (as justiciary, warden of the marches of Wales, constable of Dover and other castles, and sheriff of several counties,) and received the earldom of Kent ; but at length he fell into disgrace, was accused of enonnous crimes, stripped of most of his possessions, and thrown into prison. He escaped into Wales, and after a time wa.'3 restored to the king's favour, but again falling into disgrace, through maiTying his daughter ]\Iargaret to the earl of Gloucester without the royal licence, he was obliged to surrender several strong castles, and died shortlj^ after. May 12, 1243. He had been married four times, one of his wives being Isabel, the re- pudiated queen of John, and another, Margaret, sister of Alexander II. of Scotland. "= He was a Poictevin, and a knight, being styled Sir Peter des Roches, but obtained the see of Winchester in 1205 by a papal pro- vision. He was long the rival in the govei-nment of Hubert de Burgh, but being at length driven from court, he went to the Holy Land ; he again became a courtier, was again expelled, and died soon after, June t), 1238. His numerous benefactions to religious houses are praised by Matthew Paris, who adds that notwithstanding "he left to his successor a rich bishopric, with no decrease of its plough- cattle." 29' of Normandv, but only succeeded in endangering Guienne ; took part with the popes against the emperor Frederick II. and his familv, although that emperor was his bro- ther-in-law ; made frequent attacks on the independence of Wales, " but without effecting anything worthy of his rank ;" chose his counsellors and servants rather among foreigners than Englishmen ; and, to supply means for all these idle projects, so grievously oppressed every class of his people, and so utterly disregarded all his oaths and obligations, that in 1258 he was in fact deposed, all power being placed in the hands of twenty- four councillors, of whom the chief was his brother-in- law, Simon de Montfort*^. In 1261 Henry attempted to resume the royal power, but was soon obliged to give way. His queen and his '' Simon de Montfort was the son of Simon de Moutfort, so well known for his cnisade against the Albi- genses, and who had possessed the earldom of Leicester in the time of King John, but had forfeited it on a charge of treason. On occasion of a quarrel with the queen of France, he came to England, was fa- vourably received by the king, recovered (with the consent of his elder brother) the earldom, had important posts besiowed on liim, and at length by rnarrjing Eleanor, the widow of the earl of Pembroke, be- came allied to the royal family. He go- verned Gascony with vigour and vrisdom for several years, also made a joui-ney to the Holy Land ; but being at length Armboi- ue Momron. deprived of his pro%-ince, he headed the discontented barons, re- ceived also the support of the great body of the clergy, expelled the king's foreign favourites, and may almost be said to have ruled in his stead. Some of his confederates, however, deserting him, Mor- timer and the marchers made head against him, and defeated and killed him at Evesham, Aug. 4, 1265. HLs body was barbarously mutilat-ed, and denied Christian burial by the victors, while his partisans esteemed him a martyr, and cii-culated reports ascribing miracles to him. 298 THE PLANTAGENETS. son Edward, however, procured the aid of Mortimer and the other marchers, and in 1264 Henry again took the field ; he was defeated and taken prisoner at Lewes, May 13, by De Montfort, and compelled to accompany him to Wales in a campaign against his own adherents. In 1265, by a sudden change of fortune, De Montfort was killed at Evesham, and the king set at liberty, but the war lasted nearly three years after. At length some judicious concessions were made to the malcontents, and the few remaining years of Henry's reign passed without any very memorable incident. He died Nov. 16, 1272, at Westminster, and was buried in the abbey church there four days after. Henry married Eleanor, the daughter of Raymond V., count of Provence. She appears to have been a woman of beauty and spirit, but the excessive partiality of the king for her kindred rendered her unpopular, and she was once in danger of her life fi-om the hatred of the Londoners, She became a nun at Amesbury in 1286, and died there June 24, 1291. Their children were, beside Robert, John, William, Henry, and Catharine, who died young, 1. Edwakd, who became king. 2. Edmund, earl of Lancaster, born 1245. The title of King of Sicily was bestowed on him by the pope (Alexander IV.), but he never obtained possession ; he went to the crusade with his brother Edward, and died in 1296, while commanding an army in Gascony. One of his sons was Thomas, earl of Lancaster, who bore so great a part in the troubles of the reign of Edward II. 2n9 Anns ot Edmund of Lancaster, d 3. Margaret, born 1241 ; married in 1251 to Alex- ander III. of Scotland, and died in 1275. 4. Beatrice, born 1242 ; married in 1262 to John de Dreiix, son of John I., duke of Britanny, and died in 1275. Henry bore the same arms and device as his father, King Jolm. The character of Henry had many glaring defects, among which his utter want of courage and regard for his word may be particularly noticed. He suffered his people to be oppressed with impunity by the agents of the papal court, and extorted large sums from them him- self, the greater part of which he wasted on his foreign favourites, but some he usefully employed on works -of devotion and charity. Beside decorating various shrines, he nearly rebuilt the church of Westminster, and he left a sum of money by his will for the succour of the Holy Land. A.D. 1216. Westminster being in the hands of the barons, Henry is crowned at Gloucester, Oct. 28^, by Peter, bishop of Winchester, in presence of Gualo, the papal legate, " He did homage to the holy Roman J This singular figure, termed the tricoi-porate lion, is found ou lis seal. ' The years of his reig-n are reckoned from this day. 300 THE PLANTAGENETS. Church and to Pope Innocent for the kingdoms of l^ng- land and Ireland, and swore that as long as he held those kingdoms he would faithfully pay the thousand marks which his father had given to the Roman Church^" The legate and the earl of Pembroke assume the di- rection of affairs. A council held at Bristol, Nov. 12, when Magna Charta is confirmed, with certain altera- tions, giving it a still more popular character. Louis, who had abandoned the siege of Dover early in November, captures the castles of Hertford and Berk- hampstead (Dec. 6 and 20), but refusing to entrust them to any but his own knights, many of the English forsake his party. He retires to London. A.D. 1217. Louis, being threatened with excommu- nication by the legate, agrees to a truce until Easter (March 26) and crosses over to France ; many more of his English adherents leave him. The king's party besiege the castle of Mountsorrel ; it is stoutly defended by Henry de Braybroke. Louis returns to London, and despatches the count of Perche, Robert Fitz-Walter, and others, with a band of 20,000 " wicked French freebooters," to raise the siege ; thev accomplish this, and then march to besiege the castle of Lincoln, The legate excommunicates Louis and the barons by name, April 18. The earl of Pembroke, assisted by Peter, bishop of Winchester, raises a force, with which he attacks and totally defeats the barons' army in the town of Lincoln, May 20. The count of Perche is killed, Robert Fitz- Walter, Gilbert de Clare, and many other barons ' Roger of Wendover. 301 taken, and the city plundered; "nor did the ca- thedral escape, but suffered as the other churches, for the legate had ordered the knights to treat all the clergy as excommunicated, inasmuch as they had been enemies to holy Church and to the king from the commencement of the war. When nothing remained in any corner of the houses, they each returned to their lords as rich men, and peace with King Henry having been proclaimed through the city, they ate and drank amidst mirth and festivity. This battle, in derision of Louis and the barons, they called ' the Fair.' " The French flee toward London, many being cut off by the townspeople on the way. The castle of Mount- sorrel is abandoned by its garrison, and is ordered to be demolished by the king. Louis sends for succour to France. The fleet sent to his relief is defeated bv Hubert de Burgh, near Dover, Aug. 24 ; Eustace the Monk, its commander, is cap- tured and put to death ^. The earl of Pembroke besieges Louis in London. A treaty is concluded between them, Sept. 11, and Louis leaves England. The treaty stipulated for the restoration of all pri- soners, the absolution of Louis and his adherents from spiritual censures, hisimmediate withdrawal from England, and his best endeavours to induce his father, the French king, to restore the English provinces ; King Henry pro- mismg on his part to restore their estates to the barons, s He is said to liave abandoned the cloister to seize the estate of his deceased brother, and when he had dissipated it he turned pirate. In 1205 he was captured by the Cinque Ports mariners, but was taken into the sersdce of King John ; in 1214, having joined the French, he commanded the fleet which brought over I.ouis to Sandwich, and did much damage to his foi-mer captors. Fearing their ven- geance, he now hid himself in the hold of his vessel, but was dragged out and beheaded by Sir Richard, a natural brother of the king. 302 THE PLANTAGENETS. and to observe the provisions of Magna Charta. Roger of Wendover says that " Louis received £5,000 to meet his necessities, and then, under the conduct of the earl of Pembroke, went with all speed to the sea-coast, and thence, with lasting ignominy, crossed to France." It would seem, however, from a document on the Close Roll, dated Feb. 12, 1218, that his withdrawal was pro- cured by at least the promise of a further sum, for in it the king says, "We owe a heavy debt unto Louis, the French king's son, by agreement made between us, that he would depart out of our realm, which at length the Lord hath marvellously and mercifully procured." The evils of the civil war were, however, by no means over. The regent Pembroke had scarcely the power to keep the treaty with such of Louis's adherents as sub- mitted, for Fulk de Breaute and other of the king's castellans held the castles that had fallen into their hands alike against him and the rightful owners ; and many knights and nobles of both parties " whose chief delight had been to live by plunder," continued to pillage the people ; the legate also, refusing to abide by the treaty, took the most vigorous measures against the clergy wlici had favoured Louis : he deprived many of their bene- fices, and bestowed them on foreigners ; from others lie extorted large sums ; the cases of some he remitted to Rome ; those who resisted were excommunicated, and by an order from the king (to be found on the Close Rolls), dated Stoke, Feb. 18, 1218, were directed to quit the realm before the following Midlent Sunday (March 25) ; the sheriffs being commanded to seize and imprison all clerks whom they might find abiding in excommunication on that account after the day named. 303 A.D. 1218, Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, becomes guardian of the king on the death of the earl of Pembroke, and Hubert de Burgh, justiciary; great rivahy springs up between them. The earl of Winchester, Robert Pitz-Walter, and other leaders of the barons, go to the crusade, at Damietta, Trial by ordeal formally abolished. Gualo, the papal legate, withdraws, and is succeeded by Pandulph'^. A.D. 1219. Damietta is captured by the crusaders. Reginald of Man formally surrenders the isle to the pope, and also acknowledges himself the vassal of the kins: of England*. A.D. 1220. The king is a second time crowned, at Canterbury, on Whitsunday, May 17. The castles of Rockingham and Salcey recovered out of the hands of the earl of Albemarle, June 29. The remains of Thomas Becket translated, July 7. A.D. 1221. The earl of Albemarle plunders the coun- trv around Burlington, and carries off the spoil to the castle of Biham ; he is supplied with men by Fulk de Breaute and other of the king's castellans, and seizes the castle of Potheringhay. He is besieged in Biham, by the justiciary, and obliged to surrender, Peb. 8, but s pardoned on account of his former services. Peace is made with Scotland, and the king's -sister Joan married to Alexander II. at York, June 25. Pandulph about the same time received the see of Norwich, ;houg-h he was not consecrated till May 29, 1222 ; he died in A.ugust or September, 1226, and was bm-ied in his own cathedi'al. ' The documents are dated at the Temple in London, Sept. 12. Keginald was the nauiral son of Godred, the last king, and lad expelled Olaf, the true heir, who, under the style of King if tho Isles, protested against the submis.sion, and avowed his eudal dependance on Norway (seep. 215). 304 THE PLANTAGENETS. The king marches against the Welsh in September, raises the siege of Builth, and builds a new castle at Montgomery. A.D. 1222. A tumult between the citizens of Lon- don and the people of the abbot of Westminster, Aug. 1 ; Constantine, the leader of the Londoners, raises the crv " Monjoie," (the cry of the French party) ; he is seized and hung, with several of his friends, others are muti- lated, and the city magistrates displaced. A.D. 1223. The archbishop of Canterbury (Stephen Langton) and the nobles claim the full execution of the charter, January. Philip, king of France, dies, July 14; he is succeeded bv Louis, his son, who refuses to restore the English provinces in France, alleging that the terms granted to his adherents had not been kept, particularly mentioning the case of Constantine and the Londoners. A council held at Noi-thampton, in December, where it is determined to force de Breaute and others to give up the royal castles. The earls of Chester and Albe- marle attempt to resist, but being threatened with ex- communication they submit. A.D. 1224. The French king seizes on Poitou. De Breaute, having attacked the king's justiciaries, who had given judgments against him, imprisons one of them, Henry de BraybrokeJ, in his castle of Bedford. The castle is besieged bv the king and the justiciary, Hubert de Burgh, from June to August ; it is defended by WiUiara de Breaute, but being surrendered, Aug. 15, he and many of his knights are hanged ; Fulk ' The baron who defended Mountsorrel against the king. See p. 300. HENRY III. 305 de Breaute, who had fled towards Wales, gives himself up, when he is deprived of all his possessions and banished, and his wife is, at her own request, divorced from him'^. A,D. 1225. Magna Charta and the Charter of the Forests confirmed by the king, Feb. 11, and a fifteenth of all movables in the kingdom granted to him to enable him to recover the English possessions in France. Earl Richard, the king's brother, is sent to Bordeaux, where he defeats the Frencli, and establishes the English power in Gascony. A.D. 1226. The pope (Honorius III.) demands two prebends from each cathedral church, and a similar con- tribution from every monastery. Death of Louis VIII. of France, at the siege of Avignon, September. A.D. 1227. At a council held at Oxford in Feb- ruary, the king declares himself of age, and refuses to abide by the charters' ; he also dismisses Des Roches, .'ho goes on a pilgrimage, and puts himself entirely under the guidance of Hubert de Burgh. Earl Richard, having a quarrel with the king about the manor of Berkhampstead, joins the discontented nobles, who force the king to do him justice. A.D. 1228. The king marches against Llewelyn, She was the -widow of the son of the earl of Devon, and had 3een forcibly married to him. Fulk went to France, and endeavoured jO excite Louis to attempt another invasion ; he also appealed to ;he pope regarding his divorce, but while the cause was pending he lied of poison. ' He issued a declaration which says, — "Whensoever and where- soever, and as often as it may be our pleasure, we may declare, in- terpret, enlarge, or diminish the aforesaid statutes and their several parts, by our free will, and as to us shall seepa expedient for the lecurity of us and our land." 506 THE PLANTAGENETS. prince of Wales, but soon concludes a disgraceful peace, August and September. A.D. 1229. The Gascons invite the king to come to them, as do deputies from Normandj'^, promising him their aid in regaining the English provinces. The pope (Gregory IV.) levies a tithe on all mova- bles in England. The king collects an army at Portsmouth for the in- vasion of France, but suddenly quarrels v^^ith De Burgh, and allows his troops to disperse, September, October. A.D. 1230. Reginald' of Man is killed in battle by Olaf, Feb. 14"". The king passes over to Britannv, with a large force. May" ; marches through Anjou, to Poitou and Gascony, where he receives the homage of the people ; in October he returns to England. The earl of Chester makes in- cursions in Anjou and Normandy. A.D. 1231. A scutage of three marks raised for a fresh expedition to France. A truce agreed to between the kings of England and France, July 5. The king invades Wales ; he sustains considerable loss, but strengthens the border castles. The pavment of tithe and revenues to Rome resisted. and many agents of the pope maltreated. William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, dies°. "" Olaf, after many years' exile (see p. 303), had obtained a flee: and army from Norway, and he was now received as king. " He landed at St. Malo, May 5, and was joined by the duke (wii > was his vassal, as earl of Kichmond), and many Breton and Normua nobles. o He was the eldest son of the Protector, and had marrie 1 Eleanor, the king's sister ; he charged his brother Richard, wh-; succeeded Mm, to pay her dower from Jiis vast eitates iii Ire'.an.i ; 307 A.D. 1232. The king quarrels with Hubert de Burgh, charging him with many grievous offences ; Hubert de- mands time to answer, and takes sanctuar}' at Merton ; he obtains a further time to answer, but before it expires is dragged out of a chapel and imprisoned in the Tower ; he is released the next day, through the interference of the bishop of Lincoln, and sent back to the chapel ; is bliged by hunger to surrender himself, when he is again onducted to the Tower, and put in fetters. Tlie king seizes Hubert's treasure, and places him in he castle of Devizes, allowing him to retain his patri- iionial lands. A.D. 1233. The king makes Des Roches, bishop of Winchester, his chief counsellor, and by his advice dis- misses the officers of his court and garrisons his castles ith Poictevins and other foreigners. Pilchard, the earl marshal P, and other nobles, remon- trate boldly with the king, and being repulsed, take easures to drive out the Poictevins. The king demands hostages from the nobles, and ap- :)oints a conference in London for the redress of griev- nces. The earl marshal, apprehensive of treachery, flees to ^Vales and is declared a traitor ; he makes a league with Llewelyn. Hubert de Burgh escapes from prison, Oct. 12 ; he is Iragged from sanctuary, but sent back on the intcr- :ession of the bishops of Sahsbury and London, Oct. 18 ; le escapes to Wales to the earl marshal. ihis Richard neglected to do, aud was thus brought into the contro- •ersy with the king which ended in his death, rather than bj- his vish to maintain the Uberties of the kingdom, as usually stated. p The second son of the Protector. ^Ua THE PLANTAGENETS. The earl marshal surprises the king's army at Grosmont (near Monmouth) and puts it to flight, Nov. 11 ; and also defeats the Poictevins at Monmouth, Nov. 25, and Dec. 26. A.D. 1234. The earl marshal and Llewelyn ravage the estates of Des Roches and their other enemies, and burn Shrewsbury, in January ; the king retires to Win- chester. The bishops remonstrate with the king on the violent proceedings of Des Roches and his confederates ; they and the Poictevins are in consequence dismissed, and a truce made with the nobles. The earl marshal passes into Ireland, and, listening to the treacherous advice of Geoffrey Marsh and others, who had been corrupted by Des Roches, attempts to subdue the country. He is invited to a conference with Maurice the justi- ciary, betrayed by Geoffrey Marsh, desperately wounded, and made prisoner, April 1 ; he dies April 16, and is buried at Kilkenny. A peace arranged with Llewelyn, and the proscribed nobles, including Hubert de Burgh, admitted to the king's peace. May 28. The duke of Britanny (Peter L) makes his peace with the king of France". A.D. 1235. The king's sister Isabel married to the emperor (Frederick II.) at Worms, July 20. A.D. 1236. The king marries Eleanor, daughter of the count of Provence, Jan. 14. Earl Richard and many nobles assume the cross. The king of Scotland (Alexander II.) demands the " His English earldom was forfeited, and he revenged himself by piracy. 