f~. /o. of. §rom f 0e feiBrarp of (professor ^Jamuef (JJtifTer in (JJtemorg of 3ubge ^amuef (tttitffer Q&recftinrtbge (preeenfeb 6g ^amuef (QtiflPer QjJreciiinribge feong to f0e feifirarg of (Princeton 2#eofo§icaf ^eminarj v. 2L THE HISTORY O F ENGL VOL. II. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/historyofengla02hume WINSTANLEY THE HISTORY O F ENGLAND, FROM THE INVASION OF JULIUS CJESAK T o The REVOLUTION in 168S. In EIGHT VOLUMES. By DAVID HUME, Efq; VOL. II. A NEW EDITION, Correfted. LONDON: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand. MDCCLXXM. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. m ' ' ' ■ i > CHAP. X. RICHARD L The king's preparations for the crufade Sets cut on the crufade TranfacHons in Sicily King's arrival in Paleftine State of Pakjline — — Diforders in England The king's heroic aclions in Paleftine His return from Paleftine Captivity in Germany War with France — — The king's delivery Return to England War with France— — Death and charatler of the king Mifcellaneous tranfaclions of this reign. Page i CHAP. XL JOHN. 'Acceffion of the king His marriage Warmth France Murder of Arthur^ duke of Britanny The king expelled from all the French pro- vinces The king's quarrel with the court of Rome Cardinal Lang ton appointed arcblifloop ? of CONTENTS. ef Canterbury Interdicl of the kingdom ■■■■m Excommunication of the king The king's fub- mijfion to the -pope Difcontents of the barons — — Tnfurreclion of the barons Magna Charta — — Renewal of the civil wars Prince Lewis called over-— — Death and characler of the king. Page 39 APPENDIX II. The Feudal and Anglo-Norman Government and Manners. Origin of the feudal law Its prcgrefs Feudal government of England The feudal parliament The commons Judicial power Reve- nue of the crown Commerce The church — — Civil laws — — Manners. 1 o 1 CHAP. XII, HENRY III. Settlement of the government General pacification Death of the proteclor Some commotions . Hubert de Burgh difplaced The bifhop of Winch ejler minfver King 's partiality to foreign- ers Grievances Ecclefiajtical grievances Earl of Cornwal defied king of the Romans Difcontent of the barons Simon de " Mount fort earl of Leicejler Provifions of Ox- ford— >-Ufurpation of the barons — —Prince. Ed- ward CONTENTS. ward Civil wars of the barons*— Reference to the king of France Renewal of the civil wars Battle of Lewes Houfe of commons *_ — Battle of Evejham and death of Leicejler Settlement of the government Death and character of the king Mifcellaneous tranfac- tions of this reign* Page 143 CHAP. XIII. EDWARD. I. Civil adminijlration of the king — —Conquefl of Wales ■ ■ Affairs of Scotland -Competitors for the crown of Scotland Reference to Edward — — Homage of Scotland Award of Edward in fa* vour of Baliol War with France Digref- fton concerning the conflitution of parliament War with Scotland Scotland fubdued War with France Diffenjions with the clergy Arbitrary meafures Peace with France Revolt of Scotland-— That kingdom again fubdued again revolts is again fubdued— Robert Bruce Third Revolt of Scotland Death and characler of the king Mifcellaneous tranf- atlions of this reign. 232 CHAP. XIV. EDWARD II. Weaknefs of the king His paffion for favourites Piers Gavajlon Dif content of the barons «—- — Murder of Gavaflon War with Scotland 1 - Battle CONTENTS. — — Battle of ' Bannockburn Hugh le Defpenfer — — Civil commotions Execution of the Earl of Lancafier Confpiracy againft the king Infurreclion The king dethroned Murdered — — His character Mifcellaneous tranfatlions in this reign. Page 327 C H x\ P. XV. EDWARD III. War with Scotland Execution of the earl of Kent Execution of Mortimer, earl of March State of Scotland War with that kingdom King's claim to the crown of France Prepara- tions for war with France War Naval vitlory Domeflic difiurbances Affairs of Britanny Renewal of the war with France * Invafion of France Battle of Crecy War with Scotland Captivity of the king of Scots Calais taken. 371 CHAP. XVI. Inflitution of the garter State of France-— Battle of Poicliers Captivity of the king of France State of that kingdom—. — Invafion of France Peace of Bretigni State of France Expedition into Caftile Rupture with France — — /// fuccefs of the Englijh Death of the prince of Wales Death and characler cf the king- Mifcellaneous tranfatlions in this feign. 447 THE v,V THE HISTORY O F E N G L A N CHAP. X. RICHARD S The king's preparations for the crufade Sets out on the crufade TranfacJicns in Sicily King's arrival in Palefiine State of Palefiine Dif- orders in England The king's heroic ablions in Palejline His return from Palefiine Cap" iivity in Germany—*— War with France The king's delivery Return to England-— ~War with France Death and char abler of the king Mifcellaneous tranfatlions of this reign. H E compunction of Richard, for his undutiful q jj a p. behaviour towards his father, was durable, and X- influenced him in the choice of his minifters and fervants after his fucceffion. Thofe who had fecond-^ ed and favoured his rebellion, inftead of meeting with that truft and honour which they expected, were furprized Vol. II. B to HISTORY OF ENGLAND. to find, that they lay under difgrace with the new kingy and were on all occafions hated and defpifed by him. 11 9* The faithful miniffers of Henry, who had vigoroufly op- pofed all the enterprizes of his fons, were received with open arms,- and were continued in thofe offices which they had honourably difeharged to their former mafter *. This prudent conduct might be the refult of reflection ; but in a prince, like Richard", fo much guided by paffion, and fo little by policy, it was commonly afcribed to a principle frill more virtuous and more honourable. Richard, that he might make atonement to one pa- rent for his breach of duty to the other, immediately fent orders for rcleafing the queen-dowager from the confine- ment in which me had long been detained ; and he en- trusted her with the government of England, till his arrival in that kingdom. His bounty to his brother John was rather profufe and imprudent. Befides beftowing on him the county of Mortaigne in Normandy, granting him a penfion of four thoufand marks a-year, and mar- rying him to Avifa, the daughter of the earl of Glccefler, by whom he inherited all the pofleffions of that opulent family ; he increafed this appanage, which the late king had deftined him, by other extenfive grants and concef- -fions. He conferred on him the whole eftate of William Peverell, which had efcheated to the crown : He put him in pofleffion of eight caitles, with all the forefts and ho- nours annexed to them : He delivered over to him no lefs than fix earldoms, Cornwal, Devon, Somerfet, Notting- ham, Dorfet, Lancafter and Derby. And endeavouring, by favours, to fix that vicious prince in his duty, he put it too much in his power, whenever he pleafed, to depart frcra it. The king's The king, impelled more by the love of military glory forthJau- ^an k)r fuperftition, acted, from the beginning of his fade, * Hcveden, p. 655. Bened. Abb. p. 547. M. Pa/h, p. 107. reign, RICHARD I. 3 reign, as if the fole purpofe of his government had beenc HAP. the relief of the Holy Land, and the recovery of Jerufa- ^^-v^-*^ lem from the Saracens. This zeal againft infidels, be- IlS9* Ing communicated to his fubjecls, broke out in London on the day of his coronation, and made them find a cru- fade lefs dangerous, and attended with more immediate profit. The prejudices of the age had made the lending of money on intereft pafs by the invidious name of ufury : Yet the neceffity of the practice had ftill continued it, and the greateft part of that kind of dealing fell every where into the hands of the Jews ; who, being already infa- mous on account of their religion, had no honour to lofe, and were apt to exercife a profefTion, odious in itfelf, by every kind of rigor^ and even fometimes by rapine and extortion. The induftry and frugality of thofe people had put them in poffeffion of all the ready money, which the idlenefs and prcfufion, common to the Englifh with other European nations, enabled them to lend on exor- bitant and unequal intereft. The monkifh writers repre- fent it as a great {lain on the wife and equitable govern- ment of Henry, that he had carefully protected this infidel race from all injuries and infults ; but the zeal of Richard afforded the populace a pretence for venting their animo- fity againft them. The king had ifiued an edict, prohi- biting their appearance at his coronation ; but fome of them, bringing him large prefents from their nation, prefumed, in confidence of that merit, to approach the hall in which he dined : Being difcoverec1, they were expofed to the infults and injuries of the byftandersj they took to flight ; the people purfued them ; the rumor was fpread, that the king had ifTued orders to maiTacre all the Jews ; a command fo agreeable was executed in an inftant on fuch as fell into the hands of the populace ; thofe who had kept at home were expofed to equal danger j the people, moved by rapacity and zeal, broke into their B 2 houfes. 4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C HxA P ^0U^:S» which they plundered, after having murdered th« %**-V"v owners ; where the Jews barricadoed their doors, and 11S9. defended themfelves with vigour, the rabble fet fire to the houfes, and made way through the flames to exercife theit pillage and violence ; the ufual licentioufnefs of London, which the fovereign power with difficulty reftrained, broke out with fury, and continued thefe outrages ; the houfes of the rich citizens, though Christians, were next attack- ed and plundered ; and wearinefs and fatiety at laft put an end to the diforder : Yet when the king impowered Glanville, the jufriciary, to enquire into the authors of thefe crimes, the guilt was found to involve fo many of the moft considerable citizens, that it was deemed more prudent to drop the profecution ; and very few fuffered the punifhment due to this enormity. But the diforder flopped not at London. The inhabitants of the other cities of England, hearing of this flaughter of the Jews, imitated the example : In York, five hundred of that na- tion, who had retired into the caftle for fafety, and found themfelves unable to defend the place, murdered their own wives and children, threw the dead bodies over the walls upon the populace, and then letting fire to the houfes, perifhed in the flames. The gentry of the neigh- bourhood, who were all indebted to the Jews, ran to the cathedral, where their bonds were kept, and made a folemn bonfire of the papers before the altar. The com- piler of the annals of Waverlcy, in relating thefe events, blefles the Almighty for thus delivering over this impious race to destruction h. The ancient fituation of England, when the people poffefled little riches and the public no credit, made it im- poflible for fovereigns to bear the cxpence of a fteady or durable war, even on their frontiers ; much lefs could they find regular means for the fupport of diftant fcxpedi* * Gale's CoUeft. vo], iii. p, 163, tioiw RICHARD I. 5 tions like thofe into Paleftine, which were more the refult chap. of popular frenzy than of fober reafon or deliberate policy. !|/-\/>(j Richard, therefore, knew, that he mult carry with him ,»89- all the treafure requifite for his enterprize, and that both the remotenefs of his own country and its poverty made it unable to furnifti him with thofe continued fupplies, which the exigencies of fo perilous a war muft neceflarily require. His father had left him a treafure of above a hundred thoufand marks ; and the king, negligent of every confideration, but his prefent object, endeavoured to aug- ment this fum by all expedients, how pernicious foever to the public, or dangerous to royal authority : He put to fale the revenues and manors of the crown ; the offices of greatest, truft and power, even thofe of forefter and fiierifF, which anciently were fo important c, became ve- nal j the dignity of chief jufticiary, in whofe hands was lodged the whole execution of the laws, was fold to Hugh de Puzas, bifhop of Durham, for a thoufand marks ; the fame prelate bought the earldom of Northumberland for his life d ; many of the champions of the crofs, who had repented of their vow, purchafed the liberty of violating it ; and Richard, who itood lefs in need of men than of money, difpenfed, on thefe conditions, with their attend- ance. Elated with the hopes of fame, which in that age attended no wars but thofe againft the infidels, he was blind to every other conlideration ; and when fome of his wifer minifters objected to this dsflipation of the revenue and power of the crown, he replied, that he would fell Lon- don itfelf if he could find a purchaier =, Nothing indeed could be a ftronger proof how negligent he was of all fu- ture interefts in companion of the crufade, than his fell- ing, for fo fmall a fum as io,ooo marks, the vaffalage of c The {herift'had anciently both the admin! ftratioii of juftice and the ma- nagement of the kind's revenue committed to him in the county. Sae Halt tf Sheriffs Accounts. A M, Piiis, p, 109. e W. Heming. p. 519. Knjghton, p. 3402, B 3 Scotland} 6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Scotland, together with the fortreffes of F.oxborcugh and t-__v_^J Berwic, the greatefl acquifition that had been made by ll89- his father during the courfe of his victorious reign ; and his accepting the homage of William in the ufual terms, merely for the territories which that prince held in Eng- land ' . The Englifh of all ranks and (rations were op- preiTed by numerous exactions : Menaces were employed both againft the innocent and the guilty, in order to ex- tort money from them : And where a pretence was want- ing againfr. the r-ch, the king obliged them, by the fear of his difpleafure, to lend him fums, which, he knew, it would never be in his power to repay. But Richard, though he facrificed every intereft and confideration to the fuccefs of this pious enterprize, car- ried fo little the appearance of fanctity in his conduct, that. Fulk, curate of Neuilly, a zealous preacher of the crufade, who from that merit had acquired the privilege of (peaking the boldcfl truths, advifed him to rid himfelf of his notorious vices, particularly his pride, avarice, and voluptuoufhefs, which he called the king's three favourite daughters. You counfel well, replied Richard ; and I here- by difpofe of the firjl to the Templars, of the fecond to the Be- nedictines, and of the third to ?ny prelates. Richard, jealous of attempts which might be made on England during his abfence, laid prince John, as tvelj as his natural brother Geoffrey, arebbifhop of York, un- der engagements, confirmed by their oaths, that neither of them mould enter that kingdom till his return ; though he thought proper, before his departure, to. withdraw this prohibition. The administration was left in the hands of Hugh, bilhop of Durham, and of Longchamp, bifhop of Ely, whom he appointed jufliciaries and guar- dians of the realm. The latter was a Frenchman of mean birth, and of a violent character ; who by art and addrefs f Hoveden, p. 662, Rymer, vol. i, p. 64, M, Weft. p. 257. had RICHARD!, 7 had iniinuated himfelf into favour, whom Richard had CHAP. created chancellor, and whom he had engaged the pope ^^_ _^ alfo to invePc with the legantine authority, th?t, by >l89« centering every kind of power in his perfon, he might the better enfure the public tranquillity. All the mi- litary and turbulent fpirits flocked about the perfon of the king, and were impatient to diftinguifh themfelves againft the inhdels in Afia ; whither his inclinations, his engagements, led him, and whither he was impelled by meffages from the king of France, ready to embark in this enterprize. The emperor Frederic, a prince of great fpirit and conduct, had already taken the road to Paleftine at the head of 150,000 men, collected from Germany and all the northern ftates. Having furmounted every obftacle thrown in his way by the artifices of the Greeks and the power of the infidels, he had penetrated to the borders of Syria j when, bathing in the cold river Cydnus, during the greateft heat of the fummer-feafon, he was feized with a mortal diftemper, which put an end to his life and his rafh enterprize 5. His army, under the command of his fon Conrade, reached Paleftine •> but was fo diminifhed by fatigue, famine, maladies, and the fword, that it fcarcely amounted to eight thoufand men ; and was un- able to make any progrefs againft the great power, va- lour, and conduct of Saladin. Thefe reiterated calami- ties, attending the crufades, had taught the kings of France and England the neceflity of trying another road to the Holy Land -y and they determined to conduct their armies thither by fea, to carry provifions along with them, and by means of their naval power to maintain an. open communication with their own ftates, and with the weftern parts of Europe. The place of rendezvous was appointed 1J9°' in the plains of Vezelay, on the borders of Burgundy b : \ ? Bened, Abb. p. 556. h Hoveden, p, 660. B 4 Philip 8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Philip and Richard, on their arrival there, found their i_ - '- J armies amount to 100,000 men'; a mighty force, ani- 1J9°- mated with glory and religion, conducted by two warlike monarchs, provided with every thing which their feveral dominions could afford, and not to be overcome but by their own mifconduct, or by the unfurmountable obftacles of nature. King fets The French prince and the Englifh here reiterated «uf!detie ^eir promifes of cordial friendfhip, pledged their faith not to invade each other's dominions during the crufade, mutually exchanged the oaths of all their barons and pre- lates to the fame effect, and fubjected themfelves to the penalty of interdicts and excommunications, if they mould ever violate this public and folemn engagement. They then feparated ; Philip took the road to Genoa, Richard that to Marfeilles, with a view of meeting their fleets, which were feverally appointed to rendezvous in thefe harbours. They put to fea ; and nearly about the fame the, were obliged, by ftrefs of weather, to take fhelter 'i Meflina, where they were detained during the whole winter. This event laid the foundation of animofities, which proved fatal to their enterpiize. Richard and Philip were, by the fituation and extent of their dominions, rivals in power ; by their age and in- clinations, competitors for glory ; and thefe caufes of emulation, which, had the princes been employed in the field againft the common enemy, might have ftimulated them to martial enterprizes, foon excited, during the prefent leifure and repofe, quarrels between monarchs of fuch a fiery character. Equally haughcy, ambitious, in- trepidj and inflexible; they were irritated with the leaff appearance of injury, and were incapable, by mutual condefcenfions, to efface thofe caufes of complaint, which unavoidably arofe between them. Richard, candid, fm- » Vinifauf, p. 305, cere. RICHARD I. 9 cere, undeflgning, unpolitic, violent, laid himfelf open, CHAP. on every occafion, to the defigns of his antagonift ; who, i ^ a provident, interefted, deceitful, failed not to take all ad- U9°' vantages againft him : And thus, both the circumftances of their difpofition in which they were fimilar, and thofe in which they differed, rendered it impofiible for them to perfcvere in that harmony, which was fo neceffary to the fuccefs of their undertaking. The laft king of Sicily and Naples was William II. Tranfac- who had married Joan, filler to Richard, and who, dy- Sicily. ing without iffue, had bequeathed his dominions to his pa- ternal aunt, Conflantia, the only legitimate defcendant fur- viving of Roger, the firffc fovcreign of thofe ftates who had been honoured with the royal title. This princefs had, in expectation of that rich inheritance, been married to Henry VI. the reigning emperor k; but Tancred, her natural brother, had fixed fuch an intereft amons: the barons, that, taking advantage of Henry's abfence, he had acquired poffeffion of the throne, and maintained his claim, by force of arms, againft all the efforts of the Ger- mans '. The approach of the crufaders naturally gave him apprehenfions for his unliable government; and he was uncertain, whether he had moft reafon to dread the prefence of the French or of the Englifh monarch. Philip was engaged in a ftricfc alliance with the emperor, his competitor : Richard was difgufted by his rigors towards the queen-dowager, whom the Sicilian prince had con- fined in Palermo; becaufe fhe had oppofed with all her intereft his fucceffion to the crown. Tancred, therefore, fenfible of the prelent neceffity, refolved to pay court to both thefe formidable prince: ; and he was not unfuccefsful jn his endeavours. He perfuaded Philip that it was highly .improper for him to interrupt his enterprize againft the sis, by any attempt againft a Ghriftian prince: He * F':i°c!, AM>. p. j8o, 1 Huveden, p. 663. reftored jo HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, reftored queen Joan to her liberty ; and even found means \)m^^r^^ to make an alliance with Richard, who ftipulated by ^J9°' treaty to marry his nephew, Arthur, the young duke of JBritanny, to one of the daughters of Tancred m. But before thefe terms of friendmip were fettled, Richard, jealous both of Tancred and of the inhabitants of Meflina, had taken up. his quarters jn the fuburbs, and had pof- feffed himfelf of afmall fort, which commanded the harbour, and he kept himfelf extremely on his guard againfi their 3'. But as Sibylla died without iffue, dur- ing the fiege of Acre, Ifabella, her younger fifler, put in her claim to that titular kingdom, and required Lu- fignan to refign his pretentions to her hufband, Conrade, marquis of Montferrat. Lufignan, maintaining that the royal title was unalienable and indefeazable, had re- courfe to the protection of Richard, attended on him be- fore he left Cyprus, and engaged him to embrace his caufe 3. There needed no other reafon for throwing Philip into the party of Conrade ; and the oppofite views of thefe great monarchs brought faction and difTention into the Christian army, and retarded all its operations. The Templars, the Genoefe, and the Germans, declared for Philip and Conrade ; the Flemings, the Pifans, the knights of the hofpital of St. John, adhered to Richard y Vinifauf. p. 281. z Trivet, p. 104. Vinifauf. p, 342. \V« Heming. p. 524. 5 and , . . R I C H A R D I. fj and Lufignan. But notwithstanding thefe difputes, as c H A p- the length of the fiege had reduced the Saracen garrifon i^— v- j to the laft extremity, they furrendered themfelves prifon- 1-}V{ ers ; flipulated, in return for their lives, other advan- tages to the Chriftians, fuch as reftoring of the Chriflian prifoners, and the delivery of the wood of the true crofs a ; and this great enterprize, which had long engaged the attention of all Europe and Afia, was at laft, after the lofs of 300,000 men, brought to a happy period. But Philip, inftead of purfuing the hopes of farther conquefi:, and of redeeming the holy city from fiavery, being difgufted with the afcendant afTumed and acquired by Richard, and having views of many advantages, which he might reap by his prefence in Europe, declared his refolution of returning to France ; and he pleaded his bad ftate of health as an excufe for his defertion of the common caufe. He left, however, to Richard ten thou- fand of his troops, under the command of the duke of Burgundy ; and he renewed his oath never to commence hoftilities againft that prince's dominions during his ab- lence. But he had no fooner reached Italy than he applied to pope Celeftine III. for a difpenfation from this vow ; and when denied that requeil, he frill proceeded, though after a covert manner, in a project, which the prefent fituation of England rendered inviting, and which gratified, in an eminent degree, both his refentment and his ambition. Immediately after Richard had left England, and DSfbrders in begun his march to the holy land, the two prelates, c""8 whom he had appointed guardians of the realm, broke out into animofities a^ainft each other, and threw the kins:- a This true crofs was loft in the battle of Tiberiade, to which it had been carried by the crufaders for they; protection, Rigord, an author of that age, J.'.}s, that after this difmal event, all the children who were born throughout ail Chriftendom, had only twenty or twenty-two teeth, inflead of thirty or thirty-two, which wjs their former complement, p, 14. dom i6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C ha P. dom into combuftion. Longchamp, prefumptaous iri I^V\, his nature, elated by the favour which he enjoyed with 119 Xi his mafter, and armed with the legantine commiffion, could not fubmit to an equality with the bifhop of Dur- ham : He even went fo far as to arreft his colleague, and to extort from him a refignation of the earldom of Northumberland, and of his other dignities, as the price of his liberty b. The king, informed of thefe diffentions, ordered, by letters from Marfeilles, that the bifhop fhould be reinftated in his offices ; but Longchamp had ftill the boldnefs to refufe compliance, on pretence that he himfelf was better acquainted with the king's fecret intentions c. He proceeded to govern the kingdom by his ible authority; to treat all the nobility with arrogance; and to difplay his power and riches with an invidious oftentation. He never travelled without a ftrong guard of fifteen hundred foreign foldiers, collected from that licentious tribe, with which the age was generally infeft- ed : Nobles and knights were proud of being admitted into his train : His retinue wore the afpe£t. of royal mag- nificence : And when, in his progrefs through the king- dom, he lodged in any monaftery, his attendants, it & faid, were fufHcient to devour, in one night, the revenue of feveral years d. The king, who was detained in Europe longer than the haughty prelate expected, hearing of this oftentation, which exceeded even what the habits of that age indulged to ecclefiaftics ; being alfo informed of the infolent, tyrannical conduct of his minifter ; thought proper to reftrain his power : He fent new orders, appointing Walter archbifhop of Rouen, William Mare- Jhal earl of Strigul, Geoffrey Fitz-Petef, William Brie- were, and Hugh Bardolf, counfellors to Longchamp, b Hoveden, p. 665. Knyghton, p. 2403. c W. Heming, p. 5.2S. d Hovsdgn, p. 6S0. Bened.Abb. p, 626, 700. Bromp- i«n, p. 1193. and R I C H A R D I. 17 and commanding him to take no meafure of importance CHAP. without their concurrence and approbation. But fuch s^^-y-^ general terror had this man imprefled by his violent con- "91, duct, that even the archbifhop of Rouen and the earl of Strigul durft not produce this mandate of the king's ; and Longchamp ftill maintained an uncontrouled autho- rity over the nation. But when he proceeded fo far as to throw into prifon Geoffrey archbifhop of York, who had oppofed his meafures, this breach cf eeclefiaftical privileges excited fuch an univerfal ferment, that prince John, difgufted with the fmall fhare he poffeffed in the government, and perfonally difobliged by Longchamp, ventured to fummon at Reading a general council of the nobility and prelates, and cite him to appear before them. Longchamp thought it dangerous to entruft his perfon in their hands, and he fhut himfelf up in the tower of Lon- don ; but being foon obliged to furrender that fortrefs, he fled beyond fea, concealed under a female habit, and was deprived of his offices of chancellor and chief judiciary ; the laft of which was conferred on the archbifhop of Rouen, a prelate of prudence and moderation. The office of' legate, however, which had been renewed to Longchamp by pope Ceieftine, ftill gave him, notwith- standing his abfence, great authority in the kingdom, enabled him to difturb the government, and forwarded the views of Philip, who watched every opportunity of annoying Richard's dominions. That monarch firfi: tjgzt attempted to carry open war into Normandy ; but as the French nobility refufed to follow him in an invafion of a ftate which they had fwom to protect, and as the pope, who was the general guardian of all princes that had taken the crofs, threatened him with eeclefiaftical cenfures, he defifted from his enterprize, and employed againft Eng- land the expedient of fecret policy and intrigue. He debauched prince John from his allegiance ; promifed him his fifter Alice in marriage j offered to give him Vol. II, G poffeilion 18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. pofTeflion of all Richard's tranfmarine dominions ; and x. \^-v^j "^d not the" authority of queen Eleanor, and the menaces Jija. of the Englifh council, prevailed over the inclinations of that turbulent prince, he was ready to have croffed the feas, and to have put in execution his criminal enter- prizes. The king's The jealou fy of Philip was every moment excited by tions inP*- *^e £^orv> which the great actions of Richard were gain- lefliae. jno- ]i\m jn the caft, and which, being compared to his- own defertion of that popular caufe, threw a double Inure on his rival. * His envy, therefore, prompted him to obfcure that fame, which he had not equalled ; and he embraced every pretence of throwing the mod violent n:id moil improbable calumnies on the king of England. There was a petty prince in Afia, commonly called The old titan of the mountain^ who had acquired fuch an afcendant over his fanatical fubjec~r.s, that they paid the mofr. implicit deference to his commands ; efteemed aflaffination meri- torious, when fanctifled by his mandate; courted danger, and even certain death, in the execution of his orders ; and fancied, that, where they facrificed their lives for his fake, the higheft joys of paradife were the infallible re- ward of their devoted obedience e. It was the cuftom of th's prince, when he imagined himfelf injured, to dif- patch fecretly fome of his fubjedb agairtfi the aggreflbr, to charge them with the execution of his revenue, to inftrucl: them in every art of difguifing their purpofe j and no precaution was fuflicient to guard any man, how- I, againft the attempts of thefe fubtle and determined ruffians. The greatefr. monarchs ftcod in awe of this prince of the ailailins,- (for that was the name of his people ; whence the word has been tranf- ferred into moil European languages) and it was the hi^hxfl indifcretion in Conrade, marquis of Montfsrrat, e W, Kemine. p, 53a, Brompton, p. 124.3, f RICHARD I. 19 to offend and affront him. The inhabitants of Tyrei who chap. x. were governed by that nobleman, had put to death feme of \.^~J^j this dangerous people: The prince demanded fatisfaction ; lI9z> for as he piqued himfelf on never beginning any offence f , he had his regular and eftablifhed formalities in requiring atonement: Conrade treated his meffengers with difdain : The prince iffued the fatal orders : Two of his fubjedts, . who had infmuated themfelves in difguife among Conrade's guards, openly, in the ftreets of Sidon, wounded him mortally ; and when they were feized and put to the mod cruel tortures, they triumphed amidft their agonies, and rejoiced that they had been deftined by heaven to iuffer in fo juft and meritorious a caufe. Every one in Paleftine knew from what hand the blow came. Richard was entirely free from fufpicion. Though that monarch had formerly maintained the caufe of Lufignan againft Conrade, he had become fenfible of the bad effects attending thofe diffentions, and had volun- tarily conferred on the former the kingdom of Cyprus, on condition that he mould refign to his rival all preten- fions on the crown of Jerufalem s. Conrade himfelf, with his dying breath, had recommended his widow to the protection of Richard J ; the prince of the affaflins avowed the action in a formal narrative which he fent to Europe * ; yet, on this foundation, the king of France thought fit to build the moft eo-reeious calumnies, and to impute to Richard the murder of the marquis of Mont- ferrat, whofe elevation he had once openly oppofed. He filled all Europe with exclamations againft the crime; appointed a guard for his own perfon, in order to de- fend himfelf againft a like attempt k ; and endeavoured, by thefe mallow artifices, to cover the infamy of attack- f Rymer, vol. i. p. 71. S Viritfauf. p. 391. h Brompton, P- >243. i Rymer, vol. i. p. 71. Trivet, p. J24. W. Hemirg. p. 544. Diceto, p. 680. k VV. Heming, p. 532, Brompton, p. 1**5. C 2 ing 20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A p. |ng the dominions of a prince, whom he himfelf had x. u j~-^j deferteds and who was engaged with fo much glory in a 1I92- war, univerfally acknowledged to be the common caufe of Christendom. But Richard's heroic actions in Paleftine were the bed apology for his conduct. The Chriftian adventurers under his command determined, on opening the cam- paign, to attempt the fiege of Afcalon, in order to pre- pare the way for that of Jerufalem ; and they marched along the fea-coaft with that intention. Saladin propofed to intercept their paflage ; and he placed himfelf on the road with an army, amounting to 300,000 combatants. On this occafion was fought one of the greateft battles of that age ; and the moft celebrated, for the military ge- nius of the commanders, for the number and valour of the troops, and for the great variety of events which attended it. Both the right wing of the Chriftians, commanded by d'Avefnes, and the left, conducted by the duke of Burgundy, were, in the beginning of the day, broken and defeated ; when Richard, who led on the main body, reftorcd the battle ; attacked the enemy with intrepidity and prefence of mind ; performed the part both of a confummate general and gallant foldier ; and not only gave his two wings leifure to recover from their con- fufion, but obtained a complete victory over the Sara- cens, of whom forty thoufand are faid to have perifhed in the field '. Afcalon foon after fell into the hands of the Chriftians : Other fieges were carried on with equal fuccefs : Richard was even able to advance within fight of Jerufalem, the object of his enterprize ; when he had the mortification to find, that he muft abandon all hopes of immediate fuccefs, and muft put a ftop to his career of victory. The crufaders, animated with an en- 1 Hoveden, p. 6:jS. BeneJ. Abb. p. 677; Diceto, p. 661. Brompton, p. H14. thufiaftic RICHARD I. 21 thufiaftic ardor for the holy wars, broke at firft through c *[ A P. all regards to fafety or inter eft in the profecution of their \^^J^j purpofe ; and trufting to the immediate affiftance of J lT- heaven, fet nothing before their eyes but fame and victory in this world, and a crown of glory in the next. But long abfence from home, fatigue, difeafe, want, and the variety of incidents which naturally attend war, had gra- dually abated that fury, which nothing was able directly to withftand ; and every one, except the king of Eng- land, expreffed a defire of fpeedily returning into Eu- rope. The Germans and the Italians declared their refolution of defifting from the enterprize : The French were ftill more obftinate in this purpofe : The duke of Burgundy, in order to pay court to Philip, took all op- portunities of mortifying and oppofing Richard m: And there appeared an abfolute neceffity of abandoning for the prefent all hopes of farther conqueft, and of fecuring the .acquifitions of the Chriftians by an accommodation with Saladin. Richard, therefore, concluded a truce with that monarch ; and ftipulated? that Acre, Joppa, and other feaport towns of Paleftine, mould remain in the hands of the Chriftians, and that every one of that religion ihould have liberty to perform his pilgrimage to Jerufa- lem unrnolefted. This truce was concluded for three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours ; a magical number, which had probably been de- vifed by the Europeans, and which was fuggefted by a fuperftition well fuited to the objecl of the war. The liberty, in which Saladin indulged the Chriftians, to perform their pilgrimages to Jerufalem, was an eafy facrince on his part; and the furious wars, which he waged in defence of the barren territory of Judea, were not with him, as with the European adventurers, the remit of fuperftition, but of policy. The advantage indeed of *» Vinifauf, p. 380. C 3 fcience, 22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c HVA p- fcience, moderation, humanity, was at that time entirely \^ ^_^j on the fide of -the Saracens ; and this gallant emperor, J192» particular, difplayed during the courfe of the war, a fpirit and generality, which even his bigotted enemies were obliged to acknowledge and admire. Richard, equally martial and brave, carried with him more of the barbarian character; and was guilty of a£t.s of ferocity, which threw a flam on his celebrated victories. When Saladin refufed to ratify the capitulation of Acre, the king of England ordered all his prifoners, to the number of five thoufand, to be butchered ; and the Saracens found themfelves obliged to retaliate upon the Chriftians by a like cruelty n. Saladin died at Damafcus foon after concluding this truce with the princes of the crufade : Tt is memorable, that, before he expired, he ordered his windin^-iheet to be carried as a ftandard through every ftreet of the city ; while a crier went before, and pro- claimed with a loud voice, This is all that remains to the viighiy Saladin, the conqueror of the Eajl. By his lafl will, he ordered charities to be diftributed to the poor, without difti.nclion of Jew, ChriPaan, or Mahometan. The king's There remained, after the truce, no bufinefs of im- PakiUr.e. portance to detain Richard in Paleftine ; and the intelli- gence which he received, concerning the intrigues of his brother John, and thofe of the king of France, made him fenfible, that his pfefeiice was neceflary in Europe. As he dared not to pals though France, he failed to the Adriatic ; and being fhipwrecked near Aquileia, he put on the difguife of a pilgrim, with a purpofe of taking his journey fecretly through Germany. Purfued by the governor of Ifrria, he was forced out of the direct road to England, and was obliged to pafs by Vienna; where his expenccs and liberalities betrayed the monarch in the » Hoveden, p. 697. P.ned. Abb. p, 673. M, Paris, p. 115. Vinifauf, ■:„ 346. W. Heming, p, 531. habit RICHARD 23 habit of the pilgrim ; and he was arretted by orders of C H A P. Leopold, duke of Auftria. This prince had ferved under ^r^!^j Richard at the fiege of Acre ; but being difgufted bv fome 11C)1- •rir.i, ,. r ' 20th De- inhilt of that naughty monarch, ne was io ungenerous as ceiaber. to feize the prefent opportunity of gratifying at once his avarice and revenge ; and he threw the king into prifon. njj. The emperor Henry VI. who alio confidered Richard as an enemy, on account of the alliance contracted by him with Tancred, king of Sicily, difpatched melTengers to the duke of Auftria, required the royal captive to be delivered to him, and ftipulated a large fum of money as a reward for this fervice. Thus the kino- of England, Captivity in who had filled the whole world with his renown and glory, found himfelf, during the moft critical ftate of his affairs, confined in a dungeon, and loaded with irons, in the heart of Germany °, and entirely at the mercy of his enemies, thebafeftand moil fordid of mankind. The Englifh council was aftonifhed en receiving this fatal intelligence ; and forefaw all the dangerous confe- quences, which might naturally arife from that event. The queen-dowager wrote Reiterated letters to pope Ce- leftine ; exclaiming againft the injury which her fon had fuftaincd, reprefenting the impiety of detaining in prifon the moft illuftrious prince that had yet carried the banners of Chrift into the Holy Land ; claiming the protection of the apoftolic fee, which was due even to the meaneft of thofe adventurers ; and upbraiding the pope, that, in a caufe where juftice, religion, and the dignity of the church, were fo much concerned ; a caufe which it might well befit his holinefs himfelf to fupport by taking in perfon a journey to Germany, the fpiritual thunders fhould fo long be fufpended over thofe facrilegious offen- ders p. The zeal of Celcftine correfponded not to the 0 Chran. T. Wykes; p. 35, ? Rymer, vol. i, p. 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, &c, C 4 impatience 24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. impatience of the queen-mother ; and the regency of Eng- ^_ i,^, land were, for a long time, left to ftruggle alone with all 1J93« their domeftic and foreign enemies. Warwiih The king of Fiance, quickly informed of Richard's rance* confinement by a meffage from the emperor % prepared himfelf to take advantage of that incident ; and he em- ployed every means of force and intrigue, of war and ne- gotiation, againft the dominions and the perfon of his unfortunate rival. He revived the calumny of Richard's aflafiinating the marquis of Montferrat ; and by that ab- furd pretence, he induced his barons to violate their oaths, by which they had engaged, that, during the crufade, they never would, on any account, attack the dominions of the king of England. He made the emperor the larger!: offers, if he would deliver into his hands the royal pri- soner, or at leaft detain him in perpetual captivity : He even formed an alliance by marriage with the king of Denmark, defired that the ancient Danifh claim to the crown of England mould be transferred to him, and foli- cited a fupply of fhipping to maintain it. But the moft fuccefsful of Philip's negotiations was with prince John, who, forgetting every tye to his brother, his fovereign, and his benefactor, thought of nothing but how to make his own advantage of the public calamities. That traitor, on the firft invitation from the court of France, fuddenly went abroad, had a conference with Philip, and made a treaty, of which the object was the perpetual ruin of his unhappy brother. He ftipulatcd to deliver into Philip's hands a great part of Normandy r ; he received, in return, the invefliture of all Richard's tranfmarine dominions ; and it is reported by feveral hiftorians, that he even did homage to the French king for the crown of England. In confequence of this treaty, Philip invaded Nor- mandy 3 and by the treachery of John's emiiTaries} made q P.vmer, vol, i, p. 70, r ibid, p. 85. himfelf R I C H A R D I. 25 Kimfelf matter, without oppofition, of many fortrefTes, CHAP. Neuf-chatel, Neaufle, Gifors, Pacey, Ivree : He fub- \_— v- y dued the counties of Eu and Aumale ; and advancing to ? form the fiege of Rouen, he threatened to put all the in- habitants to the fword, if they dared to make remittance. Happily, Robert earl of Leicester appeared in that critical moment ; a gallant nobleman, who had acquired great honour during the crufade, and who, being more fortu- nate than his matter in finding his paflage homewards, took on him the command in Rouen, and exerted himfelf, by his exhortations and example, to infufe courage into the difmayed Normans. Philip was repulfed in every attack; the time of fervice from his vaflals expired ;' and he con- fented to a truce with the Englifh regency, received in return the promife of 20,000 marks, and had four caflles put into his hands, as fecurity for the payment 3. Prince John, who, with a view of encreafirg the ge- neral confufion, went over to England, was ftill lefs fuccefsful in his enterprizes. He was onlv able to make himfelf matter of the catties of Windfor and Wallingford ; but when he arrived in London, and claimed the king- dom as heir to his brother, of whofe death he pretended to have received certain intelligence, he v/as rejected by all the barons, and meafures were taken to oppofe and fubdue him f. The jufticiaries, fuppor^ed by the general afFe&icn of the people, provided fo well for the defence of the kingdom, that John was obliged, after fome fruit- lefs efforts, to conclude a truce with them ; and before its expiration, he thought it prudent to return into France, where he openly acknowledged his alliance with Philip u. Mean while, the high fpirit of Richard fuffered in Germany every kind of infult and indignity. The French 3 Hoveden, p. 730, 731. Rymer, vol. i, p, 81, ' Hoveden, p. 724. u w, Heming, p. 536. 9 ambafladors, 26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, C H^A P" amb2fTadors, in their matter's name!, renounced him as a <«— v-~-j vafTal to the crown of France, and declared all his fiefs to II93* be forfeited to his liege-lord. The emperor, that he might render him more impatient for the recovery of his liberty, and make him fubmit to the payment of a larger ranfom, treated him with the greateft feverity, and re- duced him to a condition worfe than that of the meaneft malefactor. He was even produced before the diet of the empire at Worms, and accufed by Henry of many crimes and mifdemeanors ; of making an alliance with Tancred, the ufurper of Sicily ; of turning the arms of the crufade againft a Clinician prince, and fubduing Cyprus ; of affronting the duke of Auftria before Acre ; of obftrucling the progrefs of the Chriftian arms by his quarrels with the king of France ; of afTafiinating Ccnradc, marquis of Montferrat ; and of concluding a truce with Saladin, and leaving Jerufalem in the hands of the Saracen emperor w. Richard, whofe ipirit was not broken by his misfortunes, and whofe genius was rather rouzed by thefe frivolous or fcandalous imputations ; after premifing, that his dignity exempted him from anfwering before any jurifdiction, except that of heaven ; yet condefcended, for the fake of his reputation, to jufrify his conduct before that great aflcmbly. He obferved, that he had no hand in Tan- cred's elevation, and only concluded a treaty with a prince, whom he found in pofTeflion of the throne : That the king, or rather tyrant of Cyprus, had provoked his indignation by the moll ungenerous and unjuft proceed- ings ; and though he chaftifed this aggreffor, he had not retarded a moment the progrefs of his chief enterprize : That if he had at any time been wanting in civility to the duke of Auffria, he had already been fufnciently punifhed for that fally of -pailion ; and it better became men, em- barked together in fo holy a caufe, to forgive each other's w M. Paris, p. 121. W. Heming. p. 536. irifirmitier., RICHARD I. 27 infirmities, than to purfue a flight offence v/ith fucli unre- chap. lenting vengeance : That it had fufficiently appeared hyt_J_ v'_ _f the event, whether the king of France or he was mod u93« zealous for the conqueft of the Holy Land, and was moft: likely to facrifice private pafficns and animofities to that great object : That if the whole tenor of his life had not ihown him incapable of a bafe affaffination, and juftified him from that imputation in the eyes of his very enemies, it was in vain for him, at prefent, to make his apology, or plead the many irrefragable arguments, which he could produce in his own favour : And that, however he might regret the neceflity, he was fo far from being afhamed of his truce v/ith Saladin, that he rather gloried in that event ; and thought it extremely honourable, that, though abandoned by all the world, funported only by his own courage and by the fmall remains of his national troops, he could yet obtain fuch conditions from the moft power- ful and moft warlike emperor that the Eaft had ever yet produced. Richard, after thus deigning to apologize for his conduct, burft out into indignation at the cruel treat- ment which he had met with; that he, the champion of the crofs, ft ill wearing that honourable badge, fhoukl, after expending the blood and treafure of his fubjecls in the common caufe of Chriftenuom, be intercepted by Chriftian princes in his return to his own country, be thrown into a dungeon, be loaded with irons, be obliged to plead his caufe, as if he were a fubjecl and a malefac- tor ; and what he ft ill more regretted, be thereby pre- vented from making preparations for a new crufade, which he had projected, after the expiration of the truce, and from redeeming the fepulchre of Chriir, which had fo long been profaned by the dominion of the infidels. The fpirit and eloquence of Richard made fuch impreffion on the German princes, that they exclaimed loudly againft the conduct of the emperor ; the pope threatened him with ex- communication 5 and Henry, who had hearkened to the pro- 7 pofals *8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, pofals of the king of France and prince John, found that \^YV it would be impracticable for him to execute his and their 1I93- bafe purpofes, or to detain the king of England any longer The King's jn captivity. He therefore concluded with him a treaty delivery, , } for his ranfom, and agreed to reftore him to his freedom for the fum of 150,000 marks, about 300,000 pounds of our prefent money; of which {00,000 marks were to be paid before he received his liberty, and fixty-feven ho- flages delivered for the remainder x. The emperor, as if to glofs over the infamy of this tranfaction, made at the fame time a prefent to Richard of the kingdom of Aries, comprehending Provence, Dauphiny, Narbonne, and other ftates, over which the empire had fome antiquated claims ; a prefent which the king very wifely neglected. The captivity of the fuperior lord was one of the cafes provided for by the feudal tenures ; and all the vaflals were in that event obliged to give an aid for his ranfom. ' Twenty millings were therefore levied on each knight's fee in England ; but as this money came in flowly, and was not fufficient for the intended purpofe, the voluntary zeal of the people readily fupplied the deficiency. The churches and monafceries melted down their plate, to the amount of 30,000 marks ; the bifhops, abbots, and no- bles, paid a fourth of their yearly rent ; the parochial clergy contributed a tenth of their tythes : And the re- quifite fum being thus collected, queen Eleanor, and 3 Walter archbifhop of Rouen, fct out with it for Ger- 4th Fco. many ; paid the money to the emperor and the- duke of Auftria at Mentz ; delivered them hoftages for the remainder ; and freed Richard from captivity. His efcape was very critical. Henry had been detected in the affaffination of the bifhop of Liege, and in an attempt of a like nature on the duke of Louvaine ; and finding him- felf extremely obnoxious to the German princes on account * Rymer, vol. 5. p. 84, of RICHARD I. 29 of thefe odious practices, he had determined to feek fup- port from an alliance with the king of France ; to detain Richard, the enemy of that prince, in perpetual captivity; "94" to keep in his hands the money which he had already re- ceived for his ranfom ; and to extort frefh fums from Philip and prince John, who were very liberal in their offers to him. He therefore gave orders that Richard mould be purfued and arretted ; but the king, making all imaginable hafte, had already embarked at the mouth of the Schelde, and was out of fight of land, when the meflengers of the em? peror reached Antwerp. The joy of the Englim was extreme on the appear- Kings*e" ance of their monarch, who had fuffered fo many cala- land. mities, who had acquired fo much glory, and who had ai " fpread the reputation of their name into the farther!: Eafr, whither their fame had never before been able to extend. He gave them, foon after his arrival, an opportunity of difplaying publicly their exultation, by ordering himfelf to be crowned anew at Winchefler ; as if he intended, by that ceremony, to reinftate himfelf in his throne, and to wipe off the ignominy of his captivity. Their fatisfac- tion was not damped, even when he declared his purpofe of refuming all thofe exorbitant grants, which he had been neceflitated to make before his departure for the Holy e Land. The barons alfo, in a great council, confifcated, on account of his treafon, all prince John's poffemons in England ; and they affifted the king in reducing the for- treffes which ftill remained in the hands of his brother's adherents y. Richard, having fettled every thing in Eng- land, paffed over with an army into Normandy ; being impatient to make war on Philip, and to revenge himfelf for the many injuries which he had received from that monarch z. So foon as Philip heard of the king's deli- y Hoveden, p. 737. Ana, Waver], p, 165. W. Heming. p, 540. z Hoveden, p. 740, very 30 .HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, very from captivity, he wrote to his confederate, Johri-j V^-\/-^ in thefe terms: Take care ofyourfelf: The devil is broken "91- loofe\ War with When we confider fuch powerful and martial mo- France. narchs, inflamed with perfonal animofity againft each other, enraged by mutual injuries, excited by rivalfhip, impelled by oppofite interefts, and inftigated by the pride and violence of their own temper ; our curiofity is natu- rally raifed, and wc expect an obftinate and furious war, diftinguifhed by the grcateft events, and concluded by fome remarkable cataftrophe. Yet are the incidents, which attended thofe hoftilities, fo frivolous, that fcarce any hiftorian can entertain fuch a paflion for military de- fcriptions as to venture on a detail of them : A certain proof of the extreme wcaknefs of princes in thofe ages, and of the little authority they poficfTcd over their refrac- tory vaflals ! The whole amount of the exploits on both fides is, the taking of a caftle, the furprife of a ftraggling party, a rencounter of horfe, which refembles more a rout than a battle. Richard obliged Philip to raife the fiege of Verneiiil ; he took Loches, a fmall town in An- jou ; he made himfeif mailer of Beaumont, and fome other places of little confequence ; and after thefe trivial exploits, the two kings began already to hold conferences for an accommodation. Philip infifted, that, if a general peace were concluded, the barons on each fide fhould for the future be prohibited from carrying on private wars againh: each other : But Richard replied, that this was a right claimed by his vaifals, and he could not debar them from it. After this fruitlefs negociation, there enfued an action between the French and Englim cavalry at Frette- val, in which the former were routed, and the king of France's cartulary and records, which commonly at that time attended his perfen, were taken. But this victory a Hoveden, p. 73^ leading Richard i. 3t leading to no important advantages, a truce for a year CHAP. was at laft, from mutual weaknefs, concluded between < r % the two monarchs. J,94« During this war, prince John deferred from Philip, threw himfelf at his brother's feet, craved pardon for his offences, and by the interceflion of queen Eleanor, was received into favour. I forgive him, laid the king, and hope I Jball as eafily forget his injuries, as he will my pardon. John was incapable even of returning to his duty, with- out committing abafenefs. Before he left Philip's party, he invited to dinner all the ofHcers cf the garrifon, which that prince had placed in the citadel of Evreux ; he maf- facred them during the entertainment ; fell, v/ith the afliftance of the townfrnen, on the garrifon, whom he put to the fword ; and then delivered up the place to his brother. The king of France was the great object of Richard's refentment and animofity : The conduct of John, as well as that of the emperor and duke of Auftria, had been fo bafe and mean, and was expofedto fuch general odium and reproach, that the king deemed himfelf fufficiently re- venged for their injuries ; and he feems never to have entertained any project, of vengeance againft any of them. The duke of Auftria, about this time, having crufhed his leg by the fall of his horfe at a tournament, was thrown into a fever ; and being {truck, on the approaches of death, with remorfe for his injuftice to Richard, he ordered, by will, all the Englifh hoftages in his hands to be fet at liberty, and the remainder of the debt due to him to be remitted : His fon, who feemed inclined to difobey thefe orders, was conftrained by his ecclefiaftics to execute them b. The emperor alfo made advances 1195. for Richard's friendlhip, and offered to give him a dis- charge of all the debt, not yet paid to him; provided he b Rymer, vol. i. p. 8S, ica. Would 32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, would enter into an ofrenfive alliance ao-ainft the kino- of ■y DO t^r*-^-^ France ; a propofal which was very acceptable td Rich- *i95- ard, and was greedily embraced by him. The treaty with the emperor took no effect ; but it ferved to rekindle the war between France and England before the expiration of the truce. This war was not diftinguifhed by any more remarkable incidents than the foregoing. After mutually ravaging the open country, and taking a few infignifi- cant caftles, the two kings concluded a peace at Louviers, and made an exchange of fome territories with each other0. iu6. Their inability to wage war occafioned the peace: Their mutual antipathy engaged them again in war before two months expired. Richard imagined, that he had now found an opportunity of gaining great advantages over his rival, by forming an alliance with the counts of Flanders, Touloufe, Boulogne, Champagne, and other confider- able vaflals of the crown of France d. But he foon ex- perienced the infincerity of thofe princes ; and was not able to make any impreflion on that kingdom, while go- verned by a monarch of fo much vigour and activity as Philip. The moft remarkable incident of this war was the taking prifoner in battle the bifhop of Beauvais, a martial prelate, who was of the family of Dreux, and a near relation of the French king's. Richard, who hated that bifhop, threw him into prifon, and loaded him with irons ; and when the pope demanded his liberty, and claimed him as his fon, the king fent to his holinefs the coat of mail which the prelate had worn in battle, and which was all befmeared with blood : And he replied to him, in the terms employed by Jacob's fons to that pa- triarch, This have we found: Knoiv now whether it be thy fort s coat or no e. This new war between England and France, c Rymer, vol. i. p. 91, a W. Hemlng. p. 549. Brompton, p. 1273. Rymer, vol. i. p. 94. e Genefis, chap, xxxvii. ver. 3*. M, Paris; p. iaS. Brompton, p. 127J. though R I C H A R D I. y thouo-h carried on with fuch animofity, that both kings C HA P. frequently put out the eyes of their prifoners, was foon v_— y— j finimed, by a truce of five years ; and immediately afcr »96- figning this treaty, the kings were ready, on fome new offence, to break out again into hoftilities ; when the mediation of the cardinal of St. Mary, the pope's legate, accommodated the difference f. This prelate even en- gaged the princes to commence a treaty for a more durable peace; but the death of Richard put an end td the negotiation. VidoM ar, vlfcoiint of Limoges, a vaffal of the king's, 1 199* had found a treafure, of which he fent part to that prince as a prefent. Richard, as fuperior lord, claimed the whole ; and at the head of fome Brabancons, befieged the vifcount in the caftle of Chaltis, near Limoges, in- order to make him comply with his demand s. The garrifon offered to furrender ; but the king replied, that-, fince he had taken the pains to come thither apd. bell the place in perfon, he would take it by force, and would hang every one of them. The fame day, Richard, ac- companied by Marcadee, leader of his Brabancons, ap- proached the caftle in order to fui'vey it ; when" one Bertrand de Gourdon, an archer, took aim at him, and pierced his moulder with an arrow. The king, however, &8thfth gave orders for the affault, took the place, and hanged all the garrifon, except Gourdon^ who had wounded him, and whom he referved for a more deliberate and more cruel execution h. The wound was not in itfelf dangerous ; but the un- fkilfulnefs of the furp-eon made it mortal : He fo rankled o Richard's moulder in pulling out the arrow, that a gangrene enftied ; and that prince was now fenfible that his life was drawing towards a period. He fent for Gour-^ f Rymer, vol. i. p. 109, iiOi I H.ovedfn, p. 791. Knygh'on, p. 24->3- h Ibid. Vol. IL 3D 24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. don, and afked him, Wretch, what have I ever done to you, to oblige you to feek my life ? TPliat have you done to me ? 11 "' replied coolly the prifoner: You killed with your own hands my father ; and my two brothers ; and you intended to have hanged myfelf: I am now in your power, and you may take revenge, by inf idling on me the mofl fever e torments : But I Jhall endure them all with pkafure, provided I can think that I have been fo happy as to rid the world of fuch a nuifance K Richard, flruck with the reafonablenefs of this reply, and humbled by the near approach of death, ordered Gourdon to be fet at liberty, and a fum of money to be given him ; but Alarcadec, unknown to him, feized the unhappy man, flead him alive, and then hanged him. 6ih April. Richard died in the tenth vear of his reign, and the Dea'.h . - ^ forty-fecond of his age ; and he left no iflue behind him. andcharac- The moft finning part of this prince's character are terof the i XT •' 1. king. ins military talents. JNo man, even in that romantic age, carried perfonal courage and intrepidity to a greater height ; and this quality gained him the appellation of the lion-hearted, caear de lion. He paflionately loved glory, chiefly military glory ; and as his conduct in the field was not inferior to his valour, he feems to have poflefled every talent necefTary for acquiring it. His re- fentments alfo were high ; his pride unconquerable ; and his fubjecls, as well as his neighbours, had therefore reafon to apprehend, from the continuance of his reign, a perpetual fcene of blood and violence. Of an impetu- ous and vehement fpirit, he was diftinguifhed by all the good, as well as the bad qualities, incident to that cha- racter: He was open, frank, generous, fincere, and brave; he was revengeful, domineering, ambitious, haughty, and cruel ; and was thus better calculated to dazzle men by the fplendor of his enterprizes, than either to promote k Hoveden, p. 791. Brompton, p. 1177. Knjghton, p. 2413. 9 their \ RICHARD I. 35 their happinefs or his own grandeur, by a found and well c " regulated policy. As military talents make great impref- i^™^— ^ fion on the people, he feems to have been much beloved by his Englifh fubje£r.s ; and he is remarked to have been the firft. prince of the Norman line that bore any fmcere regard to them. He patted however only four months of his reign in that kingdom : The crufade employed him near three years ; he was detained about fourteen months in captivity ; the reft of his reign was fpent either in war, or preparations for war, againft France ; and he was fo pleafed with the fame which he had acquired in the Eaft, that he determined, notwithftanding his paft misfortunes, to have farther exhaufted his kingdom, and to have expofed himfelf to new hazards, by conducting another expedition againft the infidels. Though the Englifh pleafed themfelves with the glory Mi i u r r • • r i 1 . Acceiiion of kept them from forming any conception of a legal and the king, regular monarchy, had rendered them entirely igno- rant both of the rights of primogeniture and a reprefenta- tion in fuccellion ; inventions fo necelTary for preferving order in the lines of princes, for obviating the evils of civil difcord and of ufurpation, and for begetting mo- deration in that fpecies of government, by giving fecu- rity to the ruling fovereign. Thefe innovations arofe from the feudal law ; which, firft introducing the right of primogeniture, made fuch a diftindTiion between the families of the elder and younger brothers3 that the fon D 4 of 40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. H A P. of the former was thought entitled to fucceed to his XI , ^-^^ grandfather, preferably to his uncles, though nearer al- ?:99- lied to the deceafed monarch. But though this progrefs of ideas was natural, it was gradual. In the age of which we treat, the practice of reprefentation was indeed introduced, but not thoroughly eftablifhed ; and the minds of men floated between oppofite principles. Richard, when he entered on the holy war, declared his nephew, Arthur duke of Britanny, his fucceffor ; and by a formal deed, he fet afidc, in his favour, the title of his brother John, who was younger than Geoffrey, the father of that prince a. Bui: John fo little acquiefced in that defti- nation, that, when he gained the afcendant in the Eng- lifh miniflry, by expelling Longchamp, the chancellor and great justiciary, he engaged all the Englifh barons to fwear, that they would maintain his right of fuccef- ficn; and Richard, on his return, took no fteps towards reftoring or fecuring the order which he had at firfr. efta- blifhed. He was even careful, by his laft will, to declare his brother John heir to all his dominions b ; whether, that he now thought Arthur, who was only twelve years of age, incapable of aflerting his claim againft John's faction, or was influenced by Eleanor, the queen-mother, who hated Conftantia, mother of the young duke, and who dreaded the influence which that princefs would naturally acquire if her ion fhould mount the throne. The authority of a teftament was great in that age, even where the fucceffion of a kingdom was concerned ; and John had reafon to hope, that this title, joined to his plaufible right in other refpects, would enfure him the fucceffion. But the idea of reprefentation feems to have made, at this time, greater progrefs in France than in England : The barons of the tranfmarine provinces, a Hcvcden, p. 677, M. Paris, p. 1 12. Cht'On. dc Dunft. p. 43. F.ymer, vol. i. p, 66, 68. C:itJ. Abb. p, ry. France and the dutchy of Normandy under an interdict; and the two kings found thcmfelves obliged to make an exchange of thefe military prelates. Nothing enabled the king to bring this war to a happy iffue fo much as the felfifh, intriguing character of Philip, who acted in the provinces that had declared for Arthur, without any regard to the intercfts of that pro- vince. Conftantia, feized with a violent jealoufy, that lie intended to ufurp the entire dominion of them f, found means to carry off her foil fecretly from Paris : She put him into the hands of his uncle ; reftored the provinces which had adhered to the young prince ; and made him do homage for the dutchy of Britanny, which was regarded as a rere-fief of Normandy. From this inci- dent, Philip faw, that he could not hope to make any progrefs againft John ; and being threatened with an interdict on account of his irregular divorce from Ingel- burga, the DaniPn princefs, whom he had efpoufed, he became defirous of concluding a peace with England. After fomc fruitlefs conferences, the terms were at laft adjufred ; and the two monarchs fcemed in this treaty to have an intention, befides ending the prefent quarrel, of preventing all future caufes of difcord, and of obviating every controverfy which could hereafter arife between them. They adjufted the limits of all their territories ; mutually fecured the interefts of their vaflais ; and to render the union more durable, John gave his niece, Blanche of Caftile, in marriage to prince Lewis, Philip's eldefr. fon, and with her the baronies of Iflbudun and Gracai, and other fiefs in Berri. Nine barons of the king of England, and as many of the king of France, f Hoveden, p. 795. were JOHN. 4. Mere guarantees of this treaty ; and all of them fv/ore, CHAP. that, if their fovereign violated any article of it, they ^^J^. would declare themfelves againft him, and embrace the "oo. caufe of the injured monarch s. John, now fecure, as he imagined, on the fide of The king's France, indulged his paflion for Ifabella, the daughter arr*32s« and heir of Aymar Taillefer, count of Angouleme, a lady with whom he had become much enamoured. His queen, the heirefs of the family of Glocefter, was ftill alive : Ifabella was married to the count de la Marche, and was already configned to the care of that nobleman ; though, by reafon of her tender years, the marriage had not been confummated. The paflion of John made him overlook all thefe obflacles : He perfuaded the count of Angouleme to carry off his daughter from her hufband ; and having, on fome pretence or other, procured a divorce from his own wife, he efpoufed Ifabella ; regardlefs both of the menaces of the pope, who exclaimed againft thefe irregular proceedings, and of the refentment of the in- jured count, who foon found means of punifhing his powerful and infolent rival. John had not the art of attaching his barons either by I2SIi affection or by fear. The count de la Marche, and his brother the count d'Eu, taking advantage of the general difcontent againft him, excited commotions in Poictou and Normandy j and obliged the king to have recourfe to arms, in order to fupprefs the infurreclion of his vafTals. He fummoned together the barons of England, and re- quired them to pafs the feas under his ftandard, and to queli the rebels : He found that he pofTefled as little au- thority in that kingdom as in his tranfmarine provinces. The Englifh barons unanimoufly replied, that they would not attend him on this expedition, unlefs he would pro- ? Norman. Duchefnii, p. 1055. Rymer, vol. i. p, 117, 118, 119. Hoveden, p, 814. Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 47. mife 44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND,, CHAP. mjfe to reflore and preferve their privileges h : The firft i_ — v - _ ■ fymptom of a regular affociation and plan of liberty 1201 ■ among thofe noblemen ! But affairs were not yet fully ripe for the revolution projected. John, by menacing the barons, broke the concert ; and both engaged many of them to follow him into Normandy, and obliged the reft, who ftaid behind, to pay him a fcutage of two marks on each knight's fee, as the price of their exemp- tion from the fervice. The force, which John carried abroad with him, and that which joined him in Normandy, rendered him much fupericr to his malcontent barons ; and fo much the more, as Philip did not publicly give them any countenance, and fcemed as yet determined to perfevere fteadily in the alli- ance, which he had contracted with England. But the king, elated with his fuperiority, advanced claims, which gave an univerfal alarm to his vaflals, and diffuied frill wider the general difcontent. As the jurifprudence of thole times required, that the caufes in the lord's court mould chiefly be decided by ducL, he carried along With him certain bravos, whom he retained as champions, and whom he deftincd to fight with his barons, in order to determine any ccntrjverfy which he might raife againfr. them '. The count de la Marche, and other noble- men, regarded this proceeding as an affront, as well as an injury ; and declared, that they would never draw their fword againfr. men of fuch inferior quality. The king menaced them with vengeance ; but he had not vigour to employ againfr them the force in his hands, or to profecute the injufllce, by crufhing entirely the nobles j who oppofed it. War with This government, equally feeble and violent, gave the France. injured barons courage as -well as inclination to carry far- ther their oppofition : They appealed to the king of -*> Anipl, Eurtor-, p, jfg, i I$d. France 3 JOHN. 4S France; complained of the denial of juftice in John's CHAP. courts ; demanded redrefs from him as their fuperior lord ; i_ v.„,_j and entreated him to employ his authority, and prevent I:oI« their final ruin and oppreilion. Philip perceived his ad- vantage, opened his mind to great projects, interpofed in behalf of the French barons, and began to talk in a high and menacing ftyle to the king of England. John, who "ca. could not difavow Philip's authority, replied, that it be- longed to himfeif nrft to grant them a trial by their peers in his own court ; it was not till he failed in this duty, that he was anfwerable to his peers in the fupreme court of the French king k ; and he promifed, by a fair and equitable judicature, to give fatisfaction to his barons. When the nobles, in confequence of this engagement, demanded a fafe-conduct, that they might attend his court, he at firft refufed it : Upon the renewal of Philip's menace;, he promifed to grant their demand ; he violated this pro- mife ; frefh menaces extorted from him a promife to fur- render to Philip the fortreffes of Tillieres and Boutavant,- as a fecurity for performance ; he violated again this en- gagement ; his enemies, fenfible both of his weaknefs and want of faith, combined Hill clofer in the refolution of pufhing him to extremities ; and anew and powerful ally foon appeared to encourage them in their invafion of this odious and defpicable government. The jyoung duke of Britanny, who was now riling to *?-:* man's eftate, fenfible of the dangerous character of his uncle, determined to feek both his fecurity and elevation by an union with Philip and the malcontent barons. He joined the French army, which had begun hoftilities againft the king of England : He was received with great marks of diftinction by Philip ; was knighted by him ; efpoufed his daughter Mary ; and was invefied no: only fc Philips,' lib. 6, in 46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. Jn the dutchy of Britanny, but in the counties of Anion ^ _ _'. , and Maine, which he had formerly refigned to his uncle '. 120J. Every attempt fuccecded with the allies. Tillieres and Boutavant were taken by Philip, after making a feeble defence : Mortimar and Lyons fell into his hands almoft without refiftance. That prince next inveftcd Gournai ; and opening the fluices of a lake, which lay in the neigh- bourhood, poured fuch a torrent of water into the place, that the garrifon deferted it, and the French monarch, without ltriking a blow, made himfelf mafter of that im- portant fortrefs. The progrefs of the French arms was rapid, and promifed more confiderable fuccefs than ufually in that age attended military enterprizes. In anfwer to every advance which the king made towards peace, Philip flill infilled, that he fhould refign all his tranfmarine do- minions to his nephew, and reft contented with the king- dom of England ; when an event happened, which feemed to turn the fcales in favour of John, and to give him a dccifive fuperiority over his enemies. Young Arthur, fond of military renown, had broken into Poiclou at the head of a fmall army ; and palling near Mirabau, he heard, that his grandmother, Queen Eleanor, who had always oppofed his interefts, was lodged in that place, and was protected by a weak garrifon, and ,, ruinous fortifications '". He immediately determined to lay liege to the fortrefs, and make himfelf mafter of her perfon : But John, rouzed from his indolence by fo prefting an occafion, collected an army of Englifh and Brabancons, and advanced from Normandy with hafty marches to the relief of the queen-mother. He fell on Arthur's camp before that prince was aware of the dan- ger ; difperfed his army ; took him prifoner, together with the count de la Marchc, Geoffrey de Lufignan, and the moft confiderable of the revolted barons ; and returned in I Trivet, p. J42. m Ann. Waverl, p. 167, M. Weft. p. 264. triumph JOHN. 47 triumph to Normandy n. Philip, who was lying before c H A P. Arques in that dutchy, raifed the liege and retired, upon , r , __; his approach Q. The greater part of the prifoners were ^"'°}\ fcnt over to England ; hut Arthur was fhut up in the caftle of Falaii'e. The king had here a conference with his nephew ; re- prefented to him the folly of his pretenfions j and required him to renounce the French alliance, which had encou- raged him to live in a ftate of enmity with all his family: But the brave, though imprudent, youth, rendered more haughty from misfortunes, maintained the juftice of his caufe ; aflerted his £laim, not only to the French pro- vinces, but to the crown of England ; and in his turn, required the king to reftore the fon of his elder brother to the pofTeflion of his inheritance p. John, fenfible, from thefe fymptoms of fpirit, that the young prince, though now a prifoner, might hereafter prove a dangerous ene- my, determined to prevent all future peril by difpatching Murder of his nephew ; and Arthur was never more heard of. The Arthur 1 . , duke or circumftances which attended this deed of darknefs, were, Britanny. no doubt, carefully concealed by the aclors, and are va- rioufly related by hiftorians : But the moil probable ac- count is as follows. The king, it is faid, firft propofed to William de la Braye, one of his fervants, to difpatch Arthur ; but William replied, that he was a gentleman, not a hangman ; and he pofitively refufed compliance. Another inftrument of murder was found, and was dif- patched with proper orders to Falaife j but Hubert de Bourg, chamberlain to the king, and conftable of the caftle, feigning, that he himfelf would execute the king's mandate, fent back the affaflin, fpread the report that the young prince was dead, and publicly performed all the ceremonies of his interment : But finding, that the n Ann. Marg. p. a 13, M. Weft. p. 464. • M, Weft. p. 264. g Ibid. Bretons 4$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Bretons vowed revenge for the murder, and that all the Xi. l^— V"NA revolted barons perfevered more obftinatcly in their rebcl- I20> lion, he thought it prudent to reveal the fecret, and to inform the world that the duke of Britanny was ftill alive, and in his cuftody. This difcovery proved fatal to the young prince: John firft removed him to the caftlc oi Roiicn ; and coming in a boat, during the night-time, to that place, commanded Arthur to be brought forth to him. The young prince, awaic of his danger, and now mere fabclued with the continuance of his misfortunes, and by the approach of death, threw himfelf on his knees before his uncle, and begged for mercv : But the bar- barous tyrant, making no reply, ftabbed him with his own hands j and fattening a {tone to the dead body, threw it into the Seine. All men were (truck with horror at this inhuman deed ; and from that moment the king, detefred by his fubjects, retained a very precarious authority over both the people and the barons in his dominions. The Bre- tons, enraged at this disappointment in their fond hopes, waged implacable war againft him ; and fixing the fuc- cefaon of their government, put themfelvcs in a poflure to revenge the murder of their fovereign. John had got into his power his niece, Eleanor, filter to Arthur, com- monly called the damfel of Britanny j and carrying her over to England, detained her ever after in captivity s : But the Bretons, in defpair of recovering this princefs, chofc Alice for their fovereign ; a younger daughter of Conftantia, by her fecond marriage with Gui de Thou- ars ; and they entruftcd the government of the dutchy to" that nobleman. Conftantia, mean while, and the ftates cf Britanny, carried their complaint before Philip as theur liege lord, and demanded juftice for the violence commit- /-%«# miffed both fleet and army, and then renewed his excla- I20S« mations againft the barons for deferting him. He next put to fea with a fmall army, and his fubjecSts believed, that he was refolved to expofe himfelf to the utmofc. ha- zards for the defence and recovery of his dominions : But they were furprized, after a few days, to fee him return again into harbour, without attempting any thing. In izc6. the fubfequent feafon, he had the courage to carry his hcftiie meafures a ftep farther. Gui de Thouars, who governed Eritanny, being jealous of the rapid progrefs made by his ally, the French king, promifed to join the king of England with all his forces; and John ventured abroad with a confiderable army, and landed at R.ochelle. He marched to Angers ; which he took and reduced to afhes. But the approach of Philip with an army threw him into a panic ; and he immediately made propofals for peace, and fixed a place of interview with his enemy : But inftead of keeping this engagement, he frole off with his army, embarked at Rochelle, and returned, loaded with new (name and difgrace, into England. The medi- ation of the pope procured him at laft a truce for two years with the French monarch * ; almbft all the tranf- marine provinces were ravifhed from him ; and his Eng- lish barons, though haraffed with arbitrary taxes and fruit- lefs expeditions, faw themfelves and their country bafHed and affronted in every enterprize. In an age, v/hen perfonal valour was regarded as the chief accomplifhment, fuch conducl: as that of John, always difgraceful, rauft be expofed to peculiar con- tempt ; and he muff thenceforth have expected to rule his turbulent vaffals with a very doubtful authority. But the government, exercifed by the Norman princes, had wound * Rymer, vol.i. p. 141. E 4 up 55 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. Up the royal power to Co high a pitch, and fo much be- L y — - _' yoncl the ufual tenor of the feudal conflitutions, that it ftill i2c6. behoved him to be debafed by new aftrcrAs and difgraces, ere his barons could entertain the view of confpiring againft him, in order to retrench his prerogatives. The church, who, at that time, declined not a conteft with the moft powerful and vigorous monarchs, took firft ad- vantage of John's irnbecillity ; and with the moft aggra- vating circumftances of infolence and fcorn, fixed her yoke upon him. 1207. The papal chair was then filled by Innocent III. who, having attained that dignity at the age of thirtv-feven The king's years, and being: endowed with a lofty and enterprizine; quarrel with \ .. » . f, . . . f . .' ' . ° the court of genius, gave full lcope to Ins ambition, and attempted, * perhaps more openly than any of his predeceflbrs, to con- *•*** vert that fuperiority, which was yielded him by all the European princes, into a real dominion over them. The hierarchy, protected by the Roman pontiff, had already carried to an enormous height its ufurpations upon the civil power; but in order to extend them farther, and render them ufeful to the court of Rome, it was ncceflary to reduce the ecclefiaftics themfelves under an abfolute monarchy, and to make them entirely dependant on their fpiritual leader. For this purpofe, Innocent firft attempt- ed to impofe taxes at pleasure upon the clergy ; and in the firft year of this century, taking advantage of the popular, frenzy for crufades, he fent collectors over all Europe, who levied by his authority the fortieth of all ecclcfiafti- cal revenues, for the relief of the Koly Land, and re- ceived the voluntary contributions of the laity to a like amount a. The fame year Hubert, archbifhop of Can- terbury, attempted another innovation, favourable tq ecclefiaftical and papal power : In the king's aWence, he a Rymer, volt i. p. 119, fummoned, JOHN, 57 fummoned, by his legantine authority, a fynod of all the c ^ A p- Englifh clergy, contrary to the prohibition of Geoffrey ^.^—^j Fitz-Peter, the chief jufticiary ; and no proper cenfure *«7« was ever paffed on this encroachment, the firft of the kind, upon the royal power. But a favourable incident foon after happened, which enabled fo afpiring a pontiff as Innocent, to extend (till farther his ufurpations on fo contemptible a prince as John. Hubert, the primate, died in 1205; and as the monks or canons of Chrift-church, Canterbury, pofTeffed a right of voting in the election of their archbimcp, jTome of the juniors of the order, who lay in wait for that event, met clandestinely the very night of Hubert's death j and without any conge d'elire from the king, chofe Re- ginald, their fub-prior, for the fuccefibr ; inftalled him in the archi-epifcopal throne before midnight; and hav- ing enjoined him the ftricteft fecrecy, fent him immedi- ately to Rome, in order to folicit the confirmation of his election b. The vanity of Reginald prevailed over his policy ; and he no fooner arrived in Flanders, than he re- vealed to every one the purpofe of his journey, which was immediately known in England c. The king was enraged at the novelty and temerity of the attempt, in filling fo important an office without his knowledge or confent : The fuffragan bifhops of Canterbury, who were accuftomed to concur in the choice of their primate, were no lefs difpleafed at the exclufion given them in this election : The elder monks of Chrift-church v/ere injured by the irregular proceedings of their juniors : The juniors themfelves, afhamed of their conduct, and difgufted with the levity of Reginald, who had broken his engagements With them, were willing to fet afide his election d : And nil men cqneurred in the defign of remedying the falfe b M. Paris, p. 148. M, Weft, p, 266, c ibid. d Mi Wert. p. 266, meafures, 58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H-k? P* mea^"ures» which had been taken. But as John knew, c^v-^ that this affair would be canvaffed before a fuperior tri- J107. bunal, where the interposition of royal authority, in be- ftowing ecclefiaftical benefices, was very invidious ; where even the caufe of fuffragan bifhops was not fo favourable as that of monks ; he determined to make the new elec- tion entirely unexceptionable : He fubmitted the affair wholly to the canons of Chrift-church ; and departing from the right, claimed by his predeceffors, ventured no farther than to inform them privately, that they would do him an acceptable fervice, if they chofe John de Gray, bifhop of Norwich, for their primate B. The election of that prelate was accordingly made without a contradictory vote ; and the king, to obviate all con- tefts, endeavoured to perfuade the fuffragan bifhops not to infift on their claim of concurring in the election : But thofe prelates, perfevering in their pretenfions, fent an agent to maintain their caufe before Innocent ; while the king, and the convent of Chrift-church, difpatched twelve monks of that order to fupport, before the fame tribunal, the election of the bifhop of Norwich. Thus there lay three different claims before the pope, whom all parties allowed to be the fupreme arbiter in the conteft. The claim of the fuffragans, being fo oppofite to the ufual maxims of the papal court, was foon fet afide : The election of Reginald was fo obvioufly fraudulent and irregular, that there was no pofHbility of defending it : But Innocent maintained, that, though this election was null and invalid, it ought previoufly to have been declared fuch by the fovereign pontiff, befo/e the monks could proceed to a new election ; and that the choice of the bifhop of Norwich was of courfe as uncanonical as that of his competitor '. Advantage was, therefore, taken of « M. Paris, p. 149. M. Weft. p. 265, f M. Paris, p. J55. Ch.'on. rie Mailr. p. 182, this JOHN. 59 this fubtlety for introducing a precedent, by which the CHAP, fee of Canterbury, the moil: important dignity in the ^ ' , church after the papal throne, mould ever after be at the 1207. difpofal of the court of Rome. While the pope maintained fo many fierce contefts, in order to wreft from princes the right of granting inves- titures, and to exclude laymen from all authority in con- ferring ecclefiaflieal benefices, he was Supported by the united influence of the clergy, who, afpiring to inde- pendance, fought, with all the ardour of ambition, and all the zeal of fuperftition, under his facred banners. But no fooner was this point, after a great effufion of blood, and the convulfions of many Hates, eftablifhed in fome tolerable degree, than the victorious leader, as is ufual, turned his arms againft. his own community, and afpired to center all power in his perfon. By the inven- tion of referves, provifions, commendams, and other de- vices, the pope gradually afiumed the right of filling vacant benefices ; and the plenitude of his apoflolic power, which was not fubject to any limitations, fupplied all de- fects of title in the perfon on whom he beflowed prefer- ment. The canons which regulated elections were pur- pofely rendered intricate and involved : Frequent difputes arofe among candidates : Appeals were every day carried to Rome : The apoflolic fee, befides reaping pecuniary advantages from thefe contefls, often exercifed the power of fetting afide both the litigants, and on pretence of ap- peafing faction, nominated a third perfon, who might be more acceptable to the contending parties. The prefent controverfy about the election to the fee of Canterbury afforded Innocent an opportunity of claim- ing this right ; and he failed not to perceive and avail himfelf of the advantage. He fent for the twelve monks deputed by the convent to maintain the caufe of the bifhop of Norwich j and commanded them, under the penalty of 6? HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c H :iA p" of excommunication, to chufe for their primate, cardinal c^v^ Langton, an Englifhman by birth, but educated in 1207. France, and connected, by his interefts and attachments. Cardinal ' J < - Langton with the fee of Rome ". In vain did the monks reprer archbiihop ^ent» tnat t^e}7 na^ rece'ved fr°m trieir convent no autho- of Canter- ri ty for this purpofe ; that an election, without a previous writ from the king, would be deemed highly irregular ; and that they were merely agents for another perfon, whofe right they had no power or pretence to abandon. None of them had the courage to perfevere in this oppo- sition, except one ; Elias de Brantefield : All the reft, overcome by the menaces and authority of the pope, com- plied with his orders, and made the election required of them. Innocent, fenfible that this flagrant ufurpation would be highly refented by the court of England, wrote John a mollifying letter ; fent him four golden rings fet with precious ftones ; and endeavoured to enhance the value of the prefent, by informing him of the many rnyfteries im- plied in it. He begged him to confider ferioufly the form of the rings, their number, their matter, and their colour. Their form, he faid, b ing round, {had owed out Eter- nity, which had neither beginning nor end ; and he ought thence to learn his duty of afpiring from earthly objects to heavenly, from things temporal to things eternal. The number four, being a fquare, denoted fteadinefs of mind, not to be fubverted either by adverfity or pro- fperity, fixed for ever on the firm bafis of the four cardinal virtues. Gold, which is the matter, being the moft pre- cious of metals, fignified Wifdom, which is the moft precious of all accomplishments, and juftly preferred by Solomon to riches, power, and all exterior attainments. The blue colour of J:he faphire represented Faith ; the g M. Paris, p. '55. Ann. Wavcrl. p. 1C9. W. Heming. p. 553. fcnyghton, p. 24151 verdure JOHN. 6* verdure of the emerald, Hope ; the rednefs of the ruby, CHAP. Charity ; and the fplendor of the tcpaz, Good Works h. c— ■>— J By thefe conceits, Innocent endeavoured to repay John "°7« for one of the moft important prerogatives of his crown, which he had ravifhed from him ; conceits probably ad- mired by Innocent himfelf. For it is eafily poifible for a man, efpecially in a barbarous age, to unite fixong ta- lents for bufinefs with an abfurd tafte in literature and in the arts. John was inflamed with the utmoft rage, when he heard of this attempt of the court of Rome l ; and he im- mediately vented his paffion on the monks of Chrift- church, whom he found inclined to fupport the election made by their fellows at Rome. He fent Fulk de Cante- lupe, and Henry de Cornhulle, two knights of his reti- nue, men of violent tempers and rude manners, to expel them the convent, and take poffefficn of their revenues. Thefe knights entered the monaftery with drawn fwords, commanded the prior and the monks to depart the king- dom, and menaced them, that, in cafe of difobedience, they would infbntly burn them with the convent k. In- nocent, prognofticating, from the violence and impru- dence of thefe meafures, that John would finally fink in the conteft, perfevered the more vigoroufly in his preten- fions, and exhorted the king not to oppofe God and the church any longer, nor to perfecute that :ai re, for which the holy martyr, St. Thomas, had fecrificed his life, and which had exalted him equal to the higheft faints in heaven ' : A clear hint to John to profit by the example of his father, and to remember the prejudices and efta- blifhed principles of his fubje&s, who bore a profound ve- neration to that martyr, and regarded his merits as the fubje£t of their chief glory and exultation. h Rymer, vol, i. p. 139. M. Paris, p. 155. i Rymer, vol. 1. P- 143. k M. Paris, p. 156. Trivet, p, 151. Ann. V/averl. J>. 169. } M.Paris, p. 157. Innocent^ 62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Innocent, finding that John was not fufficiently tamed to fubmiflion, fent three prelates, the bifhops of ll°7' London, Ely, and Worcefter, to intimate, that, if he perfevered in his difobedience, the fovereign pontiff" would be obliged to put the kingdom under an interdict m. All the other prelates threw themfelves on their knees before him, and entreated him, with tears in their eyes, to pre- vent the fcandal of this fentence, by making a fpeedy fubmiilion to his fpiritual Father, by receiving from his hands the new elected primate, and by reftoring the monks of Chrift-church to all their rights and pofTeffions. He burft out into the moft indecent inve_ —y— ^j ftrike the fenfes in the higheft degree, and to operate with I2°7' irrefiftible force on the fuperftitious minds of the people. The nation was of a fudden deprived of all exterior exer- cife of its religion : The altars were defpoiled of their ornaments : The crofTes, the reliques, the images, the ftatues of the faints were laid on the ground ; and as if the air itfelf were profaned, and might pollute them by its contact, the prierts carefully covered them up, even from their own approach and veneration. The ufe of bells entirely ceafed in all the churches : The bells them- felves were removed from the fteeples, and laid on the ground with the other facred utenfils. Mafs was cele- brated with fnut doors ; and none but the pricfts were admitted to that holy inftitution. The laity partook of no religious rite, except baptifm to new-born infants, and the communion to the dying : The dead were not interred in confecrated ground : They were thrown into ditches, or buried in common fields ; and their obfequies were not attended with prayers or any hallowed cere- mony. Marriage was celebrated in the church-yards p ; and that every action in life might bear the marks of this dreadful fituaticn, the people were prohibited the ufe of meat, as in Lent, or times of the higheft penance j were debarred from all pleafures and entertainments ; and were forbid even to falute each other, or fo much as to fhave their beards, and give any decent attention to their perfoa and apparel. Every circumllance carried the fymptoms of the deepeft diftrefs, and of the raoft immediate appre- henfion of divine vengeance and indignation. The king, that he might oppofe bis temporal to their fpiritual terrors, immediately, from his own authority, confifcated the eftates of all the clergy who obeyed the P Chrcn, Dunft. vol. i, p. 51. interdict 3 64 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C *xt^ P" mtercn& q j banifhed the prelates, confined the monks in ^-sy^^, their convent, and gave them only fuch a fmall allowance ■szoj. fyom their own eftates, as would fufRce to provide them with food and rayment. He treated with the utmofr. rigour all Langton's adherents, and every one that ihowed any difpofition to obey the commands of Rome : And in order to diftrefs the clergy in the tendered point, and at the fame time expofe them to reproach and ridi- cule, he threw into prifon all the;r concubines, and required high fines as the price of their liberty r. After the canons, which efrablifhed the celibacy of the clergy, were, by the zealous endeavours of archbi- fhop Anfelm, more rigoroufly executed in England, the ecclefialtics gave, almoft univerfally and avowedly, into the ufe of concubinage ; and the court of Rome, which had no intereft in prohibiting this practice, made very flight oppofition to it. The cuftom was become fo pre- valent, that, in fome cantons of Swiucrland, before the reformation, the laws not only permitted, but, to avoid fcandal, enjoined the ufe of concubines to the younger clergy s ; and it was ufual every where for priefts to ap- ply to the ordinary, and obtain from him a formal liberty for this indulgence. The bifhop commonly took care to prevent the practice from degenerating into licentiouf- nefs : He confined the prieft to the ufe of one woman, required him to be conltant to her bed, obliged him to provide for her fubfiftance and that of her children; and, though the offspring was, in the eye of the law, deemed illegitimate, this commerce was really a kind of inferior marriage, fuch as is ftill practifed in Germany among the nobles ; and may be regarded by the candid as an appeal, from the tyranny of civil and ecclefiaftical inftitutions, to the more virtuous and more unerring laws of nature, 1 Ann. Waverl. p. 170. r M. Paris, p. 158. Ann. Waverl. p. 170. s Padre Paolo, Hilt. Cone. 1 rd. lib. 1. The JOHN. 65 The quarrel between the kins; and the fee of Romec HAP. XI continued for fome years ; and though many of the clergy, L -„— .j from the fear of punifhment, obeyed the orders of John, IZC7* and celebrated divine fervice, they complied with the utmoft reluctance, and were regarded, both by themfelves and the people, as men Who betrayed their principles, and facrificed their confcience to temporal regards and in- terefts. During this violent fituation, the king, in order to give a luftre to his government, attempted military expeditions, againft Scotland, againft Ireland, againft the Welih l ; and he commonly prevailed, more from the weaknefs of his enemies than from his own vigour or abilities. Meanwhile, the danger, to which his govern- ment flood continually expofed from the difcontents of the ecclefiaftics, encreafed his natural propenfion to ty- ranny ; and he feems to have even wantonly difgufted all orders of men, efpecially his nobles, from whom alone he could reafonably expect fupport and affiitance. He dishonoured their families by his licentious amours ; he publifhed edicts, prohibiting them from hunting fea- thered game, and thereby reftrained them from their fa- vourite occupation and amufement " ; he ordered all the hedges and fences near his forefts to be levelled, that his deer might have more ready accefs into the fields for pafture ; and he continually loaded the nation with arbi- trary taxes and impofitions. Confcious of the general uoS. hatred which he Ijad incurred, he required his nobility to give him hoftages for fecurity of their allegiance j and they were obliged to put into his hands their fons, nephews, or near relations. When his mefTengers came with like orders to the caftle of William de Braoufe, a baron of great note, the lady of that nobleman replied, that fhe .would never entruft her fon into the hands of one t W. Kerning, p. 556, Ypod Neufl. p. 460. Knyghton, p. 2410. *> M. Weft. p. z(,t. Vol. II. F wh* I20S. 66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. who had murdered his own nephew, while in his cuitody. Her huiband reproved her for the feve-rity of this fpeech ; but, fenfible of his danger, he immediately fled with his wife and fon into Ireland, where he endeavoured to con- ceal himfelf. The king difcovered the unhappy family in their retreat; feized the wife and fon, whom he ftarved to death in prifon; and the baron himfelf narrowly efcap- ed, by flying into France. 1109. The court of Rome had artificially contrived a grada- tion of fentences ; by which fhe kept offenders in awe ; ftill afforded them an opportunity of preventing the next anathema by fubmifllon j and in cafe of their obftinacy, was able to refrefh the horror of the people againft them, by new denunciations of the wrath and vengeance of heaven. As the fentence of interdict had not produced the deflred effedr. on John, and as his people, though ex- tremely difcontented, had hitherto been reftrained from rifing into open rebellion againft him, he was foon to look for the fentence of excommunication : And he had reafon to apprehend, that, notwithftanding all his pre- cautions, the moft dangerous confequences might enfue from it. He was witnefs of the other fcenes, which, at that very time, were acting in Europe, and which dif- played the unbounded and uncontrouled power of the papacy. Innocent, far from being difmayed at his con- tends with the king of England, had excommunicated the emperor Otho, John's nephew w ; and foon brought that powerful and haughty prince to fubmit to his authority. He publifhed a crufade againft -the Albigenfes, a fpecies of enthufiafts in the fouth of France, whom he denomi- nated heretics ; becaufe, like other enthufiafts, they ne- glected the rites of th" church, and oppofed the power *■ M. Prais, p, 160. Trivet. 154. M. Weft. p. 269. and JOHN. 67 and influence of the clergy : The people from all parts ofc ^ A P* Europe, moved by their fuperftidon and their paflion for ^ -„—,_; wars and adventures, flocked to his ftandard : Simon de uzy. Montfort, the general of the crufade, acquired to him- felf a fovercignty in thefe provinces : The count of Touloufe, who protected, or perhaps only tolerated the Albigenfes, was ftripped of his dominions : And thefe fec- taries themfelves, though the moll innocent and inoffen- five of mankind, were exterminated with all the circum- stances of extreme violence and barbarity. Here were therefore both an army and a general, dangerous from their zeal and valour, who might be directed to act againfr. John ; and Innocent, after keeping the thunder long fufpended, gave at laft authority to the bifhops of Excommu- London, Ely, and Worcefler, to denounce the fentencethsfeing> of excommunication againft him x. Thefe prelates obey- ed j though their brethren were deterred from publifhing, as the pope required of them, the fentence in the feveral churches of their diocefes. No fooner was the excommunication known, than the effects of it appeared. Geoffrey, archdeacon of Nor- wich, who was entruffed wTith a confiderable office in the court of exchequer, being informed of it while fitting on the bench, obferved to his collegues the danger of ferving under an excommunicated kins; ; and he immediately left his chair, and departed the court. John gave orders to feize him, to throw him into prifon, to cover his head with a great leaden cope ; and by this and other fevere ufage, he foon put an end to his life y : Nor was there any thing wanting to Geoffrey, except the dignity and rank of Becket, to exalt him to an equal (ration in heaven with that great and celebrated martyr. Hugh de Wells, the king's chancellor, being elected, by his ap- pointment, bifhop of Lincoln, upon a vacancy in that * M. Paris, p, 159. M. Weft. p. 270. Y M. Paris, p. 159. F 2 fee, 68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CRAP. fee defired leave to go abroad, in order to receive confe- XI. <_ -, - _' cration from the archbilliop of Rouen ; but he no fooner 1209> reached France, than he haftencd to Pontigny, where Langton then refided, and paid fubmiffions to him as his primate. The bifhops, finding themfelves expofed either to the jealoufy of the king or hatred of the people, gradually ftole out of the kingdom ; and at laft there re- mained only three prelates to perform the functions of the epifcopal office z. Many of the nobility, terrified by John's tyranny, and obnoxious to him on different ac- counts, imitated the example of the bifhops ; and moft of the others, who remained, were with reafon fufpedled of having fecretly entered into a confederacy againft him a. John was alarmed at his dangerous fituation ; a fituation, which prudence, vigour, and popularity, might formerly have prevented, but which no virtues or abilities were now fufHcient to retrieve. He defired a conference with Langton at Dover; offered to acknowledge him as primate, to fubmit to the pope, to reftore the exiled clergy, even to pay them a limited fum as a compenfation for the rents of their confifcated eftates. But Langton, perceiv- ing his advantage, was not fatisfied with thefe concef- fions : He demanded, that full reftitution and reparation fhould be made to all the clergy ; a condition fo exorbi- tant, that the king, who probably had not the power of fulfilling it, and who forefaw that this eftimation of da- mages might amount to an immenfe fum, finally broke eff the conference °. 