AP 1. 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 B1RITISH ISLES; Showinlg places of g:catest Historictl Interest Is. A.vYon Steiliweby. \ Scale. Butt of lewis &6"r Duumcnsby a1. 0 10 20 30 iO 50 60 70 80 90 3Ol1 I ~ — ~' > |; trne r ~.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5 Ii~ ~~~ I v t! < u Ro~~S i _oa ty eacA / Uist" Aci'aigo ~ i,; tr lii r~ b i, c1 ac retef Ii $,~a' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ V St~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ol 51L5 5;rtA a l~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |~~~~~~~~~Cali e:l' u:t ~ ro:.i ~~~~~~~~i iz........ 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S -b-y- te~ R ~: ~~~~~~~Ldlrtuadh lone ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ lathmpa Gui ~ ~ IY~xild~td~~e n?~~~.0;; I3~~,~ins_73~ok _B Plig so es -R.h ilu~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~, S -'1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~j~',,O W Barnsta ter~~~~~~~Catl itcl el ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~ich~~~~~+e Slca ton Ti 2" Cal~~~digalr P~~"U- ~ Fotl~~e~'u~MSa, toil r Tiv toi,~_;OG AxminLJ IerO ~~e: C~~~~~o~~ruiel t ~~~~~mI tock Soi zrd - d 52 9 nlncklai~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~terl! cn t~~~~~~~~Aler ney arfteurt Itptoen 4 _T~C11L~ re i F:I: e dn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l~~~~null icll~~G~c~se4,.e - Chandler, Yinf 1raPls mo. A HISTORY OF E N GLAND aFor tfe noie of 5c!ool0. BY M. E. THALHEIMER, Author of a Manual of Ancient History; a Manual of Mediaval and Modern History, etc. WILSON, HINKLE & CO. 137 WVALNUT STREET 28 BOND STREET CINCINNATI NEW YORK COPYRIGHT 1875 BY WILSON, HINKLE & Co. ELECTROTYPED AT ECLECTIC PRESS FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY WILSON, HINKLE & CO. CINCINNATI CINCINNATI PREFACE. THE increasing study of History in our schools is, doubtless, a hopeful sign for the future of the Republic. A free government depends for its honor, if not for its very life, upon the good sense and moral steadfastness of the people; and these may be greatly reinforced by the experience of mankind. And, surely, the history of which we can least afford to be ignorant is that of our mother-country. That branch of the great German race which was planted fourteen centuries ago on British soil, grew, under exceptionally favoring influences, to be the admiration of the world. The history of the long series of popular conquests, nobly won and firmly held, -from Magna Charta to that Bill of Rights which was the prelude to our own Declaration of Independence, - contains a fund of political wisdom which no nation, and ours the least of all, can safely neglect. Though there is a certain literal and obvious patriotism in placing the History of the United States first, or even alone in the school course where but one book can be studied, yet we do well to remember that English History is, in a very special sense, our own; and it is difficult to imagine how the spirit of American institutions can be understood, without some knowledge of the circumstances in Great Britain which led to the formation.and afterward to the independence of our earliest states. In this point of view, it seems a peculiar irony of Fate that, until very recently, the only school histories of England were of strongly Tory character, holding up to dishonor the (iii) iv PREFACE. great statesmen who laid the foundations of English and American freedom. It was a mere accident of their date; for they were compiled while Hume and his school held undisputed possession of the field, - before Macaulay or Froude, Freeman or Green had written in a more liberal and truly scholarly spirit. Though a large and honorable mass of our citizens are of other than English descent, yet it is English freedom —the slow and sturdy growth of many centuries -that they or their fathers have sought to enjoy under the shelter of the great Republic;- this new slip, severed a hundred years ago from the parent tree, only that it might extend new roots and branches in a broader field and under still freer heavens. Unless our nation is to be the prodigal child of the ages, scorning and squandering its rich inheritance, our law-makers of the next forty years must con well the wisdom which their fathers gained by long centuries of strife. And if the same law-makers are to be held to their duty and made to justify the immense confidence reposed in them, their future constituencies must also be learning their task. Would that the study of these glorious centuries of English History might convince some young mind that the service of the fatherland is not the degrading affair of selfish interest and greed which some would make it, but the grandest of all opportunities to serve God, win a noble name, and benefit our race! Would that there might be a Hampden or a Milton among the students of this little book! BROOKLYN, l Aug. I, I875. CONTENTS. PART I. — OLD ENGLAND. CHAPTER PAGE I. BRITAIN BEFORE THE ENGLISH... 9 II. THE ENGLISH CONQUEST..... 16 III. THE DANISH INCURSIONS.... 26 IV. FALL OF THE SAXONS.... 35 V. DANISH KINGS AND SAXON RESTORATION 42 VI. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.. 52 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 55 PART II. - FEUDAL ENGLAND. I. THE REIGN OF THE CONQUEROR.. 57 II. LATER NORMAN KINGS..... 63 III. THE FIRST OF PLANTAGENETS.... 70 IV. KING RICHARD AND KING JOHN... 75 V. REIGN OF HENRY III..... 83 VI. " EDWARD I...... 88 VII. EDWARD II. AND EDWARD III.... 94 VIII. REIGN OF RICHARD II...... 102 IX. HOUSE OF LANCASTER..... Io8 X. " " i" (Concluded). 114 (v) vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XI. HOUSE OF YORK...... I20 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 125 PART III. -THE TUDORS. I. OPENING OF THE MODERN ERA... I27 II. REIGN OF HENRY VIII...... I32 III. " " (Concluded).. I39 IV. EDWARD VI. - MARY I.... I43 V. REIGN OF ELIZABETH..... 15I QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW..... 6 PART IV. -THE CENTURY OF REVOLUTIONS. I. ACCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF STUART.. I62 II. REIGN OF CHARLES I...... I69 III. THE CIVIL WARS...... I75 IV. THE COMMONWEALTH (A. D. I649 —I660). I83 V. THE RESTORATION...... I9I VI. REIGN AND ABDICATION OF JAMES II... 200 VII. WILLIAM AND MARY..... 207 VIII. REIGN OF ANNE...... 212 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW..... 2 16 PART V. — HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. I. GEORGE I. AND GEORGE II..... 2I8 II. REIGN OF GEORGE III...... 227 III. WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.. 235 IV. THE REGENCY (A. D. 1811-1820)... 242 V. GEORGE IV. — WILLIAM IV... 246 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER PAGE VI. REIGN OF VICTORIA. 250 VII. BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE EAST.... 256 VIII. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.... 263 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW..... 266 MAPS. NUMBER I. BRITISH ISLES; SHOWING PLACES OF GREATEST HISTORICAL INTEREST... Frontispiece II. BRITAIN IN 597....... 21 III. ENGLAND IN THE TENTH CENTURY... 32 IV. FRANCE IN 1360.... 99 V. SKETCH MAP OF HINDUSTAN.... 258 VI. COUNTY MAP OF ENGLAND AND WALES.. I69 GENEALOGICAL TABLES. SAXON AND DANISH KINGS..... 56 NORMAN LINE........ 69 DESCENT FROM HENRY II...... 82 it " EDWARD III. OF THE THREE ROYAL HOUSES OF LANCASTER, YORK, AND TUDOR.. 119 DESCENDANTS OF HENRY VII. 150 HOUSE OF STUART....... 206 " HANOVER (BRUNSWICK).... 215 PART I. —OLD ENGLAND. I. BRITAIN BEFORE THE ENGLISH.....,-/HE islands which are now the seat of the British Em~ pire, and a busy market of the world's industry and., wealth, were for ages unknown to all civilized nations. In their mild, moist air, dense and solitary for-. — - ests of oak, ash, and beech were flourishing, while Egyptian and Assyrian empires rose and fell. 2. Of their earliest inhabitants little can be known. Like other countries in Europe, Asia, and America, these islands bear beneath their surface many evidences of a busy human life, separated from our own by uncounted ages, but which teemed in the broad valleys and terraced the cliffs long before man had invented letters, or even the rudest pictures, by which to make record of his actions. Skeletons of many a gigantic beast, now extinct, deeply imbedded in the peat-bogs of Ireland or the mosses of Scotland, inclosing the arrowhead or javelin of flint which ended its existence, prove the (9) o0 OLD ENGLAND. destructive agency of man, even before the creation of the dog and the horse, his present brute companions. 3. Naturalists and antiquarians have labored to describe the character of these prehistoric men, from the slight indications afforded by their possessions. Their beads of amber and jet, their rings, bracelets, and necklaces of'gold, evince their love of ornament. Their stone mortars, or hand-mills, for grinding corn, indicate one article of their food, while bones of lambs and shells of oysters still remain as remnants of their banquets. Their cultivated terraces on heights now abandoned to the wild fox and the eagle, are evidences of a numerous as well as thrifty population. The heavy masonry of their tombs and chambered barrows prove their industry and power to transport great masses of stone; and their custom of burying with each person food, drink, and his favorite possessions, seems to imply their belief in a future life. 4. In the earliest habitations, tools and weapons of stone only are found. The people of this age were in much the same condition as were the natives of North America at the time of its discovery by white men. Later, the tin and copper native to these islands have been combined into bronze, affording better tools for more skillful work. The prehistoric centuries are accordingly divided into the Age of Stone and the Age of Bronze. 5. In burial-fields of a later period, iron tools are found; but these were doubtless introduced by the Celts, who at some remote and unknown time crossed from the European mainland. Of their warfare with the earlier inhabitants, we have no record. When Britain first became known to civilized Europe, it was an undisputed possession of the Celtic tribes. 6. The Phoenicians, those Yankees of the ancient world, in groping through the stormy regions of the northern Atlantic, touched the western extremity of Great Britain, and the B. C. 55.] ROMAN INVASIONS. II cluster of islets off its coast, where they were so fortunate as to find rich deposits of tin. Greek merchant-vessels followed the Phcenicians; but the history of the country begins with the arrival of the Romans. 7. Fifty-five years before the birth of Christ, Julius Caesar, availing himself of a breathing-space in his wars with the Gauls, crossed the Channel and landed with two legions upon the British coast. He found there a brave but barbarous people, scantily clothed in checkered mantles like those of the Scotch Highlanders,- their bodies painted blue and green, and hideously tattooed. They fought in scythearmed chariots, somewhat like modern mowing-machines, which they managed with wonderful skill. Their seventeen tribes, or clans, were commonly at war with each other; but now and then some great danger from without led them to unite under one chief for the common defense. 8. Their entire force, however, was no match for the welltrained valor of the Romans. After several defeats, they professed submission, and Caesar withdrew into Gaul. The Britons, believing that the danger was over, broke all their promises. The next summer, Caesar returned in greater force, marched northward and defeated all the tribes who had mustered to resist him, and burned the stronghold of Caswallon, their leader, at St. Albans, north of the Thames. He then departed, and the Britons were left nearly a hundred years to their own devices, while more splendid prizes absorbed the ambition of the Roman leaders. By his conquest of Pompey, Caesar became master of the civilized world. His nephew and heir, Augustus, was the first of the Roman emperors, and matured that wonderful system of dominion which ruled Europe and the nearer parts of Asia and Africa, in fact for five, and in name for more than fourteen centuries. 9. The Britons, meanwhile, learned the arts of civilized life by their commerce with Gaul and their occasional in 12 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 43. tercourse with Rome. At length, the Emperor Claudius reA.D. 43D. membered their obscure and distant island, and sent Aulus Plautius with an army to subdue it. Among'the officers was Vespasian, afterward emperor, who in one campaign fought thirty battles, captured twenty fortresses, and made himself master of the Isle of Wight. All the south-eastern tribes submitted, and were organized into a Roman province. Claudius himself came, when all the fighting was over, to receive the submission of the chiefs; and celebrated a great triumph at Rome for his victories in Britain. Io. The interior tribes united themselves under Caradoc,or, as the Romans called him, Caractacus,-and held out bravely for eight years. The invaders, step by step, gained all that is covered by the modern English counties; but Caradoc and his followers maintained their fastnesses in the mountains of Wales. At last, the stronghold where Caradoc had placed his wife and children was taken, and the disheartened warrior sought shelter with his step-mother, the Queen of the Brigantes. She betrayed him, and the greatest of the Britons was carried in chains to Rome. The Silures still held out, and Ostorius, the Roman general, is said to have died of vexation at his ill success. ii. Hitherto, the resistance of the Britons had been largely sustained by the Druids, their priests, who possessed an extraordinary power over the minds and conduct of their votaries. They taught the young, made and administered the laws, and settled all disputes between tribes and nations, as well as between private persons. Their authority was enforced by dreadful penalties, including death by fire; but they ruled the souls of men even more absolutely, by assuming a knowledge and control of each man's future existence. Their temples were circles of enormous stones, open to the sky, such as may still be seen at Stonehenge and Abury. The priestly Druids dwelt in sacred groves of oak; inferior to them were A. D. 6i.] DESTRUCTION OF THE DRUIDS. 13 the two ranks of prophets and bards, the first of whom composed hymns in honor of the gods, while the second rehearsed the brave deeds of heroes. 12. The Romans, as a rule, were tolerant of all religions, and even placed the gods of conquered peoples in their own Pantheon; but where the tremendous power of the priests was used to obstruct their progress toward universal dominion, their wrath was unchecked by any thought of the sacred rights of conscience. Suetonius, becoming general of the Roman forces, A. D. 59, soon perceived that Britain could never be subdued while the Druids retained their power. Chief of their holy places was the island of Mona, or Anglesey, which is separated from the mainland of Wales by Menai Straits. At this stronghold Suetonius aimed the blow which was to shatter the ancient superstition, and here the Druids mustered all their forces, both material and spiritual. Not only was a host of armed warriors ranged upon the shore, but multitudes of priests and priestesses ran about tossing their long hair, brandishing blazing torches, and rending the air with their shrieks and curses. 