309 county of Northumberland as the marriage portion of his wife, (Joan, the king's sister). A.D. 1237. The charters again confirmed, Jan. 28, and a thirtieth of all movables granted to the king. A madman attempts to murder the king at Wood- stock, Sept. 9. Cardinal Otho, a papal legate, is invited to England Iw the king, much to the discontent of both clergy and laity. He holds a council in London in November, " to strengthen and reform the state of the Church in England." A.D. 1238. The king gives his sister Eleanor (widow of William Marshal, earl of Pembroke) in marriage to Simon de Montfort, Jan. 7 ; Earl Richard and the other nobles are greatly displeased ; Hubert de Burgh alone adheres to the king. The legate visits Oxford ; a quarrel arises between the students and his attendants ° ; he lays an interdict on he University, but removes it after a while on the sub- mission of the scholars. The legate reforms the statutes of the Benedictines. Olaf of Man dies ; his son Harold succeeds, and dis- claims dependance on England p. A.D. 1239. The king bestows the earldom of Lei- •ester on Simon de Montfort, Feb. 2. The Tower strengthened, which causes alarm to the [^eople of London. " The master of the legate's cooks, who was also his brother, (ap- pointed, Matthew Paris saj's, to that office to giiai'd him from being joisoned, which he greatly feared,) threw boihng water in the face )f a poor Irish chaplain, who craved food in God's name, and was limself killed by another clerk from the Welsh border. The legate was obliged to flee for his life, and the king sent the earl of Warrenne ;o Oxford, who brought many of the scholars away as prisoners. P He regarded the king of Norway as his feudal lord. See p. 303. ?10 THE PLANTAGENETS. The king's eldest son, Edward, is born, June 18 p. The Jews throughout England are cruelly oppressed, and obliged to surrender one-third of all their effects to the king, on a charge of having committed a murder in London, June 21, 22. The king suddenly quarrels with Simon de Montfort, and drives him and his wife from England, August. The legate goes to Scotland, but is very coldly re- ceived there, and soon returns to England. The Enghsh nobles appeal to the pope against the proceedings of the legate. A.D. 1240. The king causes an oath of fealty to his son Edward to be taken by the citizens of London " and many other nobles of the kingdom." The king sends justiciaries throughout England, who, "under pretence of administering justice," says Mat- thew Paris, " collected an immense sum of money for the use of the king, but he squandered it away." The legate also exacts large sums for the pope. Earl Richard proceeds on the crusade. Llewelyn of Wales dies, April 11 ; a civil war breaks out between his sons, David and Griffin. Boniface of Savoy, uncle of the queen, is chosen archbishop of Canterbury 1. A.D. 12-11. The legate quits England, Jan. 7, hav- ing been a few days before placed by the king in his royal seat at table, to the great offence of his subjects. P The king extorted costly presents from those to whom he com- municated the news, so that, Matthew Paris says, one of them re- marked, "God gave us this child, but the king sells him to us." 1 He was not consecrated until 124:5, passed most of his time abroad in wars and negotiations, and acted with much insolence and cruelty to his clergj', "being ignorant of their rules and customs, and also destitute of learning ;" he died in the castle of St. Helen, in Savoy, July 18, 127u. 311 Peter of Savoy (uncle to the queen) comes to Eng- land, and receives the earldom of Richmond ^. Twenty thousand marks extorted from the Jews, under pain of banishment. The new walls of the Tower fall down ; the joy of the citizens displeases the king, and he exacts a large sum from them, "contrary to their known customs and liber- ties." The Preacher and Minorite brethren excite the people to assume the cross, and then absolve them from their vow, by which means they raise a large sum of money in England, but incur much odium. The king of France bestows Poitou on his brother Alphonso, June 24. The king assembles an army on the borders of Wales in August; David owns himself his liege man^, and surrenders a part of his territory ; Griffin, his brother, whom he had imprisoned, is carried to London, where he is confined in the Towner. A.D. 1242. Earl Richard returns to England, from the crusade, Jan. 7. The count de la Marche and the Poictevins request the king to assist them against the French ; the king is willing to do so, but the parliament summoned refuses to grant money ("for," says Matthew Paris, " they knew that the king had often harassed them in this way with false pretences,") and is dismissed in anger, February. The king of France equips a fleet to guard Poiton against invasion. ■■ Lately forfeited by the duke of Britanny. See p. 308. • By chartei- dated at Alnet, near St. Asaph, Aug. 29, 1241. The pope, however, endeavoui-ed to auniil this submission (see p. 314), and Wales maintained an appearance of independence for forty years longer. 312 THE PLA.NTAGENETS. The king, accompanied by Earl Richard, passes over to Gascony, leaving Walter Gi-ay, archbishop of York, regent of the kingdom®. WiUiam Marsh, an outlaw, seizes Lundy island, and turns pirate ; he is captured, and executed shortly after. The king renounces the truce with France. The king of France wishes to preserve peace. He feared the hos- tility of several neighbouring kings and princes, who were in some way connected with the king of England ; "but, above all," says Matthew Paris, "he feared to break the oath of his father Louis, before his departure from England, by which he bound himself to restore to the king of England his rights, if he survived his father' ; and his father, when about to die, at Avignon, had en- joined on him, his son, the fulfilment of that oath : he therefore considered it just and pious to release the soul of his father from such a bond." The king of England, however, " urged by those crafty traitors, the Poictevins," openly defies him, and the war commences. The king of France captures Frontenaye and other castles, and is received into Taillebourg. The king advances against him, but being betrayed by the Poictevins, is only saved from capture by a truce of a single day, granted at the request of Earl Richard', July 20. A party of the English defeated at Saintonge, July 22. The count de la Marche submits to the king of France. The king retires to Blaye, then to Bordeaux, and the whole of Poitou is occupied by the French. " See p. 302. ' The truce was granted as an acknowledgment of many services which the earl had rendered to the French while on his crusade. HEN-RT III. 313 A five years' truce agreed on. Earl Richard and many nobles and knights return to England, but the king remains behind at Bordeaux, "wasting vast sums of money on the Gascons. He wishes to confiscate the possessions of those who quit him, but is restrained by the archbishop of York. A.D. 1243. Some of the Gascon towns rebel, but are reduced by the king. The Cinque Ports mariners and the French carry on a naval war, which degenerates into piracy ; the archbishop is therefore unable to send the succours he had prepared to the king. The truce is confirmed, April 23 ; the king of France etaining all his conquests, and receiving a payment of £1,000 yearly. The king at length returns to England, landing at Portsmouth Sept. 25. He extorts large gifts from the clergy ; " whoever re- used, found him not a king, but a tyrant." He also aid a heavy ransom on the Jews, in gold and silver. ' The king received from each Jew, whether man or voman, the gold into his own hand, acting the part, lot of king, but of tax-gatherer, but the silver was athered by others." A.D. 1244. The pope (Innocent IV.) sends one of is clerks, Master Martin, into England, who extorts ich gifts from the clergy, and seizes on vacant benefices, hich he bestows on his friends and relatives. Griflin of Wales is killed in endeavouring to escape om the Tower, March 1. The king is obliged to remonstrate with the pope on he exactions of his agents. 314 THE PLANTAGENETS. The pope takes David of Wales and his territory un- der his protection, and for the annual tribute of 500 marks, annuls the act of submission which he had made to the king'^. The Welsh, under David, ravage the marches, June. A quarrel with the king of Scotland, who is charged with receiving English fugitives, is arranged by the me- diation of Earl Richard, August. A.D. 1245. The war is continued between the Welsh and the marchers. Master Martin, warned by the king, flees in haste from England. A formal complaint of the papal exac- tions is made to the council at Lyons by William de Powick and other procurators of the king. The king ravages Wales, and strengthens the castle of Gannbck, near Conway ; his troops suffer severely from want, and he returns to England in October. Walter and Anselm, the last surviving sons of William Marshal, die without issue ^. A.D. 1246. A talliage of 1000 marks levied on the Londoners. A parliament held in London at the end of March, which despatches messengers to the pope to complain of the extortions of his legate. The king forbids the payment of money to the pope during the absence of the messengers. David, prince of Wales, dies; Llewelyn, the son of " See p. 311. ' Tills extinction of the earl's male line is recorded by Matthew Paris as an evident judgment for his seizure of two manors from the bishop of Femes, who, faihng to procure redress, excommunicated the Protector. 'I'he marshalship was given to his son-in-law, Roger Bigod, and the earldom of Pembroke was in 1247 granted by the king to his own half-brother, WiUiam de Valence. HENRY III. 315 Griffin, escapes from England, and is chosen to succeed him. The messengers retmTi with an angry message from the pope, when the king and parhament give way, " and the graspings of Roman avarice were satisfied." A.D. 1247. A parhament held at London, Feb. 3, which again remonstrates with the pope on his ex- actions^. Ecclesiastical judges prohibited by the king to try anv other causes than marriage or wills where laymen are concerned. A parliament held at Oxford, early in April, when a sum of 11,000 marks is granted by the bishops to the pope. Guy de Lusignan, William de Valence, Aymar, a priest, and Eliza, the half-brothers and sister of the king, arrive in England^. William de Bueles, a Norman, and, says Matthew Paris, " after the manner of his countrymen, great in talk, but slow in deeds, and pusillanimous," is appointed ' The document runs iii the name of "the community of the clergy and people of the province of Canterbury," aiid concludes, "As our community has no seal, we send these presents to your holiness under the mark of the community of London ;" a proof of the consideration to which municipal bodies had already attained. y William de Valence was soon mai-ried to the daughter of Warin de Montchesnil, "for the sake of her rich inheritance," and also created earl of Pembroke ; Eliza was manied to John, earl of Warrenne, and Aynrar was made bishop of Winchester. Guy shortly left England, but with so large a sum of money received from the king that he was obliged to increase the number of his saddle horses. ?16 THE PLANTAGENETS. governor of Gascony, and by his bad conduct exposes the province to great dangers. Earl Richard, by authority of the pope, " whose de- mands he had secretly and wisely satisfied," raises large sums for himself from those who wish to be absolved from their vow of proceeding on the crusade^. A vessel said to contain some of the blood of Christ being sent to the king, he carries it in solemn procession from St. Paul's to Westminster, and there offers it at the altar of St. Edward the Confessor, Oct. 13^. A.D. 1248. Simon de Montfort*^ and many other nobles assume the cross. A parliament assembles at London m February ; the nobles remonstrate with the king on his partiality for foreigners ; he promises amendment. The parliament re-assembles in June, when the king positively refuses to alter his conduct, and the assembly separates in anger, without granting any supplies. The king extorts money from the Londoners, and ' He was imitated by William Longespee, the disinherited son of the famous earl of Salisbury, but with the object of equipping him- self for the holy war, m which he died, under the banner of Louis of France. » The clergy were dressed as for a festival, says Matthew Paris, with banners, crosses, and hghted tapers, but the king walked in a poor cloak without a hood, and held the vessel above his head the whole way. The bishop of Norwich (Walter de Southfleld) preached a sermon on the occasion, and announced fi'ee remission of penance for six years and 140 daj's to " all who came to worship the most holy blood ;" some of his auditors obstinately doubted, and asked, "How could the Lord, when He rose again full and entire of body on the third day after His passion, have left His blood on the earth ?" but the bishop of Lincoln (Robert Grosseteste) "at once detei mined the question to a nicety." The historian was present, and was di- rected by the king to make a record of the whole transaction. *■ His wife did the same, their marriage being bj' many regarded as sinful, as the countess had taken a vow of chastity on the death of her fii'st husband, the earl of Pembroke. HENRY III. 31' sells his plate and jewels ; a force is thus raised for the defence of Gascony, and Simon de Montfort takes the government of the province. The king of France (Louis IX.) departs on the cru- sade, and winters in Cyprus. A.D. 1249. The king continues to extort money from the Londoners, and begs relief from the nobles, prelates, and abbots ". De j\Iontfort reduces the Gascons to obedience. A.D. 1250. The king asks pardon of the Londoners for his extortions, March 7 ; " but," adds Matthew Paris, " no restitution was made of the property he had taken from them." He on the same day assumes the cross. Large sums of money are wrung from the Jews ; one of their number accusing the rest of forging deeds and clipping the coin. Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury, visits the London regular clergy by force, and violently assails the canons of St. Bartholomew, May 13'^. William de Raleigh, bishop of Winchester, dies, Sept. 1 ; the king prevails on the monks to demand Aj^mar, his half-brother, as his successor^. ■^ IMatthew Paris dilates on the conduct of this "beggar- king," as he terms him, and records the spirited reply of the abbot of Ramsey to an application of the king in person ; "I have sometimes given, but never lent, nor will I now ;" he, however, borrowed at heavy in- terest the smn of 100/. and gave it to him ; others, who absolute]}' refused, were loaded with repi-oaches. d The monastic orders had very generally obtained an exemption from episcopal visitation, and were responsible only to the papal legates. ' He first sent his favourite clerks, John Mansel and Peter Chace- porc. but as they produced little impression, he himself repaired to Winchester, and taking the chief seat in the chapter, "as if a bishop 318 THE PLANT AGENETS. Winchelsea and other towns greatly injured by floods. A.D. 1251. De Montfort comes to England to ask for aid in subduing Gascony ; he receives 3,000 marks from the king, but raises much more from his own es- tates, with which he hires Brabancons and other mer- cenaries, and returns to his government; the Gascons resolutely oppose him. Several of the bishops meet at Dunstable, Feb. 24, and make a formal protest against the visitatorial power claimed by the archbishop of Canterbury. The English laws introduced into Wales. The dis- tricts near Chester are intrusted to Alan de la Zouche, who farms the revenue, for the sum of 1,100 marks. Henry de Bath, one of the justiciaries, being accused of corrupt practices, is protected by Earl Richard, and soon restored to the king's favour. Vast numbers of shepherds assemble in France for a new crusade, led by an impostor ; they commit many outrages, but being withstood by De Montfort and others, are at length dispersed. Margaret, the king's daughter, married at York to Alexander III. of Scotland, Dec. 26. A.D. 1252. The Gascons send messengers to com- plain of the government of De Montfort. The king solemnly renews his vow to go to the cru- sade, April 14. De Montfort returns to England, and answers the ac- i)Y a prior, he began a sermon to them, prefacing it with the text, ' Kighteousness and peace have kissed each other.' " The royal ser- mon, as reported by Matthew Paris, is a compound of threats and promises, and the monks, " overcome bj' tlie l<:ing's importunity, and despairing of assistance ft'om the pope . . . demanded Aymar.al thou: ii not a priest, and neither by age nor knowledge fitted for the office. 319 usations of the Gascons, The king sides wilh them, i'hen the earl demands repayment of the sums he had xpended for the royal service ; a sharp altercation en^ ues, Earl Richard and the other nobles supporting De ilontfort. The king bestows Gascony on his son Edward. De Montfort returns to his government, and defeats he Gascons. A parliament held at London, in October, at which he king, by virtue of a mandate from the pope, de- nands the tithes of the Church for three years, to ac- omplish his pilgrimage ; the bishops decHne to grant lis request; the nobles support them, and depart in nger, reproaching the king, as only wishing to extort aoney without any intention of going to the Holy iand. The archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop-elect f Winchester quarrel, and thus divide the king's foreign avourites into the Provencal and Poictevin parties. The pope offers the kingdom of Sicily (then possessed )y Manfred, a natural son of the Emperor Frederick) o the king. The bishop of Lincoln (Robert Grosseteste) makes a omputation of the revenues of the foreigners intruded )y the pope into benefices in England ; they amount to 0,000 marks, or more than three times the clear re- enue of the king. A.D. 1253. The Jews expelled from France. A parliament held at London after Easter, when a um of money is promised for the king's pilgrimage, ' to be expended at the discretion of the nobles ;"' and 320 THE PLANT A GENETS. in return Magna Charta is solemnly confirmed. May 3® [or 10]. De. Montfort resigns the government of Gascony ; the king of Castile (Alphonso IV^.) claims the country, and gives support to Gaston de Bcarn and the other malcontents. The king induces Alphonso to abandon the Gascons, by proposing a marriage betvi'een Prince Edward and Alphonso's sister. A force assembled for the relief of Gascony. The king passes over with it to Bordeaux in September ; he captures some castles, but at once gives them up to his Poictevin favourites. The king ravages the vineyards, at which the people are greatly enraged ; the English are in danger of being driven out. De Montfort raises troops at his own expense, and offers his services to the king, who now gladly re- ceives him ; on which the Gascons feign submission. Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, dies Oct. 9^. A.D. 1254. Gaston de Beam attempts to surprise Bayonne, in February. •^ Matthew Paris fully describes the remarkable scene on this oc- casion. Boniface, archljishop of Canterbury, denounced excommu- nication against all violators of the pri\'ileges of the Church, and in- fringers of Magna Charta and the Charter of the Forests. Every person except the king held a hghted candle in his hand, and at the end of the sentence threw it down: "on being extinguished they gave forth a stench, and all exclaimed, ' Thus perish and stink in hell aU who incur this sentence!' the king, with his hand on his breast, said, ' So help me God, all these things will I faithfully ob- serve, as I am a man, a Chiistian, a knight, and a crowned and anointed king.'" '' This celebrated prelate and scholar had held the see of Lincoln troni 12o5 ; he vehemently opposed the exactions of the Roman cfiurt, was the great friend and adviser of De Montfort, and was said to have pi-ophesied that he and his son should lose their lives in contending for the liberties of the Chm-ch and the kingdom. 