1212. The next gradation of papal fentences was to abfolve John's fubjecls from their oaths of fidelity and allegiance, and to declare every one excommunicated who had any commerce with him, in public or in private ; at his • Ann. Waverl, p, 170. Ann, Marg, p. 14. a M, Paris, p, 162, M. Weft. p. 270, 271, b Ann. Waverl, p, 171. table, JOHN, 69 table, in his council, or even in private converfation c : c ** (A p* And this fentence was accordingly, with all imaginable <_ — y— «j folemnity, denounced againft him. But as John ftiil 1Z12* perfevered in his contumacy, there remained nothing but the fentence of depofition ; which, though intimately connected with the former, had been diftinguifhed from it by the artifice of the court of Rome ; and Innocent determined to dart this lad thunder-bolt againft the re- fractory monarch. But as a fentence of this kind required an armed force to execute it, the pontiff, calling his eyes around, fixed at laft on Philip, king of France, as the perfon, into whofe powerful hand he could moft pro- perly entruft that weapon, the ultimate refource of his ghoftly authority. And he offered that monarch, befides the remiffion of all his fins and endlefs fpiritual benefits, the property and pofleffion of the kingdom of England, as the reward of his labour d. It was the common concern of ail princes to oppofe «i3« thefe exorbitant pretenfions of the Roman pontiff, by which they themfelves were rendered vaffals, and vafTals totally dependant, of the papal crown : Yet even Philip, the moft able monarch of the age, was feduced, by prefent intereft, and by the profpect of fo tempting a prize, to accept this liberal offer of the pontiff, and thereby to ratify that authority, which, if he ever oppofed its bound- lefs ufurpations, might, next day, tumble him from the throne. He levied a great army -} fummoned all the vaf- fals of his crown to attend him at Rouen ; collected a fleet of 1700 veffels, great and final J, in the fea-ports of Normandy and Picardy ; and partly from the zealous fpirit of the age, partly from the perfonal regard univerfally paid him, prepared a force, which feemed equal to the greatnefs of his enterprize. The king, on the other c M.Paris, p. 161, M. Weft, p. 270. d M. Paris, p. i6a. M. Weft. p.*7i. F 3 handj 7o HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c HA P. hand, iflued out writs, requiring the attendance of all i_-„ ■—,_,, his military vaffals at Dover, and even of all able-bodied *2i3- men, to defend the kingdom in this dangerous extremity. A great number appeared ; and he felected an army of 6o,000 men ; a power invincible, had they been united in affections to their prince, and animated with a becom- ing zeal for the defence of their native country e. But the people were fwayed by fu perflation, and regarded their king with horror, as anathematized by papal cen- fures : The barons, befides lying under the fame preju- dices, were all difgufted by his tyranny, and were, many of them, fufpected of holding a fecret correfpondence with the enemy : And the incapacity and cowardice of the king himfelf, ill-iitted to contend with thofe mighty difficulties, made men prognofticate the moft fatal effects from the French invafion. Pandolf, whom the pope had chofen for his legate, and appointed to head this important expedition, had, before he left Rome, applied for a fecret conference with his mafter, and had afked him, whether, if the king of England, in this defperate fituation, were willing to fub- mit to the apoftolic fee, the church fhould, without the confent of Philip, grant him any terms of accommoda- tion f ? Innocent, expecting from his agreement with a prince fo abject both in character and fortune, more ad- vantages than from his alliance with a great and victorious monarch, who, after fuch mighty acquifitions, might become too haughty to be bound by fpiritual chains, explained to Pandolf the conditions on which he was willing to be reconciled to the king of England. The legate, therefore, as foon as he arrived in the north of France, fent over two knights templars to defire an inter- view with John at Dover, which was readily granted : He there reprefented to him, in fuch ftrong, and probably e M, Paris, p. 163, M. Weft, p, 271. f M. Paris, p. 162. in JOHN, 71 In fueh true colours, his loft condition, the difaffe&ion c hap. XI. of his fubjecls, the fecret combination of his vafTnlsi _f- __? ap-ainft him, the mighty armament of France, that John rzI> 5 ' b J . . 13th May. yielded at difcretions, and fubfcribed to all the conditions The king's which Pandolf was pleafed to impofe upon him. He^ri^1^" promifed, among other articles, that he would fubmit him- felf entirely to the judgment of the pope ; that he would acknowledge Langton for primate ; that he would reftore all the exiled clergy and laity, who had been banilhed on account of the conteft; that he would make them full re- ftitution of their goods, and compenfation for all da- mages, and inftantly conftgn eight thoufand pounds, in part of payment ; and that every one outlawed or im- prifoned for their adherence to the pope, mould immedi- ately be received into grace and favour1'. Four barons fwore, along with the king, to the obfervance of this ig- nominious treaty '. But the ignominy of the king was not yet carried to its full height. Pandolf required him, as the firft fpeci- men of obedience, to refign his kingdom to the church ; and he perfuaded him, that he could no wife fo effec- tually difappoint the French invafion, as by thus putting himfelf under the immediate protection of the apoftolic fee. John, lying under the agonies of prefent terror, made no fcruple of fubmitting to this condition. He paHTed a charter, in which he faid, that, not conftrained by fear, but of his own free-will, and by the common advice and confent of his barons, he had, for remiffion of his ov/n fins and thofe of his family, refigned England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter and St. Paul, and to pope Innocent and his fucceflbrs in the apoftolic chair : He agreed to hold thofe dominions as feudatory of the church of Rome, by the annual payment of a thoufand £ M. Well, p, 271. h Rymer, vol. i. p. 166. M. Paris, p. 163. Annal, Burt. p. 268, i Rymer, vol. i. p. 170, M, Paris, p. 163. F 4 marks -3 7.2 HIS TOP. Y OF ENGLAND. c ri a p. marks ; feven hundred for England, three hundred for xi. . . *_— -v— ^ Ireland : And he ftipulated, that, if he or his fucceffors I2!3' fhould ever prefume to revoke or infringe this charter* they fhould inftantly, except upon admonition they repent- ed of their offence, forfeit all right to their dominions k. jjjth May. In confequence of this agreement, John did homage to Pandolf as the pope's legate, with all the fubmiflive rites which the feudal law required ofvaflals before their liege- lord and fuperior. He came difarmed into the legate's prcfence, who was feated on a throne ; he flung himfelf on his knees before him ; he lifted up his joined hands, and put them within thofe of Pandolf; he fwore fealty to the pope ; and he paid part of the tribute, which he owed for his kingdom as the patrimony of St. Peter. The le- gate, elated by this fuprenie triumph of facerdotal power, could not. forbear difcovcring extravagant fymptoms of joy and exultation : He trampled on the money, which was laid at his feet, as an earneftof the fubjection of the kingdom : An infolence, of which, however offenfive to all the Englifh, no one prefent, except the archbifhop of Dublin, dared to take any notice. But though Pandolf had brought the king to fubmit to thefe bafe conditions, he ftill refufed to free him from the excommunication and interdict, till an eftimation fhould be taken of the lofTes of the ccclefiafticr, and full compenfation and reftitution fhould be made th John, reduced to this abject fituation under a foreign power, ftill mowed the fame difpofition to tyrannize over his fubjeiSts, which had been the chief caufe of all his misfortunes. One Peter of Pomfret, a hermit, had foretold, that the king, this very year, fhould lofe his crown ; and for that rafh prophecy, he had been thrown into prifon in Corfe-caftle. John now determined to * Rymer, vol, i. p, 176. M, Paris, p. 165, 9 bHn& JOHN. 73 bring him to punifhment as an impoftor ; and though the CHAP. man pleaded, that his prophecy was fulfilled, and that ■^^v^^mj the king had loft the royal and independent crown which l21*' he formerly wore, the defence was fuppofed to augment his guilt : He was dragged at hcrfes' tails, to the town of Warham, and there hanged on a gibbet with his fon '. When Pano'olf, after receiving the homage of John, returned to France, he congratulated Philip on the fuc- cefs of his pious enterprize ; and informed him, that John, moved by the terror of the French arms, had now come to a juft fenfe of his guilt ; had returned to obedi- ence under the apoftolic fee ; had even confented to do homage to the pope for his dominions ; and having thus made his kingdom a part of St. Peter's patrimony, had rendered it impoflible for any Chriftian prince,, without the moft manifefl and moft flagrant impiety, to attack him m. Philip was inraged en receiving this intelligence : He exclaimed, that having, at the pope's inftigation, undertaken an expedition, which had coft him above 60,000 pounds fterling, he was fruftrated of his purpofe, at the time when its fuccefs was become infallible : He complained, that all the expence had fallen upon him; all the advantages had accrued to Innocent : He threatened to be no longer the dupe of thefe hypocritical pretences : And afTembling his valTals, he laid before them the ill- treatment which he had received, expofed the interefted and fraudulent conduct of the pope, and required their affiftance to execute his enterprize againft England, in which, he told them, that, notwithstanding the inhibi- tions and menaces of the legate, he was determined to perfevere. The French barons were in that age little lefs ignorant and fuperftitious than the Englilh : Yet, fo 1 M. Paris, p. 165, Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 56, P Trivet, p. 160, much 74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ° XfA P' muc^ ^oes ^e ir^uence °»r thofe religious principles de- u-v-^j pend on the prefent difpofition of men's minds ! they all ,*I3« vowed to follow their prince on his intended expedition, and were refolute not to be difappointed of that glory and thofe riches, which they had long expected from this enterprize. The earl of Flanders alone, who had pre- vioufly formed a fecret treaty with John, declaring againft the injuftice and impiety of the undertaking, retired with his forces n ; and Philip, that he might not leave fo dan- gerous an enemy behind him, firft turned his arms againft the dominions of that prince. Meanwhile, the Engliih fleet was aflembled under the earl of Salifbury, the king's natural brother ; and though inferior in number, received orders to attack the French in their harbours. Salifbury performed this fcrvice with fo much fuccefs, that he took three hundred fhips ; deftroyed a hundred more ° : And Philip, finding it impoflible to prevent the reft from fall- ing into the hands of the enemy, fet fire to them himfelf, and thereby rendered it impoflible for him to proceed any farther in his enterprize. John, exulting in his prefent fecurity, infenfible to his paft difgrace, was fo elated with this fuccefs, that he thought of no lefs than invading France in his turn, and recovering all thofe provinces which the' profperous arms of Philip had formerly ravifhed from him. He propofed this exp ion to the barons, who were already aiTembled for the defence of the kingdom. But the Englifh nobles both hated and defpifed their prince : They prognofticated no fuccefs to any enterprize conducted by fuch a leader : And pretending, that their time of fervice was elapfed, and all their provifions exhaufted, they refufed to fecond his undertaking p. The king, however, refolute in his purpofe, embarked with a few followers, and failed to n M.Paris, p, 166. ° M. Paris, p. i65. Chron, Dunft. vol. i. f, 59. Trivet, p. 157. P M. Paris, p. 166. Jerfey, JOHN. 75 Jerfey, in the foolifh expectation, that the barons would c ^LA p« at larc be afhamed to flay behind i. But finding hirr.felf ..,.-•• ^j difappointed, he returned to England ; and railing fome I213' troops, threatened to take vengeance on all his nobles for their defertion and difobedience. The arehbifhop of Can- terbury, who was in a confederacy with the barons, here interpofed ; ftriclly inhibited the king from thinking of fuch an attempt ; and threatened him with a renewal of the fentence of excommunication, if he pretended to levy war upon any of his fubjects, before the kingdom was freed from the fentence of interdict r. The church had recalled the feveral anathemas pror nounced againfr. John, by the fame gradual progrefs with which fhe had at firft ifTued them. By receiving his ho- mage, and admitting him to the rank of a vafTal, his de- position was virtually annulled, and his fubjects were again bound by their oaths of allegiance. The exiled prelates then returned in great triumph, with Lrmgton at their head ; and the king, hearing of their approach, went forth to meetthem, and throwing himfeif on the ground before them, he entreated them with tears to have com- panion on him and the kingdom of England '. The pri- mate, feeing thefe marks of fincere penitence, led him to the chapter-houfe of Winchester, and there adminiffered ao.h July, an oath to him, by which he again fwore fealty and obe- dience to pope Innocent and his fuccefibrs ; promifed to love, maintain, and defend holy church and the clergy ; engaged that he would re-eftablifh the good laws of his anceftors, particularly thofe of St. Edward, and would aboliih the wicked ones ; and exprefTed his refoiution of maintaining juftice and right in all his dominions . The primate next gave him abfolution in the requifite forms, and admitted him to dine with him, to the great joy of q M. Paris, p. 166. r Jtf. Paris, p. 167. s M. Paris, p. 166. Ann. Waverl, p. 17S. t M. Paris, p. 166. all 76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H^A P. all the people. The fentence cf interdict was ftill up- i_ — y— _' held againft the kingdom. A new legate, Nicholas, I2I3- bifhop of Frefcati, came into England, in lieu of Pan- dolf ; and he declared it to be the pope's intentions never to loofen that fentence till full reftitution were made to the clergy of every thing taken from them, and ample re- paration for all damages which they had fuftained. He only permitted mafs to be faid with a low voice in the churches, till thofe lofTes and damages could be eftimated to the fatisfaction of the parties. Certain barons were appointed to take an account of the claims ; and John was aftonifhed at the greatnefs of the fums, to which the clergy made their lofles to amount. No lefs than twenty thoufands marks were demanded by the monks of Canter- bury alone ; twenty-three thoufand for the fee cf Lin- coln ; and the king, finding thefe pretcnuons to be exorbi- tant and endlefs, offered the clergy the fum of an hundred thoufand marks for a final acquittal. The clergy rejected the offer with difdain ; but the pope, willing to favour his new vaffal, whom he found zealous in his declara- tions of fealty, and regular in paying the fripulatcd tri- bute to Rome, directed his legate to accept of forty thou- fand. The iflue of the whole was, that the bifhops and confiderable abbots got reparation beyond what they had any title to demand : The inferior clergy were obliged to fit down contented with their lofles : And the king, after the interdict was taken off, renewed, in the raoft fo- Icmn manner, and by a new charter, fealed with gold, his profeflions of homage and obedience to the fee of Rome. V 1214, When this vexatious affair was at laft brought to a con- clufion, the king, as if he had nothing farther to attend to but triumphs and victories, went over to Poictou, which ftill acknowledged his authority u ; and he carried « Qiieen Ekaaor died in 1*03 or 1204. war JOHN, 77 war into Philip's dominions. He befieged a caftle nearc ** A P. An^iers ; but the approach of prince Lewis, Philip's fon, v^y— J obliged him to raife the Siege with fuch precipitation, 1Z-*' that he left his tents, machines, and baggage behind him ; and he returned to England with difgrace. About the fame time, he heard of the great and decifive victory gained by the king of France at Bovines over the emperor Otho, who had entered France at the head of 150,000 Germans ; a victory which eftablifhed for ever the glory of Philip, and gave full fecurity to all his dominions. John could, therefore, think henceforth of nothing far- ther, than of ruling peaceably his own kingdom ; and his clofe conjunction with the pope, which he was deter- mined at any price to maintain, enfured him, as he ima- gined, the certain attainment of that object. But the laft and moft grievous fcene of this prince's misfortunes hull awaited him ; and he was deftined to pafs through a feries of more humiliating circumftances than had ever yet fallen to the lot of any other monarch. The introduction of the feudal law into England by Dlfcontents William the Conqueror had much infringed the liberties,, however imperfect, enjoyed by the Anglo-Saxons in their ancient government, and had reduced the whole people to a State of vaSTalage under the king or barons, and even the greateft part of them to a State of real flavery. The ne- ceflity alfo of entrusting great power in the hands of a prince, who was to maintain a military dominion over a vanquifhed nation, had engaged the Norman barons to fubmit to a more fevere and abfolute prerogative than that to which men of their rank, in other feudal governments, were commonly fubjected. The power of the crown, once raifed to a high pitch, was not eafily reduced ; and the nation, during the courfe of a hundred and fifty years, was governed by an authority, unknown, in the fame de- gree, to all the kingdoms founded by the northern con- querors. 1 rons. 78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. querors. Henry I. that he might allure the people to give an exclufion to his elder brother Robert, had granted 1214. them a charter, favourable in many particulars to their liberties ; Stephen had renewed this grant ; Henry II. had confirmed it : But the conceflions of all thcfe princes had flill remained without effect; and the fame unlimited, at leaft irregular authority, continued to be exercifed both by them and their fucceffors. The only happinefs was, that arms were never yet ravi fried from the hands of the barons and people : The nation, by a great confederacy, might ftill vindicate its liberties : And nothing was more likely, than the character, conduct, and fortunes of the reigning prince, to produce fuch a general union and combination againft him. Equally odious and contempt- ible, both in public and private life, he affronted the barons by his infolence, dishonoured their families by his gallantries, enraged them by his tyranny, and gave dis- content to all ranks of men by his endlefs exactions and impofitions w . The effect of thefe lawlefs practices had already appeared in the general demand made by the ba- rons of a restoration of their privileges ; and after he had reconciled himfelf to the pope, by abandoning the inde- pendance of the kingdom, he appeared to all his Subjects in fo mean a light, that they univerfally thought they might with fafety and honour infift upon their preten- lions. But nothing forwarded this confederacy fo much as the concurrence of Langton, archbifhop of Canterbury ; a man, whofe memory, though he was obtruded on the nation by a palpable incroachment of the fee of Rome, ought always to be refpected by the Englifh. This pre- late, whether he was moved by the generofity of his na- ture and his affection to public good -3 or had entertained w Chron. Mallr. p. 188. T. Wykes, p, 36, Ann. "Waverl. p, 181. W. Heming. p. 557, 9 an O H N. 79 an animofity againft John, on account of the long oppo- C H A P. fition made by that prince to his election ; or thought {^^^j that an acquifition of liberty to the people would ferve to ^H* encreafe and fecure the privileges of the church ; had formed the plan of reforming the government, and had prepared the way for that great innovation, by inferting thofe angular claufes above-mentioned in the oath, which he adminiitered to the king, before he would abfolve him from the fentence of excommunication. Soon after, in a private meeting of feme principal barons at London, he fnowed them a copy of Henry I.'s charter, which, he faid, he had happily found in a monaftery ; and he exhorted them to infill on the renewal and obfervance of it : The barons fwore, that they would fooner lofe their lives than depart from fo reafonable a demand v'. The confederacy began now to fpread wider, and to comprehend aimed ail the barons in England ; and a new and more numerous meeting was fummoned by Langton at St. Edmondfbury, Novembrr. under colour of devotion. He again produced to the af- fembly the old charter of Henry ; renewed his exhorta- tions of unanimity and vigour in the profecution of their purpofe ; and reprefented in the ftrongeft colours the ty- ranny to which they had fo long been fubje£ted, and from which it now behoved them to free themfelves and their poflerity x. The barons, inflamed by his eloquence, in- cited by the fenfe of their own wrongs, and encouraged by the appearance of their power and numbers, folernnly took an oath before the high altar, to adhere to each other, to infill on their demands, and to make eadlefs war oh the king, till he fhould fubmit to grant them J\ They agreed, that, after the feftival of Chriftmas, they would prefer in a body their common petition ; and in the mean time, they feparated, after mutually engaging, that they Would put themfelves in a pofture of defence, would inlift V M, Paris, p, 167, * Ibid, p. 175. * Ibid. p. 176. men So HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C *xt^ P' men an<* Purc^a^ arms, and would fijpply their caflles with the neceffary provifions. 1*15. The barons appeared in London on the day appointed ; and demanded of the king, that, in confequence of his own oath before the primate, as well as in deference to their j uft rights, he fhould grant them a renewal of Hen- ry's charter, and a confirmation of the laws of St. Ed- ward. The king, alarmed with their zeal and unanimity, as well as with their power, required a delay ; promifed, that, at the feftival of Eafter, he would give them a pofi- tive anfwer to their petition ; and offered them the arch- bifhop of Canterbury, the bifhop of Ely, and the earl of Pembroke, the Marcfchal, as fureties for his fulfilling this engagement z. The barons accepted of the terms, and peaceably returned to their caftles. 15th Jan, During this interval, John, in order to break or fub- due the league of his barons, endeavoured to avail himfelf of the ecclefiaftical power, of whofe influence he had, from his own recent misfortunes, had fuch fatal expe- rience. He granted to the clergy a charter, relinquishing for ever that important prerogative, for which his father and all his anceftors had zealoufly contended ; yielding to them the free election on all vacancies ; referving only the power to ifllie a conge d'elire, and to fubjoin a con- firmation of the election ; and declaring, that, if either of thefe were with-held, the choice fhould neverthelefs be deemed juft and valid a. He made a vow to lead an army into Paleftine againft the infidels, and he took on him the crofs ; in hopes, that he ihould receive from the church that protection, which fhe tendered to every one that had entered into this facred and meritorious engagement b. z M.Paris, p. 176. W. Weft. p. 273. a Rymer, vol. i. p. 197. k Rymer, vol, i. p. zco. Trivet, p. i6z, T, Wykes, p. 37. M. Weft. p. Z73. And I2Ij. JOHN. gr And he fent to Rome his agent, William de Mauclerc, c Hap in order to appeal to the pope againft the violence of his barons, and procure him a favourable fcntence from that powerful tribunal c. The barons alfo were not negligent on their part in endeavouring to engage the pope in their interefts : They difpatched Euflace de Vefcie to Rome ; laid their cafe before Innocent as their feudal lord ; and petitioned him to interpofe his authority with the king, and oblige him to reftore and confirm all their juft and un- doubted privileges d. Innocent beheld with regret the difturbances which had arifen in England, and was much inclined to favour John in his pretentions. He had no hopes of retaining and extending his newly acquired fuperiority over that kingdom, but by fupporting fo bafe and degenerate a prince, who was willing to facrifice every confideration to his prefent fafety : And he forefaw, that, if the admi- niftration mould fall into the hands of thofe gallant and high-fpirited barons, they would vindicate the honour, liberty, and independance of the nation, with the fame ardour which they now exerted in defence of their own. He wrote letters therefore to the prelates, to the nobility, and to the king himfelf. He exhorted the firft to employ their good offices in conciliating peace between the con- tending parties, and putting an end to civil difcord : To the fecond, he expreffed his difapprobation of their conduit in employing force to extort conceilions from their reluctant fovereign : The Lift, he adviied to treat his nobles with grace and indulgence, and to grant them fuch of their demands as (bould appear juft and reafon- abk e. The barons eafily faw, from the tenor of thefe letters, that they muft reckon on having the pope, as well as the king, for their adverfary j but they had already advanced e Rvmer, vol. . p. 1S4. d Ibid. « Ibid. p. 136, 197. Vol. II. G tog 82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, too far to recede from their pretenfions, and their paflions ^^^^ were (a deeply engaged, that it exceeded even the power 1215. of fuperftition itfelf any longer to controul them. They alfo forefaw, that the thunders of Rome, when not fe- conded by the efforts of the Englifh ecclefiaflics, would be of fmall avail againft them ; and they perceived, that the moft confiderable of the prelates, as well as all the inferior clergy, profefTed the higheft approbation of their caufe. Befides, that thefe men were feized with the na- tional paffion for laws and liberty ; bleffings, of which they themfelves expected to partake ; there concurred very powerful caufes to loofen their devoted attachment to the apoftolic fee. It appeared, from the late ufurpations of the Roman pontiff, that he pretended to reap alone all the advantages accruing from that victory, which, under his banners, though at their own peril, they had every where obtained over the civil magiftrate. The pope affumed a defpotic power over all the churches : Their particular cuftoms, privileges, and immunities, were treated with difdain : Even the canons of general coun- cils were {et afide by his difpenfing power : The whole adminiftration of the church were centered in the court of Rome : All preferments ran of courfe in the fame channel : And the provincial clergy faw, at leaft felt, that there was a neceflity for limiting thefe pretenfions. The legate, Nicholas, in filling thofe numerous vacan- cies which had fallen in England during an interdict, of fix years, had proceeded in the moft arbitrary manner ; and had paid no regard, in conferring dignities, to per- fonal merit, to rank, to the inclination of the electors, or to the cuftoms of the country. The Englifh church was univerfally difgufted ; and Langton himfelf, though he owed his elevation to an incroachment of the Romiih fee, was no fooner eftablifhed in his high office, than he became jealous of the privileges annexed to it, and form- ed JOHN. 83 ed attachments with the country fubje£led to his jurif- CHAP. diction. Thefe caufes, though they opened flowly the ■^~^~~mjf eyes of men, failed not to produce their effect. : They fet Ia'5' bounds to the ufurpations of the papacy : The tide firft Hopped, and then turned againft the fovereign pontiff: And it is otherwife inconceivable, how that age, fo prone to fuperftition, and fo funk in ignorance, or rather fo devoted to a fpurious erudition, could have efcaped fall- ing into an abfolute and total flavery under the court of Rome. About the time that the pope's letters arrived in Ens?* intaneBSan r r ° oftheba- land, the malcontent barons, on the approach of therons. feliival of Eafter, when they were to expect the king's anfwer to their petitions, met by agreement at Stamford ; and they aflembled a force, confifting of above 2000 knights, befides their retainers and inferior perfons with- out number. Elated with their power, they advanced in27tJl April. a body to Brackley, within fifteen miles of Oxford^ the place where the court then refided j and they there re- ceived a mefTage from the king, by the archbifhop of Canterbury and the earl of Pembroke, defiling to know what thofe liberties were which they fo zealoufly chal- lenged from their fovereign. They delivered to thefe niefiengers a fchedule, containing the chief articles of their demands ; which was no fooner fhown to the king, than he burft into a furious paflion, and afked why the barons did not alfo demand of him his kingdom ? fwear- ing, that he would never grant them fuch liberties as mufl reduce himfclf to flavery f. No fooner were the confederated nobles informed of John's reply, than they chofe Robert Fitz- Walter their general, whom they called the marefchal of the army of God and of holy church ; and they proceeded without far- ther ceremony to levy war upon the king. They be- f M, Paris, p J 7 5. G 2 (iesel g4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C h A P. fieged the caftle of Northampton during fifteen days, though without fuccefs f : The gates of Bedford caftle were willingly opened to them by William Beauchamp, its owner: They advanced to Ware in their way to Lon- don, where they held a correfpondence with the principal citizens : They were received without oppofition into that capital : And finding now the great fuperiority of their force, they iflued proclamations, requiring the other barons to join them, and menacing them, in cafe of refufal or delay, with committing devaluation on their houfes and eftates s. In order to fhow what might be expected from their profperous arms, they made incur- fions from London, and laid wafte the king's parks and palaces ; and all the barons, who had hitherto carried the femblance of fupporting the royal party, were glad of this pretence for openly joining a caufe, which they always had fecretly favoured. The king was left at Odiham in Surrey with a poor retinue of only feven knights j and after trying feveral expedients to elude the blow, after offering to refer all differences to the pope alone, or to eight barons, four to be chofen by himfelf, and four by the confederates h, he found himfelf at laft obliged to fub- mit at difcretion. Majna A conference between the king and the barons was iq^> Tune. aPP0*n*e3 st Runnemede, between Windfor and Staines; a place which has ever fince been extremely celebrated, on account of this great event. The two parties en- camped apart, like cpen enemies ; and after a debate of a few days, the king, with a facility fomewhat fufpicious, joth line. %ned and fealed the charter which was required of him. This famous deed, commonly called the Great Char- ter, either granted or fccured very important liberties f M, r.-vis, p. 177. Chron. Dunft. vol. i, p. 71, g M, Parij, 77. h Rvmer> vol, i. p. 2C0. and JOHN. 85 and privileges to every order of men in the kingdom ; to c HAP. XL the clergy, to the barons, and to the people. er, j ^07, and now nine years of ; and Richard, born on the fixth of January, 1209; three* married to Al ander king of Scots ;' El d firft to William irefchal the younger, earl of Pembroke, . u to Simon Mountfort, earl of Leicefter; and Ifabell a married to .rcr Frederic II. All thefe children were born to fiim by [fabella of Angoulefme, his fecond wife. e P. 165. f M. Paris, p. 1.70. Hif JOHN. 96 fiis illegitimate children were numerous: but none of c H A P' them were any wife diftinguifhed. o~v-v* It was this king, who, in the ninth year of his reign, ** '6« firft gave liberty by charter to the city of London, con- ferring on it the right of electing annually a mayor out of its own body, an office which was till now held for life. He gave the city alfo power to elect and remove its fheriffs at pleafure, and its common-council-men an- nually. London Bridge was finifhed in this reign : The former bridge was of wood. Maud the emprefs was the firft that built a ftone bridge in England. So great was the fuperflition of the Englifh during this period, that, from the Conquefc to 12 16, the fpace of 150 years, five hundred and fifty religious houfes were founded, which are five-fevenths of the whole that exifted &t their diffoluticn *. X Anderfon's Hifiory of Commerce, vol. i. p. io8„ Hz APPENDIX r ioi a APPENDIX II. The FEUDAL and ANGLO-NORMAN Government and Manners. Origin of the feudal law Its progrefs Feudal government of England The feudal parliament The commons Judicial power Reve- nue of the crown Commerce The Church Civil Laws-— —Manners. THE feudal law is the chief foundation, both of Appendix the political government and of the jurifprudence, \m00>lmmj eftablifhed by the Normans in England. Our fubjeel: therefore requires, that we fhould form a juft idea of this law, in order to explain the ftate, as well of that king- dom, as of all the other kingdoms of Europe, which, during thofe ages, were governed by fimilar inftitutions. And though I am fenfible, that I muft here repeat many obfervations and reflections, which have been communi- cated by others s ; yet, as every book, agreeably to the obfervation of a great hiflorian h, fhould be as complete as poffible within itfelf, and fhould never refer, for any thing material, to other books, it will be neceflary, in this place, to deliver a fhort plan of that prodigious fa- bric, which, for feveral centuries, preferved fuch a mix- ture of liberty and oppreflion, order and anarchy, ftabi- S L'Efprit de Loix. Dr. Robertfon's hiftory of Scotland, b Padre Paolo Hift, Cone. Trid. H 3 Ifty 102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix IJty and revolution, as was never experienced in any other age or any other part of the world. After the northern nations had fubdued the provinces- of the Roman empire, they were obliged fo eftablifh a fyfeera of government, which might fecure their con- queils, as well againft the revolt of their numerous fub- jeets, who remained in the provinces, as from the inroads of other tribes, who might be tempted to ravifh from them their new acquifitions. The great change of circum- ftances made them here depart from thofe inftitutions, which prevailed among them, while they remained in the fercfts of Germany ; yet was it ftill natural for them to retain, in their prefenf fettlement, as much of their an- cient cuftoms as was compatible with, their new iitua- tion. The German governments, being more a confederacy of independant warriors, than a civil fubjection, derived their principal force from many inferior and voluntary af- fociations, which individuals formed under a particular head or chieftain, and which it became the higl.eft point of honour to maintain with inviolable fidelity. The glory of the chieftain confiffed in the number, the braver)'-, and the zealous attachment of his retainers : The duty of the retainers required, that they mould accompany their chieftain in all wars and dangers, that they fhould fight and perifh by his fide, and that they fhould efleem his re- nown or his favour a fufEcicnt recompence for all their ferviccs '. The prince himfelf was nothing but a great chieftain, who was chofen from among the reft, on ac- A his fuperior valour or nobility; and who derived his power from the voluntary afibciation or attachment of the other chieftains. WkEN a tribe governed by thefe ideas, and actuated by thefe principles, fubdued a large territory, they found? Tacit. Cc Mor. Germ. that, APPENDIX II: 103 that, though it was heceflary to keep themfelves in a mi- App«d/x Ktary pofture, they could neither remain united in a body, u— v— J nor take up their quarters in feveral garrifons, and that their manners and infeitutions debarred them from ufing thefe expedients ; the obvious ones, which, in a like fitu- ation, v/ould have been employed by a more civilized na- tion. Their ignorance in the art of finances, and per- haps the devaluations infeparable from fuch violent con- quefts, rendered it impracticable for them to levy taxes fufHcient for the pay of numerous armies ; and their repugnance to fubordination, with their attachment to rural pleafures, made the life of the camp or garrifon, if ' perpetuated during peaceful times, extremely odious and difguftful to them. They feized, therefore, fuch a pro- portion of the conquered lands as appeared neceiTary ; they affigned a (hare for fupporting the dignity of their prince and government ; they difhibuted other parts, un- der the title of fiefs, to the chieftains ; thefe made a new partition among their retainers ; the exprefs condition of all thefe grants was, that they might be -renamed at plea- fure, and that the poiTefTor, fo long as he enjoyed them, fhould llill remain in readinefs to take the field for the defence of the nation. And though the conquerors im- mediately feparated, in order to enjoy their new acquifi- tions, their martial difpofition made them readily fulfil the terms of their engagement : They aflembled on the firft alarm; their habitual attachment to the chieftain made them willingly fubmit to his command ; and thus a regular military force, though concealed, was always ready, to defend, on any emergence, the interefr. and honour of the community. We are not to imagine, that all or even the greateit part of the conquered lands was Seized by the northern conquerors ;" or that the whole of the land thus feized was fubjedled to thofe military fervices. This fuppofition is H x confuted 104 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix confuted bv the hiftory of all the nations on the continent. i. .1 , _,i Even the idea, given us of the German manners by the Roman hiflorian, may convince us, that that bold people would never have been content with fo precarious a fub- ilftence, or have fought to procure eftablifhments, which were only to continue during the good pleafure of their fovereign. Though the northern chieftains accepted of lands, which, being confidered as a kind of military pay, might be refumed at the will of the king or general ; they alio took pofleflion of eftates, which, being hereditary and independant, enabled them to maintain their native liberty, and fupport, without court-favour, the honour of their rank and family. • Progrefs of But there is a great difference, in the confequences, iiW, between the diftribution of a pecuniary fubfiftence, and the alignment of lands burdened with the condition of military fervice. The delivery of the former, at the weekly, monthly, or annual terms of payment, ftill re- calls the idea of a voluntary gratuity from the prince, and reminds the foldicr of the precarious tenure by which he holds his commiffion. But the attachment, naturally formed with a fixed portion of land, gradually begets the idea of fomething like property, and makes the pofTenor forget his dependant iltuation, and the condition which was at firft annexed to the grant. It feemed equitable, that one who had cultivated and fowed a field, fhould reap the harveft : Hence fiefs, which v/ere at firft entirely precarious, were foon made annual. A man, who had employed his money in building, planting, or other im- provements, expected to reap the fruits of his labour or expence : Hence they were next granted during a term of years. It would be thought hard to expel a man his pof- feffions, who had always done his duty, and performed the conditions on which he originally received them : Hence the chieftains, in a fubfequent period, thought 3 themfeives A P P E N D I X II. 105 themfelves entitled to demand the enjoyment of their feu- Appendix dal lands during life. It was found, that a man would more willingly expofe himfelf in battle, if allured, that his family mould inherit his poffeflions, and fhould not be left by his death in want and poverty : Hence fiefs were made hereditary in families, and defcended, during one age, to the fon, then to the grandfon, next to the bro- thers, and afterwards to more diflant relations k. The idea of property Hole in gradually upon that of military pay ; and each century made fome fenfible addition to the inability of fiefs and tenures. In all thefe fucceflive acquifitions, the chieftain was fupported by his vafTals ; who, having originally a flrong connexion with him, augmented by the conftant inter- courfe of good offices, and by the friendfhip arifing from vicinity and dependance, were inclined to follow their leader againft all his enemies, and voluntarily, in his pri- vate quarrels, paid him the fame obedience, to which by their tenure they were bound in foreign wars. While he daily advanced new pretenfions to fecure the pofTeflion of his fuperior fief, they expected to find the fame advantage, in acquiring {lability to their fubordinate ones ; and they zealoufly oppofed the intrufion of a new lord, who would be inclined, as he was fully intitled, to beflow the pof- feffion of their lands on his own favourites and retainers. Thus the authority of the fovereign gradually decayed j and each noble, fortified in his own territory by the at- tachment of his vaflals, became too powerful to be ex- pelled by an order from the throne ; and he fecured by law what he had at firft acquired by ufurpation. During this precarious ftate of the fupreme power, a difference would immediately be experienced between thofe portions of territory which were fubjected to the feudal tenures, and thofe which were pofleffed by an allo- fc Lib. Feud, lib. 1, tit. 1. dial ic6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix jiai or free title. Though the latter poffeflions had at firft been efteemed much preferable, they were foon found, by the progreffive changes introduced into public and pri- vate law, to be of an inferior condition to the former. The poffeffors of a feudal territory, united by a regu- lar fubordination under one chief, and by the mutual attachments of the vaffals, had the fame advantages over the proprietors of the other, that a difciplined army enjoys over a difpcrfcd multitude ; and were enabled to Commit with impunity all injuries on their defencelcfs neighbours. Every one, therefore, haftened to feek that protection which he found fo necefTary ; and each allodial proprie- tor, refigning his poffeilions into the hands of the king, or of fome nobleman refpedtcd for power or valour, re- ceived them back with the condition of feudal fervices J, which, though a burden fomewhat grievous, brought him ample compenfation, by Connecting him with the neigh- bouring proprietors, and placing him under the guardian- fhip of a potent chieftain. The decay of the political government thus neceflarily occasioned the extenfion of the feudal : The kingdoms of Europe were univerfally divided into baronies, and thefe into inferior fiefs : And the attachment of vaffals to their chief, which was at firft an effential part of the German manners, was ftill fupported by the fame caufes from which it at firft arofc ; the neceffity of mutual protection, and the continued iri- tercourfe, between the head and the members, of benefits and fervices. But there was another circumffance, which corrobo- rated thefe feudal dependancies, and tended to connect the vaffals with their luperior lord by an indiffoluble bond of union. The northern conquerors, as well as the more early Greeks and Remans, embraced a policy, which is- unavoidable to all nations that have made (lender advances - 1 MarcuL'. Form. 47. 3p.ud LinJcr.br. p. 123S, APPENDIX II. iof in refinement : They every where united the civil jurif- Appendix diction with the military power. Law, in its commence- ._ *. t ment, was not an intricate fcience, and was more go- verned by maxims of equity, which feem obvious to com- mon fenfe, than by numerous and fubtile principles, ap- plied to a variety of cafes by profound reafonings from analogy. An oiHcer, though he had pafTed his life in the field, was able to determine all legal controverfies which could occur within the diflrict. committed to his charge ; and his decifions were the moil likely to meet with a prompt and ready obedience, from men who re- flected his perfon, and were accuftomed to act. under his command. The profit, arifing from puniihments, which were then chiefly pecuniary, was another reafon for his defiring to retain the judicial power; and when his fief became hereditary, this authority, which was eflential to it, was alfo tranfmittcd to his pollerity. The counts and other magiftrates, vvhofe power was merely official, were tempted, in imitation of the feudal lords, whom thev re- fembled in fo many particulars, to render their dignity perpetual aud hereditary ; and in the decline of the regal power, they found no difficulty in making good their pre- tenfions. After this manner the vaft fabric of feudal fub- ordination became quite folid and coniprehenfive ; it formed every where an eflential part of the political con^- ftitution ; and the Norman and other barons, who fol- lowed the fortunes of William, were fo accuftomed to it, that they could fcarceiy form an idea of any other fpecies of civil government m. The Saxons, who conquered England, as they exter- minated the ancient inhabitants, and were fecurcd by the fea againft new invaders, found it lefs requifke to main- m The ideas of the feudal government were (o rooted, that even lawyers, in thofe ages, could 'not form a notion of any other constitution. Regnum, (fays Bracton, Kb. a. cap, 3$.,) quod ex csmhatibus & baronibus d'uiiur e/Jhcon- flilutum, 2 ' tain io8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix tain themfelves in a military pofrure : The quantity of v.—y—*^ land, which they annexed to offices, feems to have been of fmall value ; and for that reafon continued the lono-er in its original fituation, and was always pofTefled during pleafure by thofe who were jntrufted with the command. Thefe conditions were too precarious to fatisfy the Nor- man chieftains, who enjoyed more independant poflef- fions and jurifdiclions in their own country ; and William was obliged, in the new diftribution of land, to copy the tenures, which were now become univerfal on the conti- nent. England of a fudden became a feudal kingdom n ; and received all the advantages, and was expofed to all the inconveniencies, incident to that fpecies of civil polity. The feudal According to the principles of the feudal law, the government •fEagland, king was the fupreme lord of the landed property : All pouefTors, who enjoyed the fruits or revenue of any part of it, held thefe privileges, either mediately or immedi- ately, of him j and their property was conceived to be, in fome degree, conditional °. The land was ftill appre- hended to be a fpecies of bencf.ce^ which was the original conception of a feudal property ; and the vaflal owed, in return for it, ftated fervices to his baron, as the baron himfelf did for his land to the crown. The vaflal was obliged to defend his baron in war ; and the baron, at the head of his vaflals, was bound to fight in defence of the king and kingdom. But befides thefe military fer- vices, which were cafual, there were others impofed of a civil nature, which were more conftant and perpetual. The northern' nations had no idea, that any man, trained up to honour, or enured to arms,, was ever to be governed, without his own confent, by the abfolute will of another ; or that the adminiftration of juftice was ever n Coke Comm. on T-!t. p. i, 2. ad fe&. i, » Somner of Gavelk, p. 109. Smith ce Rep, lib. 3. caa. ie. Xm APPENDIX II. 109 to be exercifed by the private opinion of any one magi- Appendix ftrate, without the concurrence of fome other perfons, . & whofe interefr. might induce them to check his arbitrary and iniquitous decifions. The king, therefore, when he found it neceflary to demand any fervice of his barons or chief tenants, beyond what was due by their tenures, was obliged to aflemble them, in order to procure their confent : And when it was necefLry to determine any ccn- troverfy, which might arife among the barons themfelvcs, -the queftion muft be difcufled in their prefence, and be decided according to their opinion or advice. In thefe two circumftances of confent and advice, confifted chiefly the civil fervices of the ancient barons ; and thefe implied all the confiderable incidents of governments. In one view, the barons regarded this attendance as their prin- cipal privilege ; in another, as a grievous burden. That no momentous affairs couid be tranfa&ed without their confent and advice, was in general efteemed the great fecu- rity of their pofleffions and dignities : But as they reaped no immediate profit from their attendance at court, and were expofed to great inconvenience and charge by an ab- fence from their own eftates, every one was glad to ex- empt himfelf from each particular exertion of this power ; and was pleafed both that the call for that duty mould feldom return upon him, and that others mould undergo the burden in his ftead. The king, on the other hand, was ufually anxious, for feveral reafons, that the affembly of the barons mould be full at every ftated or cafual time of meeting : This attendance was the chief badge of their fubordination to his crown, and drew them from that in- dependance which they were apt to affect in their own caftles and manors ; and where the meeting was thin or ill attended, its determinations had lefs authority, and commanded not fo ready an obedience from the whole community. The ii3 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix The cafe was the fame with the barons in their courts as with the king in the fupreme council of the nation. It was requifite to affemble the vaffals, in order to determine by their vote any queftion which regarded the barony ; and they fat along with the chieftain in all trials, whether civil or criminal, which occurred within the limits of their jurifdiclion. They were bound to pay fuit and fervice at the court of their baron ; and as their tenure was military, and confequentiy honourable, they were admitted into his fociety, and partook of his friendfhip. Thus, a king- dom was confidered only as a great barony, and a barony as a fmall kingdom. The barons were peers to each other in the national council, and, in fome degree, companions to the king : The vaffals were peers to each other in the court of barony, and companions to their baron p. But though this rcfemblance fo far took place, the vallate, by the natural courfe of things, univerfally, in the feudal confHtutions, fell into a greater fubordination under the baron, than the baron himfclf under his fove- reign ; and thefe governments had a neceffary and infal- lible tendency to augment the power of the nobles. The great chieftain, refiding in his country-feat or caftle, which he Avas commonly allowed to fortify, loft, in a great meafure, his connexion or acquaintance with the prince -y and added every day new force to his authority over the vaffals of the barony. They received from him education in all military exereifes : His hofpitalitv invited them to live and enjoy fociety in his hall : Their leifure, which was great, made them perpetual retainers on his perfon, and partakers of his country fports and amufe- ments : They had no means of gratifying their ambition but by making a figure in his train : His favour and coun- tenance was their greatest honour : His difpleafure exppfed them to contempt and ignominy : And they felt every P Du Cange GloiT. in verb. Par, Cujac, Cos3mun< in Lib. Feud. lib. i. tit. p, 18. Spelm, Glofl". in verb, moment APPENDIX II. xij moment the neceffity of his protection, both in the con- Appendix troverfies which occurred with other vaffals, and what was jnore material, in the daily inroads and injuries which were committed by the neighbouring barons. During the time of general war, the fovereign, who marched at the b.ead of his armies, and was the great protector of the ftate, acquired always fome acceflion to his authority, which he loll during the intervals of peace and tranquil- lity : But the loofe police, incident to the feudal confti- tutions, maintained a perpetual, though fecret hoftility, between the feveral members of the ftate ; and the vaffals found no means of fecuring themfelves againft the injuries, £o whicfi they were continually expofed, but by ciofely adhering to their chief, and falling into a fubmiffive depend- ence upon him. If the feudal government was fo little favourable to the true liberty even of the military vaiTal, it was ftill more deftructive of the independance and fecurity of the other members of the ftate, or what in a proper fenfe we call -the people. A great part of them were fcrfs, and lived in a ftate of abfolute flavery or villainage : The other in- habitants of the country paid their rent in fen/ices, which were in a great meafure arbitrary ; and they could expect no redrefs of injuries, in a court of barony, from men, who thought they had a right to opprefs and tyrannize over them : The towns were fituated either within the demefnes of the king, or the lands of the great barons, and were almoft entirely fubjected to the abfolute will of their mafter. The languishing ftate of commerce kept the inhabitants poor and contemptible; and the political in- ftitutions v/eie calculated to render that poverty perpetual. The barons and gentry, living in ruftic plenty and hof- pitality, gave no encouragement tp the arts, and had no demand for any of the more elaborate manufactures : Every profemon was held in contempt but that of arms : And if any merchant or manufacturer rofe by induftry and ii2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appmdix and frugality to a degree of opulence, he found himfelf \_— - _' but the more expofed to injuries, from the envy and avi- dity of the military nobles. These concurring caufes gave the feudal governments fo ftrong a bias towards ariftocracy, that the royal autho- rity was extremely eclipfed in all the European ftates ; and, inftead of dreading the growth of monarchical power, we might rather expect, that the community would every where crumble into fo many independant baronies, and lofe the political union, by which they were cemented. In elective monarchies, the event was commonly anfwer- able to this expectation ; and the barons, gaining ground on every vacancy of the throne, raifed themfelves almoft to a frate of fovereignty, and facrificed to their power both the rights of the crown and the liberties of the people. But hereditary monarchies had a principle of authority, which was not fo eafily fubverted ; and there were feveral caufes, which ftill maintained a degree of influence in the hands of the fovereign. The greateft baron could never lofe view entirely of thofe principles of the feudal conftitution, which bound him, as a vafial, to fubmimon and fealty towards his prince ; becaufe he was every moment obliged to have recourfe to thofe principles, in exacting fealty and fub- mimon from his own vaflals. The leffer barons, finding that the annihilation of royal authority left them expofed without protection to the infults and injuries of more po- tent neighbours, naturally adhered to the crown, and promoted the execution of general and equal laws. The people had Hill a ftronger intereft to defire the grandeur of the fovereign ; and the king, being the legal magiftrate, who fuffered by every internal convulficn or oppreffion, and who regarded the gr-eat nobles as his immediate rivals, aflumed the falutary office of general guardian or protector of the commons. Befides the prerogatives with which the A P P E N D I X II. 113 the law inverted him ; his large demefnes and numerous Appendix ■ . * II. retainers rendered him, in one fenfe, the preateft baron \ - — _j in his kingdom ; and where he was pofTefTed of perfonal vigour and ability (for his fituation required thefe advan- tages) he was commonly able to preferve his authority, and maintain his ftation as head of the community, and the chief fountain of law and juftice. The firft kings of the Norman race were favoured by another circumftance, which preferved them from the en- croachments of their barons. They were generals of a conquering army, which was obliged to continue in a military pofture, and to maintain great fubordination un- der their leader, in order to fecure themfelves from the revolt of the numerous natives, whom they had bereaved of all their properties and privileges. But though this circumftance fupported the authority of William and his immediate fucceflbrs, and rendered them extremely abfo- lute, it was loft as foon as the Norman barons began to incorporate with the nation, to acquire a fecurity in their poTTemons, and to fix their influence over their vaffals, tenants, and flaves. And the immenfe fortunes, which the Conqueror had beftowed on his chief captains, ferved to fupport their independancy, and make them formidable to the fovereign. He gave, for inftance, to Hugh de Abrincis, his filler's /on, the whole county of Chefter, which he erected into a palatinate, and rendered by his grant almoft independant of the crown 9. Robert, earl of Mortaigne had 973 ma- nors and lordfhips : Allan, earl of Britanny and Richmond, 442 : Odo, bifhop of Baieux, 439 ' : Geoffrey, bifhop of Coutance, 280 3 : Walter GirFard, earl of Bucking- ham, 107: William, earl Warrenne, 298, befides 28 towns or hamlets in Yorkfhire : Todenei3 8 1 : Roger S Cambd. in Chefli. Spe!. GlofT. in verb. Cones PAforhut, 1 Brady's Hift. p. 133. aco. * Order. Viral.. Vol. II. I Bigod, U4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix Bigod, 123: Robert, earl of Eu, 119: Roger Morti- ^ _ '_ . mpi-j 1^2, befides feveral hamlets: Robert de Stafford, 130 : Walter de Eurus, earl of Salifbury, 46 : Geoffrey de Mandeville, 118: Richard de Clare, 171: Hugh de Beauchamp, 47: Baldwin de Ridvers, 164: Henry de Ferrers, 222 : William de Percy, 1 19 l : Norman d'Arcy, 33 ". Sir Henry Spelman computes, that, in the large county of Norfolk, there were not, in the Conqueror's time, above fixty-fix proprietors of land w„ Men, pof- fefTed of fuch princely revenues and jurifdictions, could not long be retained in the rank of fubje&s. The great earl Warrenne, in a fubfequent reign, when he was quef- tioned concerning his right to the lands which he poflefT- ed, drew his fword, which he produced as his title ; add- ing that William the Baftard did not conquer the kingdom himfelf; but that the barons, and his anceftor among the reft, were joint adventurers in the enterprize x. The feudal The fupreme legiflative power of England was lodg- ' ed in the king and great council, or what was after- wards called the parliament. It is not doubted but the archbifhops, bifhops, and moft confiderable abbots were conftituent members of this council. They fat by a double title : By prefcription, , as having always poflefled that privilege, through the whole Saxon period, from the firft eftablifhment of ChrifHanity ; and by their right of baronage, as holding of the king in capite by military fer- vice. Thefe two titles of the prelates were never accu- rately diflinguifhed. When the ufurpations of the church had rifen to fuch a height, as to make the bifhops affect a feparate dominion, and regard their feat in parliament 1 Dugdale's Baronage, from Domefdaybook, vol. i. p. 60, 74. iii. li», 132, 136, 138, 156, 174, 200, zoj, 223, 254, 257, 269. u Ibid. p. 369. It is remarkable that this family of d'Arcy, feems to be the only male defcendants of any of the Conqueror's barons now remaining among the peers. Lord Holdernefie is the heir of that family. w Spel. GloiT. in verb. Domefday, x Dug, Bar. vol. i, p. 79. Ibid. Origines Juridkiales, p. 13. 6 as A P P E N D I X II. tis as a degradation of their epifcopal dignity ; the king in- Appendix fifted, that they were barons, and, on that account, oblig- ed, by the general principles of the feudal law, to attend on him in his great councils y. Yet there ftill remained fome practices, which fuppofed their title to be derived merely from ancient potfeflion : When a bifhop was elected, he fat in parliament before the king had made him reftitution of his temporalities ; and during the va- cancy of a fee, the guardian of the fpiritualities was fum- moned to attend along with the bifhops. The barons were another conftituent part of the great council of the nation. Thefe held immediately of the crown by a military tenure : They were the moft honour- able members of the ftate, and had a right to be confulted in all public deliberations : They were the immediate vaffals of the crown, and owed as a fervid their attendance in the court of their fupreme lord. A refolution, taken without their confent, was likely to be but ill executed : And no determination of any caufe or controverfy among them had any validity, where the vote and advice of the body did not concur. The dignity of earl or count was official and territorial, as well as hereditary; and as all the earls were alfo barons, they were confidered as mili- tary vaffals of the crown, were admitted in that capacity into the general council, and formed the moft honour- able and powerful branch of it. But there was another clafs of the immediate military tenants of the crown, no lefs or probably more numerous than the barons, the tenants in capite by knights fervice ; and thefe, however inferior in power or property, held by a tenure, which was equally honourable with that of the others. A barony was commonly compofed of feveral knights fees : And though the number feems not to have been exactly defined, feldom conhfted of lefs than fifty y Spel. C'c.T. in verb. Ban. I 2 hydes mens. 116 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix hydes of land z : But where a man held of the king only v,^—-^, one or two knights fees, he was frill an immediate vaflal of the king, and as fuch had a title to have a feat in the general councils. But as this attendance was ufually efteemed a burthen, and one too great for a man of (lender fortune to bear conitemfly ; it is probable, that, though he had a title, if he pleafed, to be admitted, he was not obliged, by any penalty, like the baronSy to pay a regular attendance. All the immediate military tenants of the crown amounted not felly to 700, when Domcfday-book. was framed ; and as the members were well pleafed, on any pretext, to excufe thcmfelves from attendance, the afiembly was never likely to become too numerous for the difpatch of public bufmefs. The com. So far the nature of a general council or ancient parli- ament is determined without any doubt or controveriy. The only queftion fcems to be with regard to the com- mons, or the representatives of counties and boroughs ; whether they were alio, in more early times, conftitucnt parts of parliament ? This queftion was once difputed in England with great acrimony : But fuch is the force of- time and evidence, that they can fometimes prevail even over faction ; and the queftion feems, by general confent, and even by their own, to be at laft determined againft the ruling party. It is agreed, that the commons were no part of the great council, till fome ages after the con- quer!: ; and that the military tenants alone of the crown compofed that fupreme and legislative alTembly. The vafials of a baron were by their tenure imme- diately dependant on him, owed attendance at his court, and paid all their duty to the king, through that depend- 1 Four hydes made one knight's fee : The relief of a barony was twelve times greater than that of a knigh;'s fee; whence we nay con'ie&ure its ufual value. Spelrr,. G.'ofl". in verb. Feodum. There were 243,600 hydes in England, and 60,2.15 knights IV«<; ; whence it is evident that theie were 4 Jtttle more than four hydes in each knight's fee, jance A P P E N D I X II. 117 znce. which their lord was obliged by bis tenure to acknow- Appendix ledge to his fovereign and fuperior. Their land, com- i/T"\J prehended in the barony, was reprefented in parliament bv the baron himfelf, who was fuppofed, according to the fictions of the feudal law, to pofiefs the direct pro- perty of it ; and it would have been deemed incongruous to give it any other reprefentaticn. They ftood in the fame capacity to him, that he and the other barons did to the king : The former were peers of the barony ; the latter were peers of the realm : The vaflals poflefTed a fubordinate rank within their diftriifc; the baron enjoyed a fupreme dignity in the great afTembly : They were in fome degree his companions at home ; he the king's com- panion in the court : And nothing can be more evidently repugnant to all feudal ideas, and to that gradual fubor- dination, which was efiential to thofe ancient inftitu- tions, than to imagine that the king would apply either for the advice or confent of men, who were of a rank fo much inferior, and whofe duty was immediately paid to the mcjne lord, that was interpofed between them and the throne a. Tf it be unreafonable to think, that the vafTals of a barony, though their tenure was military and noble and honourable, were ever fummoned to give their opinion in national councils ; much lefs can it be fuppofed, that the tradefmen or inhabitants of boroughs, whofe condition was ftiil fo much- inferior, would be admitted to that privilege. It appears from Domefday, that the boroughs were, at the time of the conquefr, fcarcely more than country villages ; and that the inhabitants lived in. entire dependance on the king or great lords, and were of a fta- tion little better than fervile b. They were not then fo a Spelm. GI01T. in verb, Barp. *> Liber homo anciently fic;nificd a gentleman : For fc:rce. zv.y one bffiie •*as entirely free. Spelm. Gloff. in verbo. I 3 much xiS HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix much as incorporated ; they formed no community ; were not regarded as a body politic ; and being really nothing but a number of low dependant tradefmen, living, with- out any particular civil tie, in neighbourhood together, were incapable of being reprefented in the ftates of the kingdom. Even in France, a country which made more early advances in arts and civility than England, the firft corporation is fixty years pofterior to the conqueft under the duke of Normandy ; and the erecting of thefe com- munities was an invention of Lewis the Grofs, in order to free the people from flavery under the lords, and to give them protection, by means of certain privileges and a feparate jurifdidtion V An ancient French author calls them a new and wicked device, to procure liberty to flaves, and encourage them in making off the dominion of their mafters d. The famous charter, as it is called, of the Conqueror to the city of London, though granted at a time when he affumed the appearance of gcntlenefs and lenity, is nothing but a letter of protection, and a declaration that the citizens fhould not be treated as flaves e. By the Englifh feudal law, the fuperior lord was prohibited from marrying his female ward to a bur- gefs or a villain f ; fo near were thefe two ranks efteemed to each other, and fo much inferior to the nobility and gentry. Befides poffeffing the advantages of birth, riches, civil powers and privileges, the nobles and gentlemen alone were armed ; a circumftance, which gave them a mighty fuperiority, in an age when nothing but the mili- tary profeilion'was honourable, and when the loofe exe- cution of laws gave fo much encouragement to open violence, and rendered it fo deciiive in all difputes and controverfies g. « Du Cange's GlofT. in verb, commune, communltas. d Guibertus, de vita fua, lib. 3. cap. 7. e Stat, of Merton, 1235. cap. f>. f Holingflied, vol, iii. p. 15. I Madoa's Baron, Angl. p. 19. T*|£ APPENDIX. II. 119 The great fimilarity among all the feudal governments Appendix of Europe is well known to every man, that has any ^-, '- ^j acquaintance with ancient hiftory ; and the antiquaries of all foreign countries, where the queftion was never embarrafTed by party difputes, have allowed, that the commons came very late to be admitted to a fhare in the le- giflative power. In Normandy particularly, whofe coniti- tution was moft likely to be William's model in raifing his new fabric ©f Englifh government, the ftates were entirely compofed of the clergy and nobility ; and the firft incorporated boroughs or communities of that dutchy were Rouen and Falaife, which enjoyed their privileges by a grant of Philip Auguftus in the year 1207 h. All the ancient Englifh hiftorians, when they mention the great council of the nation, call it an afTembly of the baronage, nobility, or great men ; and none of their ex- preflions, though feveral hundred pafTages might be pro- duced, can, without the utmoft violence, be tortured to a meaning, which will admit the commons to be confti- tuent members of that body '. If in the long period of 200 years, which elapfed between the Conqueft and the later end of Henry III. and which abounded in factions, revolutions, and convulfions of all kinds, the houfe of commons never performed one fingle legislative act, fo confiderable as to be once mentioned by any of the nu- merous hiftorians of that age, they muft have been totally 8 Norman. DuChefnii, p. 1066. Du Cange GIofT. in verb, commune. 1 Sometimes the hiftorians mention the people, fojiulus, as a part of the pailiament: But they always mean the laity, in oppofition to the clergy. Sometimes, the word, commumtas, is found j but it always means commu nit at liiroragii, Thefe points are clearly proved by Dr. Brady. There is alfo mention fometimes made of a crowd or multitude that thronged into the great council on particular interefting occadons ; but as deputies from boroughs are never once fpoke of, the proof, that they had not then any exiftence, be- comes the more certain and undeniable. Thefe never could make a crowd, as they muft have had a regular place afiigned them, if they had made a regular part of the legilhtive body. There were only 130 boroughs who received writs of fummons from Edward I, I 4 infignifi- na HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix infiffnincant : And in that cafe, what reafon can be af- figned for their ever being affembled ? Can it be fuppofed, that men of fo little weight or importance poffeffed a negative voice againft the king and the barons ? Every page of the fubfequent hiflories discovers their exiftence ; though thefe hiflories are not writ with greater accu- racy than the preceding ones, and indeed fcarcely equal them in that particular. The Magna Charta of king John provides, that no fcut^ge or aid mould be impofed, either on the land or . >wnej but by the confent of the great council ; and for m eiiritjr, it enumerates the perfons entitled to a feat in that council, the prelates and immediate tenants of the crown, without any mention of the commons : An authority fo full, certain, and expli- cite, that nothing but the zeal of party could ever have procured credit to any contrary hypothcfis. It was probably the example of the French barons, which nrft emboldened the Englifh to require greater in- dependanoe from their fovereign : It is alfo probable, that jhe boroughs and corporations of England were eftablifh- ed in imitation of thofe of France, It may, therefore, be propofed as no unlikely conjecture, that both the pri- vileges of the peers in England and the liberty of the commons were originally the growth of that foreign country. In ancient times, men were little fulicitous to obtain a place in the legiuative aflembiics ; and rather regarded tlteir attendance as a burden, which was not compenfated by any return of profit or honour, proportioned to the trouble and expence. The only reafon for instituting thofe public councils, was; on the part of the fubjecl, that they defired fome fecurity from the attempts of ar- bitrary power ; and on the part of the fovereign, that he defpaired of governing men of fuch independant fpirits without their own confent and concurrence. But the commons, APPENDIX II. «f commons, or the inhabitants of boroughs, had not as yet Appendix reached fuch a degree of consideration, as to defire fecurity a-rainft their prince, or to imagine, that, even if they were aflbmbled in a reprefentative body, they had power or rank fufficient to enforce it. The only protection, which they afpired to, was againfl the immediate violence and injuftice of their fellow-citizens; and this advantage each of them looked for, from the courts of j-uflice, or from the authority of fome great lord, to whom, by law or his own choice, he was attached. On the other hand, the fovereign was fufficiently allured of obedience in the whole community, if he procured the concurrence of the nobles ; nor Irad he reafon to apprehend, that any order of the ftate could refill his and their united authority. The military fub-vafTals could entertain no idea of oppof- ing both their prince and their fuperiors : The burgefles and tradefmen could much lefs afpire to fuch a thought : And thus, even if hiilory were filent on that head, we have reafon to conclude, from the known fituation of fociety during thofe ages, that the commons were never admit- ted as members of the legiflative body. The executive power of the Anglo-Norman govern- ment was lodged in the kins. Befidcs the ftated meetings of the national council at the three great feflivals of Ghriftmas, Eafler, and Whitfuntide ', he was accuftom- cd, on any fudden exigence, to fummon them together. He could at his pleafure command the attendance of his barons and their vafTals, in which confided the military force of the kingdom ; and could employ them, during forty days, either in refilling a foreign enemy, or re- ducing his rebellious fubjects. And what was of great importance, the whole judicial power was ultimately in his hands, and was exercifed by officers and minifters of his appointment. J Dugd. Orig. Jurid. p, 15, Spel:n, Glofi*. In yerbo parliamintum, The 122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix The general plan of the Anglo-Norman government l_ — v- __r wa.^ that the court of barony was appointed to decide judicial fuck controverfies as arofe between the feveral vafTals or power. fubjecls of the fame barony ; the hundred-court and county-court, which were ftill continued as during the Saxon times m, to judge between the fubje&s of different baronies n ; and the curia Regis or king's court, to give fentence among the barons themfelves °. But this plan, though fimple, was attended with fome circumftances, . which, being derived from a very extenfive authority, affumed by the Conqueror, contributed to encreafe the royal prerogative ; and as long as the ftate was not difturbed by arms, reduced every order of* the commu- nity to fome degree of dependance and fubordination. The king himfelf often fat in his court, which always attended his perfon * : He there heard caufes and pro- nounced judgment 'j and though he was aflifted by the advice of the other members, it is not to be imagined that a decifion could eafily be obtained contrary to his inclination or opinion. In his abfence the chief jufticiary prefided, who was the firft magiftrate in the ftate, and a kind of viceroy, on whom depended all the civil affairs m Ang. Sacra, vol. i. p. 334, &c. Dugd. Orig. Jurid. p. 27, 29. Madox Hift. of Exch. p. 75, 76. Spelm. GlofT. in verbo hundred, n None of the feudal governments in Europe had fuch inftitutions as the county-courts, which the great authority of the Conqueror ftill retained from the Saxon cuftoms. All the freeholdersof the county, even the greatcft barons, were obliged to attend the /heriffs in thefe courts, and to alTift them in the admini- ftration of juftice. By this means, they received frequent and fenfible admo- nitions of their dependance on the king or fupreme magiftrate : They formed a kind of community with their fellow barons and freeholders : They were often drawn fiom their individual and independant ftate, peculiar to the feudal fyftem ; and were made members of a political body : And perhaps, this insti- tution of county- courts in England has had greater effects on the government, than has yet been diftincTIy pointed out by hiftorians or traced by antiquaries. The barons were never able to free themfelves from this attendance on the iheriffs and itinerant juftices till the reign of Henry III. • Brady Pref. p. 143. P Madox Hift. of Exch, p. 103. 33' 3^> 4T> 54- The Normans introduced the practice of fealing charters ; and the chancellor's office was to keep the Great Seal. Ingulpb. pugd. p. 33, 34* l Madox Hift. of the Exch. p. 134,135. Gerv. Dorob. p. 13S7. u Madox Hift. of the Exch. p, 56, 70. w Dial, de Scat. p. 39. apud Madox Hift. of the Exchequer, * Malmef. lib. 4. P. 123. officers 124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix officers of the crown and the feudal barons, who were II, ' military men, found themfelves unfit to penetrate into thofe obfcurities ; and though they were entitled to a feat in the fupreme judicature, the bufinefs of the court was wholly managed by the chief jufticiary and the law ba- rons, who were men appointed by the king, and irely at his difpofal y. This natural courfe of th: n- warded by the multiplicity of bufinefs, which flowed into that court, and which daily augmented by the appeals from all the fubordinate judicatures of the kingdom. In the Saxon times, no appeal was received in the king's court, except upon the denial or delay of juftice by the inferior courts'; and the fame practice was ftill obferved in mod of the feudal kingdoms of Europe. But the great power of the Conqueror eftabl lhed at firft in England an authority, which the monarchs in France were not able to attain till the reign of St. Lewis, who lived near two centuries after : He empowered his court to receive appeals both from the courts of barony and the county-courts, and by that means brought the admini- ftration of juftice ultimately into the hands of the fove- reign z. And left the expence or trouble of a journey to court fhould difcourage fuitors, and make them ac- quiefce in the decifion of the inferior judicatures, itine- rant judges were afterwards eftablifned, who made their circuits throughout the kingdom, and tried all caufes that were brought before them a. By this expedient, the courts of barony were kept in awe ; and if they ftill pre- y Dugd. Orig. Jurid. p. 25. z Madox Hill, of the Exch. p. 65* Glanv. lib. 12. cap. i, 7. LL. Hen, I. § 3 r. apud Wilkins, p. 248. Fiu Stephens, p. 36. Coke's Comment, on the Statute of Mulbridge, cap. ao a Madox Hift. of the Exch. p. 83, 84, 100. Gery. Dorob. p. 1410 What made the Anglo-Norman barons more readily fubmit to appeals from their court to the King's court of Exchequer, was, their being accuftomed to like appeals in Normandy to the ducal court of Exchequer. See Gilbert', Hiflury of the Exchequer, p. 1, 2.5 though the author thinks it doubtful, whether the Norman court was not rather copied from the Englilh, p. 6. 4. ferve4 A P P E N D I X II. t*$ ferved fome influence, it was only from the apprehenfions, Appendix which the vaflals might entertain, of difobliging their ^mimm^mmmj fuperior, by appealing from his jurifdi&ion. But the county-courts were much difcredited ; and as the free- holders were found ignorant of the intricate principles and forms of the new law, the lawyers gradually brought all bufinefs before the king's judges, and abandoned the ancient fimple and popular judicature. After this man- ner, the formalities of juftice, which, though they appear tedious and cumberfome, are found requifite to the fup- port of liberty in all monarchical governments, proved at firfr, by a combination of caufes, very advantageous to the royal authority in England- The power of the Norman kings was alio much fup-^evsnue °~ r ° the crown. ported by a great revenue ; and by a revenue, that was fixed, perpetual, and independant of the fubje£t. The people, without betaking themfelves to arms, had no check upon the king, and no regular fecurity for the due adminiftration of juftice. In thofe days of violence, many inftances of oppreffion pafTed unheeded ; and were foon after openly pleaded as precedents, which it was unlawful to difpute or controul. Princes and minifters were too ignorant to be themfelves fenfible of the advan- tages attending an equitable adminiftration-; and there was no eftablifhed council or afTembly which could pro- tect the people, and, by withdrawing fupplies, regularly and peaceably admonifh the king of his duty, and enfure the execution of the laws. The firft branch of the king's ftated revenue was the royal demefnes or crown-lands, which were very exten- five, and comprehended, befide a great number of manors,, moft of the chief cities of the kingdom. It was efta- blilhed by law, that the king could alienate no part of his demefne, and that he himfelf, or his fuccefibr, could, at any time, refume fuch donations b : But this law was- b FUta, lib, J. cap. 8, 17. lib. 3. cap. 6. § 3. Bradtcn, lib.*, cap, 5. never 126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix never regularly obferved ; which happily rendered in time the crown fomewhat more dependant. The rent of the crown-lands, confidered merely as fo much riches, was a fource of power : The influence of the king over his tenants and the inhabitants of his towns, encreafed this power : But the other numerous branches of his re- venue, befides fupplying his treafury, gave, by their very nature, a great latitude to arbitrary authority, and were a fupport of the prerogative j as will appear from an enu- meration of them. The king was never content with the dated rents, but levied heavy talliages at pleafure on the inhabitants both of town and country, who lived within his demefne. All bargains of fale, in order to prevent theft, being prohibited, except in boroughs and public markets c, he pretended to exact tolls on all goods which were there fold d. He feized two hogfheads, one before and one behind the mafr, from every vefTel that imported wine. AH goods payed to his cuftoms a proportional part of their value e : Paflage over bridges and on rivers was loaded with tolls at pleafure f : And though the boroughs by degrees bought the liberty of farming thefe impofi- tions, yet the revenue profited by thefe bargains, new fums were often exacted for the renewal and confirma- tion of their charters ?, and the people were thus held in perpetual dependance. Such was the fituation of the inhabitants within the royal demefnes. But the pofTefTors of land, or the mili- tary tenants, though they were better protected, both by law, and by the great privilege of carrying arms, were from the nature of their tenures, much expofed to the inroads of power, and pofl'efled not what we fhould c LL. Will. i. cap. 61. d Madox, p. 530. e Ibid._ p. 529. This author fays a fifteenth. But it is not eafy to reconcile this account to other autherities. { Madox, p. 529, S Madox's Hift. of the Exch. p. 275, 276, 277, &c. eftcem APPENDIX II. 127 efteem in our age a very durable fecurity. The Con- Appendix queror granted by his laws, that the barons fhould be \_^L^j obliged to pay nothing beyond their ftated fervices s, ex- cept a reafonable aid to ranfom his perfon if he were taken in war, to make his eldeft fon a knight, and to marry his eldeft daughter. What mould, on thefe occa- sions, be deemed a reafonable aid, was not determined ; and the demands of the. crown were fo far difcretionary. The king could require in war the perfonal attendance of his vafTals, that is, of almoft all the landed proprie- tors ; and if they declined the fervice, they were obliged to pay him a compofition in money, which was called a fcutage. The fum was, during fome reigns, preca- rious and uncertain ; it was fometimes levied without allowing the vaffal the liberty of perfonal fervice h ; and it was a ufual artifice of the king's to pretend an expe- dition, that he might be intitled to levy the fcutage from his military tenants. Danegelt was another fpecies of land-tax levied by the early Norman kings, arbitrarily, and contrary to the laws of the Conqueror'. Moneyage was alfo a general land-tax of the fame nature, levied by the two firft Norman kings, and abolrfhed by the char- ter of Henry I. k It was a milling paid every three years by each hearth, to induce the king not to ufe his preroga- tive in debafing the coin. Indeed, it appears from that charter, that, though the Conqueror had granted his mi- litary tenants an immunity from all taxes and talliages, he and his fon William had never thought themfelves bound to obferve that rule, but had levied impofitions at pleafure on all the landed cftates of the kingdom. The utmoft that Henry grants, is, that the land cultivated by the military tenant himfelf fhall not be fo burdened ; but he referves the power of taxing the farmers : And as it is g LL. Will. Conq. § 55. h Gervafe de Tilbury, p. 25. * Madox'8 Hift, of the Exch. p. 475, k Manh. Paris,, p. 3S. known, 12$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix known, that Henry's charter was never obferved in any one article, we may be affined, that this prince and hid fuccefibrs retraced even this fmall indulgence, and levied arbitrary impofitions on all the lands of all their fubjects. Thefe taxes were fometimes very heavy ; fince Malmef- bury tells us, that, in the reign of William Rufus, the farmers, on account of them, abandoned tillage, and a famine enfued '. The efcheats were a great branch both of power and of revenue to the king, efpecially during the firft reigns af- ter the conqueft. In default of pofterity from the firft baron, his land reverted to the crown, and continually augmented the king's pofTeffions. The prince had indeed by law a power of alienating thefe efcheats ; but by this means he had an opportunity of eftablifhing the for- tunes of his friends and fervants, and thereby enlarging his authority. Sometimes he retained them in his own hands ; and they were gradually confounded with the royal demefnes, and became difficult to be diftinguifhed from them. This confufion is probably the reafon why the king acquired the right of alienating his demefnes. But befides efcheats from default of heirs, thofe which enfued from crimes or breach of duty towards the fuperior lord, were frequent in ancient times. If the vaflal, being thrice fummoned to attend his fuperior's court, and do fealty, neglected or refufed obedience, he forfeited all title to his lands m. If he denied his tenure, or refufed his fervice, he was expofed to the fame penalty n. Where he fold his eftate without licence from his lord °, or if he fold it upon any other tenure or title than that by which he himfelf held it p, he loft all right to it. The adhering I So alfo Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, p. 55. Knyghton, p. 1366. m Hottom. de Feud. Difp. cap. 38. col. 886. n Lib. Feud, lib, 3, tit. I. ; lib. 4. tit. 21, 39. e Lib. Feud. lib. I. tit, 21. P Id. lifc, 4, tit. 44. tQ A P P E N D I X II. 129 to his lord's enemies *3, deferring him in war r, betraying Appendix his fecrets % debauching his wife or his near relations ', ^^^^j or even ufing indecent freedoms with them u, might be punifhed by forfeiture. The higher crimes, rapes, robbery, murder, arfon, &c. were called felony ; and being interpreted want of fidelity to his lord, made him lofe his fief w. Even where the felon was vaflal to a baron, though his immediate lord enjoyed the forfeiture, the king might retain pofTeflion of his eftate during a twelvemonth, and had the right of fpoiling and deftroy- ing it, unlefs the baron paid him a reafonable compofi- tion x. We have not here enumerated all the fpecies of felonies, or of crimes by which forfeiture was incurred : We have faid enough to prove, that the pofTeflion of feu- dal property was anciently fomewhat precarious, and that the primary idea was never loft, of its being a kind of fee or baief.ee. When a baron died, the king immediately took pof- feflion of the eftate ; and the heir, before he recovered his right, was obliged to make application to the crown, and defire that he might be admitted to- do homage for his land, and pay a compofition to the king. This compofi- tion was not at firft fixed by law, at leaft by practice : The king was often exorbitant in his demands, and kept pofTeflion of the land till they were complied with. If the heir was a miner, the king retained the whole profit of the eftate till his majority ; and might grant what fum he thought proper for the education and main- tenance of the young .baron. This practice wa*s alfo founded on the notion, that a fief was a benefice, a that, while the heir could not perform his military fer- «! Lib. Feud. lib. 3, tit, 1, lib. 4. tit. I4> 2T. s Id. tfb. 4. tit, 14. t Id, lib* 1. tit ia,2i, u. Id. lib. 1, tit. t. w Spelm, G!ofT in verb. Fdoniai * opelm. G.cfT. :r. v?rb. Fthnia. Gi ::• ; cap. 17. VOL. II. K vices, 130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. vices, the revenue devolved to the fuperior, who employed another in his Head. It is obvious, that a great propor- tion of the landed property mud, by means of this de- vice, be continually in the hands of the prince, and that ail the noble families were thereby held in perpetual de- pendance. When the king granted the wardfhip of a rich heir to any one, he had the opportunity of enriching a favourite or m miller : If he fold it, he thereby levied a confidcrable fum of money. Simon de Mountfort paid Henry III. 10,000 marks, an immenfe fum in thofe days, for the wardfhip of Gilbert de Urnfreville y. Geoffrey de Mandeville payed to the fame prince the fum of 20,000 marks, that he might marry lfabel countefs of Glouceiler, and pofTefs all her lands and knights fees. This fum would be equivalent to 300,000, perhaps 400,000 pounds in our tin If the heir was a female, the king was entitled to- offer her any hufband of her rank he thought proper; and if flic refufed him, me forfeited her land. Even a male heir could not marry without the royal confent, and it was ufual for men to pay large fums for the liberty of making their own choice in marriage \ No man could difpofe of his land, either by fale or will, without the confent of his fuperior. The poflefTor was never confi- dered as full proprietor : He was frill a kind of benefi- ciary ; and could not oblige his fuperior to accept of any vaflkl, that was not agreeable to him. Fines, amerciaments, and oblatas, as they were called, were another confiderable branch of the royal power and revenue. The ancient records of the exchequer, which are ftill preferved, give furprizing accounts of the nume- rous fines and amerciaments levied in thofe days b, and of ths flrarige inventions fallen upon to exadt money from y Muckx's Hift. of theExch. p. 223. z Id, p. 322, a Id. p. 310, b Id. p, 272. the APPENDIX II. 131 T-he fubjecl. It appears, that the ancient kings of England put themfelves entirely on the foot of the barbarous eaftern princes, whom no man muft approach without a prefent, who fell all their good offices, and who intrude themfelves into every bufinefs, that they may have a pretence for extort- ing money. Even jufrice was avowedly bought and fold ; the king's court itfelf, though the fupreme judicature of the kingdom, Was open to none that brought not prefents to the king; the bribes given for the expedition, delay c, fufpenfkn, and, doubtlefs, for the perverfion of juftice, were entered in the public regifters of the royal revenue, and remain as monuments of the perpetual iniquity and tyranny of the times. The barons of the exchequer, for inftance, the firft nobility of the kingdom, were not afhamed to infert, as an article in their records, that the county of Norfolk paid a fum, that they might be fairly dealt with d ; the borough of Yarmouth, that the king's charters, which they have for their liberties, might not be violated e ; Richard, fon of Gilbert, for the king's help- ing him to recover his debt from the Jews f ; Serlo, fon of Terlavafton, that he might be permitted to make his defence, in cafe he was accufed of a certain homicide s ; Walter de Burton for free law, if accufed of wounding another h ; Robert de ElTart, for having an inqueft to find whether Roger, the butcher, and Wace and Humphrey, accufed him of robbery and theft out of envy and ill-will, or not l , William Buhurft, for having an inqueft to find whether he was accufed of the death of one Godwin out of ill-will or for juft caufe k. I have felected thefe few inftances from a great number of a like kind, which Ma- dox had felecled from a ftill greater number,' preferved in the ancient rolls of the exchequer '. * Madox's Hift. of Exch. p. 274, 309. d Id. p. 205. e Id. ibid. f Id. p. 296. He paid 200 marks, a great fum *a thofe days. g I'd, p 296. h id, ibji. * Id. p. 29$. f Id, p. 30Z, 1 Chap. xii. JC z Sometimes HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Sometimes the party litigant offered the king a cer- tain portion, a half, a third, a fourth, payable out of the debts, which he, as the executor of juftice, fhould aflift' him in recovering1". Theophania de Weftland agreed to pay the half of 212 marks, that (h- might recover that fum againft James de Fughlefton n ; Solomon the Jew en- gaged to pay one mark out of every feven that he fhould recover againft Hugh de la Hofe ° ; Nicholas Morrel pro- mifed to pay fixty pounds, that the earl of Flanders might be diftrained to pay him 343 pounds, which the earl had taken from him ; and thefe fixty pounds were to be paid out of the firil money that Nicholas fhould recover from the earl p. As the king affumed the entire power over trade, he was to be paid for a permiflion to exercife commerce or induftry of any kind '. Hugh Oifel paid 400 marks for liberty to trade in England r : Nigel de Havene gave fifty marks for the partnership in merchandize which he had de Hanton s : The men of. Worcefter paid 100 (hillings, that they might have the liberty of felling and buying dyed cloth, as formerly l : Several other towns r a like liberty ". The commerce indeed of the dom was fo much under the controul of the king, that he erected gilds, corporations, and monopolies, wherever he pleafed ; and levied fums for thefe exclulive privi- leges . There were no profits fo fmall as to be below the Lttentipn, Henry, ion of Arthur, gave ten dogs7 to have a recognition againft the countefs of Copland for one knight's fee x. Roger,, ion of Nicholas, gave twenty lampreys and twenty fhads for an inqueft to find, whether m Madox'sHift. of Exch. p. 311. n Id. ibid. c Id. p. 79, 3'2. P Id. p. 311. q Id. p. 323. r Id. ibid. s Id. ibid, t id. p. 324, u Id, ibid, w U. p. zj2, ; S33, &c. x Jd, p. 2C,S, Gilbert, APPENDIX II. 133 Gilbert, fon of Alured, gave to Roger 200 muttons to Appendix obtain his confirmation for certain lands, or whether Rr took them from him by violence y : Geoffrey Fitz-Pierre, the chief judiciary, gave two good Norway hawks, that Walter le Madine might have leave to export an hundred weight of cheefe out of the king's dominions z. It is really amufing to remark the ftrange bufinfifs in which the king fometimes interfered, and never without a prefent : The wife of Hugh de Neville gave the king 200 hens, that fhe mio-ht lie with her hufband one night a ; and flie brought with her two fureties, who anfwered each for an hundred hens. It is probable that her hufband was a prifoner, which debarred her having accefs to him. The abbot of Rucfbrd paid ten marks, for leave to erecl houfes and place men upon his land near Welhang, in order to fecure his wood there from being flolen b : Hi;: h archdeacon of Wells, gave one tun of wine for leave to carry 600 fumms of corn whither he would c : Peter de Perariis gave twenty marks for leave to fait fifties, as Peter Chevalier ufed to do'1. It was ufual to pay high fines, in order to gain the king's good-will, or mitigate his anger. In the reign of Henry II. Gilbert, the fon of Fergus, fines in 919 pounds 9 fhillings to obtain that prince's favour ; William' de» Chataignes a thoufand marks that he would remit his difpleafure. In the reign of Henry III. the city of Lon- don fines in no lefs a fum than 20,000 pounds en the fame account c. The king's protection and good offices of every kind were bought and fold. Robert Grifiet paid twenty marks of filver, that the king would help him againft the earl of Mortaigne in a certain plea f : Robert de Cundet gave y Madox's Hift. of Exch. p. 305. z Id. p. 3x5. a Id. p. 326. b Id. ibid. c Id. p. 320. d Id. p, 3-6. e Id. p. 327, 329. f Id. p. 329. K 3 thirty 134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, thirty marks of filyer, that the king would bring him to an accord with the bifhop of Lincoln s : Ralph de Breck- ham gave a hawk, that the Icing would protect him h ; and this is a very frequent reafon for payments : John, fon of Ordgar, gave a Norway hawk, to have the king's requeft. to the king of Norway to let liim have his bro- ther Godard's chattels ' : Richard de Neville gave twenty palfreys to obtain the king's requeft to Ifolda Bifet, that ihe fhould take him for a hufband k : Roger Fitz- Walter gave three good palfreys to have the king's letter to Ro- ger Bertram's mother, that fhc mould marry him ' : Eling, the dean, paid ioo marks, that his whore and his chil- dren might be let out upon bail m : The bifhop of Win- chefter gave one tun of good wine for his not putting the king in mind to give a girdle to the countefs of Albe- marle n : Robert de Veaux gave five of the bcfl palfreys, that the king would hold his tongue about Henry Pincl's wife °. There are in the records of exchequer many lingular inflances of a like nature p. It will how- eve;- S Madox's Hift.cf Exch. p. 330. h H. p. 3-2. i Id. ibid, k Id. p. 333. 1 Id. ibid. m Id. p. ^42. Pro baber.Ja arnica fita & jHils, &£• n Id. p. 352. 0 Id. ibid. Ut rex taccrat de uxore Hcnrici Fir.el. P We Jhall gratify the reader's curlofiiy by fubjoining%a few more injfanee^ from Madox, p. 331. Hugh Oifel was to give the king two robes of a good green colour, to have the king's letters patent to the merchants cf Flandeis with a requeft to render him 10:0 marks which he loft in Flanders. The abbctof Hyde paid thirty marks, to have the king's letters of requeft to the archbifhop of Canterbury, to remove certain monks that were againft the ab- bot. Roger de Trihanton paid twenty marks and a palfrey, to have the king's requeft to Richard de Umfreville to give him his fifter to wife, and to the fifter that fne would accept of him for a hulband : William de Che vering- worth paid five marks, to have the king's letter to the abbot of Perfore, to let him enjny peaceably his tythes as formerly : Matthew de Hereford, clerk, paid ten marks for a letter cf requeft to the bifhop of Landaff, to let him enjoy peaceably h:s church of Schenfrith : Andrew Neulun gave three Flemifti caps, for the king's requeft to the prior of Chikefand, for petformance of an agree- ment made between them: Henry de Fontibus gave a Lombardy horfe of value; A P P E N D I X II. 135 ever be juft to remark, that the fame ridiculous practices Appendix and dangerous abufes prevailed in Normandy, and pro- .^-yw bably in all the other ftates of Europe "J. England was not in this rcfpecl: more barbarous than its neighbours. These iniquitous practices of the Norman kings were fo well known, that^ on the death of Hugh Bigod, in the reign of Henry II. the heft and moft juft of thcfe princes, the eldeft fon and the widow of this nobleman came to court, and ftrove, by offering large prefents to the king, each of them to acquire pofleffion of that rich inheritance. The king was fo equitable as to order the caufe to be tried by the great council ! But, in the mean time, he feized all the money and treafure of the deceafed r. Peter of Blois, a judicious, and even an elegant writer for that age, gives a pathetic defcription of the venality of iuftice and the oppreffions of the poor, under the reign of Henry: And he fcruples not to complain to the king him- felf of thefe abufes $. We may judge what the cafe would be under the government of worfe princes. The articles of enquiry concerning the conducl of {heriffs, which Henry promulgated in 1170, fhow the great power as well as the licenticufnefs of thefe officers c. Amerciaments or fines for crimes and trefpaues were another confiderable branch of the royal revenue u. Moft value, to have the king's requeft to Henry Fitz Hervey, that he would give him his daughter to wife ; Roger, fon of Nicholas, prumifed all the lampreys he could get, to have the king's requeft to earl William Mare/ha J, ttjat he would grant him the manor of La-ngeford at Perm. The burgefil'S of Glo- cefter promifed 300 lampreys, that they might not be dirtrained to find the prisoners of Poidlou with nectffaries, unlefs they pleafed. Id. p. 352. Jor- dan, fon of Reginald, paid twenty marks to have the king's requeft to William Painel, that he would grant him the land of Mill Nierenuit, and the cuft.dy of his heirs ; and if Jordan obtained the fame, he was to pay the twenty marks, otherwife not. Id. p. 333. 9 Madox's Hift of Exch. p. 359. r Bened. Abb. p. 180, 181. s Petri Eief. Epift, 95. apud Bibl. Patrum, torn. 24. p. 2c 14. t Hoveden, Chron. Gerv. p. 1410. u Mf.dox, chap. xW. K 4 crimes i& HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix crimes were atoned for by money ; the fines impofed mot limited by any rule or flatute ; and frequently occa- fioned the total ruin of the perfon, even for the flighteft trefpafles. The foreft-laws, particularly, were a great fource of opprefiion. The king poiTelTcd fixty-eight forefts, thirteen chaces, and feven hundred and eighty- one parks, in different parts of England w ; and confider- ing the extreme paflion of the En'glifh and Normans for hunting, thefe v/ere fo many fnares laid for the people, by which they were allured into treipaffes, and brought within the reach of arbitrary and rigorous laws, which the king had thought proper to enact, by his own authority. But the mod barefaced acts of tyranny and opprefiion were practifed againft the Jews, who were entirely out of the protection pf law, were extremely odious from the bigotry of the people, and v/ere abandoned to the immea- furable rapacity of the king and his minifters. Befides many other indignities, to which they were continually expo fed, it appears, that they were once all thrown into prifon, and the fum of 66,000 marks exacted for their liberty ' : At another time, Ifaac the Jew paid alone 5100 marks >r ; Brim, 3000 marks z ; Jurnet, 2000 ; Bennet, 500 : At another, Licorica, widow of David, the Jew of Oxford, was required to pay 6000 marks ; and fhe was delivered over to fix of the richefl and difcreetcft Jews in England, who were to anfwer for the fum a. Henry III. borrowed 5000 marks from the earl of Cornwal ; and for his repayment ccnfigned over to him all the Jews in Eng- land b. The revenue arifing from exactions upon this nation was fo confiderable, that there was a particular court of exchequer (ct apart for managing it c. w Spelm. GJofl". in verto Wortfta. * Madox's Hift. of theExch. p. 151. This happened in the reign of king John. y Id. p. 351. i Id. p. 153. a Id. p.l68. *> Id. p. 156. c Id. chap. vii3- We APPENDIX II. 137 We may judge concerning the lowflate of commerce Appendix among the Englifh, v/hen the Jews, notwithstanding i_^-^_/ thefe opprefiions, could frill find their account in trading Com"'trce- among them, and lending them money. And as the im- provements of agriculture were alfo much checked, by the imrnenfe pofleflions of the nobility, by the diforders of the times, and by the precarious flate of feudal property; it appears, that induftry of no kind could then have place in the kingdom t!. It is aflerted by Sir Harry Spellman % as an un- doubted truth, that during the reigns of the firfl Norman princes, every edict of the king, iffued with the confent of his privy-council, had the full force of law. But the barons furely were not fo paffive as to entruft a power, entirely arbitrary and defpotic, into the hands of the fo- vereign. It only appears, that the conftitution had not fixed any precife boundaries to the royal power ; that the right of ifluing proclamations on any emergence and of exacting obedience to them, a right which was always fuppofed inherent in the crown, is very difficult to be diltinguifhed from a legiflative authority; that the ex- treme imperfection cf the ancient laws, and the fudden exigencies, which often occurred in ' fuch turbulent go- vernments, obliged the prince to exert frequently the latent powers of his prerogative ; that he naturally pro- ceeded, from the acquiefcence of the people, to aflume, in many particulars of moment, an authority, from which J We learn from the extracts given us cf Domefday by Brady in his Treatife of Boroughs, that almoft all the boroughs of England had fuiTered in the fheck of the Conqueft, and had decayed extremely between the death of the ConfefTor, and the time when Domefday was framed. e Glofl". in verb, judicium Dei, The author of the Mircir des jujlices, com- plains, that ordinances are only made by the king and his clerks, and by aliens and others, who dare not contradict the king, but iludy to pleafe him. Whence, he concludes, laws are oftener dilated by will than founded on Tight. he 1 38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix ne nat] excluded himfelf by exprefs ftatutes, charters, or i^^^j conceffions, and which was, in the main, repugnant to the general genius of the conftitution ; and that the lives, the perfonal liberty, and the properties of all his fubjec"r.s were lefs fecured by law againfr. the exertion of his arbi- trary authority, than by the independant power and pri- vate connexions of each individual. It appears from the great charter itfelf, that not only John, a tyrannical prince, and Richard, a violent one, but their father, Henry, under whofe reign the prevalence of grofs abufes is the leaft to be fufpeiSted, was accuftomed, from his fole authority, without procefs of law, to imprifon, banifh, and attaint the freemen of his kingdom. A great baron, in ancient times, confidered himfelf as a kind of fovereign within his territory ; and was at- tended by courtiers and dependants more zealoufly attach- ed to him than the minifters of ftate and the great officers were commonly to ihelr fovereign. He often maintained in his court the parade of royalty, by eftablifhing a judi- ciary, conftable, marefcha!, chamberlain, fenefchal, and chancellor, and afligning to each of thefe officers a feparate province and command. He was ufually very affiduous in exercifing his jurifdiclion ; and took fuch delight in that image of fovereignty, that it was found necefTary to rcflrain his activity, and prohibit him by law from hold- ing courts too frequently e. It is not to be doubted, but the example, fet him by the prince, of a mercenary and fordid extortion, would be faithfully copied ; and that all his good and bad offices, his juftice and injuftice, were equally put to fale. He had the power, with the king's confent, to exact talliages even from the free-citizens who lived within his barony ; and as his neceffities made him rapacious, his authority was ufually found to be more oppreffive and tyrannical than that of the fovereign f . He « Dugd. Jurid. Oii&. p. 26. f Madox Hift, of Exch. p. 520. was A P P E N D I X II. 139 was ever engaged in hereditary or perfonal animofitics or Appendix confederacies with his neighbours, and often gave protec- i.