YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

A POPULAR
History of England,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
TO THE ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA
BY
FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT, LL.D.,
MEMBER OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY, THE ROYAL SOCIETY (LONDON), THE SOCIETY
OF ANTIQUARIES ( LONDON) ; AMBASSADOR AT THE COURT OF
ST. JAMES ; PRIME MINISTER OF FRANCS
UNDER LOUIS PHILIPPE, ETC

GUIZOT, AGED 80 YEARS.

A POPULAR

HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

FROM THE

FMS1 IIS 10 11E ACCESSION OF Y1CMI1

By M. GUIZOT,
AUTHOR OF "A POPULAR HISTORY OF FRANCE," "THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION,"
"HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND," ETC.

TRANSLATED BY
• M. M. RIPLEY.
J^Ilg Illustrated brit|j WSiaah mk §>tel plates,
FROM DRAWINGS Bv THE MOST CELEBRATED ARTISTS, AMONG WHOM ARE
A. DE NEUVILLE, SIR JOHN GILBERT, P. LEYENDECKER,
G. STAAL, EMILE BAYARD, T. WEBE.R.
Vol. I.

BOSTON:
C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO.
299 Washington Street.

Copyright by
ESTES AND LAURIAT,
1876.

By 7

D(o

ELECTROTYPED
AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,
19 SPRING LANE.

Printed at tke University Press, Cambridge.

PREFACE
TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

"History," says Schlegel, "if not in itself the most bril
liant, is yet the most indispensable link in the beautiful
chain which encompasses man's higher intellectual culture."
Of the pre-eminent importance of English history there
can be no doubt when we consider that it is the story of
the growth of free institutions; that it exhibits, as no other
can, the gradual development and practical working out of
those great principles of representative government which un
derlie all genuine and durable national prosperity. " Here,"
— to quote the words of M. Guizot himself, when, in 1821,
he selected the history of the political institutions of Eng
land as the subject of that course of lectures before the
Sorbonne which laid the foundation of his great fame, —
"history presents itself with the utmost simplicity and rich
ness. Nowhere have the primitive manners of modern peo
ples been preserved for a longer period, or exercised an
influence so decisive upon the institutions of a country.
Nowhere do great philosophical considerations spring in great
er abundance from the contemplation of events and men.
Here, in fine, representative government has developed itself,
has received into its bosom and fertilized by its alliance,
v

vi PREFACE.
the religious movement imparted to Europe in the sixteenth
century, and has thus become the starting-point of the polit
ical reformation which is now beginning on the Continent."
By this title, the history of England would be most pre
cious to every American, though it were the story of an
alien race, with whom we shared nothing but these com
mon principles and the destiny which follows from their
acceptance. But it is no foreign story that we read on
those pages, brilliant with gallant adventure, or strong with
sturdy adherence to the right ; the barons who won Magna
Charta are of our own race ; Shakspeare and Milton are
our poets ; we have a share in all English victories won on
whatever fields. No view of American history could be
more unphilosophic than that which should regard it as com
mencing at Jamestown or Plymouth. We can by no possi
bility understand our life on this continent, or forecast our
future, until we thoroughly know the story of our fore
fathers in the old ancestral home.
But this is a point which needs no urging. Rather may
we be required to say why a new English History should
be added to the number already in existence. We have
Hume, it may be said, and Lord Macaulay ; we have Lin-
gard, Mahon, Froude, Turner, Palgrave, and Freeman, names
of high and well-established repute. But a moment's reflec
tion will recall the fact that every one of these historians
deals with a period only, not with the whole of the long
and splendid story. We have Turner's " Anglo-Saxons," and
his " England from 1066 to the Accession of' Edward III. ; "
we have Palgrave's and Freeman's histories of the Norman
period ; we have Froude's " England, from the Fall of Wolsey

PREFACE. vij
to the Death of Elizabeth," and Lord Mahon's, from 1713
to 1783: the magnificent work of Macaulay covers the space
only from the accession of James II. to the year 1702; and
Hume and Lingard, who begin with the Roman Invasion,
bring the story down no further than to the Revolution of
1688. A full and complete History of England, the work of
one great writer, has been lacking upon our library shelves
until now.
It may, too, for the moment seem strange that this much-
needed English History should be the work of a French
author. But M. Guizot's claims upon our confidence, as a
man sure to deal in a wise and fair-minded way with what
ever subject he might select, have been well proven, and are
attested by the verdict of his peers. Says Sir Archibald
Alison, in a paragraph whose very moderation adds to its
weight : " As a historian and a philosopher, we place M. Gui-
zot in the very highest rank among the writers of modern
Europe. It must be understood, however, in what his great
ness consists ; he is neither imaginative nor pictorial, he sel
dom aims at the pathetic, and has little eloquence. Nature
has not given him either dramatic or descriptive powers. He
is a man of the highest genius, but it consists not in nar
rating particular events, or describing individual achievements.
It is in the discovery of general causes, in tracing the oper
ation of changes in society which escape ordinary observation,
in seeing whence man has come and whither he is going,
that his greatness consists ; and in that loftiest of the regions
of history he is unrivalled. The style of this great author
is in every respect suited to his subject. . . . He is
uniformly lucid, sagacious, and discriminating, deduces his

viii PREFACE.
conclusions with admirable clearness from his premises, and
occasionally warms, from the innate grandeur of his subject,
into a glow of fervent eloquence."
A writer in the Edinburgh Review for October, 1858, after
an appreciative mention of "the parliamentary statesmen" of
Louis Philippe's reign, men " equally distinguished by liter
ary ability and political eloquence," pays a brilliant tribute
to the late minister. " Among this band of great and hon
orable men, we think that M. Guizot will retain in history,
as he has occupied in life, the first and highest place. Other
writers, gifted with livelier powers of imagination and appeal
ing more directly to the sentiment of their contemporaries,
may, like M. de Chateaubriand, have -exercised for a time a
more powerful influence on the literature of France. Other
orators may have kindled fiercer passions in the audiences they
addressed, and may leave on some memories the impression
of more intense dramatic power. Other statesmen have en
joyed more of popular sympathy in their day, for they fought
under a banner to which M. Guizot was steadily opposed ;
while they spoke with the energy of assailants, his public
life has been for the most part spent in the service of the
crown, and in the discharge of the positive duties of govern
ment. But in the depth and variety of his literary labors,
which have enlarged the philosophy of history, and extended
our knowledge of the laws that manifest themselves in all
human affairs; in the force and precision of his oratory,
which at one swoop could bend an assembly or crush a foe ;
and in the systematic consistency of his whole political life,
which realized in action the opinions of his closet, and gave
the authority of a minister to the principles of a philosopher,

PREFACE. ix
M. Guizot has had no equal, either in his own country, or,
so far as we know, in any other. The wisdom of some
of his writings and the felicity of some of his orations may
not improperly be compared to the productions of Burke;
the ascendency he enjoyed in the executive government and
the Parliament of France, was probably greater than any
minister has possessed in a constitutional state since the
death of Mr. Pitt. But in M. Guizot, the speculative genius
of the one was united to the practical authority of the other ;
and though each of these great Englishmen may have pos
sessed his own peculiar qualifications in a still higher degree,
M. Guizot stands before them both in the rare union of the
contemplative and active faculties. To have written the His
tory of Civilization in France, and to have occupied the
most important position in the government of France for a
longer period than any minister since the Duke de Choiseul,
are joint achievements in literature and in politics which no
other man has performed.
" To the energy and even passion of a southern nature,
M. Guizot has throughout life applied the self-knowledga and
the self-control of a cool and powerful intellect. Born for
public life, and ambitious of the great prizes of political power,
no man ever took less account of the external advantages
of success. He walked looking to higher things; intent on
the extension of freedom, the consolidation of authority, and
the work of government, his life has been spent alternately
in defending freedom against absolutism, and order against
revolution. "It has been acutely remarked that some men are eminent

x PREFACE.
in public life by the possession, in a high degree, of the
characteristic qualities of their nation — as, for example, the
Duke of Wellington was superlatively an Englishman; but
that other men rise to equal eminence by the possession of
qualities very remote from those of the people they have to
govern. In French history, more especially, examples are
not rare of great statesmen, great writers, and great soldiers,
wanting in the popular elements of the French character,
but framed in a stronger mould, who have exercised a pre
ponderating authority over their countrymen. To this class
of thinkers and rulers M. Guizot belongs : a student and a
liberal under the military rule of the First Empire ; a Protes
tant and a man of the people in the presence of the clerical
and aristocratic reaction of the Restoration ; a professor and a
journalist when the crown began to wage war on the rights
of intelligence ; a minister, when it became necessary to allay
the tempest of the Revolution of 1830, and to protect liberty
from the excesses threatened in her name.
" His views of government were based on the idea of a
constitutional monarchy, whilst France was still struggling
with the unsettled elements of an unparalleled revolution.
The idea of such a monarchy, whether inspired by the example
of the British constitution, or by philosophical deduction of a
more abstract nature, did the highest honor to the minds
that conceived it, and to the men who practised it. The
same profound spirit of analysis may be traced in all M.
Guizot's historical writings. Nowhere can he be accused of
superficial observation, or of an undue regard for the acci
dents of history."

PREFACE. xi
The assertion of this reviewer, that M. Guizot's was a char
acter and a mind differing from the usual French type, has
been repeated in many forms, and by foes as well as friends.
To what national type he bore a resemblance could not for
a moment be doubted. His Protestant faith, his intense love
for constitutional liberty, his familiarity with English history,
English politics, and English literature, all contributed to
strengthen whatever natural bias may have existed, and drew
upon him unmerited reproach from his political opponents, as
too warm a friend to the traditional enemy of his country.
It is needless to say that France had never a more loyal
son than M. Guizot, but we gladly dwell upon his sympathy
with England, and his instinctive comprehension of English
motives and methods, because it explains how a Frenchman
has been able to write upon England with, in some respects,
greater ability than any Englishman has yet done. His His
tory of the English Revolution, and other English papers,
published between the years 1826 and 1856, have received
the warmest commendation from the most distinguished men.
Sir James Mackintosh says of the first of these works : " It
is actually the best which has been written on the subject."
In 1844, John Stuart Mill writes : " It is M. Guizot to whom
we owe the best history, both in thought and in composition,
of the times of Charles I. Of all Continental historians of
whom we are aware, he is the one best adapted to this
country, and a familiarity with whose writings would do most
to train and ripen among us the growing spirit of historical
speculation." There is perhaps but one Frenchman whose opinion of M.
Guizot's works on English history has a critical value enti-

xii PREFACE.
tling it to be mentioned on the same page with that of Mack
intosh and Mill. We refer to M. Taine; and it is fitting to
add his testimony to the skill and wisdom of his great coun
tryman. "Let us consider him," says M. Taine, "in his true voca
tion, that of the political historian. He gives you precisely
what you require, striking details, fragments of conversation,
the very words used on the occasion. He has not, like
Hume and Robertson, stopped at general explanations and
the indirect narrative. He has represented dramatic scenes,
austere possibly, but as interesting as a session of Parliament
or of the council. Nothing is more amusing in a serious
way than the solemn comedy wherein Cromwell asks for and
refuses the crown. ... To art, M. Guizot adds science.
To interest, he adds truth. Here he is a specialist, and
one perceives it. To write the history of Chemistry, a man
should have handled chemical substances. To write a polit
ical history, a man should have had the management of
public affairs. These are distinct matters which require a
special training. The man of letters, the psychologist, the
artist, finds himself at a loss when he must pass judgment
on a treaty, an embassy, a parliamentary stratagem, the oppor
tuneness of a convocation, the effects of a law. He can only
decide blindly, by rash conjecture, or on the opinion of
others ; if his judgment be original, it has no weight ; if it
have weight, it cannot be original. But in this case we have
confidence, and we feel at once that we ought to have it.
There is nothing more clearly explained and more correctly
judged than the relations of Cromwell and Mazarin. M. Guizot
has taken pleasure in gathering up all the details of this

PREFACE. xiii
correspondence. Like a great chess-player, he explains and
admires the game of two famous players. . . . This taste
and talent for political history gives him a dominant tone
and a unique style. Master of himself, he advances with
firm, measured, even step, adapting his style to his subject,
a statesman in the construction of sentences, as in the selec
tion of events.
" M. Guizot is a philosopher. The philosophy of history was
his first preference and his first work. He now brings to
narrative history the same talent which he brought to specu
lative history. This talent does not consist, after the German
manner, in the rash improvising of sublime theories, but in
the slow and complete collection of innumerable details, in
wise and incessant classification, in the methodical elimination
of great and well-proved ideas, in the assiduous verifying of
all generalizations. This art of grouping facts, and drawing
general conclusions from them, has built up this History of
the English Revolution. It has given his style a wonderful
vigor, and, when the opportunity offers, as in the recital of
Charles I.'s despotic acts, in the trial of Stafford, of the
king, of Lord Hamilton, of Lord Cappel, it has produced
passages of admirable eloquence, the more impressive because
so restrained, and because the historian stands back to let the
events speak. We have to-day neither style nor mind of this
temper. To find' its like, we must go back to Thucydides or
to Macchiavelli.
" Neither a man given to minute research, nor yet an artist,
do they say? It may be so. But he is a statesman and a
philosopher, and in a political and a philosophic history we
need no more than that."

XIV

PREFACE.

We conclude with a few words from a review of M. Guizot's
France, in the British Quarterly for January, 1877, from the
pen of Edward A. Freeman.
" His historic merits are great ; his services to historical
literature are deep and lasting. . . . Calm, observant, fair,
clear, commonly accurate, going for history to its true sources,
he was one of the founders of the modern school of historical
research. . . . The great mass of the story is as vigorous
as it is clear, moderate, and high-toned. M. Guizot might
not have taken it as praise, but we mean it as no slight
praise, when we say that we have scarcely ever seen a book
written by a Frenchman on a French subject, which was so
little French in its spirit. . . . The book is a noble one ; it
would be well if the history of every nation could be told
in the same calm and judicial spirit, with the same loftiness
of moral tone, with which the history of France has been
told in these volumes by M. Guizot."
The wish here expressed by Mr. Freeman has been fulfilled,
in so far as England is concerned ; and our sincerest gratitude
is due to Madame Guizot de Witt, by whose pious care this
last work of her illustrious father has been " gathered up,"
to use her own expressive words, and is now given to a pub
lic who so well know how to value it.
Boston, May, 1877.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.

CHAPTER

PAGE

I. Ancient Populations op Beitain. — Roman
Dominion. 55 b. c. to 411 a. d  13
II. The Rule op the Saxons to the Invasion
of the Danes. 449-832  29
III. The Danes. — Alfred the Great. 836-901. . 41
IV. Saxon and Danish Kings. — Conquest op Eng
land BY THE NORMANS. 901-1066  63
V. Establishment op the Noemans in England.
1066-1087  106
VT. The Norman Kings. — William Rufus. — Hen
ry I. — Stephen. 1087-1154  120
VII. Henry II. 1154-1189  149
VIII. Richard Cceur-de-Lion. — John Lackland. —
Magna Charta. 1189-1216  185
IX. King and Barons. — Henry III. 1216-1272. . 221
X. Malleus Scotoeum. — Edward I. 1272-1307.
Edward II. 1307-1327  .241
XL The Hundred Years' War. — Edward III.
1327-1377  288
XII. Bolingbroke. — Richard II. 1377-1398. Hen-
ry IV. 1398-1413. . . . '.  340
XIII. Henry V. 1413-1422  380
xv

LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME I.

> Frontispiece. — Portrait of Guizot at the Age
of Eightv-five. FaoIns Eefert0
° J page page
' Landing of the Romans in Britain  14 14
. Destruction of the Druids in Mona  14 21
- Caractacus and his Wife before Claudius. ... 18 19
• The last of the Druids  20 20
" Since your Intentions are good "  36 36
' Rowena and Vortigern  38 30
, The Saxon Priest striking the Images  38 39
< Alfred the Great watching the Peasant's Loaves. . 48 48
¦ Alfred promised the Manuscript  60 43
• Alfred's Device for reckoning Time  60 61
• The Murder of Edward in 978  66 67
, Edith pointing out the Body of Harold  66 105
, Ruins of St. Benedict's Abbey, founded by Canute
A. d. 1020  ^.76 76
* Canute and his Courtiers  78 77
. " The Englishman swore "  90 90
, William the Conqueror reviewing his Army. . . 102 102
. Archbishop Aldred's Curse  110 110
xvii

xviii LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ?a P
110 119

. , TTT.17. , r-, Facing Refer to
Azelin forbidding the Burial of William the Oon- page page

queror 
- " Robert threw himself on his Knees " . . . . 114 114
- The Church of St. Stephen at Caen  118 119
• The Death of the Red King  126 125
¦ " The English and Normans arose "  140 141
v Bishop Odo marching out of Rochester  146 121
1 Escape of the Empress Maud  146 146
> The Cathedral at Nantes  150 151
i
1 The Saracen Princess seeking Gilbert  152 153
The Crusaders' March  152 187
The Castle of Arques  162 163
• Murder of Thomas a Becket  170 170
Dunbrody Abbey, Wexford County, Ireland. . . 172 173
. Burial-Place of Henry IL, at Fontevrault. ... 182 183
' Richard removing the Banner  190 191
¦ Richard Cceur-de-Lion having the Saracens beheaded. 192 192
Richard's Farewell to the Holy Land  194 194
Prince Arthur and Hubert  205 235
¦ Murder of Prince Arthur  206 205
King John's Anger  224 216
Hubert de Burgh awaiting his Enemies. . . . 224 225
¦ King Henry's Ratification of the Barons' Charters. 232 232
* Ruins of Kenilworth Castle  236 236
¦ Burial of King Henry III  242 239
Attempt on Prince Edward's Life  242 242
" That is the Title by which I hold my Lands " 244 244
. Holyrood Abbey  264 264
Bruce warned by Gilbert de Clare  266 266
, Robert Bruce regretting his Battle-Axe. . . . 278 277
Edward II. and his Gaolers  290 286

LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. xix
Facing Refer to
page page
' Black Douglas before the King's Tent  290 290
i Town Hall, Ghent.  296 296
' The Battle of Sluys  298 297
• Van Artevelde at his Door  302 302
. The Great Tower, Bruges  304 302
' Queen Philippa at the Feet of the King. . . 318 317
• King John taken Prisoner by the Black Prince. 324 325
. The Black Prince serving the captive King John. 326 325
' Death of Edward III  340 338
» Richard II. returning from his Coronation. . . . 340 340
. Death of Wat Tyler  348 348
. The Tower of London  362 362
• Bolingbroke and Exton  364 36,4
¦ The Great Noblemen paying Homage to Henry IV. 366 361
/ Henry IV. and Prince Henry  377 377
Prince Henry offers his Life to his Father. . . 378 377
The Body of Richard II. interred at Westminster. 378 380
¦ The French Chivalry the Night before Agincourt. 388 388
Henry V. reviewing his Troops  390 389
. Entry of the Burgundians into Paris  396 395
Courtship of Henry V  398 398
Mausoleum of John the Fearless at Dijon. . . . 402 402

A POPULAR
HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES.

CHAPTEE I.

ANCIENT POPULATIONS OF BRITAIN.— ROMAN DOMINION.
55 B. C. TO 411 A. D.
THE earliest periods of English History are obscure, and
even the origin of its inhabitants is still a subject of
discussion. The first authentic information which we possess
with regard to them is derived from their conqueror. Julius
Caesar remarked their resemblance to the Gauls, and modern
researches have confirmed his testimony. Everything seems
to show that the inhabitants of Britain were Celts, or Gaels,
a name which the population of the highlands of Scotland retain
to this day. On the southern coasts, an invasion of Cymry,
or Belgians, appears to have mingled with the Celtic popula
tion, and to have brought with it some elements of civiliza
tion. Long before the advent of Caesar, the Phoenicians and
Greeks established at Marseilles had entered into relations of
commerce with the Scilly Isles, which they called the Cassi-
terides, and also with the extremity of the County of Cornwall,
where the tin mines were situated. Pytheas, who lived at
Marseilles at the commencement of the fourth century b. c,
has related his voyage along the coast of Britain; but it is
with the invasion of the Romans that the history of England
13

14 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
commences. It is here that we penetrate for the first time
into those islands which, though separated from the rest of the
world, sent to the Gauls, who were struggling for their inde
pendence, succor, which furnished Caesar with a pretext for
the attempt to conquer them. After his fourth campaign in
Gaul, about the year 55 B. c, the great Roman general set
sail on the 26th of August for Britain. He had brought with
him the infantry of two legions, — about twelve thousand men,
and he disembarked near the point where the town of Deal
is now situated. The Britons had gathered in a mass upon
the shore. A great number were on horseback, urging their
horses into the waves, and insulting and defying the foreign
ers. They were almost entirely naked, having cast off the
clothing of skins with which they were ordinarily covered, in
order to prepare for the combat. Their war chariots were
driven rapidly along the shore. For a moment the Roman
soldiers hesitated, troubled by the unaccustomed sight, per
haps from a dread of offending the unknown gods of people
celebrated among their Gaulish brethren for the devotion with
which they clung to the Druidical faith. The standard-
bearer of the tenth legion was the first to precipitate him
self into the sea. " Follow me, my fellow-soldiers," said he,
" unless you will give up your eagle to the enemy. I at
least will do my duty to the republic and to our general."
His comrades followed his example, and the savage inhabitants
of Britain retired in disorder, driven back, in spite of their
bravery, after a short engagement.
On the morrow, ambassadors from the Britons came to solicit
peace. At the first rumor of the projected invasion they had
sent emissaries into Gaul" to offer their submission to the
Romans, in the hope of turning them from their enterprise.
Caesar had listened to them with kindness, and had had them
conducted by his own envoy Comius, king of the Belgian

DESTRUCTION OF THE DRUIDS IN MONA BT THE ROMANS.

LANDING OF THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN.

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 15
Atrebates; but he did not relinquish his intentions, and the
Britons in their irritation had put the delegate of Caesar in
irons. This was the first matter with which the conqueror
reproached them, at the same time demanding hostages for
their future good behavior. .Some hostages were immediately
given. The British chiefs asked for time to send others, and
Caesar entered into separate negotiations with the chiefs who
came one after the other to treat with the conqueror.
During these negotiations the sea rendered aid to the Britons.
Great part of the Roman fleet was destroyed. The barba
rians perceived their advantage, and were dilatory in sending
the hostages. Meanwhile Caesar had promptly set his soldiers
to the task of repairing the vessels, and making requisitions
upon the Gauls for the materials which were required. The
vessels were beginning to be in a state to take the sea, when
the seventh legion, detached on a foraging expedition in the
country, was surprised in the only field of grain then standing,
by a number of Britons who were lying in ambush, concealed
by the long stalks of the corn. Horsemen and war chariots
issued forth from the surrounding forests. The Romans ran
the risk of being crushed, when Caesar came to their assistance
with the remainder of his forces, and defeated the barbarians,
who sued for peace. The equinox was approaching. The
general did not even wait for the hostages, but set sail for
Gaul in the middle of September, sending at the same time
news to Rome which induced the senate to decree twenty
days of public thanksgivings to the Immortal Gods. In his
Commentaries, however, Caesar modestly describes this first
campaign in Britain as a reconnoitring -expedition. He cher
ished the design of returning thither later.
Accordingly in the following year (54 B. a), Caesar em
barked at the same point upon the coast of Gaul, in order
to land at the same spot, though with very different forces.

16 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
He carried with him the infantry of five legions (about thirty
thousand men) and two thousand cavalry. Eight hundred
transport vessels covered the sea.
From the summits of their cliffs the Britons had perceived
this formidable expedition, and had sought refuge in the vast
forests which cover their shores. Caesar marched forward to
drive them back into their retreats, when a violent tempest
destroyed forty of his ships and drove a great number ashore.
The first care of the conqueror was to protect his fleet
against the fury of the sea and the hostility of the islanders.
He caused all his vessels to be hauled ashore, in order to
surround them afterwards by a strong intrenchment. His
largest galleys were diminutive in comparison with our vessels
of war. His transport ships were hardly more than barges.
The Roman soldiers labored without intermission ten days and
ten nights before they had rendered their fleet secure.
They then resumed their march against the Britons, whose
army was still increasing. All the chiefs had united their
forces under the orders of a commander-in-chief, Cassivelanus,
king of the Cassii, renowned for his bravery and skill. The
Britons avoided a general engagement. Assailing the Ro
mans incessantly with their cavalry and their war chariots,
which they conducted with the ease of habit even along the
edge of precipices, they retired again into the forests from
the moment that the advantage was no longer on their side.
But this barbarian intrepidity was not accompanied by expe
rience. Caesar's cavalry, supported by three legions, having
scoured the country in quest of forage, the enemy had re
mained concealed all day, when suddenly they issued in a
mass from the neighboring forests, and swept down upon the
Romans, who were scattered about the country. Already the
Britons imagined themselves victors; but the well-disciplined
Roman detachments formed again as if by enchantment, the

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 17
horsemen rallied, and the Britons, enclosed in a formidable
circle, sustained losses so great that on the morrow the allies
of Cassivelanus nearly all deserted him and returned into
their territories, leaving him to face the Romans unsupported.
The king in his turn fell back upon his kingdom, which
was situated on the left bank of the Thames.
In their pursuit the Romans had traversed the fertile country
which now forms the counties of Kent and Surrey, while
this skirmishing species of warfare continued, often with re
sults favorable to the Britons. But the fatal want of union
common to barbarous tribes lent aid to the Romans. Cassi
velanus was deserted by his neighbors the Trinobantes, who
sent ambassadors to Caesar, asking the restoration of their
king Mandubratius, a fugitive in Gaul, where he had implored
the protection of the Romans against this same Cassivelanus,
who had conquered and put to death the father of his rival.
On this condition the Trinobantes offered their submission.
Some other tribes followed their example. These seceders
acquainted the Romans with the road to Cassivelanus's capital,
situated on the environs of the spot now occupied by the
town of St. Alban's. This was a collection of huts, remind
ing beholders of the dwellings of the Gauls. They rested
on a foundation made of stones, from which arose the walls
composed of timber, earth, and reeds, and surmounted by a
conical roof, which served at once to admit daylight and to
allow smoke to escape through a hole in the top. Fens and
woods, surrounded by a ditch and earthworks, protected this
primitive capital, which soon fell into the hands of the
Romans. Cassivelanus had only one hope left. He had given orders
to the four chiefs who had the command in Kent to attack
the Roman vessels. They obeyed, but the detachment charged
with the protection of the fleet was on its guard. Tlie Britons
vol. i. 3

18 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.n
were repulsed. Cassivelanus, beaten and discouraged, hum
bled himself so far as to sue for peace. Nevertheless, when
Caesar, at the commencement of September, retired once more
to Gaul, he left in Britain neither a soldier nor a fortress.
The second campaign, longer and more fortunate than the
first, had not produced any greater results.
Ninety-six years elapsed: the Roman Republic had become
the Roman Empire ; but the Britons had been troubled by
no new invasion. The Belgian population of the sea-coast
had continued to cultivate their fields, to which they already
knew how to apply marl for manure. They had woven in
peace their long brogues, or checkered breeches, their square
mantles, and their tunics. The Celts, more savage, had seen
their flocks multiply around them. Even this, the only kind
of wealth among barbarous tribes, did not exist in the north
ern part of Britain. The rude inhabitants of Scotland depended
only on the products of the chase, and found a shelter for
their almost naked state in the hollow of rocks, or in the ob
scurity of caverns; but no invader had come to trouble their.
wild liberty up to the day when the Emperor Claudius, in
the year 45 of the Christian Era, conceived the project of
marching in the footsteps of Caesar, and subduing the savage
land of Britain. One of the most experienced of his generals, ,
Aulus Plautius, sent forward with a force of fifty thousand.
men, obtained at first some successes, notwithstanding the
resistance of the chief of the Silures, Caractacus. When the
Emperor arrived, the capital of this people was captured, and
several tribes had submitted almost without a struggle. Clau
dius returned to Rome to enjoy there the honors of an easy
triumph. Thirty battles fought by Aulus Plautius were insufficient to
reduce Caractacus. Ostorius Scapula was the first to succeed
in establishing on the Severn a line of forts separating from

CARACTACUS AND HIS WIFE BEFORE CLAUDIUS AND AGRIPPINA.

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 19
the rest of the island he country, now become Roman, which
comprised nearly all the southern tribes. The Britons, who
appeared to be subdued, were disarmed. But a new insur
rection soon broke forth. The Iceni, who occupied the coun
try now known as the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, were
the first to rise. The Cangi followed their example ; and in
order to reduce them the praetor was compelled to pursue
them as far as to within one day's march of the sea which
separates England from Ireland. From the territory of the
Brigantes, which embraced a portion of the present counties
of Lancashire and York, ,Ostorius hastened to invade the
Silures, who inhabited the southern portion of Wales, and
who were always the most indomitable opponents of a foreign
domination. " Behold the day which is to decide the fate of
Britain ! " exclaimed Caractacus at the sight of the Romans.
" To-day begins the era either of liberty or eternal slavery.
Remember that your ancestors were able to drive back the
great Caesar, and to save their liberty, their life, and their
honor ! " He spoke in vain. The naked breasts and bare
heads of the Britons could not resist the broad swords of the
Roman soldiers. The massacre was horrible. The wife and the
daughter of Caractacus were captured, but the chief himself
had disappeared. Hoping to renew the struggle, he had taken
refuge with his mother-in-law, Cartismandua, queen of the
Brigantes. She delivered him up to the Romans. Caractacus
was sent to Rome with his family. " How can men who
possess such palaces make such efforts to conquer our miser
able hovels ? " exclaimed the British hero, while traversing
the streets of Rome. He appeared before the tribunal of the
emperor. Agrippina was there by the side of her husband.
The wife of Caractacus threw herself at her feet, imploring
her pity ; but the conquered chief asked for nothing, and
exhibited no sign of fear. This greatness in defeat penetrated

20 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
to the heart and to the sluggish mind of Claudius. He gave
the order to set the captives free. Tradition states that he
even restored to his prisoner a portion of his territory, but
Tacitus does not mention this ; he leaves the story of the
vanquished chief at the point where the fetter's fall from his
hands. For a moment Nero, who had become emperor, thought of
abandoning the conquest of Britain, so difficult to secure. It
was not until the year 59 A. D. that Paulinus Suetonius, at
that time praetor, resolved to crush the resistance of the
Britons in their innermost retreat. The island of Mona (now
Anglesey) was consecrated to the Druid worship ; the priests
had nearly all taken refuge there, and there the defeated
chiefs found an asylum. Religion even then exercised a con
siderable power over the minds of the inhabitants of Britain.
In no part were the Druids more numerous and powerful ;
nowhere had they a greater number of disciples diligently
occupied during long years in engraving upon their memory
the regulations of their worship, the sacred maxims, the
ancient poems, which the priests did not allow to be com
mitted to writing. Great, therefore, was the emotion in
Britain when the Romans were seen to attack the holy isle.
On the shore a great crowd awaited the advance of the
enemy, " savage and diversified " in appearance, says Tacitus.
The armed men were assembled in a mass ; the women, attired
in sombre dress, running about with dishevelled hair, like
furies brandishing their torches ; and the Druids were stand
ing, clothed in their long white robes, as if about to sacrifice
to their gods, their heads shaved, their beards long, their
hands raised to heaven, while they pronounced the terrible
maledictions of the Celtic races against the enemies of their
people and their divinities. The Roman soldiers , hesitated ;
their limbs seemed paralyzed by fear, and they exposed them.-*

THE LAST OF THE DRUIDS.

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 21
selves, without resisting, to the blows of their enemies. Their
general urged them to advance. At length, each encouraging
the other to despise the infuriated cries of a band of priests
and women, they rushed upon the Britons, and precipitated
them upon the stakes which they had prepared in order to
sacrifice the Roman prisoners to their gods. A garrison was
placed on the island ; the sacred grove was cut down ; and
the fugitive Druids disappeared, to seek an asylum among
the tribes which still offered a resistance.
The number of these tribes had increased in the absence
of the praetor. The infamous treatment inflicted upon Boa-
dicea, queen of the Iceni, and her children, by order of the
procurator Catus, had aroused the indignation of her neigh
bors as well as of her own subjects. By secret intrigues the
malcontents from all quarters were invited to strike a great
blow for the recovery of their liberty. The colony of Camalo-
dunum was first attacked and put to fire and sword. Sue
tonius hastened from the Isle of Mona, and marched first
towards London, already an important and populous city.
Defence was impossible. The praetor withdrew the garrison
to protect the rest of the provinces, and all the citizens who
had not been able to retire under the shelter of the Roman
eagles were massacred. The Roman colony of Verulam suf
fered the same fate. It is said that more than seventy
thousand Romans and their allies had already perished under
the blows of the insurgents, when the two armies found
themselves confronted. Queen Boadicea rode along the ranks
of the Britons, clothed in a robe of various colors, with a
golden zone around her waist. She reminded her country
men that she was not the first woman who had led them to
battle, since the custom of the country often called to the
throne the widow of a sovereign, passing over his children.
She spoke of the irreparable insults which she had under-

22 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
gone, of the misfortunes of the nation, and she exhorted the
warriors to immolate all the Romans to Andrasta, the goddess
of victory. The Romans remained motionless; they were
awaiting the attack of the Britons.
The barbarians, excited by the glowing words of the queen,
rushed upon the legions ; the Romans bestirred themselves at
length, and their broad swords opened for them a passage
through the midst of the mass of Britons. The latter fell
without flinching ; but their enemy advanced to the line of
chariots, and put to the sword women and children. It is
said, though, no doubt, with the usual exaggeration of the
time, that eighty thousand Britons perished on that day.
Boadicea, resolved not to survive her hopes of vengeance,
poisoned herself upon the battle-field.
Successive praetors had failed to establish tranquillity in
Britain, or to obtain the submission of the people, when
Agricola, father-in-law of the celebrated historian Tacitus,
arrived in his turn in this indomitable island. His brilliant
exploits soon caused him to be respected; but, while pursu
ing year by year the course of his conquests, he endeavored
to found the Roman rule upon the most durable basis. In
his hands the civil administration became milder ; the Britons,
governed with justice, became gradually less estranged from
their conquerors. A taste for luxury and Roman civilization
began to distinguish the chiefs admitted to the praetorian
court ; the Roman toga took the place of the British mantle ;
buildings arose upon the model of the Roman constructions ;
children began to speak Latin; and at the same time the
spirit of liberty and resistance diminished among the inhab
itants of the south of Britain. " The Britons willingly furnish
recruits to our armies," wrote Tacitus ; " they pay the taxes
without murmuring, and they perform with zeal their duties
towards the government, provided they have not to complain

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 23
of oppression. When they are offended, their resentment is
prompt and violent; they may be conquered, but not tamed;
they may be led to obedience, but not to servitude."
The military progress of the Roman general was no less
important than his moral conquests. He had reached the
Firth of Forth and the narrow isthmus which separates this
river from the mouth of the Clyde. After every new victory
he protected the subjected territory with forts. He even
constructed a wall, the ruins of which, crossing the north of
England from the Solway to the mouth of the Tyne, bear
to this day his name. In the eighth and ninth year of his
government he passed the line of the forts and penetrated
into Scotland, the country of the Caledonians, savage tribes
who had not -yet beheld the Roman eagles. Scarcely had the
conquerors invaded this new territory when the Caledonians,
under the command of their chief, Galgacus, descended from
the Grampian Hills, and fell upon the invader. On Ardoch
Moor traces of the combat still exist, together with the lines
of the Roman encampment. The struggle lasted all day, and
the barbarians were defeated; but on the morrow at sunrise
they had disappeared, and the Romans found themselves alone
in the midst of a wild country. In their flight the Caledo
nians had set fire to their habitations, and with their own
hands had slain their wives and children, to prevent their
falling victims to the vengeance of the conqueror. The savage
tribes had returned into their mountains, leaving, according
to the chronicles, ten thousand dead upon the field of battle.
Agricola made no effort to pursue them. Falling back towards
the south, he dispatched his vessels to make a voyage of
exploration all round the island, the northern shores of which
had not yet been visited. The mariners returned, reporting
that no tongue of land connected Britain with the continent,
that they had seen in the distance Thule (Iceland), enveloped

24 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. L
in mists and eternal snow, and that the seas which they had
traversed were of a sluggish kind, heavy under .the oar, and
never agitated by wind or storms. Agricola was recalled to
Rome through the jealousy of the Emperor Domitian, but
his wise government had appeased the passions of the Britons,
and for thirty years afterwards the Roman annals contain no
mention of British affairs — an evidence that peace reigned
in the island.
An invasion of the Caledonians brought the Emperor Ha
drian to Britain (120 A. c). Having driven them back beyond
the forts which connected the mouth of the Solway on the
west with that of the Tyne on the eastern coast, he caused
to be raised behind this rampart an enormous wall, fortified
hy a wide fosse, and provided with towers which received a
garrison. This redoubt is still partly in existence, as is the
wall of Antoninus, constructed some years later across the isth
mus of the Forth, after a fresh invasion of the barbarians.
No rampart, however, could resist the warlike ardor of
these savage populations ; and the disorganization which had
attacked the vast body of the Empire began to make itself
felt among the legions established in Britain. The soldiers
often murmured ; the general, Albinus, after having refused
the title of Caesar from the hands of the Emperor Commodus,
accepted it upon the offer of Septimius Severus, and, suddenly
throwing off his allegiance, was proclaimed emperor by his
troops. Crossing immediately into Gaul, to sustain his pre
tensions by force of arms, he was defeated near Ravoux, and
paid for his ambition by the loss of his head; but he had
brought with him and had sacrificed the best of the troops
in Britain, both Roman and native. The Caledonians took
advantage of this opportunity to redouble their efforts, and
the case became so grave that the emperor left Rome to
oppose them (207 A. D.).

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS. — ROMAN DOMINION. 25
Septimius Severus was old and infirm, but his spirit was
still unsubdued. When he entered into Caledonia with his
son Caracalla, he brought in his train enormous armaments.
His enemies were badly armed ; they carried only the short
sword and the target, which their descendants in the High
lands still employed during the wars of the last century.
But they were skilled to take advantage of the natural de
fences of their country; and without being able to meet the
Caledonians in a fixed battle, the emperor had lost, it is said,
fifty thousand men before abandoning his expedition. He had
carried the name and arms of the Romans so far that he had
no intention of retaining the territory which he had trav
ersed. He left there neither fortress nor garrison; but when
he had returned into the subjected territory, he separated it
from Caledonia by a new rampart, more imposing than all
those of his predecessors. For two years the legions were
employed in constructing it in stone, fortifying it with towers,
and surrounding it with roads. The remains of this gigantic
work attest to this day the power of those who raised it.
The Caledonians, however, had just attempted another inva
sion, when the emperor, who was marching against them,
died at York (211 A. d.) ; and his son Caracalla, compelled
to hasten back to Rome to protect the safety of the empire,
hurriedly concluded with the rude tribes a peace which lasted
for some years.
It was not until the year 228, under the reign of Diocletian
and Maximian, that the dangers which threatened Britain
again disturbed the repose of the emperors. Her shores were
threatened by Saxon and Scandinavian pirates. A commander
of Belgian origin named Carausius was sent against them,
who crowned his success by causing himself to be proclaimed
emperor by his legions. Diocletian conferred on him the
title of Caesar. This new sovereign was assassinated at York,
VOL. i. 4

26 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
and succeeded in the year 297 by his minister Allectus, who
himself fell soon after before the power of Constantius Chlo
rus. When this prince died at York, his son Constantine,
proclaimed emperor by his troops, carried with him, on leav
ing Britain, a great number of the young men of the country
eager to serve in his armies.
The Roman empire no longer existed. The distant seat of
power had been transferred to Constantinople. The province
of Britain escaped from the imperial watchfulness. It was at
the same time ill defended. The Caledonians at this period
had yielded their place, either in fact or in name, to the
Picts, so called perhaps by the Romans on account of the
colors with which they painted their bodies. Side by side
with them, and often driving them back upon their own ter
ritory, were the Scots, originally from Ireland, from which
country they crossed over in so great a number in their little
flat-bottomed boats that they finally gave their own name to
the country they invaded. Under the Emperor Valentinian
we find them pursuing their depredations as far as London,
and driven back to their own country with great difficulty by
Theodosius, father of Theodosius the Great. Before him, and
after his death, in the year 393, Britain presented a similar
spectacle to that of the other Roman provinces. The generals
who were in command there, were proclaimed emperors by
their legions, assassinated by their rivals, or decapitated by
order of the sovereign rulers of Rome or Constantinople, from
the moment that they attempted to leave the island to extend
their conquests. Every one of these attempts cost Britain a
number of soldiers, and contributed to weaken a race already
deteriorated by foreign domination. In 420, under the Em
peror Honorius, when the Empire was expiring under the
attacks of the barbarians, the Britons, deposing their Roman
magistrates, proclaimed their independence, which was imme-

Chap. I.] ANCIENT POPULATIONS.— ROMAN DOMINION. 27
diately recognized by the emperor. But the Britons were not
in a condition to struggle against the invaders who were
pressing them on all sides. Like the Roman Empire, their
country was fated to fall into the hands of the barbarians.
Like the Roman Empire, however, Britain had already
received the principle which was destined to save her from
complete desolation. In the midst of political disorganization,
and of power distributed among a hundred petty chiefs, all
enemies and rivals, she had already heard the only name which
has been given t© men for their salvation. The gospel of
Jesus Christ had been proclaimed upon her shores. At what
epoch, or by whom, is not known. Probably Rome brought
with her arms the Christian faith to the British people ; the
Christians were numerous in the imperial armies, and their
zeal often won to Jesus Christ the souls of the vanquished.
Up to the reign of Diocletian the progress of Christianity in
Britain was not impeded by any severity. At that epoch
(303-305) the great persecution which was raging throughout
the Empire extended itself to Britain. Constantius Chlorus,
who was then governor, favorable though he was to the gospel,
was nevertheless unable to avoid calling around him the offi
cers of his household, and announcing to them the necessity
of either relinquishing their trusts or abjuring the name of
Christ. Those who were cowardly enough to prefer earthly
greatness to Christian fidelity found themselves disappointed
in their ambitious hopes. The general immediately deprived
them of office, remarking that men faithless to their God
would be equally wanting in fidelity to their emperor. But
the moderation of Constantius Chlorus was insufficient to ex
tinguish the persecuting zeal of the inferior magistrates ;
and the British Church soon counted its martyrs. The Chris
tians took refuge in the forests and the hills. They were
able to find brethren among the rude tribes of the north;

28 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. I.
for TertuUian tells us that, in the portion of Britain where
the arms of the Romans had failed to penetrate, Jesus Christ
had conquered souls. With the power of Constantine Chris
tianity ascended the throne ; the British Church was organized ;
she had sent three bishops to the Council of Aries in 314 ;
but Britain was about to undergo a new yoke ; and her dawn
ing Christianity was destined to encounter other enemies.

Chap. II.l THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 29

CHAPTER II.
THE RULE OF THE SAXONS TO THE INVASION OF THE
DANES. 449-832.
DISCORD prevailed in Britain. The petty rival chiefs,
sometimes triumphant, sometimes defeated, united in
vain against the Picts and Scots, whom the Roman walls no
longer impeded now that the Roman power had disappeared.
In this disorder, the Britons were dwindling in numbers day
by day, when Vortigern, chief of Kent, conceived the project
of calling to his assistance the Saxons, a famous people who
inhabited the northern coasts of Germany and Denmark, and
extended their power even to a portion of the territory now
known as Holland. Several tribes were descended from a
common origin. The Jutes, the Angles, the Saxons (properly
so called) all led the Hfe of pirates, and many a time had they
suddenly appeared upon the coasts of, Britain or of Gaul,
scattering terror among the inhabitants, whose houses they
pillaged and burned, killing all who resisted them. For a
long time they risked their lives and sported with the dangers
of the sea in mere skiffs ; but in 449, when Vortigern called
to his aid two celebrated pirates among the Jutes, named
Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon vessels were long, strongly
built, and capable of carrying a considerable number of men,
and of wrestling with the fury of the waves. The pirates
responded promptly to the appeal, and for some time they
faithfully observed their engagements, driving the Picts and
Scots back into their territory, and fighting for Vortigern

30 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II.
against his British enemies. It is related that the Saxon
Hengist, having fortified himself at Thong-Caster, situated in
the county of Lincoln, gave there a feast to King Vortigern.
Hengist had sent for his daughter, the beautiful Rowena, who,
bending the knee before the British sovereign, offered him
the cup of welcome. Her beauty enchanted Vortigern, and
he could not rest until he had obtained her hand.
Whether from a weakness for the father of his wife, or
from gratitude for services, or from the impossibility of rid
ding himself of the allies whom he had sent for, Vortigern
permitted Hengist to establish himself in the Isle of Thanet ;
and gradually fresh vessels arrived, bringing reinforcements for
the foreign colony. Angles followed Jutes ; and the Britons
began to be anxious about these powerful neighbors. At the
first quarrel swords were drawn from their scabbards. Their
blades were equally good and keen ; for the Britons had
derived their military equipments from the Romans, and the
Saxons, passionately fond of iron, attached more importance to
their arms than to any other possession. But the Britons had
been weakened by their old dissensions ; the Saxons allied
themselves with the Picts and Scots, against whom they had
been originally called to fight, and several indecisive battles
ended in a truce. It is even related that the two parties
being assembled at a banquet at Stonehenge, on the 1st of
May, Hengist cried out to the Saxons in their language, " Draw
your swords!" and, at the same moment, the long knives
concealed under the garments of the Saxons were plunged
into the hearts of their entertainers. Vortigern alone was
spared, no doubt at the intercession of Rowena. The war
began ; the Britons were defeated, and Eric, son of Hengist,
became in 457 the first Saxon king of the county of Kent,
the Isle of Wight, and that part of the coast of Hampshire
which faces that island.

Chap. IL] THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 31
The success of Hengist and Horsa naturally attracted new
hordes. In the year 477 the Saxons, under the command of
Ella, founded the kingdom of Sussex (South Sax), which
comprised only the present county of Sussex. In the year
519 other Saxons, under the orders of Cerdic, completed the
invasion of South Britain, and extended themselves from the
county of Surrey, bordering upon Sussex and Kent, to the
eastern extremity of England ; they occupied also Surrey and
all that portion of Hampshire not in the possession of the
Jutes, together with Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and
Devonshire, not even leaving to the Britons the whole of
the county of Cornwall. This new kingdom took the name
of Wessex (West Sax).
The invaders grew bolder. In 530 a new body of Saxons,
the name of whose leader is not recorded in history, arrived,
and established themselves upon the northern border of the
kingdoms of Kent and Wessex, founding there the kingdom
of Essex (East Sax), the importance of which was due to
the Thames and London, since it comprised only the county
of Essex, the small territory of Middlesex, and the southern
part of the county of Herts.
" Thus," says M. Guillaume Guizot, in his History of Alfred
the Great, " the Saxons originally rested their power upon
the first state founded by the Jutes at the south-eastern ex
tremity of England. They surrounded it by their own settle
ments, and all established themselves in the southern part
of the island." They had scarcely completed their migrations
when the Angles, who had then arrived only in small numbers,
and were mingled with the Jutes, began on their own account
to invade the eastern coast. About the year 527 several
bands of Angles arrived under different chiefs ; but it was
not until some years later that they united to form the king
dom of East Anglia, which comprised the counties of Norfolk,

32 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II.
Suffolk, Cambridge, the Isle of Ely, and probably a portion
of Bedfordshire. The territories of Norfolk and Suffolk owe
even their names to two tribes of Angles, the North folk and
the South folk, while the entire race have given their name
to England. This new kingdom, still isolated as well as de
fended by the sea, was fortified by fens and by many rivers.
Where natural defences were wanting, the Angles raised earth
works, long known as the Giant's Dyke, then as the Devil's
Dyke. In spite of the draining of the fen, the line of these
works can be traced to this day.
In the year 547, new bands of Angles, led by a chief
named Ida, landed upon the north-east coast, and founded
there the kingdom of Bernicia, which comprised Northumber
land and the south of Pentland, between the Tweed and the
Firth of Forth. Some years later, in 560, other Angles, no
less enterprising than their predecessors, established themselves
from the southern limit of Bernicia as far as the Humber, and
from one sea to the other, occupying all the territory of the
counties of Lancaster, York, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and
Durham. This was the kingdom of Deira. These two colo
nies were united under the same sceptre in 617, and took the.
name of Northumbria.
The Angles began to advance from the coasts. In the year
586 they occupied all the country bounded on the north by
the river Humber and the kingdom of Deira ; on the west, by
Wales, which alone remained in the hands of the Britons ; on
the south, by the Saxon kingdoms ; and on the south-east, by
the Angles of East Anglia. Mercia, as the new kingdom was
called, comprised then, on the south-east, the northern part
of the counties of Hertford and Bedford ; on the east, all the
counties of Northampton, Huntingdon, and Rutland ; on the
north, the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, and Ches
ter ; on the west, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, and

Chap. II.] THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 33
Herefordshire ; in the centre of the island, Warwickshire and
Leicestershire ; on the south, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and
the county of Buckingham. In this kingdom, the most ex
tensive of all, the British population had not been destroyed
or driven back, as they had in the greater portion of other
parts; they continued to inhabit their ancient country, min
gled with and subject to the Angles.
Such was the division of Britain among the conquerors, and
the constitution of the Saxon kingdoms. This is what is
known as the Heptarchy, or Octarchy, according to whether
we place the' denomination before or after the union of the
kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia in a single kingdom of North-
umbria. Such was the new scene of the wars which were
destined to break out again and deluge Britain, now become
England, with blood.
A more gentle influence was soon to exercise its effect
upon the sanguinary passions of the barbarous races. The
British Christians, though vanquished and driven back into
the narrow territory of Cambria or Wales, do not seem to
have attempted to convert their conquerors. For a moment
•they had themselves run the risk of falling into the heresies
of Pelagius, an Irish monk, who denied the doctrine of original
sin ; but the missionaries from Gaul, Saint Germain and Saint
Loup, had succeeded in 429 and 446 in uprooting among them
these disastrous tendencies. One day Saint Germain, who had
been a soldier before being a bishop, found himself in the
presence of a band of Picts and Saxons who were laying waste
the coast. Putting himself at the head of his flock, he marched
against the enemy amid loud cries of "Alleluia!" These
cries, taken up by the neighboring echoes, terrified the pirates,
who fled; hence this peaceful victory became known by the
name of " The Battle of the Alleluias."
The Britons were not heretics, but, with the independence
VOL. I. 5

34 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. n.
which always characterized their race, they differed from Rome
and from the Eastern Church upon various points of little
importance in themselves, though they had often created di
visions in Christendom. For no reason that has come down
to us, the Britons celebrated Easter in accordance with the
customs of the Eastern Church, — that is to say, at the four
teenth day of the moon, whatever might be the day on which
that event fell, in imitation of the Jews, who on that day
offered up the Paschal lamb. The Western Church, on the
contrary, postponed the celebration of Easter till the Sunday
following. Nothing more was needed to breed dissensions
between the British bishops and the missionaries dispatched
from Rome by Pope ' Gregory the Great. For some years
previously, Gregory, not yet become a bishop, and being in
fact only a simple priest, passing through the slave-market in
Rome, had been struck by the handsome appearance of some
young persons offered there for sale. Learning that they
belonged to the race of Angles, or Saxons, " They would not
be Angles but angels," he exclaimed, "if they were Chris
tians ; " and he conceived the project of going himself to
preach the faith of Jesus Christ to a people so well endowed
by nature. His friends were only able to prevail on him to
renounce his intention by inducing the Pope to forbid his
departure from Rome. When in his turn he was elevated
to the episcopal dignity in the most important see of the
Western Church, he did not forget the Saxons, whose con
version had previously occupied his thoughts. He endeavored
first to inflame with his zeal the young slaves whom he had
caused to be placed in convents ; but the Saxons were appar
ently not disposed to become missionaries, for in the year
595 the Pope dispatched to Britain a young monk named
Augustine, prior of the Convent of St. Andrew at Rome,
accompanied by forty friars. They took the road towards

Chap. II.] THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 36
Gaul ; but they had scarcely arrived at Aix, when they heard
such terrible accounts of the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons
that they were alarmed and wrote to the Pope to ask his
leave to retrace their footsteps. Gregory, on the contrary,
encouraged them to persevere in their enterprise, and, fur
nished with interpreters by the good offices of Brunehaut,
who was reigning over Austrasia in the name of her grand
sons, they arrived in 597 in the Isle of Thanet. Augustine
sent immediately one of his monks to Ethelbert, king of Kent,
announcing his intention of coming to preach Christianity to
his court.
The place could not have been better chosen. A powerful
prince in his domains, Ethelbert was their Bretwalda, or gen
eral chief of all the heptarchy. This title, which was in no
way well defined, but which conferred a certain influence in
the councils of the seven Saxon states, seems to have been
accorded to a kind of merit understood by all. Two chiefs
had already borne it before Ethelbert — Ella, first king of
Sussex, and Ceawlin, king of Wessex. The new Bretwalda
was a pagan, but he had married a Christian wife, Bertha,
daughter of Charibert, king of Paris : she had reserved to
herself the free exercise of her religion ; a French bishop had
even accompanied her. Ethelbert had no repugnance towards
Christianity, and he consented to receive the Roman mission
aries. " Be careful to grant them an audience in the open
air," said the pagan priests, however ; " their maledictions will
be less powerful there than under a roof." It was therefore ,
in the open field that the Saxon Bretwalda awaited the ap
proach of the Christian priests. They advanced bearing a
crucifix and a banner on which was painted the image of
the Saviour. They made the air resound with their grave
canticles. The imagination of the barbarians was no doubt
struck by these ceremonies ; and when Augustine, by the aid

36 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. H.
of an interpreter, had explained to the king the leading doc
trines of the Christian faith, and asked permission to preach
to his subjects the religion which they had come to proclaim
to him, Ethelbert mildly replied, "I am not disposed to aban
don the gods of my fathers for an unknown and uncertain
faith ; but since your intentions are good and your words full
of gentleness, you can speak freely to my people. I will
prevent any one interfering with you, and will furnish food
to you and your monks." Augustine, overjoyed, directed his
steps towards the neighboring city of Canterbury, which he
entered chanting, " O Eternal Father, we supplicate Thee ac
cording to Thy mercy, turn Thy anger from this city and
from Thy sacred place, for we have sinned. Alleluia ! "
The preaching of Augustine and the sanctity of his life
exercised a powerful influence over the Saxons. Numerous
converts already pressed around him when King Ethelbert
decided to embrace the Christian religion. His conversion
attracted his subjects ih a mass to the new Faith, and Pope
Gregory, delighted with the success of the mission, sent to
Augustine the episcopal pallium,* with the title of Archbishop
of Canterbury. At the same time Gregory advised the new
prelate not to destroy the pagan temples to which the people
had been accustomed, but to consecrate them to the worship
of Jesus Christ, and to transform the pagan festivals into
joyful family meetings, at which the Christian Saxons could
eat their oxen instead of sacrificing them to false gods.
With these sage counsels Gregory sent a reinforcement of
missionaries ; but they did not suffice for the zeal or the views
of Augustine, who resolved to address himself to the British
bishops in Wales, asking their assistance in the work of evan
gelization. The Britons were jealous and anxious. ' They con-
* An ornament of woollen texture, sprinkled with black crosses, which the
Pope sends to the archbishops and sometimes to bishops.

"SINCE YOUR INTENTIONS ARE GOOD, YOU CAN SPEAK FREELY TO MT PEOPLE."

Chap. IL] THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 37
suited a hermit of great reputation for sanctity upon the
claims of Augustine to their trust and obedience. " If the
stranger comes from God, follow him," said the hermit. " But
how shall we know if he is from God ? " asked the Britons.
" By his humility." . . . The reply still appeared to the en
voys to be vague. " If he rises at your approach, know that
he is the leader sent by God to direct his people," continued
the hermit. " If he remains seated, reject him because of his
pride." Fortified with this precise instruction, the British
priests, with seven bishops and the Abbot of Bangor, pre
sented themselves at the conference. Augustine was seated,
and did not rise to receive them. The question was already
settled in their minds when the Archbishop of Canterbury
stated his demands. He desired that the British priests should
henceforth celebrate the festival of Easter on the same day
as the Western Church; that they should employ the Roman
forms in the ceremony of baptism, and that they should join
their efforts with his for the conversion of the Saxons. All
these proposals were rejected. Then Augustine rose, and in
a loud voice exclaimed, " You refuse to labor to convert the
Saxons ! You will perish by the swords of the Saxons." This
prediction was remembered some years later, when all the
monks of Bangor were massacred by the Northumbrians in a
Saxon expedition into Cambria.
In spite of the coolness of the British bishops, the work of
conversion went on. The zeal of Ethelbert had already en
gaged his nephew Sebert, king of Essex, to receive baptism. A
church had been founded in London which possessed a bishop.
Another prelate had his seat at Rochester. Ethelbert had
also gained over to the Christian faith the chief of East An-
glia, Redwald, who became after him Bretwalda of the hep
tarchy. But the wife of Redwald was still a pagan, and his
subjects were attached to the religion of their ancestors. The

88 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. H.
king set up two altars in the same temple, one dedicated to
Odin and the other to the God of the Christians; but the
new faith soon prevailed over its rival, and East Anglia took
its place among the Christian kingdoms of the heptarchy.
Christianity had not yet penetrated into Northumbria when
the king Edwin married a daughter of Ethelbert, a Christian
like her father. The queen came accompanied by a Roman
bishop named Paulinus; but- the king remained faithful to
the worship of his forefathers in spite of the solicitations of
his wife, of Paulinus, and even of the Pope. He had, how
ever, consented to the child of Ethelburga being baptized ;
and the day was at hand when his scruples were destined to
be overcome. In his youth, during a long exile and in the
midst of serious perils, there had appeared before him, doubt
less in a dream, a person of venerable aspect, who asked
him, " What wouldst thou give to one who should deliver
thee to-day ? " " All that I possess," replied the Saxon.
" If he asked thee only to follow his counsels, wouldst thou
obey?" "Unto death," was tbe answer. "It is well," said
the apparition, at the same time placing his hand softly upon
his head ; " when one shall return and make thee this sign,
follow him." Edwin had escaped from the dangers which
threatened him, and his dream had remained deeply engraved
upon his memory.
One day when he was alone, the door of his apartment
opened, and Paulinus entering, softly placed his hand upon
his head. " Dost thou remember ? " he asked, and the Saxon,
falling on his knees, promised to do whatever he should desire.
Still thoughtful and prudent, however, while accepting bap
tism for himself, he reserved the right of his subjects to act
as might seem well to them. The Council of Wise Men, or
Aldermen, was called together, and the king having informed
them of his change of faith as the basis of a new doctrine*

THE SAXON PRIEST STRIKING THE IMAGES.

ROWENA AND VORTIGERN.

Chap, n.] THE RULE OF THE SAXONS. 39
asked them what they thought of it. The chief of the priests
was there, and spoke first. " Our gods are powerless," he
said ; " I have served them with more zeal and fidelity than
all the people, yet I am neither richer nor more honored. I
am weary of the gods."
An ancient warrior near the king rose at this speech. " O
king," he said, " thou rememberest perhaps in the winter
days when thou art seated with thy captains near a good
fire, lighted in a warm apartment, while it is raining and
snowing out of doors, that a little bird has entered by one
door and gone out by another with fluttering wings. He
has passed a moment of happiness, sheltered from the rain
and the storm ; but the bird vanishes with the quickness of
a glance, and from winter he returns again to winter. Such
it appears to me is the life of man upon this earth. The
unknown time is dark and sad to us. It perplexes us because we
know nothing of it. If thy new faith teaches us something,
it is worthy of our adherence."
The whole assembly took the side of the two chiefs ; but
when Paulinus proposed, as a token of renunciation to false
gods, that their idols should be cast down, all hesitated ex
cept the high-priest. He demanded a horse and a javelin in
the place of the mare and the white rod which . pertained to
his old office, and galloping towards the temple, he struck
the images with his weapon. The people, trembling, awaited
some token of the wrath of the gods ; but the heavens and
the earth remained silent, and the king was baptized with
all the most distinguished of his people, who were accompanied
by a crowd of warriors. Edwin soon became Bretwalda, and
his reign was an epoch of repose and happiness for his
subjects. During the struggles which recommenced after the death of
Edwin, three kingdoms fortified themselves, and took the lead

40

POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. II.

over the others. These were Northumbria, Mercia, and Wes
sex. These three divisions of the heptarchy were predominant
in the year 800, when Egbert, prince of Wessex, returned to
his country after a long exile. He had passed a considerable
portion of the time at the court of Charlemagne, and had thus
acquired a development of intellect and of knowledge rare at
that time among the Saxon princes. The first part of his
reign was peaceful ; but from the year 809 forward the sword
of Egbert was drawn from the scabbard, and for many years
he pursued his conquests from kingdom to kingdom. He had
already extended his dominion over the British people of Corn
wall, who had consented to pay him tribute, when he subju
gated Mercia and the kingdoms of Kent, Essex, and East An
glia. He had carried his victorious arms up to the frontiers
of Northumbria. The chiefs, anxious and, already beaten in
anticipation, came to meet him, recognizing him for their
sovereign, and promising him obedience. Egbert accepted
their homage, and retired without fighting a battle. Nearly
the whole heptarchy had accepted his laws, and the title of
Bretwalda had conferred upon him an authority more consid
erable than in the case of any of his predecessors. He con
tinued, however, to assume the simple title of King of Wessex.
He reigned until the year 836, happy and powerful ; but the
last years of his reign were troubled by the first invasions of
the Danes. Egbert repulsed them with glory ; but if he had
possessed a spark of the almost prophetic foresight of Charle
magne, he would have wept, like the Frankish hero, over
the infinite woes with which these men from the North men
aced his country.

Chap. HI.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 41

CHAPTER IIL
THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 836-901.
FOR nearly four centuries the Saxons had been estab
lished in Britain ; they had become the sole masters
of the country, and had there forgotten the original source
of their wealth. But the nation from which they had sprung
was still prolific in warriors, vigorous, enterprising, and pos
sessed of nothing in the world but their arms and their ships,
for all the property of the family belonged by right to the
eldest son : warriors, too, ardent in conquering and in obtain
ing wealth at the point of the sword. The peninsula of
Jutland and the provinces still further north of Scandinavia
sent year by year to the French and English coasts a great
number of ships, manned by the " Sea-kings," as they styled
themselves. " The tempest is our friend," they would say ;
" it takes us wherever we wish to go." Repulsed three
times from the coast of England by Egbert, these pirates
soon reappeared under the reign of his son Ethelwulf ; the
whole island became surrounded by their light skiffs. The
Saxons had been compelled to organize along the shores a
continual resistance, and to appoint officers whose duty it
was to call out the people in a body to repulse the enemy.
Three serious contests took place in 839 — at Rochester, at
Canterbury, and at London. King Ethelwulf himself was
wounded in battle. But shortly after, the internal dissensions
which were agitating the whole of France, attracted the pirates
as the dead body attracts the vulture. During twelve years
vol. i. 6

42 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. HI.
the Danish fleets altered their course, and repaired to the
French coasts ; when they reappeared, in 831, in England, their
successes were at first alarming; three hundred and fifty of
their vessels ascended the Thames as far as London, and the
town was sacked. But the king awaited the enemy at Oakly ;
they were defeated, and suffered great losses. After having
met with severe reverses at several other parts of the Saxon
territory, the Danes withdrew from there, and respected the
English coasts during the remainder of the reign of Ethel
wulf. It is at this period that we see appear in the pages of
history the name of the fourth son of Ethelwulf, him whom
England was one day to call Alfred the Great, Alfred the
Well-beloved. He had first seen the light of day at Wantage*
in the ' heart of the forests of Berkshire, in 849, two years
before the departure of the Danes. His mother, Osberga, a
noble and pious woman, gave herself up entirely to the task
of rearing her httle son, who soon began to excite the hope
and admiration of all who saw him. Doubtless the predilec
tion which his father had for this little child, induced him
to give a startling proof of his affection, for Alfred was
scarcely four years of age when he was sent to Rome with
a numerous suite of nobles and servants, to ask for himself,
of Pope Leo IV., the title of king, and the holy unction,
The pope was aware of the piety of the Saxon monarch, and
he consecrated with his own hands the little king, and even
administered to him the sacrament of confirmation. Alfred
returned to England, and it was no doubt the recollection of-
what he had seen at Rome, which began thenceforward to
instil into his soul the desire to gain knowledge, the pursuit
of which was probably very rare among the young Saxons.
His mother, one day, was holding a pretty manuscript in her
hand, a collection of ancient Saxon poems, and was showing

Chap. III.] THE DANES.— ALFRED THE GREAT. 43
it to her four sons who were playing beside her. " I will
give this pretty book," she said, " to whichever of you shall
learn it the soonest by heart." Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and
Ethelred eyed the book with indifference, and went on with
their game; but little Alfred approached his mother. "Really,"
said, he, " will you give this beautiful manuscript to whoever
shall learn it by heart the quickest, and who shall come and
repeat it all to you?" The large round eyes of the child
were fixed upon his mother: she repeated her promise, and
even gave up the manuscript into the keeping of the little
prince. He quickly hurried away with it to his master, who
was able to read aloud to him the verses which it contained,
for, alas ! Alfred could not read until he was twelve years of
age. He soon returned, triumphant, repeated the lines, re
ceived the book from his mother, and preserved thenceforth
throughout his life a taste for the old Saxon ballads of which
he had thus first made the acquaintance.
Alfred was six years old and had lost his mother, when
his father, wishing to make the pilgrimage to Rome in his
turn, took his youngest son with him : the Saxon king spent
a year with the pope, carrying from church to church his
sumptuous devotion. On his return journey he stopped at
the court of Charles the Bold, a court elegant and polite in
comparison with the still rude customs of the Saxons ; and,
attracted by the beauty as well as the arts of Princess Judith,
daughter of Charles, Ethelwulf married her, notwithstanding
the disparity in their ages, and brought her in triumph into
his kingdom. But the two persons whom the old king loved
best, his young wife and his youngest son, were distrusted by
the rest of his family, as well as by his people ; Judith claimed
a share of the sovereign power, according to the old custom
in Britain and Germany, which had become odious to the
Saxons by reason of the crimes of several queens; the elder

44 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. in.
sons of Ethelwulf feared that their young brother, so dear to
their father, might be raised above themselves ; the eldest,
Ethelbald, revolted, and his father found a general rising
against him when he returned to England. The old king did
not resist ; he ceded to his son the greater portion of his states,
and died at the end of two years, having shared equally be
tween his sons his kingdom of Wessex, previously enlarged
by the addition of Kent and Sussex. The tributary states of
Northumbria and Mercia had shaken off the feeble authority
of Ethelwulf, and had recommenced their internal wars. The
Danes profited by these disputes, and had taken up with
renewed ardor their terrible incursions upon the English
coasts. "
In this alarming situation of affairs the sons of Ethelwulf
foresaw that the division of Wessex would be their ruin ;
instead, therefore, of sharing it among themselves, they agreed
that each should reign over the whole in turn, according to
their ages. The reigns of the three eldest were short. Sup
ported successively by their brothers, they fought against the
Danes, and all died in the flower of their youth ; the last,
Ethelred, was still on the throne, when an invasion of the
Danes, who penetrated as far as Reading, called all the men
of Wessex to arms. The war had a short time before assumed
a new aspect ; the Danes did not content themselves with
descending upon the most fertile portions of the coast with
their long ships, or with taking possession of all the horses.
Overrunning the country, they ravaged and sacked everything
in their passage, and re-embarked in their vessels before the
frightened inhabitants had had time to rise up to resist them.
From pirates the Danes had become conquerors, and desired
to establish themselves in that England which their prede
cessors, the Saxons, had formerly snatched from the Britons.
Already possessed of East Anglia and a portion of Northumbria,

i i i i i

Chap, in.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 45
they were threatening Wessex, and had intrenched them
selves at Reading. Alfred had recently been married to a
princess of Mercia, but his new relations did not give him
any support against the Danes, when, having beaten several
detached corps of the pirates, Ethelred and Alfred attacked
the citadel. The greater number of the Danes sprang outside
the walls, "like veritable wolves," says Asser, the historian
of Alfred, and the struggle recommenced.
The Danes were nearly all tall men ; their wandering and
adventurous life favored the development of their muscular
powers ; they did not fear death, for the Walhalla or para
dise of their god Odin promised to the brave warriors who
fell in battle all the pleasure which they esteemed most on
earth. The figure of the raven, the confidant of their god,
floated on the red flags of the Danes; if its dark wings flut
tered on the long folds of silk, victory was certain ; if they
remained motionless, the Northmen feared defeat. The wings
of the raven were fluttering triumphantly before Reading, for
the Saxons were defeated and were obliged to retreat.
They had not lost courage, however, and four days later
they returned to give battle once more to their enemies ; the
Danes had already issued forth from their intrenchments, but
Ethelred was still in his tent, attending holy mass, and would
not hurry to the scene of battle, in spite of urgent messages
from Alfred. The latter, therefore, attacked their opponents
single-handed, near to a little tree which the Danes had chosen
as a rallying-spot. The Saxons fought with the fury of despair ;
Ethelred soon came to support his brother, and the Danes,
beaten" upon the great plain of Assendon, took to flight ; but
only to return a fortnight afterwards, their number swelled
by the reinforcements which were continually arriving by sea.
Wessex alone had sustained eight battles in one year ; her re
sources were becoming exhausted in such an unequal struggle ;

46 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. HI.
Ethelred, wounded, had just died, and Alfred found himself
alone at the age of twenty-two years (871), subject to a
peculiar illness which had succeeded to a slow fever of his
boyhood, and of which the attacks would frequently bring
him to the very verge of the grave. His men and his re
sources exhausted, a ninth and unfortunate battle completely
disabled him ; he was compelled to sue for peace. The Danes
willingly consented to his proposal; there were other princes
to vanquish, other territories to conquer, less valiantly defend
ed than Wessex, on which they proposed to revenge them
selves when it should stand alone in its resistance to them.
In 875 they had finished their conquest. Wessex alone still
preserved its independence, and three Danish kings, who had
passed the winter at Cambridge, embarked secretly, by night,
to attack the coast of Dorset. Vainly did Alfred strive to
resist his enemies by sea ; his ships were beaten, and soon
the long line of incendiarism and murder which always marked
the progress of the Danes extended as far as Wareham. This
was past endurance, and Alfred, stricken down on a sick-bed,
asked for and obtained peace at the price of gold. The Danes
retired after having sworn friendship upon some relics brought
by the Christian king, and on their sacred bracelets steeped
in the blood of their victims, exchanging hostages whose fate
they troubled themselves very little about. The very night
after peace was concluded, the Saxon horsemen were attacked
and cut to pieces by the Danes, who took possession of their
horses in order to make a raid into the interior of the country.
The remonstrances of Alfred were powerless to stop these dis
astrous expeditions, so easy for an enemy who threatened the
country from all sides.
Alfred took to arms once more ; and for a while the issue
of the war seemed to incline in his favor; he had been the
first to see the necessity for attacking the Danes on the ocean,

Chap. III.] THE DANES.— ALFRED THE GREAT. 47
which was incessantly bringing them inexhaustible reinforce
ments, and his vessels having met the pirates during a storm
had defeated and dispersed them, thus cutting off all hope
of succor to the Danes whom Alfred was besieging in Exeter.
This glimmering of success did not last, however ; in 878 the
enemy was once more invading Wessex in two formidable
troops ; one of them was stopped and even defeated by some
faithful retainers of Alfred, but the second army, which had
entered the kingdom by land, was advancing without oppo
sition from town to town. The subjects of Alfred were weary
and discouraged. The king, on whom they had founded such
great hopes, had lost in their eyes his prestige; brave but
uncertain, he had not profited by the advantages which his
military genius had sometimes given him, and his people com
plained of his inflexibility, of his pride, of the severity which
he manifested towards offenders, of the indifference which
he displayed towards the unfortunate. They did not enter
with any spirit into the struggle against the invaders, and the
Saxon kings held no power but by the free will of their sub
jects. The clergy, who were especially hated by the pagan
enemy, fled to France, carrying with them from their country
its relics and the treasures from the churches. The agricuL-
tural population submitted to cultivate the land for the Danes.
The latter were seeking Alfred ; but the king had suddenly
abandoned the cause, and in his turn weary of the struggle,
sick and wounded to the heart by the defection of his sub
jects, he had disappeared, and no man knew or could guess
the place of his retreat.
The fugitive king no longer knew whither he went. From
forest to forest, from cave to cave, he proceeded on his way,
trying to conceal his deep disgrace, learning in his cruel
wanderings, as his historian and friend Asser says, "that
there is one Lord alone, Master of all things and all men,

48 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. HI.
before whom every knee bends, who holds in His hand the
hearts of kings, and who sometimes makes His happy servants
feel the lash of adversity, to teach them, when they suffer,
not to despair of the Divine mercy, and to be without pride
when they prosper."
Alfred wanted confidence in God, when he arrived in the
Island of the Nobles (Ethelingaia), now called Athelney,
in order to hide himself there in the hovel of a cowherd,
who received him at first as a traveller who had lost his way,
and ended by learning in confidence from his guest that he
was a Saxon noble of the court of King Alfred, flying from
the vengeance of the Danes. The worthy Ulfoath was per
fectly satisfied with the explanation, and allowed the fugitive
to remain at his house.
His wife was not in the secret, and was annoyed, no doubt,
to see her work increased by the presence of this unknown
guest. She would ask him at times to perform little services,
and would leave him in charge of some household duties.
One Sunday, while the husband was gone to lead the beasts
to the field, and the wife was busy with several little mat
ters, she had left some loaves or thin cakes by the fire, which
were baking slowly on the red stone of the hearth. Alfred
had been commissioned to watch them, but, absorbed in his
sad meditations, he had forgotten that the bread was burning ;
the smell warned the housewife ; she sprang at a bound to
the fireplace, and quickly turning her cakes, she called out
angrily to the king, " Whoever you may be, are you too proud
to turn the loaves? You will not take the slightest heed of
them, but you will be very glad to eat some of them pres
ently." Alfred did not lose his temper ; he laughed, and
helped the woman to finish her task. A few days later the
cowherd's wife learned with dismay the name of the guest
whom she had thus scolded.