13. The legions pressed forward, undismayed by this novel mode of warfare. While their horsemen forded or swam the shallow strait, the infantry crossed it in boats, and A D 6 after a fierce combat of unexampled obstinacy, the Britons were put to flight. The Druids- were burned in the fires which they had kindled for their Roman prisoners, the sacred oaks were cut down, and the altars were overturned. I4. If Suetonius had hoped to crush the Britons by this bold stroke, he was disappointed. While he was engaged in' the north-west, all southern Britain was up in arms, especially the eastern tribes, led by Boadicea, queen of the Iceni. This high-spirited matron had been bitterly injured and insulted by the Romans; and moved by a rage of resentment, she mustered a great army, which she herself led to attack the I4 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 8I. colonies. Chief of these was London, already a flourishing commercial town. The swift march of Suetonius failed to rescue it: 70,ooo Romans and other foreigners were slaughtered without mercy, and the city became a heap of ashes. The Roman towns now named Colchester and St. Albans shared the same fate. But the Roman general exacted a pitiless revenge. In a great battle near London, 80,000 Britons were slain, and the vanquished queen poisoned herself, rather than fall again into the power of her foes. i5. Several other generals tried their hands at subduing the Britons. The successful one was Agricola, who established the Roman power as far north as the Firths of Forth A. D. 8I. and Clyde, and protected his conquests by a chain of fortresses stretching across the island. Britain was d;ivided into five provinces of the empire: thirty-three great cities were guarded by Roman walls, and conformed to the Roman language, laws, and customs. United under one firm government, the several tribes ceased from their quarrelings (~ 7), and grew rich by peaceful industry. Mines of iron, lead, and tin were worked, and agriculture was so prosperous that Britain became one of the great grain-exporting countries of the world. A network of magnificent roads bound together the remotest corners of the island. There was little to disturb the general peace, except the incursions of barbarians from beyond the walls of Agricola. I6. The Caledonians, coveting the rich harvests and wellfed herds of their southern neighbors, often descended upon the plains, burned farm-houses and even villages, and drove away cattle. To restrain their ravages, the Emperor Hadrian, who visited the island, A. D. II 9, built a wall of earth from Solway Firth to the Tyne. In the reign of Antoninus Pius, a similar rampart was extended along the line of Agricola's fortresses; and, finally, the Emperor Severus, after marching through the Highlands to the northern extremity of the island, caused a wall of solid masonry to be added to the fortifica A. D. 21I.] ROMANS IN BRITAIN. I5 tions of Hadrian. The cold and barren wilds of Scotland seemed not worth conquering, to natives of the luxurious climates of southern Europe. No one then foresaw the splendors of genius and learning which were yet to illuminate the craggy heights of the " northern Athens." Severus died and was buried at York, the Roman capital of Britain. His son Caracalla made a truce with the Caledonians, and hastened to be crowned at Rome. RECAPITULATION. Britain first peopled by unknown races; colonized by Celts; visited by Phoenicians and Greeks; conquered by Romans. Caesar and his heir establish the Roman Empire, of which Britain constitutes five provinces. Immense power of the Druids. Suetonius takes their Holy Island by storm, and exterminates the priests.- Revolt of Boadicea; burning of London and massacre of Roman residents; her defeat and death. Ramparts of Agricola, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Severus defend Roman Britain from the Caledonians. Death and burial of Severus at York. II. THE ENGLISH CONQUEST. -~ "NEW enemy soon began to vex the eastern coast of Britain, being no other than the Saxon, or English, freebooters, whose descendants were to rule the greater part of the island. { 3t X~ These brave and active people were a part of the great Ger- f'man race, which under its va-f;~~:1!~e-6 rious tribal names - Goths,'/' "d; " /?-? Franks, Burgundians, etc. — A Druid Bard. was now becoming supreme in Europe. Their home was the north-western part of Germany, but their marine camps already dotted the coasts of Holland, Belgium, and northern France. To protect the shores of Britain from their ravages, the Emperor Diocletian appointed a special officer, called the "Count of the Saxon Border." But Carausius, the first who bore this title, entered into alliance with the pirates themA. D. 287. selves, won over to his standard all the Roman troops stationed in Britain, assumed the imperial title of "Augustus," and made himself ruler of the island and its surrounding seas. Diocletian and Maximian were forced to acknowledge him as their colleague; but after six years of power, he was defeated by Constantius, the new Cwesar,-* and murdered by his. subordinate officer. * The Roman Empire was now so great, and its contests with bar1barians so incessant, that each emperor had to share his power with a general, who became his adopted son and took the title of Casar. Upon his patron's death, the Coesar became emperor, with the higher title of Augustus. (i6) A. D. 306.] PICTS AND SCOTS. 17 i8. The last emperor who resided in Britain was Constantius Chlorus. He held his court at York, and there, upon his death, his son, Constantine the Great, was hailed as emperor by the legions. In the long and eventful reign of this remarkable man, the greatest event is the establishment of Christianity as the religion of the Empire. Already its doctrines had been diffused in Britain by soldiers and colonists; churches had been planted in all the towns; but we can not now measure the extent of its influence over the conquered people. Although this simple faith was soon swept back by a tide of heathen invasion, Christianity still retained a firm hold in Ireland and among the Welsh in the west. (~~ 24, 25, 30.) ig. Under the Roman rule, Britain became civilized but not strong. Roads and bridges were built, which even now defy the ruining touch of Time. Under the pavements of London, York, and Chester lie remains of cities more finely built and more richly ornamented than those which have risen upon their ruins. But while commerce and luxury increased, the strength of Britain was slowly sapped. Her young men were drafted into the armies of the Empire, and shed their life-blood upon the battle-fields of Italy or of Asia. The few who remained at home were corrupted by the pleasures, rather than ennobled by the arts, of civilized life. Under the perfect order and peace maintained by the presence of Roman armies and the prevalence of Roman law, the Britons were not learning either to defend or to govern themselves. 20. Early in the fourth century, a change took place in the northern part of the island, which could then first be called Scotland. The Scots, a fierce and savage tribe, crossed from Ireland, their earlier home, and settling themselves in what is now Argyleshire, soon established their supremacy over the Caledonians. The latter are henceforth to be known as Picts, a name which probably distinguished them from the unpainted Scots. The new-comers paid no respect to the Eng.-2. 18 OLD EXGLAND. [A. D. 368. walls of Hadrian and Severus, but swarming over those feeble barriers, spread their ravages over all the fair harvestfields of southern Britain. In A. I). 368, they advanced even to London, whence they were repulsed by the great general Theodosius. 21. But the Empire itself was now falling under the attacks of northern barbarians, and in A. D. 418, the Emperor Honorius was compelled to withdraw the legions which had been stationed for the defense of the island. The Britons, ravaged at once by the German pirates on the east and by the Picts and Scots on the north, were still further weakened by dissensions among themselves. The national party, under Vortigern, desired a return to old Celtic customs, while Ambrosius and the Roman party upheld the law and order which had been derived from their late rulers. The latter party wrote a piteous letter to Aetius, the Roman general in Gaul: "The barbarians drive us into the sea; the sea throws us back upon the swords of the barbarians; and we have only the hard choice of perishing by the sword or by the waves." But AMtius could afford no aid; he was preparing for battle with Attila, king of the Huns, a monster so hideous, so fierce, and hitherto so irresistible, that he was called, by the affrighted people of that time, the "Scourge of God." 22. The other party had recourse to the Germans. These already possessed lands on the coasts of York and Durham, but they were none the less glad of a settlement on the fruitful plains of Kent. Three ship-loads of men from Jutland, under the brother-chieftains, Hengist and Horsa, came to the A. D. 449 help of Vortigern, the British prince, and were rewarded by a gift of the isle of Thanet, then separated by a broad channel from the mainland. Sixteen more vessels laden with Germans followed, and the Britons, grateful for a victory over the Scots, gave fertile lands to all. The new-comers soon began to conduct themselves rather A. D. 450.] KING AR THUR. I9 as conquerors than as guests. They turned their victorious arms against the Britons; new swarms of their countrymen arriving from beyond the sea, followed their example; and in less than one hundred years, seven or eight German kingdoms, sometimes called the Heptarchy, had been formed between the English Channel and the Frith of Forth. The Britons, henceforth to be called Welsh, or foreigners, retained only a strip of land along the western coast, including Cornwall, Devon, Wales, and Cumbria, or Strathclyde. 23. If history were permitted to borrow a page from romance, we would gladly tell the story of King Arthur, the chief of the Britons, who, in this time of trouble, when weaker and baser kings "Groaned for the Roman legions here again," with his own right arm " Drave The heathen, and he slew the beast, and felled The forest, and let in the sun, and made Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight." We would tell, too, of the "glorious company" about the Round Table and in the lists at Camelot: " Knights that in twelve great battles splashed and dyed The strong White Horse in his own heathen blood." But the story of Arthur and his Knights must be read in Tennyson's beautiful Idylls. If it were possible to recover the true history of the British chief who bore the name, it would not greatly alter the main features of our sketch. 24. While Britain was yielding to the German conquest, Ireland was still the peaceful abode of piety and learning. Scholars fled from the tumults of England and the Continent, to find a quiet retreat at Armagh or Durrow, and add to the fame of their universities, then celebrated throughout western Europe. Irish missionaries, in their turn, preached the Gospel in the British Isles, in Italy, Switzerland, and eastern 20 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 565. France. Columba, an Irish refugee, founded the monastery of Iona; and Aidan, one of its monks, established the still more celebrated bishopric and seminary at Lindisfarne, which sent missionaries into all the heathen realms. Cuthbert, the Apostle of the Lowlands, from his mission-station at Melrose, traveled over bogs and moors and rough mountain sides, teaching Christianity to the pagan peasants of Scotland and Northumbria. 25. The Britons had been wholly or partly Christian; the English were heathen, and continued so for a hundred years after the conquest. Roman law, language, and religion disappeared, and the worship of Woden, with the customs of the Teutonic tribes, and a Low Dutch language, took their place. Three of the German kingdoms (~ 22), Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria, were founded by Angles, or Engles, whose name was even then often applied to the whole country and people; three, called respectively East, West, and South Saxony (Essex, Wessex, and Sussex), were founded by Saxons; Kent, as we have seen, by the Jutes. Northumbria was often divided into two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira; part of Essex became Middlesex; and East Anglia was separated into the two regions of the Northfolk and the Southfolk, now called Norfolk and Suffolk. 26. Each of the German tribes had a royal family, reputed to be descended from Woden, their chief divinity, and from which the king was chosen by the votes of all the freemen. The custom of strict hereditary succession was wholly unknown. No son of a king could claim his father's crown until it had been duly conferred upon him by the votes of the nation; and if he was young, or his valor yet unproven, his father's brother was usually preferred. The seven or eight kingdoms in England sometimes acknowledged a common head, known as the Bretwalda, whose authority in this little realm bore some resemblance to that of the Emperor on the continent of Europe over the various nations owing alle 6 4 2S O ___ — ]~BRITAIN IN 8 =__^ _ -eh~ 5597. 0 10 25 50 75 ____ _ B~Scale of Miles. - eP iJ ct s _______ _ 0 - P ii Ic I~~~~~~~~~~~ a i;1 3 f /OE =in 56 ~ 63 - 75 r —.__ I _____ 54 o _ - 8. f _ _ _ 52~~~~~~~~~~4 _____ C B.2rhdiff Kury - - ___ A_ -t' _"_" I ESI I I- 4 \ ts 2 - 0: 4 X iS A\~~~ROIIR Ae m 2 -C, < \ ~~~~~~5 t S~~~olt~~~lfo~, v = l e I s Ab \ x f a x i 8 etvile- S _$\~ -/9M~hpe; /sT f Chester t S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8, 1 1,, Norlofoolr` %OXO — 0 R T EC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. ~~~~~ ~~~2~ ssm Pster' ste 4 0P 22 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 560. giance to Rome. Mercia and Northumbria for a time struggled for the supremacy; but Wessex gained it at last, and absorbed or subdued all the other kingdoms. (~~ 31, 33.) 27. Ethelbert, fourth king of Kent, was the third of the Bretwaldas, and the first Christian king in England. He married the Frankish princess Bertha, daughter of Caribert; and his relations with her native land brought many civilizing influences into his kingdom. His people were the first of the English to enjoy a written code of laws; and his long reign of fifty years was productive of honor to himself and blessing to his kingdom. But the greatest of its events was the reception of Christianity. 28. Several years before, a good priest visiting the slave market at Rome, saw three English youths exposed for sale. Their fair faces attracted his attention, and he asked whence they came. Being told that they were Angli, "Not Angles, but angels," was his quick reply, adding that it was a pity the Prince of Darkness should enjoy so fair a prey. Being informed, further, that they came from Deira, "That is good," he cried; "they are called from the anger (de irad) of God to his mercy." And having learned that their king was named /Ella, "Alleluia!" he exclaimed; "we must endeavor that the praises of God be sung in that country." Pleased with his puns, the good man was not the less excited by true missionary zeal, and he obtained the Pope's permission to set off immediately as a teacher of the Gospel to that distant island. His Roman flock, however, refused to let him go, and on the death of the then reigning pontiff, he was elected to be pope, - Gregory I. Not forgetting his desire for the conversion of the English, he sent Augustine, a Roman monk, with forty associates, to preach the true faith to those pagans. (A. D. 596.) 29. Bertha, Queen of Kent, was already a Christian; through her influence, Ethelbert received the embassadors with honor, and gave them a cordial hearing. Soon after A. D. 792.] CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND. 23 ward, he and all his courtiers were baptized. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury, and was endowed by Pope Gregory with authority over all the churches yet to be founded in England. The new faith was soon accepted by the East Saxons; a bishop of London was consecrated, and churches were built, respectively, to St. Peter and St. Paul, on the sites still occupied by Westminster Abbey and the great cathedral. 30. A daughter of Ethelbert and Bertha became the bride of King Edwin of Deira, and had the honor of introducing Christianity into that northern kingdom. Edwin was baptized at York, and over the spot thus consecrated arose a church which was the humble predecessor of the present grand and stately minster. Paulinus, who had accompanied the young Queen from Kent, became the first archbishop of York. The Christians of Wales and Cornwall (~ i8) refused to obey either a bishop at Rome or a primate at Canterbury: their independent spirit was punished by a massacre of two hundred of their priests. Churches and monasteries were soon scattered over the land, and the fierce superstitions of northern paganism gave way to a purer and gentler faith. 3I. For a time, Mercia had the preeminence among the German kingdoms, and its king, Offa, even attracted the notice and friendship of Charlemagne (~ 32). He gained many victories over the Britons in Wales, and raised a great mound of earth, still known as Offa's Dike, to ward off their attacks upon the Saxon colonists whom he settled between the Severn and the Wye. The glory of Offa was clouded by crime. He procured the murder of the East Anglian King, who was a A. D. 792. guest at his court, and violently seized his kingdom. Like many other princes of that time, he sought to relieve his conscience by lavish gifts to the Church. Onetenth of all his goods were bestowed upon the clergy; and following the example of Ina in Wessex, he imposed a tax 24 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 792. of a penny on every homestead in his dominion, for the maintenance of an English college at Rome. Such grants are more easily made than recalled, and we shall find the Pope's claim for "Peter's pence" still enforced nearly a thousand years after the first imposition of the tax. 32. We have no room for the annals of all the German kingdoms in England. In the wars which resulted from their perpetual feuds and jealousies, all but one of the royal families became extinct. The surviving race was that of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex, and it was now represented only by Brihtric, the reigning monarch, and Egbert, his young cousin, who was held by many to have a better right to the throne. Finding that he had incurred the enmity of Brihtric, Egbert withdrew to the continent, and spent his years of exile and probation in studying the arts of war and government, with the greatest master of both then living, the Frankish king, who was soon to be known as Charlemagne, Emperor of the West. 33. Brihtric's wife was Eadburga, daughter of Offa (~ 31), a woman celebrated, even in that dark age, for her crimes and misfortunes. She had resolved to poison a nobleman who was her husband's friend: the poison was accidentally taken by the King. Eadburga fled in a passion of shame and remorse, and Egbert was called to the throne by the acclamations of all the people. He now put in practice the lessons he had learned in the court and camp of Charlemagne, devoting himself to the energetic government of his own dominions, and the conquest of the Britons of Cornwall and Wales. Nearly twenty-five years had thus been spent, when an invasion of Wessex, by the King of Mercia, led to a series of wars which made Egbert over-lord of nearly all the island. Kent, Sussex, and East Anglia, unwilling tributaries of Mercia, gladly transferred their obedience to the wisest and best of Englishmen; Northumbria followed their example; Mercia A. D. 827.] EGBERT'S SUPREIACY. 