^.-^ ^ tion to all defperate adventurers and criminals, who could be ufeful in ferving his violent purpofes. He was able alone, in times of tranquillity, to obftru£t the execution of juftice within his territories ; and by combining with a few malcontent barons of high rank and power, he could throw the ftate into convulfion. And on the whole, though the royal authority was confined within bounds, and often within very narrow ones, yet the check was irregular, and frequently the fource of great diforders ; nor was it derived from the liberty of the people, but from the military power of many petty tyrants, who were equally dangerous to the prince and oppreflive to the fubjedt. The power of the church was another rampart againft The church. royal authority ; but this defence was alfo the caufe of many mifchiefs and inconveniencies. The dignified clergy, perhaps, were not fo pron? to immediate violence as the barons ; but as they pretended to a total independ- ance on the ftate, and could always cover themfelves with the appearances of religion, they proved, in one re- fpecf, an obftrudlicn to the fettlement of the kingdom, and to the regular execution of the laws. The policy of the Conqueror was in this particular liable to fome ex- ception. He augmented the fuperftitious veneration fcr Rome, to which that age was fo much inclined ; and he broke thofe bands of connexion, which, in the Saxon times, had preferved an union between the lay and the clerical orders. He prohibited the bifhops from fitting in the county-courts ; he allowed ecclefiaftical caufes to be tried in fpiritual courts only e ; and he fo much exalted the power of the clergy, that of 60,215 knights fees, into 8 Char. Will, apud Wilkins, p. 23c. Spel. Cone, vol. ii, p. 14. which -140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix which he divided England, he placed no ' lefs than 28,015 c*-v-^; under the church h. Civil laws. Ehe right of primogeniture was introduced with the feudal law : An institution, .which is hurtful by produc- ing and maintaining an unequal divificn of private pro- perty ; but is advantageous, in another refpccl, by acuf- toming the people to a preference in favour of the eldeft: fon, and thereby preventing a partition or difputed fuc- cciTion in the monarchy. The Normans introduced the ufe of fimamcs, which tend toprefervc the knowledge of families and pedigrees. They abolifhcd none of the old abfurd methods of trial, by the crofs or ordeal ; and they added a new abfurdity, the trial by (ingle combat ', which became a regular part of jurifprudence, and was conduct- ed with all the order, method, devotion, and folcmnity imaginable k. The ideas of chivalry alfo feem to have been imported by the Normans : No traces of thofe fan- taftic notions are to be found among the plain and ruftic Manner?. Saxons. The feudal inftitutions, by railing the military tenants to a kind of fovereign dignity, rendering perfonal ftrcngth and valour requifite, and making every knight and baron his own protector and avenger, begot that mar- tial pride and ftnfe of honour, which, being cultivated and embellifhcd by the poets and romance writers of the age, ended in chivalry. The virtuous knight fought not •only in his own quarrel ; but in that of the innocent, of thchclplefs, and above all, of the fair, whom he fuppofed to be for ever under the guardianfhip of his valiant arm. The uncourteous knight, who, from his caftle, exercifed h Spel. GlolT. in verb, mar.ia mortua. We are not to imagine, as fome have done, that the church poflefied lands in this proportion, but only that they and their vaffals enjoyed fuch a proportionable part of the landed property, i LL.Wilf. cap. 63. k Spel. G!oiF. in verb, campus. The lafl: inftsnee of thefe duels was in the Jelh of Eliz. So long did that abfurdity iemain. robbery APPENDIX II. 141 robbery on travellers, and committed violence on virgins. Appendix was the objecT: of his perpetual indignation ; and he put ^^^j him to death, without fcruple or trial or appeal, wherever he met with him. The great indepen dance of men made perfonal honour and fidelity the chief tie among them ; and rendered it the capital virtue of every true knight, or o-enuine profeflbr of chivalry. The folemnities of fingle combat, as eftablimed by law, baniflied the notion of every thing unfair or unequal in rencounters ; and main- tained an appearance of courtefy between the combatants, till the moment of their engagement. The credulity of the age grafted on this ftock the notion of giants, en- chanters, dragons, fpells ', and a thoufand wonders, which ftill multiplied during the times of the Crufades ; when men, returning from fo great a diftance, ufed the liberty of impofing every fiction on their believing audi- ence. Thefe ideas of chivalry infected the writings, con- verfation, and behaviour of men, during fome ages ; and even after they were, jn a great meafure, banifhed by the revival of learning, they left modern gallantly and the point of 'honour, which frill maintain their influence, and are the genuine offspring of thofe ancient affectations. The conceffion of the Great Charter, or rather its full eftablifhment (for there was a confiderable interval of time between the one and the other) gave rife, by de- grees, to a new fpecies of government, and introduced fome order and juftice into the adrniniftration. The en- fuing fcenes of our hiftory are therefore fomewhat dif- ferent from the preceding. Yet the Great Charter con- tained no eftablifhment of new courts, magiftrates, or fenates, nor abolition of the old. It introduced no new diflribution of the powers of the commonwealth, and no innovation in the political or public law of the kingdom, 1 In all legal Cinele combats, it v.-ss psrt of the champion's oath, that he canied not about him any herb, fp e J ! , or inchantm;nt, by which he might procure vi&ory, Du^d, Orhr. Jtfrid, p. S2, It 1^2. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Appendix jt on]y gUarded, and that merely by verbal claufes. againft fuch tyrannical practices as are incompatible with civilized government, and, if they become very frequent, are incompatible with all government. The barbarous licence of the kings, and perhaps of the nobles, was thenceforth fomewhat more reftrained : Men acquired fome more fecurity for their properties and their liberties : And government approached a little nearer to that end, for which it was originally inftituted, the diftribution of juftice, and the equal protection of the citizens. Acts of violence and iniquity in the crown, which before were only deemed injuries to individuals, and were hazardous chiefly in proportion to the number, power, and dignity of the perfons affected by them, were now regarded, in fome degree, as public injuries, and as infringements of a charter, calculated for general fecurity. And thus, the efrablifhment of the Great Charter, without feeming anywife to innovate in the diftribution of political power, became a kind of epoch in the conftitution. [ <43 1 CHAP. XII. HENRY III. Settlement cf the government General pacification • — —Death of the Protector Some commotions • Hubert de Burgh difplaced The bijhop of Winch eft er minifter — King's partiality to foreigners * Grievances Ecclefiaftical grievances- Earl ofCornwal defied king of the Romans — Dif- content of the barons Simon de Mount fort earl of Leicefter Provijions of Oxford Ufurpation cf the barons Prince Edward Civil wars cf the barons — Reference to the king of France — Renewal of the civil wars Battle of Lewes — Hcufe of commons Battle of Eve fh am and death cf Leicefter Settlement of the government Death and character cf the king MifceU laneous tranfafiions of this reign. MOST fciences, in proportion as they encreafe and chap, improve, invent methods by which they facilitate ._ _!_/ their reafonings ; and employing general theorems, are *&l6- enabled to comprehend in a few propofitions a great num- ber of inferences and conclusions. Hiftory alfo, being a collection of facts which are multiplying without end, is obliged to adopt fuch arts of abridgment, to retain the more material events, and to drop all the minute circum- Ibuices, which are only intending during the time, or to 9 the 144 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. the perfons engaged in the tranfa&ions. This truth is no where more evident than with regard to the reign^ upon which we are going to enter. What mortal could have the patience to write or read a long detail of fuch frivolous events as thole with which it is filled, or attend to a tedious narrative which would follow, through a fe- ries of fifty-fix years, the caprices and weaknefTes of fo mean a prince as Henry ? The chief reafon, why pro- teflant writers have been fo anxious to fpread out the inci- dents of this reign, is in order to expofe the rapacity, ambition, and artifices of the court of Rome, and to prove, that the great dignitaries of the catholic church, while they pretended to' have nothing in view but the fal- vation of fouls, had bent all their attention to the acqui- fition of riches, and were reftrained by no fenfe of juftice or of honour, in the purfuit of that great object m. But this conclufion would readily be allowed them, though it were not illuftrated by fuch a detail of uninterefting inci- dents ; and follows indeed, by an evident neceffity, from the very fituation, in which that church was placed with regard to the reft of Europe. For, befides that ecclefiafti- cal power, as it can always cover its operations under a cloak of fanctity, and attacks men on the fide where they dare not employ their reafon, lies lefs under controul than civil government; befides this general caufe, I fay, the pope and his courtiers were foreigners to moft of the churches which they governed ; they could not poffibly have any other object than to pillage the provinces for pre- fent gain ; and as they lived at a diftance, they would be little awed by fhame or remorfe, in employing every lu- crative expedient, which was fuggefted to them. Eng- land being one of the moft remote provinces attached to the Romifh hierarchy, as well as the moft prone to fuper- ftition, felt feverely during this reign, while its patience m M Pari?, p. 623. 1 was HENRY IIL HS was not yet fully exhaufted, the influence of thefe caufes ; C ^ a p. and we fhall often have occaflon to touch curforily upon ■_ . y.' _j fuch incidents. But we fhall not attempt to compre- wifc hend every tranfaction tranfmitted to us ; and till the end of the reign, when the events become more memorable, we fhall not always obferve an exact chronological order in our narration. The earl of Pembroke, who, at the time of John's Settlement death, was marefchal of England, was by his office at the vemtn^tl head of the armies, and confequently, during a ftate of civil wars and convulfions, at the head of the irate ; and it happened fortunately for the young monarch and for the nation, that the power could not have been intruded into more able and more faithful hands. This nobleman, who had maintained his loyalty unfhaken to John during the loweft fortune of that monarch, determined to fupport the authority of the infant prince ; nor was he dis- mayed at the number and violence of his enemies. Sen- fible, that Henry, agreeably to the prejudices of the times, would not be deemed a fovereign, till crowned and anointed by a churchman ; he immediately carried the young prince 28th 0&» to Glccefter, where the ceremony of coronation was per- formed, in the prefence of Gualo, the legate, and of a very few noblemen, by the bifhops of Winchefter and Bath ". As the concurrence of the papal authority was requifite to fupport the tottering throne, Henry was obliged to fwear fealty to the pope, and renew that homage, to which his father had already fubjecled the kingdom ° : And in order to enlarge the authority of Pembroke, and to give him a more regular and legal title to it, a general council of the barons was foon after fummoned at Brif* tol, where that nobleman was chofen protector cf the Ilth No1,« realm. « M. Paris, p. zoo. Hift. Croyf. Ccrf. p. 474. W. Heming, p. 55*, Trivet, p. 168. o M, Paris, p. 20c. Vol. II, JL Pembroke** 146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C xi? P* PembRoke, that he might reconcile all men to the \m*~\-*j government of his pupil, made him grant anew a charter 1*16. of liberties, which, though moftly copied from the for- mer conceffions extorted from John, contains fome alter- ation?, which may be deemed remarkable p. The full privilege of elections in the clergy, granted by the late king, was not confirmed, nor the liberty of going out of the kingdom, without the royal confent : Whence we may conclude, that Pembroke and the barons, jealous of the ecclefiaftical power, both were defirous of renewing the king's claim to ifTue a conge d'elire to the monks and chapters, and thought it requifite to put fome check to the frequent appeals to Rome. But what may chiefly furprize us is, that the obligation, to which John had fubjected himfelf, of obtaining the confent of the great council before he levied any aids or fcutages upon the nation, was omitted ; and this article was even declared hard and fevere, and was exprefsly left to future delibe-* ration. But we muft confider, that, though this limi- tation may perhaps appear to us the molt momentous in the whole charter of John, it was not regarded in that light by the ancient barons, who were more jealous in guarding againft particular acts of violence in the crown, than againft fuch general impofitions, which, unlefs they were evidently reafonable and necefTary, could fcarcely, Without general confent, be levied upon men, who had arms in their hands, and who could repel any act of op- preflion, by which they were all immediately affected. We accordingly find, that Henry, in the courfe of his reign, while he gave frequent occaiions for complaint, with regard to his violations of the Great Charter, never once attempted, by his mere will, to levy any aids or fcutages ; though he was often reduced to great neceflz- ticsj and was refufed fupply by his people. So much 9 Rymer, vol. i, p. 315. Cftfier HENRY III. 147 Cafier was it for him to tranfgrefs the law, when indivi- chap. duals alone were affected, than even to exert his acknow- ^r-y-w' ledged prerogatives, where the intereft of the whole body »2,6» was concerned. This charter was again confirmed by the king in the enfuing year, with the addition of fome articles to prevent the oppreffions by fheriffs : And alfo with an additional charter of forefts, a circumftance of great moment in thofe ages, when hunting was fo much the occupation of the nobility, and when the king comprehended fo confider- able a part of the kingdom within his forefts, which he governed by peculiar and arbitrary laws. All the forefts, which had been enclofed fince the reign of Henry II. were dcfaforefted ; and new perambulations were ap- pointed for that purpofe : Offences in the forefts were declared to be no longer capital ; but punifhable by fine, imprifonment, and more gentle penalties : And all the proprietors of land recovered the power of cutting ana ufing their own wood at their pleafure. Thus, thefe famous charters were brought very nearly to the fhape, in which they have ever fmce flood j and they were, during many generations, the peculiar favour- ites of the Englifh nation, and efteemed the raoft facred rampart to national liberty and independance. As they fecurcd the rights of all orders of men, they were anxi- oufly defended by all, and became the bafis, in a man- ner, of the Englifh monarchy, and a kind of original contract, which both limited the authority of the king, and enfured the conditional allegiance of his fubje&s. Though often violated, they were ftill claimed by the nobility and people ; and as no precedents were fuppofed valid, that infringed them, they rather acquired, than loft authority, from the frequent attempts, made againft them in feveral ages, by regal and arbitrary power. While Pembroke, by renewing and confirming the Great Charter, gave £b much fatisfaclion and fecur^ty to L 2 the 1+8 K I S T O R Y OF ENGLAND. CHAP. the nation in general, healfo applied himfelf fuccefsfutfy i_ _ y _ _, to individuals : He wrote letters, in the king's name, to-" »2 16- all the malcontent barons ; in which he reprefented to them, that, whatever jealoufy and animofity they might have entertained againft the late king, a young prince, the lineal heir of their ancient monarchs, had now fuc- ceeded to the throne, without fuccceding either to the refentments or principles of his predeceftbr : That the defperate expedient, which they had employed, of call- ing in a foreign potentate, had, happily for them as well as for the nation, failed of entire fuccefs, and it was ftill in their power, by a fpeedy return to their duty, to re- ftore the indepenciance of the kingdom, and to fecure that liberty, for which they fo zealoufly contended : That as all pair, offences of the barons were now buried in oblivion, they ought, on their part, to forget their com- plaints againft their late fovereign, who, if he had been any wife blameable in his conduct, had left to his fon the faiutary warning, to avoid the paths, which had led to fuch fatal extremities : And that having now obtained a charter for their liberties, it was their intereft to mew, by their conduct, that this acquiikion was not incompa- A tible with their allegiance, and that the rights of king and people, fo far from being hoftile and oppofite, might mutually fupport and fuftain each other s„ These confederations, enforced by the character of honour and conftancy, which Pembroke had ever main- tained, had a mighty influence on the barons ; and moft of them began fecretly to negotiate with him, and many of them openly returned to their duty. The diffidence, which Lewis difcovered, of their fidelity, forwarded this general propenfion towards the king j and when the French prince refufed the government of the caftle of Hertford to Robert Fitz- Walter, who had been fo active 1 Ryraer, vol, i. p. ^I5. Brady's App, N° 143. againft HENRY III. 149 againft the late king, and who claimed that fortrefs as his c H a p. right and property, they plainly fiw, that the Englifh ^^^^j were excluded from every truft, and that foreigners had I2l6> engrofTed all the confidence and affection of their new fovereign r. The excommunication too, denounced by the legate, againft all the adherents of Lewis, failed not, in the turn which men's difpofitions had taken, to pro- duce a mighty effect, upon them ; and they were eafily perfuaded to confider a caufe as impious and profane, for which they had already entertained an unfurmountable averfion s. Though Lewis made a journey to France, and broupht over frefh fuccours from that kingdom', he. found, on his return, that his party was ftill more weak- ened by the defertion of his Englifh confederates, and that the death of John had, contrary to his expectations, given an incurable wound to his caufe. The earls of Sa- lisbury, Arundel, and Warrenne, together with William Marefhal, eideft fon of the protestor, had embraced Hen- ry's party ; and every Englifh nobleman was plainly watching for an opportunity of returning to his allegiance. Pembroke was fo much Strengthened by thefe acceffions, that he ventured to inveft Mount-forel ; though, upon the approach of the count of Perche with the French army, he defifted from his enterprize, and raifed the fiege". The count, elated with this fuccefs, marched to Lincoln ; and being admitted into the town, he began to attack the caille, which he foon reduced to extremity. The protector fummoned all his forces from every quarter in order to relieve a place of fuch importance ; and he ap- peared fo much fuperior to the French, that they fhut themfelves up within the city, and refoived to aft upon the defenfive w. But the garrifon of the cafHe, having received a flrong reinforcement, made a vigorous fally r M. Paris, p. 200, 202. s Ibid. p. 200, M, Weft, p. 277. f Chron, Dunft. vol. i. p. 79. M. Weft. p. 277, » M. Fan's, 9. 203, w Chron, Dunft. vol. i. p. 81. L 3 upon 15© HISTORY OF ENGLAND. upon the befiegers ; while the Englifh army, by concert, afTaulted them in the fame inftant from without, mounted jzi6. the walls by fcalade, and bearing down all refiftance, en- tered the city fword in hand. Lincoln was delivered over to be pillaged ; the French army was totally routed ; the count of Perche, with only two perfons more, was killed, but many of the chief commanders and about 400 knights were made prifoners by the Englifh x. So little blood was fhed in this important action, which decided the fate of one of the moft powerful kingdoms in Europe ; and fuch wretched foldiers were thofe ancient barons, who yet were unacquainted with every thing but arms ! Prince Lewis was informed of this fatal event, while employed in the fiege of Dover, which was ftill valiantly defended againft him by Hubert de Burgh. He immedi- ately retreated to London, which was the center and life of his party ; and he there received intelligence of a new difafter, which put an end to all his hopes. A French fleet, bringing over a ftrong reinforcement, had appeared on the coaft of Kent ; where they were attacked by the Englifh under the command of Philip d'Albiney, and were routed and repulfed with confiderable lofs. D'Albiney employed a ftratagem againft them, which is faid to have contributed to the victory : Having gained the wind of the French, he came down upon them with violence ; and throwing in their faces a great quantity of quick- lime, which he purpofely carried on board, he fo blinded them, that they were difabled from defending them- felves f. After this fecond misfortune of the French, the Eng- lifh barons haftened every where to make terms of peace with the protector, and by an early fubmiffion, to prevent thofe attainders, to which they were expofed on account x M. Paris, p. 204., 405. Chron. de Mullr. p. 19^. y M. Paris, p. 206. Ann. Waverl. p. 183. W. Kerning, p. 563, Trivet, p. 169. M. Weft. p. 177. Knyghton, p. Z4.2S. 8 of HENRY IH. 15.1 of their rebellion. Lewis, whofe caufe was now totally CHAP. defperate, began to be anxious for the fafety of his perfon, \m^0^lmmj and was glad on any honourable conditions, to make his *"6« efcape from a country, where, he found, every thing was now become hoftile to him. He concluded a peace with Pembroke, promifed to evacuate the kingdom, and only ftipulated in return, an indemnity to his adherents, and a reftitution of their honours and fortunes, together with the free and equal enjoyment of thcfe liberties, which had been granted to the reft of the nation'*. Thus was hap- Genera? pa. pily ended a civil war, which feemed to be founded on Cl " 101U the moft incurable hatred and jealoufy, and had threat- ened the kingdom with the moft fatal confequences. The precautions, which the king of France ufed in the conduct of this whole affair, are remarkable. He pre- tended, that his fon had accepted of the offer from the Englifh barons, without his advice, and contrary to his inclination : The armies fent to England were levied in Lewis's name : When that prince came over to France for aid, his father publicly refufed to grant him any aflift- ance, and would not fo much as admit him to his pre- fence : Even after Henry's party acquired the afcendant, and Lewis was in danger of falling into the hands of his enemies, it was Blanche of Caftile his wife, not the king his father, who raifed armies and equipped fleets for his fuc- cour a. All thefe artifices were employed, not to fatisfy the pope ; for he had too much penetration to be fo eafily impofed on : Nor yet to deceive the people ; for they were too grofs even for that purpofe : They only ferved for a colouring to Philip's caufe ; and in public affairs, men are often better pleafed, that the truth, though known to every body, mould be wrapped up under a decent co- z Rymer, vol. i. p. 221. M. Paris, p. 207. Chron, Dunil, vol. i» p. 83. M. Weft. p. 273. Knyghtnn, p. 2429. » M. Paris, p. 256. Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p, 8at L 4 ver, i52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. ver, than if it were expofed in open day-light to the eyes <__,— ."|_, of all the world. ^210. After the expulfion of the French, the prudence and equity of the protector's fubfequent conduct, contributed to cure entirely thofe wounds, which had been made by inteftine difcord. He received the rebellious barons into favour ; obferved ftriclly the terms of peace, which he had granted them ; reflored them to their pofleffions ; and endeavoured, by an equal behaviour, to. bury all paft animofities in perpetual oblivion. The clergy alone, who had adhered to Lewis, were fufferers in this revolu- tion. As they had rebelled againft their fpiritual fove- reign, by difregarding the interdict and excommunica- tion, it was not in Pembroke's power to make any ftipulations in their favour ; and Gualo, the legate, pre- pared to take vengeance on them for their difobedience b. Many of them were depofed ; many fufpended ; fom.e bammed; and all who efcaped punimment, made atone- ment fcr their offence, by paying large Arms to the legate, who amafTed an immenfe treafure by this expedient. Death of the The earl of Pembroke did not long furvive the pacifi- p.ote or. catjor)j which had been chiefly owing to his wifdom and valour c ; and he was fucceeded in the government by Peter des Roches, bifhop of Winchester, and Hubert de Burgh, chief jufticiary. The councils of the latter were chiefly followed ; and had he pofTefled equal autho- rity in the kingdom with Pembroke, he feemed to be every way worthy of filling the place of that virtuous Some com- nobleman. But the licentious and powerful barons, who had once broken the reins of fubjection to their prince, and had obtained by violence an enlargement of their liberties and independance, could ill be reftrained by laws under a minority ; and the people, no lefs than the king, fuffered from their outrages and diforders. They k Erady's App. N", 144. Chron, Dunft. vol, i, p. 83. c M. Pari'--, p. iio. i retained xnouons. HENRY III. 153 retained by force the royal caftles, which they had ufurp- c ** A P. cd during the paft convulfions, or which had been com- ^,-^_^j mitted to their cuftody by the protector d : They ufurped Ul6» the king's demefnes e : They opprefled their vaffals : They infefted their weaker neighbours : They invited all diforderly people to enter in their retinue, and to live upon their lands : And they gave them protection in all their robberies and extortions. No one was more infamous for thefe violent and ille- gal practices than the earl of Albemarle ; who, though he had early returned to his duty, and had been fervice- able in expelling the French, augmented to the utmoft the general diforder, and committed outrages in all the counties of the North. In order to reduce him to obe- dience, Hubert feized an opportunity of getting pofTef- fion of Rockingham caftle, which Albemarle had garri- foned with his licentious retinue: But this nobleman, in- ftead of fubmitting, entered into a fecret confederacy with Fawkes de Breaute, Peter de Mauleon, and other barons, and both fortified the caftle of Biham for his defence, and made himfelf mailer by furprize of that of Fotheringay. Pandulf, who was reftored to his legatefhip on the re- cal of Gualo, was active in fupprefling this rebellion; and with the concurrence of eleven bifhops, he de- nounced the fentence of excommunication againft Albe- marle and his adherents f : An army was levied : A fcutage of ten millings a knight's fee was impofed on all the military tenants : Albemarle's aflociates gradually deferted him : And he himfelf was obliged at laft to fue for mercy. He received a pardon, and was reftored to his whole eftate, This impolitic lenity, too frequent in thofe times, was probably the refult of a fecret combination among the barons, who never could endure to fee the total ruin d Trivet, p. 174. e Rymer, vol. i. p. 276, f Chron. par.»i, vol. i. p. 102. ' Of 154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c h a P. 0f one of their own order : But it encouraged Fawkes de XII. . i_,— - ._» Breaute, a man whom king John had raifed from a low 12 j 6. origin, to perfevere in the courfe of violence, to which he had owed his fortune, and to fet at naught all law and juftice. When thirty-five verdicts were at one time found againft him, on account of his violent expulfion of fo many freeholders from their poneiTions ; he came to the court of juftice with an armed force, feized the judge who had pronounced the verdicts, and imprifoned him in Bedford caftle. He then levied open war againft the king; but being fubdued, and taken prifoner, his life was granted him ; but his eftate was confifcated, and he was banifhed the kingdom s, u%u Justice was executed with greater feverity againft; diforders lefs premeditated, which broke out in London, A frivolous emulation in a match of wreftling, between the Londoners on the one hand, and the inhabitants of Weftminfter and thofe of the neighbouring villages on the other, occafioned this commotion. The former rofe in a body, and pulled down fome houfes belonging to the abbot of Weftminfler : But this riot, which, confider- ing the tumultuous difpofition familiar to that capital, would have been little regarded, feemed to become more ferious, by the fymptorns which then appeared, of the former attachment of the citizens to the French intereft. The populace, in the tumult, made ufe of the cry of war commonly employed by the French troops ; Mount~ joy^ mountjoy^ God help us and our lord Lewis. The justi- ciary made enquiry into the diforder ; and finding one Confhntine Fitz Arnulf to have been the ringleader, an infolent man, who juftified his crime in Hubert's pre- fence, he proceeded againft him by martial law, and ordered him immediately to be hanged, without trial or E Rymer, vol. i. p. 198. M. Paris, p. 221, 224. Ann. Waverl. p. 188, Chroa. Dunft. vol. i. p. 141, 146, M. Weft, p. 283, forn\ HENRY III. *5S form of procefs. He alfo cut qff the feet of fome of Con- C H a p. . XII. ftantine's accomplices b. v^-vn> This aft of power was complained of as an infringe-. *«*• ment of the Great Charter : Yet the judiciary, in a par- liament, fummoned at Oxford (for the great councils about this time began to receive that appellation) made no fcruple to grant in the king's name a renewal and con- firmation of that charter. When the afiembly made application to the crown for this favour ; as a law in thofe times feemed to lofe its validity, if not frequently renewed j William de Briewere, one of the council of regency, was fo bold as to fay openly, that thofe liberties were extorted by force, and ought not to be obferved : But he was reprimanded by the archbifhop of Canterbury, and was not countenanced by the king or his chief mini- fters '. A new confirmation was demanded and granted two years after ; and an aid, amounting to a fifteenth of all moveables, was given by the parliament, in return for this indulgence. The king ifiued writs anew to the fhe- riffs, enjoining the obfervance of the charter ; but he inferted a remarkable claufe in the writs, that thofe, who payed not the fifteenth, mould not for the future be entitled to the benefit of thofe liberties k. The low ftate, into which the crown was now fallen, made it requifite for a good minifter to be attentive to the prefervation of the royal prerogatives, as well as to the fecurity of public liberty. Hubert applied to the pope, who had always great authority in the kingdom, and was now confidered as its fuperior lord ; and de fired him to ifTue a bull, declaring the king to be of full age_, and entitled to exercifc in perfon all the acts of royalty '. In confequence of this declaration, the justiciary refigned into Henry's hands the two important fortrelTes of the & M.Paris, p. 217, »iS, 259. Ann. Waverl. p. 187. Chron. Dunft. vol.i. p. 129. i M. Weft. p. 282. kCUufeg, H. 3. m.9. and m. 6. d. 1 M, Paris, p, 220, Tower 156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C xif P' Tower an^ Dover caftle, which had been entrufted to I — ..-u.) his cuftody ; and he required the other barons to imitate iZi1' his example. They refufed compliance: The earls of Chefter and Albemarle, John Conftabie of Chefter, John de Lacy, Brian de 1'Ifle, and William de Cantel, with ibme others, even formed a confpiracy to furprize Lon- don, and met in arms at Waltham with that intention : But finding the king prepared for defence, they defifted from their enterprize. When fummoned to court, in order to anfwer for their conduct, they fcrupled not to appear, and to confefs their defign: But they told the king, that they had no bad intentions againft his perfon, but only againft Hubert de Burgh, whom they were de- termined to remove from his office m. They appeared too formidable to be chaftifed ; and they were fo little dif- couraged by the failure of their firft enterprize, that they again met in arms at Leiccfter, in order to feize the king, who thenrefided at Northampton: But Henry, informed of their purpofe, took care to be fo well armed and at- tended, that the barons found it dangerous to make the attempt ; and they fat down and kept Chriftmas in his neighbourhood n. The archbifhep and the prelates, find- ing every thing tend towards a civil war, interpofed with their authority, and threatened the barons with the (en- tence of excommunication, if they perfifted in detaining the king's cafties. This menace at laft prevailed : Moft of the fortrefTes were furrendered ; though the barons com- plained, that Hubert's carries were foon after reftored to him, while the king ftill kept theirs in his own cuftody. There are faid to have been 1115 cafties at that time in England °. It mufl be acknowledged, that the influence of the prelates and the clergy was often of great fervice to the m Chr?r>, Dunft. vol, 3, p. 1^7. n M. Paris, p. 211. Chron, Dunft. vol. :. p. ij8, *> Cake's ComiTient, on Mogna Charts> chap. 57. public. HENRY III. itf public. Though the religion of that age can merit noC HA?, better name than that of fuperftition, it ferved to unite ^ -v- _> together a body of men who had great fway over the IaJZ* people, and who kept the community from falling to pieces, by the factions and independant power of the nobles. And what was of great importance ; it threw a mighty authority into the hands of men, who by their profeflion were averfe to arms and violence ; who temper- ed by their mediation the general difpofition towards military enterprizes ; and who ftill maintained, even amidft the (hock of arms, thofe fecret links, without which it is impoflible for human fociety to fubfift. Notwithstanding thefe interline commotions in England, and the precarious authority of the crown, Henry was obliged to carry on war in France ; and he employed to that purpofe the fifteenth which had been granted him by parliament. Lewis VIII. who had fuc- ceeded to his father Philip, inftead of complying with Henry's claim, who demanded the reftitution of Nor- mandy and the other provinces wrefted from England, made an irruption into Poictou, took Rochelle p after a long fiege, and feemed determined to expel the Englifh from the few provinces which yet remained to them. Henry fent over his uncle, the earl of Salifbury j toge- ther with his brother prince Richard, to whom he had granted the earldom of Cornwal, which had efcheated to the crown. Salifbury flopped the progrefs of Lewis's arms, and retained the Poictevin and Gafcon vaffals in their allegiance : But no military action of any moment was performed on either fide. The earl of Cornwal, after two years' flay in Guienne, returned to England. This prince was nowife turbulent or factious In his xzzy* difpofition : His ruling paffion was to amafs money, in jP Rymer, vol. i. p. 369. Trivet, p. 179, which I53 History of England. CHAP, which he fuccceded fo well as to become the richeft fubiecl: xn. . . . . %t0^^m^mj in Chriflendom : Yet his attention to gain threw him 1227, fometimes into acts of violence, and gave difturbance to the government. There was a manor, which had ftM> merly belonged to the earldom of Cornwal, but had been granted to Waleran de Ties, before Richard had been inverted with that dignity, and while the earldom remain- ed in the hands of the crown. Richard claimed this manor, and expelled the proprietor by force : Waleran complained : The king ordered his brother to do juflice to the man, and reftore him to his rights : The earl faid, that he would not fubmit to thefe orders, till the caufe fhould be decided againft him by the judgment of his peers : Henry replied, that it was firfl , neceffary to re-inflate Waleran in pofleflion, before the caufe could be tried ; and he re-iterated his orders to the earl **. We may judge of the flate of the government, when this affair had nearly produced a civil war. The earl of Cornwal, finding Henry peremptory in his commands, aflbciated him- felf with the young earl of Pembroke, who had married his fider, and who was difpleafed en account of the king's requiring him to deliver up fome royal caflles which were in his cuftody. Thefe two malcontents took into their confederacy the earls of Chefter, Wa- renne, Glocefter, Hereford, Warwic, and Ferrers, who were all difgufted on a like account r. They affembled an army, which the king had not the power or courage to refill j and he was obliged to give his brother fatisfae- tion, by grants of much greater importance than the manor, which had been the firfl ground of the quarrel 5. The character of the king, as he grew to man's eflate, became every day better known ; and he was found in every refpedt totally unqualified for maintaining a proper fway among thofe turbulent barons, whom the 1 M. Paris, p. 233. * Ibid. ° Ibid. feudal HENRY III. i59 feudal conftitution Subjected to his authority. Gentle, chap. humane, and merciful even to a fault, he feems to have . _ - _g been fteady in no other circumftance of his character ; *"7» but to have received every imprefiion from thofe who Surrounded him, and whom he loved, for the time, with the moft imprudent and moft unreferved affection. With- out activity or vigour, he was unfit to conduct war ; without policy or art, he was ill-fitted to maintain peace : His refentments, though hafty and violent, were not dreaded, while he was found to drop them with fuch facility ; his friendships were little valued, becaufe they were neither derived from choice, nor maintained with conftancy. A proper pageant of ftate in a regular mo- narchy, where his minifters could have conducted all affairs in his name and by his authority ; but too feeble in thofe diforderly times to fway a fcepter, whofe weight depended entirely on the flrmnefs and dexterity of the hand which held it. The ableft and moft virtuous minifter that Henry everHulert f, 266. Chron, T. Wykes, p. 41, 4s, Chron, Dunft. vol. i, y. jso, ut, M. Weft, p, 291, 301, principles' HENRY III. i6r principles and violent conduct, than by his courage and c " A F*« abilities. This prelate had been left by king John jiifti- , ^ ,, ciary and regent of the kingdom during an expedition 12zl- which that prince made into France ; and his illegal adminiftration was one chief caufe of that great combi- nation among the barons, which finally extorted from the crown the charter of liberties, and laid the foundations of the Englifh constitution. Henry, though incapable, from his character, of purfuing the fame violent maxims, which had governed his father, had imbibed the fame arbitrary principles ; and in profecution of Peter's advice, he invited over a great number of Poi£tevins and other foreigners, who, he believed, could more fafely be trufted than the Englifh, and who feemed ufeful to counter- balance the great and independant power of the nobi- lity/. Every office and command was bellowed on thefe ftrangers ; they exhaufted the revenues of the crown, already too much impoverifhed x ; they invaded the rights of the people ; and their infolence, ftill more pro- voking than their power, drew on them the hatred and envy of all orders of men in the kingdom a. The barons formed a combination againft this odious 1233, miniftry, and withdrew from parliament ; on pretence of the danger, to which they were expofed from the ma- chinations of the Poictevins. When again fummoned to attend, they gave for anfwer, that the king fhould difmifs his foreigners : Otherwife they would drive both him and them out of the kingdom, and put the crown on another head, more worthy to wear itb : Such was the ftyle they ufed to their fovereign ! They at laft came to parliament, but fo well attended, that they feemed in a condition to prefcribe laws to the king and miniftry. Peter des Roches, however, had in the interval found means of y M. Paris, p, 263. z Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 151. » M. Paris, p. 258. * Ibid. p. 265. Vol, II. M fowls* t6z HISTORY OF E N G I A N D. CHAP, {owing diftention among the barons, and of bringing- over VII .-v-Li to. his parly the earl of Gornwal, as well as the earls of 1233. Lincoln and Chefter. The confederates were difcon- Gerted in their mean: res : Richard, earl Marifchal, whd had fueceeded to that dignity on the death of his brother, William, was chafed into Wales ; he thence withdrew into Ireland ; where he was treacheroufly murdered by the contrivance ■ ■ p of Winchcfter c. The tcs of the more obnoxious barons v/ere confifcated. Without legal fentence or trial by their peers ,! ; and were beftowed with a profufe liberality on the Poictevinsj Peter even ca* infolence l~o far as to declare publicly, that the barons of England •muft not pretend to put them- felves on the fai vith thofe of France, or aliume the fame liberties and privileges: The monarch in the former country had a more abfolute power than in the latter. It had been more juftifiable for him to have faid, that men, fo unwilling to fubmit to the authority of laws. Con! rfe grace claim any ftielter or protection fron them. When the king, at anv time, was checked in his1 illegal practices, and the . of the Great Charter to wont to reply; '; 'Why fhould I obferve this charter, which is neglected by all my grandees, both prelates and nobility f" It was very reafonably faid to him : " You ought, fir, to let them the example e." So violent a miuiftry, as that of the biihop of Win- chester, Could not be of long duration ; but its fall pro- ceeded at 1 nil from the influence, of the church, not from the efforts of the nobles. Edmond, the primate, came to court, attended by many of the other prelates ; and reprefented to the king the pernicious meafures em- braced by Peter des Roches, the difconttnts of his people, c Ciiru.n.Dunft, vol.1, p, 219. d M. Paris, p. zr-$. * Ili pcriority of the kingdom was veiled k. The oppofition, made to the intended refumption, prevented it from taking place ; but the nation faw the indignities, to which the king was willing to fubmit, in order to gratify the ava- rice of his foreign favourites.. About the fame time, he publifhed in England the fentence of excommunication, denounced againft the emperor Frederic, his brother-in- law ' ; and faid in excufe, that, being the pope's vafTal, he was obliged by his allegiance to obey all the com- mands of his holinefs. In this weak reign,, when any neighbouring potentate . infulted the king's dominions, inftead of taking revenge for the injury, he complained to the pope as his fupcrior lord, and begged him to give protection to his vafTal m. Grievances. The refentment of the Englifh barons rofe high at the preference given to foreigners ; but no remonftrance or complaint could ever prevail on the king to abandon them,, or even to moderate his attachment towards them. After the Provencals and Savoyards might have been fuppofed pretty well fatiated with the dignities and riches which they had acquired, a new fet of hungry foreigners were invited over, and fhared among them thofe favours, which the king ought in policy to have conferred on the Englifh nobility, by whom his government could have been fupported and defended. His mother, Ifabella, who had been unjuftly taken by the late king from the count de la Marche, to whom fhe was betrothed, was no- fooner miflrefs of herfelf by the death of her hufband, J347. than ike married that nobleman n ; and fhe had born him four fons, Guy, William, Geoffrey, and Aymer, whom fhe fent over to England, in order to pay a vifit to their * M.Paris, p. 295, 301, 1 Rymer, vol. i. p. 383. m Chron. Banft. vol.i. p. J 50. n Trivet, p, 174. 3 brother^ HENRY III. 165 brother. The good-natured and affectionate difpofition c of Henry was moved at the fight cf fuch near relations ; - and he confidered neither his own circumftances, nor the i2+'* difpofition of his people, in the honours and riches which he conferred upon them ". Complaints rofe as high againft the credit of the Gafcon as ever they had done ac-ainft that of the Poiclevin and of the Savoyard fa- vourites ; and to a nation prejudiced againft them, all their meafures appeared criminal and exceptionable. Vio- lations of the Great Charter were frequently mentioned ; and it is indeed more than probable, that foreigners, ignorant of the laws, and relying on the boundlefs affections of a weak prince, would, in an age, when a regular administration was not any where known, pay more attention to their prefent intereft than to the liberties of the people. It is reported, that the Poictevins and other Arrangers, when the laws were at any time appealed to, in oppofition to their oppreffions, fcrupled not to reply, What did the Englijh laws Jignify to them ? Thy minded them not. And as words are often more offenfive than a£tions, this open contempt of the Englifh tended much to aggravate the general difcontent, and made every a£t of violence, committed by the foreigners, appear net only an injury, but an affront to them p. I reckon not among the violations of the Great Charter, fome arbitrarv exertions of nreropative, to which Henry's neceffities pufhed him, and which, without pro- ducing any difcontent, were uniformly continued by all his fucceffors, till the laft century. As the parliament often refufed him fupplies, and that in a manner fom what rude and indecent % he obliged his opulent fubjeclrs, particularly the citizens of London, to grant him loans of money ; and it is natural to imagine, that th • M. Paris, p. 491. M. Weft, p 338. Knyghton, p. 11436. P M. Paris, p. 566, 666. Ann. Waverl. p, 214. Chron. Dunfl p. 335, 9 M. Paris, p. 301. M 3 want i66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c H A P. want of oeconomy, which reduced him to the neceflity of v__ --,__} borrowing, would prevent him from being very punctual 1247> in the repayment r. Fie demanded benevolences or pre- tended voluntary contributions from his nobility and pre- lates s. He was the firft king of England fmce the con- quer!, that could fairly be faid to lie under the reftraint of law ; and he was alfo the firft that praclrifed the difpenf- ing power, and employed the claufe of Non-ohjlante in his grants and patents. When objections were made to this novelty, he replied, that the pope cxercifed that autho- rity ; and why might not he imitate the example ? But the abufe, which the pope made of his difpenfing power, in violating the canons of general councils, in invading the privileges and cuftoms of all particular churches, and in ufurping on the rights of patrons, was more likely to excite the jealoufy of the people, than to reconcile them to a fitnilar practice in their civil government. Roger de Thurkefby, one of the king's juflices, was fo difpleafed with the precedent, that he exclaimed, Alas ! what times are we fallen into ? Behold, toe civil court is corrupted in imitation cf the ecdeficjlical, and the river is poifoned from that fountain. The king's partiality and profufe bounty to his foreign relations, and to their friends and favourites, would have appeared more tolerable to the Engliflb, had any thing been done mean-while for the honour of the nation, or had Henry's enterprizes in foreign countries, been at- tended with any fuccefs or glory to himfelf or to the pub- lic : At leafr, fuch military talents in the king would have ferved to keep his barons in awe, and have given weir-ht and authority to his government. But though he declared war againft Lewis IX. in 1242, and made an expedition into Guienne, upon the invitation of his father- in-law, the count de la Marche, who promifed to join 1 f.I. Paris, p, 466, ' M. Paris, p. 5C7. him HENRY III, 167 "him with all his forces ; he was unfuccefsful in his at- c H A P. XII. tempts againfr. that great monarch, was worried at Taille- -... — y_. _/ boura;, was deferted by his allies, loir, what remained to I£;*7- him of Poiclou, and was obliged to return, with lofs of honour, into England l. The Gafcoa nobility were at-r tached to the Englifri government ; becaufe the diftance of their fovereign allowed them to remain in a {bate of al- moft total independance : And they claimed, forae time 1253. after, Henry's protection againft an invasion, which the king of Caftile made upon that territory. Henry re- turned into Guienne, and was more fuccefsful in this ex- pedition ; but he thereby involved himfdf and his nobility in an enormous debt, which both encreafed their difcon- tents, and expofed h;m to greater danger from their enter- prizes u. Want of ceconomy and an ill-judged liberality were Henry's great defects ; and his debts, even before this expedition, had become fo troublefome, that he fold all his plats and jewels, in order to discharge them. When this expedient was nrft propofed to him, he afked, where he mould find purchaferi ? It was replied, the citizens of London. On my word, faid he, if the tr'eafury of ' Augujius svere brought to file, the citizens are able to be the pur chafers : Thefe clowns, who ajfume to tbemfthes the name of barons ^ abound in every thing, while vje are reduced to necefjities '. And he was thenceforth obferved to be more forward and greedy in his exactions upon the citizens *. But the grievances, which the En^Iiih had reafon to Ecc]tf)afl;. complain of in the civil government during this reign, cal s,iev" feem to have been fti'll lefs burchenfome than thofe which they fuifered from the ufurpations and exactions of the court of R.ome. On the death ofLangtori in 1228, the monks of Ghrift-church eiedted Walter de Hemefham, t M. Pari?, p. 393, 394. 398. 399. 403. W Hemi, g. p. 574. Chrcrj^ Panft. vol. i. p. 153. » M. LJaris. p. 614. w M. Paris, p. 501. x M. Pari.., p, 501. 507. 513. 578. 606. 615. {I4S. M 4 cue i63 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, C H A P. one Qf their own body, for his fucceflbr : But as Henry %^~v-^j refufed to confirm the election, the pope, at his defire, an- I253- nulled it >'; and immediately appointed Richard, chan- cellor of Lincoln, for archbirhop, without waiting for a new election. On the death of Richard in 1231, the monks elected Ralph de Neville bifhop of Chichefter; and though Henry was much pleafcd with the election, the pope, who thought that prelate too much attached to the crown, afiumed the power of annulling his election2. He rejected two clergymen more, whom the monks had fucceffively chofen ; and he at laft told them, that, if they would elect Edmond, treafurer of the church of Salifbury, he would confirm their choice ; and his nomi- nation was complied with. The pope had the prudence to appoint both times very worthy primates ; but men could not forbear obierying his intention of thus drawing gradually to himfelf the right of bellowing that important dignity. The avarice, however, more than the ambition of the fee of Rome, feems to have been in this age the ground of general complaint. The papal minifterSj finding a vaft flock of power, amafTed by their prede- ceflbrs, were defirous of turning it to immediate profit which they enjoyed at home, rather than of enlarging their authority in diftant countries, where they never intended to refide. Every thing was become venal in the Romifh tribunals ; fimony was openly practifed j no favours and even no jufHce could be obtained with- out a bribe 3 the higheft bidder was fure to have the pre- ference, without regard either to the merits of the perfon or of the caufe ; and befides the ufual perverfions of right in the decifion of controverfies, the pope openly aflumed an abfolute and uncontroled authority of fetting afide, by the plenitude of his apoftolic power, all particular rules and all privileges of patrons, churches, and convents. y M, Paris, p. 2^4, t. Ibid, p. 254. On HENRY III. 169 On pretence of remedying thefe abufcs, pope Honorius, c H A p« in 1226, complaining of the poverty of his fee as the .^.<~/~Vj fource of all grievances, demanded from every cathedral I2^" £wo of the beft prebends, and from every convent two monks' portions, to be fet apart as a perpetual and fettled revenue of the papal crown : But all men being fenfible, that the revenue would continue for ever, and the abufes immediately return, his demand was unanirnoufly reject- ed. About three years after, the pope demanded and obtained the tenth of all ecclefiaftical revenues, which he levied in a very oppremve manner ; requiring payment before the clergy had drawn their rents or tythes, and fending about ufurers, who advanced them the money at exorbitant intereft. In the year 1 240, Otho, the legate, having in vain attempted the clergy in a body, obtained feparately, by intrigues and menaces, large fums from the prelates and convents, and on his departure is faid to have carried more money out of the kingdom than he left in it. This experiment was renewed four years after with fuccefs by Martin the nuncio, who brought from Rome powers of fufpending and excommunicating all clergymen, that refufed to comply with his demands. The king, who relied on the pope for the fupport of his tottering authority, never failed to countenance thofe exactions. Meanwhile, all the chief benefices of the kingdom were conferred on Italians ; great numbers of that nation were fent over at one time to be provided for ; non- refidence and pluralities were carried to an enormous height; Manfel, the king's chaplain, is computed to have held at once feven hundred ecclefiaftical livings ; and the abufcs became fo evident as to be palpable to the blindnefs of fuperftition itfelf. The people, entering into afiociations, rofe againft the Italian clergy; pillaged their barns ; wafted their lands ; infulted the perfons of fuch of them as they found in the kingdom a ; and when the juf- * Ry.mer, yoI, i, p, 323. M, Paris, pi 255. 257, ticiaries i-o HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C K A P. tlciaries made enquiry into the authors of this diforder. l^-^-^s the guilt was found to involve fomany, and thofe of fuch *s53* high rank, that it paffed unpunifhed. At lair, when In- nocent IV. in 1245, called a general council at Lyons, in order to excommunicate the emperor Frederic, the king and nobility fent over agents to complain before the council, of the avarice of the Romifh church. They reprefented, among many other grievances, that the bene- fices of the Italian clergy in England had been eftimated, and were found to amount to 60, coo marks b a year, a fum which exceeded the annual revenue of the crown it- felf c. They obtained only an evafive anfwer from the the pope ; but as mention had been made before the coun- cil, of the feudal fubjection of England to the fee of Rome, the Englifh agents, at whofe head was Roger Bigod carl of Norfolk, exclaimed againft that prelenfion, and in- jured, that king John had no right, without the confent of his barons, to fubjecl: the kingdom to fo ignominious a fervitude H. The popes indeed, afraid of carrying mat- ters too far againft England, fcem thenceforth to have little iufiltcd on that pretenfion. This check, received at the council of Lyons, was not able to flop the court of Rome in its rapacity : Inno- cent exacled the revenues of all vacant benefices, the twentieth of all eccleiiaflical revenues without exception j the third of fvich as exceeded a hundred marks a year ; the half of fuch as were pofTcfied by non-refidtnts °. He claimed the goods of all inteftate clergymen f 5 he pre- tended a title to inherit all money got by ufury j he 1c- b Innocent's bail in Ryrner, vol. i. p. 471. fays only 50, ceo marks a year. c M. P3rfr, p. 451. The ecftoms were part of Henry's revenue, snd amounted to 6cco pounds a year : They were at firft fmall funis paid by the merchants fur the ufe of the king's warehouses, meafures, weights, &c. See Gilbert's hiftoiy of the Exeh. p. 214. . 599. 613. k Rymer, vol. i. p, 587. Chrco, Dunft, vol. i. p. 319. i M, Paris, p. 614. tuaj HENRY III. 173 tual fovereign concurred in loading them, they were ill c ** a **• able to defend themfelves againft this united authority. i_ -r-.. t The pope publifhed a crufade for the conqueft of Si- IZ^" cily ; and required every one, who had taken the crofs againft the infidels, or had vowed to advance money for that enterprize, to fupport the war againft Mainfroy, a more terrible enemy, as he pretended, to the Chriftian faith than any Saracen m. He levied a tenth on all eccle- fiaftical benefices in England for three years ; and gave orders to excommunicate all bifhops, who made no't punc- tual payment. He granted to the king the goods of in- teftate clergymen ; the revenues of vacant benefices ; the revenues of all non-refidents n. But thefe taxations, be- ing levied by fome rule, were deemed lefs grievous, than another impofition, which arofe from the fuggeftion of the bifhop of Hereford, and which might have opened the door to endlefs and intolerable abufes. That prelate, who refided at the court of Rome by a deputation from the Englifh church, drew bills of dif- ferent values, but amounting on the whole to 150,540 marks, on all the biihops and abbots of the kingdom ; and granted thefe bills to Italian merchants, who, it was pretended, had advanced money for the fervice of the war againft Mainfroy °. As there was no likelihood of the Englifh prelates' fubmitting, without compulfion, to fuch an extraordinary demand, Ruftand, the legate, was charged with the commiflion of employing authority to that purpofe ; and he fummoned an alTembly of the bifhops and abbots, whom he acquainted with the plea- fure of the pope and of the king. Great were the fur- prize and indignation of the afTembly : The bifhop of Worcefter exclaimed, that he would lofe his life rather w Rymer, vol. i. p. 547, 548, &c. n Rymer, vol. I. p. 537, 598, « M.Paris, p. 6ix, 648. Cfcron, T. Wykes. p. 54. than i74 HISTORY OF. ENGLAND. chap, than comply : The bifhop of London faid, that the pope i — - ._' and king were more powerful than he ; but if his mitre iz55' were taken off his head, he would clap on a helmet in its place p. The legate was no lefs violent on the other hand ; and he told the afTembly, in plain terms, that all ecclefiaftical benefices were the property of the pope, and he might difpofe of them, cither in whole or in part, as he faw proper ^. In the end, the bifhop and abbots, be- ing threatened with excommunication, which made all their revenues fall into the king's hands, were obliged to fubmit to the exaction : And the only mitigation, which the legate allowed them, was, that the tenths, already granted, fhould be accepted as a partial payment of the bills. But the money was ftill infufficient for the pope's purpofe : The conqueft of Sicily was as remote as ever : The demands which came from Rome were endlefs : Pope Alexander became fo urgent a creditor, that he fent over a legate to England ; threatening the kingdom with an interdict, and the king with excommunication, if the ar- rears, which he pretended to be due to him, were not in- ftantly remitted c : And at laft, Henry, fenfible of the cheat, began to think of breaking oft* the agreement, and of refigning into the pope's hands that crown, which, it was not intended by Alexander, that he or his family fhould ever enjoy s. Pari of The earl of ComWal had now reafon to value himfelf de"eTki"f? on n's forc%nt> ni refufing the fraudulent bargain with cftheilo- Rome, and in preferring the folid honours of an opulent and powerful prince of the blood in England, to the empty and precarious glory of a foreign dignity. But he had not always nrmnefs fufEcient to adhere to this re- folution : His vanity and ambition prevailed at Lfr. over his prudence and his avarice ; and he was engaged in an P M, Par's p. 6j'. w 60,000 marks a year: His brother therefor" could never have been maftsr of 70:^000 marks; efpechlly as he did not fell his eftates in England, as v.e learn from the fame author; And we hear afterwards of his ord.r-ng a!! his woods to be cut, in older to frisr'y tl-'e rapacity of German purees ; . -.ceded to the earldom tr" Corr.wal am his other .revenues. and 176 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. rncj importance, had fet a dangerous precedent of refill-* XII. l , , , • l/VX; ance, and being followed by a long minority, had impo- I255" verifhed, as well as weakened that crown, which they were at laft induced, from the fear of worfe confequences, to re-place on the head of young Henry. In the king's fituation, either great abilities and vigour were requifite to overawe the barons, or great caution and referve to give them no pretence for complaints ; and it muft be confefled, that this prince was pofiefTed of neither of thefe talents. He had not prudence to chufe right meafures ; he wanted even that conftancy, which fometimes gives weight to wrong ones ; he was entirely devoted to his favourites, who were always foreigners ; he lavifhed on them without difcretion his diminished revenue ; and find- ing, that his barons indulged their difpofition towards tyranny, and obferved not to their own vafTals the fame rules, which they had impofed on the crown, he was apt, in his adminiftration, to neglect all the falutary arti- cles of the Great Charter ; which he remarked to be fo little regarded by his nobility. This conduct had ex- tremely lefTened his authority in the kingdom ; had mul- tiplied complaints againft him ; and had frequently expofed him to affronts, and even to dangerous attempts upon his prerogative. In the year 1 244, when he defired a fup- ply from parliament, the barons, complaining of the fre- quent breaches of the Great Charter, and of the many fruitlefs applications which they had formerly made for the redrefs of this and other grievances, demanded in re- turn, that he mould give them the nomination of the great justiciary and of the chancellor, to whofe hands chiefly the adminiftration of juftice was committed : And, if we may credit the hiftorian u, they had formed the plan of other limitations, as well as of afTociations to maintain them, which would have reduced the king to be an abfolute « M. Paris, p. 432, cypher, HENRY III. 177 cypher, and have held the crown in perpetual pupillage CHAP. and dependance. The king, to fatisfy them, would agree <_ -- ^ to nothing but a renewal of the charter, and a general l*SS' permiflion to excommunicate all the violaters of it : And he received no fupply, except a fcutage of twenty mil- lings on each knight's fee for the marriage of his eldeft daughter to the king of Scotland ; a burthen, which was fexprefsly annexed to their feudal tenures. Four years after, in a full parliament, when Henry >. demanded a new fupply, he was openly reproached with the breach of his word, and the frequent violations of the charter. He was afked, whether he did not blufh to de- fire any aid from his people, whom he profefTedly hated and defpifed, to whom on all occa-fions he preferred aliens and foreigners, and who groaned under the oppref- fions, which he either permitted or exercifed over them. He was told, that, befides difparaging his nobility by forcing them to contrail unequal and mean marriages with ftrangers, no rank of men was fo low as to efcape vexations from him or his minifters ; that even the victuals confumed in his houfehold, the clothes which himfelf and his fervants wore, ftill more the wine which they ufed, were all taken by violence from the lawful owners, and no compenfation was ever made them for the injury j that foreign merchants, to the great prejudice and infamy of the kingdom, fhunned the Englifh harbours, as if they were porTefled by pyrates, and the commerce with all nations was thus cut off by thefe acts of violence ; that lofs was added to lofs, and injury to injury, while the merchants, who had been defpoiled of their goods, were alfo obliged to carry them at their own charge to what- ever place the king was pleafed to appoint them ; that even the poor fifhermen on the coafc could not efcape his oppreffions and thefe of his courtiers ; and finding that they had not full liberty to difpefe of their commo- Vol. II. , N dities i7S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, dities in the Englifh market, were frequently conftrained ■_ -y— t_j to carry them to foreign ports, and to hazard all the perils X2S5* of the ocean, rather than thofe which awaited them from his oppreflive emiflaries ; and that his very religion was a ground of complaint to his fubjefts, while they obferved, that the waxen tapers and fplendid filks, employed in fo many ufelefs proceflions, were the fpoils which he had forcibly ravifhed from the true owners w. Throughout this remonftrancc, in which the complaints, derived from an abufe of the ancient right of purveyance, may be fup- pofed to be fomewhat exaggerated, there appears a ftrange mixture of regal tyranny in the practices which gave rife to it, and of ari floe rati cal liberty or rather licentioufnefs in the expreffions employed by the parliament. But a mixture of this kind is obfcrvable in all the ancient feudal governments ; and both of them proved equally hurtful to the people. As the king, in anfwer to their remonftrance, gave the parliament only good words and fair promifes, attended with the moft humble fubmiffions, which they had often found deceitful, he obtained at that time no fupply ; and therefore in the year 1253, wrlen he found himfelf again under the neceflity of applying to parliament, he had pro- vided a new pretence, which he deemed infallible, and taking the vow of a Crufade, he demanded their affiftance in that pious enterprize x. The parliament, however, for fome time hefitated to comply ; and the ecclefiaftical order fent a deputation confifting of four prelates, the primate, the bifhops of Winchefter, Salifbury, and Car- lifle, in order to remonftrate with him on his frequent violations of their privileges, the oppreffions with which he had loaded them and all his fubje&s y, and the unea- sy M. Paris, p. 4'-,8. See farther, p. 578. M. Weft. p. 348. * M. Paris, p. 51S, 558, 568. Chron, Duaft, vol. i, p. 393. • T.I. Paris, p. 468. 6 nonical H E N R Y III. 179 nonical and forced elections, which were made to vacant c HAP. xn. dignities. " It is true," replied the king, " I have i/^/^i ii been fomewhat faulty in this particular : I obtruded I255« " you, my lord of Canterbury, upon your fee : I was " obliged to employ both entreaties and menaces, my " lord of Winchefter, to have you elected : My proceed- " ings, I confefs, were very irregular, my lords of Sa- " lifbury and Carlifle, when I raifed you from the loweft " flations to your prefent dignities : I am determined " henceforth to correct thofe abufes ; and it will alfo bc- " come you, in order to make a thorough reformation, " to refign your prefent benefices ; and try to enter again st in a more regular and canonical manner z." The bifhops, furprized at thefe unexpected farcafms, replied, that the queftion was not at prefent how to correct paft errors, but to avoid them for the future. The king pro- mifed redrefs both of ecclefiaftical and civil grievances ; and the parliament in return agreed to grant him a fup- ply, a tenth of the ecclefiaftical benefices, and a fcutage of three marks on each knight's fee : But as they had expe- rienced his frequent breach of promife, they required, that he mould ratify the Great Charter in a manner ftill more authentic and folemn than any which he had hither- to employed. All the prelates and abbots were aiTem- bled ; They held burning tapers in their hands : The Great Charter was read before them : They denounced the fentence of excommunication againit every one who mould thenceforth violate that fundamental law : They threw their tapers on the ground, and exclaimed, May the foul of every one, who incurs this fentence, fo Jiiak and corrupt in Hell! The king bore a part in this ceremony; and fubjoined ; " So help me God, J will keep all thefe *' articles inviolate, as I am a man, as I am a chriftian, " as I am a knieht, and as I am a king crowned and s M. Paris, p. 579, N 2 " anointed." i8o HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C V'f P' " anointed a." Yet was the tremendous ceremony no C~—„— w fooncr hnifhcd, than his favourites, abufing his weaknefs I255* and facility, made him return to the fame arbitrary and irregular adminiftration ; and the reafonable expectations of his people were thus perpetually eluded and difap- pointed b. jt?8. All thefe imprudent and illegal meafures afforded a Moumfort P^tence to Simon de Mountfort, carl of Lciccfrcr, to at- earlofLei- tvmnt an innovation in the p-overnment, and to wit ft the celter. * ° ' fceptcr from the feeble and irrefolute hand which held it. This nobleman was a younger fon of that Simon de Mountfort, who had conducted with fuch valour and re- nown the Crufade againft the Albigenfes, and who, though he tarnifhed his famous exploits by cruelty and ambition, had left a name very precious to all the bigots of that age, particularly to the ccclehaftics. A large in- heritance in England fell by fucceflion to this family ; but as the elder, brother enjoyed ftill more opulent pofleffions in France, and could not perform fealty to two mafters, he transferred his right to Simon, his younger, brother, who came over to England, did homage for his lands, gnd was raifed to the dignity of earl of Leicester. In the year 123°, he efpoufed Eleanor dowager of William earl of Pen broke, and fifter to the king c ; but the marriage of this princefs with a fubjecl: and a foreigner, though ,;.Tacied with Henry's confent, was loudly complained of by the earl of Cornwal, and all the barons of England ; and Leicefter was fupported agamft their violence, by the king's favour and authority alone t!. But he had no (boner cftabliihed himfelf in his pcfieffions and dignities,. than he acquired, by infinuation and addrefs, a ftrong a M.Paris, p. 5^0. Ann. Eiirt. p. 323. Ann. Waver], p. 210. W\, ( Beming. p. 571. M. Weft. p. 353. t> M. Paris, p. 597, CoS. c Ibid. p. 3 1 4. a Ibid, p, 315, 1 intere/l il E N R Y III. 181 intereft with the nation, and gained equally the afre&ions ' iao C H A P. xir. of all orders of men. He loft, however,.' the ffiendfhip v^-v-^ of Henry from the ufual levity and ficklenefs of that prince ; he was baniflied the court ; he was recalled ; he was entruftcd with the command of Guienne e, whore he did good fervice and acquired honour ; he was again di'f- graced by the king, and his banifhment from court feem- ed now final and irrevocable. Henry called him traitor to his face : Leicefter gave him the lye, and told him, that, if he were not his fovereign, he would foon make him repent of that infult. Yet was this quarrel accom- modated either from the good-nature or timidity of the king ; and Leicefter was again admitted into fome degree of favour and authority. But as this nobleman was be- come too s;reat to preferve an entire complaifance to Hen- ry's humours, and to act in fubferviency to his other minions ; he found more advantage in cultivating his intereft with the public, and in inflaming the general dif- contents, which prevailed againft the adminiftration. He filled every place with complaints againft the infringe- ment of the Great Charter, the acls of violence commit- ted on the people, the combination between the pope and the king in their tyranny and extortions, Henry's neglecl of his native fubjects and barons ; and though himfelf a foreigner, he v/as more loud than any in reprefenting the indignity of fubmitting to the dominion of foreigners. By his hypocritical pretentions to devotion, he gained the favour of the zealots and clergy : By his feeming concern for public good, he acquired the afFeclions of the public : And befides the private friendihips, which he had culti- vated with the barons, his animofity againft the favourites created an union of interefts between him and that pow- erful order. A recent quarrel, which broke out between Leice£- ter and William de Valence, Henry's half brother,, and e Rymer, vol. i. p. 459, 513. N 3 chief jS* HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, chief favourite, brought matters to extremity f, and de-r StS^A**,. termined the former to give full fcope to his bold and un- 1358. bounded ambition, which the laws and the king's authority had hitherto with difficulty reftrained. He fecretly called a meeting of the moft confiderable barons, particularly Humphrey deBohun, high ccnftable, Roger Bigod, earl marefchal, and the earls of Warwic and Glocefter ; men, who by their family and poffeflions flood in the firfl rank of the Englifh nobility. He reprefented to this company the neceffity of reforming the ftate, and of putting the execution. of the laws into other hands than thofe which had hitherto appeared, from repeated experience, fo unfit for the charge with which they were entrufted. He exaggerated the oppreflior.s exercifcd againft the lower or- ders of the ftate, the violations of the barons' privileges, the continued depredations made on the clergy ; and in order to aggravate the enormity of this conducl, he ap- pealed to the Great Charter, which Henry had fo often ratified, and which was calculated to prevent for ever the return of thofe intolerable grievances. He magnified the generofity of their anceftors, who, at an infinite expence of blood, had extorted that famous conceffion from the crown ; but lamented their own degeneracy, who allowed fo great an advantage, once obtained, to be wrefted from them by a weak prince and by infolent ftrangers. And he infifted, that the king's word, after fo many fubmif- fions and fruitlefs promifes on his part, could no longer be relied on ; and that nothing but his abfolute inability to violate national privileges could henceforth enfure the regular obfervance of them. These topics, which were founded in truth, and fuited fo well the fentiments of the company, had the defired effe£f. ; and the barons embraced a refolution of redreffing the public grievances, by taking into their own hands the l Mi Paris, p, 649. adminiftration, HENRY III. 183 adminiftration of government. Henry having fummoned c ^ A p* a parliament, in expectation of receiving fupplies for his<_ ^_ j Sicilian project:, the barons appeared in the hall, clad in I258« complete armour, and with their fwords by their iide : The king on his entry, ftruck with this unufual appear- ance, afked them what was their purpofe, and whether they pretended to make him their prifoner e ? Roger Bi- god replied in the name of the reft, that he was not their prifoner, but their fovereign ; that they even intended to grant him large fupplies, in order to fix his fon on the throne of Sicily ; that they only expected fome return for this expence and feryice; and that, as he had frequently made fubmiflions to the parliament, had acknowledged his pari errors, and had Hill allowed himfelf to be carried into the fame path, which gave them fuch juft rcafon of complaint, he muft now yield to more ftricl: regulations, and confer authority on thofe who were able and willing to red re is the national grievances. Henry, partly allured by the hopes of fupply, partly intimidated by the union and mar- tial appearance of the barons, agreed to their demand j and promifed to fummon another parliament at Oxford, in order to digeft the new plan of government, and to clecf. the perfons, who were to be entrufted with the chief authority. This parliament, which the royalifts, and even theirJu°e' r . r \ 1 r 1 11 Prowfions nation, from experience or the cenrunons that attended 0f Oxford, its meafures, afterwards denominated the mad parliament, met on the day appointed ; and as all the barons brought along with them their military vaiTals, and appeared with an armed force, the king, who had taken no precautions againft them, was in reality a prifoner in their hands, and was obliged to fubmit to all the terms which they were pleafed to impofe upon him. Twelve barons were felecl- ed from among the king's minifters 3 twelve more were % Aanal. Theck^fbury. N 4 chofen 1 84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C vif P# c^°^en k}r parliament : To thefe twenty-four, unlimited L— „-,_j authority was granted to reform the flate ; and the king iJ58« hirr.felf took an oath, that he would maintain whatever ordinances they fhould think proper to enact for that pur- pofc\ Leicester was at the head of this fupreme coun- cil, to which the legislative power was thus in reality transferred ; and all their meafures were taken by his Secret influence and direction. Their firft Step bore a fpe- cicus appearance, and feemed well calculated for the end, which they profefTed to be the object of all thefe innova- tions : They ordered that four knights fhould be chofen by each county; that they mould make enquiry into the grievances of which their1 neighbourhood had reafon to complain, and mould attend the enfuing parliament, in order to give information to that aflembly of the State of their particular counties ' : A nearer approach to our pre- • fent constitution than had been made by the barons in the reign of king John, when the knights were only appointed to meet in their feveral counties,, and there to draw up a detail of their grievances. Meanwhile the twenty-four barons proceeded to enact fome regulations, as a rcdrefs for fuch grievances as were fuppofed to be iufficiently notorious. They ordered, that three feffions of parli- ament fhould be regularly held every year, in the months pf February, June, and October; that a new high fhe- rifF fhould be elected every year by the votes of the free- holders in each county k ; that the Sheriffs mould have no power of fining the barons who did not attend their courts, or the circuits of the justiciaries ; that no heirs fhould be committed to the warclfhip of foreigners, and no caftles entruf^ed to their cuftodyj and that no new warrens or forefts fhould be created, nor the revenues of any counties or hundreds be let to farm. Such were the regulations n Rymer, vol. !. p. f$ ;. Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 334.. Knyghton, p. 2445. » M. Paris, p. 657. Addir. p. 140. Ann. Curt. p. 411. k Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 336. which HENRY TIT. i85 which the twenty-four barons erhblifhed at Oxford, for c HA P. the redrefs of public grievances. v-^-v— »j But the earl of Leicefter and his afTociates, having ad- ia58« vanced fo far to fatisfy the nation, inftead of continuing in this popular courfe, or granting the king that fupply which they had promifed him, immediately provided for the extenfion and continuance of their own exor- bitant authority. They rouzed anew the popular cla- mour, which had long prevailed againft foreigners; and they fell with the utmoft violence on the king's half-bro- thers, who were fuppofed to be the authors of all national grievances, and whom Henry had no longer any power to protect. The four brothers, fenfible of their danger, took to flight, with an intention of making their efcape out of the kingdom ; they were eagerly purfued by the barons ; Aymer, one of the brothers, who had been elected to the fee of Winchefter, took fhelter in his epif- copal palace, and carried the others along with him ; they were furrounded in that place, and threatened to be dragged out by force, and to be punifhed for their crimes and mifdemeanors ; and the king, pleading the facrednefs of an ecclefiaftical fancbaary, was glad to extricate them from this danger by banifhing them the kingdom. In this a<£t of violence, as well as in the former ufurpations of the barons, the queen and her uncles were thought to have fecretlv concurred ; being jealous of the credit acquired by the brothers, which, they imagined, had eclipfed and annihilated their own. But the fubfequent proceedings of the twenty-four uforpatloni barons were fufficient to open the eyes of the kingdom, of the ba" . ° ro;iSi r.nd to prove their intention of reducing for ever both the king and the people under the arbitrary power of a very narrow ariftocracy, which muft at laft have terminated either in anarchy, or in a violent ufurpation and tyranny. They pretended, that they had not as yet digefted all the regulations jiecefTary for the reformation of the flate, and for 1 86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ° ^if P' *"°r t'le rec*ref"s °f grievances ; and that they muft ftiil t,— ,)/J— , retain their power, till that great purpofe was thoroughly izS3> effectuated : In other words, that they muft be perpetual governors, and muft continue to reform, till they were pleafed to abdicate their authority. They formed an aflb- ciation among themfelves, and fwore that they would ftand by each other with their lives and fortunes : They difplaced all the chief officers of the crown, the jufticiary, the chancellor, the treafurer ; and advanced either them- felves or their own creatures in their ftcad : Even the offices of the king's houfehold were difpofed of at their pleafure : The government of all the caftles was put into hands in whom they found reafon to confide : And the whole power of the ftate being thus transferred to them, they ventured to impofe an oath j by which all the fub- jecTs were obliged to fwear, under the penalty of being declared public enemies, that they would obey and exe- cute all the regulations, both known and unknown, of the twenty-four barons : And all this, for the greater glory of God, the honour of the church, the fervice of the king, and the advantage of the kingdom K No one dared to withftand this tyrannical authority : Prince Ed- ward himfelf, the king's tldeft fon, a youth of eighteen, who began to give indications of that great and manly fpirit, which appeared throughout the whole courfe of his life, was, after making fome opposition, conftrained to take that oath, which really depofed his father and his family from fovereign authority m. Earl Warrenne was the laft perfon in the kingdom, that could be brought to give the confederated barons this mark of fubmiflion. But the twenty-four barons, not content with the ufurpation of the royal power, introduced an innovation in the conftitution of parliament, which was of the ut- moft importance. They ordained, that that afTembly 1 Chron, T. Wykes, p. «. m Ann. Eurt, p. 411, fhould HENRY III. j87 fhould chufe a committee of twelve perfons, who fhould, CHAP, in the intervals of the feflions, poffefs the authority of i^^-^J^j the whole parliament, and fhould attend on a fammons IZS"* the perfon of the king, in all his motions. But fo powerful were thefe barons, that this regulation was alfo fubmitted to ; the whole government was overthrown or fixed on new foundations ; and the monarchy was totally fubverted, without its being poffible for the king to ftrike a fingle ftroke in defence of the conftitution againft the newly erected oligarchy. The report, that the king of the Romans intended to 1259. pay a vifit to England, gave alarm to the ruling barons, who dreaded left the extenfive influence and eftablifhed authority of that prince would be employed to reftore the prerogatives of his family, and overturn their plan of government n. They fent over the bifhop of Worcefter, who met him at St. Omars ; afked him, in the name of the barons, the reafon of his journey, and how long he intended to ftay in England ; and infifted, that, be- fore he entered the kingdom, he fhould fwear to obferve the regulations eftablifhed at Oxford. On Richard's re- fufal to take this oath, they prepared to refift him as a public enemy; they fitted out a fleet, aflembled an army, and exciting the inveterate prejudices of the people againft foreigners, from whom they had fuffered fo many oppreilions, fpread the report that Richard, attended by a number of ftrangers, meant to reftore by force the authority of his exiled brothers, and to violate all the fecurities pro- vided for public liberty. The king of the Romans was at laft obliged to fubmit to the terms required of him °. But the barons, in proportion to their continuance in power, began gradually to lofe that popularity, which had aftifted them in obtaining it; and men repined, that n M. Parif, p, 661. ° Ibid, p, 661, 662. Chron. T. Wykes, P« 53* regulations, m HISTORY OF ENGLAND, K A P regulations, which were occafionally eftablifhed, for *_^^_ the reformation of the flate, were likely to become per- 1ZS0' petual, and to fubvert entirely the ancient conftitution. They were apprehenfive,^ left: the power of the nobles, always oppreffive, would now exert itfelf without con- troul, by removing the counterpoife of the crown ; and their fears were encreafed by fome new edicts of the barons, which were plainly calculated to procure to them- felves an impunity in all their violences. They appoint- ed, that the circuits of the itinerant juftices, the folc check on their arbitrary conduct:, fhould be held only once in feven years j and men eafily faw, that a remedy, which returned after fuch long intervals, againft an op- preffive power, which was perpetual, would prove totally insignificant and ufelefs p. The cry became loud in the nation, that the barons fhould fmifh their intended regu- lations. The knights of the /hires, who feem now to have been pretty regularly afTembled, and fometimes in a Separate houfe, made rcmonftrances ngainft the flownefs of their proceedings. They reprcfented, that, though the king had performed all the conditions required of him, the barons had hitherto done nothing for the public good, and had only been careful to promore their own private advantage, and to make inroads on royal authority ; and they even appealed to prince Edward, and claimed his intcrpohtion for the interefts of the nation, and the re- formation of the government i. The prince replied, that, though it was from conftraint, and contrary to his private fentiments, he had fworn to maintain the provi- fions of Oxford, he was determined to obferve his oath : But he fent a meflage to the barons, requiring them to bring their undertaking to a fpeedy conclufion, and fulfil their engagements to the public : Otherwife, he menaced them, that, at the expence of his life, he would oblige t M. Paris, p. 667. Trivetj p, 203. q Annal, Burt, p. 427. them HENRY KL i89 them to do their duty, and would fhed the laft drop of c H, A p» his blood in promoting the intercfts, and fatisfying the w-~v— ^i juft wifhes of the nation r. **i9* The barons, urged by fo preffing a necemty, publish- ed at laft a new code of ordinances for the reformation of the ftate s : But the expectations of the people were ex- tremely difappointed, when they found, that thefe con- firmed only of fome trivial alterations in the municipal law ; and ft.il 1 more, when the barons pretended, that the tafk was not yet finifhed, and that they muft farther pro- long their authority, in order to bring the work of reformation to the defired period. The current of popu- larity was now much turned to the fide of the crown ; and the barons had little to rely on for their fupport, befides the private influence and power of their families, which, though exorbitant, was likely to prove inferior to the combination of king and people. Even this bafis of power was daily weakened by their inteftine jealoufies and animofities ; their ancient and inveterate quarrels broke out when they came to fhare the fpoils of the crown j and the rivalfhip between the earls of Leicefier and Glo- cefter, the chief leaders among them, began to disjoint the whole confederacy. The latter, more moderate in his pretenfions, was defirous of flopping or retarding the career of the barons' ufurpations ; but the former, enraged at the oppofvtion which he met with in his own party, pretended to throw up all concern in Lnglifli arFairs ; and he retired into France r. The kingdom of France, the only Hate with which England had any confiderable intercourfe, was at this time governed by Lewis IX. a prince of the moft fingu- lar character, that is to be met with in all the records of hiftory. This monarch united, to the mean and abjeel: fuperftition of a monk, all the courage and magnanimity r Anna!, Burt. p. 427. « Ibid p 42?, '39. t Chron, ELinft. vol i. p. 3,48.- iqQ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. of the greateft hero ; and, what may be deemed more *, extraordinary, the juftice and integrity of the moft difin- 1259. terefted patriot, the mildnefs and humanity of the moft accomplifhed philofopher. So far from taking advantage of the divifions among the Englifh, or attempting to expel thofe dangerous rivals from the provinces, which they ftill pofleffed in France ; he had entertained many fcruples with regard to the fentence of attainder pronounced againft the king's father, had even expreiTed fome intention of reftoring the other provinces, and was only prevented from taking that imprudent refolution, by the united re- monftrances of his own barons, who reprefented the extreme danger of fuch a meafure u, and, what had a greater influence on Lewis, the juftice of punifhing by a legal fentence the barbarity and felony of John. Where- ever this prince interpofed in Englifh affairs, it was al- ways with an intention of compofing the differences be- tween the king and his nobility ; he recommended to both parties every peaceable and reconciling meafure; and he ufed all his authority with the earl of Leicefter, his native fubjeel:, to bend him to a compliance with zoth May. Henry. He made a treaty with England, at a time when the diftradfions of that kingdom were at the great- eft height, and when the king's authority was totally annihilated ; and the terms, which he granted, might, even in a more profperous f late of their affairs, be deemed reafonable and advantageous to the Enjrlifh. He vielded up fome territories which had been conquered from Poic- tou and Guienne ; he enfured the peaceable poffefTion of the latter province to Henry ; he agreed to pay that prince a large fum of money ; and he only required that the king mould, in return, make a final ceifion of Nor- mandy, and the other provinces, which he could never entertain any hopes of recovering by force of arms w. u M. -Paris, p. 604. w Rymer, vol. i. p. 675. M. Paris, p. 566. Chron. T. Wykts, p, 53. Trivet, p. 2o3, M. Weft. p. 371. This HENRY III. 131 This ceflion was ratified by Henry, by his two fons, and c HA P. two daughters, and by the king of the Romans and his i^^^j three fons : Leicefter alone, either moved by a vain arro- 1259- gance, or defirous to ingratiate himfelf with the Englifh populace, protefted againft the deed, and infilled on the right, however diftant, which might accrue to his confort*. Lewis faw in this obfiinacy the unbounded ambition of the man ; and as the barons infilled, that the money, due by treaty, mould be at their difpofal, not at Henry's, he alfo faw, and probably with regret, the low condition, to which this monarch, who had more erred from weak- nefs than from any bad intentions, was reduced by the turbulencyof his own fubjects. But the fituation of Henry foon after wore a more 1261. favourable afpe6l. The twenty-four barons had now en- joyed the fovereign power near three years ; and had vifibly employed it, not for the reformation of the ftate, which was their firft pretence, but for the aggrandize- ment of thernfelves and of their families. The breach of truft was apparent to all the world : Every order of men felt it and murmured againft it : The diflentions among the barons thernfelves, which encreafed the evil, made alio the remedy more obvious and eafy : And the fecret defertion in particular of the earl of Gloccfter to the crown, feemed to promife Henry certain fuccefs in any attempt to refume his authority. Yet durft he not take that ftep, fo reconcilable both to juftice and policy, without making a previous application to Rome, and defirin'g an abfolution from his oaths and engagements y. The pope was at that time much difiatisfied with the conduct of the barons ; who, in order to gain the favour of the people and clergy of England, had expelled all the Italian ecclefiaftics, had confiscated their benefices, and x Chron, Ti Wykes, p, 53. Y Ann, Curt, p. 3S9. feemed i92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. *~ *vA P' feemed determined to maintain the liberties and privileges %_ -r- _>of the Englifh church, in which the rights of patronage, iz6i. belonging to their own families, were included. The ex- treme animofity of the Englifh clergy againft the Italians was alfo a fource of his difguft to this order ; and an attempt, which had been made by them for farther liberty and independancc on the civil power, was therefore lefs acceptable to the court of Rome z. About the fame time, that the barons at Oxford had annihilated the preroga- tives of the monarchy, the clergy met in a fynod at Merton, and patted feveral decrees, which were no lefs calculated to promote their own grandeur at the expence of the crown. They decreed, that it was unlawful to try ecclefiaftics by fecular judges ; that the clergy were not to regard any prohibitions from civil courts; that lay- patrons had no right to confer fpiritual benefices ; that the magiflrate was obliged, without farther enquiry, to imprifon all excommunicated perfons ; and that ancient ufage, without any particular grant or charter, was a fufficient authority for any clerical pofleflions or privi- leges a. About a century ago, thefe claims would have been fupported by the court of Rome beyond the moft fundamental articles of faith : They were the chief points maintained by the great martyr, Becket ; and his refolu- tion in defending them had exalted him to the high ftation which he held in the catalogue of Romiih faints : But principles Were changed with the times : The pope was become fomev/hat jealous of the great independance of the Englifh church, which made them ftand lefs in need of his protection, and even emboldened them to refift his authority, and to complain of the preference given to the Italian courtiers, whofe interefls, it is natu- ral to imagine, were the chief object of his concern. He was ready therefore, on the king's application, to * Rymer, vol. i. p. 755, a Ann, Durt, p. 389. annul HENRY III. 193 annul thefe new conftitutions of the church of England b. C H a p. And, at the fame time, he abfolved the king and all his y^t-\r^^ fubjects from the oath v/hich they had taken to obferve li6l# the provifions of Oxford c. Prince Edward, whofe liberal mind, though in fuch Prince ElJ- ...... ward. early youth, had taught him the great prejudice, which his father had incurred, by his levity, inconflancy, and frequent breach of promife, refufed for a long time to take advantage of this abfolution ; and declared that the provifions of Oxford, how unreafonable foever in themfelves, and how much foever abufed by the barons, ought frill to be adhered to by thofe who had (worn to obferve them d : He himfelf had been constrained by vio- lence to take that oath ; yet was he determined to keep it. By this fcrupulous fidelity, the prince acquired the confi- dence of all parties, and was afterwards enabled to re- cover fully the royal authority, and to perform fuch great actions both during his own reign and that of his father. The fituatiort of England, during this period, as well as that of mofr. European kingdoms, was fomewhat pecu- liar. There was no regular military force maintained in the nation : The fword, however, was not, properly fpeaking, in the hands of the people : The barons were alone entrufted with the defence of the community j and after any effort, which they made, either againfr. their own prince, or againft foreigners, as the military retainers de- parted home, the armies were difbanded, and could nut fpeedily be re-afTembled at pleafure. It was eafy there- fore, for a few barons, by a combination, to get the frart of the other party, to collect: fuddenly their troops, and to appear unexpectedly in the field with an army, which - Rymer, -vol. i, p, 755. « Ryiner, vol. i. p. 722, M. Paris, p. 666. W. Hearing, p. 58c. Ypc4- Neuft. p. 468. Knyghton, p. 2446, d M. Paris, p. ££.;. Vol. II. O their *94- HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, their antagonifts, though equal or even fuperior in power ,-J_v_^_, and intereft, would not dare to encounter. Hence the »*SHi iudden revolutions, which often took place in thofe go- vernments : Hence the frequent victories obtained with- out a blow by one faction over another : And hence it happened, that the feeming prevalence of a party, Was ieldorn a prognostic of its long continuance in power and authority. w6z. The king, as foon as he received the pope's abfolution from his oath, accompanied with menaces of excommu- nication againft all opponents, trufting to the counte- nance of the church, to the fupport promifed him by many confiderable barons, and to the returning favour of the people, immediately took off the mafk. After juf- tifying his conduct by a proclamation, in which he fet forth the private ambition, and the breach of trufl, con- fpicuous in Leicefter and his affociates, he declared, that he had refumed the government, and was determined thenceforth to exert the royal authority for the protection of his fubjects. He removed Hugh le Defpenfer and Nicholas de Ely, the high juiliciary and chancellor ap- pointed by the barons ; and put Philip Baffet and Walter de Merton in their place. He fubftituted new fheriffs in all the counties, men of character and reputation : Fie placed new governors in moft of the caftles : He changed z?i April, ail the officers of his houfhold : He iummoned a parlia- ment, in which the refumption of his authority was rati- fied, with only five diffenting voices : And the barons, after making one fruitlefs effort, to take the king by fur- prize at Winchester, were obliged to acquiefce in thofe new regulations e. The king, in order to cut off every objection to his -conduct, offered to refer all the differences between him e M. Paris, p. 668. Chrdn. T. Wykes, p 55. and HENRY III, 195 and the earl of Leicefter, to Margaret queen of France f . The celebrated integrity of Lewis gave a mighty influence to any decifion which iflued from his court • and Henry Il6a' probably hoped, that the gallantry, on which all barons, as true knights, valued themfelves, would make them afhamed not to fubmit to the award of that princefs. Lewis merited the confidence repofed in him. By an ad- mirable conduct, probably as political as juft, he conti- nually interpofed his good offices to allay the civil difcords of the Englifh : He forwarded all healing meafures, which might give fecurity to both parties : And he ftill endea- voured, though in vain, to footh by perfuaflon the fierce ambition of the earl of Leicefter, and to convince him how much it was his duty to fubmit peaceably to the au~ thority of his fovereign. That bold and artful confpiratbr was nowife difcou- 11S3, raged by the bad fuccefs of his paft enterprizes. The death of Richard earl of Glocefter, who was his chief rival in power, and who, before his deceafe, had joined the royal partyj feemed to open a new field to his vio- lence, and to expofe the throne to frefh infults and in- juries. It was in vain, that the king profefled his inten- tions of obferving ftrictly the great charter^ even of main- taining all the regulations made by the reforming barons at Oxford or afterwards, except thofe which entirely an- nihilated the royal authority : Thefe powerful chieftains* now obnoxious to the court, could not peaceably refign the hopes of entire independance and uncontrouled power, with which they had flattered themfelves, and which they had fo long enjoyed. Many of them engaged in Leicef- civil w*rs- ter's views, and among the reft, Gilbert, the young earl °onlSt ba" of Glocefter, who brought him a mighty accefiion of power, from the extenfive authority pofTefled by that op.u- f Rymer, vol. i. p. 72,4, O 2 lent 196 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap. lent family. Even Henry, fon of the king of the Romans, V/V'Vj comonly called Henry d'Allmaine, though a prince of *l53* the blood, joined the party of the barons againft the king, the head of his own family. Leicefter himfclf, who ftill refided in France, formed fecretly the links of this great confpiracy, and planned the whole fcheme of Operations. The princes of Wales, notwithftanding the great power of the monarchs, both of the Saxon and Norman line, ftill preferved authority in their own country. Though they had often been conftrained to pay tribute to the crown of England, they were with difficulty re- tained in fubordination or even in peace ; and almoft through every reign fince the conqueft, thev had infefted the Engliih frontiers with fuch petty incurfions and fud- den inroads, as feldom merited to have place in a general hiftory. The Englifh, ftill content with repelling their invafions, and chacing them back into theii mountains, had never purfued the advantages obtained over them, nor been able, even under their greateft and moft active prin- ces, to fix a total, or fo much as a feudal fubjeclion on the country. This advantage was referved to the prefent Icing, the weakeft and moft indolent. In the year 1237, Lewellyn, prince of Wales, declining in years and broken with infirmities, but ftill more harafted with the rebel- lion and undutiful behaviour of his fon, Griffin, had re- course to the protection of Henry j and contenting to fiibject his principality, which had fo long maintained, or foon recovered, its independance, to vaflalage under the crown of England, had purchafed fecurity and tranquil- lity on thefe difhonourable terms. His eldeft fon and heir, David, renewed the homage to Eegland ; and hav- ing taken his brother prifoner, delivered him into Hen- iv*.