ALFRED THE GREAT WATCHING THE PEASANT'S LOAVES.

Chap. III.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 49
Some of the faithful subjects of Alfred, pursued by the
Danes, took refuge also in the Island of Nobles, where they
discovered, to their great astonishment, their king. Secretly
and by degrees the rumor that Alfred was living spread
through his family, who came in search of him. The little
band became greater day by day, and the king was begin
ning to gain courage. In his solitude and humiliation, God
had taken charge of this great soul which had hitherto for
gotten Him, and which regained through religious faith the
necessary energy to struggle against the enemies of his
country. , The Danes had not profited by their victory. They had
established themselves in the conquered country as plunder
ers, and not as owners. The inhabitants of Wessex were
writhing under their cruel and capricious rule. They had now
forgotten the rigorous acts with which they had reproached
Alfred, and regretted that the Christian king was no longer
at their head. Exasperated by their sufferings, the Saxons
were ripe for revolt.
Such were Alfred's prospects when he began with his com
panions the work of re-establishing himself in his country.
A solid bridge, defended by two towers, enabled the king
to issue out easily from his retreat in his fortress. He
gathered around him all the malcontents before making any
body aware of his identity, and without announcing his great
projects ; each day he saw his little army swell in numbers,
and he defeated the Danes in every skirmish which he chanced
to have with them. He then went back to the Island of
Nobles. It is even said that he went by day, disguised as a
minstrel, into the very camp of the Danes, in order to ascer
tain their numerical strength. In the month of May, 878,
he finally decided to attack them openly. Secret messengers
were dispatched through the neighborhood, who said to the
VOL. i. 7 I

50

POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IIL

Saxons: "King Alfred is alive. Assemble in the forest of
Selwood, at Egbert's field; he will be there, and you shall
all march together against the Danes." The Saxons, des
perate, were rushing there in crowds, and soon Alfred's
standard, bearing the golden dragon, was boldly unfurled
before the Danish raven.
The secret had been well kept. The Danish king, Godrun,
was vaguely aware that a number of Saxons were assembled
in the neighborhood; but he knew neither how many they
mustered, nor the name of their chief, when he found himself
suddenly attacked on the plain of Ethandune. The Saxons
were in high spirits. " It is for your own sakes that you are
about to fight," Alfred had said to them. "Show that you
are men, and deliver your country from the hands of these
strangers." The Danes had not had time to recover from
their surprise before Alfred was upon them, his whole army
following him. The standard-bearer was pushing to the front,
accomplishing prodigies of valor. " It is St. Neots himself,"
Alfred cried, designating a saint held in great reverence by
the Saxons, and an ancestor of his own. His soldiers gained
fresh courage at these words ; the Danes were beaten and pur
sued, and they perished in great numbers. King Godrun, shut
up with his court at the fortress of Chippenham, was compelled
to surrender after a siege which lasted three weeks. He gave
hostages, without taking any in exchange, a proceeding very
humiliating to the Danes ; and Alfred wisely imposed upon
him an agreement useful in securing the definitive tranquil
lity of England, if not consistent with the spiritual welfare
of the Danes : the conqueror exacted that the defeated enemy
should embrace the Christian religion. Godrun and his son
were baptized, and settled in the portion of land which Alfred
conceded to them. Finding the impossibility of driving from
the country the whole of the Danes, who were already mas-

Chap. III.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 51
ters of the land in Northumbria, in Mercia, and in East
Anglia, Alfred hoped to accomplish, by the aid of Christianity
and his right over part of the land, a fusion of the Danish
and Saxon races, and to secure by that union a kind of ram
part against any new Scandinavian invasions.
He was not mistaken. In the year following, a Danish
fleet entered the Thames ; but in vain did the warriors call
for help to Godrun, who was established in the country. He
remained deaf to their voices ; and they, discouraged by his
refusal, went away again, and pursued their ravages on the
coast of Flanders.
For more than thirteen years peace reigned over all Eng
land. One or two little isolated invasions served to exercise
the energy of Alfred's troops, and each day his forces were
augmenting. But Godrun was dead, and a dangerous enemy
now threatened the Saxon king. The famous pirate Hastings,
already advanced in age, but still passionately fond of the
"game of war," was encamped upon the coast of France, at
Boulogne, in 892. Wherever he appeared, death and ruin
followed in his wake. The black raven always unfurled its
wings for him ; he was always assured of victory before the
fray began. He sailed forth in the spring of 893, and instead
of descending upon the lands already held by the Danes,
he disembarked in Kent, a country rich and fertile, inhabited
entirely by Saxons; and, dividing his army into two corps,
he lay awaiting Alfred, who was advancing in haste to resist
him. The Danish pirate had cleverly organized the attack. Al
ready the Danish population of East Anglia were profiting by
his presence to attack the Saxon towns; but Alfred had
studied too well the art of war to disperse his army over the
country ; he led the whole of his available force against Has
tings. There the greater portion of the enemy's army, pro-

52 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III.
tected by a forest and a river, were met by the Saxon king,
who sent out at the same time several small bodies of men
in pursuit of the Danish warriors who were pillaging the
country, staying by these means the progress of the invasion,
and opposing with exemplary patience the ruses of the bar
barians. Hastings appeared to grow weary of this : he asked
for peace, and sent his young sons as hostages. Alfred had
just returned them to him after having baptized them, when
the Danes, caring little for their plighted word, began to
march towards Essex, which they intended to attack, passing
by way of the Thames. The king hastened at once in pursuit
of them and to the support of his eldest son, Edward, who
was defending the frontier. They joined their forces ; a great
battle was fought near Farnham, in the county of Surrey;
the Danes were vanquished and driven as far as the Isle of
Mersey, which they fortified for their defence. The king
attacked them at once ; but while he had been away recruit
ing his forces, a Danish fleet threatened the coast of Devon
shire. Alfred marched against the new invaders, while the
forces which he left behind fought against Hastings, and in
a sortie got possession of the wife and children of that chief.
These were sent to Alfred; but the Christian warrior could
not forget that he had presented the young barbarians at the
baptismal font, and sent them back to their father loaded
with presents.
The pirate, however, was not overcome by his foe's gener
osity. He attacked Mercia, sustained by the Danish hordes
established in the country. Abandoning all thought of the
conquests which he had originally intended, and the kingdom
which he had wished to found, he once more took up the
irregular invasions by which he had acquired so much wealth,
and thought only of plundering the Saxon territory. But
the subjects of Alfred had learned some useful lessons; they

Chap. III.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 53
rose with one accord against the foreign enemy, and when
the king, returning in haste from Devonshire, arrived in the
vicinity of the Severn, he found himself at the head of a
numerous army, which allowed him to completely surround
the trenches of Hastings. The Danes had been decimated by
hunger: they had even eaten their horses. Making a last
desperate effort, they opened up a passage straight through
the ranks of their enemies, and took refuge in Chester, where
they spent the winter.
In the spring-time, the long vessels, the " water-serpents,"
as the pirates would affectionately call them, invariably brought
reinforcements to them. In 895, Hastings began by attacking
Wales, finding the states of King Alfred too well defended.
He ended, however, % retreating to the Isle of Mersey, from
whence he set out in 896 to establish himself on the river
Lea, in the north of London. He had raised a fortress and
there defended himself valiantly, when King Alfred perceived
that he could stop all the enemy's navigation by river. He
accordingly constructed a canal, and reduced the Danes to
despair: their fleet was on dry ground. They abandoned it,
and marched in a northern direction. This time the old pirate
was beaten. Wearied by this struggle against a man of energy
equal to his own, and in. the enjoyment of the youth and
vigor which he no longer possessed, he assembled his vessels
in the spring of 897, and leaving definitively the English coast,
he ascended the Seine and extorted from Charles the Simple
a donation of land in the vicinity of Chartres. He established
himself there ; and Rollo found him there fifteen years later,
spending in peace the remainder of his stormy life.
The Danes who remained in England had reacquired a
taste for adventurous expeditions. They assembled along the
coast of Northumberland to organize an attack on the south
ern portion of the kingdom ; but Alfred had long resolved

54 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III.
to fight his enemies with their own weapons. Having ridded
himself of Hastings, he had had time to look to his navy,
and the Danes found themselves opposed by vessels larger
and more rapid than their own. The struggle began on all
sides. Wherever the pirates advanced to the attack, they
found Saxon vessels to check them. The contests were of
frequent occurrence ; they were not invariably favorable to the
Saxons, but the Danes suffered great losses : their ships would
often founder on the coast, and the cargo would be lost. In
897, the last Danish ships disappeared from England. Alfred
had now only to heal his country of the wounds left on it
after all its struggles, which had cemented the union of the
several kingdoms, in calling them all to the common defence
under a single chief placed above them by reason of his
conspicuous ability. After the war with the Danes, Alfred,
who had merely assumed the title of King of Wessex, had
added to his states Mercia, Wales, and Kent.
It was a kingdom composed of incongruous elements ; but
Alfred understood the management of them by reason of his
far-seeing wisdom. In Mercia, originally peopled by the Eng
lish, he established a viceroy chosen from their royal family,
the Ealderman, or Duke Ethelred, and gave him his own
daughter in marriage. When Ethelred died, after having
faithfully served his father-in-law, the Mercians themselves
placed in the hands of his widow Ethelfleda the reins of
government. Kent already belonged to Alfred. Its unhappy inhabitants,
subject more than . any others to the Danish invasions, had
displayed the most passionate affection and gratitude towards
the prince who had effected their deliverance. The Welsh
chiefs swore allegiance to him. Alfred established one of
them, Amorant, as viceroy of Wales, leaving him thus all
his prerogatives and full command over his subjects.

Chap. III.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 55
While he was thus organizing his Saxon kingdom, Alfred
was maintaining firm and friendly relations with the Danish
kingdom, which he had allowed to be established near to his
own. The propagation of Christianity ampngst the pagans
was his principal means of effecting the fusion of the races,
which he foresaw,- and which he hoped ardently to see ac
complished, but which he could not completely finish during
his own lifetime. Some laws were already in 'force and
respected by both races : the crime of murder was punished
in the same manner in each state, and Alfred caused the
people to rigorously respect the treaties which bound them
together, the pirates of East Anglia, who came to pursue
their ravages along the coasts, being hanged without mercy.
The Danes established in England had already become Eng
lishmen in the eyes of Alfred, and were compelled to observe
the laws of the English population.
But, although thus providing for the future, Alfred felt
completely safe for the present. The Saxon kings had never
maintained a standing army. At the time of an invasion,
when the necessity for defending himself or attacking was
felt by the sovereign, he would send into the boroughs and
through the country a messenger carrying his sword, un
sheathed, who would cry aloud : " Whoever shall not wish
to be held a worthless fellow, let him leave his house and
come and join in the expedition." But the day after the
battle the warriors would disperse, and if the enemy should
recommence hostilities, the king and the country found them
selves unprepared. Alfred divided into two great divisions
all his subjects capable of bearing arms: one was always
on a war footing, ready to march against the enemy ; the
other portion of them would work in the fields and culti
vate the soil until the very day when they would be called
out to follow the golden dragon, while their companions would

56 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. III.
disperse and quietly retire to their cottages. The king made
use of these soldiers in fortifying towns, in constructing cita
dels, and in putting the whole country in a position to defend
itself. It was thus that he was able to withstand the attacks
of Hastings, the most severe which England had as yet en
countered. So much wisdom and foresight on the part of Alfred natu
rally increased his regal importance and authority. Until this
time, the Saxon kings had been essentially warriors ; each
" ealderman," or chief proprietor, ruled supreme in his own
district, without troubling his sovereign; the clergy were
nearly upon an equality with the king, and the offences com
mitted against a bishop were punished with the same penal
ties as those committed' against the king himself. Alfred
re-established the royal supremacy by the force of his own
intellectual superiority ; his ealdermen became his officers ; and
his profound piety, as well as his respect for the clergy, did
not prevent his disengaging himself from any servile sub
mission to the Church. The priests had suffered and trem
bled more than any other class under the rule of the pagan
Danes ; they obeyed without a murmur the orders of their
liberator. Justice was but badly administered in England, divided'
though it had been for a long time into tythings, hundredths,
and counties, and provided with local assemblies which cor
responded to these territorial denominations. During the trou
bles which the Danish invasion had caused, and in the miseries
which had followed, the Saxon proprietors had ceased to
attend to their internal affairs ; they neglected to select the
judges. The assessors, or free men, who should be present
on the occasion of any trial, to help the judge with their
advice, no longer answered when called upon to do so; only
small numbers of witnesses would appear. The king under-

Chap. III.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 57
took to re-establish order; he himself nominated the judges,
and punished them severely when they ventured to give any
decision in a case without previously consulting the assessors,
whom he re-established in their original form — the germ of
the institution now known as the jury. He was not even
satisfied with all these cares ; it often happened that he
would revise the sentences of the judges, .so zealously did he
occupy himself with the administration of justice in his
kingdom. The judges hitherto had been charged with the civil admin
istration as well as that of justice ; they were succumbing
under the weight of such onerous functions. Alfred relieved
them, however, by nominating dukes, earls, and. viscounts,
who were intrusted with the administration of justice in the
counties, the tithings, and hundreds. He himself compiled
for these magistrates a code of laws borrowed, some from the
old mode of legislation in Kent, Wessex, and Mercia, and
others from the Bible, from the books of Moses as well as
from the New Testament; and they all unmistakably bore
the imprint of, and were modified by, the real Christian spirit
which animated the king.
All these laws, the fruits of revealed wisdom or of the
ancient experience of the people, Alfred submitted for approval
to his subjects. " I have shown these laws to my wise men,"
said he, in the preamble at the beginning of his code, " and
the result was that they were unanimous in wishing that
they should be observed." These wise men, or " witans,"
forming an assembly called a " Witenagemote " (an assembly
of wise men), no longer represented, under Alfred, the entire
nation, as in the time when the Saxons still preserved in
their simplicity their Germanic institutions. At that period
all the free men (cearls), whether proprietors or riot, com
posed part of it. By degrees the free men disappeared from
VOL. I. 8

58 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. m.
it, and the "thanes," or proprietors, alone remained; but the
lower class of " thanes," although invested with the same
rights as the royal "thanes," were less wealthy; it was more
difficult for them to leave their affairs in order to repair to
the Witenagemote. In the time o"f Alfred, these great pro
prietors alone made up this assembly of wise men, whose
functions were as vaguely defined as the number and the
periods of their meetings were uncertain, but who thenceforth
maintained in England the principle of a national representa
tive assembly, or the institution whereby the country under
takes its own government, which is the foundation and key
of English history.
While Alfred was drawing up laws of an equitable and
merciful character, while he was rebuilding the ruined con-.
vents and churches, and erecting new ones, he did not forget
the poorest and most unhappy of his subjects. Slaves were
numerous in England, and suffering under a heavy yoke. The
king provided for their protection, granting to them the right
of enjoying and transmitting to their heirs whatever goods
they might have acquired ; he even applied in favor of Chris
tian slaves the Biblical law, granting to them their freedom
at the end of six years of servitude. In his will he ordered
that all the serfs on his entire domain should be emancipated.
His example was followed: the serfs and the emancipated
slaves became day by day more numerous, and began thence
forth to form in England the lower middle class, which did
not yet exist anywhere upon the Continent.
So many efforts and so much foresight must necessarily
have proceeded from a great and enlightened mind. Alfred
had neglected nothing that might add to his stock of knowl
edge. He had not studied during his childhood, in spite of
his ardent desire to acquire knowledge, for there were no
intellectual resources at the court of King Ethelwulf. The

CHAP.m.] THE DANES. — ALFRED THE GREAT. 59
ancient kind of erudition which had already been remarkable
in England, where the means of study, at the beginning of
the eighth century, were far superior to anything of the kind
which could be found upon the Continent, had become extinct
during the wars with the Danes. " When I began to reign,"
wrote Alfred the Great, in the preface to his translation
of the Pastoral of Gregory I., " very few people on this side
of the Humber could say their daily prayers in English, or
could explain in English a Latin epistle, and I suspect that
there was not a greater number on the other side of the
Humber." It was thus that, notwithstanding his eagerness to
instruct himself, Alfred had arrived at the age of thirty-five
years without understanding Latin, and he only began the
study of it in 884, after having made prodigious efforts to se
cure masters who were to instruct himself and his people. In
the way of embassies, presents, negotiations, he spared no trou
ble in order to attract John, the old Saxon of the monastery
of Corbie ; Grimbald, monk at Saint-Omer ; and Plecmund, a
learned Mercian, who had taken refuge in a solitary island of
the county of Chester during the Danish wars, and whom he
made archbishop of Canterbury ; finally, he invited the monk
Asser, living at the extremity of Wales, in the convent of
St. David, whom he soon secured, not only as a master, but
as a friend. It is to Asser that we owe a biography of Alfred,
so minute in its details that it proves beyond question the
great intimacy which existed between the monarch and the
historian. Alfred was looking about in all parts for learned men,
and was studying Latin like a schoolboy ; but he understood
that the period of purely classical education had passed away.
His childish taste for Saxon poetry had not been obliterated,
and his reverence for his native tongue stimulated him to
spread education among those of his subjects who were not

60 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. in.
in a position to devote themselves to the Greek ¦ and Latin
languages. " It has appeared to me very useful," he wrote
to Bishop Wulfsege, "to choose a certain number of books,
those which it is most important to render easily accessible
to all, and to translate them into the language which we
all understand. We shall thus easily insure, with God's help,
and if peace continues, that all the youth of this nation, and
particularly the young men of rich and free families, shall
apply themselves to the study of letters, and shall not sacrifice
their time in any other exercise than that of learning the
Anglo-Saxon writers. The masters shall then teach the Latin
language to those who shall wish to know more, and to
attain a higher standard of instruction. After having re
flected upon the nature of this instruction, I have chosen
the book which is called in Latin Pastoralis, and which we
call The Booh of the Pastor. The learned men whom I have
around me explained it to me, and when I fully arrived
at the precise meaning of it, I translated it into Anglo-
Saxon, sometimes literally, sometimes taking only the thoughts,
and writing them in the manner which appeared best in order
to make them easily comprehensible, and I have sent a copy
of the work to each bishop in the kingdom."
After having begun this great work of clothing in a scarcely
formed language the beauties of classical literature, Alfred did
not remain idle. Impossible labors have been attributed to
him ; a translation of the entire Bible ; the revision of a por
tion of The Saxon Chronicles, &c. It is positively known,
however, that he translated, besides The Pastor, long fragments
of The Soliloquies of St. Augustine, which he called Culled
Mowers ; The Ecclesiastical History of Bede ; the historian
Orosius ; and the book of Boethius dn The Consolation of Phi
losophy. There even exist of his, some poems, translations
or rather imitations of the verses which Boethius had scat-

ALFRED'S DEVICE FOR RECKONING TIME.

ALFRED PROMISED THE MANUSCRIPT BY HIS MOTHER.

Chap. Ill] THE DANES.— ALFRED THE GREAT. 61
tered throughout his book, and which Alfred often altered
to suit his own taste and the tastes of the race of men for
whom he was writing.
How can such great tasks, which would have sufficed to
fill up the lifetime of an author, have been accomplished during
that of a king whose reign was partly taken up by his wars
against the Danes? The good order which prevailed in all
the undertakings of Alfred can alone answer this problem.
Subject to violent attacks of sickness, loaded with work and
with cares, he had divided his time into three parts : the
first belonged to his regal duties; the second to his religion,
to prayer and study; the third was devoted to his repasts,
to sleep, and to bodily exercise ; but the portion allotted to
sleep was very short. The king was often awake during a
great portion of the night, and having neither a clock, nor a
sand time-measurer, he was struck with the idea of having
some tapers or candles made, which should burn for a certain
time, and by means of which he should be enabled to count
the hours. Unluckily, however, a gust of wind would some
times penetrate into the royal tent and make the candles burn
too rapidly, and then the king would suddenly lose all means
of reckoning the time, until the sun came to give him its
infallible direction.
His strength was quickly consumed in this struggle against
human weakness. When scarcely fifty-two years of age,
Alfred was dying. He sent for his son Edward. " Come
and stand beside me," he said ; " I feel that my last moment
is near ; we must part. I am going to another world, and
you will be alone with all my riches. I beg you, for* you
are my beloved child, strive to be a good master and a father
to your people. Relieve the poor, support the weak, and
apply yourself with all your might to the redress of wrongs.
And then, my son, govern yourself according to your own

62 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. UI.
laws; then the Lord will help you and will grant you His
supreme reward. Invoke Him that He may advise and direct
you in your difficulties, and He will help you to accomplish
as well as possible your designs." It was in the same manner
that, three hundred and fifty years later, when dying upon
the shore at Tunis, St. Louis recommended his son to France.
Great kings and great Christians both, although very different
in character and ideas, Alfred and St. Louis both deserved
the name of " pastors " of their people, which the gratitude
of Englishmen has accorded to Alfred.
He died on the 20th of October, 901, after having reigned
twenty-nine years, and he was interred at Winchester, in the
monastery which he had founded there. It is not there, but
at Wantage, — at the spot where he was born, — that the
grateful memory of England caused the celebration of the
jubilee on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of the
birthday of Alfred the Great. On the 25th of October, 1849,
a vast concourse of people went to Wantage to do honor to
the memory of a king so much beloved. The assemblage de
cided on the publication of his complete works, a monument
less durable than the gratitude graven by his deeds on the
heart of his people.

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS.

CHAPTER IV.
THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. — THE CONQUEST OF
ENGLAND BY THE NORMANS. 901-1066.
ONE hundred and sixty-five years elapsed between the
death of Alfred and the invasion of England by Wil
liam the Conqueror. Two dynasties reigned during that
period in England: first, the Saxon, which numbered ten
sovereigns, and secondly the Danish, which was represented
by four princes. The first of the Saxon kings, Edward, the
son of Alfred, did not enjoy a very brilliant reign, but con
trived to make his authority recognized, with the help of his
sister Ethelfleda, widow of Ethelred, the viceroy of Mercia.
He drove back the Danes into their territory, a portion of
which he conquered, and, at the death of his sister, he an
nexed Mercia to his states, which he left, thus augmented, to
his son Athelstan, when he died, in 925:
This young prince was brave as well as able. He placed
the Welsh tribes, always ripe for revolt, under subjection, and
imposed upon them an annual tribute of gold, silver, and
cattle ; he repelled the people of Cornwall, who had never
been thoroughly subjected by Alfred. But the Danes had not
accepted their defeat. King Olaf, who was established in
Northumbria, and who had recently pushed his conquests so
far in Ireland as to capture the town of Dublin, ascended
the Humber with more than six hundred vessels ; the Scots
at the same time attacked the frontiers, and the Britons from
Wales once more revolted. So many enemies rising suddenly

64 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
did not daunt Athelstan. He triumphed over his opponents :
five Danish kings remained on the soil, as well as the king
of Scotland's son. They all retired into their territories,
there to remain until the end of the reign of Athelstan, whose
court attained a degree of luxury hitherto unknown to the
Saxon kings. It was there that Louis d'Outre-Mer took ref
uge when driven from France ; and it was thence that he
was recalled to the throne at the death of Charles the Simple.
All England recognized the laws of Athelstan, and he had
taken the title of King of the Anglo-Saxons, instead of the
less assuming one of King of Wessex, when he died in 940,
at the age of forty-seven years, leaving the throne to his
brother Edmund. The reign of the latter, like that of his
brother Edred, presents nothing remarkable with the exception
of a series of battles with the Danes, who were sometimes
daring and victorious, and sometimes beaten and repulsed.
At the death of Edred, in 955, the Danes of Northumbria
were apparently almost entirely subjected ; their chiefs had
lost the title of kings, and their territory was governed by
an earl chosen by the Saxons. The progress had been great
since the time of Alfred.
Young Edwy, the son of Edmund, was only fifteen years
of age when he succeeded to the throne. The Danes left
him in peace ; but he commenced a struggle against the
clergy of his kingdom, enemies more powerful than the " Sea-
Kings." He had married Elgiva, a young and beautiful prin
cess whose family was related to his own within the degree of
kinship prohibited by the Church, and he refused to abandon
his wife, as also to submit to be reproved by the archbishop
of Canterbury, Odo, who was supported by the famous abbot
of Glastonbury, Dunstan, renowned throughout England for
his austere mode of living. On the occasion of the corona
tion of the young king, Dunstan, being annoyed, retired during

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 65
the banquet. Edwy flew into a passion, aud threats were so
quickly followed by action, that Dunstan was obliged to make
his escape, and was immediately pursued by the emissaries of
the king, who were instructed to burn out his eyes.
Archbishop Odo, however, had remained in England at the
head of the austere party of the Church. The disagreement
between the king and the clergy was growing more and
more serious, when a revolt of the Danes took place in Nor
thumbria and extended into Mercia. Soon afterwards Edgar,
a younger brother of Edwy, until then king of Mercia, was
declared the independent sovereign of the two provinces.
Family afflictions assailed the young king at the same time :
his wife had been seized in one of his castles by a wandering
band of soldiers, and carried to Ireland, where her beautiful
face had been disfigured by red-hot irons. Dunstan had just
reappeared in England after a short period of exile, at the
time when the young queen, who had been tended and looked
after by the friends whom she had made in Ireland, and had
now recovered from the effects of her disfigurement, was re
turning to England to rejoin her husband. She was stopped,
however, near Gloucester by her implacable enemies, who no
doubt credited her with a fatal influence over her husband.
She was so cruelly mutilated by them that she died a few
days afterwards. Edwy survived her but a short time, and
died at the age of nineteen in 958. The beauty of his per
sonal appearance had gained him the title of Edwy the
Fair. When Edgar ascended the throne of his brother Edwy,
Dunstan shared it with him; and whatever may have been
the part played by him in the events of the last reign, the
authority of the king bore, in the hands of the monk, the
fruits of order and justice. The Danes, attached to young
Edgar, who had been brought up amongst them, submitted
VOL. I. 9

66 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
voluntarily to his authority. Their territory was divided and
placed under the rule of several earls ; the fleet, greatly aug
mented, kept the " Sea-Kings " in constant fear ; and the young
sovereign of England, assisted by his able minister, who had
become archbishop of Canterbury, traversed his state every
year, presiding at courts of justice, and gathering around him
the principal chiefs of each province. Ardent and ambitious,
Dunstan was at the same time of a firm disposition and char
acter ; his practical knowledge was as conspicuous as his reli
gious zeal. He was one of that great race of priests whose
influence, pre-eminent in the middle ages, was the source of
much good and evil alike, until the period when the magni
tude of their pretensions and the abuse of their power brought
about the great revolt of the Reformation. It was under
King Edgar that the Welshmen saw their annual tribute of
gold and silver commuted for an annual presentation of three
hundred wolves' heads, a measure which insured the destruc
tion of these ferocious animals, who were very numerous in
England. King Edgar, who was under the authority of Dunstan, con
trived, however, sometimes to escape from his influence and to
indulge in all kinds of excesses ; but the archbishop on such
occasions would reprove him severely. He imposed upon
him as a penance, for a serious transgression, the disuse of
his golden crown during a period of seven years — a severe
punishment for the vain Edgar, who dearly loved to bestow
upon himself titles as pompous as those of the Oriental princes.
Death soon put an end to this penance. Edgar died in 975,
leaving two sons. The elder, Edward, who succeeded him,
had been born of his first wife ; the younger, Ethelred, was
the son of tbe beautiful but treacherous Elfrida, for whom
the king had conceived a violent passion, and whom he had
married after the death of her husband. Edgar was even

EDITH POINTING OUT THE BODT OF HAROLD.

C H . r\njsA

-4^.

THE MURDER OF EDWARD IN 978.

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 67
accused of having wilfully killed the latter in the hunting-
field. Whatever crime may have been committed by the king in
order to gain the hand of Elfrida, the expiation fell to the
lot of his children. From the commencement of his reign,
the young Edward, although supported by Archbishop Dun
stan, sat very insecurely upon his throne, which was under
mined by intrigues in favor of his brother Ethelred. Three
years after his accession, Edward was hunting one day in
Dorsetshire, when he conceived the fatal idea of paying a visit
to his brother, who was then residing in Corfe Castle. It
may be, that on his arrival he was struck with "a terrible
presentiment at the sight of his step-mother Elfrida, for he
refused to dismount, and asked only for some refreshment in
order to drink to the health of the queen. A goblet was
brought to him ; but while he was carrying it to his lips, a
dagger was plunged in his back. His body quivered with
agony, and the horse, alarmed, rushed away, carrying across
the forest the body of the young king, held fast by the stir
rups. When the body was found, it was disfigured by the
shrubs and the stones of the roads, and the long fair hair
of the murdered king was clotted by blood and dirt. Queen
Elfrida had accomplished her object, but not without trouble ;
for the young Ethelred, grieved at the death of his brother,
burst in tears, which irritated his mother to such a degree
that he nearly fell a victim to her blows. There remained no
other heir to the throne : Dunstan and his friends decided,
not without some reluctance, to recognize the claims of the
son of Elfrida ; but in crowning him, Dunstan, it is said,
gave utterance to some sinister predictions concerning the
misfortunes which threatened his reign, and it was he who
gave to this young king that title of "unready," which the
latter seemed only too anxious to justify.

68 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
For several years the Danes who were established in Eng
land seemed to have identified themselves with the Saxon
race ; the invasions of the Norsemen had ceased, occupied as
they were with devastating the coasts of France, which were
but badly defended by the feeble Carlo vingians. But a new
dynasty was about to be established in France, more powerful
and more warlike than the descendants of Charlemagne. Al
ready the Danes began to return to their old habits, and to
turn their vessels towards the English coasts. The son of
the king of Denmark, Prince Sweyn, resolved to seek his for
tune in foreign lands. A band of bold adventurers gathered
round him, and after several little preliminary expeditions,
they landed in 991 on the coast of East Anglia, between
Ipswich and Maldon. They hoped to find friends there among
the Danes who had formerly settled in that territory ; but
Earl Brethnolte, who was in command there, although a Dane
by birth, remained faithful to his new country and religion ;
he fought valiantly against his brothers from across the seas,
and was killed in battle. King Ethelred became frightened;
he sent offers of money to the Norsemen. The latter accept
ed ten thousand pounds of silver, which they stowed away in
their long vessels ; and carrying with them the head of Count
Brethnolte, they started to return to their own country. But
the plan of defence, so often resorted to by the Carlovingian
kings in France, was a sure means of bringing back the " Sea-
Kings " the following year. Soon Ethelred found himself com
pelled to establish a regular tax which was known as " dane-
geld" (Danish money), and which served to pay the ever-
increasing tribute exacted by the pirates. In 993 the Danes
of Northumbria and of East Anglia rose up to support their
countrymen in invading the country. Sweyn had become
king of Denmark, and had the whole forces of that country
at his command. In 994 his ships appeared off the English

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 69
coasts, accompanied by the vessels of Olaf, king of Norway,
his ally. The invaders encountered no resistance from the
king, nor any serious opposition from his subjects. Silver was
again offered ; but this time, as though to lessen the humilia
tion of the treaty, the Saxons demanded the conversion of the
Danes to Christianity. Sweyn did not hesitate to accede to
this : he caused himself to be baptized, a ceremony which
was considered very unimportant by the majority of the
pirates, some of whom openly boasted that they had been
washed twenty times in the baptismal water. But Sweyn's
ally, King Olaf, who was sincerely touched, and moved, no
doubt, by the grace of God, made a vow never to return to
invade England, and kept his promise. Sweyn reappeared
alone the following years. In 1001 the Danes overran the
country, from the Isle of Wight to Bristol, without meeting
with the slightest resistance. The price of their withdrawal
that year amounted to twenty thousand pounds of silver.
The Danes had disappeared ; but the unlucky king of Eng
land had become involved in fresh difficulties, through his
quarrels with Richard, Duke of Normandy. A fleet was being
raised against him on the Norman coast when Richard died,
leaving to his son Richard II. the burden of carrying on the
war. The interference of the Pope put an end to the quar
rel, which was followed by the marriage of Ethelred with the
Countess Emma, sister of Richard, who was called the " flower
of Normandy." Ethelred already had six sons and four daugh
ters by his first wife.
The young queen had just arrived in England, and the
rejoicings were scarcely at an end, when a prolonged cry was
heard throughout the country. Either by a spontaneous move
ment, or in consequence of secret orders, the Saxons had risen
in every direction and had slaughtered the Danes who were
established in their midst, and whose reiterated insults had

70 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
become unendurable. " A Norseman is equal to ten Saxons,"
the Danish lords haughtily said; but the ten Saxons united
had triumphed over the Norsemen. Taken by surprise on the
13th of November, St. Brice's Day, " women, old men, and
children, good and wicked, big and little, pagans and Chris
tians," perished under the effects of the popular hate and
revenge. The sister of King Sweyn, Gunhilda, who had em
braced the Christian faith in order to marry Palric, Earl of
Northumbria, a chief of Danish extraction, saw her husband
and children murdered before her eyes, and afterwards en
countered the general fate herself. " My brother will drown
your country in blood when he avenges me," she exclaimed
when dying.
Gunhilda had not been mistaken. Already the news of
the crime which had been committed in England had spread
to Denmark ; an immense fleet was being prepared. The
Norsemen, actuated this time by their thirst for revenge as
well as by their natural love of plunder, were gathering
eagerly round their king; not a serf, not a freedman, not
an old soldier was admitted into this chosen band ; the free
men, in the flower of their youth and strength, alone had the
privilege of avenging their brothers slaughtered in a foreign
land. The ships of the Sea-Kings were resplendent with the
golden and silver ornaments with which they were decked,
from prow to stern, when the Great Dragon, with King Sweyn
on board, came first to land, in the neighborhood of Exeter.
The defence of the town had been intrusted to a Norman,
Count Hugo, who had come from France with Queen
Emma. He betrayed King Ethelred, and gave up the town
to the invaders. Having pillaged and burnt down Exeter,
the Danes spread throughout Wiltshire. On arriving at a
farm, or at a house or a village, they would order the trem-

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 71
bling inmates to prepare a meal.; then, having satiated their
appetites with meat and mead, they would murder the inmates
upon the threshold of their huts, which they would .then
burn down, and remount their horses to go forth and extend
their fearful ravages.
The Saxon king meanwhile was organizing an army ; but
he had intrusted the command of it to the Mercian Elfric,
the chief who had already upon a previous occasion betrayed
him, and whose son's eyes had been put out in consequence
as a punishment. Arrived before Sweyn and his army, Elfric
declared that he was taken ill; and recalling his soldiers,
who were prepared for the struggle, he allowed Sweyn to
pass with the enormous booty that he was going to place on
board his ships before descending upon the Eastern Counties,
which all suffered in the same manner. When the Danes re
turned into their country, in 1004, they were escaping, not
from the Saxon arms, but from the famine which their rav
ages had brought upon England.
In vain did King Ethelred solicit the help of his brother-
in-law, Richard, the Norman duke ; the disdain which he
evinced towards his young wife had irritated the Normans
to such a degree that their duke had caused to be thrown
into prison all English subjects who happened to be within
his dominion. Ethelred therefore found himself alone and a
prey to the pirates, who reappeared in 1006 upon the English
coasts. England was exhausted. Scarcely had the Danes left
a house, after exacting a ransom for each member of the
family and for each head of cattle, than the king's collectors
would follow in their steps, demanding the sums necessary for
paying off the invaders, and imposing a fresh penalty for the
punishment of the unhappy wretches who had given money
to the Danes.
While the Saxon king was plundering his subjects in order

72 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
to pay an ever-increasing "danegeld," while the people, ex
hausted, were writhing under the double extortion of the con
querors and of the legitimate sovereign, an old man was
enabled, single-handed, to resist the demands of the proud
Danes. The archbishop of Canterbury, Elphege, had for
twenty days defended his town against the reiterated assaults
of the enemy, when a traitor opened the gates to the Danes.
They rushed into the place, mad with anger and thirsting
for revenge. They sent for the old archbishop, who had
not sought refuge in any hiding-place. He was brought
forth, bound in chains, before their chief, Thurkill. " Buy
your life," cried the chief, touched with compassion. "I have
no money," the archbishop calmly replied. The Danes were
beginning to close round him. " He is a servant of God,"
said Thurkill ; " perhaps he is poor." And he suggested
a small sum as ransom for the archbishop. " Prevail upon
your king to collect together the value of all his property,
so that we may leave England," he added. The old man
looked at him impassively. " I have not the money which
you ask for," he repeated, "and I shall not urge the king
to further oppress his people in order to purchase your
departure." The eyes of the Dane flashed with anger ; he
no longer endeavored to protect the archbishop against his
soldiers. But the firmness of the old man had produced a
wonderful effect upon them: he was led into prison without
suffering the slightest injury. Towards dusk, when he was
alone, his brother found a means of reaching him ; he brought
the sum fixed upon for the ransom of the archbishop. " No,"
the latter said, "I cannot consent to enrich the enemies of
my country." The Danes came hourly, urging the old man
to purchase his freedom. "You will urge me in vain," at
last said Elphege; "I am not the man to provide Christian
flesh for pagan teeth, by robbing my flock to enrich their

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 73
enemies." The pirates had lost all patience ; it was late ;
they were already heated with drink; they dragged the old
man out of prison. " Gold, bishop ! Give us gold ! " they
all cried together, and they closed round him threateningly.
The old man was silent ; he was praying. Hustled, beaten,
wounded, the archbishop fell upon a pile of bones, the re
mains of the rude banquet. His enemies seized these prim
itive weapons, and he fell under their blows. A Dane, to
whom he was still preaching the gospel an hour before, and
whom he had baptized with his own hands, at length took
a hatchet and put an end to the old man's agony.
While Elphege was resisting and dying, Ethelred was sub
mitting and paying an enormous sum of money, abandoning
at the same time several counties to the Danes. Thurkill
settled in England, after swearing fidelity to the Saxon mon
arch. His conquests excited the envy of Sweyn. In the
following year a large fleet appeared in the Humber, and
landed near York. This time the invaders planted their lances
in the ground, or threw them into the rivers, to intimate that
they took possession of the soil. The Saxons offered no re
sistance. Sweyn had overrun all the Midland and Northern
Counties, and, leaving the fleet to the care of his son Canute,
he marched towards the South. He was stopped near Lon
don, where the king had taken refuge, and where the brave
citizens stood firm behind their massive walls. Sweyn did
¦ not attempt to conquer their town ; he turned towards the
West, and all Devonshire received him with open arms. He
was proclaimed king at Bath. Ethelred was gradually losing
the little power which he still retained. He suddenly left
London, which surrendered soon afterwards, and he took ref
uge in the Isle of Wight. From thence he sent his wife
Emma to Normandy with the two sons whom she had borne
to him, Edward and Alfred. In spite of his disagreements
VOL. I. 10

74 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
with his brother-in-law, the Duke Richard received his sister
with so much kindness that Ethelred soon followed her, and
arrived at Rouen while Sweyn was taking the title of King
of England. (January, 1013.)
Titles are easily taken, but conquests are sometimes difficult
to keep. Six weeks after the flight of the Saxon king the
Danish king died suddenly at Gainsborough, and the power
was slipping from the hands of his son Canute, The nobility
and people of England had recalled Ethelred to the throne;
they added, however, the words " providing that he will gov
ern us better than heretofore." The king did not rely en
tirely upon the promises of his subjects. He sent his son
Edward to negotiate with the principal chief. When he re
entered London, his first care was to declare that no Danish
prince could have any pretensions to the throne ; but Canute
had already been proclaimed king by his army and by the
Danes established in England, and the war had recommenced.
Ethelred died in the year 1016, in the midst of all this con
fusion, and at the time when the Danes were preparing to
lay siege to London.
Three sons by his first wife yet remained to Ethelred. One
of them, Edmund, called " Ironsides " on account of his
strength and prowess, had already commanded the armies
during the lifetime of his father ; he was proclaimed king.
But the country was divided ; the Danes established through
out the kingdom were powerful and numerous ; treason crept
even into the most intimate councils of the new king. Twice
he delivered London when besieged; he fought five pitched
battles, and repulsed on several occasions the Danes, driving
them northwards. At length he proposed to Canute that
they should decide their pretensions to the crown by the
appeal to arms in single combat. Unlike the majority of his
race, Canute was not tall, and he was quite unfitted to sustain

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Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 75
a struggle against the gigantic stature of Edmund. " Let us
rather divide the kingdom, as our ancestors did before us,"
he said. The two armies received this proposition with accla
mation. The North of England was allotted to Canute, and
Edmund contented himself with the South, with a nominal
right of sovereignty over the whole kingdom. One month
afterwards, the Saxon king was dead, and Canute, convoking
the "Wittenagemot" of the South, protested that the treaty
contained no stipulation in favor of Edmund's heirs. The
chiefs declared themselves of the same opinion ; the Dane
was proclaimed king of all England, and the children of Iron
sides were placed in his hands.
Canute had proclaimed an amnesty ; but on seizing power,
he immediately proscribed all the partisans of Edmund whom
he did not put to death. " Whoever brings me the head of
an enemy shall be dearer to me than a brother," said he.
Many: heads were brought to him. The Wittenagemot which
had until then excluded from the throne all the Danish
princes, voted the same sentence against the Saxon princes.
Canute, however, had not assassinated the children of Edmund ;
he sent them to his ally, the king of Sweden — no doubt; with
sinister intentions; but the innocence and beauty of his vic
tims touched the heart of the proud Scandinavian : he could
not keep them by his side, and"* he therefore sent them to
the court of the king of Hungary, St. Stephen, who received
them kindly and brought them up carefully. One of them,
Edmund, died early ; the second, Edward, subsequently mar
ried Agatha, daughter of the emperor of Germany, and we
shall see his children reappear in history.
The Duke Richard of Normandy did not protest, in the
name of his nephews, against the elevation of Canute ; on
the contrary, he ; even offered his sister, widow of Ethelred,
in marriage to, the Dane. Canute accepted this offer, and

76 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
the Norman princess found herself placed for the second time
on the throne of England, which was so dear to her heart
that, in order to reach it, she stifled all her natural instincts.
As soon as she had borne a son to Canute, she lost all affec
tion for the children whom she had left in France, and who
became more and more Normans by habit during their pro
longed absence from England.
Power has different effects upon different men : it hardens
and corrupts some, while it humanizes and exalts others.
Canute made good use of his power, and when he was de
livered from the enemies whom he dreaded most, his govern
ment became less severe and more regular than that of the
recent Saxon kings. The English followed their new chief
in all his wars, and fought valiantly at his side to secure to
him the crowns of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The
viceroy of Wales refused to render homage to Canute, whom
he treated as a usurper ; Malcolm, king of Scotland, upheld
the rights of the descendants of Ethelred to . the throne of
England. The Normans did not lend any help in these dem
onstrations, and Canute triumphed over the Welsh and the
Scotch. The influence of the Christian religion was slowly but sure
ly producing a good effect on the fierce Danes. Sweyn had
been baptized, but he had afterwards sunk again into pagan
practices. His son constructed churches and monasteries, and
made a solemn pilgrimage to Rome, on foot and with a wallet
on his back, to obtain forgiveness for the crimes which he had
committed. Already, in the midst of a warlike life, a sense
of justice seemed to have developed itself in his soul : he had
been guilty of killing a soldier in an outburst of passion ; he
descended from his throne, convoked his chiefs, and asked
them to impose a penalty upon him. All remained silent.
The king insisted, however, promising not to be offended.

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 77
The chiefs left it to his own discretion, and Canute con
demned himself to pay a fine of three times as much as the
sum fixed by the Danish law, as the penalty for murdering
a soldier, adding at the same time nine golden talents as
compensation. Having returned to England after his pilgrimage to Rome
and a journey to Denmark, Canute applied himself to the
administration of the laws which he had promulgated. " I
will have no money acquired by unjust means," he had said
in a letter to Archbishop Elfric. The latter portion of the
reign of the Dane was not characterized by any crime or act
of oppression. Canute had learned that there was a tribunal
above to which he owed respect and submission. One day,
as his courtiers were over-rating his power, the king ordered
that his throne should be placed upon the margin of the
sea. The tide was rising. Canute, seated on the beach, or
dered the waves to stop in their onward course. " Ocean,"
he said, "the earth upon which I sit is mine; you form a
portion of my dominions ; do not rise as far as my feet ; I
forbid you." The sea still continued rising ; it was already
bathing the king's mantle, when he turned to his flatterers.
" You see," he said, " what human power is, compared to
that of Him who says to the sea, ' Thou shalt go no fur
ther.' " And, depositing his golden crown in the cathedral
of Winchester, he refused thereafter to wear that emblem of
sovereignty. Canute died in 1035, leaving three sons : Harold and Sweyn,
born of a Danish mother ; and Hardicahute, son of Princess
Emma. He had divided his states among his children, leav
ing England to Harold, Denmark to Hardicanute, and Norway
to Sweyn. These two last princes already, no doubt, exer
cised some authority in their dominions, for both were in the
North . when their father died. But England was wont to

78 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
have a voice in questions of succession ; and Canute left behind
him a powerful favorite, who was inclined to further the
interests of Hardicanute. This favorite was Earl Godwin, a
nobleman of Saxon extraction, formerly but a simple herds
man in the county of Warwick. During the struggle between
Edmund and Canute, a Danish chieftain, named Ulf, had lost
his way in a forest, in the evening after a battle. He had
walked in vain all night, when, at daybreak, he met a young
countryman who was driving a herd of cattle. " What is
your name?" asked the Dane. "I am Godwin, son of Ul-
fuoth," said the young man ; " and you are a Danish soldier."
The warrior hesitated. " It is true," he said at length. " But
could you tell me the way to my countrymen's ships, on
the sea-coast?" Godwin shook his head. "He is a very
foolish Dane," he said, " who expects a favor from a Saxon."
And he hurried on his cattle. Ulf insisted. " There are
many of my countrymen close to us," replied the herdsman ;
" they would spare neither me nor you if they should meet
us." The chieftain silently offered him the heavy golden
ring which he wore on his finger. Godwin looked at him.
" I will accept nothing from you./' he said ; " but I will try
and show you the way."
They came to Godwin's hut. He invited the Dane in.
"Remember," said the herdsman's father to the Dane, "that
he is my only son, and that he sacrifices his safety for you.
Try and find employment for him at your king's court." Ulf
promised to do so, and kept his word. Canute took a fancy
to the young Saxon, who had attained the rank of governor
of a province when the king died. He immediately declared
himself in favor of the son of Emma, who was not so thor
oughly Danish as his brothers. Leofric, governor of Mercia,
took up the cause of Harold, in common with all the northern
chiefs. The town of London followed their example. War

CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS.

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 79
was about to break out ; but the Wittenagemote convoked at
Oxford allotted all the provinces north of the Thames to
Harold, and those on the south to Hardicanute.
While Queen Emma and Godwin were thus striving to
secure the power for the young king of Denmark, the latter
lingered in his northern possessions, and had not yet set his
foot in England. His Norman brothers, sons of Ethelred and
Emma, had been more prompt. Scarcely had the news of the
death of Canute reached Normandy, when the elder of the
two princes, Edward, who subsequently became Edward the
Confessor, landed at Southampton with a few ships. But
Queen Emma's natural affection was confined to her son by
Canute : she raised the country against her eldest child, who
was obliged to retire precipitately. His ill-success did not
discourage his brother Alfred ; and, the following year (1037),
the two princes received a letter, coming, it was said, from
their mother, urging them to come secretly to England, where
the people were anxious to have a king of Saxon origin to
rule over them. Alfred immediately embarked for England,
followed by some troops from Normandy and Boulogne. He
landed in the neighborhood of Heme Bay. Godwin had
come to meet him and appeared friendly ; but, either from
premeditated treason, or from annoyance at seeing the stran
gers who accompanied the prince, Godwin altered his mind,
and took Alfred to Guildford, lodging the Normans in the
houses of that town. In the dead of night, while the little
band of soldiers were asleep, Harold's soldiers surrounded
Guildford ; the Normans were made prisoners, Godwin mean
while not appearing on the scene to defend them, and a fear
ful massacre took place at daylight. Six hundred men, it is
said, were slaughtered in cold blood, and the unhappy Alfred
was dragged to London,' from whence Harold sent him, bound
hand and foot, to the Isle of Ely. He appeared before a

80 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
Danish council of war, and was condemned to have his eyes
put out, as a disturber of the public peace. He died a few
days afterwards. Harold soon sent Queen Emma into exile,
and Godwin having sworn allegiance to him, he was proclaimed
king of all England, not, however, without some dissatisfaction
on the part of the Saxons. The archbishop of Canterbury,
Ethelnoth, who was a Saxon, refused to crown him. Deposit
ing on the altar the royal emblems, he exclaimed, " I will
not give them to you. I do not forbid you to take them,
but I refuse to bestow my benediction upon you, and no
bishop shall consecrate your throne." It is said that, there
upon, Harold seized the crown, and placed it upon his head
with his own hands. Some chroniclers state that he subse
quently found favor with the archbishop ; but the Dane was
more than half pagan ; he had abandoned the Christian Church.
When divine service was being celebrated, when the bells
were ringing, and the priests were mounting the altars, he
would let loose his dogs, and start for the forest to enjoy
the pleasure of hunting or racing ; a fondness for which pas
times won him the name of " Harefoot." He died in 1040,
at the time when his brother Hardicanute had just repaired
to Flanders, where Queen Emma had taken refuge, to con
sult her preparatory to attempting an invasion of England.
Soon afterwards an embassy of Danish chieftains and English
counts came unsolicited and offered him his brother's throne.
He thereupon came to England with his mother. '
Hardicanute, like his predecessors, was thoroughly Danish
by nature ; he gave himself up to the pleasures of the table,
surrounding himself at the same time by the chieftains whom
he had brought over with him from the North ; despising and
oppressing the Saxons, from whom he still exacted danegeld,
as in the old times of the invasions. He had attributed his
brother's misfortunes to Godwin; but the count had been

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 81
able to justify himself before a council, in spite of public
opinion which condemned him. The presents which he had
offered to the king had had the effect of putting an end to
the prosecution. Hardicanute had accepted from him a mag
nificent ship covered with burnished metal, ornamented with
gold, and manned by eighty warriors furnished with every
kind of weapon. By degrees power had returned entirely
into the hands of Godwin and Emma, when, in 1042, Hardi
canute, at a banquet, fell a victim to the excesses of every
kind to which he was accustomed.
The Saxon earl had resolved to deliver his country from
the Danish yoke. He immediately sent for Prince Edward,
who was still in Normandy, and was more a monk than a
prince. The popular feeling in his favor which enabled Ed
ward to return to England, was shared and fostered by the
very man to whom he attributed his brother's death ; but
the new king was powerless and a stranger in the country
which recalled him after an exile which he had endured
during nearly the whole of his lifetime. He dissembled and
accepted the hand of Edith, daughter of Godwin, a good and
gentle princess who " was born of Godwin as the rose is born
in the midst of thorns," the chroniclers say. Edward was
always cold towards her, and he manifested something more
than coldness towards Queen Emma. He could not forget
how she had repulsed him, and how she had failed to do
anything to defend her son Alfred — even if she had not
actually allured him to his ruin. He ordered her to remain
within her domains, which had been greatly reduced, and
refused to see her any more.
The power which Edward had regained was, however,
scarcely more than nominal. The " Great Earl," as Godwin
was called, had exacted the value of his services. He and
his six sons held possession of nearly all the South of Eng-
VOL. I. 11

82 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
land. Besides this, his rival, Earl Leofric, was all-powerful
in Mercia. Sivvard held the whole of the North, from the
Humber to the frontiers of Scotland. Happily for the king,
all these chieftains were opposed to each other. Edward took
advantage of their rivalries, trying from time to time to re
dress the wrongs of the people, who were oppressed and
deprived of all power. But in vain did he suppress the dane-
geld ; in vain did he inspire an almost superstitious veneration
towards himself in his subjects by reason of the austerity of
his life : the English never forgave him for the affection which
he manifested towards the Normans and his preference for
them, which induced him not only to surround himself with
the friends of his younger days, but to lavish all the favors
on them which he had at his disposal. The king's ordinary
conversation was carried on in the Norman language ; he
dressed in Norman fashion ; he raised to clerical dignities the
Norman priests who had come over with him, and thus con
trived to excite considerable jealousy in the people, — all which
increased the influence of Godwin.
An event happened which caused their animosity to break
out openly. Eustace of Boulogne, the brother-in-law of King
Edward, who had married the latter's sister, the Lady Goda,
landed in England with a numerous suite of troops from
Boulogne and Normandy. He was received in a very friendly
manner by the king, and loaded with presents. He was re
turning home, when, on arriving at Dover, some of the inhab
itants resisted the action of the strangers in unceremoniously
taking up their quarters in the town. Eustace's soldiers,
greatly incensed, killed those who closed the gate at their
approach. The whole town rose against them in consequence
of this act ; they were beaten and routed. They took refuge
in Gloucester, where King Edward was staying, who ordered
Earl Godwin to impose a punishment on the inhabitants of

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 83
Dover. Godwin told the king to inquire into the affair.
Edward, however, summoned Godwin to appear before him.
The earl was in no hurry to do so. Uneasy at the king's
projects, he began to raise troops throughout his dominions,
and his son Harold did likewise. Godwin soon found himself
at the head of a considerable force. The king summoned to
his aid Leofric, Count of Mercia, and Siward, Earl of Nor
thumbria. These two great rivals of Godwin immediately ad
vanced with an army ; but the old hatred between the Danes
and the Saxons had almost worn itself out. The soldiers
from the North considered themselves English as well as those
from the South, and they all murmured at the idea of coming
to blows. It was agreed to lay the subject before the Wit
tenagemot ; but, in the meanwhile, before the meeting of the
assembly, Godwin's soldiers, who were nearly all volunteers,
were slowly dispersing, while the king had collected together
a numerous army. When the Wittenagemot began to sit,
the earl and his sons were summoned to appear and establish
their innocence. They hesitated, however, being unwilling
to trust to the impartiality of the judges ; and, in consequence
of the decision which was come to in their absence, they
were banished, driven from England within five days, and
condemned to have all their goods confiscated. Godwin, his
wife, and three of their sons sought refuge at the court of
Flanders. Harold and his brother Leofwin fled to Ireland.
Edward consigned to a convent the only person of Godwin's
family remaining in England, Queen Edith. "It is not ad
visable," said the Norman courtiers, " that she should live in
luxury and with wealth at her command, while her relations
are suffering from such misfortunes."
Delivered from the ambitious and powerful Godwin, Edward
was beginning to feel himself a king in reality. He took ad
vantage of this to surround himself with those persons only

84 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
who were personally devoted to him. Among others whom
he^ wished to see at his court was the Duke of Normandy,
William the Bastard, as he was called, his mother being the
daughter of a tanner at Falaise. Edward was still an exile
in Normandy, when the Duke Robert, William's father, con
ceived the idea of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to obtain
forgiveness for his 6ins. These expeditions were of frequent
occurrence among the Normans. The barons represented,
however, to the duke that it would be inexpedient to thus
leave his dominions without a ruler. " By my faith," an
swered Robert, " I will not leaye you lordless ! I have a
little bastard son who will grow lip, please God : accept him
from this moment ; I invest him with this duchy before you
all." The Normans did as the duke proposed, "because it
suited them to do so," the chronicle says, and all the chiefs
came, one after the other, and placed their rough hands be
tween those of the child, swearing allegiance to him.
But scarcely had the duke, his father, started than the
murmuring began. The Normans were proud, restless, un
manageable ; it was repugnant to their feelings to live under
the dominion of a child and a bastard ; a war soon broke out ;
the partisans of young William carried him off, but the king
of France came to their aid. When the child had reached
manhood, he soon manifested rare courage and a strong and
ungovernable will, as well as that ambitious disposition which
was destined to make the fortune of himself and his partisans.
He was twenty-seven years old when he came to England in
1050 to the court of King Edward.
He might almost have imagined that he was not really out
of his dominions : a Norman was in command of the fleet near
Dover; Norman soldiers were in possession of a fort near
Canterbury; and as he advanced into the country, other
Normans, priests and laymen, gathered round him. King

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 85
Edward received him in a very friendly manner, and made
him presents of arms, horses, dogs, and hawks ; it is not known
whether William was incited by any hint from Edward to
claim the inheritance of this rich kingdom, which was to be
without a master at the death of the king. Edward did not
mention it, and the duke could keep his secrets.
He had just returned to Normandy, when Count Godwin
appeared upon the coast of Kent with three ships ; he had
sent some emissaries to his numerous friends, and the entire
population had risen in his favor. At the same time his
sons Harold and Leofwin, coming from Ireland, joined him
with a small army.
The father and his sons sailed round the coast, and every
where met with followers. When they at length landed at
Sandwich, nobody ventured to resist them. King Edward
was in London, collecting together his warriors, who came
forward very slowly. Godwin's vessels had ascended the
Thames and found themselves under the very walls of London.
They soon passed the bridge, and landed their troops. The
king meanwhile did not stir.
Godwin had arrived at the capital without discharging an
arrow or unsheathing a sword ; he sent a message to the king
in which he demanded the remission of the sentence which
had been pronounced against him. Edward was aware of the
desperate state of his affairs, but he was incensed at the daring
of the earl, and refused to listen to his demands. Several other
messages were delivered. The king at this critical moment was
still surrounded by his Norman favorites. He could not order
his vessels to attack those of Godwin, for the crews had been
gained oyer by the insurgents ; but Edward remained inflex
ible. The Normans who were with him foresaw the issue of
the conflict, and feared the vengeance of Godwin. They began
to fly. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert, and the Bishop

86 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
of London, William, mounted their horses and fought their
way to the sea-coast, where they embarked. The king at
length surrendered ; a Wittenagemot was convoked, and the
sentence of banishment pronounced against Godwin and his
sons was annulled and transferred to the Normans, who were
in their turn expelled from England. Queen Edith reappeared
in her husband's palace. Godwin and his family regained
their honors and property. The younger of the sons and one
of the grandsons of the great earl were the only hostages
given to the king, who confided them to the keeping of the
Duke of Normandy. Sweyn, in expiation of his former sins,
gave up both his titles and his wealth to perform a pilgrim
age barefooted to Jerusalem. He died long before reaching
the Holy Land.
Peace seemed re-established in England, but the king still
nourished the bitterest hatred against Godwin. The peace
would probably not have been of long duration had not the
death of the earl, which took place in 1053, put an end to their
rivalry. The Norman chronicles relate that he was seated at
the vojal table, when a servant, accidentally losing his balance,
supported himself by leaning against another. " There," said
Godwin, laughing, " that is how brother helps brother." " Yes,
certainly," said the king, " one brother requires the help of
another, and I would to God that mine were still alive."
" King," cried Godwin, " how comes it that at the slightest
remembrance of your brother, you always look so fiercely at
me ? If I helped to cause his misfortune even indirectly, may
the Lord of Heaven prevent my swallowing this piece of
bread." At that moment, while carrying the bread to his
mouth, the earl had a fit of choking, and fell back, " struck
down by the hand of Providence." He died a few days after
wards, almost at the same moment as his old rival, Siward,
Count of Northumbria. The latter was ill and bedridden, when

CHAr. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 87
he said, " Lift me up, that I may die standing, like a soldier,
and not lying down like a cow ; give me my cuirass and
helmet, that I may die armed." It is this old Siward whom
Shakspeare represents in Macbeth, inquiring anxiously, before
mourning the death of his son, about the situation of the fatal
wounds, and consoling himself amid his grief with the thought
that they had all been received in front, and that his son had
died like a brave warrior.
The son whom Siward left was too young to succeed him
in the government of his vast dominions, which were presented
to Tostig, one of Godwin's sons. Harold had all the estates
of his father left to him, and although very loath to do so,, he
gave up the command of the eastern territories which he had
hitherto held, to Elfgar, son of Leofric of Mercia.
King Edward was much attached to Harold, the bravest
and best of Godwin's sons; and the English people shared
this affection with him. Tostig, on the contrary, soon caused
himself to be detested in Northumbria. The people organized
an insurrection in 1066, and he was driven from his territories.
The king instructed Harold to quell the insurrection, but the
latter knew his brother well, and understood the grievances
of the people whom he had oppressed. He made proposals
to the Northumbrians of a conference for peace, endeavoring
at the same time to exonerate his brother, and promising that
the latter's conduct should be more worthy in future. The
insurgents refused haughtily. " A proud and overbearing chief
is unendurable to us," they said ; "we have learned from our
ancestors to live free or die." Harold himself conveyed the
message of the Northumbrians to the king, and Morcar, son,.
of Elfgar, was elected in place of Tostig, who took refuge at
the court of Flanders.
Edward was growing old, and he had no children. His
devotion was becoming day by day more fervent. He thought

88 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
of making a pilgrimage to Rome, but the Wittenagemot opposed
it. For the first time the king thought of his nephew Edward,
son of Edmund Ironsides, who was still in Hungary, where
he had been brought up. He sent for him. Edward Atheling,
as he was called, immediately set out with his wife, daughter
of the emperor of Germany, and also with his three children,
Edward, Margaret, and Christiana. The English people were
delighted. The memory of " Ironsides " had remained popu
lar, and his son was received with acclamation. But this
was only by the people, for the king, who had sent for his
nephew with the evident intention of making him his heir,
never saw his face. By reason of some intrigues, probably
of Harold, the interview was delayed, and before it could
take place the prince died in London, where he was buried,
in St. Paul's Cathedral. Godwin's son was rapidly approach
ing the throne.
For more than ten years, Harold's brother, Wulfnoth, and
his nephew Heaco had been in Normandy, intrusted to the
care of the Duke William, as Godwin's hostages. The count
conceived a desire to go and set them free. The old king
tried to persuade Harold to abandon his project, either on
account of his esteem for him, or because he had, as some
chroniclers say, made a will in favor of the Duke of Normandy,
and wished to keep this fact a secret from Harold. "I will
not hinder you," said the king, " but if you go, it is not
by my wish, for your journey will assuredly bring down some
misfortune upon our country. I know the Duke WilUam and
his astute mind; he hates you, and will grant you nothing,
unless he sees some advantage for himself in doing so ; the
way to make him give up the hostages would be to send some
body else."
Harold was young and presumptuous ; he did not heed the
advice of the old king, but embarked at a port in Sussex

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 89
near Bosham, with his companions. The wind was unfavor
able, and the two little ships were dashed ashore at the mouth
of the river Somme, in the dominions of Guy, count of Pon-
thieu. According to the usage of the time, the crew were
taken to the count, who was entitled to claim them, and they
were shut up in the citadel of Beaurain, near Montreuil.
Harold had declared himself to be the bearer of a message
from the king of England to the duke of Normandy, and
William claimed the prisoners ; but the count of Ponthieu only
parted with them for a ransom. Harold was taken to the duke
at Rouen. The latter received the Englishmen magnificently,
and at once gave up to them the hostages, only asking Harold
to prolong his stay in Normandy. The Saxon consented to
do so, finding ample amusement in observing the luxury and
civilized customs which he met with for the first time among
the Normans.
The Duke WilUam had conferred upon his guests the spurs
of knighthood, and he proposed that, in order to enable them
to display their prowess, they should accompany him on an
expedition into Brittany. As long as the war lasted, Harold
and WiUiam Uved under a single tent and dined at the
same table. On one occasion, after the Saxons had distin
guished themselves by their warlike feats, the two chiefs were
returning home together on horseback. William was speaking
of his old relations with King Edward. " When Edward and
I lived like brothers, under the same roof," he said, " he
promised me, that if ever he should become king of England,
he would make me heir to his kingdom. Harold, help me
to get this promise fulfilled. If by your help I should obtain
the kingdom, rest assured that whatever you ask for, I will
immediately grant." Harold, astounded, did not know what
to answer. He stammered a few words. William was re
solved to get his consent. " Since you consent to serve me,
VOL. I. 12

90 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
you must undertake to fortify Dover Castle," he said, " to
construct a well there for obtaining a supply of spring water,
and to surrender it up to my soldiers. You must give up
your sister to me, whom I will give in marriage to one of
my barons ; and you shall marry my daughter Adela. I
also wish that, when you go, you would leave one of the
two hostages whom you have claimed; I will take him back
to England when I go over there as king." Harold shud
dered inwardly. He was at the duke's mercy, and he agreed
to all that he desired, mentally resolving not to fulfil his
promises. He did not know the Norman and his far-sighted
schemes. They were at Avranches (some say at Bayeux), and the
Norman barons were convoked in a great assembly. The
Saxon was there by the side of the duke ; a mass-book was
brought and placed upon a stool covered with a golden cloth.
Suddenly William exclaimed, " Harold, I call upon you, before
this noble assembly, to confirm on oath all that you have prom
ised to do to help me to obtain the kingdom of England after
the death of King Edward." The Englishman was again taken
by surprise, and was in great peril. He advanced slowly, and
swore, with his hand on the book, to perform the promises
made to the Duke, provided that he were alive and that God
should help him to do so. AU the Normans cried out, " May
the Lord help him ! " Then, at a sign from William, the
rich cloth was removed, and the Saxon discovered that he
had sworn upon a receptacle filled with precious relics which
had been brought, by order of the duke, from all the neigh
boring convents. William did not detain Harold any longer.
He left the country, taking his nephew with him; but his
brother remained in the power of the Normans.
"Did I not warn you that I knew William?" said the
old King Edward when Harold related to him what had hap-

"THE ENGLISHMAN SWORE WITH HIS HAND ON THE BOOK.'

,Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 91
pened ; and he added sadly, " May none of these misfortunes
happen in my lifetime ! "
The death of the king was destined to be the signal for
England's misfortunes to recommence, and he was becoming
weaker every day. Sinister reports had been circulated. Old
prophecies were recalled which threatened England with in
vasion and subjugation by a foreign people. The king him
self, constantly occupied with his devotional practices, saw
fearful visions in his dreams, and would cry out, with a vague
remembrance of biblical imagery, " The Lord has stretched
His bow ; He has unsheathed His sword ; He moves and bran
dishes it like a warrior ; His wrath shall be manifested through
fire and by sword." His servants shuddered at these threat
ening prophecies ; but the archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand,
only laughed. " Dreams of the sick old man," he would say.
It is said that, before dying, Edward designated Harold to
the members of the Wittenagemot as his successor ; other chron
iclers (the Norman writers) maintain, on the contrarj'', that
when Harold and his relations presented themselves in the
king's chamber, the latter said in a feeble whisper, " You
know, my thanes, that I have bequeathed my kingdom to
the duke of Normandy ; do I not here see men who have
sworn to uphold his rights?" Whatever the dying man may
have wished, the opinion of the English chiefs was not to be
mistaken. Scarcely had Edward the Confessor been buried
in Westminster Abbey, which he had built in place of per
forming the pilgrimage to Rome, when the Wittenagemot pro
claimed as king of England Harold, the son of Godwin, and
grandson of the herdsman Ulfuoth, overlooking in his favor
the rights of Edgar Atheling, son of Edward Atheling, and
grandson of Edmund Ironsides, as well as the more formidable
pretensions of the duke of Normandy.
Harold's first, care was to eradicate from the kingdom all

92 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
traces of the Norman innovations introduced by King Ed
ward ; the ancient Saxon signature replaced, in the acts, the
seals introduced from Normandy, and the Norman favorites,
whom Edward affectionately protected to the last, were de
prived of their offices, though without being exiled or having
their property confiscated. It was through them that the
Duke William heard of the death of Edward and of the elec
tion of Harold. He was in a park, near Rouen, trying a new
bow, when the important news reached him. He stopped
immediately, gave his bow to his servants, and went back to
Rouen. He walked up and down the great hall in his palace,
sat and rose alternately, and was quite unable to remain still.
His friends looked at him in silence without daring to accost
him. At length one of them, who was on more familiar terms
with him than most of the others, approached him. " My
lord," he said, " of what use is it to keep your news from
us ? It is rumored in the town that the king of England is
dead, and that Harold has taken possession of the kingdom,
unfaithful to his plighted word to you." " That is true,"
answered the duke, " and my grief is caused as much by
the death of Edward as by the wrong which Harold has
done me." " There is no remedy for Edward's death," re
plied the Norman, "but there is for Harold's infidelity; yours
is the just cause and yours are the wiUing soldiers ; a thing
well begun is half done."
William's courtiers were not the only persons to advise him
to support his pretensions by force of arms. Harold's own
brother, Tostig, who had been driven from Northumbria, and
whom his brother had failed to re-establish in his government,
came from Flanders to offer his help to the duke of Norman
dy in attempting the conquest of England. William was too
prudent to undertake the invasion without premeditation ; he
presented ships to Tostig, who went to Denmark to seek the

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 93
support of King Sweyn. Upon meeting with a refusal from
the Dane, Tostig repaired to Norway. The king of that
country was Harold Hardrada, son of Sigurd, a great voyager
and corsair, who had formerly extended his excursions as far
as the seas of Sicily, and who on one occasion on his return
had married a Russian princess. He was a poet, and would
sing on board his black vessel, laden with his warriors, who
were a source of great terror to all peaceful people. Tostig
approached him with flattery. " The whole world knows,"
he said, " that there is not in the North a warrior who is
your equal ; you have only to wish it, and England is yours."
The Norwegian allowed himself to be seduced, and promised
to put to sea as soon as the ice should thaw and make the
ocean navigable.
While Tostig was trying his strength on the coast of Nor
thumbria with a band of adventurers, William, careful to
have on his side aU the appearances of right, sent a message
to Harold as follows: — " William, Duke of Normandy, reminds
you of the oath which you swore with your own lips and
with your hand upon good and holy relics." "It is true,"
answered Harold, " but I swore under constraint, not being
free, and I promised what did not belong to me ; besides, my
services belong to my country, and I could not give up my
position to anybody else without its consent, nor marry a
foreigner. As to my sister, whom the duke claims for one
of his chiefs, she died during this year. Does he wish me
to send her body to him ? " A second message, still calm
and moderate, urged Harold at least to marry the Norman
princess; but the king answered that he would not do so,
and soon afterwards he chose a Saxon wife, a sister of Edwin
and Morcar, the two sons of Elfgar, count of Mercia. Wil
liam's anger at length burst forth, and reproaching Harold
bitterly for his perjury, he declared that he would come before

94 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
the end of the year to exact payment of the whole of his
debt, and to pursue the perfidious Saxon even into the places
wherein he considered his hold to be firmest. While await
ing the help of his allies from the North, William was aware
of the importance of conciliating public opinion in Europe, or
at least in that portion of Europe where the people were not
altogether ignorant of what was happening in England and
in Normandy. No influence was stronger than that of the
Church for obtaining the good will of the people. The Eng
lish were not in favor at Rome. They had refused to receive
Robert of Jumi&ges, a Norman priest, raised to the see of
Canterbury by Edward the Confessor, and the chapter had
chosen in his stead the Saxon Stigand, who was still under
excommunication from Rome under pretence that he had
been guilty of simony. The Saxon Church had often shown
itself to be somewhat insubordinate, and the clergy had
been accused of laxity in performing their duties. William
caused these facts to be represented at Rome, besides em
ploying many other arguments. He had sent Lanfranc thither,
a priest . of Italian extraction, whom he had made abbot of
St. Stephen's at Caen, and who by reason of his clever
and prudent mind was enabled to render important services
to his master. Harold had sent no ambassador to this tri
bunal, whose jurisdiction he did not recognize in temporal
affairs ; his perjury was strongly denounced there, and Pope
Alexander II. declared that William of Normandy, cousin
of King Edward, and consequently his heir, could legitimately
style himself King of England, and seize upon the kingdom.
The king received this permission sealed by the Pope, with
a holy standard and a ring containing a hair of St. Peter
inclosed in a diamond.
Strong in the support of the Pope, to whom he had prom
ised to place England again under the authority of the Holy

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 95
See, and to cause the Peter's pence to be levied there annu
ally, as Canute had done, WiUiam began his preparations for
the conquest. The Normans were a free people ; they were
stiU conscious of their rude origin, but nevertheless accustomed
to be consulted in their own affairs. The Duke called together
all his most intimate friends, his two maternal brothers, Odo,
Bishop of Bayeux and Count Mortaign, also the friend of his
chfldhood, WiUiam Fitz-Osbern, the seneschal of Normandy.
AU encouraged him in his project. " But," they said, " you
must ask help and advice of the majority of the inhabitants
of this country, for it is right that whoever pays should be
invited to consent to the expenditure."
William was hot-tempered and haughty, but prudent and
sensible. He convoked at Lillebonne a great assembly of men
from every state of Normandy, the richest and most esteemed
of their class. He unfolded his plans to them, and they retired
to discuss them at their ease, out of the presence of the Duke.
The excitement was great and the opinions various. Wil
Uam Fitz-Osbern appeared in the midst of the groups. " Why
do you discuss together ? " he exclaimed. " He is your lord,
and he has need of your services ; your duty would be to
make offers to him, and not to wait untU he asks for any
thing. If you fail him, and he attains his object by the
wiU of God, he will not forget it ; show, therefore, that you
love him and support him with a wfll." Low murmurs were
heard ; the opposition was beginning to burst forth. " No
doubt he is our lord," they said; "but is it not enough for
him that we should pay his taxes? We do not owe him
any assistance for his foreign excursions ; he has already
oppressed us too much by his wars; if his new enterprise
should fail, our country would be ruined." The offers
accordingly were few, when Fitz-Osbern was instructed to
communicate them to WiUiam.

96 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. P7.
The assembly re-entered the room wherein the Duke sat.
The seneschal advanced. " Sire," he said, " I do not think
that there are in the world men more zealous than these.
You know how many burdens they have already borne for you ?
Well, they propose to add another, and to follow you to the
other side of the sea, as they do on this side. Push onward,
then, and fear nothing ; whoever has hitherto only supplied
you with two good soldiers on horseback is wUling to bear
double the expense." The seneschal was interrupted by a
hundred voices, crying, " We did not commission you to make
such an answer as that. Let him remain in his own terri
tory, and we will serve him as we should do ; but we are not
compelled to help him to conquer another people's country.
Besides, if we were for once to do him this service, he would
expect it as a right ever afterwards, and would thereby op
press our children ; it shaU not be." And the assembly dis
persed in anger.
The Duke sent for the noblemen, one after the other, as
well as the abbots and the merchants : he showed his plans
to them, asked for their support as a personal favor which
should not compromise their liberty in any wajr in future,
and by degrees he obtained what he wanted. The merchants
promised vessels and armed warriors, the priests gave money,
and the barons placed themselves and their vassals at his
disposition. The preparations began forthwith in all the Nor
man towns ; adventurers were everywhere crowding round
WiUiam, " who slighted nobody," according to the chronicles,
" and was always ready to oblige people as far as he was
able." He promised lands, castles, women, plunder ; he even
sold an English bishopric to a certain Rdmi, of Fecamp, for
a ship and twenty warriors.
While the noise of hammers was resounding throughout
all the shipyards of Normandy, the ice had thawed in the

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 97
Baltic, and Harold Hardrada had set sail with his sea-serpents.
He had been joined by Tostig, and had ascended the Humber
and the Ouse, causing great destruction on his way. A cer
tain number of Englishmen had rallied round the standard
of Tostig. Edwin and Morcar marched to oppose the allies,
but they were repulsed with loss. The citizens of York,
fearing an assault, promised to surrender. The Norwegians
were already celebrating the victory in their camp.
It was in the early morning, and Hardrada and Tostig,
with a small body of troops, were advancing towards York
to hold an interview with the chiefs of the town. Count
ing upon the terror which they inspired among the peaceful
citizens, they were but half armed ; Harold Hardrada had left
his halbert in his tent, and wore a blue tunic embroidered
with gold, and a helmet ornamented with precious stones.
Suddenly a cloud of dust, which was rising in the horizon,
cleared away and revealed a forest of lances. It was King
Harold, whom the invaders believed to be in the South
watching the movements of the Duke of Normandy, and who
had come by forced marches to encounter them. The golden
dragon of Wessex was displayed on his standard.
The position of the Norwegian, Hardrada, was critical, but
his courage did not desert him. Planting in the ground his
banner, the motto on which was " The despoiler of the world,"
he drew up around it all his forces at the foot of Stamford
Bridge. Here he was riding back and forth in front of
his soldiers, when his horse stumbled and he fell. " A good
omen!" he cried, when he saw the faces of the pirates
darken. His soldiers, resting their lances on the ground,
with their points in the direction of the enemy, awaited
the onslaught of the English. Hardrada rode between the
ranks, singing an improvised " skald." " Let us fight," he
said; "let us march, although without any breastplates be-
VOL. I. 13

98 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
neath the edges of the blue steel ; our helmets glisten in the
sun ; they are sufficient for brave warriors."
The English were contemplating these valiant preparations.
A small band of men had detached themselves from the body
of the army. "Where is Earl Tostig, son of Godwin?"
asked one of the warriors clad in steel. " He is here ! "
cried Tostig himself, stepping out from the ranks. " Your
brother salutes you," rejoined the Saxon; "he offers you
peace, friendship, and your former honors." " This is a sen
sible offer," said Tostig ; " and if my brother had made it
a year ago, he would have spared tbe lives of many brave men.
And what does he offer to my noble ally, King Harold,
son of Sigurd ? " " Seven feet of English soU," haughtily
replied the warrior, contemplating the Norwegian's huge per
son ; " a little more, perhaps, for he is taller than most men."
" Then," cried Tostig, " my brother, King Harold, may pre
pare for the fray. It shall not be said that the son of Godwin
abandoned the son of Sigurd."
The Saxons retired slowly. Tostig was stiU looking fixedly
at his antagonist. "Who is the warrior with such a proud
tongue ? " asked Hardrada. " King Harold, son of Godwin,"
said Tostig. "Why did you not tell me so?" cried Har
drada; "he would not have lived to boast of having defeated
us." He then added, "He is little, but he sits firmly in
the saddle." At the same moment, King Harold was asking
his companions whether this gigantic warrior clad in blue
was really the formidable sovereign of the seas. It is the
same, they told him. " He is a powerful man," replied Harold,
thoughtfully, " but I think his good fortune has deserted
him." The battle began ; Hardrada was killed almost immediately
by an arrow which pierced his throat. Tostig took command
of the army. Harold sent proposals for peace a second time

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 99
for Tostig and the Norwegians. " We will owe nothing to the
Saxons," cried the Norwegians, and the struggle recommenced.
Tostig was killed in his turn, and great havoc was made among
his men. The " despoiler of the world" was now surrounded
but by a small number of warriors. They at length pulled up
their precious standard, and slowly, defending themselves step
by step, they regained the road leading to their vessels. A
stout Norwegian had taken up his stand upon Stamford Bridge,
covering the retreat of his comrades. They had nearly all
passed the bridge, taking with them young Olof, son of Har-*
drada, when an English soldier, pushing his lance through a
crevice in the timber, killed the valiant defender. The Scan
dinavian vessels unfurled their sails, and returned to Norway
to spread the sad news of a defeat, indicated beforehand by
the gloomy predictions of the soldiers, who had seen in their
dreams a woman of gigantic stature seated on a wolf, and rush
ing along their ranks, making at each step a fresh corpse for
the ferocious animal to devour.
Harold did not attempt to pursue the Norwegians on sea ;
he was recalled southward by the near approach of his great
peril. William had assembled all his forces on the coast of
Normandy, almost without any foreign help. The king of
France, Philip I., had refused to give him any assistance,
although the Duke had proposed to do homage to him when
he should obtain possession of England. " You know," the
French barons had said to the king, " how little the Normans
obey you now; they will obey you still less if they conquer
England, and if they fail in their enterprise, having assisted
them we shall make enemies of the English people for ever
afterwards." The fleet and the army had been lying together for more
than a month at Dive ; the wind was unfavorable, and it was
impossible to sail out of port. The south wind at length

100 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
rose, and drove the vessels to Saint- Vale'ry-en-Caux, and then
the bad weather began again. Several ships were dashed to
pieces, and their crews perished. In the army the men were
murmuring. " There has been no fighting," they said, " and
yet there are already some men killed." The Duke caused
the sands to be watched, in order that the dead bodies thrown
up by the sea might be buried immediately; and he allowed
good cheer to his soldiers to induce them to wait patiently.
He sent for the relics from the church of Saint-Valery, which
were carried through the camp with great pomp. At length
a propitious wind arose; all the sails were unfurled, and four
hundred large ships and a thousand transport-vessels sped
away from land. The Duke's ship was at the head of them,
bearing on the foremast the banner sent by the Pope; the
sails of various colors were flying in the wind. The Duke's
vessel soon left all the others behind ; at daybreak he found
himself alone. He sent a sailor to the masthead. " I only
see the sky and the sea," cried the sailor ; but a short time
afterwards he reported four vessels in sight, and the Duke
had not taken his breakfast before a forest of masts and
sails was discovered.
• It was a fine morning, on the 28th of September, 1066 ;
Harold's vessels, which had been cruising along the coast dur
ing a whole month, had put in to land on the previous even
ing, being short of provisions. The fleet of the Normans ap
proached, therefore, without resistance, and landed in Sussex,
at Bulverhithe, between Pevensey and Hastings. The archers
landed first, then the horsemen, and lastly the pioneers car
rying their tools and wood ready prepared for the fortifica
tion of their camp. The Duke was the last to set foot on
English soil, after superintending the disembarkation of his
men. Immediately upon stepping down, he stumbled and
fell, smearing his hands with dirt. A shudder ran along

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 101
the ranks. " What ails you ? " cried the Duke, who had
instantly sprung to his feet. " I have seized the land with
my hands, and by the splendor of God, throughout its length
and breadth, it is yours." They were reassured at these
words ; a camp was at once planned and fortified with
wooden castles, after the French fashion, and bands of sol
diers overran the neighborhood, ravaging and laying waste
the country.
Harold was stiU at Stamford, resting after the fatigues of
the campaign against the Norwegians, when a messenger, in
an exhausted and breathless condition, burst into the room
where he was at supper. " The enemy," he cried, " the
enemy has landed ! " Harold rose, knowing the time had
come ; he knew William and the Normans sufficiently well to
feel confident that the struggle would be fierce and prolonged.
Time was precious. Harold was accustomed to make forced
marches, and he accordingly started for London, ordering on
his road all the earls and freemen to rally round his stand
ard. The whole country rose at his command, and large
forces were being organized in different parts. " In four
days the Saxon will have a hundred thousand men at his
side," William was informed by one of those Normans for
merly established in England during the reign of King Ed
ward, who served him as spies. But some time was neces
sary to bring together these confused masses of men, and to
assemble them at a given point. Harold, in his haste, had
not given them time to do so. He had arrived in London ;
his mother Gytha found his army worn out, and very small
for opposing so formidable an enemy. " Do not risk a battle,
my son," she said ; "let the Normans pursue their ravages
in the country, and famine will rid you of them." Harold
trembled with indignation. "Would you have me ruin my
kingdom?" he said. "By my faith, it would be treason. I

102 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV.
prefer to put my trust in the strength of my arm and the
justice of my cause." His young brother, Gurth, persisted,
for the oath made to the Duke WiUiam weighed upon his
conscience. " Either under constraint, or by your own free
will," he said, "you swore, and your oath will paralyze your
arm during the conflict. We have promised nothing; leave
us to defend the kingdom. You shall avenge us if we
should be killed." Harold smiled bitterly at the remembrance
of the Duke's perfidy ; but he was inflexible, and he started
the same day for Hastings with a force very much less than
that of William.
King Harold's first idea was to suddenly attack the enemy,
who had been intrenched during a fortnight in their camp;
but the Normans were well guarded ; their defences had been
skilfully constructed, and the Saxon therefore abandoned his
project, and, selecting also a strong position upon a hill near
Hastings, he fortified it in the fashion of his country with
a triple line of palisades, and a rampart of interwoven branches
which was to protect the bulk of his army when the first line
should have passed outside the stakes to defend the approaches
to the camp.
Harold was uneasy ; very few troops had had time to join
him, and the Norman army was as strong as it was well dis
ciplined. He, however, laughed aloud when three Saxon spies,
who had penetrated into William's camp, came and informed
him that, having been recognized and taken over the camp
by order of the Duke, they had seen more priests than war
riors in the Norman army. They had mistaken for priests all
the warriors who had closely-shaven faces and short hair,
for the English at that time wore long flowing hair and long
moustaches. " All those priests are good warriors," said the
king, " and you will shortly see them at work."
WUUam did not yet begin the attack. A Norman monk

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR REVIEWING HIS ARMT.

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 103
presented himself in Harold's camp. " The Duke WilUam
makes three proposals," said he : " first, that you give up
your kingdom to him ; secondly, that the matter be sub
mitted to the Pope ; or, lastly, to decide the quarrel by single
combat." " I will not give up my kingdom, I wiU not put
the matter in the hands of the Pope, and I refuse the challenge
to fight," repUed Harold curtly. The monk returned to the
Norman camp ; but he soon reappeared, bearing another mes
sage : " If you wiU be faithful to your compact with him, the
Duke wiU allow you to keep possession of aU the country
north of the Humber, and wUl give to your brother Gurth
the land which was formerly held by Godwin. If you refuse,
you are a perjurer and a liar, and all who fight for you shall
be excommunicated by the Pope."
The Saxon chiefs looked at each other ; but the love of
Uberty was stronger than their religious fears. " The Norman
has given away everything beforehand to his soldiers," they
said, " both land and goods. Where should we go, if we
should lose our country ? " And they resolved to die fighting
to the last.
The night of the 13th of October, 1066, was passed very
differently in the two camps. William's strict discipline
only allowed religious music or devotional practices. After
the fashion of the ancient Saxons and of the Danes, whose
blood had become mixed with theirs, the English soldiers were
eating, laughing, and singing warUke songs. At daybreak,
after holy mass had been celebrated, the Normans issued from
their camp. They were divided into three bodies, all pre
ceded by archers. The Duke was mounted on a Barbary
horse which he had brought from Spain. He bore on his neck,
in a golden casket, one of the relics upon which Harold had
sworn the oath, as a silent witness of the latter's perfidy. By
his side a young cavalier, Toustain le Blanc, was holding up

104 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IV-
aloft the standard sent by the Pope. Odo, bishop of Bayeux,
was marching through the ranks mounted upon his great white
horse, and wearing a breastplate and helmet.
"See how weU he rides," said the Normans, looking at
William. " He is a graceful duke, and wiU be a graceful king.''
And they advanced joyfully behind him.
At seven o'clock the attack on the Saxon camp began
TaiUefer, the knight-minstrel of the Norman army, was march
ing in front, singing the song of Roland. The Normans cried,
" Our Lady, help us ! " The monks who had come with them
to the field of battle had retired to pray.
Three times the Normans were repulsed. It was noon. In
spite of the arrows of the archers, which inflicted great
losses on the Saxons, and one of which had destroyed Harold's
left eye, the English camp held good at all points. The
Duke's horse had been killed during an assault ; a rumor had
gone forth that William was dead ; but, immediately taking
off his helmet, and showing himself bareheaded to his wavering
soldiers, he cried out, " Here I am ! Look at me ; I am
living, and I will conquer, with God's help." Some were
already taking to flight ; these he held back with his long
lance, and reconducted to the attack on the enemy's camp.
All the defenders of the rampart were killed, but the twig
hurdles still protected the bulk of the Saxon army. The Nor
mans pretended to fly ; the Saxons rushed forth in pursuit of
them, and were all kUled. The reserve could no longer resist ;
the Normans therefore beat down the barrier, and entered
sword in hand.
Around Harold's banner, his chosen warriors had formed
themselves into a compact circle, the " ring of death " as the
Danes called it. Harold was there with his two brothers,
Gurth and Leofwin. The fight recommenced furiously between
the Normans and these brave men : not one of them receded ;

Chap. IV.] THE SAXON AND DANISH KINGS. 105
the heaps of bodies of the slain Normans formed a rampart
for them, when twenty of their foes advanced together. They
had sworn to cut a passage through the English or to perish
to a man. Ten of them fell, but the ranks of the Saxons
remained unbroken. William rushed to the attack, followed
by his best warriors. The English soldiers were dying at
their posts, immovable as the oaks ih their forests. Gurth
was dead, Leofwin was dying, bathed in blood, and Harold
alone was still fighting at the foot of his banner. At sunset
he feU, in his turn, and the standard of the Pope replaced
the golden Dragon of Wessex. All the English earls were
stretched upon the field of battle, and the few Saxons who
stiU remained were slowly retreating ; yet so dauntless were
they, even in defeat, that the Normans did not dare to dis
perse while it was still dark. Eustace of Boulogne, speaking
to Duke William, was struck down by an unexpected blow.
On the morrow, at daybreak, Godwin's widow, whom Wil
liam's pretensions to the English crown had deprived of four
sons, came and asked permission to take away the bodies of
her relations. Gurth and Leofwin had fallen together at the
foot of the banner. No one could find the body of Harold.
His own mother could not distinguish him, but was obliged
to send for "Swan-necked" Edith, whom her son had loved.
Edith pointed to a body covered with wounds and disfigured
by sword-thrusts. " That is Harold ! " she said. He was
borne with his brothers to Waltham Abbey, where he was
buried beneath a stone bearing simply this inscription : " In-
felix Harold."
VOL. I. 14

106 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.

CHAPTER V.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND.
1066-1087.
KING HAROLD was dead, but England was not sub
dued. The Wittenagemot had already reassembled
in London to choose a new leader for resistance to the inva
sion. The sons of Harold were still children ; and in accord
ance with a passion for hereditary right remarkable in a country
which had often rejected that principle, the popular assembly
chose Edgar Atheling, a grand-nephew of. Edward the Con
fessor, to receive the perilous title of King of England. But
Edgar was young, his intellect was feeble, and the chiefs who
surrounded him were haughty and insubordinate. Stigand,
the archbishop of Canterbury, was still endeavoring to organ
ize the army, with the assistance of the earls Edwin and
Morcar, when the approach of the Normans rendered it neces
sary to make an immediate effort. After leaving Hastings,
near which town he afterwards built Battle Abbey, the Con
queror had begun his march upon London. The city was
well defended : after a slight attack William set fire to South
wark, and spreading his troops over the country, pillaged the
domains of all the thanes assembled at the Wittenagemot. He
inclosed the capital in a circle of fire and plunder which
raised fears of a famine. Edwin and Morcar, as well as the
Saxon prelates, had already begun to lose courage. The re
inforcements expected from the distant provinces were stopped
by the Normans. WiUiam was at Berkhampstead, stiU threat-

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 107
ening London. An embassy was dispatched with a view to
conciliate him. Soon afterwards the young king Edgar and
aU his counsellors, including Stigand, Edwin, and Morcar, pre
sented themselves before the Norman — the king to renounce
his empty title, the earls to swear fidelity to the conqueror.
The Duke received them affably: he promised in his turn to
govern with mildness, in accordance with the ancient laws ;
and raising his camp at Berkhampstead he advanced towards
London. For a moment he had appeared to hesitate with
regard to the opportuneness of his coronation ; but his barons
urged him to take the title which he had won at the point
of the sword, and William voluntarily allowed himself to be
guided by them, though only consenting to stay in London
after he should have built a fortress for his residence.
He had need to defend himself ; for at every step the
hostility of the people over whom he sought to rule displayed
itself energetically. On arriving at St. Alban's, the Normans
found the way obstructed by a number of large trees thrown
across the road. " Who has done this ? " inquired William
angrUy. " I," replied the abbot of St. Alban's, presenting
himself before him ; " and if others of my rank and profession
had done as much, you would not have advanced as far as
this." The conqueror did no harm to the proud abbot ; but
on the day of his coronation he surrounded Westminster Abbey
with battalions of his Normans before entering beneath its
majestic roof, attended by his barons and by the Saxons who
in a small number had rallied round him. Stigand had sub
mitted ; but he had refused to crown the usurper. This
duty, therefore, fell upon the archbishop of York, Aldred, a
prudent man, who was able to discern the signs of the times.
At the moment when the Duke entered the church, the accla
mations of the bystanders were so noisy that the Normans
posted outside, believing that they were fighting in the sacred

108 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
edifice, rushed into the neighboring houses and set them afire.
The cries of the inhabitants, the clatter of arms, frightened
in their turn the spectators of the ceremony ; they hurried in
a crowd to the door, hastening to get out, and WiUiam soon
found himself almost alone in the church with the priests and
some devoted friends. The coronation ceremony, however,
continued, and when the Duke of Normandy issued from the
church to appease the tumult, he had become King of Eng
land. The Normans had dispersed to extinguish the fires or
pillage the houses ; the Saxons murmured among themselves
gloomy forebodings of a reign thus inaugurated by fire and
sword. WiUiam left London almost immediately, and his
first measures, mild and conciliatory in their nature, attracted
around him a considerable number of Saxon chiefs, to whom
he confirmed the title to their domains. A great extent of
territory had already fallen into his hands, but the time for
dividing the spoil had not yet arrived. In the month of
March, 1067, William crossed over into Normandy, having
intrusted "the government of England to his brother, the
Bishop of Bayeux.
Was his object to place in security the treasures which he
had acquired, or to give time for insurrections to break out
in order to suppress them energetically ? Whatever may have
been his motives, he remained eight months in Normandy,
enriching the churches and abbeys with the spoils gathered
in England, and conducting through his hereditary states the
dangerous subjects whom he had brought in his suite, Stigand,
Edwin, Morcar, and the youthful Edgar Atheling.
Meanwhile the Saxons were groaning under the exactions
of Odo of Bayeux, and did not confine themselves to groans.
The risings became numerous ; the inhabitants of Kent had
called to their assistance Eustace of Boulogne, who had pre
viously been the cause of the discontent of the English with

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 109
Edward the Confessor, and who was now at enmity with the
Conqueror. He came ; but Dover Castle opposed to his attacks
an unexpected resistance, which allowed the Normans time to
arrive and repulse him. William had returned to England,
when, in 1068, the Ul-feeling of the population of Devon
drew upon that county the attention of the conquerors. The
aged Githa, the mother of Harold, was living at Exeter,
whither she had carried all her wealth. The fortress refused
to receive William and his garrison, offering only to pay the
taxes which were wont to be paid to the Saxon kings. "I
desire subjects, and do not accept their conditions," said Wil-'
liam, who ordered the assault to be commenced.. The city
was well defended ; it resisted for eighteen days. At length
the magistrates, less firm than the citizens, opened the gates,
and the inhabitants paid cruelly for their obstinacy. Githa,
and the ladies of her suite, succeeded in escaping, and in
conceaUng themselves in the little islands at the mouth of the
Severn, whence they set sail for Flanders. But scarcely was
the outbreak extinguished in the South, when it broke forth
in the North. Earl Edwin, to whom William had lately
refused to give the hand of one of his daughters, as he
had previously promised, had withdrawn himself from his
court, and the vassals, as well as the friends of the earl, had
already gathered around him in Northumbria. The Conqueror
at once commenced his march, and entering York, took up
his position there after expelling the Saxons. While he was
pillaging and ravaging the environs, the old Archbishop Aldred,
whose convoys had been seized, came to make complaint to the
king, and reproaching him with the cruelties committed in his
name. " Thou art a foreigner, King William," he exclaimed,
"yet, Heaven desiring to punish our nation, thou hast ob
tained this kingdom of England at the price of much blood
shed, and I have anointed thee with my own hands. But I

110 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
now curse thee and thy race, because thou hast persecuted
the Church of God and oppressed its servants." Several Nor
mans had already grasped the hilts of their swords ; but
William restrained them, and permitted the priest to return
in safety into his palace, where he fell sick and died soon
afterwards. The capture of York had not discouraged the Northumbrians ;
they attacked the Normans in Durham, and massacred1 them in
numbers ; they had also received important reinforcements.
Sweyn, king of Denmark, at the solicitation of the sons of
Harold, had sent assistance to the insurgents ; two hundred
and forty Danish vessels were approaching the coasts. Edgar
Atheling, having sought refuge in Scotland with King Malcolm,
who had married his sister Margaret, had lately joined the
Saxon army, and promised the support of his brother-in-law.
Before the Conqueror was apprised of this new danger, York
was recaptured by the insurgents, and Edgar Atheling had
assumed once more the title of King, which he had formerly
laid at the feet of the Norman. But winter came, and WUliam
was already assembling his army. Settling hastily the affairs
which had called him southward, he took once more the road
towards the North, and entered into secret negotiations with
the Danes, insomuch that at the moment that he appeared
under the walls of York the pirates weighed anchor and
sailed again down the coast, pillaging the Saxon viUages
which the king had abandoned to them before taking again
the road towards their country.
Malcolm, the king of Scotland, had now come to the assist
ance of the insurgents. York was again taken and put to
fire and sword. King William then carried his anger and his
vengeance into all the counties of the North; not a vUlage
which was not burned, not a domain which was not confis
cated. The churches, and even the monasteries, found no

AZELIN FORBIDDING THE BURIAL OP WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.

i^-:. -.AbPhr-

ARCHBISHOP ALDRED'S CURSE.

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. Ill
shelter against Norman rapacity. The inhabitants of Beverley
had amassed their treasures in the church dedicated to St.
John of Beverley, a Saxon like themselves, who owed them
protection. This, however, had no effect upon the Normans,
and Toutain, one of the battle chiefs of William, penetrated on
horseback into the church of the monastery, in pursuit of the
fugitives who had taken refuge there. His horse slipped upon
the marble pavement of the sanctuary, and the horseman was
killed. St. John of Beverley had protected his countrymen,
and the Normans' withdrew from his abbey. Edgar Atheling
had taken refuge again in Scotland ; but this time the insur
rection had found a true chief. Hereward,- lord of Born, a
warrior celebrated by his adventures abroad, had intrenched
himself in the Isle of Ely, which he called the Camp of Ref
uge, and from all sides the oppressed English gathered around
him. William ordered the earls Edwin and Morcar, who had
returned to his court, to be carefully watched. They were
apprised of the fact, and secretly fled. Edwin was overtaken
and slain by the soldiers who pursued him ; but Morcar suc
ceeded in reaching- the Isle of Ely. Thence Hereward under
took expeditions into the surrounding country, and kept at
bay aU the troops which William sent against him. He even
defied Yves Taillebois, one of the king's favorites, whom
William had recently induced to marry Lucy, a sister to Edwin
and Morcar, and whose intolerable tyranny contributed to
maintain the insurrection in the eastern counties. But King
William caused the Uttle isle to be invested, cutting off from
it provisions and reinforcements. The monks of the monastery
grew weary of that compulsory fast, and indicated to the
Normans the points of attack. The Saxons were beaten ;
the Bishop of Durham and Earl Morcar were taken and cast
into prison for the remainder of their Uves. Hereward suc
ceeded in escaping, and in maintaining an irregular warfare ;

112 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
but, won over at last by the proposals of William, who sincerely
admired his indomitable courage, he consented to lay down his
arms. He lived long afterwards upon his domains, which the
Conqueror permitted him to enjoy.
The Camp of Refuge was destroyed, and the county of
Northumberland was given by William to the Saxon Waltheof,
a warrior esteemed by his countrymen, whom William had
attached to him by giving him the hand of his niece Judith.
Being called away into Normandy in consequence of a rising
of the inhabitants of Maine, the king took with him an English
army, which fought as valiantly for him as it had against
him shortly before. During his sojourn on the Continent he
received into favor Edgar Atheling, who had recently failed
in a new attempt instigated by the king of France, Philippe
I. ; the descendant of King Alfred took up his abode at
Rouen, where he passed eleven years of his life in amusing
himself with his horses and dogs.
A fresh insurrection recalled William into England. On
this occasion it was the Normans themselves who revolted
against him. His faithful companion, William Fitz-Osbern,
was dead, and his son Roger, Earl of Hereford like his father,
had contracted a marriage with the sister of Ralph de Waher,
or Guader, a Breton knight, who had accompanied William,
and had been created Earl of Norfolk. This union was dis
tasteful to the king, who had endeavored to prevent it, for
he did not like the Bretons. After the nuptials the party
was excited : Fitz-Osbern and Waher spoke of the tyranny of
King William, and proposed his overthrow. Waltheof, who
was present, had listened, but without taking part in the
conspiracy. He had merely promised secrecy; but the secret
was betrayed by his wife, who disliked him, and desired to
rid herself of her husband. Lanfranc, who had become arch
bishop of Canterbury upon the deposition of Stigand, and who

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 113
was invested with power in the absence of his master, dis
patched an army against the rebels. The latter had been
obliged to declare themselves before their preparations were
completed. When the king recrossed the sea, the insurrec
tion was already almost suppressed. Waher was banished, to
gether with a great number of Bretons ; Fitz-Osbern was put
in prison; the unfortunate Waltheof, who had not taken up
arms, but who was a Saxon, son of the glorious Siward, and
Earl of Northumbria, was executed, to the great indignation
of his feUow-countrymen, who came in crowds to pray at his
tomb, and attributed to him numerous miracles. William
did not allow Judith to marry the man for whom she had
sacrificed her husband. She,- on her part, refused the marriage
which he offered her; and the king having stripped her of
all her possessions, this wicked woman was reduced to wander
sometimes in England, sometimes on the Continent, bearing
with her everywhere tokens of her misery and shame.
Thus ended the great insurrection in England. William
was master of the country, and the harsh repressive measures
which he had employed at length bore their fruits. The
Saxons murmured under the weight of their misfortunes, but
no longer dared to revolt. The king, frequently called into
Normandy by his quarrels with his eldest son, Robert Curthose,
was able now to leave England without anxiety. When he
arrived at manhood, Robert had caUed on his father to divest
himself in his favor of the duchy of Normandy, " I am
not accustomed to throw off my clothing before going to bed;"
repUed WUliam; and Robert, irritated, had revolted against
his father, and endeavored to arouse against him embarrass
ments and enemies on all sides. In vain had his mother
Matilda, who loved him tenderly, endeavored many times
to reconcile him with his father. Robert could not endure
the yoke of paternal authority. He journeyed about the Con-
VOL. i. 15

114 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
tinent, expatiating upon his grievances, and squandering the
money which his mother sent to him secretly, to the great
vexation of William. He received assistance from the king
of France, Philip I., who detested his father, and who in
stalled him in the fortress of Gerberoi, on the confines of
Normandy, whence it was easy for him to piUage the neigh
boring territory. William besieged Gerberoi. During a sortie
Robert found himself face to face with a knight of robust
form, concealed by his armor, and having his visor lowered,
with whom he contended for some time. At length he un
seated him, and was on ihe point of dispatching his antago
nist, when the wounded knight called his people to his aid,
and Robert recognized the voice of his father. In spite of
his vanity, Robert's heart was accessible to generous sentiments.
He threw himself on his knees before his prostrate father,
entreated his pardon, raised him with his own hands, and
set him on his horse. A reconciliation followed, for Robert
was softened and penitent. But a fresh quarrel soon hurried
the son out of Normandy. He set forth, bearing with him
a malediction which his father never revoked.
While the rebellions of his eldest son detained the Conqueror
in his Norman domains, his brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux,
whom he had created Earl of Kent, had made himself detested
in England. A brave and able warrior, the bishop had often
led to battle the soldiers of William ; but he had taken ad
vantage of his influence to oppress the poor Saxons, extorting
from them enormous riches. His vast treasures, the grand.
position which his brother occupied, and the conquests of the
Normans in Italy, had awakened in the heart of the Bishop
of Bayeux the hope of becoming Pope. He had bought a
palace in Rome, and had sent there a great deal of money,
when he resolved to go himself into Italy, and began to make
preparations for his journey, gathering around him a number

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'ROBERT THREW HIMSELF ON HIS KNEES BEFORE HIS PROSTRATE FATHER."

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 115
of Norman pilgrims anxious to obtain pardon for their sins
by that holy enterprise.
Scarcely, however, had William become cognizant of his
brother's project, when he returned from Normandy, and
meeting the prelate in the Isle of Wight, caused him to be
.immediately arrested. Then reassembling his council, he enu
merated before the barons his grievances against the Bishop
of Bayeux, his cruelties, his extortions, his secret manoeuvres.
" What does such a brother deserve ? " he asked in conclu
sion. No one replied. " Let him be arrested," said the king,
" and I will see to him." The barons hesitated : William
himself advanced towards his brother. " Thou hast not the
right to touch me," exclaimed Odo; "I am a priest and a
bishop ; the Pope alone is empowered to condemn me." " I
am not judging the Bishop of Bayeux, but the Earl of Kent,"
replied William ; and having sent him across the sea into
Normandy, he imprisoned his brother in a dungeon, to the
great satisfaction of the English, who detested him.
William had lost his wife, Queen Matilda, in 1083 ; the
only softening influence which had tempered that imperious
will had disappeared. His two remaining sons, William and
Henry, quarrelled with each other: the Danes were again
threatening the shores of England, where they could easUy
have found support ; and the English, sullen and subjected,
nourished in their hearts a deep hatred towards the sovereign
who had despoiled them, not only to enrich his Norman ad
herents, but in favor of the stags and deer, " whom (says
the chronicle) he loved Uke his children," and for whose
sake he had created or enlarged forests, while he had destroyed
towns, villages, and monasteries which interfered with the
preservation of game, or the pleasures of the chase, the pas
sion for which he transmitted to his descendants.
It was during these years of doubtful repose that William

116 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
caused to be compiled the Domesday Book, a complete record
of the state of property in England, in repute to this day,
and an indispensable labor after a conquest which had resulted
in the transfer of nearly all the domains to other hands.
WUliam had divided the immense territories of which he had
possessed himself into sixty thousand two hundred and fifteen
fees of knights who had all sworn to him the oath of fidelity.
Six hundred great vassals holding directly from the crown
had also sworn to him faith and homage as their suzerain
lord ; and lest their united influence should become danger
ous, the king had scattered their fiefs in different parts of the
country, among their enemies the Saxons. Perhaps- uncon
sciously William had thus obviated the greater part of the
inconveniences of the conquest. This was not like the case
of a feeble and effeminate people exhausted by oppression as
were the Gauls at the moment of the invasion of the Ger
mans. In England, two nations of the same origin and the
same religion, equally brave and obstinate, had found them
selves face to face. The Saxons were strong enough to resist
their conquerors step by step. The Normans could not com
pletely oppress a people always ready to revolt, who had long
possessed institutions fitted for developing individual liberty.
Thus compelled to reckon with the conquered, the Normans
necessarily acquired by degrees a greater respect for liberty
than they had felt under the Norman feudal regime. The
persecuted Saxons remained united in order to preserve some
power of resistance : the Normans triumphant, but few in
number among their enemies, were in their turn compelled to
agree together, that they might not be crushed. Governed by
the feudal law, they owed to the king their lord feudal service
and certain gifts or dues under definite conditions; the Sax
ons, who by degrees allied themselves with William, accepted
the, same conditions on receiving their fiefs, without, however,

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 117
renouncing the laws peculiar to their race, or the rural insti
tutions which the conquerors did not use themselves, and
did not always permit to be freely exercised. It was, never
theless, to this assemblage of confused regulations, requiring
long years to bring them into accord, that the two nations
owed the preservation of their strength and their liberties
during the fusion which was slowly in progress. In England,
as on the Continent, the feudal lords were grand justiciaries
upon their lands, but they had acquired the habit of sum
moning eight or ten of the principal inhabitants of the neigh
borhood in testimony to the truth of the facts alleged, ac
cording to the ancient Saxon custom, which is the origin of
"juries. When the criminal could not be found, the parish
remained responsible for fines and costs. Thus the Saxons
and the Normans came to perform themselves the duties of
police and of maintaining order. Instead of succumbing, the
liberties of England developed and fortified themselves by
the conquest. It was a struggle, but not an oppression.
Meanwhile William the Conqueror grew weary of his in
action. Gloomy and alone, he felt the need of the noise of
combat and the excitement of war. Philip I. had refused
to yield up to him the town of Mantes, and a portion of the
French Vexin over which he claimed to have right as Duke
of Normandy. Philip had even encouraged his barons to
make incursions into WUliam's territory. Uniting his Norman
barons and his English vassals, whose valor he knew, against
his enemies, he crossed the sea in the latter days of the year
1086, to seize by force of arms what the king of France
refused to yield to negotiations. On arriving in Fiance,
WiUiam had been taken ill, and it was not till the month
of June that he was at length able to march against Mantes,
which he captured and cruelly pillaged. While in the
midst of the burning town he was encouraging his soldiers,

118 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. V.
his horse slipped. The king was an old man of heavy frame ;
he fell and was seriously injured. They carried him to
Rouen, where he languished six weeks. Remorse now seized
him : all the cruelties of his life rose up before him ; he
endeavored to expiate them by gifts to the poor and en
dowments of the churches. His two younger sons were
there, anxious to know in what way the king was about to
divide his heritage. In spite of his anger against Robert,
the king would not deprive him of the duchy of Normandy,
where he had been able to make friends. " I leave to no
one the kingdom of England," he said; "for I did not receive
it as a heritage, but won it by my sword, at the price of
much bloodshed. I confide it therefore to the good-will of
God, desiring nevertheless that it should go to my son Wil
liam, who has always obeyed and served me in all things;"
and he wrote to the Archbishop Lanfranc, to recommend him
to crown his son.
Henry approached his father's bed. "And I," said he.
"Do you leave me nothing ? " " Five thousand pounds' weight
of sUver from my treasury," replied the king, who was now
dying. " And what shall I do with this silver if I have
neither house nor land?" cried the young man. "Be pa
tient, my son," said the king, " and thou shalt, perhaps, be
greater than all." Henry immediately obtained payment of
the money and went his way, while his brother William set
out for England in order to accomplish his father's wishes
by being crowned as soon as possible. The Conqueror was
left alone upon his death-bed.
It was the 9th of September, 1087. William was sleeping
heavily when he was awakened by the sound of bells. "What
is that ? " he inquired. " The bells of St. Mary sounding the
prime," was the answer. " I commend my soul to Our Lady,
the sainted Mary, and to God," said the king, raising his

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THE CHURCH OF SAINT STEPHEN AT CAEN.

Chap. V.] THE NORMANS IN ENGLAND. 119
hand towards heaven, and he expired. His sons had left
him when dying : his attendants abandoned him when dead.
A sudden stupor seized on the entire city upon the death
of this powerful and terrible ruler. When the monks recov
ered themselves, and flocked into the royal palace to fulfil
the duties of their office, they found the chamber stripped
and the body of the Conqueror almost naked, stretched upon
the ground. The king's sons troubled themselves no more
with the funeral of their father than they had done with
regard to his last moments. His body was conveyed to Caen,
and it was a country gentleman, named " Herluin who under
took the expenses, from a kind disposition, and for the love
of God. At the church of St. Stephen of Caen, which the
king had buUt and endowed, the body of the monarch was
on the point of being placed in a grave, when a citizen of
Caen, named AzeUn, advanced from among the crowd and
exclaimed, " Bishop, the man whomj you have praised was a
robber. The ground on which we stand is mine ; it was the
site of my father's house, which he took from me to build
his church. I claim my right, and in the name of God I
forbid you to inter him in my ground, or to cover his body
with earth which is mine." It was necessary to pay to
Azelin the just compensation which he claimed before the body
was allowed to be deposited in the grave that awaited it. It
was found to be too narrow, and they were compelled to
place the coffin in it by force, to the great horror of the
bystanders, and not tUl then was the Conqueror able to en
joy in peace the six feet of earth required for his last resting-
place.

120 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.

CHAPTER VI.
THE NORMAN KINGS. — WILLIAM RUFUS. — HENRY I. —
STEPHEN. 1087-1154.
WILLIAM RUFUS had not yet set sail from Wissant,
near Calais, when he received intelligence of the
death of his father. He kept the news secret ; and obtained
possession of several important places on the pretext of orders
which he had received from the deceased king. It was not
until he had helped himself freely to the treasure of the
Conqueror at Winchester, and had made arrangements with
the Archbishop Lanfranc, that he proclaimed -the death of his
father and his own claim to the crown. The bishop had
been careful to administer to the king an oath binding him
to observe the laws before consenting to give him his sup
port , but oaths cost little to William. Scarcely had he been
declared king by a council of barons and prelates, hurriedly
assembled on- the 26th of September, 1087, than he violated
his original engagements, and cast the Saxon prisoners, whom
his father had liberated on his death-bed, again into prisons,
together with his Norman captives.
The new monarch would have acted more wisely if he had
decided on a directly opposite course. Scarcely had the
Bishop of Bayeux and his companions in captivity been set
at liberty than they placed themselves at the head of the
malcontents. The great barons aU possessed fiefs in Nor
mandy and in England : the separation of the two states,
therefore, displeased them. Many of them resolved to depose

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 121
William in order to secure to Robert an undivided paternal
inheritance. In consequence of their manoeuvres a serious
insurrection broke out simultaneously in several parts of Eng
land. Robert Curthose had promised to support his parti
sans with a Norman army, and already some small bodies
of troops had put to sea, confident of meeting with no re
sistance from the king, who was without a fleet. William
Rufus took his measures, and called round him that English
nation which his father had scarcely subjected. " Let him
who is not a man of nothing, either in the towns or in
the country, leave his home and come." Such was the proc
lamation in all the counties according to the ancient Saxon
custom. The Saxons obeyed : thirty thousand men assembled
round King William, while the merchant ships, already nu
merous, were cruising in the Channel, and destroying, one
after the other, the little flotillas which were bringing over
the Normans. Bishop Odo had fortified himself in Roches
ter: the king attacked him there with his Saxon army, and
would have compelled him to surrender at discretion, if the
Normans who had remained faithful to William had not in
terceded on his behalf. " We assisted thee in the time of
danger," said they ; " we beg thee now to spare our fellow-
countrymen ; our relations, who are also thine, and who aided
thy father to possess himself of England." The king con
sented to let the garrison march out with arms and bag
gage ; but the arrogant prelate demanded that the trumpets
should not celebrate his defeat. " I would not consent for
a thousand marks of gold," exclaimed William angrily, and
above the sound of the trumpets arose the cries of the Saxons:
" Bring us a halter that we may hang this traitor bishop and
his accomplices. O king, why do you allow him to retire
thus safe and sound ? "
Odo returned to Normandy, Duke Robert negotiated with
vol. i. 16

122 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
his brother, and the Saxons had already lost the advantages
which William had accorded or promised to them in order
to secure their co-operation. Lanfranc was' dead: and the
oppression had become more burdensome, the exactions more
odious, since his influence had disappeared. The king delayed
long to appoint his successor, taking himself possession of the
rich domains and revenues of the diocese of Canterbury in
contempt of ecclesiastical pretensions. He had for minister
and confidant a Norman priest, Ralph Flambard, whom he
had made Bishop of Lincoln, and whose tyranny was so great
that the inhabitants of his diocese, says the chronicle, " de
sired death rather than to live under his power." The he
reditary passion of King William for the chase, and the rigor
of the forest laws, were among the most frequent causes of
persecution. " The guardian of the forests and the pastor
of the wild beasts," as the Saxons called him, took advan
tage of the least offence against his tyrannical ordinances to
crush the thanes, who had preserved some remains of power.
Fifty Saxons of considerable influence were accused of having
taken, killed, and eaten deer. They denied the charge, and
the Norman judges compelled them to undergo the ordeal of
red-hot iron; but their hands were untouched. When the
fact was announced to the king he burst into laughter.
" What matters that ? " said he ; " God is no good judge of
such matters; it is I who am most concerned in such affairs,
and I will judge these fellows." The chronicle does not say
what became of the poor Saxons.
Several times war had broken out between WUliam and his
brother Robert. Rufus had conceived the hope of expelling
Curthose from Normandy. He had numerous partisans on the
Continent, and but for the support of the King of France,
and the alliance with his brother Henry, Curthose must soon
have succumbed. But in 1096, after a great insurrection in

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 123
England, and at the moment when King William, triumphant
over internal commotions, was probably about to renew his
attacks upon Normandy, Duke Robert, seized with a passion
for the Crusades, which were beginning then to agitate Chris
tendom, suddenly proposed to his brother to mortgage his
duchy for some years for a large sum of money, which would
enable him to equip troops and to set out with Sclat for the
East. The coffers of the king were no better filled than
were those of the duke, but he was more skilful in replen
ishing them at the expense of his subjects. The monasteries
and the churches were taxed like the Saxons. " Have you
not coffers of gold and silver filled with the bones of the
dead ? " exclaimed Rufus, and he laid his hand upon the
shrines containing the reliques. Robert received the sums
agreed upon and set out joyfully for Palestine, while William
crossed into Normandy, and without meeting resistance, took
possession of the duchy, where he already possessed numerous
fortresses. Maine alone exhibited repugnance, and a revolt
broke out there in 1100 while the Red King was enjoying
the chase in England, in the hunting-grounds created by his
father, which bear to this day the name of the .New Forest.
He set out instantly for the Continent. His nobles begged
him to take time to assemble his forces. " No, no," replied
Rufus ; " I know the country and shaU soon have men enough;"
and he jumped aboard the first vessel which he met with, in
spite of the violence of the wind. " Did you ever hear of a
king being drowned ? " he said to the sailors who were hesi
tating to set sail ; and he arrived safe and sound at Barfleur.
The rumor of his coming terrified the Lord of La Fleche,
who was the leader of the insurrection ; he abandoned the
siege of Le Mans and took to flight. The domains of the
enemy were soon ravaged, and Rufus returned to England.
Sinister rumors were circulating among the Saxons with

124 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
regard to the royal forests. One of the sons of William the
Conqueror had wounded himself mortally in chasing the deer
in the New Forest. In the month of May, 1100, the son
of Duke Robert, on a visit to his uncle, was killed there
by an arrow. People said that Satan appeared to the Nor
mans and announced the sinister end which awaited them ;
but the Red King continued to devote himself to the chase.
It was the 1st of August. He had passed the night at
Malwood Keep, a castle used as a hunting-seat in the very
heart of the forest. His brother Henry, with whom he had
become reconciled, was with him. A numerous suite accom
panied him, among whom was one of the private friends of
William, a great hunter like himself, one Walter Tyrrel, a
French nobleman, who possessed large estates in Poix and
Ponthieu. During the night the king had been agitated by
terrible dreams: he had been heard to invoke "the name
of Our Lady, which was not his custom;" but he seemed to
have forgotten all this, and was preparing cheerfully for the
fatigues and pleasures of the day. While he was putting on
his buskins, a workman approached and presented him with
six new arrows. He examined them, and taking four for
himself, gave the two others to Walter Tyrrel, with the re
mark, " The good marksman should have the good weapons."
As he was breakfasting with a good appetite, one of the
monks of the abbey of St. Peter at Gloucester brought him
letters from his abbot. During the night one of the brethren
had been tormented with dismal visions. He had seen Jesus
Christ seated upon His throne, and at His feet a woman
supplicating Him on behalf of the human beings who were
groaning under the yoke of William. The king laughed at
the omen. "Do they take me for an Englishman," said
he, " with their dreams ? Do they think I am one of those
idiots who abandon their course or their affairs because an

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 125
old woman chances to dream or sneeze ? Come, Walter de
Poix! To horse!"
The hunting party had dispersed over the forest: Walter
Tyrrel alone remained with the king. Their dogs hunted in
company. Both were in search of prey, when a great stag,
disturbed by the commotion, unexpectedly passed between
the king and his companion. William immediately drew his
bow: the string of his weapon broke, and the arrow did
not shoot. The stag had stopped, surprised by the noise,
but not perceiving the hungers. The king had made a sign
to Tyrrel, but he did not draw his bow. The king became
angry. " Shoot, Walter ! " he exclaimed ; " shoot, in the
devil's name ! " An arrow flew, no doubt that of Tyrrel ;
but instead of striking the stag, it buried itself in the breast
of the king. He fell without uttering a word. Walter ran
to him and found him dead. Fear or remorse seized upon
Tyrrel ; he mounted his horse again, and galloping to the sea-
coast, got aboard a vessel, passed into Normandy, and did not
rest until he had taken refuge upon the territory of the King
of France.
The news of this accident had become known in the for
est; but no one gave a thought to the dead body of the
king. Henry had hastened to Winchester, and had already
put his hand upon the keys of the Royal Treasury, when
WUliam of BreteuU joined him out of breath. " We have
all," he said, *'thou as well as I and the barons, sworn
fidelity and homage to Duke Robert thy brother if the king
should die first. Absent or present, right is right." A
quarrel ensued, and it was with sword in hand that Henry
possessed himself of the treasure and the royal jewels.
MeanwhUe a charcoal-burner, who had found the corpse of
the monarch in the forest, was bringing it to Winchester

126 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
wrapped in old linen, and leaving on the road behind the
cart a long trail of blood.
The partisans of Robert in England were not numerous:
they had no leader. The duke was returning from Pales
tine, but he had stopped on the way with the hospitable
Normans, sons of Robert Guiscard, established in Calabria and
in Sicily. He had even married there. Henry meantime had
taken his measures and had caused himself to be proclaimed
there by the barons assembled in London. The Archbishop
of Canterbury, Anselm, had been expelled from England
three years previously ; the archbishopric of York was vacant.
It was the custom of Rufus to delay as long as possible
appointing to the sees, in order that he might himself enjoy
their revenues. The Bishop of London crowned the new
monarch. Henry Beau-Clerc, as he was called, because he was
fond of books arid of churchmen, became king under the
title of Henry the First.
Henry was more popular among the. Saxons than his two
brothers had been. Born and bred in England, he was re
garded as an Englishman, and his first care was to address
himself to the English, who were more powerful than is
generally believed, and who after all still formed the mass
of the people of the country. "Friends and vassals," said
he, " natives of the country in which I was born, you know
that my brother has designs upon my kingdom. He is a
proud man, who cannot live in peace : his only wish is to
trample you under his feet. On the other hand I, as a mUd
and pacific sovereign, intend to maintain your ancient liberties
and to govern you according to your own wishes with wisdom
and moderation. I will give you, if you wish it, a record in
my own hand. Stand firm for me ; for while I am seconded
by the valor of the English, I have no fear of the fooUsh
menaces of the Normans."

THE DEATH OF THE RED KING.

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 127
While the king was thus giving to the English a first char
ter, which proved of short duration, he determined to seal his
promises by espousing a Saxon woman. He had cast his eyes
on Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland, and of
Margaret AtheUng. Matilda had been reared in a convent in
England by her aunt Christina Atheling, the abbess. The
young girl hesitated : she had already been sought in mar
riage by several noblemen, and it was repugnant to her to unite
herself with the enemy of her race and country. The Nor
mans were irritated to see their king seeking support among
their enemies, and they spread the report that Matilda had
taken the vows as a nun in her infancy. It was necessary
to convoke the bishops to decide the question. Anselm, Arch
bishop of Canterbury (afterwards St. Anselm), had returned
to England. He had always been just towards the Saxons.
When his patron and friend Lanfranc was ridiculing in his
presence the Saxon devotion to St. Alphege, the archbishop
who was massacred by the Danes, Anselm had said, " For
myself I regard that man as a martyr, and a true martyr.
He preferred to face death rather than to do a wrong to his
countrymen. He died for justice, as John died for the truth,
and each aUke for Christ, who is truth and justice." At the
head of his bishops and on the personal testimony of Matilda,
Anselm declared that she had never been consecrated to God,
and the marriage took place. The queen was beautiful, char
itable, and virtuous ; but she exercised little influence over her
husband, and was not able to prevent his often oppressing the
people. Henry had banished the favorites of his brother, who were
odious to the Saxons; and Ralph Flambard, who had been a
prisoner in the Tower, had scarcely escaped from that fortress,
when he heard that Duke Robert had arrived in Normandy
with his young wife Sibylla, daughter of the Count of Conver-

128 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
sano. King Henry was greatly disquieted by the news. He
had been careful to spread abroad the report that his brother
had accepted the crown of Jerusalem, a worthy prize of his ex
ploits in the Holy Land. The discontent of a certain number
of Norman barons, and their disposition to offer their aid to
Robert, compelled him more and more to depend upon the
English as well as on the Church. He paid court to An
selm, and when Robert, encouraged by Ralph 'Flambard, pub
lished his declaration of war, the bishops and the common
people of England were all on the side of King Henry. The
Norman barons were divided, and the Saxon sailors, carried
away no doubt by the fame which Robert had acquired in the
Crusades, deserted with the fleet. It was in vessels constructed
by his brother that Robert crossed with his army to English
soU. Duke Robert was undecided and wanting in settled char
acter, but he was brave, and his affection for his family had
resisted the disunion which had so long prevailed among these
three brothers. Long before, when in company with William
Rufus he was besieging their younger brother, now King
Henry, but then only an adventurer without lands, who had
seized upon Mont St. Michael, the supply of water had failed
in the fortress, and the besieged prince sent to ask permission
to obtain some. Robert consented, to the great vexation of
William ; he even sent to Henry wine for his table. " There
is nothing now left to do but to send him provisions," said
William moodily. " What ! " exclaimed the duke, " ought I
to let our brother die of thirst ? and what other brother should
we have if we lost him?"
Scarcely had Robert set foot in England when those among
the Normans who were averse to war interposed between the
two brothers. Once more Robert renounced his pretensions
to the kingdom conquered by his father. Henry ceded to

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 129
him the fortresses which he still held in Normandy, and prom
ised to pay him a pension of three thousand marks of silver.
A general amnesty was agreed upon on both sides.
Treaties, however, were scarcely more effectual than charters
in binding King Henry. By degrees the barons who had taken
the side of Robert were expelled from their domains and
banished from England. The chief of all, Robert of Belesme,
Earl of Shrewsbury, had given ground of dissatisfaction by
raising his standard when he had been called on to appear
before the royal tribunal. Besieged in Bridgnorth, he had
friends in the royal camp who sought to reconcile him with
the king. " Do not listen to them, King Henry," cried the
EngUsh infantry, " they are desirous of drawing j'ou into a
snare. We are here and -will aid thee, and will assault the
town for thee. Make no peace with the traitor till you se
cure him alive or dead." Henry pushed on with the siege ;
Bridgnorth was taken, and Robert of Belesme, an exile, passed
over into Normandy, where he possessed thirty castles and
vast domains, which Duke Robert, faithful to the treaty, had
begun to ravage as soon as he saw the Earl of Shrewsbury
in revolt against his sovereign. In his chagrin at seeing the
amnesty promised in his name to the barons violated, Robert
went himself to England, placing himself defenceless in the
hands of his brother in order to intercede for his friends.
He even made a present to Queen Matilda of one thousand
marks of silver a year, part of the three thousand marks which
her husband had engaged to pay him. He obtained only
vague promises, and from the year 1104 the resolution of King
Henry to possess himself of Normandy began again to show
itself clearly.
Robert had lost his wife, and disorder reigned in his court.
He was stUl in want of money ; affairs were unsettled, and
Normandy was suffering all the evils of a weak and capricious
vol. i. 17

130 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
government. Henry openly declared himself the protector of
the duchy against the maladministration of his brother. " I
wUl give thee money," he wrote to him, " but yield to me
the land. Thou hast the title of chief, but in reality thou:
rulest no longer, for those who owe thee obedience ridicule
thee." Robert refused this proposal with indignation, and
Henry began his preparations for invading Normandy with an
armed force.
The wars were always a cruel burden for the people ; the
levies of money necessary for the equipment of soldiers were
ruinous to the poor citizens and the unfortunate peasants.
Before the departure of Henry for Normandy, crowds of country
people presented themselves on the road by which the king
passed, casting at his feet their ploughshares in token of dis
tress. Nevertheless the king set out and met his brpther at
Tinchebrai, not far from Mortagne. The struggle was fierce.
The military talents of Robert were much superior to those
of his brother, but his army was less considerable, and there
were traitors in the camp. In the very heat of the contest
Robert of Belesme took to flight with his division. The
duke was made prisoner, and his forces were completely de
feated. Henry at the same time seized Edgar Atheling, once
the legitimate claimant of the crown, the uncle of Queen
MatUda. In consideration of these facts he was aUowed his
liberty in England, and received from the king a small pen
sion, which enabled him to end his days in such complete
obscurity that we are even ignorant of the date of his death.
Duke Robert was not fated to enjoy a captivity so mild.
He had suffered defeat on the 14th of October, 1106, the
anniversary of the day when forty years previously his father
had won the battle of Hastings. "God thus disposing," says
the chronicle, " that Normandy became subject to England
on the same day that England had become subject to Nor-

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 131
mandy." Ralph Flambard had regained his bishopric of Dur
ham by giving up to the king the town and fortress of
Lisieux ; but Robert had been conveyed to England, and
lodged in the castle of Cardiff, in Wales, which had re
cently been conquered by the Normans. He enjoyed there
a certain amount of Uberty, and hunted in the surrounding
forest. One day he leaped on to his horse and took to
flight. He was not well acquainted with the way ; his horse
sank into a bog. He was captured and taken back to his
prison. When the king was acquainted with this attempt at
escape, he ordered that the prisoner's eyes should be burned
out by means of a bason of red-hot iron. The captivity of
the unhappy duke became complete ; but his robust constitu
tion withstood all these misfortunes. He lived twenty-eight
years in his prison, bUnd and alone, without news of the son
whom he had left a child in Normandy, and preserving to
the last the dignified pride of his race. One day some new
clothes were brought to him from the king ; Robert handled
them and discovered that one of them was unripped at the
seam. He was told that Henry had tried on the doublet and
had found it too small for him. The duke threw all the
clothes to a distance off, exclaimiug, " So then my brother, or
rather my traitor, that cowardly clerk who has disinherited
and deprived me of sight, holds me now in such contempt —
I who was once held in such honor and renown — that he
makes me alms of his old clothes as to a valet ! "
Robert was nearly eighty years of age when he died in
1135, some months before his brother, King Henry. He had
survived in his captivity and suffering almost all the chief
warriors with whom he had fought before Jerusalem.
Robert had, however, a son, William Cliton, or, as they soon
afterwards called him, William of Normandy; but the boy
was only seven years old when his uncle, finding himself in

132 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
possession, of the whole of Normandy, began to besiege Falaise,
where he was under guard. No one thought of declaring
himself in favor of the little prince. He was taken and con
ducted to the king. The child cried and asked for mercy ;
he had reason to tremble, for his life was a great obstacle to
the repose of his uncle. But making a violent effort to banish
evil thoughts, the king desired to remove the little William
from his presence, and he confided him to a faithful servant
of his household, Helie de St. Saen. Some time afterwards the
king had changed his mind, and desired to take back the little
prince ; but Helie carried him off secretly, and both took refuge
at the court of the King of France, Louis the Fat. He was
there growing up when King Henry was marrying his daugh
ter Matilda, aged eight years, to Henry III., Emperor of
Germany. The marriage of an eldest daughter was one of
those occasions which gave the right to the feudal lord to
levy taxes from his vassals, and King Henry used this right
in such a way that the whole English people groaned under
the burden. The splendor of the retinue which accompanied
the little princess on her departure from England was soon
forgotten ; but when she returned to her native land, people
still remembered the tears which her marriage had cost.
King Louis VI. had promised William Cliton the investiture
of Normandy, when in 1113 war again broke out between
France and England. It lasted for two years, and all the
castles on the - frontiers were captured from Henry. His able
diplomacy procured him in 1115 an advantageous treaty, which
assured to Prince William of England the hand of Matilda
of Anjou, daughter of th*e Count Fulke. No one thought of
reserving the rights of William Cliton over Normandy, and
when the great Norman barons were convoked in 1117 to
take the oath of allegiance to Prince William, no claim was
advanced in favor of the exile. His uncle had made an

Chap. VL] THE NORMAN KINGS. 133
attempt to entice him into England, promising him the gift
of three large counties ; but the young man was not willing
to trust himself to his father's jailer, and we meet with him
again in 1119 at the head of a confederation formed on the
Continent against King Henry. At the battle of Brenville,
which preceded by some years the close of a war of mingled
success and disaster, William Cliton, or Fitz-Robert as he
was often called, penetrated into the presence of his uncle ;
but his knights were repulsed, and the marriage of Prince
WUliam with Matilda of Anjou, celebrated sumptuously
in 1120, destro}red the hopes which his cousin had con
ceived. King Louis accepted the homage for Normandy
from the son of the King of England, thus sparing the regal
pride of Henry. The policy of this prince prevailed : he re
solved to return in triumph to England, and on the 25th of
November, 1120, he prepared to set sail from the little port
of Barfleur, when a mariner well known upon that coast ad
vanced towards him, presenting a mark of gold. " Stephen,
son of Erard, my father, served yours on the sea," said he,
" and it was he who steered the vessel aboard which your
father sailed for the conquest. Sire king, I entreat you to
grant me in fief the same office. I have a vessel called the
White Ship, well fitted out." The king's ship was already
prepared ; he promised Stephen to give him as passengers the
Prince WUliam and his sister, Lady Mary, Countess of
Perche. The White Ship was a large vessel. Three hundred
persons went aboard her as he set sail. The king had pre
ceded them on the sea, but Thomas Fitz-Stephen was proud of
the fast saUing of his vessel, and made no haste to depart,
thinking to overtake the squadron without difficulty. There
was dancing and drinking upon the poop of the vessel : all
the company were excited when at length they set out.
Night had come on ; the moon had risen ; the wind was fresh.

134 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
They advanced rapidly, for the sailors lent aid with the oars.
They were coasting, when suddenly. the ship struck upon a
rock at the level of the water, then called the Raz de Catte,
now the Raz de Catteville. The White Ship's seams were
opened by the shock, and she bega'n to fill with water. The
cry of terror which arose from those aboard reached the vessel
of the king, sailing at a considerable distance ; but no one
understood the cause of the noise. Henry disembarked quietly.
His chUdren had .launched a boat on the sea, and Prince
WiUiam had entered it with some of his companions, but the
cries of his sister, the Lady Mary, induced him to return to
the foundering vessel. He had nearly rescued her, when the
other passengers, driven wild with despair, sprang in a mass
into the feeble skiff, which immediately disappeared with all
occupants. The vessel sank almost at the same instant. -Two
men only clung to the mast, a butcher of Rouen and a young
nobleman named Gilbert de Laigle. For a moment the head
of Thomas Fitz-Stephen appeared above the waves. " What
has become of the king's son?" he cried to the two survi
vors. " He has disappeared with his sister, and every one with
him," they replied. " Unhappy me ! " exclaimed the pilot, as
he plunged again into the waves. Gilbert's hands were frozen ;
he relaxed his hold of the mast which supported him, and
was drowned before the eyes of his companion, who was weU
wrapped in his sheepskin and hardened against the effect of
rough weather. He held out until the morning, and was res
cued by some fishermen on the coast. From his lips they
learned the news of the disaster which had befallen the White
Ship. In England they did not dare to apprise King Henry,
who was awaiting the arrival of his children. At length a
boy presented himself before him and fell weeping at his feet.
Henry assisted him to rise, and the child related the story
of the wreck of the Norman vessel. " And from that time

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 135
the king was never seen to smile," say the chroniclers, with
out, however, expending any more tenderness over the fate
of Prince WilUam, whose pride and harshness had caused ap
prehensions in England. " If I ever come to reign over these
miserable Saxons," he was accustomed to say, "I will compel
them to draw the plough like oxen." " So he perished on a
quiet night and in calm weather," repeated the Saxons ; " and
it came to pass that his head, instead of being encircled by a
crown of gold, was broken upon the rocks. It was God him
self who decreed that the son of the Norman should not behold
England again."
King Henry had no male heir, although he had married for
a second wife the Duke of Louvain's daughter. Many of the
barons seemed incUned to rally around William Fitz-Robert,
who- had lately excited another revolt. Henry resolved to
settle the crown upon his daughter, the Empress Maud, who
had lately become a widow. All the ability of the king could
not prevent at first a feeling of repugnance among the great
nobles ; but the royal power had become very great, supported
as it was by the antagonism of two hostile races between
whom the king alone held the balance. The Normans yielded.
On Christmas day, 1126, the Empress Maud was declared
heiress to the kingdom ; and six months later she married
Geoffrey Plantagenet,* son of Fulke, Count of Anjou, whose
father had transferred to him his domains on setting out
for the Holy Land. Maud had for some time resisted the
plans of her father for her marriage, which had been kept so
secret that the barons protested, maintaining that the king
had not the right to dispose, without their approval, of their
future sovereign. The nuptial festivities lasted three weeks.
Heralds, armed and in magnificent costume, traversed the
* So named because he was accustomed to wear in his hat a branch bf genet
or broom (Planta genista) in blossom.