25 was conquered, and so the Heptarchy (~~ 22, 25) ended in a monarchy, within four centuries of the first German invasion. Egbert's immediate dominion still ended, however, at the Thames, and he commonly styled A D. 827. himself, as before, " King of the West Saxons." His greatgrandson, Edward the Elder, was the first to assume the title, "King of the English." (~ 47.) RECAPITULATION. Western Europe is ravaged by German pirates. Under Constantine, the Roman Empire becomes Christian. Britain is weakened, though civilized, by the Roman occupation. "Scots" from Ireland conquer the northern and ravage the southern part of the island. The legions being withdrawn, a Roman party appeal to Aetius, a national party, to the Germans, for aid against the Scots. Saxons, Angles, and Jutes conquer the island and establish seven kingdoms, the Britons being crowded into a narrow western region. Arthur and his knights resist the heathen invaders, but ultimately without success. Ethelbert, King of Kent, welcomes Christian missionaries from Rome. Churches built at Canterbury, London, and York. Kings Offa and Ina impose the payment of "Peter's pence " on Mercia and Wessex. Egbert studies war and government with Charlemagne, becomes King of Wessex, and over-lord of all England. Eng.-3. III. THE DANISH INCURSIONS. O 0 sooner were the seven German kingdoms thus happily united, than they were exposed to a new danger. The barren peninsulas which guard k the entrance to the Baltic Sea ".', ~'.it''W ~"..i.~ were inhabited by a fierce and ardy race, still pagan, who I were far too adventurous to remain content in so poor'-) - and narrow a home. The ~G~-, > y; wild and stormy sea was to them more attractive than the Alfred and the Cakes. land, while beyond it lay fertile countries and cities stored with wealth. Like the Saxon pirates of four centuries before, these "Danes," or Northmen, with their narrow ships penetrated all the inlets and rivers of Holland, France, and Spain; and, like the Saxons, they found the broad estuaries of Britain especially attractive. In all the maritime regions of western Europe, the churches resounded daily with one doleful addition to the Litany: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us!" 35. Wherever the standard of the Black Raven appeared, the people fled in dismay. The progress of the marauders was marked by the smoke of burning villages. Neither rich nor poor were spared; but the churches were the chief objects of violence, because in their vaults were usually found gold, silver, and other treasures. At first the Danes contented themselves with sudden raids upon the coast, retiring to their ships with their booty before they could be pursued; but, at length, they began to settle themselves in permanent stations, (26) A. D. 870.] CHILDHOOD OF ALFRED. 27 whence they could carry on regular operations over a wide extent of country. 36. When the strong hand of Egbert was most needed to restrain their ravages, he died, and his son Ethelwolf, a weak and inefficient prince, was chosen to succeed him. He began by bestowing the three south-eastern provinces, Essex, Kent, and Sussex, upon his eldest son, Athelstan, and soon afterward departed, with his youngest and favorite son, Alfred, on a pilgrimage to Rome. Regardless of the miseries of his people, he spent a year in prayers and offerings at the various holy places. Meanwhile, Athelstan died, and his brother Ethelbald joined a party among the nobles who wished to exclude his father from the throne. Civil war might have been added to all the other horrors of the time, had not Ethelwolf consented to a division of the kingdom, yielding the western and more peaceful portion to his son. 37. In his return through France, Ethelwolf married the princess Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald. She is of importance to our history only by reason of her influence over her little step-son Alfred, whose bright young mind she stimulated by the reading of some old English poems, from a costly book which she numbered among her treasures. Encouraged by the offered gift of the book, the prince learned to read,-an accomplishment by no means easy, when neither primers nor teachers could be had. Alfred's perseverance procured immeasurable benefits not only to himself, but to his race. 38. On the death of Ethelwolf, his third son, Ethelbert, was promoted to a share in the kingdom; and upon the latter prince's death, eight years later, a still younger brother, Ethelred, succeeded to his place. The Danes continued their ravages with ever-increasing assurance. In one A. D. 870. of their raids they captured Edmund, the tributary king of East Anglia, to whom they offered the alternative of death or apostasy. If he would become a pagan, he 28 OLD ENGLAN7D. [A. D. 87i. might continue to hold his kingdom, subject to their supremacy. Scorning this insulting proposition, Edmund was bound to a tree and made a target for their arrows, until, wearying of their brutal sport, they at last beheaded him. He was honored as a saint and martyr, and the place still bears his name,- Bury St. Edmunds. 39. Ethelred met his death in battle with the Danes, and ALFRED was called from his favorite studies to the toils and heavy responsibilities of a king. For seven years he warred bravely, and often successfully, against the heathen invaders, who possessed the whole country north of the Thames; but, their numbers ever increasing, he was compelled, at length, to hide himself, and leave his kingdom to their ravages. On one occasion, we are told, he was sheltered by one of his herdsmen, whose wife was ignorant of her guest's true rank. Being called away, the good woman one day charged him with the care of some cakes which were left baking over the fire. Alfred, absorbed in heavier cares, neglected his trust, and was punished by a violent scolding. 40. The Danes grew careless as they met with no opposition, and Alfred found means of collecting some of his followers, with whom he fortified himself on an island of firm ground in the midst of a bog in Somersetshire. Encircled by marshes and forests, he was still hidden from the invaders, who were often surprised by a night attack from some unknown foe. Thus the spirits of the English revived, and the little island court was well maintained by forage. 4I. Before calling a general muster of his people, Alfred resolved to see for himself the numbers and position of the enemy. Availing himself of a gift which he had cultivated with great delight in times of peace, the King disguised himself as a harper, and boldly entered the Danish camp near Ethandune. His songs and jokes proved so acceptable to the soldiers, that he was introduced to the tent of Guthrum, their chief, and royally entertained for several days. Here he had A. D. 886.] TIIE DANISH INCURSIONS. 29 every opportunity to learn the character and intentions of the Danes. He found them lazy and negligent, despising the English and fearing no attack. 42. The moment was favorable. Swiftly and secretly mustering his forces, Alfred fell upon the Danish encampment. Surprise aided the English arms, and the rout was complete. Guthrum fled, and with his surviving warriors took refuge in a fortified camp; but hunger soon compelled him to surrender on Alfred's own terms. These were dictated by a policy nobler than revenge. The north-eastern coasts of England were already depopulated by the ravages of the Danes. Alfred resolved to turn his late enemies into friends, by granting them large tracts of land in permanent possession, on the condition, however, of their ceasing from their ravages, and exchanging their fierce worship of Woden for the Christian faith. 43. Softened, perhaps, by terms so much more generous than he had a right to expect, Guthrum accepted the proposal and received baptism, with the Christian name of Athelstan. Danish and Saxon England were separated by the Roman military road, called Walling Streef, which ran from London to Chester. Absorbed in their new possessions, the AngloDanes did not often molest the kingdom of Alfred; though the fresh swarms of their pagan countrymen, continually arriving from beyond the sea, threatened to crowd out the earlier possessors of the island. 44. The years of comparative peace which followed were employed by Alfred in civilizing and protecting his kingdom. London and several other cities which had been burnt by the Danes, were now rebuilt. The coast was guarded by a powerful fleet, while a regular militia was trained to defend the land. Nor did the good King neglect the education of his people. He found them ignorant and rude. Nearly all the monasteries, with their libraries, had been destroyed by the Danes, and the terror of their ravages had broken up all the 30 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 886. customs of peaceful and orderly life. Alfred first restored peace and security; then he founded schools, and required every owner of two hides of land to send his children thither for instruction. He invited learned men and skillful artisans from the Continent: he employed the former in translating Greek and Latin books into the English of his time, and the latter in enriching the kingdom by useful arts and manufactures. 45. Alfred himself, by the most careful economy of time, found leisure from his great cares to write or translate several books, which he thought best fitted to be useful to his people. Among these were a History of the World, by Orosius, and the "Consolations of Philosophy," by Bo6thius, beside some invaluable versions of the Psalms and other portions of the Holy Scriptures. He made a new collection of the laws of Ethelbert (~ 27), Offa, and Ina, to which he added some enactments of his own. He revived the old German division into tithings, hundreds, and shires, for the sake of a more exact enforcement of justice. The first consisted of ten families; the second, of a hundred. All the members were held responsible for a crime committed within their number, and were bound to produce the offender before the proper court. An innocent man could always clear himself by bringing ten of his neighbors, members of the same hundred, who would bear witness under oath to his integrity of character, or to his absence from the place where the crime was alleged to have been committed. This is probably the origin of our later and universal custom of trial by jury. 46. The last eight years of Alfred's reign were disturbed by fresh incursions of the Northmen under Hasting, one of the fiercest of their leaders. Driven from France by a famine, these barbarians landed on the Kentish coast, and spread their ravages over the country. Alfred met them with his accustomed energy, and by a severe contest of several years, at length restored peace to his kingdom. A. D. 925.] BRITAIN UNITED. 31 This great king died in A. D. goT, in the fifty-second year of his age. His reign of thirty years had been devoted, with the most intense diligence, to promoting the best interests of his people. He had fought fifty-six battles by land and sea, and had excelled most sovereigns in his labors as lawgiver and judge. Yet he had found time to acquire more learning, and even to write more books, than most men of uninterrupted leisure. His moral greatness was first proved in conquests over himself, in tempering justice with gentleness; and history records no merely human character more near perfection than that of Alfred the Great. 47. His eldest son, Edmund, was already dead; his second, Ethelward, preferred a private and studious life; the choice of the " wise men" fell, therefore, on EDWARD, the third son, who became king in his father's place. His cousin, Ethelwolf, attempted to seize the crown. Being defeated, he joined the Danes, and invited fresh hordes from beyond the sea to attack his native land. Edward was aided in his defense by the quick wit and high spirit of his sister Ethelfleda, the Lady of Mercia; and the fame of his success gained him the voluntary homage of the princes of Wales, Northumbria, A. D. 924. Strathclyde, and Scotland. These had suffered no less than England from the ravages of the Danes, and were glad to place themselves under the protection of the victorious king. Edward's own kingdom reached to the Humber, while his "over-lordship" embraced the whole of Britain and the Western Isles. (See ~ 33.) 48. Let us try to gain a clear idea of the constitution of this Saxon kingdom. The crown, as we have seen (~ 26), was elective, though the choice was usually restricted to one family. Before the German tribes had settled into highly organized nations, every freeman was entitled to appear in arms at the council of his chief; and the affairs of the whole people were transacted at the March or May fields, under the open heaven. These martial assemblies gave way, on the Continent, Nlip 3. fi 4 2 0 _~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~ a -- S- =. t ~E NGLAND -— ~ ==== 1~~~~IN THE 1~58 - \ /_ = ETENTH CENTURY.,.'. k 10o,,50, 75 JIM ffi f'Scale ofMiles. 6 5 Edinburgli, _~~~~~~~~c_ ste~~~~~~~~ri J_,~..,-o Chester aNottinLm DeUiby r -. e, ostam I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Id ter St __~~ ~ ib C As. _ I__~~~~~nrh _ t oF. I A 3 $ ar S w= ] /Is /-s= {,+a~~~ axls^wgBd e "ding ol~ndne S-~re Um I~ Glmto K t _IENT s 1 9X sterWSI % S~ =4,A OtNxEIA = - t 1 - _ La~~~~cast +4 + n~~~~m S 5T _P __ B L t I o_ 2 0 A. D. 925.] MIEETINGS OF THE WISE. 33 to diets in which the clergy had a part, and in England, to assemblies of the welitan, or " wise men." In strict law, every freeman had still a right to be present, but the difficulties of travel and communication rendered this impossible, and the assembly came to consist chiefly of bishops, abbots, and ealdormen. 49. The witenagemole, or "Meeting of the Wise," was therefore convened alternately at different places,-usually at Winchester, the West Saxon capital, for the southern shires; at Gloucester, for the western; at London, for the eastern, and at York, for the northern, after the Danelagh ceased to be distinguished from the rest of England. At the three former cities the King "wore his crown," in turn, on the three great festivals of the Christian year; and thither all people who had petitions to make, or wrongs to be righted, might bring their suit. Nothing of importance was done without the advice of the "wise men.'" With their concurrence, Alfred and his successors required each maritime town to provide and maintain a ship for the defense of the coast; and it was early understood that no tax must be laid upon the people but with their consent. 