*' hands* who committed him tocuftody in the Tower. That prince, endeavouring to make his, gfcape, loft his $ life HENRY III. 197 life in the attempt ; and the prince of Wales, freed from c M A P. the apprehenfions of fo dangerous a rival, paid thenceforth , lei's regard to the Englifh monarch, and even renewed thofe incurnons, by which the Welfh, during fo many ages, had been accuftomed to infeft the Engliih borders. Lewellyn, however, the fon of Griffin, who fucceeded to his uncle, had been obliged to renew the homage, which was now claimed by England as an eflablifhed right ; but he was well pleafed to inflame thofe civil difcords, on which he retted his prefent fecurity, and founded his hopes of future independance. He entered into a confe- deracy with the earl of Leicefter, and collecting all tlie force of his principality, invaded England with an army of 30,000 men. He ravaged the lands of Roger de Mor- timer and of all the barons, who adhered to the crown £ ; he marched into Chefhire, and committed like depreda- tions on prince Edward's territories ; every place, where his diforderly troops appeared, was laid wafte with fire and fword j and though Mortimer, a gallant and expert •foldier, made flout refifrauce, it was found necefTary, that the prince himfelf fhould head the army againfl this in- vader. Edward repuiicd prince Lewellyn, and obliged him to take fhelter in the mountains of North Wales : But he was prevented from making farther progrefs againft the enemy, by the diforders, which foon after broke out in England. The Wclfh invafion was the appointed fignal for the malcontent barons to rife in arms ; and Leicefter coming over fecretly from France, collected all the forces of his party, and commenced an open rebellion. He feized the per- ibn of the bifhop of Hereford ; a prelate obnoxious to all the inferior clergy, on account of his devoted attachment to the court of Rome \ Simon, bifhop of Norwich, and g Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 354. h Trivet, p. ait. M. Weft* p. 3S1. 392. O 3 John i98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. John Manfel, becaufe they had publifhed the pope's bullx ■ -'_ i abfolving the kins; and kingdom from their oaths to ob- 1263. ferve the provifions of Oxford, were made prifoners, and expofed to the rage of the party. The king's demefnes were ravaged with unbounded fury ' ; and as it was Lei- cefter's intereft to allure to his fide, by the hopes of plun- der, all the diforderly ruffians in England, he gave them a general licence to pillage the barons of the oppof:te . party, and even all neutral perfons. But one of the prin- cipal refources of his faction was the populace of the cities, particularly of London; and as he had, by his hypocriti- cal pretenfions to fanflity, and his zeal againft Rome, engaged the monks and lower eccleiiaftics in his party, his dominion over the inferior ranks of men became uncon- troulable. Thomas Fitz-Richard, mayor of London, a furious and licentious men, gave the countenance of au- thority to thofe dilbrders in the capital ; and having de- clared war againft the fubftantial citizens, he loofened all the bands of government, by which that turbulent city was commonly but ill reflrained. On the approach of Eafter, the zeal of fuperftition, the appetite for plunder, or what is often as prevalent with the populace as either of thefe motives, the pleafure of committing havoc and deftruclion, prompted them to attack the unhappy Jews, who were firfl pillaged without refiftance, then mafiacred, to the number of five hundred perfons k. The Lombard bankers were next expofed to the rage of the people ; and though, by taking fancluary in the churches, they efcaped with their lives, all their money and goods became a prey to the licentious multitude. Even the houfes of the rich citizens, though Englifh, were attacked by night ; and way was made by fword and by fire to the pillage of their £oods, and often to the deftruclion of their perfons. The queen, who, though fhe was defended by the Tower, was '* Trivet, p. an. M. Weft. p. fa. k Chron, T. Wykes, p. 59. terrified HENRY III. i99 terrified by the neighbourhood of fueh dangerous com- motions, refolved to goby water to the caftleof Windier; but as fhe approached the bridge, the populace aiTembled againit her : The cry ran, drown the witch ; and befides abufing her with the moil opprobrious language, and pelt:- ing her with rotten eggs and dirt, they had prepared large flones to fink her barge, when me mould attempt to moot the bridge ; and fhe was lb frightened that (he re- turned to the Tower !. The violence and fury of Leicester's faction had rifen to fuch a height in all parts of England, that the king, unable to refjft their power, was obliged to kt on foot a treaty of peace ; and to make an accommodation with the barons on the moft difadvantajreous terms "'. He agreed lSthJul> to confirm anew the provifions of Oxford, even thofe which entirely annihilated the royal authority ; and the barons were again re-inftated in the fovereignty of the kingdom. They reftored Hugh le Defpenfer to the of- fice of high jufriciary ; they appointed their own crea- tures fherifFs in every county of England ; they took pof- felEon of all the royal caftles and fortrefles ; they even named all the officers of the king's houfhoid ; and they Summoned a parliament to meet at Weftminfter in order i^hOft. to fettle more fully their plan of government. They here produced a new lift of twenty-four barons, to whom they propofed, that the administration mould be entirely com- mitted ; and they infifted, that the authority of this junto mould continue, not only during the reign of the king, but alfo during that of prince Edward. This prince, the life and foul of the royal party, had unhappily, before the king's accommodation with the ba- rons, been taken prifoner by Leicefter in a parley at Windfor n j and that misfortune, more than any other 1 Chron.T.Wykes, p. 57, >n Chron. Dunfl. vol. i. p. 358. Tnvet, p, an, n M. Paris, p. 669. Trivet, p. 213. Q 4 incident, 200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, incident, had determined Henry to fubmit to the ignpmi- i_j -*-^A1_f nious conditions impofed upon him. But Edward, hav- 1-63. jng recovered his liberty by the treaty, employed his activity in defending the prerogatives of his family ; and he gained a great party even among thofe who had at firft adhered to the caufe of the barons. His coufin, Henry d'Allmaine, Roger Bigod earl marefhal, earl Warrenne, Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford, John lord Ballet, Ralph BafTet, Hamon l'Eftrange, Roger Mortimer, Henry de Piercy, Robert de Brus, Roger de Leyborne, with almoft all the Lords Marchers, as they were called, on the borders of Wales and Scotland, the moll warlike parts of the kingdom, declared in favour of the royal caufe ; and hoftilities, which were fcarcely well compofed, were again renewed in every part of England. But the near balance of the parties, joined to the univerfal clamour of the peo- ple, obliged the king and barons to open anew the nego- tiations for peace ; and it was agreed by both fides to fub- mit the differences entirely to the arbitration of the king of France °. Reference This virtuous prince, the only man, who, in like of France, circumftances, could fafely have been intrufted with fuch an authority by a neighbouring nation, had never ceafed to interpofe his good offices between the Engliili factions ; and had even, during the fhort interval of peace, invited over to Paris both the king and the earl of Leicefter, in order to accommodate the differences be- tween them ; but found, that the fears and animofities on both fides, as well as the ambition of Leicefter, were fo violent, as to render all his endeavours ineffectual. But when this folemn appeal, ratified by the oaths and fubferiptions of the leaders in both factions, was made to his judgment, he was not difcouraged from purfuing his o M. Paris, p. 668. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 58. W. Herning. p. jSo. Chron. Dunft. vol. i. p. 363, honourable HENRY III. 201 honourable purpofe : He fummoned the flates of France CHAP at Amiens ; and there, in the prefence of that aflembly, ^>-\/~**S as well as in that of the king of England and Peter de I264* Montfort, Leicefter's ion, he brought this great caufe to a trial and examination. It appeared to him, that the provifions of Oxford, even had they not been extorted by force, had they not been fo exorbitant in their nature and fubverfive of the ancient conftitution, were exprefsly efta- blifhed as a temporary expedient, and could not, without breach of truft, be rendered perpetual by the barons. He therefore annulled thefe provifions; reftored to the king 25d Jan. the pofteffion of his caftles, and the power of nomination to the great offices ; allowed him to retain what foreign- ers he pleafed in his kingdom, and even to confer on them places of truft and dignity; and in a word, re-eftabliihcd the royal power in the fame condition on which it flood before the meeting of the parliament at Oxford. Eut •while he thus fupprefTed dangerous innovations, and pre- ferred unimpaired the prerogatives of the Englifh crown, he was not negligent of the rights of the people ; and be- fides ordering that a general amnefty mould be granted for all paft offences, he declared, that his award was not any wife meant to derogate from the privileges and liber- ties which the nation enjoyed by any former concellions or charters of the crown p. This equitable fentencewas no fooner known in Eng- land, than Leicefter and his confederates determined to reject it, and to have recourfe to arms, in order to pro- cure to themfelves more fafe and advantageous condi- tions from the king i. Without regard to his oaths and Renewal^ fubferiptions, that enterprizing confpirator directed his ,tne two fons, Richard and Peter de Montfort, in conjunction with Robert de Ferrars, earl of Derby, to attack the city P Rymer, vol. i. p. 776, 777, &e. Chron, T. Wyfces, p , 58. Knyghton, p. 844.6. 1 Chron. Dunft, vol. i. p. 363. of wars. to2 HISTORY OF ENGLAN D. chap, of Worcefter : while Henty and Simon de Montfort, two XII. I^V^t others of his fons, affifced by the prince of Wales, were 1264. ordered to lay wafte the eftate of Roger de Morti- mer, He himfelf refided at London ; and employing as his inStrument, Fitz-Richard, the feditious mayor, who had violently and illegally prolonged his authority, he wrought up that city to the higher! ferment and agitation. The populace formed themfelves into bands and compa- nies; chofe leaders; pra&ifed all military exercifes; com- mitted violence on the royalifls : And to give them greater countenance in their diforders, an aflbciation was en ten. d into between the city and eighteen great barons, never to make peace with the king but by common confent and approbation. At the head of thofe who fwore to main- tain this aiibciation, were the carls of Lcicefter, Glocefter and Derby, with le Defpenfer, the chief judiciary ; men who had all previously fworn to fubmit to the award of the French monarch. Their only pretence for this breach of faith, was, that the latter part of Lewis's fentence was, as they affirmed, a contradiction to the former : He rati- fied the charter of liberties, yet annulled the provisions of Oxford; which were only calculated, as they maintained, to preferve that charter ; and without which, in their esti- mation, they had no fecurity for its obfervance. The king and prince, finding a civil war inevitable, prepared themfelves for defence ; and fummoning the mi- litary vafials from all quarters, and being reinforced by Balic: lord of Galloway, Brus lord of Annandale, Henry Piercy, John Comyn r, and other barons of the north, they compofed an army, formidable as well from its num- bers, as its military prowefs and experience. The hrfl enterprize of the royalifts was the attack of Northampton ; which was defended by Simon de Montfort, with many of the principal barons of that party : And a breach being r Rymer, vol i. p. 772. M, Weft, p, 385. Yped. Neuft, p. 469, 3 made H E N R Y U& 203 inade in the walls by Philip BafTet, the place war. carried C M P. by affault, and both the governor and the garrifon were , — _'_ i f made prifoners. The royalifts marched thence to Leicei- , ,;64 tr J 5 n April, ter and Nottingham ; both which places having opened ' their gates to them, prince Edward proceeded with a detachment into the county of Derby, in order to ravage with fire and fword the lands of the earl of that name, and take revenge on him for his difloyalty. Like maxims of war prevailed with both parties throughout England; and the kingdom was thus expofed in a moment to greater de- valuation, from the animofities of the rival barons, than it would have fufFered from many years of foreign or even domeftic hoftilities, conducted by more humane and more generous principles. The earl of Leicefter, mafter of London, and of the counties in the ibuth-eaft of England, formed the fiege of Rochefter, which alone declared for the king in thole parts, and which, befides earl Warrenne, the governor, Was garrifoned by many noble and powerful barons of the royal party. The king and prince hardened from Not- tingham, where they were then quartered, to the relief of the place ; and on their approach, Leicefter raifed the fiege and retreated to London, which, being the center of his power, he was afraid, might, in his abfence, fall into the king's hands, either by force, or by a corre- fpondence with the principal citizens, who were ail fecretly inclined to the royal caufe. Reinforced by a great body of Londoners, and having fummoned his par- tizans from all quarters, he thought himfelf ftrong enough to hazard a general battle with the royalifts*, and to deter- mine the fate of the nation in one great engagement j which, if it proved fuccefsful, muft be decifive againft the king, who had no retreat for his broken troops in thofe parts ; while Leicefter himfelf, in cafe of any fini- fter accident, could eafily take fhelter in the city. To give the better colouring to hjs eaufe, he previoufly fent a meffage 204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, XI, ' a mefTage with conditions of peace to Henry, fuhmiffive Vx-V^ in the language, but exorbitant in the demands s ; and when the meflenger returned W'itn the lie and defiance from the king, the prince, and the king of the Romans, he fcnt a new mefiage, renouncing, in the name of him- feif and of the affociated barons, ail fealty and allegiance to Henry. He then marched out of the city with his army, divided into four bodies : The firft commanded bv his two fons, Henry and Guy de Montfort, together with Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, who had deferted to the barons ; the fecond led by the ear! of Glocefter, with William de Mont^\\p(ney and John Fitz John ; the third, compoied of Londoners, under the command of Nicholas dc Segrave ; the fourth headed by himfeif in perfon. The bifliop of Chichefter gave a ge- neral abfolution to the army, accompanied with aflur- ances, that, if any of them fell in the enfuing action, they would infallibly be received into heaven, as the re- ward of their fuffering in fo meritorious a caufc. Leicester, who poflefled great talents for war, con- ducted his march with fuch fkill and fccrecy, that he had j^th May. well nigh furprizcd the royalifts in their quarters at Lewes in SufTex : But the vigilance and activity of prince Edward foon repaired this negligence; and he led out the king's armv to the field in three bodies. He himfeif conducted the van, attended by earl Warrenne and William de Valence: The main body was commanded by the king of the Ro- mans and his fon Henry : The king himfeif was placed in the rear at the head of his principal nobility. Prince Edward rufhed upon the Londoners, who had demanded the poft of honour in leading the rebel army, but who, from their ignorance of difcipline and want of experience, were ill fitted to refift the gentry and military men, of whom the prince's body was compofed. They were broken in an s M, Paris, p. 669, W. Heming. p. 5S3. jnflant 'a Bsttfc of l,ewe HENRY III. 205 inftant ; were chafed off the field ; and Edward, tranf- CHAP, ported by his martial ardour, and eager to revenge the ^mm^^^^J infolence of the Londoners agaiiift his mother r, put thern ia5*« to the fword for the length of four miles, without giving them any quarter, and without reflecting on the fate, which in the mean time attended the reft of the army. The earl of Leicefter feeing the royalifts thrown into con- fufion by their eagernefs in purfuit of plunder, led on his remaining troops againft the bodies commanded by the two royal brothers : He defeated with great {laughter the forces headed by the king of the Romans ; and that mo- narch was obliged to yield himfelf prifoner to the earl of Glocefter: He penetrated to the body, where the king himfelf was placed, threw it into diforder, purfued his ad- vantage, chafed it into the town of Lewes, and obliged Henry to furrendcx himfelf prifoner u. Prince Edward, returning to the field of battle from his precipitate purfuit of the Londoners, was aftonifhed to find it covered with the dead bodies of his friends, and ftiil more to hear, that his father and uncle were defeated and taken prifoners, and that Arundel, Comyn, Brus, Hamon PEftrange, Roger Leybourne, and all the confi- derable barons of his party, were in the hands of the victorious enemv. Earl Wanenne, Hurrh Biijod, and William de Valence, flruck with defpair at this event, immediately took to flight, hurried to Pevcncey, and marie their efcape beyond lea w : But the prince, intrepid amidft the greateft difaftefs, exhorted his troops to revenge the death of their friends, to relieve the royal captives, and to match an eafy conqueft from an enemy, difordered by their own victory x. He found his followers intimi- dated by their fituatipn -3 while Leicefter, afraid of a fud- £ M. Paris, p. 670. Chron.T. W)kcs, p. 61. W. Fleming, p. 583. M. Weft. p. 3S7. Ypod. Neuft. p. 469. H. Knyghtort, p. 445c. 2 M. Pari:,, p. 670. M. Weft, p. 387. vf Chzon. T. W)kes, p. 63. * W.Heming. p, g% 4. 20& HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C R A P. den ?aH| violent blow from the prince, amufed him by at ^_ _ _' _> feigned negotiation; till he was able to recal his troops 1264. from the rxurfuit, and to bring them into order v. There now appeared no farther refource to the royal party ; fur-* rounded by the armies and garrifons of the enemy, de- ftitute of forage and provisions, and deprived of their fovcrcign, as well as of their principal leaders, who could alone infpirit them to an obflinatc refrftance. The prince, therefore, was obliged to fubmit to Leicefter's termSj which were fhort and kvere9 agreeably to the fuddennefs and neceffity of the fituation. He ftipulated, that he and Henry d'Allmaine mould furrender themfelves prifoners as pledges in lieu of the two kings ; that all other prifoners on both fides mould be releafed z ; and that in order to fettle fully the terms of agreement, application mould be made to the king of France, that he mould name fix Frenchmen, three prelates, and three noblemen : Thefe fix to chufe two others of their own country : And thefe two to chufe one Englishman, who, in conjunction with' themfelves, were to be inverted by both parties with full powers to make what regulations they thought proper for the fatlcment of the kingdom. The prince and young Henry accordingly delivered themfelves into Leicefter's hands, who fent them under a guard to Dover caftle. Such are the terms of agreement, commonly called the Mife of Lewes, from an obfolete French term of that meaning : For it appears, that all the gentry and nobi- lity of England, who valued themfelves on their Norman extraction, and who difdained the language of their native country, made familiar ufe of the French tongue, till this period, and for feme time after. Leicester, had no fooner obtained this great advan- tage, and got the whole royal family in his power, thart r W. Heming. p. 584. 2 M, Paris, p. 671, Knvghton, p. I4ST» he HENRY III. 207 he openly violated every article of the treaty, and acted C HAP, as fole mafter, and even tyrant of the kingdom. He ftill ^^^j detained the king in effect a prifoner, and made ufe of ,z64- that prince's authority to pufpofes the moft prejudicial to his interefts, and the moft oppreflive of his people a. He every were difarmed the royalifts, and kept all his own partizans in a military pofture b : He obferved the fame partial conduct in the delivery of the captives, and even threw many of the royalifts into prifon, befides thofe who were taken in the battle of Lewes : He carried the king from place to place, and obliged all the royal caftles, on pretence of Henry's commands, to receive a governor and garrifon of his own appointment: All the officers of the crown and of the houfehold were named by him ; and the whole authority, as well as arms of the ftate, was lodged in his hands : He inftituted in the counties a new kind of magiftracy, endowed with new and arbitrary powers, that of confervators of the peace c : His avarice ap- peared barefaced, and might induce us to queftion the greatnefs of his ambition, at leaft the largenefs of his mind, if we had not reafon to think, that he intended to employ his acquifitions as the inftruments for attaining farther power and grandeur. He feized the eftates of no lefs than eighteen barons, as his fhare of the fpoil gained in the battle of Lewes : He engrafted to himfelf the ran- ibm of all the prifoners ; and told his barons, with a wanton infolence, that it was fufficient for them, that he had faved them by that victory from the forfeitures and attainders which hung over them d : He even treated the earl of Glocefter in the fame injurious manner, and appli- ed to his own ufe the ranfom of the king of the Ro- mans, who in the field of battle had yielded himfelf pri- a Rymer, vol. i. p. 790, 79r, &c. b ifcidi p. 7g^, Brady's appeals, No all, 212. Chron. T. Wylecs, p. 63, c Rymer, vol. i« f. 7J2, d Knygkton, p. 2451, jfoner 7.6% HISTORY OF ENGLAND, ° *xu P ^"oner to tnat nobleman. Henry, his eldeft fon, made a l_^^_j monopoly of all the wool in the kingdom, the only Ja64» valuable commodity for foreign markets which it at that time produced e. The inhabitants of the cinque-ports, during the prefent dilTolution of government, betook themfelves to the moft licentious piracy, preyed on the fhips of all nations, threw the mariners into the fea, and by thefe practices foon banifhed all merchants from the Englifh coafts and harbours. Every foreign commodity rofe to an exorbitant price ; and woollen cloth, which the Englifh had not then the art of dying, was worn by them white, and without receiving the laft hand of the ^manufacturer. In anfwer to the complaints which arofe on this occafion, Leicefter replied, that the kingdom could well enough fubfift within itfelf, and needed no intercourfe with foreigners. And it was found, that he even combined with the pyrates of the cinque-ports, and received as his fhare the third of their prizes f. No farther mention was made of the reference to the king of France, fo eflential an article in the agreement of Lewes ; and Leiceftef fummoned a parliament, compofed altogether of his own partizans, in order to rivet, by their authority, that power, which he had acquired by fo much violence, and which he ufed with fo much tyranny and injuftice. An ordinance was there palled, to which the king's confent had been previoufly extorted, that every act of royal power mould be exercifed by a council of nine perfons, who were to be chofen and removed by the majority of three, Leicefter himfelf, the earl of Glo- celter, and the bifhop of Chicheftcr g. By this intricate plan of government, the fcepter was really put into Lei- ceftcr's hands ; as he had the entire direction of the bifhop of Chkhcfter, and thereby commanded ail the refolutions e Chron. T. Wykes, p. 65. * Ibid. Z Rymer, vol. i. p. 793, Brady's Appt N" 213. HENRY III. 209 of the council of three, who could appoint or difcard ate Ha P. pleafure every member of the fupreme council. . w- _'_ _ But it was impoflible that things could long remain J^. in this Grange fituation. It behoved Leicefter either to deicend with fome peril into the rank of a fubjecl, or to mount up with no lefs into that of a fovereign 5 and his am- bition, unrefrrained either by fear or by principle, gave too much reafon to fufpect him of the latter intention. Mean while, he was expofed to anxiety from every quarter; and felt that the fmalleft incident was capable of overturning that immenfe and ill-cemented fabric, which he had reared. The queen, whom her hufband had left abroad, had collected in foreign parts an army of defperate adven- turers, and had afiembled a great number of mips, with a view of invading the kingdom, and of bringing relief to her unfortunate family. Lewis, detefling Leicefter's ufur- pations and perjuries, and difgufted at theEnglifh barons, who had refufed to fubmit to his award, fecretly favoured all her enterprizes, and was generally believed to be mak- ing preparations for the fame purpofe. An Englifh army, by the pretended authority of the captive king, was afTem- bled on the fea-coaft to oppofe this projected invafion h ; but Leicefter owed his fecurity more to crofs winds, which long detained and at laft difperfed and ruined the queen's fleet, than to any refinance, which, in their prefent fitu- ation, could have been expected from the Englifh. Leicester found himfelf better able to refill the fpi- ritual thunders, which were levelled againft him. The pope, ftill adhering to the king's caufe againft the barons, difpatched cardinal Guido as his legate into England, with orders to excommunicate by name the three earls, Leicefter, Glocefter, and Norfolk, and all others in ge- neral, who concurred in the oppreffcon and captivity of h Brady's App. K° 216, 217. Chron. Dur.ft. vol. i, p. 373. M. Weft. Vol. II. P their 2io HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. their fovcreign '. Leicefter menaced the legate with U-—s^— j death, if he fet foot within the kingdom ; but Guido, 12641 meeting in France the bifhops of Winchefter, London, and Worcefter, who had been fent thither on a negoti- ation, commanded them, under the penalty of ecclefia- ftical cenfurcs, to carry his bull into England, and to publifh it againft the barons. When the prelates arrived off the coaft, they were boarded by the pyratical mariners of the cinque-ports, to whom probably they gave a hint of the cargo, which they brought along with them : The: bull was torn and thrown into the fea ; which furnifhed the artful prelates with a plaufible excufe for not obeying the orders of the legate. ' Leicefter appealed from Guido to the pope in perfon ; but before the ambafladors, ap- pointed to defend his caufe, could reach Rome, the pope was dead ; and they found the legate himfelf, from whom they had appealed, feated on the papal throne, under the name of Urban IV. That daring leader was no wife dif- mayed with this event ; and as he found that a great part of his popularity in England was founded on his op- pofition to Rome, which was now become odious, he perfifted with the more obftinacy in the profecution of his meafures. 1265. That he might both encreafe, and turn to advantage his popularity, Leicefter fummoned a new parliament in London, where, he knew, his power was uncontrolable ; and he fixed this aflembly on a more democratical bafis, than any which had ever been fummoned fince the founda- tion of the monarchy. Befides the barons of his own party, and feveral ecclefiaftics, who were not immediate tenants Houfe of of the crown ; he ordered returns to be made of two commons. knjghts from every fhire, and what is more remarkable, of deputies from the boroughs, an order of men, which > Rymer, vol. i. p. 798. Chron, Dunfl» vol, i. p. 373. 1 in HENRY in. an in former ages had always been regarded as too mean to c H A P* enjoy a place in the national councils k. This period* is ^^-^ commonly efteemed the epoch of the houfe of commons *26S» in England ; and it is certainly the firft time, that hifto- rians fpeak of any reprefentatives fent to parliament by the boroughs. In all the general accounts given in pre- ceding times of thofe afTemblies, the prelates and barons only are mentioned as the conftituent members ; and even in the mof} particular narratives delivered of parliamentary tranfadlions, as in the trial of Thomas a Becket, where the events of each day, and almoft of each hour, are carefally recorded by contemporary authors ', there is not, throughout the whole, the leaft appearance of a houfe of commons. But though that houfe derived its exiftence from fo precarious and even fo invidious an origin as Lei- cefter's ufurpation, it foon proved, when fummoned by the legal princes, one of the mofr. ufeful, and, in pro- cefs of time, one of the mofr. powerful members of the national conftitution ; and gradually refcued the king- dom from ariftocratical as well as from regal tyranny. But Leicefter's policy, if we mufl afcribe to him fo great a bleffing, only forwarded by fome years an inftitution, for which the general ftate of things had already prepared the nation ; and it is otherwife inconceivable, that a plant, fet by fo inaufpicious a hand, could have attained to fo vigorous a growth, and have flourimed in the midft of fuch tempefls and convulfions. The feudal fyirem, with which the liberty, much more the power of the commons, was totally incompatible, began gradually to decline ; and both the king and the commonalty, who felt its inconveniencies, contributed to favour this new power, which was more fubmiffive than the barons to the regular authority of the crown, and at the fame time afforded protection to the inferior orders of the ftate. k Rymer, vol. i. p. 802, f ' Fita Stephen, Hift. Quadrip, Hovedcpr £c, P a, Leicester, 2i2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Leicester, having thus aflembled a parliament of his own model, and trufting to the attachment of the popu- lace of London, feized the opportunity of crufhing his rivals among the powerful barons. Robert de Ferrars, earl of Derby, was accufed in the king's name, feized, and committed to cuftody, without being brought to any legal trial m. John GifFord, menaced with the fame fate, fled from London, and took fhelter in the borders of Wales. Even the earl of Glocefter, whofe power and influence had fo much contributed to the fuccefs of the barons, but who was of late extremely difgufted with Leicefter's arbitrary conduct, found himfelf in danger from the prevailing authority of his ancient confederate ; and he retired from parliament P, This known difTenfioii gave courage to all Leicefter's enemies and to the king's friends ; who were now fure of protection from fo potent a leader. Though Roger Mortimer, Hamon L'Eftrange, and other powerful marchers of Wales, had been obliged to leave the kingdom, their authority ftill remained over the territories fubjedted to their jurifdiclion ; and there were many others who were difpofed to give difturbance to the new government. The animofitics, infeparable from the feudal ariftocracy, broke out with frefh violence, and threatened the kingdom with new convulfions and diforders. The earl of Leicester, furrounded with thefe diffi- culties, embraced a meafure, from which he hoped to reap fome prefent advantages, but which proved in the end the fource of ail his future calamities. The active and intrepid prince Edward had languifhed in prifon ever fince the fatal battle of Lewes ; and as he was extremely popular in the kingdom, there arofe a general defire of feeing him again reftored to liberty °. Leiceftcr finding, m Chron. T. Wykes, p. 66. Ann. Was r!. p. 216. n M. Pa- ri?, p. 671. Ann. WaverJ. p. 216^ « Knyghtonj p. 2451. that HENRY III. 213 that he could with difficulty oppofe the concurring wifhes C H a P. of the nation, ftipulated with the prince, that, in return, ^^^^j he fhould order his adherents to deliver up to the barons, '^s* all their caftles, particularly thofe on the borders of Wales ; and fhould fwear neither to depart the kingdom dur- ing three years, nor introduce into it any foreign forces?. The king took an oath to the fame effect, and he alfo parTed a charter, in which he confirmed the agreement or Mife of Lewes ; and even permitted his fubjects to rife in arms againft him, if he fhould ever attempt to in- fringe it "3. So little care did Leicefter take, though he constantly made ufe of the authority of this captive prince, to preferve to him any appearance of royalty or kingly prerogatives ! In confequence of this treaty, prince Edward was brought into Weftminfter-hall, and was declared free by nth March, the barons : But inftead of really recovering his liberty, as he had vainly expected, he found, that the whole tranfaction was a fraud on the part of Leicefter ; that he himfelf ftill continued a prifoner at large, and was guarded by the emifTaries of that nobleman ; and that, while the faction reaped all the benefit from the perfor- mance of his part of the treaty, care was taken that he fhould enjoy no advantage by it. As Glocefter, on his rupture with the barons, had retired for fafety to his eftates on the borders of Wales ; Leicefter followed him with an army to Hereford r„ continued ftill to menace and negotiate, and that he might add authority to his caufe, he carried both the king and prince along with him. The earl of Glocefter here concerted with young Edward the manner of that prince's efcape. He found means to convey to him a horfe of extraordinary fwift- ; nefs ; and appointed Roger Mortimer, who had returned P Ann. Waverl. p. ai6. 1 Blackifton's Mag. Charta. Chron. Dunft. voJ. i. p. 37S. * Chron. T. Wykes, p. 67. Ann. Waverl. f>, AiS, W, Heming, f, 585. Chron. Dunft, vol. i. p. 383, 384.. P #3 into 214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, into the kingdom, to be ready at hand with a fmall party s^^^, to receive the prince, and to guard him to a place of i2 5- fafety. Edward pretended to take the air with fome of Leicester's retinue, who were his guards ; and making matches between their horfes, after he thought he had tired and blown them fufficiently, he fuddenly mounted G'ccefter's horfe, and called to his attendants, that he had long enough enjoyed the pleafure of their company, ani now bid them adieu. They followed him for fome time, without being able to overtake him ; and the ap- pearance of Mortimer with his company put an end to their purfuit. The royaliits, fecretly prepared for this event, imme- diately flew to arms ; and the joy of this gallant prince's deliverance, the jppreflions under which the nation la- boured, the expectation of a new fcene of affairs, and the countenance of the earl of Glocefter, procured Ed- ward an army which Leiceflxr was utterly unable to withftand. This nobleman found himfelf in a remote quarter of the kingdom ; furrounded by his enemies ; barred of all communication with his friends by the Se- verne, whofe bridges Edward had broken down ; and obliged to fight the caufe of his party under thefe multi- plied di fad vantages. In this extremity he wrote to his ,fon, Simon de Montfort, to haften from London with an army for his relief; and Simon had advanced to Kenil- V/crth with that view, where, fancying that all Edward's force and attention were directed againft his father, he lay fecure and unguarded. But the prince, making a fudden and forced march, furprized him in his camp, difperfed his army, and took the earl of Oxford, and many other noblemen prifoners, almofr. without reliflance. Leicefler, ignorant of his fon's fate, paffed the Severne in boats during Edward's abfence, and lay at Evefham, in expectation of being every hour joined by his friends from London : When the prince, who availed himfelf of » every HENRY III. 215 every favourable moment, appeared in the field before chap. him. Edward made a body of his troops advance from , ,^__ j the road which led to Kenilworth, and ordered them to„ T?65- Battle of carry the banners taken from Simon's army; while heEvefnam, himfelf, making; a circuit with the reft of his forces,?". lattl propofed to attack the enemy on the other quarter. Lei-4"h Auguft. cefter was long deceived by this ftratagem, and took one divifion of Edward's army for his friends; but at laft, perceiving his miftake, and obferving the great fuperio- rity and excellent difpofition of the royalifts, he exclaim- ed, that they had learned from him the art of war ; ad- ding, " The Lord have mercy on our fouls, for I fee ■ " our bodies are the prince's." The battle immediately began, though on very unequal terms. LeicePcer's army,, by living in the mountains of Wales without bread, which was not then much ufed among the inhabitants, had been extremely weakened by ficknefs and defertion, and was foon broken by the victorious royalifts ; while his Wellh allies, accuftomed only to a defultory kind of war, immediately took to flight, and were purfued with great flaughter. Leicefter himfelf, afking for quarter, was flain in the heat of the aftion, with his eldeft fon Henry, Hugh le Defpenfer, and about one hundred and fixty knights, and many other gentlemen of his party. The old king had been purpofely placed by the rebels in the front of the battle ; and being clad in armour, and thereby not known by his friends, he received a wound, and was in danger of his life : But crying out, / am Henry of Winchejier, your king, he was faved ; and put in a place of fafety by his fon, who flew to his refcue. The violence, ingratitude, tyranny, rapacity and trea- chery of the earl of Leicefter, give a very bad idea of his moral character, and make us regard his death as the moft happy event, which, in this conjuncture, could have happened to the Englifh nation : Yet muft we P 4 allow xi6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. allow the man to have poffeffed great abilities, and the ap- pearance of great virtues, who, though a ftranger, could, at a time when ftrangers were the mofl odious, and the moft univerfally decried, have acquired fo extenfive an intereft in the kingdom, and have fo nearly paved his way to the throne itfelf. His military capacity, and his political craft, were equally eminent : He pollened the talents both of governing men and conducting bufmefs : And though his ambition was boundlefs, it feems neither to have exceeded his courage nor his genius ; and he had the happinefs of making the low populace, as well as the haughty barons, co-operate towards the fuccefs of his felfifh and dangerous purpofes. A prince of greater ability and vigour than Henry might have directed the talents of this nobleman either to the exaltation of his throne, or to the good of his people: But the advantages given to Leiceiler, by the weak and variable administra- tion of the king, brought on the ruin of royal authority, and produced great confuiions in the kingdom, which however in the end preferved and extremely improved national liberty, and the constitution. His popularity, even after his death, continued fo great, that, though excommunicated by Rome, the people believed him to be a faint ; and many miracles were faid to be wrought upon his tomb s. S-tt'em-nt The victory of Evefham, with the death of Leicefter, ° R0" nroved decifive in favour of the royalifts, and made an equal, though an oppofite impremon on friends and ene- mies, in every part of England. The king of the Ro- mans recovered his liberty : The other prifoners of the royal party were not only freed, but courted, by their keepers : Fitz-Richard, the feditious mayor of London, who had marked out forty of the moft wealthy citizens for daughter, immediately flopped his hand on receiving s Chron.de Mailr. p. 132, intelligence HENRY III. 21, intelligence of this great event: And almoft all the caftles, C Hap garriibned by the barons, haftened to make their lubmif- ^^~^j fions, and to open their gates to the king. The ifle of 1265. Axholme alone, and that of Ely, trufting to the ftrength of their fituation, ventured to make refiftance ; but were at laft reduced, as well as the caftle of Dover, by the valour and activity of prince Edward *. Adam de Gour- n65, don, a courageous baron, maintained himfelf fome time in the forefts of Hampfhire, committed depredations in the neighbourhood, and obliged the prince to lead a body of troops into that country againft him. Edward attacked the camp of the rebels ; and being tranfported by the ardour of battle, leaped over the trench with a few followers, and encountered Gourdon in fingle com- bat. The victory was long difputed between thefe valiant combatants ; but ended at laft in the prince's favour, who wounded his antagonift, threw him from his horfe, and ' took him prifoner. He not only gave him his life ; but introduced him that very night to the queen at Guilford, procured him his pardon, reftored him to his eftate, re- ceived him into favour, and was ever after faithfully ferved by him u. A total victory of the fovereign over fo extenfive a rebellion commonly produces a revolution of government, and ftrengthens, as well as enlarges, for fome time, the prerogatives of the crown : Yet no facrifices of national liberty were made on this occafion ; the Great Charter remained ftill inviolate ; and the king, fenfible that his own barons, by whofe affiftance alone he had prevailed, were no lefs jealous of their independance than the other party, feems thenceforth to have more carefully abftained from all thole exertions of power, which had afforded fo plaufible a pretence to the rebels. The clemency of this victory is alfo remarkable : No blood was fried on the t M. Paris, p. 676, W. Heming, p. 58?. ■ M.Paris, p. 675. fcaffold : 2i8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, C xn P' fcaffo!d : No attainderej except of the Mountfort family, m^v^o were carried into execution : And though a parliament, J2.66, affembled at Winchefter, attainted all thofe, who had borne arms againft the king, eafy compofitions were made with them for their lands w ; and the higheft fum, levied on the moil obnoxious offenders, exceeded not five years' rent of their eftate. Even the earl of £>erby, who again rebelled, after having been pardoned and reftored to his fortune, was obliged to pay only feven years' rent, and was a fecond time reftored. The mild difpofition of the king, and the prudence of the prince, tempered the infolence of victory, and gradually reftored order to the feveral members of the ftate, disjointed by fo long a continuance of civil wars and commotions. The city of London, which had carried fartheft the rage and animofity againft the king, and which feemed determined to ftand upon its defence after almoft all the kingdom had fubmitted, was, after fome interval, reftored to moft of its liberties and privileges ; and Fitz-Richard, the mayor, who had been guilty of fo much illegal vio- lence, was only punifhed by fine and imprifonment. The countefs of Leicefter, the king's fiftcr, who had been extremely forward in all attacks on the royal family, was difmifTed the kingdom with her two fons, Simon and Guy, who proved very ungrateful for this lenity. Five years afterwards, they affaflinated, at Viterbo in Italy, their coufin Henry d'Allmaine, who at that very time was endeavouring to make their peace with the king ; and by taking fanefcuary in the church of the Fran- cifcans, they efcaped the punifhment due to fo great an enormity x. o 1267. The merits of the earl of Glocefter, after he returned to his allegiance, had been fo great, in reftoring the w M. Paris, p. 675. x Rymer, vol. i. p. 879. vol. ii. p. 4, 5. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 94. W. Heming. p. 5S9. Trivet, p. 240. prince HENRY III. ztj prince to his liberty, and aflifting him in his victories c HA p. againft the rebellious barons, that it was almoft irnpof- .w^-v.-.,g, fible to content him in his demands ; and his youth ti6f» and temerity, as well as his great power, tempted him, on fome new difguft, to raife again the flames of rebellion in the kingdom. The mutinous populace of London, at his inftigation, took to arms ; and the prince was obliged to levy an army of 30,000 men, in order to fupprefs them. Even this fecond rebellion did not provoke the king to any acts of cruelty ; and the earl of Glocefter himfelf efcaped with total impunity. He was only ob- liged to enter into a bond of 20,000 marks, that he fhould never again be guilty of rebellion : A ftrange method of enforcing the laws, and a proof of the dan- gerous independance of the barons in thofe ages 1 Thefe potent nobles were, from the danger of the example, averfe to the execution of the laws of forfeiture and felony againft any of their fellows ; though they could not with a good grace refufe to concur in obliging them to fulfil any voluntary contract and engagement, into which they had entered. The prince, finding the (late of the kingdom tolerably I270# compofed, was feduced, by his avidity for glory, and by the prejudices of the age, as well as by the earned foli- citations of the king of France, to undertake an expedi- tion againft the infidels in the Holy Land y ; and he endeavoured previoufly to fettle the ftate in fuch a man- ner, as to dread no bad effects from his abfence. As the formidable power and turbulent difpofition of the earl of Glocefter gave him apprehenfions, he infifted on car- rying him along with him, in confequence of a vow, which that nobleman had made to undertake the fame yoyage : In the mean time, he obliged him to refign fome y M. Paris, p. 677, of ZZO HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. of his caftles, and to enter into a new bond not to difturb XII. «_^v-o the peace of the kingdom ". lie failed from England *27°« with an army ; and arrived in Lewis's camp before Tu^ nis in Africa, where he found that monarch already dead, from the intemperance of the climate and the fatigues of his enterprize. The great, if not only weaknefs of this prince in his government was the imprudent paflion for crufades ; but it was this zeal chiefly that procured him from the clergy the title of St. Lewis, by which he is known in the French hiftory; and if that appellation had not been fo extremely proflituted, as to become ra- ther a term of reproach, he feems, by his uniform pro- bity and goodnefs,- as well as his piety, to have fully merited the title. lie was fuccceded by his fon, Philip, denominated the Hardy ; a prince of Tome merit, though much inferior to that of his father. 1171. Prince Edward, not difcouraged by this event, con- tinued his voyage to the Holy Land, where he fignalized himfelf by ails of valour : Revived the glory of the Englifh name in thofe parts: And ftruclc fuch terror into the Saracens, that they employed an aflamn to murder him, who wounded him in the arm, but perifhed in the attempt a. Meanwhile, his abfence from England was attended with many of thofe pernicious confequences, which had been dreaded from it, The laws were not executed : The barons oppreffed the common people with impunity b : They gave fhelter on their eftates to bands of robbers, whom they employed in committing ravages on the eftates of their enemies : The populace of London returned to their ufual licentioufnefs : And the old king, unequal to the burthen of public affairs, called aloud for his gallant fon to return c, and to aflift him in ss Chron. T. Wykes, p. 90. a M. Paris, p. 678, 679. W. Heming. p. 520. b Chron. Dunft, vol. i. p. 404. c Rymer, vol. i. p. 869. M. Paris, p. 678. fwaying HENRY lit. 22r fwaying that fcepter, which was ready to drop from his c ha. p. Feeble and irrefolute hands. At laft, overcome by the ^^-^^ cares of government, and the infirmities of ag>, he vifibly I27i> declined, and he expired at St. Edmondfbury in the 64th 1272. year of his age, and 56th of his reign ; the longeft reign Death ' that is to be met with in the Englifh annals. His brother, the king of the Romans (for he never attained the title of emperor) died about kven months before him. The moil obvious circumftance of Henry's character is and charao his incapacity for government, which rendered him as !e-r ot much a prifoner in the hands of his own minifters and favourites, and as little at his own difpofal, as when detained a captive in the hands of his enemies. From this fource, rather than from infmcerity or treachery, arofe his negligence in obferving his promifes ; and he was too eafdy induced, for the fake of prefent conveni- ence, to facrifice the lailing advantages arifing- from the trufl and confidence of his people. Hence too were de- rived his profufion to favourites, his attachment to ftrangers, the variablenefs of his conduct, his hafly re- fentments, and his fudden forgivenefs and return of affection. Inftead of reducing the dangerous power of his nobles, by obliging: them to obferve the laws towards their inferiors, and fctting them the falutary example in his own government ; he was feduced to imitate their con- duct, and to make his arbitrary will, or rather that of his minifters, the rule of his actions. Inft'ead of accom- modating hirnfelf, by a ftrict frugality, to the embarraffed fituation in which his revenue had been left, by the military expeditions of his uncle, the diffipations of his father, and the ufurpations of the barons; he was tempted to levy money by irregular exactions, which, without enriching hirnfelf, itnpoverifhed, at leaff. difgufted his people. Of all men, nature feemed leaft to have fitted him for being a tyrant ; yet are there inftances of oppref- fion 222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c HA P. flon jn njs reign, which, though derived from the prece* \^v\j dents left him by his predecefTors, had been carefully 1272^ guarded againft by the Great Charter, and are incon- fiitent with all rules of good government. And on the whole we may fay, that greater abilities, with his good difpofitions, would have prevented him from falling into his faults ; or with worfe difpofitions, would have enabled him to maintain and defend them. This prince was noted Jbr his piety and devotion, and his regular attendance on public worfhip j and a faying of his on that head is much celebrated by ancient writers. He was engaged in a difpute with Lewis IX. of France, concerning the preference between fcrmons and "mafTes : He maintained the fuperiority of the latter, and affirmed, that he would rather have one hour's converfation with a friend, than hear twenty the moft elaborate difcourfes, pronounced in his praife e. Hentry left two fons, Edward his fucceflbr, and Edmond earl of Lancafter ; and two daughters, Margaret queen of Scotland, and Beatrix dutchefs of Britanny. He had five other children, who died in their infancy. Mifcellane- The following are the moft remarkable laws enacted tions of thi's^urin2 tn^s reign« There had been great difputes between Kion» the civil and ecclefiaflical courts about baftardy. The common law had deemed all thofe to be baftards who were born before wedlock : By the canon law they were legitimate : And when any difpute of inheritance arofe, it had formerly been ufual for the civil courts to ifTue writs to the fpiritual, directing them to enquire into the legitimacy of the perfon. The bifhop always returned an anfwer agreeable to the canon law, though contrary to the municipal law of the kingdom. For this reafon, the civil courts had changed the terms of their writ ; and inftead of requiring the fpiritual courts to make inquifition e Walling. Etlw. I.- p. 43. concerning; HENRY III, 223 concerning the legitimacy of the perfon, they only propofed c ^ A P, the firnple queftion of fact, whether he were born before „^-v->^ or after wedlock. The prelates complained of this prac- *^7«< tice to the parliament affembled at Merton in the twentieth of this king, and defired that the municipal law might be rendered conformable to the canon : But received from all the nobility the memorable reply, Nolnmus leges Anglia mutan, We will not change the laws of Eng- land f. After the civil wars, the parliament, fummoned at Marlebridge, gave their approbation to moft of the ordi- nances, which had beeneftablifhed by the reforming barons, and which, though advantageous to the fecurity of the people, had not received the fanction of a legal autho- rity. Among other laws, it was there enacted, that all appeals from the courts of inferior lords mould be carried directly to the king's courts, without palling through the courts of the lords immediately fuperior s. It was or- dained, that money mould bear no interefl during the minority of the creditor h. This law was reafonable, as the eftates of minors were always in the hands of their lords, and the debtors could not pay intereft where they had no revenue. The charter of king John had granted this indulgence : It was omitted in that of Henry III. for what reafon is not known ; but it was renewed by the ftatute of Marlebridge. Moft of the other articles of this ftatute are calculated to reftrain the oppreiTions of fheriffs, and the violence and iniquities committed in diftraining cattle and other goods. Cattle and the inftruments of hufbandry compofed at that time the chief riches of the people. In the 35th year of this king an aiilze was fixed of bread, the price of which was fettled, according to the f Statute of Meiton, chap. 9, g SSffttte of Marleb. ciiap. 201 11 Ibid, chap. 16, different 224 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. different prices of corn, from one fhilling a quarter td c_-v^rf feven millings and fix pence ', money of that age. Thefe 1272. great variations are alone a proof of bad tillage k : Yet did the prices often rife much higher, than any taken notice of by the ftatute. The Chronicle of Dunftable tells us, that m this reign, wheat was once fold for a mark, nay for a pound a quarter ; that is, three pounds of our prefent money '. The fame law affords us a proof of the little communication between the parts of the king- dom, from the very different prices which the fame com- modity bore at the fame time. A brewer, fays the fta- tute, may fell two gallons of ale for a penny in cities, and three or four gallons for the fame price in the country. At prefent, fuch commodities, by the great confumption of the people, and the great frocks of the brewers, are rather cheapeft in cities. The Chronicle above-mentioned obferves, that wheat one year was fold in many places for eight fhillings a quarter, but never rofe in Dunftable above a crown. Though commerce was ftill very low, it feems rather to have encreafed fince the Conqueit ; at leaft, if we may judge of the encreafe of money by the price of corn. The medium between the higheft and loweft prices of wheat, affigned by the ftatute, is four fhillings and three pence a quarter, that is, twelve fhillings and nine pence of our prefent money. This is near the half of the mid- dling price in our time. Yet the middling price of cattle, fo late as the reign of kino- Richard, we found to be above eight, near ten times lower than the prefent. Is not this the true inference, from comparing thefe facts, that, in all i Statutes at large, p. G. 1; We learn from Cicero's orations againft Verres, lib. Hi. cap. 84, 92. that the price of corn in Sicily was, during the praetor/hip of Sacerdos, five Denarii a Molius ; dining that of Verres, which immediately fucceeded, only two Sefterces : That is, ten times lower j a prefumptiort, or rather a proof, ot the very bad flate of tillage in ancient times. ! So alio Knyghton, p, 2444. uncivilized HENRY III. 225 uncivilized nations, cattle, which propagate of them- chap. felves, bear always a lower price than corn, which re- quires more art and ftock to raife it, than thoie nations are pofTerTed of? It is to be remarked, that Henry's affize of corn was copied from a preceding aflize eftabliihed by king John ; and confequently, the prices which we have here compared of corn and cattle may be looked on as contemporary ; and they were drawn, not from one par- ticular year, but from an eftimation of the middling prices for a, feries of years. It is true, the prices, aiiigned by the aflize of Richard, were meant as a ftandard for the accompts of fheriffs and efcheators ; and as confiderable pro- fits were allowed to thefe minifters, we may naturally fup- pofe, thatthecommon value of cattle was fomewhat higher : Yet frill, fo great a difference between the prices of corn and cattle as that of four to one, compared to the prefent rates, affords important reflections concerning the) very different ftate of induftry and tillage in the two periods. Interest had in that age mounted to an enormous height, as might be expected from the barbarifm of the times and men's ignorance of commerce. Inftances occur of fifty per cent, payed for money m. There is an edict of Philip Auguftus near this period, limiting the Jews in France to 48 per cent. n. Such profits tempted the Jews to remain in the kingdom, notwithstanding the grievous oppreflions, to which, from the prevalent bigo- try and rapine of the age, they were continually expofed. It is eafy to imagine how precarious their ftate muft have been under an indigent prince, fomewhat reftrained in his tyranny over his native fubjects, but who pofTefTed an un- limited authority over the Jews, the fole proprietors of money in the kingdom, and hated on account of their riches, their religion, and their ufury : Yet will cur ideas fcarcely come up to the extortions which in fact we find ra M. Paiis, p. 586, * Bruflsl Traite des Fiefs, vol. i. p. 576. Vol, II. Q. to aaS [ISTO^Y OF ENGLAND, C h a 3R. to have been practifed stpon them. In l&e year 1241, ■C»-v«««t 20,00.0 marks were ex acted from them0.: Tito years X27a* after, money was again -extorted-; and one Jew alone, Aaron pf York, was obliged to pay above 4000 marks * ; la 1250, Henry renewed bis oppreflions; and the lame Aaron was condemned to pay him 30,000 marks upon att cufadcr. of forgery and dangerous exercifes, the true image of war,, he de- clined not the opportunity of acquiring honour in that great affemHv of the neighbouring nobles.. But the irnag? ©f war was here unfortunately turned into the thing itfelf. Edward and his retinue were fo fuccefsful in the joufts* that the French knights, provoked at their fuperiority, made a ferrous attack upon them, which was repulfed* and much, blood was idly fried in the quarrel *, This. rencounter received the name of the petty battle of Cha- lons. Edward went from Chalons to Paris, and did homage to Philip for the dominions which he held in France j. 33.74» He thence returned to Guienne, and fettled that province, which was in forne confuiion.. He made his journey to London through France ; in his paflage he accommo- dated at Montreuii a difference with Margaret, countefs. of Flanders, heirefs of that territory k ; he was received with joyful acclamations by his peopie, and was folemnly 15th iS»g. crowned at Weuminiter by Robert, archbifhop of Can- terbury. Civil admi- The king immediately applied himfelf to the re-efta- iii2 kiag. bliihmcnt of his kingdom, and to the correcting of thole diforders, which the civil commotions and the loofe ad- miniftration cf his father had introduced into every parr of government. The plan of his policy was equally ge- nerous and prudent. He confidered the great barons both as the immediate rivals of the crown, and opprenors ©f the people ; and he propofed, by an exact diftribiition of juftice, and a rigid execution of the laws, to give at once protection to the inferior orders of the fiate, axid to diminifh the arbitrary power of the great, on which their h Walfing. p. 44. Trivet, p. 241. M. Weft. p. 402. i Walfing. p, 45. k Rjraer, volt ii. p# 32, 33. dangerous EDWARD I. 235 dangerous authority was chiefly founded. Making it a C H a p. rule in his own conduct to obferve, except on extraor- ^^^^ dinary occafions, the privileges fecured to them by the i^74« Great Charter, he acquired a right to infill upon their obfervance of the fame charter towards their vaffals and inferiors ; and he made the crown be regarded by all the gentry and commonalty of the kingdom, as the great fountain of juftice, and the general afylum againft op- preiTion. Befides enacting feveral ufeful ftatutes, in a i2y^ parliament which he fummoned at Weftminfter, he took ' c e * cars to infpect the conduct of all his magistrates and judges, to difplace fuch as were either negligent or corrupt, to provide them with fumcient force for the execution of juftice, to extirpate all bands and confederacies of robbers, and to reprefs thofe more filent robberies, which were committed either by the power of the nobles, or under the countenance of public authority. By this rigid ad- ministration, the face of the kingdom was foon changed ; and order and juftice took place of violence and oppref- fton : But amidft the excellent inftitutions and public- fpirited plans of Edward, there ftill appears fomewhat both of the feverity of his perfonal character and of the prejudices of the times. As the various kinds of malefactors, the murderers, robbers, incendiaries, ravifhers, and plunderers, had be- come fo numerous and powerful, that the ordinary mini- fters of juftice, efpecially in the wefteni counties, were afraid to execute the laws againft them, the king found it neceffary to provide an extraordinary remedy for the evil ; and he erected a new tribunal, which, however ufeful, would have been deemed, in times of more regular liberty, a great ftretch of illegal and arbitrary power. It con- futed of commiflloners, who were empowered to enquire into diforders and crimes of all kinds, and to inflict the proper punifhments upon them. The officers, charged with 236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C 11 ,A P* with this unufual commiiTion, made their circuit; XIII. v^-n/^w throughout the counties of England moil infefted with *275« this evil, and carried tenor into all thofe parts of the kingdom. In their zeal to punifh- crimes, they did not fufnciently diftinguifh between the innocent and guilty ; the fmalleit fufpicion became a ground of accufation and trial ; the ilighteft evidence was received againft crimi- nals ; prifons were crowded with malefactors, real or pre- tended ; fevere fines were levied for fmall offences ; and the king, though his exbaulted exchequer was fupplied by this expedient, found it neceflary to ftop the courfe of fo great rigour, and after terrifying and diflipating by this tribunal the gangs of diforderly people in England, he prudently annulled the commiffion ' ; and neyer after- wards renewed it. Among the various diforders, to which the kingdom was fubjecr, no one was more univerfaily complained of than the adulteration of the coin ; and as this crime re- quired more art than the Englifh of that age, who chiefly employed force and violence in their iniquities, were pof- fefTed of, the imputation fell upon the Jews m. Edward alfo feems to have indulged a ftrong prepoflemon againft. that nation ; and this ill-judged zeal for Chriftianity be- ing naturally augmented by an expedition to the Holy Land, he let loofe the whole rigour of his juftice againft that imbJppy people. Two hundred and eighty of them were hanged at once for this crime in London alone, be- fides thofe who fuffered in other parts of the kingdom n. The houfes and lands, (for the Jews had of late ventured to make purchafes of that kind) as well as the goods -of great multitudes, were fold and confifcated : And the 1 Spellman's Glofi". in verbo Trailbajion, Eut Spellman was either mif- taken in placing this commiiTion in the fifth year of the king, or it was re- newed in 1305. See Rymcr, vol. ii. p. 960. Trivet, p, 338. M. Weft, p. 450. m Waiting, p. 48. Heming. vol. i, p. 6. » T. Wykes, p. 107. king, EDWARD I. 237 kino-, left it fhould be fufpected that the riches of thec H A P. "& , . , . XIII. fufferers were the chief part of their gutt, ordered a x_^v^i/ moiety of the money, raifed by thefe confifcations, to be 1275* let apart, and bellowed upon fuch as were willing to be converted to Christianity. But refentment was more pre- valent with them, than any temptation from their poverty ; and very few of them could be induced by intereft to em- brace the religion of their perfecutors. The miferies of this people did not here terminate. Though the arbitrary talliages and exactions, levied upon them, had yielded a conftant and a considerable revenue to the crown ; Ed- ward, prompted by his zeal and his rapacity, refolved fome time after c to purge the kingdom entirely of that hated race, and to feize to himfelf at once their whole property as the reward of his labour p. Ke left them only money fufficient to bear their charges into foreign countries, where new perfecutions and extortions awaited them : But the inhabitants of the cinque-ports, imitating the bigotry and avidity of their fovereign, defpoiled molt of them of this fmall pittance, and even threw many of them into the fea : A crime, for which the king, who was determined to be the fole plunderer in his dominions, inflicted a capital punifliment upon them. No lefs than fifteen thoufand Jews were at this time robbed of their effects and baniihed the kingdom : Very few of that na- tion have fince lived in England : And as it is impoflible for a kingdom to fubfift without lenders of money, and none will lend without a compenfation, the practice of ufury, as it was then called, was thenceforth exercifed by the Englifh themfelves upon their fellow-citizens, or by Lombards and other foreigners. It is very much to be queftioned, whether the dealings of thefe new ufurcrs were equally open and unexceptionable with thole of the o In the year 1290. P Waiting, p, 54, Homing, vol, 2. p. 20. Trivet, p, 266. old. 23a HISTORY OF E N G L A $ D. C xm/' old' By a 3aw of" Ricliiard» it was enadled, that three U— v~^j copies fhould be made of every bond given to a Jew ; one I275* to be put into the hands of a public magiftrate, another into thofe of a mart of credit, and a third to remain with the Jew himfelf <3. But as the canon law* feconded by the municipal, permitted no Chriftian to take mtereft, all tranfactions of this kind muft, after the banifhment of the Jews, have become more fecret and clandeftine, and the lender, of confequence, be paid both for the u(e of his money, and for the infamy and danger which he in- curred by lending it. The great poverty of the crown, though no excufe, was probably the caufe of this egregious tyranny exercifed againft. the Jews ; but Edward alfo p radii fed other more honourable means of remedying that evil. He employed a ftricT: frugality in the management and diftribution of his revenue : He engaged the parliament to vote him a fifteenth of all moveables ; the pope to grant him the tenth of all ecclefiaftical revenues for three years ; and the merchants to confent to a perpetual imposition of half a mark on every fack of wool exported, and a mark on three hundred fkins. He alfo ifTued commiflions to en- quire into all encroachments on the royal demefne ; into the value of efcheats, forfeitures, and wardships ; and into the means of repairing or improving every branch of the revenue r. The commiilioners, in the execution of their office, began to carry matters too far againft the nobility, and to queflion titles to eftates which had been tranfmitted from father to fon for feveral generations. Earl Warrenne, who had done fuch eminent fervice in the late reign, being required to fhow his titles, drew his fword j and fubjoined, that William, the Baftard, had not con- quered the kingdom for himfelf alone : His anceftor was a joint adventurer in the enterprize ; and he himfelf was q Trivet, p. 128. r Ann, Waver I, p, 235. g determined E D W A U D L 239 determined to maintain what had from that period re- c K A P* . r* * ^ * * roained unqueitioned in his family. i he king, fenhble i — -v—.* of the danger, defined from making farther enquiries of 1Z7i' skis aature. Btjt the active fpirit of Edward could not long remain 527s - Conqueftof -without employment. He ioon after undertook an enter- Wales* prize more prudent for himfelf, and more advantageous to his people. Lewellyn, prince of Wales, had been deeply engaged with the Mountfort faction ; had entered mto all their confpiracies againfi the crown ; had frequently fought on their fide 5 and till the battle of Evefham, fa fatal to that party, had employed every expedient to de- prefs the royal caufe, and to promote the fuccefs of the barons. In the general accommodation, made with the vanquifhed, Lewellyn had alfo obtained his pardon ; but as he was the moft powerful, and therefore the molt, ob- noxious vaflal of the crown, he had reafon to entertain anxiety about his fituation, and to dread the future effects of refentment and jealoufy in the Englifh monarch. For this reafon, he determined to provide for his fecurity by maintaining a fecret correfpondence with his former afTo- ciates ; and he even made his addrelTes to a daughter of the earl of Leicefler, who was fent to him from beyond fea, but being intercepted in her paifage near the ifles of Scilly, was detained in the court of Englapd •- This incident encreafmg the mutual jealoufy between Edward and Lewellyn, the latter, when required to com? to England, and do homage to the new king, fcrupled to put himfelf in tne hands of an enemy, deiired a fafe- conduci. from Edward, infilled upon having the king's fon and other noblemen delivered to him as hoftages, and demanded, that his fpoufe mould previoufly be fet at ii- * VaLGng. p. 46, 47, Kerning, vo!. !. p. 5. Trive^ p. z}S. berty. 240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C ym P" ^erty t# The king, having now brought the Hate to a ^^^-^-w full fettlement, was not difpleafed with this occafion of 1276. exercifing his authority, and fubduing entirely the prin- cipality of Wales. He refufed all Lewcllyn's demands, except that of a fafe-conduct ; fent him repeated fummons to perform the duty of a vaffal ; levied an army to reduce him to obedience ; obtained a new aid of a fifteenth from parliament ; and marched out with certain affurance of J277- fuccefs againft the enemy. Befides the great difproportion of force between the kingdom and the principality, the cir- cumftances of the two ftatcs were entirely reverfed ; and the fame interline difientions, which had formerly weak- ened England, now prevailed in Wales, and had even taken place in the reigning family. David and Roderic, brothers to Lewellyn, had been difpofFefTed of their inhe- ritance by that prince, had been obliged to have rccourfe to the protection of Edward, and they feconded with all their intereft, which was extenfive, his attempts to en- Have their native country. The Welfli prince had no refource but in the inacceflible fituation of his moun- tains, which had hitherto, through many ages, de- fended his forefathers againft all attempts of the Saxon and Norman conquerors ; and he retired among the hills of Snowdun, refolute to defend hlrrifelf to the lad extre- mity. But Edward, equally vigorous and cautious, en- tering by the north with a formidable army, pierced into the heart of the country ; and having carefully explored every road before him, and fecurcd every pafs behind him, approached the Welfh army in its laft retreat. He here avoided the putting to trial the valour of a nation, proud of its ancient independance, and enflamed with animofity againft its hereditary enemies j and he trufted to the flow, but fure effects of famine, for reducing that people to fub- jeclion. The rude and fimple manners of the natives, 1 Rvmer, vol. ii, p. 68t Walfing. p. 46. Trivet, p, 247, as E D W A R D I. 24T as Well as the mountainous fituation of their countrv, had C tt a P. made them entirely neglect tillage, and trufl to pafcurage >„_— v—.^ alone for their fubllftance : A method of life which had Ia~7' hitherto fecured them againft the irregular attempts of the Englifh, but expofed them to certain ruin, when the conquefr. of the country was fteddily purfued, and pru- dently planned by Edward. DefHtute of magazines, cooped up in a narrow corner, they, as well as their Cattle, iuffered all the rigors of famine ; and Lewellyn, without being able to ftrike a ftroke for his independance, was at lafl obliged to fubmit at difcreticn, and receive the terms impofed upon him by the victor u. He bound himfelf to 19th Nov. pay to Edward 50,000 pounds, as reparation of damages j to do homage to the crown of England ; to permit all the other barons of Wales, except four near Snowdun, to fwear fealty to the fame crown ; to relinquifh the country between Chemire and the river Conway ; to fettle on his brother Roderic a thoufand marks a year, and on David five hundred ; and to deliver teil hoftages as fecurity for his future fubmiffion w. Edward, on the performance of the other articles, remitted to the prince of Wales the payment of the 50,000 pounds *, which were ftipulated by treaty, and which, it is probable, the poverty of the country made it abfolutely im-- poflibleforhim to levy. But notwithstanding this indulgence, complaints of iniquities foon arofe on the fide of the van- quifhed : The Englifh, iniblent on their eafy and bloodlefs > victory, opprefi'ed the inhabitants of the dilrricls which were yielded to them : The lords marchers committed with impunity all kinds of violence on their Welih neigh-r bours : New and more fevere terms were impofed on Lew- ellyn himfelf; and Edward, when the prince attended him at Worcefter, exacted a prcmife that he would retain « T. Wykes, p. 105. w Ryraer, 70!. i>. p. 8S. Walling, p. 47; Triver, p. 251. T. W_vk.es, p. icfi. * Ryn:er, p. 92, Vol. II, R no 242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, no perfon in his principality who fhould be difagrecable to the Englifh monarch ■ . There were other perfonai I277« infults, which raifed the indignation of the Welfh, and made them determine rather to encounter a force, which they had already experienced to be fo much fuperior, than to bear oppreffion from the haughty victors. Prince Da- vid, feized with the national fpirit, made peace with his brother, and promifed to concur in the defence of public liberty. The Welfh flew to arms ; and Edward, not difpleafed with the occafion of making his conquefl final and abfolute, fummoned together all his military tenants, and advanced into Wales with an armv, which the inha- bitants could not reafonabjy hope to refift. The fituation of the country gave the Welfh at firfr. fome advantage over Luke de Tany, one of Edward's captains, who had pafTed the Menau with a detachment z : But Lewellyn, being furprized by Mortimer, was defeated and flain in an action, and 2000 of his followers were put to the fword a. David, who fucceeded him in the principality,, cculd never collect, an army fufficient to face the Englifh; and being chaced from hill to hill, and hunted from one retreat to another, was obliged to conceal himfelf under various difguifes, and was at lafl betrayed in his lurking- place to the enemy. Edward lent him in chains to Shrewfbury ; and bring'ng him to a formal trial before all the peers of England, ordered this fovereign prince to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, as a traitor, for defend- ing by arms the liberties of his native country, together with his own hereditary authority b. All the Welfh no- bility fubrnitted to the conqueror ; the laws of England,, with the fheriiis and other minifters of jufrice, were y Dr. Powell's Hi'ft. ofWiits', p. 544, 345. 7- Walfirjg. p. 50. Heming. vol. i. p. 9. Triver, p. 258. T. Wykes, p. 110. a Heming. vol. i. p. it. Trivet, p. 457. Ann. Waverl. p. 435;. t> Heming. vol. i. p r»< Trivet, p. 259. Ann. Waverl. p. 23$. T. Wykes, p. in. M. Weft, p. 411. eftublifhed EDWARD 243 eftablimed in that principality ; and though it was Ions: CHAP. . . . XIII. before national antipathies were extinguifhed, and a tho-o— >,—!««* rough union attained between the people, yet this impor- la83* tant conqueft, which it had required eight hundred years fully to effectuate, was at laft, through the abilities of Edward, completed by the Engliih. The king, fenfible that nothing kept alive the ideas of I2?4» military valour and of ancient glory, fo much as the tra- ditional poetry of the people, v/hich, aflifred by the power of mufic, and the jollity of feitivals, made deep imprefiion on the minds of the youth, gathered together all the Welfh bards, and from a barbarous, though not abfurd policy, ordered them to be put to death c. There prevails a vulgar ftory, which, as it well fuits the capacity of the monkifh writers, is carefully recorded by them : That Edward, aflembling the Welfhj promifed to give them a prince of unexceptionable man- ners, a Welmman by birth, and one who could fpeak no other language. On their acclamations of joy, and promife of obedience, he inverted in the principality his fecond fon Edward, then an infant, who had been born at Carnarvon. The death of his eldeft fon Alfonfo, foon after, made young Edward heir of the monarchy : The principality of Wales was fully annexed to the crown ; and henceforth gives a title to the eldeit fon of the kings of England. The fettlement of Wales appeared fo complete to Ed- 1286, Ward, that, in lefs than two years after, he went abroad, in order to make peace between Alphonfo, king of Arra- gon, and Philip the Fair, who had lately fucceeded his father Philip the Hardy on the throne of France d. The difference between thefe two princes had arifen about the * Sir J. Wynne, p. 15. & Rymrr, vol. ii, p, 149, 150. 174; K 2 kingdom 244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, kingdom of Sicily, which the pope, after his hopes front ^^^ij England failed him, had beftowed on Charles, brother to 12S6. St. Lewis, and which was claimed upon other titles, by Peter king of Arragon, father to Alphonfo. Edward had powers from both princes to fettle the peace, and he fucceeded in his endeavours \ but as the controverfy no wife regards England, we fhall not enter into a detail of it. He flayed abroad above three years ; and on his re- turn, found many difordcrs to have prevailed, both from open violence, and from the corruption of juftice. Thomas Chamberlain, a gentleman of fome note, had affemblcd ftvcral of his affociates at Boftcn, in Lin- eolnfhire, under pretence of holding a tournament, an exercife practifed by the gentry only ; but in reality with a view of plundering the rich fair of Bofton, and robbing the merchants. To facilitate his purpofe, he privately fet fire to the town ; and while the inhabitants were em- ployed in quenching the flames, the confpirators broke into the booths, and carried off the goods. Chamberlain hjmfelf was detected and hanged 3 but maintained fo fted- dily the point of honour to his accomplices, that he could not be prevailed on, by offers or promifes, to difcover any of them. Many other inftanccs of robbery and vio- lence broke out in all parts of England ; though the fmgular circumftances attending this confpiracy, have made it alone be particularly recorded by hiftorians e. 1289. But the corruption of the judges, by which the foun- tains of iuftice were poifoned, feemed of frill more dan- gerous confequence. Edward, in order to remedy this prevailing abufe, fummoned a parliament, and brought the judges to a trial ; where all of them, except two, who were clergymen, were convicted of this flagrant ini- quity, were fined, and depofed. The amount of the e Heming. vol. i. p. 16, 17, lines, EDWARD I. 245 fines, levied upon them, is alone a fufficient proof of C ha P. •their guilt ; being above one hundred thoufand marks, an ,_ _v_ t immenfe fum in thofe days, and fufficient to defray the 1*29. charges of an expenfive war between two great kingdoms. The king afterwards made all the new judges fwear, that they would take no bribes ; but his expedient, of <3epofing and fining the old ones, was the more effectual remedy. We now come to give an account of the affairs of Scotland, which form the moft interefting tranfa<5tion of this reign, and of fome of the fubfequent j though the intercourfe of that kingdom with England, either in peace or war, had hitherto produced fo few events of moment, that, to avoid tedioufnefs, we have omitted many of them, and have been very concife in relating the reft. If the Scots had, before this period, any real hif- tory, worthy of the name, except what they glean from fcattered pafTages in the Englifh hifforians, thofe events, however minute, yet, being the only foreign tranfactions of the nation, might deferve a place in it. Though the government of Scotland had been conti- .Affairs of nually expofed to thofe factions and convulfions, which are incident to all barbarous, and to many civilized na- tions ; and though the fucceffiens of their kings, the only part of their hiftory which defcrves any credit, had often been difordered by irregularities and ufurpations ; the true heir of the royal family had ftill in the end prevailed, and Alexander III. who had efpoufed the fiiler of Edward, probably inherited, after a period of above eight hundred years, and through a fuocemon of males, the fcepter of all the Scottifh princes, who had governed the nation, fince its firiU efiabiifhment in the iiland. This prince died in 1286 by a fall from his horfe at Kinghcrn f, without leaving any male iiTue, and without any defeen- * HiHiingi vol. i. p. iq. Trivet-, p. 267,' R 3 dant, 24S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap. fant9 except Margaret, born of Eric, king of Norway, i. — y- _i and of Margaret, daughter of the Scottifh monarch. 12S9. This princefs, commonly called the maid of Norway, though a female, and an infant, and a foreigner, yet be- ing the lawful heir of the kingdom, had, through her grandfatlu.'- care, been recognized fucceflbr by the flates ■of Scotland § ; aa^ on Alexanders death, the difpofitions, which had teen previoufly made againft that event, ap- peared fo juft and prudent, that no difordcrs, as might naturally be apprehended, enfued in the kingdom. Mar- garet was acknowledged queen of Scotland ; five guar- dians, the bifhops of St. Andrews and Glafgow, the earls of Fife and Buchan, and James, fleward of Scotland, entered peaceably upon the adminiftration j and the in- fant princefs, under the protection of Edward, her great uncle, and Eric, her father, who exerted themfelves on this occafion, feemed firmly feated on the throne of Scot- land. The Englifh monarch was naturally led to build mighty projects on this event ; and having lately, by force of arms, brought Wales under fu ejection, he at- tempted, by the marriage of Margaret with his eldeft fon Edward, to unite the whole ifland into one monarchy, and thereby to give it fecurity both againft domeftic con- 1290. vulfions and foreign invafions. The amity, which had of late prevailed between the two nations, and which, even in former times, had never been interrupted by any violent wars or injuries, facilitated extremely the execu- tion of this project, fo favourable to the happinefs and grandeur of both kingdoms 5 and the ftatcs of Scotland readily gave their affent to the Englifh propofals, and even agreed, that their young fovereign fliould be edu- cated in the court of Edward. Anxious, however, for the liberty and independancy of their country, they took care to ftipulate very equitable conditions, ere they § Rymer, vol, ii. $..z66, entrufted E D W A R D I. 247 en trailed themfelves into the hands of fo great and fo am- C "in P* bitious a monarch. It was agreed, that they fhould enjoy « — ^ / all their ancient laws, liberties, and cuftoms ; that in cafe I19°* youn-* Edward and Margaret fhould die without ifTue, the crown of Scotland mould revert to the next heir, and mould be inherited by him free and independant ; that the military tenants of the crown mould never be obliged to go out of Scotland, in order to do homage to the fove- reign of the united kingdoms, nor the chapters of cathe- dral, collegiate, or conventual churches, in order to make elections ; that the parliaments, fummoned for Scotch affairs, mould always be held within the bounds of that kingdom ; and that Edward mould bind himfelf, under the penalty of 100,000 marks, payable to the pope for the uie of the holy wars, to obferve all thefe articles h« It is not eafy to conceive, that two nations could have treated more on a foot of equality than Scotland and Eng- land maintained during the whole courfe of this tranfac- tion : And though Edward gave his afTent to the article, concerning the future independancy of the Scottifh crown, with a faving of his former rights ; this referve gave no alarm to the nobility of Scotland, both becaufe thefe rights, having hitherto been little heard of, had occafioned no difturbance, and becaufe the Scots had fo near a pro- fpect of feeing them entirely abforbed in the rights of their ibvereignty. But this project, fo happily formed and fo amicably 1291. Conducted, failed of fuccefs, by the fudden death of the Norvegian princefs, who expired on her pafTage to Scot- land ', and left a very difrnal profpecl: to the kingdom. Though diforders were for the prefent obviated by the ^™J"lt0" authority of the regency formerly eftablifhed, the fuc- "own of Scotland. h Rymer, vol, ii. p. 482. * Herning. vol. i, p. 30. Trivet, p. 16 S, R 4 ceffion 248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, cefnon of the crown itfelf was now become an obiect of XIII v^-1^— ^j difpute; and the regents could not expect, that a contro- ls1- verfy, which is not ufually decided by reafon and argu- ment alone, would be peaceably fettled by them, or even by the ftates of the kingdom, amidfb fo many powerful pretenders. The pofterity of William, king of Scot- land, the prince taken prifoner by Henry II. being all extinct by the death of Margaret of Norway ; the right to the crown devolved on the line of David, earl of Huntingdon, brother to William, whofe male line, being alfo extinct, left the fucceflion open to the poirerity of his daughters. The earl of Huntingdon had three daugh- ters ; Margaret, married to Alan lord of Galloway, Ifa- bella, wife of Robert Brus or Bruce, lord of Annandale, and Adama, who efpoufrd Henry lord Haftings. Mar- garet, the eldeft of the fifters, left one daughter, Dever- gilda, married to John Baliol, by whom fhe had a fon of the fame name, one of the prefent candidates for the crown : Ifabella the fecond bore a fon, Robert Bruce, who was now alive, and alfo infifted on his claim: Adama the third left a fon, John Haftings, who pretended, that the kingdom of Scotland, like many other inheritances, was divifible among the three daughters of the earl of Huntingdon, and that he, in the right of his mother, had a title to a third of it. Baliol and Bruce united againft Haftings, in maintaining that the kingdom was indivifible ; but each of them, fupported by plaufible rcafons, afferted the preference of his own title. Baliol was fprung from the eider branch : Bruce was one degree nearer the common ftock : If the principle of reprefenta- tion was regarded, the former had the better claim : If propinquity was conftdered, the latter was entitled to the preference k : The fentiments of men were divided : All the nobility had taken part with one fide or the other ; k Heming, vol. i. p, \6, E D W A R D I. 249 The people followed implicitly their leaders : The two C ha p. claimants themfelves had great power and numerous re- .^-^-^j tainers in Scotland : And it is no wonder, that, among "91* a rude people, more accuftomed to arms than enured to laws, a controverfy of this nature, which could not he decided by any former precedent among them, and which is capable of exciting commotions in the mofl: legal and bed eftablifhed governments, mould threaten the Hate with the mofl fatal convulsions. Each century has its peculiar mode in conducting bu- finefs ; and men, guided more by cuftom than by reafon, follow, without enquiry, the manners, which are pre- valent in their own time. The practice of that age, in the controverfies between dates and princes, feems to have been to chufe a foreign prince, as an equal arbiter, by whom the queflion was decided, and whofe fentence pre- vented thofe difmal confufions and diforders, infeparable at all times from war, but which were multiplied a hundred fold, and difperfed into every corner, by the na- ture of the feudal governments. It was thus that the Englifh king and barons, in the foregoing reign, had endeavoured to compofe their difTenfions by a reference to the king of France ; and the celebrated integrity of that monarch had prevented all the bad effects, which might naturally have been dreaded from fo perilous an expe- dient. It was thus that the kings of France and Arra- gon, and afterwards other princes, had fubmitted their controverfies to Edward's judgment; and the remotenefs of their ftates, the great power of the princes, and the little intereft which he had on cither fide, had induced him to acquit himfelf with honour in his decifions. The parlia- ment of Scotland, therefore, threatened with a furious civil war, and allured by the great reputation of the Eng- lifh monarch, as well as by the prefent amicable corre- spondence between the kingdoms, agreed in making a reference ,250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C HAP. reference to Edward ; and Frafer, bifhop of St. Andrews, e— ^-Lj with other deputies, was fent to notify to him their refo- ld- lution, and to claim his good offices in the prefent dan- lS eleience ' . r to Edward, gers to which they were expofed '. His inclination, they flattered themfelves, led him to prevent their difTenfions, and to interpofe with a .power, which none of the compe- titors would dare to withftand : When this expedient was propofed by one party, the other deemed it dangerous to object to it: Indifferent perfons thought that the imminent perils of a civil war would thereby be prevented : --And no one reflected on the ambitious character of Edward, and the almoff certain ruin, which muff attend a final I ftate, divided by faction, when it thus implicitly fubmits itfelf to the will of fo powerful and encroaching a neigh- bour. Homage of The temptation was too ft rong for the virtue of the * Englifh monarch to refill. He propofed to lay hold of the prefent favourable opportunity, and if not to create, at leaft to revive, his claim of a feudal fuperiority over Scotland ; a claim which had hitherto lain in the deepeft obfeurity, and which, if ever it had been an object of at- tention, or had been fo much as fufpected, would have effectually prevented the Scottifh barons from chufing him for an umpire. He well knew, that, if this pre- tenfion were once fubmitted to, as it feemed difficult, in the prefent fituation of Scotland, to oppofe it, the abfo- lute fovereignty of that kingdom, (which had been the cafe with Wales) would foon follow; and that one great vafial, cooped up in an ifland with his liege lord, without refource from foreign powers, without aid from any fellow vafial s, could not long maintain his dominions againft the efforts of a mighty kingdom, affifted by all the cavils which the feudal law afforded his fuperior againft him. In purfuit of this great object, very advan- 1 Heminf, vol, 5, p. 31, tageous EDWARD I. 251 tageous to England, perhaps in the end no lefs beneficial C H a p. to Scotland, but extremely unjuft and iniquitous in itfelf, ^^^ Edward bulled himfelf in Searching for proofs of his pre- *29x' tended fuperiority; and inftead of looking into his own archives, which, if his claim had been real, muft have afforded him numerous records of the homages done by the Scottish princes, and could alone yield him any au- thentic teftimony, he made all the monasteries be ran- facked for old chronicles and hiftories written by Eng- lishmen, and he collected ail the paffages, which feemed anywife to favour his pretentions m. Yet even in this method of proceeding, which muft have difcovered to himfelf the injuftice of his claim, he was far from being fortunate. He began his proofs from the time of Edward the elder, and continued them through all the fubfequent Saxon and Norman times ; but produced nothing to his purpofe n. The whole amount of his authorities during the Saxon period, when Stripped of the bombafr. and inaccurate Style of the monkiih hiftorians, is, that the Scots had fome- times been defeated by the Englifh, had received peace on difadvantageous terms, had made fubmifiions to the Englifh monarch, and had even perhaps fallen into fome dependance on a power, which was fo much Superior, and which they had not at that time Sufficient force to rcfift. His authorities from the Norman period were, if poffible, Slill lefs conclusive: The hiftorians indeed make frequent mention of homage done by the northern po- tentate ; but no one of them fays that it was done for his kingdom, and feveral of them declare, in exprefs terms, that it was relative only to the fiefs which he enjoyed fouth of the Tweed ° ; in the fame manner, as the king of England himfelf fwore fealty to the French monarch, for the fiefs which he inherited in France. And to fucn «n Walfm.g. p. 55. n Rymer, vol. ii. p. 559. • Hoveden, p. 4§z, 662, M. Paris, p. 109. M. Weft, p. 256. 7 fcanaalous 252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. fcandalous fhifts was Edward reduced, that he quotes a paffage from Hoveden p, where it is afTerted, that a Scot- li9'' tifh king had done homage to England ; but he purpofely omits the latter part of the fentence, which expreffes that this prince did homage for the lands which he held in England. When William, king of Scotland, was taken prifoner in the battle of Alnwic, he was obliged, for the recovery of his liberty, to fwear fealty to the victor for his crown itfelf. The deed was performed according to all the rites of the feudal lav/ : The record was preferved in the Englifh archives, as well as mentioned by all the hifto- rians : But as it is the only one of the kind, and as hifto- rians fpeak of this fuperiority as a great acquifition gained by the fortunate arms of Henry II. i there can remain no doubt, that the kingdom of Scotland was, in all former periods, entirely free and independant. Its fubjection continued a very few years : King Richard, dcfirous, be- fore his departure for the Holy Land, to conciliate the friendihip of William, renounced that homage, which, he fays 'in exprefs terms, had been extorted by his father; and he only retained the ufual homage which had been done by the Scottifli princes for the lands which they held in England. 1 But though this tranfac~tion rendered the independance of Scotland dill mere unqueftionable, than if no fealty had ever been fworn to the Englifh crown ; the Scottifh kings, apprized of the point aimed at by their powerful neighbours, feem for a long time to have retained feme jealoufy gnthat head, and in doing homage, to have anj^oufly 'filiated all fuch pretenfions. When William in 1 200 did homage to John at Lincoln, he was. careful . to infert a falvo for his royal dignity : When Alexander III. fent ajTiflance to his father-in-law, Henry III. during ; P P. €6zyt , ft Neubr, lib. ii. cap. 4. Knyr,hton3 p. 2392. ' 4 the EDWARD I. 253 the wars of the barons, he previously procured an ac- chap. knowledgment, that this aid was granted only from1___vJ^ friendship, not from any right claimed by the Englifh «9»» monarch s : And when the fame prince was invited to aflifr. at the coronation of this very Edward, he declined attendance, till he received a like acknowledgment c. But as all thefe reafons, (and fTronger could not be produced) were but a feeble rampart againfl: the power of the fword, Edward, carrying with him a great army, which was to enforce his proofs, advanced to the frontiers, and invited the Scottifh parliament and all the competi- tors to attend him in the caftle of Norham, a place fitu- ated on the fouthern banks of the Tweed, in order to determine that caufe, which had been referred to his ar- bitration. But though this deference feemed due to fo great a monarch, and was no more than what his father and the Englifh barons had, in fimilar circumftances, paid to Lewis IX. the king, careful not to give umbrage, and determined never to produce his claim, till it fhould be too late to think of oppofition, fent the Scottifh ba- rons an acknowledgment, that, though at this time they pafTed the frontiers, this ftep fhould never be drawn into precedent, or afford the Englifh kings a pretence for ex- acting a like fubrnimon in any future tranfadlion u. I0th Wav. When the whole Scottifh nation had thus, unwarily put themfelves in his power, Edward opened the conferences at Norham : He informed the parliament, by the mouth of Roger le Brabancon, his chief judiciary, that he was come thither to determine the right among the competi- tors to their crown ; that he was determined to do flricr. juftice to all parties ; and that he was intitled to this authority, not in virtue of the reference made to him, but in quality of fuperior and liege lord of the kingdom *'. 5 Ryrrier, vol. ii. p. 844. t s^e note [B] at the end of the volume; » Rymer, vol ii. p. 5j9, 845. Wiring, p. 56. w Rymer, vol. ii. p. j^j. See n/ie [C j at the end of the volume. He 254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P- He then produced his proofs of this fuperiority, which he i^^rLmj pretended to be unqueftionable, and he required of them I29i* an acknowledgment of it ; a demand, which was fuper- fluous if the fact were already known and avowed, and which plainly betrays Edward's confcioufnefs of his lame and defective title. The Scotch parliament was aftonifhed at fo new a pretenfion, and anhvered only by their filence. But the king, in order to maintain the appearance of free and regular proceedings, dcfircd them to remove into their own country, to deliberate upon his claim, to examine his proofs, to propofc all their objections, end then to inform him of their refolution : And he appointed a plain at Up- fettleton, on. the northern banks of the Tweed, for that purpofe. When the Scottifh barons afle-mbled in this place, though moved with indignation at the injuftice of this * unexpected claim, and at the fraud with which it had been conducted, they found themfelvcs betrayed into a fituation, in which it was impofiible for them to make any defence for the ancient iiberty and independance of their country. The king of England, a martial and po- litic prince, at the head of a powerful army, lay at a very fmall diftance, and was only feparated from them by d river fordable in many places. Though by a fudden flight fome of them might themfelvcs be able to make their efcapc ; what hopes could they entertain of fecuring the kingdom againft his future enterprises i Without a head, without union among themfelvcs, attached all of them to different competitors, whofe title they had rafhly fubmitted to the decifion of this foreign ufurper, and who were thereby reduced to an abfolute dependance upon him ; they could only expect by refiftance to entail on themfclves and their posterity a more grievous and more deftructive fervitude. Yet even in this defperate flate of their affairs, the Scottifh barons, as wc learn from Wal- finghanb EDWARD I. 255 fmgham *, one of the befi: hiftorians of that period, hadc H A ?• the courage to reply, that, till they had a king, they could l— -v— «-l take no refolution on fo momentous a point: The journal 1291* of king Edward fays, that they made no anfwer at all x : That is, perhaps, no particular anfwer or objection to Edward's claim : And by this folution it is ponlble to re- concile the journal with the hiftorian. The king, there- fore, interpreting their filence as confent, addrefTed himfelf to the feveral competitors, and previously to his pro- nouncing fentence, required their acknowledgment of his fuperiority. It is evident from the genealogy of the royal family of Scotland, that there could only be two queftions about the fucceiiion, that between Baliol and Bruce on the one hand, and lord Haftings on the other, concerning the par- tition of the crown ; and that between Baliol and Bruce themfelves, concerning the preference of their refpeclive titles, fuppofing the kingdom indivifible : Yet there ap- peared on this occafion no Iefs than nine claimants befides ; John Comyn or Cummin lord of Badenoch, Florence earl of Holland, Patric Dunbar earl of March, William de Vefcey, Robert de Pynkeni, Nicholas de Soules, Patric Galythly, Roger de Mandeville, Robert de Rofs ; not to mention the king of Norway, who claimed as heir to his daughter Margaret y. Some of thefe competitors were defcended from more remote branches of the royal family; others were even fprung from illegitimate children j and as none of them had the leafl pretence of right, it is natu- ral to conjecture, that Edward had fecretly encouraged them to appear in the lifr. of claimants, that he might fow the more divifion among the Scottifh nobility, make * Page 53. M. Weft. p. 436. It is faid by Hemingford, vol. i. p, y.. that the king menaced violently the Scotch birons, and forced them to ccrn- pli^nre, at leaft to filecce. * Rytner, vol, ii, p. 548, y Walfing. p. $4 the 256 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, the caufe appear the more intricate, and be able to chufe, -^J, among a great number, the moil obfequious candidate. 1291. But he found them all equally obfequious on this oc- cafion z. Robert Bruce was the firfl that acknowledged Edward's right of fuperiority over Scotland ; and he had fo far fcrefeen the king's pretenfions, that, even in his pe- tition, where he fet forth his claim to the crown, he had previously applied to him as liege lord of the kingdom j a ftep which was not taken by any of the other candidates a. They all, however, with fceming willingnefs, made a like acknowledgment when required ; though Baliol, left he fhould give offence to the Scottifh nation, had taken care to be abfent during the firlr days ; and he was the laft who recognized the king's title &. Edward next de- liberated concerning the method of proceeding in the dif- cufficn of this great controverfy. He gave orders, that Baliol, and fuch of the competitors as adhered to him, fhould chufe forty commimoners ; Bruce and his adhe- rents other forty : To thefc the king added twenty-four Englishmen : And he ordered theie hundred and four commifiioners to examine the caufe deliberately among themfelves, and make their report to him c : And he pro- mifed in the enfuing year to give his determination. Mean while, he pretended, that it was requifite to have all the fortrefies of Scotland delivered into his hands, in order to enable him, without oppofition, to put the true heir in pofleflion of the crown ; and this exorbitant de- mand was complied with, both by the flates and by the claimants '. The governors alfo of all the caftles imme- diately refigned their command ; except Umfreville earl of An?us, who refufed, without a formal and particular acquittal from the parliament and the feveral claimants, z Rymrr, vol. ii, p. 529. 