136 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
streets and squares of Rouen, crying aloud, " In the name
of King Henry, let no man here present, inhabitant or stran
ger, dare to absent himself from the royal rejoicings ; for
whosoever shall not take part in the amusements and games
shaU be deemed guilty of offence towards his lord the king."
Henry had obtained the oaths of all the barons, but he had
too much sense and knowledge of human nature not to be
aware how precarious the future situation of his daughter
must be if his nephew, William Fitz-Robert, should live to
dispute the throne. The young prince appeared, indeed, to
be destined to a brilliant future. King Louis had brought
about a marriage between him and the sister of his wife, a
princess of Savoy, and he had given to her for a portion
Pontoise, Chaumont, and the Vexin. Soon afterwards Charles
the Good, Count of Flanders, was assassinated in the church
at the foot of the altar. Louis entered Flanders for the pur
pose of punishing the murderers, and the count not having
left any children, Louis conferred his domains upon William
Fitz-Robert, great-grandson of the old Count Baldwin. The
young count, who remained in his new territory, had soon a
cause of quarrel with a certain number of his subjects, who
called the King of England to their aid. The latter supported,
as a rival to his nephew, the Landgrave Thierry of Alsace,
who soon made himself master of Lille, of Ghent, and other
important places. The son of Robert Curthose, however, had
inherited the mUitary talents of his father and grandfather :
he completely defeated his adversary under the walls of Alost ;
but he had received a wound in the hand from a pike, and
this injury, at first regarded as of little importance, turned
to gangrene. William was carried to the monastery of St.
Omer, where he died on the 27th of July, 1128. He was
not yet twenty-six years of age, and he left no issue. His
last care had been to recommend to the clemency of his uncle

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 137
the Norman barons who had served his cause. The king will
ingly pardoned them, so rejoiced was he to be delivered from
the anxieties which his nephew caused him. Duke Robert
was still living ; but these successes had no more effect than
the death of his son upon the dreary captivity of the unfortu
nate blind prisoner.
The Empress Maud and her husband often gave trouble to
King Henry by their quarrels. The birth of their eldest son
in 1133 for a moment appeased their dissensions. The child
was christened Henry, after his grandfather, and the Normans
called him Henry Fitz-Empress, to distinguish him from the
king, whom they called Henry Fitz- William Conqueror. Two
other sons were born to Count Geoffrey Plantagenet, and the
quarrels recommenced. The count claimed Normandy, which
the king had promised to relinquish in his favor; but Henry
stiU refused. He was no more disposed than his father had
been " to strip himself of his clothing before bedtime." His
strength, however, was declining : he was dejected. On the
25th of November, 1135, anxious to dispel his low spirits, he
set out for the forest of Lion-la-Fore"t, in Normandy. When
he returned he was hungry, and at supper he ate greedily of
a dish of* lampreys, which his physician regarded as unwhole
some. His digestion was disordered: he fell ill and died on
the 1st of December, at the age of sixty-six, leaving all his
domains on both sides of the sea to his daughter Maud and
her descendants. He had reigned thirty-five years ; and, with
the exception of some unimportant expeditions against the
French, England had enjoyed peace under his sway. This
great blessing had been sulUed by many crimes. Neither
plighted faith nor natural feeling had ever impeded Henry I.
in his ambitious projects ; but he had placed the dominion of
the Norman race in England on such solid foundations that
the troubles which followed upon his death could not shake
VOL. i. 18

138 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
it ; and if success were the test of moral worth, Henry Fitz-
William Conqueror might be regarded as a great king.
AU his efforts and all his precautions, however, had not
enabled him to secure the succession to his daughter. Scarcely
had he breathed his last when his nephew Stephen, son of
the Count of Blois and of Adela, daughter of William the
Conqueror, set sail immediately for England. The king had
always treated his nephew with particular favor : he had given
him vast fiefs in England. The Count Stephen was very pop
ular among the Normans and the Saxons. His wife, Maud,
niece of Matilda, first wife of Henry I., even belonged to the
royal Saxon family. Stephen boldly laid claim to the throne,
which could not, he said, belong to a woman. He was descend
ed like her from William the Conqueror, and in the same de
gree. England was. not a property which could be bequeathed
at pleasure and without respect for the wishes of the people.
Many barons were of Stephen's opinion, and the treasure of
King Henry, which his brother the Bishop of Winchester
yielded up to him, secured to him other adherents. The chief
minister of the deceased king, Roger, Bishop of Salisbury,
whom Henry had originally remarked and attached to his
person as " the readiest priest at saying a mass whom he had
ever met with," allowed himself to be won by money. Wil
liam Corbois, Archbishop of Canterbury, was more scrupulous,
but was persuaded that the king, irritated by the conduct
of his daughter, had .adopted his nephew on his death-bed.
Stephen was elected by the barons and prelates, who con
sidered themselves absolved from their oath towards the em
press because she had married -without their' consent ; and
the coronation took place at Westminster, on the 26th of De
cember, St. Stephen's Day. The Pope confirmed the election
with the more readiness because Stephen had accepted the
oath of the clergy, under the condition imposed by the bishops,

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 139
of respect for the Uberties and discipline of the Church. The
barons had obtained new fiefs, with permission to fortify their
castles and to construct new ones. Those who were greedy
for gain received money, and King Stephen was in such high
favor on both sides of the sea that when Geoffrey Plantagenet
entered Normandy to claim the rights of his wife, the natural
animosity of the Normans against the Angevins broke forth
with violence. The count was compelled to retire, and to
conclude with Stephen a truce for two years, in consideration
of a pension of three thousand marks of silver. The king
crossed over into Normandy, and received there the homage
of the barons ; and Louis VII., surnamed the Young, then King
of France, betrothed his young sister Constance to the little
Eustace, son of Stephen, granting to the child the investiture
of Normandy.
Among the barons who had taken the oath of allegiance to
Stephen was Robert, Earl of Gloucester, a natural son of Henry
I., who had renounced all rights to the throne in favor of his
sister, the Empress Maud. Like her, he had pretended to
yield, but like her he had not abandoned the cause. Main
tained in the possession of his large domains through his oath
of fidelity, he crossed from Normandy into England, and very.
soon the tranquillity which had reigned there gave place to
a secret agitation. Several partial risings took place ; but
these were only the precursors of the great insurrection which
Gloucester was preparing, and which David, King of Scotland,
was about to support as protector of the rights of his sister,
the Empress Maud.
The mine was dug. The Earl of Gloucester retired into
Normandy, whence he wrote to Stephen, solemnly renouncing
his allegiance. Other great barons followed his example, and,
fortifying themselves in their castles, overwhelmed the king
with reproaches, accusing him of having failed to keep his

140 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
oath towards them. "Ah!" exclaimed Stephen, "the trai
tors ! they made me king, and now they desert me ; but, by
the Nativity of God ! they shall never make me a deposed
king ! " In this perilous situation Stephen displayed great
energy, laying siege to the rebel castles one after the other,
and disposing largely of the domains of the crown in favor of
the barons who were faithful or who became penitent. Mean
while the King of Scotland had entered Northumberland at
the head of a numerous army from the Highlands and Low
lands, isles and mountains, the regular troops and undisciplined
savages, knights clad in iron, the best lances in Europe, and
mountaineers half naked, constituting this army of " Scotch
emmets," as the English expressed it, covered all the country
extending from the Tweed to the north of the county of York,
ravaging and pillaging on their way. The king was at a dis
tance, detained by the insurrections of the barons in the South.
The northern counties defended themselves. The Normans
called to their aid the inhabitants of the country, those Eng
lish who, though so often oppressed, possessed a vitaUty
which resisted every form of tyranny. They united with their
conquerors to defend the country against this attack. The
Archbishop of York, Toustain, or Thurstan, a decrepid old man,
sinking under age and infirmities, but full of energy and fore
sight, caused a search to be made in the churches for the
standards of St. John of Beverley, St. Cuthbert of Durham,
and St. Wilfred of Ripon, which had remained there since
the Conquest. They raised aloft these consecrated banners
upon a car similar to the caroccio which bore the standards
of the Italian Republics. In the midst of the flags arose
a pedestal bearing the tabernacle and the sacred host. The,
English surrounded the sacred car, with their longbows in
their hands. They halted at Elfertun (now North Allerton),
awaiting the arrival of the Scotch. There was a dense mist,

•THE ENGLISH AND NORMANS AROSE, EXCLAIMING 'AMEN.

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 141
and the enemy might have taken the English army by sur
prise, but for Robert Bruce and Bernard Baliol, who possessed
domains in England' and Scotland. The former of these two
knights approached King David. " O king ! " he exclaimed,
" do you bear in mind against whom you are going to fight ?
It is against the Normans and the English, who have so often
served you weU with counsel and arms, and have succeeded
in securing to you the obedience of your people of Celtic
race. Remember that it is we who have placed these tribes
in your hands, and thence arises the hatred with which they
are animated towards our countrymen." " These are the words
of a traitor," exclaimed William, nephew of the King of Scot
land. At the same instant Malise, Earl of Strathern, was
heard to exclaim, "What need have we of this stranger? I
have no breastplate, and yet I will advance as far as any
among them." The old Norman turned his horse's head. " I
retract my oath of fidelity and homage, O king ! " he cried,
and, spurring his horse, he hastened towards the English,
with Bernard Baliol, crying out that the Scotch were follow
ing them.
The Bishop of Durham was standing erect upon the sacred
car, as representative of the old Archbishop of York. He pro
nounced absolution in a loud voice, and the English and Nor
mans, who had been kneeling, arose, exclaiming, " Amen ! "
The Scotch were already charging, amidst cries of " Alban !
Alban!" the historical name of their country. Their impet
uous attack had broken the ranks of the English; but the
Norman cavalry, in close order around the car, steadily repulsed
the charge. The archers formed again, and began to harass
the mountaineers with their shafts ; the long pikes of the men
of Galloway were broken upon the Norman bucklers ; the clay
mores of the Highlanders could not pierce their breastplates.
The fight lasted two hours, and the confusion was terrible.

142 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
Prince Henry, son of the King of Scotland, had succeeded in
cleaving a way up to the standards, but he was repulsed.
The lances and the swords were broken. The fury of the
attack abated ; the retreat soon became a rout, protected only
by King David and his corps of knights, who had rallied
around him. The Scotch took refuge in Carlisle, where the
English did not attack them. The treaty of peace, which was
concluded in the following year, even left Cumberland, West
moreland, and Northumberland in the power of Scotland.
The defeat of the Scots at the battle of the Standard had
cooled the ardor of the malcontents. The Empress Maud and
the Earl of Gloucester had not yet appeared in England ;
but King Stephen committed a grave error. He alienated
from himself the attachment of the clergy, who up to that
time had been favorable to him, by suddenly casting into
prison the Bishop of Salisbury, one of the partisans who had
had the greatest share in his elevation, and whom he had up
to then loaded with wealth and honors. " By the Nativity
of God," he exclaimed to one of his attendants, " I would
give him one half of England if he asked it. He should
grow weary of asking before I would grow weary of giving,
until the day when he should be dumb." That day had appar
ently arrived, for Roger of Salisbury and his two nephews,
Bishops of Lincoln and Ely, were suddenly arrested. The
Bishop of Ely succeeded in escaping and taking refuge in a
fortress. He defended himself valiantly ; but they threatened
to starve to death his uncle and his brother if he did not
yield. The manners of the time were such that there was
reason to fear the execution of the threat. The Bishop of
Ely surrendered, and the king took possession of the property
of the three prelates ; but he had irritated a dangerous enemy.
His own brother, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Legate
of the Pope in England, summoned him to appear before a

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 143
Synod of bishops to answer for this breach of the privileges
of the Church. It was necessary to appeal to the Pope against
the prelates, and to disperse the Synod by force. The Bishop
of Salisbury died shortly afterwards — "of chagrin," say the
chronicles. His nephews embraced the cause of the Empress,
and a great part of the clergy followed their example. The
Synod had just been dissolved (September, 1139), when Maud
at length disembarked in England with one hundred knights
only. Some Normans went to- meet her, but finding her so
iU attended, they kept back. King Stephen swept down upon
Arundel Castle, where resided Queen Adelais, widow of Henry
I. He found her engaged in assisting her daughter-in-law,
who had just arrived. A chivalrous sentiment restrained Ste
phen from insulting the two princesses. He left Adelais in
peaceable possession of the castle, and the empress was able
to proceed and meet her brother the Earl of Gloucester, who
was endeavoring to revive the discontent in the counties of
the West. Her partisans soon rallied round her, and raising
her standard she attacked the king. Sometimes she was
defeated, sometimes victorious ; and for eighteen months Eng- ¦
land was afflicted by the horrors of civU war. At last a deci
sive combat near Lincoln resulted in King Stephen falling into
the hands of the Earl of Gloucester. He was cast into con
finement in Bristol Castle. The barons who had followed him
hastened to the empress, made peace with her, and acknowl
edged her right to the crown, the Legate and the Bishop of
Winchester being foremost. On the 7th of April a meeting
of bishops, again presided over by the Legale, ratified the
accession of Maud, absolving all the barons and the prelates
from their oath towards Stephen ; but the empress was obliged
to allow some months to elapse before her coronation at West
minster, so attached were the citizens of London to the cause
of the vanquished king.

144 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI."
Maud was haughty, and she lacked the tact and prudence
so necessary to sovereigns whose throne is insecure. She
harshly refused to give to the Bishop of Winchester the pat
rimonial lands of King Stephen, which he claimed on behalf
of his nephew, Prince Eustace ; and thus she mortally offended
that proud prelate. On arriving in London, she demanded
immediately an enormous tollage. " The king has left us
nothing," said the citizens piteously. " I understand," replied
the new queen, " you have given everything to my adversary,
and you desire me to spare you." London ended the dispute
by promising to pay, presenting at the same time an humble
petition. " Restore to us (they implored) the good laws of
King Edward, thy great uncle, in the place of those of thy
father, King Henry I., which are bad and too harsh towards
us." The queen rudely repulsed the petitioners, and she was
awaiting the arrival of the promised gold when the bells of
the city suddenly sounded the alarum. From each house issued
a combatant armed with an axe, a bar of iron, or a bow,
"like bees issuing from a hive," says the chronicle; all took
the direction of the palace. At the same time a troop of
armed men, carrying the banner of Queen MatUda, wife of Ste
phen, presented themselves on the banks of the Thames upon
the Surrey side. The empress was at table ; she sprang upon
her horse and fled by the western gate, accompanied only by
some servants, while the multitude pillaged the hall which she
had just quitted. She was destined never to return to London.
The empress took refuge at Oxford. She had conceived
some doubts with regard to the fidelity of the Bishop of Win
chester, whom she sent for. " Say that I am preparing,"
replied the prelate. The queen had conceived the design of
surprising him in his episcopal city ; but at the moment when
she entered by one gate she saw him go forth by another,
on his way to place himself at the head of the partisans of

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 145
his brother. The queen gathered her adherents about her ;
but the bishop had returned, and he laid siege to Winchester,
where the King of Scotland and the Earl of Gloucester had
joined Queen Matilda. AU military operations had been sus
pended for the festival of the Holy Cross (14th September,
1141), when at daybreak Maud mounted her horse, accompa
nied by a good escort, and sUently departed from the royal
castle. She passed without serious difficulties through the
camp of the besiegers, who were occupied in the ceremonies
of the day. When the pursuit commenced, Maud was already
drawing near to the castle of Devizes ; but she did not feel
herself to be safe here, thoroughly as that place had been forti
fied by the Bishop of Salisbury, and she continued her course.
The Earl of Hereford alone accompanied her as far as Glouces
ter, i The King of Scotland had set out for his kingdom, but
the Earl of Gloucester was taken prisoner. A great number
of his adherents were disguised as peasants, but their Norman
accent betrayed them, and the English hinds seizing this occa
sion to wreak Vengeance on their oppressors, arrested them,
and, whip in hand, conducted them into the enemy's camp.
The two parties were without leaders, for Matilda could
do nothing without her brother. It was resolved to exchange
the Earl of Gloucester for King Stephen, and in a grand council
of bishops, convened on the 7th of December by the Legate,
the latter hurled all the thunders of the Church against the
partisans of the Countess of Anjou (by which name he de-"
scribed Maud), as he had done on the 7th of April against
the adherents of the Count of Blois. The war continued in
England and Normandy : the Count of Anjou had subjected
that great province, but he refused to cross the sea to join
his wife, and contented himself with sending his eldest son,
Henry, into England with his uncle, the Earl of Gloucester.
At the moment when the young prince landed in the country
VOL. I. 19

146 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
where he was destined to establish his race, his mother was
besieged in Oxford by King Stephen. The winter was one
of great severity, and the sufferings of the nation were unpar
alleled. The barons fortified themselves each in his castle,
" and even in the churches," say the chronicles, adding, that
" they dug trenches in the churchyards, exposing to the day
light the bones of the dead. From thence armed men pillaged
the towns and villages, the passers-by, and the lonely cottages.
It was possible to walk all day without meeting a man upon
the road, or seeing an acre of land in cultivation — for to tiU
the earth was like tiUing the sands of the sea-shore. Never
had the pagan pirates inflicted worse evils."
The siege of Oxford lasted three months ; the snow covered
the ground. Maud found herself on the point of perishing
by famine. She attired herself in white, as did three knights
of her suite, and the four issued by a little postern, and trav
ersed the deserted country as far as the town of Abingdon,
where they obtained horses. The castle of Oxford surrendered
on the morrow ; but Stephen was soon afterwards defeated
before Wilton by the Earl of Gloucester.
In the midst of these alternate successes and disasters, the
burden of which weighed equally and constantly on the
people, the Earl of Gloucester died (1147). His nephew,
whom he had kept in Bristol Castle, in order to protect him
against his enemies, returned into Normandy, and shortly
afterwards the empress herself, deprived of all support, relin
quished the part she had played with so much fortitude for
eight years in order to return to France. King Stephen was
now master of the situation ; but his throne, shaken under
him, was not destined to become firm again.
Pope Innocent IL, the protector of the Bishop of Winches
ter, had just died. Celestine II. and Lucius II. had enjoyed the
pontifical throne only for the briefest space. Anastasius II.

"Ste

ESCAPE OF THE EMPRESS MAUD FROM OXFORD.

BISHOP ODO MARCHING OUT OF ROCHESTER.

Chap. VI.] THE NORMAN KINGS. 147
withdrew the title of Legate from the king's brother, and
granted it to his adversary Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Stephen had taken a part in the quarrel of his brother with
the archbishop, whom he had exiled ; and a part of the king
dom had been placed under an interdict. The Church was
too strong for a sovereign so feeble ; Stephen was compelled
to cede great estates to the clergy, and to be reconciled with
Theobald. But in vain he sought to obtain the recognition
of his eldest son Eustace as his successor ; the archbishop con
stantly refused his countenance ; the quarrels broke out afresh,
and the episcopal domains were confiscated in several places.
So long as King Stephen had to contend only against a
woman, however divided England was, he had the best chances
of success ; but his ne'w rival, Henry, was sixteen years of age :
he had just been knighted in Scotland (1149) by his uncle,
King David, and on his return he received from his uncle
the investiture of Normandy. In 1150 Geoffrey of Anjou
died, and his domains reverted to his eldest son, who two
years later married Queen Eleanora, the divorced wife of
King Louis the Young. She brought him as her portion
the county of Poitou and the duchy of Aquitaine. He was
nineteen years of age ; his personal reputation, like his power,
was growing daily. The party of the Plantagenets in England
began to raise their heads, and when the prince landed in
1153, with an army small in number but strong in discipline,
many adherents came to take service under his banner. King
Stephen had also gathered together his forces, and the two
rivals found themselves face to face at WaUingford, separated
only by the Thames. They remained there two days without
coming to blows. At length the Earl of Arundel had the
courage to declare, that it was a folly to prolong the sufferings
of an entire nation for the sake of the ambition of two princes.
It was resolved to sign a truce with a view to negotiate a

148 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VI.
permanent peace. About that time Eustace, the eldest son
of Stephen, died in consequence of great excesses. The king
had now only one son, who was stiU young and not ambi
tious. The two rival ecclesiastics, the Bishop of Winchester
and the Archbishop of Canterbury, conducted the negotiations,
and on the 7th of November, 1153, in a solemn council held
at Winchester, King Stephen adopted Prince Henry as a son,
giving the kingdom of England as an inheritance to him and
his descendants forever. Henry took the oath of fidelity and
homage, receiving in his turn the allegiance of Prince Wil
liam, the son of Stephen, on whom he conferred all the pat
rimonial lands of his father. A year later, on the 25th of
October, 1154, King Stephen expired at Dover in his fiftieth
year. For a while, at least, civil war was to cease to deso
late England.

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 149

CHAPTER VII.
HENRY II. 1154-1189.
WHEN King Henry II. ascended the throne in 1154,
he was the most powerful monarch that had ever
reigned in England, and one of the most powerful in Chris
tendom. To his hereditary possessions, Anjou, Normandy, and
Maine, and his beautiful kingdom of England, he had added
by his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, Poitou and Aqui
taine, which comprised Saintonge, Auvergne, Perigord, Limou
sin, Angoumois, and Guienne. He was ambitious and greedy
of power. His father, who knew him well, had provided by
his will that Anjou should return to his second son Geoffrey, if
the eldest should become King of England, and in order to
secure this arrangement he had forbidden his own interment
before Henry should have sworn to conform to it. The prince
hesitated long, then took the oath, and Count Geoffrey Plan-
tagenet was consigned to the tomb. But Henry had become
king, and his brother had claimed the execution of his promise.
The monarch contrived to be relieved of his oath by Nicholas
Breakspeare, who had been raised to the pontifical dignity
under the name of Adrian IV., the only Englishman who has
ever become Pope. Henry Plantagenet retained Anjou, the
cradle of that famUy which he was destined to render so
powerful. When the new king landed in England, six weeks after
the death of Stephen, he found his kingdom a prey to hor
rible anarchy. In the intervals of their power, Maud and

150 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
Stephen had both endeavored to attach to themselves the
great nobles by important grants of lands and castles : hence
the royal domains were reduced to insignificance, and were
surrounded on all sides by menacing fortresses guarded by
resolute soldiers who recognized no authority but that of their
chiefs. Many of these fortresses were in the hands of Flemish
and Brabantine mercenaries whom each party in turn had
summoned to their assistance. It was by dealing with these
men that Henry began the reforms which he reckoned upon
introducing into the condition of territorial property. On
a given day, to the great joy of the Normans and Saxons, he
ordered all foreigners to leave the kingdom. " We saw them
(says a chronicler), we saw all those Brabantines and Flem
ings recross the sea to return to their plough-tails, and from
being lords become serfs again."
The expulsion of the foreign mercenaries had been popular ;
but this was not the principal object of the king, who desired
to reconstitute the royal domain, and with that object convoked
a grand council, which admitted, though not without difficulty,
that Henry was under the necessity of revoking the grants
made by Stephen and Maud. The king was not more sparing
of the partisans of his mother than of her enemies. From
the moment that right was on his side he never stopped in
his efforts : from castle to castle, from domain to domain, he
triumphed over the malcontents, either by the sword or by
negotiation. When he became master of one fortress he in
stantly had it razed to the ground. In this way eleven hun
dred castles disappeared from the face of England ; they had
been mere haunts of robbers who oppressed the country round
about. The peasants and the townspeople applauded the work
of destruction.
King Henry had already triumphed over his vassals, and
defeated his brother Geoffrey, who had refused to acquiesce in

THE CATHEDRAL AT NANTES.

Chap. VII.]

HENRY II. 151

his spoliation. He had compelled him to take refuge at Nantes,
the population of which town had offered him the government.
In 1157 he came to the determination to bring to an end
the struggle with the Welsh, who were still fighting proudly
for their independence. But Henry did not know well that
country of mountains and defiles. He became entangled in
the environs of the forest of Coleshill, and the Welsh sallying
forth in a mass from the obscure lurking-places where they
had been lying in ambush, fell upon the English army. The
massacre was great. The Earl of Essex, hereditary standard-
bearer of the crown, let fall the royal banner, and took to
flight. The rumor spread abroad at once that the king, was
killed, but he soon rallied his troops and effected his retreat
to a more open country, where he pitched his camp, and
thence inflicted so much annoyance on the Welsh, that, with
out venturing a second time upon a fixed battle, they consented
to restore to Henry the territory which they had won back
from Stephen, and to swear fidelity and homage to him for
the lands which they retained. The struggles of King Henry
with the Welsh were not ended. Repeated insurrections were
destined to recall him into the mountains ; but he succeeded
nevertheless in securing and extending his dominion over that
indomitable population, proud of the antiquity of their race,
and convinced that all England belonged to them by right
of birth.
Geoffrey had lately died at Nantes (1158), and his brother
claimed that city as belonging to him by right of inheritance.
In vain the citizens protested : in vain Conan, Duke of Brit
tany, and Earl of Richmond in England, maintained the rights
of his vassals, King Henry confiscated the lands of the Earl
of Richmond, and crossed the sea with so powerful an army
that the inhabitants of Nantes were terrified and opened their
gates to him. Henry immediately took possession of all the

152 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
territory between the Loire and the Vilaine, and proposed to
the duke to terminate their differences by affiancing his daugh
ter Constance to Geoffrey, the third of the English princes.
In order to obtain the consent of the King of France, Louis
VII., to this increase of his power upon French soil, Henry
had sought the hand of Margaret of France on behalf of Henry,
his eldest son.
This gleam of a good understanding between the great
powers of the earth was very soon disturbed by new ambitious
dreams of Henry Plantagenet. Eleanor of Aquitaine had, or
believed herself to have, through her grandmother, claims to
the countship of Toulouse. Her first husband, Louis VII.,
had relinquished those rights by treaty after. an attempt to
seize them by force of arms ; but by virtue of the divorce,
Eleanor had vested her pretensions in her second husband,
Henry, King of England, who claimed the cession pure and
simple of the countship by Raymond of St. Gilles, Count of
Toulouse. The latter invoked the aid of his suzerain lord,
the King of France. In the prospect of this distant struggle,
Henry commuted the military service which his vassals were
bound to render into a tax, and by means of this money
he secured the services of an army of Brabantines. With
these marched Malcolm, King of Scotland, and the King of
Aragon, who, like the King of France and the Duke of Brit
tany, had lately affianced his daughter to one of the sons
of Henry, — and the most warlike of the English barons.
But Louis VII. had already entered Toulouse, when Henry
advanced against that city. Louis had but few troops with
him, and the King of England might easily have attempted an
assault; scruples based upon his position of vassal, of his
lord, however, restrained him. When the French army had
joined Louis VII. a few feats of arms of little importance soon
brought the war to an end ; but it had left indelible traces.

—<&f*.T!.t*'S'

THE SARACEN PRINCESS SEEKING GILBERT BECKET.

THE CRUSADERS' MARCH.

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 153
The inhabitants of the south of France had acquired the habit
of calling to their aid sometimes the King of France, some
times the King of England, and their independence was des
tined to succumb under these powerful protectors. It was
so well known upon the banks of the Garonne that the south
ern provinces were at peace when their dangerous allies were
quarrelling elsewhere, that people openly asked, in the, form
of a prayer, " When will the truce between the English and
the Tournois come to an end?"
In the midst of these wars and negotiations, these invasions
and these treaties, King Henry relied on all sides upon the
advice and support of Thomas Becket, or a Becket, Chancellor
of England, the son of GUbert a Becket, a merchant of the
city of London, of Norman origin. A romantic story attaches
to the birth of Thomas Becket. It is related that the busy
passers-by in the streets of London had, to their great sur
prise, observed one . day a woman wearing Oriental costume,
who was wandering about repeating, the name of Gilbert. To
questions put to her she gave no answer, and she knew no
other English words than " Gilbert " and " London." A
crowd had begun to gather around her, when she was recog
nized by a servant who had accompanied Gilbert Becket to
the crusades. Both had been made prisoners and had suc
ceeded in escaping : but the daughter of the Emir who had
held them captive had conceived a passion for Gilbert ; she
had followed his traces to the shore, and had found means
of going to England, and then to London, without any other
guide to the whereabouts of him she loved than this name
of Gilbert, at that time a very common name. Becket con
sulted his confessor ; the Saracen princess was baptized under
the name of Matilda, and Gilbert married her. Her husband
made a great fortune, and his son Thomas, a handsome and
intelligent youth, had been brought up-with great care, then
vol. i. 20

154 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
sent into France and Italy to finish his education. He had
been taken notice of from his childhood by Theobald, Arch
bishop of Canterbury, who took him into his house as soon
as he had completed his studies, and employed him in the
most delicate diplomatic affairs, when, at the accession of King
Henry II. , he himself fulfiUed the functions of prime minister.
The king took a liking to the young archdeacon, and in 1156
appointed him chancellor, at the same time confiding to him
the education of his eldest son. He also made him Constable
of the Tower, with the custody of considerable domains. The
ecclesiastical benefices often vacant, which the chancellor was
in no haste to fill up, caused to flow into the treasury the
rich revenues of the bishoprics and abbeys. Gilbert Becket
was dead, and his son had inherited a great fortune. He
was forty years of age, elegant in his person, magnificent in
his attire, skUled in all bodily exercises, and at the same time
learned, courageous, enterprising, and able. The king, who saw
only through his eyes, kept him incessantly at his side, and
could not endure his absence. Becket kept a splendid retinue
remarkable even at that period of magnificent extravagance.
His house was filled with knights and the sons of great lords,
who designed to secure by this means the favor of the king,
and to bring up their chUdren in the manners of the court.
His sumptuously furnished table was open to all comers, and
when a diplomatic mission led the chancellor abroad, the reti
nue which accompanied him was so magnificent and so numer
ous that the spectators exclaimed, " What must the King
of England be, when his servant travels with such pomp?"
It was in this way that Thomas Becket presented himself at
the French court to negotiate in the affair of Brittany and
the alliance of Prince Henry with Margaret of France. With
similar grand display, although of a different nature, he accom
panied the king in his campaign through the countship of

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 155
Toulouse, of which he directed in person the greater part of
the operations. He was at the head of seven hundred knights
and men-of-arms, supported at his expense, when he attacked
the town of Cahors and the castles which surrounded it. His
sagacity, his good humor, his caustic and fertile wit, were to
the king a continual source of amusement. He lived with his
favorite in almost brotherly intimacy, and the administrative
talents which the chancellor displayed in domestic affairs
added to his popularity. "I will make thee Archbishop of
Canterbury," Henry often said. Becket smiled and shook
his head. When the prior of Leicester, a rigid ecclesiastic,
reproached him with the worldhness and outward show of his
mode of living, reminding him that he was destined to become
primate of England, the chancellor exclaimed, " I know three
poor priests more .fitted than I for that dignity. If ever I
attained it, I should either lose the king's favor, or forget
my duty towards God."
The Archbishop Theobald was dead (1161). For thirteen
months the king left the see vacant, in order to appropriate
its revenues : but he did not lose sight of the choice on which
he had resolved. Becket was devoted to him : he had always
displayed great respect for the royal prerogative, exacting so
rigorously what was due to the crown, even from the clergy,
that the Bishop of London, GUbert Folliot, accused him angrily
of plunging a dagger into the maternal bosom of his Church.
Henry beUeved himself sure of thus raising to the ecclesiastical
supremacy a friend who would support him in the reforms
which he was meditating. He sent for Thomas Becket at
Toulouse, where he happened to be, and ordered him to set
out immediately for England, where he would be elected Arch
bishop of Canterbury. Becket smiled as he pointed to the
magnificent dress in which he was clothed. " You choose
fine dresses to figure at the head of your monks at Canter-

156 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
bury," he said. " If you do as you say, sire, you will hate
me very soon as much as you now love me ; for you will
meddle in the affairs of the Church more than I can con
sent to, and people wiU not be wanting to embroil us."
The king paid no heed to the views of the chancellor. The
bishops and the chapter of Canterbury proclaimed Becket
unanimously, with the exception of Gilbert Folliot, who had
hoped to secure that promotion for himself. The new arch
bishop received the order of priesthood, for he was hitherto
only a deacon, and he was consecrated by Henry of Win
chester, brother of King Stephen. The pallium was brought
from Rome, and Becket took possession of the archiepiscopal
throne. In placing his hand upon the pastoral crosier, Becket had
completely changed his way of Uving. Fr,om the most osten
tatious luxury he suddenly passed to the austerest life. No
more festivities; no more horses; no more sumptuous cloth
ing. The rich revenues were expended in alms ; the arch
bishop had resigned his position as chancellor, saying that he
could not do justice tb the affairs of the king as well as
those of the Church. Henry was astonished at this trans
formation ; but as yet it caused him no irritation. When the
court returned to England, the archbishop conducted his royal
pupil to his father, and the king exhibited towards him the
affection and the confidence to which he had been accustomed.
Meanwhile the storm was approaching. Becket had re
solved to restore to the see of Canterbury its primitive splen
dor, and to take back from the hands of the despoiler the
property of which the chapter had been deprived by slow
degrees. This measure, similar to that which Henry had long
before applied to the crown property, seemed to the king
objectionable when the matter in hand was the lands of the
archbishopric. Becket even dared to demand a castle, and he

Chap. Vn.] HENRY II. 157
had excommunicated a vassal holding directly from the crown
who had expeUed a priest from his domains. It was with an
iU wUl, and after much difficulty, that the archbishop with
drew his sentence in obedience to the king's orders.
WhUe these clouds were gathering in the sky, Henry was
preparing a measure fatal to the good understanding between
himself and his favorite. The priests and all those who de
pended, directly or indirectly, on the Church, had the right
of being judged exclusively by ecclesiastical tribunals ; and
clerical justice was accused of great partiality. Its very laws
forbade the shedding of blood. Thus a servant of the Church
could not be condemned to death even for murder, and this
assurance often led to the most odious crimes, the repression
of which was uncertain. The king had resolved to remedy
this inconvenience by requiring that every priest degraded
for his misdeeds should be given up to the civil tribunals,
who should judge him in their turn. Becket maintained that
it would be unjust to judge and punish twice the same cul
prit. The greater number of the bishops were of his opinion.
The king shifted the question. " Will you," he asked the
assembly of prelates, " swear to maintain the ancient customs
of the realm?" "Save the honor of our order," replied all
the bishops, with the exception of Hilary of Chichester. The
king was furious. He convoked a great council at Clarendon
(January 25, 1164), where he presented to the bishops a series
of decrees and laws regulating the relations of the civil and
ecclesiastical tribunals, which have since been known under
the name of "The Constitutions of Clarendon." He had
striven to intimidate the bishops by stripping Becket of the
castles and the titles which he had given to him long before.
Alternately threatening and yielding, the archbishop had
arrived at Clarendon. He had consented to sign the Consti
tutions; the act was complete, and it only remained now to

158 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. "VTI.
affix the seals, when Becket was seized with remorse. " I
will never affix my seal to this," he said, and without Ustening
to the representations of his colleagues, or the counsels of the
Grand Master of the Templars, or taking heed of the anger
of the king, who had left the hall of council in a fit of rage,
he remounted his horse and returned gloomily to Canterbury,
lamenting over his sins as the cause of the enslavement of
the Church in England. " I was taken from the court to
become a bishop — vain and proud as I was ; not from the
school of the Saviour, but from the palace of Caesar. I was
a feeder of birds, and I was suddenly called on to be the
pastor of men ; I was the patron of mummers, and took delight
in following the hounds, I have become the keeper of many
souls. I neglected my own vineyard, and now I am intrusted
with the vineyard of others." He fasted and prayed, refusing
to ascend the steps of the altar ; and he found no rest until
the Pope had sent him absolution for his faiUngs. The pontiff
had hot ratified the Constitutions of Clarendon.
The king had not abandoned his project. His anger was
directed against the archbishop, whom he rightly regarded as
the only serious obstacle to his designs. He summoned him to
appear before his council, which met at Southampton (October,
1164), under pretext of a denial of justice on the part of his
archiepiscopal court. Becket excused himself, but was con
demned to forfeit his personal property, a sentence which was
commuted into a fine of five hundred pounds sterling. The
charges against him were not yet exhausted. A demand was
made for the rents which he had received from lands given to
him by the king. The archbishop promised payment. Each
day brought some new claim. The king, who was furious
against his old favorite, demanded at length a sum of forty-
four thousand marks of silver, on account of the ecclesiastical
revenues which Becket had appropriated as chancellor during

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 159
the vacancies of the sees. This was absolute ruin, and war
to the knife. The archbishop replied that it was not in his
power to pay such a sum, and that he had been declared free
from all such claims when he had resigned his place as chan
cellor in order to become Primate of England. At the same
time he requested a conference with the bishops ; but all had
abandoned him. Henry of Winchester alone proposed to pay
the sums demanded of the archbishop. The king would not
listen to him. "What he desires is your resignation," said
the bishops of London and Winchester to Becket. " The life
of this man is in danger," exclaimed the Bishop of Lincoln.
" He wiU lose his bishopric or his life ; and I would like to
know of what use his bishopric will be when he is dead."
Under the effects of so many violent emotions the archbishop
had been taken ill ; he sincerely believed himself to be bound
to maintain the juridical rights of the Church, and in his mind
this cause was absolutely identified with the cause of God.
To aUow the ecclesiastical privileges to be trammeUed by the
royal authority appeared to him " an act of treason against
the Lord God who had elevated him, unworthy as he was, to
the office of pastor of souls." Defeated and troubled, he at
one time thought of throwing himself at the king's feet, and
begging him to spare the Church for the sake of their old
friendship ; but Becket's was a proud and ungovernable spirit,
and such humUiation appeared impossible to him ; he there
fore resolved to fight it out to the last. It was on the 18th
of October, 1164, that he was to appear before the court
to receive his final sentence. Clad in his episcopal robes,
he celebrated ,mass in honor of Saint Stephen, the first
martyr ; then, laying aside his mitre, he advanced, the arch
bishop's cross in his hand, and followed by the priests into the
council-chamber. As he was entering, the Bishop of Hereford
came to him, with the intention of taking the cross from

160 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
him. " Allow me to keep it, my lord," he said ; " it is the
banner of the Prince whom I serve." The Bishop of London,
GUbert Folliot, was there, and also wished to take the cross
from the hands of the prelate. " You defy the king," cried
he, " by coming in this garb to his court ; but the king holds
a sword, the point of which is sharper than your cross."
The archbishop had, however, entered the councU-chamber,
and on seeing him Henry blushed deeply and hastily retired.
The archbishop sat down, but the bishops had been called
away by the king ; discord reigned in the royal chamber.
Henry was furious, and railed bitterly first against the obsti
nacy of the archbishop, and then against the cowardice of his
own advisers. The Archbishop of York retired, calling aU his
foUowers, in order, as he said, to avoid seeing bloodshed. The
Bishop of Exeter went and threw himself at Becket's feet,
imploring him to yield and to save his life. " Go," said
the archbishop ; " you do not understand those things which
are of God." At length the bishops returned with Hilary of
Chichester at their head. " You were our primate," he said,
"but in putting yourself in opposition to the royal will you
have broken your oath of allegiance; a perjured archbishop
has no longer any claim upon our obedience; we will submit
the affair to the Pope, and call upon you to answer before
him for your conduct." "I understand," repUed the arch
bishop coldly.
The noblemen had followed the bishops, and the Earl of
Leicester approached Becket. " Hear your sentence," he
began. " My sentence ! " cried Becket. " My son, listen to
me first: you know how faithfully I have served the king,
and with what repugnance I accepted this duty to please
him. You are my children in God; can a son sit in judg
ment on his father? I take exception to your tribunal, and
appeal to the Pope. I place myself, as weU as my Church,

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 161
under his protection, and summon the bishops who have obeyed
the king rather than their God, to answer at that tribunal ;
it is under the protection of the Holy CathoUc Church and
of the apostolic see that I leave this court."
He had risen from his seat, and aU the bishops had done
Ukewise; foUowed by his priests, he strode slowly across the
room ; the courtiers insulted him and threw at him the bundles
of straw which covered the floor. Somebody called out " trai
tor." " Were it not for the garments which I wear, that
coward would repent his insolence," said the archbishop, who
then mounted his horse, whUe he was saluted by the cries
of the people who were prostrating themselves and asking
his benediction. The prelate caused the doors of the monas
tery in which he resided to be opened, and the poor entered
in crowds, the archbishop giving them a supper, and sitting
down to table with them himself.
The Scriptures were being read, and Becket was struck
by these words of the Lord : " If you are persecuted in one
town, fly to another." He sent to the king for a passport.
" You shall be answered to-morrow," was the message sent
back from the palace. The friends of Becket were in great
fear. "This night wiU be your last if you do not fly," said
the clergy. The archbishop at length decided to leave Eng
land. Mounted on horseback, and accompanied by three
priests, he set out in the direction of Kent, amidst torrents
of rain that compeUed him to cut off the skirts of his long
mantle, which were wet and heavy and were irksome to him.
He wandered about in the disguise of a monk, and under the
name of Brother Christian, during twenty days in Kent, meet
ing with many adventures. At length he procured a little
vessel, and landed, on the 2d of November, 1164, in the
countship of Boulogne, near GraveUnes, whence he repaired
VOL. i. 21

162 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
on foot and in the same disguise, to the convent of Saint-
Bertin, near Namur.
The fugitive's first thought was to ask shelter of the King
of France and protection of Pope Alexander IL, who was
then residing at Sens; the anti-Pope Victor held possession
of Rome. The ambassadors of Henry II. had preceded Becket
at both courts ; but Louis the Young, an enemy to the King
of England and therefore unwUling to do the latter a service,
haughtily declared that it was the ancient privilege of the
French crown to succor the oppressed against their persecutors.
The Pope at first received Becket's representative rather coldly ;
but he ended by deciding to brave the anger of Henry IL, and
received the fallen archbishop with great kindness. " If I
had been willing to do the bidding of the king in all things,"
said Becket, "nobody in his kingdom would now be as great
as I ; but I know that I obtained through him the position
which I occupy to the prejudice of the liberty of the Church ;
that is the reason that I throw myself at your Holiness's
feet; your Holiness must appoint a new Primate of England."
The Pope did not accept this resignation, and having caused
the Constitutions of Clarendon to be read to the prelate, he
condemned them, with the exception of six clauses ; then
raising the archbishop, whom he had reinvested with his eccle
siastical dignity, " Go," said he, " and learn in poverty to
console the poor." The Pope assigned the abbey of Pontigny
to him as his residence, and authorized him to excommunicate
the enemies of the Church.
When Henry heard of the success of his adversary, his anger
knew no bounds ; not only did he confiscate both the goods
and revenues of Becket and the priests who had foUowed
him, but he included in his revenge all the members of the
archbishop's family as weU as all his friends. He proscribed
more than four hundred persons, men, women, and chUdren,

- V . . . ,
Bl»l?',','i,';'*:

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 163
whom he sent, divested of everything, to Becket, to complain
of the misfortune which he had brought upon them. Every
day these unhappy people would present themselves at the
convent of Pontigny, breaking the heart of the archbishop,
who found no rest until the time when the combined charity
of King Louis, the Pope, and the Queen of Sicily, provided
for the necessities of the exiles.
Meanwhile King Henry had on hand grave affairs which
would soon have made him forget his grievances against the
archbishop, if he had been of a less vindictive disposition.
The Welsh had revolted, and the war against them had been
unfortunate in consequence of bad weather ; the king had
consoled himself for this by causing the noses of the hostages
to be cut off and their eyes destroyed ; but this was not
sufficient to appease his anger. He found satisfaction in Brit
tany, where he profited by the rebellion against Conan. Henry
took advantage of it to seize upon the country. He celebrated,
in 1166, the marriage of his son Geoffrey with Constance.
Brittany was pacified, but Becket had just excommunicated
all those who held the property of the Church, and particularly
several of the king's favorites, whom he mentioned by name.
When Henry heard this news, he was at Chinon, near
Tours. His anger was so violent that he threw himself upon
Ms bed, tearing the clothes, biting the straw of the mattress,
and howUng with rage. He immediately informed the Abbot
of Pontigny that if the order of Cistercians wished to retain
their property in the provinces dependent on the King of
England, he must refuse the shelter of his house to the enemy
who so haughtily defied his sovereign. The abbot went and
saw Becket. "God forbid that upon such injunctions the
chapter should think of sending you away," he said; "con
sider for yourself what you had better do." The archbishop
immediately made preparation to leave the place, and went

164 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VH.
to the convent of Saint Colomba near Sens, where King Louis
had ordered that he should be received (1168).
Up to this period political considerations had created an Ul-
feeling between the King of France and the King of England,
and in this lay Becket's security; in 1169 similar influences
brought them tp an understanding. They met at a solemn
conference at Montmirail, and when the young princes, Henry's
sons, had done homage to the King of France for Normandy,
Aquitaine, and Brittany, the case of Becket was considered,
and he was ordered to appear before the august assembly.
The archbishop was growing weary of his exile, and his pro
tectors were growing weary of defending him. It was therefore
hoped that he would tender his submission, in order to end
the struggle. Becket presented himself before King Henry
with a grave and modest air : bending his knee, the archbishop
said, " My liege, in all the disputes which have taken place
between us, I submit to your judgment, as arbitrary sovereign
in all points, except the honor of God." Immediately this
restriction was uttered, the king burst into a passion, and
turning towards King Louis, " Do you know," he cried, " what
would happen if I were to accept this reservation ? Every
thing that should displease him would be contrary to the
honor of God, and I should lose all power. There have been
archbishops at Canterbury much more pious than he, and
there have been kings in England less powerful than I ; let
him only treat me as the most pious of his predecessors treated
the smallest of mine, and I shall be satisfied." " Save the
honor of God," repeated the archbishop. The assembly cried
out aloud that it was past endurance, that the king could
ask no less, and that Becket was too exacting. " Do you
wish then to be more than a saint ? " asked Louis angrily,
but he got no further concession ; and the two kings re
mounted their horses without taking leave of the archbishop,

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 165
whose fate was now very much harder by reason of the
estrangement of the King of France. He was reduced to
five by alms untU the day when Louis again sent for him.
"It is to banish us from his dominions," the clergy said in
alarm; but scarcely had the king seen the archbishop when
he threw himself into his arms. " Forgive me, father," he cried ;
" you are right, we were mistaken ; we wished to subject the
honor of God to the will of a man. Absolve me." Henry had
faUed to fulfil his contracts with King Louis, who had there
upon hastened to express his approval of Becket's conduct.
A fresh attempt at a reconcUiation broke down in consequence
of the king's firm decision never to give to the archbishop
the kiss of peace, with which it was usual to ratify all oaths.
MeanwhUe Prince Henry had been crowned in England, his
father wishing to secure the succession to him. Becket's office
had been usurped, the young prince having received the
crown from the hands of the Archbishop of York. The Pope
had returned to Rome, after the death of the anti-Pope
Victor, and the displeasure or favor of the King of England
now had fewer attractions or horrors for him. Henry was
afraid that he might authorize Becket to excommunicate him
personally, and to place his kingdom under an interdict, and
he at length yielded, under the advice of the King of France,
with whom he had just effected a reconciliation. In the
month of July, 1170, the two antagonists met within the
confines of Touraine. As soon as the king perceived the
archbishop, he came forward, helmet in hand, and accosted
him. They conversed in a friendly manner, with a certain
amount of their old famUiarity, and when they parted from
each other, the king said to his courtiers, "I found the
archbishop most favorably disposed towards me, and if the
feeling were not mutual I should be the worst of men."
Within two days of this event the reconcUiation took place.

166 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
Becket bent his knee to the king, who held the stirrup for
the archbishop to remount his horse ; but the kiss of peace
was not given. However, the restitution of the archbishop's
property was agreed upon. Henry promised to supply Becket
with the money requisite to defray his travelling expenses
to England, and the two enemies, apparently reconciled, took
leave of each other. " I do not believe that I shaU ever
see you again," said the archbishop, looking fixedly at the
king. "What! Do you take me for a traitor ? " cried Henry
angrily. The prelate only bowed in answer. He never saw
the king again.
The archbishop had proceeded to Rouen, awaiting the money
which had been promised to him ; and during the sojourn
which he was compelled to make in Normandy he received
frequent warnings of the dangers which awaited him on the
other side of the Channel. " They will not even allow
Becket time enough to eat a whole loaf," said Ranulph de
Broc, who had been excommunicated by him ; but Becket
did not take heed of any warnings. " Even,!' he said, " if
I had to face the certainty of being cut to pieces on the
other side of the Channel, I should not turn back on my
way. Seven years of absence are sufficient for the pastor
and for his flock."
After having waited for four months, he borrowed three
hundred Uvres of the Archbishop of Rouen, and set saU in
a smaU vessel which landed him in Sandwich Bay, whereby
he avoided an ambush which had been prepared for him near
Dover. A messenger preceded the prelate, bearing letters of
excommunication from the Pope ' against the Archbishop of
York, the Bishop of London, and the Bishop of Chichester,
who had all taken part in the ceremony of the coronation
of the young king. The letters were pubhcly delivered to
the three bishops, who were enraged beyond measure. It

CHAP.Vn.] HENRY II. 167
was on the 1st of December that Becket returned to Eng
land, to the great deUght of the people, but not a single
baron came to meet him. The first who passed were armed
and drew their swords; one of the king's chaplains, who
had accompanied the primate, was at great pains to quiet
them, and to protect Becket on his re-entering his episcopal
city. " He gathers serfs round him on his way," said the
noblemen, "and leads them with him." The archbishop had
come back to Canterbury, after having attempted to obtain
an interview with the young king, his old pupil, but the
latter had refused to see him; and Becket, confined to his
diocese, surrounded himself with the poor and the peasants,
who constituted a rustic guard round him. Excommunica
tions were still being proclaimed ; on Christmas-day, after
having begun his sermon with these words, " Venio ad vos,
mori inter vos" (I come to you to die among you), Becket,
reminding his congregation that one of their archbishops had
suffered martyrdom, added, " You will perhaps see another
suffer in the same manner; but, before dying, I wiU avenge
some of the wrongs done to the Church." He then excom
municated Ranulph and Robert de Broc, his bitter enemies.
Meanwhile the suspended bishops had crossed the sea, to
go and lay their complaints before King Henry II., who was
stiU in Normandy. " We throw ourselves at your mercy, iu
the name of the Church and State, for your peace and for
ours. There is a man who is inflaming all England; he
marches with troops of armed horsemen and foot-soldiers,
prowhng around the fortresses, trying to effect an entrance."
Henry had never sincerely forgiven his old favorite, and he
was very angry at these accounts of his conduct. " What ! "
cried he, "does this wretch, who has eaten my bread, who
came to my court a beggar, upon a lame horse, with aU he
possessed behind him, insult me with impunity, while not one

168 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VU.
of the cowards whom I feed at my table dares to deliver me
from a priest who is so obnoxious to me."
Words like these are always caught up by wUUng ears.
When the king convoked a councU of his barons to decide
what was to be done with Becket, four of their number
were absent — Richard Brito, Hugh de MoreviUe, William de
Tracy, and Reginald Fitzurse. When the king observed that
they were not there, he became uneasy, and hastened the
departure of the Earl of Mandeville, who was commissioned
to arrest Becket. The four conspirators preceded him.
On the 29th of December, in the morning, they arrived at
Canterbury, followed by a troop of soldiers whom they had
collected together on their way. They wished to secure the
help of the mayor of the town, but the latter refused. The
knights recommended him at least to keep the townsmen
quiet, and they proceeded to the prelate's house with twelve
of their friends.
The archbishop was in his room, and the knights sat down
on the floor, without saluting him and in silence. No one
dared begin. The archbishop asked their business. " We
have come on behalf of the king," said Reginald Fitzurse,
"in order that those you have excommunicated may be ab
solved, that the bishops who have been suspended may be
re-established in their positions, and that you may justify
your designs against the king." " It is not I who excommu
nicated the Archbishop of York," said Becket, "but the
Pope himself. As to the others, I wiU re-estabUsh them if
they will tender their submission." " From whom do you
hold your appointment as archbishop ? " inquired Fitzurse,
" from the Pope or from the king ? " " My spiritual office
I hold by the wiU of God and the Pope," said the primate,
" and my temporal rights from the king." " It is not from
the king, then, that you obtain everything?" "No." The

Chap. VH.] 'HENRY II. 169
knights were restless, and were twisting their gloves angrily.
" I am astonished," said Becket, " that men who formerly
swore aUegiance to me come into my house to threaten me."
" We will do more than threaten," cried the barons. They
thereupon retired hastily.
The priests and attendants who surrounded Becket were
alarmed ; they wanted to close all the doors and barricade
the house, begging the bishop to take refuge in the church.
He refused. Already the noise of battle-axes crashing against
the entrance was heard. Fitzurse was endeavoring to break
open the door, which an attendant had shut upon the intrud
ers, who had now come back with their weapons. The bell
of the church was ringing for vespers. " Since it is my
duty, I wiU go to the church," said Becket, and, preceded
by a priest carrying a cross, he passed slowly through the
cloisters and entered the cathedral. The door had not given
way, but the conspirators had just entered the palace by
the window. The clergy were hastening to close the doors
of the church. "No," said the archbishop ; "the house of
God should not be barricaded like a fortress." He was
ascending the steps leading to the choir, when Reginald Fitz
urse entered abruptly at the other end of the church. He
was brandishing his sword and crying, " Come, loyal subjects
of the king." It was late; the movements of the conspira
tors were scarcely observable, neither could the latter see
the priests distinctly. The archbishop was urged to descend
into the crypt. He refused, and advanced boldly towards
the sacrilegious intruders, who were brandishing their swords
within the holy precincts. His cross-bearer alone had not
fled. "Where is the traitor?" cried a voice. Becket did
not answer. "Where is the archbishop?" repeated Fitzurse.
"I am here," said Becket, "but no traitor, only a priest
of the Lord. What are you here for?" "Absolve aU
vol. I. 22

170 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VH.
those whom you have excommunicated." "They have not
repented, and therefore I cannot." "You shaU die then."
" I am ready, in the name of the Saviour ; but I forbid
you, by the Lord Almighty, to touch any of these present,
either priests or laymen." At this moment he received be
tween the shoulders a blow with the flat part of a sword.
" Fly," they cried, " or you are a dead man." The arch
bishop did not stir ; the intruders endeavored to drag him
out, not daring to kUl him in the sanctuary; he was strug-
gUng in their grasp. At length WiUiam de Tracy raised
his sword and wounded the archbishop in the head, striking
down at the same time the hand of Edward Gryme, the
brave cross-bearer. Becket had clasped his hands together.
" I confide my soul and the cause of the Church to God,
to the Virgin Mary, to the patron saints of this church, and
to St. Denis," he cried. A second thrust from a sword laid
him prostrate upon the ground near St. Bennet's altar ; a
third blow spUt his skull, and the sword was broken on the
paved floor. " Thus perish all traitors," cried one of the
conspirators, and they left the church hurriedly, whUe the
monks were tearfully laying the archbishop's body out at the
foot of the altar, taking up his blood in vessels, leaving ex
posed to view the hair-cloth which he wore, and already
revering him as a martyr. But on the morrow they were
obliged to bury him in great haste in order to spare his dead
body the indignity of being insulted by Ranulph de Broc,
who desired to take it away. The Archbishop of York pub
hcly declared that Becket had fallen in his guilt and his
pride like Pharaoh, whUe other bishops maintained that the
body of the traitor ought not to lie in consecrated ground,
and that he should be thrown into the foulest ditch, or be
put upon a gibbet to rot. It was forbidden in the churches
to speak of him as a martyr.

MURDER OF THOMAS A BECKET.

Chap. VII.] HENRY n. 171
Decrees are incapable of influencing the development of
pubhc opinion ; King Henry was the first to discover this.
Scarcely had he heard the news, when a profound feeling
of repentance for his imprudent words overcame him ; he
shut himself up in his private apartment, and during three
days would not see anybody or take any food. When he
awoke from this suUen depression, he immediately sent an
ambassador to the Pope, assuring the latter of his innocence
and of the grief which the death of the archbishop caused
him. At the same time he hesitated to punish the murder
ers, who had acted according to his suggestion, and he
aUowed them the benefit of clergy, the crime having been
committed upon the person of a priest. Thus the liberties
of the Church, for which Becket had just died, protected
his assassins. It is related that the latter were stricken with
remorse in their turn, and that they went and threw them
selves at the feet of the Pope, at Rome, who ordered them
to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where they died
sincerely penitent.
If the story of the repentance of the murderers is not well
authenticated, that of Becket's posthumous triumph is incon
testable. He had not been buried two years, and King
Henry had scarcely obtained forgiveness of the Pope (1172)
by undertaking to support, during three years, two hundred
horsemen intended for the defence of the Holy Sepulchre,
when pUgrims were already proceeding in crowds to Canter
bury Cathedral, begging the protection of the martyr, canon
ized by the public voice before being recognized as a saint
by the Church. Two more years elapsed, and on the 10th
of July, 1174, the king was proceeding barefooted along the
road leading to Canterbury. Each step he made left behind
him a spot of blood ; he wore a pilgrim's dress, and on his
arrival descended into the crypt, and prostrated himself before

172 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VH.
the tomb. The Bishop of London, from the pulpit, assured
the people of the innocence of the king, of the profound
grief which the death of the archbishop had caused him, and
of the remorse which he experienced for the fit of anger
which had caused the commission of the crime ; the king
remained praying. He rose, uncovered his shoulders, and,
passing before the chapter, he received from each monk three
strokes from a knotted rope ; Henry then returned to the tomb,
stUl fasting and praying. He passed the night in the church,
and the morning after, having attended holy mass, he returned
to London so exhausted by the fatigue and severity of his
punishment that he fell ill on his arrival.
During the anxieties which Henry experienced while he was
quarrelling with Becket, he had not neglected external affairs,
and a new kingdom had been added to his vast dominions,
a kingdom insecurely held, however, as yet, and which was
to cost England much blood and many errors before being
united completely to his crown. Henry II. had made the
conquest of Ireland.
After having shone with some brilliancy in letters as weU
as in the history of religious faith, Ireland had for some time
past fallen back into a state verging on barbarism. Originally
inhabited by different colonies of the Celtic race, she retained
institutions analogous to those of the Highlands of Scotland.
The clans were called septs, the chief was known as a " Car-
finny," and chose his successor, or " Tanist," from his own
famUy, without regard to the laws of primogeniture ; when
the " Carfinny " died, the "Tanist" succeeded him, and named
his own heir-presumptive. The same rule existed in the four
kingdoms of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught. En
mity and rivalry were constant between these princes ; of one
hundred and seventy-eight kings who ruled over Ireland,
seventy-one were kUled in war and sixty were murdered. In

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 173
1169 the King of Leinster, Dermod MacMorogh, having been
driven from his possessions, had applied to Henry II. for
assistance, offering to take the oath of allegiance to the Eng-
Ush king. But the king was engrossed in his relations with
France, and he contented himself with authorizing English
warriors to support the cause of Dermod if they chose. Hav
ing obtained this permission, a certain number of adventurers
went over to Ireland ; the most notable of whom was the
son of the Earl of Pembroke, Richard de Clare, called Strong-
bow, who took with him a force of three thousand men.
He fought against Dermod's enemies, married that chiefs
daughter, and had just inherited the kingdom of his father-
in-law, when the king, annoyed at his success, wrote for him,
recalling him to England. Strongbow immediately crossed
the sea, and came and threw himself at the king's feet,
offering to surrender the town of Dublin to him. Henry's
anger was appeased, and he appointed Strongbow to the
position of seneschal of Ireland. In the following year the
king himself landed in his new dominions with an army so
numerous that the Irish soon made a nominal submission.
Henry, however, intended not to act as a conqueror ; he was
taking possession, he said, of Ireland by virtue of an old
buU of Pope Adrian, which conferred upon him' the sover
eignty of this new kingdom by the right which the Popes
claimed to exercise over all the islands recognizing the Chris
tian faith. The Irish bishops answered this appeal by meeting
together in councU. Several wise measures were adopted for
the civUization of the savage regions, where polygamy was
still practised, and where dead bodies were not always buried.
But Henry did not attempt to impose the English laws upon
his new subjects. That portion of Ireland occupied by the
Normans was alone assimilated to England; the rest of the
country* remained subject to its old customs. When Henry

174 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VH.
returned from thence on the 17th of April, 1173, nominating
Hugh de Lacy governor of Ireland, he left behind him terri
tories which his armies had not overrun, and an undiscipUned
population, who took advantage of his absence to rebel. The
jealousies of the English noblemen established in Ireland stiU
further complicated the difficulties of the government. Har
assed by their mutual recriminations, the king would depose,
replace, or recall the rivals ; disorder reigned in all parts,
when, in 1185, the king, having obtained from the Pope the
investiture of Ireland for his son John, sent the young prince
there with his court. The arrogance, the severity, and the
follies of the new sovereign soon caused fresh insurrections.
John grew alarmed and returned precipitately to England,
leaving to Sir John de Courcy the care of pacifying Ireland ;
the Ueutenant succeeded in this, and, having become Earl of
Ulster, he governed the new kingdom with as much firmness
as good sense, until, at the end of the reign of Henry IL, a
prosperous state of affairs was inaugurated, to which Ireland
had not been accustomed under native kings.
Henry had begun to appropriate Ireland to himself, but
without being able to give his personal attention to that
country. He was a prey to bitter and ever increasing embar
rassments. The crowning of his son, Prince Henry, had
excited in the young man an ambitious spirit which his
father-in-law, Louis VII., constantly encouraged. He asked
for the immediate cession of Normandy, or even of England,
in order to be able, he said, to maintain his position and
that of the queen his wife. " Wait until my death," replied
the king ; " you shall have wealth and power enough." He
intended to bequeath England to Henry as well as Normandy,
Anjou, and Maine. Aquitaine he designed for Richard, Brit
tany for Geoffrey, and Ireland for John. The young princes
had even already been invested with these magnificent prov-

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 175
inces; but, encouraged by their mother, the vindictive Elea
nor, to whom Henry II. had always been a good husband,
they plotted to seize their inheritance beforehand. In March,
1173, Prince Henry, who had slept with his father at Chinon,
found a means of escaping during the night, and of reaching
the territory of the King of France. A few days afterwards,
his two brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, also escaped, and
Queen Eleanor prepared to foUow her sons; but she was
captured by her husband's emissaries and brought back to
England, where she was imprisoned untU King Henry's
death. The father had sent to Paris to ask that his son should
be given up to him ; the ambassadors found the young prince
clad in regal robes, seated by the side of Louis VII. "We
come from Henry, King of the English, Duke of Normandy
and of Aquitaine, Count of Anjou and of Maine," began the
messengers. " No," said the king, interrupting them ; " King
Henry is sitting here, and he has commissioned you to deliver
no message. If you wish to speak of the king, his father,
he is dead since his son wears the crown. If he still has
any pretensions to the title of king, I wiU soon cure him of
them." In accordance with these haughty words, the young
prince caused a seal similar to that of England to be made,
and declared, by letters addressed to the Pope, to his broth
ers, and to aU the great noblemen of England and of the
French states, that he was at war with his father in order
to avenge the death of Becket, "my foster-father, whose as
sassins are stiU safe and sound. I am unable (he added) to
bear this criminal negligence, for the blood of the martyr
cries aloud in my ears. My father is incensed against me ;
but I do not fear to offend him when the honor of God is
the cause." The kings of France and Scotland, the Count
of Flanders, and a great number of EngUsh and Norman

176 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Vn.
noblemen, sided with the conspirators; King Henry began to
see himself abandoned by his most intimate friends.
He was a match for his four sons. " The King of England
neither rides nor sails," said King Louis, alarmed by the
rapidity of his rival's movements : " he is believed to be in
England, and he is in France ; he is believed to be in Ire
land, and he is in England." An army of Braban tines had
been raised, and King Henry II. had called upon aU those
monarchs who had sons, to support him in his quarrel; en
deavoring to secure their help by the consideration of the
disorder which would reign in their own dominions if their
own children foUowed the example set by the English princes.
He had implored the Pope to help him to defend the patri
mony of St. Peter, as he caUed the islands of England and
Ireland ; the pontiff replied by sending legates to put an
end to this unnatural struggle ; but blood had already been
shed. In the month of June, 1173, the Count of Flanders
had entered into Normandy ; but his brother, who was his
heir, having been killed at the first siege, he retired from
this impious struggle and re-entered his states. King Louis
VII. and Prince Henry were defeated by the Brabantines;
Prince Geoffrey did not meet with success in Brittany; a
conference convoked at Gisors again excited their animosity.
The war was carried on with alternate successes and reverses ;
the insurrection had spread as far as Aquitaine ; the Scots
had crossed the frontier, and several towns of England were
in the hands of the insurgents, when, in the month of July,
1174, Henry hastUy left Normandy. On reaching England
he proceeded directly to Becket's tomb. It was on the mor
row of his humiUation and repentance, when he was already
in his bed, overcome by fever, that it was announced to him
that an attendant of Ranulph de Glanville wished to speak
with him. The king inquired whether Ranulph, who was

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 177
one of his intimate friends, was well. " My lord is well,"
replied the messenger, "and your enemy, the King of Scot
land, is in your hands." The king trembled. "Say that
again," he said. The man tendered some letters to the king ;
it appeared that on the 12th of July GlanviUe had surprised
the King of Scotland, William the Lion, in the neighborhood
of Alnwick, and had made a prisoner of him. This good
news effected a cure of the king's disorder; the people again
thronged round his standards. In a few days the insurrection
was quelled in all parts, and Henry, after this triumph, re-
crossed the sea with his army, to relieve Rouen, which was
besieged by the King of France, Prince Henry, and the
Count of Flanders. A battle took place under the walls of
the town, which was decided in favor of the King of Eng
land ; the princes were for the time reduced to obedience.
Richard resisted for a greater length of time than his broth
ers; he had acquired a taste for warlike achievements, which
were to become the passion of his life, and he thought, besides,
that he was upholding the rights of his mother, to whom
he was tenderly attached. But he yielded at length. An
interval of peace at length aUowed Henry II. breathing-time
and leisure to organize the great institution which he wished
to bequeath to England. It was in 1176 that he definitively
established, with the help of his friend Ranulph de Glanville,
the courts of justice, where the assizes were regularly held for
aU the civil and criminal business, and which were presided
over by itinerant judges, who made a circuit from town to
town to direct the decisions of the knights of the shire, who
then represented the jury.
Louis VII. was dead. Philip Augustus had ascended the
throne (1180), and war was about to break out afresh. King
Henry, who was now reconciled to his eldest son, wished
to compel Richard to do homage to his brother for the duchy
vol. i. 23

178 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VTL
of Aquitaine ; the prince refused, saying that he would not
compromise the rights of his mother. She was greatly beloved
in her hereditary dominions, and the poet Bertrand de Born,
powerful among his countrymen, and devoted to Eleanor's
cause, was intriguing successively with whichever of the three
sons appeared the most incensed against his father. King
Henry had caused a picture to be painted representing four
young eagles attacking their sire. " If John does not
join his brothers," he said sadly, "it is because he is too
young." Richard at length made peace with his father, but Henry
and Geoffrey had raised the standard of rebellion in their
turn. They had invited the king to a conference at Limoges
(1183) ; when he approached the town he was saluted with
a voUey of arrows, of which one wounded his horse in the
neck. " Ah, Geoffrey ! " cried the king, " what has your un
happy father done to you that you should thus make a target
of him for your arrows ? " The prince laughed at this bitter
remonstrance. "We cannot live in peace among ourselves,"
he said, " without being in league against my father." His
brother Henry was disgusted at this evidence of his brother's
hard-heartedness, and joined the king for a whUe ; but soon
after, having been again annoyed, he departed and joined
Geoffrey and the Poitevins, who had revolted, when he feU
ill at Limoges. In terror, he sent, begging his father to come
and grant his forgiveness. The king did not dare to accede
to the request ; his friends would not allow him to venture
into the camp of his sons, who had so recently attempted his
Ufe. He contented himself with sending a ring by the Arch
bishop of Bordeaux, assuring the prince of his forgiveness.
The prelate found the young man dying upon a bed of
ashes, a prey to remorse and despair. He died pressing to
his lips the ring which his father had sent to him, greatly

Chap. VII.] HENRY n. 179
distressed at not having received the benediction upon^ which
he had hitherto set so little value.
A few days afterwards Limoges was taken, and the insti
gator of the insurrections, Bertrand de Born, was made a
prisoner ; he was brought before the king to receive sentence ;
he said nothing, and did not defend himself. " Bertrand,"
said the king, " you pretend that at no time do you require
one half of your talents; know that in this instance the
whole of them would avail you little." " Sire," replied
Bertrand, "it is true that I said that, and I told the truth."
"And I think that your talents have deserted you," cried
Henry, angrily. "Ah, Sire," said Bertrand, "my powers
deserted me on the day that the brave young king, your
son, died; on that day I lost all my powers." The king
burst into tears. " Bertrand," he cried, " it is but right
that my son's death should have unnerved you, for he was
more attached to you than to anybody else in the world;
and I, for love of him, give you your life, your goods, and
your castle."
The poet Dante did not forgive Bertrand de Born, as King
Henry had done, for he placed him in hell. " I saw," said
he, " and I seem to see it stUl, a headless trunk approach
us, and the head being cut off, it held it in one hand by
the hair, Uke a lantern : ' Know that I am Bertrand de
Born, who gave bad advice to the young king.' "
In the midst of the general grief a kind of union was
effected between the father and his remaining sons, as well
as between the father and mother. Eleanor was brought back
to Aquitaine, and restored to liberty; but this mutual under
standing, so rare in this royal family, only lasted for a short
time. Geoffrey asked the king to grant him the countship
of Anjou, and on being refused, he retired to the court of
France : death awaited him there ; he was thrown in a tour-

180 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
nament, and trampled under foot by the horse before the
attendants could come to his assistance.
Henry had two sons remaining : Richard, who was after
wards called " Coeur-de-Lion," and who had inherited that ma
jestic countenance which Peter of Blois attributes to his father,
whose almost square face resembled a lion's head ; and John
Lackland, as his father laughingly called him, who had not
taken part in the revolts of his brothers, and whom Henry
esteemed very much for that reason. Richard had already
shown fresh signs of insubordination. Eleanor had returned
to her prison at Winchester, when a call from the East brought
a short truce to the hostilities between France and England.
Jerusalem had just been retaken by the Mussulmans (1187) ;
Pope Urban II. had died of grief in consequence. Gregory
VIII., who had succeeded him, called the Christians from the
West to the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre, and the
Archbishop of Tyre was preaching in favor of the crusade.
King Henry was the first to respond to the appeal. Richard
assumed the cross as well as his father. Philip Augustus
manifested the same desire. A conference was held under
the elm of Gisors, the famous tree at the foot of which many
treaties had been ratified which had remained in force but
for a very short time. The treaty of peace which was there
agreed to in the name of the crusade proved to be no more
durable than the others, and the King of France in his anger
caused the tree to be rooted up, saying that no more perfidy
should be witnessed under its branches. It was rumored that
the King of England had the intention of bequeathing his
kingdom to his youngest son. Richard had another grievance
against his father: the latter had for some time been detain
ing in a castle the Princess Alice of France, who had been
promised in marriage to Richard, and far from promoting
the union, he was endeavoring to obtain a divorce from Elea-

Chap.VH.] HENRY II. 181
nor, with the intention, it was said, of marrying the young
princess himself. Richard demanded an explanation from his
father of these two infringements of his rights, asking for
his father'^ consent to his marriage and an acknowledgment
of himself as heir to the throne of England.
Henry did not reply; he at length proposed to marry the
Princess Alice to John Lackland. Richard was not infatu
ated with her, for he already dreamed of Berengaria of Na
varre ; but he looked upon his father's proposal as an indi
cation of his intentions respecting John. "Is it reaUy so,"
cried he ; "I did not think it possible ; but now, my friends,
you wiU see what you little expected." And, kneeling before
King Philip Augustus, he placed his hands in that monarch's,
and at once did the latter homage for the duchies of Normandy,
Brittany, and Aquitaine, as weU as for the countships of Poi
tou, Anjou, and Maine, asking for assistance in recovering his
rights. PhUip Augustus accepted him as a vassal and liege,
and immediately gave up to Richard the castles which he had
taken from the latter's father.
This time the shot had been sent straight to the king's
heart ; in vain did he retire to Saumur, to recommence prep
arations for war : his energy and decision had failed him ; he
awaited the arrival of the Pope's legates, who were intrusted
with the care of attempting a reconcUiation, and contented
himself with rewarding the noblemen of Normandy, who
had always remained true to him. When the legate arrived,
King PhUip Augustus, who was too clever not to discover
the weariness of the old king, insisted on the conditions of
peace offered at the last conference, asking besides that John
should accompany his brother in the crusade, without which
he threatened to cause the greatest disorder in the king
dom. Henry refused. "Then the truce is at an end," said
the King of France. The legate threatened to place the

182 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VH.
kingdom under an interdict, and to excommunicate Philip
and Richard. " I am not afraid of your mercenary anathe
mas," said Philip ; and Richard, drawing his sword, cried,
"I will kill any insensate who dares to excommunicate two
princes in a single breath ! " His friends restrained his vio
lence ; the legate remounted his mule and retired in great
haste. The French marched towards Le Mans ; the town was
taken and pillaged. Aquitaine, Poitou, and Brittany revolted ;
treason was rife among the EngUsh barons. Henry felt that
he was beaten ; he sued for peace, declaring himself ready to
accept the propositions of Philip and of Richard. The two
monarchs met upon a plain between Tours and Azay. Rich
ard was not present. WhUe they were conferring in the
open field, and still on horseback, the thunder roared, and a
violent storm broke forth. The nerves of King Henry had
been shaken by disease and trouble. He reeled in his saddle,
and his servants sustained him with difficulty. When he had
recovered his senses, he was too iU to continue the confer
ence, and the proposals for peace were sent to his head
quarters. They were hard and humiliating : an indemnity
for King PhiUp ; permission for his vassals to do homage to
Richard ; the restoration of the Princess Alice to a person
commissioned to deliver her with all honor to her brother, or
her affianced husband, on the return from the crusade, and
so forth. King Henry IL, stretched upon his couch, listened'
in silence. When an end was made, he asked to see a list
of the barons who had pledged themselves to maintain the
cause of Philip and Richard. The first name was that of his
son John, Count of Mortagne ; the unhappy father uttered
a cry of pain. " John, the son of my heart," he exclaimed,
" for love of whom I have brought upon myself all these
misfortunes, — he, too, has betrayed me ! " He was assured

BURIAL-PLACE OF HENRY II. AT FONTEVRAULT.