50. The people of England consisted of three ranks: Earls, C/hurls, and Serfs. The second included the great mass of freemen; the last were mostly descendants of the conquered Britons. An Englishman could become a serf only by crime or voluntary sale. Parents sometimes sold their children; and a person more than thirteen years of age might sell himself. The Church was the constant foe to serfage; and several good bishops set the example of emancipating the serfs whom they found upon the lands attached to their sees. Between earls and churls, gradually grew up the rank of Thlanes, who were ennobled by services rendered to the king or the state. But, originally, all high offices were reserved for men of noble blood: the ealdormen, or chief rulers of cities and villages, were chosen from among the earls; and every churl was 34 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 925. required to choose some earl as his lord and protector. The "lordless man" was an outlaw; for, under the ravages of the Danes, he was sure to be unable to provide for the defense of himself or his family. RECAPITULATION. Scandinavian pirates vex the coasts of all the British islands; burn and plunder churches, monasteries, and villages. Ethelwolf's pilgrimage to Rome; his marriage with Judith. Alfred's accession, after the death of his four brothers; his wars with the Danes; his concealment. He reconnoiters the Danish camp in disguise; surprises and defeats the Northmen; cedes to them the eastern shires north of the Thames, on condition of their ceasing from piracy and becoming Christians. Protects his kingdom by ships and forts; improves it by schools, literature, and good laws. Edward unites the whole island under his sway. "Meetings of the Wise" take place of armed assemblies of old German tribes. Taxes levied only with their concurrence. Population consists of earls, churls, and serfs. IV. FALL OF THE SAXONS. DWARD'S son, ATHELSTAN, (A. D. 925-940,) was one of the greatest Saxon kings,. and England in his time was threnowned in Europe for her of Danis sisters were married''1113%8"1di ~ to sovereigns or great lords ~7Zj~ / on the Continent: one was Queen of France; another was wife of Hugh the Great, the "king-maker" of his Danish Ship. age and nation; and Editha, highest of all in rank, was consort of Otho, King of the Germans, and afterward emperor. From these alliances grew much commerce * and frequent intercourse between England and the Continent. Several foreign princes were intrusted to Athelstan's care and instruction. Nearest to him was his royal nephew, afterward King Louis IV., of France, who learned from his uncle to act with spirit and efficiency amid the troubles which attended the decline of his race. 52. Athelstan added Northumbria to his own immediate dominion, and thus became sole king of all the Germans in Britain, as well as over-lord of all the Celtic principalities. But his turbulent vassals needed strong and vigilant governing. The North Welsh and the Scots aided each other in a revolt; and when this was put down, it was soon followed by a grand conspiracy of Scots, Welsh, and Irish, with Danes' Among other laws for the encouragement of commerce, Athelstanl ordered that any merchant who had made three long voyages on his own account, should be admitted to the rank of thane (. 5o). (35) 36 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 937. fronm beyond the sea. The King defeated and routed them ill the great battle of Brunanburgh, which was sung by English minstrels as the most glorious of victories. 53. EDMUND I. succeeded his brother Athelstan, A. D. 94o. He subdued the Celtic kingdom of Strathclyde, and' bestowed it upon Malcolm, King of Scotland, on condition of homage and the defense of the northern coast against the Danes. Edmund met an untimely death from the dagger of a robber, and his sons being too young to succeed him, his brother EDRED was chosen king by the qwi/an. Edred had to A.. 946-955. keep a firm hand upon the Northumbrian Danes, who were always turbulent and unruly. With the aid of his great minister, Dunstan, he reduced them after a time to good behavior. 54. Dunstan was the most remarkable man of his time. Born of noble parents, and endowed with extraordinary talents, he was early famous for his learning and accomplishments. He could paint and engrave; he copied and illuminated books with the most exquisite designs; he wrought curious patterns in gold and silver; and, above all, he won the love of King Athelstan by the songs he composed and sang to the music of his harp. 55. In those days and long afterward, it was dangerous to know too much. Dunstan's rivals at court accused him of magical arts, and procured his banishment and disgrace. His ambition was not crushed, but only turned into a new channel. He dug a cell no larger than a grave, where he shut himself up for months, and by fasting and self-torture gained a reputation for extraordinary holiness. He was said to be visited by angels, and to gain victories over the Prince of Darkness. Such spiritual gifts could not be suffered to rest in obscurity. The monk Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury, and King Edred exalted him to be his most trusted counselor. A. D. 958.] D UNSTAN IN POWER. 37 56. EDWY, son of Edmund (~ 53), succeeded his uncle at the age of sixteen. His short, unhappy reign was the beginning in England of that fierce conflict between A. D. 955-953. the Church and the royal power, which raged for centuries throughout Europe. Edwy loved an English lady of royal descent, and, contrary to the advice of his best counselors, married her even before his coronation. On the day of that ceremony, when the nobles were feasting in the great hall of the palace, the King withdrew from the scene of drunken riot to the more agreeable society of the Queen and her mother. Dunstan had been foremost in his opposition to the marriage: he rudely followed the King, and pushed him back by main force into the company he had quitted. 57. Edwy's wrath drove Dunstan out of the country; but Odo, the primate, took up the quarrel with zeal. He stirred up a revolt among the Northumbrian Danes, who proclaimed Edgar, the King's younger brother, as their sovereign. The church party gained the ascendency: Archbishop Odo, with a party of soldiers, forced the palace and branded the beautiful face of the Queen with a red-hot iron, then carried her away as a prisoner into Ireland. Edwy, overpowered, consented to a divorce. Poor Elgiva found means of returning from her banishment, but only to fall into the hands of Odo's party, who put her to a cruel death. Her unhappy husband died soon afterward, and there was now no opposition to Edgar's accession (A. D. 958) or to Dunstan's return. 58. EDGAR was a grateful and obedient ally of the party which had raised him to the throne; and as the monks were the only historians of the time, we shall not wonder to find him represented as one of the greatest, wisest, and best of monarchs. He was in truth able and efficient; and the powerful fleet which he maintained checked all hostile movements of the Danes, either within his own borders or beyond the seas. By Dunstan's advice, he divided Northumbria into three great earldoms. Deira (~ 25), south of the Tees, be 38 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 958. came the modern Yorkshire; the central portion, between the Tees and the Tweed, kept the ancient name of the whole; and the country north of the Tweed, now called Lothian, was bestowed as an English fief upon the King of Scots. It became the favorite residence of the Scottish kings, who fixed their capital at Edinburgh, or Edzein's borough, so called from the first Christian king of Northumbria (~ 30). 59. The forbearance of the foreign Danes may have been due to their obtaining extensive territories in the north-west of France, which for a time afforded room for all the newcomers from the northern shores. The duchy of Normandy was to have an important part in the history of England. Edgar gained many victories over the tributary, but not always obedient, princes of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Orkneys, and the Isle of Man. On one occasion, when he was making his yearly inspection of all the English coasts, his barge was rowed up the River Dee by eight vassal kings. 6o. Among Edgar's first acts was the elevation of Dunstan to the archbishopric of Canterbury. The primate found exercise for his great talents and indomitable will, in reforming the English convents after the strict rule of the Benedictines. This order had arisen in Italy nearly four hundred years before, and had already done good service to the world by copying and preserving the greatest treasures of ancient literature. Doubtless, too, the quiet retreat within convent walls afforded to many weak souls the only opportunity for a holy life, amid the corruptions and tumults of those dark ages. We only blame the monks when they presumed to judge the duty of others by their own, and to throw contempt and insult on relations which God had ordained. Up to this time, the parish priests in England were permitted, though certainly not encouraged, to marry. On this account the monks, or regular clergy, held them in disdain, and obtained from Edgar several laws which placed them at an unjust dis A. D. iooo.] DANES AND NORMIANS. 39 advantage. The people and country thanes stood by their pastors; but Dunstan succeeded in driving out a multitude of the married priests, and replacing them by his monks. 6i. Edgar was succeeded by; his eldest son, EDWARD the Martyr, a boy of thirteen years. But the enmity A. 97-978 of his step-mother, Elfrida, a bold, ambitious woman, who desired to place her own son upon the throne, pursued him during his short and troubled reign of three years, and brought him at last to a violent death. Her son ETHELRED was then crowned; but his reign of A. D. 978-1o06. thirty-eight years brought little except trouble to himself or his people. The Danish inroads recommenced with terrible fury, and the King's surname, "the Unready," only too well expresses his weak and inefficient policy in dealing with them. By buying their retreat with i6, 000 pounds of silver, he only insured their return in greater force, with a demand for 24,000, while he fixed upon his people, for the first time, an odious tax called the Dane-geld. 62. In A. D. 993, the kings of Denmark and Norway sailed up the Humber, and spread their ravages far and wide over the country. The next year, they entered the Thames with ninety-four vessels and besieged London. But the merchants and mechanics were braver than king or nobles, and the besiegers were at length forced to withdraw. A full third part of Great Britain and Ireland, with all the smaller islands belonging to them, were now in the grasp of the "Raven"; and Ethelred's most trusted favorites sold the country to his enemies, almost under his eyes. 63. Ethelred was never ready for action, except at the wrong time. He wasted the force of his kingdom in ravaging Cumberland, because King Malcolm would not help him to buy off the Danes; and he made a rash and unprepared invasion of Normandy, to punish its people for having harbored and encouraged the northern pirates. It was true that the plunder of England was regularly exchanged, on the 40 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. iooo. wharves of Rouen, for the wines of France. But Ethelred's expedition failed; for the peasantry of the Norman coast, arming themselves "with hook and with crook, with fork and with spike, with club and with flail," made so valiant a resistance, that the English were glad to find refuge in their ships. 64. The settlement in north-western France, made under the grant of Charles the Simple to Rolf the Dane (~ 59), had grown into the rich and well-governed duchy of Normandy. The sea-robbers dropped their piratical habits, together with their old Norse language and the worship of Woden and Thor, and speedily surpassed their French neighbors in industry, intelligence, and the maintenance of public order. Golden bracelets are said to have been suspended for years, by the Duke's order, upon a tree near Rouen, no robber presuming to touch them. But in its most flourishing state of Christian civilization, Normandy always contained a strong pagan party, which kept up intimate relations with its kinsmen beyond the sea, and could call a swarm of "seadragons" into French harbors whenever the Duke had a quarrel with the King or with his Flemish neighbors. Peace being made, King Ethelred sought to conciliate both classes of Danes by marrying Emma, sister of Duke Richard II. But the very next year, with a cruelty no less idiotic than wicked, he ordered a massacre of all A. D. 0oo2. the Danes who had remained in England from the recent invasions. A sister of Sweyn, the King of T)enmark, was among the victims, after seeing the murder of her husband and children; and in the agony of her despair she declared that her sufferings would be avenged by the ruin of the English king and people. 65. Her prophecy was fulfilled. The Danes soon appeared in irresistible force upon the western coasts, and for ten years Sweyn, rather than Ethelred, held sovereign power in England. Upon the death of the Dane, his son Knut A. D. ioi6.] DANISH CONQUEST. 41 disputed the possession of the crown with Edmund Ironsides, Ethelred's eldest son. The unready King died before the contest was decided, and-his braver son was compelled to divide the kingdom with his Danish rival. But Edric, Duke of Mercia, one of Ethelred's most treacherous favorites, procured the murder of the Saxon prince, and Knut the Dane became king of all England. RECAPITULATION. Greatness of England under Athelstan. His foreign alliances and commerce with the Continent. Edmund bestows Srrathclyde upon King of Scotland. Edred subdues Northumbrian Danes. Talents and rising power of Dunstan. His contention with Edwy begins the rivalry of Church and State in England. Edgar's obedience to the Church; he bestows Lothian upon Scottish king; his supremacy over neighboring princes. Dunstan reforms the monasteries and persecutes the secular clergy. Murder of Edward II.; accession of Ethelred the Unready. Progress of the Danes. Ethelred invades Normandy; marries Emma; orders massacre of Danes in England. Sweyn's supremacy. Death of Ethelred, murder of his son, and accession of Knut. Eng.-4. V. DANISH KINGS AND SAXON RESTORATION. HERE were now five English princes who might have been candidates for the crown, but not one of age or character enough _ to dispute it with the victorious Dane. Edmund's own brother died the following year; his halfbrothers, the sons of Ethelred and Emma, were in Normandy with their uncle; and his two little children were sent by Knut $, ~to the King of Sweden, with a x. z,;'.. hint, it is said, that they were to De od at be put forever out of the way. Death of Harold at Hastings. King Olaf, choosing the more generous construction of this request, sent the infant princes to be educated at the court of King Stephen of Hungary. 67. KNUT had already summoned a council of the whole nation at London, which chose him, by a nearly unanimous A. D. io6-1035. vote, to be "King of the English." Like a wise ruler, he then set himself to make his authority as agreeable as possible to his new subjects. He dismissed his Danish followers, having first paid them liberally by a tax imposed upon the English; he restored the laws and customs of Athelstan and Edgar; and he provided for security of life and property by strict administration of justice. To hush the claims of the young sons of Ethelred to the crown, he proposed to marry their widowed mother; and Emma consented to the strange alliance. 68. Knut was a very pious king, according to the ideas (42) A. D. 1041.] tNWUT AND HIS SONS. 43 of the time. He bestowed much wealth upon churches and monasteries, and went to Rome in the character of a pilgrim. Thence he wrote a kind and fatherly letter to his people, telling them the events of his journey, describing the gifts and honors which had been conferred upon him by the Pope and by the Emperor Conrad, in whose coronation he bore a distinguished part; and the privileges he had been able to obtain for his people. He confesses that the early years of his reign were oppressive, and promises redress, assuring them that King Knut needs no money which must be gained by injustice. If we modernize the spelling, we find this "King's English" easy to understand: "First, above all things, are men one God ever to love and worship, and one Christendom with one consent to hold, and Knut King to love with right truthfulness." 69. As the sovereign of a great Scandinavian empire, Knut often had to quit his island-kingdom to resist the inroads of his neighbors on the Continent. In one of these campaigns, the Saxon Earl Godwin won the King's gratitude by his magnificent energy and valor; and was rewarded by marriage with the daughter of Knut, as well as by his perfect confidence and esteem. Knut left three sons: Sweyn and Harold from a first marriage, and Hardiknut, son of Emma. The latter should, by his parents' marriage contract, have succeeded to the English throne; but he was absent in Denmark, and was, moreover, hated by the Anglo-Danes. Harold was therefore proclaimed king; but Earl Godwin upheld the rights of Hardiknut, and the question was at length settled by a division, the younger prince having all the shires south of the Thames. 70. Harold died in A. D. I040, and Hardiknut became king of all England. He was a drunken wretch, and his short reign presents nothing worth mentioning. Upon his death, his half-brother, EDWARD, now the only surviving son of Ethelred and Emma, came to the throne by the hearty choice 44 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. xo042. of the people. " Before Harold, King, buried were, all folk chose Edward to king at London," says the old Saxon chronicle. But their joy in the restoration of their native line of rulers was soon clouded by disappointment. Edward was in fact a Frenchman, half by birth and wholly by preference. He loved the land of his education and early years better than that which he was called to rule. Most of the high places in the church and about his court were given to Normans, who despised the civil freedom and sneered at the barbarous language and manners of the English. They could not understand a government where even a churl might have his place in the great council, and under which the poorest man's hut was as inviolable as the earl's castle. 