321 The king passes the year in Gascony ; he makes re- peated apphcations for aid to England, and obtains part of the sums granted for his pilgrimage, which he wastes at Bordeaux. The queen and her sons pass over to the king in Gas- cony ; Prince Edward goes to Burgos, and marries Eleanor of Castile. The king of France returns from his crusade, in July. The king returns to England at the end of the year ; he passes through France, and is splendidly entertained at Paris by "the kind-hearted king of the French," as Matthew Paris calls him. A.D. 1255. Being over-whelmed with debts (mainly contracted in supporting the pope against the Emperor Frederick and his family,) the king renews his exactions from all classes. " He demanded from the Jews 8,000 marks, which they were to pav quickly, on pain of hang- ing. Instead, they desired licence of the king to leave England, never to return ; but the king delivered them over to Earl Richard, to torture them and extract money from them, and in consequence, the earl lent the king, on sufficient security, a large sum of gold." The king desires assistance from his nobles, in a par- liament held at London after Easter ; the nobles demand the full observance of Magna Charta, and that they should choose the justiciary, chancellor, and treasurer of the kingdom, who should not be removed without their consent. The king refuses to agree to this, and the matter is postponed. The king goes to Scotland and releases the young king and queen (his daughter and son-in-law) from the VOL. I. Y 322 THE PLANTAGENETS. tutelage of Robert de Ross, John Baliol, and other noblesS. " On his road back he visited abbeys and ])riories, commending himself to their prayers, and at the same time enriching himself with their money '^. The Jews at Lincoln being accused of having crucified a Christian boy, eighteen of them are hanged there, and more than eighty others imprisoned in the Tower of London. The pope (Alexander IV.) sends Rustand, a Gascon, to raise money in England ; he also releases the king from his vow to go to the crusade, and offers the king- dom of Sicily to his son Edmund. Both the parliament and the assembly of the prelates refuse to second the pope's views, but the king accepts his offer. A.D. 1256. A quarrel arises between the king and his son on account of the king's exactions from the Gascons. "The king, taking prudent counsel, made amends ; but Edward, as if doubtful of his safety, in- creased his household, and rode out in public attended by 200 horsemen." The pope endeavours to conciliate the clergy by issu- ing a bull in confirmation of king John's charter' March 30. The pope threatens the king with excommunication| for not taking steps to seize on Sicilv. William, count of Holland, named king of Germany| s The royal pair, however, were not fifteen years of age. •^ He carried otf from Durham by force a large sum belonging the bishop of Ely and others, but afterwards repaid it, as it had been placed under the safeguard of St. Cuthbert. * See p. 289. HENRY III. 323 hrough the influence of the pope, being killed by the Frieslanders, the crown is offered to Earl Richard, and accepted by him. The Welsh, headed by Llewelyn, rise against the op- aressions of Geoffrey Langley, the king's officer. Ed- jvard, "whom they would not own as their lord," bor- ows money from Earl Richard, but is unable to subdue hem. A. statute passed ordaining that the extra day in leap- /ear and the day preceding shall be reckoned as one lay. A.D. 1257. The king obtains a grant of 52,000 narks from the parliament for his son Edmund, the itular king of Sicily. A quarrel arises in the king's presence between Wil- iam de Valence and Simon de Montfort. The Welsh ravage the march lands as far as Chester The king in consequence invades Wales, but soon re- reats without effecting anything. The war is then car- "ied on between the Welsh and the marchers'*: "the ;ountry was rendered almost a desert ; the people fell )y the sword, castles and towns were burnt, the woods ' The most potent of the marchers was Roger Mortimer^ lord of iVigmore. Beside sustaining an almost per- jetual war with the Welsh, he served in Gas- ony, where he resisted the authority of De tlontfort. He opposed the Provisions of Os- ord, fought on the king's side at Lewes, and hough defeated there, soon renewed the war, nd killed De iMontfort. He then quarrelled idth his confederates about the spoil of the lefeated barons, and withdrew to the marches ; )ut his power was lessened by the \-igorous overnment of Edward I., and he died Oct. '7, 12S2. Arms of Mortimer, 324 THE PLA.XTAGENETS. were felled, and the flocks and herds annihilated, eithe for food or by starvation." A.D. 1258. The king being refused further aid b^ the parliament for the conquest of Sicily, (May 2,) send: his clerk, Simon Passelew, " a crafty and lying man, to extort money from various religious houses, but witl little success. After much altercation the parliament is adjoumet to meet at Oxford. De Montfort, the earl of Glouceste (Richard de Clare '^), and others arm themselves agains the king's half-brothers and his other favourites. The parliament reassembles, at Oxford, June 11. This assembly was as tumultuous as the precedinj one, but the confederated barons had brought wit! them large bodies of retainers, under the pretext proceeding against the Welsh ; they were also in pos session of the seaports, and had the city of London o: their side. They therefore did not confine themselve to remonsti'ating with the king on his misgovernmen and the continual breach of his promises and oaths thev virtually deposed him, and drove out all who r( fused to swear to observe their ordinances, stvled th '' He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, one of the barons who e: torted Mag-iia Charta from King John. He was placed in the guardianship of Hubert de Burg-h, to whose daughter lie was affianced, but the king interfered, set aside the contract, and compelled him to marry Maud, daughter of the earl of Lincoln. He went to the Holy Land, and on his return joined the party which opi^osed and at length expelled the king's foreign favourites. He was long an active supporter of De Montfort, but at length quar- rolled with and brought many heavy charges against him. He died Jmie 18, 1262. Armsofciare.e.iriofGiauc HENRY III. 325 Provisions of Oxford. Tlie chief provisions were, that four knights should be chosen in each county to point out matters which needed redress ; that the sheriffs of counties should be annually chosen by the freeholders ; that the revenues of the counties should not be farmed ; that no new forests or warrens should be created ; that none of the king's wards should be entrusted to foreign- ers ; that the parliament should meet frequently ; and hat the great officers of state should be appointed inew. In consequence, a council of state was formed, by a rather complicated mode of election, with Simon de Montfort at the head, which named the chancellor, usticiary, and other great officers, and it at once as- sumed all the functions of government^ The Poicteviu lobles refused to swear to this new constitution, though he king and Prince Edward had done so, and withdrew n haste to Winchester ; but being at once followed thither )y the barons, with the king as a prisoner in their hands, hey withdrew in haste to France, by the middle of luly. The citizens of London publicly receive the Provisions )f Oxford, July 22. The Welsh are treacherously attacked by the marchers, )ut give them a signal defeat. A.D. 1259. Earl Richard (king of Germany) re- One of its most important acts was a decree that the parliament hould meet thrice in the year, being however composed only of the ouncil and twelve barons to represent the whole community : this mitation became unpopular, more members were added, and at mgth even representatives from the towns were admitted, thus lying the foundation of the modem House of Commons. 326 THE PLANTAGENETS. turns to England, but is obliged to swear to observe the Provisions of Oxford, Jan. 28. De Montfort goes abroad, in consequence of a quarrel with the earl of Gloucester, but returns early in the next year. The king goes to France in ]N"ovember ; he resigns all claim to Normandy for a sum of money, and the pro- mise of Poitou after the death of Louis. A.D. 1260. John Legras, a foreigner, who had re- ceived a prebend in St. Paul's church, London, from the pope (Alexander IV.), attempting to take forcible pos- session, is murdered in the street, Feb. 26. Prince Edward borrows money, and assembles mer- cenary troops ; De Montfort and the other barons are at variance, and a civil war is about breaking out. The king returns from France at the end of April, but fearing treachery from his son, remains for a fort- night at the house of the bishop of London (Henry de Wengham), not venturing to go to his palace at West- minster or the Tower. The barons hold a great armed assembly at London, May 1, but separate after a quarrel between De Mont- fort and the earl of Gloucester. A council held at St. Paul's, at which Prince Edward clears himself of any traitorous designs, and is recon- ciled to his father. De Montfort also is accused by the earl of Gloucester of many offences against the king, but the charges are abandoned. He takes the command against the Welsh, but soon makes a truce with them. A.D. 1261. The king openly refuses to abide by the HEXRT III. 327 ^revisions of Oxford, and attempts to resume his au- horitv, February™. He seizes the Tower, and employs he treasure found therein in strengthening it and the vails of London, and calls on the citizens to enter his ervice for pay. The barons encamp round London, and the king re- ;;res to Dover, leaving John Mansel"^, his chancellor md chief adviser, in charge of the Tower ; Prince Edward refuses to accept absolution from his oath, ind adheres to the barons. The king hires a body of mercenaries from France, and seizes many castles and cities from the barons. The barons advance against him, when he dismisses his troops, ind again shuts himself up in the Tower, in November. A.D. 1262. The king goes to France in July; on bis return he again consents to abide by the Provisions of Oxford. Llewelvn ravages the marches, and destroys several of the castles, November, December. A.D. 1263. Prince Edward, with a large force of English and French knights, invades Wales, but effects little. The barons, headed by De Montfort, attack the king's foreign favourites ; they seize and imprison Peter Aigueblanche, bishop of Hereford, and capture Glouces- ter, Bridgnorth, and other places garrisoned by his mer- cenaries. ° He procured absolution from their oath for himself and his son fi-om the pope, but the prince refused to avail himself of it. ' He had long served the king in embassies, and was also dis- tinguished for his courage in the field. He was an ecclesiastic, and is said by Matthew Paris to have held at one time the enormous number of 700 benefices. 328 THE PLANTAGENETS. John Mansel flees from the kingdom, but is seized at Eoulogne. Prince Edward garrisons Windsor with his foreign troops ; he is soon obliged to surrender it ; the queen on her passage to join him is insulted by the Londoners, and withdraws to the continent. The king, who had remained in the Tower, surrender to the barons, and again promises to observe the Pro- visions of Oxford. A great council held in London, Sept. 8, when the Provisions of Oxford are publicly promulgated ; restitu- tion ordered to be made to some of the king's party, and the bishop of Hereford and others released. The Norwegians send a fleet to the west of Scotland, but are defeated at Largs, on the Clyde, by Alexande) IIL, Oct. 3°. The king and the barons appeal to the king of France to arrange their diff"erences ; he, at a council at Amien (Jan. 23, 1264,) annuls the Provisions of Oxford, as subversive of the royal authority, but decrees that an amnesty shall be granted to their upholders, and that the people shall preserve their ancient liberties p. Whilst the king and Prince Edward remain in France, the war is carried on between Mortimer and Llewelyn De Montfort joins Llewelyn, and burns Radnor and other castles belonging to Mortimer. Prince Edward returns, and assists Mortimer ; Wor ° Their king (Haco VI.) died at Kirkwall, in Orkney, Dec. 16, and his successor (Magnus VII.) ceded his nominal supremacy over Man and the Isles to the Scots for a sum of money m 1266. •" This reasonable award was not agreeable to either party. 329 cester, Gloucester, and other cities are taken by him, and large sums exacted from the burgesses. The Londoners ravage the possessions of the king's adherents, and imprison his justiciaries and the barons of the exchequer. A.D. 1264. The king having returned from France, is joined bv Prince Edward at Oxford, when the clergy are driven from the city, which is turned into a garrison. The king captures Northampton, April 13, taking young De Montfort and other nobles prisoners ; he is received into Nottingham, where he is joined by John de Bahol, Robert de Bruce, and large forces from the north. Prince Edward takes Tutbury, " and wherever the army of the king and prince advanced, three companions attended it, rapine, conflagration, and slaughter." Warwick captured by the governor of Kenilworth, the stronghold of De ]\Iontfort. Some Jews detected in plots against the barons are put to death in London, and their treasure seized, be- fore Easter, (April 20). De Montfort and the Londoners march after Easter to besiege Rochester*^ ; it is relieved by the king, who also captures Tunbridge, and ravages the sea-coast ; " and of the barons of the Cinque Ports some submitted to the king, and some did not, and these last withdrew themselves bv sea, having loaded some vessels with their property." The barons, assisted bv the Londoners, totally defeat '' Henry, son of Earl Richard, John, earl of "Warrenne, and the eai-1 of Arundel, had seized it shortly before, and were then in it, levying contributions on the surrounding country. 330 THE PLANTAGENETS. the royal army at Lewes, May 13. The king and his brother Earl Richard are made prisoners'^. A truce (termed the Mise of Lewes) is agreed on, May 14, by which the king is nominally set at liberty, his brother being committed to the Tower, and Prince Ed- ward and Earl Richard's son Henry confined at Dover. Mortimer and other marchers, who had escaped from the battle, renew the war in Wales, but are compelled to surrender their castles and give hostages to De Mont- fort and Llewelyn. The queen prepares a foreign force to invade England ; De Montfort forms a great camp on Barham Down, near Canterbury, to oppose them. The queen's fleet, being closely watched in the Flemish harbours by the Cinque Ports mariners, is unable to put to sea, and the troops disperse. The pope (Urban IX.) pronounces a sentence of ex- communication against all who adhere to the Provisions of Oxford. His messenger (Cardinal Sabina^) not being allowed to land in England, summons some of the bishops to Boulogne to receive the document, but on their return it is seized at Dover and torn to pieces. ■■ Several of the nobles on the king's side fled disgracefully from the field. Of this number was John, earl of Warrenne and Surrey. He was grandson of the great earl of Pembroke, and had married, when very young, Eliza, the king's half-sister. His character was fierce and turbulent, and on one occasion he stood a siege in his castle of Reigate against Prince Edward. He was afterwards employed against the Scots, with considerable variety of fortune, and sustained a great defeat from them at Stirling in 1297 ; one of his daughters was the wife of John Baliol. He died Sept. 27, 1304. * Guy Foulquois, who in the next ye.ar became pope (Clement IV.); he died in 1268. i of Earl Warren 331 The marchers break the truce ; they are declared out- laws, and De Montfort marches against them, taking the king with him. They attempt to prevent his passing the Severn, but are defeated, and obliged to surrender many of their castles. De Montfort, now " in all but name a king," keeps his Christmas in regal state at Kenilworth. A.D. 1265. The parliament assembles, Jan. 28. This assembly was differently constituted from anv former one, and its meeting is an important constitu- tional epoch. Only eleven prelates and twenty-three peers were summoned in the ordinary wav by writs, but to them were added more than one hundred of the inferior dignified clergy, two knights from each county, and two representatives from each city, borough, and cinque port. The whole appear to have formed but one house. This innovation was apparently too popular to be set aside when the king resumed his authority, and the three estates of parliament, king, lords, and com- mons, have ever since continued an integral part of the constitution. Prince Edward is released from his confinement at Wallingford, on surrendering his castles, and promising not to leave England for three years, nor to plot against the barons ; he is sent to reside, in " free custody," at Hereford. The earl of Gloucester^ quarrels with De Montfort, and joins his forces to those of the marchers ; William de Valence also lands in South Wales with a body of » Gsilbert de Clare, the son of Richard, who died in 1262. 332 THE PLANTAGENETS. foreign crossbowmen. Prince Edward escapes from his guards, May 28, and joins Mortimer. De Montfort, taking- the king with him, marches against them. He is successful at first, but is sur- prised, defeated, and killed by Prince Edward at Evesham, August 4, and the king set at liberty. A parliament held at Winchester, early in September, at which severe measures are taken against the vanquished barons, and the Londoners. Prince Edward captures Dover, and releases many of his partisans; he then reduces the other Cinque Ports; "Winchelsea makes a stout defence, but is taken by as- sault, " and at liis entrance much blood was shed." These violent measures did not close the contest. The dispossessed knights and nobles spread themselves as a banditti all over the country ; the earl of Derby (Robert Ferrers") held the castle of Chesterfield; Simon de Montfort the younger seized the isle of Axholme, and was not reduced until the end of the year, his resistance producing this benefit, that his adherents were allowed to redeem their forfeited es- tates by heav}^ fines ; but many were unwilling or unable to do this, and they retired, some to the castle " He was grandson of the great earl of Pem- broke. He professed to belong to neither party, \ ] but made war on his own account, ravaged i ! Worcester and other places, and long after De p^ Montfort's death maintained himself and a numerous band by plunder. He was at last captured, and imprisoned for a while, and so heavy a ransom was laid on him that he was unable to raise it, when his lands were forfeited, and granted to the king's son Edmund. He tried to recover them by legal process, but was unsuccessful, and died in poverty in 1278. * 333 of Kenilworth, some to the isle of Ely, and continued to defy the power of both the king and the legate. A.D. 1266. The castle of Kenilworth is besieged by the king for several months without effect ; it is at last surrendered through famine, in November. Whilst the siege was proceeding an assembly of clergy and laity was held at Coventry, which drew up the terms of accommodation known as Dictum de Kenilworth. This document, which is one of the Statutes of the Realm, is dated Oct. 15, 1266. It provides that the liberties of the Church shall be preserved, as also the Great Charters, " which the king is bound expressly by his own oath^ to keep ;" it also declares that there shall be no disherison, but instead, '^nes of from seven years' to half a year's rent^ ; the family of De Montfort is ex- cluded from this benefit, and all persons are forbidden, under both civil and spiritual penalties, to circulate "vain and foolish miracles" regarding Simon de jMontfort, who was currently spoken of by his adherents as a saint and martvr. Many of the defenders of Kenilworth refuse the terms offered, and join their friends in Ely. A.D. 1267. The king marches against the isle of Elv ; in his absence the earl of Clare seizes London, and besieges the legate in theTowery, who defends him- ' See p. 320. ' The reason for this is given in the document itself: — "Because the king is bound to many that helped him and faithfully stood by liim, for whom he hath provided no lands, and some have more than they should have, let the king provide that he largely reward them of the ransoms to be taken, lest it turn to a matter of new war." ■ A number of the Jews, with their wives and families, took refuge vr.th him, "and one quarter of the castle was committed to them, which, being in desperate circumstances, they defended vigorously." 334 THE PLANTAGENETS. self there until relieved, and places London under an in- terdict. Many of the nobles from Ely join the earl of Clare in London ; they are welcomed by the Londoners, and to- gether plunder the palace at Westminster. The king sells the jewels of the church of West- minster, and hires forces both from France and Scotland. Prince Edward at length reduces the isle of Ely, and grants the terms of the edict of Kenilworth to its de- fenders, July 25. Peace is made with Llewelyn, who acknowledges that he holds his principality of the king ; he promised to pay a sum of money, and wns to receive in return the district called the Four Barriers, which had been seized by the English in the time of Prince David^. The earl of Clare is reconciled to Mortimer and the other marchers, and gives security for his future conduct. A parliament held at Marlborough, in Nove;nber, at which various provisions are made to preserve the peace, and curb the excesses of the victorious royalists. A.D. 1268. The legate holds a council at London, April 16, which publishes a decree to remedy the evils of the civil war ; he holds another at Northampton, at which Prince Edward and his brother Edmund, together with the earl of Clare and many other nobles, assume the cross. ■ See p. 311. By Matthew Paris this transaction is ascribed to the year 1239 ; Llewelyn's charter, in the Tower, bears date " Die Sanc- torum Gervasii et Prochasii, a. i). Mcci.xv." (June 19, 1265), but that being before the battle of Evesham, it is presumed there is an error in the year, and the statement of Matthew of Westminster, that Llewelyn submitted shortlj' after the reduction of the isle of Ely, has been followed. 