545. Waiting, p, 56. Herr.ing. vol. i. p. 33, 34. Trivet, p. 260. M. Weft. p. 415. a Rymer, vol. ii. p 577, 578, 579- b Ibi'd- P- 546. ' lb;d. p. 555, 556. d Ibid. p. 529. Walling, p. 56, 57. to E D W A R D I. 257 to Surrender his fortrefles to fo domineering an arbiter, c HAP. who had given to Scotland fo many juft reafons of fuf-c — v~~—J picion e. Before this affembly broke up, which had fixed lly fuch a mark of diflionour on the nation, all the prelates and barons there prefent fwore fealty to Edward ; and that prince appointed commimoners to receive a like oath from all the other barons and perfons of diflinction in Scotland f. The king having finally made, as he imagined, this important acquisition, left the commiflioners to fit at Ber- wick, and examine the titles of the feveral competitors, who claimed the precarious crown, which Edward was Willing for fome time to allow the lawful heir to enjoy* He went fouthwards, both in order to aflifl at the funerals of his mother, queen Eleanor, who died about this time, and to compofe fome differences which had arifeh among his principal nobility. Gilbert earl of Glocefter, the greateft baron of the kingdom, had efpoiifed the king's daughter ; and being elated by that alliance, and ftill more by his own power, whichj he thought, fet him above the laws, he permitted his bailiffs and vafTals to commit vio^- lence on the lands of Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford, who retaliated the injury by like violence. But this was not a reign in which fuch illegal proceedings could pafs with impunity. Edward procured a fentence againft the two earls, committed them both to prifon, and would not reftore them to their liberty, till he exacted a fine of 1000 marks from Hereford, and one of 10,000 from his fon- in-law. During this interval, the titles of John Baliol and of m$t, Robert Bruce, whofe claims appeared to be the bell founded among the competitors for the crown of Scot- ' Rymer, vol, ii. p. 531. f Ibid. p. 573, Vol. II. S land. 258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, chap, land, were the fubjec-r. of general difquifition, as well as of debate among the commiflioners. Edward, in order to give greater authority to his intended decifion, propofed this general queftion both to the commiflioners, and to all the celebrated lawyers in Europe ; Whether a perfon defcended from the eldefl: filler, but farther removed by one degree, was preferable, in the fucceflion of kingdoms, fiefs, and other indivifible inheritances, to one defcended from the younger filler, but one degree nearer to the com- mon ftock ? This was the true flate of the cafe ; and the principle of reprefentation had now gained fuch ground every where, that an uniform anfwer was returned to the king in the affirmative. He therefore pronounced fentenec in favour of Baliol ; and when Bruce, upon this difap- pointment, joined afterwards lord Haftings, and claimed a third of the kingdom, which he now pretended to be divifible, Edward, though his interefts feemed more to require the partition of Scotland, again pronounced fen- AwarJ of tence in favour of Baliol. That competitor, upon renew- ■dwaid in jng hjg oat]1 0f feaity to England, was put in pofleffion of Baliol. the kingdom s ; all his fortrefles were reftored to him "* ; and the conduct of Edward, both in the deliberate folem- nity of the proceedings, and in the juftice of his award, was fo far unexceptionable. i«93- Had the king entertained no other view than that of eftablifhing his fuperiority over Scotland, though the ini- quity of that claim was apparent, and was aggravated by the moft egregious breach of truft, he might have fixed his pretentions, and have left that important acquifition to his pofterity : But he immediately proceeded in fuch a manner, as made it apparent, that, not content with this ufurpation, he aimed alfo at the abfolute fovereignty and S Rymer, vol. ii. p. 590, 591, 59^, 6co. h Rymer, vol. il. P. 5S°> dominion E D W A R D I. 259 dominion of the kingdom. Inflead of gradually enuring CHAP, the Scots to the yoke, and exerting his rights of fuperi- ^ _ * ority with moderation, he encouraged all appeals to Eng- 1293* land; required king John himfelf, by fix different fum- mons on trivial occafions, to come to London ' ; refufed him the privilege of defending his caufe by a procurator ; and obliged him to appear at the bar of his parliament as a private perfon k. Thefe humiliating demands were hitherto quite unknown to a king of Scotland : They are however the necefTafy confequence of vaffalage by the feu- dal law ; and as there was no preceding inftance of fuch treatment fubmitted to by a prince of that country, Ed- ward mull, from that circumftance alone, had there re- mained any doubt, have been himfelf convinced, that his claim was altogether an ufurpation *. But his intention plainly was, to enrage Baliol by thefe indignities, to en- gage him in rebellion, and to aflume the dominion of the ftate as the punifhment of his treafon and fe- lony. Accordingly Baliol, though a prince of a {oft and gentle fpirit, returned into Scotland highly provoked at this ufage, and determined at all hazards to vindicate his liberty ; and the war, which foon after broke out between France and England, gave him a favourable opportunity for executing his purpofe. The violence, robberies, and diforders, to which that, age was fo fubjecT:, were not confined to the licentious barons and their retainers at land : The feawas equally infefted with pyracy : The feeble execution of the laws had given licence to all orders of men: And a general appetite for rapine and revenge, fupported by a falfe point of honour, had alfo infected the merchants and mariners ; and it pufhed them, on any provocation, to feek redrefs, by immediate retaliation upon the aggreflbrs. A Norman * Rymeivvol. ii. p. 6o], 6oj, 606, 6o3, 615, 616. k Ryky's Phcit. Pari, p, 15?., 153. * Se note [D] at the end of the volume. S 2 and 260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. an(] Engljft {hip met off the coaft near Bayonne ; an 620. Walfing, p. 61. jtfeming, vol. i. p. 47., 43. Trivet, p. 277. But E D W A R D I. 263 But the French monarch was no fooner put in poflefllon c H A p- of Guienne, than the citation was renewed ; Edward was 1 -v— '_^ condemned for non-appearance; and Guienne, by a for- 12-4, mal fentence, was declared to be forfeited and annexed to the crown u. Edward, fallen into a like fnare with that which he himfelf had fpread for the Scots, was enraged ; and the more fo, as he was juftly afhamed of his own conduct, in being fo egregioufly over-reached by the court of France. Senfible of the extreme difficulties, which he mould en- counter in the recovery of Gafcony, where he had not retained a fingle place in his hands ; he endeavoured to compenfate that lofs, by forming alliances with fevcral European princes, who, he propofed, mould attack France on all quarters, and make a diverfion of her forces. Adolphus de NafTau, king of the Romans, entered into a treaty with him for that purpofe w ; as did alfo Amadseus, count of Savoy, the archbifhop of Cologne, the counts of Gueldre and Luxembourg ; the duke of Brabant and count of Barre, who had married his two daughters, Margaret and Eleanor : But theie alliances were extremely burdenfome to his narrow revenues, and proved in the iffue entirely ineffectual. More impreffion was made on Guienne by an Englifh army, which he completed by emptying the jails of many thoufand thieves and robbers, who had been confined there for their crimes. So low had the profeflion of arms fallen, and fo much had it de- generated from the eftimation in which.it flood during the vigour of the feudal fyftem ! The king himfelf was detained in England, firft by ,295, contrary winds x, then by his apprehenfions of a Scotch invafion, and by a rebellion of the Welfh, whom he re- u Rymer, vol. ii. p. 620, 622. Walfing. p. 6r. Trivet, p. 2'S. w Heming. vol. i. p. 51. x Chxon. Dujift. vol. ii. p 622. S 4 pref] 264 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C Hin P' Prefl"ed and brought again under fubje<5tion y. The army, s^^r-^j which he fent to Guienne, was commanded by his ne~ s-S5« phew, John de Bretagne, earl of Richmond, and under him by St. John, Tibetot, de Vere, and other officers of reputation2; who made them felves mafters of the town of Bayonne, as well as of Bourg, Blaye, Rions, St. Se- vere, and other places, which ftraitened Bourdeaux, and cut ofF its communication both by fca and land. The favour, which the Gafcon nobility bore to the Englifh government, facilitated thefe conquefts, and feemed to promife fall greater fuccelTcs ; but this advantage was foon loft by the mifconducl: of fome of the officers. Phi- lip's brother, Charles de Valois, who commanded the French armies, having laid fiege to Podenfac, a fmall fortrefs near Rions, obliged Giffard, the governor, to capitulate ; and the articles, though favourable to the English, left all the Gafcons prifbners at difcretion, of whom about fifty were hanged by Charles as rebels : A policy, by v/hich he both intimidated that people, and produced an irreparable breach between them and the Englifh a. That prince immediately attacked Rions, vvhere the earl of Richmond himfelf commanded ; and as the place feemed not defenfible, the Englifh genera] drew his troops to the water-fide, with an intention of embark- ing with the greateft part of the army. The enraged Gafcons fell upon his rear, and at the fame time opened their gates to the French, who, befides making themfelves mafters of the place, took many prifoners of diftin&ion. St. Severe was more vigoroufly defended by Hugh de Vere, fon of the earl of Oxford ; but was at laft obliged to ca- pitulate. The French king, not content with thefe luc- ceiles in Gafcony, threatened England with an invafion > y Walfing. p. 62. Kerning, vol. J. p. 55. Trivet, p. 282. Chron. Dunft. vol. ii. p. 62s, 2 Trivet, p. 279, a Heming. Vol. i. p, 43. ar;d EDWARD I. 26$ and by a Ridden attempt, his troops took and burnt Do- C h^a p. trer % but were obliged foon after to retire. And in order t__^»_/ to make a greater diverfion of the Englifh force, and en- IZ9S. gage Edward in dangerous and important wars, he formed a fecret alliance with John Balioi, king of Scotland ; the commencement of that ftriet union, which, during fo many centuries, was maintained, by mutual interefts and neceilities, between the French and Scottifh nations. John confirmed this alliance by ftipulating a marriage between his eldeft fon and the daughter of Philip de Va- iois c. The exoences attending thefe multiplied wars of Ed-Dgr,'(r^n * or concern: rg ward, and his preparations for war, joined to alterations the conftitu- which had infenfibly taken place in the general ftate of^°n^ar" affairs, obliged him to have frequent recourfe to parlia- mentary fupplies, introduced the lower orders of the ftate into the public councils, and laid the foundations of great and important changes in the government. Though nothing could be worfe calculated for culti- vating the arts of peace or maintaining peace itfelf, than the long fubordination of vaflalage from the king to the meaneft gentleman, and the confequent flavery of the lower people, evils infeparable from the feudal fyftem j that fyftem was never able to fix the ftate in a proper war- like pofture, or give it the full exertion of its power for defence, and ftill lefs for offence, againft a public enemy. The military tenants, unacquainted with obedience, un- experienced in war, held a rank in the troops by their birth, not by their merits or fervices ; compofed a difor- derly and confequently a feeble army ; and during the few days, which they were obliged by their tenures to re- main in the field, were often more formidable to their own prince than to foreign powers, againft whom they were affembled. The fovereigns came gradually to difufe b Trivet, p. 284. Chron. Dunft. vol. ii. p, 642. c Rymer, vr.l, ii, p. CSe, 5gi, 695. 697, Heming- vA. i. p. 76, Trivet, p. 285. this 266 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, this cumberfome and dangerous machine, fo apt to recoil ^^^j upon the hand which held it ; and exchanging the mili- J295* tary fervice for pecuniary fupplies, inlifted forces by means of a contract with particular officers, (fuch as thofe the Italians denominate Condottieri) whom they difmifTed at the end of the war d. The barons and knights them- felves often entered into thefe engagements with the prince ; and were enabled to fill their bands, both by the autho- rity which they poflefled over their vaffals and tenants, and from the great numbers of loofe, diforderly people, whom they found on their eftates, and wno willingly em- braced an opportunity of gratifying their appetite for war and rapine. Mean-while, the old Gothic fabric, being neglected, went gradually to decay. Though the Conqueror had divided all the lands of England into fixty thoufand knights' fees, the number of thefe was infenfibly dimi- niihed by various artifices ; and the king at lafl: found, that, by putting the law in execution, he could afTemble a fmall part only of the ancient force of the kingdom. It was an ufual expedient for men, who held of the king or great barons by military tenure, to transfer their land to the church, and receive it back by another tenure called frankalmoigne, by which they were not bound to perform any fervice e. A law was made againft this practice ; but the abufe had probably gone far before it was attended to, and probably was not entirely corrected by the new ftatute, Which, like moft laws of that age, we may con- jecture to have been but feebly executed by the magiftrate againft the perpetual intereft of fo many individuals. The conftable and marefchal, when they muftered the armies, often, in a hurry, and for want of better infor- mation, received the fervice of a baron for fewer knight's fees, than were due by him j and one precedent of this d CoUWs-Abr. p. xi. e Madox's Baronia Anglica, p. 114. I ki»^ E D W A R D I. 267 kind was held good againft the king, and became ever C hap. after a reafon for diminifhing the fervice f. The rolls of ^^^^^^ knights' fees were inaccurately kept ; no care was taken 1295* to correct them before the armies were fummoned into the field s ; it was then too late to think of examining records and charters ; and the fervice was accepted on the footing which the vaflal himfelfwas pleafed to acknowledge, after all the various fubdivifions and conjunctions of property- had thrown an obfeurity on the nature and extent of his tenure h. It is eafy to judge of the intricacies which, would attend difputes of this kind with individuals ; when even the number of military fees, belonging to the church, whofe property was fixed and unalienable, became the fubjeel of controverfy ; and we find in particular, that, when the bifhop of Durham was charged with feventy knights' fees for the aid levied on the marriage of Henry II. 's daughter to the duke of Saxony, the prelate acknow- ledged ten, and difowned the other fixty \ It is not known in what manner this difference was terminated ; but had the queftion been concerning an armament to de- fend the kingdom, the bifhop's fervice would probably have been received without oppofition for ten fees j and this rate mull alfo have fixed all his future payments. Pecuniary fcutages, therefore, diminifhed as much as mi- litary fervices k : Other methods of filling the exchequer as well as the armies muft be devifed : New fituations f Madox's Baronia Anglica, p. 115. g We hear only of one king, Henry II. who took this pains j and the re- cord, called Liber niger Scaccarii, was the refult of it. h Madox. Bar. Ang. p. ij6. i Ibid. p. 122. Hift. of Exch. p. 404. k In order to pay the fum of ioo,oco marks, as king Richard's ranfom, twenty lhillings were impofed on each knight's fee. Had the fees remained on the original footing, as fettled by the conqueror, this fcutage would have amounted to 90,000 marks, which was neatly the fum required : But we find, that many other grievous taxe*were impofed to complete it : A certain proof, that many frauds and abufes had prevailed in the roll of knights fees. produced 268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, chap produced new laws and inftitutions : And the great alter- XIII. ^^^ ations in the finances and military power of the crown, j»9S. as well as in private property, were the fource of equal innovations in every part of the legiilature or civil govern- ment. The exorbitant eftates, conferred by the Norman on his barons and chieftains, remained not long entire and unimpaired. The landed property was gradually fhared out into more hands ; and thofe immenfe baronies were divided, either by provifions to younger children, by par- titions among co-heirs, by fale, or by cfcheating to the king, who gratified a great number of his courtiers, by dealing them out among them in fmaller portions. Such moderate eftates, as they required oeconomy, and confined the proprietors to live at home, were better calculated for duration j and the order of knights and fmall barons grew daily more numerous, and began to form a very refpecl- able rank or order in the ftate. As they were all im- mediate vaflals of the crown by military tenure, they were, from the principles of the feudal law, equally in- titled with the greateft barons to a feat in the national or general councils ; and this right, though regarded as a privilege, which the owners would not entirely relinquifh, was alfo confidercd as a burthen, which they defired to be fubje£r.ed to on extraordinary occafions only. Hence it was provided in the charter of king John, that, while the great barons were fummened to the national council by a particular writ, the fmall barons, under which appella- tion the knights were alfo comprehended, fhould only be called by a general fummens of the fheriff. The diftinc- tion between great and fmall barons, like that between rich and poor, was not exactly defined; but, agreeably to the inaccurate genius of that age and to the fimplicity of ancient government, was left very much to be deter- mined by the difcretion of the king and his minHtef* ) \ Yv'iiS E D W A R D I. 269 ifcae ufual for the prince to require, by a particular fum-c mons, the attendance of a baron in one parliament, and to neglect him in future parliaments J ; nor was this un- i*95« certainty ever complained of as an injury. He attended when required : He was better pleafed on other occafions to be exempted from the burthen : And as he was ac- knowledged to be of the fame order with the greateft ba- rons, it gave them no furprize to fee him take his feat in the great council, whether he appeared of his own accord, or by a particular fummons from the king. The barons by Writ, therefore, began gradually to intermix them- felve swith the ancient barons by Tenure ; and, as Camden tells us ,p, from an ancient manufcript, now loft, that, after the battle of Evefham, a pofitive law was enacted, prohibiting every baron from appearing in parliament, who was not invited thither by a particular fummons, the whole baronage of England held thenceforward their feat by writ, and this important privilege of their tenures was in effect abolifhed. Only, where writs had been regularly continued for fome time in one great family, the omiffion of them would have been regarded as an affront, and even as an injury. A like alteration gradually took place in the order of earls, who were the higheft rank of barons. The dignity of an earl, like that of a baron, was anciently territo- rial and official n : He exercifed jurifdiclion within his county : He levied the third of the fines to his own pro- fit : He was at once a civil and a military magiftrate : And though his authority, from the time of the Norman conqueft, was hereditary in England, the title was fo much connected with the office, that, where the king intended to create a new earl, he had no other expedient than to erect a certain territory into a county or earldom, • Chancellor V/eft's enquiry into the manner of creating veers, p 43, 46, 47> 55« m In Britann, p. 121. n Spellm. Giyff. in voce Ccme:, and 270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, anc| to beftow it upon the perfon and his family °. But ^(M^^,-,<)uj as the fheriffs, who were the vice-gerents of the earls, 129S' were named by the king, and removeable at pleafure, he found them more dependant upon him ; and endeavoured to throw the whole authority and jurifdidlion of the office into their hands. This magiftrate was at the head of the finances, and levied all the king's rents within his county : He aflefTed at pleafure the talliages of the inhabitants in royal demefne : He had ufually committed to him the management of wards and often of efcheats : He prefided in the lower courts of judicature : And thus, though in- ferior to the earl in dignity, he was foon confidered, by this union of the judicial and fifcal powers, and by the confi- dence repofed in him by the king, as much fuperior to him in authority, and undermined his influence within his own jurifdi£tion p. It became ufual, in creating an earl, to give him a fixed falary, commonly about twenty pounds a year, in lieu of his third of the fines : The di- minution of his power kept pace with the retrenchment of his profit: And the dignity of earl, inftead of being territorial and official, dwindled into perfonal and titular. Such were the mighty alterations, which already had fully taken place, or were gradually advancing, in the houfe of peers ; that is, in the parliament : For there feems an- ciently to have been no other houfe. But though the introduction of barons by writ, and of titular earls, had given fome encreafe to royal autho- rity ; there were other caufes, which counterbalanced thofe innovations, and tended in a higher degree to di- minifh the power of the fovereign. The difufe, into which the feudal militia had in a great meafure fallen, ° Efiays on Britifh antiquities. This praftice, however, feems to have been more familiar in Scotland and the kingdoms on the continent, than in England. P There are inftances of princes of the blood who accepted of the office of fherirF, Spdlman in voce Victcemtu made EDWARD I. 271 made the barons almoft entirely forget their dependence c H a Pv on the crown : By the diminution of the number of <_— v— _i knights fees, the king had no reafonable compenfation I29>* when he levied fcutages and exchanged their fervice for money : The alienations of the crown lands had reduced him to poverty : And above all, the conceffion of the Great Charter had fet bounds to royal power, and had. rendered it more difficult and dangerous for the prince to exert any extraordinary act of arbitrary authority. In this fituation it was natural for the king to court the friendfhip of the lefTer barons and knights, whofe influ- ence was nowife dangerous to him, and who, being ex- pofed to oppreffion from their powerful neighbours, fought a legal protection under the fhadow of the throne. He deiired, therefore, to have their prefence in parlia- ment, where they ferved to controul the turbulent refo- lutions of the great. To exact a regular attendance of the whole body would have produced confufion, and would have impofed too heavy a burden upon them. To fummon only a few by writ, though it was practifed and had a good effect, ferved not entirely the king's purpofe ; becaufe thefe members had no farther authority than at- tended their perfonal character, and were eclipfed by the appearance of the more powerful nobility. He therefore difpenfed with the attendance of moft of the lefTer barons in parliament; and in return for this indulgence, (for fuch it was then efteemed) required them to chufe in each county a certain number of their own body, whofe charges they bore, and who, having gained the confi- dence, carried with them, of courfe, the authority of the whole order. This expedient had been practifed at different times, in the reign of Henry III. 1 and regularly, during that of the prefent king. The numbers fent up 1 Rot. Clauf. 38 Hen. III. m. 7. and iz d. : As alfi) Rot. Chuf. 42 Hen. Ill, m, 1. d. Prjnne's pref, to Cotton's Abridgment. by fe?ft HISTORY OF ENGLAN D, C yih P' ty eac^ county variec^ at tne wi^ °f the prince r : They t_»-v- _' took their feat among the other peers ; becaufe by their S295« tenure they belonged to that order s : The introducing of them into that houfe fcarcely appeared an innovation 3 And though it was eafily in the king's power, by varying their number, to command the refolutions of the whole parliament, this circumftance was little attended to, in an age when force was more prevalent than laws, and when a refolution, though taken by the majority of a legal aiTembly, could not be executed, if it oppofed the will of the more powerful minority. But there were other important confequences, which fol- lowed the diminution and confequent difufe of the ancient feudal militia. The king's expence, in levying and main- taining a military force for every enterprize, was encreafed beyond what his narrow revenues were able to bear : As the fcutages of his military tenants, which were accepted in lieu of their perfonal fervice, had fallen to nothing ; there were no means of fupply but from voluntary aids granted him by the parliament and clergy : Or from the talliages which he might levy upon the towns and inhabitants in royal demefne. In the preceding year, Edward had been obliged to exact no lefs than the fixth of all moveables from the laity, and a moiety of all ecclefiaftical benefi- ces r for his expedition into Poi£tou, and the fuppreilion of the Welfh : And this diftrefsful fituation, which was likely often to return upon him and his fucceflbrs, made him think of a new device, and fummon the representa- tives of all the boroughs to parliament. This period, which is the twenty-third of his reign, feems to be the real and true epoch of the houfe of commons ; and the firft faint dawn of popular government in England. r Brady's anfwer to Petyt, from the records, p. 151. s Brady's Treatife of Boroughs, App. N». 1.3. * Ibid. p. 31. from the records. Heming. vol, i, p. 52, M. Weft. p. 4«. Ry'ey, p. <}6za Fct E D W A R D I. 273 For fhe reprefentatives of the counties were only depu- CHAP* ties from the fmaller barons and lefler nobility : And the ■_ _ _ _j former precedent of reprefentatives from the boroughs, ,a95« who were fummoned by the earl of Leieefter, was re- garded as the acl: of a violent ufurpation, had been dif- continued in all the fubfequent parliaments, and if fuch a meafure had not become neceffary on other accounts, that example was more likely to blaft than give credit to it. Dujung the courfe of near two Centuries, the kings of England, in imitation of other European princes, had embraced the falutary policy of encouraging and protect- ing the lower and more induftrious orders of the flate ; whom they found well difpofed to obey the laws and ci- vil magiftrate, and whofe ingenuity and labour furnifhed commodities, requifite for the ornament of peace and fup- port of war. Though the inhabitants of the country were ftill left at the difpofal of their imperious lords ; many at- tempts were made to give more fecurity and liberty to citizens, and make them enjoy unmolefted the fruits of their induftry. Boroughs were erected by royal patent within the demefne lands : Liberty of trade was confer- red upon them : The inhabitants were allowed to farm at a fixed rent their own tolls and cuftoms u : They were permitted to elect their own magi Urates : Juftice was diftributed to them by thefe magistrates^ without obliging them to attend the fheriff or county court : And fome Ihadow of independence, by means of thefe equitable privileges, was gradually acquired by the people ^ The king, however, retained ftiil the power of levying taili- ages or taxes upon them at pleafure x ; and though their u Madox, Firma Burgi, p. 21. • Brady of Boroughr, App. N°. 1,2, 3. x The k:ng bad not only the power of tal.iating the inhabitants within his own demefnes, but that of granting to particular barons the power of ■ulliating the inhabitants within theirs. Sea Brady's anftver to Petyt, p. j 1 8. IVJadox's Hift. of the Exchequer, p. 5^8. Vol, II» T poverty 274 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, poverty and the cuftoms of the age made thefe demands n_ -v_* _■ neither frequent nor exorbitant, fuch unlimited authority I295- in the fovereign was a fenfible check upon commerce, and was utterly incompatible with all the principles of a free government. But when the multiplied neceffities of the crown produced a greater avidity for fuppjy, the king, whofe prerogative entitled him to exact it, found that he had not power fufHcient to enforce his edicts, and that it was necelTary, before he impofed taxes, to fmooth the way for his demand, and to obtain the previous confent of the boroughs, by folicitations, remonftrances, and au- thority. The inconvenience of tranfacting this bufmefs with every particular borough was foon felt ; and Edward became fenfible, that the moft expeditious way of obtain- ing fupply, was to afTemble the deputies of all the bo- roughs, to lay before them the neceflities of the ftate, to dif- cufs the matter in their prefence, and to require their con- fent to the demands of their fovereign. For this reafon, he ifTued writs to the meriffs, enjoining them to fend to parliament, along with two knights of the fhire, two deputies from each borough within their county y, and thefe provided with fufficient powers from their commu- nity, to confent, in their name, to what he and his council mould require of them. As it is a mojl equitable rule, fays lie, in his preamble to this writ, that what con- cerns all jhould be approved of by all ; and common dangers be repelled by united efforts % ; a noble principle, which may feem to indicate a liberal mind in the king, and y Writs were ifTued to about 120 cities and boroughs. a Brady of Boroughs, p. 25, 33. from the records. The writs of the parliament immediately preceding, remain ; and the return of knights is theie required, but not a word of the boroughs : A demonflration, that this was the very year in which they commenced. In the year immediately pre- ceding, the taxes were levied by a feeming forced confent of each particular borough, beginning with London. Id. p. 31, 32, 33, from the records. Alfo his anfwer to P- jt, p. 40* 41. which E D W A R D I. 275 which laid the foundation of a, free and an equitable go- c ha p. vernment. v— v— -> After the election of thefe deputies, by the aldermen I295» and common council, they gave fureties for their attend- ance before the king and parliament : Their charges were refpectively borne by the borough, which fent them : And they had fo little idea of appearing as legislators, a character extremely wide of their low rank and condi- tion 8, that no intelligence could be more difagreeable to any borough, than to find that they muft elect, or to any individual than that he was elected, to a truft from which no profit or honour could poffibly be derived b. They compofed not, properly fpeaking, any effential part of the parliament : They fat apart both from the barons and knights c, who difdained to mix with fuch mean perfonages : After they had given their confent to the taxes required of them, their bufmefs being then nnifhed, they feparated, even though the parliament ftill continued to fit, and to canvafs the national bufmefs d : And as they all confifted of men, who were real burgefles of the place from which they were fent, the flier iff, when he found no perfon of abilities or wealth fuffi- cient for this office, often ufed the freedom of omittiag particular boroughs in his returns ; and as he received the thanks of the people for this indulgence, he gave no difpleafure to the court, who levied on all the boroughs, without diftinction, the tax agreed to by the majority of deputies e. The a Reliquiae Spellm. p. 64. Piynne's pref. to Cotton's Abridg. and the Abridg. pafiim. b Brady of Boroughs, p. eg, 60. c Ibjj. P- 37> 38- from the records, and append, p. 19. Alio his append, to his anfw. toPetyt, Record. And his gloff. in Verb. Ccmnwnltas Regn. p. 33. d Ryley's Placit. Pari, p. 241, 242, &c. Cotton's Abri.ig. p. 14. e Brady of Boroughs, p. 51. from the records. There is even an infrance in the reign of Edward HI. when* the king named all the deputies. Id. anfw, to Petyt, p, 161. If he f.,ir!y named the moft c >nliderab!e and creditable burgefles, little exception would k? taken j as their bufinsfs was not to check 7" the 276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c n A p. The union, however, of the reprefentatives from the boroiio-hs save jrraduaily more weight to the whole order : i»9,. and it became cuflomary for them, in return for the fupplies which they granted, to prefer petitions to the crown for the redrefs of any particular grievance, of which they found reafon to complain. The more the king's de- mands multiplied, the fafter thefe petitions encreafed both in number and authority ; and the prince found it diffi- cult to refufe men, whole grants had fupported his throne, and to whofe aftifrance he might fo foon be a^ain obliged to have recourfe. The commons however were ftill much below the rank of legiflators f. Their petitions, though they received a verbal aflent from the throne, were only the rudiments of laws : The judges were afterwards entrufted v/ith the power of putting them into form : And the king, by adding to them the fan cl ion of his authority, and that fometimes without the aflent of the nobles, beftowed validity upon them. The age did not refine fo much as to perceive the dan- ger of thefe irregularities. No man was difpleafed, that the fovereign, at the defire of any clafs of men, mould iffue an order, which appeared only to concern that clafs ; and his predecefFors were fo near poffeffing the whole legiflative power, that he gave no difgult by afluming it in this fecmingly inoffenfive manner. But time and farther experience gradually opened men's eyes and cor- rected thefe abufes. It was found, that no laws could be fixed for one order of men without affecting the whole ; and that the force and efficacy of laws depended entirely on the terms employed in wording them. The houfe of peers, therefore, the moft powerful order in the flate, with reafon expected, that their aflent mould be the king, but. '-0 resfon v.i'h him and content to his deimnds. It was not til! rtie reign of Richard li. that the fherift's were deprived of the power of omtViing boroughs atpleai'ure. See Stat. at large, 5th Richard II. cap. 4. i See note [E J ^t the end of the volume, exprefsly E D W A R D I. 277 exprefsly granted to all public ordinances " : And in the chap, reign of Henry V. the commons required, that no laws u— ^~ ( mould be framed merely upon their petitions, u.defs the ,29S» ftatutes were worded by themfelves, and had paiTed their houfe in the form of a bill h. But as the fame caufes, which had produced a parti- tion of property, continued ftill to operate ; the number of knights and lefTer barons, or what the Englifh call the gentry, perpetually encreafed, and they funk into a rank ftill more inferior to the great nobility. The equality of tenure was loft in the great inferiority of power and pro- perty ; and the houfe of reprefentatives from the counties was gradually feparated from that of the peers, and formed a diftin£r. order in the ftate '. The growth of commerce, meanwhile, augmented the private wealth and confidera- tion of the burgelTes ; the frequent demands of the crown encreafed their public importance ; and as they re- fembied the knights of fhires in one material circum- ftance, that of reprefenting particular bodies of men; it no longer appeared unfui table to unite them together in the fame houfe, and to confound their rights and privi- leges k. Thus the third eftate, that of the commons, reached at laft its prefent form ; and as the country gentlemen made thenceforwards no fcruple of appearing as deputies from the boroughs, the diftinction between the members was entirely loft, and the lower houfe acquired thence a great accemon of weight and importance in the kingdom. Still, however, the office of this eftate was 5 la thofe inftances found in Cotton's abridgement, where the king ap- pears to anfwer of himfelf the petitions of the commons, he probably exerted no more than that power, which was Jong inherent in the crown, of regu- lating matters by royal ecicls or proclamations. But no durable or geneiil flatute feems ever to have been made by the king from the petition of the commons alone, without the affent of the peers. It is moie likely, that the peers alone, wirhoift the commons, would enadl Matures. h Brady's anfwer to Petyt, p. S5. from the records. * Cott abridgement, p. 13. k Stenote [Fj at the endof the vol ua T 3 very 278 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, C w a P. very different from that which it has fince exercifed with Xi! * ^^^V^, fo much advantage to the public. Inftcad of checking and 1295* controuling the authority of the king, they were naturally induced to adhere to him, as the great fountain of law and juftice, and to fupport him againft the power of the ariftocracy, which at once was the fource of oppref- iion to themfelves, and difturbed him in the execution of the laws. The king, in his turn, gave countenance to an order of men, fo ufeful and fo little dangerous : The peers alfo were obliged to pay them fome confideration : And by this means, the third eftate, formerly fo abject- in England, as well as in all other European nations, rofe by flow degrees to their prefent importance ; and in their progrefs made arts and commerce, the neceffary attend- ants of liberty and equality, flourifh in the kingdom ', What fufficiently proves, that the commencement of the houfe of burgeffes, who are the true commons, was not an affair of chance, but arofe from the neceflities of the prefent fituation, is, that Edward, at the very fame time, fummoned deputies from the inferior clergy, the firft that ever met in England m, and he required them to impofe taxes on their conftituents for the public fervice. Formerly the ecelefiaflical benefices bore no part of the burthens of the ftate : The pope indeed of late had often levied impcfitions upon them : He had fometimes granted this power to the fovereign n : The king himfelf had in the preceding year exacted, by menaces and violence, a very grievous tax of half the revenues of the clergy : But as this precedent was dangerous, and could not eafily be repeated in a government which required the confent of the fubjecr. to any extraordinary refolution, Edward found it more prudent to affemble a lower houfe of con- 1 See note [G] at the end of the volume. m Archbi/hop Wake's State of the Church of England, p, 235, Brady of Boroughs, p. 34. Gil- bert's Hift. of the Exch. p. 46. n Ann, WaverJ. p. 217, 2z8» T. W)kes, p. 99, 120. yocation3 EDWARD I. 79 vocation, to lay before them his neceffities, and to afkc H A p« \ J ... . . xiu. fome fupply. But on this occafion he met with difficul- i ^ > ties. Whether that the clergy thought themfelves the '95- moft independant body in the kingdom, or were difgufted by the former exorbitant impofitions, they abfolutely re- fufed their affent to the king's demand of a fifth of their moveables ; and it was not till a fecond meeting, that, on their perfifting in this refufal, he was willing to accept of a tenth. The barons and knights granted him, without hefitation, an eleventh ; the burgefTes, a feventh. But the clergy ftill fcrupled to meet on the king's writ ; left by fuch an inftance of obedience they mould feem to ac- knowledge the authority of the temporal power : And this compromife was at laft fallen upon, that the king mould iffue his writ to the archbifhop ; and that the archbifliop mould, in confequence of it, fummon the clergy, who, as they then appeared to obey their fpiritual fuperior, no longer hefitated to meet in convocation. This expe- dient, however, was the caufe, why the ecclefiaftics were feparated into two houfes of convocation, under their feveral archbifhops, and formed not one eftate, as in other countries of Europe ; which was at firft the king's intention Q. We now return to the courfe of our na- ration. Edward, confeious of the reafons of difguft which he had given to the king of Scots, informed of the dif- pofitions of that people, and expecting the moft violent effects of their refentment, which he knew he had fo well merited j employed the fupplies, granted him by his people, in making preparations againft the hoftilities of his northern neighbour. When in this fituation, he re- ceived intelligence of the treaty fecretly concluded be- tween John and Philip ; and though uneafy at this con- currence of a French and Scotch war, he refolved not o Gilbert's Kift. of F.xch. p. 51, 54, T4 to 28o HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. t0 encourage his enemies by a pufillanimous behaviour, Xili. . . ' . - c^-^o or by yielding to their united efforts. fie fummoned ?*26- John to perform the duty of a vaffal, and to fend him a fupply of forces againft an invaflcn from France, with which he was then threatened : He next required, that the fortrefles of Berwic, Jedborough, and Roxborough, fhould be put into his hands as a fecurity during the war": He cited John to appear in an Englifh parlia- ment to be held at Newcaftle : And when none of thefe fucceflive demands were complied with, he marched northward with numerous forces, 30,000 foot, and 4000 horfe, to chaftife his rebellious vafial. The Scottifh na- tion, who had little reliance on the vigour and abilities of their prince, afiigned him a council of twelve noblemei}, in whofe hands the fovereignty was really lodged % and who put the country in the beft pofture of which the prefent diftraftions would admit. A great army, com- pofed of 40,000 infantry, though fupported only by 500 cavalry, advanced to the frontiers ; and after a fruitlefs attempt upon Carhfle, marched eaftwards to defend thofe provinces which Edward was preparing to attack. But fome of the mofr confiderable of the Scottifti nobles, Robert Bruce, the father and fon, the earls of March and Angus, prognosticating the ruin of their country, from the concurrence of inteftine divifions and a foreign inva- fion, endeavoured here to ingratiate themfelves with Ed- ward, by an early fubmiffion ; and the king, encouraged by this favourable incident, led his army into the enemies country, and crofTed the Tweed without oppofition at 2$th March Coldftream. He then received a mefiage from John, by which that prince, having now procured, for himfelf and his nation, pope Celeftine's difpenfation from former oaths, renounced the homage which had been done to P Rymer, vol. ii. p. 692. Walfing. p. 64. Heming, vol. i. p. 84, Trivttj p. 286. 1 Heming. vol.i. p. 75. England, E D W A R D I. 281 England, and fet Edward at defiance r. This bravado C H a p. XIII. was but ill fupported by the military operations of the Scots. Berwic was already taken byaffault: Sir Wil- **95« liam Douglas, the governor, was taken prifoner: Above 7 COO of the garrifon were put to the fvvord : And Ed- ward, elated by this great advantage, difpatched earl Warrenne with 12,000 men, to lay fiege to Dunbar, which was defended by the flower of the Scottifh no- bility. The Scots, fenfible of the importance of this place, which, if taken, laid their whole country open to the enemy, advanced with their main army, under the com- mand of the earls of Buchan, Lenox, and Marre, in order to relieve it. Warrenne, not difmayed at the great fuperiority of their number, marched out to give them battle. He attacked them with great vigour ; and as un- 47th April, difciplined troops, when numerous, are but the more ex- pofed to a panic upon any alarm, he foon threw them in- to confufion, and chafed them off the field with great (laughter. The lofs of the Scots is faid to have amount- ed to 20,000 men : The caftle of Dunbar, with all its garrifon, furrendered next day to Edward, who, after the battle, had brought up the main body of the Englifh, and who nqw proceeded with an allured confidence of fuccefs. The cafHe of Roxborough was yielded by James, fteward of Scotland ; and that nobleman, from whom is defcended the royal family of Stuart, was again obliged to fwear fealty to Edward. After a feeble refift- ance, the caftles of Edinburgh and Stirling opened their gates to the enemy. All the fouthern parts were inflantly fubdued by the Englifh ; and to enable them the better to reduce the northern, whofe inacceffible fituation feemed to give them fome more fecurity, Edward fent for a ftrong reinforcement of Welfh and Irifh, who, being ' Rymer, vol. ii. p. 607. Walfing. p, 66. Heming. vol. i. p. gz accuftor. 282 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, accuftomed to a defultory kind of war, were the befl l_y^V~VJ fitted to purfue the fugitive Scots into the receiTes of their _ I,29°* lakes and mountains. But the fpirit of the nation was Scotland * fubdu«d. already broken by their misfortunes ; and the feeble and timid Baliol, difcontented with his own fubjecTrs, and over-awed by the Englifh, abandoned all thofe refources, which his people might yet have ponefTed in this extre- mity. He haftened to make his fubmiffions to Edward ; he exprefied the deepeft penitence for his difloyalty to his liege lord ; and he made a folemn and irrevocable refigna- tion of his crown into the hands of that monarch s. Edward marched northwards to Aberdeen and Elgin, \\ithout meeting an enemy : No Scotchman approached him but to pay him fubmilTion and do him homage : Even the turbulent highlanders, ever refractory to their own princes, and averfe to the reftraint of laws, endea- voured to prevent the devastation of their country, by giving him early proofs of obedience : And Edward, having brought the whole kingdom to a feeming ftate of tranquillity, returned to the fouth with his army. There was a ftone, to which the popular fuperftition of the Scots paid the higheft veneration : All their kings were feated on it, when they received the rite of inauguration : An ancient tradition allured them, that, wherever this ftone was placed, their nation fhould always govern : And it was carefully preferved at Scone, as the true palladium of their monarchy, and their ultimate refource amidfr. all their misfortunes. Edward got poiTefiion of it ; and carried it with him to England f. He gave orders to de- frroy all the records, and all thofe monuments of antiquity, which might preferve the memory of the independance of the kingdom, and refute the Englifh claims of fuperiority. The Scots pretend, that he alfo deftroyed all the annals » Rymer, vol. u, p. 718. Waiting, .p. 67. Heming. vol. i. p. 99. Trivet, p. agat l Walfmg. p. 68. Trivet, p. 299. preferved EDWARD I. 2S3 preferred in their convents : But it is not probable, that chap. a nation, fo rude and unpolifhed, fhould be pofiefTed of i^-v-^j any hiftory, which dcferves much to be regretted. The i-96- great feal of Baliol was broken ; and that prince himfelf was carried a prifoner to London, and committed to cuf- tody in the Tower. Two years after, he was reftorcd to liberty, and fubmitted to a voluntary banifhment in France ; where, without making any farther attempts for the recovery of his royalty, he died in a private (ra- tion, Earl Warrenne was left governor of Scotland u : Englifhmen were entrufted with all the chief offices : And Edward, flattering himfelf that he had attained the end of all his wifhes, and that the numerous acts of fraud and violence, which he had practifed againft Scotland, had terminated in the final reduction of that kingdom, returned with his victorious army into England. An attempt, which he made about the fame time, for War with the recovery of Guienne, was not equally fuccefsful. He fent thither an army of 70CO men, under the command of his brother the earl of Lancafter. That prince gained at firft fome advantages over the French at Bourdeaux : But he was foon after feized with a diftemper, of which he died at Bayonne. The command devolved on the earl of Lincoln, who was not able to perform any thing con- fiderable during the reft of the campaign w. But the active and ambitious fpirit of Edward, while his conquefts brought fuch cbnfiderable acceffions to the Englifh monarchy, could not be fatisfied, fo long as Guienne,tthe ancient patrimony of his family, was wrefted from him by the difhonefr. artifices of the French monarch. Finding, that the diftance of that province rendered all his efforts againft it feeble and uncertain, he propofed to attack France in a quarter where fhe appeared more vul- u Rymer, vol. ii. p. 726. Trivet, p. 295. w Heming, vol. i, £• 7*»73* 74. nerable 5 284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. nerablc ; and with this view, he married his daughter, Elizabeth, to John earl of Holland, and at the fame time 129&. contracted an alliance with Guy earl of Flanders, ftipu- lated to pay him the fum of 75,000 pounds, and projected an invafion with their united forces upon Philip, their common enemy x. He hoped, that, when he himfclf, at the head of the Englifh, Flemifh, and Dutch armies, re- inforced by his German allies, to whom he had promifed or remitted confiderable fums, mould enter the frontiers of France, and threaten the capital itfclf, Philip would at laft be obliged to relinquifh his acquifttions, and pur- chafe peace by the reftitution of Guienne. But in order to fet this great machine in movement, confiderable fup- plies were requifite from the parliament; and Edward, without much difficulty, obtained from the barons and knights a new grant of a twelfth of all their moveables, and from the boroughs, that of an eighth. The great and almoft unlimited power of the king over the latter, enabled him to throw the heavier! part of the burthen on them ; and the prejudices, which he feems always to have entertained againft the church, on account of the former zeal of the clergy for the Mountfort faction, made him refolve to load them with dill more confiderable impofi- tions, and he required of them a fifth of their moveables. But he here met with an oppofition, which for fome time difconcerted all his mcafures, and engaged him in enter- prizes, that were fomewhat dangerous to him ; and would have proved ruinous to any of his predeceffors. D fTentions Boniface VIII. who had fucceeded Celefline in the papal throne, was a man of the moft lofty and enterprizing fpirit ; and though not endowed with that feverity of manners, which commonly accompanies ambition in men of his order, he was determined to carry the authority of the tiara, and his dominion over the temporal power, to x Ryrrier, vol. ii. p. 761. Walfing. p. 68, as with the clergy. E D W A R D t 285 as great a height as it had ever attained in any former pe- CHAP. riod. Senfible that his immediate predecefTors, by oppref- ^^^j fino- the church in every province of Chriftendom, had I2S6- extremely alienated the afFeciions of the clergy, and had afforded the civil magiftrate a pretence for laying like im- pofitions on ecclefiaftical revenues, he attempted to refume the former ftation of the fovereign pontiff, and to eftablifh himfelf as the common protector of the fpiritual order againft all invaders. For this purpofe, he ifTued very early in his pontificate a general bull, prohibiting all princes from levying without his confent any taxes upon the clergy, and all clergymen from fubmitting to fuch impofitions ; and he threatened both of them with the penalties of excommunication in cafe of difobedience f. This important edi<5t is faid to have been procured by the foliaitation of Robert de Winchelfey archbifhop of Can- terbury, who intended to employ it 2s a rampart againft the violent extortions, which the church had felt from Edward, and the ftill greater, which that prince's multi- plied neceflities gave them reafon to apprehend. When a demand, therefore, was made on the clergy of a fifth of their moveables, a tax which was probably much more o-rievous than a fifth of their revenue, as their lands were moftly flocked with their cattle, and cultivated by their villains ; the clergy took fhelter under the bull of pope Boniface, and pleaded confcience in refufing compliance z. The king came not immediately to extremities on this re- pulfe ; but after locking up all their granaries and barns, and prohibiting all rent to be paid them, he appointed a new fynod, to confer with him upon his demand. The primate, not difmayed by thefe proofs of Edward's refo- lution, here plainly told him, that the clergy owed obe- dience to two fovereigns, their fpiritual and their tempo- y Rymer, vol. 11. p. 706. Heming. vol. i. p. T04. z Heming. Tel. i. p. 1C7. Triver, p. ag6 Chion. Dunft, vol. ii. p, 65?.. ral 5 286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c h a P. ral ; but their duty bound them to a much ftrifler XIII. ^ L. ) attachment to the former than to the latter : They could 129a. not comply with his commands, (for fuch, in fome meafure, the requeits of the crown were then deemed) in contradiction to the exprefs prohibition of the fove- reign pontiff3. 1297. The clergy had feen in many inftances, that Edward paid little regard to thofe numerous privileges, on which they fet fo high a value. He had formerly feized, in an arbitrary manner, all the money and plate lodged in the churches and convents, and had applied them to the pub- lic fervice b ; and they could not but expect more violent treatment on this fharp fefufal, grounded on fuch dan- gerous principles. Inftead of applying to the pope for a relaxation of his bull, he refolved immediately to employ the power in his hands ; and he told the ecclefiaftics, that, fince they refufed to fupport the civil government, they were unworthy to receive any benefit from it ; and he would accordingly put them out of the protection of the laws. This vigorous meafure was immediately carried into execution c. Orders were iflued to the judges to re- ceive no caufe brought before them by the clergy; to hear and decide all caufes in which they were defendants : To do every man juftice againft them; to do them juftice againft no body d. The ecclefiaftics foon found them- felves in the moft miferable fituation imaginable. They could not remain in their own houfes or convents for want of fubfiftence : If they went abroad, in queft of maintenance, they were difmounted, robbed of their horfes and cloaths, abufed by every ruffian, and no re- drefs could be obtained by them for the moft violent in- jury. The primate himfelf was attacked on the highway, a Heming. vol. i. p, 107. t> Walfing. p. 65. Heming. vol. i. p. 51. c Walfing. p. 69. Heming. vol, i. p. 107. o M. Weft, p. 429. was EDWARD I. 287 was ftripped of all his equipage and furniture, aud was at C H A P, laft reduced to board himfelf with a fingle fervant in the v_^v^_, houfe of a country clergyman f. The king, meanwhile, 1297< remained an indifferent fpeclator of all thefe violences ; and without employing his officers in committing any im- mediate injury on the priefts, which might have appeared invidious and oppreffive, he took ample vengeance on them for their obftinate refufal of his demands. Though the archbifhop iffued a general fentence of excommuni- cation againfr. all who attacked the perfons or property of ecclefiaftics, it was not regarded : While Edward enjoyed the fatisfaction of feeing the people become the voluntary inftruments of his juflice againft them, and enure them- felves to throw off that refpeir. for the facred order, by which they had fo long been overawed and governed. The fpirits of the clergy were at laft broken by this harfh treatment. Befides that the whole province of York, which lay neareft the danger that (till hung over them from the Scots, voluntarily, from the firfr, voted a fifth of their moveables ; the bifhops of Salifbury, Ely, and fome others, made a compofition for the fecular clergy within their fees ; and they agreed, not to pay the fifth, which would have been an a£t. of difobedience to Boni- face's bull, but to depofit a fum equivalent in fome church appointed them ; whence it was taken by the king's officers &. Many particular convents and clergy- men made payment of a like fum, and received the king's protection h. Thofe who had not ready money, entered into recognizances for the payment. And there was fcarcely found one ecclefiaftic in the kingdom, who feemed willing to fuffer, for the fake of religious privi- leges, this new fpecies of martyrdom, the moft. tedious and languifhing of any, the moft mortifying to fpiritual f Kerning, vol. i. p. 109. S Hejning vol. i. p. icS; 109. Chron. Dunit, p. 653, b Chron. Dunft. vol. ii. p. 654. I pride, measures sS8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, pride, and not rewarded by that crown of glory, which the church holds up, with fuch orientation, to her devoted »«97- adherents. Arhitrary But as the money, granted by parliament, though confiderable, was not furficient to fupply the king's ne- ceflities, and that levied by compofitions with the clergy came in flowly, Edward was obliged, for the fake of far- ther fupply, to exert his arbitrary power, and to lay an oppreilive hand on all orders of men in the kingdom. He limited the merchants in the quantity of wool allowed to be exported j and at the fame time forced them to pay him a duty of forty millings a fack, which was computed to be above the fifth of the value '. He feized all the reft cf the wool, as well as all the leather of the kingdom, into his hands, and difpofed of thefe commodities for his own benefit k : He required the fherifFs of each county to fupply him with 2000 quarters of wheat, and as many of oats, which he permitted them to feize wherever they could find them : The cattle and other commodities, neceiTary for fupplying his army, were laid hold of with- out the cenfent of the owners ' : And though he promifed to pay afterwards the equivalent of all thefe goods, men faw but little probability that a prince, who fubmitted fo little to the limitations of law, could ever, amidft his multiplied necessities, be reduced to a Uriel obfervance of his engagements. He mowed at the fame time an equal difregard to the principles of the feudal law, by which all the lands of his kingdom were held : In order to en- creafe his army, and enable him to fupport that great effort, which he propofed to make againft France, he re- quired the attendance of every proprietor of land, pofTefTed of twenty pounds a year, even though he held not of the ; Walling, p. 69. Triver, p. J96, k Heming. vol, i. p. 52, no. : Hemii g vol, i. p. 1 1 s , erown, EDWARD I. 239 crown, and was not obliged oy his tenure to perforin any CHAP, iuch fervice m. t— v-^^ These acts of violence and of arbitrary power, not- i*37- withftanding the great perfonal regard generally borne to the king, bred murmurs in every order of men ; and it was not long} ere fome of the great nobility, jealous of their own privileges, as well as of national libertv, gave countenance and authority to thefe complaints. Ed {yard aflembled on the fea-coaft an army, which he propofed to fend over to Gafcony, while he himfelf fhould in perfon make an irnpreffion on the fide of Flanders ; and he in- tended to put thefe forces under the command of Hum- phrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, the conftable, and Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk, the marefchal of England; But thefe two powerful earls refufed to execute his commands, and affirmed, that they were only obliged by their office to attend his perfon in the wars. A violent altercation enfued ; and the king, in the height of his paffion, ad- dreffing himfelf to the conftable, exclaimed, Sir earl, li God, you foall either go or hang. By God, Sir King, replied Hereford, / will neither go nor hang ". And he immedi- ately departed, with the marefchal, and above thirty other confiderable barons. Upon this oppofition, the king laid afide the project: of an expedition againft Guienne ; and afTembled the forces, which he himfelf propofed to tranfport into Flan- ders. But the two earls, irritated in the conteft and elated by impunity, pretending that none of their ancef- tors had ever ferved in that country, refufed to perform the duty of their office in mattering the army °. The king, now finding it advifeable to proceed with modera- tion, inftead of attainting the earls, who pofTefTed their dignities by hereditary right, appointed Thomas de Berke-« m Walfing. p. 69. n Heming. vol, i. p. 112, • Rymer, vol. ii. p. 783. Walfing. p. 70. Vol, IL U ley, igo HISTORY OF ENGLAN D. CHAP. Iey5 aru] Geoffrey de Gcyncville, to adl in that emergeno?? i^ — ^ _ _■ as conftable and marefchal p. He endeavoured to recon- IS97- cile himfclf with the church ; took the primate again into favour i; made him, in conjunction with Reginald de Grey, tutor to the prince, whom he propofed to appoint guardian of the kingdom during his abfence; and he even ailembled a great number of the nobility in Weftminfter- hall, to whom he deigned to make an apology for his paft conduct. He pleaded the urgent neceflities of the crown j his extreme want of money ; his engagements from ho- nour as well as intereft to fupport his allies abroad : And he promifed, if ever he returned in fafety, to redrefs all their grievances, to reftore the execution of the laws, and to make all his fubjects Compenfation for the loffes which they had fuftained. Meanwhile, he begged them to fuf- pend their animofities ; to judge of him by his future behaviour, of which, he hoped, he fhould be more mafter; to remain faithful to his government, or if he perifhed in the prefent war, to preferve their allegiance to his fon and fucceflbr r. There were certainly, from the concurrence of dif- contents among the great, and grievances of the people, materials fufficient, in any other period, to have kindled a civil war in England : But the vigour and abilities of Edward kept every one in awe ; and his dexterity, in flop- ping on the brink of danger, and retracting the meafures, to which he had been pufhed by his violent temper and ar- bitrary principles, faved the nation from fo great a cala- mity. The two i^reat earls dared not to break out into open violence : They proceeded no farther than framing a remonflrance, which was delivered to the king at Win- chelfca, when he was ready to embark for Flanders. They there complained of the violations of the great charter ancf P M. Weft. p. 430. <} Hemrng. vol, i, p, Iij. f Htming. vol, i. p. 1 14. M. Weft, p, $30, that EDWARD I. 29T that of forefts j the violent feizure of corn, leather, cattle, c " ^ p« and above all, of wool, a commodity* which they af- ^^^^ firmed to be equal in value to half the lands of the king- 1197* dom ; the arbitrary impofition of forty {hillings a fackon. the fmall quantity of wool allowed to be exported by the merchants ; and they claimed an immediate redrefs of all thefe grievances s. The king told them, that the greateft part of his council were now at a diftancej and without their advice he could not deliberate on meafures of lb great confequence f. But the conftable and marefchal, with the baroris of D;frennons their party, refolved to take advantage of Edward's ab- tvlth t!ie fence, and to obtain an explicite alien t to their demands. When fummoned to attend the parliament at London, they came with a great body of cavalry and infantry ; and before they would enter the city* required that the gates fhould be put into their cuftody ". The primate, who fecretly favoured all their pretenfions, advifed the council to comply ; and thus they became mailers both of the young prince and of the refolutions of parliament. Their demands, however, were moderate ; and fuch as fuffi- ciently juftify the purity of their intentions in all their part meafures : They only required, that the two char- ters fhould receive a folemn confirmation ; that a claufe fhould be added to fecure the nation for ever ao-ainft all O Tmpofitions and taxes without con fen t of parliament ; and that they themfelves and their adherents, who had refufed to attend the king into Flanders, fhould be pardoned for this offence, and fhould be again received into favour w. The prince of Wales and his council affented to thefe terms ; and the charters were fent over to the king in Flanders to be there confirmed by him. Edward felt ths * Walfing, p. 74. Heming. vol. i. p. 11^, Tiirer, p. 302. * Walfing, p. i%. Heming. vol, i, p. 117. Trivet, p, •504. u Heming vol. i. p. 138^ w Waiftng. p. 73. H;m!ng. vol. j, ?• ijSj ijq, 140, 1.1 1, Trivet, v. 308. U 2 utmoft 292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.. CHAP, uttnoft reluctance to this meafure, which, he apprehended, ty^rJj would for the future impofe fetters on his conduct, and 1297. fet limits to his lawlefs authority. On various pretences, he delayed three days giving any anfwer to the deputies ; and when the pernicious confequences of his refufal were reprefented to him, he was at laft obliged, after many internal ftruggles, to afKx his feal to the charters, astalfo to the claufe that bereaved him of the power, which he had hitherto affumed, of impofing arbitrary taxes upon the people x. That we may finifh at once this intercfting tranfac- tion concerning the fettlement of the charters, we fhall briefly mention the fubfequent events which relate to it* The conftable and marefchal, informed of the kind's compliance, were fatijfied ; and not only ceafed from difturbing the government, but afiifled the regency with all their power againfr. the Scots, who had rifen in armsr and had thrown off the yoke of England r. But being fcnfible, that the fmalleft pretence would fuffice to make Edward retract thefe deterred laws, which, though they had often received the fandtion both of king and parlia- ment, and had been acknowledged during three reigns, were never yet deemed to have fufficient validity ; they infifted, that he fhould again confirm them on his return to England, and fhould thereby renounce all plea which he might derive from his refiding in a foreign country, when he formerly afnxed his feal to them z. It appeared,: that they judged aright of Edward's character and inten-- tions : He delayed this confirmation as long as poffible j and when the fear of worfe confequences obliged him again to comply, he exprefsly added a falvo for his royal dignity or prerogative, which in effect enervated the whole. x Walfing; pi 74 Hsroing. vol. 5, p. 143. y Homing, vol. 1. p, 14.3, s Heming. vol. i. p. 159. force EDWARD I. 293 force of the charters a. The two earls and their adhe- chap. rents left the parliament in difguftj and /the king was t_^v_'_t conftrained, on a future oe*cafion, to grant to the people, I297» without any fubterfuge, a pure and abfolute confirma- tion of thofe laws b, which \vere fo much the object of their paflionate affection. Even farther fecu'rities were then provided for the eftablifhment of national ."privileges. Three knights were- appointed to be chofen in eachtoun- tf, and were inverted with the power of punifh.'ng, by . fine and imprifonment, every trangrefiion or violation of « the charters c : A precaution, which, though it was foon 1 difufed, as encroaching too much on royal prerogative, /» proves the attachment, which the Englifh in that age bore to liberty, and their well-grounded jealoufy of the arbi- trary difpofition of Edward. The work, however, was not yet entirely finifhed and complete. In order to execute the lefler charter, it was requifite, by new perambulations, to fet bounds to the royal fcrcfis, and to difaffbrefr. all land which former encroachments had comprehended within their limits. Edward difcovered the fame reluctance to comply with this equitable demand ; and it was net till after many de- lays on his part, and many folicitations and requefts, and even menaces of war and violence d, on the part of the barons, that the perambulations were made, and exact: boundaries fixed, by a jury on each county, to the extent of his forefts e. Had not his ambitious and active temper raifed him fo many foreign enemies, and obliged him to have recourfe fo often to the affiftance of his fubjects, it a Beming. vol. i. p. 167, 168. b Heming. vol. i. p. 16S. c Hemjngibid, vol. i. p. 170. d Willing, p. 80. We are told by Tyrrel, vol. ii. p 14;. from the Chronicle of St. Albans, that the barons, not content with the execution of the charter of forefts, demanded of Edward as high terms as had been impofed on his fithcr by the earl of Leiceffer: But no other hiflcrian mentions this particular. c Heming. vcl. i, p. 171. M. Weft, p. 431, 433. U 3 is 1*97. 294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, is likely that thofe conceiiions could never have been ex* tor ted from him. But while the people, after fo many fuccefsful flrug- gles, deemed themfelves happy in the fecure poffeflion of their privileges ; they were furprized in 1305 to find, that Edward had fecretly applied to Rome, and had procured, from that mercenary court, an abfolution from all the oaths and engagenients, which he had fo often reiterated, to obferve both the charters. There are fome hiftorians f fo credulous as to imagine, that this perilous ftep was taken by him for no other purpofe than to acquire the merit of granting a new confirmation of the charters, as he did foon after ; and a confirmation fo much the more unquef- ticnable, 'as it could never after be invalidated by his fuc- ceflbrs, on pretence of any force or violence which had been impofed upon him. But befides, that this might have been done with a much better grace, if he had never applied for any fuch abfolution, the whole tenor of his conduct proves him to be little fufccptible of fuch refine- ments in patriotifm ; and this very deed itfelf, in which he anew confirmed the charters, carries on the face of it a very oppohte prefumption. Though he ratified the. charters in general, he ftill laid hold of the papal bull fo far as to invalidate the late perambulations of the forcfta, which had been made wi^h fuch care and attention, and to referye to himfelf the power, in cafe of favourable in- cidents, to extend as much as formerly thofe arbitrary jurifdic"tions. If the power was not in fact, made ufe of. we can only conclude, that the favourable incidents did nor offer. Thus, after the contents of near a whole century, and thofe ever accompanied wiih violent jealoufies, often with public convulfion6, the Great Charter was finally efta- f Brady, vol. ii. p. 34, CaJte, vol, ii. p. 29s. biiflv.d 3 EDWARD I. 295 Viiihed ; and the Eno-ltfh nation have the honour of ex- c " a P. torting, by their perfeverance, this concefilon from the^ -y- _■ ableft, the mod warlike, and the moft ambitious of all B*97« their princes '. It is computed, that above thirty con- firmations of the charter were at different times required of feveral kmgs, and granted by them, in full parliament ; a precaution, which, while it difcovers fome ignorance of the true nature of law and government, proves a laudable jealoufy of national privileges in the people, and an ex- treme anxiety, left contrary precedents fhould ever be pleaded as an authority for infringing them. Accord- ingly we find, that, though arbitrary practices often pre- vailed, and were even able to eftabliih themfelves into fettled cuftoms, the validity of the Great Charter was never afterwards formally difputed ; and that grant was {till regarded as the bafis of Englifh government, and the fure rule by which the authority of every cuftom was to be tried and canvaffed. The jurifciidtion of the Star- chamber, martial law, imprifonment by warrants from the privy-council, and other practices of a like nature, though eftablimed for feveral centuries, were fcarcely ever allowed by the Englifh to be parts of their constitu- tion : The affection of the nation for liberty ilill pre- vailed over all precedent, and even all political reafoning; : The exercife of thefe powers, after being long the fource of fecret murmurs among the people, was, in fulnefs of time, folemnly abolifhed, as illegal, at leaft as oppreffive, 'by the whole legislative authority. To return to the period, from which this account of the charters has led us : Though the king's impatience to appear at the head of his armies in Flanders made him 1 It mult however be remarked, that the kjrg never forgave the chief ac- tors in this transition, anu he found means afterwards to oblige both the «oivftabk and ruarefrhal to relic;n their off.ees into his hands. The forma received a new grant of it : But the office of marefchal was given to Thomas «>f Brotherton, the king'-, fecodd fon. I A overlook 2o6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, overlook ail confederations, cither of domeftic difcontents c~ -v-~~/ or of commotions among the Scots ; his embarkation had ,297- been fo long retarded by the various obflructions thrown in his way, that he loft the proper feafon for action, and after his arrival made no progrefs againft the enemy. The king of France, taking advantage of his abfence, had broken into the Low Countries ; had defeated the Fle- mings in the battle of Furnes ; had made himfelf mailer of Lifie, St. Omer, Courtrai, and Ypres ; and feemed in a fituation to take full vengeance on the earl of Flanders, his rebellious vafful. But Edward, feconded by an Eng- liih army of 50,000 men (for this is the number affigned by hiftorians k) v/as fcon. able to flop the career of his victories ; and Philip, finding all the weak refources of his kingdom already cxhauftcd, began to dread a reverfe of fortune, and to apprehend an invafion on France itfelf. The king of England, on the other hand, difappointed of afliftance from Adolph, king of the Romans, which he had purchafed at a very high price, and finding many urgent calls for his prefence in England, was dcfirous of ending on any honourable terms a war, which fcrved only to divert his force from the execution of more im- portant projects. This difpofition in both monarchs foon produced a cefiation of hoftilities for two years ; and en- gaged them to fubmit their differences to the arbitration of pope Boniface. !2&g- Boniface was the lift of the fovereign pontiffs that exercifed an authority over the temporal jurifdiclion of princes ; and thefe exorbitant pretentions, which he had been tempted to aflume from the fuccefsful example of his predecefTors, but of which the feafon was now pafi, involved him in fo many calamities, and were attended with fo unfortunate a cataftrophe, that they have been k Heroine, vol. i, p, 146, fecrc' EDWARD I. 297 iecretly abandoned, though never openly relinquifhed, by c HAP. his fucceffors in the apoftolic chair. Edward and Philip, ^^^j equally jealous of papal claims, took care to infert in their 1Z9S. reference, that Boniface was made judge of the differences by their confent, as a private perfon, not by any right of his pontificate ; and the pope, without feeming to be of- fended at this mortifying claufe, proceeded to give a fen- tence between them, in which they both acquiefced '. He brought them to agree, that their union fhould be cemented by a double marriage ; that of Edward himfelf, who was now a widower, with Margaret, Philip's fifter, and that of the prince of Wales, with Ifabella, daughter of that monarch m. Philip was likewife willing to reftorer Guienne to the Englifh, which he had indeed no good pretence to detain ; but he infifted, that the Scots and their king, John Baliol, fhould, as his allies, be alfo comprehended in the treaty, and fhould be reftored to their liberty. The difference, after feveral difputes, w„.s Peace with compromifed, by their making mutual facrifices to each rance* other. Edward agreed to abandon his ally the earl of Flanders, on condition that Philip fhould treat in like manner his ally the king of Scots. The profpect of con- quering thefe two countries, whofe fituation made them jfo commodious an acquifition to the refpective kingdoms, prevailed over all other confiderations ; and though they were both finally difappointed in their hopes, their con- duct was very reconcilable to the principles of an inte- refted policy. This was the firff fpecimen which the Scots had of the French alliance, and which was exactly con- formable to what a fmaller power muff always expect, when it blindly attaches itfelf to the will and fortunes of a greater. That unhappy people, now engaged in a brave, though unequal conteft for their liberties, were ' Rymer, vol. ii. p. 817. Herning. vol. i. p. 149. Trivet, p. 310. P Ryrr.er, vol. ii. p. 823. totally 298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ° xrir P'tota% abandoned by the ally, in whom they repofed u— v^-^j their final confidence, to the will of an imperious con- 129S. queror. Revolt of Though England, as well as all other European Scotland. . ? . , _ countries, was, in its ancient ftate, very ill qualified for making, and ftill worfe For maintaining conquefb, Scot- land was fo much inferior in its internal force, and was fo ill fituated for receiving foreign fuccours, that it is no wonder Edward, an ambitious monarch, mould have caft his eye on fo tempting an acquifition, which brought both fecurity and greatnefs to his native kingdom. But the inftruments, whom he employed to maintain his do- minion over the northern kingdom, were not happily chofen ; and a£ted not with the requifite prudence and moderation, in reconciling the Scottifh nation to a yoke, which they bore with fuch extreme reluctance. War- renne retiring into England, on account of his bad ftate of health, left the adminiftration entirely in the hands of Ormefby, who was appointed jufciciary of Scotland, and Creffingham, who bore the office of treafurer ; and a fmali military force remained, to fecure the precarious authority of thofe minifters. The latter had no other object than the amafling of money by rapine and injuffice : The for- mer diftinguifhed himfclf by the rigour and feverity of his temper : And both of them, treating the Scots as a con- quered people, made them fcnfible, too early, of the grievous fervitude into which they had fallen. As Ed- ward required, that all the proprietors of land mould f fwcar fealty to him ; every one, who refufed or ■delayed giving this teftimony of fubmiinon, was outlawed, and imprifoned, and punifhed without mercy ; and the braveft and mofr generous fpirits of the nation were thus exaf- perated to the higheff. degree againft the Englifh govern-t ment n. n Walfing. p. 70, Heming. vol. i. p. US. Tiivet, p, 239. $ There E D W A R D I. 299 "There was one William Wallace, of a fmall fortune, C h a p. but defcended of an ancient family, in the weft of Scot- Lii_ _'_j land, whofe courage prompted him to undertake, and 1*98. enabled him finally to accomplifh, the defperate attempt ef delivering his native country from the dominion of fo- reigners. This man, whofe valorous exploits ?.re the object of juft admiration, but have been much exagge- rated by the traditions of his countrymen, had been pro- voked by the infolence of an Englifh officer to put him to death ; and finding himfelf obnoxious on that account to the feverity of the adminiftration, he fled into the woods, and offered himfelf as a leader to all thofe whom their crimes, or bad fortune, or avowed hatred of the Englifh, had reduced to a like neceflity. He was endowed with gigantic force of body, with heroic courage of mind, with difinterefted magnanimity, with incredible patience and ability to bear hunger, fatigue, and all the feverities of the feafons ; and he foon acquired, among thofe def- perate fugitives, that authority, to which his virtues fo juffly intitled him. Beginning with fmall attempts, in which he was always fuccefsful, he gradually proceeded to more momentous enterprizes j and he difcovered equal caution in fecuring his followers, and valour in annoying the enemy. By his knowledge of the country, he was enabled, v/hen purfued, to enfure a retreat among ths morailes or forefts or mountains ; and again, collecting his difperfed afTociat.es, he unexpectedly appeared in an- other quarter, and furprized and routed and put to the fword the unwary Englifh, Every day brought account^ of his great actions, which were received with no lei's favour by his countrymen than terror by the enemy : All thofe, who thirifed after military feme, were defirous to partake of his renown : His fuccefsful valour feemed to vindicate the nation from the ignominy, into which it Jjad fallen, by its tame fubmuTicn to the Englifh : Ami though no nobleman of note ventured s& yet to join his, party. 3oo HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C xin P' Party» ne *ia<^ gamed a general confidence and attach- Sg^y/^y^ ment, which birth and fortune are not alone able to 1-S3, confer. Wallace, having, by many fortunate enterprizes, brought the valour of his followers to correfpond to his own, refolved to ftrike a decifive blow againft the Englifh government ; and he concerted the plan of attacking Or- mefby at Scone, and of taking vengeance on him, for all the violence and tyranny, of which he had been guilty. The jufticiary, apprized of his intentions, fled haftily into England : All the other officers of that nation imi- tated his example : Their terror added alacrity and cou- rage to the Scots, who betook themfelves to arms in every quarter : Many of the principal barons, and among the reft Sir William Douglas °, openly countenanced Wal- lace's party : Robert Bruce fecrctly favoured and pro- moted the fame caufe : And the Scots, making off their fetters, prepared themfelves to defend, by an united effort, that liberty which they had fo unexpectedly recovered from the hands of their oppreflbrs. But Warrennc, collecting an army of 40,000 men in the north of England, prepared to rc-eftablifh his autho- rity ; and he endeavoured, by the celerity of his arma- ment and of his march, to compenfate for his paft neg- ligence, which had enabled the Scots to throw off the Englifh government. He fuddenly entered Annandale, and came up with the enemy at Irvine, before their forces were fully collected, and before they had put themfelves in a pofture of defence. Many of the Scottifli nobles, alarmed with their dangerous fituation, here fubmitted to the Englifh, renewed their oaths of fealty, promifed to deliver hoflagcs for their good behaviour, and received a pardon for paft offences p. Others who had not yet de- clared themfelves, fuch as the fteward of Scotland and the «> Waiting, p. 7c. Heming. vol i, p. ug, P Heming. vol. i. p. Jilj 122. eiirl. EDWARD I. $>i earl of Lenox, joined, though with reluctance, the Eng- c HA P, lifh army ; and waited a favourable opportunity for em- ._.— ^ — IL_» bracing the caufe of their diftrefTeu countrymen. But 129s* Wallace, whofe authority over his retainers was more fully confirmed by the abfence of the great nobles, per- fevered obftinately in his purpofe •, and finding himfelf unable to give battle to the enemy, he marched north- wards, with an intention of prolonging the war, and of turning to his advantage the utuation of that mountainous and barren country. When Warrennc advanced to Stir- ling, he found Wallace encamped at Cambufkennefh, on the oppofite banks of the Forth ; and being conti- nually urged by the impatient Creiiingham, who was actuated both by perfonal and national animofities againft the Scots 9, he prepared to attack them in that pofition, which Wallace, no lefs prudent than courageous, had chofen for his army r. In fpite of the remonftrances of Sir Richard Lundy, a Scotchman of birth and family* who fincerely adhered to the Englifh, he ordered his ar- my to pafs a bridge which lay over the Forth ; but he was foon convinced, by fatal experience, of the error of his conduct. Wallace, allowing f :ch numbers of the Englifh to pafs as he thought proper, attacked them be- fore they were fully formed, put them to rout, pufhed part of them into the river, deftroyed the reft by the edge of the fword, and gained a complete victory over them -\ Among the flain was Creflingham himfelf, whofe memory was fo extremely odious to the Scots, that they ilea'd his dead body, and made faddles and girths of his fkin r. Warrenne, finding the remainder of his army much dif- mayed by this misfortune, was obliged again to evacuate the kingdom3 and retire into England. The caftles of 9 Fleming, vol. i. p. 127. r On the nth of September 1297. 5 Walfing. p. 73. Heming, vrl, i, p. nj, nS, 129. Trivet, p. 3-7. • Heming. vol, i, p. 130, 7 Roxborou^h 3c2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, C xiii P* R°XDOrough an\ It is only cer- tain, that the Scots never fuffered a greater lofs in any •action, nor one which feemed to threaten more inevitable ruin to their country. In this general rout of the army, Wallace's military fkill and prefence of mind enabled him to keep his troops entire; and retiring heliind the Carron, he marched lei- furely along the banks of that fmall 'river, which pro- tected him from the enemy. Youfig Bruce, who had already given many proofs of his afpiring genius, but who ferved hitherto in the Englifh army, appeared on the op- x Waiting, p. 75. Hemlng. vol. 5. p. 163. >" Walf;ng. p. 76. T. Wykes, p. 127. Heming. vol. i. p. 165, 164, 165. Trivet, p. 313, fays only zCjOOO, 41, Weft, p. 431, fays 40,000. pofits E D W A R D L 305 pofite banks ; and diftinguiflaing the Scottifh chieftain, c ^ A P« as well by his majeftic port, as by the intrepid activity of l^v^J his behaviour, called out to him, and defired a fhort con- I298, ference. He here reprefented to Wallace the fruitlefs and ruinous enterprize in which he was engaged ; and endea- voured to bend his inflexible fpirit to fubmiffion under fuperior power and fuperior fortune : He infifted on the unequal conteft between a weak ftate, deprived of its head and agitated by inteftine difcord, and a mighty na- tion, conducted by the ableft. and moft. martial monarch of the age, and poffeffed of every refource either for pro- tracting the war, or for pufhing it with vigour and acti- vity : If the love of his country were his motive for perfe- verance, his obftinacy tended only to prolong her mifery ; if he carried his views to private grandeur and ambition, he might reflect, that, even if Edward mould withdraw his armies, it appeared from . part experience, that fo many haughty nobles, proud of the pre-eminence of their families, would never fubmit to perfonal merit, whofe fuperiority they were lefs inclined to regard as an object of admiration, than as a reproach and injury to them- felves. To thefe exhortations Wallace replied, that, if he had hitherto acted alone, as the champion of his coun- try, it was folely becaufe no fecond or competitor, or what he rather wifhed, no leader had as yet appeared to place himfelf in that honourable ftation : That the blame lay entirely on the nobility, and chiefly on Bruce him- felf, who, uniting perfonal merit to dignity of family^ had deferted the poft, which both nature and fortune, by fuch powerful calls, invited him to afTume : That the Scots, pofleffed of fuch a head, would, by their unani- mity and concord, have furmounted the chief difficulty under which they now laboured, and might hope, not- withstanding their prefent lodes, to oppofe fuccefsfully all the power and abilities of Edward : That Heaven itfelf Vol. IL X could 3o6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H^A P. could net fet a more glorious prize before the eyes either £ — v— _■ or' virtue or ambition, than to join in one object, the ac- 129 quifrtion of royalty with the defence of national inde- pendance : And that as the interests of his country, more than thofe of a brave man, could never be fincerely cul- tivated by a facrince of liberty, he himfelf was determined, as far as poffible, to prolong, not hermifery, but her free- dom, and was defirous, that his own life, as well as the exiftence of the nation, might terminate, when they could no otherwife be preferved than by receiving the chains' of a haughty victor. The gallantry of thefe fentiments, thouph delivered by an armed enemy, ftruck the generous mind of Bruce : The flame was conveyed from the breaft of one hero to that of another : Fie repented of his engage- ments with Edward ; and opening his eyes to the honour- able path, pointed out to him by Wallace, fecretly de- termined to feize tire firft opportunity of embracing the caufe, however defperate, of his opprefied country2. 1:99. The fubje&ion of Scotland, notwithstanding this great victory of Edward, was not yet entirely completed. The army, after reducing all the fouthern provinces, v. a to retire for want of provifions ; and left the northern counties in the hands of the natives. The Scots, no lefs enraged at their prcfent defeat, than ele- vated by their pair . ftill maintained the context, for liberty ; but beinj nhble of the great inferio- rity oi eavoured, by application to for/ rts, to procure to themfelves fome aiTtftance. The fuppljoations of the Scottim miniiters were rejected by Philip ; but were more fuccefsful with the court of Rome. Boniface, pleafed with an occafron of exerting z This ftciy is told by all the Scotch writers j though it mud be owned th«t Trivet and Kemingford, authors of good credit, both agree that Bruce was notiu Edward's ar.ry. hi? E D W A R D I. 3P> riis authority, wrote a letter to Edward, exhorting himc h a p, to put a flop to his opprefEons on Scotland, and difplay- v . ,., j ing all the proofs, fuch as they had probably been fur- I30o« nifhed him by the Scots themfelves, for the ancient in-* again fub- dependance of that kingdom a. Among other arguments, du°d° hinted at above, he mentioned the treaty conducted and fmifhed by Edward hirnfelf, for the marriage of his fon with the heirefs of Scotland ; a treaty which would have been abfurd, had he been fuperior lord of the kingdom, and had pofTeiTed by the feudal law the right of difpofing of his ward in marriage. He mentioned feveral other ftriking facts, which fell within the compafs of Edward's own knowledge $ particularly, that Alexander, when he did homage to the king, openly and exprefsly declared in his prefence, that he fwore fealty not for his crown, but for the lands which he held in England : And the pope's letter might have palled for a reafonable one, had he not fubjoined his own claim to be liege lord of Scotland \ a claim which had not once been heard of, but which, with a lingular confidence, he afierted to be full, entire, and derived from the molt remote antiquity. The affir- mative ilyle, which had been fo fuccefsful with him and his predeceflbrs in fpiritual ccnteffs, Was never before abufed after a more egregious manner in any civil contro- verfy. The reply, which Edward made to Boniface's letter, ,.,03, contains particulars, no lefs lingular and remarkable b. He there proves the fuperiority of England by hiltorical fa£b, deduced from the period of Brutus, the Trojan, who, he faid, founded the Britiih monarchy in the age of Eli and Samuel : Fie fupports his pofition by all the events which paued in the ifland before the arrival of the Romans : And after laying great ftrefs on the extennve dominion a Rymer, vol. ii, p. 344. b Ibid. p. 863. X 2 snd 308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. anc] heroic victories of king Arthur, he vouchfafes at laft XIII. & ^-J—v— ^j to dcfcend to the time of Edward the elder, with which, JiCI- in his fpeech to the ftates of Scotland, he had chofen to begin his claim of fuperiority. He afferts it to be a fadr, notorious and confirmed by the records of antiquity, that the Englifh monarchs had often conferred the kingdom of Scotland on their own fubjecb ; had dethroned thefe vafl'al kings when unfaithful to them ; and had fubftituted others in their {lead. He difplays with great pomp the full and complete homage which William had done to Henry II. ; without mentioning the formal abolition of that extorted deed by king Richard, and the renunciation of all future claims of the fame nature. Yet this paper he begins with a folemn appeal to the Almighty, the fearcher of hearts, for his own firm perfuafion of the juftice of his claim ; and no lefs than a hundred and four barons, afTembled in parliament at Lincoln, concur, in main- taining before the pope, under their feals, the validity of thefe pretenfions c. At the fame time, however, they take care to inform Boniface, that, though they had ju- ftified their caufe before him, they did not acknowledge him for their judge : The crown of England was free and fovereign : They had fworn to maintain all its royal prerogatives, and would never permit the king himfelf, were he willing, to relinquifh its independancy. 1302. That neglect, almoft total, of truth and juftice, which fovereign ftates difcover in their tranfaclions with each other, is an evil univerfal and inveterate; is one great fource of the mifery to which the human race is conti- nually expofed ; and it may be doubted, whether in many inftances it be found in the end to contribute to the in- terefts of thofe princes themfelves, who thus facrifice c Rymer, vol. ii. p. 873. Walfing, p, 85, Honing, vol. i. p. 186. Tiivst, p. 330. M. Weft, p. 443. their EDWARD I. 309 their integrity to their politics. As few monarchs havec HA p. lain under itronger temptations to violate the principles .^^/-^ of equity, than Edward in his tranfaclions with Scotland ; 13ca- fo never were they violated with lefs fcruple and referve : Yet his advantages were hitherto precarious and uncer- tain ; and the Scots, once roufed to arms and enured to war, began to appear a formidable enemy, even to this military and ambitious monarch. They chofe John Scotland Cummin for their regent ; and not content with main- v|ju< taining their independance in the northern parts, they made incuruons into the fouthern counties, which, Ed- ward imagined, he had totally fubdued. John de Se- grave, whom he had left guardian of Scotland, led an army to oppofe them ; and lying at Rofiin near Edin- 15"";. burgh, fent out his forces in three divifions, to provide themfelves with forage and fubhftance from the neigh- bourhood. One party was fuddenly attacked by the re- gent and Sir Simon Frafer ; and. being unprepared, was immediately routed and purfued with great (laughter. The few that efcaped, flying to the fecond divifion, gave warning of the approach of the enemy : The foldiers ran to their colours : And were immediately led on to take revenge for the death of their countrymen. The Scots, elated with the advantage already obtained, made a vigo- rous impreflion upon them : The Englifh, animated with a thirft of vengeance, maintained a flout refinance : The victory was long undecided between them ; but at lair, de- clared itfelf entirely in favour of the former, who broke the Englifh, and chaced them to the third divifion, now advancing with a hafty march to fupport their diftrefled companions. Many of the Scots had fallen in the two firft actions ; moft of them were wounded j and all of them extremely fatigued by the long continuance of the combat : Yet were they fo tranfported with fuccefs and military rage, that, having fuddenly recovered their order, X 3 and #i& HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. ZpA arming the followers of their camp with the fpoils (S-^^_^J of the flaughtered enemy, they drove with fury upon *3C3- the ranks of the difmayed Englifh. The favourable mo- ment decided the battle ; which the Scots, had they met with a fteady refiftance, were not long able to maintain : The Englifh were chaced off the field : Three victories were thus gained in one day d : And the renown of thefe great exploits, feconded by the favourable difpofitions of the people, foon made the regent mailer of all the fort- refil'3 in the fouth ; and it became neceflary for Edward to begin anew tl\c conqueft of the kingdom. The king prepared himfelf for this entcrprize with hi? ufual vigour and ability. He affembled both a great fleet and a great army ; and entering the frontiers of Scotland, appeared with a force, which the enemy could not think of refilling in the open field : The Englifh navy, which failed along the coaft, fecured the army from any danger of famine : Edward's vigilance preferred it from fur. prizes : And by this prudent difpofkion they marched victorious from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, ravaging the open country, reducing all the carries e, and receiving the fubmifiion of all the nobility, even that of Cummin the regent. The moft obftinate refiftance was made by the caftle of Brechin, defended by Sir Thomas Maule ; and the place opened not its gates, till the death of the governor, by difcouraging the garri- fon, obliged them to fubmit to the fate, which had over- fs aga'm fafc- whelmed the reft of the kingdom. Wallace, though he attended the Englifh army in their march, found but few opportunities of fignalizing that valour, which had formerly made him fo terrible to his enemies. «..c.J, 1304. Edward, having completed his con quell, which em- ployed him during the fpace of near two years, now un^ d Heuiipg, vol, 1. p. 107. c Ibid, p, 205, dertook. E D W A R D % 31 £ tfertook the more difficult work of fettling the country, c JJ'A P. i i ■ Alii, of eflablifhing anew form of government, ana or making t^^^^j his acquifition durable to the crown of England. He »3°4« feems to have carried matter:, to extremity againft the natives : He abrogated all the Scottim laws and cuftoms f : He endeavoured to fubftitute the Englifh in their place : He entirely razed or destroyed all the monuments of an- tiquity : Such records or hiftories as had efcaped his for- mer fearch were now burnt or difperfed : And he haftened, by too precipitate fteps, to abolifh entirely the Scottifh name, and to fink it finally in the Englifh. Edward, however, fall deemed his favourite conqueft ,-0- cxpofed to fome danger, fo long as Wallace was alive ; and being prompted both by revenge and policy, he em- ployed every art to difcover his retreat, and become mailer of his perfon. At laft, that hardy warrior, who was determined, amidft the univerfal flavery of his countrymen, ftill to maintain his independancy, was betrayed into Edward's hands by Sir John Monteith, his friend, whom he had made acquainted with the place of his concealment. The king, whofe natural bravery and magnanimity mould have induced him to refpect like qualities in an enemy, enraged at fome acts of violence committed by Wallace during the fury of war, refolved to overawe the Scots by an example of feverity : He order- ed Wallace to be carried in chains to London ; to be , . „ tried as a rebel and traitor, though he had never made fiibmiilions or fworn fealty to England • and to be exe- cuted on Yower-hiil. This was the unworthy fate of a hero, who, through a courfe of many years, had, with fignal conduct, intrepidity, and perfeverance, defended, againft a public and oppreifive enemy, the liberties of his native country. f Rjley, p. 506. X 4 But HISTORY OF ENGLAND, But the barbarous policy of Edward failed of the pur- pofe to which it was directed. The Scots, already *3°5« difgufted at the great innovations introduced by the fword of a conqueror into their laws and government, were farther enraged at the injuftice and cruelty exercifed upon Wallace ; and all the envy, which, during his life-time, had attended that gallant chieftain, being now buried i;i his grave, he was univerfally regarded as the champion of Scotland, and the patron of her expiring independ- ancy. The people, inflamed with refentment, were every where difpofed to rife againfl the Englifh government j and it was not long ere a new and more fortunate leader prefented himfelfj who conducted them to liberty, to viclory, and to vengeance. -!1?6' Robert Bruce, fon s of that Robert, who had been Robert * Biuce. one of the competitors for the crown, had fucceeded, by his father's death, to all his pretenfions ; and the demife of John Baliol, which happened nearly about the fame time in France, together with the captivity of Edward, the elded fon of that prince, feemed to open a full career to the genius and ambition of this young nobleman. He faw, that the Scots, when the right to their crown had expired in the males of their ancient royal family, had been divided into parties nearly equal between the houfes of Bruce and Baiiolj and that every incident, which had fince happened, had tended to wean them from any attachment to the latter. The flender capacity of John had proved unable to defend them againfr. their enemies : He had meanly refigned his crown into the hands of the conqueror : He had, before his delivery from captivity, re-iterated that refignation in a manner feemingly volun- tary ; and had in that deed thrown out many reflections S Hemingford, vol. i. p. ai8. calls him the grandfon of Robert; and is very particular in the account of the times in which his father and grandfather died. Kemingford is one of the heft hiftorians of that age. extremely E D W A R D I. 313 extremely difhonourable to his ancient fubjects, whom he c H A P. publicly called traitors, ruffians, and rebels, and with ^\r^0 whom, he declared, he was determined to maintain no I203- farther correfpondence h : He had, during the time of his exile, adhered ftrictly to that refolution ; and his fon, being a prifoner, feemed ill qualified to revive the rights, now fully abandoned, or" his family. Bruce therefore hoped, that the Scots, fo long expofed, from the want of a leader, to the oppreffions of their enemies, would unanimoufly fly to his ftandard, and would feat him on the vacant throne, to which he brought fuch plaufible pretentions. His afpiring fpirit, inflamed by the fervor of youth, and buoyed up by his natural courage, faw the glory alone of the enterprize, or regarded the prodi- gious difficulties, which attended it, as the fource only of farther glory. The miferies and opprefiions, which he had beheld his countrymen fuffer in their unequal con- teft ; the repeated defeats and misfortunes, which they had undergone j proved to him fo many incentives to bring them relief, and conduct them to vengeance againil the haughty victors. The circumftances, which attend- ed Bruce's firft declaration, are variously related ; but we fhall rather follow the account given by the Scotch hifto- rians ; not that their authority is in general any wife comparable to that of the Englilh ; but becaufe they may be fuppofed fometimes better informed concerning facts, which fo nearly interefted their own nation. Bruce, who had long harboured in his breait the defign of freeing his enflaved country, ventured at laft to open his mind to John Cummin, a powerful nobleman, with whom he lived in ftrict intimacy. He found his friend, as he imagined, fully pofiefled with the fame fentiments ; and he needed to employ no arts of perfuafion to make him embrace the refolution of throwing off, on the firft fa- ll Brady's hift, vol. ii. App. N°. 27. vourable 3li HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, vourablc opportunity, the ufurped dominion of the Eng- \s~\~~mt ^'^h- But on tne departure of Bruce, who attended J3°6' Edward to London, Cummin, who either had all along difTembled with him, cr began to reflect more coolly in his ab fence on the defperate nature of the undertaking, re- folved to atone for his crime of afleriting to this rebel- lion, by the merit of revealing the fecret to the king of England. Edward did not immediately commit Bruce to cuftody ; becaufe he propofed, at the fame time, to fcize his three brothers, who refided in Scotland ; and he con- tented himfelf with fecrctly fetting fpies upon him, and ordering all his motions to be ftridUy guarded. A noble- man of Edward's court, , Bruce's* intimate friend, was apprized of his danger ; but not daring, amidft fo many watchful eyes, to hold any converfation with him, he fell on an expedient to give him warning, that ic • full time he fhbuld make his efcape. He fent him, by a fervant, a pair of gilt fpurs and a purfe of gold, which he pretended to have borrowed from him ; and left it to the fagacity of his friend to difcover the meaning of the prefent. Bruce immediately contrived the means of his efcape; and as the ground was at that time covered with fnow, he had the precaution, it is faid, to order his horfes to be fhod with their fhces turned backwards, that he might deceive thofe, who mould track his path over the open fields or crofs roads, through which he purpofed to travel. He arrived in a few days at Dumfries in An » nandale, the chief feat of his family intereft ; and he happily found a great number of the Sccttifh nobility there affembled, and among the reft, John Cummin, his former afibciate. icth Feb. The noblemen were aftonifhed at the appearance of Bruce amonp- them ; and frill more when he difcovered to them the object of his journey. He told them, that he was come to live or die with them in defence of the li- berties EDWARD I. 315 Let-lies of his country, and hoped, with their affiftance, C H A P. to redeem the Scottifh name from all the indignities, v^^ which it had fo long; fuffered from the tyranny of their *3c5' imperious mafters : That the facrifice of the rights of his family was the firft injury, which had prepared the way for their enfuing flavery ; and by resuming them, which was his firm purpofe, he opened to them the joyful pro- fpe6r. of recovering from the fraudulent uiurper their an- cient and hereditary independancy : That ail pall misfor- tunes had proceeded from their difunion; and they would foon appear no lefs formidable than of old to their ene- mies, if they now deigned to follow into the field their rightful prince, who knew no medium between death and victory : That their mountains and their valour, which had, during fo many ages, protected their liberty from all the efforts of the Roman empire, would frill be fufficient, were they worthy of their generous anceftors, to defend them affainft the utmoft violence of the En;:- liih tyrant : That it was unbecoming men, born to the moft ancient independance known in Europe, to fubmit to the will of any mafters ; but fatal to receive thofe, who, being irritated by fuch perfeyering oppofition, and inflamed with the higheft animoiity, would never deem themfelves fecure in their ufurped dominion but by ex- terminating all the ancient nobility, and even all the ancient inhabitants : And that, being reduced to this defperate extremity, it were better for them at once to perifh, like brave men, with {"words in their hands, than to dread long, and at laft undergo, the fate of the unfor- tunate Wallace, whofe merits, in the brave and obfti- nate defence of his country, were finally rewarded by the hands of an Englifli executioner. The fpirit with which this difcourfe was delivered, the bold fentiments which it conveyed, the novelty of Brace's declaration, alufted by the graces of his youth and % 3x6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP. ?ncj marlly deportment, made deep imprefllon on the i_ — y_ ,L_ minds of his audience, and rouzed all thofe principles of J3°5- indignation and revenge, with which they had long been fecretly actuated. The Scottim nobles declared their unanimous refolution to ufe the utmoft efforts in deliver- ing their country from bondage, and to fecond the cou- rage of Bruce, in afferting his and their undoubted rights, againft their common opprefTors. Cummin alone, who had fecretly taken his meafures with the king, oppofed this general delermination ; and by reprefenting the great power of England, governed by a prince of fuch uncom- mon vigour and abilities, he endeavoured to fet before them the certain destruction, which they muft expect:, if they again violated their oaths of fealty, and fhook off their allegiance to the victorious Edward '. Bruce, already apprized of his treachery, and forefeeing the cer- tain failure of all his own fchemes of ambition and glory from the oppofition of fo potent a leader, took immediately his refolution ; and moved partly by refent- ment, partly by policy, followed Cummin on the diffo- Jution of the afTembly, attacked him in the cloyfters of the Grey Friars through which he paffed, and running him through the body, left him for dead. Sir Thomas Kirkpatric, one of Bruce's friends, afking him foon after, if the traitor were flain ; / believe fo, replied Bruce. And is that a matter, cried Kirkpatric, to be left to conjeclure ? 