7i. This feeling came to a violent outbreak when Eustace, Count of Boulogne, a great lord from over the Channel, came to visit his brother-in-law, King Edward, with a long train of attendants. Returning through Dover, his followers attempted to force themselves into free quarters in the houses of the citizens. The master of one house was killed while defending his home,, and the whole city rose in tumult to avenge him. Nearly forty persons were killed on both sides. The Count, hastening back to Edward's court, bitterly complained of the insult to his dignity, and demanded the punishment of the offenders. The King instantly ordered a military execution, with all the horrors of fire and sword; but Earl Godwin, who was Governor of Dover, firmly refused to execute the sentence. He told Count Eustace that law, not violence, was supreme in England: let him bring his complaint into a court of justice, and all who were guilty would surely be punished. 72. For this defense of his countrymen, Earl Godwin and his four sons were banished; and their governments, comprising one-third of all England, were given to others. Their private estates were confiscated; and even the Queen, a A. D. I052.] EARL GOD WIN. 45 daughter of Godwin, was imprisoned in a convent. Nothing remained to oppose the foreign party in the court, and within a few months, William, Duke of Normandy, came with a great retinue to visit the King. He was received with great honors, and so conducted himself as to acquire Edward's confidence and good-will. It is supposed that at this time the King, who had no children, promised to recommend his Norman cousin to the witan, as a candidate for the English crown. 73. But Godwin was not yet forgotten by the nation whose champion he was; and he had, moreover, many powerful friends abroad. His son Harold raised a squadron in Ireland, while Godwin collected a still larger fleet in the Flemish ports. Joining their forces at the Isle of Wight, they sailed to London, followed along the shore by a constantly increasing multitude of men, who declared their determination to live or die with the great Earl. The King's levies stood on the north bank of the Thames; but Godwin's army, unsummoned save by its own will, crowded the southern bank. The Earl held back his forces: he would rather die, he said, than do or permit any act of irreverence toward his lord the King. 74. The ewi/enagemofe, now summoned to decide between the native and foreign government of England, met in arms without the walls of London (~ 48). With his four brave sons, Godwin took his place in the assembly. He knelt and laid his battle-ax at the feet of the King; then, rising, asked leave to defend himself from the unjust charges which had been brought against himself and his house. His short but eloquent speech was received with shouts of approval. The voice of his countrymen pronounced him guiltless, and decreed the restoration of all their honors and estates to himself, hlis sons, and his followers. The Queen was brought back from her convent, and resumed her true place in the court. 46 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. 1052. 75. All the French were pronounced outlaws, because they had given bad counsel to the King, and brought unrighteous judgments into the land. A third decree restored the "good laws" of Edward's earlier days. At the first decision to refer Godwin's cause, not to the sword, but to the votes of a free people, the Norman bishops, priests, and knights, who had been eating up the land, took horse and fled: even the Primate, quitting his holy office, sought refuge beyond the sea. A better time dawned upon England when her own best men held sway. But Earl Godwin did not live long to enjoy his restored honors. He was succeeded in all his dignities, and in more than his popularity, by his son Harold, whose noble qualities had already won the confidence of king and people. 76. Under Harold's ministry, an invasion of Scotland was ordered by the witan, and executed by Siward, Earl of Northumberland, -a chief of extraordinary strength and courage, who was reputed (ages before Mr. Darwin lived) to have had for one of his ancestors a Norwegian bear. Macbeth, Thane of Moray, had murdered his king, Duncan, and possessed his throne. But Duncan's son, Malcolm, now reclaimed his rights, and was raised by Earl Siward's victory to the throne of his fathers. Macbeth was slain in battle, four years later. Malcolm had spent fifteen years of his exile at Edward's court, where he laid aside his Gaelic speech and costume, and acquired that foreign culture which ever afterward prevailed in the Scottish government, however odious it may have been for a time to the Scottish people. The history of Malcolm, in fact, was much like that of his patron and overlord. Both spent their youth in exile, -Edward in Normandy, and Malcolm in England; and both exchanged their native language, tastes, and habits for those of more cultivated nations. 77. King Edward, growing old and having no son, sent A. D. Io65.] HAROLD AND WILLIAM. 47 to Hungary for his nephew, the only surviving son of Edmund Ironsides (~ 66). But the prince died a few days after his arrival in England, leaving his son Edgar, with two sisters, as the sole representatives of Cerdic's royal line. Edgar the Atheling was a feeble child, and it was then thought essential that an English king should be born and bred in England. The''wise men " had therefore to look for another successor to the throne; and there is little doubt that their choice fell on Earl Harold, who, though claiming no descent from Woden, was the greatest living Englishman in all the qualities of mind and body which befitted a king. He had been intrusted since his father's death with the chief administration of the English government. He had conquered the Welsh and established the royal authority over Scotland. Every-where his strong hand had maintained the honor and safety of England. 78. At one time, when cruising for pleasure in the English Channel, he had been shipwrecked upon the Norman coast. According to the barbarous custom of that day, he was seized and held for ransom; but as soon as Duke William heard of it, he ordered his release, and welcomed him with splendid hospitality at the Norman court. Before he was permitted to-depart, he was compelled to enter into engagements with William, the nature of which has been very differently represented by different writers. Some say that he promised to support the Duke's pretensions to the English throne, and to put him in possession, even during Edward's life, of the castle and well of Dover, and of several other fortresses which Harold held under his oath of allegiance to his King. If Harold made any such engagement, he promised what it would have been treason to perform; and we want better witness than that of his enemies,-who, after his death, sought in every way to blacken his memory and exalt the fame of the Duke, his conqueror,-before we believe that the lifelong champion of English independence ever swore to betray his country to the Normans. 48 OLD EArGLAArD. [A. D. 1o65. 79. Returning to England, Harold, by his bravery and prudence, raised himself to yet higher influence. His brother Tostig had been appointed Earl of Northumberland; but his merciless enforcement of justice, in that distracted country, enraged the people, who rebelled with the aid of Edwin and Morcar, grandsons of the former Earl. Harold was sent to put down the revolt; but finding that some of the complaints against his brother were well founded, he persuaded the King to confirm Morcar in the earldom. He also obtained the government of Mercia for Edwin, Morcar's brother; and he married their sister, widow of the Welsh prince Griffith, whom he had conquered. 80. King Edward died Jan. 5, io66. From his death-bed he stretched out his hand to the Earl of the West Saxons, and *said, "To thee, Harold my brother, I commit my kingdom." In spite of his weaknesses and errors, Edward was dearly loved by his people; and later sovereigns well knew that the surest way to win their favor was to promise the enforcement of his laws. He was the first English king whose touch was believed to be a cure for scrofula. About a hundred years after his death he was canonized as a saint, and is usually called " the Confessor." He was buried in the West Minster, a magnificent church which he had dedicated to St. Peter (~ 29) a few days before,-the building of which had been the chief employment of his later years. It continues to this day to be the burial-place of England's heroes and statesmen, though her princes are buried at Windsor. Edward's tomb is among its most imposing objects, and near it is the chair of stone in which every English sovereign sits at his coronation. 8I. On the same day and under the same roof which witnessed Edward's burial, HAROLD, son of Godwin, was crowned. It was a memorable year that was opened by these solemn rites. Before its close, England had suffered two great invasions from the north and A. D. Io66.] BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE, 49 from the south, had raised and maintained greater fleets and armies than she had ever known before, and finally submitted to the yoke of the Norman conqueror. 82. Tostig, the brother of Harold, was the only domestic traitor of whom we know. He stirred up Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, to make England again the seat of a great Scandinavian empire, like that of Knut (~ 69). With a fleet greater than had ever issued from any northern port, joined by ships from Iceland, the Orkneys, Scotland, Flanders, and the Danish settlements in Ireland, the Norwegian King sailed southward along the eastern coasts of England, burned Scarborough and Holderness, and, landing, defeated Edwin and Morcar in a fierce battle near York. 83. That northern capital opened its gates to the invader before King Harold of England could come to its rescue. He had left the defense of the northern counties to their own earls, while he himself watched the southern coast, where the Normans were expected. But when he heard of the ill success of Edwin and Morcar, he marched northward with all speed. The two Harolds met at Stamford Bridge, and in a hardfought battle of a whole day, the northern hosts were overthrown. Their King and leader was slain: Tostig, too, expiated his treason with his life. In the midst of a banquet at York in honor of this victory, Harold of England received news of the landing of the Normans in Sussex. 84. When Duke William, hunting in the park near Rouen, heard of King Edward's death and of Harold's accession to the throne, he was filled with rage, and branded the Saxon prince as a perjurer and usurper. He instantly sent off an embassy summoning Harold to resign his crown. This King Harold naturally refused to do; and he even expelled from England all the Normans, who by King Edward's favor had been growing rich in English offices and estates. William was neither disappointed nor displeased; for this response Eng.-5. 50 OLD ENGLAND. [A. D. xo66. opened a way for the movement which he had long ago resolved to make. 85. An army of 6o,ooo men was on foot, and a fleet of nearly I,ooo sail was soon ready to convey it across the Channel. The Pope blessed and furthered the enterprise, on condition that the kingdom, when conquered, should be held as a fief of St. Peter. The great battle which was to turn the fate of England was fought at Senlac, nine miles from the seaport of Hastings. Harold fought on Oct. 14, Io66. foot at the head of his infantry; but the best of his soldiers had fallen in the north, and the rest were wearied with forced marches, while the Normans were fresh and confident. The English were more or less disheartened by the Pope's displeasure; and they had tried to drown their terrors, during the night before the battle, by revelry which had not made their hands more steady or their hearts stronger. Nevertheless, both sides fought with a bravery worthy of the prize for which they were contending, and the battle raged from morning until long after nightfall. At one time the cry arose that the Duke of Normandy was slain, and his followers almost every-where gave way; but William, galloping bare-headed over the field, at length succeeded in rallying them. 86. At last the Saxon King and his two brothers fell, and the English ranks were broken. The scattered hosts were pursued with great slaughter, and the field remained to the Norman Duke. The Pope's consecrated banner took the place of Harold's standard; and on the same spot the altar of a magnificent abbey was erected by the Conqueror, that perpetual prayers might be offered for the repose of the souls that had passed away in that fierce conflict. 87. The important towns of Dover, Canterbury, and Winchester surrendered freely to William. Earls Morcar and Edwin, with Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, made an attempt to crown Edgar the Atheling (~ 77), at London. But BATTLE OF HASTINGS. 51 the northern earls had plans of their own more important to them than the defense of England. They withdrew their forces, and the young king-elect, with most of his supporters, repaired to William's camp and offered their submission. The chief men of southern England, churchmen and statesmen, seeing no further hope of resistance, begged the Conqueror to accept the English crown. They hoped that the holy office (for such it was then considered) of anointing and coronation would work as great a change in him as it had wrought in Knut (~ 67), and convert the stern invader into a wise and beneficent sovereign. RECAPITULATION. Knut, being chosen king by the Great Council, rules England wisely and well. Visits Rome; has frequent wars in his northern empire; confers power on Earl Godwin; is succeeded by his two sons, Harold and Hardiknut; the latter survives his brother, and reigns a year alone. "Edward the Confessor," becoming king, gives many offices and favors to foreigners. Godwin withstands the insolence of Count Eustace, and is exiled with his sons. Visit of William, Duke of Normandy, to England. Godwin's triumphant return; expulsion of the French. Harold, Godwin's son, becomes chief minister at his father's death. War. against Macbeth of Scotland; restoration of Malcolm Canmore. Death of Edward the Atheling; choice of Harold to succeed King Edward. His visit to Normandy; his just dealings with Northumberland. Death of King Edward; coronation of Harold II. England is invaded by Harold of Norway, who conquers York, but is defeated and slain at Stamford Bridge. William of Normandy defeats Harold of England in the great battle of Senlac, near Hastings, and southern Britain submits to the Conqueror. VI. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. W E pause a moment to see how the English people lived before they received a foreign king, and became subject to foreign customs and laws. The Danish and Saxon searovers had settled, by this time, into orderly people, tilling the soil, working the mines,-though less thoroughly than the Romans had done,-and carrying on an active trade with the Continent. English women were noted for their embroidery in gold thread, which was greatly valued in the French and Flemish cities. 89. Their houses were low wooden buildings, with a hole in the roof in place of a chimney, and with wooden benches for chairs. A few very rich men had glass in their windows; but no one had carpets, though the walls were often covered with richly embroidered tapestry. go. Before the time of Alfred, the monasteries were the only schools. They were not as strict and gloomy as the Benedictine institutions which Dunstan afterward introduced, but were more like great families gathered under one roof, or in a cluster of adjoining buildings, for study and devotion. Baeda —or the Venerable Bede, as he is commonly calledthe first great English scholar, and the father of English learning, spent his long life in teaching the monks of Jarrow, and the boys whom their parents sent thither for instruction. For the benefit of his pupils, he put into familiar Latin text-books all that Western Europe then knew of science, literature, and the rules of music. His best known work is the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which is written in Latin. He died at the moment of completing a translation of the Gospel of St. John into his own English tongue. gI. On the high cliffs of Whitby, looking out over the (52) C~EDMON. 53 German Ocean, the Abbess Hilda, a woman of royal birth, ruled a seminary of bishops and priests, as well as a convent of nuns. So great was her wisdom, that kings sought her counsel in state affairs. But her monastery is no less celebrated as the home of CQedmon, the first great English poet, who was only a poor cowherd. The English people loved music and the rough verses which recounted the brave deeds of their ancestors on sea and on land. After their evening meals, it was customary to pass the harp from hand to hand, that each in turn might sing for the entertainment of the rest. Caedmon the cowherd could not sing; so he was accustomed to slip away when the harp came near him. 92. One night when he had taken refuge in the stables, he saw a heavenly vision which said, "Sing, Caedmon, some song to me." "I can not sing," he replied, A. D. 664. trembling. "However that may be, you shall sing to me," rejoined the visitant. "What shall I sing?" murmured Caedmon. "The beginning of created things," was the reply; and immediately there flowed from CQedmon's lips a noble song of the Creation. He woke and felt that a new power had been given him. The Abbess and brethren bade him quit his humble toil and enter their order; and the rest of his life was employed in rehearsing in Saxon verse the whole Sacred History as recorded in the Bible. 