335 John, earl of Warrenne, having wounded Alan de la Zouche, the king's justiciaiy, in Westminster Hall, is besieged in his castle of Reigate by Prince Edward, and obliged to surrender. A.D. 1269. Prince Edward proceeds on the crusade, in May. A.D. 1270. The charters of the city of London are restored, July 16. King Louis dies before Tunis, Aug. 25 ; Tunis is taken shortly after, when the French abandon the crusade, but Prince Edward proceeds with the English to Palestine. The Scots complete the conquest of the Isle of Man**. A.D. 1271. Henry, son of the king of Germany, is killed at Viterbo, by Guy and Simon de Montfort, in March. Prince Edward captures Nazareth, in May, and gains several battles against the Saracens. A.D. 1272. An attempt made to assassinate Prince Edward at Acre, June 17 ; he soon after makes a truce with the Mohammedans, and sails for Italy, Aug. 15. The king dies, Nov. 16 ; he is buried at Westminster, Nov. 20, fealty being at once sworn to his son Edward, '■' though men were ignorant whether he was alive, for he had gone to distant countries beyond the sea. warring against the enemies of Christ." They ruled it until 1290, when the inhabitants took advantage of the cUsturbed state of Scotland to claim the protection of Ed- ward I. Edward 1., fro EDWAED I. Edward, the eldest son of Henry III. and Eleanor of Provence, was born at Westminster, June 18, 1239, and baptized four days after in the conventual church. As early as 1249 the nominal government of Gascony was bestowed on him, and his marriage in 1254 with Eleanor of Castile, sister of Alphonso IV., was attended by the resignation of the pretensions of that monarch to the province*. Edward took a very active part in the transactions of the latter years of his father's reign, and having replaced him on the throne by the death of De Montfort, he soon after went on the crusade with Louis IX. of France, but his force was too small to effect anvthing of consequence, for the French abandoned the enterprise on the death of I^ouis. The prince's reputation was such that fealtv was sworn to him in his absence, and he did not return to his * These claims were founded on an alleged grant by Henry II. to Alphonso III.- who married his daughter Eleanor, and they were fa- voured by the Gascons, who greatly disUked theh- English rulers. EDTVAED I. 337 kingdom till nearly two years after his father's death, employing the interval in reducing the Gascons to obe- dience, and settling some commercial disputes between his subjects and the Flemings. Llewelyn, prince of Wales, had been an active ally of De Montfort, and he had been included in the peace made before Edward's departure for the crusade, on promising fealty to the king. He was now summoned to attend the English parliament, his refusal was punished by the invasion of his country, and he was speedily re- duced to subjection ; the unbearable oppressions of the marchers compelled him to resume his arms, in the year 1282, but this step was soon followed by his own death in the field, and the execution as a traitor of his brother David, when the land was filled with English strongholds, and the title of Prince of Wales was be- stowed on the heir-apparent of the English crown. Edward thus destroyed the Welsh princes for disputing his feudal superiority, but he resisted a similar claim on himself from the king of France. A piratical war having broken out between the Normans and the Cinque Ports men, Edward was summoned to Paris to answer for the con- duct of his subjects ; he refused, and his fiefs were declared forfeited. Gascony was, in consequence, overrun by the French, and Prince Edmund died in an attempt to recover it, but Edward allied himself with the Flemings, carried on a fierce war with his liege lord, and eventually obtained peace on his own terms, Gascony being restored to him, and the sister of the French king becoming his wife. The success of his iniquitous enterprise against Wales probably inspired Edward with the hope of uniting the 338 THE PLANTAGENETS. whole island of Britain under his sway, and this he at first attempted by peaceable means, afterwards by vio- lence, but in neither was he successful. Alexander III. of Scotland died in 1287, and his crown fell to his grand-daughter, a child, named Margaret, the Maid of Norway ; a marriage treaty, which was in- tended to unite the two kingdoms, was concluded be- tween her and Prince Edward, but this arrangement failed through her premature death. Numerous com- petitors arose for the crown, and to avert the danger of civil war the states of Scotland unwisely referred the decision of their claims to Edward. He had recently arbitrated between the kings of France and Arragon con- cerning the isle of Sicily, but here he was too deeply in terested to be just. Having assembled a large armv on the border, his first step was to assert that he came to decide the dispute in his quality of sovereign lord, a de- mand which excited much surprise and remonstrance, but to which the states and the competitors were ulti- mately obliged to agree, as also to place in his hands the royal castles. A decision was at length given in favour of John Baliol, who did homage for his kingdom ; but though acquiesced in for a while, this state of vassalage was odious to the great body of his people : they, rather than the nobles, took up arms, formed an alliance with France, and superseded Baliol. Edward advanced against them, mercilessly ravaged their country from one end to the other, and formally annexed it to England. Verv many of the nobles submitted to him, but Wallace and Robert Bruce kept the field. Wallace was captured and executed ; Bruce assumed the crown, and though most of his family fell into the hands of Edward, he still stub- EDWARD I. 339 lornly maintained the contest, until at length his great nemy died on his borders, in the twelfth year of the war, ithout having accomplished his object. The statute law of England assumed much of its pre- ent shape in this king's reign, but his own proceedings ere frequently of as arbitrary a character as those of ny of his predecessors. His wars caused him to resort the most violent means for raising moneys ; he was bliged solemnly to confirm Magna Charta, to allay the iscontents thus occasioned, but he paid little regard to s provisions, and is accused by the archbishop of Can- rbury (Robert Winchelsey) of imprisoning freemen un- 3nvicted of any ofience for the mere purpose of extort- j heavy ransoms from them, whilst his judges scrupled t to declare that it was for the common good that the ig should be considered as above the laws and customs the kingdom. Edward died at Burgh on the Sands, near Carlisle, ily 7, 1307, and was buried, contrary to his own direc- ms, at AVestrainster, on Oct. 27. His first wife, Eleanor of Castile, accompanied him the Crusade, bore him four sons d eight daughters, and died at Gran- mi, Nov. 28, 1290a. He in 1299 irried Margaret, sister of Philip IV. France, who bore him two sons and daughter, and survived him, dying 1317. Of his children, John, Henry, Alphonso, Berengaria, See pp. 353, 355, o.'iS. Se\-eral elegant crosses, known by her name, yet mark jilaces are her corpse rested on its way to Westminster ; these are not ens of the affection of her husband, as usually supposed, but were sted by her executors in comphance with directions in her will. 340 THE PLANTAGENETS. and three others whose names are un- certain, died young. Edward of Caernarvon became king-. Thomas of Brotherton, born June 1, 1300, was created earl of Norfolk in 1313, and had the office of Marshal of England bestowed on him in 1315 ; Arms of Edward of Caerna lie died in 1338, and was interred at Bury St. Edmund's. Edmund of Woodstock, bom Aug. 5, 1301, was created earl of Kent. He was beheaded at Winchester, March 19, 1330, on a charge of conspiracy against his nephew Edward III. ; his daughter Joan became the wife of Edward the Black Prince. Eleanor, born 1264, married Henry HI., duke of Bar, and died in 1298. Joan of Acre, born in Palestine in 1272, first married Gilbert, earl of Clare and Gloucester, and afterwards Ralph Monthermer, a private gentleman of her retinue ; she died in 1307. Margaret, born 1275, married John II. duke of Bra- bant, and died in 1318. Mary, born 1278, became a nun at Amesburyin 1285, and died there, probably in the year 1332. Elizabeth, born 1282, married first John, count of Holland, and afterwards Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, who was killed at Boroughbridge, in 1322; she died in May, 1316. Edward I. bore the same arms as his father and grandfather, but the badge ascribed to him is a rose or, stalked proper. EDWAKD I. 34 L The character of Edward I. presented a strong con- trast to that of his father, being reso- lute, unbending, and cruel. His na- ture was evidently most tyrannical, and his conduct in general oppressive to his subjects, and unjust to neigh- bouring states. His talents, however, were great, both for war and govern- ment ; he favoured commerce and mu- Arms ofEi^rardi. nicipal institutions'', and remedied many abuses of the law ; he withstood the exactions and demands of the pope, and thus secured the independence of his crown ; he enlarged his domains by the conquest of Wales, and apparently he only failed in his design against Scotland from having there to contend with men as able as himself, and animated bv the consciousness of a good cause. A.D. 1272. Edward is proclaimed king, Nov. 20^; Walter GifFard, archbishop of York, the earls of Corn- wall and Gloucester, are appointed regents, and Walter de Merton chancellor d. A.D. 1273. Edward passes through Italy and France, and repairs to Gascony, which he reduces to obedienct^. Edmund, earl of Lancaster, suppresses an attempt to raise a civil war in the north of England. '' He founded several towns in Gascony and some in Wales, which proved of great importance in prolonging the English rule in the former country. Some interesting particulars concerning the Gascon towns will be found in " The Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages," vol. ii. pp. 169 — 173. •^ The years of his reign are computed ii'om this day. d He was the founder of Merton College, Oxford, and died in 1277. 6 Gaston de Beam, oneof the chief malcontents (see p. 320), escaped to France ; he was, however, sent back to Edward, by whom he w;is lorg imprisoned. 342 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1274. Edward settles some commercial dis- putes with the countess of Flanders (Margaret II.) He then returns to England, lands at Dover Aug. 2, and is crowned, with his consort Eleanor, Aug. 19. Edward repairs to Chester, in September, when Llewe- lyn declines to meet him ; he is in consequence summoned to attend the next parliament at Westminster®. Robert Burnell (afterwards bishop of Bath and Wells) is appointed chancellor^. A.D. 1275. A parliament held at Westminster, near the end of April, when several reformatory statutes are issued ; especially one to restrain the usurious practices of the Jews^. Llewelyn does not appear^. Eleanor de Montfort and her brother Almeric (for- merly treasurer of York) are captured at sea, near Bristol, by one of the king's ships'. A.D. 1276. Llewelyn is again summoned to the par- liament; he instead sends messengers to offer a ransom for Eleanor and her brother; it is refused ; he is declared by the parliament to have forfeited his lands, and a force ordered to be raised against him. At the same parliament justices are appointed to hear ' He was required to do homage, and also to answer some com- plaints which his brother David had made to the king as his liege lord. f He held the office mitil his death, at Berwick, Oct. 25, 1292. e 'the expulsion of this hapless race was near at hand, "and," says Matthew of Westminster, "that they might be distinguished from the faithful, the king ordered them to wear on their outer gar- ments a sign like a tablet, of the length of a pahn." *> He positively refused to come, saj'ing that he remembered the fate of his father Griffin. See p. 313. ' Eleanor was affianced to Llewelyn, and on her way to marry him ; she was, too, the king's cousin, and her seizure seems quite unworthy of the great prince that Edward is usually represented. 343 and determine suits of trespasses committed in the last twenty-five years ; they have power to inflict fines, but are ordered to remit very grave cases to the king in par- liament. A.D. 1277. Edward removes the courts of law to Shrewsbury, and leads a large army against Llewelyn, whilst the Cinque Ports fleet ravage the Welsh coast. Llewelyn retires to Snowdon, but at length submits to the king. He is carried to Westminster, and obliged to surrender all his territories except the district of Snow- don and the isle of AngleseyJ, Nov. 10. After a con- siderable delay he is allowed to return, " having been carefully instructed in his duty." A.D. 1278. The king deprives several monasteries of extraordinary privileges, which they had obtained from his father, Henry HI.'' The Statute of Gloucester [6 Edw. I. c. 1,] for the better administration of justice, enacted, Aug. 2. Alexander III. of Scotland does homage in the par- liament at Westminster, in October. The Jews throughout England seized on one day (Nov. 12), being accused of clipping the coin ; 280 are hanged shortly after in London alone, and " a very great multitude" in other places; a number of Christians, i He was to hold these by the annual payment of 1000 marks ; he also agreed to pay 50,000 marks for the expenses of the war, but this was remitted, (probably it was impossible for him to raise it). His bride was dehvered to him, and they were married Oct. 13, 1278. Almeric de Montfort was kept in prison until 1282, when his release was granted at the request of the pope (Martin IV.), whose chaplain he was. I' He restored the charters of privilege to the church of West- minster, as he said, "because he had therein received the sacra- ments of baptism, confirmation, and consecration." 344 THE PLAXTAGEXETS. " principally the rich citizens of London," charged as their confederates, are allowed to ransom themselves J. A.D. 1279. The king goes to France, gives up all claim to Normandy, and obtains formal possession of Gascony. The Statute of Mortmain [7 Edw. I. c. 2,] passed, Nov. 15. By this enactment all lands in future given into the " dead hands" of the Church without the king's special license were to be forfeited ^. A.D. 1281. The archbishop of Canterbury (./ohn Peckham) holds a council of his province at Lambeth, in which sequestration is decreed against such religious houses as had neglected to send procurators to a former assembly ; the abbots of St. Alban's and others appeal to the pope, and the sentence is not enforced. A.D. 1282. The French expelled from Sicily, which they had seized in virtue of a grant from the pope'., ' The Jews seem to have been especially odious to the king ; he even granted letters patent to his mother forbidding them to reside on any of her estates. '' Alatthew of Westminster complains that the makers of this sta- tute "did not understand that the army of Amalek was overthrown rather by the prayers of Moses than by the swords of the children of Israel." In order to avoid the burden of mihtary service it was not unusual to make feigned gifts of land to the Church ; this practice is forbidden in Magna Charta, but it prevailed long after, as is shewn by numerous statutes directed against it. ' Sicily had been granted by Pope Alexander IV. to Henry III., and on his failing to undertake its conquest, it had been seized by Charles of Anjou, brother of the French king, who defeated and killed Manfred, the natural son of the emjieror Frederick II. The natives rose suddenly on the French, massacred great numbers of them (a butchery known as "the Sicilian Vespers," March 20), and being assisted by the princes of Arragon, shook off their yoke. The quarrel between the Arragonese and the French was at last adjusted by King Edward. See p. 349. 345 WALES. A.D. 1282. Llewelyn and his brother David are re- conciled, and the Welsh attempt to recover their inde- pendence ; they capture Hawarden, March 22 ; destroy the castles of Flint and Rhuddlan, and carry Roger de Clifford, one of the marchers, off prisoner™. The king removes the law courts to Shrewsbury ; hires soldiers from Gascony, and marches into Wales. The English sustain severe loss in endeav^ouring to cross the river Conway, Nov. 6 ; Llewelyn, encouraged thereby, descends into the plains, but is surprised and killed by the marchers, Dec. 11". A.D. 1283. David, the brother of Llewelyn, surrenders himself; he is condemned during the sitting of parliament at Shrewsbury, and executed as a traitor, Sept. 20°. All armed opposition having, for the present, been overcome, the king proceeded to settle the state of his new dominions. Accordingly a statute, called the Statute of Wales [12 Edw. L] was enacted at Rhuddlan, March 19, 1284, which alleges that "Divine Providence has now removed aU obstacles, and transferred wholly and entirely to the king's dominion the land of Wales and its inhabitants, heretofore subject to him in feudal right." At the prayer of his new subjects the king grants that their ancient laws may be preserved in civil ™ He died in their hands. " His wife, the daughter of De Montfort, had died shortly before ; their only chUd was carried into England, and became a nun at Sempringham. ° He had formerly been an exile in England, and had been favour- ably treated by Edwaid ; he is said indeed to have received from him the earldom of Derby, but the fact is uncertain. 