Chap. VII.] HENRY II. 183
that it was so. "Let all things henceforth proceed as they
wiU," he said, "I have no longer any regard for myself or
this world." And he turned his face again to the wall in
the bitterness of his soul. His son Richard had followed
him, and leaning towards him, asked for the kiss of peace
in ratification of the treaty. The king did not refuse it as
he had done before in the case of Becket ; but Richard had
scarcely left the chamber when the indignant father mut
tered between his teeth, "May I live to avenge myself on
thee ! "
He gave orders to be carried to Chinon, oppressed with a
profound melancholy, which was succeeded by a violent fever.
In his fits he raised himself in his bed, invoking the ven
geance of Heaven upon his children. " Shame, shame upon
a vanquished king — a king dispossessed of his rights," he
cried ; " accursed be the day when I was born ; accursed be
the chUdren that I leave behind me!" He directed his attend
ants to carry him into the church, where he expired at the
foot of the altar on the 6th of July, 1189. He had not yet
completed his fifty-fifth year, but his features were worn like
those of an aged man. When Richard, stricken with horror
at the inteUigence which he had received, hastened to Fonte-
vrault, whither the corpse of his father had been removed
without ceremony, some one had surrounded the royal fore
head with a golden fringe in imitation of a crown, and it had
been necessary to employ hired horses in order to convey
to his last resting-place the powerful master of so many
dominions. Richard approached the coffin. A drop of blood appeared
under the nostrils of the corpse. " Yes, it is I who have
lolled him!" cried Richard, stricken with repentance. He
feU on his knees beside the dead body of his father, re-

184 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VII.
mained there a moment prostrate, then rising, went out
precipitately. Ten years later, when Richard was dying at the siege of
Chalus, he ordered that his body should be conveyed to
Fontevrault, to be interred at the feet of his father.

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 185

CHAPTER VIII.
RICHARD C(EUR-DE-LION. — JOHN LACKLAND. — MAGNA
CHARTA. 1189-1216.
THE first act of the new king was to deliver from her
prison his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, to whom he
had always been tenderly attached. WhUe she was presiding
over the preparations for the crowning of her son, dispens
ing amnesties, and caUing all free men to swear aUegiance
to him, Richard arrested Stephen of Tours, seneschal of
Anjou and treasurer to Henry IL, threw him into prison,
and did not restore him to liberty until he had been put in
possession by him not only of the treasures of the dead king,
but of aU the personal property of the treasurer as well.
On arriving in England, Richard also went in great haste
to Winchester, in order to secure the riches which had been
amassed there by his father. The Jews were uneasy at seeing
the new sovereign display so much avidity; they had been
accustomed to suffer for any want of money on the part of
kings, and PhUip Augustus had just set the example of con
fiscation, by driving them away from his kingdom on his
accession (1180), in order to seize their property. Richard
contented himself with forbidding them to enter Westminster
Abbey; but some wealthy Jews, hoping to secure the favor
of the new king by rich presents, ventured to present them
selves among the vassals who brought their offerings to
Richard. The gifts were accepted, but, after the coronation
ceremony, when Richard, having taken the crown from the
vol. i. 24

186 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIH.
altar, in token that he held it from God alone, had depos
ited it in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who
placed it upon Richard's head, a noise was heard proceeding
from the gates of the churchyard. A Jew who attempted
to enter was pushed back ; on this disturbance being made,
the other Jews were driven away, and then the popular
vengeance was wreaked upon their houses, which were set on
fire. A great number of Jews were killed. The fury spread
throughout the whole of the country. At York, the unhappy
Jews retired into the citadel, where the governor aUowed
them to take refuge. But he went out one day, and the
Jews, fearful of treason, refused to let him re-enter. The
fortress was besieged, and when the Jews found themselves
about to be taken, they set light to an immense wood-pile,
and threw themselves upon it with all their riches, after hav
ing themselves slain their wives and children. Richard for
bade this persecution of the Jews, but did not cause any
body to be punished ; " and this shedding of the Jews' blood,"
says the old chronicler, " although against the wish of the
king, seemed to foretell that Cceur-de-Lion would be a plague
to the Saviour's enemies."
Richard appeared for the time being to have become imbued
with the commercial spirit of these much despised Israelites.
He turned everything into money, selling the royal domains
which his father had been at such pains to reconstitute ; bar
tering away towns, castles, and even, sometimes, property which
did not belong to him. " I would seU London, if I could
find a buyer," he said. The most important offices in the
kingdom were -disposed of by auction Uke the domains. Hugh
Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, bought the county of Northum
berland and the title of Chief Justicier ; the bishoprics and
the abbeys were offered to the highest bidder; the King of
Scotland was released of the tribute imposed upon him and

Chap. VHL] MAGNA CHARTA. 187
his people during his captivity, for the sum of twenty thou
sand marks of silver. The crusade which Richard was pro
jecting, and which occupied his whole attention, required
considerable sums of money, and the king was not very scru
pulous as to the means he adopted for obtaining the money
which he wanted.
Prince John, his brother, had just received some very large
gifts. in Normandy and in England, but he was not nominated
regent of the kingdom during Richard's absence ; the power
was divided between Bishop Pudsey and WiUiam Longchamp,
Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of England. Many duties
were intrusted to Queen Eleanor, and, towards the end of
the year 1189, Richard proceeded to Normandy. He had
promised to start on the crusade at Easter in 1190. The
emissaries of King PhUip Augustus met him at Rouen, and
took oath upon the soul of the king their master to a treaty
of aUiance, both offensive and defensive, between the two
sovereigns, — the King of France undertaking to respect and
defend the "rights of the King of England as he would his
good city of Paris ; while the EngUsh delegates swore, on
the soul of the King of England, to perform the same services
for King Philip as he would for his good city of Rouen.
The Kings of England were stUl, before all, Dukes of Nor
mandy. The Queen of France, Isabella of Hainault, had just died,
and the departure for the crusade was postponed untU mid
summer. The two kings at length met on the plains of
Vezelay, accompanied, it is said, by a hundred thousand cru
saders. They marched across the country together as far as
Lyons, and then separated, after having made an appointment
to meet at Messina. Philip marched towards Genoa, where
he expected to find those of his vessels which were destined
for foreign service. Richard was going to MarseiUes ; his

188 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VTH.
fleet was to come and meet him there. England was no
longer at the mercy of the Genoese or Venetian merchants,
being in possession of a considerable number of vessels. But
the English ships were delayed; they experienced some mis
haps in the Bay of Biscay; some had sought shelter in Por
tugal. Richard became impatient, and hiring some mercantUe
barks, he set out with a portion of his forces, in order to
arrive sooner at Messina to meet the King of France. But
the English ships sailed faster than the MarseiUes barks ;
when the king arrived in Sicily, his fleet had preceded him.
The kingdom of Sicily had for some time lost its sover
eign, William the Good, brother-in-law to King Richard, and
his cousin Tancred, Count of Luce, had been elected king
in his stead. The dowager queen, Joanna, Richard's sister,
claimed her jointure, which Tancred held unjustly, as she
said. Scarcely had Richard set foot in Sicily, when, without
waiting for the negotiations to be made, he took possession of
the castle and of the town of Bagnara, and established his
sister there, who had arrived before him ; then returning to
Messina, he drove the monks from a convent which suited
his purposes, and converted it into a barrack. So many
outrages roused the people, who shut the gates against Rich
ard's troops. A conference was being held in the camp of
Philip Augustus for adjusting this difference, when a fresh
quarrel broke out between the Sicilians and the English
troops. Richard left the royal tent in great haste, assembled
his men, and running helter-skelter among the citizens, he
entered Messina and planted his banner upon the ramparts.
Philip Augustus at once demanded that his own banner should
also be planted there ; but Richard consented to give up the
town into the hands of the Knights Templars, pending the
decision respecting his sister's pretensions; and King Tancred
hastened the negotiations, being anxious to rid himself of so

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 189
turbulent and formidable a guest. Queen Joanna obtained
a large sum of money, and King Richard received his share
of it, which he scattered broadcast among the crusaders,
thus finding favor with the French as well as the English,
the Normans, and the Aquitanians.
PhUip Augustus, courageous and bold as he was when
necessary, did not possess in as great a degree as the King
of England the brilliant quaUties which then constituted a
true knight ; he was more prudent and cunning than Richard ;
perhaps he was even given to dissimulation, for Tancred ac
cused him before the King of England of having endeavored
to dissuade him from negotiating with Richard ; and when
the latter came and complained angrily to Philip, a quarrel
was about to break out between the two brothers in arms,
who had sworn to help each other in the holy enterprise.
Richard thereby gained permission, accorded to him by the
King of France, to marry whoever he chose instead of the
Princess Alice, the sister of PhUip Augustus. It was high
time for Richard to disengage himself from previous contracts,
for Queen Eleanor was to bring back to her son the Princess
Berengaria, whom she had been to Navarre to fetch. They
were only waiting untU the departure of PhiUp to celebrate
the marriage. Bad weather had prolonged the stay of the
King of France at Messina untU Lent, and Richard's marriage
with Berengaria had not yet been solemnized when PhUip
left SicUy, on the 30th of March, 1191, upon his ship " Franc-
la-Mer," at the head of more than two hundred vessels. The
Queen of SicUy took the young princess away with her.
The weather was unfavorable, and the fleet was dispersed.
When King Richard, suffering from sea-sickness, landed at
Rhodes, he was almost alone, and he learned that the vessel,
the " Lion," with the princesses on board, had been driven
ashore on the coast of Cyprus; the governor of the island,

190 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
or, as he called himself, the Emperor Isaac Comnenus, had
not allowed them to disembark ; the saUors who had ventured
to land had even been ill-treated.
Much less provocation would have sufficed to arouse the
anger and vengeance of Cceur-de-Lion. He immediately left
Rhodes, sailed to Cyprus, took possession of the island, and
made prisoners of the emperor and his daughter, gave the
latter to Berengaria for an attendant, and placed Isaac Com
nenus in silver chains, which the latter wore untU his death.
Richard was married in the church of Limasol on the day.
after Easter, in order to set out immediately for Acre, the
siege of which town had already commenced, in spite of the
plague, which was decimating the army.
The prowess of King Richard soon attracted towards him
the eyes of the crusaders and of the Mussulmans themselves.
Stricken with the fever, he would cause himself to be carried
upon a Utter to the ramparts, and would there direct the
movements of the troops. He distributed among the knights
the money taken at Cyprus. The jealousy of King PhiUp
gained ground day by day. Accustomed to consider himself
superior to the King of England, who was his vassal, Philip
was annoyed at seeing his own authority lessened in conse
quence of the prodigious valor of Richard, "the King," as
he was called everywhere in the East, in disregard of the
rights of the King of France.
The French knights and their adherents on the one hand,
the English knights and their alUes on the other, had vainly
endeavored to take the town by storm. Saladin, the sultan
of the Arabs, kept aloof, watching for an opportunity to relieve
Acre. But the Christian army completely surrounded it —
" as the eyebaU the eye," say the Oriental historians — so
completely, in fact, that at the moment when the chiefs of
the Christian army, temporarily reconciled, were preparing to

EICHARD REMOVING THE BANNER OF THE ARCHDUKE.

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 191
attack the town in unison, the Mussulman garrison surren
dered, their lives being spared, on the 12th of July, 1191,
and Saladin retired into the interior of the country. Philip
and Richard immediately entered Acre at the head of their
armies, and planted their banners upon the ramparts. The
King of England had taken possession of the sultan's palace,
without troubling himself to find a residence for Philip ; and
when he learned that the Archduke of Austria, Leopold, had
set up his banner at the side of the standard of England,
he went and tore it down with his own hands, and threw it
into the trenches, indignantly asking how a duke could have
any pretensions to the honors exclusively 'reserved for kings.
Richard was destined to pay dearly for these haughty pro
ceedings. Scarcely had the crusaders entered Acre when King Philip
announced his intention of returning to Europe. In vain was
he urged to persevere in the holy enterprise ; in vain his
emissaries who were intrusted to announce this news to King
Richard were so ashamed of it that they wept and said
nothing. PhUip insisted on returning to France, which coun
try he would have been wise not to have left in the preced
ing year. Ten thousand French crusaders remained in the
East, under the command of the Duke of Burgundy. The
King of France solemnly swore not to make any attempt upon
Richard's dominions, and set sail on the 31st of July, leaving
the Christian army a prey to the dissensions to which the
succession to the throne of the still unconquered city of Jeru
salem gave rise. SybU, granddaughter of Godfrey of Bouillon,
had just died, and her husband, Hugh of Lusignan, was one
of the two pretenders to the title of King of Jerusalem, the
other being Conrad of Montferrat, husband of Isabella, sister
of Sybil. The King of France espoused the cause of Con
rad, and Richard supported Lusignan. It was in the midst

192 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
of these differences that the crusaders, under the command
of the King of England, commenced a march across the
desert of Mount Carmel. Exhausted by the heat, they were
also harassed by the Arab horsemen, who were more embit
tered than ever against the Christians; for the term fixed
for the exchange of prisoners having gone by without Sala
din having sent back those in his possession, the King of
England had caused all the Mussulman prisoners to be led
out of the camp and to be slaughtered before the sultan's
eyes. The soldiers even went as far as searching the entrails
of their victims for any gold or precious stones which they
might have swallowed.
A great battle was fought at Arsouf on the 7th of Sep
tember ; King Richard performed prodigies of valor and
opened up a road to Jaffa. Saladin was at Ascalon, when
the crusaders, who had arrived at Bethany, were compelled
to give up their intention of laying siege to Jerusalem on
account of the bad weather. The sultan at once abandoned
Ascalon, dismanthng the ramparts, and thus making the way
clear for Richard. The latter hastened to repair the fortifi
cations. In order to encourage the soldiers, he himself carried
stones to the workers, and urged the Archduke Leopold to
do likewise. " I am not the son of a mason," replied the
Austrian, whereupon Richard, in a fit of passion, struck him
in the face. Leopold at once left the army and set out to
return to his states, followed by his soldiers.
In vain was Ascalon fortified ; in vain did Richard agree
to confer the crown of Jerusalem upon Conrad of Montfer
rat, in the hope of re-establishing a mutual understanding in
order to be able to march against Jerusalem. That prince
was almost immediately murdered by two emissaries of the
" Old Man of the Mountain," a mysterious sovereign, whose
devotees, intoxicated by the fumes of haschich, blindly obeyed

RICHARD CfflUR DE LION HAVING THE SARACENS BEHEADED.

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 193
his orders. This crime was attributed to the King of Eng
land, who afterwards quarrelled with the Duke of Burgundy,
depriving himself of the support of the French as he had
previously deprived himself of that of the Austrians. They
had again advanced as far as Bethany, and a band of crusad
ers had ascended a mountain overlooking Jerusalem. King
Richard was asked to come and see the holy city in the dis
tance. " No," said he, covering his face with his cloak ;
"those who are not worthy of conquering Jerusalem should
not look at it." The crusaders retraced their steps as far
as Acre.
On arriving at that town, Richard suddenly learned that
Saladin was besieging Jaffa. He embarked at once and saUed
to the rescue. The crescent already shone upon the walls,
but a priest, who had cast himself into the water in front of
the royal vessel, told Richard that he could yet save the
garrison, although the town was already in the hands of the
enemy. The ship had not yet reached the landing-stage, and
already the king was in the water, which reached his shoul
ders, and was uttering the war-cry, " St. George ! " The
infidels, who were busy plundering the city, took fright, and
three thousand men fled, pursued by four or five knights of
the cross. The Uttle corps of Christians intrenched them
selves behind planks of wood and tuns ; ten tents held the
whole of the army. Day had scarcely dawned, when a sol
dier flew to Richard's bedside. " O king ! we are dead
men ! " he cried ; " the enemy is upon us." The king sprang
up from his bed, scarcely allowing himself time to buckle on
his armor, and omitting his helmet and shield. " Silence ! "
he said to the bearer of the bad news, " or I wUl kiU you."
Seventeen knights had gathered round Cceur-de-Lion, kneel
ing on the ground, and holding their lances ; in their midst
were some archers, accompanied by attendants who were re-
VOL. i. 25

194 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
charging their arquebuses. The king was standing in the
midst. The Saracens endeavored in vain to overawe this
heroic little band ; not one of them stirred. At length,
under a shower of arrows, the knights sprang on their horses,
and swept the plain before them. They entered Jaffa towards
evening, and drove the Mussulmans from it. From the time
of daybreak, Richard had not ceased for a moment to deal
out his blows, and the skin of his hand adhered to the han
dle of his battle-axe. The remembrance of this day had not
faded when, more than fifty years later, St. Louis led the
French troops to the crusade. JoinvUle heard the Saracen
mothers scolding their children and threatening them with
Malek-Rik, a name which the Mussulmans gave to King Rich
ard. Such severe fatigue under the burning sun had affected
the health of Cceur-de-Lion. Disquieting news came from
his dominions. He concluded a truce with Saladin, giving
up Ascalon to him, but keeping Jaffa, Tyre, and the fortresses
along the coast, and promising to refrain from any hostUities
during a period of three years, three months, three weeks,
three days, and three hours. " Then I wiU come back," ¦
said Richard, " with double the number of men that I now
possess, and will reconquer Jerusalem." Saladin smiled, ac
knowledging, however, that if the Holy City was to fall into
the hands of the Christians, no one was more worthy of con
quering it than Malek-Rik. The two adversaries had con
ceived for each other a feeling of chivalrous admiration and
esteem, which is the theme of Sir Walter Scott's novel, " The
TaUsman." Numerous presents had been exchanged by them
during the war ; and when Richard was suffering from fever,
and was perishing with thirst, he received each day fruits
and cooling drinks which were sent to him by the sultan.
It was on the 9th of October, 1192, that Richard Cceur-de-
Lion left Palestine! Standing upon the poop of his ship,

RICHARD'S FAREWELL TO THE HOLT LAND.

CHAP.Vin.] MAGNA CHARTA. 195
he was surveying the shore, then fading from sight. " O,
Holy Land ! " cried he, " I leave you to God, you and
your people. May He help me to come back to your assist
ance!" The English ships were sailing together, when a
storm arose and dispersed them. The one which carried the
two queens arrived in SicUy, but King Richard was not with
them, and no one knew what had become of him. Driven
at first towards the island of Corfu, he had hired three smaU
vessels, which had taken him to Zara, whence he hoped to
reach his nephew, Otho of Saxony, son of his sister MatUda.
He found himself surrounded by enemies and threatened on
all sides. He knew that King Philip had entered into a
league with John Lackland, in order to deprive him of his
kingdom ; the Emperor Henry had laid claim to the throne
of Sicily, and had not forgiven Richard for his alliance with
Tancred ; Leopold of Austria had not abandoned all hope
of revenge ; and everywhere the relations of Conrad of Mont-
ferrat were accusing the King of England of having been the
cause of the death of their aUy. Richard assumed the garb
of a merchant, and started on his journey through the moun
tains of the Tyrol. He arrived at Goritz in Carinthia, where
he sent and asked for a passport for Baldwin of B6thune,
one of his knights, and for Hugh the merchant. The messen
ger was instructed at the same time to present the governor
with a ring which the merchant sent him. The governor
scrutinized the messenger. "You are not speaking the truth,"
cried he. " It is not a merchant who sends me this ring,
but King Richard. But as he honors me with his gifts with
out knowing me, although I am the cousin of Conrad of Mont-
ferrat, I wiU do him no injury. TeU him, however, to leave
this place as soon as possible."
The governor of Goritz did not wish to arrest King Rich
ard, but he had not promised to keep the secret. He in-

196 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
formed Frederick of Montferrat, Conrad's brother, that Cceur-
de-Lion was about to travel across his dominions. Recognized
by a Norman knight, the king was saved by a faithful vassal,
and had arrived in the states of the Duke of Austria, when
he fell UI in the village of Erperg, a short distance from
Vienna. A page was dispatched to the capital to exchange
some gold bezants for current coin of the country. He was
noticed and interrogated, and being put under torture, he
divulged his master's name. Richard was stretched upon his
bed, sleeping, when the mayor of Vienna entered his little
apartment. " Good morrow, King of England," he said.
" You hide in vain, for your face betrays you."
The king had already seized his sword, protesting that he
would only surrender to the duke himself. Leopold was un
willing to let any one else have the honor of making the
capture ; he soon arrived, and received the King of England's
sword. " You should esteem yourself fortunate, Sire," said
the duke, with a smile of revengeful satisfaction ; " if you
had fallen into the hands of the relations of Conrad of Mont
ferrat, you would have been a dead man, even if you had
had a thousand lives." And triumphantly leading forth his
prisoner, whom he reminded on the road of the insult which
had been formerly offered to the Austrian flag, he shut Rich
ard up in the castle of Tyrnstein., But the emperor at once
claimed the illustrious captive. " A duke cannot possibly
keep a king ! " he urged ; " it is the right of an emperor."
And Richard was conducted to the castle of Trifels, where
he languished for two years.
While King Richard had been acquiring glory in Palestine
without any signal advantage gained to the Christian cause,
disorder reigned supreme over his kingdom ; the ChanceUor
Longchamp had seized upon the power, casting his fellow-
bishop of Durham into prison, and only setting him free at

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 197
the price of aU the dignities which the latter had bought
of Richard. The chancellor was able and devoted to the
king, but haughty, arrogant, despotic, and, above all, rapa
cious, as aU powerful men were at that time. "If he had
remained master," say the chronicles, "he would not have
left a belt to the men, a bracelet to the women, a ring to
the knights, or a jewel to the Jews." But scarcely had
King Richard arrived in Palestine when Prince John unmasked
himself. Having raised an army against the chancellor, he
claimed the supreme authority on the ground of his being
heir-presumptive to the crown, resolutely refusing to recog
nize the rights of Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, whom
Richard had repeatedly nominated as his successor. Badly
supported by the barons, Longchamp was beaten, and com
pelled to agree to a truce. By means of intrigue and con
cessions, John first of aU caused himself to be recognized by
the regent and the councU as heir to the throne, then obtained
the deposition of the chancellor, and saw himself raised to
the dignity of governor-general of the kingdom. It was on
the 9th of October, 1191, while King Richard was fortifying
the town of Jaffa, after the victory of Ascalon. The new
regent offered to allow Longchamp to keep his diocese of
Ely, and have the governorship of three royal castles. " No,"
said the deposed chanceUor, " I wiU not willingly give up any
of my master's rights ; but you are stronger than I, and chan
ceUor and chief justicier as I am, I yield to superior power."
He consigned the keys of the Tower to Prince John, and
made preparation for leaving England. No doubt he knew
the prince too weU not to fear some treachery, for he dis
guised himself as a traveUing tradeswoman, and, accompanied
by a large number of boxes, he waited near Dover for the
ship which was to carry him to France. The vessel was
delayed ; some fishermen's wives, passing along the beach,

198 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
asked if they might ktok at his goods ; but the Chancellor
of England did not understand English, but only spoke Nor
man, and therefore could not answer ; the women, being
impatient, declared that the owner of the boxes must be a
mad woman, and raised her veil. They started back at see
ing a man's face underneath it. The fishermen rushed to
the spot ; and, suspecting some sinister purpose in the dis
guise, they subjected Longchamp to iU-treatment until the
officers of the guard came, tore him from their grasp, and
took him to prison. The Chancellor had much difficulty in
getting free again, and in obtaining permission to proceed to
France. The Archbishop of Rouen was created chancellor
and chief justicier in his stead.
It was in the month of October, 1192, when King Richard
was just setting sail from Acre, that rumors of his approach
ing return were spread throughout Europe ; but in vain did
days, weeks, months elapse. The champion of the Cross,
Cceur-de-Lion, had disappeared, and his fate remained shroud
ed in mystery, when, at the beginning of the year 1193, a
letter from the Emperor Henry VI. to the King of France,
discovered by accident, revealed the fact of Richard's incar
ceration in Austria. " The enemy of the Empire and the
disturber of France," said the Emperor, " is imprisoned in a
castle in the Tyrol, and watched day and night by faithful
guards with naked swords." The exact whereabouts of the
castle remained a secret.
The effect of this news in Europe was wonderful; Rich
ard's reputation had caused people to forget his pride and
avarice. Prince John was as proud and as avaricious as his
brother, without the fitful generosity and brilliant valor which
in Richard compensated for so many faults : the clergy remem
bered the great deeds performed for the deliverance of the
Holy Sepulchre ; all the noblemen and knights were disgusted

CHAP.Vm.] MAGNA CHARTA. 199
at the treachery which kept a king and a crusader in an
unknown prison ; the Pope excommunicated the Archduke
Leopold, and threatened the Emperor with the same penalty ;
Prince John and the King of France alone rejoiced at the
powerless state in which their enemy found himself. The
prince hastened to Paris to do homage to Philip for aU the
dominions which the King of England held upon the Conti
nent ; and then, recrossing the Channel, he commenced prep
arations for raising an army, to enable him to dispute his
brother's claim to the crown ; but already the barons and
prelates who remained faithful to Richard had unfurled the
royal standard ; the hired soldiers gathered together by John
were repulsed, and the feeble usurper was compelled to con
sent to an armistice. His aUy of France had been unsuccess
ful at Rouen, which was defended by the Earl of Essex,
who had recently arrived from Palestine. PhiUp had been
compeUed to quit that town.
The ex-Chancellor Longchamp had at length discovered
the king's prison, and had gone to see him. He managed to
induce the emperor to convoke the Diet of the Empire at
Hagenau, in order to hear the charges against Richard. The
King of England appeared before the princes there assembled,
and cleared himself easily of the accusations brought against
him. The emperor consented to deUver him up for a ransom ;
the sum fixed was a hundred and fifty thousand marks of
sUver. The king's fetters were removed, and he was led
back to his prison, there to remain until the united efforts
of his people should raise the required sum of money. " My
brother John wUl never gain a kingdom by his valor ! "
Cceur-de-Lion had disdainfully declared on hearing of that
prince's treachery. But John could plot, and, supported by
Philip Augustus, he contributed greatly towards postponing
the deUverance of his brother. Richard was stiU languishing

200 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
in prison at the beginning of the year 1194, lamenting his fate
in Provencal ballads, which may be translated thus: —
"Now know ye well, my barons, people, all,
English and Norman, Gascon and Poitevin,
That for no money would I leave in thrall
The poorest of my comrades thus to pine.
Eeproach I made not nor desire withal,
Though now two winters here."
The period of his captivity was at length, however, draw
ing to an end. In vain did PhUip Augustus and Prince
John propose to the Emperor Henry a much larger sum than
Richard's ransom, if he would stUl keep the latter in prison.
The princes of the Empire opposed the offer indignantly, and
when the first half of the ransom arrived, in the month of
February, 1194, the king was at length restored to liberty.
He landed at Sandwich on the 13th of March, to the great
delight of his subjects. Prince John had taken refuge in
Normandy, and the other traitors had disappeared. Richard
seized upon several castles, deprived several rebels of their
offices, and sold them to the highest bidder ; then, levying
another tax upon a country exhausted by war and by the
payment of the royal ransom, he hastened to France, to pun
ish her king for the injuries inflicted upon him by that mon
arch. On disembarking, Richard was met by his brother,
who reckoned upon the intercession of his mother to obtain
the forgiveness of the sovereign whom he had so cruelly
wronged. " I forgive him," said Richard ; " and I hope that
I shall forget his misdeeds as completely as he will forget
my forgiveness." He refused, however, to reinstate John in
his land and castles.
War was still raging between the two monarchs, with vari
able success. Richard was enabled to wreak his vengeance
upon the Bishop of Beauvais, who had formerly been intrusted

Chap. VTIL] MAGNA CHARTA. 201
with missions from Philip to the Emperor of Germany. That
prelate, having been made a prisoner during a battle, by
Merchadec, chief of the Brabantines in Richard's service, was
imprisoned in the castle of Rouen. In vain did he implore
the intervention of Pope Celestine III. in his favor ; the King
of England sent the armor, stained with the bishop's blood,
to the pontiff, with this quotation from Scripture : " See
whether it is your son's garment." The Pope laughed. " It
is the coat of a son of Mars," said he; "let Mars undertake
to deUver him ; " and the bishop remained in prison untU the
death of King Richard.
So many struggles were necessarily burdensome; "from sea
to sea England was ruined," say the chroniclers. A citizen
of London, William Fitz-Osbert, better known by his title of
" Longbeard," constituted himself the champion of the poor,
endeavoring, first of aU, by interceding with the king, to obtain
a lessening of the burdens which were crushing them. The
king wanted money. Longbeard achieved no result, and
came back to England, where he organized a secret associa
tion. He began a series of public orations, causing danger
ous riots in London, where he was looked upon by the people
as their king and savior. The authorities endeavored to arrest
him, but he took refuge in the church of St. Mary of the
Arches, with a few supporters, where he defended himself
until the buUding being set on fire he was obliged to leave
it ; he was wounded, captured, and dragged to Smithfield,
where he was hanged. The people had done nothing to
rescue him ; but it was found necessary to punish the fanat
ics who came by night to scrape up the earth at the foot
of his gibbet, to be preserved as a reUc.
King Richard had defeated Philip Augustus at the gates
of Gisors. While making his escape, the King of France
had almost been drowned in the river. " I made him drink
VOL. I. 26

202 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
the water of the Epte," Richard wrote triumphantly. But
the day was approaching which was to see the end of so
many heroic but fruitless struggles; it was rumored in Nor
mandy that an arrow was being fashioned in Limousin, which
was destined to kill a tyrant. The King of England learned
that his vassal, the Viscount of Limoges, had discovered a
treasure. He at once sent to claim it of the viscount, who
sent him one half of his treasure trove upon a mule. " Gold
treasure belongs to the liege-lord ; silver is divided," said
the viscount. But Richard wanted the whole ; he marched
against the castle of Chalus, where he expected to find the
treasure, and laid siege to the place. It was weU defended,
but provisions had run short; the garrison wished to capit
ulate. "No," said Richard; " I will take your place by storm,
and cause you all to be hanged on the walls." The defend
ers of the town were in despair ; the king and Merchadec
were examining the point of attack, when a young archer,
Bertrand de Gourdon, pulled his bow, and praying to God
to direct the arrow, aimed it at the king ; the latter was
struck on the left shoulder. The town, however, was taken
by assault, and all the garrison were hanged. The king
sent for Gourdon. He was dying, for an unskilful surgeon
had broken the arrow, and left the steel portion in the
wound. " Wretch ! " said he to the archer, " what had I
done to you that you should have attempted my life ? "
" You have put my father and two brothers to death," said
Bertrand, "and you wanted to hang me." "I forgive you,"
cried Richard ; "let his chains be removed, and let him re
ceive one hundred shillings." Merchadec took no heed of
the royal pardon, but caused Bertrand de Gourdon to be
flayed alive. Gourdon's children fled to Scotland, and be
came, it is said, the founders of the Ulustrious famUy of the
Gordons. Richard died on the 6th of April, 1199. Scarcely

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 203
had he breathed his last, when his sister Joanna, whom he
had married to the Count of Toulouse, arrived at the camp
before Chalus, to solicit help for her husband in his dispute
with the court of Rome, in the matter of the Albigenses.
She was informed of the death of her brother, and the shock
caused her to give birth to a child prematurely. The child
was stillborn, and the mother died at its birth. She was
buried with her brother at Fontevrault, at the foot of the
grave of Henry II.
The period of chivalric enterprises in England had gone
by, and that of humiliation and decay was commencing. The
reign, however, of John Lackland, the most cowardly and
treacherous of the sovereigns who have sat on the throne of
England, is one of the most important epochs in history, for
from that time dates the active part played by the nation in
its own affairs — the time of Magna Charta, the germ and
foundation of aU English liberty.
John was well known by the people whom he aspired to
govern, and was universally detested. Scarcely had the rumor
of the death of King Richard spread through France, when
aU the nobifity of Brittany, Touraine, Anjou, and Maine de
clared themselves in favor of Prince Arthur, son of Geoffrey
Plantagenet and of Constance of Brittany, born seven months
after his father's death, whom Richard had repeatedly nom
inated as his successor. Under the influence of Eleanor,
Aquitaine and Poitou recognized John as their liege-lord; he
.was in Normandy, and caused himself to be proclaimed at
Rouen on the 25th of April. He had already sent the Arch
bishop of Canterbury back to England, to bring together all
the barons, and to make them swear allegiance to John,
Duke of Normandy, son of King Henry, son of the Empress
MatUda. The repugnance felt towards him was very gen
eral, but the fear of anarchy decided several noblemen in

204 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
favor of John ; promises and presents influenced others, and
on the 25th of May, 1199, when John arrived in England,
the greater number of the barons had become reconciled to
his cause. The new king was crowned on the 27th of May
at Westminster, the primate proclaiming aloud that the crown
of England was not an inheritance descending by right of
primogeniture, but that it belonged to the worthiest claimant.
The worthiest claimant on this occasion was Prince John.
There had been no question raised about the rights of
Arthur; but Philip Augustus was too shrewd not to seize
this pretext for renewing the war against John, whom he
knew to be a coward, a sluggard, and a sovereign unpop
ular in his kingdom ; he claimed, therefore, in the name of
the young prince, whose mother had placed him under the
royal protection, nearly all King John's continental domains.
Hostilities recommenced, and Brittany was ravaged both by
its enemies and friends. But the King of France was engaged
in a serious dispute with the Pope ; his kingdom had just
been placed under an interdict ; he concluded peace with
John, sacrificing, without remorse, the interests of Arthur,
who found himself completely disinherited through the mutual
understanding between his uncle and the King of France.
Meanwhile John had started out for Aquitaine, there to
receive the homage of his subjects. He met, at one of the
fites which were celebrated, Isabel, daughter of the Count
of Angoule"me and wife of the Count of Marche ; she was
remarkably beautiful, and as ambitious as she was beautiful.
Her beauty attracted the king, and the ambition of the coun
tess prompting her, she abandoned her husband to marry John
Lackland, who himself had been married for ten years to
the daughter of the Earl of Gloucester. An insurrection soon
broke out in Aquitaine; it was insignificant at first, but at
the beginning of the year 1202 Philip Augustus, deUvered

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Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 205
from his quarrels with Pope Innocent III., stirred the flame
of the rebellion in the southern provinces, organized an insur-
rection in Brittany, and suddenly took up Arthur's cause
again, who had recently lost his mother. " You are aware
of your rights," he said to the young prince ; "do you wish
to become king ? " " Decidedly I do," said Arthur. " Very
weU, then," said Philip ; " there are two hundred knights,
take them and march against your own provinces whilst I
enter into Normandy." The Bretons rallied round their young
duke, who advanced with his little army against the town
of Mirebeau in Poitou, where his grandmother Eleanor was
staying, whom his mother had taught him to hate. He hoped,
by capturing her, to obtain better conditions from his uncle ;
but the old queen defended herself valiantly, and held the
castle sufficiently long to allow her son to come to her assist
ance. A nobleman of the country delivered up the town
to him on the night of the 31st of July, 1202, on King John's
promising not to do any harm to his nephew. All the noble
men who supported the young duke, among whom was the
Count of Marche, were made prisoners, and Prince Arthur
himself was imprisoned in the castle of Falaise, whence be
was transported a short time afterwards to Rouen. Accord
ing to tradition the king ordered his eyes put out; but the
earnest pleadings of the child induced the jailor to spare them.
The most probable story relates that the king arrived by
night with his esquire, Peter of Maulac, to see the unfortunate
young prince in his dungeon, and that he took the latter
with him in a Uttle boat upon the Seine. The young man
was in fear, and begged his uncle to spare his life ; but John
made a sign, and De Maulac, after plunging his dagger into
the prisoner's heart, threw his body overboard ; but it is
also said that De Maulac conceived a horror of the crime
beforehand, and refused to commit it, and that the king him-

206 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VTIL
self struck the fatal blow. It was on the 3d of April, 1203.
Rumors of the murder spread throughout France and England,
adding fresh indignation to the hatred which John already
inspired. The Bretons proclaimed Alice of Thouars, daughter
of the Duchess Constance by her third husband, instead of
Prince Arthur's sister, Eleanor, the Pearl of Brittany, who
was in the power of her uncle, and was shut up by him in
a convent at Bristol. The appeal of the Bretons to the liege-
lord was listened to by Philip Augustus ; he summoned John,
Duke of Normandy, to appear in Paris to be judged by his
peers. Queen Eleanor had retired to Fontevraud, where she
had taken the veil, overcome, it is said, with despair in conse
quence of her son's crime.
John had not answered Philip's summons : he was at Rouen
occupied with the festivities, while the King of France was
entering Poitou, supported by the nobility, who had generally
revolted in his favor, and was marching from thence into
Normandy ; the Bretons had commenced the attack, and were
advancing, pillaging the country. Many Normans joined them,
so great was the horror inspired by the murder of Prince
Arthur. -The people had also organized an insurrection in
Anjou and Maine, and Philip had taken possession of all the
towns on his way when he effected a junction with the
Bretons at Caen. " Let them go where they please," John
would say, in the midst of his revels ; " I will take back in
one day all that they have acquired with so much trouble."
But the French army having appeared at Rodepont, in the
neighborhood of Rouen, the King of England fled in great
haste, and recrossed the Channel in the month of December,
1203, in order to seek for succor.
The English reinforcements did not arrive ; Rouen had
defended itself valiantly ; but the citizens had at length
yielded in consequence of a famine ; Verneuil had just been

MURDER OF PRINCE ARTHUR,

Chap. Vin.] MAGNA CHARTA. 207
taken. Castle GaiUard, fortified by Richard Cceur-de-Lion,
capitulated after a siege of seven months; the garrison had
defended tower after tower ; there no longer remained a single
French knight, when the French soldiers at length destroyed
the last portion of the ramparts. John had not Ufted a finger
to defend his dominions, and the King of France was regain
ing possession of his duchy of Normandy, which had been
separated from his dominions for two hundred and ninety-
two years ; Brittany, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, and Poitou
slipped from the grasp of the King of England ; Aquitaine
alone remained to him. King PhUip, who was now satisfied,
allowed himself to be persuaded by a legate sent by the Pope,
and concluded a truce of two years' duration with King John,
which was to commence in the month of December, 1206.
The arms of his temporal enemies had triumphed. John
Lackland was about to bring down upon himself the spiritual
thunders. A conflict had arisen between the king and the
chapter of Canterbury about the election of an archbishop.
The Pope settled the question by nominating Cardinal Stephen
Langton, who was then at Rome, and whose merit was known
to the pontiff. The monks of Canterbury recognized him,
and John caused them to be driven from their cloisters by
two knights, sword in hand. The Pope instructed the three
bishops to pronounce an interdict in England, authorizing at
the same time the English barons, who were, he knew, se
cretly discontented, to aid him in snatching their country
from ruin. The bishops pronounced the terrible sentence,
and at once left King John's dominions. The barons did
not dare to rebel ; the king had taken possession of a large
number of children of the noblest families as hostages. He
had sent Peter of Maulac to demand the sons of William of
Braose, Lord of Bramber in Sussex. " By my faith," said
the lady of the castle, "he did not take such care of his

208 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VlH.
nephew that I should "trust my children to him." Peter of
Maulac made prisoners of the lady and her children, who
died of hunger in their prison. Lord Bramber died of grief
in consequence.
The interdict had lasted one year ; the churches were closed.
No more bell-ringing, no religious services, no marriages, no
prayers over the graves ; the baptism of newly-born chUdren
and the administration of extreme unction were the only
concessions made by the Church. In 1209, the Pope sent
a bull of excommunication against the king ; the blow was
foreseen, and the approaches were so zealously guarded that
the papal missive could not gain admission ; but John knew
that a sentence of deposition would follow that of excommu
nication ; and this proceeding, although unproductive of prac
tical results in itself, assumed a terrible degree of importance
when it was known that King Philip Augustus was ready to
carry it into execution. It is related that at this time John,
in despair at his struggle against the Church, conceived the
idea of begging the assistance of the Mussulmans, and that
he sent an embassy to the Emir El-Hassiz in Spain, propos
ing* to embrace the religion of Islamism and to become the
vassal of the emir, if the latter would cross the Pyrenees,
enter into France, and thus draw off the forces of King
Philip. The emir listened gravely, only giving vague answers.
When the emissaries had retired, the Mussulman called back
one of them, a priest. " Tell me," he asked him, " in the
name of the Lord, from whom you expect your salvation,
what kind of man your king really is." " He is a tyrant
who will soon feel the effects of his subjects' anger," repUed
the monk; and the emir refused all King John's offers.
In spite of the Pope's discontent and John's terror thereat,
the latter had carried on successfully some expeditions against
the insurgents in Ireland and Wales, when, in 1213, Inno-

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 209
cent III. at length proclaimed his deposition, absolving all
his vassals from their oath of allegiance, and making an appeal
to all Christian princes to dethrone an impious tyrant. Ste
phen Langton was sent to King Philip to promise forgive
ness of* all the latter's sins if he would carry out the sen
tence of the Holy See. The French army was already being
formed. King John had obtained a signal success over his
adversary's fleet, and he was at Dover, surrounded by an
army of sixty thousand men ready to encounter the invaders
if their sovereign would lead them; but John was afraid of
his subjects, mistrusting their fideUty ; and he shrank as usual
from giving battle to the enemy. The Pope's legate, Pan-
dulph, came and met him at Dover. He represented to the
king in the most terrible colors the strength of the French
army, the discontent of the barons, and the anger of the
exiles ; , the little courage that remained to the degenerate
Plantagenet faded away from his heart. He was, besides,
pursued by the recoUection of a prediction of Peter the Her
mit of Wakefield, which ran : " Before the day of the Ascen
sion the king will have lost his crown." John resolved rather
to drag it through the mire than to relax his hold of it.
The legate was a skilful diplomatist ; before making public
the result of his negotiations with the king, he demanded that
all the exiled priests should be allowed to return with Lang-
ton at their head; and he also exacted an assurance that the
clergy and laity would be indemnified for the losses which
they had sustained through the interdict. The king signed
this agreement on the 13th of May, 1213, and four barons
affixed their seals to it. On the 14th John was engaged all
day in private conference with the legate.
On the morning of the 15th of May the king rose early
and went to the church of thu Templars, at Dover ; a great
crowd had already assembled tuev&. and John, kneeling and
VOL. i. 27

210 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
clasping the hand of the legate in his own, swore in a loud
clear voice an oath of allegiance to the Holy See. At the
same time he placed in the hands of the pontiffs ambassador
a document declaring that he, John, King of England and
Ireland, in expiation of his sins against God and the Holy
Church, without being constrained thereto by force, or by the
fear of the interdict, but of his own free will and with the
consent of his barons, ceded to the Holy Pope Innocent and
to his heirs and successors for ever, the kingdom pf England
and dependency of Ireland, to be held by himself, John, and
by his successors as a fief of the Holy Church, by paying an
annual sum of a thousand marks of silver. At the same
time the king offered a purse as an earnest of his submission.
Pandulph threw it on the ground, trampling the money dis
dainfully under foot; but he accepted the crown which John
had relinquished, and for five days it remained in his keep
ing. The Feast of the Ascension had passed ; the king caused
the Hermit of Wakefield to be tied to the tail of an untamed
horse, as a punishment for his predictions ; but the people
maintained that Peter had not been mistaken, because King
John himself gave up his crown.
Scarcely had the legate accomplished his mission in Eng
land, when he recrossed the sea to Philip's camp at Boulogne,
announcing to the latter that the states of his enemy would
for the future form part of the dominions of St. Peter, and
that the King of France no longer had permission to invade
them. " But," said Philip, " I have spent enormous sums
of money in the preparations for war at the Pope's bidding,
and on his having granted remission of my sins." He re
solved to carry on the expedition, and was preparing to set
sail, when a quarrel with the Count of Flanders caused him
to turn his arms in that direction ; the English fleet came
to the assistance of the count, and gained a brilUant victory

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 211
over the vessels of Philip, who, finding himself deprived of
the means of transport and revictualling, was obliged to re
nounce, for the time beings his expedition against England.
John had called all his subjects to arms; but when the
barons met him at Portsmouth they refused to embark in the
ships until the king had allowed the exiles whom he had
called back to re-enter the country. Langton was hateful
in the eyes of John, who looked upon him as the cause of
the first dispute with Rome; but he was obliged to yield,
and the archbishop and the monks of Canterbury once more
set foot on English soil ; the kiss of peace was exchanged,
and John embarked, reckoning on the support of the barons.
He arrived at Jersey, but the noblemen had not followed
him, pleading that the period of their service was at an end,
and they met at St. Alban's under the presidency of Chief-
Justicier Fitz-Piers, a man of low origin, whose marriage with
the Countess of Essex had placed him in a position which
he maintained by reason of his ability. They had already
published a series of royal declarations demanding the observ
ance of the old laws, when John, furious at the desertion of
his vassals, returned, piUaging and burning down everything
on his way. The Archbishop of Canterbury came to him.
" You are not fulfilling your oath, Sire," said he ; " your vas-
safs should be judged by their peers, and not coerced by
arms." " Pay attention to your church," cried the king,
angrily, "and leave me to govern the kingdom." Langton
threatened to excommunicate all the agents of the royal ven
geance, and John ended by summoning the barons to appear
before him.
Langton, on the other hand, had convoked them at London.
When the king entered the audience-chamber, the cardinal
held in his hand a parchment document. It was the charter
of King Henry I. ; this was neither the first nor the last

212 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
charter which England received since the Conquest. William
the Conqueror, in 1071, had guaranteed to his barons, by a
charter, the performance of a contract entered into between
them, promising to reform the abuses which had been pointed
out to him, and securing to the Saxons the maintenance of
the laws of Edward the Confessor. In 1101, King Henry I.
had lately been proclaimed King of England ; the Duke Robert
was claiming the throne by virtue of his seniority. In order
to secure the support of the Norman, as weU as the Saxon
barons, Henry had convoked in London a general assembly,
and signed a fresh charter almost similar to his brother's.
It was this document which Archbishop Langton had found,
and which he was bringing to the barons assembled in Lon
don Uke their ancestors, not, as of old, to receive a charter,
but to force one upon the king.
King Stephen had also made the same promises, endowing
the Church likewise with a charter setting forth its rights.
Finally, Henry II. , in 1154, had renewed the charters of King
Stephen, and had caused a copy of the document to be de
posited in aU the churches ; there is one of them remaining
now. Cceur-de-Lion did not sign any charter, but that of John
Lackland was destined to be glorious and powerful for ever
afterwards under the title of Magna Charta. The barons
swore to observe the injunctions of Henry I.'s charter, which
had been presented to them by Langton, to remain faithful
to one another, and to secure their liberties or to die defend
ing them. This was on the 25th of August, 1213.
The Pope had abandoned the cause of English liberty on
receiving homage from King John ; the interdict had been
raised, and the hostile forces of King Philip were gathering
in all directions. The Emperor of Germany, the Count of
Flanders, and the Count of Boulogne called the King of Eng
land to their aid. John sent William Longsword, Earl of

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 213
Salisbury, his half-brother, to the camp of the allies, and
marched in person against Brittany ; but he did not come to
blows with the heir to the throne of France, Prince Louis,
who had been sent forward by his father, on the 27th of
July, whUe the latter was waging war against the confeder
ates at Bouvines. On the 19th of October, John signed a
five years' truce, and returned to England furious, humiliated,
and resolved to revenge himself upon his English subjects
for aU the reverses of fortune which he had suffered on the
Continent. Fitz-Piers, whom John feared and detested, was
dead. The king burst into laughter on learning this news.
" God's teeth ! " he cried, " this is the first time that I have
felt myself king and sovereign of England." But Langton
was the real chief of the conspiracy; the support which the
Pope lent to King John had not for a single moment shaken
the fidelity of the archbishop to the cause of the barons : they
again met, on the 20th of November, at Bury St. Edmunds,
and, placing their hands upon the altar, they swore, one
after another, that if the king refused to grant the just rights
which they claimed, they would withhold their allegiance,
and wage war against him until he should have granted their
demands by a charter sealed with the royal seal.
Christmas-day arrived ; the king found himself alone at Wor
cester, his barons not having presented themselves to do
homage to him. John retired in great haste to London, and
took refuge, in the fortress of the Templars. The barons
followed him there, this time in larger numbers than he cared >
for, and on the day of the Epiphany they haughtily presented
their requests to him. John eyed the faces which surrounded
him, and which bore an inflexible and resolute expression,
both in the case of the priests and the warriors. He turned
pale. " Give me untU Easter to reflect upon all this," he
said. Before consenting, the barons stipulated that Cardinal

214 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
Langton, the Bishop of Ely, and the Earl of Pembroke should
become sureties that the king would satisfy their claims upon
the day mentioned by him. They knew the value of John
Lackland's promises. Scarcely had they left, when he threw
himself under the protection of the Church, renouncing all
the prerogatives of the throne in the choice of ecclesiastical
dignitaries, and begging the assistance of the Pope, who
wrote to Langton, but with no result. At length John for
mally assumed the cross, on the 2d of February, hoping thus
to avoid fulfilling his promises to the English barons. He
did not yet fully understand his subjects.
On Easter-day the confederates had met together in large
numbers at Stamford ; they sent a deputation to the king,
who was at Oxford. When Langton read aloud the claims
of the barons, John angrily exclaimed, " And why do they
not also ask for my crown ? By God's teeth ! I will not
grant liberties which would make a slave of me." The Pope's
legate, who was there, maintained that Langton ought to
excommunicate the confederates. " The intentions of the
Holy Father have been misunderstood," said the archbishop,
calmly ; " if the mercenary followers of the king do not
soon leave the kingdom, whose ruin they are accomplishing,
it is they whom I will excommunicate." The barons then
styled themselves the Army of God and of the Holy Church,
and, placing Robert Fitz-Walter at their head, they marched
against Northampton Castle. The resistance there was so
actively carried on that the siege had to be raised, and the
barons advanced towards Bedford. The position of affairs
at this time was critical, and it was imperatively necessary to '
know whether the citizens of the towns would support the
noble insurrectionists. Bedford opened its gates, and the con
federates took the road to London ; they arrived there on
the morning of the 24th of May. The people received them

CHAP.Vni.] MAGNA CHARTA. 215
joyfully, and good order was maintained in the Army of the
Holy Church. The barons issued a proclamation, calling under
their banners all the knights who had hitherto remained aloof
from the contest. The king found himself unsupported, all
the nobility of the kingdom having risen against him. He
yielded therefore, at least for a time, to urgent necessity ; he
sent the Earl of Pembroke to the barons assembled in London
to assure them that he was quite ready to grant the privileges
and Uberties which they claimed, and asking on what day
and at what place they would arrange matters with him.
"On the 15th of June, at Runnymede," replied the barons.
On the 15th of June all the noblemen of England were
there. "It is not necessary to name them,',' says the chron
icle, "for they consisted of all the nobility of the country."
Fitz-Walter was at their head; the king was accompanied
by the legate, by the Grand Master of the Templars, by eight
bishops brought by Langton, and by twelve barons, of whom
the Earl of Pembroke was the chief. The king's followers,
with the exception of the legate and the Templar, were as
devoted to the Uberties of England as the confederate noble
men. John did not put in any claim or make any objection.
With an amount of alacrity, which must have appeared sus
picious to far-seeing observers, he signed the charter which
was presented to him, and the. great seal was affixed to it.
The first real token of EngUsh liberty had been acquired ;
the first stone of the noble edifice of the Constitution was
laid ; the conditions were well defined ; and the rights and
interests of the clergy, as well as those of the feudal nobility,
and of the merchants and citizens who had supported the
barons in their enterprise, were carefully provided for. Effect
ual guaranties were secured ; the necessity for causing persons
who were arrested or punished to be tried first of all in a

216 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VIII.
court of justice, the establishment of regular assizes, the main
tenance of the integrity of justice, all formed part of the
fundamental rights claimed by the barons; who also required
the disbanding of the mercenary troops, and the formation
of a committee of twenty-five members intrusted with the
task of seeing to the fulfilment of all the clauses of the com
pacts, the non-fulfilment of which gave the barons the right
of waging war with the king until their grievances should
be completely redressed. During two months the barons were
to retain possession of the city of London.
All these precautions were powerless, however, against
treachery. Scarcely had the triumphant confederates left Run
nymede, when King John flew into a terrible passion, rolling
on the ground, and cursing the traitors who had dared to
reduce him to slavery. The mercenary troops, whom he was
obliged, according to Magna Charta, to disband, encouraged
him in his anger and his plans for revenge ; John called
fresh reinforcements to his aid. After the treaties had been
violated, war broke out ; the barons prepared for it. A tour
nament, which had been announced, was decided to be held
nearer to London, and several gatherings had already taken
place, when the thunderbolt which John had invoked fell
upon the heads of the English nobility. The Pope declared
Magna Charta to be void, holding that it was illegitimate,
having been obtained by force; and he commanded Langton
to dissolve any confederation under pain of being excommu
nicated. The archbishop set out for Rome, in order to obtain
a revocation of this sentence, and the war commenced in
England with the siege of Rochester. The place was defended
by D'Albiney, a member of the council of the twenty-five ;
after a resistance, which lasted during two months, the gar
rison having come to the end of their resources, at length
opened the gates. John desired to hang the brave defenders

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 217
of the town ; the chief of his free bands, Sauvery of Mau-
leon, surnamed the Bloody, opposed his determination. " The
war is only beginning, Sire," said he ; " if you commence by
hanging your barons, your barons will end by hanging us."
The knights' lives were spared, and the men-at-arms only
were executed.
Langton had failed in his mission at Rome, and had been
deposed from his see ; the barons were excommunicated, and
the city of London placed under an interdict, but the con
federates took no notice of the two sentences. " The Pope
had been misguided," they said, " and had meddled in the
temporal affairs of England, which do not concern him, as
the spiritual domain alone belongs to St. Peter and his suc
cessors." John, however, had become possessed of two large armies
of mercenary troops of Brabantines and of free-lances, who
willingly executed the sanguinary orders of their chief: one
corps was sent to pursue their work of ravaging the counties
of the East and the Centre ; the other marched towards the
North under the command of the king, repulsed into Scot
land the young King Alexander, who had crossed the frontier
to lend his aid to the barons, and burned down and desolated
the buildings in York, Northumberland, and Cumberland.
Everywhere the barons, in retiring, would lay waste their
houses and fields ; everywhere the king burned down what
ever he found standing ; but he was still advancing, while
the confederates were retreating. They at length found them
selves shut up in the city of London ; all their castles had
fallen into the hands of the tyrant, who had made a present
of them to his followers, — to Satan's guards, as the people
caUed them. The families of the confederates were at the
mercy of King John ; the barons resolved upon their course
of action, a bitter one, that of seeking aid abroad, and accord-
VOL. I. 28

218 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VHI.
ingly sent a deputation to Philip Augustus, proposing to give
the crown of England to his son, Prince Louis, if he would
come to their help with an army. His arrival, it was thought,
would immediately thin the ranks of King John's supporters,
for they were mostly Frenchmen, and would be unwilling
to fight against their own countrymen.
Philip Augustus only wanted a pretext to meddle in the
affairs of England. He agreed to the proposal of the barons,
not, however, without requiring hostages as a guaranty of
good faith ; and in spite of threats from the Pope, who for
bade either the father or the son to invade a fief of the
Holy Church, Prince Louis set sail in the month of July
with a large army, raised chiefly through the personal efforts
of his wife, Blanche of Castile, a niece of King John, in
whose name Louis put forth his claim to the crown of Eng
land. John's fears did not wait for the landing of the French
troops ; he had left Dover, and had repaired to Bristol, where
the legate awaited him. Prince Louis landed at Sandwich,
and, almost without striking a blow, he marched to London,
which city he entered on the 2d of June, 1216. The entire
population came to meet him, and, after having offered up a
prayer to St. Paul, he received homage from the barons and
citizens, promising to govern them according to their laws,
to protect their rights, and to restore their property to them.
The satisfaction was universal : the counties surrounding Lon
don submitted willingly to Prince Louis ; the oppressed inhab
itants of the North revolted. A large number of John's mer
cenary troops deserted him, to return to their homes, or to
rally round the standard of France ; the nobiUty who had
become reconciled to the king, in the presence of the reverses
sustained by the national cause, abandoned him to join their
old friends ; and, lastly, Pope Innocent III. was just dead
(16th July), and hence the powerful support of Rome was

Chap. VIII.] MAGNA CHARTA. 219
taken from him. John had only the fortresses defended by
his partisans remaining to him.
Meanwhile Prince Louis was stopped at Dover Castle, and
the English barons at Windsor Castle. In vain did they
attack the massive walls with a machine which came from
France, and which was called the " Malvoisine." Hubert de
Burgh held his ground firmly at Dover, and the siege of
Windsor had been raised. The confederates had hoped to
surprise the king at Cambridge ; but John had eluded them,
and had proceeded to Lincoln, of which city he took posses
sion. The prospects of the confederation were not flourish
ing; the reinforcements, which had been sent from France,
were checked by the English sailors who remained faithful
to King John. Prince Louis displayed little activity, and
treated his English allies in a haughty manner. He had
already presented several estates to the noblemen who had
accompanied him from France : one of them, the Viscount
of Melun,' was dead ; and he had, it was said, confessed,
when dying, that the intention of the French people, when
their prince should be on the throne, was to treat the Eng
lish like men who had shown themselves untrustworthy by
reason of their treachery to their sovereign. Distrust and
discord had entered into the allied camps ; several barons
opened negotiations with King John. The latter's position
was ameliorating ; he had just left Wisbeach, and desired to
proceed to Cross-Keys, on the south of the Wash, when, on
arriving at the ford, he beheld the rising tide suddenly ingulf
the long line of wagons which were carrying his luggage,
his treasures, and his provisions. The troops had already
crossed the river, and were in safety, but the king became
furious at witnessing such an irreparable loss ; he arrived,
exhausted with rage, at the convent of the Cistercian monks
at Swineshead. No event, however dreadful, troubled King

220 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. VDX
John while at table ; he ate some peaches and drank some
new ale — so immoderately, in fact, that he fell UI on the
morrow, and, thinking that he was poisoned by the monks,
he caused himself to be taken to Newark. Death, the only
enemy that John could not escape from, awaited him there.
He sent for a priest, nominated his son Henry as his suc
cessor, and dictated a letter to the new Pope, Honorius, to
recommend his children to the care of the Holy Church.
The remembrance of his crimes did not seem to trouble him
on his death-bed ; perhaps he held himself absolved from all
his sins by his allegiance to the Holy See. " I commit my
soul to God and my body to St. Wulstan," he said. He then
expired on the 18th of October, 1216. He was buried at
Worcester, in the church of St. Wulstan. Death had a^ length
delivered England of the cowardly and faithless tyrant Whom
she had for a long while submitted to, then vanquished, and
against whom the country was stUl struggling in defence of
Magna Charta, which, after the lapse of more than six centu
ries, remains the basis of English liberties.

Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY HL 221

CHAPTER IX.
KING AND BARONS.— HENRY IE. 1216-1272.
KING JOHN was buried when his young son was crowned
at Gloucester, on the 28th of October, 1216, by the
Pope's legate. He was ten years of age at the time, and his
feeble hands confirmed without resistance the gift which his
father had made to Rome of the kingdom of England. It
was the vassal of the Church, who, in the month of Novem
ber, 1216, was confided to the care of the Earl of Pembroke,
the most formidable of the barons who had remained faithful
to King John, by reason of his orderly and prudent character,
for he was as devoted to the liberties of his country as the
barons who had mustered round the banner of Prince Louis.
He was nominated. " Protector " of the kingdom and of the
king, and his first care was to make a revision of Magna
Charta : he eliminated the temporary articles ; confirmed a
great number of clauses; others remained pending until the
raising of a more numerous army; and the earl directed aU
his efforts against the French prince and his foreign adhe
rents. The favors and good graces of the Protector drew to
him all the barons who were deserting the French prince, and
they were becoming every day more numerous. Their enmity
had died out at the death of King John; the child who had
just been crowned was their legitimate sovereign, descended
from the kings whom they had loved and served. Louis saw
his army rapidly decreasing; thanks to the vigorous resist
ance of Hubert de Burgh, he had been unable to obtain pos-

222 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
session of Dover Castle, which he had been besieging for some
time. In vain had they endeavored to seduce him from his
duty, by urging that the king to whom he had sworn alle
giance was dead. " The king has left children," he answered ;
and Louis raised the siege to return to London, which stiU
remained true to him. An armistice soon allowed him to
go to France to collect reinforcements; but, in his absence,
the insolence of Enguerrand of Coucy, whom he had left at
the head of affairs, was spreading discontent, and the forces
of the national party sprang up so rapidly that the prince,
attacked on the sea by the sailors of the Cinque Ports, found
some difficulty in returning to England. An army corps
under the command of the Count of Perche was defeated by
the Protector in the very streets of Lincoln, and the anathe
mas of Rome began to pour down upon Prince Louis and his
adherents, who were excommunicated in a mass.
Louis was shut up in London, surrounded by his enemies;
he asked for help from France, but his father, PhUip Augustus,
would not become concerned in a quarrel with the Pope, and
did not dare to act openly in his son's favor. It was Louis's
wife, Blanche of Castile, who succeeded in raising considerable
forces, which she sent to him under the care of a chief of
adventurers named Eustace the Monk, because he had escaped
from his monastery. The French fleet met Hubert de Burgh
on the high seas. The struggle began. Eustace the Monk was
defeated, and was beheaded on the poop of his vessel. Hubert
de Burgh returned triumphantly to Dover with his prizes.
This last check was the death-blow to Louis's cause in Eng
land. On the 11th of September, 1217, a treaty of peace
was signed at Lambeth, granting easy conditions to the French
prince, and a full pardon to his English adherents. The Pro
tector had no other desire than to put an end to the struggle,
and to see England deUvered from the foreigners ; in spite

Chap. LX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 223
of its prolonged resistance, the city of London even obtained
a confirmation of its privileges. Louis set sail in the middle
of September, and his more distinguished partisans were
kindly received at King' Henry's court. Magna Charta was
again confirmed, not, however, without some modifications
favorable to the royal prerogative ; the clauses relating to the
protection of the forests were included in a special charter
called the " Forest Charter," which rendered less severe the
Norman legislation as to hunting and the edicts which related
to it. The wisdom and moderation of Pembroke prevailed
in the councils ; the Queen-mother, Isabel, had fled from Eng
land in the midst of the confusion, and her first husband, the
Count of Marche, had just been solemnly remarried to her ;
the legate remained with the young prince, and was in
structed by the Pope to look after the interests of the vassal
of the Church as well as those of the suzerain mistress of
England. Order seemed to have been re-established, when
the Protector died (May, 1219), and the power, which was
afterwards divided between Hubert de Burgh and Pierre des
Roches, Bishop of Winchester, became a bone of contention
to the rivals and the barons attached to either party. Habits
of insubordination, which had been developed during the long
struggle against arbitrary power, had borne their fruit. Eng
land was rent asunder by internal quarrels which it was not
even hoped would end on the king's attaining his majority,
for Henry III. grew up without becoming a man. Absorbed
in the love of luxury and pageantry, in the songs of minstrels
and the masterpieces of the sculptors or of the artists with
whom he loved to surround himself, he appeared to take no
interest in his affairs, and displayed no warlike inclinations,
but left the barons to quarrel among themselves, and the
Italian priests to devour the substance of his kingdom, with
out manifesting any desire to find a remedy. France was

224 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
suffering from the evils of a minority. Louis VII., who had
succeeded Philip Augustus in 1223, had reigned but a short
time, and Louis IX. was not sixteen years of age when, in
1230, the King of England, who had come of age two years
before, made a raid on Brittany at the instigation of some
noblemen of Normandy, Brittany, and Poitou. But Blanche
of Castile possessed a more vigorous spirit and a stronger
arm than King Henry III. ; she herself led her son to the
war, and, in spite of the turbulency of the French barons,
who were always eager to shake off their yoke, she saw her
efforts crowned with success. Several towns belonging to the
King of England opened their gates to her, while King Henry
was losing time and wasting his resources on fStes and tour
naments at Nantes. He started back for England in the
month of October, deeply humiliated, leaving his ally, the
Duke of Brittany, at the foot of the throne of Louis IX.,
who granted him the pardon which he had humbly solicited
with a rope round his neck. The Parliament (this Norman
name was beginning to be used) which was convoked at
Henry's return, refused to grant any subsidies, alleging that,
thanks to the folly and imprudence of the king, his barons
were no richer than himself.
Hubert de Burgh had for some years past triumphed over
his rival, Pierre des Roches, who was obliged to retire into
private life ; but the UI success of the expedition to France
had ended by causing a feeling against the minister among
many of the nobiUty, who were jealous of his power. Pierre
des Roches reappeared at the court, and soon afterwards formal
accusations were made against Hubert, most of them frivo
lous, and attesting nothing but his fidelity to his king, Whom
he had served and defended during so many years. But
Henry III. was not in a position to protect his friend, and
would scarcely recognize him ; he was prejudiced against

KING JOHN'S ANGER AFTER SIGNING MAGNA CHARTA.

HUBERT DE BURGH AWAITING HIS ENEMIES.

Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY in. 225
Hubert, who took refuge at Merton Abbey. The king had
ordered that he should be arrested there; but the Arch
bishop of Dublin reminded him of the privilege of sanctuary,
and obtained a passport which authorized the fallen minister
to retire to his residence and prepare his defence. On the
faith of this promise Hubert de Burgh set out to meet his
wife, the King of Scotland's sister, at Bury St. Edmund's ;
but he was attacked on the way by a band of armed men
sent by the king. Hubert was in bed at the time ; he fled
half naked into the parish church, and, seizing in one hand
the crucifix and in the other the host, he awaited his enemies
upon the steps of the altar. He was dragged into the church
yard, and, on the refusal of a blacksmith, who declared that
he would rather die than chain down the defender of Dover
Castle, was tied to a horse, and conducted to the Tower of
London. The violation of the consecrated spot, however,
excited the public indignation to such a degree that the king
found himself obliged to send his prisoner to Brentwood
church, which he caused to be surrounded by palings and
trenches, thus compelling Hubert to give himself up volun
tarily. Having been again imprisoned in the Tower, the earl
was deprived of aU his property, and afterwards languished
for one year in the Castle of Devizes. He contrived to escape,
and, having been rescued by his friends at the very moment
when his enemies were upon him, he regained a certain amount
of power ; but he no longer aspired to the dangerous position
of prime minister, which his rival, Pierre des Roches, had
lost in consequence of his manoeuvres and excesses. Being
satisfied with the recovery of his liberty and a portion of his
property, Hubert left the new Archbishop of Canterbury,
Edmund Rich, in undisturbed possession of the supreme au
thority. This prelate, like his predecessor Stephen Langton,
was a patriotic statesman, who contrived for the moment to
VOL. i. 29

226 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
conquer, by his good sense and wisdom, the aversion which
the king manifested towards charters, and the restlessness of
the barons, who were always inclined to maintain by force of
arms the privileges which they had gained with so much
difficulty. A fresh element of discord had sprung up between the king
and his people. Henry had married in 1236 Eleanor of Pro
vence, sister of Margaret, wife of Louis IX., King of France.
A large number of Gascons and Proven§als had followed her
to the court ; the queen was accompanied by four uncles,
young brothers of her mother, the Princess of Savoy. The
king immediately conceived a firm friendship for them : the
Bishop of Valence became prime minister ; his brother Boni
face was promoted to the archbishopric of Canterbury, which
Edmund Rich had abandoned, weary and disgusted, to retire
into a monastery ; and the two other brothers were also pro
vided for. Even this was not sufficient : the queen-mother,
now Countess of La Marche, sent to the court of England
the four sons whom she had borne to Hugh de Lusignan, and
the wealth and honors which the king lavished on the broth
ers attracted towards them a large number of adventurers.
The king found himself without money ; all the ecclesiastical
benefices were reserved for Italians, by virtue of the Pope's
authority over the country. Parliament always insisted on
the departure of the strangers as a condition of granting sub
sidies; but the king, immediately on obtaining the money,
forgot his promises, and even his oaths, and his frivolous
followers laughed at Magna Charta and the importance which
the barons attached to it. " What are the English laws to
us? " they would ask.
By these laws the king was compelled to ask his people
for the means, which he wasted so foolishly on feasts and
extravagance. Each day the Parliament became more reluc-

Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 227
tant to grant them. The queen-mother, offended, she said,
by the Countess of Poitou, sister-in-law of Louis IX., urged
her son to declare war with France, assuring him that the
old vassals of his house were eager to gather round his
standard. The English barons refused the necessary subsi
dies, saying that the truce agreed to between the two king
doms still remained in force. Henry was not of a warlike
disposition; but his mother was importunate; he raised some
money, and set sail for France with three hundred knights.
A certain number of malcontents soon joined him, commanded
by the Count of Marche, whom his wife sent to the war,
as she had already sent her son. King Louis IX. had taken
the field with forces superior to those of the English. The
two young monarchs met near the castle of Taillebourg, in
Saintonge, on the banks of the Charente. Louis, at the head
of his forces, attacked the bridge defended by the English
troops, and for a moment withstood almost unaided their
united efforts. His signal courage gained the day ; the bridge
was taken, the English were routed, and the King of England
escaped in company with his brother, to whom he owed his
safety. The two brothers took refuge in Saintes. A second
battle was fought on the morrow, under the walls of the
town, and the English were again defeated. The Count of
Marche surrendered, and King Henry, flying across Saintonge,
embarked at Blaye, leaving the decorations of his chapel and
the money remaining in his coffers in the hands of the enemy.
It was to the moderation of King Louis IX. and to the scru
ples of his sensitive conscience that the English were indebted
for a truce of five years.
The barons, humiliated and disgraced, although they had
not been engaged in the quarrel with France, claimed the
right of nominating the chief justicier, the chancellor, and
several other officers of the crown. The king refused, and

228 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
the Parliament only aUowed him what was strictly necessary
on the occasion of the marriage of his eldest daughter to the
King of Scotland. Henry had conceived a hatred of parlia
ments. In order to manage without them, he had recourse
to every expedient by which he could raise money ; he exacted
enormous fines, tortured the Jews, and begged presents of all
his vassals. " God gave us this child, but the king sold him
to us," said a wag at the birth of one of the princes. Henry
even, on one occasion, sold a portion of the royal table-plate.
He was advised to sell everything; but the difficulty was to
find buyers. " The citizens of London will buy anything,"
cried the king bitterly. " By my faith ! if the treasures of
Augustus were for sale, the citizens would make the pur
chase. These villains live like barons, while we are in want
of the principal necessaries of life." The king detested the
city of London, but he levied as many taxes as possible upon
its inhabitants, instructing the persons of his household to
obtain all the things necessary for his entertainments without
paying for them, and continually claiming gifts under the
most frivolous pretexts from the citizens.
In 1253, King Henry had come to an end of all his resources
and expedients. He was compelled to convoke a Parliament,
declaring that he was anxious to assume the cross, and to go
and deliver the tomb of Jesus Christ from the hands of the
infidels. The barons had often seen this pious pretext made
use of, and were not to be deceived by it ; they were, besides,
accustomed in private life to hear the same determination
announced, in order to set aside, the most solemn obligations.
Before making any grant, they exacted a new and solemn
ratification of their liberties. On the 3d of May the king
proceeded to Westminster Hall ; the barons were assembled
there, and all the bishops were standing with tapers in their
hands. They offered one to the king. " I am not a priest,"

Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS.— HENRY m. 229
he said, and refused it. The Archbishop of Canterbury stepped
forward, and uttered the sentence of excommunication against
all those who should, either directly or indirectly, violate the
charters of the kingdom. As he finished speaking, all the
prelates threw aside their tapers, which were extinguished at
their feet, and the priests cried : " May the soul of him who
may incur this sentence be extinguished in a like manner in
hell." The king, uplifting his hand, uttered this oath: "May
God help me to preserve intact all these charters, as I am
a Christian, as I am a knight, and as I am a king anointed
and crowned." Scarcely had he received the subsidies, when
he started on an expedition to Guienne, which was threat
ened by the intrigues of Alphonso, King of Castile. The quar
rel was soon settled, and a marriage decided upon between
Prince Edward, Henry's elder brother, and Princess Eleanor,
daughter of Alphonso. But the king kept this happy con
summation secret, in order to obtain fresh subsidies from his
EngUsh subjects, under the pretence of continuing the war.
He only came back to England when he found himself, as
usual, reduced to beggary.
The king's want of political foresight was as conspicuous
as his prodigality and weakness. The King of Sicily, Fred
erick IL, had been dead some time (1250). He had been
excommunicated, and Pope Innocent IV. had claimed his
kingdom as a fief of the Holy See. Frederick's son, Prince
Conrad, supported generally by the people, was resisting this
pretension by force of arms, and the Pope was casting about
for a foreign prince who might be disposed to take up the
quarrel. He offered the crown of Sicily to Richard, brother
of the King of England, whose immense fortune, derived from
the Cornish mines, rendered him more powerful even than
King Henry himself ; but he refused the tempting bait,
although he was quite ready to be seduced, some mouths later.