93. The zeal of the Irish missionaries made the north of England far superior to the rest of the island in means of education. The first English library was kept in the cathedral at York; and here a famous school was presided over first by Archbishop Egbert, and afterward by Alcuin, the friend of Charlemagne. King Alfred said that at his accession he knew no person south of the Thames, and but few south of the Humber, who understood the prayers in the churches. In that age, indeed, many a king "made his mark" at the foot of charters and treaties, because he could not write his name. Alfred provided for the education of his subjects 54 OLD ENGLAND. south of the Watling Street, and he is even claimed as the founder of the University of Oxford. However this may be, he was the founder of English prose-writing. The "AngloSaxon Chronicle," first reduced to regular form in his day, and kept for centuries by the monks of Abingdon and Peterborough, is our chief authority for early English history. - 94. The relations between nobles and common people underwent some important changes under the later Saxon kings. Many free land-holders, unable to maintain their independence, attached themselves to powerful lords, engaging to follow them in war, and sealed the agreement by the ceremony of homage. Kneeling before his new master, the vassal promised to be "his man for life and limb." The same ceremony was repeated, with greater magnificence, when the King of Scots did homage to Edgar or Edward for his earldoms of Cumbria and Lothian, or when the great Duke of Normandy rendered his princely fealty to the King of the French. 95. This " Feudal System" of military service in exchange for lands and protection was universal in France, and it was fixed upon England by the Norman Conquest, especially after the great revolts and confiscations which resulted from the Conqueror's absence. It was then assumed that the whole land belonged to the King, who divided it in knights' fees among his followers, not only by way of rewarding their services, but for precaution against another English insurrection. This standing army of 6o,ooo knights, whose strong castles commanded the entire country, completed the work which the Battle of Senlac had begun. RECAPITULATION. Industry and simple dwellings of the Saxons. Schools in the monasteries. Labors of Bede as writer and teacher. Hilda's abbey at Whitby is the home of Cedmon the poet. Libraries and schools in the north of England. Alfred's labors in the south. Rise of the Feudal System; it becomes permanent after the Norman Conquest. QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. PART I. I. What is known of the earliest inhabitants of Britain? I, 2 2. What evidence exists of the habits of these prehistoric people? 3-5 3. Who were the first known visitors to the British Isles? 6 4. Describe the wars of Caesar with the Britons. 7, 8 5. The campaigns of Plautius and Ostorius. 9, I0 6. The Druids, and their extermination. I 11-13 7. The revolt of Boadicea. I4 8. The policy and success of Agricola. I5 9. The inhabitants of Northern Britain. i6, 20, 21 Io. What Roman emperors were at any time in the island? 9, I6-I8 Ii. Who was the first Christian emperor? I8 I2. What were the effects of Roman influence in Britain? 9, I5, I9 13. Describe the second conquest of Britain. 17. 22, 25 14. The customs of the Germans. 26, 45, 49, 50 15. Why did the Romans abandon Britain? 21 I6. What was the condition of Ireland in the fifth century? 24 17 When and how was Christianity introduced into Britain? i8, 24, 25, 27-30 I8. Name the German kingdoms in England. 25 I9. What kings gave tribute to the Pope? 31 20. Which kingdom ultimately absorbed all the rest? 26, 32, 33 21. Describe the Danish incursions. 34, 35 22. The youth and reign of Alfred. 36-46 23. On what conditions were the Danes settled in England? 43 24. Describe the dominion of Edward the Elder. 47 25. The greatness of Athelstan. 5I, 52 26. The reigns of his brothers. 53 27. The character and history of Dunstan. 54-58 28. The reign of Edgar the Pacific. 57-60 29. Tell about monks and monasteries in England. 28, 30, 44, 60 30. Describe the two sons of Edgar. 61-65 3I. The reigns of Knut and his sons. 67-70 (55) 56 OLD ENGLAND. 32. Tell the history of Edward the Confessor. ~ 66, 70-77, 8o 33- What relations between the kings of Scotland and of England? 53, 58, 63, 76 34. Relate the history of Harold, Godwin's son. 75-86 35. Describe the Norman Conquest. 84-87 36. The houses and employments of the Saxons. 88, 89 37. The early English monasteries. 90, 91 38. Tell the story of the first English poet. 91, 92 39. What differences between the north and south of England? 93 40. Describe the rise and progress of feudalism in England. 94, 95 SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. EGBERT. ETHELWOLF. Athelstan. ETHELBALD. ETHELBERT. ETHELRED. ALFRED. Edmund. Ethelward. EDWARD. ATHELSTAN. EDMUND. EDRED. EDWY. EDGAR. EDWARD ETHELRED II. m. 2 Emma of the Martyr. I Normandy, who m. 2 KNUT, i 6z. EDMUND I Ironside. EDWARD the Confessor. I I HARDIEdmund. Edward KNUT. i 66, 77. the Exile. i 69. I I Edgar Margaret m. King Malcolm III. the Atheling. of Scotland. i 99. ~ 77, 87. Matilda m. HENRY I. of England. i II5. (Seep. 69.) PART II. —FEUDAL ENGLAND. I. THE REIGN OF THE CONQUEROR. ~ ~ILLIAM of Normandy was [AL~ crowned in Westminster Abbey, Dec. 25, io66, one year from the day of its consecration (~ 80). Both English - and Norman nobles were present, and perfect good-will appeared within the building. To the question, "Will you have William, Duke of Nor- mandy, for your king?" both parties answered Yes, with loud acclamations. But the Norman soldiers without, fancying that the noise meant violence against their Duke, attacked the crowd which a not unkindly curiosity had collected about the doors, and even set fire to houses in the neighborhood. The new King, after hastily receiving his crown from the Archbishop, succeeded in quieting the tumult; but not until a bitter sense of personal wrong had been added to the national despair of the English. (57) 58 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. xo66. 97. William loved justice, and tried to reconcile the people to his rule by enforcing the laws impartially on rich and poor, English and foreigners alike. He attempted to learn English, that he might the better understand and govern his new subjects. Though he placed his Normans in all civil and military commands, and divided among them the estates of those who had fallen at Stamford Bridge and Senlac, he at first left all other proprietors in possession of their lands. He built strong castles to overawe London, Winchester, and other cities; but he took care to confirm all the commercial and other privileges which those cities had enjoyed. By thus covering the hand of steel with the glove of velvet, he so far smoothed away opposition that he thought it safe to revisit Normandy, taking with him many English earls to swell his royal train, and display the wealth of the conquered country, while they served as hostages for the good behavior of their countrymen. 98. His absence was a disaster to England, for his officers were neither so just nor so wise as their chief; and their violence and greed aroused hatreds between the races, which required centuries to appease. Only half of England was yet conquered. The men of the Danelagh scorned submission to the Norman Duke, and offered their homage to Sweyn, King of Denmark, who, in A. D. Io69, entered the Humber with a great fleet and army, and laid siege to York. It was taken, and the Norman garrison of 3,00o men was put to the sword. 99. Multitudes of the English, who had hitherto smothered their discontent, took courage to throw off the Norman rule, and the kingdom was every-where ripe for revolt. But William now acted with extreme and effectual severity. To guard against future inroads of either Scots or Danes, he laid waste the whole fertile tract between the Humber and the Tees, and one hundred thousand persons are supposed to have perished with hunger and cold. Many of the Danes and A. D. o1074.] REVOLT OF THE NORMANS. 59 Saxons took to the woods as robbers and outlaws; others repaired to Constantinople and enlisted in the guards of the Emperor of the East. A large party of nobles was hospitably received by Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland,-among them Edgar the Atheling with his two sisters, one of whom became the wife of the Scottish King. Ioo. The greater part of the English lands were now divided among William's knights, and all the high places in church and state were bestowed upon foreigners. Among these, the worthiest was Lanfranc, a Pavian monk, whose piety and learning had already wrought a great reformation in the Norman monasteries, and who was now made Primate of England. The last Englishman who retained any power or importance was Waltheof, Siward's son (~ 76), who, having been received into the Conqueror's favor, had married the Lady Judith, his niece, and had been presented with three rich earldoms. Now it so chanced that the high-spirited Norman barons, who always resented the imperious temper of their Duke,. had become still more restive upon his elevation to royal rank; and at a wedding party, when the wine was freely flowing, an actual revolt was proposed. Waltheof assented with the rest; but morning brought cooler judgment, and he revealed the plot to his wife. If Judith had been faithful, all might yet have gone well; but she hated her husband, and availed herself of this means to ruin him. Ixo. The King was then in Normandy, where he received a letter from Lady Judith informing him of the conspiracy, and aggravating Waltheof's guilt. Waltheof himself hastened to Normandy, in order to detail the whole affair to the King. But William's mind was poisoned; and departing from his usual justice, he nursed his wrath until a day of retribution. Before his return to England the revolt was suppressed by his officers, with the aid of the English themselves; but the punishment of the offenders was reserved for the King, and 60 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. I075. was executed with uncommon severity. Some were deprived of their eyes, some immured in dungeons; but Waltheof, the least guilty, suffered the heaviest penalty: he was condemned and beheaded as a traitor. His wife gained nothing by her crime; for she soon fell under the King's displeasure, and passed her life in shame and remorse, the object of universal contempt. I02. Waltheof's tomb was visited as the shrine of a martyr. The English believed that William's good fortune deserted him on the day when Waltheof died. " His bow was broken, his sword blunted," and peace departed from him. The Conqueror's last years were, indeed, visited by the heaviest sorrows. His eldest son, Robert, was a turbulent and misgoverned youth, who wished to enter upon his continental dominions even during his father's life-time. A party of turbulent young courtiers attached themselves to the Prince, and the quarrel came to open war. The King of France, always jealous of the Duke's greatness, gave Robert for his headquarters a fortress on his father's frontier, whence he and his wild companions sallied forth to ravage Normandy. 0o3. William besieged the castle, and in a fight beneath its walls, father and son, both concealed by their helmets, met in deadly combat. William received a wound, and his cry for aid first revealed to his son the person of his opponent. Struck with remorse and terror, Robert fell on his knees and begged his father's pardon. By the intervention of the barons, and especially of Matilda, the noble wife of the Conqueror, peace was for a time restored. Robert, visiting England for the first time, was intrusted with the command of an expedition into Scotland. 104. The Scotch and the Welsh were pacified, but William had a nearer foe to meet in his half-brother, Odo, whom he had intrusted with the government of England in his absence. Odo, though a bishop, had desired to be a king; but this ambition was exchanged for a still higher one. The reigning A. D. 1087.] DOMESDAY-BOOK. 6I Pope, Hildebrand, had offended all princes by his overbearing conduct. Odo used his brother's treasures to buy votes in Rome, and bribed his brother's soldiers to enter his service, with a view to transporting an army to Italy and seizing the papal throne by force. William arrived from Normandy just in time to check this bold enterprise. He arrested Bishop Odo with his own hands, and sent him to a prison cell in the castle of Rouen. Good Queen Matilda, worn out with cares and sorrows, died soon afterward, and tha Conqueror was scarcely ever seen to smile again. 105. His enemies were many. King Knut of Denmark prepared a great armada, with the secret encouragement of the men of north-eastern England, hoping to regain his grandfather's island dominions. The fleet was "glued to the coast" by head-winds, raised, as the superstitious believed, by the spells of wierd women; but the only magic in the case was wrought by English gold, artfully distributed by King William's agents among the Danish chiefs. Io6. In order to distribute evenly the charges of his enormous preparations for defense, William resorted to the most celebrated act of his reign. Commissioners were appointed in every town and city in England, except London and the four northern counties, to make an exact registration of all land and capital. Their reports were arranged and copied on vellum into the two great volumes of the DOMESDAY-BOOK, in which Englishmen may yet see the possessions of their ancestors accurately described. 107. Prince Robert was again in rebellion, and it was probably by his influence that the men of Mantes declared war against King William, and plundered his neighboring dominions. In revenge, the Norman soldiers set fire to Mantes; and their King, though now aged and heavy with infirmity, rode to see the ruin. His horse stumbled upon a burning brand, and the King received a mortal injury. Conscious of his approaching end, he divided his dominions 62 FEUDAL ENGLAND. among his sons. Robert was to have Normandy, the ancient and most honorable possession of his house; William, surnamed Rufus, was to be King of England; Henry, the youngest, had no lands, but he received a great treasure in silver. xo8. William and Henry only awaited the announcement of their inheritance, then hurried away to secure it, leaving their dying father in the care of hirelings. No sooner was the King's breath departed than his attendants rushed to horse, eager to secure their own interests under the new reign. The lowest servants purloined every article within reach, and fled, leaving their master unattended on the floor. The obsequies of the King and Conqueror were cared for by a poor knight named Herlouin, who as sole mourner attended the body to Caen, there to be interred in a magnificent abbey which William himself had built. As if peace were denied the unhappy Conqueror even in death, Caen was at that moment a prey to a conflagration, which destroyed a great portion of the city and dispersed the funeral train, leaving only a few monks about the corpse. Iog. At the moment when " Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" was about to be chanted, a voice rang through the abbey forbidding the burial, for the reason that the ground where the grave was dug had been unjustly taken from its rightful owner, the father of the complainant. The funeral rites were suspended, while witnesses were examined and money counted to pay the debt: then, at last, the mortal body of the Conqueror was at rest. RECAPITIULATION. Coronation of William the Conqueror at Westminster; he begins his reign with clemency. Revolts in his absence from England. Devastation of Yorkshire, and distribution of lands and revenues among his Norman followers. Primacy of Lanfranc. Fall of Waltheof; troubles of William's later years. Rebellion of his sons. Menaces of the Danish King. Domesday-Book. William's death and burial. II. LATER NORMAN KINGS. "a~~~ aILLIAM II. (A. D. 1087-I oo), arriving in England, seized the royal treasury and several fortresses before he made known his father's death. The Primate, Lanfranc, then made haste to crown him, before opposition could be made. The new King was a selfish tyrant, unrestrained by religion or law from using his great talents solely for the pursuit of pleasure and power. I Lanfranc's death, in A. D. Io89, was an occasion of bitter sorrow to the English. Though foreign both to Normandy and England, he was the friend, /: —;! i $ advocate, and protector of the common people,-a noble office which became ( 4 IG * inseparable from the