346 THE PLAUTAGENETS. causes, but the law of inheritance is changed, and in criminal naatters the English law is to be in force. Sanctuary is no longer to be allowed, but those who would otherwise be entitled to it are to abjure the realm within a given time, proceeding by the high road, cross in hand, to some appointed sea-port. Sheriffs are ap- pointed for Anglesey, Caernarvon, Merioneth, and Flint, with coroners and bailiffs in each district, who are all placed under the supervision of the justice of Chester. The rest of the country remained as before under the jurisdicti6n of the marchers. As the sincerity of the people's submission was rea- sonably doubted, the king erected many new strong- holds, and re-edified others, constructing them on a plan so different from that of the Normans, that the term Edwardian is usually applied to them. Flint, Rhuddlan, Hawarden, Denbigh, Caernarvon, Conway, Beaumaris, and Harlech, in the immediate neighbour- hood of Snowdon ; Cilgarran, in the palatinate of Pem- broke ; and Caerphilly, in the honour of Glamorgan, are among the number ; and some idea of their original ap- pearance and strength may be gained from the engraving on the opposite page, which represents Caerphilly, as re- stored from plans and drawings made in a recent careful survey. As a further security, bodies of English were planted in convenient stations, and endowed with mu- nicipal privileges ; from these " borough, or Engbsh towns P," Welshmen were rigidly excluded, not being allowed to hold either lands or office therein. p Among them may be named, Montg-omery, Radnor, Brecknock, and Caermarthen, which had before been in the hands of the lords marchers, but were now annexed to the crown. vksi^mmmM^i:, 348 THE PLANTAGENETS. Popular tradition charges the king with a systematic massacre of the Welsh bards, but though the order may be said almost to have disappeared with the complete subjugation of their country, this odious accusation ap- pears to be unfounded. The bards, as we see from the laws of Dyvnwal MoelmudP, considered themselves the leading order in the state ; they also claimed the right of celebrating marriage under the oak-tree, and osten- tatiously retained many ceremonies of Druidic origin ; they were thus avowedly hostile to, and disliked by, the clergy, who for ages had maintained a closer con- nexion than the rest of their countrymen with England^. Many of the bards too were bitter satirists, and branded their opponents as betrayers of their country ; they also, we know, often bore arms, and many doubt- less perished in the field ; others would probably be de- nounced, and thus meet with death as traitors ; hence their disappearance under the English rule mav be ac- counted for, without imputing such personal guilt to the conqueror. A.D. 1283. The Statute of Merchants'" [1 1 Edw. I.], to facilitate the recovery of their debts, passed Oct. 12, at Acton Burnell, in Shropshire. A.D, 1284. Margaret of Norway acknowledged as heir to the crown of Scotland, at Scone, Feb. 5®. P See p. 64. -) See pp. 92, 106, 224. r There is another statute of the same name [13 Edw. I. c. 3] pas- sed in 1285, to give better effect to the provisions of the forraei-, but it is expressly provided that the Jews are not to be benefited thereby. ' She was the grandchild of Alexander III. and Margaret, the sister of Edward I., by "Margaret, their daughter, who married Eric, king of Norway. ED'V^ARD I. 349 A.D. 1285. The king solemnly presents at West- minster many rich spoils from Wales. Among them are a large piece of the true cross," and many other fa- mous relics adorned with gems and gold, and " the crown of King Arthur." A statute passed to redress disorders in London [13 Edw, I. c. 5*.] Justices of assize appointed, to go into every shire twice or thrice a year for the more speedy administration of justice [13 Edw. I. c. 30.] A.D. 1286. The king goes to Gascony, in June ; he reduces the province to obedience, and stays there three years ; Edmund, earl of Lancaster, is regent. The king arbitrates between the French and the Arra- gonese on account of Sicily. A.D. 1287. The king, being seized with severe ill- ness, again assumes the cross. Alexander IIL of Scotland dies, March 16 ; six regents are chosen to govern the kingdom in the minority of his grand-daughter Margaret"^. The Welsh, under Rhys ap Meredith'^, attempt to shake ' This statute presents a curious picture of the times. No armed men are to be seen in the street after the curfew has tolled at St. War- tin's le Grand " except he be a great man, or other lawful person of good repute, or their messenger with their warrant, and lantern in hand." All brokers are placed under the special direction of the magistrates, as they were often "foreigners who for great offence have fled their country ;" none but freemen are to keep taverns, and none are to teach fencing in the city under heavy penalties. " She remained in Norway vidth her father until 1290, when a mar- riage having been arranged for her with Edward, prince of Wales, she sailed for Scotland, but died on her way in the Orknej-s, Oct. 7, and was buried in the cathedral of St. Magnus at Kirkwall. ' He was a descendant of Owen Gwynneth, and had sided with the Enghsh against LlewehTi in the expectation of being placed on the throne in his stead, but was contemptuously treated when the war was over. 350 THE PLANTAGENETS. off the English yoke, June ; thev are subdued bv Robert Tiptoft, the king's justiciary, and their leader carried to York and hanged. A.D. 1288. The pope (Nicholas IV.) grants to the king the tenth of the revenues of " all the churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland," for the service of the Holy Landy. A.D. 1289. The king returns to England in August. He causes a strict inquiry to be made into the conduct of the judges, sheriffs, and other officers during his ab- sence, banishes some of the guilty, (among them Thomas de Weyland, the chief justice,) and imposes heavy fines upon others 2. The marriage treaty of Prince Edward and Margaret of Norway, which recognises Scotland as " free, absolute, and independent," concluded at Salisbury, Nov. 6, be- tween the kings of England and Norway, their parents. A.D. 1 290. " The fierce multitude of the Jews," with their wives and children, and all their moveable property, are ordered to leave England, Aug. 31^; the feast of All Saints (Nov. 1) was the period assigned, which they were not to exceed on pain of death''. The king takes possession of the Isle of Man, at the request of the inhabitants. ^ The king did not at once avail himself of this grant, as the sur- vey (known as the Taxation of Pope Nicholas) was not made until 1291 and 1292. ' These fines are said to have amounted to the enormous sum of 100,000 markSj or much more than the annual revenue of the kingdom. ^ They had previously been banished from Gascony by the king. '' The king granted passes to them, to the number of 16,511, and strictly forbade any injmy to be done to them : some mariners who violated his commands by drowning a number of them at the mouth of the Thames were executed. 351 SCOTLAND. Margaret of Norway, queen of Scotland, dies Oct. 7. No less than thirteen different parties laid claim to he throne of Scotland when it be- aine vacant by the death of the laid of Norway. Contrary to all ceived notions of inheritance, one f these was her father, Eric of Nor- y ; Florence, count of Holland, ^as a second, but his claim was Armsofscotund. withdrawn. Among the other competitors, only three eed be named ; these were, John Bahol, lord of alloway, Robert Bruce, earl of Annandale, and John lastings, lord of Abergavenny, and seneschal of Aqui- line ; they were all descended from David, earl of untingdon, the younger brother of Malcolm IV. and V^illiam the Lion, and grandson of David 1. Baliol was the grandson of Margaret, the eldest aughter " ; Bruce, the son of Isabel, the second daugh- Hastings, the grandson of Ada, the third daughter, [astings desired a share only of the kingdom, but as the ate was wisely held by all parties to be indivisible, his aims were at once negatived, and the competitors re- uced in reality to two, John Baliol and Robert Bruce, he states of the kingdom had not the courage to ecide between them, and in an evil hour for their coun- y they resolved to appeal to the judgment of the king of ngland, as their only resource for avoiding a civil war. ■^ John Comyn, earl of Badenoeli (aftei-Tvards killed by Bruce), other of the competitors, was the son of Marjory, a younger uighter of Margaret. 352 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1291. The Crusades are brought to a close by the capture of Acre, and the few other strongholds of the Christians on the Syrian coast. The disputed succession to the crown of Scotland is referred to the king of England for his decision. He repairs to Norham, on the banks of the Tweed, with a large army, and as a first step claims to be ac- knowledged "sovereign lord of the land of Scotland •=,'' May 10, which is conceded to him, after long debate, bv letters patent under the hands of nine of the competitors'^, June 5 ; he also claims the royal castles, which, by a simi- lar document, dated June 6, are put into his hands. After some discussion, the competitors are reduced to two (John Baliol and Eobert Bruce), who name fifty per- sons of Scotland, and these choose thirty Englishmen as their assistants ; this commission is empowered to investigate the rights of the claimants and to report to the king. A.D. 1292. The commissioners meet at Berwick, Aug. 2, and after three months report in favour of John Baliol ; the king delivers his judgment accordingly, Nov. 30. Baliol does homage " for himself and his heirs, for the whole kingdom of Scotland," at Berwick, the same day ; he is also summoned into England, and repeats the cere- mony at Newcastle, Dec. 26. A.D. 1293. A war breaks out between the Cinque c He had shortly before acknowledged that no such superiority existed. See p. 350. <' These were Florence, count of Holland, Robert Bruce, John Bahol, John Hastings, John Comyn, Patrick Dunbar, John Vesey (for his father), Nicholas de Soules, and Wilham Eoss. EDWARD I. 353 Ports mariners and the Normans ; the latter are defeated with great slaughter at St. Mahe, in Britannv, April 14. The Gascons also make war on the French. Baliol is summoned to Westminster to answer various complaints of mal-administration ; he is treated with per- sonal disrespect in the court, and on his return to Scot- land seeks means of rendering himself independent. Philip IV. of Trance summons the king of England to answer in his court for the conduct of his subjects, Nov. A.D. 1294. The king refusing to appear, his fiefs in France are declared forfeited, Feb. The king renounces his fealty to France, makes al- liances abroad, and raises a large army, which being de- tained at Portsmouth by bad weather, is recruited by par- doned malefactors, who soon desert for want of pav. Heavy taxes levied on both clergy and laity®. Gascon V overrun by the French. The Cinque Ports mariners capture a Spanish fleet, and ravage the coast of France. " There was no law imposed upon the sailors, but whatever any one could carry oft', that he called his own." ' Tlie king-'s mode of proceeding was peremptory enough. He seized (July 26) on such kinds of merchandize as were suitable for exportation, and sold them in Flanders, promising to pay for them at a future period ; as also on large sums that had been deposited in religious houses for the service of the Holy Land. As the clergy did not meet his demands so readily as he expected, he sent one of his knights (John Havering) to their assembly in the refectory at West- minster, (Sept. 21,) who in a loud and menacing voice delivered this very intelligible message : " Holy fathers, this is the demand of the king, — one half of all the annual revenues of your churches. If any one objects to this let him stand forth, that he may be taken note of, as unworthy of the king's peace." Well may Matthew of West- minster add, "When they heard this, all the prelates were dis- turbed in mind, and immediately they granted the king's demand." 354 THE PLANTAGENETS. The "Welsh, both in the north and the south, take arms under Madoc and Morgan, of the family of Llewelyn ; they defeat the earl of Lincoln at Denbigh, Nov. 11 ; the king marches against them, and cuts down the woods, but his troops suffer greatly from famine, and he retires to England. A.D. 1295. The pope sends two legates to England to endeavour to bring about a peace with France ; they arrive in May, and depart in August*. The French land at Dover, and burn a convent and several houses near the beach, but are beaten off with loss, Aug. 1. Thev also lose a galley with 300 picked men at Rye. The Welsh are subdued, and obliged to give hostages ; Madoc shortly after again takes arms; he is captured, and dies a prisoner in the Tower. The Scots, in a parliament at Scone, appoint twelve peers as guardians of the realm, thus in reality super- seding Baliol ; they also conclude a treaty of marriage between his son Edward and the princess Joanna of France, in which stipulations for aid against England are contained, Oct. 23. The king, being aware of the treaty, demands from the Scots possession of the castles and towns of Ber- wick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh ; they are refused, and hostilities begin. A.D. 1296. Prince Edmund ravages the French coast ; he captures Bordeaux, March 28, and dies soon after. ' The king authorized them, Aug. 14, to conclude a truce till the 1st of November with the king of France, if he should Jesii-e it. EDWARD r. 355 The king marches against the Scots ; he captures Ber- ick, March 30 ; the Scots at tlie same time ravage 'lorthuraberland, and bei^iege Carlisle. Baliol formally renoiuices allegiance to the king, pril 5. The king defeats the Scots with great slaughter at mibar, April 27) ravages the surroundmg country and ptures the Maidens' Castle (near Edinburgh), whence carries off the Scottish royal insignia. Bahol surrenders himself to the king, Julv 8 ; he is iged to make a formal renunciation of his kingly gnity by letters patent^, and is then imprisoned in the ower of London. John de Warrenne, earl of Surrey, is appointed guar- an of Scotland, and Hugh Cressingham treasurer; the returns to England, carrying many of the Scottish ibles with him as hostages. A large French ship, called the King Philip, is captured d brought into Stuidwich. A.D. 1297. The clergv, refusing a fresh demand om the king, are by hiui declared out of the pale of e law; they are thus obliged to give a large sum". The English forces, being treacherously abandoned bv The date is uncertain ; two copies exist among the public re- rds, one dated at Brechin, Ji-dy 10 ; the other, Kincardine, July 2. tters of submission also were exacted from the bishops of Glasgow, )erdeeu, and Whithern, August 2S, and from several nobles (among em the Bruces, father and son,) March 25, 12.'7, who were in Ed- ird's hands as prisoners or hostages. The clergy were placed in a most painful position ; the arch- ihop of Canterbury (Robert Winchelsey) had just received a bull, ited Feb 24, 1296,) threatening excommunication to all who mted the pi'opeity of the Church to the king, but theii' fear of oual violence obhjj-ed them to do so. 356 THE PLANTAGENETS. the Gascons, are defeated, and John St. Johni, their com- mander, captured. The king's exactions causing much discontent, the earls and barons resolve on a meeting in the marches to enforce a redress of their grievances. The constable and marshal place themselves at their head, and refuse to discharge the duties of their offices, or to serve in the vrar-i. i He was tlie king's lieutenant in Gascony, and being after a time exchanged for .John liahol, tlie ex- king of Scotland, returned to England, when he was activelj' employed in the Scottish wars, and is spoken of in the poem of ihe Siege of Caerlaverock as en- trusted with the special charge of the Prince of Wales, and regarded as the most expe- rienced of the leaders of the army. The custody- of the marches of Cumberland and Annandale was given to him, and he died in the year 1.302. J iioger Bigod, earl of Norfolk and earl mar- sha , was the nephew of the preceding earl. He served against Llewelyn, and long had the custody of the castles of Bristol and Notting- ham, but at length was deprived of them. He received a pardon for his conduct on the present occasion, but after the death of bis confederate, the earl of Hereford, he was ob- liged to siu-render both his office and lands to the king, (by a deed dated at Colchester, April 12, 1302,) in exchange for a pension ; he died in 1307, when the office of marshal was given to the king's son, 'Ihoraas of Brotherton. Humphrey de Bohim, earl of Hereford and Essex, and lord constable, succeeded his grandfather (who had been an active partisan of De Montfort) in 1275. He served in Wales, France, and Scotland, vrithstood the arbitrary proceedings of the king, and died in 1298, shortly after Magna Charta had been contirmid, mainly by his efforts. His son, also named Humphrey, married the king's (laugh er, Elizabeth, hut met his death in the Ti.ld while I pposing the proceedings of Ed- a. ward II. and his favourites. EDWAED I. 357 The king solemnly offers the regalia of Scotland at the shrine of Edward the Confessor'', June 18. Several of the Scottish nobles submit to Warrcnne at Irvine, July 9 ; Wallace, a simple knight, keeps the field. The king promises to renew Magna Charta, and sails for Flanders, Aug. 22, with a large fleet, leaving his son Edward as regent. Warrenne, the guardian, is defeated at Cambuskenneth, near Stirling, Sept. 10' ; Wallace also ravages the north of England. The earls of Hereford and Norfolk prohibit the sheriffs to levy any taxes until Magna Charta is again con- firmed. Prince Edward sends it and the Charter of the Forests to the king, who confirms them at Ghent, Nov. 5 "''. A.D. 1298. A two years' truce with France is con- cluded, and the king returns to England, landing at Sandwich, March 21. Edward marches towards Scotland, which he enters in June, while his fleet proceeds to the Fnth of Foith. He defeats the Scots at Falkirk, July 22, and after ra- vaging the west of Scotland returns to Ei:igland. Peace is concluded with France, Nov. 19". '' He also placed there the "stone of destiny" from Scone, on which the Scottish kii^igs were seated at their coronation. The stone is still at Westminster, but the regalia were restored iu the reign of Edward III. ' Hugh Cressiugham, the treasurer, who had been guilty of much "Wanton oppression in the discharge of his oiBce, wns among the killed ; his body was horribly mutilated by the victors. ■» A formal pardon was at the same time granted to the earls of Hereford and Norfolk, " at the special request of our dear son Ed- ward" and his council. " Ed'.vard f. jon after married Margaret, the sister of the king of France. 35S TilE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1299. John Baliol is released from confine- ment in July, at the intercession of the pope, and retires to France". The Scots appoint a regency, placing Bruce and Comyn at its head, and continue the war ; they cap- ture the strong castle of Stirling. The importation of false money prohibited, and foreign exchanges regulated [27 Edw. I. st. 3]. The king of PVance overruns Flanders. A.D. 1300. The king seizes a large sum of money in the hands of the iMinorites^. Magna Charta again confirmed, March 28. The royal array assembles at Carlisle, June 24 ; it en- ters Scotland early in July, ravages Galloway^, and re- turns to- England in November. The pope (Boniface VIII.) claims the supremacy of Scotland, and demands the release of the Scottish eccle- siastics in the king's hands'", and the withdi'awal of his troops^. A.D. 1301. A parliament assembles at Lincoln, Jan. 20, to consider the pope's demands ; it agrees to a letter asserting the feudal dependence of Scotland, and refusing ° He died there, at his castle of Eailleul, in 1.315. P He told them that the rule of St. P'raneis, their founder, rendered poverty obligatory on them, and he could not, as a Cln-istian king, allow it to be violated. 1 One of the castles taken was that of Caerlaverock, on the Nith, the siege of which forms the subject of a curious cotemporary poem. "■ Robert, bishop of Glasgow, and Mark, bishop of Sodor, are named ; many clerks are also alleged to have perished through the hardships of their imprisonment. ' The pope's bull was dated at Anagui, June 27, and it was for- warded to the archbishop of Canterbury, who deUvered it to the king in his camp near New Abbey, in Galloway, August 24, and returned to his manor at Otford, in Kent, on or before October 1. EDWARD I. 359 to allow the king to send ambassadors to justify iiis con- duct, P'eb. 12^ The king also replies in a similar strain, May 15. The king again mvades Scotland, in July ; he meets little opposition, and passes the winter there. A.D. 1302. A truce concluded with the Scots, Jan. 26, until St. Andrew's day, (Nov. 30.) The Flemings defeat the French at Cambray, July 1 1 . Proposals are made for peace with France, but thev refuse to treat unless the Scots are included, and also re- quire the king to pass over in person to negotiate. The parliament refuses to allow the king to go to France, treating the demand as an insult. A.D. 1303. Stirling castle is taken by the Scots, Feb. 18. The English defeated at Roslin by Comyn, the regent, Feb. 24. Peace is made with France, Gascony being restored, and the Scots abandoned to the vengeance of Edward, May 20. The king again invades Scotland, in June, and ad- vances as far as the Murray Frith ; he captures Bre- chin, Aug. 9 ; burns Dunfermline, and passes the winter ill that country. William de Geynesburg, bishop of Worcester, is fined 1,000 marks for an alleged contempt of the king's au- thor itv^ ' Two copies of this remarkable document still exist among the public records. " The pope (Boniface VIII.) had promoted him to the see on the refusal of the archbishop of Canterbury (Robert Winchelse}') to con- secrate the king's nominee, and in his bull professed to grant him the temporalities as well as the spirituahties. The bishop was 560 THE PLANTAGENETS. Robert Bruce and many other nobles submit. A.D. 1304. Comyn, the guardian, concludes a treatv with the king, Feb. 4. A parliament held at St. Andrew's, by which the gur- rison of Stirling castle are declared outlaws. Stirling is besieged by the king, in April ; it sur- renders, July 20. The king returns to England, leaving John de Segrave as governor of Scotland^. A.D. 1305. The writ of Trailbaton issued. Tliis writ sets forth that murderers, incendiaries, thieves, and other violators of the king's peace abound, and directs the sheriffs of each countv to call to their aid good and legal men to make inquiry as to all such ofTenders and their abettors. The parties discovered were tried before a kind of special commissioners who visited each district, and promptly and rigorously punished. Wallace is captured near Glasgow, in August, brought to London, and executed as a traitor, Aug. 24. A council held at London, in September, when regu- obliged to renounce tlie so-called grant, and paid the above heavy fine for "his transgression in admittiug that the pope had power to dispose of the said temporalities." Patent RoU, 31 Edw. I., m. 3£. ' John de Segrave was one of the king's most experienced com- manders, and was constable of his army in the expedition to Scotland in 1296. He was also governor of Berwick ; and under Ed- ward II. he was made keeper of the Ibrests north of Trent, which included the custody of the castles of Nottingham and Derby. He was taken prisoner at Bannockburn, but soon exchanged, and received a large grant as compensation for his services. In 1323, being suspected of having favoured the es- cape of Roger ^lortimer from the Tower, he was sent in disgrace to Gascony, where he shortly after died, in the 70th year of his age. Arms of Lord Se EDWARD I. 361 lations for the government of Scotland, now considered as conquered, are drawn up. Robert Bruce >' leaves the English court, and repairs to Scotland. A.D. 1306. Bruce, failing to induce Comyn to join him in throwing off the English yoke, kills him in the Minorite convent at Dumfries, Jan. 29, or Feb. 10. He is joined by numbers, di"ives out the English jus- ticiaries, and garrisons, who flee to Bei-wick, and ravages the lands of the adherents of the king. Bruce is crowned king (Robert I.) at Scone, March 25, in presence of the bishops of St. Andrew's and Glas- gow, five earls, and many knights ; the ceremony is re- peated on Palm Sunday, March 27. A large army sent against the Scots, in May, under Aymer de Valence % who defeats Bruce, July 22, and obliges him to flee to Cantyre, and thence to the Isles. The king marches into Scotland, in July ; little oppo- sition is made to him, but he captures and executes many of Bruce's adherents'^, and commits those who surrender to close custody. Bruce suddenly issues from his retreat, at the end of September ; he besieges Henry de Percy in Turnbury castle (near Girvan, in Ayrshire), but a large English force puts him again to flight. *■ The son of the competitor for the crown, who died in April, 1304. ^ Son of William de Valence, half-brother of Henry III. ' Among them were Nigel Bruce, his brother, Seton, his brother- in-law, the earl of Athol, and Simon Fraser. His wife, his daughter, his two sisters, and the countess of Buchan, were caiDtured, and im- prisoned untU after the battle of Bannockbum. 