230 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
by the hope of gaining possession of the empire. The Pope
then offered the kingdom of Sicily to the King of England
for his second son, Edmund, and the monarch joyfuUy ac
cepted the offer, without troubling himself about the demands
of his subjects or the state of his finances. The Pope was
borrowing of the Lombards and the Venetians, and raising
troops in his name ; but the Holy See was a hard and urgent
creditor. Innocent IV. soon demanded back the money which
he had spent, and ordered the English clergy to lend the
necessary funds to the king. The clergy refused ; the king
levied enormous taxes on the abbeys and churches. The legate
sent to England to recover the money encountered on all
sides the most violent opposition. " I would rather die than
pay so much money," said the Bishop of Worcester. " The
King and the Pope are stronger than we," said the Bishop
of London ; " but if I am deprived of my mitre, I shall be
able to wear a helmet." The legate returned, convinced that
a storm was about to burst over England.
It was on the 2d of May, 1258 ; famine reigned through
out the kingdom. Henry III. had been reduced to the neces
sity of convoking Parliament. When he entered Westmin
ster Hall, the barons were awaiting him there, clad in their
armor. On hearing the clanking of arms at his arrival, the
king suddenly turned pale. " Am I a prisoner," he said,
nervously. " No," said Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk ; " but
your foreign favorites and your own extravagance have re
duced the country to such an abject state of misery, that
we demand that the power may for the future be vested in
a committee of bishops and barons, in order that they may
root out all the abuses, and make good laws for us." One
of the Lusignans began to protest. The king agreed, with
out any reservation, to the demands of the barons, who prom
ised, in return, to help him to pay his debts, and to support

'Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 231
the pretensions of his son in Italy, provided that he would
give proofs of his sincerity at the reassembling of ParUament,
which was to be convoked at Oxford.
At the head of the barons, in their resistance and indig
nation against foreigners, was Simon, Earl of Leicester, him
self a foreigner. The youngest son of Simon of Montfort,
the persecutor of the Albigenses, he had inherited the earl
dom of Leicester through his mother, and had recovered his
property, which had been confiscated in 1232, through the
favor of King Henry, who had taken a fancy to the young
Proven§al, whom he had aided in marrying his sister Eleanor,
widow of the Earl of Pembroke, to the great indignation of
the royal family and the nobiUty of England.
The favor of the king was short-lived. Montfort had ini
tiated himself into the good graces of the barons,- who had
been so violently opposed to him at first ; and the king, jeal
ous and uneasy, drove him from England in 1239, scarcely
allowing the earl time enough to embark with his wife, who
went with her husband to France. He left her, to assume
the cross and proceed to Palestine, where he distinguished
himself by glorious feats of arms. On his return, the king
had forgotten his jealousy and anger. The earl lived peace
ably in England, and was even raised to the dignity of Gov
ernor of Gascony. He was recaUed in 1252, under the pre
tence of misbehavior, and young Prince Edward was provided
with the office thus snatched from the Earl of Leicester,
who grew more and more attached to the cause of the refrac
tory barons, of whom he became the real chief.
The king's disorderly habits and want of foresight had at
length reduced him to the last extremities, when he decided
on confronting the Parliament assembled at Oxford on the
11th of June, 1258. The whole town was filled with men-
at-arms; aU the barons had brought a numerous following

232 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
with them. They presented to the king the list of the coun
cil who were to be intrusted with the administration of the
kingdom. Twelve members were to be elected by the king
and twelve by the barons. This assembly, presided over by
the Earl of Leicester, was to be invested during twelve years,
with the care of the royal castles. No expense could be in
curred against their will ; they held possession of the great
seal, and were to revise the accounts of the chanceUor and
of the treasurer ; the king was to be compelled to convoke
Parliament three times a year.
Henry agreed without hesitation to these humiliating con
ditions, just as his father, King John, had signed Magna
Charta. Prince Edward, whose conscience would not allow
him to take oaths as lightly as his father had done, at first
made a show of resistance, but ended by acceding to the
wishes of the barons. His cousin Henry, son of Richard of
Cornwall, who was then known as the King of the Romans,
declared that his oath would not be valid if made in the
absence of his father. " Let your father have a care," said
Leicester, " if he refuse to do the bidding of the barons of
England; for, in that case, he shall not remain in possession
of one foot of land in the kingdom." The young nobleman
accordingly took the oath.
The king's brothers had refused to give up the castles
which they occupied. " I will have them, or you shall lose
your head," Montfort declared to William of Valence. And
he made such formidable accusations against them at the
council, that the four brothers took refuge in Wolesham
Castle. The barons pursued them, made them prisoners, and
sent them out of the kingdom. The acts of the Parliament
of Oxford — of the "Mad Parliament," as the royalists caUed
it — were strictly observed throughout the kingdom.
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Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 233
improvident government ; but they had not been able to guard
against the temptations of triumphant ambition. The offices
left vacant after the departure of the king's favorites were
filled up by the favorites of the Earl of Leicester. His allies
began to grow alarmed at his great power ; the King of the
Romans, who had recently returned to England, after having
taken the oath of allegiance to the acts of the barons, endeav
ored to create rivals to the Earl of Leicester. The barons,
violent and haughty, insulted the king and oppressed the
people. " Why are you so bold with me, my lord earl ? "
said Henry to Roger Bigod ; " do you not know that I could
order all your corn to be destroyed ? " " Indeed, sir king,"
said the earl, " and could I not send you the heads of the
destroyers ? "
The dissensions among the barons reawakened the hopes of
the king. He had provided himself with a dispensation from
the Pope, which relieved him of his oaths ; and in February,
1261, he ventured to announce to the barons that they had
greatly abused their power, and that he, the King of Eng
land, intended for the future to govern without them. He
had at the same time taken possession of London. Prince
Edward, who had recently returned from France, had, on the
contrary, tendered his support to the barons, out of respect
for his oath, as he said. The king saw a certain number
of his adversaries drawing nearer to him, and in spite of the
rebellion of the nobility, the temporary success of the king
compelled Leicester to escape to France, swearing that he
would never again trust to the oath of a perjured sovereign.
In 1263 the struggle had just begun afresh. The Great
Earl, as Leicester was called, had raised his standard; the
king had taken refuge in London, and Prince Edward was
at Windsor Castle. Queen Eleanor, who was even more de
tested in the city than the king her husband, had endeav-
VOL. i. 30

234 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
ored to escape by way of the Thames ; the people had recog
nized her, and her bark had been pelted with mud and stones.
Cries were heard of, " Let us drown the witch ! " The lord
mayor of London had had some difficulty in protecting her.
The king had given up everything, and agreed to everything,
but only to attack his adversaries again in the month of June,
arming himself against them with the Earl of Leicester's claim
that the authority of the barons in the government was to be
continued after Henry's death, under the reign of his succes
sor. Prince Edward's scruples disappeared before this arrogant
audacity, and he openly embraced his father's cause.
The bishops made an effort to put an end to the civil war ;
they proposed to submit the dispute to the arbitration of Louis
IX., a noble testimony to the fairness and integrity of a
prince who was related to the King of England by family
ties. The barons consented at first ; but King Louis, although
requiring that Henry should respect the Great Charter, decided
that the power should be placed in the king's hands, that
the sovereign was free to choose his attendants from among
his subjects or from among foreigners, and that the royal
castles should be given up. The barons smiled disdainfully
at this decision ; they had had some experience of the king's
good faith, and expected to lose all the liberties acquired
after so long a struggle, if they did not hold the tokens of
them with a firm hand. The civil war recommenced ; after
alternate successes and reverses, the two armies met on the
plains of Lewes in Sussex. Prince Edward violently attacked
a body of citizens of London who had foUowed Leicester to
the field of battle. He was anxious to avenge the insult
which his mother had suffered. He pursued the unfortu
nate soldiery, whose lines were soon broken by the king's
cavalry. But, in his absence, fortune declared itself in favor
of the Earl of Leicester. When Edward reappeared upon the

Chap. LX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 235
field of battle, the king was a prisoner, as well as his brother,
the King of the Romans ; the prince soon suffered the same
fate; the Lusignans fled and again made their escape from
England. Leicester was now master of the situation ; the
sovereign and the heir-apparent served him as hostages.
His power soon became greater than that of the king had
been at any time. Having been excommunicated by the
Pope, he took no notice of the sentence, notwithstanding
his sincere piety. Rome had abused its power, and a great
number of the English clergy were favorable to Leicester,
and supported his cause as that of the people, who adored
the earl. Strong in his popularity, Leicester thought him
self able to triumph over all his rivals. He compelled the
barons who had sided with the king to give up their castles
to him, causing them to be tried by their peers, and then
banishing them to Ireland. On a demonstration being made
by a fleet which had been raised in France by Queen Elea
nor, he gathered together soldiers from all the boroughs
and cities to resist the invaders, whUe he himself, taking up
his position at the head of the English squadron, was cruising
in the Channel awaiting the enemy. The queen's vessels did
not dare to leave port, and Leicester returned in triumph to
England. At the beginning of the year 1265 the earl had convened
a ParUament, and, for the first time, the representatives of the
counties and the towns had taken their seats beside the barons
and prelates. Leicester knew where his real strength lay,
and looked for support from the body of the people. All that
was decreed by the Parliament as thus constituted was favor
able to the earl : a certain amount of liberty was, however,
granted to Prince Edward, who was, nevertheless, closely
watched. He soon learned to profit by the amelioration in his
condition. Issuing forth one day from Hereford Castle, he

236 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. LX.
organized races among his guards, reserving to himself the
right of awarding the prize : then when all the horses were
exhausted with the exception of his own, he galloped off
until he met Roger Mortimer, one of his friends, who was
coming from the frontiers of Wales to join him. The party
of resistance to the barons thenceforth had a chief, and, after
a year of supreme power, Leicester was destined to discover
the uncertainty of human affairs.
The earl had five sons ; the three eldest were more violent,
more tyrannical, and more greedy than all the foreigners
who had formerly surrounded the king. Henry of Montfort
had seized upon all the wool intended for exportation, and
sold it for his own benefit. Guy and Simon of Montfort had
armed a fleet, and were taking possession of any merchant
men that they chanced to come across, without distinction of
parties. They added thus daily to the number of their ene
mies, and were quietly undermining the power of their father.
The Earl of Derby and the young Earl of Gloucester (for
merly sincerely devoted to Leicester) embraced the cause
of Prince Edward, who, seeing his forces swell rapidly, ad
vanced towards Kenilworth Castle, the hereditary property
of the Earls of Leicester. Simon of Montfort, the earl's
second son, had just arrived there ; he was marching to meet
his father, who was endeavoring, with little success, to • raise
an army ; in vain did he summon the king's vassals to come
and serve under his standards ; his supporters were not many.
Prince Edward attacked Simon's camp, just outside Kenilr
worth, made a large number of prisoners, and captured all
the enemy's baggage. Simon had only time to take refuge
in the castle, and he had been unable to join his father,
when the latter arrived at Evesham, on the 14th of Au
gust, 1265.
A number of banners were perceptible in the distance, and

Chap. IX.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY m. 237
the earl's barber declared that he recognized the arms of Si
mon. "Go up into the church-steeple, and you will see
better," said Leicester. The barber was trembling with fear
when he came down ; he had seen the lions of England, the
red chevron of the Earl of Gloucester, the azure bars of the
Mortimers, and innumerable lances glistened underneath the
banners. "We are dead men, my lord," said he. The earl was
observing the order of battle of the enemy. "They have
learned from me how to conduct themselves," he said, calm
ly ; " may the Lord have mercy on our souls, for, by the
arm of St. James, our bodies belong to the prince ; " and,
re-entering his residence, he prepared, as usual, for the fight
by prayer and the sacrament. His son Henry was encour
aging him. " I do not despair, my son," said the earl ;
"your presumption and the pride of your brothers have
brought us to this; but I wiU die for the cause of the Lord
and justice."
He had caused the feeble king to be armed, and had taken
him about with him everywhere. The standard of England
was displayed by both armies. The earl was endeavoring to
open up a road towards Kenilworth ; his most devoted ad
herents had formed a circle round him ; the prince stUl pushed
forward ; in front of him a horseman had just fallen from off
his steed. " Save me," cried a plaintive voice; " I am Henry
of Winchester ! " Edward sprang forward, and, raising up his
wounded father, dragged him into a place of safety. In his
absence, the voice of the earl resounded upon the field of
battle. "Is any quarter given?" he asked. "No quarter
for traitors ! " cried a royalist triumphantly, and, at the same
moment,' Henry of Montfort fell at his father's feet. " By
the arm of St. James, it is time to die ! " cried Leicester,
who plunged headlong into the surging crowd, holding his

238 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
sword with both hands, and striking down all who came in
his way. He fell at length, as well as the knights who
still surrounded him ; scarcely a dozen remained standing,
when Prince Edward sent for the body of the earl, his
godfather, and that of his cousin Henry, to transport them
to the abbey of Evesham ; the body of Leicester was de
capitated, and his hands were severed from his arms; his
head was carried to Lady Mortimer by her husband's savage
warriors. Thus died " Simon the Just," as he was called by the
people of England ; a sincere man, animated by more noble
sentiments than most of his contemporaries ; haughty and
ambitious without being cruel ; a man who had rendered
great services to his country before allowing himself to abuse
his power by the very thirst for authority and popularity.
The remembrance of him remained sacred among the people,
who would assemble round his tomb, and invoke his protec
tion devoutly, complaining of his not having been canonized.
His sons took refuge on the continent, after having retained
possession for some time of Kenilworth Castle. The younger
ones remained with their mother, who was generously treated
by her nephew Edward ; the two elder, Guy and Simon,
accomplished their revenge by murdering, five years later,
at Viterbo, their cousin Henry of Almagne, in a church,
during the celebration of the mass. They disappeared after
this crime : the House of Montfort had fallen forever.
The king had regained his sceptre, delivered the prisoners,
and called back the exiles who had been banished by the Great
Earl ; but the victory gained by Leicester survived his defeat.
In the Parliament convened at Winchester, in the month of
September, 1265, the king did not dare to repudiate the lib
erties acquired by England. The city of London alone lost
its charter, but the severe sentences pronounced against Leices-

Chap. DI.] KING AND BARONS. — HENRY III. 239
ter's partisans excited a series of insurrections which Prince
Edward had great difficulty in quelUng. The want was felt
of loosing the reins of government, and of restoring some
trust to the vanquished; a committee composed of bishops
and barons was intrusted to draw up the conditions of peace ;
their sentence, known under the title of the Dictum of Kenil
worth, was confirmed by the King and the Parliament. The
efforts of the Pope, the uprightness and good sense of Prince
Edward, and the weariness of all parties, at length brought
about a general cessation of hostUities. On the 18th of
November, 1267, more than two years after the battle of
Evesham, the Parliament, which had assembled at Marlborough,
adopted several of the liberal guaranties formerly proposed
by the Earl of Leicester ; the last of the " patriots," as they
called themselves, who stUl held the Isle of Ely, laid down
their arms ; the citizens of London received a fresh charter,
and the country was at peace.
Scarcely had peace been secured, when Prince Edward
took advantage of it to assume the cross, as did also his wife
Eleanor of Castile, and his cousin Henry of Almagne. They
made saU in the month of July, 1270 ; Louis IX. had just
set out on his second crusade, and Prince Edward, a great
admirer of his uncle of France, was hastening to join him,
when Henry of Almagne, who had been sent upon a secret
mission to Italy, was assassinated by his cousins, the Mont-
forts. This blow was fatal to the old King of the Romans,
who died in the month of December, 1271 ; eleven months
afterwards, on the 16th of November, 1272, his brother, King
Henry III., also died. He was interred in Westminster
Abbey ; but before being lowered into the grave, the Earl
of Gloucester, placing his naked hand upon the corpse, took
an oath of fidelity to King Edward I. ; the other barons fol
lowed his example. King Henry was sixty-five years of age,

240 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. IX.
and had reigned fifty-six. King only in name, feeble and
frivolous, he had seen the liberties of his people grow greater
under his eyes and against his wish ; his son, who was stiU
vainly contending against them, was destined to derive from
the free support and spontaneous ardor of the English na
tion the strength which served him through his wars and
conquests.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 241

CHAPTER X.
MALLEUS SCOTORUM — EDWARD I. 1272-1307.
EDWARD H. 1307-1327.
THE EngUsh fleet was speeding towards the coast of
Tunis, to which place the policy of Charles of Anjou
had taken Louis IX. Prince Edward was already rejoicing
at the idea of going back to his uncle, to gain instruction
in Christian chivalry. But with the land appearing in the
horizon, when approaching the port, the French vessels were
seen to be in mourning, their flags flying at half-mast. A
feeUng of uneasiness spread through the fleet. A little bark
put out from shore ; she came alongside the prince's vessel.
" The holy king is dead," said the saUors, and they burst
into tears. Prince Edward was in despair ; he landed, and
appeared to his imagination to be walking among ghosts.
The French soldiers, discouraged, sick, and disheartened, re
solved to give up an enterprise the commencement of which
had been so disastrous. The young King of France, Philip
the Bold, urged Prince Edward to return Uke himself to his
country ; but Edward was inflexible. " I would go," said
he, " even had I only with me Torvac, my equerry." As far
as Trapani, in Sicily, he accompanied the funereal journey of
King PhUip, who bore homeward the coffins of his father and
brother. When he reached France, the unfortunate young
monarch had added to these the biers of his wife, his sister,
and his brother-in-law, the King of Navarre.
Prince Edward left Sicily in the spring of 1271, making
VOL. l 31

241: POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
sail towards Acre, the only place which still remained in the
hands of the Christians. He commanded a smaU band of
troops, and the European knights who were in Palestine did
not respond very readily to his appeal. An attack on Naza
reth, which was followed by the massacre of the Mussulman
garrison, and the repair of the walls round Acre, had been
the only result of the Seventh Crusade, when Edward himself
nearly fell a victim. He was in his camp, on the Friday
after Whit-Sunday, about the hour of vespers; overcome
by the heat, he was resting upon a couch, when a messenger
from the Emir of Jaffa presented himself at the door of the
tent. He was in frequent communication with the prince,
and was, therefore, allowed to enter. The Arab presented
his papers; then suddenly drawing a dagger from his long
sleeve, he stabbed the prince in the region of the heart.
Edward sprang up from his couch, and, knocking down the
assassin, fractured his skull with a stool. Then, repressing
with a sign the violence of his attendants, who had appeared
on hearing the commotion, and who were mutilating the assas
sin's body, — " Of what use is it," he asked, " to strike a
dead man ? "
The prince's wound was slight, but the idea of poison
presented itself to everybody's mind. The Spanish legend
relates that Eleanor of Castile kneeled down before her hus
band, and applying her lips to the wound, sucked the poison
from the wound. This noble instance of conjugal love is
disbeUeved, however, by some historians. An English surgeon
was called, who commenced a cruel operation. Eleanor was
very pale, and her brother-in-law dragged her out of the
tent. She struggled with him, weeping all the while. " It
is better that you should cry," he said, abruptly, "than that
all England should be in mourning." Edward's wound was
soon healed. As soon as his wife had recovered, after the

BURIAL OF KING HENRY III.

ATTEMPT ON PRINCE ED'WARD'S LIFE.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 243
birth of a little girl, called Joan of Acre, in token of her
birthplace, the English troops set sail again, promising them
selves, as King Richard had done, to come back to the Holy
Land with larger forces. But the ardor for the crusades had
died out. Saint Louis and Prince Edward of England were
the last crusaders, and eighteen years later, in 1291, the last
remnant of Christian power in the East disappeared in its
turn. Acre was retaken from the Templars by the Sultan
Keladeen. The Holy Sepulchre thenceforth remained in the
hands of the infidels.
Prince Edward passed through Italy, and paid a visit at
Rome to Pope Gregory X., formerly Archdeacon of Liege,
a friend of the prince, and while with him received tidings
of the death of the king his father. The grief which this
loss caused him was so violent that Charles of Anjou was
astonished ; a throne would readily have consoled him for the
death of the weak Henry1 of Winchester. " You lost two
children," he remarked, " without displaying as much grief."
" The Lord, who gave me my children, can give me others,"
rejoined Edward ; " but who could give me back a father ? "
The new king was in no hurry to return to his king
dom. He stayed in Italy to obtain justice for the murder
of Henry of Almagne ; but Simon of Montfort was already
dead, and Guy, who had been subjected only to imprison
ment, had contrived to elude his jailers. From thence Ed
ward proceeded to France, to do homage for Guienne to King
PhUip the Bold ; he at the same time visited his possessions, i
being apprehensive, no doubt, that some plot might be on
foot to deprive him of them. On his return he was chal
lenged to single combat in a tournament by the Count of
Chalons. Edward was warned by the Pope that there were
plots against his life ; he was by nature distrustful. When
he saw at Chalons a larger number of knights than he pos-

244 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. X.
sessed himself, his suspicions were aroused, and the tourna
ment became a battle. The English gained the victory ; the
Count of Chalons himself was for a moment in danger;
Edward compelled him to save his life by surrendering to
a common soldier.
On the 2d of August, 1274, the King of England at
length landed at Dover, and on the 19th of the same month
he vfras crowned at Westminster, to the great delight of the
people. The nation was proud of its young king, of his
reputation for courage and virtue, of his exploits and perils
in the Holy Land. His reign commenced under happy au
spices. The Jews alone disliked the accession of a prince
so renowned for his austere piety and for his zeal against
the infidels. Their instinct had not deceived them; Edward
was always violently hostile to them, and one of the first
acts of his government, on his return from the crusade, was
to hang all the Jews who were in possession of clipped
coin. More than two hundred of them perished in London
alone for this offence, common among both the Jews and
the Christians. It was but the beginning of their grievances.
Persecuted, plundered, imprisoned, the unlucky Israelites were
finally banished from the country in 1290, and all the prop
erty which they were obliged to leave behind them was
confiscated. While the king was hanging the Jews, he was also insti
tuting a commission instructed to inquire into the state of
landed property in the kingdom, in order to put to a test the
title-deeds of the Christians. When proofs were wanting, the
king exacted a fine before granting fresh letters-patent; but
this useful device was not always practicable. When Earl
Warren was called upon to produce his documents, he drew
his sword. " This is the title by which I hold my lands," he
said, "and that which wiU suffice me to defend them. Our

"THAT IS THE TITLE BY WHICH I HOLD MY LANDS

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 245
fathers, who came over with William the Bastard, acquired
the land with their good lances ; he did not conquer the
country unassisted ; he was supported by others, and his
supporters shared the spoil with him." The earl's title-
deeds were deemed sufficient.
The prosperity of England was great at this time ; several
years of rest had allowed its commerce to develop itself.
The king respected the charters in all important particulars;
his zealous judicial administration had diminished the number
of robbers who infested the highways, and secured the integ
rity of the magistrates; he was popular among his subjects.
But this peaceful glory did not suffice for Edward I. As
ambitious as his ancestors, he had a desire to make con
quests in other quarters. Instead of looking with an envious
eye on the Continent, he had conceived the project of sub
jecting the whole of Great Britain to his dominion. Scotland
was far off, and he could find no pretext for declaring war
in that direction. Wales had never recognized anything but
a partial authority of the kings of England, and the reign
ing prince, Llewellyn, had neglected to do homage to Ed
ward I. on his accession to the throne. It. was in this
direction, then, that the king turned his attention. He
advanced towards the frontiers of Wales near the end of
the year 1276. All attempts at negotiation failed, and Lle
wellyn was declared a rebel just at that time of year when
the snow was beginning to cover the mountains. The war
could not possibly begin for several months.
Edward, however, did not lose time. David, the younger
brother of Llewellyn, had been deprived by the latter of all
his property; the King of England conferred many favors
upon him, and the prince, out of gratitude, gathered all
his partisans under the standard of England. Hostilities
began in the summer ; Edward entered the enemy's terri-

246 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
tory, while his fleet took possession of the Isle of Angle
sey, and, driving Llewellyn from castle to castle, from retreat
to retreat, he reduced him in a short time to famine in the
depths of the forests. The Welsh prince was obliged to
surrender, hard as were the conditions imposed upon him.
But Edward was generous, although severe ; he remitted his
demands one by one, and ended by consenting to the marriage
of Llewellyn with Eleanor of Montfort, daughter of the Earl
of Leicester. She had for some time been affianced to him,
and had been captured at sea in the preceding year, when
she was proceeding to Wales. David had received a large
gift of property. Edward withdrew his armies, leaving in
Wales only some soldiers in the castles, and the Chief Justice,
Roger Clifford, who was intrusted with the government of
the new conquest.
The King of England had not taken into account the
patriotic spirit which endeared their national independence
to the Welsh people. In vain had he raised David t6 the
rank of earl ; in vain had he given him an English wife ;
as soon as the Welsh prince found himself in his moun
tains again, he remembered only that his country was for
merly free, and that he had contributed towards reducing it
to subjection. The civU and military measures ordained by
Edward were obnoxious to the people : the highways which
were opened up across forests ; the executions of criminals for
crimes which had formerly been punished by fines, according
to the Welsh laws; the encroachments of the king's officers
upon the rights of the Welsh nobility ; — so many grievances
easily furnished pretexts for David's new resolve. He per
suaded his brother to break all his engagements with Edward.
An old prophecy of Merlin began to circulate again through
out the mountains ; it was to the effect that the Prince of
Wales would be crowned in London when the money in

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 247
that town should be round, and it was rumored in Wales
that it was forbidden to cut in halves the new coin which
had recently been struck in England, as had hitherto been
the practice. The day of victory seemed at length to have
arrived. It was on Palm Sunday, 1282 ; dark night had come on,
and a violent storm was raging in the forests. David sud
denly attacked Hawarden Castle, where the chief justicier
resided. The latter was seized in his bed, wounded, and
dragged into the mountains. All the country rose ; LleweUyn
joined his brother, and laid siege to the castles of Flint and
Rhuddlan; the EngUsh settlers were everywhere murdered.
AU Wales was up in arms when tidings of the insurrection
reached the king.
Edward pretended not to believe in the magnitude of the
rebeUion; but he adopted active measures to repress it. He
soon arrived in the mountains. The autumn had come, the
bad weather was beginning, and the English suffered greatly
from the inclemency of the climate. A portion of the army,
who tried to make use of the temporary bridge uniting the
Isle of Anglesey to the mainland, were attacked by the in
surgents and completely destroyed. Edward himself was sev
eral times obliged to retreat. Llewellyn, emboldened by his
success, intrusted David with the defence of the mountain
defiles, and marched to meet the king, who had gathered
large forces near Carmarthen. A detachment encountered
the Welsh prince in a farm where he had slept, and, with
out knowing him, an English knight engaged in a com
bat with him. LleweUyn was killed ; the struggle was then
carried on between the English and the Welsh who had
come to join their prince. When the dead were despoiled
after the battle, Llewellyn was recognized, and his head was
sent to Edward in token of victory. David still held his

248 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. X.
position in the mountains; at length he was betrayed, deliv
ered up to the English, and imprisoned in Durham Castle
with his wife and children. In tb.e month of September,
1283, the English Parliament condemned him to death as
guUty of high treason, while Edward promised a new prince
to the country which he had just subdued. Queen Eleanor
was at Carnarvon Castle, waiting to be delivered of a child;
she gave birth to a son on the 25th of April, 1284. The
child was immediately called Edward, Prince of Wales; and
becoming heir-apparent to the throne, by the death of his
elder brother Alphonso, this title remained the appellation of
the eldest son of the King of England, thus perpetuating
the remembrance of the definitive subjection of the Welsh
people and the trifling consolation which the conqueror had
offered to them.
A few years of peace followed the conquest of Wales.
The king had been recalled to the Continent to serve as
an arbitrator on the claims of the houses of France, of
Aragon, and of Anjou to the crown of Sicily. His English
subjects were clamoring for his return, and they ended by
refusing him the necessary subsidies. The king then returned
to England ; but a great misfortune awaited him ; Queen
Eleanor died on the 29th of November, 1292. With her
disappeared the softening influence which had modified the
haughty character and ambitious views of the king : and just
at this moment a great temptation offered itself to him.
The King of Scotland, Alexander III., had died in 1286,
leaving no other heir than his granddaughter Margaret,
Princess of Norway. She was stiU a child, and her father
had retained her for a while with him. She at length
sailed for Scotland in 1290 ; but she died during the pas
sage, and Scotland became a prey to all the evils of a con
tested succession. Thirteen noblemen, descendants of members

Chat.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 249
of the royal family, set up claims to the throne simultane
ously ; but two of them had prospects very much better than
those of any of the others : these were John Baliol and Rob
ert Bruce, grandson and son of the two elder daughters of
David, Earl of Huntingdon, younger brother of King WUliam
the Lion ; but no one possessed claims sufficiently strong to
impress the people in his favor. The Scotch, troubled by
the prospect of illimitable anarchy, dispatched an embassy to
King Edward to ask him to act as arbitrator in this seri
ous aspect of affairs, and to decide who should be king of
Scotland. Edward received the deputation at Norham on the 10th of
May, 1291, and immediately declared that, as liege lord of
Scotland, he would settle the question of the succession, insist
ing, first of aU, upon the recognition of his rights of superi
ority by the claimants. The Scotch people hesitated; they
asked for a delay. "By St. Edward, from whom I hold my
crown," cried the King of England, " I will establish my just
rights, or perish in the attempt." And the assembly was
adjourned until the 2d of June foUowing. Edward had con
voked aU the barons.
On the appointed day, eight claimants had met near Nor
ham, in the plain of Hollywell-Haugh, within Scotch territory.
When the ChanceUor of England asked these persons, among
whom was Robert Bruce, whether they were willing to abide
by the decision of Edward, King of England, as liege lord
of Scotland, Bruce recognized without hesitation the rights
of the powerful monarch who could award the crown to him.
His rivals did Ukewise ; and John Baliol, who arrived on the
morrow, was the more willing to compromise the safety of
his country as he believed he had secured the favor of Ed
ward. The chanceUor had taken care to announce, in the
name of his master, that the right of the king as liege
VOL. i. 32

250 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
lord, which had just been recognized, in no way affected
the titles to property which he might think proper to pro
claim valid thereafter. On the 3d of June, a commission
was appointed to examine the rights of the two chief claim
ants, and the regents of Scotland consigned all the royal
castles to Edward, on condition that he should give them
up two months after the decision between Bruce and Baliol.
On the 15th of the same month, the claimants took the
oath of allegiance to Edward, as did also a great number of
Scotch barons, and peace was proclaimed in his name, as liege
lord of Scotland. The first step in the path of dependence
had been made.
The second act of the drama was enacted at Berwick
Castle, on the 17th of November, 1292. There King Edward,
having made a careful investigation of the whole subject,
and having consulted the parliament of Scotland, at length
declared that the grandson of the elder daughter had a prior
claim to that of the son of the younger daughter, thus decid
ing in favor of Baliol to the exclusion of Bruce. On the
19th the governors of the castles received instructions to
give up their keys to the new king, and on the morrow
Baliol swore fidelity to Edward at Norham. Having been
crowned on the 30th at Scone, he proceeded to England,
whither King Edward had been called back in consequence
of the illness and death of Eleanor of CastUe ; the new king
did homage for the kingdom of Scotland on the 26th of
November, at Newcastle. The King of England again reserved
his rights of property.
While Edward was laboring to subject the Scotch people,
King Philip the Fair was secretly plotting with the intention
of driving the English from the French soil and depriving
them of Aquitaine. An encounter had taken place between
the English and Norman saUors on the coast of Guienne ;

Chap. X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 251
the merchantmen of the two countries, taking sides warmly,
had been engaged in several fights with each other. The
King of France seized the opportunity, on some outrages
having been committed on his subjects, to summon King
Edward to appear at his court, as Duke of Aquitaine, in
order to answer before his peers for the offences committed
against his liege lord. Edward sent his brother Edmund,
who weakly consented to satisfy the feudal honor of King
Philip by placing in the hands of the French officers the
duchy of Gascony for a period of forty days. The condi
tions were agreed to. The question was not one of terri
torial aggrandizement but of reparation. The English prince
waited for forty days. That period of time having elapsed,
he came to claim the restoration of his domains ; the King
of France laughed, and declared that the Duke of Aqui
taine had forfeited his rights as a vassal by not presenting
himself personally before his liege lord. The grand consta
ble was at once sent to all the towns and castles belong
ing to King Edward ; a large number of them opened their
gates to him ; the duchy of Aquitaine was returning, it was
said, to the crown. Edward I. had commenced his prepara
tions for reclaiming his provinces by force of arms. /
The EngUsh ships were about to weigh anchor, when a
violent insurrection broke out in Wales. The king dispatched
a smaU body of troops into Gascony, sent his fleet to hover
round the coasts and seize upon all the French ships which
might come in their way, and dispatched the greater por
tion of his forces to Wales. In spite of the winter, the snow,
the mountains, the impenetrable forests, and the obstinacy of
the insurgents, Edward pursued his enemies in all directions,
and contrived to subdue them. Madoc, the ringleader, laid
down his arms ; the most intractable chiefs were sentenced to
be imprisoned for Ufe, and the king, triumphant, left Wales

252 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
to embark for France. The Scotch did not allow him time,
however, to accomplish his intention.
Since Edward had placed the feeble BaUol upon the throne
of Scotland, he had spared him no humiUation. Every time
that a petitioner, dissatisfied with the decision of the King
of Scotland, thought proper to appeal to the liege lord, Ed
ward would summon Baliol to appear at his court to render
an account of his judgment, and this summons was repeated
four times during the first year of the reign. At length,
in 1293, in the matter of a complaint of the Earl of Fife,
Baliol, who was tired of these proceedings, declared that the
question concerned his subjects, and that he could not reply
to the appeal without consulting his people. " What ! " cried
Edward ; " you are my vassal, you haye done homage to
me, and it is to answer to me for your acts that you are
here." Baliol persisted ; the English Parliament condemned
his conduct, and King Edward only consented to retard by
some months the pronouncing of the sentence. In the inter
val, the difficulty about Guienne occurred ; and King Edward,
occupied with his struggles against his own liege lord, soon
learned that his vassal, the King of Scotland, led on by the
national movement in his country, had contracted with King
Philip an alliance cemented by a promise of marriage be
tween his young son Edward and Jane of Valois, niece of
the King of France. A short time before, the Parliament
of Scotland had decided on sending back all the English
men employed at the court, and formed a council consist
ing of four earls, four bishops, and four barons, who were
intrusted with the management of the affairs of the king
dom. Baliol was held by his subjects in a kind of captivity.
The suspicions which King Edward had conceived, and
which had kept him in England, while he sent his brother
into Guienne, were soon justified. The Scotch invaded the

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 253
county of Cumberland with a large army ; they were easily
repulsed. Edward soon advanced towards the frontier, march-
ino- first of all against . Berwick. He attacked the town by
land and by sea, and all resistance was iiseless. The king,
mounted upon his horse Bayard, was the first to spring
across the moat which protected the town. A fearful mas
sacre took place ; neither age nor sex excited any pity. It
was on the 30th of March, 1296; on the 5th of April, the
Abbot of Arbroath presented himself at the English camp;
he brought Baliol's renunciation of all homage towards the
King of England. Edward had a short time before addressed
a similar communication to Philip, King of France ; but this
coincidence did not appease his anger. " Ah ! fool and felon !
of what folly, is he guilty"! he cried; "if he will not
come to us, we wUl go to him." And he marched forward,
taking possession on his way of the castles which resisted
him. Dunbar, Roxburgh, Dunbarton, Jedburgh, Edinburgh,
Stirling, had already fallen into Edward's hands, when a
fresh message from Baliol was brought to him. He humbly
begged for peace. The king did not do his revolted vassal
the honor of treating him as a sovereign and of negotiating
personally with him ; he ordered Baliol to proceed to the
castle of Brechin, to which place he dispatched the Bishop
of Durham. A few days later, on the 7th of June, 1296,
BaUol, deprived of all his regal insignia, with a white rod in
his hand, presented himself at the cemetery of Strathkathro,
in the county of Angus, acknowledging that he had violated
all his obligations towards his liege lord, who had very
justly invaded his fief. After this act of self-abasement and
renunciation, tired, he said, of the malice and ingratitude of
men, he was sent to the Tower in honorable captivity, and
•subsequently ended his life in his domains of Normandy, for
gotten or despised by aU.

254 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
Robert Bruce at once claimed the crown. " Do you think
that I have nothing else to do but to conquer kingdoms
for you ? " King Edward harshly replied ; and he marched
towards the north, receiving everywhere the homage of the
Scotch nobility. He had convened a parliament at Berwick;
he proceeded there on the 28th of August, in order to ar
range the government of his new acquisition. He displayed
on this occasion great prudence and moderation ; he returned
to the Church all property which had been confiscated from
it, and left the inferior offices in the hands of the func
tionaries who occupied them ; but the guardianship of the
castles was confided to the English. Warren, Earl of Sur
rey, was appointed governor ; Hugh de Cressingham, treas
urer; and William Ormesby, chief justicier. Scotland was
treated as a conquered country. King Edward now thought
himself at leisure to devote his attention to his affairs in
France, and to prepare to cross the Channel.
The allies of England upon the Continent were in urgent
need of his help. The Earl of Bar, the son-in-law of Ed
ward, had been defeated and made a prisoner in an attempt
against Champagne, and his wife, being unable to obtain his
release, had died of grief. Guy, Count of Flanders, had been
attracted to Paris under false pretences, together with his
wife and his daughter Philippa, who was affianced to Prince
Edward of England ; all three had been thrown into prison,
and, although the count succeeded in buying back his free
dom, he had been compelled to leave his daughter in the
hands of Philip the Fair, who denied the right of vassals
to give their daughters in marriage without the authority
of their lord.
King Edward would have had great difficulty in helping
his foreign allies, for he was engaged in a struggle against
his English subjects. The conquest of the countries of Wales

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 255
and Scotland had required great efforts, and the nation had
borne its heavy burdens without murmuring. In 1295, how
ever, at a request from the king, who required half of their
revenues, the clergy appealed to Pope Boniface VIII., who
issued a bull in their favor. But the ecclesiastical thunders
had begun to lose their terrors ; Edward had seized upon
the property of the clergy, and the bishops had ended by
submission. The merchants and citizens were more obstinate
than the priests; and when the king, in 1297, conceived the
idea of imposing an enormous tax upon every bale of wool,
making at the same time large requisitions of grain, the com
plaints became loud. From remonstrance, the people had
arrived at overt resistance, when the king seized at all the'
ports the wool and skins intended for exportation, and sold
them for his own benefit. The merchants met together,
protested against this " evil toll," as they called it, and de
clared that the Magna Charta ordered that the English people
were not to be taxed without their own consent. A cer
tain number of powerful noblemen supported the citizens in
their movement.
King Edward had raised two armies ; one was to march
to Guienne, and the other to Flanders, to assist Count Guy,
who was anxious to avenge his injuries on King Philip.
Edmund, King Edward's brother, had died in Guienne ; the
king himself was proposing to Command the expedition in
Flanders. He summoned to Salisbury Humphrey Bohun, Earl
of Hereford and Constable of England, and Roger Bigod, Earl
of Norfolk, field-marshal, to intrust to them the command
of the army of Guienne ; both replied that their offices com
pelled them to remain near the king's person during the
war, and that they would not proceed to Guienne without
him. " Sir Earl Bigod I " cried Edward, addressing himself
to Bigod, " you shall either go or hang." " By God, Sir

256 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
King," replied the proud baron, calmly, " I will neither go
nor hang." Upon this, both the Earl of Hereford and the
Earl of Norfolk retired to their estates, immediately foUowed
by thirty bannerets and by fifteen hundred knights, who cre
ated wherever they went an opposition to the levying of the
taxes. The king was in an awkward position. He convoked in
London a popular assembly, having taken care, first of aU,
to become reconciled with the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Winchelsea, who had been the prime mover in the resist
ance of the clergy, and had found himself deprived of aU
his revenues in consequence ; then, accompanied by the prel
ate, the Earl of Warwick, and Prince Edward, the king
appealed directly to the people, assuring them that nothing
was more disagreeable to him than to impose heavy burdens
upon his well-beloved subjects ; but that he had been com
pelled to do so in order to defend them against the Scotch,
the Welsh, and the French. "I am now going to expose
myself for you to the risks of war," said he ; " if I return
alive, I will repay you for everything ; if I should die, there
is my son : place him upon the throne, and his gratitude
will reward your fidelity." The king was weeping, and all
those who were present were profoundly touched. Prince
Edward was declared regent amid public acclamation ; the
Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed his adviser, and the
king marched towards the coast. He had scarcely arrived at
Winchester, when he was stopped, on the 12th of August,
by a remonstrance from the prelates, the earls, the barons,
and the commoners of England, declaring that they were not
obliged to accompany him into Flanders, their ancestors not
having served the kings of England in that country ; and
they added that, even were they so disposed, the poverty
to which they had been reduced did not aUow them to do

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 257
it. "The king," they said, "had already violated on sev
eral occasions the charters which he had solemnly ratified ;
his 'evU toU' was intolerable, and his absence was about
to leave the country a prey to the invasions of the Scotch
and the Welsh." The king made an evasive reply to this
declaration ; reckoning upon the affection of the common
people, he made sail with the troops who remained with
him, and disembarked at Sluys towards the end of August.
Scarcely had Edward left the coasts of England when
Bigod and Bohun entered London, on the 24th of August,
at the head of considerable forces. The strictest discipline
prevafied in the ranks of their followers. They went straight
to the treasury, and deposited their complaints against the
arbitrary exactions and the violations of Magna Charta com
mitted by the king; then, proceeding to Guildhall, they
exhorted the citizens of London to maintain their rights.
The young regent, being alarmed, convoked a parliament,
which abolished the impost upon wool, and decreed that no
tax whatever should in future be raised without the consent
of the bishops, peers, citizens, and freemen of the kingdom,
and that the king should not seize upon any goods without
the authority of the owners. Orders were sent out to read
the Magna Charta in all the churches once a year, under pain
of excommunication against those who should endeavor to
prevent it. This sentence was to be proclaimed every Sun
day in all the churches.
The act, signed in London, was sent to Ghent, where King
Edward was at the time. Its ratification was demanded, the
barons on their part engaging to join the king in Flanders,
or to march against Scotland, where the people had again
risen, according to his pleasure. During three days the pride
of King Edward resisted ; at length he signed the document,
perhaps promising himself to annul his concessions afterwards.
vol. i. 33

258 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
As soon as they were secure in their victory, the barons set
out for Scotland.
Edward needed the support and good will of his English
subjects, for he had gained but little success in Flanders.
After having with difficulty quelled the violent rivalries which
had occurred in his fleet between the sailors from different
ports, he had found a great number of Flemish towns occu
pied by the French, supported by a party powerful in the
country itself. The Count Guy had again fallen into the
hands of the King of France ; the Flemish and English
would often engage in struggles against each other, after
having fought together against the French; Edward's foreign
allies, the Emperor, the Duke of Austria, and the Duke of
Brabant, sent no help, and thought to have done their share
in receiving the subsidies of England. King Edward listened
to the overtures of Pope Boniface VIII., who was endeavor
ing to re-establish peace. He left Guy of Flanders in prison,
where the latter afterwards died, as well as his daughter. He
affianced his son Edward to Isabel of France, thus laying the
foundation of the misfortune of his lifetime, and himself mar
ried Princess Margaret, who was then seventeen years of age,
contenting himself with recovering Aquitaine, while Guienne
still remained in the hands of Philip the Fair. Peace being
thus concluded, Edward started on his return to his king
dom, where the position of affairs imperatively required his
presence. The great Scotch noblemen had taken the oath of alle
giance to the King of England, but the less powerful ones
had not had the honor of accomplishing that act of submis
sion. Sir Malcolm Wallace, of EUerslie, had not taken the
oath, nor had his second son, William Wallace, who was
already outlawed for the murder of an English soldier iii
consequence of a dispute. He had lived since then in the

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 259
mountains ; but, having one day appeared at the market in
Lanark, the young man was insulted by an Englishman,
whom he kUled. He found a friendly shelter, and contrived
to escape ; but the house which had protected him was
burned, and the mistress of it lost her life. Wallace swore
to wreak a terrible revenge upon the English.
Soon all the adventurers, outlaws, and bold spirits, weary of
subjection, rallied round Wallace. At the moment when King
Edward started for Flanders, the Scottish leader had already
become a dangerous partisan, attacking the English when he
met them in small numbers, and plundering the country
under their authority. His forces were increasing in number ;
many noblemen had joined him, and were raising their stand
ards in favor of John, King of Scotland. A certain number
of powerful noblemen followed them. Robert Bruce himself,
grandson of him who had contested for the crown with
Baliol, had come over to the national party. " The Pope will
absolve me from the oaths which I have taken under compul
sion in favor of King Edward," said the future deliverer of
Scotland. The Earl of Surrey was raising forces in the
southern part of the kingdom.
When the two armies came in sight near the town of
Irvine, in the county of Ayr, they were about equal in
numbers ; but the English troops were well drilled and obe
dient to a single general ; Wallace's army was disorderly,
divided, and led by rival chiefs little disposed to admit the
superiority of an outlaw of low origin. No encounter took
place. On the 9th of July, the great Scotch noblemen laid
down their arms and tendered their submission to King Ed
ward. Only one baron, Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell,
remained faithful to the national party ; but Wallace took
with him a large number of vassals of the noblemen who

260 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
had surrendered, and his raids upon the territory occupied
by the English became bolder and bolder every day.
Stirling was seriously threatened by the insurgents, when
the Earls of Surrey and Cressingham advanced with large
forces. The two parties occupied the opposite banks of the
Forth; Wallace's position was excellent, and he was offered
terms. "Tell your master," he replied to the envoy, "that
we are not here to parley, but to assert our rights and to
deliver Scotland. Let them advance, we are ready." The
English hesitated. Surrey deemed the attack dangerous; but
Cressingham, like a true financier, was complaining loudly
of the ravages made upon the king's treasury by an army
which did not fight, and the general yielded. At daybreak,
on the 11th of September, 1297, the English army began
marching across the bridge. It was narrow, and the soldiers
passed over it slowly. When one portion of the army had
crossed, Wallace caused the bridge to be occupied by a de
tachment, and he attacked the English, who had not yet had
time to form in order of battle. The slaughter was fear
ful. Among the dead bodies was found Cressingham, who
was odious to the Scotch by reason of the severity of his
administration. His savage enemies flayed him, in order to
preserve his skin in remembrance of their revenge. Surrey
retreated with the remainder of his forces. But Wallace's
success had delivered Scotland for the time being ; the castles
were surrendering in every direction ; the popular champion
entered Northumberland and pillaged the English territory,
while famine kept them away from Scotland. When he
reappeared in his country, laden with plunder, an assembly
of noblemen awarded to him the title of Governor of the
Kingdom and Commander-in-chief of King John's forces.
Baliol, still imprisoned in England, smiled bitterly at this
use of his name.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 261
Meanwhile, King Edward had recrossed the sea, and his
orders for the levying of a large army had preceded him.
In the eyes of the conqueror of Scotland the insurrection
led by Wallace was a rebellion, not a patriotic movement.
f
No sooner had he landed in England than he set out for
the North. Having halted for a while at York, where he
was to have convened a Parliament, the barons who had
formerly placed themselves at the head of the popular re
sistance came and met him, to demand the ratification of
the concessions granted at Ghent. " By-ancl-by," cried Ed
ward ; " I have no leisure time just now ; I must first of
all reduce the Scotch rebels to obedience." And he swore
before three bishops that he would occupy himself with the
liberties of his English subjects when he should have riv
eted the chains of his Scottish subjects. Bigod and Bohun
were satisfied with this promise, and followed him into
Scotland. The king's vessels were delayed. He was detained between
Edinburgh and Linlithgow, when an insurrection broke out in
his camp ; the Welsh troops threatened to leave him and to
go over to the Scotch. " I care little," said Edward, " if my
enemies join my enemies ; I wUl punish them all in one day."
The provisions began to run short, and a retreat was spoken
¦pf, when the Bishop of Durham was warned, on the 10th of
July, 1298, that the Scotch army was encamped in the forest
of Falkirk, and was preparing to attack the English troops.
,"' Glory be to God," cried Edward. " He has delivered me
tup to the present from all dangers. They need not follow
me, for I will go to them." And, breaking camp, he
marched against the Scotch troops. It is related that, during
ithe night before the battle, being asleep by the side of
is horse, the king had two ribs broken by a kick from
he animal. The circumstance created a profound sensation

262 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
throughout the army ; it was said that the king was dying
through some treachery. Edward donned his armor, mounted
his horse, and continued the march. The Scotch army was
at length in sight. In front of them was a marsh, and the
archers and pikemen were protected by a palisade. When
Wallace saw the lances of the enemy glistening in the sun,
he called out to his men, " I have led you to the dance,
now hop if you can." The Scottish infantry valiantly with
stood the shock of the two army corps led by Bigod, Bohun,
and the bellicose Bishop of Durham, but the cavalry were
terrified on seeing the superior forces of the English, and
fled in confusion. The pikemen and archers began to give
way ; the palisades were trampled down, and the victory
was complete. The field of the battle of Falkirk was strewn
with the corpses of the Scottish soldiers, when Wallace con
trived to fall back upon Stirling with the remainder of his
army ; the English followed him there ; but they found the
town burned down. Wallace had disappeared. King Edward
was desolating the country by fire and sword ; the inhab
itants of the towns were flying at his approach ; St. An
drew's was deserted when the king set fire to it. The citi-r
zens of Perth burned their own town. Provisions were nov^
scarce ; Edward was obliged to retreat towards the end o:
September, 1298, leaving all the north of Scotland in th
hands of the patriots, who had just constituted a counci
of the regency, at the head of which was John Comyn
Scarcely had the king crossed the frontier when his enemie
threatened StirUng Castle.
Other troubles awaited Edward in England ; he had con
voked the Parliament at Westminster for the month of
March, 1291 ; the barons claimed the fulfilment of his prom
ises, and the ratification of the new liberties added by then
to the Magna Charta. The king stUl delayed, denying th<

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 263
validity of. a confirmation made in a foreign country ; he expe
rienced, he said, displeasure at finding himself . thus pressed
to grant a favor against his inclination. The barons, however,
insisted ; the king left London almost secretly, and went into
the country under pretence of being indisposed; the barons
foUowed him there, renewing their demands. At length the
king, wearied of this, sent to the Parliament the required
ratification ; but, with a puerile want of good faith, he added
to the concessions so hardly won this little sentence : " Sav
ing the rights of the crown." The barons, indignant, left
London in their turn, but to prepare for resistance. The
king still reckoned upon the devotion of the people of the
city ; he ordered the sheriffs to cause the charter to be read
at the cross of St. Paul's ; an immense crowd was assembled,
hailing with applause each of the clauses which guaranteed
the rights of the people ; but when the reader came to the
phrase, "Saving the rights of the crown," his voice was
drowned by whistling, shouting, and loud menaces. Edward
was too shrewd and sagacious to resist the will of the people
when expressed in such an unmistakable manner ; he con
vened a fresh Parliament, solemnly ratified all the concessions,
without mentioning the rights of the crown, and nominated
a commission of three bishops, three, earls, and three barons
intrusted with the completion of the limitation of the royal
forests, which had hitherto been extended at times into private
property. The charters of the forests were ratified in the year
1300. Bohun had just died ; but Bigod was still alive, and
the victory was definitively assured to the barons, in spite of
the efforts which the king was still making to deliver him
self from a yoke which was insupportable to his haughty
character and his ambitious projects.
The marriage of King Edward with Margaret of France
had taken place,, as had also his son's betrothal to Isabel

264 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
(September, 1299), and two little incursions into Scotland had
produced no other result than an intervention on the part of
Pope Boniface VIII. in favor of the Scotch, by virtue of
the rights which he claimed over that kingdom. Although
haughtily refusing to recognize this strange pretension, the
King of England had three times granted a truce to the in
surgents. The third had just expired, when the treaty of
Montreuil, made between England and France on the 30th
of May, 1303, gave up Guienne to Edward, who abandoned
his Flemish allies as Philip the Fair did his Scottish allies.
Freed from care on the score of continental affairs, Edward,
on the day following the ratification of the treaty, marched
into Scotland ; he was already at Edinburgh on the 4th of
June, and his march across the northern counties resembled
a triumphal progress ; all the fortresses opened their gates ;
Buchan Castle alone remained closed. While the English
were attacking the castle with their engines of war, Sir
Thomas Maule, the governor, walked up and down on the
ramparts, with a handkerchief in his hand, wiping off the
dust raised by the battering-rams. On the twentieth day
of the siege he was struck with an arrow, and, dying, he
stigmatized the soldiers as cowards, when they asked his
permission to surrender. Scarcely had the valiant champion
breathed his last when his castle was given up to the English
forces. The king established himself in winter-quarters in
the abbey of Dunfermline, and it was there that the Scotch
barons came to negotiate for peace ; each one had drawn up
his own conditions ; Wallace had disappeared since the battle
of Falkirk ; the noblemen had supplanted him in the gov
ernment of the country which he had delivered without their
aid. The king caused a proclamation to be made that the
outlaw was to surrender at discretion ; Wallace, however, took
no notice, but remained in the mountains. The castle of

•

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&S«HcqCO<!QOOBJ5oW

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 265
Stirling now alone offered any resistance, in spite of the in
junctions of the Scottish Parliament assembled by Edward ;
when Sir William Oliphant, who commanded it, was com
pelled to surrender on the 26th of July, 1304.
A last blow was about to strike the patriotic party in
Scotland. Wallace, betrayed by his friend Monteith, was de-
Uvered into the hands of the English in the month of August,
1305. King Edward had not the generosity to pardon the
proud patriot who had so long resisted him. Wallace had
broken no oath, he had never sworn allegiance to King Ed
ward, and he had fought for the independence of his country,
but he was nevertheless condemned to suffer a traitor's death.
He was executed at Smithfield on the 23d of August, and
the portions of his dismembered body were sent to different
towns in Scotland, where the people were more inclined to
treat them as sacred relics than to consider them as emblems
of disgrace. Wallace had kindled a fire which was not des
tined to die out, and it was in vain that Edward had thought
to stifle it by severe punishment.
Scarcely had the government of Scotland been regulated by a
commission of Scottish prelates and barons, pursuing their labors
in London in conjunction with delegates from the English Par
liament, when a fresh insurrection broke out in Scotland ; a
new chief presented himself for the cause of independence, one
who was destined to achieve the task begun by WaUace ; it
was Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick.
i
For! a long time Bruce had vacillated between the two
parties ; having been engaged during his youth in the service
of Edward by his father, he had sworn allegiance, then vio
lated /his oath, and had finally determined to observe his old
professions. At length, after the fall of Baliol, he had pro
posed to Comyn, surnamed the Red, a powerful Scottish lord,
and obe of his neighbors, that whichever of the two should
VOii. I. 34

266 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. X*
establish his claim to the crown should cede his estates td
the other by way of indemnity. Comyn had pretended to
accept the bargain, but he had secretly warned Edward of
the conspiracy. Bruce, who was in England, was about to be
arrested,; in spite of his kinship to the royal family (he had
married Joan of Valence, Edward's cousin), when Gilbert de
Clare sent a pair of spurs to him, by a messenger. Bruce took
the hint, and immediately mounted his. horse ; he did not
know what danger threatened him, or who had betrayed him,
and he was careful to conceal his traces, when he met a ser
vant of Comyn, who was carrying fresh communications to
Edward. Having seized the missives, and assured himself of
Comyn's treachery, Bruce hastened back to Scotland. A few
days later, on the 10th of February, 1306, these two enemies
met at Dumfries, and Bruce called Comyn into a chapel of
the Minorites, in order to demand an explanation of his con-;
duct. They were alone ; the dispute became furious ; Bruce
drew his dagger and struck Comyn, who fell upon . the steps
of the high altar. Pale and agitated, Bruce left the chapel
hurriedly ; his haggard appearance struck his friends who
were in attendance upon him. "What have you done?"
Kirkpatrick of Closeburn asked him. "I doubt I have killed
Comyn." " You doubt," cried Kirkpatrick ; " then I wiU
make sure of it." And, re-entering the holy place, he s)truck
the wounded man another blow, killed the latter's unclie, Sir
Robert Comyn, who tried to defend his nephew, and retfiimed
to Bruce. The Uttle band hurried away at a gallop. Bruce
had only one course before him now : he was hencefoi \tti. an
outlaw, and the boldest action became necessary; thfe fire
was smouldering in all the noble hearts of Scotland. Asijjsoon
as Bruce raised the standard of independence, some plriests
and lords gathered round him, and boldly crowned hilm at
Scone. On the day of the Annunciation (1306) Scoffcland,

BRUCE WARNED BY GILBERT DE CLARE.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 267
had a king. Edward I. heard of it at Winchester a few
days later.
In the eyes of the King of England Bruce was a rebel,
and was, moreover, a man who must be punished for having
committed sacrilege. He sent a small army into Scotland,
under the command of the Earl of Pembroke, and, tired and
sick as he was, began to make extensive preparations for
marching personally against the insurgents. Prince Edward,
his son, was twenty-two years of age, and had not yet been
Knighted. On the 23d of May, during Whitsuntide, the
young man, having received his spurs from the hands of his
father, conferred the same distinction upon two hundred and
seventy young lords, companions of his pleasures, who were
about to become his comrades in arms. All the company
then met at a magnificent banquet ; a golden net was placed
upon the table, containing two swans, emblems of constancy
and fidelity; then the king, placing his hands upon their
heads, swore to avenge the death of Comyn, aud to punish
the rebels of Scotland, without sleeping for two nights in the
same place, and to start immediately afterwards for Palestine,
in order to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The young men swore
the same oath as the king, and the latter made them promise,
if he should die during the war in Scotland, not to bury his
body until the conquest should have been achieved. The
prince immediately afterwards started for the frontiers with
his companions; the king followed less rapidly, as he could
only travel upon a litter.
Meanwhile Bruce's forces had increased rapidly; the mal
contents — and they were very numerous — were beginning to
declare themselves and to rally round the new king. When
the Earl of Pembroke arrived in Scotland the insurgents were
in high spirits; but a battle was fought on the 19th of June,
near the woods of Methven, which destroyed suddenly their

268 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
illusions ; many Scots were killed ; the prisoners were put to
death, and Bruce retired into the mountains of Athol with
five hundred men. Too ill to proceed further, King Edward
had been obliged to stop at Carlisle ; but he was directing all
the operations of his troops, and ordering the execution of
the prisoners, thus bearing witness to his deep-rooted resent
ment against Scotland. Bruce was leading the life of a knight-
errant in the forests, hunting and fishing, accompanied only
by a few faithful friends ; his wife, his two sisters, and the
Countess of Buchan shared with him his adventurous exist
ence, which the fine weather rendered tolerable, even in
Scotland. Meanwhile, winter was coming on, and it became necessary
to enter into more civilized quarters. Bruce's little band
was attacked by Lord Lorn, the Red Comyn's nephew, and
a mortal enemy of Bruce. The King of Scotland's compan
ions were falling under the battle-axes of Lochaber; he
sounded the retreat, and, clad in armor and mounted upon
a good war-horse, he took up his position in the defile, and
defended the approach single-handed. Lorn's mountaineers
hesitated, being terrified at this motionless figure, the loDg
sword always on guard, and the bright eyes glittering under
the helmet. At length three men, a father and two sons,
named MacAndrosser, famous iu their clan for their strength
and courage, sprang forward together upon the royal cham
pion : one seized the bridle of the horse, and his arm fell
at his side, his hand being severed ; another fastened himself
to the leg of the horseman ; the horse reared, and the unfor
tunate warrior had his head split open by a sword-stroke ; the
father who was more skilful, and who was besides maddened
at the fate of his sons, was clutching the king's cloak ; he was
stUl holding to it after his death, and Bruce was compelled to
leave in the hands of the corpse this token of so desperate

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 269
a struggle. The king had escaped without being wounded,
but it was necessary to place his wife and sisters in safety,
and the castle of Keldrummie afforded them a shelter, while
Bruce took refuge in the Hebrides. The separation was
doomed to be a sad and long one, for the castle was taken,
and Nigel Bruce, Robert's younger brother, was cruelly put
to death ; the Queen of Scotland was sent to England, and
Bruce's sisters-in-law, shut up in wooden cages, were exposed
to the public gaze at Berwick and Roxburgh. Whenever
any of the adherents of Bruce feU into the hands of the
English troops, they were put to death. The king himself,
who was now excommunicated and proscribed, had taken
refuge in the little island of Rachrin ; his retreat was un
known to his enemies, and a reward was offered in Scot
land to whoever would give news of Robert Bruce, lost,
strayed, or stolen.
It was in the spring of 1307 that Bruce suddenly reap
peared, supported by some ships which had been lent to him
by Christiana, Lady of the Isles. Deceived by a false indi
cation, he attacked Henry Percy, to whom King Edward had
recently given the castle of Carrick, Bruce's own property ;
and, taking his enemies by surprise, he defeated them, caused
great slaughter, and returned in triumph into the castle, which
he could not hold for any length of time, surrounded as he
was on all sides, not only by the English forces, but by his
personal enemies, and all the family of the Red Comyn.
The capture of Carrick Castle was nevertheless Robert's
first step upon the ladder of fortune ; but yesterday a fugi
tive, he was rejoined by his scattered supporters: after his
success, warriors who previously had been undecided, em
braced the cause of Bruce, and his forces became so for
midable, that Edward, infuriated at these events, resolved to
leave Carlisle to march in person against the rebels. He caused

270 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
his litter to be hung up in York Cathedral in memory of his
sickness, and was about to mount his horse, when he heard
that the Earl of Pembroke had been defeated, on the 10th
of May, by Bruce at Loudon Hill. The rage of the king lent
him strength for a while; he started from Carlisle at the
head of a large corps ; but the journey was cut short, Edward
being obliged to stop. He was not more than three leagues
from Carlisle when death came and chilled the proud heart
and the indomitable spirit, once animated by the noblest and
most chivalrous desires, but for several years absorbed in
ambitious projects and cruel schemes of revenge. His last
words were a recommendation to his son to finish the task
which had been begun, to be good to his young brothers, and
to maintain three hundred knights in the Holy Land. When
he was buried at Westminster, an inscription was placed
upon his tomb, covered by a block of stone brought from
Palestine : —
EDUARDUS PRIMUS. MALLEUS SCOTORUM. MCCCVII. PACTUM SERVA.
Edward I. The Hammer of the Scots. 1307. Keep the Covenant.
Among the sovereigns who had governed England, very
few had held the power with a firmer hand than Edward I.,
very few, however, saw the foundation of more liberties. In
vain, in 1307, when the king had thought the conquest of
Scotland assured, had he hoped to effect his deliverance from
the yoke which his people had imposed upon him; in vain
had he obtained from the Pope a bull on the 4th of January,
1305, which relieved him of his oaths and annulled the char
ters which he had ratified, forbidding any one, under pain of
excommunication, to claim their fulfilment ; in vain, Bohun
being dead, had Edward's threats succeeded in intimidating
old Bigod and his faithful ally, the Archbishop of Canter
bury ; the attitude taken up by the entire nation had caused

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 271
the king to hesitate, and he had not yet made public the
Papal bull, when the insurrection in Scotland absorbed all
his attention, and necessitated the assistance of Parliament.
The liberties acquired by the barons now had a durable guar
anty; the great lords were not obliged to resort incessantly
to arms, Parliaments having been instituted. We have seen
the deputies of the towns summoned to Parliament for the
first time by the Earl of Leicester ; under King Edward I.
the barons began to hold their deliberations separately, and
the knights from the shires and the deputies from the towns,
who were summoned less frequently, formed a second cham
ber. From this time dates the origin of the House of Lords
and the House of Commons. The most complete Parliament
which had yet sat was that of 1295, convened by King
Edward before his campaign in Flanders: an Ecclesiastical
Parliament had been convoked at the same time. The sub
sidies which were then granted, and which the king endeavored
to increase by acts of extortion, were the cause of the op
position of Bigod and Bohun ; at the death of Edwards the
charters had been so firmly established in England, that no
monarch dreamed of disturbing them again, until the un
happy days of Charles I. The liberties of the nation were
assured by the frequent meeting of the Parliaments, their
faithful and natural guardians. The constitution of England
was founded.
The burdensome inheritance left by the king who had just
died fell into hands too feeble to support it. Edward II.
was twenty-three years of age when he succeeded his father ;
the latter had had six sons, three only of whom survived
him; the young king had already shown signs of frivolity
and obstinacy which augured the misfortunes of his reign.
Brought up from childhood with a young Aquitanian, Piers
Gaveston, he had conceived for this companion so strong an

272 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
affection that the king, his father, had been alarmed thereat,
and had on several occasions banished the young favorite.
At the death of Edward I. Gaveston was in exile ; but at the
news of the accession of his young master, he hastened to
him, and the first act of the king was to confer upon him the
Earldom of Cornwall, which had previously been deemed a
position sufficiently conspicuous for the princes of the blood
royal. Edward did not content himself with this : while he
was pretending to carry on the campaign in Scotland, the
great officers of the crown had been changed ; the Lord Treas
urer, the Bishop of Lichfield, was even deprived of his prop
erty, and cast into prison. In spite of the oath which the
old king had exacted from his son, the latter had returned
to London to inter his father, leaving Bruce free to pursue
his success. Gaveston, who had lately married Margaret, a
niece of the king, was appointed regent of the kingdom in the
month of January, 1308, by the king, who went over to France
to marry the Princess Isabel, according to Froissart, one of
the most beautiful women in the world.
King Philip the Fair had just caused the dissolution of
the order of Templars in France, an iniquitous proceeding
inspired rather by the prince's greed than by the offences of
the order. Philip thereby obtained for the King of England
the dowry promised to the latter, and persuaded him, without
great difficulty, to withhold his protection from the Templars
established in England, who were prosecuted a short time
afterwards. Edward made sail on the 7th of February to
return to England ; he was accompanied by a numerous suite
of French noblemen, at the head of whom were two uncles
of the Queen. Gaveston came to meet the king. As soon
as Edward perceived him, forgetting his young wife and his
noble foUowers, he threw himself into the arms of his favor
ite, embracing him, and calling him his brother, to the great

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 273
indignation of Isabel and all the beholders. Their indigna
tion was increased when they saw Gaveston decked out with
all the jewels which the King of France had recently presented
to Edward. But the discontent rose to its height, when, at
the ceremony of the coronation, which took place with great
splendor on the 14th of February, Piers Gaveston, as the
people persisted in calling him, in spite of his elevation to
the Earldom of Cornwall, was intrusted with the task of
carrying before the king the crown of St. Edward, to the
exclusion of the highest noblemen of the kingdom, who were
all anxious for this honor.
Isabel had already begun to complain to her father of her
husband and of the favorite, when the barons came to the
king four days after his coronation. " Sire," they said, " send
back this stranger who has no business here." The king
promised to give his reply on the assembling of Parliament
after Easter; meanwhUe he endeavored to lessen the resent
ment of the noblemen towards his friend. But Piers was
most imprudent, frivolous, and vain ; he loved to make a
show of his talent for chivalrous exercises, and overthrew
successively from their horses in several tournaments the
Earls of Lancaster, Hereford, Pembroke, and Warren, whose
wounded pride was added to the many serious causes of
resentment against the favorite. On the assembling of Par
liament, the annoyance of the barons was so great that the
king was constrained to give way and to banish Gaveston ;
he loaded him with presents on his departure, giving him
all the jewels which he had received from Queen Isabel, and
accompanied him as far as Bristol to bid farewell to him.
Gaveston was believed to be in Aquitaine, when news came
that the king had appointed him governor of Ireland, and
that Gaveston had just estabUshed himself there with a degree
of splendor almost regal.
vol. i. 35

274 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. X.
The king longed to recall his favorite ; he lavished favors
upon the great lords in order to win them over, and, when
he had been relieved by the Pope of the oath which he had
taken never to recall Gaveston to England, he sent for his
friend, and went as far as Chester to meet him, publicly an
nouncing that the Earl of Cornwall had been unjustly ban
ished, and that justice demanded a fresh examination of his
conduct. On the other hand, the barons declared that the
king had violated his oath, and would not scruple to break
all those which he had sworn for the maintenance of the
public liberties. The discontent was increasing ; the queen
complained of the desertion of her husband ; the Countess of
Cornwall was representing to her brother, the Earl of Glouces
ter, Gaveston's unworthy conduct towards her ; the king and
his favorite did not heed the storm which was about to burst ;
feasts, dances, and tournaments succeeded each other without
intermission at the court. The king's funds had meanwhile
run low, when, in the month of August, 1311, he found
himself compelled to convene Parliament at Westminster.
The barons came, discontented and resolute ; the old Arch
bishop Winchelsea had exhorted them to deliver the kingdom
from the power of the favorite ; the Earl of Lincoln, when
dying, had sent for his son-in-law, the Earl of Lancaster.
"Do not abandon England to the king and the Pope," he
had said ; "do as the ancient barons did, and stand firmly
by your privileges." Scarcely had the barons arrived at West
minster, when they renewed the stipulations of the "Mad
Parliament" of Oxford; they demanded the formation of a
temporal council intrusted with the task of providing for the
government of the kingdom. One of the clauses in the new
concessions forced from the king was that he should be com
pelled to convoke Parliament at least once a year.
The barons had brought with them their men-at-arms.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 275
Edward II. signed all that they demanded, and Gaveston was
once more obliged to leave the country. The king had pro
ceeded to the North, and was busy raising an army, when his
favorite suddenly appeared at his side. Such daring was be
yond endurance. The Earl of Lancaster, the king's cousin,
came unexpectedly upon Edward ; the king only had time to
escape with Gaveston, leaving the queen in the hands of the
barons, who treated her with great respect. The king and
his friend had set out in a little bark ; they landed at Scar
borough, and Piers shut himself up in the fortress there, while
the king proceeded to York in the hope of joining his army.
But the barons had already set out for Scarborough. Being
besieged in the castle, Gaveston surrendered on the 17th of
May, to the Earl of Pembroke and Lord Henry Percy, who
promised to spare his life, and undertook to take him to his
castle of Wallingford. The little band started on their jour
ney; but when they arrived at Dedington, the Earl of Pem
broke had left his prisoner to go and see his wife, who was
in the neighborhood. On the morning of the 19th, Gaveston
received orders to dress himself at once ; he descended into
the courtyard, and found that his guards had been changed ;
the Earl of Warwick, the " black dog of the Ardennes,"
as the favorite called him when jesting with the king, had
arrived during the night; the prisoner was tied on the
back of a mule and led to Warwick Castle. The Earl of
Lancaster was there. Piers was accustomed to call this noble
man the "old boar," but he now threw himself at his feet
begging for mercy. The judges were inflexible ; the sem
blance of a trial was soon over, and the unlucky Piers was
conducted to Blacklow Hill, between Warwick and Coventry,
where a scaffold had been erected ; the executioners hesitated
for a moment to accomplish so horrible a deed. " You have
caught the fox; if you let him go, you wiU have to give

276 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
chase to him again," cried a voice from among the crowd, and
the favorite's head fell. He was only thirty-three years of age.
While Edward II. was mourning his murdered friend,
Robert Bruce was slowly conquering Scotland. Twice had
the King of England attempted an expedition in support of
the power which was slipping from his hands, and twice he
had returned without result ; the authority of Bruce was
being established everywhere in his country ; the castles of
Perth, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Edinburgh were in his hands; he
was besieging the fortress of Stirling, when the governor, Sir
Philip Mowbray, contrived to make his appeals for succor
reach the king. Edward aroused himself for a moment from
his natural indolence, and raised a large army to march
against Scotland ; he started from Berwick on the 11th of
June, 1313.
The forces of the King of England amounted, it is said,
to nearly a hundred thousand men ; while they were march
ing with their banners flying, the sun, which was glistening
upon the armor and the lances, appeared to inundate the
country with a flood of light. King Robert was concealed in
the forests with an army of forty thousand men, nearly all on
foot, awaiting the enemy, and preparing barriers which were
intended to check the onslaught of the English troops, on
the only spot open to attack. On the morning of the 23d
of June, 1313, the two armies met near Bannockburn.
The English had hastened their march, and had arrived in
some disorder, in front of the Scottish army. Lord Clifford,
who had attempted an ambuscade, was repulsed by Randolph,
Earl of Moray, nephew of King Robert and one of his best
knights. The king himself, with a golden crown on his helmet,
was riding slowly along the line of his troops ; a relative
of the Earl of Hereford, Sir Henry Bohun, sprang forward
against the " Scottish traitor," reckoning upon throwing him

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 277
by the weight of his horse alone, for Bruce was mounted
upon one of the small horses of the country.
The king did not expect the shock ; he turned, however,
with great skill, and Bohun's lance passed close by his side
without inflicting any injury upon him ; raising himself up
in his stirrups and displaying his gigantic figure, he struck
the rash Englishman a terrible blow with his battle-axe ; the
helmet was shattered by his powerful arm, and Sir Henry
Bohun, whose skull was fractured, was carried off by his horse
dead. Bruce returned slowly to the spot where the greater
part of his forces was concentrated ; while his friends were
surrounding him, reproaching him for running so great a
risk, the Scottish hero was looking sorrowfully at his notched
axe, and laughingly answered, " I have spoiled my good
battle-axe." The night had been passed in prayer in the Scottish camp,
and in feasting and debauchery by the English. King Edward
did not expect a battle, and held his forces assembled in
such a manner as to render any manoeuvres impossible. At
daybreak, the young king was astonished at the good order
observed in the Scottish ranks. " Do you think they will
fight ? " he asked of his marshal, Sir Ingletram d'Umfreville.
At the same moment, the Abbot Maurice of Inchaffray ap
peared before the Scottish troops, holding a crucifix in his
hand : aU bent their knees, all uncovered their heads. " They
are asking for mercy," cried Edward. Umfreville smiled
bitterly. " Of God ; not of you, Sire," said he ; " these men
wiU win the battle, or die at their posts." " So be it ! "
replied the king, as he gave the signal for the attack.
The struggle was furious from the commencement. The
Earls of Gloucester and Hereford rushed upon the Scottish
infantry, which remained firm ; the long lances withstood the
onslaught of the EngUsh knights; Randolph advanced steadily

278 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
with his picked troops ; Keith was attacking, with five hun
dred mounted men-at-arms, the English archers, who could
not fight at close quarters, and were trampled under foot by
the horses. Banners were torn, and lances and swords were
shattered to pieces ; the feet of the combatants were slipping
in the blood ; the majority of the English began to hesitate.
" They fly ! they fly ! " cried the Scotch. At the same moment
a loud noise was heard behind them upon the hill ; the camp-
followers and the sick and wounded soldiers, excited by the
ardor of the struggle, were descending in a mass towards the
scene of action. The English imagined themselves attacked
by a fresh army; a disorderly retreat had begun, when Rob
ert Bruce, charging with his reserve, decided the fate of the
day beyond the possibility of a doubt. The Earl of Gloucester
was killed while attacking Edward Bruce, Robert's brother.
Clifford and twenty-seven other barons fell by the king's side ;
the Earl of Pembroke seized the bridle of Edward's horse and
dragged him away from the battlefield. Sir Giles d'Argen1
tine accompanied him out of the crowd, then retraced his
steps, exclaiming, "It is not my custom to fly ! " and he was
killed by Bruce's soldiers.
Never had a victory been more complete : the fortress
of Stirling surrendered immediately ; the Earl of Hereford,
who had shut himself up in Bothwell Castle, offered to
capitulate, and was exchanged for the wife, the sister, and
the daughter of the King of Scotland, who had been detained
for several years in England. There still remained a great
deal of territory to conquer, but the work of Edward the
First was destroyed, and Scotland was no longer a depends
ency of England.
Edward Bruce's ambition was not satisfied ; he had as
sisted his brother in conquering a kingdom, and he now
wished to secure a crown for himself. On the 23d of May,

ROBERT BRUCE REGRETTING HIS BATTLE-AXE.