1 ivillfecure him. Upon which he drew his dagger, ran to Cummin, and (tabbed him to the heart. This deed y of Bruce and his affociates, which contains circumftances juftly condemned by our prefent manners, was regarded in that age, as an effort of manly vigour and juft policy. The family of Kirkpatric took for the creft of their arms, which they ftiil wear, a hand with a bloody dag- ger j and chofe for their motto thefe words, / will fecure iM, Weft, p. 453, him j EDWARD I. 317 him ; the expreffion employed by their anceftor, when he c H A p« executed that violent action. L -.- ^J The murder of Cummin affixed the feal to the confpi- J3°6' J hird revolt racy of the Scottim nobles : They had now no refource 0f Scotland, left but to make off the yoke of England, or to perifh in the attempt : The genius of the nation rouzed itfelf from its prefent dejection : And Bruce, flying to different quarters, excited his partizans to arms, attacked with fuccefs the difperfed bodies of the Englifh, got poffeffion of many of the caftles, and having made his authority be acknowledged in moft parts of the kingdom, was fo- lemnly crowned and inaugurated in the abbey of Scone by the bifhop of St. Andrews, who had zealoufly em- braced his caufe. The Englifh were again chaced out of the kingdom, except fuch as took fhelter in the ftrong fortreffes that ftill remained in their hands ; and Edward found, that the Scots, twice conquered in his reign, and often defeated, muft yet be anew fubdued. Not difcou- raged with thefe unexpected difficulties, he fent Aymer de Valence with a confiderable force into Scotland to check the progrefs of the malcontents ; and that general, falling unexpectedly upon Bruce at Methven in Perthfhire, threw his army into fuch diforder, as ended in a total defeat k. Bruce fought with the moft heroic courage, was thrice difmounted in the action, and as often reco- vered himfelf ; but was at laft obliged to yield to fuperior fortune, and take fhelter, with a few followers, in the weftern ifles. The earl of Athole, Sir Simon Frafer, and Sir Chriftopher Seton, who had been taken prifoners, were ordered by Edward to be executed as rebels and traitors '. Many other acts of rigour were exercifed by 1307. him ; and that prince, vowing revenge againft the whole Scottim nation, whom he deemed incorrigible in their averfion to his government, affembled a great army, and k Waifing, p. 91. Heming. vol. i. p. 222, 223. Trivet, p. 344. » Heming. vol. i. p'. 223. M. Weft. p. 4.36, was 3i* HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. was preparing to enter the frontiers, fecure of fuccefs, \^<-y-NJ and determined to make the defencelefs Scots the victims 13°7- of his feverity : when he unexpectedly fickened and died 7th ] ily. ... . . Death, near Carlisle ; enjoining with his laff. breath his fon and fucceflbr to prcfecute the enterprize, and never to defift till he had finally fubdued the kingdom of Scotland. He expired in the fixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirty- fifth of his reign, hated by his neighbours, but extremely refpe&ed and revered by his own fubjccls. and char?.c- The enterprizes, finilhed by this prince, and the pro- king. jec?cs, which he formed and brought very near to a con- clusion, were more prudent, more regularly conducted, and more advantageous to the folid intercfts of his king- dom, than thofe which were undertaken in any reign either of his ancefrcrs or his fucceflbrs. lie rcftored authority to the government, d 1 by the weaknefs of his fa- ther ; he maintained tb ' againnY all the efforts of his turbulent Barons ; he fully annexed to his crown the j incipality of Wales 3 he took many wife and vigor- ous mcafurcs for reducing Scotland to a like condition ; and though the equity of this latter enterprize may rea- fonably be qucftioned, the circurnftanccs of the two king- doms pr-omifed fuch certain fuccefs, and the advantage was fo vifible of uniting the whole ifland under one head, that thofe who give great indulgence to reafons of ftate in the meafures of princes, will not be apt to regard this part of his conduct with much feverity. But Edward, however exceptionable his character may appear on the head cf juflice, is the model of a politic and warlike king : He poiTeffed indufrry, penetration, courage, vigi- lance, and enterprize : He was frugal in all expences that were not necefiary ; he knew how to open the public treafures on a proper occafion ; he punifhed criminals with feverity; he was gracious and affable to his fervants and courtiers 9 and being cf a rnajeftic figure, expert in all u, D W A R D I. $>g all military exercifes, and in the main well-proportioned c H A P." in his limbs, notwithftanding the great length and thei_ -'-*__? fmailnefs of his legs, he was as well qualified to capti- 13°7' vate the populace by his exterior appearance, as to gain the approbation of men of fenfe by his more folid vir- tues. But the chief advantage, which the people of Eng- Mifcellaae- land reaped, and ftill continue to reap, from the reign of °.us tTa"k<;- r 0. tions of this this great prince, was the correction, extenfion, amend- reign, ment, and eftablifhment of the laws, which Edward maintained in great vigour, and left much improved to pofterity : For the a£ts of a wife legislator commonly re- main ; while the acquisitions of a conqueror often perifh with him. This merit has juirly gained to Edward the appellation of the Englifh Juftinian. Not only the nu- merous Statutes, paiTed in his reign, touch the chief points of jurisprudence, and, according to Sir Edward Coke m, truly deferve the name of establishments, becaule they were more conStant, ftanding, and durable laws than any made fince ; but the regular order maintained in his administration, gave an opportunity to the common law to refine itfelf, and brought the judges to a certainty in their determinations, and the lawyers to a precifion in their pleadings. Sir Mathew Hale has remarked the fud- den improvement of EngliSh law during this reign ; and ventures to aSTert, that, till his own time, it had never re- ceived any confiderable encreafe n. Edward fettled the jurisdiction of the feveral courts ; firft eitabliShed the office of juffice of peace ; abstained from the practice, too common before him, of interrupting juftice by mandates from the privy-council Q j repreSTed robberies and dif- orders ; » Inftitute, p. 156. n Hiftory of the Engl: ft law, p. 15S, 163. 0 Articuli fuper Cart. cap. 6. Edward enacted a law to this purpo.e ; but It is doubtful, whether he ever obferyed it. We are furs that fcarceJy any of his 320s HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, orders p ; encouraged trade by giving merchants an eafy \_,-^,~lj method of recovering their debts i ; and, in fhort, intro- J3°7» duced a new face of things by the vigour and wifdom of his adrniniftration. As law began now to be well efta- blifhed, the abufe of that bleffing began alfo to be re- marked. Inftead of their former affociations for rob- bery and violence, men entered into formal combinations to fupport each other in Iaw-fuits ; and it was found requifite to check this iniquity by acl: of parliament r. There happened in this reign a confiderable alteration in the execution of the laws : The king abolimed the office of chief jufticiary, which, he thought, pofTefled too much power, and was dangerous to the crown s : He completed the divifion of the court of exchequer into four diftinct courts, which managed, each, its feveral branch, without dependance on any one magiftrate ; and as the lawyers afterwards invented a method, by means of their fictions, of carrying bufinefs from one court to another, the feveral courts became rivals and checks to each other; a circumftance which tended much to improve the prac- tice of the law in England. But though Edward appeared thus, through his whole reign, a friend to law and juftice, it cannot be faid, that he was an enemy to arbitrary power ; and in a govern- ment more regular and legal than was that of England in his age, fuch practices, as thofe which may be remarked in his adrniniftration, would have given fufficient ground of complaint, and fometimes were even in his age the his fucceflbrs did. The multitude of thefe letters of protection were the ground of a complaint by the commons in 3 Edw. II. See Ryley, p. 525. This prac- tice is declared illegal by the ftatute of Northampton pafTed in the fecond of Edward 111. but it ftill continued, like many other abufes. There are inftances of it fo late as the re'gu of queen Elizabeth. P Statute of Winton. <1 Statute of Aclon Burnel. f Statute of cOnfpirators. » Spelman, Glofl'. in sttbo jujlidarlus, Gilbert's Hift. of the Exchequer, p. 8. j obicdt EDWARD 1. 3*1 cbject of general difpleafure. The violent plunder and C ?4 A P. banifhment of the Jews ; the putting of the whole clergy, ._lf_y_l^ at once, out of the protection of law ; the feizing of all 1 3°7« the wool and leather of the kingdom ; the heightening of the impofitions on the former valuable commodity ; the new and illegal commiflion of Trailbafton ; the taking of all the money and plate of monafteries and churches, even before he had any quarrel with the clergy ; the fubject- ing of every man poftefled of twenty pounds a year to military fervice^ though not bound to it by his tenure ; his vifible reluctance to confirm the great charter, as if that concemon had no validity from the deeds of his pre- deceflors •> the captious claufe which he at laft annexed to his confirmation ; his procuring of the pope's difpen- fation from the oaths which he had taken to obferve that charter ; and his levying of talliages at difcretion even after the ftatute, or rather charter, by which he had re- nounced that prerogative ; thefe are fo many demcnftra- tions of his arbitrary difpofition, and prove with what exception and referve we ought to celebrate his love of juftice. He took care that his fubjects mould do juftice to each other ; but he defired always to have his own hands free in all his tran factions, both with them and with his neighbours. The chief obftruclion to the execution of juftice ill thofe tirr.es was the pow«:~ of the great barons ; and Ed- ward was perfectly qualified, by his character and abili- ties, for keeping thefe tyrants in awe, and restraining their illegal practices. This falutary purpofe was accor- dingly the great object of his attention ; yet was he im- prudently led into a meafure which tended to encreafe and confirm their dangerous authority. He pafTcd a ftatute, which, by allowing them to entail their eftates, made it impracticable to diminifh the property of the great fami- Vol. II, Y lies, 322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lies, and left them every means of encreafe and acquiii- C H a P XIII. tion '. 1307- Edward obferved a contrary policy with regard to the church : He feems to have been the nrft ChrifHan prince that paffed a ftatute of mortmain ; and prevented by law the clergy from making new acquifitions of lands, which by the ecclefiaftical canons they were for ever pro- hibited from alienating. The oppofition between his maxims with regard to the nobility and eccleftaftics, leads us to conjecture, that it was only by chance he paffed the beneficial ftatute of mortmain, and that his fole ob- ject was, to maintain the number of knights' fees, and to prevent the fuperiors from being defrauded of the profits of wardfhip, marriage, livery, and other emoluments arif- ing from the feudal tenures. This is indeed the reafon afligned in the ftatute itfelf, and appears to have been his real object: in enacting it. The author of the annals of Waverly afcribes this act chiefly to the king's anxiety for maintaining the military force of the kingdom ; but adds that he was miftaken in his purpofe ; for that the Ama- lekites were overcome more by the prayers of Mofes than by the fword of the Ifraelites u. The ftatute of mort- main was often evaded afterwards by the invention of Ufa. Edward was active in reftraining the ufurpations of the church ; and excepting his ardour for Crufades, which adhered to him during his whole life, feems, in other re- fpects, to have been little infected with fuperftition, the vice chiefly of weak minds. But the paflion for Crufades was really in that age the paflion for glory. As the pope now felt himfelf fomewhat more reftrained in his former practice of pillaging the feveral churches in Europe, by t Brady of boroughs, p. 25. from the records, » P. 234. See alfo M, Weft, p. 409. laying £ D W A R D L 323 laying impofitions upon them, he permitted the generals c *f A p, of particular orders, who refided at Rome, to levy taxes L__^j on the convents fubjected to their jurifdiction ; and Ed- *3W* ward was obliged to enact a law againft this new abufe. It was alfo become a practice of the court of Rome to provide fucceflbrs to benefices before they became vacant : Edward found it likewife neceffary to prevent by law this fpecies of injuftice. The tribute of 1000 marks a year, to which king John, in doing homage to the pope, had fubjected the kingdom, had been pretty regularly paid fince his time$ though the vaflalage was conftantly denied, and indeed, for fear of giving offence, had been but little infifted on. The payment was called by a new name of cenfus, not by that of tribute. King Edward feems to have always paid this money with great reluctance, and he fufFered the ar- rears, at one time, to run on for fix years w, at another for eleven x : But as princes in that age flood continu- ally in need of the pope's good offices, for difpenfations of marriage and for other conceflions, the court of Rome always found means, fooner or later, to catch the money. The levying of firft fruits was alfo a new device, begun in this reign, by which his holinefs thruft his fingers very frequently into the purfes of the faithful ; and the king feems to have unwarily given way to it. In the former reign, the taxes had been partly fcu- tages, partly fuch a proportional part of the moveables, as was granted by parliament : In this, fcutagcs were en- tirely dropped ; and the aflcflment on moveables was the chief method of taxation. Edward in his fourth year had a fifteenth granted him ; in his fifth year a twelfth ; in his eleventh year a thirtieth from the laity, a twentieth from the clergy ; in his eighteenth year a fifteenth j m ^ Rymer, vo\, ii. p. 77, 107* x Id. p. J61. Y 2 .his 324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. his twenty-fecond year a tenth from the laity, a fixth from London and other corporate towns, half of their benefices ii°7- [vova the clergy ; in his twenty-third year an eleventh from the barons and others, a tenth from the clergy, a feventh from the burgeffes ; in his twenty-fourth year a twelfth from the barons and others, an eighth from the burgefTes, from the clergy, nothing, becaufe of the pope's inhibition ; in his twenty-fifth year an eighth from the laity, a tenth from the clergy of Canterbury, a fifth from thofe of York ; in his twenty-ninth year a fifteenth from the laity, on account of his confirming the perambulation of the forefts ; the clergy granted nothing ; in his thirty- third year, firft a thirtieth from the barons and others, and a twentieth from the burgeffes, then a fifteenth from all his fubjecT:s ; in his thirty-fourth year a thirtieth from ail his fubjects for knighting his eldeft fon. These taxes were moderate ; but the king had alfo duties upon exportation and importation granted him from time to time : The heavicft were commonly upon wool. Poundage, or a milling a pound, was not regu- larly granted the kings for life till the reign of Hen- ry V. In i 296, the famous mercantile fociety, called the Merchant Adventurers, had its firft origin : It was infti- tuted for the improvement of the woollen manufacture, and the vending of the cloth abroad, particularly to Ant- werp y. For the Englifh at this time fcarcely thought of any more diftant commerce. This king granted a charter or declaration of protec- tion and privileges to foreign merchants, and alfo afcer- tained the cuftoms or duties which thofe merchants were in return to pay on merchandize imported and exported. He promifed them protection ; allowed them a jury on y Andeifon's hiftory of commerce, voli i. p. 137. trial ss EDWARD I. 325 trials, confuting half of natives, half of foreigners ; and- H a P. 1 T . xin. appointed them a jufticiary in London for their protec- ^y\ >j tion. But notwithffanding this feeming attention to fo- *1C7' reign merchants, Edward did not free them from the cruel hardfhip, of making one anfwerable for the debts, and even for the crimes of another, that came from the fame coun- try z. We read of fuch practices among the prefent bar- barous nations. The king alfo impofed on them a duty of two millings on each tun of wine imported, over and above the old duty ; and forty pence on each fack of wool exported, befides half a mark, the old duty a. In the year 1303, the Exchequer was robbed, and of no lefs a fum than 100,000 pounds, as is pretended b. The abbot and monks of Weftminfter were indicted for this robbery, but acquitted. It does not appear, that the king ever difcovered the criminals with certainty ; though his indignation fell on the fociety of Lombard merchants, particularly the Frefcobaldi, very opulent Florentines. The pope having in 1307 collected much money -in England, the king enjoined the nuncio not to export it in fpecie but in bills of exchange c. A proof that com- merce was but ill underftood at that time. Edward had by his firft wife, Eleanor ofCaftile, four fons ; but Edward, his heir and fuceeflbr, was the only one that furvived him. She alfo bore him eleven daughters. moil of whom died in their infancy : Joan was married firft to the earl of Glocefter, and after his death, to Ralph de Monthermer : Margaret efpoufed John duke of Bra- bant : Elizabeth efpoufed firft John earl of Holland ; and afterwards the earl of Hereford : Mary was a nun at z Anderfon's hift. of commerce, vol. i. p. 14S. a Ryrner, vol. iv., p. 361. It is the charter of Edw. I, which is there confirmed by Edw. Ill, *> Rymer, vol. ii. p. 930. c Rymer, vol, ii. p. ioc.z. Y 3 Ambrefbury, 326 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap. Ambreflbury. He had by his fecond wife, Margaret of i/'V'N. France, two fons and a daughter ; Thomas created earl |3®7' of Norfolk, and Marefchal of England ; and Edmond who was created earl of Kent by his brother when king, The princefs died in her infancy, C 327 3 C H A P. XIV. EDWARD II. Weaknefs of the King His ■pajjion for favourites Piers Gov aft on Dif content of the barons Murder of Gavafton War with Scotland Battle of Barinockburn Hugh le Defpen- fer Civil commotions Execution of the earl of Lancafter Confpiracy againft the King InfurrecJion The King dethroned Murdered His Character Mifcellaneous tranfadlions in this reign. THE prepofleffions entertained in favour of young c H A P. Edward, kept the Engliih from being fully fenfible X1V* of the extreme lofs, which they had fuirained by the death I307i of the great monarch, who filled the throne ; and all men flattened with alacrity to take the oath of allegiance to his fon and fucceflbr. This prince was in the twenty- third year of his age, was of an agreeable figure, of a mild and gentle difpofition, and having never difcovered a pro- penfity to any dangerous vice, it was natural to prognof- ticate tranquillity and happinefs from his government. But the firft acf of his reign blafred all thefe hopes, and w . . fhewed him to be totally unqualified for that perilous fitu- of the king, ation, in which every Englim monarch, during thofe ages, had, from the unliable form of the conftitution, and the turbulent difpofitions of the people, derived from it, the misfortune to be placed. The indefatigable Robert Bruce, though his army had been difperfed and he him- felf had been obliged to take fhelter in the weftern ifles, Y 4 remained 328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C h cont. p. 5. Js Rymer, vol. iii. p. 80. J Ibid, p. 02. Murimuth. p. 39. m Rymer, vol. iii. p. 87. » Herr.ing. vol. i. p. 248. T. ds la More, p. 593. I government. 332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C yiv P* govei'nment' The high office of hereditary fteward wa5 l. ..-„—,_, conferred on Lancafter : His father-in-law, the earl ijoS. 0f Lincoln, was bought off by other conceffions : Earl Warrenne was alfo mollified by civilities, grants, or pro- mifes : The infolence of Gavafton, being no longer be- fore men's eyes, was lefs the object of general indignation : And Edward, deeming matters fufficieiitly prepared for his purpofe, applied to the court of Rome, and obtained for Gavafton a difpenfation from that oath, which the barons had compelled him to take, that he would for ever abjure the realm °. He went down to Chefter, to receive him on his firft landing from Ireland; flew into his arms with tranfports of joy ; and having obtained the formal confent of the barons in parliament to his re-eftablifh- ment, fet no longer any bounds to his extravagant fond- nefs and affection. Gavafton himfelf, forgetting his pari misfortunes, and blind to their caufes, refumed the fame orientation and infolence ; and became more than ever the object of general deteftation among the nobility. The barons firft difcovered their animofity by abfent- ing themfelves from parliament; and finding that this expedient had not been fuccefsful, they began to think of employing fharperand more effectual remedies. Though there had fcarcely been any national ground of complaint, except fome diffipation of the public treafure : Though all the acts of mal-adminiftration, objected to the king and his favourite, feemed of a nature more proper to ex- cite heart-burnings in a ball or affembly, than commo- tions in a great kingdom : Yet fuch was the fituation of the times, that the barons were determined, and were able, to make them the reafons of a total alteration in the »th Feb. conftitution and civil government. Having come to par- liament, in defiance of the laws and the king's prohibi- tion, with a numerous retinue of armed followers, they o Rymer> vol. iii. p. 167. found EDWARD II. 333 found themfelves entirely matters ; and they preferred a C H A P. petition, which was equivalent to a command, requiring (^^^^j Edward to devolve on a chofen junto the whole authority * Sm- ooth of the crown and of the parliament. The king was obliged to fign a commimon, empowering the prelates if thMarch. and barons to elect twelve perfons, who mould, till the term of Michaelmas in the year following, have authority to enacl: ordinances for the government of the kingdom, and regulation of the king's houfthold ; confenting that thefe ordinances fhould, thenceforth and for ever, have the force of laws ; allowing the ordainers to form affoci- ations among themfelves and their friends, for their ftricl and regular obfervance ; and all this for the greater glory of God, the fecurity of the church, and the honour and advantage of the king and kingdom p. The barons in return figned a declaration, in which they acknowledged, that they owed thefe conceffions merely to the king's free grace ; promifed that this commiffton mould never be drawn into precedent ; and engaged, that the power of the ordainers fhould expire at the time appointed <>. The chofen junto accordingly framed their ordinances, 13". and prefented them to the king and parliament, for their confirmation in the enfuing year. Some of thefe ordi- nances were laudable, and tended to the regular execution of juftice : Such as thofe, requiring fheriffs to be men of property, abolifhing the practice of ifTuing privy feals for the fufpenfion of juftice, retraining the practice of purvev- ance, prohibiting the adulteration and alteration of the coin, excluding foreigners from the farms of the revenue, order- ing all payments to be regularly made into the exchequer, re- voking all late grants of the crown, and giving the parties damages in the cafe of vexatious prcfecutions. But what P Brady's App N° 50. Honing, vol. i. p. 24.7, WalGne. p. 97. Ry- hy, p. 516. I Badfi .•Up. N-5;, chiefly 334. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, chiefly grieved the king, was the ordinance for the removal f_ , v-*_j of evil counfellors, by which a great number of perfons *S*u were by name excluded from every office of power and profit ; and Piers Gavafton himfelf was for ever banifhed the king's dominions, under the penalty, in cafe of dif- obedience, of being declared a public enemy. Other perfcns, more agreeable to the barons, were fubftituted In all the offices. And it was ordained, that, for the future, all the confiderable dignities in the houfehold, as well as in the law, revenue, and military governments, fhould be appointed by the baronage in parliament ; and the power of making war, or afTembling his military te- nants, fhould no longer be veiled folely in the king, nor be exercifed without theconfent of the nobility. Edward, from the fame weaknefs both in his temper and fituation, which had engaged him to grant this un- limited commiffion to the barons, was led to give a par- liamentary fan£lion to their ordinances : But as a confe- quence of the fame character, he fecretly made a proteft againfr. them, and declared, that, fince the commiflion was granted only for the making of ordinances to the ad- vantage of king and kingdom, fuch articles as fhould be found prejudicial to both, were to be held as not ratified and confirmed r. It is no wonder, indeed, that he re- tained a firm purpofe to revoke ordinances, which had been impofed on him by violence, which entirely annihi- lated the royal authority, and above all, which deprived him of the company and fociety of a perfon, whom, by an unufual infatuation, he valued above all the world, and above every confideration of interefr, or tranquillity. As foon, therefore, as Edward, removing to York, had freed himfelf from the immediate terror of the barons' power, he invited back Gavafton from Flanders, which that favourite had made the place of his retreat; and de- r R\ ley's Placit. Pari, p. 530, 541, clarin 8 E D W A R D II. 335 daring his banishment to be illegal, and contrary to the CHAP, laws and cuftoms of the kingdom % openly re-inflated 1_jr_v— ^ him in his former credit and authority. The barons, '312* highly provoked at this difappointrnent, and apprehenfive of danger to themfelves from the declared animofity of fo powerful a minion, faw, that either his or their ruin was now inevitable ; and they renewed with redoubled zeal their former confederacies againft him. The earl of Lan- caster was a dangerous head of this alliance : Guy, earl of Warwic, entered into it with a furious and precipitate paSIion : Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, the con- stable, and Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, brought to it a great acceffion of power and intereft : Even earl Warrenne deferted the royal caufe, which he had hitherto Supported, and was induced to embrace the fide of the confederates * : And as Robert de Winchelfey, archbiShop of Canterbury, profefled himfelf of the fame party, he determined the body of the clergy, and confequently the people, to declare againft the king and his minion. So predominant, at that time, was the power of the great nobility, that the combination of a few of them was al- ways able to Shake the throne ; and fuch an univerfal concurrence became irrefiftible. The earl of Lancafter fuddenly raifed an army, and marched to York, where he found the king already removed to Newcaftle u : He flew thither in purfuit of him ; and Edward had juft time to efcape to Tinmouth, where he embarked, and failed with Gavafton to Scarborough. He left his favourite in that fortrefs, which, had it been properly fupplied with pro- visions, was deemed impregnable j and he marched for- ward to York, in hopes of railing an army, which might be able to fupport him againft his enemies. Pembroke was fent by the confederates to befiege the caftle of Scar- es Brady's App. N° 53, Walfng. p. 98. 1 Trivet, font. p. 4. ■ Walfing. p. 10 1, borough ; 33$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND* C H A P. borough ; and Gavafton, fenfible of the bad condition of ^ - . __, his garrifon, was obliged to capitulate, and to furrender T312- himfelf prifcner w. He ftipulated, that he fhould remain 19M1 May. . * in Pembroke's hands for two months ; that endeavours fhould, during that time, be mutually ufed for a general accommodation ; that if the terms propofed by the barons were not accepted, the caftle fhould be reftored to him in the fame condition as when he furrendered it ; and that the earl of Pembroke, and Henry Piercy fhould, by con- tract, pledge all their lands for the fulfilling of thefe con- ditions x. Pembroke, now mailer of the perfon of this public enemy, conducted him to the caftle of Dedington, near Banbury; where, on pretence of other bufinefs, he left him, protected by a feeble guard y. Warwic, pro- bably in concert with Pembroke, attacked the caftle : The guards refufed to make any rcfiftance : Gavafton was yielded up to him, and conducted to Warwic caftle : The earls of Lancafter, Hereford, and Arundel, imme- MurcWof diately repaired thither ' : And without any regard, either GftVM°n' to t'ie ^aws or t^ie miHtary capitulation, they ordered the head of this obnoxious favourite to be ftruck off, by the hands of the executioner". The king had retired northward to Berwic, when he heard of Gavafton's murder ; and his refentment was pro- portioned to the affection which he had ever borne him, while living. Fie threatened vengeance on all the nobi- lity, who had been active in that bloody fcene, and he made preparations for war in all parts of England. But being lefs conftant in his enmities than in his friendfhips, he foon after hearkened to terms of accommodation ; granted the barons a pardon for all offences ; and as tbey ftipulated to afk him publicly pardon on their knees b, he w Walfing. p. 101. x Rymer, vol. ii. p. 324, y T. de la More, p. 593. z Dugd. Baron, vol. ii. p. 44. a Walfing. p. 101. T. de la More, p. 593. Trivet, com. p. 9. b Ryley, p, 538. Rymer, vol. iii, p. 366. was E D W A R D Hi r;v Was fo pleafed with thefe vain appearances of exterior fub- miffion, that he feemed to have fincerely forgiven them all paft injuries. But as they (till pretended, notwith- 1l17" Handing their lawlefs conduct, a great anxiety for the maintenance of law, and required the eftablifhment of their former ordinances as a neceflary fecurity for that purpofe ; Edward told them, that he was willing to grant them a free and legal confirmation of fuch of thefe ordinances as were not entirely derogatory to the prero- gative of the crown. This anfwer was received for the prefent as fatisfactory. The king's perfon, after the death of Gavafton, was now become lefs obnoxious to the pub- lic ; and as the ordinances, infifted on, appeared to be nearly the fame with thofe which had formerly been ex- torted from Henry III. by Mountfort, and which had been attended with fo many fatal confequences, they were, On that account, demanded with lefs vehemence by the nobility and people. The minds of all men feemed to be much appeafed : The animofities of faction no longer prevailed : And England, now united under its head} Would henceforth be able, it was hoped, to take ven- geance on all its enemies ; particularly on the Scots, whofe progrefs was the object of general refentment and' indignation. Immediately after Edward's retreat from Scotland, War with • , ' . ^ _. _ . . Scotland, Robert Bruce left his faftnefies, m which he intended to have fheltered his feeble army ; and fupplymg his defect of ftrcngth by fuperior vigour and abilities, he made deep impreffion on all his enemies, foreign and domeftic. He chafed lord Argyle and the chieftain of the Macdowate from their hills, arid made himfelf entirely mafter of the high country : He thence invaded with fuccefs the Cum- mins in the low countries of the north : Ke took the caftles of Invernefs, Forfar, and Brechin : He daily gained fome new acceiHon of territory; and what was a Vol. II. Z more 338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap more important acquifition, he daily reconciled the minds ^-N/^iw of the nobility to his dominion, and enlifted under his *312- fiandard every bold leader, whom he enriched by the fpoils of his enemies. Sir James Douglas, in whom commenced the greatnefs and renown of that warlike fa- ir ily, Seconded him in all his enterprizcs : Edward Bruce, Robert's own brother, distinguished himfelf by a£ts of valour : And the terror of the Englifh power being now abated by the feeble conduit of the king, even the leaft fanguirie of the Scots began to entertain hopes of reco- vering their independency ; and the whole kingdom, except a few Strong fortrefTes, which he had not the means to attack, had acknowledged the authority of Robert. In th's Situation, Edward had found it necefTary to grant a truce to Scotland ; and Robert fuccefsfully em- ployed this interval in cohfolidating his power, and in- troducing order into the civil government, disjointed by a Ions continuance of wars and factions. The interval was very ihort : The truce, ill obferved on both fides, was at lair openly violated; and war recommenced with greater fury than ever. Robert, not content wiih de- fending himfelf, had made fuccefsful inroads into Eng- land, SubSifted his needy followers by the plunder of that country, and taught them to defpife the military genius of a people, who had long been the object of their terror. Edward, at laft, rcuzed from his lethargy, had marched an army into Scotland ; and Robert, determined not to rifque too much agamic an enemy fo much Superior, re- tired again into the mountains. The king advanced be- yond Edinburgh ; but being destitute of provifions, and being ill Supported by the Englifh nobility, w ho were then employed in framing their ordinances, he was Soon obliged to retreat, without gaining any advantage over the enemy. But the appearing union of all the parties in England, after the death of Gavafton, feemed to reStore that EDWARD II. 339 that kingdom to its native force, opened again the pro- chap. fpect of reducing Scotland, and promifed a happy con- <_-v_^ clufion to a war, in which both the interefts and paflions I3I2« of the nation were fo deeply engaged. Edward aflembled forces from all quarters, with a 13 14. view of finishing at one blow this important enterprize. He fummoned the moft warlike of his vaffals from Gaf- cony : He inlifted troops from Flanders and other foreign countries : He invited over great numbers of the difor- derly Irifh as to a certain prey : He joined to them a body of the Wclfh, who were actuated by like motives : And afTembling the whole military force of England, he marched to the frontiers with an army, which, according to the Scotch writers, amounted to an hundred thoufand men, but which was probably much inferior to that number c. The army, collected by Robert, exceeded not thirty thoufand combatants ; but being compofed of men, who had diftinguifhed themfelves by many acls of valour, who were rendered defperate by their fituation, and who were enured to all the varieties of fortune, they might juftly, under fuch a leader, be deemed formidable to the moft numerous and beft appointed armies. The caftle of Stir- ling, which, with Berwic, was the only fortrefs in Scot- land, that remained in the hands of the Englifh, had long been belieged by Edward Bruce : Philip de Mow- bray, the governor, after an obftinate defence, was at laft obliged to capitulate, and to promife, that, if, be- fore a certain day, which was now approaching, he was not relieved, he mould open his gates to the enemy d. Robert therefore, fenfible that here was the ground on c We find in P.ymer, vol. iii. p. 481. a lift of ail the infantry aflembled from all p.irts of England and Wales ; and they arc only 21,540. It is not likely therefore that the whole army could be near (o numerous as is reported* «* Rymer, vol. iii. p 481. Z 2 which 340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, which he muft expect the Englifh, chofe the field of bat- tle with all the fkill and prudence imaginable, and made ,3'4> the necefTary preparations for their reception. He ported himfelf at Bannockburn, about two miles from Stirling; where he had a hill on his right flank, and a morafs on his left : And not content with having taken thefe pre- cautions to prevent his being furrounded by the more numerous army of the Englifh ; he forefaw the fuperior flrength of the enemy in cavalry, and made provifion jwainft it. Having a rivulet in front, he commanded deep pits to be dug along its banks, and fharp ftakes to be planted in them • and he ordered the whole to be care- fully covered over with turf d. The Englifh arrived in light on the evening, and a bloody conflict immediately enfued between two bodies of cavalry ; where Robert,, who was at the head of the Scots, engaged in fingle com- bat with Henry de Bohun, a gentleman of the family of Hereford \ and at one ftroke cleft his adverfary to the chin with a battle-ax, in fight of the two armies. The Eng- lifh horfe fled with precipitation to their main body. The Scots, encouraged by this favourable event, and glorying in ths valour of their prince, prognosticated a happy iflue to the combat on the enfuing day : The Englifh, confident in their numbers, and elated with paft fucceffes, longed for an opportunity of revenge : Bat-ieof And the night, though extremely fhort in that feafon and Bai nock- jn t^at cumate, appeared tedious to the impatience of the asthjune. feveral combatants. Early in the morning, Edward drew out his army, and advanced towards the Scots. The earl of Glocefter, his nephew, who commanded the left wing of the cavalry, impelled by the ardour of youth, rumed on to the attack without precaution, and fell among the covered pits, which had been prepared by- Bruce for the reception of the enemy e. This body of horfe was difordered : Glocefter himfelf was overthrown d T, de la More, p. 594,. « Ibid, and EDWARD II. 341 and (Iain: Sir Tames Douglas, who commanded the Scot- c n ^ I • tifh cavalry, gave the enemy no leifure to rally, but c—y—^jt pufhed them off the field with considerable lofs, and pur- *5H« fued them in fight of their whole line of infantry. While the Englifh army were alarmed with this unfortunate be- ginning of the action, which commonly proves decifive, they obferved an army on the heights towards the left, which feemed to be marching leifurely in order to fir- round them ; and they were diffracted by their multiplied fears. This was a number of waggoners and fumptcr boys, whom Robert had collected j and having fupplied • them with military ftandards, gave them the appearance at a diftance of a formidable body. The ftratagem took effect : A panic feized the Englifh : They threw down their arms and fled : They were purfued with great ilaughter, for the fpace of eighty miles, till they reached Berwic : And the Scots, befides an ineftimable booty 9 took many perfons of quality prifoners, and above 400 gentlemen, whom Robert treated with great humanity f, and whofe ranfom was a new acceffion of wealth to the victorious army. The king himfelf narrowly efcaped by taking fhelter in Dunbar, whofe gates were opened to him by the earl of March j and he thence palled by fea to Berwic. Such was the great and decifive battle of Bannock- burn, which fecured the independancy of Scotland, fixed Bruce on the throne of that kingdom, and may be deemed the greatefr. overthrow that the Englifh monarchy, fince the conquelt, has ever received. The number of flair* on thofe occafions is always uncertain, and is com- . monly much magnified by the victors : But this defeat made a deep impreflion on the minds of the Englifh ; and it was remarked, that, for fome years, no fuperiority of numbers could encourage them to keep the field againfl ihe Scots, Robert, in order to avail himfelf of his prefent f Ypod. Neuft. p. 501. Z 3 fuccefs, 342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, fuccefs. entered England, and ravaged all the northern Xiv. . ^_ _ __, counties without oppofition : He befieged Carl i fie ; but J3'4- that place was faved by the valour of Sir Andrew Harcla, the governor : He was more fuccefsful againft Berwic, which he took by afTault : And this prince, elated by his continued profperlty, now entertained hopes of making j-j-. the rnofc important conquefls on the Englifh. He fent over his brother Edward, with an army of 6000 men, into Ireland ; and that nobleman afiumed the title of King of Ireland : He himfelf followed foon after with more numerous forces : The horrible and abfurd oppreffions, which the Irifh fufFered under the Englifh government, made them, at firfr, fly to the frandard of the Scots, whom they regarded as their deliverers : But a grievous famine, which at that time dcfolated both Ireland and Britain, reduced the Scottifh army to the greater}, extremities; and Robert was obliged to return, with his forces much di- ■ minifhed, into his own country. His brother, after having experienced a variety of fortune, was defeated and flain near Dundalk by the Englifh, commanded by lord Berm- ingham : And thefe projects, too extenfive for the force of the Scottifh nation, thus vaniihed into fmoke. Edward, befides fuffering thofe difaflers from the invafion of the Scots and the infurreclion of the Irifh, was alfo inferred with a rebellion in Wales ; and above all, by the factions of his own nobility, who took advan- tage of the public calamities, infulted his fallen fortunes, and endeavoured to eflablifh their own independance on the ruins of the throne. Lancafler and the barons of his party, who had declined attending him on his Scottifh expedition, no fooner favv him return with difgrace, than they infifted on the renewal of their ordinances, which, they frill pretended, had validity; and the king's unhappy fituation obliged him to fubmit to their demands. The tnim^ry was new modeled by the direction of Lancailer s ; Z Rylev, p. 560. Rymer, vol. iii. p. 72a. i That E D W A R D II. 343 That prince was placed at the head of the council : It C H a p. . XIV. was declared, that all the offices fhould be filled, from ^_^_^j time to time, by the votes of parliament, or rather, by '3'5- the will of the great barons h : And the nation, under this new model of government, endeavoured to put itfelf in a better pofture of defence againfr, the Scots. But the factious nobles were far from being terrified with the progrefs of thefe public enemies : On the contrary, they founded the hopes of their own future grandeur on the weaknefs and diftreiTes of the crown : Lancafter himfelf was fufpected, with great appearance of reafon, of hold- ing a fecrct correfpondence with the king of Scots : And though he was entrufted with the command of the Eng- lifh armies, he took care that every enterprize mould be difappointed, and every plan of operations prove unfuc- cefsful. All the European kingdoms, efpecially that of Eng- land, were at this time unacquainted with the office of a prime minifter, fo well underftood at prcfent in all regular monarchies ; and the people could form no conception of a man, who, though ftill in the rank of a fubjecl, po defied all the power of a fovereign, eafed the prince of the burthen of affairs, fupplied his want of experience or capacity, and maintained all the rights of the crown, without degrading the greateft nobles by their fubmiffion to his temporary authority. Edward was plainly by na- ture unfit to hold himfelf the reins of government : He had no vices 5 but was unhappy in a total incapacity for ferious bufinefs : He was fenfibie of his own defects, and necefTarily fought to be governed : Yet every favourite, whom he fuccemvely chofe, was regarded as a fellow- fubject, exalted above his rank and ftation : He was the object of envy to the great nobility : His character and conduct were decryed with the people : His authority fc Braly, vol.ii. p, 12,2. from the records, app. N°. 61. Ryley, p. 560. Z 4 over 344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, over the kins: and kingdom was confidered as an ufurpa- xiv. . Li . tion : And unlefs the prince had embraced the dangerous I3'5" expedient, of devolving his power on the earl of Lan~ cafler or fome mighty baron, whofe family interefr. was fo extenfive as to be able alone to maintain his influence, he could expect no peace or tranquillity upon the throne. Hugh ]e The king's chief favourite, after the death of Gava- peipenur. ftorlj was Hugh le Defpenfer or Spenfer, a young man of Englifh birth, of high rank, and of a noble family '. He poiTefled all the exterior accomplishments of perfon and addrefs, which were fitted to engage the weak mind pf Edward ; but was deftitute of that moderation and prudence, which might have qualified him to mitigate the envy of the great, and conduct him through all the perils of that dangerous ftation, to which he was ad- vanced. His father, who was of the fame name, and who, by means of his fon, had alfo attained great influ- ence over the king, was a nobleman venerable from his years, refpected through all his paft life for wifdom, va- lour, and integrity, and well fitted, by his talents and ex- perience, could affairs have admitted of any tempera- ment, to have fupplied the defects both of the king and pf his minion k. But no focner was Edward's attach- ment declared for young Spenfer, than the turbulent Lancaster, and moft of the great barons, regarded him as their rival, made him the object of their animofity., zujd formed violent plans for his ruin '. They firft de- clared their difcontent by withdrawing from parliament ; and it was not long ere they found a pretence for pro- ceeding to greater extremities againft him. T tI< The king, who fet no limits to his bounty towards his Civil com- minions, had married the younger Spenfer to his niece, SlOviOJlSa . J one of the co-heirs of the earl of Glocefter, (lain at i Dugd. Baron, vol. i. p. 3S9. k T. de la More, p. 594. i Willing, p. 113, T, do ia More, p. 555, Murimuth. p 55. • Bannockburn, EDWARD II. "345 Bannockburn. The favourite, by his fuccefuon to that chap. X i v .opulent family, had inherited great poffeflions in the _ . _* _/ marches of Wales ■», and being defirous of extending ftill l&*i farther his influence in thofe quarters, he is accufed of having committed injuftice on the barons of Audley and Ammori, who had alio married two fitters of the fame family. There was likewife a baron in that neighbour- hood, called William de Braoufe, lord of Gower, who had made a fettlement of his eftate on John de Mowbray, his fon-in-law ; and in cafe of failure of that nobleman and his iifue, had fubitituted the earl of Hereford, in the fuccelTion to the barony of Gower. Mowbray, on the deceafe of his father-in-law, entered immediately in pof- felTion of the eftate, without the formality of taking livery and feizin from the crown : But Spenfer, who co- veted that barony, perfuaded the king to put in execu- tion the rigour of the feudal law, to feize Gower as efcheated to the crown, and to confer it upon him n. This tranfa£tion, which was the proper fubject of a law- fuit, immediately excited a civil war in the kingdom. The earls of Lancafter and Hereford flew to arms : Aud- ley and Ammori joined them with all their forces : The two Rogers de Mortimer and Roger de Clifford, with many others, difgufled for private reafons at the Spenfers, brought a confiderable accefiion to the party : And their army being now formidable, they fent a meffage to the king, requiring him immediately to difmifs or confine the younger Spenfer ; and menacing him in cafe of refufal, with renouncing their homage and allegiance to him, and taking revenge on that minifter by their own authority. They fcarcely waited for an anfwer ; but immediately fell upon the lands of young Spenfer, which they pillaged and deftroyed ; murdered his fervants, drove off his cat- tle, and burned his houfes °. They thence proceeded to m Trivet, cont, p, *£, n M^ruch. Malmcs, • Murimuth, commit 346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP- commit like devastations on the eftates of Spenfer, the xiv. t__ -^-J,^! father, whofe character they had hitherto feemed to re- 1321. fpec"t. And having drawn and figned a formal affocia- tion among themfelves p, they marched to London with all their forces, {rationed themfelves in the neighbour- hood of that city, and demanded of the king the banifh- ment of both the Spenfers. Thefe noblemen were then abfent ; the father abroad, the fon at fea ; and both of them employed in different commiflions : The king therefore replied, that his coronation oath, by which he was bound to obferve the laws, retrained him from giv- ing his afTent to fo illegal a demand, or condemning noblemen who were accufed of no crime, nor had any opportunity afforded them of making anfwer "5. Equity and reafon were but a feeble oppofition to men, who had arms in their hands, and who, being already involved in guilt, faw no fafety but in fuccefs and victory. They entered London with their troops ; and giving in to the parliament, which was then fitting, a charge againft the Spenfers, of which they attempted not to prove one article, they procured, by menaces and violence, a fen- tence of perpetual exile and attainder againft thefe miniirers r. This fentence was voted by the lay barons alone : For the commons, though now an efrate in par- liament, were yet of fo little confideration, that their afTent was not demanded ; and even the voice of the pre- lates was neglected amidft the prefent diforders. The only fymptom, which thefe turbulent barons gave of their regard to law, was their requiring from the king an indemnity for their illegal proceedings s ; after which they difbanded their army, and feparated, in fecurity, as they imagined, to their feveral caftles. P Tyrrel, vol. ii. p. 280. from the remitter of C. C. Canterbury, <3 Walling, p. 114. r Totrle's colleft. part 2. p. 50. Wal/ing. P- "4* * Tottle's collect, part 2. p. 54. Rjmer, vol. iii. P.S91. This EDWARD II. 347 This act. of violence, in which the king was obliged C hap. , XIV. to acquiefce, rendered his pcrfon and his authority fo ^N/-^ji contemptible, that every one thought himfelf entitled to J3aI- treat him with neglect. The queen, having occafion foon after to pafs by the caflle of Leeds in Kent, which belonged to the lord Badlefmere, defired a night's lodging; but was rcfufed admittance, and fome of her attendants, who prefented themfelves at the gate, were killed f. The infult upon this princefs, who had always endeavoured to live on good terms with the barons, and who joined them heartily in their hatred of the younger Spenfer, was an action which no body pretended to juftify ; and the king thought, that he might, without giving general umbrage, affemble an army, and take vengeance on the offender. No one came to the afliftance of Badlefmere; and Edward prevailed u: But having now fome forces on foot, and having concerted meafures with his friends throughout England, he ventured to take off the mafk, to attack all his enemies, and to recall the two Spenfers, whofe fen- tence he declared illegal, unjuft, contrary to the tenor of the Great Charter, parted without the affent of the prelates, and extorted by violence from him and the eftate of barons v. Still the commons were not mentioned by either party. The king had now got the flart of the barons ; an nd- 1321. vantage, which, in thofe times, was commonly decifive : And he haftencd with his army to the marches of Wales, the chief feat of the power of his enemies, whom he found totally unprepared for refiftance. Many of the barons in thofe parts endeavoured to appeafe him by fubmiffion x : Their caftles were feized, and their perfons committed to cuftody. But Lancafter, in order to prevent the total ruin t Rymer, vol. iii. p. gg. Walfing. p. 114, J15. T. tie h Mori, p. 5c, 5. ftfurimuth, p. 56. u Walfing. p. 115. w Rymer, vol. i . p. 907. T. de la More, p. 595. x Walfing. p. 115. .Murimuib, p. 57. Of 348 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C h a ?. 0f his party, fummoned together his vaflals and retain- U— v-«^ ers ; declared his alliance with Scotland, which had long ,332- been fufpected ; received the promife of a reinforcement from that country, under the command of Randolf, earl of Murray, and Sir James Douglas f ; and being joined by the earl of Hereford, advanced with all his forces againft the king, who had collected an army of 30,000 men, and was fuperior to his enemies. Lancafter ported himfelf at Burton upon Trent, and endeavoured to de- fend the pafTages of the river ''• : But being difappointed in that plan of operations ; this prince, who had no mi- litary genius, and whofe perfonal courage was even fuf- pected, fled with his army to the north, in expectation of being there joined by his Scottifh allies a. He was purfued by the king; and his army diminifhed daily; till he came to Boroughbridge, where he found Sir An- drew Harcla pofted with fome forces on the oppofite fide of the river, and ready to difpute the paffage with him. He was repulfed in an attempt which he made to force his way ; the earl of Hereford was killed ; the whole xSthMarch. army of the rebels was difconcerted ; Lancafter himfelf was become incapable of taking any meafures either for flight or defence ; and he was feized without refiftance by Harcla, and conducted to the king ''. In thofe violent times, the laws were fo much neglected on both fides, that, even where they might, without any fenfible incon- venience, have been obferved, the conquerors deemed it unnecefTary to pay any regard to them. Lancafter, who was guilty of open rebellion, and was taken in arms againft his fovercign, inftead of being tried by the law^ of his country, which pronounced the fentence of death againft him, was condemned by a court-martial c, and led to execution. Edward, however little vindictive in y Rymer, vol.iii. p. 958. * Walfing. p. 1 j 5. a Ypod. Neuft. p. 504. b T. de !a More, p. 596, Walfing. p. U&. ? Tyirel, vol. ii. p. 291, from therccoi his EDWARD II. 349 his natural temper, here indulged his revenge, and em- c HA P. ployed againft the prifener the fame indignities, which i — ,—-■_/ had been exercifed by his orders ao;ainft Gavafton. Ke /|^\ J ° 23d March. was clothed in a mean attire, placed on a lean jade Execution of without a bridle, a hoed was put on his head, and in this Lancaftera pofture, attended by the acclamations of the people, this prince was conducted to an eminence near Pomfret, one of his own caftles, and there beheaded d. Thus perifhed Thomas earl of Lancafter, the firifc prince of the blood, and one of the moil: potent barons that had ever been in England. His public conduct fuf- ficientiy difcovers the violence and turbulency of his character : His private deportment appears not to have been more innocent : And his hypocritical devotion, by which he gained the favour of the monks and populace, will rather be regarded as an aggravation than an allevia- tion of his guilt. Badlefmere, Giffard, Barret, Cheyney, Fleming, and about eighteen of the moil notorious of- fenders, were afterwards condemned by a legal trial and were executed. Many were thrown into prifon : Others made their efcape beyond fea : Some of the king's fer- vantswere rewarded from the forfeitures: Harcla received for his fervices the earldom of Carlifle, and a large eftate, which he foon after forfeited with his life, for a treafon- able correfpondence with the king of Scotland. But the greateft part of thofe vaft efcheats was feized by young Spenfer, v/hofe rapacity was infatiable. Many of the barons of the king's party were difgufted with this par- tial divifion of the fpoils : The envy againft Spenfer rofe higher than ever : The ufual infolence of his temper, enflamed by fuccefs, impelled him to commit many acts ©f violence : The people, who always hated him, made him ftill more the object of averfion : All the relations of the attainted barons and gentlemen fecretly vowed re- d Lcland's Co!!- vo!._i. p. 663, venge : Sso HISTORY OF ENGLAND. vcnge : And though tranquillity was in appearance re- ftored to the kingdom, the general contempt of the king I32S" and odium againft Spenfer, bred dangerous humours, the iburce of future revolutions and convulfions. In this fituation no fuccefs could be expected from foreign wars ; and Edward, after making one more fruit- lefs attempt againft Scotland, whence he retreated with difhonour, found it necefTary to terminate hoftilities with that kingdom, by a truce of thirteen years e. Robert, though his title to the crown was not acknowledged in the treaty, was fatisfied with enduring his pofleflion of it during fo long a time. He had repelled with gallantry all the attacks of England : He had carried war both into that kingdom and into Ireland : He had rejected with dif- dain the pope's authority, who pretended to impofe his commands upon him, and oblige him to make peace with his enemies : His throne was firmly eftablifhed, as well in the affections of his fubjects, as by force of arms: Yet there naturally remained fome inquietude in his mind, while at war with a ftate, which, however at prefent dis- ordered by faction, was of itfelf fo much an over-match for him both in riches and in numbers of people. And this truce was, at the fame time, the more feafonable for England ; becaufe the nation was at that juncture threatened with hoftilities from France. J,,, Philip the Fair, king of France, who died in 1315, had left the crown to his fon Lewis Hutin, who, after a fhort reign, dying without male iffue, was fucceeded by Philip the Long, his brother, whofe death foon after made way for Charles the Fair, the youngeft brother of that family. This monarch had fome grounds of com- plaint againft the king's minifters in Guienne ; and as there was no common or equitable j udge in that ftrange fpecies e P.vir.er, vol, iii. p. io;a. Murimuth, p. «Jo, Of EDWARD II. 3$r of fovereignty, eftablifhed by the feudal law, he feemed CHAP delirous to take advantage of Edward's weaknefs, and %t0t^r^J under that pretence, to confifcate all his foreign domi- i324« nions f . After an embafly by the earl of Kent, the king's brother, had been tried in vain, queen Ifabella obtained permiffion to go over to Paris, and endeavour to adjufr, in an amicable manner, the difference with her brother : But while fhe was making fome progrefs in this negocia- tion, Charles Ifarted a new pretenfion, the juftice of which could not be difputed, that Edward himfelf mould appear in his court, and do homage for the fees which he held in France. But there occurred many difficulties in complying with this demand. Young Spenfer, by whom, the king was implicitly governed, had unavoidably been engaged in many quarrels with the queen, who afpired to the fame influence ; and though that artful princefs, on her leaving England, had difTembled her animofity, Spen- fer, well acquainted with her fecret fentiments, was un- willing to attend his mafter to Paris, and appear in a court, where her credit might expofe him to infults, if not to danger. He hefitated no lefs on allowing the king to make the journey alone ; both fearing, left that eafy prince fhould in his abfence fall under other influence, and forefeeing the perils, to which he himfelf mould be expofed, if, without the protection of royal authority, he remained in England, where he was fo generally hated. While thefe doubts occafioned delays and difficulties, Ifa- , j, bella propofed, that Edward fhould refign the dominion of Guienne to his fon, now thirteen years of age ; and that the prince mould come to Paris, and do the homage which every vaflal owed to his fuperior lord. This expedient, which feemed fo happily to remove all difficulties, was immediately embraced : Spenfer was charmed with the contrivance : Young Edward was fent to Paris : And the f Rymer, vol. iv. p, 74. $8. ;>. n»in. $$i HISTORY OF ENGLAN D, CHAP. rujn? covered under this fatal fnare, was never perceived i_ — v— , or fufpe&ed, by any of the Englilh council. 1325« The queen on her arrival in France, had there found a great number of Engliih fugitives, the remains of the Lancastrian faction ; and their common hatred of Spenfer foon begot a fecret friendfhip and correfpondence between them and that princefs. Among the reft was young Ro- ger Mortimer, a potent baron in the Welfh marches, who had been obliged, with others, to make his fubmiiTion to the king, had been condemned for high treafon ; but hav- ing received a pardon for his life, was afterwards detained in the Tower, with an intention of rendering his confine- ment perpetual. He was fo fortunate as to make his efcape into France ' ; and being one of the moil confi- derable perfons now remaining of the party, as well zi diftinguifhed by his violent animofity againff. Spenfer, he was eanly admitted to pay his court to queen Ifabella; The graces of his perfon and addrefs advanced him quick- ly in her affections : Fie became her confident and coun- fellor in all her meafures : And gaining ground daily upon her heart, he engaged her to facrifice at laft, to her pafficn, all the fentiments of honour and of fidelity to her Confpir?cy hufband fc. Hating now the man, whom fhe had injured * sgamdthe anc| -yVnorn fne never valued, fhe entered ardently into all Mortimer's confpiracies ; and having artfully got into her hands the young prince, and heir of the monarchy, fhe refolved on the utter ruin of the king, as well as of his favourite. She engaged her brother to take part in the fame criminal purpofe : Her court was daily filled with the exiled barons : Mortimer lived in the moll declared inti- macy with her : A correfpondence was fecretly carried ori with the malcontent party in England : And when Ed- ward, informed of thofe alarming circumftances, required g Rymer, vol. iv. p. 7, S, so. T. de la More, p. 556. Walfing. p. iio, Vpod, Neufh p. 506. * T. de la More, p. 598. Murimutb, p. 65. •2 hef EDWARD II. 353 her fpeedily to return with the prince, fhe publicly re- c h^ a p. plied, that (he would never fet foot in the kingdom, till u^ j Spenfer was forever removed from his prefence and coun- J3»s* cils : A declaration, which procured her great popularity in England^ and threw a decent veil over all her treafon- able enterprizes. Edward endeavoured to put himfelf in a poiture of defence » ; but, befides the difficulties arifing from his own indolence and (lender abilities, and the want of authority, which of confequence attended all his refolutions, it was not eafy for him, in the prefent ftate of the kingdom and revenue, to maintain a conftant force ready to repel an invafion, which he knew not at what time or place he had reafon to expect. All his efforts were unequal to the Inr"r,e and by the king of France, who was alfo his coufin ger- man, to give countenance to the invafion, whofe fole ob- ject, he believed, was the expulfion of the Spenfers : He prevailed on his elder brother, the earl of Norfolk, to enter fecretly into the fame defign : The earl of Leicefter, brother and heir of the earl of Lancafter, had too many reafons for his hatred of thefe miniiters, to refufe his con- currence. Waiter de Reynel, archbifhop of Canterbury, and many of the prelates, exprefied their approbation of the queen's meafures : Several of the molt potent barons, envying the authority of the favourite, were really to fly- to arms : The minds of the people, by means of fome truths and many calumnies, were fhongly difpofed to the fame party : And there needed but the appearance of the queen and prince, with fuch a body of foreign troops, as i Rymer, vol iv. p, 184, iS2> 215. Vol. II. A a might 354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C tciv P*m*gnt De Efficient to give her protection againft imme- t_I-^-^j diate violence, to turn all : this tempeft, fo artfully pre- pared, againft the unhappy Edward. «3z6« Charles, though he .gave countenance and affiftance to the faction, was afhamed openly to fupport the queen and prince, againft the authority of a hufband and father ; .and Ifabella was obliged to court the alliance of fome othtfa^fofeign potentate, from whofe dominions fhe might let out on her intended enterprize. For this purpofe, fhe affianced young Edward, whofe tender age made him in- capable to judge of the confequences, with Philippa, daughter of the count of Holland and Hainault k ; and having, by the open affiftance of this prince, and the fecrct protection of her brother, inlifted in her fervice near 3000 men, fhe fet out from the harbour of Dort, and Janded fafely, and without opposition, on the coaft of Suf- 44th Sept, folk. The earl of Kent was in her company : Two other princes of the blood, the earl of Norfolk, and the earl of Leicefter, joined her foon after her landing with all their followers : Three prelates, the bifhops of Ely, Lincoln, and Hereford, brought her both the force of their vaflals and the authority of their character ' : Even Robert de Watteville, who had been fent by the king to oppofe her progrefs in Suffolk, deferted to her with all his forces. To render her caufe more favourable, fhe renewed her declaration, that the fole purpofe of her en- terprize was to free the king and kingdom from the ty- ranny of the Spenfers, and of chancellor Baldoc, their creature m. The populace were allured by her fpecious pretences : The barons thought themfelves fecure againft forfeitures by the appearance of the prince in her army : : T, de la More, p. 598. ' Wa'fing. p. uj. Ypod. Neufl. p. 507. T. de la More, p. 59S. Mnrimuth, p. 65. «» Ypod. Wft, p. ;s2. 5 And EDWARD II. 355 Ana a weak irrefoiute king; fupported by minifters gene- c H a p« rally odious, was unable to ftem this torrent, which bore( With fuch brefiftible violence againfc him. Edward, after trying in vain to rouze the citizens of London to forvie- fenfe of duty ", departed for the wed, where he hoped to meet with better reception ; and he had no fooner discovered hie weaknefs by leaving the city, than the rage of the populace broke out without controul again ii him arid his triiriiflers. Theyflrft plundered, then murdered all thofe who were obnoxious to them : They feized the bifhop of Exeter, a virtuous and loyal prelate, as he was p- fling through the fireets ; and having be- headed him, they threw his body into the river °. They made themfelves maflers of the Tower by furprize ; and then entered into a formal aflbciation to put to death, without mercy, every one who fhould dare to oppofe the cnterprize of queen Ifabella, and of the prince p. A like fpirit was foon communicated to all other parts of Eng- land ; and threw the few fervants of the king, who flill entertained thoughts of performing their duty, into terror and aftonifhment. Edward was hotly purfued to Briftol by the earl of Kent, feconded by the foreign forces under John de Hai- nault. He found himfelf difappointed in his expectations with regard to the loyalty of thofe parts ; and he pa/Ted over to Wales, where, he flattered himfelf, his name was more popular, and which he hoped to find uninfected with the contagion of general rage, which had feized the Eng- liih i. The elder Spenfer, created earl of Winchefkr, was left governor of the caftle of Briftol ; but the garrifon mutinied againil him, and he was delivered into the hands of his enemies. This venerable noble, who had nearly reached his ninetieth year, was inftantly, without n Walfing. p. 123. o Walling, p. 124. T. de la More., p. 1599. Murimutn, p. 66. p Wolfing, p. 124, g Mqrimuth, P. 67. A a 2 trial, 356 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, trial, or witnefs, or accufation, or anfwer, condemned to death by the rebellious barons : He was hanged on agib- I326- bet ; his body was cut in pieces, and thrown to the dogs r ; and his head was fent to Winchefter, the place whofe title he bore, and was there fet on a pole, and expofed to the infults of the populace. The king, difappointed anew in his expectations of fuccour from the Welfh, took fhipping for Ireland ; but being driven back by contrary winds, he endeavoured to conceal himfelf in the mountains of Wales : He was foon difcovered, was put under the cuftody of the earl of Leicefter, and was confined in the caftle of Kenil worth. The younger Spenfer* his favourite, who alfo fell into the hands of his enemies, was executed, like his father, without any appearance of a legal trial • : The earl of Arundel, almoft the only man of his rank in England, who had maintained his loyalty, was alfo, without any trial, put to death at the inftigation of Mortimer : Bal- doc, the chancellor, being a priefr, could not with fafety be fo fuddenly difpatched ; but being fent to the bimop of Hereford's palace in London, he was there, as his ene- mies probably forefaw, feized by the populace, was thrown into Newgate, and foon after expired, from the cruel ufage which he had received '.. Even the ufual reverence, paid to the facerdotal character, gave way, with every other confideration, to the prefent rage of the people. The king The queen, to avail herfelf of the prevailing delufion,. dethroned fumm0ned, in the king's name, a parliament at Wcft- minfter ; where, together with the power of her army,, and the authority of her partizans among the barons, who were concerned to fecure their paft treafons by commit- r Leland's Coll. vol. i. p. 673. T. de la Morr, p. 599, Walfing. p. r25, M. Froifftrt, iir. i. chap. 13. « Walling, p. 125, Ypod». Neuft. ?■ 50S, i Walfing. p, jj6, Murimathj p. 68. tin? E D W A R D II. 357 ting new acts of violence againft their fovereign, fhe ex- c HA P. peeled to be feconded by the fury of the populace, the ^,-^f-^j moft dangerous of all inftruments, and the leaft anfwer- *3*7« ° . r, 13th Jan. able for their excefTes. A charge was drawn up again It the king, in which, even though it was framed by his inveterate enemies, nothing but his narrow genius, or his misfortunes, were objected to him : For the greater!: ma- lice found no particular crime with which it could re- proach this unhappy prince. He was accufed of incapa- city for government, of wafting K*s time in idle amufe- ments, of neglecting public bufmefs, of being fwayed by evil counfellors, of having loft, by his mifconduct, the kingdom of Scotland, and part of Guienne; and to fwell the charge, even the death of fome barons, and the im- prifonment of fome prelates, convicted of treafon, were laid to his account n. It was in vain, amidft the violence of arms and tumult of the people, to appeal either to law or to reafon : The depofition of the king, without any ap- pearing oppofition, was voted by parliament: The prince, already declared regent by his party w, was placed on the throne : And a deputation was fent to Edward at Kenil- worth, to require his refignation, which menaces and terror foon extorted from him. But it was impoffible, that the people, however cor- rupted by the barbarity of the times, ftill farther enflamed by faction, could for ever remain infenfible to the voice pf nature. Here, a wife had firft deferted, next invaded, and then dethroned her hufband j had made her infant ion an inftrument in this unnatural treatment of his fa- ther ; had by lying pretences feduced the nation into a rebellion againft their fovereign ; had pufhed them into violence and cruelties, that had difhonoured them : All .thofe circumftances were fo odious in themfelves, and » Knyghton, p. 2765, 2766. Brady's App. N°, 7%, w Rymer, vol.iv. p. 137, Waiting, p. 125, A a 3 formed 358 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, formed fuch a complicated fcenc of euilt, that the Jcaft XIV. r to ' t/vy, reflection fuiKced to open men's eyes, and make them de- J3a7' tefl this flagrant infringement of every public and private duty. The fufpicions which foon arofe of Ifabella's cri- minal commerce with Mortimer, the proofs which daily broke cut of this part of her guilt, encrcafed the general abhorrence againfl: her ; and her hypocrify, in publicly bewailiiag with tears the king's unhappy fate", was not able to deceive even the moft ftupid and moft prejudiced of her adherents. In proportion as the queen became the object of public hatred, the dethroned monarch, who had been the victim of her crimes and her ambition, was re- garded with pity, with friendihip, with veneration : And men became fenfible, that all his mifconduct, which fac- tion had fo much exaggerated, had been owing to the unavoidable vveaknefs, not to any voluntary depravity of his character. The earl of Leicefter, now earl of Lan- cafter, to whofe cuflody he had been committed, was foon touched with ihofe generous fentiments ; and befidcs ufing his prifoner with gentlenefs and humanity, he was fufpected to have entertained ftill more honourable inten- tions in his favour. The king, therefore, was taken from his hands, and delivered over to lord Berkeley, and Mau- travers, and Gournay, who were entr lifted alternately, each for a month, with the charge of guarding him. While he was in the cuflody of Berkeley, he was frill treated with the gentlenefs due to his rank and his mif- fortunes ; but when the turn of Mautravers and Gour- nay came, every fpecies of indignity was practifed againfl him, as if their intention had been to break entirely the prince's fpirit, and to employ his farrows arii p. 31, 101. d It was pretended, that he killed th-j kritghta who received him on the mouth, nave) and breech, Dupuy, p. 15, 16. Waif, p. 99. manifeica. 364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND C xiv P* man'ties* The granc* matter of the order, John de Mo- w^v~ lay, and another great officer, brother to the fovereign of *327- Dauphiny, were conducted to a fcaffold, erected before the church of Notredame, at Paris : A full pardon wa? offered them on the one hand : The fire, deftined for their execution, was fhown them on the other: Thefe gallant nobles ftill perfifted in the proteftations of their own innocence and that of their order ; and were inftantly hurried into the flames by the executioner c. In all this barbarous injustice, Clement V. who was the creature of Philip, and then refided in France, fully concurred ; and without examining a witnefs, or making any enquiry into the truth of facts, he, fummarily, by the plenitude of his apoftolic power, abolifhed the whole order. The templars all over Europe were thrown into prifon ; their conduct underwent a ftrict fcrutiny ; the power of their enemies ftill purfued and oppreued them ; but no where, except in France, were the fmallefr. traces of their guilt pretended to be found. England lent back an ample teftimony of their piety and morals ; but as the order was now annihilated, the knights were diftributed into fevcral convents, and their pofleflions were, by command of the pope, transferred to the order of St. John f. We now proceed to relate fome other de- tached tranfactions of the prefent period. The kingdom of England was afflicted with a grievous famine during feveral years of this reign. Perpetual rains and cold weather, not only deftroyed the harvefr, but bred a mortality among the cattle, and raifed every kind of food to an enormous price s. The parliament, in 1315, endeavoured to fix more moderate rates to commo- dities ; not fenfible that fuch an attempt was impracticable, $nd that, were itpoiflble to reduce the price of provifions e Vertot^ vol. ii. p. 142. f Rymer, vol. iii, p. 373, 956. vol. iv. p. 47. Ypod. Neuft. p. 506. £ Tiivet, cont. p. 17, 1?. 6 by E D W A R D ft. 365 by any other expedient than by introducing plenty, no- c HA P. thing could be more pernicious and deftructive to the wvx^, public. Where the produce of a year, for inftance, falls XS27« fo far fhort, as to afford full fubfiftance only for nine months, the only expedient for making it laft all the twelve, is to raife the prices, to put the people by that means on fhort allowance, and oblige them to fave their food, till a more plentiful year. But in reality, the encreafe of prices is a necefTary confequence of fear- city ; and laws, inftead of preventing it, only aggravate the evil, by cramping and reftraining commerce. The parliament accordingly, in the enfuing year, repealed their ordinance, which they had found ufelefs and bur- denfome \ The prices affixed by the parliament are fomewhat re- markable : Three pounds twelve (hillings of our prefent money for the befl flailed ox j for other oxen, two pounds eight millings : A fat hog of two years old, ten millings : A fat wether unfhorn, a crown ; if morn, three fhillings and fix-pence : A fat goofe, feven-pence halfpenny : A fat capon, fix-pence : A fat hen, three-pence : Two chickens, three-pence : Four pigeons, three-pence : Two dozen of eggs, three-pence '. If we confider thefe prices, we fhall find, that butcher's meat, in this time of great fcarcity, muft ftill have been fold, by the parliamentary ordinance, three times cheaper than our middling prices at prefent : Poultry fomewhat lower ; becaufe, being now confidered as a delicacy, it has rifen beyond its propor- tion. In the country places of Ireland and Scotland, where delicacies bear no price, poultry is at prefent as cheap, if not cheaper, than butcher's meat. But the in- ference I would draw from the comparifon of prices is ftill more considerable : I fuppofe that the rates, affixed by 1> Waif. p. 107. « RoC, Par!, 7 Edw. II. n. 35, 36. Ypod. Neuft. p. $cj% parliament, 366 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. •C Xiv P' Parliament> were inferior to the ufual market pii thofe years of famine and mortality of cattle; and that thefe commodities, inftead of a third, Pent a half of the prefent value. But the famine at that time was fo confuming, that wheat was fometimes fold for above four pounds ten millings a quarter k, ufually for three pounds ' ; that is, twice our middling prices. A certain proof of the wretched ftate of tillage in thofe ages. We formerly found, that the middling price of corn in that^period was half of the prefent price ; while the mid- dling price of cattle was only an eighth part : We here find the fame immenfe disproportion in years of fcarcity. It may thence be inferred with certainty, that the raifinp- of corn was a fpecies of manufactory, which few in that age could practife with advantage : And there is reafon to think, that other manufactures more refined, were fold even beyond their prefent prices : At leaft there is a de- monftration for it in the reign of Henry VII. from the rates affixed to fcarlet.and other broad cloth by act of par- liament. During all thofe times, it was ufual for the princes and great nobility to make fettlements of their velvet beds and filken robes, in the fame manner as of their eftates and manors m. In the lift of jewels and plate, which had belonged to the often tatious Gavafton, and which the king recovered from the earl of Lancafter after the murder of that favourite, we find fome embroidered girdles, flowered fhirts, and filk waiftcoats n. It was afterwards one article of accufation againft that potent and opulent earl, when tried for his life, that he had purloined fome of that finery of Gavafton. The igno- rance of thofe ages in manufactures, and efpecially in tillage, feems a clear proof that they were far from beim>- populous. k Murimuth, p. 48. Walfingham, p. 108, fays it rofe to fix pound'. 1 Ypod. Neuft. p. 50:, Trivet, cont. p. 18. n» Dugdale paflim. » Rymer, vol. iii, p. 38?, All E D W A R D II. 367 All trade and manufactures indeed were then at a very CHAP. low ebb. The only country in the northern parts of Europe, where they feem to have rifen to any tolerable I3*7 degree of improvement, was Flanders. When Robert, carl of that country, was applied to by Edward, and was deilred to break off commerce with the Scots, whom Ed- ward called his rebels, and reprefented as excommuni- cated on that account by the church, the earl replied, that Flanders was always confidered as common, and free and open to all nations °. The petition of the elder Spenfer to parliament, com- plaining of the devaftation committed on his lands by the barons, contains feveral particulars, which are curious, and difcover the manners of the age p. He affirms, that they had ravaged fixty-three manors belonging to him, and he makes his lo-fTes amount to 46,000 pounds ; that is, to 138,000 of our prefent money. Among other par- ticulars, he enumerates 28,000 fhcep, 1000 oxen and heifers, 1 200 cows with their breed for two years, 560 cart horfes, 2000 hogs, together with 600 bacons, 80 carcaffes of beef, and 600 muttons in the larder ; ten tuns of cyder, arms for 200 men, and other warlike en- gines and provisions. The plain inference is, that the greateft part of Spenfer's vaft eftate, as well as that of the other nobility, was farmed by the landlord himfelf, ma- naged by his {rewards or bailiffs, and cultivated by his villains. Little or none of it was let on leafe to hufband- men : Its produce was confumed in rufHc hofpitality by the baron or his officers : A great number of idle re- tainers, ready for any diforder or mifchief, were main- tained by him : All who lived upon his eftate were abfo- lutely at his difpofal : Inftead of applying to courts of juftice, he ufually fought redrefs by open force and vio- o Rymer, vol. iii. p. 770. P Brady's hi/1, vol. ii, p. 143, from Clauf. 15 Edw. II. M. 14. Dors, in cedula. lence : 363 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. p- lence : The great nobility were a kind of independan£ potentates, who, if they fubmitted to any regulations at all, were lefs governed by the municipal law, than by a rude fpecies of the law of nations. The method, in which we find they treated the king's favourites and mi- nifters, is a proof of their ufual way of dealing with each other. A party, which complains of the arbitrary con- duct of minifters, ought naturally to affect, a great regard for the laws and conftitution, and maintain at leaft the appearance of juftice in their proceedings : Yet thofe ba- rons, when difcontented, came to parliament with an armed force, conftrained the king to afTent to their mea- fures, and without any trial or witnefs or conviction, paffed, from the pretended notoriety of facts, an act of banifhment or attainder againft the minifter, which, on the firft revolution of fortune, was reverfed by like expe- dients. The parliament, during factious times, was no- thing but the organ of prefent power. Though the per- ibns, of whom it was chiefly compofed, feemed to enjoy great independance, they really poffefled no true liberty ; and the fecurity of each individual among them, was not fo much derived from the general protection of law, as from his own private power and that of his confederates. The authority of the monarch, though far from abfolute, was irregular, and might often reach him : The current of a faction might overwhelm him : A hundred confider- ations, of benefits and injuries, friendships and animo- fities, hopes and fears, were able to influence his conduct ; and amidft thefe motives a regard to equity and law and juftice was commonly, In thofe rude ages, of little mo- ment. Nor did any man entertain thoughts of oppofing prefent power, who did not deem himfelf ftrong enough to difpute the field with it by force, and was not pre* pared to give battle to the fovereign or the ruling party. Before E D W A R D II. 369 Before I conclude this reign, I cannot forbear making c ^ A P. another remark, drawn from the detail of loffes given in by v_^-^_Lj the elder Spenfer ; particularly, the great quantity of felted i3z7* meat which he had in his larder, 600 bacons, 80 car- cases of beef, 600 muttons. We may obferve that the outrage, of which he complained, began after the third of May, or the eleventh new ftyle, as we learn from the fame paper. It is eafy therefore to conjecture what a vaft ftore of the fame kind he muft have laid up at the begin- ning of winter ; and we may draw a new conclufion with regard to the wretched ftate of ancient hufbandry, which could not provide fubfiftance for the cattle during winter, even in fuch a temperate climate as the fouth of Eng- land : For Spenfer had but one manor fo far north as Yorkshire. There being few or no inclofures, except perhaps for deer, no fown grafs, little hay, and no other refource for feeding cattle; the barons, as well as the people, were obliged to kill and fait their oxen and fheep at the beginning of winter, before they became lean upon the common pafture : A precaution ftill pradlifed with regard to oxen in the leaft cultivated parts of this ifland. The faking of mutton is a miferable expedient, which has every where been long difufed. From this circum- ftance, however trivial in appearance, may be drawn im- portant inferences, with regard to the domeftic ceconomy and manner of life in thofe ages. The diforders of the times, from foreign wars and in- terline difTentions, but above all, the cruel famine, which obliged the nobility to difmifs many of their retainers, encreafed the number of robbers in the kingdom ; and no place was fecure from their incurfions s. They met in troops like armies, and over-ran the country. Two cardinals, themfelves, the pope's legates, notwithftand- ing the numerous train, which attended them, were * Ypod. Neuft. p. 50a. Waif. p. 107, Vol. II. B b robbed, 270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, robbed, and defpoiled of their goods and equipage, when Vy^v~vj tney travelled on the high-way l. .*3*7« Among the other wild fancies of the age, it was ima- gined, that the perfons affected with leprofy, a difeafe at that time very common, probably from bad diet, had confpired with the Saracens to poifon all the fprings and fountains ; and men being glad of any pretence to get rid of thofe who were a burthen to them, many of thofe unhappy people were burnt alive for this chimerical imputation. Several Jews alfo were punifhed in their perfons, and their goods were confifcated on the fame account u. Stowe, in his furvey of London, gives us a curious inftance of the hofpitality of the ancient nobility in this period : It is taken from the account of the cofferer or fteward of Thomas earl of Lancafter, and contains the expences of that earl during the year 1313. For the pantry, buttery, and kitchen, 3405 pounds. For 369 pipes of red wine, and two of white, 104 pounds, &c. The whole 7309 pounds ; that, is near 22,000 pounds of our prefent money ; and making allowance for the cheap- nefs of commodities, near a hundred thoufand pounds. I have feen a French manufcript, containing ac- counts of fome private difburfements of this king. There was an article, among others, of a crown paid to one for making the king laugh. To judge by the events of the reign, this ought not to have been an eafy undertaking. This king left four children, two fons and two daughters : Edward, his eldeft fon and fueceffor j John, created afterwards earl of Cornwal, who died young at Perth ; Jane, afterwards married to David Bruce, king of Scotland ; and Eleanor, married to Reginald, count of • Gueldres. t Ypod. Neuft. p. 503. T. de la More, p. 594. Trivet, cont. p, 22. Murimuth, p. 51, u Ypod, Neuft, p. 504. [ 37i ] CHAP. XV. EDWARD III. War with Scotland— --—Execution of the Earl of Kent Execution of Mortimer ; earl of .March State of Scotland War with that kingdom ■ King's claim to the crown of France Prepara- tions for war with France War Naval viclory Domejlic dijlurbances J fairs of Brittany Renewal of the war with France - Invafion of France — — Battle of Crecy War with Scotland- Captivity of the King of Scots Calais taken. THE violent party, which had taken arms againft c H a p. Edward II. and finally depofed that unfortunate 7' monarch, deemed it requifite for their future fecurity to i337. pay fo far an exterior obeifance to the law, as to defire a20til Jan* parliamentary indemnity for all their illegal proceedings ; on account of the neceflity, which, it was pretended, they lay under, of employing force againft the Spenfers and other evil counfellors, enemies of the kingdom. All the attainders alfo, which had pafled againft the earl of Lancafter and his adherents, when the chance of war turned againft them, were eafily reverfed during the tri- umph of their party w j and the Spenfers, whofe former attainder had been reverfed by parliament, were now again, in this change of fortune, condemned by the votes of their enemies. A council of regency was likewife appointed by parliament, confiding of twelve per "on s ; five prelates, the archbifhops of Canterbury and York, w Rymer, vol. iv. p. 245, 257, 25S, &c, B b 2 the 372 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, the bifhops of Winchefter, Worcefter, and Hereford ; and ^_ _' _, feven lay peers, the earls of Norfolk, Kent, and Surrey, 1327- and the lords Wake, Ingham, Piercy, and Rofs. The earl of Lancafter was appointed guardian and protector of the king's perfon. But though it was reafonable to expect, that, as the weaknefs of the former king had given reins to the licentioufnefs of the barons, great do- meflic tranquillity would not prevail during the prefent minority ; the firfl difturbance arofe from an invafion made by foreign enemies. War with The king of Scots, declining in years and health, but Scotland, retaining ftill that martial fpirit, which had raifed his nation from the loweft ebb of fortune, deemed the pre- fent opportunity favourable for inferring England. He firft made an attempt on the caftle of Norham, in which he was difappointed ; he then collected an army of 25,000 men on the frontiers, and having given the command to the earl of Murray and lord Douglas, threatened an in- curflon into the northern counties. The Engliih regency, after trying in vain every expedient to rellore peace with. Scotland, made vigorous preparations for war ; and be- fides aflembling an Engliih army of near fixty thoufand men, they invited back John de Hainault, and fome fo- reign cavalry, whom they had difmifTed, and whofe dif- cipline and arms had appeared fuperior to thofe of their own country. Young Edward himfelf, burning with a paflion for military fame, appeared at the head of thefe numerous forces ; and marched from Durham, the ap- pointed place of rendezvous, in queft of the enemy, who had already broken into the frontiers, and were laying every thing wade around them. Murray and Douglas were the two moll celebrated warriors, bred in the long hoftilities between the Scots and Engliih ; and their forces, trained in the fame fchool, and enured to hardihips, fatigues, and dangers, were perfectly qualified, by their habits and manner of life, for EDWARD III. 373 for that defultory and deftruclive war, which they car- ^ H a^p. ried on againft the Englifh. Except a body of about v^fv 4000 cavalry, well armed, and fit to make a fteady im- I3l7- preflion in battle, the reft of the army were light armed troops, mounted on fmall horfes, which found fubfiftance every where, and carried them with rapid and unexpected marches, whether they meant to commit depredations en the peaceable inhabitants, or to attack an armed enemy, or to retreat into their own country. Their whole equi- page confifted of a bag of oat-meal, which, as a fupply in cafe of neceflity, each foldier carried behind him ; together with a light plate of iron, on which he inftantly baked the meal into a cake, in the open fields. But his chief fubfiftance was the cattle which he feized ; and his cookery was as expeditious as all his other operations. After fleaing the animal, he placed the fkin, Ioofe and hanging in the form of a bag, upon fome ftakes ; he poured water into it, kindled a fire below, and thus made it ferve as a caldron for the boiling of his victuals x. The chief difficulty which Edward met with, after compofing fome dangerous frays, which broke out be- tween his foreign forces and the Englifh *", was to come up with an army fo rapid in its marches, and fo little incumbered in its motions. Though the flame and fmoke of burning villages directed him fufficiently to the place of their encampment, he found, upon hurrying thither, that they had already diflodged ; and he foon difcovered, by new marks of devaftation, that they had removed to fome diftant quarter. After haraffing his army during fome time in this fruitlefs chace, he advanced northwards, and crofted the Tyne, with a refolution of awaiting them on their return homewards, and taking vengeance for all their depredations z. But that whole country was already fo much wafted by their frequent incurfions, that x FroifTard, liv. iv. chap, 18. Y Ibid. liv. i. chap. 17. z Ibid. liy. iv. chap, 19, B b 3 it 374 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C h a P. it could not afford fubfiftance to his army ; and he was C— -v^-w obliged again to return fouthwards, and change his plan *327« of operations. He had now loft all track of the enemy; and though he promifed the reward of a hundred pounds a year to any one who fhould bring him an account of their motions, he remained unaclive fome days, before he received any intelligence of them a. He found at laft, that they had fixed their camp on the fouthern banks of the Were, as if they intended to await a battle ; but their prudent leaders had chofen the ground with fuch judgment, that the Englifh, on their approach, faw it impracticable, without temerity, to crofs the river in their front, and attack them in their prefent fituation. Edward, impatient for revenge and glory, here fent them a defiance, and challenged them, if they dared, to meet him in an equal field, and try the fortune of arms. The bold fpirit of Douglas could ill brook this bravade, and he advifed the acceptance of the challenge ; but he was over-ruled by Murray, who replied to Edward, that he never took the counfel of an enemy in any of his ope- rations. The king, therefore, kept ftill his pofition oppo- fite to the Scots; and daily expected, that neceffity would oblige them to change their quarters, and give him an opportunity of overwhelming them with fuperior forces. After a few days, they fuddenly decamped, and marched farther up the river ; but ftill pofted themfelves in fuch a manner, as to preferve the advantage of the ground, if the enemy fhould venture to attack them b. Edward in- filled, that all hazards fhould be run, rather than allow thefe ravagers to efcape with impunity ; but Mortimer's authority prevented the attack, and oppofed itfelf to the valour of the young monarch. While the armies lay in this pofition, an incident happened which had well nigh proved fatal to the Englifh. Douglas, having got the ' Rymer, vol. iv. p. 31a, Froiffard, liv. iv. chap. 19, b Froif- fard, liv, iv. chap. 19. word, EDWARD III. 375 Word, and furveyed exactly the fituation of the Englifhc ^a p* camp, entered it Secretly in the night-time, with a body s^-sz-'s-/ of two hundred determined foldiers, and advanced to '3'7, the royal tent, with a view of killing or carrying off the king, in the midft of his army. But fome of Edward's attendants, awaking in that critical moment, made refift- ance ; his chaplain and chamberlain facrificed their lives for his fafety ; the king himfelf, after making a valorous defence, efcaped in the dark : And Douglas, having loft the greateft part of his followers, was glad to make a hafty retreat with the remainder c. Soon after, the Scot- tish army decamped without noife in the dead of night ; and having thus got the Start of the Englifh, arrived without farther lofs in their own country. Edward, on entering the place of the Scottifh encampment, found only fix Englifhmen, whom the enemy, after breaking their legs, had tied to trees, in order to prevent their carrying any intelligence to their countrymen d. The king was highly incenfed at the difappointment, which he had met with, in his nrft enterprize, and at the head of fo gallant an army. The fymptoms, which he had difcovered of bravery and fpirit, gave extreme Satis- faction, and were regarded as fure prognostics of an illu- strious reign : But the general difpleafure fell violently en Mortimer, who was already the object of public odium : And every meafure, which he purfued, tended to aggra- vate, beyond all bounds, the hatred of the nation both againir. him and queen lfabeila. When the council of regency was formed, Mortimer, though in the plenitude of his power, had taken no care to enfure a place in it ; but this femblance of moderation was only a cover to the moSt iniquitous and moSt ambi- tious projects. He rendered that council entirely ufelefs c Froiflard, liv. iv. chap. 19. Heming'ord, p. 26'. Ygcd. Neuft, p. 5C9. Knyghton, p. 2552. d Froifidid, liv. iv, chap. iy, B b 4 by 376 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H-xt P'^y usurping to himfelf the whole fovereign authority; \s~\f**S he fettled on the queen-dowager the greater part of the i3z7- royal revenues ; he never confulted either the princes of the blood, or the nobility in any public meafure ; the king himfelf was fo befieged by his creatures, that no ac- cefs could be procured to him ; and all the envy, which had attended Gavafton and Spenfer, fell much more dc- krvedly on this new favourite. 5328. Mortimkr, fenfible of the growing hatred of the people, thought it requifite, on any terms, to fecure peace abroad ; and he entered into a negociation with Robert Bruce for that purpofe. As the claim of fuperi- ority in England, more' than any other caufe, had tended to inflame the animofities between the two nations, Mor- timer confented to refign abfolutely this pretenfion, to give up all the homages done by the Scottifh parliament and nobility, and to acknowledge Robert as independant fovereign of Scotland c. In return for thefe advantages, Robert fiipulated only the payment of 30,000 marks to England. This treaty was ratified by parliament f ; but was neverthelefs the fource of great difcontcnt among the people, who, having entered zealoufly into the preten- fions of Edward I. and deeming themfelvcs difgraced by the fuccefsful reiiftance made by fo inferior a nation, were difappointed by this treaty, in all future hopes both of conqueft and of vengeance. The princes of the blood, Kent, Norfolk, and Lan- caPeer, were much united in their councils ; and Morti- mer entertained great fufpicions of their defigns againft him. In fummoning them to parliament, he ftriclly prohibited them, in the king's name, from coming at- tended by an armed force, an illegal but ufual practice in that age. The three earls, as they approached to e Rymer, p. 337, Herring, p, 27o# Anon. Hift, p. 392. * Ypod, Neuft, p, 510, Salifbury, EDWARD III. 377 Salifbury, the place appointed for the meeting of parlia- CHAP. ment, found, that, though they themfelves, in obedience v^v*o to the king's command, had brought only their ufual i32S* retinue with them, Mortimer and his party were attended by all their followers in arms ; and they began with fome reafon to apprehend a dangerous defign againft their per- fons. They therefore retreated, affembled their retainers, and were returning with an army to take vengeance on Mortimer ; when the weaknefs of Kent and Norfolk, who deferted the common caufe, obliged Lancafter alfo to make his fubmiffions £. The quarrel, by the interpo- . fition of the prelates, feemed for the prefent to be ap- peafed. But Mortimer, in order to intimidate the princes, 1323, determined to have a victim ; and the fimplicity, with the good intentions of the earl of Kent, afforded him foon after an opportunity of practifing upon him. By himfelf and his emifTaries, he endeavoured to perfuade that prince, that his brother, king Edward, was ftill alive, and detained in fome fecret prifon in England. The earl, whofe remorfes for the part which he had acted againft the late king, probably inclined him to give cre- dit to this intelligence, entered into a defign of reftoring him to liberty, of re-inflating him on the throne, and of thereby making fome atonement for the injuries which he himfelf had unwarily done him \ After this harmlefs i33°« contrivance had been allowed to proceed a certain length, the earl was feized by Mortimer, was accufed before the parliament, and condemned by thofe flavifh, though tur- bulent barons, to lofe his life and fortune. The queen 9th Match,' and Mortimer, apprehenfive of young Edward's lenity E"cut^on towards his uncle, hurried on the execution, and the of Kent, prifoner was beheaded next day : But fo general was the S Knyghton, p. 2554, b Avefbury, p. 8. Ancn. Hift. p. 395, affection 3?8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H^A P. affection borne to him, and fuch pity prevailed for hi3 w-v-L> unnaPPy fate, that though peers had been eafily found to J330. condemn him, it was evening before his enemies could find an executioner to perform the office *. The earl of Lancafter, on pretence of his affent to this confpiracy, was foon after thrown into prifon : Many of the prelates and nobility were profecuted : Mor- timer employed this engine to cruih all lvs enemies, and to enrich himfelf and his family by the forfeitures. The eftate of the earl of Kent was feized for his younger fon, Geoffrey: The immenfe fortunes of the Spenfers and their adherents were moftly converted to his own ufe : He affected a ftate and dignity equal or fuperior to the royal : His power became formidable to every one : His illegal practices were daily complained of: And all parties, forgetting part animofities, confpired in their hatred of Mortimer. It was impoffible, that thefe abufes could long efcape the obfervation of a prince, endowed with fo much fpirit and judgment as young Edward, who, being now in his eighteenth year, and feeling himfelf capable of govern- ing, repined at being held in fetters by this infolent minifter. But fo much was he furrounded by the emif- faries of Mortimer, that it behoved him to condudt the project, for fubverting him, with the fame fecrecy and precaution, as if he had been forming a confpiracy againft his fovereign. He communicated his intentions to lord Mountacute, who engaged the lords Molins and Clifford, Sir John Nevil of Hornby, Sir Edward Bohun, Ufford, and others, to enter into their views ; and the caftle of Nottingham was chofen for the fcene of the enterprize. The queen-dowager and Mortimer lodged in that fort- refs : The king alfo was admitted, though with a few only of his attendants : And as the caflle was ftri&ly » Heming. p.- 271. Ypod. Neuft, p. 510. Knyghton, p. 1555. guarded, EDWARD III. 379 guarded, the gates locked every evening, and the keys chap. carried to the queen, it became neceffary to communi- ,__ _^_' _j catethe defign to Sir William Eland, the governor, who i33°* zealoufly took part in it. By his direction, the king's aflbciates were admitted through a fubterraneous paflage, which had formerly' been contrived for a fecret outlet from the caftle, but was now buried in rubbifti ; and Mortimer, without having it in his power to make refin- ance, was fuddenly feized in an apartment adjoining to the queen's k. A parliament was immediately fummoned for his condemnation. He was accufed before that af- fembly of having ufurped regal power from the council of regency, appointed by parliament ; of having procured, the death of the late king ; of having deceived the earl of Kent into a confpiracy to reftore that prince ; of having folicited and obtained exorbitant grants of the royal demefnes ; of having diflipated the public treafure j of fecreting for his own ufe 20,000 marks of the money paid by the king of Scotland ; and of other crimes and mifdemeanors '. The parliament condemned him, from Execution the fuppofed notoriety of the fa£fo, without trial, or mer> hearing his anfwer, or examining a witnefs ; and he was29tfl No,r« hano-ed on a gibbet at the Elmes, in the neighbourhood of London. It is remarkable, that this fentence was near twenty years after reverfed by parliament, in favour of Mortimer's fon ; and the reafon affigned was the illegal manner of proceeding ra. The principles of law and juftice were eftablifhed in England, not in fuch a degree as to prevent any iniquitous fentence againft a perfon ob- noxious to the ruling party ; but fufficient, on the return of his credit, or that of his friends, to ferve as a reafon cr pretence for its reverfal. k AvefWy, p. 9. 