362 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1307. A parliament meets at Carlisle in Ja- nuary. Peter of Spain, the papal legate, excommuni- cates Bruce, Feb. 22 ^ Piers Gaveston, a favourite of the king's son Edward, is banished from England. A party of Scots, headed by Alexander and Thomas Bruce, land in Galloway, Feb. 10 ; they are captured by Duncan Macdonald, a partisan of the English, and sent to the king, who has them all executed, Feb. 17. Bruce again appears, (about the end of March,) de- feats Aymer de Valence, and besieges the earl of Glou- cester in Ayr. The king raises the siege, and Bruce retires. The king summons his army to assemble at Carlisle at the beginning of July. He commences his last march against Scotland, leav- ing Carlisle July 3; reaches Burgh on the Sands (five miles distant), July 5; dies there, July 7; his body is brought to Westminster, and buried, Oct. 27 '^, '' The papal bull authorizing this is dated May 18, 1306 ; it is grounded on the murder of Coniyn in a church. ■^ His dying injunction was thus disregarded, as he had desired that his remains should be carried about with the army, and not deposited in the grave until the entire conquest of Scotland had been achieved. Ed.vaH Il.r-o Arms of Edward II. EDV7ARD II. Edward, the fourth son of Edward I. and Eleanor of Castile, was born at Carnarvon, April 25, 1284. By the death of his brother Alphonso in the August fol- lowing he became heir to the throne, and he soon after received the title of Prince of Wales. Piers Gaveston, the son of a Gascon gentleman of merit, was chosen as the companion of the young p<'ince, and this circumstance exercised a most unhaopy influ- ence on the destiny of both. Edward was frequontlv embroiled with his father in consequence of his own misconduct as well as that of his favourite, and one of the last acts of the dying king was an endeavour to per- petuate the banishment of the latter. Edward became king July 8, 1 307, being then on the border of Scotland, but he at once abandoned the con- test, recalled liis favourite, and imprisoned or banished 364 THE PLANTAGENETS. many of his father's ministers. Gaveston was created earl of Cornwall, and married to the king's niece, Mar- garet de Clare ; his insolence was intolerable to the nobles, and after being more than once banished and re- called, he was put to death by them in the year 1312, the king having in the meantime been stripped of power, by his cousin, Thomas, earl of Lancaster, and his asso- ciates. In 1314 Edward invaded Scotland at the head of a large army, but was signally defeated by Robert I. at Bannockburn, June 24, and never after made any serious attempt to renew the enterprise ; while the Scots, on the other hand, ravaged the north of England, and attempted the conquest of Ireland. After s.ome years, unwarned by the fate of Gaveston, the king chose a new favourite, Hugh Despenser, who, however, was soon banished. The king took up arms, recalled Despenser, and defeated and killed the earls of Lancaster and Hereford ; but their party was joined by the queen, whom Despenser had offended. She went to France, taking her son Edward with her, under the pretext of accommodating a dispute with the French king (her brother) about the homage of Gascony. The earl of Kent (the king's brother), Roger Mortimer, and other nobles, repaired to her, and a small mercenary force was raised, with which she invaded England, in Sep- tember, 1326; the king fled before them, his favourites were seized and executed, and he himself being cap- tured, he was formally deposed, Jan. 7, 1327, and murdered at Berkeley castle, the 21st of September following:. EDWARD II. 365 Edward married, in 1308, Isabella, p^ daughter of Philip IV. of France. She -^'^^' bore him two sons and two daughters, but disgraced herself by a criminal amour with Roger Mortimer, and died in 1357, after a seclusion, but not without dignity, of twenty-seven years. Of the children of their marriage, 1. Edwakd became king. 2. John of Eltham, born Aug. 25, 1315. was in 1328 created earl of Cornwall, and in the following year named custos of the kingdom, during the absence of the king in France. He died at St. John's town, near Perth, in Scotland, Oct. 1336. 3. Eleanor, born 1318, married Revnald II., count of Gueldres, and, after a life rendered miserable by the ill conduct of her husband and her sons, she died in a nunnery at Deventer, April 22, 1355. 4. Joan, born in the Tower, in 1321, was in 1329 married to David, prince of Scotland, (afterwards David II.) She accompanied him alike in his exile in France and his imprisonment in England, but was at length obliged to separate from him through his own miscon- duct, and return to her brother's court, where she died, Sept. 7, 1362. Edward II. bore the same arms as his father, but for a badge he used a castle, probably in token of his de- scent from the kings of Castile. The character of this king was manifestly rather weak than wicked; those who deposed and murdered him charged him with neglect of his office, and profusion, 3C6 THE PLANTAGENETS. but they did not allege against him oppressive exactions and merciless proscription ; yet was his fate one oi the hardest recorded in history. AD. 1307. Edward is received as king, at Carlisle, Saturday, July 8^; he shortly after proceeds towards Dumfries, where some of the Scottish nobility do homage to him, early in August. He appoints Aymer de Valence guardian and lieu- tenant in Scotland, Aug. 30'^, and returns to England. Gaveston is recalled'^; many of the king's council are driven from the court, and some imprisoned'^. A.D. 1308. The king appoints Gaveston regent, and passes into France, where he marries Isabella (daughter of Philip IV., king of France), at Boulogne, Jan. 28 ; he returns to England, and is crowned at Westminster Feb. 25 e. A parliament assembles, April 28 ; great complaints are made of the conduct of Gaveston, and he is banished. May 18. The king appoints him governor of Ireland, " From this day his regnal years are computed. •> Valence resigned the office almost immediately, and it was be- stowed on John de Dreux, earl of Kichmoud, and cousin to the king, being sou of John II. duke of Britanny, and Beatrice, daughter of Henry III. ' He was soon created earl of Cornwall, but was so mij)opular that hardly any one could be found to give him the title in ordinary con- vei'sation ; the king was unwise enough to issue a i)roelaniatiou on tlie subject, which was universally disregarded. '' The chancellor (Ralph Baldock, bishop of London), several of the judges, the barons of the exchequer, and the treasurer, were all displaced. ' Gaveston bore the crown in the procession, and Roger Mortimer and Hugh Despenser, with two others, carried a great " table," on which royal robes were disijlayed. EDWARD II. 367 here he shews courage and skill in dealing with the turbulent English and the unsubdued Irish ^ A.D. 1309. A truce concluded with Scotland, which lasts till August, 1310. A parliament held at Stamford, July 26, which agrees to the return of Gaveston. A.D. 1310. The barons generally refuse to meet the king in a parliament which is summoned at York in January ; Gaveston absconds in February. The parliament meets at Westminster in Lent, when the archbishop of Canterbury (Robert Winchelsey), seven other bishops, and thirteen barons, are appointed to draw up ordinances for the '• better regulation of the kiag's households." The time of his stay in Ireland is uncertain, but it was probably sliort, as a writ exists, professing to be attested by him at Langiey, Dec. 5, 1308. Their appointment was by virtue of letters patent, dated March 16, 1310, and they were sworn into office four days after. The head of the party was the king's cousin, Thomas, earl of Lancaster, who was the son of Edmund Crouchback by Blanche, granddaughter ' Louis VIII. of France ; he became jj re- sident of the council, assisted at the death of Gaveston, and long had all the power of the kingdom in his hands, his great ally \ y» iW?? < g^ being the earl of Hereford, the king's bro- \^i§ifc^..-r-0^" ther-in-law. He procured the banishment of V&"''?- sia^ the new favourite, Despenser, but was soon \i^\-^,jt^S^ ^ after forsaken by many of his adherents in ' Ci^^'e consequence of a quaiTel with his wife \ (.\lice, the heiress of the earl of Lincoln) ; he then formed a league with the king of Scotland, and marched northward to join Armsof Thomas, earl of Lancaster. him. He was intercepted atBoroughbridge by Sir Andrew Harcla, defeated, and taken prisoner. Being hurried before the king, he was at once condemned to death, and executed with many circumstances of insult and cruelty, Marcli 22, 1322, and buried at Pomfret. By the people in general he was regarded as a martyr, attempts were made to procure his canonization, and offer- long continued to be made at his tomb. 368 THE PLA>TAG£NETS. The king invades Scotland in September ; he meets but little opposition ; he winters at Berwick, and is there joined by Gaveston. A.D. 1311. The king returns to England, placing Gaveston in Bamborough castle for security. The parliament meets, and remains in session from August to October. The "ordinances" are accepted by the king, Oct. 5 ; the principal ones providing for the banishment of Gaveston from Nov. 1, the resumption of the king's grants to him, and the observance of the Charters. The castle of Linlithgow captured by stratagem bv the Scots. A.D. 1312. Perth is surprised by Robert Bruce, Jan. 8. The king recalls Gaveston, and regrants him his es- tates, Feb. 24. The order of Templars formally suppressed by the pope's bull, April 3^. The barons, headed by Thomas, earl of Lancaster, take up arms. The king advances against them, first placing Gaveston in Scarborough castle. Gaveston is besieged, and obliged to surrender, May 19 ; he is executed, in the presence of the earl of Lan- caster and other nobles, at Blacklow Hill, near Warwick, June 19^, The king's forces desert him, when he is obliged to •" In England their lands were granted to the Knights Hospital- lers, in 13-24 [17 Edw. II. c. 3.] ' His body was buried bj' the ilinorites in their chuixh at Oxford, but it was shortly after removed to Langley, by order of the king. ED-n-AKD II. 369 make peace with the harons, and to promise them pardon for the death of Gaveston, Dec. 20. A.D. 1313. The strong' castles of Roxburgh and Edinburgh captured by the Scots, and StirHng (almost :he only remaining fortress in the hands of the English; jesieged. The king and his queen go to France, to be present it the coronation of Louis X. ; which occasions a de- ay of the promised pardons, arid greatly incenses the )arons. The parliament meets in September ; general and also •pecial pardons are granted, Oct. 16, and the adherents )f Gaveston are included. The king prepares for an expedition against Scotland. A.D. 1314. He marches with a very large force into 5cotland, in June ; but is totally defeated at Bannock- )urn (near Stirling), June 24 ; he flees to Berwick. Robert Bruce's relatives?, and some Scottish eccle- iastics, are set at liberty in exchange for some of the :hief English prisoners taken at Bannockbum. The earl of Lancaster takes the control of the kingdom. A.D. 1315. Edward Bruce (brother of Robert) invades reland, in May; he is warmly received by the natives. The Scots ravage Northumberland, and besiege Car- isle, in August, The earl of Pembroke ravages Scotland, but is obliged o retire. The Welsh take up arms, under Llewelyn ap Madoc^', nd form an aUiance with Edward Bruce ; thev are ubdued before the end of the next year. 6 See p. 361. " See p. 354. VOL. I. B b 370 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1316. The king proposes a fresh invasion of Scotland, but the earl of Lancaster and his partisans re- fuse to join the royal army, and it is abandoned. The Irish are defeated with vast slaughter at Athenree, in the west, by the English, Aug. 10. Robert Bruce passes into Ireland, to the assistance of his brother, September. A.D. 1317. The Scots traverse Ireland, as far as Limerick, early ni the vear, but lose many men in their return to the north ; Robert Bruce retires. The pope (John XXII, ) attempts to negotiate a peace between England and Scotland. Bruce being only styled " governor of Scotland," refuses to treat, or to admit the papal legates ; he is excommunicated, and his kingdom placed under an interdict. The earl of Lancaster's power shaken by a quarrel with the earl Warrenne. A.D. 1318. Bruce retakes Berwick, April 2; the Scots ravage Yorkshire^. A parliament held in Julv, when a council of sixteen is appointed to " assist the king." The Irish appeal to the i)ope against the tvranny of the English settlers, and desire either to be left inde- pendent, or to hold their lands immediately of the king. The pope expostulates with the king, and procures a pro- mise of better government for the future. Edward Bruce is defeated and killed, near Dundalk, Oct. 14. ^ Their expeditions were conducted with such daring, that at one time the queen, at another the king, very narrowly escaped falling into theii hands. EDWABD II. 37] A.B. 1319. The king, assisted by the Cinque Ports fleet, besieges Berwick, but is unable to retake it. A two years' truce concluded, Dec. 21, between " Ed- ward, king of England" and " Sir Robert de Brus." A.D. 1320. The king goes to ^France, and does homage for his possessions there, June, July. A parliament held in October, in which the supremacy of the Enghsh in the narrow seas is asserted '. The king chooses a new favourite, Hugh Spenser, and bestows vast estates on himJ. A.D. 1321. The earl of Hereford and other nobles ravage Spenser's lands, and form an association to drive him and his father from the kingdom. They seize on London, hold a parliament, and banish the Spensers^, Aug. 19. ' By authority of parliament a treaty was concluded with the Fleming's, for the redress of various grievances of which they had complamed ; in the proceedings it is stated on both sides that the iug is "lord of the sea" between England and Britaimj'. j He gave him in marriage Eleanor, one of the co-heircsses of the earl of Gloucester (who had been killed at BaiinocklRiru) ; a great part of South Wales thus fell to Ms share, but he was soon embroiled with his neighbours, the marcliera, among" whom Roger Mortimer was one of the most formidable. This favourite, unlike Gaveston, was of noble family. His great- grandfather was sheritf of Salop and Stafford, and keeper of the castle of Bridgnorth in the early part of the reign of Henry III. ; his giandfatlier was in the service of Richard, king of the Romans, but afterwards joined the barons, became their justiciary, and was killed on their side at Evesham ; his father sei ved with great reputation in all the wars of Edward I., and was one of his commis- sioners to conclude a peace with France. In consequence of the favour of his son the elder Spenser was created earl of Winchester, in Arms or DeBpeuscr. 1322, and he was involved in his fiill. 'The younger Spenser turned pirate, and seized many rich vessels, particidarly two large ships at Sandwich. 372 THE PLANTAGENETS. The queen is refused admission into Leeds castle', in Kent ; the king marches against it, and having captured it, hangs the governor, Oct. 31. He recalls the Spensers, and ravages the lands of the barons. The earl of Lancaster forms an alliance with the Scots, and draws together his partisans in the north of England. A.D. 1322. The king marches against the barons. Lancaster retreats before him ; is defeated and taken prisoner at Boroughbridge, March 16, tried by a mili- tary council, and executed at Pontefract, March 22 Many of his adherents are slain'", others taken, (among the latter, Roger Mortimer'^ and lord Badlesmere,) and their estates given to Spenser. • This was one of the royal castles, bxit the keeper. Lord Badles- mere, who was also warden of the Cinque Ports and the king's steward, had joined the earl of Lancaster. Being captured at Boroughbridge, he was sent into Kent, and hanged at Blean, near Canterbury. ™ Hunii^hrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, was among them. He was the son of the earl of Here- ford already mentioned (see p. 356), and in 1302 he married Elizabeth, daughter to the king, and widow of John, count of Holland. Like his father he held the office of constable, and sei-ved in the Scot- 3^^ tish wars, and being taken at Bannock- ' burn was exchanged for the wife of Ro- bert Bruce. He vehemently opposed the favourites of liis brother-in-law, was one of the peei's appohited to regulate his house- hold, and in every way supported the earl of Lancaster, being at last killed in his ""■ "" cause, March 16, 1322 ; his wife died in May, 1316, and was buried at Walden, and in his wdl, made at Gosforth, 11th August, 1319, l;t; desires to be buried beside her, but his wish was neglected, and he was interred in the church of the Friars Preachers at York. " Roger Jlortimer, lord of Wigmore, was born in 12S7, and or. the death of his father (Edmund, son of the chief opponent of l)e EDT^AED II. 373 The king invades Scotland, but without effecting any- thing, and his forces are greatly harassed on their retreat. A.D. 1323. Sir Andrew Harcla, warden of the west inarches, is detected in correspondence with the Scots, and executed. A truce for thirteen years concluded with Scotland, May 30. Roger Mortimer escapes to France ; others of the Lan- castrian party ravage Spenser's lands. The kins: is summoned to France to do homage to the new king, Charles IV. A.D. 1324. The French attempt the conquest of Gascony. A.D. 1325. The queen, being sent to France, ar- ranges a treaty on the affairs of Gascony, May 31. The king, unwilling to leave England, and thus ex- pose his favom'ite to the vengeance of the barons, trans- fers his foreign possessions to his son Edward, and sends him to do homage for them, September. The queen forms an intrigue with Roger IMortimer, and refuses to return to England unless the Spensers are banished ; the earl of Kent (the king's brother) joins her. A.D. 1326. The queen contracts her son Edward Montfort,) was placed in the guardianship of Piers Gaveston. He served in Scotland, had also the office of great justiciaiy of Wales, and in 1317 was apiDointed lieutenant of Ireland. He supported the earl of Lancaster, and being taken prisoner was committed to the Tower. After a time he escaped and repaired to France, when his wife and daughters were seized and imprisoned in his stead. He shortly after returned to England, and in concert with the queen governed the kingdom at his pleasure, being created earl of March, and enriched by vast grants, but was suddenly seized by order of the young king, tried, convicted of treason, and hung at Tyburn, .Nov. 29, 1330. After remaining some days on the gibbet, his body was buried in his castle of Ludlow, in a chapel which he had erected and dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula to commemorate his own escape ft-om the Tower in the time of Edward II. 374 THE PLANTAGENETS. to Philippa of Hainault, whose father, WiUiam, count of Holland, supplies a small force to invade England. The queen lands at Orwell, accompanied by the earl of Kent and Roger Mortimer, and other exiles, Sept. 24. Her troops are commanded by John de Beaumont, bro- ther of the count of Holland. The queen is joined by many of the barons ; the king- flees from London, and is ^^ursued into Wales. Walter Stapeldon, bishop of Exeter and treasurer, is seized and beheaded, Oct. 15; Robert de Baldock, the king's secretary, is thrown into Newgate". The elder Spenser is taken at Bristol, and hangea, Oct. 27 . Prince Edward proclaimed " guardian of the realm." The liing embarks for Ireland ; is driven back by bad weather;, is seized at Neath, Nov. 16, and carried pri- soner to Kenilworth. Spenser is captured at the same time ; is executed at Hereford, Nov. 24. A.D. 1327. A parliament meets at Westminster, Jan. 7, when the king is deposed''; the sentence is notified to him at Kenilworth, Jan. 20, and he is placed in the keeping of Henry, earl of Lancaster i. " He died there May 28, 1327. ^' The young prince Edward was immediately proclaimed king in Westminster Hall, "Edward the Third," but he refused to accept the title without his father's consent ; the bishops of Hereford and Lincoln, (Adam Orleton and Henry Ijurghursh,) one of the judges, and several of the barons proceeded to Kenilworth, to obtain this ; the royal prisoner simply repUed that he was in their power, and submitted to their will. The two prelates must have been par- ticularly obnoxious to him ; Orleton had been placed in his see by the pope, after a long contest with the king, and had appeared in arms against him at Boroughbridge ; and Burghui'sh was the nephew of Lord Badlesmere. See p. 371. 