primacy in the' Church. x III. Rufus hated the Church as a''*:~V'9/ robber hates the judge. It was the Death of William II only power that could rebuke and in some degree restrain his evil passions. For this reason he kept the great bishoprics vacant as long as possible, or sold them to the most unworthy persons; and when they were filled, he burdened them with enormous taxes. Upon Lanfranc's death, the King kept for his own use the great revenues of the see of Canterbury; but after some years a severe illness awakened his conscience, and he called Anselm, a man of great excellence of character, to fill the vacant place. When William got well he resumed his (63) 64 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. xo96. old crimes, but he found in Anselm a firm and able opponent. Then followed a long and angry contest between the King and the Primate; and the latter, quitting England, took refuge with the Pope. I I2. Several years were spent in wars between William and his two brothers, for the possession of their father's whole dominions. Many of the barons had estates both in England and Normandy, and it was impossible for them to serve two masters so at variance as were William and Robert. At this time a strange enthusiasm had seized upon all nations and ranks of people in Europe. Palestine had been conquered by the Turks, who ill-treated Christian pilgrims to the holy places; and at the appeal of the sufferers, all Christendom sprang to arms, eager to wrest the sepulcher of Christ from the hands of the unbelievers. Knights who had not the means to equip their followers, sold or mortgaged their lands for ready money; and people of cooler blood, who staid at home, often grew rich by these investments. II3. Robert of Normandy was among the leaders in the first Crusade. To obtain the needful funds, he pledged his entire dominions to his brother Williamfor I O, O A. D. io96. marks. William was not troubled by either zeal or scruples in matters of religion. He extorted the money from all classes of his subjects, even forcing the churches to melt their gold and silver plate to furnish their quota; and then hastened to seize the mortgaged provinces, hoping that death or poverty would keep Robert from ever reclaiming them. II4. Among the worst acts of the Conqueror had been the turning of large tracts of land into hunting-grounds. " He loved the tall deer as if he were their father," says an old rhyme; and, in fact, the killing of the King's game was more heavily punished than the murder of a man. In forming the New Forest in Hampshire, sixty villages were burnt. Under A. D. xioi.] HENRY'EAUCLERC. 65 William Rufus, one-third of all the lands in England were " King's Forests." In these tracts no law existed excepting the King's own will,-a sufficient reason for their being favorite resorts of the godless King and his reckless followers. William II. was killed, by the arrow either of a hunter or an assassin, while hunting in the New Forest,-the third of his family who met violent deaths within the same inclosure; and the poor people whose homes had been destroyed for this cruel sport, exclaimed that his fate was a proof of the righteous judgments of Heaven. II5. HENRY (A. D. IIoo-I135), the youngest son of the Conqueror, was hunting in the same forest when he heard of his brother's death. He instantly put spurs to his horse and hastened to secure the royal treasury at Winchester; then galloping on to London, was saluted as King by the bishops and nobles, and crowned in Westminster Abbey, three days from the death of Rufus. Henry, who had been born and educated in England, spoke its language well, and was a great favorite with the people. His writs and charters were issued in English, instead of Latin. He solemnly swore to observe the laws of Edward the Confessor, and he granted to London its first municipal charter. His learning, unusual in that age, gained him the surname of Beauclerc, or the Fine Scholar. He pleased the people most of all by marrying Matilda, the Scottish princess, who was great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironsides (~~ 65, 66, 99), so that in her descendants the ancient line of Cerdic and of Woden was held to be restored. (See Table p. 56.) ii6. Duke Robert, returning from the Holy Land, took undisputed possession of Normandy, and then proceeded with his army of crusaders to enforce his claims to the English crown. The two brothers pitched their camps in sight of each other; but several days passed, while both dreaded to begin the unbrotherly strife. By the good offices of Anselm and others, an accommodation was made at length, Eng.-6. 66'EUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. iio6. Robert receiving 3,000 marks a year in exchange for his claims; but the treaty was kept only four years. Finding that the Norman barons were dissatisfied with their Duke, Henry crossed the Channel with a great army and gained a decisive victory over his brother; then receiving the homage of all the vassals, he returned to England, carrying Robert with him as a prisoner. The deposed Duke lived twenty-eight years in close captivity, and died, at last, in Cardiff Castle. l I7. His son took refuge with the King of France, whose attacks upon Normandy, in the name of the young prince, kept King Henry in continual disquiet. The King reaped, indeed, little joy and much sorrow from his ambitious and unjust schemes. In I120, having concluded a peace with the French sovereign, he was sailing gayly from Barfleur, in company with his only and idolized son, William, who had just received the homage of the Norman barons as heir of all his father's dominions. Some accident delayed the sailing of the prince's vessel, and its sailors spent the time in a carouse. When at last it got to sea, the drunken pilot ran the ship upon a rock, and all on board were drowned. When news of the terrible disaster reached King Henry, he fainted away and never smiled again. i 8. His only child was now Matilda, wife of the Emperor Henry V. In that turbulent age, sovereignty demanded military power and activity for its support; and neither Normans nor Saxons had ever tried the hazardous experiment of placing the crown on a woman's head. Nevertheless, Henry determined that, for want of a son, his daughter should succeed him. After the Emperor's death, Matilda was married to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou; * and on the occasion of her * Count Geoffrey was wont to wear in his cap a sprig of genes/a, the common broom of Anjou; whence he acquired the nickname of "Plantagenet," which was borne by all his royal descendants. A. D. II38.] MATILDA AiAND STEPHEAN. 67 second marriage, all the great nobles, both of Normandy and England, did homage to her as their liege lady. Their oaths of fealty were repeated after the birth of her son Henry; and, two years later, King Henry died, bequeathing all his dominions to Matilda. gI9. Now, there was a grandson of the Conqueror (by his daughter Adela, Countess of Blois) who felt his claims infringed by this novel assertion of a woman's rights. Stephen of Blois, and his brother Henry, had been invited to England by Matilda's father, and had been loaded by him with honors and estates. In return, they professed great gratitude and affection for King Henry, and desire for the accession of his daughter to the throne. But no sooner was Henry dead, than Count Stephen hastened to London, and by false statements induced the Primate to crown and anoint him as king. Great reverence was felt for the religious rite of kingly consecration; and its effect was increased by a bull which Stephen obtained from the Pope, confirming his title. Normandy followed the example of England, and acknowledged STEPHEN (A. D. II35-II54) as its sovereign. 120. Foreseeing troubled times, not only the barons but the clergy now fortified their dwellings; and the land began to bristle all over with castles which were strongholds of feudal violence and oppression. Bands of robbers, rushing forth by night or day from these castles, despoiled harvestfields, villages, and even cities; tortured their captives to make them confess where treasures were concealed, and even sold them into slavery beyond seas. Tillage ceased, and a terrible famine seemed like a scourge pf God upon the wicked passions of men. 12I. King David of Scotland invaded the north country, to enforce his niece's right to the crown; but he was defeated by Stephen's nobility in a great battle at North Allerton. Matilda herself came to claim her kingdom, and was joined by many barons who had become restive under the iron hand 68 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. xrI4. of Stephen. Her chief supporter was Robert, Earl of Gloucester, her half-brother. Henry, Bishop of Winchester, the Pope's legate and brother of King Stephen (~ II9), also for a time embraced her cause, being offended in a violent quarrel between his brother and the clergy. In a battle near Lincoln, Stephen was captured, and sent as a prisoner to Gloucester Castle. I22. Matilda was then solemnly acknowledged as queen by an assembly of the clergy, and her authority seemed on the point of being established over the whole kingdom. But her haughty temper cost her a crown. She peremptorily refused the three conditions proposed by her friends: the restoration of King Edward's laws; the confirmation of Eustace, son of Stephen, in his father's inherited estates; and the release of Stephen himself from imprisonment, on his promise to resign all claim to the crown, and to enter a monastery. The Pope's legate, offended by her rejection of his advice, took up arms against her; and Robert of Gloucester, her brother and chief defender, was soon afterward taken in battle. Matilda was compelled to exchange King Stephen for him, and the flames of civil war raged for some years more fiercely than ever. At length, the Queen retired into Normandy; and about the same time, her brother died. I23. The condition of affairs changed as Prince Henry, Matilda's son, grew up to manhood. He spent some years in Scotland, whence he made incursions into England; and by his ability in war, revived the confidence of his party. At the age of seventeen, he was made Duke of Normandy by his mother's consent; and soon after, upon the death of his father, he became Count of Maine and Anjou. His A. D. 1152.fortunes were increased by marriage with a great heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the discarded wife of the French King, Louis VII. Henry thus possessed the entire western coast of France. A. D. 1I54.] DEATH OF STEPHEN. 69 His promotion in rank and wealth led the barons in England to invite him thither, and in II53 he crossed the Channel with an army. A great battle was averted by mediation. Stephen and Henry spoke with each other from opposite sides of the Thames, and agreed that the former should possess the crown during his life, while the latter was acknowledged as its next inheritor. The Duke of Normandy then departed from England; and Stephen's death, which occurred the following year, made way for Henry's peaceable accession to the throne. RECAPITULATION. Death of Lanfranc. William Rufus robs the Church; oppresses his people; quarrels with Anselm; makes war with his brothers; obtains mortgage of Normandy; reserves one-third of England for his hunting-grounds; is killed while hunting in the New Forest. Henry Beauclerc marries a Saxon wife; writes and speaks English. Defeats and imprisons his brother; loses his only son; bequeaths his kingdom to his daughter. Stephen of Blois obtains the crown with the Pope's blessing. England is infested by robber-castles. Matilda invades the kingdom. Stephen in prison. Matilda rejects the terms of settlement; is defeated and exiled. Her son Henry marries the Duchess of Aquitaine; is acknowledged as Stephen's heir. NORMAN LINE. WLLuAM X., the CotqXXeorY., I I I I Robert, D. of WILLIAM II. HENRY I. m. Adela m. Normandy, Matilda of Count of Blois. d. II34. xII6. Scotland. { ii8. I I STEPHEN. I I William Matilda m. 2. d. 1z20. i 117. Count of Anjou. HENRY II. s II8. (See p. 82.) III. THE FIRST OF PLANTAGENETS. lENRY II. (A. D. II54 —I89) began his reign with energy. He demolished the new fortresses which had been robbers' Henry II. at the Tomb of Becket. nests in Stephen's reign, dismissed the hired soldiery, and restored the coin to its standard purity. Henry was equally descended from the Norman and the Saxon kings; and he was the first of the Plantagenet line, which ruled England 33I years. (~ II5.) I25. The old struggle between king and clergy, which we have remarked in the days of Edwy and Dunstan, Rufus and Anselm, was now renewed with increased violence. Thomas a Becket, the son of a London merchant, was the first Englishman since Waltheof who had risen to great power in the realm. He had improved his fine talents by studying law at Bologna; and after his return he was loaded by King Henry (70) A. D. 1164.] THOMAS OF CANTERBURY. 7' with offices, revenues, and honors. He became Lord Chancellor; he was followed by an army of knights; great nobles and even the King often accepted his hospitality, and sought his aid in the education of their sons. Having proved the Chancellor's abilities in the most familiar intercourse, King Henry thought he was securing a useful instrument for his war upon the Church, when he appointed Becket to be Archbishop of Canterbury. 126. But with his promotion, Becket's character seemed to undergo a sudden and complete change. He withdrew from court; he exchanged his costly banquets for a scanty fare of bread and water; he tore his flesh with the scourge; and every day washed the feet of thirteen beggars, in imitation of his Master's humility. All this was, in effect, to declare war against the King. The main point of opposition was in the claim of the Church to judge all crimes committed by persons in her employ, independently of the secular courts. This was of vital importance; for during the first ten years of King Henry's reign, at least one hundred murders were committed by priests. Soon after Becket's consecration, a clerk committed a shameful crime, and attempted to conceal it by murder. The King commanded the offender to be given up to justice. Becket kept him in the bishop's prison, and insisted that he could only be punished by deprivation of his office. I27. Henry summoned a great council of bishops and nobles, with whose consent an important charter, called, from their place of assembly, the "Constitutions A. D. 1x64. of Clarendon," was given to the people. It required even clerical criminals to be judged by the civil laws. Becket, after violent resistance, swore to support the Constitutions; but when the Pope published a bull annulling the instrument, Becket expressed great sorrow and contrition for his former compliance, and tried to combine all the bishops in a league against the King. 72 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. I164. I28. Open hostilities were prevented by Becket's secret flight from the kingdom. King Louis of France, having many causes of jealousy against the King of England, gladly received the Primate with all the honors due to a saint and a martyr. During his absence, the King's eldest son was crowned as associate monarch by the Archbishop of York. Becket obtained from the Pope a sentence deposing the northern metropolitan, and excommunicating all the bishops who had taken part in the service. King Henry being now in Normandy, Becket passed over into England, and was received with shouts of welcome. The common people, as well as the clergy, regarded him as their champion against kingly oppressions. I29. When King Henry heard of Becket's triumphal entrance into Rochester and Southwark, he exclaimed, "Is there none of all my servants who will rid me of this pestilent priest?" Four gentlemen of his household chose to understand these words as intimating a desire for Becket's death; and, hastening to England, they murdered the Archbishop within his own cathedral at Canterbury. The King solemnly declared himself innocent of the crime, and the Pope consented to be appeased. But the tomb of the Primate was revered as the shrine of a martyr. In one year 00oo,ooo pilgrims flocked thither from all parts of Christendom; and miracles were reputed to be wrought by the holy relics. I30. Henry profited by the interval of peace to complete the conquest of Ireland, for which he had long ago obtained permission from the Pope. It was, indeed, already accomplished, chiefly by Richard de Clare, more commonly called "Strongbow," afterward Earl of Pembroke, who, by taking advantage of feuds among the five Irish kings, and by marriage with the heiress of one of them, had obtained control of the whole island. King Henry had only to receive the homage of his new subjects. He confirmed most of the Irish A. D. x174.] THE KING'S PENITENC. 