1 Brady's App. N°. 83. Anon. Hift. p. 397, 353. Knygh;on, p. 255$, m Cotton's Abndg. p. S5, $5, Justice 380 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP, Justice was alfo executed by a fentence of thehoufe xv. J .... %^-y/^t^ of peers, on fome of the inferior criminals, particularly I33I- on Simon de Bereford : But the barons, in that a£f. of jurifdicftion, entered a proteft, that, though they had tried Bereford, who was none of their peers, they fhould not for the future be obliged to receive any fuch indictment. The queen was confined to her own houfe at Rifings near London : Her revenue was reduced to 4000 pounds a year n : And though the king, during the remainder of her life, paid her a decent vifit once or twice a year, me never was able to reinftate herfelf in any credit or au- thority. Edward, having now taken the reins of government into his own hands, applied himfelf, with induftry and judgment, to redrefs all thofe grievances, which had ei- ther proceeded from want of authority in the crown, or from the late abufes of it. He iffued writs to the judges, enjoining them to adminifter juftice, without paying any regard to arbitrary orders from the minifrers : And as the robbers, thieves, murderers, and criminals of all kinds, had, during the courfe of public convulfions, multiplied to an enormous degree, and were openly protected by the great barons, who made ufe of them againft their enemies, the king, after exacting from the peers a folemn promife in parliament, that they would break off all connexions with fuch malefactors °, fet himfelf in earneft to remedy the evil. Many of thefe gangs had become fo numerous, as to require his own prefence to difperfe them ; and he exerted both courage and induftry in executing this falu- tary office. The minifters of juflice, from his example, employed the utmoft diligence in difcovering, purfuing, and punifhing the criminals ; and this diforder was by degrees corrected, at leaft palliated ; the utmoft that could n Cotton's Abridg. p. io, 0 Cotton's Abridg, 9 be EDWARD IIL 3gi be expected with regard to a difeafe, hitherto inherent in c H A p- the constitution. ■+^~^/~*J In proportion as the government acquired authority at *33,J home, it became formidable to the neighbouring nations ; and the ambitious fpirit of Edward fought, and foon found, an opportunity of exerting itfelf. The wife and State of valiant Robert Bruce, who had recovered by arms the in- ScotlamJ' dependancy of his country, and had fixed it by the laft treaty of peace with England, foon after died, and left David his fon, a minor* under the guardianihip of Ran- dolf, earl of Murray, the companion of all his victories. It had been Stipulated in this treaty^ that both the Scot- tifh nobility, who, before the commencement of the wars, enjoyed lands in England, and the Englifh who inherited eftates in Scotland, mould be reftored to their refpeclive poffeflions p : But though this article had been executed pretty regularly on the part of Edward, Robert, who ob- ferved that the eftates, claimed by Englifhmen, were much more numerous and valuable than the other, either thought it dangerous to admit fo many fecret enemies into the kingdom, or found it difficult to wreft from his own followers the pofTefTions beftowed on them as the re- ward of their fatigues and dangers : And he had protracted the performance of his part of the ftipulaticn. The Eng- lifh nobles, difappointed in their expectation, began to think of a remedy ; and as their influence was great in the north, their enmity alone, even though unfupported by the king of England, became dangerous to the minor prince, who fucceeded to the Scott ifh throne. Edward Baliol, the fon of that John, who was 1332. crowned king of Scotland, had been detained fome time a prifoner in England after his father was releafed ; but having alfo obtained his liberty, he went over to France, P Ryraer, vol. iv. p. 384. and 382 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. ancl refided in Normandy, on his patrimonial eftate in L tmylmmJ that country, without any thoughts of reviving the claims J33«» of his family upon the crown of Scotland. His preten- tions, however plaufible, had been fo ftrenuoufly abjured by the Scots, and rejected by the Englifh, that he was univerfally regarded as a private perfon ; and he had been thrown into prifon on account of fome private offence, of which he was accufed. Lord Beaumont, a great Eng- lifh baron, who, in the right of his wife, claimed the earl- dom of Buchan in Scotland % found him in this fitua- tion ; and deeming him a proper inftrument for his purpofe, made fuch interelr. with the king of France, who was not aware of the confequences, that he reco- vered him his liberty, and brought him over with him to England. The injured nobles, pofTefTed of fuch a head, began now to think of vindicating their rights by force of arms; and they applied to Edward for his concurrence and afliftance. But there were feveral reafons, which deterred the king from openly avowing their enterprize. In his treaty with Scotland, he had entered into a bond of 20,000 pounds, payable to the pope, if within four years he violated the peace; and as the term was not yet elapfed, he dreaded the exacting of that penalty by the fovereign pontiff, who poffefled fo many means of forcing princes to make payment. He was alfo afraid, that violence and injuftice would every where be imputed to him, if he attacked with fuperior force a minor king, and a brother- in-law, whofe independant title had fo lately been ac- knowledged by a folemn treaty. And as the regent of Scotland, on every demand which had been made of ref- titution to the Englifh barons, had always confeffed the juftice of their claim, and had only given an evafive an- fwer, grounded on plaufible pretences, Edward refolved S Rymerj vol. iv. p 25/, a : ' ho* EDWARD III. 383 not to proceed to open violence, but to employ like arti- c H a p, fices againft him. He fecretly encouraged Baliol in his ^^~^j enterprize ; connived at his afiembling forces in the 1W2" north ; and gave countenance to the nobles, who were difpofed to join in the attempt. A force of near 2500 men was inlifted under Baliol, by UmfreviUe earl of An- gus, the lords Beaumont, Ferrars, Fitz-warin, Wake, Stafford, Talbot, and Moubray. As thefe adventurers apprehended, that the frontiers would be ftrongly armed and guarded, they refolved to make their attack by fea ; and having embarked at Ravenfpur, they reached in a few days the coaft of Fife. Scotland was at that time in a very different fittia- tion from that in which it had appeared under the victo- rious Robert. Befides the lefs of that great monarch, whofe genius and authority preferved entire the whole political fabric, and maintained an union among the un- ruly barons, Lord Douglas, impatient of reft, had gone over to Spain in a crufade againft the Moors, and had there perifhed in battle ' : The earl of Murray, who had long been declining through age and infirmities, had lately died, and had been fuccecded in the regency by Donald earl of Marre, a man of much inferior talents : The mi- litary fpirit of the Scots, though ftill unbroken, was left without a proper guidance and direction : And a minor king feemed ill qualified to defend an inheritance, which it had required all the confummate valour and abilities of his father to acquire and maintain. But as the Scots were apprized of the intended invafion, great numbers, on the appearance of the EngHfh fleet, immediately ran to the more, in order to prevent the landing of the ene- my. Baliol had valour and activity, and he drove back the Scots with confiderable lofs 3. He marched weitward * Froiflard, liv 1. chap. at. « Heming, p. 172. Walfing, p. 131, Knyghton, p. »j6o. into 384 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C xv P' *nto t^le ^eart or" trie country ; flattering himfelf that the U— y— — * ancient partizans of his family would declare for him, I332' But the fierce animofity, which had been kindled between the two nations, infpiring the Scots with a ftrong preju- dice againft a prince fupported by the Englifh, he was regarded as a common enemy ; and the regent found no difficulty in afTembling a great army to oppofe him. It is pretended, that Marre had no lefs than 40,000 men under his banners ; but the fame hurry and impatience, that made him collect a force, which from its greatnefs was fo difproportioned to the occafion, rendered all his motions unfkilful and imprudent. The river Erne ran between the two armies; and the Scots, confiding in that fecurity, as well as iii their great fuperiority of numbers, kept no order in their encampment. Baliol pafled the river in the night-time ; attacked the unguarded and un- nthAug. difciplined Scots ; threw them into confufion, which was encreafed by the darknefs and by their very numbers to which they trufled ; and he beat them off the field with great {laughter '. But in the morning, when the Scots were at feme diftance, they were afhamed of having Yielded the victory to fo weak a foe, and they hurried back to recover the honour of the day. Their eager paf- fions urged them precipitately to battle, without regard to fome broken ground, which lay between them and the enemy, and which difordered and confounded their ranks. Baliol feized the favourable opportunity, advanced his troops upon them, prevented them from rallying, and anew chaced them off" the field with redoubled Slaughter. There fell above 12,000 Scots in this action ; and among thefe the flower of their nobility ; the regent himfelf, the earl of Carrie, a natural fon of their late king, the earls of Athole and Monteith, lord Hay of Errol, conftable, and the lords Keith and Lindfey. The lofs of the Eng- t Knvghton, p, 2561. lifh E D W A R D ill; 385 Iifo fcarcely exceeded thirty men ; a flrong proof, among C HA p. many others, of the miferable ftate of military difcipline »_,— -* _j in thofe ages u; 1332° Baliol foon after made himfelf mafter of Perth ; but frill was not able to bring over any of the Scots to his party. Patric Dunbar, earl of March, and Sir Archi- bald Douglas, brother to the lord of that name, appeared at the head of the Scottifh armies^ which amounted frill to near 40,000 men; and they propofed to reduce Baliol and the Englifh by famine. They blockaded Perth by land ; they collected fome vefTels with which they in- verted it by water : But Baliol's fhips attacking the Scot- tifh fleet, gained a complete victory ; and opened the communication between Perth and the fea*. The Scotch armies were then obliged to difperfe themfelves for want of pay and fubfiftenee : The nation was in effecr. fubdued by a handful of men : Each nobleman, who found him- felf mofr. expofed to danger, fucceflively fubmitted to Baliol : That prince was crowned at Scone : Davids 2"t-1 ^u his competitor, was fent over to France with his be- trothed wife, Jane, filler to Edward : And the heads of his party fued to Baliol for a truce, which he granted them, in order to afTemble a parliament in tranquillity*, and have his title recognized by the whole Scottifh nation; But Baliol's imprudence or his neceflities making him difmifs the greateft part of his Englifh followers, he %vas, notwithflanding the truce, attacked of a fudden near Annan by Sir Archibald Douglas, and other chief- tains of that partv ; he was routed \ his brother John Ba- liol was flain ; he himfelf was chaced into England in a u Homing, p. 173. Willing, p. 131. Xnygl.ton, p, 356ft * Heming. p, 273* Knyghton, p. 2561. * Vol, II, C s rhiferatle 3S6 HISTORY OF ENGLAN E>. CHAP, miserable condition ; and thus loft his kingdom by a re- xv. . . volution as fuddea as that. by which he had acquired it. 3333. While Baliol enjoyed his Inert-lived and precarious royalty, he had been ienhble, that, without the protection of England, it would be impoilible for him to maintain poffeffioii of the throne ; and he had fecretly lent a mef- fage to 1 , offering to acknowledge his fuperiority, to renew the homage for his crown, and to efpoufe the princefs j^n^, if the pope's confent could be obtained, for diffolving her former marriage, which was not yet con- furnmated. Edward, ambitious of recovering that im- War with portant conceifion, made by Mortimer during his mino- StutlaJid' ■ i rr ,1 r 1 . -u- ,' 11. nty, tnrew err all icruples, and willingly accepted the offer; but as the dethroning of Baliol had rendered this ftipulation of no effect, the king prepared to re-inflate him in pofleffion of the crown ; an enterprize, which ap- peared from late experience fo eafy and fo little hazard- ous. As he poffefied many popular arts, he consulted his parliament on this occafion ; but that afTembly, finding the refolution already taken, declined giving any opinion, and only granted him, in order to fupport the enterprize, an aid of a fifteenth, from the perfonal efiates of the no- bility>anu gentry, and a tenth of the moveables of bo- roughs. And they added a petition, that the king would thenceforth live on his own revenue, without grieving his iubjects by illegal taxes, or by the outrageous feizure of their goods in the fhape of purveyance x. As the Scots expected, that the chief brunt of the war would fall upon Berwic, Douglas, the regent, threw a ftrong garnfon into that place under the command of Sir Wiiiiam Keith, and he himfelf alTembled a great army on the frontiers, ready to penetrate into England, as foon Edward fhould have invefted that place. The Englifh x Cbttcft's Abridgm, j armf EDWARD III. 387 army was lefs numerous, but better fupplied with arms C H a P» and provifions, and retained in flricter difcipline ; and the _ ^ _t king, notwithftanding the valiant defence made by Keith, *3334 had in two months reduced the garrifon to extremity, and had obliged them to capitulate : They engaged to furren- dcr, if they were not relieved within a few days by their countrymen y. This intelligence, being conveyed to the Scottifh army, which was preparing to invade Northum- berland, changed their plan of operations, and engaged them to advance towards Berwic, and attempt the relief of that important fortrefs. Douglas, v/ho had ever propofed to decline a pitched battle, in which he was fenfible of the enemy's fuperiority, and who intended to have drawn out the war by fmall fkirmifhes, and by mutually ravaging each other's country, was forced, by the impatience of his troops, to put the fate of the kingdom upon the event of one day. He attacked the Englifh at Halidown-hill, a 19th July, little north of Berwic ; and though his heavy-armed ca- valry difmounted, in order to render the action more fteady and defperate, they were received with fuch valour by Edward, and were fo galled by the Englifh archers, that they were foon thrown into diforder, and on the fall of Douglas, their general, were totally routed. The whole army fled in confufion, and the Englifh, but much more the Irifh, gave little quarter in the purfuit : All the nobles of chief diftincT.on were cither flain or taken pri- foners : Near thirty thoufand of the Scots fell in the action : While the lofs of the Englifh amounted only to one knight, one efquire, and thirteen private foldiers : An inequality almofl incredible z. After this fatal blow, the Scotti/h nobles had no other refource but inflant iubmhTion ; and Edward, leavino- a confiderable body with Baliol to complete the conquefl of Y Kymer, vol. *J7. i- iv p. 564, 565, ?66. , p", 255J Otterbome, p. 115. z Fleming, p 27 r, 275, C C 2 the 388 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. the kingdom, returned with the remainder of his army to -,,-,_/ England. Baliol W2S acknowledged king by a parlia- *333- ment aflembled at Edinburgh a ; the fuperiority of England was again recognized j many of the Scottifh nobility fwore fealty to Edward ; and to complete the misfortunes of that nation, Baliol ceded Berwic, Dunbar, Roxborough, Edinburgh, and all the fouth-eaft counties of Scotland, which were declared to be for ever annexed to the Eng- lifh monarchy b. 2334' If Baliol, on his firft appearance, was dreaded by the Scots, as an inftrument employed by England for the fubjecSHon of the kingdom, this deed confirmed all their fufpicions, and rendered 'him the object of univerfal hatred. Whatever fubmiflions they might be obliged to make, they confidered him, not as their prince, but as the dele- gate and confederate of their determined enemy : And neither the manners of the age, nor the ftate of Edward's revenue permitting him to maintain a Handing army in Scotland, the Eiiglifh forces were no fooner withdrawn, than the Scots revolted againft Baliol, and returned to their former allegiance under Bruce. Sir Andrew Mur- ray, appointed regent by the party of this latter prince, employed with fuccefs his valour and activity in many fmali but decilive actions againft Baliol ; and in a fhort time had almoft wholly expelled him the kingdom. Ed- ,,.,. ward was obliged again to afTemble an army and to march into Scotland : The Scots, taught by experience, withdrew into their hills and faftnefles : He deftroyed the houfes and ravaged the eftates of thofe whom he called rebels : But this confirmed them fail farther in their ob- ftinate antipathy to England and to Baliol j and being now rendered defperate, they were ready to take advan- tage, on the firfr. opportunity, of the retreat of their enemy, a Rymer, vol.iv. p. 590. k Ibid, p, 614, 3 and EDWARD III. 389 and they foon re-conquered their country from the Eng- chap. li(h. Edward made anew his appearance in Scotland ^y-s^ with like fuccefs : He found every thing hoftile in the 1335« kingdom, except the fpot on which lie was encamped : And though he marched uncontrouled over the low coun- tries, the nation itfelf was farther than ever from being broken and fubdued. Befides being fupported by their pride and anger, paffions difficult to tame, they were en- couraged, amidft ail their calamities, by daily promifes of relief from France ; and as a war was now likely to break out between that kingdom and England, they had reafon to expecr. from this incident a great diverfion of that force, which had fo long opprefTed and overwhelmed them. We now come to a tranfaction, on which depended T317» the raoft memorable events, not only of this long andciaim to the active reign, but of the whole Englifh and French hif-5Town ?f b ' fa France. tory, during more than a century • and it will therefore be necefTary to give a particular account of the fprings and caufes of it. It had long been a prevailing opinion, that the crown of France could never defcend to a female ; and as nations, in accounting for principles, which they regarded as fun- damental and as peculiar to themfelves, are fondfttof grounding them rather on primary laws, than on blind cuftom, it had been ufual to derive this maxim from a claufe in the Salian Code, the law of an ancient tribe among the Franks ; though that claufe, when ftri£Hy ex- amined, carries only the appearance of favouring this principle, and does not really, by the confeffion of the bell antiquaries, bear the fenfe commonly impofed upon it. But though pofitive law feems wanting among the French for the exclufion of females, the practice had taken place ; and the rule was eftablifhed beyond controverfy on fome ancient as well as fome modern precedents. During the C c 3 firft 390 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c H A P. firft race of the monarchy, the Franks were fo rude and XV. ; L. — - _■ barbarous a people, that they were incapable of fubmit- *337* ting to a female reign ; and in that period of their hiftory, there were frequent in fiances of kings advanced to royalty in prejudice of females, who were related to the crown by nearer degrees of confanguinity. Thefe precedents, joined to like caufes, had alfo eftablifhed the male fuc- cefTion in the fecond race ; and though the instances were neither fo frequent nor fo certain during that period, the principle of excluding the female line feems ftil] to nave prevailed, and to have directed the conduct of the nation. During the third race, the crown had defcended from father to fon for eleven generations, from Hugh Capet to Lewis Hutin ; and thus, in fact, during the courfe of nine hundred years, the French monarchy had always been governed by males, and no female and none defcend- ed r mounted the throne. Philip the ir, father of Lewis Kutin, left three fons, this Lewis, Philip the Long, and Charles the Fair, and one daughter, Ifjfcella, queen of England. Lewis Hutin, the eldefr, lefl ath one daughter, by Margaret fitter to Eudes, duke of Burgundy; and as his queen was then pregnant, Philip, his your; r ' ther, was appointed regent, til] it fhould appear whether the child proved a fon or a daughter. The queen bore a male, who lived only a few davs : Philip was proclaimed king : And as the duke of Burgundy made forr.e eppofition, and afTerted the rights of his niece, the ftates of the kingdom, by a folemn and deliberate decree, gave her an exclufion, and declared all females fo£ ever incapable of fucceeding to the crown of France. Philip died after a fhort reign, leaving three ighters ; and his brother, Charles, without difpute or oontroveffy, then fucceeded to the crown. The reign of Charles was alfo fhort : He left one daughter ; but as his queen was pregnant, the next male heir was appointed regent, EDWARD III. 39 r regent, with a declared right of fucceffiori, if the ;u::ec ** ■; p« ... Xv , fhould prove female. This prince was Philip Je Valoi&> u— ^~— ; coufin german to the deceafed king; being the fon of T3 37- Charles dc Valois, brother of Philip the Fair. The queen of France was delivered of a daughter : The re- gency ended ; and Philip de Valois was unanimously placed on the throne of France. The king of England, who was at that time a youth of fifteen years of age, embraced a notion, that he was intitled, in right of his mother, to the fucceiTion of the kingdom, and that the claim of the nephew was prefer- able to that of the coufin german. There could not well be imagined a notion weaker or worfe grounded. The principle of excluding females was of old an efrabafhed opinion in France, and had acquired equal authority with the moil exprefs and pofitive law : It was fupported by ancient precedents : It was confirmed by recent inflances, folemnly and deliberately decided : And what placed it {till farther beyond controversy; if Edward was difpofed to queftion its validity, he thereby cut off his own pre- tenfions; fince the three laft kings had ail left daughters, who were ftill alive, and who flood before him in the or- der of fucceflion. He was therefore reduced to aflert, that, though his mother, Ifabella, was, on account of her fex, incapable of fucceeding, he himfeif, who inhe- rited through her, was liable to no fuch objection, and might claim by the right of propinquity. But, befid that, this pretenfion was more favourable to Charles, king of Navarre, defcended from the daughter of Lewis Hu- tin, it was fo contrary to the eftablifhed principles of fucceflion in every country of Europe b, was fo repug- nant to the practice both in private and public inherit- ances, that no body in France thought of Edward's claim : Philip's title was univerfally recognized and ac- b Froiflard, liv. i. chap. 4, C c 4 knowledgcd : 392 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P-kaowledged c: And he never imagined, that he had a ^^sy^^, competitor ; much lefs, fo formidable a one as the king *ttj- of England. But though the youthful and ambitious mind of Ed- ward had rafhly entertained this notion, he did not think proper to infift on his pretentions, which rauft have im- mediately involved him, on very unequal terms, in a dangerous and implacable war with fo powerful a mo- narch. Philip was a prince of mature years, of great ex- perience, and at that time of an eftablimed character both for prudence and valour ; and by thefe circumftances, as well as by the internal union of his people, and their ac- quiefcence in his undoubted right, he pofTefTed every ad- vantage over a raw youth, newly raifed, by injuftice and violence, to the government of the mod intractable and moll turbulent fubjecT:s in Europe. But there immedi- ately occurred an incident, which required, that Edward fhould either openly declare his pretenfions, or for ever renounce and abjure them. He was fummoned to do ho- mage for Guienne : Philip was preparing to compel him by force of arms : That country was in a very bad ftate of defence : And the forfeiture of fo rich an inheritance was, by the feudal law, the immediate confequence of his refufing or declining to perform the duty of a varTal. Edwaid therefore thought it prudent to fubmit to prefent ricceility : He went over to Arniens : Did homage to Phi- lip : And as there had arifen fome controverfy concerning the terms of this fubmiflion, he afterwards fent over a formal deed, in which he acknowledged that he owed liege homage to France d j which was in effect: ratifying, and that in the ftrongefr. terms, Philip's title to the crown of that kingdom. His own claim indeed was fo unrea- U 'liable, and fo thoroughly di {'avowed by the whole French c FroiiTard, liv, I. chap, 2a, J Rymer, vol. iv. p. 477, 4.81. FroifTard, liv. 1. chap. 25. Anon. Hill. p. 394. WalCrcg, p. 130. Mu- ib, 0. 7?.. nation^ EDWARD TIL 393 nation, that to infift on it was no better than pretending chap. to the violent conqueft of the kingdom ; and it is probable that he would never have farther thought of it, had it not J337- been for fome incidents, which excited an animofity be- tween the two monarchs. Robert of Artois was defcended from the blood royal of France, was a man of great character and authority, had efpoufed Philip's fifter, and by his birth, talents, and credit was entitled to make the hio-heft nVure, and fill the mofr. important offices, in the monarchy. This prince had loft the county of Artois, which he claimed as his birthright, by a fentence, commonly deemed iniquitous, of Philip the Fair ; and he was feduced to attempt reco- vering pcfleflion by an action, fo unworthy of his rank and character as a forgery e. The detection of this crime covered him with fhame and confufion : His brother-in- law not only abandoned him, but, profecuted him with violence: Robert, incapable of bearing difgrace, left the kingdom, and hid himfelf in the Low Countries : Being chaced from that retreat, by the authority of Philip*, he came over to England ; in fpite of the French king's menaces and remonftrances, he was favourably received by Edward f ; and was foon admitted into the councils and fhared the confidence of that monarch. Abandoning himfelf to all the movements of rage and defpair, he en- deavoured to revive the prepofieflion entertained by Ed- ward in favour of his title to the crown of France, and even flattered him, that it was not impoflible for a prince of his valour and abilities, to render his claim effectual. The king was the more difpofed to hearken to fuggeftions of this nature, becaufe he had, in feveral particulars, found reafon to complain of Philip's conduct with regard to Gui- enne, and becaufe that prince had both given protection « Froiffard, liv. i. chap. 29, f Rymer, vol, iv, p. 747. Froif- iaiJ, liv. 1, ihap. 2.7, to 394 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C *vA P" to'tne exited David Bruce, and fupported, or at leaft en- ^-v-^j couraged the Scots in their ftruggles for independancy. *337- Thus refentment gradually filled the breads of both monarchs, and made them incapable of hearkening to any terms of accommodation, propofed by the pope, who never ceafed interpofing his good offices between them. Philip thought, that he fhould be wanting to the firft principles of policy, if he abandoned Scotland : Edward pretended, that he muft relinquifh all pretenfipns to ge- nerofity, if he withdrew his protection from Robert. The former, informed of fome preparations for hoftilitics, which had been made by his rival, ifllied a fentence of felony and attainder againft Robert, and declared^ that every vaffal of the crown, whether within or without the kingdom, who gave countenance to that traitor, would be involved in the fame fentence ; a menace eafy to be underflood : The latter, refolute not to yield, endea- voured to form alliances in the Low Countries and on the frontiers of Germany, the only places from which he either could make an effectual attack upon France, or produce fuch a diverfion as might fave the province of :?nne, which lay fo much expofed to the power of Philip. Prepnra- The king began with opening his intentions to the : r, count of Hainault, his father-in-law; and having cn- fiance. im in his interefts, he employed the good offices and councils of that prince in drawing into his alliance the other fovereigns of that neighbourhood. The duke of Brabant was induced, by his mediation, and by large remittances of money from England, to promife his con- currence ' : The archbifhop of Cologn, the duke of Guel- dres, the marquis of Juliers, the count of Namur, the lords of Fauquemont and Baquen, were engaged by like motives to embrace the Englifh alliance h. Thefe fove- l Rymer, vol. iv, p. 777. b Froiffard, liv, 4. chap. 29, 33, 36. reigns EDWARD III. 395 reigns could fupply, either from their own ftaftes or from C h a p. the bordering countries, great numbers of warlike troops; ^,-^j, and naught was wanting to make the force on that quar- *i®> ter very formidable but the accefiion of Flanders ; which Edward procured by means fomewhat extraordinary and unufual. As the Flemings were the firft people in the northern parts of Europe, that cultivated arts and manufactures, the lower ranks of men among them had rifen to a degree of riches unknown elfewhere to thofe of their ftation in that barbarous age ; had acquired privileges and inde- pendance ; and began to emerge from that ftate of vafial- age, or rather of flavery, into which the common people had been univerfally thrown by the feudal inftitutions. It was probably difficult for them to brin /ereign and their nobility to conform themfejves to the principles of law and civil government, fo much n in every other country : It was impoflible for them to confine themfelves within the proper bounds in their oppofition and refentment againft any infiance of tyranny : They had rifen in tumults.: Had infulted the nobles : Had chaced their earl into France : And delivering^themfelves over to the guidance of a feditious leader, had been guilty of ail that infolence and diforder, to which the thought- Jefs and enraged populace are fo much inclined, wherever they are unfortunate enough to be their own matters '. Their prcfent leader was James d'Arteville, a brewer in Ghent, who governed them v/ith a more abfolute fway than had ever been aflumed by any of their lawful fove- reigns : He placed and difplaced the magiftrates at plea- sure : He was accompanied by a guard, who, on the leaft fignal from him, inftantly afiaffinated any man that hap- pened to fall under his difpleafure : All the cities of Flan- ders were full of his fpies ; and it was immediate death to f Froiffrr-d, liv. j, cfiapi 30, Meyerust civa 396 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c ^ A p* give him the fmalleft umbrage : The few nobles, who A V • s_J,-v- _j remained in the country, lived in continual terror from 35>7» his violence : He feized the eflates of all thofe whom he had either banifhed or murdered ; and bellowing a part on their wives and children, converted the remainder to his own ufe k. Such were the firft effects, which Europe faw, of popular violence ; after having groaned, during fo many ages, under monarchical and ariftocratical ty- ranny. James d'Arteville was the man, to whom Edward addrefied himfelf for brinrino: ever the Flemings to his interefts $ and that prince, the nioft haughty and moil afpiring of his age, never courted any ally with fo much afliduity and fo many fubmiflions, as he employed towards this feditious and criminal tradefman. D'Arteville, proud of thefe advances from the king of England, and fenfible that the Flemings were naturally inclined to maintain connexions with the Englifh, who furnifhed them the materials of their woollen manufactures, the chief fource of their opulence, readily embraced the interefts of Ed- ward, and invited him over into the Low Countries. Edward, before he entered on this great enterprize, af- fected to confult his parliament, afked their advice, and obtained their confent '. And the more to ftrengthen his hands, he procured from them a grant of 20,000 facks of wool ; which might amount to above a hundred thou- fand pounds : This commodity was a good inftrument to employ with the Flemings ; and the price of it with his German aiiies. He completed the other necefTary fums by loan3, by pawning the crown jewels, by confif- cating or rather robbing at once all the Lombards, who now exercifed the invidious trade, formerly monopolized by the Jews, of lending on intereft m; and being attended k FroiiTarrf, Jlv. i. chap. 30. 1 Cotton'* Abtiug. w Dugd, Bctrcn, vd. ii. p. 146, EDWARD III. 397 fey a body of Englifh forces, and by feveral of his nobi- lity, he failed over to Flanders. The German princes, in order to juftify their unpro- f33^ voked hoftilities againft France, had required the fanction of fome legal authority; and Edward, that he might give them fatisfaction on this head, had applied to Lewis of Bavaria, then emperor, and had been created by him vicar of the empire; an empty title, but which feemed to give him a right of commanding the fervice of the princes of Germany n. The Flemings, who were vafTals of France, pretending like fcruples with regard to the invafion of their liege lord ; Edward, by the advice of d'Arteville, aflumed, in his commifKons, the title of king of France, and, in virtue of this right, challenged their affiftance for dethroning Philip de Valois, the ufurper of his kingdom". This ftep, which, he feared, would deftroy all future amity between the kingdoms, and beget endlefs and implacable jealoufies in France, was not taken by him without much reluctance and hefitation : And not being in itfelf very juftifiable, it has in the iflue been attended with many miferies to both kingdom. From this period we may date the commencement of that great animofity, which the Engliih nation have ever fince born to the French, which has ib vifible an influence on all future tranfaclions, and which has been, and continues to be the fpring of many ram and precipitate refolutions among them. In all the preceding reigns fince the conquefr, the hoftilities between the two crowns had been only cafual and temporary; and as they had never been attended with any bloody or dangerous event, the traces of them were eafily obliterated by the firft treaty of pacification. The Engliih nobility and gentry valued themfelves on their n Froiflard, liv. i. chap. 35. o Henung. p. 303. Walfingham. p. 143. French 29$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C HA P. French or Norman extraction : They affecled to emplov fc— -v tne language of that country in all public tran factions, J33s- und even in familiar cofiverfation : And both the Engliih court and camp being always full of nobles, who came from fome province or other of France, the two people were, during fome centuries, more intermingled toge- ther than any two diftincr. nations, whom we meet with in hiilory. But the fatal pretenfions of Edward III. dif- folvcd all thefe connexions, and left the feeds of great animofrty in both countries, efpecially among the Eng- lifh. For it is remarkable, that this latter nation, though they were commonly the aggrelfors, and by their fuccefs and fituation were enabled to commit the moft cruel inju- ries on the other, have always retained a ftronger tincture of national antipathy ; nor is their hatred retaliated on them to an equal degree by the French. That country lies in the middle of Europe, has been fuccefiively en- ;ed in hoftilities with all its neighbours, the popular prejudices have been diverted into many channels, and, among a people of fofter manners, they never rofe to a great height againfl: any particular nation. Philip made great preparations againfl the attack from the Efiglifh, and fuch as fecmed more than fufficient to fecure him againfl: the danger. Befides the concurrence of all the nobility in his own populous and warlike king- dom, his foreign alliances were both more cordial and powerful than thofe which were formed by his antagonist. The pope, who, at this time, lived in Avignon, was dependant on France, and being difgufted at the connex- ions between Edward and Lev/is of Bavaria, whom he had excommunicated, he embraced with zeal and fince- rity the caufe of the French monarch. The king of Na- varre, the duke of Britanny, the count of Bar were in the fame interefls ; and on the fide of Germany, the king of Bohemia, the palatine, the dukes of Lorraine and Au- ftria, EDWARD III. 399 ftria, the bifhop of Liege, the counts of Deuxpont, Vau- CHAP. demont, and Geneva. The allies of Edward were in ■_ .-v- j themfelves weaker ; and having no object, but his mo- I33s« ney, which began to be exhaufted, they were flow in their motions and irrefolute in their meafures. The duke 1339; of Brabant, the moft powerful among them, feemed even inclined to withdraw himfelf wholly from the alliance ; and the king was neceilitated, both to give the Braban- ters new privileges in trade, and to contract his fon Ed- ward with the daughter of that prince, ere he could bring him to fulfil his engagements. The fummer was wafted in conferences and negotiations before Edward could lead his armies into the field ; and he was obliged, in order to allure his German allies into his meafures, to pretend that the firft attack mould be made upon Cambray, a city of the empire which had been garrifoned by Philip p. But finding by a nearer inflection the difficulty of the en- terprize, he conducted them towards the frontiers of France ; and he there found, by a fenfible proof, the vanity of his expectations : The count of Namur, and even the count of Hainault, his brother-in-law, (for the old count was dead) refufed to commence hoililities againft their liege lord, and retired with their troops ■?. So little account did they make of Edward's pretentions to the crown of France ! The king however entered the enemv's country, and War *»& Francs« encamped on the fi.lds of VironfofTe near Capelle, with an army of near 50,000 men, compofed aimed: entirely of foreigners : Philip approached him with an army of near double the force, compofed chiefly of native fubjects ; and it was daily expected that a battle would enfue. But the Englifh monarch was averfe to engage againft fo great a fuperiority : The French thought it fufKcierit if he P FroiflartJ, liv, r, c'oap. 35, Reining; p. 305, r chap. While, at the fame time, they did not endanger the crown by accumulating wealth or influence in their families, and were retrained, by the decency of their character, from that open rapine and violence, fo often praclifed by the nobles. Thefe motives had induced Edward, as well as many of his predeceflbrs, to entruft the chief departments of government in the hands of eccleiiaftics ; at the hazard of feeing them difown his authority as foon as it was turned againft them. *34». This was the cafe with archbifhop Stratford. That prelate, informed of Edward's indignation againft him, prepared himfelf for the ftorm ; and not content with ftanding upon the defenfivc, he refolved, by beginning the attack, to fhow the king, that he knew the privileges of his character, and had courage to maintain them. He iiTucd a general fentence of excommunication againft all, who, on any pretext, excrcifed violence on the perfon or goods of clergymen ; who infringed thofe privileges fecured by the great charter, and by ecclefiaftical ca- nons ; or who accufed a prelate of treafon or any other crime, in order to bring him under the king's difplcafure'. Even Edward had rcaibn to think himfelf ftruck at by this fentence ; both on account of the imprifonment of the two bifhops and that of other clergymen concerned in levying the taxes, and on account of his feizing their lands and moveables, that he might make them anfwer- able for any balance, which remained in their hands. The clergy^ with the primate at their head, were now formed into a regular combination againft the king ; and many calumnies were fpread againft him, in order to de- prive him of the confidence and affections of his people It was pretended, that he meant to recal the general par- don, and the remiiuon which he had granted of old debts, i Hejr.Ing. p. 3 39. Aug. Sacra, vol. i. p, a I, a a. Vv^ifinjhajn. p. 153- and EDWARD III. 4H and to impofe new and arbitrary taxes without confent of C H^a P. parliament. The archbifhop went fo far, in a letter to, the king himfelf, as to tell him, that there were two powers, by which the world was governed, the holy pon- tifical apoftolic dignity, and the royal fubordinate autho- rity: That of thcfe two powers, the clerical was evidently the fupreme ; fince the priefts were to anfwer, at the tri- bunal of the divine judgment, for the conduct of kings themfclves : That the clergy were the fpiritual fathers of all the faithful, and amongft others of kings and princes; and were intitled, by a heavenly charter, to direct their wills and actions, and to cenfure their trangrefhons : And that prelates had heretofore cited emperors before their tribunal, had fat in judgment on their life and behaviour, and had anathematized them for their obftinate offences s. Thefe topics were not well calculated to appeafe Ed- ward's indignation ; and when he called a parliament, lie fent not to the primate, as to the other peers, a fummons to attend it. Stratford was not difcourased at this mark of neglect or anger : He appeared before the gates, ar- rayed in his pontifical robes, holding the crofier in his hand, and accompanied by a pompous train of priefts and prelates; and he required admittance as the firft and high- eft peer in the realm. During two days, the king rejected his implication : But either fenfible, that this affair might be attended with dangerous confequences, or that in his impatience he had groundlefsly accufed the primate of malversation in his office, which feems really to have been the cafe ; he at laft permitted him to take his feat, and was reconciled to him h. Edward now found himfelf in a bad fituation both with his- own people and with foreign ftates ; and it re- quired all his genius and capacity to extricate himfelf % Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 17, i» Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 38, 39,40,41. from 4i2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP. from fuch multiplied difficulties and embarraflrnents. His xv r l__ — v-i_f unjufi and exorbitant claims on France and Scotland had W4*« engaged him in an implacable war with thefe two king- doms, his neareft neighbours : He had loft almoft all his foreign alliances by his irregular payments : He was deeply involved in debts, for which he owed a confuming intereft: His military operations had vanifhed intofmoke; and except his naval victory, none of them had been at- tended even with glory or renown, either to himfelf or to the nation : The animofity between him and the clergy was open and declared : The people were difcontented on account of many arbitrary meafures, in which he had been engaged : And what was more dangerous, the nobility, taking advantage of his prefent neceffities, were deter- mined to retrench his power, and by encroaching on the ancient prerogatives of the crown, to acquire to themfelves independance and authority. But the afpiring genius of Edward, which had fo far tranfportcd him beyond the bounds of difcretion, proved at laft fufficient to re-inftate him in his former authority, and finally to render his reign the moft triumphant that is to be met with in Eng- lifh ftory : Though for the prefent he was obliged, with fome lofs of honour, to yield to the current, which bore fo ftrongly againft him. The parliament framed an act, which was likely to. produce confiderable innovations in the government. They premifed, that, whereas the.great charter had, to the manifeft peril and (lander of the king and damage of his people, been violated in many points, particularly by the imprifonment of free men and the feizure of their goods, without fuit, indictment, or trial, it was necef- fary to confirm it anew, and to oblige all the chief offi- cers of the law, together with the fteward and chamber- Jain of the houmold, the keeper of the privy-feaJ, the controller and treafurer of the wardrobe, and thofe who 6 were EDWARD III. 413 were entrusted with the education of the young prince, c ** a p» to fwear to the regular obfervance of it. They alfo re- K0^v^m9 marked, that the peers of the realm had formerly been I341* arretted and imprifoned, and difpoflefTed of their tempo- ralities and lands, and even fome of them put to death, without judgment or trial ; and they therefore enacted that fuch violences fhould henceforth ceafe, and no peer be punifhed but by the award of his peers in parliament. They required, that, whenever any of the great offices above mentioned became vacant, the king mould fill it by the advice of his council, and the confent of fuch ba- rons as mould at that time be found to refide in the neighbourhood of the court. And they enacted, that, on the third day of every feffion, the king mould refume into his own hands all thefe offices, except thofe of juf- tices of the two benches and the barons of exchequer; that the minifters mould for the time be reduced to pri- vate perfons ; that they mould in that condition anfwer before parliament to any accufation brought againft them ; and that, if they were found any wife guilty, they mould finally be difpoffefled of their offices, and more able perfons be fubftituted in their place 5. By thefe laft regulations, the barons approached as near as they durft to thofe re- ftricfions, which had formerly been impofed on Henry III. and Edward II. and which, from the dangerous confe- quences attending them, had become fo generally odious, that they did not expect, to have either the concurrence of the people in demanding them, or the aflent of the pre- fent king in granting them. In return for thefe important concefuons, the parlia- ment offered the king a grant of 20,000 facks of wool ; and his wants were fo urgent, from the clamours of his creditors, and the demands of his foreign allies, that he i i5Edw. III. was 4H HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c xv P* Was obliSed to accept °f the fupply on thefe hard condi- tions. He ratified this ftatute in full parliament ; but he :+l" fecretly entered a proteft of fuch a nature as was fufficient* one fhould imagine, to deftroy for the future all truft and confidence with his people : He declared, that, as foon as his convenience permitted, he would, from his own au- thority, revoke what had been extorted from him k. Ac- cordingly, he was no fooner poflefled of the parliamen- tary fupply, than he iflued an edict, which contains many extraordinary pofitions and pretenfions. He firft aflerts, that that ftatute had been enacted contrary to lawj as if a free legislative body could ever do any thing ille- gal. He next affirms, that, as it was hurtful to the pre- rogatives of the crown which he had fworn to defend, he had only diflembled, when he feemed to ratify it, but that he had never in his own breaft given his aflent to it. He does not pretend* that either he or the parliament lay un- der force ; but only that fome inconvenience would have enfued, had he not feemingly affixed his fan&ion to that pretended ftatute. He therefore, with the advice of his council and of fome earls and barons, abrogates and an- nuls it ; and though he profefTes himfelf willing and determined to obferve fuch articles of it as were formerly law, he declares it to have thenceforth no force or au- thority '. The parliaments, who were afterwards afTem- bled, took no notice of this arbitrary exertion of royal power, which, by a parity of reafon, left all their laws at the mercy of the king ; and during the courfe of two years, Edward had fo far re-eftablifhed his influence, and freed himfelf from his prefent neceffities, that he then obtained from his parliament a legal repeal of the ob- k Statutes at large, 15 Edw. III. That this proteft of the king's was fc- cret appears evidently, fince othetwife it would have been ridiculous in the parliament to have accepted of his affent : Betides the king owns that he dif- JanbleJ, which would not have been the cafe, had his protefl been public. *• Statutes at large, 15 Edw. Ill, noxious EDWARD IIL 415 noxious ftatute m. This tranfaclion certainly contains CHAP. xv. remarkable circumftances, which difcover the manners \_-it- _j and fentiments of the age, and may prove what inaccu- I34i« rate work might be expected from fuch rude hands, when employed in legiflation, and in rearing the delicate fabric of laws and a conftitution. But though Edward had happily recovered his autho- rity at home, which had been impaired by the events of the French war, he had undergone fo many mortifica- tions from that attempt, and faw fo little profpedr. of fuc- Cefs, that he would probably have dropped his claim, had not a revolution in Britanny opened to him more promif- ing views, and given his enterprizing genius a full oppor- tunity of difplaying itfelf. John III. duke of Britanny, had, fome years before his Affair? of death, found himfelf declining through age and infirmi- Bntann>* ties ; and having no iflue, he was folicitous to prevent thofe diforders, to which, on the event of his deceafe, a difputed fucceflion might expofe his fubjecls. Kis younger brother, the count of Penthievre, had left only one daughter, whom the duke deemed his heir ; and as his family had inherited the dutchy by a female fucceffion, he thought her title preferable to that of the count of Mountfort, who, being his brother by a fecond marriage, was the male heir of that principality n. He accordingly propofed to beftow his niece in marriage on fome perfon, who. might be able to defend her rights j and he caft his eye on Charles of Blois, nephew of the king of France, by his mother, Margaret of Valois, fitter to that monarch. But as he both loved his fubjecls and was beloved by them, he determined not to take this important ftep without their approbation ; and having alTembled the jftates of Britanny, he reprefented to them the advantages n Cotton's Abridgm p. 38, 39, n Froiflard, !lv, i, chap. 64.. Of ' 4i6 History of England. C h a P. of that alliance, and the profpectj which it gave^ of an L - - _> entire fettlement of the fucceffion. The Bretons will- I34>« ingly concurred in his choice : The marriage was con- cluded : All his vaflals, and among the reft, the count of Mountfort, fwore fealty to Charles and to his fpoufe as' to their future fovereigns : And every danger of civil com- motions feemed to be obviated, as far as human prudence could provide a remedy againft them. But on the death of this good prince, the ambition of the count of Mountfort broke through all thefe regula- tions, and kindled a war, not only dangerous to Britanny, but to a great part of Europe. While Charles of Blois was foliciting at the Court of France the inveftiture of the dutchy, Mountfort was active in acquiring immediate poflefllon of it ; and by force or intrigue he made him- felf matter of Rennes, Nantz, Breft, Hennebonne, and all the moft important fortreffes, and engaged many con- fiderable barons to acknowledge his authority0. Sen- fible that he could expect no favour from Philip, he made a voyage to England, on pretence of foliciting his claim to the earldom of Richmond, which had devolved to him by his brother's death ; and there offering to do homage to Edward, as king of France, for the dutchy of Britan- ny, he propofed a ftrict alliance for the fupport of each other's pretenfions. Edward faw immediately the advan- tages attending this treaty : Mountfort, an active and va- liant prince, clofely united to him by interefr, opened at once an entrance into the heart of France, and afforded him much more fluttering views, than his allies on the fide of Germany and the Low Countries, who had no fmcere attachment to his caufe, and whofe progrcfs was alfo obftructed by thofe numerous fortifications, which had been raifed on that frontier. Robert of Artois was « FroifTaid, liv. i. chap. 6j, 66, 67, 68. zealous EDWARD III. \if Jealous in inforcing thefe ccnfideratioris : The ambitious c H a p. fpirit of Edward was little difpofed to fit down under \^^^-^^j thofe repulfes which he had received, and which, he ,3+1: . r ' • * Renewal of thought, had fo much impaired his reputation : And it the war with required a very fhort negociation to conclude a treaty of i;rance* alliance between two men ; who, though their pleas with regard to the preference of male or female fuccefHon were directly oppofite, were intimately connected by their im- mediate interefts p. As this treaty was ftill a fecret, Mountfort, on his returnj ventured to appear at Paris, in order to defend his caufe before the court of peers ; but dbferving Philip and his judges to be prepofreffed againft his title, and dreading their intentions of arrefting him, till he mould re- ftore whatJie had feized by violence, he fuddenly made his efcape ; and war immediately broke out between him and Charles of Blois *. Philip fent his eldeft fon, the duke of Normandy, with a powerful army, to the affiftance of the latter ; and Mountfort, unable to keep the field againft his rival , remained in the city of Nantz$ where he was befieged. The city was taken by the treachery of the inhabitants j Mountfort fell into the hands of his ene- mies ; was conducted as a prifoner to Paris j and was mut up in the tower of the Louvre r; This event feemed to put an end to the pretentions of ,„48 the count of Mountfort ; but his affairs were immediately retrieved by an unexpected incident, which infpired new life and vigour into his party. Jane of Flanders, coun* tefs of Mountfort, the raoft extraordinary woman of that agej was rouzed, by the captivity of her hufband, from thofe domeftic cares, to which fhe had hitherto limited P Froifiard, Hv. i. chap, 69. S Ibid. chap, jo, 71, r Ibid. chap. 73. Vol. II, E e fy$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND, her genius ; and (he courageoufly undertook to fupport the falling fortunes of her family. No fooner did fhe re- 1342. ceive the fatal intelligence, than (lie afTembled the inha- bitants of Rennes, where fhe then refided ; and carrying her infant fon in- her arms, deplored to them the calamity of their fovereign. She recommended to their care the i'lufhious orphan,, the fole male remaining of their an- cient princes, who had governed them with fuch indul- gence and lenity, and to whom they had ever profeffed fhe mod zealous attachment. She declared herfelf will- ing to run all hazards with them in fo juft a caufe ; dif- covered the refources which (Bill remained in the alliance of England ; and entreated them to make one effort againft an tffurper, who, being impofed on them by the arms of France, would in return make a facrifice to his protector of the ancient liberties of Britanny. The audience,, moved by the aiTecling appearance, and infpirited by the noble conduce, of the princefs, vowed to live and die with her in defending the rights of her family : AH the other fortreiTes of Britanny embraced the fame refolw'uon: The countefs went from place to place, encoTjrag'ng the gar- rifons, providing them with everything neeefiary for fub- fifrance, and concerting the proper plans of defence ; and afcer fhe had put the whole province in a good pofture, ihe fhut herfelf up in Hennebonne, where flic waited with impatience the arriv? Idf thofe fuccours, which Ed- ward had promifed her. Mean while, fhe fent over her ion to England, that Cm might both put him in a place of fafcty, and engage the king more ftrongly, by fuch a pledge, to embrace with zeal the intercuts of her family. Charles of Blois, anxious to make hi in fe If matter of fo important a fortrefs as Hennebonne, and frill more to take the ccuntefs prifoner, from whofe vigour and ca- pacity all the difficulties to his fucccilion in Britanny now proceeded, (at down before the place, with a great arm)-, compofed EDWARD TIL 419 tompofed of French, Spaniards, Genoefe, and fome Bre- tons ; and he conducted the attack with indefatigable in- dufhy s. The defence was no lefs vigorous : The be- J34a« fiegers were repulfed in every aflault : Frequent fallies were made with fuccefs by the garrifon : And the coun- tefs herfelf being the moft forward in all military opera- tions, every one was afhamed not to exert himfelf to the utmoft in this defperate Situation. One day me perceived, that the befiegers, entirely occupied in an attack, had ne- glected a diftant quarter of their camp ; and me imme- diately fallied forth at the head of a body of 200 cavalry, threw them into confufion, did great -execution upon them, and fet fire to their tents, baggage, and maga- zines : But when fhe was preparing to return, fhe found that fhe was intercepted, and that a considerable body of the enemy had thrown themfelves between her and the gates. She inftantly took her refolution ; fhe ordered her men to difband, and to make the beff. of their way by flight to Brefl. She met them at the appointed place of rendezvous, collected another body of 500 horfe, returned to Hennebonne, broke unexpectedly through the enemy's camp, and was received with fhouts and acclamations by the garrifon, who, encouraged by this reinforcement, and by fo rare an example of female valour, determined to de- fend themfelves to the lafl extremity. The reiterated attacks, however, of the befiegers had at length made feveral breaches in the walls ; and it was. apprehended, that a general affault, which was every hour expected, would overpower the garrifon, diminifhed in their numbers, and extremely weakened with watching and fatigue. It became neceffary to treat of a capitula- tion ; and the bifhop of Leon was already engaged, for that purpofe, in a conference with Charles of Blois ; when the counters, who had mounted to a high tower, ■*■ Froiflard, liv. I. chap. Si, £ e z- 420 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c h^a P- and was looking towards the Tea with great impatiencey i_ _ _ __f defcricd fome fails at a diftance. She immediately ex- *342- claimed: Behold the fuccours ! the Englijh fuccours ! Nd capitulation f. This fleet had on board a body of heavy- armed cavalry, and fix thou fan d archers, whom Edward had prepared for the relief of Hennebonne, but who had been long detained by contrary winds. They entered the harbour under the command of Sir Walter Manny, one of the braveft captains of England ; and having infpired frefh courage into the garrifon, immediately fallied forth, beat the befiegers from all their potts, and obliged them to decamp. But notwithftanding this fuccefs, the countefs of Mountfort found that her party, overpowered by num- bers, were declining in every quarter ; and fhe went over to folicit more effectual fuccours from the king of Eng- land. Edward granted her a confiderable reinforcement under Robert of Artois ; who embarked on board a fleet of forty-five fhips, and failed to Britanny. He was met in his pafTage by the enemy; an aps, we are led to entertain a very mean idea of the *3f^» military force of thofe ages, which, being ignorant in every o;her art, had not properly cultivated the art of war itfelf, the fole object of general attention. The king created the earl of Arundel conilable of his army, and the earls of Warwic and fiarcourt, marefchals: He beftowed the honour of knighthood on the prince of Wales and feveral of the young nobility, immediately upon his landing. After deilroymg all the fhips in Ja Hogue, Barfleur, and Cherbourg, he fpread his army ever the whole country, and gave them an unbounded licence of burning, fpoiling, and plundering every place, of which they became mailers. The loofe difcipllne then practifed, could not be much hurt by thefe difor- deriy practices ; and Edward took care to prevent any furprize, by giving orders to his troops, however they might dhperfe themfelves in the day-time, always to quarter themfelves at night near the main body. In this manner, Montebourg, Carentan, St. Lo, Valognes, and other places in the Cotentin, were pillaged without refift- ance ; and an univerfal confirmation was fpread over the whole province ". The intelligence of this unexpected invafion foon reached Paris ; and threw Philip into great perplexity. He ifiued orders, however, for levying forces in all quar- ters, and difpatched the count of Eu, conftablc of France, and the count of Tancarville, with a body of troops, to the defence of Caen, a populous and commercial but open city, wh ch lay in the neighbourhood of the Englifh army. The temptation of (o rich a prize foon allur- ed Edward to approach it ; and the inhabitants, encou- raged by their numbers, and by the reinforcements which f Froiflard, liv. I. ch3p. 122. they 42$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, they daily received from the country, ventured to meet 44, _,! _j him in the field. But their courage failed them on the j.346. firft fhock : They fled with precipitation : The counts of Eu and Tancarville were taken prifoners : The victors entered the city along with the vanquifhed, and a furious mafiacre commenced, without difKncf ion of age, fex, or condition. The citizens, in defpair, barricadoed their houfes, and affaulted the Englifh with ftones, bricks, and eyery miflile weapon : The Englifh made way by fire to the deftrudtion of the citizens : Till Edward, anxious to fave both his fpoil and his foldiers, flopped the maflacre ; and having obliged the inhabitants to lay down their arms, gave his troops licence to begin a more regular and lefs hazardous plunder of the city. The pillage continued for three days : The king referved for his own fhare the jewels, plate, fdks, fine cloth, and fine linen ; and he bedewed all the remainder of the fpoil on his army. The whole was embarked on board the (hips, and fent over to England ; together with three hundred of the richeft citi- zens of Caen, whofe ranfom was an additional profit, which he expected afterwards to levy °, This difmal fcene pafTed in the prcfence of two cardinal legates, who had come to negociate a peace between the kingdoms. The king moved next to Rouen in hopes of treating that city in the fame manner ; but found, that the bridge over the Se'uie was already broken down, and that the king of France himfelf was arrived there with his army. He marched along the banks of that river towards Paris, deftroying the whole country, and every town and village, which he met with on his road ?. Some of his light troops carried their ravages even to the gates of Paris ; and the royal palace of St. Germans, together with Nanterre, Ruelle, and otner villages, was reduced to afhes within fight of that capital. The Englifh propofed to pafs the river at PoifTy, but found the French. army encamped on " FroifTardj liv. 1. chap. 124. f> Ibid. chap. 135. the EDWARD ITT. ^ the opppfite banks, and the bridge at that place, as well C ha p. as all others over the Seine, broken down by orders from V-^V^>J Philip. Edward now faw, that the French intended to 134&. enclofe him in their country, in hones of attacking him with advantage on all fides ; But he laved himfelf by a ftratao-em from this perilous fituation. He gave his army orders to diflodge, and to advance farther up the Seine ; but immediately returning by the fame road, arrived at Poifly, which the enemy had already quitted, in order to attend his motions. He repaired the bridge with incre- dible celerity, palled over his army, and having thus difeng;a2;ed himfelf from the enemy, advanced by quick marches towards Flanders. His vanguard, commanded by Harcourt, met with the townfmen of Amiens, who were haftening to reinforce their king, and defeated them with great (laughter <* : He parTed by Beauvais, and burn- ed the fuburbs of that city : But as he approached the Somme, he found himfelf in the fame difficulty as before : All the bridges on that river were either broken down, or ftrongly guarded : An army, under the command of Godemar de Fayc, was ftationcd on the oppofite banks : Philip was advancing on him from the other quarter, with an army of a hundred thoufand men : And he was thus expofed to the danger of being enclofed, and of ftarving in an enemy's country. In this extremity, he publifhed a reward to any one, that fhould bring him intelligence of a pafTage over the Somme. A peafant, called Gobin Agace, whofe name has been preferved by the {hare which he had in thefe important tranfac~lions, was tempted on this occafion to betray the interests of his country ; and he informed Edward of a ford below Abbe- ville, which had a found bottom, and might be palled with- out difficulty at low water r. The king haftened thither, but found Godemar de Faye on the oppofite banks. Be- q Froiflard, liv, i, chap, 125. r Ibid, chap, 126, 127. 9 ing 43d HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c h^a P. ing urged by neceflity, he deliberated not a moment ; but c.i-*y^«j threw himfelf into the river, fword in hand, at the head *2* ' of his troops ; drove the enemy from their ftation ; and purfued them to a diftance on the plain 3. The French- army under Philip arrived at the ford, when the rear- guard of the Engliih were paffing. So narrow was the efcape, which Edward, by his prudence and celerity, made from this danger ! The rifing of the tide prevented the French king from following him over the ford, and ob- liged that prince to take his road over the bridge at Abbe- ville ; by which fome time was loft. It is natural to think, that Philip, at the head of fo Vafl an army, was impatient to take revenge on the Eng- Kfh, and to prevent the dif»;race, to which he muft be expofed, if an inferior enemy fhould be allowed, after ravaging fo great a part of his kingdom, to efcape with impunity. Edward alio was fenfible, that fuch muft be the object of the French monarch ; and as he had ad- vanced but a little way before his enemy, he faw the danger of precipitat'ng his march over the plains of Pi- cardy, and of expoilng his rear to the infults of the nu- merous cavalry, in which the French camp abounded.- C*nk of He took therefore a prudent refolution : He chofe hi? Cl cy' jrround with advantage near the villagje of Crecv ; he $&th Aug. fc o » j ' difpofed his army in excellent order ; he determined to await in tranquillity the arrival of the enemy ; and he hoped, that their eagernefs to engage, and to prevent his retreat, after all their paft disappointments, would hurry them en to fome ram and ill-concerted action. He drew" tip his army on a gentle afcent, and divided them into three lines : The firft was commanded by the prince of Wales, and under him, by the earls of Warwic and Oxford, by Harcourt, and by the lords Chandos, Hol- land, and other noblemen : The earls of Arundel and ■ Froiffirc, liv. i. chap. 127, Northampton^. £ D W A R D III. 431 Northampton, with the lords Willoughby, Baflet, Roos, chap. and Sir Lewis Tufton, were at the head of the fecond < sr-^j line : He took to himfelf the command of the third divi- IJ* ' fion, by which he propofed either to bring fuccour to the two firft lines, or to fecure a retreat in cafe of any mis- fortune, or to pufh his advantages againft the enemy. Fie had likewife the precaution to throw up trenches 011 his Ranks, in order to fecure himfelf from the numerous bodies of the French, who might alTail him from that quarter; and he placed all his baggage behind him in a wood, which he alfo fecured by an intrenchment l. The fkill and order of this difpofition, with the tran- quillity in which it was made, ferved extremely to com- pofe the minds of the foldiers ; and the king, that he might farther infpirit them, rode through their ranks with fuch an air of cheerfulnefs and alacrity, as conveyed the highefr. confidence into every beholder. He pointed out to them the neceility to which they were reduced, and the certain and inevitable deitruction which awaited them, if, in their prefent fituation, enclofed on all hands in an enemy's country, they trufted to any thing but their own valour, or gave that enemy an opportunity of taking revenge for the many infults and indignities, which they had of late put upon him. He reminded them of the vifible afcendant, which they had hitherto maintained, over all the bodies of French troops that had fallen in their way ; and allured them, that the fuperior numbers of the army, which at prefent hovered over them, gave them not greater force, but was an advantage eafily com- penfated by the order in which he had placed his own army, and the refolution which he expected from them. He demanded nothing, he faid, but that they would imi- tate his own example, and that of the prince of Wales ; and as the honour, the lives, the liberties of all, were t Froiffard, liv. i. chap. 128. now 43a HIS -TORY OF ENGLAND; CHAP. now expofed to the fame danger^ he was confident, thaf i^ss-^+j *ney would make one common effort to extricate them- *34s> felves from the prefent difficulties, and that their unit- ed courage would give them the victory over all their enemies. It is related by forfie hiflorians u, that Edward, befides the refources, which he found in his own genius and pre- fence of mind, employed alfo a new invention againft the enemy, and placed in his front fome pieces of artil- lery, the firft that had yet been made ufe of on any re- markable occafion in Europe^ This is the epoch of one of the mod fmgular difcoveriec4 that has been made among men ; a difco'very, which changed by degrees the whole art of war, and by confequence many circum- ftances in the political government of Europe. But the ignorance of that age, in the mechanical arts, rendered the progrefs of this new invention very flow. The artillery^ firft framed, were fo clumfy and of fuch difficult manage- ment, that men were not immediately fenfible of their ufe and efficacy : And even to the prefent times, improve- ments have been continually making on this furious en- gine, which, though it feemed contrived for the deftriic- tion of mankind, and the overthrow of empires, has in the iflue rendered battles lefs bloody, and has given greater {lability to civil focieties. Nations, by its means* have been brought more to a level : Conquefts have be- come lefs frequent and rapid: Succefs in war has boen. reduced nearly to be a matter of calculation : And any nation, overmatched by its enemies, either yields to their demands, or fecures itfelf by alliances again ft their vio- lence and invaiion. The invention of artillery was at this time known in France as well as in England wj but Philip, in his hurry « Jean Villani, lib. 12. cap, 66. w Du Gan^e GIoflT. in verb* S'.mt'srda* EDWARD III. 433 to overtake the enemy, had probably left his cannon be-C HAP. hind him, which he regarded as a ufelefs incumbrance. ■_ * _j All his other movements difcovered the fame imprudence i346- and precipitation. Impelled by anger, a dangerous coun- fellor, and trufring to the great fuperiority of his num- bers, he thought that all depended on forcing an engage- ment with the Englifh, and that, if he could once reach the enemy in their retreat, the victory on his fide was certain and inevitable. He made a hafty march in fome confufion from Abbeville ; but after he had advanced above two leagues, fome gentlemen, whom he had fent before to take a view of the enemy, returned to him, and brought him intelligence, that they had feen the Eng- lifh drawn up in great order, and awaiting his arrival. They therefore advifed him to defer the combat till the enfuing day, when his army would have recovered from their fatigue, and might be difpofed into better order, than their prefent hurry had permitted them to obferve. Philip affented to this counfel ; but the former precipi- tation of his march, and the impatience of the French nobility, made it impracticable for him to put it in exe- cution. One divifion preffed upon another : Orders to flop were not feafonably conveyed to all of them : This immenfe body was not governed by fuflicient difcipline to be manageable : And the French army, imperfectly form- ed into three lines, arrived, already fatigued and difor-* dered, in prefence of the enemy. The firfr. line, con- fiding of 15,000 Genoefe crofs-bow men, was com- manded by Anthony Doria, and Charles Grimaldi : The fecond was led by the count of Alencon, brother to the king : The king himfelf was at the head of the third. Befides the French monarch, there were no lefs than three crowned heads in this engagement : The king of Bohe- mia, the king of the Romans, his fon, and the king of Majorca; with all the nobility and great vaffaTs of the crown of France. The army now confided of above Vol. II. F f 120,000 434- HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, r 20,000 men, above three times the number of the enemy. J^^j But the prudence of one man was fuperior to the advan- 1 J4-6. tage of all this force and fplendor. The Englifh, on the approach of the enemy, kept their ranks firm and immoveable ; and the Genoefe firft began the attack. There had happened, a little before the engagement, a thunder-mower, which had moiftened and relaxed the firings of the Genoefe crofs-bows ; their ar- rows for this reafon fell fhort of the enemy. The Eng- lifli archers, taking their bows out of their cafes, pour- ed in a fhower of arrows upon this multitude who were oppofed to them ; and foon threw them into diforder. The Genoefe fell back upon the heavy-armed cavalry of the count of Alcncon x ; who, enraged at their cowardice, ordered his troops to put them to the fword. The artil- lery fired amidft the crowd ; the Englifh archers conti- nued to fend in their arrows among them ; and nothing was to be feen in that vaft body but hurry and confufion7 terror and difmay. The young prince of Wales had the prefence of mind to take advautage of this fituation, and to lead on his line to the charge. The French ca- valry, however,, recovering fomewhat their order,, and encouraged by the example of their leader, made a ftout refiftance ; and having at laft cleared themfelves of the Genoefe runaways, advanced upon their adverfaries, and by their fuperior numbers began to hem them round. The earls of Arundel and Northampton now advanced their line to fuftain the prince, who, ardent in his firft feats of arms, fet an example of valour, which was imitated by all his followers. The battle became for fome time hot and dangerous, and the esrl of Warwic, apprehenfive of the event from the fuperior numbers of the French, dif- patched a meflenger to the king, and entreated him to fend, fuccours to the relief of the prince. Edward had chofen- his ftation on the top of the hill ; and he furveyed in tran- x rroiOard, liv. i, chap. 130. quillity EDWARD III. 435 buillity the fcene of action. When the meflenger accofted C HA P. him, his firft queftion was, whether the prince was flam ^^^j or wounded. On receiving an anfwer in the negative, 134^ Return, faid he, to my/on, and tell him that I referve the honour of this day to him : I am confident that he willjhow himfelf worthy of the honour of knighthood, which I fo lately conferred upon him : He zuill be able without my ajfiftance to repel the enemy ?. This fpeech, being reported to the prince and his attendants, infpired them with frefli cou- rage : They made an attack with redoubled vigour on the French, in which the count of Alencon was flain : That whole line of cavalry was thrown into diforder : The riders were killed or difmounted : The Welfh in- fantry rufhed into the throng, and with their long knives cut the throats of all who had fallen ; nor was any quar- ter given that day by the victors 7\ The king of France advanced in vain with the rear to fuftain the line commanded by his brother : He found them already difcomfited ; and the example of their rout encreafed the confufion, which was before but too pre- valent in his own body. He had himfelf a horfe killed under him : He was remounted ; and, though left almofl: alone, he feemed ftiil determined to maintain the combat ; when John of Hainault feized the reins of his bridle, turned about his horfe, and carried him off the field of battle. The whole French army took to flight, and was followed and put to the fword without mercy by the ene- my ; till the darknefs of the night put an end to the purfuit. The king, on his return to the camp, flew in- to the arms of the prince of Wales, and exclaimed : Uly brave fon : P erf ever e in your honourable courfe : You are my fon ; for valiantly have you acquitted your J elf to-day: You have JJ)ewn yourfelf ivorthy of e?npire a. >" Frsjifiard, liv, i, chap. 130. z Ibid, » Ibid. chap, 13T. F f 2 This 436 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. This battle, which is known by the name of the bat- tle of Crecy, began after three o'clock in the afternoon, 1346. and continued till evening. The next morning was foggy ; and as the Englifh obferved, that many of the enemy had loft their way in the night and in the mift, they employed a ftratagem to bring them into their power : They erected on the eminences fome French ftanclards which they had taken in the battle ; and all, who were allured by this falfe fignal, were put to the fword, and no quarter given them. In excufe for this inhumanity, it was alleged that the French king had given like orders to his troops ; but the real reafon pro- bably was, that the Englifh, in their prcfent fituation, did not chufe to be encumbered with prifoncrs. On the day of battle, and on the enfuing, there fell, by a mo- derate computation, 1200 French knights, 1400 gentle- men, 4000 men at arms, befides about 30,000 of inferior rank b. Many of the principal nobility of France, the dukes of Lorraine and Bourbon, the earls of Flanders, Blois, Vaudemont, Aumale, were left on the field of battle. The kings alfo of Bohemia and Majorca were (lain : The fate of the former was remarkable : He was blind from age ; but being refolved to hazard his perfon, and fet an example to others, he ordered the reins of his bridle to be tied on each fide to the horfes of two gcntle- , men of his train ; and his dead body, and thofe of his attendants, were afterwards found among the {lain, with their horfes {landing by them in that fituatipn c. His creft was three oftrich feathers ; and his motto thefe Ger- man words, Ich dien, Iferve: Which the prince of Wales and his fuccefibrs adopted in memorial of this great vic- tory. The action may feem no lefs remarkable for the finall lofs fuftained by the Englifh than for the great Slaughter of the French : There were killed in it only b Fioifikrd, liv. i. chap. 131. Knyghton, p. 2583. c Fioiflard, liv. i. chap. 130. Wjilingham, p, 166. one EDWARD III. 437 one efquire and three knights <*, and very few of inferior CHAP. rank ; a demonftration, that the prudent difpofition plan- u— v~— ' ned by Edward, and the diforderly attack made by the I346. French, had rendered the whole rather a rout than a battle, winch was indeed the common cafe with engage- ments in thofe times. The great prudence of Edward appeared not only in obtaining this memorable victory, but in the meafures which he purfued after it. Not elated by his prefent profperity, fo far as to expect the total conquefl of France, or even that of any confiderable provinces ; he propofed only to fecure fuch an eafy entrance into that kingdom, as might afterwards open the way to more moderate advan- tages. He knew the extreme diftance of Guienne : He had experienced the difficul iy and uncertainty of pene- trating on the fide of the Low Countries, and had al- ready loft much of his authority over Flanders by the death of d'Arteville, who had been murdered by the po- pulace themfelves, his former partizans, on his attempt- ing to transfer the fovereignty of that province to the prince of Wales e. The king, therefore, limited his ambition to the conqueft of Calais ; and after the inter- val of a few days, which he employed in interring the {lain, he marched with his victorious army, and prefented himfelf before the place. John of Vienne, a valiant knight of Burgundy, was governor of Calais, and being fupplied with every thing neeeflary for defence, he encouraged the townfmen to perform to the utmoft their duty to their king and country. Edward therefore, fenfible from the begin- ning that it was vain to attempt the place by force, pro- pofed only to reduce it by famine : He chofe a fecure ftation for his camp ; drew entrenchments around the whole city ; raifed huts for his foldiers, which he covered d Knyghton, p. 258?. e Froiflard, liv. i, chap. 116. F f -> with 43$ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap, with draw or broom ; and provided his army with all the ^— y— _j conveniencies, necefTary to make them endure the winter J346> feafon, which was approaching. As the governor foon perceived his intention, he expelled all the ufelefs mouths, and the king had the generofity to allow thefe unhappy people to pafs though his camp, and he even fupplied them with money for their journey f. While Edward was engaged in this liege, which em- ployed him near a twelvemonth, there pafTed in different places many other events j and all to the honour of the En^Iiih arms. The retreat of the duke of Normandy from Guienne left the earl of Derby' mafter of the field ; and he was not negligent in making his advantage of the fuperiority. He took Mirebcau by aflkult : He made himfelf mailer of Lufignan in the fame manner : Taillebourg and St. Jean de Angeli fell into his hands : Poi&iers opened its gates to him ; and Derby having thus broken into the frontiers on that quarter, carried his incurfions to the banks of the Loire, and filled all the fouthern provinces of France with horror and devaftation s. The flames of war were at the fame time kindled ia Britanny. Charles of Blois invaded that province with a confiderable army, and invefted the fortrefs of Roche de Rien ; but the countefs of Mountfort, reinforced by fome Englifh troops under Sir Thomas Dagworth, attacked him during the night in his entrenchments, difperfed his army, and took Charles himfelf priibnerb. His wife, by whom he enjoyed his pretenfions to Britanny, compelled by the prefent neceffity, took on her the government of the party, and proved herfelf a rival in every fhape, and an antagonifl to the countefs of Mountfort, both in the field and in the cabinet. And wh He thefe heroic dames prefented this extraordinary fcene to the world, another f Froiferd, liv. i. chap. 133. ? Ibid, chip, 136. h Ibido chap, 143. Waifingham, p. 168. Ypori. Ncuft. p. 517, 518. princefs EDWARD III. 439 princefs in England, of ftill higher rank, fhowed herfelfc " A p« no lefs capable of exerting every manly virtue. t_ — r — j The Scottifh nation, after long defending, with in- ^'r'witii credible perfeverance, their liberties againfr. the fuperior Scotland* force of the Englifh, recalled their king, David Bruce, in 1342. Though that prince, neither by his age nor capacity, could bring them great aflifrancc, he gave them the countenance of fovereign authority ; and as Edward's wars on the continent proved a great diverfion to the force of England, they rendered the balance more equal between the two kingdoms. In every truce which Ed- ward concluded with Philip, the king of Scotland was comprehended : and when Edward made his lair, invafion upon France, David was ftrongly folicited by his ally to begin alfo hoftilities, and to invade the northern coun- ties of England. The nobility of his nation being al- ways forward in fuch incurfions, David foon muftercd a great army, entered Northumberland at the head of above 50,000 men, and carried his ravages and devaluations to the gates of Durham '. But queen Philippa, affembling a body of little more than 12,000 men k, which fhe en- Irufted to the command of Lord Piercy, ventured to ap- proach him at Neville's Crofs near that city ; and riding through the ranks of her army, exhorted every man to do his duty, and to take revenge on thefe barbarous ravagers '. Nor could (he be permaded to leave the field, till the ar- 17th Cfi. mies were on the point of engaging. The Scots have often been unfortunate in the great pitched battles which they fought with the Englifh ; even though they com- monly declined fu^h engagements where the fu period ty of numbers was not on their fide : But never did they receive a more fatal blow than the prefent. They were broken and chaced off the field : Fifteen thoufand of them, fome * FroiflaH, i;v. t. chap, 137, k Ibid, chap, 13S. } lb: J. chap, j-^t F f 4 hi florins 440 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c " ^ p- hiftorians fay twenty thoufand, were flain ; among whom Vwn^r^w* were Edward Keith, earl Marefchal, and Sir Thomas '"46- Charteris, chancellor: And the kino- himfelf was taken Captivity of b ths king of prifoner, with the earls of Southerland, Fife, Monteith, Carrie, lord Douglas, and many other noblemen m. Philipfa, having fecured her royal prifoner in the - Tower n, crofTed the fea at Dover j and was received in the Englifh camp before Calais with all the triumph due to her rank, her merit, and her fuccefs. This age was the reign of chivalry and gallantry : Edward's court ex- celled in thefe accomplishments as much as in policy and arms : And if any thing could juftify the obfequious de- votion then pro fe fled to the fair fex, it muft be the ap- pearance of fuch extraordinary women as {hone forth during that period. 1347. The town of Calais had been defended with remark- taken a^e vigilance, conftancy, and bravery by the townfmen, during a fiege of unufual length : But Philip, informed of their diftreifed condition, determined at laft to attempt their relief; and he approached the Englifh with an im- menfe army, which the writers of that age make amount to 200,000 men. But he found Edward fo furrounded with moraffes, and fecured by entrenchments, that, without running on inevitable deftrudtion, he concluded it impoffible to make an attempt on the Englifh camp. He had no other refource than to fend his rival a vain challenge to meet him in the open field ; which being re- fufed, he was obliged to decamp with his army, and dif- perfe them into their feveral provinces °. John of Vienne, governor of Calais, now faw the neceility of furrendering his fortrefs, which was reduced n> FroiiLtd, ]iv. 1. chap. 139. n Rymer, vol. v. p. 537, • Froifiard, liv. I. chap. 144, 1451 Avdbury, p. 161, 16*. to EDWARD III. 441 to the laft extremity, by famine and the fatigue of the C H a P. inhabitants. He appeared on the walls, and made a fig- ,^_V-L_j nal to the Englifh centinels that he defired a parley. »347« Sir Walter Manny was fent to him by Edward. " Brave " knight," cried the governor, " I have been entrufted '* by my fovereign with the command of this town : It " is almoft a year fince you befieged me ; and I have " endeavoured, as well as thofe under me, to do our " duty. But you are acquainted with our prefcnt con- " dition : We have no hopes of relief; we are perifhing " with hunger ; I am willing therefore to furrender, and " defire, as the fole condition, to enfure the lives and " liberties of thefe brave men, who have fo long fhared " with me every danger and fatigue p." Manny replied, that he was well acquainted with the intentions of the king of England ; that that prince was incenfed againft the townfmen of Calais for their perti- nacious refiftance, and for the evils which they had made him and his fubjects fufFer ; that he was determined to take exemplary vengeance on them ; and would not re- ceive the town on any condition which fhould confine him in the punifnrnent of thefe offenders. " Confider," replied Vienne, " that this is not the treatment to which " brave men are intitled : If any Englifh knight had " been in my fituation, your king would have expected " the fame conduit from him. The inhabitants of Ca- " lais have done for their fovereign what merits the ef- " teem of every prince ; much more of fo gallant a prince " as Edward. But I inform you, that, if We muft perifh, " we fhall not perifh unrevenged ; and that we are not " yet fo reduced, but we can fell our lives at a high price '* to the viclors. It is the intereft of both fides to pre- c< vent thefe defperate extremities j and I expetl, that P Froiflard, liv. 1. chap, 146, it you 442 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP." you yourfelf, brave knight, will interpofe your good n_ _ _ _j " offices with your prince in our behalf." J347- Manny was ftruck with the juftnefs of thefe fenti- ments, and reprefented to the king the danger of reprifals, if he fhould give fuch treatment to the inhabitants of Calais. Edward was at laft perfuaded to mitigate the rigour of the conditions demanded : He only infifted, that fix of the moft considerable citizens fhould be fent to him to be difpofed of as he thought proper -} that they fhould come to his camp carrying the keys of the city in their hands, bareheaded and barefooted, with ropes about their necks : And on thefe conditions, he promifed to fpare the lives of all the remainder "i. When this intelligence was conveyed to Calais, it ftruck the inhabitants with new confternation. To fa- crifice fix of their fellow-citizens to certain deftruction, for fignalizing their valour in a common caufe, appeared to them even more fevere than that general punifhment, with which they were before threatened ; and they found themfelves incapable of coming to any refolution in fo cruel and diftrefsful a fituation. At laft one of the prin- cipal inhabitants called Euftace de St. Pierre, whofe name deferves to be recorded, ftepped forth, and declared him- felf willing to encounter death for the fafety of his friends and companions : Another, animated by his example, made a like generous offer : A third and a fourth pro- fented themfelves to the fame fate; and the wnole number was foon completed. Thefe fix heroic burgefles appeared before Edward in the guife of malefactors, laid at his feet the keys of their city, and were ordered to be led to exe- cution. It is furprizing, that fo generous a prince fhould ever have entertained fuch a barbarous purpofe againft fuch men ; and ftill more that he fhould ferioufly perfift 1 FroifTaH, liv. t, chap. 146, in EDWARD HI. 443 in the refolution of executing; it *, But the entreaties C h a P. . xv. of his queen laved his memory from that infamy : She Lm_v_^_/ threw herfelf on her knees before him, and with tears in >347» her eyes begged the lives of thefe citizens. Having ob- tained her requeft, fhe carried them into her tent, ordered a repaft to be fet before them, and after making them a prefent of money and clothes, difmifled them in fafety r. The king took pofleilion of Calais ; and immediately 4th Auguft, executed an a£r, of rigor, more juftifiable becaufe more neceflary, than that which he had before refolved on. He knew, that, notwithstanding his pretended title to the crown of France, every Frenchman regarded him as a mortal enemy : He therefore ordered all the inhabitants of Calais to evacuate the town, and he peopled it anew with Englifh ; a policy which probably preferved fo long to his fucceffors the dominion of that important fortrefs. He made it the ftaple of wool, leather, tin, and lead ; the four chief, if not the fole commodities of the kingdom, for which there was any confiderable demand in foreign markets. All the Englifh were obliged to bring thither; thefe goods : Foreign merchants came to the fame place in order to purchafe them : And at a period, when polls were not eftablimed, and when the communication be- tween ftates was fo imperfect, this inftitution, though it hurt the navigation of England, was perhaps of advan-. tage to the kingdom. Through the mediation of the pope's legates, Ed- 13.4&. ward concluded a truce with France ; but even during this ceffation of arms, he had very nearly loft Calais, the fole fruit of all his boafted victories. The king had en- trufted that place to the command of Aimery de Pavie, an Italian, who had difcovered bravery and conduct in the * See note [H] at the end of the volume, 1 Frojf&rd. iiy. I,, chap, 146. 4 wars, 444- HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, wars, but was utterly deftitute of every principle of honour C^-y—^,' and fidelity. This man agreed to deliver up Calais for 1348. the fum of 20,000 crowns ; and Geoffrey de Charni, who commanded the French forces n thofe quarters, and .■ hq knew, tha$, Lf lie ice, he fhould :ot be difavowed, ventured, without confulting his mafter, to conclude the bargain with him. Edward, informed of this treachery, by means of Aimery's fecretary, fummoned the governor to London on other pretences ; and having charged him with the guilt, promifcd him his life, but on condition that he would turn the contrivance to the de- ftruflion of the enemy. The Italian eafily agreed to this double treachery. A day was appointed for the admiffion of the French ; and Edward, having prepared a force of about a thoufand men, under Sir Walter Manny, fe- cretly departed from London, carrying with him the prince of Wales ; and without being fufpected, arrived the evening before at Calais. He made a proper difpofi- tion for the reception of the enemy ; and kept all his forces and the garrifon under arms. On the appearance of Charni, a chofen band of French foldiers was admitted at the poftern, and Aimery, receiving the ftipulated fum, promifcd, that, with their afTiflance, he would immediately open the great gate to the troops, who were waiting with impatience for the fulfilling of his engagement. All the T . French who entered were immediately flain or taken pri- ifl Jan. foners : The great gate opened : Edward rufhed forth with cries of battle and of victory : The French, though avronifhed at the event, behaved with valour : A fierce and bloody engagement enfued. As the morning broke, the king, who was not diftinguifhed by his arms, and who fought as a private man under the ftandard of Sir Walter Manny, remarked a French gentleman, called Euftace de Ribaumont, who exerted himfelf with fmgular vigour and bravery ; and he was feized with a defire of trying a fingle combat with him. He flepped forth from his troop, and Challenging EDWARD III. 445 challenging Ribaumont by name, (for he was known to c H A p« him) began a fharp and dangerous encounter. He was ^^^j twice beat to the ground by the valour of the Frenchman : 1349- He twice recovered himfelf : Blows were redoubled with equal force on both fides : The victory was long unde- cided : Till Ribaumont, perceiving himfelf to be left almoft alone, called out to his antagonift, Sir knight, I yield myfelf your prijlner ; and at the fame time delivered his fword to the king. Moft of the French, being over- powered by numbers, and intercepted in their retreat, loft either their lives or their liberty s. The French officers, who had fallen into the hands of the Englifh, were conducted into Calais j where Edward diicovered to them the antagonift with whom they had had the honour to be engaged, and treated them with great regard and courtefy. They were admitted to fup with the prince of Wales, and the Englifh nobility ; and after fupper, the king himfelf came into the apartment, and went about, converfing familiarly with one or other of his prifoners. He even addreffed himfelf in an obliging manner to Charni, and avoided reproaching him with the treacherous attempt, which he had made upon Calais during the truce : But he openly beftowedthe higheft en- comiums on Ribaumont ; called him the moft valorous knight that he had ever been acquainted with ; and con- fefted, that he himfelf had at no time been in fo o-reat danger as when engaged in combat with him. He then took a ftring of pearls, which he wore about his own head, and throwing it over the head of Ribaumont, he faid to him, " Sir Euftace, I beftow this prefent upon " you, as a teftimony of my efteem for your bravery : " And I defire you to wear it a year for my fake : I " know you to be gay and amorous ; and to take delight " in the company of ladLs and damfels : Let them all * Froifftrd, liv. 1, chap. 140, 141, 14a, 7 " knew 446 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C H A P. u know from what hand you had the prefent : You af© ■.. — v- _} " no longer a prifoner ; I acquit you of your ranfom ; *349« a and y0U are at liberty to-morrow to difpofe of your- " felf as you think proper." Nothing can more evidently prove the vafl fuperiority afiumed by the nobility and gentry above all the other orders of men during thofe ages, than the extreme diffe- rence which Edward made in his treatment of thefe French knights, and that of the fix citizens of Calais, who had exerted more fignal bravery in a caufe more juf- tifiable and more honourable. C 447 I CHAP. XVI. EDWARD III. Injiitution of the garter Slate of France — — Battle of Poicliers Captivity of the king of France State of that kingdom Invafion of France Peace of Bretigni State of France • Expedition into Cajiile — — Rupture with France III fuccefs of the Englijh Death of the prince of Wales Death and character cf the king Mifcellaneous tranf actions- in this reign, THE prudent conduct and great fuccefs of Edward c H A p in his foreign wars had excited a ftrono- emulation XVf. and a military genius among the Englifh nobility ; and *^ "Y*** thefe turbulent barons, over-awed by the crown, gave now a more ufeful direction to their ambition, and at- tached themfelves to a prince who led them to the acqur- iition of riches and of glory. That he might farther promote the fpirit of emulation and obedience, the king infKtuted the order of the garter, in imitation of fome orders of* a like nature, religious as well as military, which had been eftablifhed in different parts of Europe. The number received into this order confuted of twenty- T n. . five perfons, befides the fovereign ; and as it has never of the gar- been enlarged, this badge of diftinction continues as ho- er' nourable as at its firfr. inftitution, and is ftill a valuable, though a cheap, prefent, which the prince can confer on his greateft fubjects. A vulgar flory prevails, but is not fupported by any ancient authority, that, at a court- ball. 1349* 448 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, ball, Edward's miftrefs, commonly fuppofed to be the ^_ -y_*_iCountefs of Salifbury, dropped her garter; and the king, *349« taking it up, obferved fome of the courtiers to fmile, as if they thought that he had not obtained this favour merely by accident : Upon which he called out, Honi foit qui mal y penfe, Evil to him that evil thinks ; and as every incident of gallantry among thefe ancient warriors was magnified into a matter of great importance *, he insti- tuted the order of the garter in memorial of this event, and gave thefe words as the motto of the order. This origin, though frivolous, is not unfuitable to the manners of the times ; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account, either for the feemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the peculiar badge of the gar- ter, which feems to have no reference to any purpofe either of military ufe or ornament. But a fudden damp was thrown over this feftivityand triumph of the court of England, by a deftruclive pefti- lence, which invaded that kingdom as well as the reft of Europe ; and is computed to have fwept away near a third of the inhabitants in every country, which it at- tacked. It was probably more fatal in great cities than in the country ; and above fifty thoufand fouls are faid to have perifhed by it in London alone l. This malady dis- covered itfelf firft in the north of Afia, was fpread over all that country, made its progrefs from one end of Europe to another, and fenfibly depopulated every ftate through which it pafled. So grievous a calamity, more than the pacific difpofition of the princes, ferved to maintain and prolong the truce between France and England. * See note [I] at the end of the volume. t Stowe's Survey, p. 478. There were buried 50,000 bodies :n one church- yard, which Sir Walter Manny had bought for the ufe of the poor. The fame author fays, that there died above £>,ooo perfons of the plague in Nor- wich, which is quite incredible. During EDWARD III. 449 During this truce, Philip de Valois died, without c H A p* . . - . XVI. being able to re-eftablifh the afFairs of France, which his ^_ _y.. _j bad fuccefs againfl: England had thrown into extreme J35°' diforder. This monarch, during the firf! years of his reign, had obtained the appellation of Fortunate, and ac- quired the character of prudent ; but he ill maintained either the one or the other; lefs from his own fault, than becaufe he was overmatched by the fuperior fortune and fuperior genius of Edward. But the incidents in the reign of his fon John, gave the French nation caufe to regret even the calamitous times of his predeceffor. John was diftinguifhed by many virtues, particularly a fcrupu- lous honour and fidelity : He was not deficient in per- fonal courage : But as he wanted that mafterly prudence and forefight, which his difficult fituation required, his kingdom was at the fame -time diflurbed by interline commotions, and oppreffed with foreign wars. The chief 1*54, fource of its calamities, was Charles king of Navarre, p,!