1 Brother of the earl executed in 1322. Philjppaof Ha ter Abbey, EDWARD III. Edward, eldest son of Edward II. and Isabella of France, born at Windsor Nov. 13, 1312, succeeded to tiie tbrone on the deposition of his father in 1327. The first few years of the reign thus inauspiciouslv commenced were passed in a kind of tutelage, all real power being in the hands of Queen Isabella and her paramour, Roger Mortimer. They concluded a peace with Scotland, which acknowledged the independence of that kingdom, put the deposed king to death, and publicly executed his brother, the earl of Kent ; but at length Edward made himself independent of them, when Mortimer was hanged, and the queen-mother put under restraint for the remainder of her life. Soon after this the attack on Scotland was renewed, by Edward Baliol, the son of the former king, which, though at first successful, eventually failed; and a little later commenced a contest for the crown of France, which forms the great distinguishing feature of Edwai'd's reign. His claim was contrary to the French law, and 376 THE PLANTARENETS. was unanimously rejected by the states of France, yet he persisted in it, and thus involved the countries in a war of nearly thirty years' duration ^ The French were signally defeated at Sluys, Crecy, Poitiers, and else- where, their country was ravaged up to the gates of Paris, and their king taken prisoner ; their councils were distracted by the rivalry of the princes of the blood, and the peasantry broke out into insurrection ; yet they suc- ceeded eventually in foiling their assailant, and when the contest came to an end, by the peace of Bretigny, he accepted, instead of the whole kingdom, the province of Aquitaine, and much of this was lost before his death, in consequence of a new war. In fact, his only gain was Calais. Beside attacking France, Edward endeavoured to gain possession of Flanders, and his son, Edward the Black Prince, interfered in the affaii's of Spain. These cease- less foreign expeditions obhged the king to have very frequent recourse to his parliaments, and in return for their liberal aid they gained many concessions, by which the power of the crown was limited in several important particulars. Edward's latter days were embittered by the deaths of his queen and eldest son, and the loss of most of his French acquisitions, and he died at Shene (now Rich- mond), June 21, 1377 ; he was buried at Westminster. Edward married Philippa, daughter of William, count * Truces were frequently made, but they were ill observed, espe- cially in the remote provinces of Britanny and Guienne ; such was also the case under his successors. French historians, indeed, speak of the whole period, from Edward's claim until the expulsion of the EngUsh by Charles VII., as the Hundred Years' War. EDWAED in. 377 of Holland and Hainault, in 1326. She accompanied him on some of his foreign expeditions, at other times defended his realm in his absence, and died much la- mented, at Windsor, Aug. 15, 1369. Their children -were five sons and five daughters : — 1. Edward, usually styled the Black Prince, born at Woodstock, June 15, 1330, became one of the most renowned warriors of his time. He =erved at Crecy, and gained the vic- tory of Poitiers ; he received as his patrimony the English conquests in the south of France, and ruled as an independent prince. He was un- fortunately induced to undertake an expedition into Spain, in favour of rsr$^ii^h%J^p-'^M '• Edward tlie BKck Pnnce, froi.. Peter the Cruel, but ruined his m, tomb at caiterbcry health there, and so impaired his finances that he was obhged to tax his Gascon subjects too heavily ; they re- sisted, and appealed to the king of France, who soon overran the province, and the prince retired to England, where he died June 8, 1376, leaving by his wife, Joan of Kent'', a son, Richard, who became king. 2. WiUiam of Hatfield, born in 1336, died in child- hood, and was buried at York. 3. Lionel, born at Antwerp, Nov. 29, 1338, was created duke of Clarence ; he was made lieutenant of Ireland, and also aspired to the Scottish crown. He married, first, Elizabeth, the heiress of William de Burgh, earl of Ulster, and had by her a daughter, Philippa, who '■ She was the daughter of Edmund, earl of Kent, and had been before married, first to Sir Thomas Holland, and secondly to Wil- liam, earl of Salisbury. Her two sons, Thomas and John, were gTeatly favoured by their half-brother Kichard II. 378 THE PLANTAGENETS. married Mortimer, earl of March ; and secondly Violante, daughter of Galeasius, duke of Milan, by whom he had no issue. He died in Italy in 1368. 4. John of Gaunt, born at Ghent, probably in 1340, was created earl of Derby, and duke of Lancaster. He succeeded his brother Edward in the government of Gascony, served also in Spain and Scotland, and took a very prominent part in the conduct of affairs in the reign of his nephew Richard 11. He was thrice mar- ried ; his first wife, Blanche, daughter Arms of joh. of oau,,.. of the duke of Lancaster, brought him a son, who be- came king, as Henry IV., and two daughters ; his second wife was Constantia, daughter of Peter the Cruel, (in whose right he assumed the title of king of Castile and Leon,) who bore him a daughter, Catherine, who mar- ried Henry III. of Castile; his third was Catherine Swinford, by whom he was the father of the Beaufort>. He died Feb., 1399, and was buried in St. Paul's, Londori. 5. Edmund, born in 1341, at Langley, was earl of Cambridge and duke of York. He, like his brother John, married a daughter of Peter the Cruel, and had by her two sons, Edward, duke of York, killed at Agincourt, and Richard, earl of Cambridge, beheaded ; and a daugh- ter, Constance, married to Thomas, earl of Gloucester. G. Thomas, born at Woodstock, January 7, 1355, became earl of Buckingham, duke of Gloucester, and lord high constable. He was engaged in constant struggles with his nephew, Eichard II., and after being victorious on several occasions, was at last suddenly seized, hurried off to Calais, and put to death, in EDWARD III. 379 Sept. IS'Jl. Bv his wife Eleanor, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, he left a son, who died unmarried, and two daughters. The king's daughters were, 1. Isabel, married to In- gelram de Courcy, created duke of Bedford ; 2. Joan, contracted to the king of Castile, but died in 1348; 3. Blanche, who died an infant; 4. Mar}^ married to John de Montfort, (afterwards John IV., duke of Britanny) ; and 0, Margaret, married to John Hastings, earl of Pembroke. In the early part of his reign Edward bore the same arms as his immediate predecessors, and styled himself, they had done, king of England, lord of Ireland, and aake of Aquitaine, but in 1337 he took in addition the title of king of France'^, and in 1340 he quartered the arms of that kingdom with his own. He is said to have introduced supporters to the royal arms, but the fact is doubtful. Various badges were employed by him, of which, ravs descending from a cloud, the stump of a tree, couped, a falcon, a gritfin, an ostrich feather, and a sword erect, may be enumerated. . quartered with Fra The years of his nominal reign over France are however dated from Jan. 25, 1.310. The title, but not the anns of France, was re- linquished by the treaty of Bretigny, but as the terms of that treaty wure not fuMlled by the French, Edward, by the advice of his par- liament, resumed the title in 1369. 380 THE PLAKTAGENETS. Edward in 1337 created a new dignity in England, that of duke, bestowing the title of duke of Cornwall on his son Edward ; he also established the Order of the Garter, probably soon after, and in commemoration of, the siege and capture of Calais. The character of Edward is usually highly estimated, and he seems indeed to have had few other faults than those inseparable from ambition. Though almost con- stantly engaged in war, he also laboured to improve the commerce and manufactures of his people, and they were thus reconciled to the heavy burdens he imposed on them, notwithstanding that he frequently disregarded the provisions of the Charter, and raised funds with little regard to parliamentary usages. A.D. 1327. Edward is crowned at Westminster, Jan. 29*^. The great Charter of the Liberties and the Charter of the Forest ordained to be kept in every article^ [1 Edw. III. c. 1]. A regency is appointed by the parliament, the earl of Lancaster being nominally the head, but all power re- siding with Queen Isabella and Mortimer, who share the estates of the Spensers between them. A new charter is granted to the Londoners. The Scots invade England ; the young king, in pur- suing them, narrowly escapes capture, Aug. 4. The deposed king is removed from the care of the ■i His peace was proclaimed on Jan. 24, but, for some reason now- unknown, his regnal years are computed from Jan. 2o. ' The charters were attain confirmed in 1328, 1330, 1331, 1336, 1340, 1341, 1357, 1363, 1364, 1368, 1370, and 1377. EDWARD in. 381 earl of Lancaster, hurried from place to place, and at length murdered at Berkeley, Sept. 21. Several nobles, ignorant of his fate, form plans for his release. A.D. 1328. Peace is concluded with Scotland, at Edinburgh, March 17 ; the claim of feudal superiority is renounced, the Scottish regalia given up ^, many Scottish prisoners released, and a marriage agreed on between Joan, the king's young sister, and David, son of Robert Bruce. Charles IV. of France dying without male issue, the king claims the crown of France in right of his mother^ ; his claim is rejected by the states of the kingdom, and Philip of Valois, cousin of the deceased king, succeeds as Philip VI. Robert Bruce dies, June 7 ; his son succeeds, as David II., and is crowned at Scone, Nov. 23. * A piece of the " true cross," set in jewels, which had belonged to Margaret, the sister of Edgar Athehng, was included, but the famous stone of Scone (see p. 357), was not surrendered, thi-ough fear of a popular tumult. s Philip III. of France, who died in 1285. was the common an- cestor of the competitors, as may be seen by the following slight genealogical table. Philip III. Philip IV. Charles of Valois, Louis X. Isabel. Philip VI. Philip V. I Charles IV. Edward III. By the law of France females could not succeed to the throne, but Edward asserted that the disabihty was only pergonal, and that a right to the crown could be transmitted through them ; Phihp maintained the contrary. Edward gave way at the time, but re- vived his claim in 1337, being probably induced to do so by the sup- port which Philip afforded to the Scots. 382 THE PLANTA GENETS. A.D. 1329. A confederacy formed against Morti- mer is dissolved by the want of spirit of the earls of Kent and Norfolk, the brothers of the late king. The king goes to France, and does homage for bis lands there, June. A.D. 1330. A parhament meets at Winchester, March 11, when the earl of Kent is accused of de- signing to overthrow the government, March 13 ; he is executed, March 19. The king becomes impatient of the rule of Mortimer, has him seized at Nottingham, Oct. 19, and takes the government into his own hands, by a proclamation dated Oct. 20. Mortimer is sent to the Tower, and after a brief trial ^' hanged at Tyburn, Nov. 29. Queen Isabella is im- prisoned. . The exactions of the royal purveyors restrained by statute [4 Edw. III. c. 3], " people being greatly grieved by things being taken without payment." A.D. 1331, A parliament held at Westminster, Sep- tember and October. SCOTLAND. The year 1332 saw the renewal of the attempt to bring Scotland under feudal subjection to England. One of the stipulations of the treaty of peace of 1328 provided that any lands which English nobles had held in Scotland and had lost during the war should be re- = He was condemned unheard, on the plea of the notoriety of the facts, on which ground the attainder was reversed, and his title and estates restored to his grandson, Koger Jlortimer, in 135i. EDWAKD III. 383 stored to them, but this was not done. Edward Bahol son of the competitor) was among the number who thus suffered ; he raised a small force, with the assist- mce of his friends, landed in Scotland, and met with such success that in little more than a month he was rowned king. He was soon expelled ; was restored, again expelled, returned in company with the king of England, whom he had formally acknowledged as his liege lord, and to whom he had ceded, as far as treaties went, the whole of the country south of the Forth and Clyde ; but though the allies ravaged the land as far north as Inverness, killed the earl of Douglas, who acted as regent for David II., and captured Berwick, their enterprise failed, and the kingdom of Scotland re- mains to the present day de facto and de jure inde- pendent of any other. A.D. 1332. Edward Baliol and his friends invade Scotland ; they land at Kinghorn, in Fifeshire, Aug. 7 ; and defeat the Scots near Perth, Aug. 11, 12. Bahol is crowned at Scone, Sept. 27 ; he subjects the crown of Scotland to that of England by his letters pa- tent, dated Ptoxburgh, Nov. 23, but is suddenly attacked by the Scots at Annan, at Christmas, and expelled. A.D 1333. The Scots invade England; the king marches into Scotland, and besieges Berwick ; Douglas, the regent, attempts to relieve it, but is defeated and killed at Halidon, (near Berwick,^ July 19, a"nd the town surrenders, July 20. Baliol is received as king by .-a - parliament held at Perth in October.- ■ ' - 3S4 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1334. Baliol offends his supporters bv cedins; the whole south of Scotland to the English, Feb. 12; he is obliged to flee to Berwick. A.D. 1335. A parliament held at York, in May, in which freedom of trading is guaranteed to foreign mer- chants [9 Edw. III. c. 1]. The king, in concert with Baliol, ravages Scotland, advancing, in the course of the next year, as far as Inverness. A.D. 1337. The French give considerable succours to the Scots ; in retaliation, the king forms continental alliances, and assumes the title of King of France. The export of wool prohibited^, and foreign cloth- workers allowed to settle in England [11 Edw. III. c. 1.] A.D. 1338. The king embarks for Flanders, from Orwell, July 16, leaving his son Edward regent, but is unable to attack France until the next year. A.D. 1339. The king invades France from Flanders, in September, but most of his allies desert him, and he is obliged to retire after ravaging the Cambresis and other frontier districts. A.D. 1340. The king returns to England in Fe- bruary ; holds a parliament, March 29, obtains sup- plies, and sails from Orwell, June 22. The clergy exempted from purvevance [14 Edw. III. c. 1.] Sheriffs directed to be appointed annually, at the Ex- chequer, on the morrow of All Souls^ [14 Edw. III. C.7]. e It was subsequently made felony [27 Edw. III. st. 2, c. 3]. ^ The statute recites that naany sheriffs had been guilty of great oppression in their office, which they considered themselves to hold for life. EDWARD III. 385 One weight and one measure established for the wliole kingdomi [14 Edw. III. c. 12], The king defeats the French fleet at Sluys, June 24 ; he orders a public thanksgiving for bis victory. He besieges Tournay, and challenges " Philip of Va- lois" to a single combat, July 26 ; the French king re- fuses to meet him, July 30 ; a truce is concluded, Sept. 25, to last till June 25, 1341, but it is prolonged till 1342. The king returns to England, landing suddenly at the Tower, Nov. 30 ; he displaces and otherwise punishes the chancellor (Robert Stratford, bishop of Chichester^,) and many of the chief officers of state. A.D. 1341. A parliament held at Westminster in April. Some of the statutes passed there are afterwards set aside, as having been obtained against the will of the king. Peers of the realm to be tried for offences only by the parhament [15 Edw. III. c. 2]. A dispute concerning the succession arises in Britanny ; the king supports John de Montfort in opposition to Charles of Blois'', the nephew of the king of France. A.D. 1342. The wife of De Montfort (Jane, sister of Louis I., count of Flanders,) defends herself in Hen- nebon until relieved by Sir Walter Manny. The king passes over to Britanny in October. ' This was one of the remedies promised by Magna Charta, but like many other valuable points, it seems to have been neglected. 