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 279
1315, while England was beginning to feel the miseries of a
famine which was soon to be followed by a plague, he landed
at Carrickfergus in Ireland, at the head of six thousand men.
He was soon joined by a large number of Irish chiefs ; and
they then proceeded to ravage the territory of the English
colonists there, pillaging and burning down the towns ; at
length he caused himself to be crowned King of Ireland on
the 2d of May, 1316. His brother Robert came to his assist
ance, and, in spite of the resistance of the English, who held
Dublin and several other important towns, the invading army
overran the whole of Ireland. The northern portion of the
country had been completely subjected by Edward Bruce,
when King Robert was caUed back to his kingdom in con
sequence of the incursions of the English. Nineteen pitched
battles, besides numberless skirmishes, had been fought, and
had exhausted the resources of the rash conqueror, when,
on the 5th of October, 1318, Edward Bruce was at length
defeated and killed at Fagher, near Dundalk, and the little
body of Scots who escaped returned to Scotland. The death
of one man had sufficed to overthrow the fragile edifice
which for three years he had been striving to raise. The
independence of Scotland was more firmly established than
the conquest of Ireland.
Berwick had at length fallen into the power of the Scotch.
King Edward II. resolved, in 1319, to make a fresh effort
to regain that town and to recommence his attempts against
Scotland. On the 1st of September he laid siege to Ber
wick, by land and by sea ; but while he was detained by the
obstinate resistance of the Lord Stewart of Scotland, Douglas
and Randolph, King Robert's most faithful companions, had
crossed the borders into England with fifteen thousand men,
carrying their ravages as far as York, so that Edward was
obliged to abandon Berwick, to march against the invaders

280 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. X.
of his dominions. The Scots escaped from him, and re-entered
their country. A truce of two years was concluded, and
in 1323, after several renewals of hostilities, it was followed
by a new treaty which restored peace to the two nations ;
not, however, without leaving in the English a feeling of
animosity against the little country whose proud independence
of spirit all their power had not been able to subdue.
King Edward had not taken warning by the fate of Piers
Gaveston ; he had become attached to a young man at his
court, Hugh le Despencer, who had formerly been placed at
his side by his cousin the Earl of Lancaster, and whom he
soon elevated to the dignity of chamberlain. A short time
afterwards he married him to Eleanor de Clare, sister of the
young Earl of Gloucester, who had been killed at Bannock-
burn ; she brought him an enormous estate upon the borders
of Wales ; her aunt, Margaret de Clare, had enriched Gaves
ton in the same manner. Le Despencer was an Englishman,
and Edward had perhaps hoped to enjoy his friendship in
peace ; but the benefits which he heaped upon his new favor
ite soon excited the jealousy of the barons. At their head
was the Earl of Lancaster, who was enraged at seeing pre
ferred to himself a man who had formerly been a member of
his own household. An abuse of the royal authority for the
benefit of the royal favorite soon furnished a pretext to
the great noblemen for resisting the king's authority. They
armed their vassals ; the lands of the Despencers were pil
laged and their castles destroyed, in 1321. Lancaster joined
in the insurrection, swearing not to lay down his arms before
banishing the favorite : they advanced as far as St. Alban's,
and the earl sent a messenger to the king to announce the
conditions of peace. Edward was as timid as he was stub
born ; he defended his friends as well as he was able, and
declared that they could not be condemned without a triah

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 281
The barons marched towards London, and took up their
quarters in the suburbs ; Parliament was convened at West
minster ; and, with their arms in their hands, the Earl of
Lancaster and his friends accused Hugh le Despencer and
his father of having, usurped the royal authority, kept the
king away from his faithful barons, and illegally imposed
taxes, &c. At length they demanded that they should be
banished. The bishops protested that the sentence was Ule-
gal, but the king yielded ; the two Despencers left England,
and the barons became so arrogant, that Queen Isabel, when
making a pilgrimage to Canterbury, was refused admittance
to Leeds Castle, in the county of Kent, although that fortress
belonged to the crown. The governor's wife, Lady Badles-
mere, even caused several arrows to be shot at the royal
suite, and several of the queen's attendants were killed.
This insolence enraged the king. He punished Lord and
Lady Badlesraere, and at the same time recalled the Despen
cers. Lancaster rallied round him all his friends, and entered
into a correspondence with the Scots, who promised to in
vade the northern provinces. This negotiation had no other
effect than to crush the popularity of the Earl of Lancaster,
the Scots being so much detested. The king had already
attacked the Earl of Hereford and his ally, Roger Mortimer;
he had defeated them, and Mortimer was a prisoner in the
Tower. Hereford had joined Lancaster, and the king was
marching against them. The two earls had raised the siege
of Tiehnall Castle, and were retreating before the royal army,
when at Boroughbridge, on the borders of the Ure, Lancaster
found the Governors of York and Carlisle, with a body of
troops, prepared to dispute his passage. Hereford was kiUed
upon the bridge; and, during the retreat which followed,
Lancaster was made a prisoner. He was brought back in
triumph to his castle of Pontefract, and the king soon joined
vol. i. 36

282 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
him there. Lancaster foresaw the fate which awaited him.
" Lord," he said on being captured, kneeling before a cruci
fix, '' I surrender to Thee, and throw myself upon Thy mercy."
His conviction was certain, his treason being flagrant. Lan
caster was condemned by six earls and six barons. The people
insulted him while he was being led to the scaffold ; he
Ufted his pinioned hands towards heaven. " Heavenly King,
have mercy on me," he cried, " for the king of earth has
abandoned me." He was beheaded on the 22d of March,
1322. Fourteen bannerets and as many knights also suffered
the extreme penalty. Mortimer was condemned to imprison
ment for life ; the Despencers enriched themselves on the
spoils taken from the victims ; the father was created Earl
of Winchester, and the enmity of the people towards the
favorites was increased by the compassion which the con
demned men inspired. It was found necessary to forbid the
people to kneel before the portrait of the Earl of Lancaster
in St. Paul's Cathedral, and rumors of miracles which had
taken place at his tomb were spread throughout England, as
had formerly been the case with Simon of Montfort, Earl of
Leicester. Roger Mortimer had succeeded in escaping from prison,
probably not without having held some communication with
Queen Isabel, Avho resided at the Tower during his captivity.
He was in France, and had just entered the service of
Charles the Fair. The queen was enraged at the execution
of his uncle, the Earl of Lancaster. When her husband came
back from his expedition in the North, she received him
haughtily, and manifested towards the Despencers the same
hostility which she had formerly displayed towards Piers"
Gaveston. The King of France, Charles the Fair, employed
the pretext of the grievances of Isabel to take possession of
the greater number of the towns and castles belonging to

Chap.X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 283
Edward. The latter, in return, seized upon all the property
which the queen held in England, declaring that she should
possess nothing while in communication with his enemies.
Isabel immediately proposed to act as mediator between
her brother and her husband. The weak king fell into the
trap, and allowed her to depart. She was received in France
with open arms, and soon informed her husband that he would
have to come and do homage to the King of France for his
duchy of Aquitaine. Edward was preparing to start, when
he was detained in England in consequence of indisposition.
The Despencers, who did not dare to accompany him into
France, but who would not lose sight of him, persuaded the
weak monarch to cede Guienne and Ponthieu to his son, Prince
Edward, the King of France promising to content himself
with receiving homage from the young man. The Prince of
Wales therefore followed his mother into France ; but in
vain did the king await the return of his wife and son, the
queen was continually delaying. At length, she haughtily
declared that her life was not safe in England, and that the
Despencers were plotting against her and her son.
King Edward, astounded, defended himself as well as he
was able, causing all the prelates in England to write and
reassure the queen ; but she would not be convinced ; and
when King Charles the Fair, tired, very probably, of the bad
conduct of Isabel, and of the injunctions which he received
from England, told his sister that he could no longer keep
her at his court, she set out, surrounded by the knights who
had embraced her cause, the Earl of Kent, her husband's
brother, D'Artois, John of Hainault, and, still accompanied by
her favorite, Mortimer, she embarked at Dort with a little
army of Frenchmen and Brabantines, to land at Orcewell in
Suffolk, on the 24th of September. Scarcely had she set
foot upon EngUsh soU with her son, when, in spite of all the

284 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
damaging rumors which were afloat concerning her, a large
number of knights flocked round her standard. The people
were tired of the weakness of King Edward, of the avidity
of his favorites, and of the disorder which reigned over the
kingdom. When Edward sent and asked for the assistance
of the citizens of London, they replied that by their charters
they were not obliged to follow him into battle, but that
they would be faithful to the king, the queen, and the princes,
by closing their gates to the foreigners. Edward was alone
with the two Despencers, the Chancellor Baldock, and a few
knights. Scarcely had he set out for Wales, when the peo
ple of London rose, murdered the Bishop of Exeter, who
had been elevated by the king to the position of governor,
and sent his head to the queen. Edward had halted at
Gloucester, whence he had sent old Despencer to defend
Bristol ; the citizens revolted, and Despencer was com
pelled to surrender at discretion to Isabel. She immediately
caused him to be executed as a traitor, and the old man's
head was exposed to the public gaze at Winchester. Hugh
le Despencer and Chancellor Baldock, as well as the king,
were wandering in the county of Glamorgan, where they
had been cast ashore, after having ineffectually endeavored
to take refuge in Ireland. Le Despencer and the chancellor
were recognized and arrested. The king immediately sur
rendered to his enemies, having decided to share the fate
of those who loved him, and who were already condemned
by anticipation.
Baldock soon died of ill-treatment, and it was necessary
to hasten the execution of Hugh le Despencer. He had
refused to take any food since his arrest, and he was half
dead when he was dragged to the scaffold to suffer the
same fate as his father. The Earl of Arundel, who had
formerly been at the head of the judges who had condemned

Chap. X.] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 285
Lancaster, was beheaded with two of his friends. Their
property was given to Mortimer.
The queen had arrived in London ; Parliament had just
met; and, on the 7th of January, 1327, the Bishop of
Hereford, Adam Orleton, Isabel's adviser and able agent,
asked this question of the assembly: "Should the father be
re-established upon the throne, or ought the son to replace
him?" He dwelt upon the weakness, the bad deeds, the
treacherous acts of King Edward, and asked the lords to
reply on the morrow to his question. The decision was not
doubtful. While the barons were pronouncing, in the great
haU of Westminster, the fall of Edward IL, King of Eng
land, the people of London, assembled in crowds at the doors
of the palace, loudly demanded his immediate condemnation.
Several bishops alone had the courage to speak in favor of
the unhappy king, who had not seen a sword drawn nor
a bow stretched in his defence : they were insulted, and the
Bishop of Rochester was trampled in the mud on leaving
the palace. The young prince was proclaimed king by the
public voice, and all the peers who were present swore
allegiance to him on the spot.
When the queen was informed of the success of all her
schemes, she cried bitterly. " Alas ! " she said, " they have
deposed my husband the king. Parliament has overstepped
its authority." These hypocritical tears did not deceive any
body ; the young prince, Edward, alone was touched at them.
"Do not be afraid, mother," said he, "I will never deprive
my father of his crown." A deputation was therefore sent
to the poor king, who was a prisoner in Kenilworth Castle.
When Edward II. perceived the Bishop of Hereford at the
head of the ambassadors, he fell on the ground, stricken with
grief. The judge who had condemned the two Despencers,
Sir WiUiam Trussel, advanced in the name of the Parlia-

286 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.X.
ment, and, taking his turn to speak, told Edward that he
was no longer King of England. At the same moment, Sir
Thomas Blount, steward of the royal household, broke his
baton, renouncing his allegiance to the king. Edward lis
tened without complaining, and without urging anything on
his own behalf, simply thanking the Parliament for having
recognized the rights of his son. On the 24th of Janu
ary, 1327, King Edward III. was proclaimed throughout
the kingdom. Edward II. was, according to the decree of
Parliament, deposed from the throne by the lords and com
mons, and the power was intrusted to Queen Isabel, who
was to administer the affairs of the kingdom for her son,
then only fifteen years of age.
Isabel was herself under the influence of Mortimer. Ed
ward IL, being dethroned, could not hope to live long.
The power of the favorite over the queen became a mat
ter for alarm. Several monks preached against him ; the
Earl of Lancaster, to whose keeping the deposed king had
been intrusted, seemed to have conceived a feeling of pity
for his prisoner ; the latter was removed to another place.
Being consigned to the charge of Lord Berkeley and Sir
John Maltravers, he was taken to Bristol. The people be
gan to be touched at his fate. Two scoundrels who had
been sent to him as jailers dragged him out half naked,
and took him to Corfe Castle. The poor king asked to be
allowed to dress himself; some dirty water was brought to
him in a helmet. Tears rolled down his cheeks. " I have
some purer water in spite of you," he said. A crown of
dry herbs had been placed upon his head. At length,
moving from place to place, the dethroned monarch was
brought to Berkeley Castle, on the river Severn. An at
tempt was made to poison him, but without success. At
length, one night, the governor of the castle being away,

Chap.X] MALLEUS SCOTORUM. 287
piercing cries were heard, and immediately afterwards all
was silent again. The inhabitants of the neighborhood shud
dered on hearing them. On the morrow, when the doors
were opened, the death of Edward II. was announced, and
the country people were admitted to survey the corpse of
him who had been their king : the expression of agony
which rested upon the once handsome features of the un
happy monarch terrified all who saw it. The body was taken
to the abbey of Gloucester and buried soon afterwards ; but
the people went in crowds to the tomb of this king whom
no one had defended during his lifetime. The offerings
made in his honor at the convent were so considerable that
the monks were enabled to add an aisle to their church.
This unfortunate monarch, so weak and so frivolous, con
sistent only in his affection, so harshly abandoned and so
cruelly murdered, was not yet forty-three years of age when
he expired on the 21st of September, 1327.

288 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.

CHAPTER XI.
THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. — EDWARD III. 1327-1377.
THE young king, Edward III., was but fifteen years of
age when he was raised to the throne of his deposed
father. The Parliament appointed a council of regency,
composed of five prelates and six great noblemen, and con
signed the young monarch into the keeping of the Earl of
Lancaster. No power was formally vested in the dowager
queen ; but her debts were discharged, and a large pension
was granted to her, by means of which she was enabled to
strengthen her own influence and increase the authority of
Mortimer. While England had been engrossed in its internal dis
sensions and struggles, Scotland had been recovering from
the effects of its misfortunes, under the firm government of
Robert Bruce. The thirst for vengeance raged, however, in
the hearts of all the Scots ; and respect for the truce was
powerless to .restrain them. Hearing that King Edward II.
had been dethroned, and that a council of regency had been
appointed, they crossed the frontier on the 3d of February,
1327, and began to lay waste the northern counties. Their
army gradually increased in numbers. King Robert was ill,
but his two faithful friends, James, Earl of Douglas, and
Randolph, Earl of Moray, were at the head of his troops.
The Scottish army consisted entirely of mounted soldiers,
whose light, robust steeds, steady as themselves, bore them
with the swiftness of the wind, without rest, and almost with-

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 289
out provender. No baggage, no tents, — a bag of oatmeal in
front of each horseman, under his saddle an iron plate, which
served for baking his cakes; the English farms and villages
furnished the rest.
Rumors of the ravages to which the northern counties had
been subjected touched the feelings of the young king, and
awakened his martial ardor. In the beginning of July, the
English troops, supported by an army corps from Hainault,
the members of which had been brought with great diffi
culty to live at peace with their English allies, arrived at
Durham. The exact whereabouts of the Scottish army was
unknown ; but the king pressed forward in pursuit. Like
his enemies, he had left the camp baggage behind him. After
a week of pursuit, the Scots were still invisible, and the
English, on the verge of starvation, were beginning to mur
mur. The king promised the honor of knighthood and a
pension of a hundred livres to whoever should bring tidings
of the enemy. They had crossed the Wear ; on the fourth
day a messenger galloped up on horseback. " Sire," said
Thomas Rokeby, " the Scots are within three leagues of
this spot, encamped upon a mountain. I have been their
prisoner for a week ; but they liberated me that I might
come and inform you that they await your arrival." The
king immediately marched towards the enemy.
They had arrived on the banks of the Wear ; and this
time the Scots were perceived encamped on the summit of
a hill. They were drawn up in battle array, but they did
not stir. Edward dispatched a herald to them with a pro
posal that they should cross the river, in order that the
combat might take place upon the open plain. " I have
not come here for the king's pleasure," said Douglas, " and
I will not leave my post for love of him. If he is not
satisfied, let him cross the water and drive us before him."
VOL. i. 37

290 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
The undertaking was too perilous, and the two armies re
mained in their respective positions for two days. On the
third night the Scots raised their camp, and were soon after
wards perceived to have taken up a still stronger position
upon another hill. The king of England broke up his camp
likewise, and followed them. For eighteen days the two
armies had watched each other without result, hot a blow
being struck ; the English troops were sleeping in their tents,
when a loud cry was heard amid the silence : " Douglas !
Douglas ! Death to the EngUsh robbers ! " The terrified
soldiers rose in confusion and in a half sleeping condition,
and groped about in the dark for their weapons. Mean
while sounds of strife were heard, and suddenly the ropes
supporting the royal tent were cut, and by the side of the
couch whereon the young king was sleeping, Black Doug
las, the most valiant knight in Scotland, appeared like a
threatening phantom. The chamberlain and chaplain of the
young king sprang forward to protect their master. The
youth had hidden himself within the folds of the tent.
Douglas, however, did not pursue his adventure further ;
sounding the horn, he recalled the three hundred men who
had followed him. " What have you done ? " asked Ran
dolph, when the Scots had regained their intrenchments.
" We have shed a little blood, my lord, that is all," said
Douglas. " We should have crossed over with the whole
of our army," insisted his friend ; " our provisions are ex
hausted." On the following night the Scots disappeared in
silence, carrying with them a rich booty, while King Ed
ward, incensed and humiliated, again marched towards York,
whither his affianced bride, Philippa of Hainault, had been
conducted by John of Hainault. The marriage was cele
brated on St. Paul's day, 1328. The king was sixteen years
of age, while the queen was one year younger. Peace had

EDWARD II. AND HIS GAOLERS.

BLACK DOUGLAS BEFORE THE KING'S TENT.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 291
just been concluded with Scotland ; the independence of that
kingdom had thereby been acknowledged ; the crown jewels,
which had been formerly seized by Edward I., had been
restored ; and the little Princess Joan, who was betrothed to
David, the young son of .Robert Bruce, had been taken to
Berwick and given up to the Scots. It seemed as though
the deliverer of Scotland had waited for this great triumph
before going to his last rest. He died in the following year,
in the fifty-fifth year of his age, leaving wise counsels to his
countrymen; and to his faithful friend, the good Lord James
Douglas, the task of carrying his heart to Palestine, in order
that his vow to visit the Holy Land might be fulfilled. The
evils of a minority threatened Scotland at the very moment
when England was escaping from that calamity.
The arrogance of Mortimer had increased with his power,
and the great noblemen were beginning to chafe under the
yoke which he imposed upon them. The Earl of Lancaster
had been the first to make an attempt against the favorite ;
but. he had been defeated, notwithstanding that he obtained
the temporary support of the king's uneles, the Earl of Kent
and the Earl of Norfolk. Mortimer ravaged the possessions
of Lancaster like a conquered kingdom. A rumor had been
spread abroad that King Edward II. was not dead, and the
Earl of Kent had perhaps been encouraged in this illusion,
which was the cause of his ruin. He was accused of high
treason, and condemned for the strange crime of having
endeavored to replace a dead man upon the throne. The
execution took place on the 19th of May, 1330, in spite of
the noble birth of the victim, and the public indignation
reached its. climax. The young king had hitherto remained
silent concerning state matters, and had appeared as a do
cile instrument in the hands of his mother and Mortimer,
although he had kept aloof from them since his marriage,

292 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
not permitting his young wife to frequent a corrupt and
licentious court.
It was on the 13th of June, 1330, that a son was born
to King Edward, who was to achieve a mighty reputation
as Prince of Wales. The young king, already a father at
eighteen years of age, began to feel the disgrace of his situ
ation, and to experience some remorse for the wrong which
was being perpetrated in his name. Slowly and prudently
he communicated his opinions to Lord Montacute, one of his
advisers. A Parliament was convoked at Nottingham, in
the month of October, the king being then lodged in the
castle with Mortimer and his mother. On the night of the
19th, the keys of the fortress had been brought as usual to
Queen Isabel, when Lord Montacute, accompanied by sev
eral friends, crept silently into the vaults of the castle, which
had been opened to him by the governor. The king awaited
him with great anxiety at the door of the great tower.
The conspirators ascended a dark staircase and found them
selves at the door of the queen's antechamber. Notwith
standing the lateness of the hour, the voice of Mortimer
was heard discussing with some of his adherents. Monta
cute and his friends broke open the door, and killed two
sentinels who endeavored to defend it. Hearing the commo
tion, the queen ran forward, calling loudly upon her son,
Who had remained behind the door, but whose presence she
guessed. " Fair son," she cried, " O spare the gentle Morti
mer, my beloved cousin." The favorite was, however, dragged
out, and at daybreak he was already on his way, under strong
escort, to the Tower of London. Nottingham rang with sounds
of joy-
The king had seized the reins of government ; this he
announced to his subjects in dissolving the Parliament and
convoking a new representative assembly at Westminster.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 293
On the 26th of November, 1330, the favorite was cited be
fore his judges, the king himself being present at the trial.
His crimes were notorious, and consequently the decision
did not long remain doubtful. As he had put Hugh le
Despencer to death without allowing him time to make any
defence, Mortimer was himself drawn to Tyburn and hanged,
with Sir Simon Beresford, one of his accomplices. His prop
erty, however, was not confiscated, and his family retained
the title of Earl of March, which had been granted by the
queen to her favorite. Isabel was imprisoned in the castle
of Rising, treated with respect by her son*, who paid a visit
to her every year, and ministered liberally to all her neces
sities ; but she never again left her retreat, in which she
lived during more than twenty-seven years afterwards.
The Regent of Scotland, the Earl of Moray, was dead.
The valiant Douglas had been slain in an expedition against
the Moors of Spain, the first episode in the crusade which
he had undertaken in company with the heart of Bruce.
Scotland was now governed by the Earl of Mar, a warrior
far inferior to the great champions of liberty, the friends
and supporters of Robert Bruce. The time had come when
England was to be raised out of the disgrace of the last
treaty. The pretensions of Edward Baliol, the son of the
exiled king, were advanced by several English peers who
had formerly been deprived of property pertaining to them
in Scotland. Baliol advanced into the northern counties,
and a certain number of Scottish malcontents crossed the
fronter and rallied round his standard. Entering Scotland,
he soon found himself confronted by two armies superior
to his own ; but a skilful movement placed the invaders in
an advantageous position ; the Earl of Mar imprudently gave
battle in a defile on Duplin Heath, where he was defeated
and killed, with many others. Baliol had time to fortify

294 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
himself within Perth before the arrival of the Earl of
March, and the Scottish fleet was destroyed by the little
squadron brought over by the pretender. Baliol's forces
were increasing day by day ; he was crowned at Scone on
the 2d of September, having secretly renewed to King Ed
ward III. the allegiance which his father had rendered to
Edward I.
But the crown thus acquired in seven weeks was des
tined to be lost in less than three months. On the night
of the 16th of December, the new king was taken by surprise
at Annan, in the county of Dumfries, by a Scottish corps under
the command of the young Earl of Moray and Sir Archi
bald Douglas. Baliol, half-clad, and mounted upon a horse
which he had not had time to saddle, contrived to escape to
the English frontier, leaving his brother, Henry, dead behind
him. King Edward received him with so much kindness
that the Scottish people, indignant at the support accorded to
the pretender, invaded the northern counties of England on
several occasions, carrying their ravages to such an extent
that King Edward determined to enter Scotland. In the
month of May, 1333, he joined Baliol, who during two
months had been besieging the town of Berwick. The
garrison was preparing to surrender, when, on the 19th of
July, Archibald Douglas, now Regent of Scotland, appeared
in sight of the town. The English army was posted on the
heights of Halidon Hill, protected by the marshes. The
Scots were excited by the peril threatening Berwick ; they
attacked the enemy in spite of obstacles. Arrows fell thick
in their midst during their passage across the marshes, and
disorder had already broken out in their ranks, when they
began their fierce onslaught on the hill. The assault was
so vigorous that for a moment victory seemed to incline in
their favor; but the regent fell, and with him and beside

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 295
him, his most valiant knights. King Edward rushed forward
in pursuit of the Scots, who were beginning to fly. Lord
Darcy, who was in command of the Irish peasants who had
joined as auxiliaries, slaughtered the stragglers. Scotland
had never suffered so lamentable a defeat. King David and
his wife took refuge in France, and spent several years at
Chateau Gaillard. Baliol was reinstalled upon the throne,
not, however, without ceding to his powerful ally the finest
counties in the south of Scotland, to the general indigna
tion of the Scottish people. They soon compelled him to
take refuge in the territory which he had thus abandoned
to England, where he maintained his position with great dif
ficulty, although supported from time to time by fresh troops
from England. A more ambitious project had been formed
in the mind of the King of England, and the war with
Scotland languished, while Edward was dreaming of con
quering France.
The King of France, Charles IV., surnamed the Fair, had
died in 1328 ; and, a short time after his death, the queen,
his wife, had given birth to a daughter. The Salic law
prohibiting the accession of females to the throne, the peers
of the kingdom and the States-general had decreed that the
crown belonged to the cousin of the deceased king, Philip
of Valois, grandson of Philip the Bold, by his youngest son,
Charles of Valois ; and the new sovereign had taken un
disputed possession of the throne. King Edward III. was
scarcely sixteen years of age, and, although maintaining from
that time forth, in England, that his right was superior to
that of Philip of Valois, his mother Isabel being the daugh
ter of Philip the Fair, he accepted the invitation of the
King of France to render fealty and homage to him for the
duchy of Aquitaine, and again performed the same cere
mony in 1331, when he had attained his majority and was

296 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
king de facto. But in 1336, the young King of England
felt that he was securely seated upou his throne. He was
piqued by the support which Philip of Valois openly gave
to the Scotch ; and he publicly declared that the peers of
France and the States-general had acted as rogues and rob
bers rather than as judges, and that for the future he would
not recognize their decisions, but that he would maintain his
own just rights. Thus began that disastrous war which has
been called the " Hundred Years' War," but which, in re
ality, was waged from 1338 until 1453, during the reigns of
five kings of France — Philip VI., John the Good, Charles
V., Charles VI., and Charles VII. — and of as many kings
of England — Edward III., Richard II. , Henry IV., Henry
V., and Henry VI. It cost the lives of millions of men,
brought plague and famine with it, and caused unheard-of
misery, without any result for the two nations other than a
feeling of international hatred which has scarcely died out
in our own time.
The preparations on both sides were gigantic. The Eng
lish people looked with favor upon the war against France,
and, in spite of the Magna Charta, the king was allowed
to seize the Cornish tin and all the wool grown during the
year, although they had already granted to him all the sub
sidies, tallage, and loans which he had demanded. Edward
embarked at Orwell on the 15th of July, 1338, and landed
four days afterwards at Antwerp. The Count of Flanders
was an ally of the King of France, Philip ; but his towns
scarcely obeyed him. They were then under the influence of
a brewer of Ghent, named Jacques van Artevelclt, who con
tracted a friendship with King Edward. He had negotiated
also with more illustrious allies : the Emperor of Germany,
the Dukes of Brabant and Guelders, the Counts of Hainault
and Namur. AU had received his money ; but the troops

K
mM a
-y, H

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 297
did not arrive, and when, on the 1st of July, 1339, the
King of England at length succeeded in crossing the French
frontier, the Counts of Namur and Hainault immediately
abandoned him, and his other confederates soon did like
wise. The king was compelled to return, after having, by
the advice of Arteveldt, assumed the title of King of France,
and added to his coat of arms the lily side by side with
the lions of England. The Parliament, as ardent in the
cause of the war as the king himself, voted enormous sub
sidies, and on the 22d of June, 1340, Edward again left Eng
land to attack the French vessels of war huddled together
in the port of Sluys. Queen Philippa had accompanied her
husband, taking with her a great number of ladies in wait
ing, who were placed in the rear. The French and Genoese
vessels hired by King Philip were numerous and very large ;
when they sailed out of port, attached together by iron chains
and formed in four divisions, and advanced to dispute his
passage, Edward uttered a cry of joy. "Ah!" said he, "I
have long desired to fight with the French. So shall I meet
some of them to-day by the grace of God and St. George."
He began by standing out to sea again ; his adversaries im
agined that he declined an engagement, but he was desirous
of avoiding the ardent rays of the sun ; and, attacking briskly
the first division of the French fleet, he soon made himself
master of it in spite of a vigorous resistance.
A reinforcement arrived at the same time under the com
mand of Lord Morley; the victors thereupon assailed the
three French divisions at the same time. The French sail
ors became alarmed ; they could not manage their vessels,
nor disengage them to facilitate a retreat ; after having fought
during several hours, the French and Genoese sprang into
the water, in order to escape by swimming. Many of them
were killed, and the defeat was so decisive that nobody was
VOL. I. 38

298 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
bold enough to communicate the news to King Philip. His
court jester presented himself before the French monarch.
" The English are cowards," he said. " Why so ? " in
quired the king. " Because they had not the courage to
spring into the sea at Sluys as did the French and Normans."
The king guessed the sad truth. Edward had landed on
French soil, surrounded by the aUies whom his victory had
attracted round him ; he laid siege to Saint-Omer and Tour-
nay, sending thence a challenge to Philip of Valois, pro
posing to him to arrange their quarrel by single combat, or,
that the fate of the two kingdoms should be intrusted to a
hundred combatants on each side, or, that a day should be
fixed on which a pitched battle should be fought. Philip
answered with disdain ; and, as in the preceding year, he
left his enemy free to exhaust his strength and resources on
insignificant places, without ever according him the oppor
tunity of a general engagement. The coffers of the King of
England soon became empty, and his allies refused to fight ;
he was compelled to consent to the armistice which Pope
Benedict XII. advised, and he returned to his kingdom in
furiated by the ill success of a campaign which had begun
under brilliant auspices. He unexpectedly appeared in Lon
don, cast three judges into prison, deposed the chancellor aud
the treasurer, who had not been able, he said, to supply him
with the subsidies necessary to his requirements, and immedi
ately engaged in a contention with the Archbishop of Can
terbury, president of the council. The archbishop exonerated
himself before the Parliament, which, according to its wise
custom, refused the subsidies until the king had promised the
reform of existing abuses, and new guaranties against others
in the future.
Meanwhile King David Bruce had returned to Scotland;
he was eighteen years of age, was handsome, of good figure,

THE battle of sluys.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 299
and also skilled in athletic exercises. The joy of his sub
jects, therefore, was great at his arrival. Baliol had been
driven back into England ; and, notwithstanding several at
tempts of the young Scottish king upon the northern coun
ties, Edward concluded an armistice with him in 1342,
intrusting Baliol with the task of defending the English
frontier, so much was he absorbed in the war with France,
and in thoughts of revenge for his past checks.
A new opening had presented itself to him upon the
French territory. John III., Duke of Brittany, had died
without issue in 1341, and his brother, John of Montfort,
had immediately seized his treasure, as well as several im
portant towns. But Joan of Penthidvre, otherwise Joan the
Lame, wife of Charles, Count of Blois, claimed the duchy
as the daughter of Guy of Montfort, a younger brother of
the deceased duke. The Count of Blois was the nephew
of Philip of Valois, and he had invoked the aid of his
uncle. Montfort had been summoned to Paris to render an
account of his claims. After having appeared before the
king he had fled secretly, and his first care had been to
repair to London, there to do homage to the King of
England in respect to Brittany. Edward had promised to
support him, but already a French army had marched into
Brittany. John of Montfort had been captured at Nantes,
and his wife, Joan of Flanders, had with difficulty contrived
to escape with her son to the castle of Hennebon, where
she was besieged by the Duke of Normandy. The countess
"had indeed the heart of a man and a lion," says Frois-
sart, and she valiantly encouraged her partisans, while wait
ing for the succor which she had asked from England. The
wind was unfavorable ; the English vessels did not arrive,
and treachery began to do its work in the town, when
Joan, looking from her window, perceived sails in the

300 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
offing. " It is coming ! it is coming ! " she cried, " the
succor which I have so long desired." The rising tide
brought to her Walter de Manny, a valiant knight of Hai
nault, who had become a faithful servant to the King of
England, and one of the most illustrious amongst his war
riors. He was accompanied by a goodly number of knights
and men-at-arms, and soon caused the siege to be raised.
But the war continued in Lower Brittany. With singular
inconsistency the King of France, who owed his elevation
to the throne to the Salic law, was maintaining in Brittany
the cause of female succession, while Edward was defend
ing the rights of the male sex, which he had refused to
recognize in the case of Philip of Valois. An armistice
enabled the Countess de Montfort to cross over to England
to obtain reinforcements. When she returned to Brittany,
she was accompanied by Robert of Artois, brother-in-law of
King Philip and his most deadly enemy. The town of
Vannes was captured and recaptured. Robert of Artois,
wounded, succeeded, although not without great difficulty,
in escaping to England, there to die at the very moment
when Edward was setting sail with the resolution of direct
ing the war in Brittany in person. He landed in the month
of October, 1343, at Hennebon, with twelve thousand men,
and immediately laid siege to Vannes, Rennes, and Nantes,
with no other result than the devastation of the country,
already overrun by so many enemies, and the retreat of
Charles of- Blois, whose forces had been greatly reduced.
The arrival of the Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of
King Philip, soon enabled the French troops to act once
more upon the aggressive by besieging Edward, encamped
before Vannes. The two armies were suffering severely from
the inclemency of the weather. The Duke of Normandy
dreaded the reinforcements which were expected by the Eng-

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 301
Ush. Edward foresaw that his provisions would shortly be
exhausted, when the legates of the Pope arrived, and, by
dint of their exertions, a truce of three years was arranged;
the siege of Vannes was then raised.
Notwithstanding the truce, the war still raged in Brit
tany. King Philip of Valois aroused a widespread feeling
of indignation by arresting several Breton noblemen at a
tournament, among others, Oliver de Clisson, and by causing
them to be beheaded without trial, as guilty of relations
with the EngUsh. The head of Clisson was sent to Nantes;
but the king had created an implacable foe in the person
of Joan of BelvUle, the widow of Clisson, who immediately
armed aU her vassals, and soon vied with Joan of Montfort
herself in courage and intrepidity. The countess had re
cently had the satisfaction of seeing her husband, who had
escaped from prison, where he had been incarcerated for six
years. He brought with him, from England, a small body
of troops, which he landed at Hennebon in the middle of
September, 1345 ; but his health was impaired, and he died
on the 26th of the same month, naming King Edward
guardian of his son.
HostUities recommenced openly. During the truce the
two kings had made preparations for a desperate struggle.
Among the taxes which King Philip had devised for the
purpose of filling his coffers, was the monopoly of salt.
"It is indeed by the Salic law that Philip of Valois reigns,"
said Edward. " The King of England is but a wool mer
chant," was the reply at the court of France. The Parlia
ment had granted fresh subsidies, recommending merely to
the king that he should put an end to the war promptly
either by battle or by treaty.
The Earl of Derby was already in Guienne, retaking,
one by one, all the places which had been captured by the

302 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
enemy, when King Edward landed in Flanders, on the 26th
of June, 1345, for the purpose of obtaining an interview with
the deputies of the great Flemish towns. The citizens, under
the command of Jacques van Arteveldt, had by degrees
deprived their ruler of his power, and King Edward had
conceived the hope of substituting his son, the Prince of
Wales, for Count Louis of Flanders, who refused to re
nounce his alliance with the King of France. But when he
unfolded his plans before the deputies of the cities, and
although he was ardently supported by Arteveldt, the Flem
ings eyed each other, and asked that they might be aUowed
to consult their fellow-citizens. " Yes," said the King of
England, " by all means ; " and he waited at Sluys while
Arteveldt proceeded to Bruges and to Ypres, there to plead
the cause of his patron and ally. He placed too much
reliance, however, upon his good city of Ghent ; there the
disaffection on his return was general. " They began to
murmur and to talk together in little groups (says the
Chronicle), saying, ' Here is a man who is too much the
master, and who would compel the county of Flanders to
do his behest, which cannot be tolerated.' " " As Jacques
van Arteveldt rode through the streets, he soon perceived
that there was some change in the feeling towards him,
and returning quickly to his residence, he caused the doors
thereof to be closed."
This precaution was not taken too soon ; a furious crowd
already surrounded the house, demanding the public treasure
of Flanders, which had been sent, they said, to England
by Arteveldt. " He therefore replied very meekly, ' Verily,
gentlemen, as to the treasures of Flanders, I have not
taken one single penny.' 'No, no,' they cried'; 'we know
the truth, that you have emptied the public coffers and
sent the contents to England secretly, for which act you

VAN ARTEVELDE AT HIS DOOR.

Chap. XI.] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 303
must suffer death.' When Arteveldt heard these words he
clasped his hands and burst into tears, saying at the same
time, ' Gentlemen, such as I am so have you made me, and
you formerly swore that you would defend and protect me.
Do you not know how trade languished in this country ?
I restored it to you. And then I governed you so peace
fully that you have had everything at will : wheat, wool,
and every species of commodity with which you have been
clothed and become fat.' But the people cried out, ' Come
down, and do not preach to us from so great a height.'
(Arteveldt was at a window.) Thereupon Arteveldt closed
the shutter of the window, and determined to go out at the
rear and take refuge in a church which adjoined his resi
dence ; but already the doors had been burst open, admit
ting more than four hundred persons, all eager to capture
him. FinaUy, he was captured among them and slain on
the spot without mercy. Thus ended the career of Arte
veldt, who in his time was so great a ruler in Flanders.
To the poorer classes he owed his princely elevation, and
at the hands of the malignant populace he came to his
end." When the news of the death of Arteveldt reached King
Edward at Sluys, he was irritated and despondent ; all his
schemes were frustrated through the loss of his faithful ally,
and he therefore set sail for England, vowing to be avenged
on the Flemings. The latter greatly feared his resentment;
the wool which was so necessary in their manufactures was
imported almost exclusively from England. They dispatched
an embassy to London for the purpose of exonerating them
selves, and in order to hint at the possibility of a marriage
between the daughter of King Edward and the young
damoiseau, the heir of Flanders. "Thus would the county
of Flanders always remain to one of your children." These

304 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
representations, together with others, softened greatly the
resentment of King Edward, who finally declared himself
well pleased with the Flemings, as were the Flemings with
him ; thus by degrees was the death of Jacques van Arte
veldt partially forgotten on both sides.
Meanwhile the preparations for the passage to France
were completed. The army was numerous and spirited ; the
project openly announced was to pass into Gascony, there
to sustain the Earl of Derby, who was hemmed in by the
Duke of Normandy ; but Godefroy d'Harcourt, a French
baron in exile in England, urged Edward to attack Nor
mandy, a rich and undefended country. The king resolved
to adopt the course proposed, and on the 12th of July, 1346,
he disembarked at La Hogue ; immediately on landing his
foot slipped, and he fell. " So return into your ship, cher
sire," said the English knights, "for this is a bad omen for
you ; " to which the king replied pointedly and without hesi
tation, '" Why so ? It is a very good sign, for the land
evidently wishes for me." At which all the barons were
greatly rejoiced.
The soil of Normandy was unwise to wish for King Ed
ward, for he pillaged and burned down everything before
him. Barfleur, Carentan, and Saint-L3 had already suc
cumbed when he appeared before Caen. The burghers had
mustered all their forces, and the Count d'Eu, the Con
stable of France, with the Count de Tancarville, was there,
supported by gallant knights. " But as soon as the burghers
beheld the approach of the English, who were approaching
in three lines, close and compact, and saw these banners
and these pennants flying and streaming in the wind, and
heard the cries of these archers whom they were not accus
tomed to see or hear, they were so alarmed and discomfited
among themselves that nothing in the world could have

y.

r~r%Wi!" "!f"s:— '--;'.'•'

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 305
hindered their taking to flight ; accordingly they dispersed
towards their town in disorder, without consulting the Con
stable of France in the matter."
When the knights found that they were no longer sup
ported by the burghers, they surrendered to Sir Thomas
Holland, and the King of England commanded that no harm
should be done in the city of Caen, where " the English
remained during three days, and therein captured such magnifi
cent booty, marvellous to think of, which they immediately
dispatched to England, while the king was riding towards
Paris," taking Louviers, Vernon, and Verneuil. They arrived
at Poissy; and the marshals of the English army even ad
vanced as far as Saint-Germain, Neuilly, Saint-Cloud, Bou
logne, and Bourg-la-Reine, " whereat the inhabitants of Paris
were greviously disquieted."
King Philip had convoked all his followers, and a large
army was beginning to assemble round him; the French en
deavored to gain time, in order to muster in numbers and
overwhelm their enemies by superior forces. The depreda
tions committed around Paris had meanwhile spread uneasi
ness at the court, and the king proceeded to St. Denis,
where his allies were assembled, " the King of Bohemia, John
of Hainault, who had become French ; the Duke of Lorraine,
the Count of Flanders, the Count of Blois, and a great num
ber of barons and knights. When the inhabitants of Paris
saw that their sovereign was leaving them, they were more
alarmed than before, and came and knelt down before him.
' Ah ! sire and noble king, what would you do ? Would you
thus depart and leave the good city of Paris? Here your
enemies are but two leagues distant, and soon will be in
this city, where we have not and shall not have any one
to defend us against them ! ' ' Fear nothing, my good folk,'
said the king, ' the English will not come to you, for I shall
VOL. i. 39

306 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
march against them and attack them, howsoever they may
be.' "
King Edward had left Poissy on the 16th of August, 1346,
taking the road to Picardy ; he was expecting a reinforcement
of the Flemings, who had promised to invade the French ter
ritory, and he was anxious to be nearer to his auxiliaries.
King Philip followed closely upon his steps. The arm3>- of
the French monarch increased day by daj^, and he hoped to
overtake his enemies, in order to give battle to them before
they could cross the Somme. The English were vainly seek
ing a ford, and tidings had been received that Philip had
arrived at Amiens. Edward had caused all the prisoners who
had been taken in the county of Ponthieu to be brought to
Oisemont, where he was encamped, and said to them " very
courteously, ' Is there a man among you who knows of a pas
sage which should be below Abbeville, where we and our
army may cross without danger ? If there is any one who
will inform us of this, we will release him from prison as well
as twenty of his comrades, in gratitude to him.' Whereupon
a fellow named Gobin Agace, who had been born and bred
near the passage of the Blanche-Tache, advanced and said to
the king, ' Sire, yes, in the name of God, I know it and
will conduct you to it.' When the King of England heard
these words he was rejoiced, and orders were given to his
soldiery to be in readiness by sunrise ; for the salt tide flowed
as high as the Blanche-Tache, and it was desirable to take
advantage of the ebb for crossing over." On arriving before
the ford, they there saw a noble knight named Godemar de
Fay, who bravely defended the passage ; " but he was de
feated with all his men," and the English found themselves
on the other side, whither King Philip was eager to follow
them, when he had heard the news; but the flood tide had
already returned, and it was necessary to wait until the mor-

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 307
row, while King Edward, who was still riding forward, had
taken possession of Le Crotoy, and had arrived at the county
of Ponthieu.
He was in the open country not far from Cre"cy, when he
said to his men, "Let us halt here for a while. I will go
no further until I shall have seen our enemies, for I stand
upon the rightful inheritance of that noble lady my mother,
which was given to her on her marriage ; so will I defend
it against my adversary, Philip of Valois!" And the king
and his followers encamped upon the open plain, the king
superintending all its labors. For his army was small in com
parison with that of the King of France, who was constantly
being joined by fresh barons and allies, who were unable to
find quarters in the good town of Abbeville, and were en
camped in the surrounding neighborhood.
It was on the morning of the 26th of August ; King Edward
had attended mass and taken the communion, as had also his
son, the Prince of Wales ; and he had drawn up his men in
three battle corps, intrusting the first to the command of the
young prince, supported by the Earls of Warwick and Oxford ;
Northampton and Arundel were placed at the head of the
second, while the third the king reserved for himself. " When
the three- divisions were arranged, and every earl, baron, and
knight knew what he had to do, the King of England, seated
upon a small white palfrey, with his rod in his hand, rode
slowly from line to line, admonishing and exhorting the earls,
the barons, and the knights to understand and reflect that
for his honor they must guard and defend his right ; and he
said these things to them smiling so pleasantly and with so
joyous a manner, that whoever had been previously quite
dejected began to take comfort on hearing and beholding him.
He then commanded that all the men should eat at their
ease and drink a draught ; after which they sat down upon

308 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XL
the ground with their casques and crossbows in front of
them, in order to be more fresh and better prepared on the
arrival of their enemies ; for it was the intention of the King
of England to await his enemy, the King of France, upon
that spot, and there to oppose him and his power."
Meanwhile King Philip had marched forward with all his
forces, dispatching before him four of his best knights to
examine the positions of the English. " Sire," said, on his
return, the most renowned among them, called the Monk
of Basele, " the EngUsh are drawn up and arranged in good
order, and await you. Therefore it is well that your men
should halt in the fields and rest for the remainder of this
day, for they are fatigued. It is late, and to-morrow you
will be able with more leisure to consider on which side you
can attack your enemies, for you may rest assured that they
will await your coming."
The king perceived the wisdom of the advice, and the
two marshals of the army rode on, one in front and the
other in the rear, exclaiming, " Halt, banners ! by order
of the king, in the name of God and St. Denis." The fore
most among them obeyed at once and drew up; but not so
those in the rear, who still urged their horses forward, saying
they would not stop until they had gone as far as those in
advance of them. Whereupon the front ranks recommenced
their onward march, " and through their great pride and van
ity, neither the king nor his two marshals could exact obe
dience from them, for there were such distinguished warriors
and such a large number of great noblemen, that each desired
on this occasion to show his power."
This marching soon brought them within sight of the Eng
lish. When the French knights in the front ranks first saw
them, they were smitten with shame at their disorderly ap
pearance, and feU back a few steps ; those who were behind

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 309
thought that an engagement had taken place, and that they
had been defeated ; they pressed forward with all the citizens
and inhabitants of Abbeville who had followed the army.
When they saw the enemy they cried, " Death to them !
Death to them ! " drawing and brandishing at the same time
their swords ; the confusion increased every minute.
King Philip had seen the enemy, as well as his soldiers,
" and his blood was stirred, for he hated them." He forgot
all; the prudent advice of the Monk of Basele, the fatigue
of his troops and their disorder ; and he exclaimed, " Send
our Genoese troops in front, and let us begin the battle in
the name of God and St. Denis ! "
The Genoese soldiers were weary after their long march ;
they murmured ; at the same instant a violent tempest arose ;
the rain fell in torrents. They were in the presence of the
English troops who had risen in " very good order, and with
out any alarm," and had taken up the positions assigned to
them. When the sky became clear again, the sun shone in
the faces of the French soldiers ; the Genoese shouted as they
marched to the combat, " so very loud that it was marvel
lous, in order to terrify the English ; but they kept quite
quiet and made no show." The crossbow-men began to
shoot ; but in the midst of their compact numbers the re
doubtable English arrows were pouring down like hail, and
the Genoese, " who had not learned to encounter such arch
ers as those from England, when they felt these bolts and
arrows which pierced their arms, heads, and lips, were im
mediately discomfited, and fell back upon the bulk of the
army." The knights were ready lance in hand, awaiting their
turn. King Philip became incensed on beholding the rout
of the Genoese, who impeded his progress. " Now then," he
cried, "kUl all this rabble who bar the way to no purpose."

310 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
And the unhappy Genoese fell by the swords of their allies
as they had previously fallen by the arrows of their enemies.
The French horsemen waded through their blood to approach
the English.
The mellay began, terrible and confused; the old King of
Bohemia, blind and surrounded by his followers, inquired how
matters were progressing. This was at the moment when
the Genoese were being slaughtered. " They fall back upon
each other, and prevent our advancing," said his knights.
" Ah ! " replied the king, " this is the signal for us ; there
fore, I beg you, my men, friends and comrades, to lead me
so far forward that I may wield a sword against the ene
my." And they, fearing to lose the king in the confusion,
bound their horses together by the bridles, and " placed the
king their lord in front, and thus fell upon the enemy ; on
whom the king inflicted blows one after the other, and all
remained there and not one stirred," for all the knights were
on the morrow found dead around their master.
Meanwhile the King of England did not fight; he had
not even donned his helmet, and contemplated the battle
from a little eminence. The French cavalry were closely
pressing the Prince of Wales ; the Earl of Northampton de
sired the king to come to his son's aid. " Is my son dead,
unhorsed, or so wounded that he cannot help himself ? "
asked Edward of the messenger. " No, my lord ; but he is
in the thick of the fray, and is in great need of your assist
ance." " Return to those who sent you," answered the king,
" and tell them not to send for me again while my son is
still alive, but to let the youth win his spurs ; for I in
tend, if it please God, that this day be his." And thus was
it done.
The French were exhausting themselves in vain ; their
numbers and their valor had not been able to triumph over

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 311
the disorder and the unskilful arrangement of the troops.
Their best warriors lay stretched upon the field of battle, and
nightfall approached. John of Hainault seized the bridle of
the horse upon which the King of France was seated, and
dragged him away from the struggle. They rode along in
silence ; five horsemen only followed the king. They arrived
at the gate of a castle, but the drawbridge was raised.
"Open," said Philip; "it is the unfortunate King of France
who entreats you." After resting for a while he resumed his
journey towards Amiens, while the English, who had not pur
sued the enemy, were gathering together by torchlight around
the tent of King Edward; the latter had just left the hill
and advanced towards the prince, whom he embraced. " My
gaUant son," he said, " God give you good perseverance ; you
are my son, and have loyally acquitted yourself; you are
worthy to be a sovereign." The dead being interred, King
Edward marched towards Calais, to which he laid siege on
the 31st of August. The town was strong, and the garrison
was known to be resolute. The English proceeded to buUd
a town of wood around the ramparts, King Philip had
recalled from Guienne the Duke of Normandy, thus reliev
ing the Earl of Derby, who was closely besieged in Bordeaux,
and Sir Walter de Manny, who was defending Aiguillon.
These two knights had nothing more at present to do than
to rejoin King Edward before Calais. They did not know how
long a time was destined to elapse before the surrender of
that town.
The position of the King of France was becoming serious ;
he endeavored to divert the attention of the enemy. His
aUy, David, King of Scotland, had promised to attempt an
invasion of England ; the moment seemed propitious, all the
English commanders and knights were beyond the sea. At
the end of September, 1346, David marched therefore into

312 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
the county of Cumberland with a considerable army, pillaging
and sacking everything on their way. Queen Pliilippa had
already levied some troops, and at Newcastle, where she was
stationed, she was better informed of the movements of the
Scots than the latter were of her preparations for resistance.
The English army assembled in the park of Auckland, unknown
to King David. No commander-in-chief had been appointed ;
but four prelates and as many barons marched at the head
of the troops, " and the good dame, Queen Philippa, prayed
and admonished them to do their duty well," says Froissart.
As she was returning to Newcastle, on the 17th of October,
Douglas, the Lord of Liddesdale, who was coming back from
a plundering expedition, fell among the English, whose pres
ence he did not suspect, and with difficulty cut his way
through them. The King of Scotland immediately drew up
his forces on the plain of Nevil's Cross. He fought valiantly;
but, having been twice wounded, he was made a prisoner by
a plain esquire, named John Copeland, who conducted him
to his castle. The Scottish earls and barons lay stretched
upon the field of battle, or had fallen alive into the hands
of their enemies. The queen was rejoicing at Newcastle;
she sent to John Copeland, commanding that the King of
Scotland should be given up to her. "I will surrender him
to no man or woman except my lord, the King of England,"
replied the worthy esquire ; " and be not uneasy upon his
account, for I intend to keep him so carefully that I will
render good account of him." The queen was not quite sat
isfied, however, and with the good news of victory the reply
of the stubborn esquire arrived at Calais. "King Edward
had great joy in the good fortune that God had bestowed
on his people, and he immediately summoned John Copeland
to come to him at Calais." The esquire placed his prisonei
in a place of safety " in a strong castle, on the borders of

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 313
Northumberland and Galloway, and proceeded to Calais, to
the quarters of the king."
"Welcome," said Edward, on seeing Copeland, "my faith
ful esquire, who by your valor have made a prisoner of our
adversary the King of Scotland." " Sire," said. John, kneel
ing, " God in His great goodness has so willed it that He
has delivered the King of Scotland into my hands, for He
can, if it please Him, bestow his grace upon a poor esquire
as well as upon a great nobleman. And, sire, do not bear
me any ill-wUl if I did not immediately surrender him to
the queen, for it is to you that I have sworn allegiance."
The king smUed. " But you will now take your prisoner,
John," he said, "and take him to my wife." And he loaded
with presents the esquire, who returned well content. King
David was promptly lodged in the Tower of London.
The war still continued in Brittany. Charles of Blois had
been made a prisoner before Roche-Derrien, on the 18th of
June, 1347, and had joined King David in his captivity;
while Joan the Lame was maintaining the struggle against
the aUies of the Count of Montfort, who were still directed
by her mother, the Countess Joan, and against the sudden
attacks of Joan of Belleville, the widow of Oliver de Clisson.
This women's war was neither the least skilful nor the least
sanguinary. Edward III. was still before Calais.
The town was reduced to the last extremity. Twice al
ready had the non-combatants been expelled. Sheltered at
first by King Edward, these unhappy wretches, driven out
of the famine-stricken town, afterwards had died of hunger
and destitution between the two camps. John of Vienne, a
vahant knight in command at Calais, had sent information
to King Philip of the desperate situation in which he was
placed. " Remember, sire, that there remains nothing uneaten
in the town ; not a dog, a cat, or a horse ; so that of pro-
vol. i. 40

314 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
visions we can find none in the place — unless we eat the
flesh of our people." Philip of Valois unfurled the oriflamme,
and summoned his knights round it, to inarch to the deliv
erance of his good town of Calais.
The rejoicing was general inside the town ; the banners
of the French army were visible flying in the air, and their
white tents glistened in the sun on the Mount of Sangatte.
The citizens already thought that their deUverance had been
effected. But the King of England had taken his precau
tions ; the road along the Dunes was protected by English
vessels well furnished with archers. The road across the
marshes was defended by the Earl of Derby, who was sta
tioned on the bridge of Nieulay, which the king had fortified
with towers. The French knights sent out to reconnoitre,
after examining the ground, informed the king that it was
impossible to cross it. " Thereupon King Philip sent emis
saries to the King of England, to pray and require him to
choose with them a spot whereon one might fight, and thither
to come and confront the King of France."
Edward had formerly challenged King Philip, who had
declined to encounter him ; it was now his turn. " My
lord," he said to the emissary from the French camp, " I
duly heard that which you demand of me on the part of
my adversary who wrongfully holds my just inheritance, to
my injury. Therefore tell him that I have been here during
more than a year, that this was well known to him, and
that he might have come sooner had he pleased. I have
spent heavily of my substance, and I expect very shortly to
be master of the town of Calais. Therefore I am not in
a mind to obey his bidding and his convenience, nor to let
go what I have conquered, what I have so ardently de
sired and so dearly paid for. If his men cannot pass that
way, let them go round to seek a path."

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 315
-This message was reported to the King of France, "who
was incensed thereat," says Froissart, but who made no
effort, and again took the road towards Amiens ; the ban
ners disappeared from the Mount Sangatte ; the tents were
struck, and inside the town despair succeeded to the hope
which had for a while sustained the brave citizens. John de
Vienne ascended the walls of the town, and made a sign
that he wished to hold a parley. Sir Walter de Manny
immediately approached him. " Good sir," said the brave
governor, "you see that our succor has failed. Beg your
king to have mercy upon us, and to let us walk out as
we are ; he wUl find in the town and the castle enough
of goods."
Sir Walter de Manny knew of the anger which the king
his master had against the inhabitants of Calais. He shook
his head. " Sir John, Sir John," he said, " the king our
master wiU not let you go as you have said ; it is his in
tention that you shall all submit to his will." " Never,"
said John de Vienne. And he retired within the town,
while the English knights were proceeding to carry the
news of what had passed to the king. " You might well
be wrong, sire," said Walter de Manny, " for you set us a
bad example. If you should wish to send us to your for
tresses, we should not go so willingly, if you cause these
people to be put to death ; for thus should we be served
under similar circumstances." King Edward remained gloomy ;
all the barons agreed with Sir Walter. At length Edward
exclaimed, " Gentlemen, I will not remain alone against you
all. Walter, you shall go to those in Calais, and inform the
commander that the utmost mercy which they will find in
me is, that there shall issue forth from the town of Calais
six of the most distinguished citizens bareheaded and bare
footed, with halters round their necks, and the keys of the

316 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
town and of the castle in their hands ; and with these I will
do as I please. I will show mercy to the others."
Sir Walter had borne the king's message to Calais. The
consternation was great in the public square, where all the
inhabitants were assembled. They wept bitterly ; " even Sir
John de Vienne conceived such pity for them that he cried
most tenderly."
"At length arose the richest citizen of the town, who
was called Eustache de Saint-Pierre, and said in presence of
all, ' Gentlemen, great pity and great wrong would it be to
leave so great a number of persons as are here to perish,
by famine or otherwise, when some other means can here be
found ; and I have such great hope of receiving grace and
forgiveness through our Lord, if I die to save these people,
that I wish to be the first, and will willingly place myself
in my shirt bareheaded, barefooted, and with a halter round
my neck, at the mercy of the King of England.' And when
Eustache had uttered these words, several men and women
threw themselves at his feet, weeping tenderly, and it was
greatly affecting to be there, and to hear, listen to, and look
at them."
The example of devotion is contagious. John d'Aire, " a
worthy citizen, who had two beautiful damsels for daughters,
declared that he would accompany his fellow-citizen, Eus
tache." James and Peter de Vissant did likewise ; then two
others ; and the six citizens, in their shirts and barefooted,
with a rope round their necks, the keys of the town in
their hands, issued forth from Calais, conducted by Sir John
de Vienne, upon his little horse, for he was too unwell to
walk. Amid the cries and tears of the population he con
signed the condemned men to Walter de Manny. " I beg
you, gentle sir," he said, "to intercede for them with the
King of England, that these poor men may not be put to

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 317
death." The worthy knight was anxious to do so, but he
advanced without speaking. They arrived before the King
of England.
Edward was in the road outside his residence ; all his
knights surrounded him. Queen Philippa was by his side.
" When he saw the citizens he remained very stiU and looked
very cruelly at them, for he hated those of Calais for the
great damage and checks which they had caused to his ships
in bygone times." The unhappy men had fallen on their
knees, offering to the king the keys of the town, and begging
for mercy. All the barons were in tears, " being unable to
restrain themselves for pity ; " but the king eyed them an
grily, for he was so hard-hearted and smitten with such great
anger that he was unable to speak. At length he broke the
silence, and ordered that they should instantly be beheaded.
All the knights were weeping and supplicating. Sir Walter
de Manny, who was entitled to speak, reproached the king
for his severity ; but Edward gnashed his teeth, and said,
" Sir Walter, hold your peace ! It shall not be otherwise.
Let the headsman come forward."
Queen Philippa had thrown herself on her knees, " crying
so tenderly with compassion that she could not support her
self." "Ah! gentle sire," she said, "since I crossed the sea
in great peril, I have asked nothing of you ; if to-day I
beg of you as a gift for the Son of the Holy Virgin and
the love of me, that you will have mercy on these six men."
The king waited a short time before speaking; he eyed the
good lady his wife. " Ah ! lady," he said, " I should be
but too pleased were you elsewhere but here. You beg so
earnestly that I dare not refuse you ; and, although I do so
with difficulty, take them, I give them to you ; do with them
as you please." Then the queen rose, saying, "My lord,
manythanks ! " And she took with her the six citizens, and

318 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XL
caused them to be clothed and fed at their ease; she then
sent them away from the army in safety. They went and
established themselves in different towns in Picardy, whUe
Edward took possession of Calais on the 3d of August,
1347. Queen Philippa was quartered in the house of John
d'Aire, which the king had given to her ; " and there was
such merrymaking as was marvellous, except among the poor
inhabitants of Calais, who wept secretly in their dwellings."
The king had resolved to establish an English population
at Calais, and the former possessors were about to quit for
ever that town, which they had so valiantly defended.
Calais had fallen, and King Edward's vengeance was ap
peased. The legates of the Pope had recommenced their
work of conciliation. A truce was concluded, for a few
months at first, and afterwards prolonged from time to time
for six years. The finances of France were exhausted ;
the English Parliament refused the subsidies, and the Black
Plague, come from the East, was ravaging Europe. France
and England, already weakened by wars, saw their popula
tions decimated by the pestilence. It was in vain that the
FlageUants overran the towns and villages, lacerating them
selves with whips, to appease the anger of God ; it was in
vain that the Jews, accused of poisoning the fountains, were
slaughtered ; the cemeteries of London could not contain
the dead, so that Sir Walter de Manny made a present to
the city of a new site. King Edward issued an edict to
compel all able-bodied men to accept work ; the fields re
mained uncultivated, and famine threatened the districts rav
aged by the plague. Notwithstanding the armistice, fighting
was still carried on in Guienne, in Brittany, and as far as
Calais. The governor, Aymeric of Pavia, had promised to
surrender the town to the French for a large sum. Was it
an act of treachery, and did he himself cause King Edward

QUEEN PHILIPPA AT THE FEET OF THE KING.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 319
to be informed of the bargain which he had concluded ? This
may be supposed, since he escaped the anger of his master ;
but the King of England crossed the Channel very secretly,
and arrived at Calais at the moment when Geoffrey de
Chargny was approaching to enter the town. The knights
proceeded towards the gates. Edward had put aside all his
insignia of royalty, and fought under the standard of Walter
de Manny. Twice he staggered under the blows of Eustace
of Ribaumont ; but, having at length triumphed over the
brave Picard, at the moment when the French were retreat
ing in disorder, he led him into the castle, Ribaumont not
knowing the name of his conqueror. At supper, Edward
rose, and taking the pearl necklace which he wore on his
hood, he placed it upon that of Sir Eustace. " Sir Eustace,"
aid he, " I give you this chaplet, as the best combatant of
he day, of those within and without the town, and I beg
hat you wiU wear it this year, for love of me, saying every-
here that I gave it to you. I release you from your prison,
nd you can depart to-morrow, if you please." "And Sir
ustace of Ribaumont was much rejoiced." Aymeric of
avia had less reason to congratulate himself upon the suc-
ess of the day. Geoffrey de Chargny surprised him in the
astle wherein he had taken refuge, and put him to. death
s a traitor.
Another occasion caused graver danger to the life of King
dward. The Spanish pirates of the Bay of Biscay were
lesolating the coast of Flanders and hampering the com
merce with England. King Edward resolved to punish their
nsolence, and, on the 20th of August, 1350, after having
jruised about during three days between Dover and Calais*
mnouncement was made of the approach of the vessels led
by Don Carlos de La Cerda, the chief of the association of
pirates. The engagement began with great fury on both

320 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
sides. Tbe king had directed his vessel against a large
Spanish ship ; several leaks had been opened by the shock,
and the English vessel was about to founder, when the
sailors, making a desperate effort, boarded and seized the
enemy's ship, and took refuge upon their conquest. The
Prince of Wales, in a similar peril, had been saved by the
Earl of Derby. After the victory, which had been dearly
bought, King Edward proceeded to rejoin the queen at Win-
chelsea. Her servants had already brought her tidings of the
battle, which they had anxiously watched from the heights.
A truce of twenty years was concluded between the King
of England and the seaport towns of Castile.
The armistice, traversed by so many different combats and
perils, was about to expire. Philip of Valois had died in,
1350, and his son, John the Good, had at first appeared
disposed to accept the proposals for peace of the King of
England. At a conference which had taken place at Guines
Edward III. had offered to relinquish his claims upon tho
kingdom of France, provided that he might obtain absolute
possession of the provinces which he held as vassal, in his
own name or in that of the queen ; but the French barons
would not agree to this dismemberment of the territory,
The king was young, ardent, and fond of glory : he did not
resist their entreaties. The proposals of the King of England
were rejected. He complained loudly of the bad faith of his |
adversaries, and obtained money of the Parliament to pre- i
pare for the renewal of the hostilities. An expedition of I
I K
the Prince of Wales in Guienne, and an incursion of King
Edward into the north of France, had not achieved great f
success. The king was soon recalled to England by an
attack of the Scots upon Berwick. The unhappy town, buf
feted about from master to master by bloody sieges, hac
recently been retaken by Edward, who penetrated furthei

Chap. XI.] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 321
into Scotland, and ravaged the whole country. According
to the doctrine of the period, that a people could be sold or
bought, Edward had paid Baliol for his rights to the throne
of Scotland a pension of two thousand marks of silver, and
once more claimed to enslave the Scotch. The want of pro
visions in a devastated country compelled him to retire. For
a long time the memory of this expedition served to ani
mate the ardor of the Scots during their invasions into Eng
land. "Remember burnt Candlemas," they would cry to
each other. It was the title which had been given to that
series of pillages and conflagrations.
Edward had not yet quitted England, and had not even
been able to send reinforcements to the Black Prince, as
the Prince of Wales was called by reason of the color of
his armor, when the latter took the field, towards the end
of June, 1366, with the object of ravaging . the French prov
inces. An expedition of this kind, effected in the preceding
year, had brought him a great deal of booty. He had over
run Agenois, Limousin, Auvergne, and had arrived as far as
Berry. Repulsed before Bourges and Issoudun, he had taken
Vierzon, burned down Romorantin, and was beginning to
fall back in the direction of Guienne with the fruits of • his
pillage, when King John, quitting Chartres, advanced towards
Poitiers. The devastation caused by the Black Prince had
exasperated the country populations. Nobody warned him
of the danger to which he was about to expose himself when,
in his turn, he took the road to Poitiers with his little
army. Suddenly, on the 17th of September, 1356, the English
advanced guard found itself immediately in the rear of the
French forces; the couriers saw the country covered with
troops; the retreat towards Guienne was cut off. "May
God interpose," said the Prince, seized with great anxiety;
"we must have advice aud counsel how we shall fight them
VOL. i. 41

322 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
with advantage." And at the same time the King of France
was saying in his army, "Truly, gentlemen, when you are
at Paris, at Chartres, at Rouen, or at Orleans, you threaten
the English and you wish to stand before them ready for
the fray. Now are you there, I show them to you ; here
you must show your displeasure, for, without mishap, we
shall fight them." And those who had heard him answered,
" May God decide, all this wiU we willingly see."
It was on the 18th of September, in the morning. All
the flower of the French chivalry thronged around the king
and his four sons. It is affirmed that the French army num
bered more than fifty thousand men. The forces of the
Black Prince did not amount to twelve thousand; but the
English had prudently intrenched themselves behind some
hedges and underwood in the midst of the vines ; they could
only be approached by a narrow road, lined with archers.
At the moment when, by the advice of Eustace of Ribaumont,
the French knights prepared to alight to make an attack,
the Cardinal of Perigord arrived, begging the king to permit
him to negotiate between the two armies. " The English
are but a handful compared with you ; if you can capture
them, and cause them to place themselves at your mercy
without giving battle, this manner would be more honor
able and profitable to you." The king consented thereto, and
the cardinal promptly galloped towards the English army.
" Gallant son," he said to the Black Prince, " if you had
justly considered the power of the King of France, you would
suffer me to arrange terms with him for you, if I could."
Therefore the Prince, who was then a young man, answered,
" My lord, saving my honor and that of my men, I am
ready to listen to anything in reason." Thus the cardinal
galloped throughout the day between the two armies. But
no agreement could be made, for the English indeed con-

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 323
sented to surrender to King John all the towns and castles
taken on their way, to conclude a truce of seven years, and
to release the prisoners ; but the French demanded that the
Prince of Wales and a hundred of his knights should sur
render before allowing the remainder of his army to pass, " to
which the English could not listen ; and on Monday morning
the French angrily told the cardinal to return to Poitiers,
or wherever he pleased, and never more to speak of treaty
or agreement, for that he might give offence. Quickly going
away, the cardinal proceeded to the English army." " My
gaUant son," he said to the Prince, " do as you are able ;
you must fight, for I cannot discover any disposition for con^
cord or peace in the King of France." And the Prince
answered, greatly irritated, " That is the intention of us and
ours, and may God help the right."
The French army was divided into three great battle-corps :
the first was commanded by the marshals of France ; the
second by Charles, Duke of Normandy ; King John was at
the head of the third, and he had retained by his side his
youngest son, Philip.
The Prince of Wales had placed his little army with great
care ; it was imperative to fight or perish, for there were
no provisions. " My gallant lords," said the young man, " if
we are few against the might of our enemies, let us not
be daunted, for valor and victory do not belong to great
numbers, but to whomsoever God chooses to send them. If
it happen that the day be ours, we shall be the most hon
ored in the world ; if we should die, I have my father and
two gallant brothers, and you have good friends, who wiU
avenge us. Thus I beg that you may to-day know how to
fight well, for, if it please God and St. George, you will see
in me a good knight."
The French had wavered; a great number had remained

324 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
on horseback, against the advice of Ribaumont. A good
English knight, Sir James Audley, awaited them foremost in
advance, having vowed to be the best combatant in the bat
tle. The heavy cavalry and the warriors, covered with steel,
entered the narrow path leading to their enemies. The
arrows of the English archers began to whistle by ; the brave
knights looked around them : they saw no assailants, but they
were wounded and their horses were falUngj They were
obliged to retreat, leaving the dead and dying, and the
wounded horses, blocking up the defile. The army corps
of the marshals was disconcerted, and that of the Duke
of Normandy was beginning to take alarm. The experienced
eye of Sir John Chandos was not deceived in the matter-.
"Ride forward, sire," he said to the Prince of Wales, "fbr
the day is yours. Let us devote ourselves to your adversary,
the King of France ; for there lies the greater part of the
day's work, and I well know that by reason of his valor
he will not fly." The Prince applied his spurs to his horsey
and, quitting his rustic rampart, he advanced into the open
space where the King of France was fighting. A detachment
of the archers attacked at the same time the troops of the
Duke of Normandy, who took to flight almost without striking
a blow. The English charged, "St. George and Guienne!"
" Montjoie St. Denis ! " was the answer around King John ;
but the disorder was increasing. The Duke of Orleans had
disappeared with the reserve forces. " The king was not
a man ever to be frightened by the things which he saw or
heard said, but still remained a good knight, and. fought
well." "Dismount! dismount!" he cried to all his follow
ers ; and himself alighting from his horse, he marched along
their ranks, battle-axe in hand, and there around- him " there
was a great number of warriors, haughty and cruel, and
many heavy blows were given and received." And the stUl

KING JOHN TAKEN PRISONER BY THE BLACK PRINCE.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS* WAR. 325
youthful prince, Philips was there crying to his father, "Sire,
have a care on your right ! . Sire, have a care on your left!"
and defended him as much as he was able. Meanwhile, on
all sides the king, was greeted with, "Surrender, or you are
a dead man." He looked around him. "To whom shall I
surrender?" he asked aloud. "Where is my cousin, the
Prince of Wales ? If I could see him I would speak."
"Sire," said a knight, " he is not here ; but surrender to
me, I wUl conduct you to him." "Who are you?" asked
the king. " Denis de Morbecque, a knight of Artois ; but
I serve the King of England because I cannot live in the
kingdom of France, and because I have there forfeited all
my possessions." The king, tendered his glove to him. "I
surrender to you," he said. The knight endeavored to lead
the king away from the crowd ; but although he was tall
and powerful, everybody crowded round him, saying, " I have
captured him ; I have captured him ; " and the king could
not advance, nor could his youngest son, Philip. The Earl
of Warwick and Sir Reynold Cobham, who were seeking
the king on behalf of the Prince of Wales, were obliged
to deUver him from his enemies, and to conduct him cour
teously to the spot where Chandos had advised that the
banner of England should be planted to reassemble the
troops. "It is time that your men should rejoin you," he
had said, "for. they are scattered, and the day is yours.
You must refresh yourself a little, for I see that you are
much heated." "And the Prince had removed his helmet
when the King of France was brought forward, before whom
he made a profound reverence, and received him as a king,
well and wisely. And in the evening he waited upon him
without ever consenting to be seated, notwithstanding any
solicitation which the king made in this respect, and said
that he was not yet sufficiently important to sit down at

326 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
the table of so great a sovereign and so valiant a man,
who had that day surpassed the ablest. And all deemed that
the Prince had spoken well."
The towns and castles remained closed in Poitou and in
Saintonge, but the French army was not rallied, and no
attempt was made to deliver the king. The Prince of Wales
hastened to Bordeaux, in order to place in safety his illus
trious prisoners, and all the booty with which his army
was loaded. The Duke of Normandy had been created Re
gent by the States-general, and the Black Prince concluded
a truce of two years with him. He spent the winter in
Gascony ; then in the spring (April, 1357) he set sail to
conduct to England King John and his son Philip. Negotia
tions were in progress for the ransom of the king, and the
legates of the Pope, the ordinary negotiators of the great
treaties between sovereigns, followed the Prince of Wales and
his prisoners to England. John entered London on the 24th
of April, upon a magnificent courser richly caparisoned ; the
Prince of Wales was at his side upon a small black horse.
King Edward had come forward to meet his illustrious cap
tive, and all the court hastened to do him honor. King John
consoled himself easily enough in his captivity.
Already for six years past Edward had been in treaty
with the Scottish Parliament for the ransom of King. David
Bruce. Twice the latter had been allowed to visit his king
dom in order to induce his subjects to redeem him ; but
Scotland was poor, and the demands of Edward were ex
orbitant. It was not until the month of October, 1357,
that the treaty was at length concluded, and that David
was enabled to return to his kingdom after an imprison
ment of eleven years. But his subjects soon perceived the
influence which his long sojourn in England had exercised
over their weak sovereign. When Queen Jane died, without

THE BLACK PRINCE SERVING THE CAPTIVE KING JOHN.