^ who received the epithet of the bad or wicked, and whofe conduct fully entitled him to that appellation. This prince was defcended from males of the blood royal of France ; his mother was daughter of Lewis Rutin j he had him- felf efpoufed a daughter of king John : But all thefe ties, which ought to have connected him with the throne, gave him only greater power to make and overthrow it. With regard to his perfonal qualities, he was courteous, affable, engaging, eloquent ; full of infinuation and addsefs ; in- exhauftible in his refourccs; active and entcrprifing. But thefe fplendid accompli fhmcnts were at the fame time at- tended with fuch defects, as rendered them pernicious to his country, and even ruinous to himfelf : He was fickle, inconftant, faithlefs, revengeful, malicious : Retrained by no principle or duty : Infatiable in his pretenfions : And whether fuccefsful or unfortunate in one enterprize, he immediately undertook another, in which he was never Vol. II. G g deterred 450 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, deterred from employing the moft criminal and moft drf- honourable expedients. x354- The conftable of Eu, who had been taken prifoner by- Edward at Caen, recovered his liberty, on the promife of delivering as his ranfom, the town of Guifnes, near Ca- lais, of which he was luperior lord : But as John was offended at this ftipulation, which, if fulfilled, opened ftill farther that frontier to the enemy, and as he fufpecled the conflable of more dangerous connections with the kino- of England, he ordered him to be feized, and with- out any legal or formal trial, put him to death in prifon. Charles de la Cerda was appointed conftable in his place; and had a like fatal end : The king of Navarre ordered him to be affaffinated ; and fuch was the weaknefs of the crown, that this prince, inftead of dreading punifhment, would not even agree to afk pardon for his offence, but on condition that he mould receive an acceffion of territory : And he had alfo John's fecond fon put into his hands, as a fecurity for his perfon, when he came to court, and performed this act of mock penitence and hu- miliation before his ibvereign u, '355- Th e two French princes feemed entirely reconciled ; but this diflimulation, to which John fubmitted from ne- ceflity, and Charles from habit, did not long continue ; and the king of Navarre knew, that he had reafon to ap- prehend the moft fevere vengeance for the many crimes and treafons, which he had already committed, and the ftill greater, which he was meditating. To enfure him- felf of protection, he entered into a fecret correfpondence with England, by means of Henry earl of Derby, now earl of Lancafter, who at that time was employed in fruit- lefs negociations for peace at Avignon, under the media- tion of the pope. John detected this correfpondence j u FroifTard, liv, s, chap. 144, and EDWARD III. 451 and to prevent the fatal effects of it, he fent forces into chap. . . XVI. Normandy, the chief feat of the king of Navarre's power, i_ _ _, and attacked his caftles and fortreffes. But hearing that *3SS» Edward had prepared an army to fupport his ally, he had the weaknefs to propofe an accommodation with Charles, and even to give this traiterous fubject the fum of a hundred thoufand crowns, as the purchafe of a feigned reconcilement, which rendered him ftill more dangerous. The king of Navarre, infolent from paft im- punity, and defperate from the dangers which he appre- hended, continued ftill his intrigues; and aflociating him- felf with Geoffrey d'Harcourt, who had received his pardon from Philip de Valois, but perfevered ftill in his factious difpofition, he encreafed the number of his partizans in every part of the kingdom. He even feduced by his ad- drefs, Charles, the king of France's eldeft fon, a youth of feventeen years of age, who was the firft that bore the ap- pellation of Dauphin, by the re-union of the province of Dauphiny to the crown. But this prince, being made fenfible of the danger and folly of thefe connections, pro- mifed to make atonement for the offence by the facrificc of his aftbciates ; and in concert with his father, he in- vited the king of Navarre, and other noblemen of the party, to a feaft at Rouen, where they were betrayed into the hands of John. Some of the mod obnoxious were immediately led to execution ; the king of Navarre wav thrown into prifon w : But this ftroke of fevcrity in the king, and of treachery in the Dauphin, was far from proving decifive in maintaining the royal authority. Phi- lip of Navarre, brother to Charles, and Geoffrey d'Har- court, put all the towns and caftles belonging to that prince in a pofture of defence •, and had immediate- re- courfe to the protection of England in this uefperate ex- tremity. •• FroifiarJ, liv. :. chap. 14^. Avril rya p. 243. G j: 2 The 452 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C IT a P; The truce between the two kingdoms, which had al *— J~v~W a ill obferved on both fides, was now expired j 3 355- and Edward was entirely free to fupport the French mal- contents. Well pleated, that the factions in France had at length gained him fome partizans in that kingdom, which his pretenfions to the crown had never been able to ac- complifh, he propofed to attack his enemy both on the fide of Guienne, under the command of the prince of Wales, and on that of Calais, in his own perfon. Young Edward arrived in the Garronne with his ar- my, onboard a fleet of three hundred fail, attended by the rls of Warwic, Salifbury, Oxford, Suffolk, and other £nglifh noblemen. Being joined by the vaffals of Gaf- cony, he took the field ; and as the prefent diforders in France prevented every proper plan of defence, he carried on with impunity his ravages and devaluations, according to the mode of war in that age. He reduced all the vil- lages and feveral towns in Languedoc to afhes : He pre- fented himfelf before Touloufe ; paffed the Garronne, and burned the fuburbs of Carcaflbnne ; advanced even to Narbonne, laying every place wafte around him : And after an incurlion of fix weeks, returned with a vaft booty and many prifoners to Guienne, where he took up his winter-quarters x. The conflable of Bourbon, who com- manded in thofe provinces, received orders, though at the head of a fuperior army, on no account to run the hazard of a battle. The king of England's incurfion from Calais was of the fame nature, and attended with the fame ifTue. He broke into France at the head of a numerous army ; to which he gave a full licence of plundering and ravaging the open country. He advanced to St. Omer, where the king of France was polled -y and on the retreat of that * Froiffard, liv. :. chap. 144, 146, prince, EDWARD III. 453 prince, followed him to Hefdin ?. John ftill kept at a c H A P« diftance, and declined an engagement: But in order to N^-~™> fave his reputation, he fent Edward a challenge to fight a l3Ji* pitched battle with him ; a ufual bravade in that age, de- rived from the practice of finglc combat, and ridiculous in the art of war. The king, finding no fincerity in this defiance, retired to Calais, and thence went over to Eng- land, in order to defend that kingdom againfl a threatened invafion of the Scots. The Scots, taking advantage of the kino-'s abfence, and that of the military power of England, had furprized Berwic ; and had collected an army with a view of com- mitting ravages upon the northern provinces : But on the approach of Edward, they abandoned that place, which was not tenable, while the caitie was in the hands of the Englilh j and retiring to their mountains, gave the ene- my full liberty of burning and destroying the whole coun- try from Berwic to Edinburgh z. Baliol attended Edward on this expedition ; but finding, that his conilant adher- ence to the Englifh had given his countrymen an uncon- querable averfion to his title, and that he himfelf was declining through age and infirmities, he finally refigned into the king's hands his pretentions to the crown of Scotland a, and received in lieu of them,an annual penfion of 2000 pounds, with which he pafTed the remainder of his life in privacy and retirement. During thefe military operations, Edward received in- formation of the encreaiin"; diforders in France, arifins: from the imprifonment of the king of Navarre ; and he fent Lancailer at the head of a fniall army, to fupport the partizans of that prince in Normandy. The war was conducted with various fuccefs ; but chiefly to the difad- vantage of the French malcontents j till an important y Froiflard, liv. I. chap. 144. Avefoury, p. ao6. Walfing. p. 171. a Walfing. p. 171, -1 Rymer, vol, v. p, 833. Ypod. Neuft. p. 5"i G g 3 event 454 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAT, event happened in the other quarter of the kingdom, i__' .. ' j which had well nigh proved fatal to the monarchy of *355- France, and threw every thing into the utmoft confuficn. *356, The prince of Wales, encouraged by the fuccefs of the preceding campaign, took the field with an army, which no hiftorian makes amount to above 1 2,000 men, and of which not a third were Englifh ; and with this fmall body, he ventured to penetrate into the heart of France. After ravaging the Agenois, Quercy, and the Limoufin, he en- tered the province of Berry ; and made fomc attacks, though without fuccefs, on the towns of Bourges and Ifibudun. It appeared, that his intentions were to march into Normandy, and to join his forces with thofe of the earl of Lancaitcr, and the parti zans of the king of Na- varre j but finding all the bridges on the Loire broken down, and every pafs carefully guarded, he was obliged to think of making his retreat into Guienne b. He found this refolution the more necefTary, from the intelligence which he received of the king of France's motions. That monarch, provoked at the infult offered him by this in- curfion, and entertaining hopes of fuccefs from the young prince's temerity, collected a great army of above 6o,coo men, and advanced by hafty marches to intercept his enemy. The prince, not aware of John's near approach, loft fome days, on his retreat, before the caftle of Remo- rantin c ; and thereby gave the French an opportunity of Battle of overtaking him. They came within fight at Maupertuis Poicticrs. near Poitiers j and Edward, fenfible that his retreat was now become impracticable, prepared for battle with all the courage of a young hero, and with all the prudence of the oldeft and moil experienced commander. But the utmoft prudence and courage would have proved infufEcient to fave him in this extremity, had the b Walfing. p. 171. c Froiflard, livi. ch3p. 15?. Walling. kir.£ EDWARD III. 455 king of France known how to make me of his prefent chap. . ... XVJ. advantages. His great fuperiority in numbers enabled \-/~y-N«/ him to furround the enemy ; and by intercepting all pro- 1^^6* vifions, which were already become fcarce in the Englifli camp, to reduce this fmall army, without a blow, to the neceflity of furrendering at difcretion. But fuch was the impatient ardour of the French nobility, and lb much had their thoughts been bent on overtaking the Englim as their fole object, that this idea never ffruck any of the •commanders ; and they immediately took meafures for the affault, as for a certain victory. While the French army was drawn up in order of battle, they were flopped by the appearance of the cardinal of Perigord ; who, having learned the approach of the two armies to each other, had haftened, by interpofing his good offices, to prevent any farther effufion of Chriftian blood. By John's per- miffion, he carried propofals to the prince of Wales ; and found him fo fenfible of the bad pofture of his affairs, ,that an accommodation feemed not impracticable. Ed- ward told him, that he v/ould agree to any terms con- iiftent with his own honour and that of England ; and he offered to purchafe a retreat by refigning all the con- -quefts, which he had made during this and the former campaign, and by fiipulating not to ferve againfr. France during the courfe of feven years. But John, imagining that he had now got into his hands a fufficient pledge for the reflitution of Calais, required that Edward fhould furrender himfelf prifoner with a hundred of his attend- ants ; and offered on thefe terms a fafe retreat to the Englifh army. The prince rejected the propofal with difdain ; and declared, that, whatever fortune might at- tend him, England fhould never be obliged to pay the price of his ranfom. This refolute anfwer cut off all hopes of accommodation ; but as the day was already G g 4 fpent 456 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C v Ai P" ^Pen* *n negotiating, the battle was delayed till the next morning d. The cardinal of Perigord, a,s were all the prelates of the court of Rome, was extremely attached to the French in- tereft; but the moll determined enemy could not, by any expedient, have done a greater prejudice to John's affairs, *£th Sept.] fhan he J:,} them by this delay. The prince of Wales had leifure, during the night, to ftrengthen, by new in- trenchments, the poll which he had before fo judicioufly chofen ; and he contrived an ambufh of 300 men at arms, and as many archers, whom he put under the command of the CaptaJ de Buche, and ordered to make a circuit, that they might fall on the flank or rear of the French army during the engagement. The van of his army was commanded by the earl of Warwic, the rear by the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, the main body by the prince himfclf. The lords Chandos, Audeley, and many other brave and experienced commanders, were at the head of different corps of his army. John alfo arranged bis forces in three divifions, nearly fqual : The firft was Commanded by the duke of Orleans, the king's brother ; the fecond by the dauphin attended by his two younger brothers ; the third by the king him- fclf, who had by his fide Philip, his fourth fon and fa- vourite, then about fourteen years of age. There was no reaching the Engliih army but through a narrow lane, covered on each fde by hedges ; and in order to open this paflage, the marefchals, Andrehen and Clermont, were ordered to advance with a feparate detachment of men at arms. While they marched along the lane, a body of Engliih archers, who lined the hedges, plyed them on each fide with their arrows ; and being very near them, vet placed in perfect: fafety, they coolly took their aim againft the enemy, and flaughtered them with impunity, d F*olffard, liv. 1. chap. 161, The EDWARD III. 457 The French detachment, much difcourag-ed by the un- chap. equal combat, and diminifhed in their number, arrived at „ ,^^j the end of the lane, where they met on the open ground J3S6* the prince of Wales himfelf, at the head of a chofen body, ready for their reception. They were difcomfited and overthrown : One of the marefehals was flain ; the other taken prifoner : And the remainder of the detachment, who were ftill in the lane, and expofed to the fhot of the enemy, without being able to make refinance, recoiled upon their ov/n army, and put every thing into diforder e. In that critical moment, the Captal de Buche unexpect- edly appeared, and attacked in flank the Dauphin's line, which fell into fome confufion. Landas, Bodcnai, and St. Venant, to whom the care of that young prince and his brothers had been committed, too anxious for their charge or for their ov/n fafety, carried them off the field of battle, and fet the example of flight, which was fol- lowed by that whole divifion. The duke of Orleans, feized with a like panic, and imagining all was loft, thought no longer of fighting, but carried off his divifion by a retreat, which foon turned into a flight. Lord Chandos called out to the prince, that the day was won ; and encouraged him to attack the divifion, under king John, which, though more numerous than the whole Englilh army, were fomewhat difmayed with the precipi- tate flight of their companions. John here mads the utmoft efforts to retrieve by his valour, what his impru- dence had betrayed ; and the only renftance made that day was by his line of battle. The prince of Wales fell with impetuofity on forne German cavalry placed in the front, and commanded by the counts of Sallebruche, Nydo, and Nofto : A fierce battle enfued : One fide were encou- raged by the near profpecT: of fo great a victory : The other Were ftimulated by the fhame of quitting the field to an. e Frolffard, Iiv. I. chap, 162, enemy 458 HISTORY OFENGLAND. CHAP, enemy fo much inferior: But the three German generals •*_--v--Lj together with the duke of Athens, conftable of France, J356' falling in battle, that body of cavalry gave way, and left the king himfelf expofed to the whole fury of the enemy. The ranks were every moment thinned around him : The nobles fell by his fide, one after another : His fon, fcarce - fourteen years of age, received a wound, while he was fighting valiantly in defence of his father : The kino- himfelf, fpent with fatigue, and overwhelmed by num- bers, might eafily have been flain ; but every Engliih gentleman, ambitious of taking alive the royal prifoner, jpared him in the action, exhorted him to furrender him- felf, and offered him quarter : Several who attempted to feize him, fuffered for their temerity. He ftill cried out, Where is my couftn^ the ■prince of Wales ? and feemed un- willing to become prifoner to any perfon of inferior rank. Captivity of But being told, that the prince was at a diftance on the France.5 field? he threw down his gauntlet, and yielded himfelf to Dennis de Morbec, a knight of Arras, who had been obliged to fly his country for murder. His fon was taken with him f. The prince of Wales, who had been carried away in purfuit of the flying enemy, finding the field entirely clfear, had ordered a tent to be pitched, and was rcpofing himfelf after the toils of battle j enquiring ftill with great anxiety concerning the fate of the French monarch. He difpatched the earl of Warwic to bring him intelligence ; and that nobleman came happily in time to fave the life of the captive prince, which was expofed to greater dan- ger than it had been during the heat of action. The Engliih had taken him by violence from Morbec : The Gafcons claimed the honour of detaining the prifoner: And fome brutal foldiers, rather than yield the prize to their rivals, had threatened to put him to death s. War- f Rymer, vol. vi. p. 72, 154. Froiffard, liv. 1. chap. 164. % Froiffard, liv, 1, chap. 164, W1C EDWARD III. 459 wic overawed both parties, and approaching the king with c H A P. great demonftrations of refpect, offered to conduct him to J^J the prince's tent. 1356. Here commences the real and truly admirable heroifm. of Edward : For victories are vulgar things in comparifon of that moderation and humanity difcovered by a young prince of twenty-feven years of age, not yet cooled from the fury of battle, and elated by as extraordinary and as unexpected fuccefs as had ever crowned the arms of any commander. He came forth to meet the captive king with all the marks of regard and fympathy ; adminiffered com- fort to him amidft. his misfortunes ; paid him the tribut?. ofpraife due to his valour; and afcribcd his own victory merely to the blind chance of war or to a fuperior provi- dence, which controuls all the efforts of human force and prudence h. The behaviour of John mowed him not un- worthy of this courteous treatment: His prefent abject fortune never made him forget a moment that he was a king : More touched by Edward's generofity than by his own calamities, he confeffed, that, notwithftanding his defeat and captivity, his honour was ftill unimpaired ; and that, if he yielded the victory, it was at leaft gained by a prince of fuch connimmate valour and humanity. Edward ordered a repaft to be prepared in his tent for the prifoner ; and he himfelf ferved at the royal cap- tive's table, as if he had been one of his retinue : He flood at the king's back during the meal ; conftantly re- fufed to take a place at table ; and declared, that, being a fubject, he was too well acquainted with the dif- tance between his own rank, and that of royal majefty, to afl'ume fuch freedom. All his father's pretenfions to the crown of France were now buried in oblivion : John in captivity received the honours of a king, which were refufed him when feated on the throne : His misfortunes, jiot his title, were refpected : and the French prifoners, t Poul. Cemil. p. 197. I conquered 46c HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, conquered by this elevation of mind, more than by their i^s+^j late difcomfiture, burft into tears of admiration ; which J357- were only checked by the reflection, that fuch genu- ine and unaltered heroifm in an enemy mint certainly in the ilTue prove but the more dangerous to their native country *. All the Englifh and Gafcon knights imitated the ge- nerous example fet them by their prince. The captives were every where treated with humanity, and were foon after difmifTed on paying moderate ranfoms to the perfons into whofe hands they had fallen. The extent of their fortunes was conlidered ; and an attention was given, that they fhould frill have fufficient means left, for the future, to perform their military fcrvice in a manner fuitable to their rank and quality. Yet fo numerous were the noble prifoners, that thefe ranfoms, joined to the fpoils, gained in the field, were fufficient to enrich the prince's army ; and as they had fufFered very little in the action, their joy and exultation was complete. The prince of Wales conducted his prifoner to Bour- deaux ; and not being provided with forces fo numerous vs> might enable him to pufh his prefent advantages, he concluded a two years' truce with France k, which was alfo become requifite, that he might conduct the captive king with fafcty into England. He landed at South- wark, and was met by a great concourfe of people, of all 24th May. ranks and flations. The prifoner was clad in royal ap- parel, anu mounted on a white deed, diftinguifhed by its fize and beauty, and by the richnefs of its furniture. The conqueror rode by his fide in a meaner attire, and carried by a black palfry. In this fituation, much more glorious than all the info'ent parade of a Roman triumph, he paffed through the ilreets of London, and prefented the kin? of France to his father, who advanced to meet i FroiiTard, liv. i, chap. 168, k Rymer, vol, vi. p. 3. him,, EDWARD III. 461 him, and received him with the fame courtefy, as if he had c ^ A P. been a neighbouring potentate, that had voluntarily come <0^^«j to pay him a friendly vifit J. It is impoMible, in re- !357« Heeling on this noble conduit, not to perceive the advan- tages, which refulted from the otherwife whimfical prin- ciples of chivalry, and which gave men, in thofe rude times, fome fuperiority even over people of a more cul- tivated age and nation. The king of France, befides the generous treatment which he met with in England, had the melancholy con- folation of the wretched, to fee companions in affliction, The king of Scots had been eleven years a captive in Edward's hands ; and the good fortune of this latter monarch had reduced at once the two neighbouring po- tentates, with whom he was engaged in war, to be pri- foners in his capital. But Edward, finding that the con- quer! of Scotland was nowife advanced by the captivity of its fovereign, and that the government, conducted by Robert Stuart, his nephew and heir, was flill able to de- fend itfelf, confented to reflore David Bruce to his liberty, for the ranfom of 100,000 marks fterling ; and that prince delivered the fons of all his principal nobility, as hoftages for the payment m. Meanwhile, the captivity of John, joined to the 135s- Ststc of preceding diforders of the French government, had pi'O- jrrance> duced in that country, a diflblution, aimed total, of civil authority, and had occafioned confuficrns, the moft hor- rible and deftructive that had ever been experienced in any age or in any nation. The dauphin, now about eighteen years of age, naturally aflumed the royal power during his father's captivity; but though endowed with an ex- cellent capacity, even in fuch pofleffe Rymer, vol v:. p. 45 46,5:, 56. Frcili'-ird, liv. i. chap. 174. Wflliing. p .173. irate, 464 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, ftate, affailed at once by foreign power and Shaken by in- t_^_l^> ternal faction. In order to obtain fupply., he alTembled 13S7> the States of the kingdom : That afTembly, infread of fup- porting his administration, were themfelves feized with the fpirit of confufion ; and laid hold of the prefent op- portunity to demand limitations of the prince's power, the punifhment of paft malverfations, and the liberty of the king of Navarre. Marcel, provoir. of the merchants, and firft magistrate of Paris, put himfelf at the head of the unruly populace ; and from the violence and teme- rity of his character, pufhed them to commit the molt criminal outrages againft the royal authority. They de- tained the dauphin in a fort of captivity ; they murdered m his prefence Robert de Clermont and John de Con- flans, marefchals of France ; they threatened all the other ministers with a like fate ; and when Charles, who was obliged to temporize and difiemble, made his efcape from their hands, they levied war againft him, and openly creeled the Standard of rebellion. The other cities of the kingdom, in imitation of the capital, Shook off the dau- phin's authority ; took the government into their own hands ; and fprcad the diforder into every province. The nobles, whofe inclinations led them to adhere to the crown, and were naturally difpofed to check thefe tu- mults, had loft all their influence j and being reproached with cowardice on account of the bale defertion of their fovereign in the battle of Poictiers, were treated with univerfal contempt by the inferior orders. The troops, who, from the deficiency of pay, were no longer retained in difcipline, threw off all regard to their officers, fought the means of fubfiStance by plunder and robbery, and alTociating to them all the diforderly people, with whom that age abounded, formed numerous bands, which in- ferred all quarters of the kingdom. They defolated the open country ; bnrned and plundered the villages ; and by cutting off all means of communication or fub- filtance, EDWARD III. 463 fifhnce, reduced even the inhabitants of the walled C ha p. towns to the moft extreme neceffity. The peafants, for- c^^-^j merly opprefTed, and now left unprotected, by their IZS%* mailers, became defperate from their prefent mifery ; and rifing every where in arms, carried to the laft extremity thofe diforders, which were derived from the fedition of the citizens and difbanded foldiers n. The gentry, hated for their tyranny, were every where expofed to the vio- lence of popular rage ; and inftead of meeting with the regard due to their paft dignity, became only, on that account, the object of more wanton infult to the muti- nous peafants. They were hunted like wild hearts, and put to the fword without mercy : Their caftles were con- fumed with fire, and levelled to the ground : Their wives and daughters were firft ravifhed, then murdered : The favages proceeded fo far as to impale fome gentlemen, and roaft them alive before a flow fire: A body of nine thou- fand of them broke into Meaux, where the wife of the dauphin with above 300 ladies had taken Ihelter : The mofl brutal treatment and moft atrocious cruelty were juftly dreaded by this helplefs company : But the Captal de Buche, though in the fervice of Edward, yet moved by generofity and by the gallantry of a true knight, flew to their refcue, and beat off" the peafants with great daughter. In other civil wars, the oppofite factions, falling under the government of their feveral leaders, commonly preferve ftill the veftige of fome rule and order : But here the wild ftate of nature feemed to be renewed : Every man was thrown loofe and independant of his fel- lows : And the populoufnefs of the country, derived from the preceding police of civil fociety, ferved only to en- creafe the horror and confufion of the fcene. Amidst thefe diforders, the king of Navarre made his fcfeape from prifon, and prefented a dangerous leader to n Froififard, liv, i, chap, 182, 1?}, 1S4, the 4.64- HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, the furious malcontents0. But the fplendid talents of this XVI. . . . %_^~r^. prince qualified him only to do mifchief, and to encreafe J353. the public diffractions : He wanted the fteadinefs and pru- dence requisite for making his intrigues fubfervient to his ambition, and forming his numerous partizans into a re- gular faclion. He revived his pretenfions, fomewhat ob- folete, to the crown of France : But while he advanced this claim, he relied entirely on his alliance with the Englifh, who were concerned in intereft to difappoint his pretenfions, and who, being public and inveterate ene- mies to the (fate, ferved only, by the friendfhip which they feemingly bore him, to render his caufe the more odious. And in all his operations, he adled more like a leader of banditti, than one who afpired to be the head of a regular government, and who was engaged by his fta- tion to endeavour the re-eftabiimment of order in the community. The eyes, therefore, of all the French, who wifhed to reffore peace to their miferable and defolated country, were turned towards the dauphin ; and that young prince, though not remarkable for his military talents, pofTefTed fo much prudence and fpirit, that he daily gained the afcendant over all his enemies. Marcel, the feditious provoft of Paris, was flain, while he was attempting to deliver the city to the king of Navarre and the Englifh j and the capital immediately returned to its duty p. The moff. considerable bodies of the mutinous peafants were difperfed, and put to the fword : Some bands of military robbers underwent the fame fate ; And though many grievous diforders ftill remained, France began gradually to aflume the face of a regular civil government, and to form fome plan for its defence and fecurity. During the confufion- in the dauphin's affairs, Ed- ward feemed to have a favourable opportunity for pufhing o Froiflaid, liv.i, chap. i?i, P Ibid. chap. i"y. his EDWARD III. 465 jb«'s conquefts: But befides that his hands were tied byc H A p« i X v 1 , the truce, and he could only afiift underhand the faction ,_ _ i_/ of Navarre ; the ftate of the Eriglifh finances and mill- i35sv tary power during thofe ages, rendere"! the kingdom in- capable of making any regular or fteady effort, and ob- liged it to exert its force at very diftaht intervals, by Which all the projected ends were commonly difappoint- ed. Edward employed himfelf, during a conjuncture fo inviting, chiefly in negociations with his priforier ; and John had the Weaknefs to fign terms of peace, which, had they taken effect, mull have totally ruined and dif- membered his kingdom. He agreed to reftore all the provinces which had been pofTeffed by Henry II. and his two fons, and to annex them for ever to England, with- out any obligation of homage or fealty on the part of the Eno-lifh monarch. But the dauphin and the {rates of France rejected this treaty, fo difhonourable and perni- cious to the kingdom 1 ; and Edward, on the expiration of the truces having now, by fubfidies and frugality, col- lected fome treafure, prepared himfelf for a new invafiori of France. The great authority and renown of the king and the prince of Wales, the fplendid fuccefs of their former en- terprizes, and the certain profpect of plunder from the defencelefs provinces of France, foon brought together the whole military power of England ; and the fame mo- tives invited to Edward's ftandard all the hardy adven- turers of the different countries of Europe r. He pafTed over to Calais, where he affembled an army of near a hundred thoufand men ; a force which the dauphin could not pretend to withftand in the open field : That prince therefore prepared himfelf to elude a blow, which it was- impoffible for him to refift. He put all the confidefaBIe towns in a pofture of defence ; ordered them to be fup- <3 FroifTard, liv. I. chap. aoi. • r Ibid. chap. 205. Vol. II, H h plied 4'6fc HISfORY OF ENGLAN Dv r A p- plied with magazines and provifions ; difrributed proper" garrifons in all places ; fecured every thing valuable in "' the fortified cities ; and chofe his own ftation at Paris, with a view of allowing the enemy to • vent their fury oiv the open- country. »"!;$. The kin:r, aware of this plan of defence, was obliged 4": ov' to carry along with him fix thoufand waggons, loaded with the provifions nccetlary for the fubfiftance of his army. After ravaging the province of Picardy, he advanced into- Champagne ; and having a flrong defire of being crowned Brlac'e" ° ^n5 °^ France at Rhelms, the ufual place in which that ceremony is performed,, he laid fiege to that city, and carried on- his attacks, though without fuccefs, for the fpace of feven weeks V The place was bravely de- fended by the inhabitants, encouraged hy the exhorta- tions of the archbifhop, John de Craon ; till the advan- ced feafon (for this expedition was entered upon in the v.6o. beginning of winter) obliged the king to raife the fiege.. The province of Champagne, meanwhile,, was defolated by his incurfions ; and he thence conducted his arrhv,. with a like intent), into Burgundy. Ke took and pillaged Tonnerre, Gaillon,. and Avalon, and other fmall places ;.. but the duke of Burgundy, that he might prefcrve his country from farther ravages, confented to pay him the fum of ico,000 nobles '. Edward then bent his march..- towards the Nivernois, which faved itfelf by a like com- pofition : He laid' wafte Brie and the Gatinois ; and- after a lonf march, very deilruclive to France, and forne- what ruinous to his own troops, he appeared before the ?ates of Paris, and taking up his quarters at Bourg-la- Rcine, extended his army to Long-jumeau, Mont-rouge and Vaugirard, He tried to provoke the dauphin to ha- s FioJiTard, liv. i. chap. 208, Walfing. p. 174, t Rymer, vol. vi0 p, l6l, Wiiiljlg. p. I 74. zard* EDWARD titi 467 Eard a battle, by fending him a defiance ; but could not C H a pa inake that prudent prince change his plan of operations., ^^—^ Paris was fafe from the danger of an afTault by its nu- j36°. merous garrifon ; from that of a blockade by its well fup- plied magazines: And as Edward himfelf could not fubfift his army in a country, wafted by foreign and domeftic enemies, and left alfo empty by the precaution of the dau- phin, he was obliged to remove his quarters ; and he fpread his troops into the provinces of Maine, BeauAe, and the Chartraine, which were abandoned to the fury of their devaluations u. The only repofe, which France experienced, was during the feftival of Eafter, when the king flopped the courfe of his ravages. For fuperftitiori can fometimes reffrain the rage of men, which neither juftice nor humanity is able to controul; While the war was carried on in this ruinous manner, the negociations for peace were never interrupted : But as the king ftill infilled on the full execution of the treaty, which he had made with his prifoner at London, and which was ftrenuoulTy rejected by the dauphin, there ap- peared no likelihood of an accommodation. The carl,' now duke of Lancafter (for this title was introduced into England during the prefent reign) endeavoured to foft'en the rigour of thefe terms, and to fi'nifh the war on more equal and reafonable conditions. Fie infilled with Ed- ward, that, notwithstanding his great and fu'rprifmg fuc- CefTes, the object of the war, if fuch were to be efteemed the acquifition of the crown of France, was not become any nearer than at the commencement of it ; or rather, was fet at a greater diftance, by thofe very victories and' advantages, which feemed to lead to it. That his claim of fucceflion had not from the fir ft procured him one parti- zan in the kingdom ; znd the continuance of thefe de- tractive hoftilitics had united every Frenchman in the a Wal/insc. p. 175, H h 2 mofc 468 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ° xvr P" mo^ implaca^^e animofity againft him. That though: t*^\'A; inteftine faction had creeped into the government of 12 ° France, it was abating every moment; and no party, even during the greateft heat of the contefr, when fub- jection under a foreign enemy ufually appears preferable to the dominion of fellow-citizens, had ever adopted the pretenfions of the king of England. That the king of Navarre himfelf, who alone was- allied with the Engllifh., inftead of being a cordial friend, was Edward's meft dangerous rival, and in the opinion of his partizans ap- peared to poflefs a much preferable title to the crown of France. That the prolongation of the war, however it might enrich the Englifh foldiers, was ruinous to the king himfelf, who bore all the charges of the armament^ without reaping any folid or durable advantage from it. That- if the prefent diforders of France continued, that kingdom would foon be reduced to fuch a flate of defola- tion as to afford no fpoils to its ravagcrs ; if it could eftablifh a more fta.dy government, it might turn the chance of war in its favour, and by its fuperior force and advantages, be able to repel the prefent victors. That the dauphin, even during his greateft diftrefTes,. had yet conducted himfelf with fo much prodence as to prevent the Englifh from acquiring one foot of land in the king- dom ; and it were better for the king to accept by a peace what he had in vain attempted to acquire by ho- stilities, which, however hitherto fuccefsful, had been extremely expenfivc, and might prove very danger- ous. And that Edward having acquired fo much glory by his arms, the praife of moderation was the only ho- nour, to which he could now afpire ; an honour fo much the greater, as it was durable, was united with that of prudence, and might be attended with the moft real ad- vantages v'. w JFfoiflard, liv. 5. chap. iir» These EDWARD IK. 469 These reafons induced Edward to accept of more CHAP. , . XVI. moderate terms of peace ; and it is probable, that, in ^^^j jcrder to palliate this change of refolution, he afcribed it 1360: to a vow, made during a dreadful tempeil, which at-greCignip tacked his army on their march, and which ancient hifto- j-ians reprefent as the caufe of this fudden accommoda- tion x. The conferences between the Englifh and French commiffioners were carried on during a hw days at Bre- ,tigni in the Chartraine, and the peace was at lafc con- 3^ May, .eluded on the following conditions ' : It was ftipulated, .that king John mould be reftored to his liberty, and fhould pay as his ranfom three millions of crowns of gold, about 1,500,000 pounds of cur prefect money z.j which was to be difcharged at different payments : That Edward mould for ever renounce all claim to the crown of France, and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Tcuraine, and Anjou, poucfTed by his anceftors ; and •fhould receive in exchange the provinces of Poiclou, Xaintonge, l'Agenois, Perigart, the Limoufm, Quercy, Rovergue, 1'Angoumois, and other diftri&s in that quar- ter, together with .Calais, Guifnes, Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu, on the other fide of France : That the full fovereignty of all thefe provinces, as well as that of Guienne, fhould be vefted in the crown of Eng- land, and that France fhould renounce all title to feudal jurifdiction, homage, or appeal from them: That the king of Navarre mould be reftored to all his honours urbon count de Ponthieu, the counts d'Eu, de Longueville, de St. Pol, de Har- courr, de Vent'ome, de Couci, de CraoO, de Montmorenci, and many of the Chief nobility of France. The princes were moflly releafed on the fulfilling of certain articles : Others of the hoflages, and the duke of Berry among the reft, were permitted to return upon their parole, which they did not keep- Rymer, vol. vi. p. 278., 2^5, 287, b Froiflardj liv, i„ chap. 313, had E D W A 11 D III. 471 had indeed been his greateft political enemy, but had c H A p. treated him personally with fingular humanity and regard, ^^^j But, notwithstanding his endeavours, there occurred 1lt°> many difficulties in fulfilling his purpcrfe ; chiefly from the extreme reluctance, which many towns and vaflals in the neighbourhood of Guienne, expreffed agairift fubmitting to the Englifh dominion c ; and John, in order to adjuft thefe differences, took a refolution of coming over him- J36S« felf to England. His council endeavoured to difTuade him from this rafh defign ; and .probably would have been plcafed to fee him employ more chicanes for eluding the execution of fo difadvantageous a treaty: But Jorm replied to them, that, though good faith were banifhed from the reft of the earth, fhe ought ftill to retain her habitation in the breafts of princes. Seme hiftorians would detracl from the merit of this honourable behaviour, by repre- fenting John as enamoured of an Englifh lady, to whom he was glad, on this pretence, to pay a vifit : But be- sides, that this furmife is not founded on any good au- thority, it appears fomewhat unlikely on account of the advanced age of that prince, who was now in his fifty- lixth year. He was lodged in the Savoy ; the palace x364« where he had refided during his captivity, and where he foon after fickened and died. Nothing can be a ftronger 8th April; proof of the great dominion of fortune over men, than the calamities which purfued a monarch of fuch eminent valour, goodnefs, and honour, and which he incurred merely by reafon of fome flight imprudences, which, in other fituations, would have been of no importance. But though both his reign and that of his father proved ex- tremely unfortunate to their kingdom, the French crown acquired, during their time, very confiderable acceflions, thofe of Dauphiny and Burgundy. This latter province, however, John had the imprudence again to difmember * Frojfiard, liv. i. chap. 414. H h 4 from 472 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, from the crown, by bellowing it on Philip his fourth fon, XVI. . . . \^^^^_j the object of his mod tender affections f ; a deed, which was J|fy. afterwards the fource of many calamities to the kingdom. John was fucceeded in the throne by Charles, the Dauphin, a prince educated in the fchool of adverfity, and well qualified, by his confummate prudence and ex- perience, to repair all the lofies, which the kingdom had fufr.air.ed from the errors of his two predeceflbrs. Con- trary to the practice of all the great princes of thofe times, which held nothing in eflimation but military courage, he feerns to have fixed it as a maxim never to appear at the head of .his armies ; and he was the firft king in Eu- rope, that fhov/ed the advantage of policy, forefight, and judgment., above a rafli and precipitate valour. Th^ events of hi§ "tign, compared with thofe of the preceding, are a proof^ how little reafon kingdoms have to value fhemfelvcs on their victories, or to be humbled by their defeats ; which in reality ought to be afcribed chiefly to the good or bad conduct of their rulers, and are of little moment towards determining national characters and manners. jj.ajf 0f Before Charles could think of counter-balancing fo France, great a power as England, it was neceflary for him to remedy the many diforders, to which his own kingdom was expofed. He turned his arms againft the king of Na- varre, the great difturber of France during that age : He defeated that prince by the conduct of Bertrand du Guef? clin, a gentleman of Britanny, one of the moft accom- plished characters of the age, whom he had the difcern- ment to chufe as the instrument of all his victories £ ; And he obliged his enemy to accept of moderate terms of, peace. Du Guefclin was lefs fortunate in the wars of Britanny, which frill continued, notwithstanding the me- f Rymer, vol, vi, p. 421, 8 Froi.Tard, liv. j, cbap. 1115, diatiori EDWARD III. 473 diation of France and England : He was defeated and c " A P« taken prifoner at Auray by Chandcs : Charles of Blois was there flain, and the young count of Mountfort foon after I364« got entire pofleffion of th:;t dutrhy h. But the prudence of Charles broke tne force of this blow : He fubmkted to the decifion of fortune : He acknowledged the title of Mountfort, though a zealous oartizan of England ; and received the proffered homage for his dominions. But the chief obftacle which the French king met with in the fettlement of the fiate, proceeded frcm obfcure ene- mies, whom their crimes alone rendered eminent, and their number dangerous. On the concluhon of the treaty of Bretigni, the many military adventurers, who had followed the fortunes of Edward, being difperfed into the feveral provinces, and poflefled of ftrong holds, refufed to lay down their arms, or relinquish a courfe of life, to which they were now accuftomed, and by which alone they could gain a fub- fiftance '. They affociated themfeives with the banditti, who were already enured to the habits of rapine and vio- lence ; and under the name of the companies and co?npa- xions, became a terror to all the peaceable inhabitants. Some Englifh and Gafcon gentlemen of character, parti- cularly Sir Matthew Gournay, Sir Hugh Calverly, the chevalier Verte, and others, were not afhamed to take the command of thefe rufEans, whofe numbers amounted on the whole to near 40,000, and who bore the appearance of regular armies, rather than bands of robbers. Thefe leaders fought pitched battles with the troops of France, and gained victories; in one of which Jaques de Bourbon, a prince of the blood, was flaink : And they proceeded tofuch a height, that they wanted little but regular eftablifhments to become princes, and thereby fanctify, by the maxims of Ji Froiflard, liv. I. chap, 227, 22S, &C. Walfing. p. 180, j Froiflard, liv, 1, chap, 214, k ibid, chap. 214, 215, the 474 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, chap, the world, their infamous profeflion. The greater fpoii \^^—J they committed on the country, the more eafy they found *364. it to recruit their number : All thofe, who were reduced to mifery and defpair, flocked to their fhndard : The evil was every day encreafing : And though the pope declared them excommunicated, thefe military plunderers, however deeply affefted with this fentence, to which they paid a much greater regard than to any maxims of juflice or humanity, could not be induced by it to betake them- felves to any peaceable or lawful profeflion. *366« As Charles was not able by power to redrefs fo enor- mous a grievance, he was led by neceffiry, and by the turn of his character, to correct it by policy, and to con- trive fome method of difcharging into fcrcign countries this dangerous and intefrine evil. Peter, king of Caftile, ftigmatized by his contempo- raries and by pofterity, with the epithet of Cruel, had filled with blood and murder his kingdom and his own family ; and having incurred the univerfal hatred of his fubje&s, he kept, from prefent terror alone, an anxious and precarious pofTcffion of the throne. His nobles fell every day the victims of his feverity : He put to death fe- veral of his natural brothers from groundlefs jealoufy : Each murder, by multiplying his enemies, became the occafion of frefh barbarities : And as he was not defHtute of talents, his neighbours, no lefs than his own fubjects, were alarmed at the progrefs of his violence and injuf- tice. The ferocity of his temper, inftead of being fof- tened by his flrong propenfity to love, was rather enflamed by that paflion, and took thence new occafion to exert itfelf. Inftigated by Mary de Padilla, who had acquired the afcendant over him, he threw into prifon Blanche de Bourbon, his wife, filler to the queen of France ; and foon after made way by poifon for the efpoufmg of his miftrefs. 2 Henry, EDWARD III. 475 Henry, count of Tranftamare, his natural brother, c HAP. . XVI. feeing; the fate of every one who had become obnoxious \jr~\,<~^>* to this tyrant, took arms againft him ; but being foiled *36£« in the attempt, he fought for jefuge in France, where he found the minds of every one extremely enflamed againft Peter, on account of his murder of the French princefs. He afked permiiiion of Charles to enlift the domfanits in his fervice, and to lead them into Caftiie ; where, from the concurrence of his own friends and the enemies of his brother, he had the profpetSr. of certain and immediate fuccefs. The French king, charmed with the project, employed du Guefclin in negociating with the leaders of thefe banditti. The treaty was foon concluded. The high character of honour, which that general poffeffed, made every one truft to his promifes : Though the in- tended expedition was kept a fecret, the companies im- plicitly inlifted under his ftandard : And they required no other condition before their engagement, than an affu- rance, that they were not to be led againft the prince of Wales in Guienne. But that prince was fo little averfe to the enterprize, that he allowed fome gentlemen of his retinue to enter into the fervice under du Guefclin. Du Guesclin, having completed his- levies, led the army firft to Avignon, where the pope then refided, and demanded, fword in hand, an absolution for his foldicrs, and the fum of 200,000 livres. The firft was readily promifed him ; fome more difficulty was made with re- gard to the fecond. " I believe, that my fellows," re- plied du Guefclin, " may make a fhift to do without fl your abfoiution ; but the money is abfolutely neceffa- *' ry." The pope then extorted from the inhabitants in the city and neighbourhood the fum of a hundred thou- sand livres, and offered it to du Guefclin. " It is not my ** purpofe," cried that generous warrior, " to opprefs the fc innocent peopk. The pope and his cardinals themfelves *' caa 476 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c„*5 Af P' " can eafily fpare me that fum from their own pockets. v. -.,._/ '.' This money, I infrfr, muft be reftored to the owners. 1366. tc ^nd fhouid they be defrauded of it, I mall myfelf re- " turn from the other fide of the Pyrenees, and oblige *' you to make them reirituti-on." The pope found the neceffity of fubmitting, and paid him, from his own treafury, the fum demanded ', The army, hallowed by the bleflings, and enriched by the fpoils of the church, proceeded on their expedition. These experienced and hardy foldiers, conducted by fo able a general, eafily prevailed over the king of Caftile, whofe fubje&s, inftead of fupporting their opprefTor, were ready to join the enemy againir. hirn in. Peter fled from ,. his dominions, took flicker in Guienne, and craved the protection of the prince of Wales, whom his father had invefced with the fovercignty of thefe conquered pro- vinces, under the title of the principality of Aquitaine n. The prince feemed now to have entirely changed his fen- timents with regard to the Spanifh tranfaclions : Whether that he was moved by the generofitv of fupporting a dif- treft prince, and thought, as is but too ufual among for vereigns, that the rights of the people were a matter of much lefs confideration ; or dreaded the acquifition of fo powerful a confederate to France as the new king of Caf- tile ; or what is moil probable, was impatient of reft and eafe, and fought only an opportunity for exerting his mi- litary talents, by which he had already acquired fo much 7-67. renown. Ke promifed his affiftance to the dethroned Expedition monarch • and having obtained the confent of his father. into Caftile. G ' he levied a great army, and fet out upon his enterprize. He was accompanied by his younger brother, John of Gaunt, created duke of Lancafter, in room of the good prince of that name, who had died without any male I Hift. du Guefdin. m Froifiard, liv. I, chap, 230. n Rymer, vol, vi. p. 384. Froiffard, liv. 1. chap. 231, iflueft ED W A R D III. ' 477 Iffue, and whofe daughter he had efpoufed. Chandos C H a p. * ' o xvi. alfo, who bore among the Englifh the fame character, ^ ..-,_j which du Guefclin had acquired among the French, Jl$7* commanded under him in this expedition.. The firft blow, which the prince of Wales gave to Henry of Tranftamare, was the recalling of all the com-* parties from his fervice ; and fo much reverence did they bear to the name of Edward, that great numbers of them immediately withdrew from Spain, and inlifted under his. banners. Henry however, beloved by his new fubjecb, and fupported by the king of Arragon and others of his neighbours, was able to meet the enemy with an army of 100,000 men; forces three times more numerous than thofe which were commanded by Edward. Du Guefclin, and all his experienced officers, advifed him to. delay any decifive action, to cut off the prince of Wales's provi- fions, and to avoid every engagement with a general, whofe enterprizes had hitherto been alwavs conducted with prudence, and crowned with fuccefs. Henry trufted too much to his numbers ; and ventured to encounter the Englifh prince at Najara °. Hiftorians of that age are 3d April, commonly very copious in defcribing the fhock of armies in battle^ the valour of the combatants, the {laughter and various fuccefles of the day : But though fmall rencoun- ters in thofe times were often well difputed, military difcipline was always too imperfect to preferve order in great armies ; and fuch actions deferve more the name of routs than of battles. Henry was chaced off the field, with the lofs of above 20,000 men : There perifhed only four knights and forty private men on the fide of the Englifh.. Peter, who fo well merited the infamous epithet which he bore, propofed to murder all his prifoners in cool blood ; but was retrained from this barbarity by the 0 Froiflard, 11 v, 1. chap. 241, remon- 478 tl I S T (3 H Y O F ENGLAND CHAP, remembrances of the prince of Wales. All Caftile now XVf. x><^^/^ fubmitted to the victor : Peter was reftored to the throne : *367' And Edward fmifhed this perilous enterprize with his ufual glory. But he had foon reafon to repent his con- nexions with a man like Peter, abandoned to all fenfe of virtue and honour. The ungrateful tyrant refufed the' ftipulated pay to the Englifh forces ; and Edward, find- ing his foldiers daily pcrifli by ficknefs, and even his own health impaired by the climate,- was obliged, with- out receiving any fatisfaction on this head, to return into Guienne p. The barbarities, exercifed by Peter over his helplefs? fubje&s, whom he now regarded as vanquifhed rcbels9- revived all the animofity of the Caftilians againft him 3? and on the return of Henry of Tranftamare, together with du Guefclin, and fome forces levied anew in France, the tyrant was again dethroned, and was taken prifoner. His brother, in refentment of his cruelties, murdered him with his own hand ; and was placed on the thron? of Caftile, which he tranfmitted to his pofterity. The duke of Lancaftcr, wlio efpoufed in fecond marriage the' eldeft daughter of Peter, inherited only the empty title' of that fovereignty, and, by claiming the fucceflion, en- creafed the animofity of the new king of Caftile againft England. 136S. But the prejudice, which' the affairs of prince Edward wltPhUre received from this fplendk!, though imprudent expedi-' France. tion, ended not with it. He had involved himfelf in fo' much debt by his preparations and the pay of his troops, that he found it neceiTarv, on his return, to impofe on his principality a new tax, which fome of the no- bility payed with extreme reluctance, and to which P FroiiTaid, liv. I. clap. 242, 243. Walfijigham, p. ijj. others' EDWARD III. 479 others abfolutely refufed to fubmit o with pleafure to his dominion ; his valour and conduct *377* made them fuccefsful in moft of their enterprizes ; and their unquiet fpirits, directed againft a public enemy, had no leifure to breed thofe difturbances, to which they were naturally fo much inclined, and which the frame of the government feemed fo much to authorize. This was ths chief benefit, which refulted from Edward's victories and conquefts. His foreign wars were, in other refpects, nei- their founded in juftice, nor directed to any falutary pur- p ofe. His attempt againft the king of Scotland, a minor and a brother-in-law, and the revival of his grandfather's claim of fuperiority over that kingdom, were both unrea- fonable and ungenerous j and he allowed himfelf to be too eafily feduced, by the glaring profpect of French con- quefts, from the acquifition of a point, which was prac- ticable, and which, if attained, might really have been of lafting utility to his country and his fucceflbrs. The fuccefs, which he met with in France, though chiefly owing to his eminent talents, was unexpected ; and yet, from the very nature of things, not from any unforefeen accidents, was found, even during his, own life-time, to have procured him no folid advantages. But the glory of a conqueror is fo dazzling to the vulgar, the animofity of nations is fo extreme, that the fruitlefs defolation of fo fine a part of Europe as France, is totally difregarded by us, and is never confidered as a blcmifli in the cha- racter or conduct of this prince. And indeed, from the unfortunate ftate of human nature, it will commonly hap- pen, that a fovereign of genius, fuch as Edward, who ufually finds every thing eaiy in his domeftic government, will turn himfelf towards military enterprizes, where alone lie meets with oppofition, and where he has full exercife for his induftry and capacity. Ii ■? Edward 486 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Edward had a numerous pofterity by his queen Phi- lippa of Hainault. His eldeft fon was the heroic Edward, ,377' ufually denominated the Black Prince, from the colour of his armour. This prince efpoufed his coufin Joan, commonly called the fair maid of Kent, daughter and heir of his uncle, the earl of Kent, who was beheaded in the beginning of this reign. She was firft married to Sir Tho- mas Holland, by whom fhe had children. By the prince of Wales, fiie had a fon, Richard, who alone fur- vived his father. The fecond fon of king Edward (for we pafs over fuch as died in their childhood) was Lionel duke of Cla- rence, who was firft married to Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter [and heir of the earl of Ulfter, by whom he left only one daughter, married to Edmund Mortimer, earl of Marche. Lionel efpoufed in fecond marriage, Violante, the daughter of the duke of Milan h, and died in Italy foon after the confummation of his nuptials, without leaving any pofterity by that princefs. Of all the family, he refembled moil his father and elder brother in his noble qualities. Edward's third fon was John of Gaunt, fo called from the place of his birth : He was created [duke of Lancafter ; and from him fprang that branch which afterwards poffefled the crown. The fourth fon of this royal family was Edmund, created earl of Cambridge by his father, and duke of York by his nephew. The fifth fon was Thomas, who received the title of earl of Buck- ingham from his father, and that of duke of Glocefter from his nephew. In order to prevent confufion, we fhall always diftinguifh thefe two princes by the titles of York and Glocefter, even before they were advanced to them, 1» Rymer, vol. vi. p. 564. There EDWARD III. 48; There were alfo feveral princefles born to Edward byc n A p- XVI. Philippa, to wit, Ifabella, Joan, Mary and Margaret. ,_ _ _j who efpoufed, in the order of their names, Ingelram de '377* Coucyearl of Bedford, Alphonfo king of Caftile, John of Mountfort duke of Britanny, and John Haftings earl of Pembroke. The princefs Joan died at Bourdeaux be- fore the confummation of her marriage. It is remarked by an elegant hiftorian h, that Conquer- Mifcellane- ors, though ufually the bane of human kind, proved cions 0f this often, in thofe feudal times, the moft indulgent of fove- reiSn> reigns : They flood moft in need of fupplies from their people ; and not being able to compel them by force to fubmit to the necenary impofitions, they were obliged to make them fome compenfation, by equitable laws and popular conceffions. This remark is, in fome meafure, though imperfectly, juftified by the conduct: of Edward III. He took no fteps of moment without confulting his parliament, and obtaining their approbation, which he afterwards pleaded as a reafon for their fupporting his meafures'. The parliament, therefore, rofe into greater confideration during his reign, and acquired more regular authority than in any former time ; and even the houfe of commons, which, during turbulent and factious periods, was naturally opprefled by the greater power of the crown and barons, began to appear of fome weight in the confti- tution. In the later years of Edward, the king's mini- fters were impeached in parliament, particularly lovd Mortimer, who fell a facrifice to the authority of the com- mons k ; and they even obliged the king to banifh his miftrefs by their remonftrances. Some attention was alfo paid to the election of their members ; and lawyers, in particular, who were, at that time, men of a character femewhat inferior, were totally excluded the houfe during feveral parliaments l. '■ Dr. Robcrtfon's Hiftory of Scotland, book 1. j Cotton's Abndg. p. 108, lio. k ILid, p. 122. 1 Cotton's Abridg. p. 18. I i 4. O: B 488 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. <-' H A P. XVI. One of the moil popular- laws, enacted by any prince, was the ftatute, which parted in the twenty-fifth of this ?377' reign m, and which limited the cafes of high treafon, be- fore vague and uncertain, to three principal heads, con- spiring the death pf the king, levying war againft him, and adhering to his enemies ; and the judges wereprohir- bited, if any other cafes mould occur, from inflicting the penalty of treafon, without an application to par- liament. The bounds of treafon were indeed fo much limited by this ftatute, which ftill remains in force with- out any alteration, that the lawyers were obliged to en- large them, and to explain a confpiracy for levying war againft the king to be equivalent to a confpiracy againft Jlis life ; and this interpretation, feemingly forced, has, from the neceffity of the cafe, been tacitly acquiefced in. It was alfo ordained, that a parliament fhould be held once a year or oftener, if need be : A law which, like many others, was never obferved, and loft its authority by difufe n. Edward granted above twenty parliamentary confir-" mations of the Great Charter ; and thefe conceftlons are commonly appealed to as proofs of his great indulgence to the people, and his tender regard to their liberties. But the contrary prefumption is more natural. If the maxims of Edward's reign had not been in general fome- what arbitrary, and if the Great Charter had not been frequently violated, the parliament would never have ap- plied for thefe frequent confirmations, which could add no force to a deed regularly obferved, and which could ferve to no other purpofe, than to prevent the contrary precedents from turning into a rule, and acquiring au- thority. It was indeed the effect of the irregular govern- ment during thofe ages, that a ftatute, which had oten enacted fome years, inftead of acquiring, was imagine^ W Chap, a, "4 Edw. III, chap, i^, EDWARD III. 4% to lofe force, by time, and needed to be often renewed CHAP. 71 ' XVI. by recent ftatutes of the fame fenfe and tenor. Hence \^\~\J likewife that general claufe, fo frequent in old acts of ,377» parliament, that the ftatutes, enacted by the king's "pro- genitors, fhould be obferved ° ; a precaution, which, if we not do consider the circumftances of the times, might appear abfurd and ridiculous. The frequent confirma- tions in general terms of the privileges of the church proceeded from the fame caufe, It is a claufe in one of Edward's ftatutes, that no man, of what efiate or condition foever, Jhall be put out of land or tenement, nor taken nor imprifoned, nor dijheritedt nor put to deatb> without being brought in anfwer by due procefsof the law p. This privilege was fufliciently fecured by a claufe of the Great Charter, which had received a general confirmation in the firft chapter of the fame fta- tute. Why then is the claufe fo anxioufly, and, as we may think, fo fuperfluoufly repeated ? Plainly, becaufe there had been fome late infringements of it, which gave umbrage to the commons i. But there is no article, in which the laws are mors frequently repeated during this reign, almoft in the fame terms, than that of purveyance, which the parliament al- ways calls an outrageous and intolerable grievance, and the fource of infinite damage to the people r. The parlia- ment tried to abolifh this prerogative altogether, by pro- hibiting any one from taking goods without the confent of the owners s, and by changing the heinous name of purveyors, as they term it, into that of buyers t : But the arbitrary condudl of Edward ftill brought back the grie- vance upon them ; though contrary both to the Great • 36 Edw. III. cap. 1. 37. Edw. III. cap. 1. &c. p a8 Edw. III. pap. 3. q They affert, in the 15th of this reign, that there had been luch inftances. Cotton^s Abridg. p. 31. They repeat the fame in the »i ft year, Seep. 59. r 36 Edw, III, &c, » 14 Edw. III. cap. icj. t 36 Edw, III. cap, $, Charter^ 490 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. c ^J^ p* Charter, and to many ftatutes. This diforder was in a \m^->s^j good meafure derived from the ftate of the public finances *377. and of the kingdom ; and could therefore the lefs admit of any remedy. The prince frequently wanted ready money; yet his family muft be fubllfted : He was therefore obliged to employ force and violence for that purpofe, and to give tallies, at what rate he pleafed, to the owners of the goods which he laid hold of. The kingdom alfo abounded (6 little in commodities, and the interior communication was fo imperfect, that, had the owners been ftrictly protected by law, they could eafily have exacted any price from the king ; < fpecially in his frequent progreffes, when he came to diftanr and poor places, where the court did not ufually refide, and where a regular plan for fupplying it could not eafiiy be eftablifhed. Not only the king, but feveral great lords, infifted upon this right of purveyance within certain diftricls u. The magnificent caftle of Windfor was built by Ed-, ward III. and his method of conducting that work may ferve as a fpecimcn of the condition of the people in that age. Inftead of engaging workmen by contracts and wages, he aflfefled every county in England to fend him a certain number of mafons, tilers, and carpenters, as if he had been levying an army w. They miftake, indeed, very much the genius of this reign who imagine that it was not extremely arbitrary. All the high prerogatives of the crown were to the full exerted in it ; but what gave fome confolation, and pro- mifed in time fome relief to the people, they were always complained of by the commons : Such as the difpenfing power x ; the extenfion of the foreits / ; erecting mono- polies z ; exacting loans a ; flopping juftice by particular u 7iUch. II. ca;.8. w Aihmo'e's hift. of the garter, p. 129. * Cotton's Abrujg., p. 148, / Cotton, p. 71. '■ Cotton's Abridg. p. 56, 61, 122. a Rymer, vol, v, p, 491, 574. Cotton's Abridg. p. 56, warrants ; EDWARD III. 49* warrants3 ; the renewal of the commifiion of trailbaton h , c r_]_ A P» preffing men and mips into the public fervice c ; levying ._, ___' ^ arbitrary and exorbitant fines d ; extending the authority *377« of the privy council or ftar-chamber to the decifion of private caufes e ; enlarging the power of the marefchai's and other arbitrary courts f; imprifoning members for freedom of fpeech in parliament5 ; obliging people with- out any rule to fend recruits of men at arms, archers, and hoblers, to the army \ But there was no z& of arbitrary power more fre- quently repeated in this reign, than that of impofing taxes without confent of parliament. Though that af- fembly granted the king greater fupplies than had ever been obtained by any of his predeceflbrs, his great under- takings and the neceffity of his affairs obliged him ftill to levy more ; and after his fplendid fuccefs againft France had added weight to his authority, thefe arbitrary impofi- tions became aimoft annual and perpetual. Cotton's Abridgment of the records affords numerous inftances of this kind, in the firft. ' year of his reign, in the thirteenth year k, in the fourteenth ', in the twentieth m, in the twenty-firff. n, in the twenty-fecond °, in the twenty- fifth p, in the thirty-eighth % in the fiftieth r, and in the fifty- firft s. The king ©penly avowed and maintained this power of levying taxes at pleafure. At one time, he replied to the remonftrance made by the commons againft it, that- the impositions had been exacted from great neceffity, and had been affented to by the prelates, earls, barons, a Cotton, p. IT4. b Ibid, p. 67. c Cotton's Abridg. P- 47» 79» 113. d Ibid. p. 32. e Ibid. p. 74. f Ibid. p. 74. S Walfing. p. 189, 190. h Tyrrel's Hi/T. vol. viii. p. 554. from the records. • Rymer, vol. iv. p. 363. k P. 17, iS. 1 Rymer, vol. iv. p. 39. ra P. 47. n p. 52. 53,57,5s. o P. C9, P F. 76. S P.iot. ' P. 13S. • P. IC2, and 49* HISTORY OF ENGLAND. chap. and rome of the commons f ; at another, that he would 3CVJ. . X^s^J advife with his council u. When the parliament defired, '377* that a law might be enacted for the puniftiment of fuch as levied thefe arbitrary impofitions, he refufed compli- ance w, In the fubfequent year, they defired that the king might renounce this pretended prerogative ; but his anfwer was, that he would levy no taxes without necef- iity, for the defence of the realm, and where he reafon- ably might ufe that authority x. This incident paffed a few days before his death ; and thefe were, in a manner, his laft words to his people. It would feem, that the the famous charter or ftatufe of Edward I. de tallagia non fublevandoy though never repealed, was fuppofed to have already loft by age all its authority. These fails can only mow the -praRice of the times : For as to the right, the continual remonftrances of the commons may feem to prove that it rather lay on their fide : At leaft, thefe remonftrances ferved to prevent the ar- bitrary practices of the court from becoming an eftablifhed part of the conftitution. In fo much a better condition were the privileges of the people even during the arbi- trary reign of Edward III. than during fome fubfequent ones, particularly thofe of the Tudors, where no ty- ranny or abufe of power ever met with any check or oppofition, or fo much as a remonftrance, from parlia- ment. In this reign we find, according to the fentiments of an ingenious and learned author, the firft ftrongly marked and probably conferred distinction between a proclamaT tion by the king and his privy council, and a law which had received the affent of the lords and commons y. * Cotton, p. 53. He repeats the fame anfwer in p. 60. Some of tbe com- ■mo/ts were fuch as he fljould be pleafed to confuk with. u Cotton, f. 57. w ibid. p. 138. * Ibid. p. 15a, y Obfervations on the ftatntes, p. 133. It EDWARD III. 493 It is eafy to imagine, that a prince of Co much fenfe CHAP, and fpirit as Edward, would be no flave to the court of ^^^ Rome. Though the old tribute was paid during fome 1377, years of his minority z, he afterwards withheld it ; and when the pope in 1367 threatened to cite him to the court of Rome, for default of payment, he laid the mat- ter before his parliament. That aflembly unanimoufty declared, that king John could not, without a national Confent, fubjedt. his kingdom to a foreign power : And that they were therefore determined to fupport their fove- reign againft this unjuft pretenfion a. During this reign, the ftatute of provifors was en- acted, rendering it penal to procure any prefentations to benefices from the court of Rome, and fecuringthe rights of all patrons and electors, which had been extremely en^ croached on by the pope b. By a fubfequent ftatute, every perfon was out-lawed who carried any caufe by ap- peal to the court of Rome c. The laity at this time feem to have been extremely prejudiced againft the papal power, and even fomewhat againft their own clergy, becaufe of their connexions with the Roman pontiff. The parliament pretended, that the ufurpations of the pope were the caufe of all the plagues, injuries, famine, and poverty of the realm j were more deftru&ive to it than all the wars ; and were the reafon why it contained not a third of the inhabitants and com- modies, which it formerly poiTeiTed : That the taxes, levied by him, exceeded five times thofe which were paid to the king : That every thing was venal in that flnful city of Rome ; and that even the patrons in Eng-> land had thence learned to pradtife fimony without re- morfe or fcruple d. At another time, they petition the king to employ no churchman in any office of ftate e ; * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 434. a Cotton's Abridg. p. not b 25 Edw. III. 47 Edw. Ill, c 2? Edw. III. 38 Edw. III. <* Cotton, p. 74, 128, 129, c Ibid. p. 112. 6 and 494 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. p-and they even fpeak in plain terms, of expelling by force the papal authority, and thereby providing a remedy J377- againft oppreflions, which they neither could nor would any longer endure f. Men who talked in this ftrain, were not far from the reformation : But Edward did not think proper to fecond all this zeal. Though he paffed the ftatute of provifors, he took little care of its execu- tion ; and the parliament made frequent complaints of his negligence on this head s. He was content with having reduced fuch of the Romifh ecclefiaftics, as pofTefled re- venues in England, to depend entirely upon him by means of that ftatute. As to the police of the kingdom during this period, it was certainly better than during times of faction, civil war, and diforder, to which England was fo often ex- pofed : Yet were there feveral vices in the conftitution, the bad confequences of which all the power and vigi- lance of the king could not prevent. The barons, by their confederacies with thofe of their own order, and by fupporting and defending their retainers in every ini- quity h, were the chief abettors of robbers, murderers, and ruffians of all kinds ; and no law could be executed againft thefe criminals. The nobility were brought to give their promife in parliament, that they would not avow, retain, or fupport any felon or breaker of the law'; yet this engagement, which we may wonder to fee exacted from men of their rank, was never regarded bv them. The commons make continual complaints of the multitude of robberies, murders, ravifhment of wo- men, and other diforders, which, they fay, were become numberlefs in every part of the kingdom, and which they always afcribe to the protection that the criminals received from the great k. The king of Cyprus, who paid a vifit f CotUn, p. 41. g Ibid. p. 119, 128, 129, 130, 148, h II Edw. III. cap. 14. 4 Edw. III. csp. 2. 15 Edw. III. cap. 4, i Cotton, p. 10. k Ibid. p. 51, 62, 64, 7c, 160. to EDWARD III. 495 to England during this reign, was robbed and ftripped on C H a p, the highway with his whole retinue '. Edward himfelf ^ _^_^j contributed to this difTolution of law, by his facility in »377« granting pardons to felons from the folicitation of the courtiers. Laws were made to retrench this prerogative m, and remonftrances of the commons were prefented againft the abufe of it n : But to no purpofe. The gratifying of a powerful nobleman continued ftill to be of more im- portance than the protection of the people. The king alfo granted many franchifes, which interrupted the courfe of juftice and the execution of the laws °. Commerce and induftry were certainly at a very low ebb during this period. The bad police of the country alone affords a fufficient reafon. The only exports were wool, fkins, hydes, leather, butter, tin, lead, and fuch unmanufactured goods, of which wool was by far the moft confiderable. Knyghton has afTerted, that 100,000 facks of wool were annually exported, and fold at twenty pounds a fack, money of that age. But he is widely mis- taken both in the quantity exported and in the value. In 1349, the parliament remonftrate, that the king, by an illegal impofition of forty millings on each fack exported, had levied 60,000 pounds a year p : Which reduces the annual exports to 30,000 facks. A lack contained twenty- fix ftone, and each ftone fourteen pounds qj and at a medium was not valued at above five pounds a fack r that is, fourteen or fifteen pounds of our prefent money. Knyghton's computation raifes it to fixty pounds, which is near four times the prefent price of wool in England. According to this reduced computation, the export of wool brought into the kingdom about 450,000 pounds of our prefent money, inftead of fix millions, which is an extravagant fum. Even the former fum is fo high, as to i Walfing. p. 170. m i0 Edw. III. cap. 2. 27 Edw, IIJ, cap 2. n Cotton, p. 75. © ]bid. p. 54. P Ibid, p. 48,69. h 34. Edw. III. cap. 5, r Cotton, p. 29, 7 afford 4$6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAP, afford a fufpicion of fome miftake in the computation of ^y-i^ the parliament with regard to the number of facks ex- »377» ported. Such miftakes were very ufual in thofe ages. Edward endeavoured to introduce and promote the woollen manufacture by giving protection and encourage- ment to foreign weavers % and by enacting a law, pro- hibiting every one to wear any cloth but of Englifli fabric e. The parliament prohibited the exportation of woollen goods, which was not fo well judged, efpecially while the exportation of unwrought wool was fo much allowed and encouraged. A like injudicious law was made againft the exportation of manufactured iron u. It appears from a record in the Exchequer, that in 1354 the exports of England amounted to 294,184 pounds feventeen (hillings and two-pence : The imports 1038,970 pounds three (hillings and fix-pence money of that time* This is a great balance, confidering that it arofe chiefly from the exportation of woollen goods, or rather of raw wool and other rough materials. The import was chiefly linen and fine cloth, and fome wine. England feems to have been extremely drained at this time by Edward's fo- reign expeditions and foreign fubfidies, which probably was the reafon, why the exports fo much exceed the imports. The firft toll we read of in England, for mending the highways, was impofed in this reign : It was that for re- pairing the road between St. Giles's and Temple-Bar yr. In the firft of Richard II. the parliament complains extremely of the decay of (hipping during the preceding reign, and aflert, that one fea-port formerly contained more veffels than were then to be found in the whole kingdom. This calamity, they afcribe to the arbitrary feizure of (hips by Edward, for the fervice of his frequent expeditions x. The parliament in the fifth of Richard re- » II Edw. III. cap. 5. Rymer, vol. iv. p. 723. Murimuth, p, 88. t 11 Edw. III. cap. 2. u a8 Edw. III. cap. 5. w Rymer, vol. v, p. 540. x Cotton, p. 155, 164. new EDWARD III. 497 hew the fame complaint f, and we likewife find it made chap. in the forty-fixth of Edward III. So falfe is the com- mon opinion, that this reign was favourable to com- 1377 merce. There is an order of this king, directed to the mayor and fheriffs of London, to take up all fhips of forty tun and upwards to be converted into mips of war z. The parliament attempted the impracticable fcheme of reducing the price of labour after the peftilence, and alfo that of poultry a. A reaper, in the firft week of Auguft, was not allowed to take above two pence a day, or near fix pence of our prefent money ; in the fecond week a third more. A mafter carpenter was limited through the whole year to three pence a day, a common carpenter to two pence, money of that age b. It is remarkable, that, in the fame reign, the pay of a common foldier, an ar- cher, was fix-pence a day ; which, by the change, both in denomination and value, would be equivalent to near five millings of our prefent money c. Soldiers were then inlifted only for a very fhort time : They lived idle all the reft of the year, and commonly all the reft of their lives : One fuccefsful campaign, by pay and plunder, and the ranfom of prifoners, was fuppofed to be a fmali fortune to a man ; which was a great allurement to enter into the fervice a. The y Cap. 3. 2 Rymer, vol. iv. p. 66+. a 37 Edw. III. cap. 3. b 25 Edw. 111. cap, 1, 3. c Dugdalc's Baronage, vol i. p. 784. Brady's hift.»vol. ii. App. No. gt. The pay of a man at arms was quadruple. We may therefore conclude, that the numerous armies, mentioned by bifiorians in thofe times, cor.fifted chiefly of ragamuffins, who followed the camp, and lived by plunder. Edward's army before Calais confifted of 31,094 men ; yet its pay for fixteen months was only 127,201 pounds. Brady, ibid. d Commodities feem to have rifen fince the Conquefr. Inftfad of being ten times cheaper than at prefent, they were in the age of Edward III. only three or four times. This change feeros to have taken place in a great mea- fttie fince Edward I. The allowance granted by Edward III, to the earl of Vet, II* Kk Murray, 49^ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. C h A P. The ftaple of wool, wool-fells, leather, and lead, was i ___' _, fixed by acl: of parliament in particular towns of Eng- I377- land e. Afterwards it was removed by law to Calais : But Edward, who commonly deemed his prerogative above law, paid little regard to thefe ftatutes; and when the parliament remonftrated with him on account of thefe a£t.s of power, he plainly told them, that he would pro- ceed in that matter as he thought proper1". It isnoteafy to aiiign the reafon of this great anxiety for fixing a ftaple ; unlefs perhaps it invited foreigners to a market, when they knew beforehand, that they mould there meet with great choice of any particular fpecies of commodity. This policy of inviting foreigners to Calais was carried fo far, that all Englifh merchants were prohibited by law from exporting any Englifh goods from the ftaple; which was in a manner the I . loning of all foreign navi- gation, except that to Calais s. A contrivance feemingly extraordinary. It was not till the middle of this century that the Eng- lifh began to extend their navigation even to the Baltic h; nor till the middle cf the f :t, that they failed to the Mediterranean '. Luxury was complained of in that age, as well as in Others of more refinement ; and attempt's were made by parliament to reftrain it, particularly on the head of ap- parel, where furely it is the mod obvicufly innocent and inoffenfive. No man hundred a year -was- allowed to wear gold, filver, or filk in his clothes : Servants alfo were prohibited from eating flefti meat, or fifh, above once a day k. By another law it was ordained, that no Murray, then a prifoncr in Nottingham raTle, is one pound a week ; wharets the biftop of St. Andrews, the primate ci Scotland, had only fix-pence a day allowed him l.y Edward I. e27Edvv.il!. f Cotton, p. 117. g 27 Edw. III. cap. 7. •> Anderfon, vol. i, p. 151. i Id. p. 1.77. * 37 Edw, III, cap. S, 9, 10, See, ene EDWARD III. 499 one fhould be allowed, either for dinner or fupper, above C H a P, XVI. three difhes \n each courfe, and not above two courfes : ^ And it is like wife exprefsly declared, that foi/fcd meat is to count a? one of thefe difhes '. It was eaiy to forefee that fuch ridiculous laws muft prove ineffectual, and could never be executed. The ufe of the French language, in pleadings and public deeds, was abolifhed ra. It may appear ftrange, that the nation mould fo long have worn this badge of conqueft : But the king and nobility feem never to have become thoroughly Englifh, or to have forgot their French extraction, till Edward's wars with France gave them an antipathy to that nation. Yet ftill, it was long before the ufe of the Englifh tongue came into fafhion. The firft Englifh paper which we meet with in Rymer is in the year 1386, during the reign of Richard II. n. There are Spanifh papers in that collection of more ancient date ° : And the ufe of the Latin and French ftill con- tinued. We may judge of the ignorance of this age in geogra- phy from a ftory told by Robert of Avefbury. Pope Cle- ment VI. having, in 1344, created Lewis of Spain prince of the fortunate IJlands^ meaning the Canaries, then newly difcovered ; the Englifh ambafiador at Rome and his re- tinue were fcized with an alarm, that Lewis had been created king of England ; and they immediately hurried home, in order to convey this important intelligence. Yet fuch was the ardour for ftudy at this time, that Speed in his Chronicle informs us, there were then 30,000 fhidents- in the univerfity of Oxford alone. What was the occu- pation of all thefe young men ? To learn very bad Latin and ftill worfe Logic. J roEdw.Ilf. m -6 Edw. III. cap. 15. 11 Rymer, vol. vli. p. 516. This paper, by the ftyle, feems to have been drawn by '.he See; , ncd by the wardens of the marches only, • Rymer, vol. vi, p. 554, K k 2 I# soo HISTORY OF ENGLAND. In 1364, the commons petitioned, that, in confide- ration of the preceding peftilence, fuch perfons as pof- J377- fefTed manors holding of the king in chief, and had let different leafes without obtaining licences, might conti- nue to exercife the fame power, till the country were be- come more populous p. The commons were fenhble, that this fecurity of pofTefTion was a good means for ren- dering the kingdom profperous and flourishing ; yet durff. not apply, all at once, for a greater relaxation of their chains. There is not a reign among thofe of the ancient Englifh monarchs, which deferves more to be ftudied than that of Edward III. nor one where the domeftic tranfac- tions will better difcover the true genius of that kind of mixed government, which was then eftablifhed in Eng- land. The ftruggles, with regard to the validity and authority of the great charter, were now over : The king was acknowledged to lie under fome limitations : Edward himfelf was a prince of great capacity, not governed by favourites, not led aftray by any unruly pafnon, fenfible that nothing could be mere effential to his interefts than to keep on good terms with his people : Yet on the whole it appears, that the government, at beft, was only a bar- barous monarchy, not regulated by any fixed maxims, or bounded by any certain undifputed rights, which in prac- tice were regularly obferved. The king conducted him- , felf by one fet of principles ; the barons by another ; the commons by a third ; the clergy by a fourth. All thefe fyftems of government were opponte and incompatible : Each of them prevailed in its turn, as incidents were fa- vourable to it : A great prince rendered the mbnarchical power predominant : The weaknefs of a king gave reins to the ariftocracy : A fuperftitous age faw the clergy tri- umphant : The people, for whom chiefly government was P Cotton, p. 97, $ inftituted, EDWARD III. 501 jnflituted, and who chiefly deferve confideration, were thec HAP. weakeft of the whole. But the commons, little ob- ^^^^j noxious to any other order ; though they funk under li~7' the violence of tempefrs, filently reared their head in more peaceable times ; and while the frorm was brewing, were courted by all fides, and thus received flill fome acceilion to their privileges, or, at worft, fome confirma- tion of them. It has been an efrablifhed opinion, that gold coin was not ftruek till this reign : But there has lately been found proof that it is as< ancient as Henry III. 1 1 See Obfcrvations on the more ancient ftatutes, p, 37 j. 2d edit. Kk3 NOTES C 503 ] 1 "«tf-^»wai»i'fWji.--sj»»*.m-j.nn-i»» 1 mm 1 nun—I ■< iimiiiii FES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. NOTE [A], p. 36. ' r AD OX, in his Baronia Anglica, cap. 14. tells us, That in the 30th of Henry II. thirty-three cows and two bulls cpll but eight pounds ieven {hillings, money of that age; 500 Iheep, twenty-two pounds ten millings, or about ten pence three farthings per fheep ; fixty-fix oxen eighteen pounds three (hillings ; fifteen breeding mares two pounds l 'hillings and fix pence ; and twenty-two hogs, one j nd two (hillings. Commodities feem then to have been about ten times cheaper; all except the (heep, probably on account of the value of the fleece. The fame author in his Formulare Anglicanum, p. 17. fays, That in the 10th year of Richard I. mention is made of ten per cent, paid for mo- ney : But the jews frequently exacted much higher intereft. NOTE [B], P. 253. T^ YMER, vol. ii, p. 216, 845. There cannot be the A *• leaft queftion, that the homage ufually paid by the kings of Scotland was not for their crown, but for fome other terri- tory. The only queftion remains, what that territory was ? It was not always for the earldom of Huntingdon, nor the ho- nour of Penryth ; becaufe we find it fometimes done at a time when thefe poflefiions were not in the hands of the kings of Scotland. It is probable, that the homage was performed in general terms without any particular fpecincation of territory; and this inaccuracy had proceeded either from fome difpute between the two kings about the territory anl fome oppofite K k 4 claims, §04 NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. claims, which were compromifed by the general homage, or from the Simplicity of the age, which employed few words in every tranfattion. To prove this we need but look into the letter of king Richard, where he refigns the homage of Scot- land, referving the ufual homage. His words are, Stepedicius W. Rex ligius homo nojler deveniat de omnibus terris de quibus an • teceffbres Jui antecejjbrum nojlrorum ligii homenes fuerunt, et nobis atque haredibus noflris jidelctatemjurarunt, Rymer, vol. i. p. 6c. Thefe general terms were probably copied from the ufual form of the homage itfelf. It is no proof that the kings of Scotland pofTeffed no lands or baronies in England, becaufe we cannot find them in the imperfect hiftories and records of that age. For inftance, it clearly appears from another paffage of this very letter of Ri- chard, that the Scottifh king held lands both in the county of Huntingdon and elfewhere in England; though the earldom of Huntingdon itfelf was then in the perfon of his brother, David ; and we know at prefent of no other baronies, which William held. It cannot be expecled that we mould now be able to fpecify all his fees which he either pofTeffed or claimed in England; when it is probable that the two monarchs them- ielves and their miniflers would at that very time have differed ( in the lift : The Scottifh king might pofTefs fome to which his right was difputed ; he might claim others, which he did not pofTefs : And neither of the two kings was willing to refign his pretenfions by a particular enumeration. A late author of great induftry and learning, but full of prejudices, and of no penetration, Mr. Carte, has taken ad- vantage of the undefined terms of the Scotch homage, and has pretended that it was done for Lothian and Galloway, that is, all the territories of the country now called Scotland, lying fouth of the Clyde and Forth. But to refute this pretention at once, we need only confider, that if thefe territories were held in fee of the Englifh kings, there would, by the nature of the feudal law, as eftablifhed in England, have been continual ap- peals from them to the courts of the lord Paramount ; contrary to all the hiftories and records of that age. We find, that, as foon as Edward really eftablifhed his fuperiority, appeals im» mediately commenced from all parts of Scotland : And that king3 NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. 505 king, in his writ to the king's-bench, conficiers them as a ne- ceflary confequence of the feudal tenure. Such large territo- ries alfo would have fupplied a confiderable part of the Englilh armies, which never could have efcaped all the hiitorians. Not to mention that there is not any inltance of a Scotch pri- foner of war being tried as a rebel, in the frequent hoflilities between the kingdoms, where the Scottifh armies vyere chiefly filled from the fouthern counties. Mr. Carte's notion with regard to Galloway, which com- prehends, in the language of that age, or rather in that of th^ preceding, molt of the fouth-weft counties of Scotland ; his no- tion, I fay, refts on fo flight a foundation, that it fcarcely merits being refuted. He will have it (and merely becaufe he will have it) that the Cumberland, yielded by king Edmund to Malcolm I. meant not only the county in England of that ' name, but all the territory northwards to the Clyde. But the cafe of Lothian deferves fome more confideration. Jt is certain, that in very ancient language, Scotland means only the country north of the friths of Clyde and Forth. I fhall not make a parade of literature to prove it ; becaufe I do not find that this point is difputed by the Scots themielveso The fouthern country was divided into Galloway and Lothian ; and the latter comprehended all the fouth-eaft counties. This territory was certainly a part of the ancient kingdom of Nor- thumberland, and was entirely peopled by Saxons, who after- wards received a great mixture of Danes among them. It appears from all the Engliuh hiitories, that the whole kingdom cf Northumberland paid very little obedience to the Anglo- Saxon monarchs, who governed after the diffoludon of t'l e heptarchy ; and the northern and remote parts of it feem to have fallen into a kind of anarchy, fometimes pillaged by the Danes, fometimes joining them in their ravages upon other parts of England, The kings of Scotland, lying nearer them, took at laft pofleffion of the country, which had fcarcely any government ; and we are told by Matthew of Weft minder, p. 193. that king Edgar made a grant of the territory to Ken- neth III. that is, he refigned claims, which he could not make effectual, without bellowing on them more trouble and ex- pence than they were worth ; For tuefe are the only grants of provinces 5o6 NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. provinces made by kings; and foambitious anda&ive a princeaa Edgar would never have given prefents of any other kind. Tho' Matthew of Weftminfter's authority may appear fmall with regard to fo remote a tranfa&ion ; yet we may admit it in this cafe, becaufe Ordericus Vitalis, a good authority, tells us, p. 701. that Malcolm acknowledged to William Rufus, that the Conqueror had confirmed to him the former grant of Lo- thian. But it follows not, becaufe Edgar made this fpecies of grant to Kenneth, that therefore he exacted homage for that territory. Horn rc and all the rites of the feudal law were very little k. n a ong the Saxons; and we may alfo fup- pofe, that the claim of Edgar was fo antiquated and weak, that, in reflgoing it, he made no very valuable conceffion, and Kenneth might well refufe to hold, by fo precarious a tenure, a territory, which he at prefent held by the fvvord. In fhoi t, no author fays, he did homage for it. The only colour indeed of authority for Mr. Carte's notion is, that Matthew Paris, who wrote in the reign of Henry III. before Edward's claim of fupcriority was heard of, fays that Alexander III. did homage to Henry III. pro Landiano et aliis terns. See page 55^. This word feems naturally to be interpreted Lothian. But in the firft place, Matthew Paris's teftimony, though confiderable, will not outweigh that of a'l the other hilorians, who fay that the Scotch homage was al- ways dene for lands in England. Secondly, if the Scotch homage was done in general terms (as has been already proved) it is no wonder that hiilorians Ihould differ in their account of the objedl of it, fmce, it is pre ible, the parties themfelves were not fully agreed. Thirdly, there is reafon to think that Laudianum in Matthew Faris docs rot mean Lothian in Scot- land. There appears to have been a territory, which anci- ently bcre that or a fimilar name, in the north of England. For (1) The Saxon Chronicle, p. 197, fays, that Malcolm Kenmure met William Rufus in Lodene in England. (2) It is agreed by all hiltorians, that Henry II. only reconquered From Scotland the northern counties of Northumberland, Cum- berland, and Wefcinorland. See Newbriggs, p. 383. Wykes, p. 3c. Hemingfcrd, p. 492. Yet the fame country is called by other hiltorians Loidis, comitatus Lodonenlis, or fomc 2 fuch NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. 507 fuchname. See M. Paris, p, 68. M.Wefh n. 347. Annal. Waverl. p. 159. and Diceto, p. 551. (3) This laft mention- ed author, when he fpeak: of Lothian in Scotland, calls it Loh'eneis, p. 574- though he had called the Englifh territory Loi I thought this long note neceffary in order to correct Mr. Carre's miftake, an author whofe diligence and indufliry has given light to many pafiages of the more ancient Engliih hii- £ory. NOTE [C], p. 253. RY M E R, vol. ii. p. 1:4-. It is remarkable that the Eng- liih chancellor fpoke to the Scotch parliament in the French tongue. This was alfo the language commonly made yfe of by all parties on that cceaiion. Ibid, paffim. Some of the moft confiderable among the Scotch, as well as almoft all the Englifh barons, were of French origin ; they valued themfeives upon it ; and pretended to defpife the language and manners of the ifland. It is difficult to account for the fettlement offo many French families in Scotland, the Braces, Baliols, St, Clairs, Montgomeries, Somervilles, Gordons, Frafers, Cummins, Colvillcs, Umfrevilles, Mowbrays, Hays, IVIaules, who were not fupported there, as in England, by the power of the fvvord. bat the fuperiority of the fmalleit civilitv and knowledge over total ignorance andbarbarifm, is prodigious. NOTE [D], p. 259. SEE R.ymer, vol. ii. p. 555, N where Edward writes to the King's Bench to receive appeals from Scotlard. He knew the practice to be new and unufual ; yet he eftablilhes it as an infallible confequence of his fuperiority. We learn alfo from the fame collection, p. 60?, that immediately upon receiving the homage, he changed the flyle of his addrefs to the Scotch king, whom he now calls dilefto cif fidcli, inftead offratri di_ le£io cif fideli, the appellation which he had always before ufed to him; fee p. 1 09 , 12.;, 168, 280, 1064. This is a certain proof, that he himfelf was not deceived, as was fcarcely in- deed poffible, but that he was confeious cf his ufurpation. Yet he folemnly fwore afterwards to the juftice of his preten- tions, when he defended them before pope Boniface. 508 NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. NOTE [EJ, p. 276. HROUGHOUT the reign of Edw. I. the affent of the commons is not once expreffed in any of the enading claufes ; nor in the reigns enfuing, till the 9 Edw. III. nor in any of the enabling claufes of 16 Rich. II. Nay even fo low as Hen. VI. from the beginning till the 8th of his reign, the affent of the commons is not once expreffed in any enading claufe. See preface to Ruff head's edit, of the Statutes, p. 7. If it fhould be afferted, that the commons had really given their affent to thefe flatutes, though they are not exprefsly mention- ed; this very omiffion, proceeding, if you will, fromcareleffnefs, is a proof how little they were refpeded. The commons were {o little accuftomed to tranfad public bufmefs, that they had no fpeaker, till after the parliament 6th Edw. II f. See Prynne's preface to Cotton's abridg. Not till the firft of Ri- chard II. in the opinion of mod antiquaries. The commons were very unwilling to meddle in any Hate affairs, and com- monly either referred themfelves to the lords, or defired a fe- led committee of that houfe to affift them, as appears from Cotton. 5 E. III. n. 5 ; 15 E. III. n. 17 ; 21 E. III. n. 5 ; 47 E. III. n 5 ; 50 E. III. n. 10; 51 E. III. n. 18; 1 R. II. n. 12 ; 2 R. II. n. 12 ; 5 R. II. n. 14; 2 pari. -6 R. II. n. 14 ; pari. 2. 6 R. II. n. 8, &c. NOTE [FJ, p. 277. Tf T was very agreeable to the maxims of all the feudal go- JL vernments, that every order of the Hate fhould give their confent to the ads which more immediately concerned them; and as the notion of a political fyltem was not then fo wei; un- derftood, the other orders of the flate were often not confuited on thefe occafions. In this reign, even the merchants, though no public body, granted the king impofitions on merchandize, becaufe the firH payments came out of their pockets. They did the fame in the reign of Edward III. but the commons had then obferved that the people paid thefe duties, though the merchants advanced them ; and they therefore remonftrated againfl this practice. Cotton's abridg. p. 39. The taxes im- pofed by the knights on the counties we e always lighter than ^hofe which the burgeffes laid on the boroughs ; a preemp- tion, NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME. 50$ tion, that in voting thofe taxes the knights and burgefles did not form the fame houfe. See Chancellor Weil's enquiry into the manner of creating peers, p. 8. But there are fo many proofs, that thofe two orders of reprefentatives were long fe- parate, that it is needlefs to infill on them. Mr. Carte, who had carefully confulted the rolls of parliament, affirms, that they never appear to have been united till the 16th of Edward III. fcee Hift. vol. ii. p. 451. But it is certain that this union was not even then final : In 1 372, the burgefles acTed by themfelves, and voted a tax after the knights were difmiffed» See Tyrrel, Hift. vol. iii. p. 734. from Rot. Clauf. 46 Edw. HI. n. 9. In 1376, they were the knights alone, who pafled a vote for the removal of Alice Pierce from the king's perfon, if we may credit Walfingham, p. 1 89. There is an inllance of a like kind in the reign of Richard IT. Cotton, p. 193. The different taxes voted by thofe two branches of the lower houfe, kept them naturally feparate : But as their petitions had moftly the fame objedl, viz. the redrefs of grievances, and the fupport of law and jullice both againll the crown and the barons, this caufe as naturally united them, and was the rea- fon why they at lall joined in one houfe for the difpatch of bu-» finefs. The barons had few petitions : Their privileges were of more ancient date : Grievances feldom affected them : They were themfelves the chief oppreflbrs. In 1333, the knights by themfelves concurred with the bilhops and barons in ad- vifing the king to flay his journey into Ireland. Here was a petition which regarded a matter of fcate, and was fuppofed to be above the capacity of the burgefles. The knights, there- fore, a&ed apart in this petition. See Cotton, abridg. p. 13. Chief baron Gilbert thinks, that the reafon why taxes began always with the commons or burgefles was, that they were limited by the inllruftions cf their boroughs. See Hill, of the Exchequer, p. 37. NOTE [G], p. 278. r~T~^ HE chief argument from ancient authority, for the opi- JL nion that the reprefentatives of boroughs preceded the forty-ninth of Henry 111. is the famous petition of the bo- rough of St Albans, firft taken notice of by Selden, and then by Petyt, 5io NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME, Petyt, Brady, Tyrrel, and others. In this petition, preferr- ed to the parliament in the reign of Edward IT. the town of St. Albans afierts, that though they held incapite of the crownr and owed oniy, for all other fervices, their attendance in par- liament, yet the fherifF had omitted them in his writs ; where- as both in the reign of the king's father, and all his prede- ceffors, they had always fent members. Now, fay the defenders of this opinion, if the commencement of the houfe of commons was in Henry Ill's reign, this ex'preflion could not have been ufed. But Madox, in his Hiftory of the Exchequer, p. 1522, ^23, 524, has endeavoured, and with great reafon, to deftroy the authority of this petition for the purpofe alleged. He ' afierts, fir it, that there was no fuch tenure in England as that of holding by attendance in parliament, infcead of all other fervice, Secondly, That the borough of St. Albans never held of the crown at all, but was always demefne land of the abbot. It is no wonder, therefore, that a petition which ad- vances two falfehoods, fhould contain one historical miftake, which indeed amounts only to an inaccurate and exaggerated expreffion ; no Strange matter in ignorant Burgeffes of that ,, Accordingly St. Albans continued itill to belong to the ibot. It never held of the crown, till after the diSTolution of the monasteries. But the afiurance of thefe petitioners is remaikable. They wanted to ihake off the authority of their abbot, and to hokl of the king; but were unwilling to pay any fervices even to the crown : Upon which they framed this idle petition, which later writers^have made the foundation of fo many inferences and conclusions. From the tenor of the it appears, that there was a clofe connection between holding of the crown, and being represented in parliament: The latter had ftarcely ever place without the former : Yet v e learn from Tyrrel's Append, vol. iv. that there were fome i :. tnces to the contrary. It is not improbable, that Edward- followed the roll of the earl of L , who had fummoned, without distinction, all the considerable boroughs of the king- com ; among whom there might be fome few which did not hold cf the crown. Ec fo found it neceffary to impofe taxes on all the boroughs in the kingdom without diltinftion.' This was a good expedient for augmenting his revenue. We- ars NOTES TO THE PZCOND VOLUME. $n are not to imagine, becaufe the houfe of commons have fince become of great importance, that the firfi: Summoning of them would form any remarkable and linking epoch, and be ger~- raily known to the people even feventy or eighty years after. So ignorant were the generality of men in that age, that coun- try burgeiTes would readily imagine an innovation, feemingly fo little material, to have exifled from time immemorial, be- caufe it was beyond their own memory, and perhaps that of their fathers. Even the parliament in the reign of Henry V. fay, that Ireland had, from the beginning of time, been fubjett to the crown of England. (See Brady ) And furely, if any thing intereils the people above all others, it is war and con- quells, with their dates and circumilances. NOTE [HJ, p. 443. THIS fiory of the fix burgefies of Calais, like all other extraordinary ilories, is fomewhat to be fufpe&ed ; and fo much the more as Avefbury, p. 167, who is particular in his narration of the furrender of Calais, fays nothing of it ; and on the contrary extols in general the king's generofity and lenity to the inhabitants. The numberlefs miftakes of Froif- fard, proceeding either from negligence, credulity, or love of the marvellous, invalidate very much his tellimony, even though he was a contemporary, and though his hiftory was dedicated to queen Philippa herfelf. That princefs, had fhe carefully peruied his work, and had taken the pains to cor- rect his millakes, eould have fet him right in a hundred other particulars. For inftance, Froiffard makes the Scots, with their king at their head, befiege Salifbury about this time ; but the queen could have told him, that they never got farther than Durham, and that it was near this latter city (he defeated them and took their king prifpner. It is a great miilake to imagine, that the patrons of dedications read the books, much lei's vouch for ail the contents of them. It is not a flight tef- timonv, that mould make us give credit to a fcory {o disho- nourable for Edward, efpecially after that proof of his huma- nity, in allowing a free paiTage to all the women, children, and infirm people, at the beginning of the fiege ; at leaft, it is fcarcely to be belived, that, if the fiory has any foundation, he ferioufiy meant to execute his menaces againft the fix towns- men of Calais. 5i2 NOTES TO THE SECOND VOLUME, NOTE [I], p. 448. THERE was a fingular inftance about this time of the prevalence of chivalry and gallantry in the nations of Europe. A folemn duel of thirty knights againfl thirty was fought between Bembrough, an Englifiiman, and Beaumonoir, a Breton, of the party of Charles of Blois. The knights of the two nations came into the field ; and before the combat began, Beaumonoir called out, that it would be feen that day