1 He was succeeded by Su- Robert Boiirchier, the first layman who held the office of chancellor. '' John III., duke of Britanny, dying without male issue, the duchy was claimed by his half-brother, John de Montfort, and Charles of Blois, who had married his niece. The French coui't adjudged it to Charles, but he was vigorously opposed by the Montforts, and at length killed in the field. John de ]\Iontfort the younger married Mary, daughter of Edward 111. , and was power- fully supported by him ; he was thus established in Britanny, but in the next reign, to conciliate the king of France, he abandoned the English cause. VOL. I. C C 386 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1343. A fresh truce concluded with France, Jan. 19, to last till Michaelmas, 1346, and the king returns, landing at Weymouth March 2. Neg-otiations for a peace are carried on before the pope (Clement VI.) at Avignon, but without success. The barons remonstrate v^'ith the pope on the abuse of provisions , May 18, and the king also complains of them. Sept. 26. The earl of Salisbury (William Montacute) obtains possession of the Isle of Man, and is crowned there. When the islanders put themselves under the protection of Edward I.', he bestowed Alfrida, the granddaugh- ter of the last native king, on Sir Simon Montacute, and she trans- mitted her rights to her husband, who mortgaged the isle to An- thony Beck, bishop of Durham. It was afterwards granted by Edward II. to Gaveston, and in 131 was recovered by the Scots. but their rule was unpopular, and the natives invited Montacute to drive them out™. A.D. 1344. The truce with France broken ; the earl of Derby (Ilenry Grismond) is successful in Guienue. ' The papal court had long been in the habit of granting what ■were termed provisions, in virtue of which persons (usually ibreigu priests) were intruded into Knglish churches, and even bishops' sees, in violation of the rights of the king and other patrons. The abuse had been often resisted (see p. 326), but it was too profitable to be readily abandoned. ' bee p. 3.30. " The earl of Salisbury was the grandson of Alfrida, and a mili- tary commander of eminence. He died in 1346, and was buried in the church of cue White Friars m London. His son \Yilham sold the island in 1395 to Sir WilUam Scrope. ED-WAKD III. 387 The florin, the first English gold coin", struck this year. A.D. 1345. De Montfort escapes" from prison and -epairs to Britanny. The king goes to Flanders, to endeavour to gain that earldom for his son Edward?; his chief partisan, Jacob van Arteveldt, is killed in a popular tumult at Ghent, July 17, and the attempt fails. A.D. 1346. The king invades Normandy, landing it La Hogue July 10. He ravages the country on the eft bank of the Seine as far as Paris, but is I'educed to jreat difficulties by the bridges being broken down. Having repaired the bridge at Poissy, he crosses the river, burns the suburbs of Beauvais, and defeats a body of the French bevond the Somme, Aug. 24. He halts at Crecy, near Abbeville, Aug. 25 ; is at- tacked there by a greatly superior French force, but totally defeats them i, Aug. 26 ; marches onward, Sept. 1, through the country of Boulogne, and invests Calais. David n. of Scotland, incited by the French, invades England ; he is defeated and taken prisoner at Nevill's Cross, near Durham, Oct. 12''. » That is, tlie first that remained any length of time in circu- lation. Henry III. coined a "gold penny," but it appears to have been withdrawn ; and a gold coin attributed to Edward the Con- fessor exists. See p. 48. ° He had been captm-ed by the partisans of Charles of Blois, and was imprisoned in Paris, and was still confined in spite of the stipu- lation for his release in the ai'ticles of truce ; he died soon after, but the war was continued by his son. p The count (Louis I. ) had refused to abandon his alliance with the king of France, and Edward, in revenge, endeavoured to avail him- self of the discontent that had long existed between the i-ulers and the gTeat trading towns of Flanders. Kobert de Vere, son of Thomas, earl of Oxford, was born in 1362 ; he was of a light and profligate disposition, and acquiring thus the favour of Richard 11. , was loaded with extraordinary honom-s by him. First he received in mar- riage the lady Phihppa, the king's kins- woman, and the grant of her lands ; then he was created marquis of Dublin, and at length duke of Ireland (Oct. 13, 1386,) by a patent which rendered him, as far as the king's wishes were allowed to take effect, a sovereign prince. He, however, abandoned his wife, and married a waiting woman of the queen ; this was speedily followed by his being im- prisoned on a charge of treason, but he es- caped in disg-uise, and raising some trooj^s. Arms of DeVere, endeavoured to overthrow the rule of the ^"' "^ oxforj. duke of Gloucester. He -was defeated, outlawed, and obhged to flee to the continent, where he was kihed while hunting in Louvaine, in 1392. The king retained an affection for him which he mani- fested by having the corpse brought to England and bestowing a pompous faneral on it, in the year 1395. EICHAUD II. 399 lowed this resolute step, during which the king made a visit to Ireland, and by his aiTability and liberality con- ciliated many of the most powerful chiefs ; but his popularity was marred by a peace with France and niarriage with a French princess, as it was generally suspected that Calais and the Channel Islands were in- tended to be given up, as Brest and Cherbourg had already been. The duke of Gloucester took advantage of the discontents thus occasioned, and intrigued to re- gain his lost ascendancy, but the king was now directed bv his half-brother, the earl of Huntingdon, a bold and cruel man, and the duke and his confederates were suddenly seized and put to death. Richard now appeared firmly estabhshed on the throne, when a quarrel between the dukes of Norfolk and Hereford, who had aided him against his uncle, induced him to banish them both. Norfolk submitted to his sentence and died abroad, but his opponent (who had lingered in France, and had become duke of Lancaster by the death of his father,) soon returned with a few friends under pretence of claiming his in- heritance, was joined by the Percies and others, seized the king on his return fi'om a second expedition to Ire- land, brought him captive to London, and procured his formal deposition, Sept. 30, 1399, after a troubled and inglorious reign of twenty-three years'^. = Eichard was very unpopular with the Londoners, who com- monly styled him only Richard (or John) of Bordeaux, and affected to doubt his legitimacy. He had seized their charters and extorted money from them, and they had so great a share in his overthrow, that the people of the north afterwards spoke of Henry of Lancaster as only chosen by " the villeins of London." 400 THE PLANTAGENETS. Richard was then in the Tower, but the parliament soon after desired that he might be "kept secretly," and so fully was this carried out, that he soon after dis- appeared, and nothing is certainly known of the time, place, or manner of his death, though it is quite clear that the received account that he was murdered at Pom- fret by Sir Piers Exton is untrue, and that the body ex- posed at St. Paul's (March 12, 1400) was not his, but probably that of IMaudelyn, a priest who bore a strong resemblance to him, and is believed to have been his natural brother. The English writers of the period all speak vaguely on the subject of Richard's death*^, and acknowledge that reports of his being alive were long circulated, but they appear to have been too much under the influence of the usurping Lancastrians to venture to say more. From documents among the public records, of both England and Scotland, however, and the statements of Scottish and French chroniclers, it has been surmised with a high degree of probability^, that E/ichard escaped from Pomfret early in the vear 1400, simultaneously with the rising in his favour of the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, Salisbury, and others, and found a shelter in Scot- land, where he was visited by some of his friends in > The king wished to borrow money of them, but they positively refused, and even murdered an Italian merchant who would have lent it to him. i The wi'it in execution of process imder this statute commences with the word " Pramunire," (probably iov prcc monere,) whence that term came to designate the offence of upholding a foreign power against the croivn ; it was afterwards also applied to oftbnces of very different kinds by which hke penalties were incurred. J In consequence, Brest was given up to the duke of Britanny, as Cherbourg had been whUe the treaty was being negotiated, which, added to a suspicion that Calais and the Channel Isles were to be smrendered to the French, rendered the king more unpopular than before, and encouraged his uncle Gloucester to form anew traitorous designs. 414 THE PLANTAGENETS. The duke of Gloucester engages in plots to recover his lost ascendancy. A.D. 1397. The judges Belknap, Holt, and Burgh, are allowed to return from Ireland"^, [20 Rich. II. c. 6.1 The duke of Gloucester, and the earls of Arundel (Richard Fitz-Alan) and Warwick (Thomas Beauchamp) are seized by the king's command, and a parliament summoned for their trial. The charges against Gloucester and his associates were preferred (as appears by the Parliamentary Roll) by Edward, earl of Rutland, Thomas, earl of Kent, John, earl of Huntingdon, Thomas, earl of Nottingham, John, earl of Somerset, John, earl of Salisbury, Thomas, lord Despenser, and William Scrope, the king's chamberlain. William Rikhill, one of the judges, was sent to visit Gloucester at Calais, who brought back with him a very full confession of the duke's misdeeds, made by him Sept. 8 ; in it he acknowledges that he has in many ways acted unlawfully, but solemnly affirms that it was "never in his intent, or will, or thought," to harm the king's person, and prays for mercy in most urgent terms : " Therefore I beseech my liege and sovereign lord the king, that he will of his high grace and benignity accept me to his mercy and his grace, as that I put my life, my body, and my goods wholly at his will, as lowly and meekly as any creature can do or may do to his liege lord ; beseeching his high lordship that he will, for the passion that God suffered for all mankind, and the com- passion that He had of His mother on the cross, and the pity that He had of Mary Maudeleyne, vouchsafe to have " See p. 411. RICHARD II. 416 compassion and pit}^ and accept me to his mercy and his grace, as he hath ever been full of mercy and grace to all his lieges, and to all others, that have not been so nigh unto him as I have been, though I be unworthv^." The parliament meets Sept. 17. The commission of regency™ is declared illegal, and all pardons granted to those who had acted under it cancelled [21 Rich. II. c. 12.]. The archbishop of Canterbury (Thomas Arundel, brother of the earl, and chancellor), is banished ; the earl of Arundel beheaded, Sept. 21 ; the earl of War- wick condemned, but his life spared" ; the duke of Glou- cester having in the meantime come to an untimely death at Calais. The king confers higher titles on the chief actors in the late changes °. The county of Chester erected into a principality, with the addition of several adjoining districts in Shropshire and Wales [21 Rich. II. c. 9 p.] ' According to the confession of one John Hall, who was executed shortly after the accession of Henry IV., the dnke was removed fi'om the castle at Calais, soon after the judge had left, and was carried to a house in the town, where he was smothered ; this appears to have been done on his own responsibility by the earl marshal, (Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham,) who, when called on to produce his prisoner before the parliament, simply replied, that being in the king's prison at Calais, he had died there. ™ See p. 410. By a subsequent statute, attempting to procure the reversal of the acts of this parhament was declared to be treason [21 Rich. II. c. 10.]. " He was imprisoned in the Isle of Man for a time, then brought to the Tower, where he remained until the landing of Henry, duke of Lancaster. ■> The earls of Derby, Rutland, Kent, Huntingdon and Notting- ham were created dukes of Hereford, Albemarle, Surrey, Exeter, and Norfolk ; the earl of Somerset was made marquis of Dorset ; and the lords Despenser, Nevill, Thomas Percy and William Scrope, earls of Gloucester, Westmoreland, Worcester and Wiltshire. p This statute was repealed by 1 Hen. IV. c. 3. 416 THE PLANTAGENETS. A.D. 1398. The parliament meets at Shrewsbury, Jan. 27. All the acts of the parliament in 1388 i are reversed, many of the surviving actors in it are con- demned to imprisonment and forfeiture^; and liberal supplies are granted to the king. By desire of the parliament, a bull is procured from the pope (Boniface IX.) confirming its acts, and de- claring them not subject to reversal by any future as- sembly. The duke of Hereford accuses the duke of Norfolk of slandering the king ; the charge is denied, and a single combat ordered between the parties at Coventry, Sept. 16. The two dukes appear at the appointed time and place, when the king forbids the combat, and banishes the duke of Hereford for ten years and the duke of Norfolk for life. A.D. 1399. The duke of Lancaster dies, Feb. 3 ; the king seizes his estates, March 18 ^ The king sails from Milford Haven for Ireland, in Mav *. « Seep. 411. "■ For the less prominent parties a general pardon was proclaimed, ■with the ordinary condition that a special pardon should be sued out by each individual before June 24 ; vast sums were raised by the king's favourites, from some who had exceeded the term of grace, but others refused the offer, and prepared for another struggle. » Letters patent had been granted to both the dukes prior to their departm-e, empowering them to constitute attorneys to receive any estates that might fall to them during their exile, but these were now, as far as regarded the duke of Hereford, declared null and void. ' The occasion of his going was to redress the disorders which followed on the death of the lord lieutenant, Roger Mortimer, earl of March, who had fallen in a skirmish with the natives shortly before. fllCHArxD II. 41' The young duke of Lancaster, invited by bis friends, sails from Britanny, near the end of June, and lands at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, July 4, ostensibly to claim his estates ; he is joined by the earls of Northumberland and "Westmoreland, and other barons, and marches towards the west of England. The duke of York, the regent of the kingdom, holds a conference with Lancaster at Berkeley, July 27, and joins his party. Archbishop Arundel returns, and resumes his post as chancellor". The duke of Lancaster captures Bristol, and puts to death the earl of Wiltshire. The king lands in W'ales'^, but finding himself de- serted by his troops, retires to Conway ; he there agrees to a conference with the duke of Lancaster, at Flint, but is made prisoner on the road, Aug. 20, and brought by the duke to London, where he arrives Sept. 2. The duke of Lancaster avows his design of seizing the crown; the duke of Y'^ork seconds him, and a par- bament is summoned by them in the king's name, to meet at Westminster, Sept. 30. The king is obliged to subscribe a deed of renuncia- tion of the crown, Sept. 29. •■ The precise date is unknown, but it is proved by existing re- cords that it was between July 15 and Aug. 2.3 ; early in September he was succeeded by John Scarle, the master of the rolls. ' He is usually said to have landed at Pembroke, August 1.3, b.it a cotemporary asserts that he landed near Beaumaris, about July 25, and that his troops, except a small guard of Cheshire men, were induced to leave him by the treacherous proceedmg of his seneschal (Thomas Percy, eai'l of ^yorcester.) \\'hen they were gone, the king wandered about with his few attendants, from castle to castle, edging but a single night in each. 418 THE PLANTAGENETS. The parliament assembles, Sept. 30, when thirty-five articles of accusation are exhibited against the king ; he is declared deposed, Thomas Merks, bishop of Carlisle, alone venturing to speak in his favour ^. The duke of Lancaster claims the crown " by right line of the blood ^," and is declared king, being placed in the throne by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, (Thomas Arundel and Richard Scrope,) Sept. 30. y Merks was one of Richard's chief friends, and was made prisoner with him at Fhnt, but soon released. He was now committed to the Tower, and deprived of his see, of which WiUiam Strickland ob- tained possession Nov. 15, 1399. In the June following Merks was placed in the custody of the abbot of Westminster, where he had formerly been a monk, and on Nov. 2S he received the king's pardon and was set at liberty. In consequence of his "notable poverty," he was allowed to receive from the pope, who had conferred on him the title of bishop of Samothrace, ecclesiastical benefices to the value of 200 marks, which the king- increased to 300. The abbot of West- minster bestowed on him the rectory of Todenham, in Gloucester- shire, in 1404, and he pi-obably died there about the end of the year 1409. ' His claim ajjpears thus on the RoUs of Parliament : " In the name of the Father, Son, and Holj'- Ghost, I Henry of Lancaster challenge the realm of England, and the crown, with all the mem- bers and appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of the blood from good King Henry the Third, and through that right that God of His grace hath sent me, with help of kin and of my friends, to recover it ; the which realm was m point to be undone by default of governance, and undoing of the good laws." A Table of the Kings and dneens of England since the Norman Invasion, JViih the exact date nf the Commencement of each Reign. The legal maxim, that "the king never dies," in virtue of which the ac- cession of eacli monarch is ascribed to the same day as the demise of his pre- deeensor, was unknown in the earlier periods of our history. From William I. to Henry III. inclusive, the reign of each king was considered only to com- mence at his coronation, the doctrine of hereditaiy riglit not being fully accepted, and the interregnum thus occasioned extended from three days in the case of Henry I., to neaj'ly two months in those of Henry II. and Richard 1. From Edward II. to Henry VIII. the accession is ascribed to the day following the death or deposition of the preceding king, ( Edward I., Edward III., Edward v., and Bichard III., are exceptional cases); but from Edward VI. to the present day the above-cited maxim has prevailed. Title. THE HOUSE OE NOKMANDY. i Obtained the Crown by Conquest. William I. < His reign dates from his coronation, Dec. 25. . 1066 ( Died Sept. 9 1087 ^VTTTTA^TTT f Thii-d son of Will. I., crowned Sept. 26. . -1087 \N ILLIAM 11. I jjjg^j ^^^^_ 2 1100 T-r,-».„^ T f Youngest son of William I., crowned Aue. 5. . 1100 ^"'•''^^- iDiedDec. 1 1135 THE HOUSE OF BIOIS. / Third son of Stephen, Count of Blois, by Adela, s-iTTPuv^i ) fift^ daughter of William I. MF.PHLN ) Crowned (St. Stephen's Day) Dec. 26. . .1135 \ Died Oct. 25 1154 THE HOUSE OF PLAIJTAGENET. / Son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, earl of Anjou, by TT TT ) Matilda, only daughter of Henry I. ■ ) Crowned Sunday, Deo. 19 1154 ' Died July 6 1189 ( Eldest surviving son of Henry II. UicHARD I. \ Crowned Sunday, Sept. 3 1189 (Died 1199 C Fifth and youngest son of Henry II. .John \ CrowTied (Ascension-day) May 27. . . . 1199 (Died Oct. 19 1216 Tif ._.„,- ITT i Eldest son of John, crowned Oct. 28. . . 1216 iiENRYiii. ^ Died Nov. 16 1272 C Eldest son of Henry III. Eijwa: d I. \ Proclaimed Nov. 20, 1272, crowned Aug. 2, 1274. (Died July 7 1307 Dura- ion. Years. 21 13 35 420 ( Eldest surviving son of Edward I. Edward II. l Succeeded Saturday, July 8 1307 ( Deposed Jan. 20 1327 ( Eldest son of Edward II. Edward III. I Succeeded Jan. 25 1327 (Died June 21 1377 C Son of the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward RicHAKD II. < III , began to reign June 22. . . . . 1377 ( Deposed Sept. 29 1399 THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER. C Son of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edw. III., '. began to reign Sept. 30 1399 Henry V. ( Died March 20 1413 / Eld. son of Henry IV., began to reign March 21. 1413 I Died Aug. 31 1422 f Only son of Henry V., began to reign Sept. 1. . 1422 I Deposed March 4," 1461 ; restored Oct. 9, 1470 ; ( again deposed April, 1471 THE HOUSE OF YORK. His grandfather, Richard, was son of Edmund, j fifth son of Edw. III. ; and his grandmother, Edward IV. ' .Anne, was great-granddaughter of Lionel, third ( son of Edw. III. Began to reign March 4. . 1461 ^ Died April 9 1483 Tj ,r ( Eldest son of Edw. IV., began to reign April 9. 1483 £,DWARD\. i Date of death unknown -p„_,__ TTT / Younger br. of Edw. IV., beg. to reign June 26. 1483 ItlCHARD ill. ^ -p.gjj ^^g^st 22. . . . . . . . 1485 THE HOUSE OF TTJDOR. ^His father was Edmund, eldest son of Owen I Tudor and Queen Catharine, widow of Hen. TTuxrov VTT J ^- > ^-nd Ms mother was Margaret Beaufort, jitMiy V 11. ^ great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. I Succeeded Aug. 22 1485 iDied April 21 1509 / Only survi^'ing son of Henry VII. Henry VIII. \ Began to reign April 22 1509 ( Died Jan. 28 1547 { Son of Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour. Edward VI. \ Began to reign Jan. 28 1547 (Died July 6 1553 TT 4 1V Tavu r Documents are in existence describing Jane I.L,Aui jA.-iii 1 as Uueen, dated as early as July 9, and as late ^^^^ ( as July 19 1553] I Daua:hter of Henry VIII. by Catherine of ,f I Arragon. "■^^^ I Reign reckoned from July 6, (death of Edw. VI.) 1553 ' Died Nov. 17 1558 f Daughter of Henry VIII. by Anne Boleyn Elizabeth \ Began to reign Nov. 17 1558 l Died March 24 1603 421 THE HOTTSE OF STITAET. , J Son of Mary Queen of Scots, granddaughter of | James IV. and Margaret, eldest daughter of ; Henry VII. Began to reign March 24 1603 "Died March 2; 1625 t Only surviving son of James I. Charles I. < Began to reign March 27 1625 ( Died Jan. 30 1649 IxTERREGKrjI. Commomvealth commenced Jan. 30. . . . 1649 (Eldest son of Charles I., idng de jure, Jan. 30, 1649, rfe/acto, May 29 1660 Died Feb. 6 1685 !()nly surviving son of Charles I. Began to reign Feb. 6 1685 Abdicated Dec. 11 1688 Will. III. Son of William of Nassau, bv Marv, daughter , ( of Charles I. . . .' . " . . ( 1689 Mart I Eldest daughter of James II. . . . i 1689 I Began to reign Feb. 13. J Mary died Dec. 27, 1694 ; William died March 8, 1702 .... / Daughter of James II., began to reign Mar. 8. . 1702 ^^^'^ I Died Aug. 1 1714 THE HOUSE OF HANOVEE. Eldest son of the Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, j daughter of Fred. V., King of Bohemia, and George I. < Elizabeth, daughter of James I. 1 Began to reign Aug. 1. 1714 ^ Died June 11 1727 n^n„r~„Tr ( Onlv son of George L, began to reign June 11. 1727 LrEORGE 11. J -pj^^ q^^_ 25 1760 nT,r^T,^r, ^T^ / Grandson of George II., began to reign Oct. 25. 1760 GEORGE 111. I j^jg^ j^jj_ 29 1820 r^n^r-^tv 5 Eldest son of George III., began to reign Jan. 29. 1820 UEORGEiv. ^ Died June 26 1830 Wtt r t « « TT7 I TluTd SOU of GeorgB III., began to reign June 26. 1830 WILLIAM IV. jpjg^jj^^g 20 1837 {Daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. Began to reign Jane 20 1837 ■n'LiOM God prese: Dura- tion. Years. ZY^ M