73 chiefs in possession of their ancient estates, on conditionr of feudal homage; and appointing Strongbow as his seneschal, or Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, returned to England to receive the congratulations of his subjects, and the Pope's confirmation of his new sovereignty, I3I. The tendency to family quarrels which disgraced the Norman line, seems to have descended, with its other inheritances, to the Plantagenets. Henry's four sons were aided and abetted by their mother, Queen Eleanor, and by her former husband, the King of France, in rebellion against their father. War broke out in his French dominions; and, at the same time, his English kingdom was invaded by the Scots from the north and the Flemings from the east. These calamities pricked the sluggish conscience of the King, and he resolved to make peace with the murdered Becket. Crossing from Normandy on a penitential pilgrimage, he dismounted as soon as he came within sight of Canterbury Cathedral, and walked with bare head and feet to the holy shrine. Here he fasted and prayed all day and all night' and causing the whole brotherhood of monks to be assembled, presented each with a scourge, and begged them to apply the lashes severely to his naked shoulders, " for the good of his soul." The next day he received absolution for A. D. 1174. all his crimes and errors; and soon afterward learned that on that very day his army had gained a decisive victory over the Scots, whose king it had captured. The superstition of the time could not fail to accept the happy omen as proof of St. Thomas's forgiveness and the favor of Heaven. The King of France also made peace; the English princes returned to their obedience; and the King of Scotland, with' all his nobles and bishops, did homage to Henry, acknowledging the suzerainty of the house of Plantagenet over himself and his descendants. I32. King Henry's domestic peace was not of long duration. He had destined Ireland for his favorite and youngest Eng.-7. 74 FEUDAL EArGLAND. [A. D. xI89. son, John; but that prince proved his wretched unfitness for governing, by driving the Irish chiefs into rebellion, and the King was compelled to recall him. Prince Henry died in France, in the midst of his rebellion; and Richard, now heir to the throne, was scarcely relieved of a war with his brother Geoffrey, by the latter's death, when he, too, took up arms against his father. Humiliated and enfeebled by this unnatural conflict, Henry at last consented to all the demands of his enemies. Among these was a free pardon to the barons who had taken part in Richard's rebellion. When their names were presented for his examination, the unhappy King found, with grief and amazement, that John's name was at the head of the list. This last stroke of ingratitude broke his heart; and after a few weeks' illness he died of fever, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and the thirty-fourth of his reign. I33. Henry was the greatest hereditary monarch of his time, both for personal ability and for the extent of his dominions. In the intervals of war, he made many improvements in the administration of his kingdom, among which the greatest was the appointment of traveling judges, who made circuits through the country, trying all causes which were brought before them. In this way, the subject was spared the great expense of a journey to the capital, and justice was made easily accessible to all the people. RECAPITULATION. Plantagenet Line begins with Henry II., who restores order in England. Is the friend and patron, but afterward the resolute opponent of Becket. "Constitutions of Clarendon" restrict the power of the Church. Becket is protected by the King of France. Returning to England, is murdered by King Henry's servants in his own church at Canterbury. Conquest of Ireland. Rebellion of King Henry's sons. His penitence at the tomb of " St. Thomas." Capture. of King of Scots, who becomes Henry's vassal. Prince John's misconduct in Ireland; joins his brothers in rebellion. King Henry's death. IV. KING RICHARD AND KING JOHN. HE story of RICHARD I. (A. D. I189II99) scarcely belongs to the history!t,':,,2ii~,',: ~ t of England; for of the ten years of his, reign, less than one was spent in the'' iti} kingdom whose crown he wore. RichI f!i ard was a Frenchman,-a valiant crusader, a brilliant poet, and a gallant hero of romance; but he was not an honest man nor a faithful king. His most famous acts were connected with the Third Crusade, of which he was the principal hero. His hatred of unbelievers-a very Christian sentiment, according to the notions of those days I — produced sad consequences on the day of his coronation. A,,C' 11 I35. The London Jews, who were - many and rich, offered gifts of gold to celebrate the occasion. But the King had forbidden them to approach the banqueting hall; their messengers were Pope's Legate Spurning chased away; and suddenly a rumor Crown. spread that the King had ordered a general massacre of all the Hebrews. The mob broke into their houses, killed the owners, and seized their hidden treasures. The horrid frenzy spread to other cities of England. In York, 500 Jews, hoping for neither justice nor mercy, first killed their wives and children, and then set fire to the castle in which they had taken refuge, and perished in the flames. (75) 76 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. I90o. 136. To raise money for his crusade, Richard sold lands, offices, and dignities belonging to the crown, and even released the King of Scotland from his allegiance, restoring the fortresses of Berwick and Roxburgh, King Henry's proudest acquisitions. Then committing his kingdom to the care of the bishops of Durham and Ely, he departed for the holy war. The kings of France and England met at Vezelay, and found that their united armies numbered Ioo,ooo men. They sailed from different ports in the Mediterranean, but storms compelled both to spend the winter in Sicily, where their ardent friendship was turned into rivalry and hatred. Richard was joined at Messina by the Princess Berengaria of Navarre, to whom he was already betrothed. As the marriage could not take place in Lent, she sailed in company with his sister for the Holy Land. Again overtaken by storms, the vessel was driven into a port in Cyprus, where the ladies were treated with great rudeness, and the crews of two attendant vessels were murdered before their eyes. When Richard was informed of the insult, he landed in Cyprus, defeated Isaac, its king, in two battles, took him prisoner and loaded him with chains, assuming for himself the sovereignty of the island. His marriage completed the rejoicings for the victory. 137. Arriving in Palestine, the two kings found all the Christian forces engaged in a siege of the important seaport of Acre, which had withstood them two years. The fresh courage inspired by their powerful reinforcements, secured the surrender of the city. But Philip, now disgusted with Richard's superior fame, soon returned home, having first taken a solemn oath not to meddle with the English or Norman dominions. Richard, fighting every step of the way, advanced one hundred miles from Acre to Ascalon, which he captured. His proposed attack upon Jerusalem was prevented by dissensions among his allies. He therefore made a truce with Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, securing several Medi A. D. Ix99.] CAPTIVITY OF RICHARD. 77 terranean ports, with perfect freedom of pilgrimage to the Christians; and upon receiving important news from England, set out for home. I38. His brother John had seized the regency, and, in concert with King Philip, was attempting to deprive Richard of all his dominions. The King, after various adventures and perils, landed at a port in the Adriatic, whence he tried to make his journey through Europe in the disguise of a merchant. He was recognized at Vienna by his A. D. 1192. bitterest enemy, the Duke of Austria, and was thrown into a dungeon. His foes all hastened to profit by his misfortunes: Philip invaded Normandy, and John demanded the crown of England. Both sent messengers to the Emperor, offering him a great sum of money to keep Richard in perpetual captivity. 139. Queen Eleanor, meanwhile, besought the Pope to interfere for her son's release; setting forth the shame to all Christendom of allowing its champion, whose strong right arm had struck down so many enemies of the cross, to languish in fetters. Richard was summoned before the Diet of the Western Empire to plead his own cause. His eloquence and the unexampled fame of his great exploits, moved the hearts of the princes and prelates; and it was agreed to accept a ransom of I5o,ooo marks, equal, probably, to f2,500,000 of English money now, or twelve and a half millions of dollars. All classes of the English were pinched to raise this sum; and many might have questioned whether their King was worth so much. But they remembered the pitiless extortions of John, and received Richard with joy. I40. The remainder of Richard's reign affords little worth telling. He forgave his treacherous brother, and expelled Philip from the dominions he had overrun in western France. He was killed in a petty quarrel with one of his own French vassals, April, I 199. 78 FEUDAL ENGLAND. [A. D. i99gg. 141. JOHN was crowned at Westminster, the following month. Arthur of Brittany, son of his elder brother Geoffrey, claimed the French provinces, and King Philip espoused his cause. Arthur at last became the prisoner of his wicked and cruel uncle, by whose own hands, there is great reason to believe, the young prince was murdered. If John expected to make his dominion secure by this foul deed, he was as short-sighted as criminals usually are. Philip, as his feudal superior, summoned him to answer for his crime; and, as John did not appear, proceeded, with the concurrence of the "Peers of France," to deprive him of all his fiefs and lordships in that country. The universal horror of his crime wrought powerfully against him; castle after castle —Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Poitou, ultimately Normandy and even Aquitaine, except its southern part, known as the Duchy of Guienne —fell into Philip's hands. I42. A contest with the Pope, concerning the primacy of England, completed John's disasters. Innocent III. was, perhaps, the most able and ambitious of all the popes. John had elevated one of his favorites to the vacant see of Canterbury; but the Pope annulled the appointment, and compelled the monks to choose Stephen Langton. Langton was a good man, but the Pope's act was, nevertheless, a violation of English rights in church and state. John expelled the monks, and took possession of their lands and money. Innocent A. D. 1208. replied by laying the kingdom under an interdict. * The next year, he excommunicated the King; and, three years later, absolved all his subjects from their oaths of allegiance. A crusade was declared *;-An interdict suspended religious services in the country against which it was declared. No public prayers were permitted; no marriages; no funerals; no sacraments,-by which alone, according to the belief of those times, the life of the soul could be sustained. Excommunication was personal, depriving its victim of all Christian rights, and even of common services from others. A. D. 1215.] THE GREAT CHARTER. 79 against England; and Philip Augustus willingly undertook to enforce the Pope's decree. But if the English hated John, they did not love Philip. Mustering a great fleet, the Earl of Salisbury crossed the Channel and attacked the French at the mouth of the Seine. His victorious armies then ravaged the Norman coast, and the danger of a French invasion was for the time at an end. I43. Finding no encouragement in his resistance, John yielded to all the Pope's commands. He restored the monks and nuns to their possessions; he recognized Langton as primate; he even laid his crown at the feet of Pandolf, the legate, and promised to hold England and Ireland only as a vassal of Pope Innocent and his successors, confirming his obedience by a yearly payment of a thousand marks. This degradation of the kingdom enraged the barons, who were already indignant at John's disregard of their rights. Langton was a true Englishman, and faithful to his high office as advocate of the people. He called a council of barons and bishops, to whom he showed a lately found copy of the Charter of Henry I. (~ II5 ), and urged them to insist upon its renewal and enforcement. The barons mustered their forces, and proceeded to make war upon the King. John, deserted by all his retainers, excepting seven knights, was compelled to grant all that his great vassals demanded. I44. At Runnimede, on the Thames, the two parties met in conference; and the result of the meeting was the King's signing of MAGNA CHARTA, the foundation of June, Iz25. English constitutional liberty. Clergy, barons, and people were alike secured in their rights of person and property. Taxes were not to be levied without the consent of the Great Council. No person should be seized or imprisoned, or outlawed or exiled, or in any way brought to ruin... save by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. " We will sell to no man, we will not deny or delay to any man, justice or right." The poor man, even if 80 oFE UDA.L ENGLAND.,Extracts from Magna Charts. A. D. 12I6.] DEATH OF JOHN. 8I King the fulfillment of his solemn oath. "They have given me four and twenty over-kings!" cried John, in a rage, as he threw himself on the floor, and gnawed like a wild beast at whatever came within his reach. 145. But he had promised the more readily because he did not intend to perform. His agents were already enlisting troops on the Continent; and a special envoy now laid before the Pope a copy of the Great Charter, which, John maintained, had been wrested from him by violence. Innocent III., regarding himself as the real sovereign of England, declared that his rights were invaded. He annulled the Charter, and suspended the primacy of Langton for his faithful exercise of its duties. I46. Strengthened by the Pope's bull, and still more by his army of Brabanters, King John broke all his promises; and, marching from south to north, laid waste his kingdom with fire and sword. The barons, who seem to have been inactive at the most critical moment, now took a desperate and unwarrantable step. They offered the crown to Prince Louis, son of the French King, who came over in A. D. I2I6, with a large army, took Rochester Castle, and made a triumphal entry into London. The battle for which John was preparing never took place. Overcome by sickness, shame, and vexation, he died at Newark in the eighteenth year of his reign. I47. It is singular that the wickedness of John should have been the source of two great benefits to his people. Magna Charta has already been mentioned. The loss of the French provinces was also a piece of good fortune to England; for her kings, having no foreign dominions, found their motives to ambition at home. RECAPITULATION. Richard I. neglects his kingdom; permits a persecution of the Jews; sells lands, offices, and his over-lordship of Scotland, to raise means 82 FEUDAL ENGLAND. for his Crusade; spends winter in Sicily; quarrels with King of France; conquers Cyprus; gains great advantages for Christians in the Holy Land; becomes prisoner in Austria on his return; is ransomed by order of the Emperor and the Diet; dies in France. John obtains the English crown; murders his nephew; loses his French dominions; quarrels with the Pope about the archbishopric of Canterbury; is excommunicated, and his kingdom placed under an interdict. Surrenders England to the Pope. Is forced by the barons to sign the Great Charter of English liberties. Attempts to evade it; hires foreign soldiers and makes war against his own kingdom. Louis of France invades the kingdom by invitation of the barons. John dies at Newark. TRANSLATION OF EXTRACTS FROM MAGNA CHARTA. "John, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou,-to the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Counts, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Proepostors, Ministers, and to all Bailiffs and his faithful [subjects] greeting: -" No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or outlawed or exiled or any otherwise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor send upon him, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land."' Given by our hand in the meadow which is called Runingmede, between Windsor and Stanes, the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign. DESCENT FROM HENRY II. (See p. 69.) HENRY II. m. Eleanor of Poitou and Aquitaine. 123. Henry d. 2I83. RICHARD I. Geoffrey. i 141. JOHN. I I Arthur. I I HENRY III. Richard, Earl of I Cornwall. ~ i5i. EDWARD I. EDWARD II. 2 174. EDWARD III. (See p. II9.) V. REIGN OF HENRY III. E NRY III. (A. D. I216-1I272), John's son and heir, was only nine years ~ old. The real power, therefore, ~2 iig ~ ~ae~ rested in the hands of the Earl of Pembroke, a brave, able, and upright man, who was chosen Protector of the Realm. His first act was the renewal of Magna Charta, / i./ which John had violated. He then, with a few hundred knights, defeated the French forces at Lincoln; and _L 3Prince Louis, finding the hearts of the English now turning to their!~,:~. "Ot= rightful king, left the country never Il to return.:/l 1~ I49. Upon Pembroke's death, the' chief power passed to Hubert de