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 327
issue, in 1362, David proposed to the Scottish Parliament
to select as his heir, Lionel, the third son of the King of
England, to the exclusion of his nephew, the Stewart* of
Scotland. The indignation of the Scottish Parliament did not
put an end to the project. Some delay in the payment of
the ransom furnished an excuse to King Edward, and, until
the death of King David, in 1371, the intrigues of the Eng
Ush continued to agitate Scotland. His nephew succeeded
him without opposition, and assumed the title of Robert II.
While Scottish affairs were occupying Edward III., the
treaty with France still remained pending. The conditions
required by the EngUsh were so harsh, that King John,
although a prisoner, hesitated to accept them. Besides an
enormous sum for the ransom of the king, Edward claimed
to retain all his conquests in France, and to secure all the
possessions formerly belonging to his family, not as an appa
nage or fief, but as a property. While the negotiations were
being prolonged, the condition of France became daily more
critical. The evil genius of the royal family, Charles the
Bad, King of Navarre, had escaped from the prison where
for a long time he had been confined. He had allied him
self to the citizens of Paris, who wished to exert a certain
amount of influence in their affairs, a power which was con
tested by the Dauphin f and his councU. The population
of Paris, incited by their chiefs, soon escaped from the au
thority of the latter, who found themselves drawn along
irresistibly with the current. Riot succeeded riot ; two of the
advisers of the Dauphin were slain under his eyes, on the
22d of February, 1358, and his chancellor was compelled to
* Stewart, seneschal, an hereditary title, which subsequently became the fam
ily name ofthe Stuarts.
t The eldest son of the King of France had recently assumed the title of Dau
phin, in consequence of the cession of Dauphine to Trance by Humbert II., the
last Dauphin of the Viennois.

328 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
fly. ! The contagion spread throughout the whole :of France ;
as Paris had had its Maillotins (workmen armed- with mal
lets), France in general had its Jacquerie, an insurrection
of the serfs, who were ironically called Jacques Bonhomme.
Everywhere fearful massacres took place, and the Dauphinj
compelled to arm against the peasants of his kingdom, had
no leisure to think of the demands of King Edward. The
insurrection was scarcely . at an end, when King John ac
cepted the proposals, of; the King of, England; but as. soon
as the conditions, of the treaty were known in France,! the
States-general rejected, them with indignation. The .dismem
berment of the country; was impossible; peace and the liberty
of the king were too dearly bought at this price-
King Edward knew the proud obstinacy. of the English
Parliament ; he was indignant, however, to find a similar re?
sistance from the French States-general* and complaining of
perfidy, he entered .France on the 28th of October, 1359. < He
had traversed Picardy,; Artois, and Cambr6sis, consigning every?
thing to fire and sword,; when j he arrived before Rheims,
where he proposed . to be crowned King of France. In vain
did he besiege that town during seven weeks. : The arch?
bishop and the citizens did not suffer, themselves to- ibe< intim
idated by the fate of Calais, and defended the place so valiantly
that: Edward was compelled to retire. He entered into .Bur?
gundy, but the Duke Philip purchased his withdrawal with
a large sum of money and a promise of neutrality. The King
of England took the road to Paris. His army had suffered
greatly during, the winter; the month of March had been
rough, and the negotiations which had been opened during
the festival of Easter not having brought about any result,
Edward was compelled to retire. The Dauphin had not re
sponded to his challenge, and the English army, unfit to
attack the capital, fell back towards Brittany, after having

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 329
burned down the suburbs of Paris. The road was strewn
with the bodies of the men and horses succumbing to fatigue
and misery. At length, in the neighborhood of Ohartres, a
fearful storm surprised the English in the open plain. The
son of the Earl of Warwick was killed by a thunderbolt
beside the king. Struck by this : terrible warning, Edward
leaped from his horse, and vowed to God and Our Lady
of Chartres no longer to reject the proposals for peace, pro^
vided that they should be consistent with his honor; and
conferences were opened a few days afterwards, at Bre"tigny,
a smaU village where Edward shad halted.
Peace was at length concluded on the 8th of May, 1360.
The King of England renounced his pretensions to the king
dom of France, and restored aU his conquests, with the ex
ception of Calais and Guines. King John conceded to him
absolutely, for himself and his heirs in perpetuity, Guienne,
.Poitou, Saintonge, Agenois, Limousin, Perigord* and the county
.of Ponthieu. A ransom of three millions of golden crowns
was to be paid within six years for the release of the king;
twenty-five French barons^ forty-two burgesses, and sixteen
of the most important prisoners captured at Poitiers, were
to serve as hostages for the -fulfilment of the treaty.
. These conditions, harsh as they yet remained, were so much
better than the first proposals of King Edward, that, > after
much, intriguing and hesitation, they were at length sol
emnly ratified by the two sovereigns at Calais, on the 24th
of October, 1360, with this strange clause* that the defini
tive renunciations by the monarchs, of the possessions which
they ceded, should not take place until the festival of the
Assumption of the following year. On the morrow, the 25th
of October, King John was restored to Uberty, and King
Edward embarked for England;
The festival of the Assumption had passed by, as weU as
vol. i. 42

330 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XL
many other holidays, but the conditions of the treaty of
Bre'tigny were not yet fulfilled : the financial distress of
France had not admitted of raising the sums promised for
the ransom. The land was ravaged by the free bands
formerly in the pay of the belligerents, who, having had
no employment since the peace, had lived by plunder and
rapine. They proceeded from province to province, wher
ever there still remained any resources ; and they had de
feated John of Bourbon, who had been dispatched against
them by the Dauphin. The States-general murmured at the
conditions of the treaty. King John saw nothing in his
kingdom but oppression and misery ; he could not fulfil his
engagements, and, as a crowning disgrace, one of his host- •
ages, his own son, the Duke of Anjou, having been brought
to Calais with the other knights of the Lily, — a designation
applied to his brother, the Duke of Berry, his uncle, the
Duke of Orleans, and his cousin, the Duke of Bourbon, —
shamelessly broke his word, hy flying from prison to re
pair to Paris. King John was weary of the struggle and
wounded in his pride and his loyalty ; perchance also he
remembered the rejoicings which had been instituted in his
honor in London ; he announced that he was about to re
turn to England. " Were honor banished from the whole
earth," he proudly said, " it should be found again in the
heart of a king." He arrived in London at the beginning
of the year 1364 ; but before being able to resume the ne
gotiations, he fell ill, and died on the 8th of April. His body
was brought back to France with all royal magnificence, and
the Dauphin became king under the title of Charles V.
While the perplexities of the government in France had
hindered the consolidation of peace, the Prince of Wales had
been married, on the 10th of October, 1361, to the woman
whom he had loved all his lifetime, his cousin Joan, daughter

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 331
of Edmund, Earl of Kent. She had already been twice
married, and her second husband, Lord Holland, had re
cently died. Happy at length, the Black Prince established
himself in Aquitaine with his wife, and held at Bordeaux a
magnificent court, the school for all good chivalry, while he
labored to restore order in these provinces, so long deso
lated by war.
King Charles V. had found a means of ridding himself
of the free companies. The King of CastUe, Peter IV., had
deserved his surname of " the Cruel " for a series of crimes
which had exasperated his people. His brother, Henry of
Transtamare, exiled by him, and burning with a desire to
avenge his mother and all his relatives assassinated by the
tyrant, had taken refuge in France, asking the assistance of
King Charles V. The latter offered the services of the free
companies ; the good knight Bertrand du Guesclin, already
famous among the most Ulustrious warriors of his time, con
cluded a treaty with the chiefs of the different bands, and,
placing himself at their head, crossed the Pyrenees under
the orders of Henry of Transtamare, who was soon placed
upon the throne of Castile, almost without striking a blow.
In vain did Peter the Cruel call to his aid all his vassals;
they were too happy to see themselves delivered from his
yoke, and the tyrant was compelled to take to flight. He
took refuge at Bordeaux, begging the assistance of the Prince
of Wales.
Passion bUnds the most clear-sighted men : the noble char
acter of the Black Prince had nothing in common with the
savage ferocity and calculating perfidy of Peter the Cruel ;
but the Prince thought this king UI used by his brother and
his subjects. France had embraced the cause of Henry of
Transtamare, and England thought herself constrained to sup
port his rival. He had brought with him his two daughters,

332 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
who remained at the court of Bordeaux, where they were
married, a few years • later, to two sons of <. King Edward,
the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge. The
first rumor of the intentions of the Black Prince caused
a secession from the army of Du Guesclin of some of his
best bands. Sir. John Calverley- and Sir' Robert Knowles,
with twelve thousand men, immediately abandoned Henry
of Transtamare and proceeding into Guienne, assembled under
the banner of their legitimate chief. The King of Navarre
deUvered up the passage through the Pyrenees, and in the
month of February, 1367, in spite of cold, snow, and the
scarcity of, provisions in a poor country, thirty thousand, men
crossed the defiles of the mountains .under the command of
the Prince of Wales and Peter the Cruel, and on the 3d
of April a battle was fought between the two claimants
upon the plain of Navarette. The combat was fierce. A
portion of the Spaniards- had given way; but Henry of
Transtamare, supported by Du < Guesclin, resolutely defended
himself. At length the latter was made a prisoner, and
the rout was complete.. Don Henry fled and took refuge in
Arragon. Six thousand men remained upon the field of
battle, and two thousand prisoners were in the hands of
Peter the Cruel. He was preparing; to slaughter them, when
the Prince of Wales demanded mercy for them, and the
king did not dare to refuse it ; but he had no intention
of fulfilling the promises which he had made at Bordeaux.
From his camp at Valladolid, the Prince repeatedly sent to
Peter the: Cruel, demanding the money which he had under
taken to. pay for the expenses of the war; no answer, no
visit from the king, no provisions; while the EngUsh army
was decimated by sickness, by the climate, and; by want.
The Prince himself was suffering from a fever; weary of
waiting, and convinced of the perfidy of his ally, he broke up

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 333
his camp on the 26th of June, and returned to Guienne.
Peter the Cruel had momentarUy regained his throne, but
the treasury of England was empty ; the health of the Black
Prince was forever destroyed, his character imbittered by
suffering and deceptions. The barons of Aquitaine began to
murmur and to turn unwiUingly towards France.
Charles V. deserved his title of " the Wise ; " prudent
and foreseeing, but too weak in body to have any taste for
warfare, he directed the affairs of the kingdom from his
seat with a firm moderation to which the French, like their
enemies, had not been accustomed under his predecessors.
When the Poitevins presented themselves before Charles V.,
as the Uege lord, to complain of the excessive taxes im
posed by the Black Prince, he temporized, gave vague an
swers, arid retained the complainants at Paris, while his
brother, the Duke of Anjou, governor of Languedoc, was
fostering the discontent in the provinces of the south be
longing to the English.
The Spanish ally of the Black Prince had recently re
ceived the reward of aU his crimes ; scarcely had the English
retired, when Don Henry had again taken the field, and
for the second time he had dethroned his brother. As he
was besieging him in a fortified castle, they had met in
the tent of a French knight ; Peter immediately seized his
brother by the throat, and threw him to the ground. Henry
drew his dagger, and, Peter, stabbed to the heart, died im
mediately. An offensive and defensive alliance had recently
been concluded between France and Spain (20th of No
vember, 1368), and King Charles V., publicly taking his
course, summoned Edward, Prince of Aquitaine, to appear
at Paris before his peers, there to answer the complaints
of his vassals.
Since the treaty of Bre'tigny, King Edward and his son

334 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XI.
had no longer recognized the superiority of France. "I
will go," said the Black Prince, " but with sixty thousand
lances." His father was better aware of the difficulty of
the undertaking ; he made moderate proposals ¦ to Charles V.,
simply daiming the sovereignty of Aquitaine ; but Charles
V., seeing the English Parliament wearied by the wars, King
Edward aged and tired, and the Black Prince ill, main
tained his pretension, and the French . troops entered : into
Poitou, Guienne, and Limousin. The discontented and capri
cious inhabitants almost always lent their support to the
French. King Edward sent his second son, the Duke of
Lancaster, with considerable reinforcements, to the assistance
of the Black Prince; but, whUe he was overrunning t the
northern provinces, King Charles not permitting any impor
tant engagement to take ;place, the conquests of the French
extended in the south, and the Prince of Wales* danger
ously ill, found himself compeUed to take the field upon a
litter. The Dukes of Anjou and Berry did not await him.
They had left garrisons in the towns, and had retired when
the Prince advanced against Limoges. He had formerly lav
ished his favors upon that town which had been surrendered
to the French by the bishop, and he had sworn, by the
soul of his father, not to move from ; thence nor do anything
else until he should have recaptured it. The siege pro
gressed slowly; the citizens bravely supported the garrison,
for they feared the vengeance of the Prince. The latter
conducted the military operations with a savage fury which
he had never before manifested. At length, at the end of
a month, a large mine opened a breach in . the waUs of the
town; the besiegers sprang inside, and the massacre began:
women, children, and old men feU upon their knees, cry
ing, " Mercy ! such poor folks could not have been con
cerned in surrendering the town," but none received quarter.

Chap. XL] . THE HUNDRED YEARS* WAR. 335
The knights and men-at-arms of the garrison still defended
themselves heroically in the streets ; three of them planted
themselves against a waU, and made such good use of their
swords that the Prince of Wales, while passing by in his
litter, was struck with admiration, and received them as
prisoners to be ransomed; The humble people were all dead,
"who were really martyrs," says Froissart ; the town was
fired, and the Prince of Wales had retired. He had ex.
hausted his strength, and, in the , hope of regaining his
health under his native sky, he set out for England, leav
ing to his brother John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the
care of prosecuting the war. The military career of the
Black Prince was ended ; six years of illness and languor
were to bring to its close this life so brilliantly begun, but
unhappily sulUed by a last act c-f cruelty, more consistent
with the general morals of the: time than with the char
acter hitherto displayed by the son of King Edward.
The Duke of Lancaster had recently married Constance,
the eldest daughter of Peter the Cruel, and upon this
ground he aspired to the crown of Castile, an imprudent
pretension which strengthened the union of the king, Don
Henry, with France. The Earl of Pembroke was bringing
reinforcements to the duke in June, 1372, when a Spanish
fleet, stationed between La Rochelle and the Isle of Re",
barred the passage. An engagement took place, and the
EngUsh were completely beaten, their vessels being either
captured or scuttled. This disaster was an unmistakable
blow to King Edward and to the English nation, which
was beginning to look upon the sea as its legitimate empire.
The successes of King Charles V. were increasing ; he had
placed Bertrand du Guesclin at the head of his armies, and
had made him Constable of France ; but the remembrance
of Cr^cy aud Poitiers was always before his eyes; he did

336 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XL
not permit any pitched battles to be fought. From siege
to siege, from skirmish to skirmish, Du GuescUn was stiU
marching forward, sometimes surprising the enemy, passing
through their ranks, as it is said in his Memoirs, by a strata
gem, which consisted in striking with the point and with
the edge of the sword ; but when the English presented
themselves in a body, the Constable would faU back upon
the fortresses, and allow a passage to the enemy, who over
ran the country, and could not surround either the large
towns or fortified castles. " Never has king fought so little,
and given so much trouble," said Edward, angrily, for his
French possessions were diminishing day by day. Bordeaux
and Bayonne, with a narrow piece of territory, alone re
mained in his hands in the south, and Calais in the north;
and, if the faithful ally of England, the young Count of
Montfort, was everywhere recognized in Brittany, since the
death of Charles of Blois, in 1364, his authority was too well
contested by Oliver de Clisson to allow of his supporting
English interests beyond his duchy. John of Gaunt returned
to England, and once more, the legates of the Pope play
ing the part of peacemakers, a truce of one year was con
cluded at Bruges in 1374, to be prolonged almost untU the
death of King Edward.
So many reverses, after so much glory, had undermined
in England the popularity of the king. The finances of the
country were in default ; every resource had been exhausted
to support a war which had borne so Uttle fruits. Com
plaints, which people did not dare to address to the king,
reached his ministers, and even his son, the Duke of Lan
caster, who had gradually secured the power, in consequence
of the weakness of his father and the illness of the Prince
of Wales. The latter remained the idol of the nation, and,
either through jealousy of his brother, or through dissatis-

Chap. XL] THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 337
faction at the state of affairs, he lent his support to the
opposition. The Parliament of 1376, long known under the
title of " The Good Parliament," addressed to the king a
remonstrance concerning the waste of the public money, and
demanded the dismissal of several of the ministers. Lord
Latimer and Lord NevU were deprived of all their offices ; but
the object of the public hatred and mistrust was especially
a woman, named Alice Perrers, formerly a lady of the bed
chamber to Queen Philippa, and who, since the death of
the latter, had acquired such an influence over King Ed
ward, that he had presented her with the jewels of his
wife, and frequently permitted her to dispense at her pleas
ure the favors of the crown. The Commons publicly de
manded that she should be banished from the kingdom.
Amid this work of reform, .the Parliament suddenly lost
its firmest support. The Black Prince died on the 8th of
June, 1376. For a long time he had been ailing, and
unable to assume in the government of his country the
position which by right belonged to him ; but the nation
had always reckoned upon his wisdom and justice no less
than on his briUiant valor ; a prosperous and happy reign
had been hoped for, and the grief was general and pro
tracted. " The good fortune of England seemed bound up
in his person," says the chronicler Walsingham ; "it had
flourished in his health, it languished in his illness, and died
at his death ; in him expired aU the hopes of the English.
For during his lifetime neither an invasion of the enemy,
nor an encounter in battle had been feared." He was in
terred with great pomp in Canterbury Cathedral, where he
had formerly erected a chapel in memory of his marriage.
At the especial request of the Parliament, his eldest son
Richard was thereupon declared heir to the throne. Fears
were entertained concerning the pretensions of the Duke of
VOL. i. 43

338 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XL
-Lancaster, who had resumed all his authority. Sir Peter de
la Mare, who had impeached the ministers in the name of
the Parliament, was arrested. The Bishop of Winchester,
William of Wykeham, formerly at the head of the oppo
sition, was divested of his revenues. A Parliament favorable
to John of Gaunt was convoked ; it proposed the recall of
Alice Perrers, the rehabiUtation of Lord Latimer, and other
measures so unpopular that the palace of the duke was
assailed by the citizens of London, and his friend Lord
Percy, a marshal of England, was pursued by the mob, so
that the prince was obliged to throw himself into a small
boat with Percy, to take refuge at Kennington, in the castle
inhabited by the young Prince Richard and his mother. All
the remonstrances of the Bishop of London scarcely suc
ceeded in calming the disturbance. The arms of the Duke
of Lancaster, at the gate of his palace, . were inverted by
the people as the escutcheon of a traitor; when the duke
returned shortly afterwards to London, all the magistrates
of the city were dismissed and replaced by his creatures.
On occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the coronation of
Edward III., a general amnesty was proclaimed ; the Bishop
of Winchester was alone excluded from it.
It was the last public act of King Edward ; this body
so active and robust, this spirit so bold, this will so firm,
had nevertheless undergone the effects of premature old age.
The ministers were ranging themselves beside the Duke of
Lancaster ; the opposition was grouped around the young
Prince Richard and the Princess of Wales ; the old king
was dying alone, with Alice Perrers. It is even said that
she deserted him in his agony, after having taken the royal
ring from him. The king lay in his isolation ; the servants
had dispersed in the manor of Shene, to plunder at their
leisure. A monk entered, crucifix in hand ; he approached

Chap. XI.] THE HUNDRED YEARS* AVAR. 339
the unhappy monarch, praying beside him, and supporting
his expiring head until the last sigh. Thus died, on the
21st of June, 1377, the great Edward III., who had at one
time appeared destined to unite upon his head the two
crowns of France and England. He died alone, in the sixty-
fifth year of his age, leaving to his grandson, a child, instead
of the whole of Aquitaine, which he had received from
his father, a few. towns only upon that soil of France of
which he claimed possession. The blood of the two nations
had flowed during more than thirty years, and the struggle
was as yet only at its beginning. .

340 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.

CHAPTER XII.
BOLINGBROKE.
RICHARD II. 1377-1398. — HENRY IV. 1398-1413.
THE little King Richard was much fatigued on the 16th
of July, 1377 ; it was found necessary to place him in
a litter to bring him back to the palace, after his corona
tion. All the former popularity of his grandfather Edward
III., all the affection which his father the Black Prince had
inspired, appeared to have accumulated upon his head, by
reason of the fear and aversion which were felt towards
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The prelates and barons
assembled on the morrow of the coronation, and selected a
council of regency of twelve members. The uncles of the
king did not form part of this body, and John of Gaunt
retired to his castle of Kenilworth ; but several members
of the council remained devoted to him, and his influence
soon began to be complained of.
The King of France, Charles V., had lost no time in taking
advantage of the weakness of the English government : his
fleets overran the Channel, fettering commerce and seizing the
British vessels ; a descent was even made upon the Isle of
Wight. The Parliament was convoked, and the Earl of Buck
ingham, the uncle of the king, was placed at the head of the
naval forces : his expedition against the French fleet mis
carried, and his defeat increased the discontent of the nation.
The Parliament was composed chiefly of the enemies of the
Duke of Lancaster, and when a kind of reconcUiation had been

DEATH OF EDWARD III.

RICHARD II. RETURNING FROM HIS CORONATION.

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 341
effected between the latter and the House of Commons, that
assembly demanded that two citizens of London should be
appointed to receive the money voted for the defence of the
country. John of Gaunt started for France with a large
army (1378).
The King of Navarre, still at war with Charles V., held a
portion of Normandy ; he had surrendered Cherbourg to the
English. The Duke of Brittany, John de Montfort, being re
duced to the last extremity by the successes of Bertrand du
Guesclin, had consigned Brest to them ; but these acquisitions
were due to the free will of the allies of England, and not
to its arms. John of Gaunt was defeated before St. Malo ;
and, being pursued by Du Guesclin, was compelled to return
to England, while the Scots, at the instigation of France, in
vaded the northern counties and took possession of Berwick
Castle. A Scottish pirate, named John Mercer, devastated
the coast as far as Scarborough. A London merchant, named
John Philpot, on the other hand, armed a small fleet, and
hastening to the encounter of Mercer, recaptured from him
all the vessels which the latter had seized ; captured, besides,
fifteen Spanish ships, and returned triumphantly into the
Thames, amid the plaudits of his fellow-citizens, and to the
indignation of the councU, who reprimanded the alderman
for the boldness of his undertaking.
The Parliament had assembled at Gloucester, disaffected
and exacting. The Commons asked to examine the accounts,
which was granted to them as a favor. John de Montfort
had recently taken refuge in England, banished from his do
minions by King Charles V., who committed the imprudent
act of officially annexing the duchy of Brittany to France.
This declaration immediately ralUed all the different factions
against him. John de Montfort was recalled ; the States-
general of Brittany wrote to the King of France, asking him

342 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
to authorize them to retain their independent ruler. At the
same time an English army, under the command of the Earl
of Buckingham, landed at Calais and ravaged the provinces
of Artois, Picardy, and Champagne, without ever encounter
ing the necessity of a serious combat. The English were
arriving in Brittany when King Charles V. died (1378), and
the Bretons, reassured by the weakness of the young King
Charles VI., began to look coldly upon their English alUes.
De Montfort negotiated with the French council of regency,
and Buckingham was only indebted for his safety to the valor
of his troops and to the provisions which he had brought.
He retired in the spring of 1379. Great events were in pre
paration in England.
For some years a double movement, religions and social,
had begun secretly to agitate the English people. A priest,
John Wycliffe, born towards 1324, in Yorkshire, had attracted
attention at the university of Oxford by his rare faculties, and
had commenced, in the year 1356, to denounce the abuses
of the papal authority ; he had then attacked the mendicant
monks, accusing the Church in general of greed and corrup
tion. Summoned to appear before the Bishop of London, in
the last year of the reign of Edward III., to answer for his
opinions, he had been supported by the Duke of Lancaster
and his friend Lord Percy ; both had even insulted the
bishop, which had brought about an insurrection in the. city.
Wycliffe had retracted some of his ideas, he had explained
others; and, thanks to his powerful protectors, he had ob
tained the living of Lutterworth, in . Leicestershire, where he
spent the remainder of his life, surrounded by priests, whom
he brought up in truly apostolic poverty, and who subse
quently spread his opinions among the people. Wycliffe is
the first of the Reformers, or rather, their precursor. His
doctrines acted more powerfully abroad than in his own

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 343
country; it is to his books that were due the first germs of
the Reformation in Bohemia; for England, his greatest work
was the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The
most important of his ideas was the appeal to the private
judgment of the faithful upon the very text of the Holy
Scriptures. Wycliffe had shaken the traditions of submission
to the clergy; he had at the same time preached a danger
ous doctrine. " AU possessions," he said, " come of grace,
and may be forfeited by sin." The poor serfs, who possessed
nothing, might be anxious to profit in their turn by the grace
which insured estates. WycUffe died peacefully at Lutter
worth in 1384.
Already, for two years past, his illustrious friend, Geoffrey
Chaucer, the first creator of EngUsh poetry, had been com-
peUed to quit England, compromised by his attachment to the
new ideas ; he had retired into Hainault, where he lived in
peace, protected by the friendship of the Duke of Lancaster.
The first works of Chaucer, The Court of Love, the poem of
Troilus and Cresseide, The Temple of Fame, had been published
several years before, and had assured to him a reputation
which had largely contributed to his fortune. The English
language at that time, stiU largely intermixed with French,
and difficult to understand at the present day, assumed, under
the pen of Chaucer, a native grace to which sometimes suc
ceeds an energy which prepared the way for Spenser and
Shakspeare. Chaucer again established himself in England
when John, of Gaunt returned from his expedition to Castile ;
he lived to an advanced age, and composed in his retreat of
Dumington his Canterbury Tales, written in the style of the
Decameron of Boccaccio, and the only one of his books which
is stiU read at the present time. He died in 1400, the year
following the accession of Henry Bolingbroke, the son of his
protector. Like WycUffe, he had seen the commencement of

344 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
the popular agitations. The poll-tax voted by the Parliament
in 1379 was their first occasion.
A general movement towards the enfranchisement of the
lower classes manifested itself everywhere in Europe. The
insurrection of the Jacquerie in France ; the resistance of the
Flemish citizens and artisans, first, to the conduct of Jacques
van Arteveldt, and afterwards to that of Philip, his son, had
testified to the awakening of the serfs, the peasants, and the
artisans, so long reduced to the condition of beasts of burden.
The kings had been in need of money, and the taxes weigh
ing upon all their subjects, it had been necessary to conciU-
ate them. The soldiery had acquired a new importance; the
EngUsh archers, in particular, nearly all peasants by origin,
had played an important part in the wars. When the tax-
collectors began in 1380 to demand payment of the poll-tax,
of a people already impoverished by a long series of exac
tions, they met with a resistance which increased with the
oppression. The tax, at first collected with leniency, was let
out to some courtiers ; they borrowed in advance of the Lom
bards and Flemings ; repayment became necessary, and the
revenue was exacted with great severity. The peasants be
came exasperated ; they began to assemble and confer to
gether ; the insurrection broke out in Essex. The " Commons
of England," as the insurgents styled themselves, broke into
several dwelling-houses in the neighborhood ; they obeyed a
seditious priest, who assumed the name of Jack Straw. The
contagion rapidly spread into the counties of Kent, Suffolk,
and Norfolk. The tax was payable only in the case of per
sons above fourteen years of age. A Kentish coUector main
tained that the daughter of a tiler had attained the specified
age ; her mother maintained the contrary ; the coUector in
sulted the young girl, and was brained with a hammer by the
father. A knight had reclaimed a serf who thought he was

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 345
entitled to enfranchisement, and had imprisoned him in Roch
ester Castle; the peasants attacked the castle and compelled
the garrison to surrender the prisoner. The Kentish insur
gents marched under the command of a chief named Wat
Tyler (Wat the tiler). On the Monday of Trinity week, in
1381, they entered Canterbury, threatening death to the arch
bishop, who was absent. The monks of the chapter-house were
compeUed to swear fidelity to King Richard and the Commons
of England. Three wealthy burgesses were beheaded, and the
crowd proceeded towards London. It is related that one
hundred thousand men foUowed close upon the steps of Wat
Tyler, when he arrived on the 11th of June at Blackheath.
The Princess of Wales, the mother of the young king, was
returning from a pilgrimage. The crowd of insurgents sur
rounded her retinue. She was popular by reason of her hus
band's memory, and her ransom cost her only some kisses
bestowed on the more audacious of the leaders, who had not
forgotten that she had formerly been caUed " the fair maid of
Kent;" she passed by without further difficulty. The mal
contents thronged round an itinerant preacher whom they
had brought with them, and who displayed to them this text,
now famous : — " When Adam delved and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman?"
The doctrine of equality was received with enthusiasm by
these poor people, hitherto trodden under foot. The out
skirts of London were laid waste when the king proceeded
down the Thames, on the 12th of June, to receive the peti
tion of the insurgents. Ten thousand men awaited his arri
val at Rotherhithe ; but at the sight of the royal barge they
uttered "such cries," says Froissart, "that one would have
thought that aU the demons of hell were in their midst."
The noblemen who accompanied Richard became alarmed, and
vol. i. 44

346 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
dragged him with them as far as the Tower. " The Com
mons of England," in a state of fury, advanced along the right
bank of the river as far as Lambeth, burned down the prisons,
and plundered the palace of the- archbishop. On the other
side _ of the Thames the insurgents marched along the course
of the river, and at length obtaining a passage over London
Bridge, they joined their brothers of Kent. The whole city
was in their power ; the population of London had joined them,
and the rich citizens, to please them, had thrown open their
cellars to them. Hitherto, the multitude had behaved with a
certain amount of order, but intoxication being once added to
the joy of triumph, they could no longer be restrained ; the
palace of the Duke of Lancaster was invaded and burned
down ; plunder was strictly forbidden ; the gold was reduced to
powder, and the precious stones were broken. A peasant had
taken a silver taukard ; he was thrown into the river with
his booty.. The prisons being opened and destroyed brought
fresh reinforcements to the insurgents.. The Temple was
burned, with all the valuable books which had been collected
by the Knights. The priory of St. John of Jerusalem, recently
constructed by Sir Thomas Hales, a prior of the order, and
chancellor of the kingdom, was also delivered up to the
flames. A thirst for blood began to take possession of the
populace. Every passer-by was challenged. " For whom are
you?" was asked. If the answer was not "For King Rich
ard, and the true Commons," the; person answering was im
mediately slaughtered. All. the Flemings feU by the knife or
the hatchet; the popular hatred sought .them out even, in the
churches. Wine and blood flowed in the : streets ; the coun-
seUors of the king resolved to try concessions.
On the morning of the 14th of June a proclamation was
spread throughout London, recommending the crowd which
surrounded the Tower, and demanded the heads of the chan-

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 347
ceUor and treasurer, to retreat towards Mile End. The king
promised there to come to them and to grant their requests.
A portion of the mob obeyed ; when Richard arrived with a
small retinue at the meeting-place (his brothers, the Earl of
Kent and Lord John Holland, had quitted him on the road),
he saw himself surrounded by sixty thousand peasants.' Their
tone was respectful, and their requests, which then appeared
monstrous, do not create the same impression at the present
day. They demanded the definitive abolition of servitude ; the
power to seU and purchase in all markets ; and a general am
nesty for the past. To this they added a strange claim to fix
the amount of rental on lands. The king promised all that
they wished, and immediately caused to be made a large
number of copies of the charter which he had thus granted.
These were distributed among the insurgents ; the men of
Essex and Hertford retired in a body ; but the malcontents
of Kent had remained in the capital, and had not appeared
at the meetingrplace in Mile End. Scarcely had the king re
tired when these dangerous foes attacked the Tower, beheading
the councUlors who had taken refuge therein, the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the treasurer, Sir Thomas Hales, and several
others. The Princess of Wales, while yet in bed, saw a furi
ous mob spring into her chamber. No injury was done to
her, and her attendants were enabled to throw her, fainting
with fright, into a little boat ; she was conveyed to a house
in the city belonging to the king, who there came and joined
her when he had learned the sad news of the massacre at the
Tower. In the morning, Richard issued forth with a small escort,
and advanced fearlessly towards Smithfield. The multitude
thronged the streets and squares. The king drew up at St.
Bartholomew's Priory. " I will go no further," he said,
"without having pacified the insurgents." Wat Tyler had

348 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XH.
perceived him, and urging his horse towards him, " There is
the king; I go to speak to him," he cried to his supporters;
" do not move a hand or foot unless I give you the sig
nal." The horse of the popular chief touched heads with
that of the king. " Sir king," said Wat Tyler, " do you see
those men yonder ? " " Yes," replied the young prince,
without stirring. " They are at my disposal, and ready to do
as I bid them ; " and he toyed with his dagger, holding the
bridle of the royal courser. Then, perceiving behind Richard
an esquire who had displeased him, "Ah! you here?" he
said ; " give me your sword." The esquire refused ; Wat
Tyler made a motion to take possession of it; the followers
of the king were roused. The Lord Mayor of London, Wil
liam Walworth, urged forward his horse, and, advancing to
wards the rebel, struck him a blow with a dagger ; the horse
reared. Tyler endeavored to return to his followers ; an
esquire of the king thrust his sword through his body ; he
fell, beating the air with his hands. The mob became agi
tated. " Our captain is slain," was the cry, and the bow
strings began to vibrate. Richard advanced alone towards
the crowd. " What do you, my friends ? " he exclaimed.
" Tyler was a traitor ; it is I who am your captain and your
guide." And he drew after him this irresolute mob, deprived
of their chief, and advancing without knowing whither they
were bound. They arrived in the fields near Islington. The
friends of the king had rallied round him. One of the chiefs
of his free bands, Sir Robert Knowles, brought a body of
men-at-arms. The insurgents took alarm, threw down their
bows, and cried " Mercy ! " The king would not suffer them
to be slaughtered in a mass, to the great exasperation of Sir
Robert Knowles. " He said that he would be even with them
on another occasion," says Froissart ; " in which he did not
faU."

DEATH OF WAT TYLER.

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 349
The insurrections subsided everywhere. The Bishop of Nor
wich had armed his household and his friends, and hastening
to throw himself upon the peasants, he had easily defeated
these confused masses, little accustomed to arms. He had
himself drawn up their indictment, and pronounced their sen
tence; then, resuming his clerical costume, he had exhorted
them, received their confession, absolved them, and finally ac
companied them to the gallows. The king was at the head
of a smaU army, and had marched against the remainder of
the insurgents of Essex. It was no longer a question of
charters; the courts of commission were everywhere assem
bling to try the guilty. The two priests, Jack Straw and
John Ball, were hanged. Lester and Wistbroom, who had
assumed the title of " Kings of the Commons " in the coun
ties of Norfolk and Suffolk, suffered the same fate. About
fifteen hundred rioters were executed. It was found neces
sary to fix them to the gibbet with iron chains ; their friends
came by night to carry off their bodies.
The ParUament had assembled, pubhcly approving of the
aboUtion of the concessions granted to the villeins during the
struggle. "We would never have consented to them," said
the barons, "even had we all been compelled to perish on
the same day." For the moment there was some talk of
aboUshing servitude; but the opposition was so strenuous,
the proprietors of fiefs declared so loudly that their serfs be
longed to them by right, and that they could not be deprived
of them without their consent, that the idea was immediately
abandoned, and the high-treason law was voted, condemning
"riots, disturbances, and other analogous things," in terms as
dangerous as they were vague. The king demanded money,
the Commons claimed a complete amnesty ; neither would be
gin to make concessions. The Parliament at length yielded;
the tax upon wool and leather was prolonged for five years,

350 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
and the king proclaimed the amnesty; he was about to wed
Anne of Bohemia, soon known throughout the whole of her
kingdom as "the good queen." The Bishop of Norwich was
fighting in Flanders, in support of the citizens of Ghent, hard
pressed by their count, recently a victor at the battle of Rose-
becque, where Philip van Arteveldt had been killed, and the
uncles of the king contended with each other for the au
thority in England. The Earl of Cambridge had been made
Duke of York, and the Earl of Buckingham Duke of Glouces
ter. Henry Bolingbroke, son of the Duke of Lancaster, had
become Earl of Derby : at the same time, the king had made
Earl of Suffolk and Duke of Ireland, his favorites Michael
de la Pole and Robert de Vere, obscure persons, whom the
Princess of Wales had placed beside her son, by reason of
her jealousy towards his uncles ; and who contributed, by their
influence, to the struggles and disputes of the government.
The princess had recently died, having succumbed beneath
the weight of the anxieties caused by one of her sons, Lord
John Holland ; he had recently assassinated one of' the ser
vants of the king, and was unable to quit the church in which
he had taken refuge. Plot succeeded plot — denunciation to
denunciation. At length the Duke of Lancaster departed
for Spain, in order to sustain the pretensions of his wife to
the throne of Castile ; and he contrived, after two campaigns,
to marry his eldest daughter to the heir of Henry of Transta
mare, thus assuring the crown to her children. The Scots
had crossed the frontier, and King Richard entered Scotland.
France was preparing a great armament.
Amid these external preoccupations, the Duke of Glouces
ter had seized the reins of government ; and, when the young
king threatened to dissolve a Parliament devoted to his uncle,
the Commons brought forward the Act which had deposed
Edward II. A council of barons for a while governed the

Chap, XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 351
kingdom, under the presidency of Gloucester. Blood flowed
everywhere ; the duke avenged himself upon the favorites of
the king, who were as odious to him as to the English peo
ple. He had impeached them before the Parliament : the in
nocent were involved in the ruin of the guilty. Gloucester
did not even spare Sir Simon Burley, formerly the tutor of
the king, the friend of Edward III. and the Black Prince,
and who had conducted the negotiations for the marriage of
Richard. The queen in vain threw herself at his feet asking
for mercy ; in vain did Henry Bolingbroke, who had seconded
his uncle in all his undertakings, claim as a right the pardon
of the condemned man : Burley was executed, and Boling
broke became definitively at variance with Gloucester.
The disorder which prevailed in England did not prevent
constant hostUities upon the frontiers of Scotland. It was on
the 15th of August, 1388, that took place at Otterburn the
famous battle celebrated in the ballads under the name of
Chevy Chase, between the Earl of Douglas and Lord Henry
Percy, the Hotspur of Shakspeare. Douglas was slain, but
the English ended by being repulsed from the battlefield.
Hotspur and his brother were prisoners. The king was be
ginning to weary of the yoke which he had so long borne.
He was subject to gleams of resolution and courage, which
soon disappeared in a long fit of indolence, and which took
by surprise those who calculated upon his habitual apathy. A
council was being held in the month of May, 1389 ; the king
suddenly addressed the Duke of Gloucester. " How old do
you suppose I am, uncle ? " he asked. " Your Highness is in
your twenty-second year," replied the duke, much surprised.
" Then," replied the king, " I am at an age when I should
govern my own affairs. Nobody in my kingdom has been so
long held under tutelage. I thank you for your services, my
lord, but I no longer require them." And he immediately

352 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
caused the great seal and the keys of the treasury to be given
up to himself, compelling the Duke of Gloucester to leave
the council, and announcing publicly to the nation that he had
henceforth assumed the direction of the government. But his
fleeting energy had already abandoned him. The Duke of
York and Henry Bolingbroke were his masters, instead of
the Duke of Gloucester.
John of Gaunt had returned from CastUe; he had become
reconciled with his brothers. Concord appeared re-established
in the royal family ; a truce had been concluded with France
and Scotland. The King of Scotland, Robert IL, had died on
the 19th of April, 1390, and his eldest son had assumed the
title of Robert III. Queen Anne had also died, in 1394, and
King Richard, who had no children, married two years later,
much against the wishes of his subjects, the Princess Isabel,
daughter of Charles VI., King of France. She was but seven
years old ; but the king conceived the liveliest affection for
her, and conducted her everywhere with him upon his travels.
An expedition in Ireland against the insurgent chiefs had been
very successful; but the Duke of Gloucester protested with
aU his might against the alliance with France. " Our Ed
wards," he said, " caused Paris to tremble even in its entrails ;
but, under Richard, we court the French, who make us trem
ble within London." The duke had his reasons for trembling:
the king had not forgotten the execution of his favorites, nor
the men who had signed their indictment. The Earl of War
wick, one of the accomplices of Gloucester, was already ar
rested ; the Earl of Arundel soon followed. The Duke of
Gloucester had retired to Pleshy Castle, in Essex ; his nephew
repaired thither in gay company: all the family came forward
to meet the king ; but while the duchess was conversing with
him, Gloucester was arrested by the marshal of England, dragged
as far as the river, thrown into a boat, and from thence a

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 353
vessel bore him towards Calais. A rumor was thereupon spread
that he had been assassinated ; the king published a procla
mation declaring that the arrests had been made with the ap
proval of his uncles of Lancaster and York, as well as of his
cousin, the Earl of Derby. He had even obtained, by a ruse,
their signatures to the impeachment. Lord Arundel was con
demned by the ParUament, and immediately executed ; his
brother, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not even ad
mitted to plead his cause, for the king dreaded his eloquence :
he was banished for Ufe; and the Earl of Warwick, at first
condemned to death, was imprisoned in the Isle of Man. The
House of Lords then called the Duke of Gloucester for judg
ment; but the marshal replied that he could not bring the
Lord Duke, who had for several days been dead at Calais. He
was condemned, however, and all his goods were confiscated ;
it was said that he had been suffocated between two mat
tresses. The judges were not without uneasiness concerning
the application which they had just made of the high-treason
law ; nearly all had been, at different periods, compromised in
plots or insurrections. They obtained of the king an amnesty
for the past; and, as a reward for present services, Richard
made his cousin, the Earl of Derby, Duke of Hereford; the
Earl of Nottingham became Duke of Norfolk, and John Hol
land, the murderer, was made Duke of Exeter. The Parlia
ment completed its work of complaisance by granting to the
king, for Ufe, a subsidy upon wools, and by forming a com
mission, intrusted to watch affairs. King Richard was no
longer in a hurry to appeal to his people, or to convoke the
Parliament. The conduct of the king towards his uncle the Duke of
Gloucester and his friends, the vengeance which had overtaken,
after so many years, the enemies of the favorites, revealed the
character of the sovereign in a light which caused uneasiness
vol. i. 45

354 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
in the country. Indolent and prodigal, habitually engrossed
in the pleasures of luxury and magnificence, Richard was not
only capable of momentary energy, but he maintained in the
bottom of his heart projects which he brought to fulfilment
with patient perseverance. Once delivered of the Parliament
and of the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Lancaster aged
and in retirement in his castle, Richard gave himself up to
all his whims, certain, as he thought, of encountering no
serious opposition. "At that time," says Froissart,. "no one
was great enough in England to dare to speak against the
wiU of the king. He had a council obedient to his wishes, who
begged him to do as he pleased ; and he had in his pay ten
thousand archers, who guarded him day and night." The
extravagances of the court were insensate, and the people
began to complain, looking back regretfully upon the gov
ernment of the king's uncles, who had shown some consid
eration, they said, for the nation, and consulted it in its own
affairs. Two great noblemen alone remained of those who had, in
1386, seconded the efforts of the Duke of Gloucester against
the favorites of the king ; arid, notwithstanding the favor
shown to them by Richard, they did not feel secure in their
positions. The Duke of Norfolk, galloping upon the road to
Windsor, in the month of December, 1397, encountered the
Duke of Hereford. " We are ruined," said he to his friend.
"Wherefore?" asked Bolingbroke. "For that affair at Rad-
cot Bridge." * " What ! after so many pardons and declara
tions by the Parliament?" rejoined Bolingbroke. "He will
annul all that, and we shall come to the same fate as the
others ; the world in which we live is strangely perfidious."
The Duke of Norfolk soon had reason to be convinced of this.
* The Duke of Ireland (Eobert de Vere) had been defeated by Gloucester and
his companions, at Kadcot Bridge.

Chap. Xn.] BOLINGBROKE. 855
Either through thoughtlessness or through treachery, the con
versation was reported to the king ; he convoked the Parlia
ment, and his first care in the month of January, 1398, was
to summon Henry Bolingbroke to render an account of the
words of the Duke of Norfolk. The latter was not present,
but upon the summons of the Parliament, he came to throw
down his glove at the feet of the Duke of Hereford, declar
ing him a traitor and a perjurer: the combat was authorized
between the two noblemen. "I shall then at length have
peace," muttered the king, while proceeding to Coventry, on
the 16th of September, to be present at the tournament. But
having once confronted the two antagonists, he became fear
ful of a victory for one of them, and, forbidding the ordeal, he
submitted the question to a Parliamentary commission chosen
by himself. The Duke of Hereford was condemned to an
exUe of ten years. The Duke of Norfolk was banished forever.
He thereupon started for the Holy Land, and died of grief
at Venice. But Henry Bolingbroke did not go far away ; he
remained in France, watching the movements of his cousin
Richard, who lavished the riches of England with so thought
less a hand, that his treasury was constantly empty. His
favorites would then help him to replenish it by exactions of
every kind. The Duke of Lancaster had died three months
after the departure of his son ; his immense property was
confiscated, notwithstanding the protests of Bolingbroke. A
decree outlawed seventeen counties of England, as having been
favorable to the enemies of the king ; they were compelled to t
buy back their rights with enormous fines. The disaffection
increased, but the king took no heed whatever of it. He em
barked towards the end of May, 1390, for Ireland, where his
cousin and heir-presumptive, the Earl of March, had recently
been assassinated. He had just taken the field against the
rebels, when Henry BoUngbroke landed, on the 4th of July, at

356 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, having escaped from France under
the pretext of paying a visit to the Duke of Brittany.
BoUngbroke had brought with him a feeble following: the
exiled Archbishop of Canterbury, and his nephew, the Earl
of Arundel, fifteen knights and men-at-arms, and a few ser
vants ; but scarcely had he touched the English soU, when
the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland joined him,
bringing with them considerable forces. Henry did not dis
close his ulterior projects to anybody; he came, he said, to .
claim his right, the inheritance of his father, which the king
had wrongfully confiscated; and the public feeling was so
favorable to him, the nation was so weary of seeing itself ill-
governed, that the malcontents rose in all parts to place them
selves under his standard. He was, it is said, at the head of
an army of sixty thousand men when he advanced towards
London. The Duke of York, regent of the kingdom in the
absence of Richard, did not rely upon the burgesses of the
City; he had quitted the capital, and displayed the royal
standard at St. Alban's. Terror began to seize the creatures
of the king : instead of marching against the rebels, they tim
idly shut themselves up in the fortified castles. The Duke
of York had taken the western road, pending the return of
King Richard ; but Bolingbroke had used diligence, and he
arrived at the Severn on the same day as the regent. The
latter placed little confidence in his troops; he was aware of
the general discontent, and he retained in the bottom of his
heart a bitter resentment for the murder of his brother Glouces
ter. He granted an interview to his nephew Bolingbroke :
the firm, bold, and cunning mind of Henry triumphed easily
over the feeble will of the Duke of York ; the two armies
were amalgamated, and the regent helped the usurper to take
Bristol Castle. There the members of the commission which
had formerly condemned Bolingbroke had taken refuge; they

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 357
were executed without any other form of trial, and the
Duke of Lancaster marched upon Chester, leaving his uncle
at Bristol.
For three weeks Richard had remained in ignorance of what
was taking place in his kingdom. When he at length learned
the news of the landing of Henry and his formidable suc
cesses, he exclaimed bitterly, " Ah ! my good uncle of Lan
caster, the Lord have mercy on your soul ! If I had believed
you, although this man might be your son, he would never
have harmed me. Three times I have forgiven him ; this is
his fourth offence." The Earl of Salisbury immediately set
sail to assemble together some troops in England : he had
raised a considerable force in Wales ; but the king delayed* the
soldiers murmured, and dispersed by degrees ; a large number
went and joined the rebels. The king at length disembarked
with his cousin, the Duke of Albemarle, and his two broth
ers, the Dukes of Exeter and Surrey. The little army which
he had taken to Ireland followed him ; but at the second
halting-place, when the king, having risen very early, looked
through the window towards the camp, where on the previous
evening six thousand soldiers had slept, he no longer saw
but a handful of archers and men-at-arms ; all had deserted
during the night. The king was advised to take refuge at
Bordeaux. " That would be to abdicate," said his brother,
the Duke of Exeter. It was resolved that they should join
the Earl of SaUsbury ; and the king, disguised as a priest, took
the road to Conway, with his brothers and a few servants,
while the Duke of Albemarle, following the example of his
father, the Duke of York, fled by night to join the army of
the usurper.
The Earl of Salisbury had not a hundred men with him
when the king arrived at Conway. In this deplorable situa
tion, the brothers of King Richard proposed to go to Henry at

358 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
Chester, in order to ascertain his pretensions. The two dukes
did not return; their cousin Bolingbroke received them kind
ly, but he positively refused to release them: aU his efforts
were directed towards seizing the king in person. The Earl
of Northumberland was intrusted with this mission. By false
promises he enticed the king out of Conway, proposing an in
terview with Bolingbroke at Flint. Richard was almost alone,
abandoned ; he followed the earl with the friends who re
mained to him. They galloped along slowly, when suddenly
the king cried, " I am betrayed ! Lord in Heaven, help me !
Do you not see banners and pennants flying in the valley?"
Northumberland advanced at the same time. " My lord,"
the unhappy monarch said to him abruptly, " if I thought you
capable of betraying me, I could yet retreat." "No," replied
the Earl, who had laid hold of his bridle ; " I have promised
to conduct you to the Duke of Lancaster." The soldiers of
Northumberland began to appear ; the king yielded to neces
sity. " Our Saviour was sold and delivered into the hands
of his enemies," he murmured.
They arrived at Flint. Henry Bolingbroke, in complete
armor, came forward to meet his royal cousin, and bent his
knee on approaching. " Good cousin of Lancaster," said Rich
ard, courteously, " you are welcome." " My lord," replied
Henry, " I have come before my time, but I will tell you the
reason : your people complain that you have governed them
harshly for twenty-two years ; if it please God, I will help you
to rule them better." " Since it pleases you, it pleases us
also," meekly replied the fallen monarch ; and, seated upon a
wretched palfrey, like a prisoner, King Richard took the road
to Chester, side by side with Henry Bolingbroke. Froissart
relates that his very dog abandoned him to lick the hand of the
usurper. At Lichfield Richard attempted to escape ; but he was seized

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 359
as he had just issued forth through a window, and more nar
rowly guarded than before. The people of London received
him with yells and insults. The usurper repaired to St. Paul's,
prayed upon the tomb of his father, and then took possession
of the palace. The king had been led to the Tower.
The Parliament was convoked, and ready to depose Rich
ard IL, as it had formerly deposed his great-grandfather ; but
Henry BoUngbroke, with a bitter foresight of the mutability
of human things, wished to secure the personal consent and
the voluntary abdication of the king. He held him narrowly
confined within the Tower. " Why do you cause me to be
thus guarded ? " Richard angrily exclaimed one day. " Am I
your king or your prisoner?" "You are my king," replied
the duke ; " but the council of your kingdom have seen fit to
place a guard beside your person." On the eve of the open
ing of ParUament, a deputation of prelates and barons paid
a visit to the unhappy king in the Tower, and asked him to
-abdicate. Richard felt himself powerless in the hands of his
enemies ; he yielded, " willingly and joyfully," say the acts
of ParUament; and, releasing his subjects from their oath, he
consigned his royal ring to his cousin of Lancaster, saying that
he would choose him for his successor, if he had the right to
designate him. These details are open to doubt; but the
ParUament held them good, and on the 30th of September,
before the empty throne, in Westminster Hall, the abdication
of Richard was read aloud, aU the members giving their con
sent to it. The people uttered cries of joy. The coronation
oath was then brought, and, at each article, proclaimed aloud,
the impeachment of King Richard was drawn up. He was
accused of the murder of his uncle Gloucester; of having
revoked the amnesties, and of having squandered the public
money. Nobody raised his voice for the dethroned monarch
until the Bishop of Carlisle, Thomas Merks, rose and pubhcly

360 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
denied the right of the Parliament to depose the king and to
change the order of succession, at the same time defending
Richard against -his accusers. Scarcely had he finished his dis
course, when he was arrested. While he was being conducted
to St. Alban's, the Parliament pronounced the deposition of
Richard, and the Lord Chief Justice was instructed to announce
his faU to him. " I care not to court the regal authority,"
said the deposed king ; " I only hope that my fair cousin
will be a good master to me."
His fair cousin was not yet legally king : the descendants
of Lionel, the third son of Edward III., were the legitimate
heirs to the throne ; no one, however, thought of them. The
Duke of Lancaster had remained in his seat ; his surrounders
waited in profound silence. He rose, and, solemnly making
the sign of the cross, said in a very loud voice, " In the name
of the Father, of the Son, and of the Hoiy Ghost, I, Henry of
Lancaster, lay claim to this kingdom of England and to the
crown, as a descendant of the good King Henry III., and by
the right which God has given me, by granting to me the
favor, through the support of my friends, to come to the assist
ance of this country, which was about to perish under bad
laws and for want of government."
This mixture of hereditary pretensions with popular rights
was skilful. The Parliament responded to the appeal of
Henry BoUngbroke ; acclamations broke out in all parts ; the
duke showed the ring which Richard had consigned to him ; the
Archbishop of Canterbury took him by the hand and led him
to the foot of the throne. Henry knelt there for a moment ;
he then ascended the steps and seated himself resolutely. The
plaudits recommenced during the discourse of the archbishop.
" I thank you, my lord," said the new monarch ; " and I wish
everybody to know that, by right of conquest, I wUl disinherit
nobody of his rights, but wish that each may be governed by

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 361
the good laws of the kingdom, and may hold what he has
by right." The officers of the crown and the great noblemen
also vowed fealty and homage : Henry IV. was king of
England. In the first days of his reign, the new sovereign was en
abled to believe that public opinion fully confirmed his usur
pation. All the great noblemen were eager to fulfil at his
coronation their hereditary offices ; the Earl of Northumberland
alone, who had rendered eminent services to him, marched
beside him in the procession, holding aloft in sight of all the
sword worn by BoUngbroke on landing at Ravenspur. The
House of Commons responded to the slightest wishes of the
king, and the greater number of the unpopular measures of
the last reign were withdrawn by common consent. A great
uproar arose in the House of Lords : the peers who had ap
pealed against the Duke of Gloucester were summoned to
exculpate themselves ; all took their stand upon the wish of
King Richard, upon the fear which he inspired, and upon the
unanimous vote of the House. Recriminations poured down in
every part ; forty gauntlets were thrown upon . the ground as
chaUenges to combat. A weak and timid monarch would have
taken alarm in the midst of this violent confusion : Henry IV.
was enabled to calm the agitation. He divested the " lords
appellant," as they were styled, of the titles which Richard
had given to them as rewards ; the Dukes of Albemarle,
Surrey, and Exeter, the Marquis of Dorset, and the Earl of
Gloucester, became once more the Earls of Rutland, Kent,
Huntingdon, and Somerset, and Lord Le Despencer ; but
the new king wreaked no other vengeance upon them. The
high-treason law was restored to more limited and less
vague terms ; appeals to the Houses in cases of treason were
abolished, and the ParUament was forbidden to delegate its
authority to a commission. The eldest son of the king was
vol. i. 46

362 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Xn.
declared Prince of Wales, Duke of Guienne, Lancaster, and
Cornwall, as well as heir-apparent to the throne. Henry
was too prudent to again raise the question of the law of
succession which he had so boldly disregarded : he did not
wish his hereditary right to the throne to be discussed ; he
well knew that the little Earl of March, so carefully installed
in Windsor Castle, was the real heir to the throne, as great-
grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of
John of Gaunt. The child was not nine years of age ; the
king caused him to be well brought up, as well as his brother,
and neither was destined to recover his Uberty during his
lifetime ; but their sister, soon afterwards married to the Earl
of Cambridge, had transmitted to the House of York those rights
or those pretensions which condemned England to half a
century of civil war.
Difficulties abound in the path of usurpers. King Richard
had not protested, he had asked for nothing, but he stiU lived
in the Tower. Before dissolving the Parliament, King Henry
IV. dispatched the Earl of Northumberland to the House of
Lords. The latter asked that the message with which he was
intrusted should be kept secret ; he then consulted the House
upon the manner in which the dispossessed king was to be
treated ; " for my master Henry," he added, " has resolved,
at any cost, to preserve the life of Richard." The Lords all
replied that King Richard should be secretly led away to
some castle, and placed in the hands of faithful custodians,
who should prevent all communication with his friends. This
was the sanction which Henry IV. wished for ; the dispossessed
monarch was conducted to Leeds Castle, in Kent, and then
transferred by night from castle to castle, as had been his great-
grandfather^ Edward II. In the month of January, Richard
had arrived in Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire.
The removal of the dethroned king could not suffice to

I I'll' I'' illi

fi ¦¦'¦'!':

Chap. XII.] BOLINGBROKE. 363
strengthen the power; conspiracies were already beginning.
The Lords appeUant had scarcely been punished, but their
fears as well as their resentment urged them to revenge.
They had formed the project of assassinating Henry and of
replacing Richard upon the throne. A tournament was an
nounced at Oxford for the 3d of January, and the Earl of
Huntingdon, the brother-in-law of the king, invited the latter
to be present thereat. The invitation was accepted. The
murder was to be accomplished during the jousts ; the king
and his son were to succumb beneath numbers. The day
came; the king had not arrived, and the Earl of Rutland
was absent from the place of meeting. The conspirators saw
themselves betrayed ; but a bold stroke might yet save them ;
they galloped to Windsor, and took possession of the castle.
The king was no longer there : warned in time, he had taken
refuge in London. The arrest ' warrants were already issued
against the traitors, and, on the morrow, Henry marched against
them, at the head of a considerable force. They did not await
him, and fled to arm their vassals. Civil war appeared im
minent ; but public opinion was with King Henry : it admin
istered justice to the conspirators, without the king being
obliged to interfere. The citizens of Cirencester seized the
Earls of Kent and Salisbury, and struck off their heads ; Lord
Le Despencer was beheaded by the citizens of Bristol ; the
Earl of Huntingdon was destroyed at Pleshy by the ser
vants of the late Duke of Gloucester. The king had only to
cause the trial of a few accomplices of low degree, but the
attempt of the lords appellant probably cost the life of King
Richard ; it was learned, towards the end of January, that he
had died at Pontefract. It was related that he had refused
to take any food since the death of his brothers, the Earls of
Kent and Huntingdon ; distrustful people asserted that he had
been starved to death. Others maintained that he had been

364 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
attacked in his prison by some assassins, and that, after having
valiantly defended himself, he had been kUled by a blow be
hind the head. When the body of the unhappy monarch was
brought to London, before being interred at Langley a por
tion only of the face was uncovered. The details of his death
were forever unknown, and many people were resolute in
denying the fact.
The little Queen Isabel had remained in England during
the lifetime of her husband, notwithstanding her father's wish
to see her return to his side. The death of his son4n-law
caused one of his most fatal attacks of insanity to poor King
Charles VI. ; but his uncles were anxious to profit by the in
dignation which was manifested at Bordeaux, the birthplace
of the deposed monarch ; the Dukes of Burgundy and Bour
bon advanced towards Guienne, and the first movement of
the population was favorable to their wish. " Richard was the
best man in his kingdom," it was said at Bordeaux, " and
the people of London have treacherously abandoned him."
But as the French army advanced, the ardor of the Gascons
abated. The French were poor, and annoyed by subsidies and
taxes, which were sometimes repeated upon two or three
occasions during the year. " We are not accustomed to be
treated thus," said the English subjects, " and it would be
too hard upon us. We have still a king, and he will send
his ministers to us to explain himself. Meanwhile, we have a
large commerce with England, in wine, in wool, and in cloth."
The uncles of the king were compelled to retire without
having accomplished anything. Henry IV. was in no hurry to
renew the war with France ; he caused a proposal to be made
to marry the little Queen to the Prince of Wales ; but the
father and the daughter rejected this alliance. Charles VI.
claimed with Isabel his jewels and the two hundred thousand
livres in gold which King Richard had received upon her

-9T '^/// ,/y/

A yjA^-n-aA v rA '£' a /i t,.

¦ (y'JSy^AAA.

BOSTOU, ESTES & LAURIAT.

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 365
dowry. Henry was poor, and the sum considerable; when
the young Queen was at length consigned to her family, in
the month of August, 1401, the ambassadors of England re-
plied to the claims of the French by a demand' for a hundred
and fifty thousand crowns of gold which remained due upon
the ransom of King John the Good. The question of the
dowry of Isabel was no longer mooted, and peace subsisted
between the two countries during the greater part of the reign
of Henry IV., notwithstanding the challenges of the Duke of
Orleans and Wallerand of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and
St. Pol, which gave rise to slight hostilities upon the coasts.
Good warrior as he was, the King of England had too much
to do at home, and too much trouble to consolidate his throne
to seek afar for hazardous adventures.
At the very outset of his reign, however, and on the
morrow of the conspiracy of the lords appellant, Hemy had
attempted an expedition into Scotland. Not daring to. ask
subsidies of the Parliament, the king had had recoups© to the
miUtary service of the feudal system, and, convoking under
his banners aU holders of fiefs, and furnished with the tithe
voted by the clergy, he had advanced as far as Edinburgh,
to summon King Robert, the Duke of Rothsay, his son, and
aU the great Scottish noblemen to come and render homage
to him. Robert III. was aged, feeble, and infirm ; he had
abandoned the power to his brother, the Duke of Albany,
constantly at contention with the heir to the throne, the Duke
of Rothsay, sanguine, thoughtless, and venturesome. The
young duke hastened to Edinburgh, to defend it. Henry was
repulsed ; his provisions failed him : he was compelled to
withdraw from Scotland, having reaped no other glory in this
campaign than the humanity towards the peasants, of which
he had given proofs, and the discipline which he had been
enabled to maintain in his armyi

POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
While the King of England was fighting and suffering fail
ure in Scotland, an unexpected insurrection broke out in
Wales. A lawyer, who had afterwards served as esquire in
the house of the Earl of Arundel, a Welshman, — descending,
it was said, from Llewellyn, the last Welsh prince, — Owen
Glendower or Glendwyr, had seen his little estate encroached
upon through the avidity of a powerful neighbor, Lord Grey
de Ruthyn. Owen had appealed to the Parliament ; his com
plaint had been rejected. The Welshman resolved to avenge
himself by force of arms, and drove from his lands the ser
vants of Lord Grey. He was thereupon outlawed. His pre
tensions grew with his anger ; it was no longer a question of
a little field or of a cluster of trees : Owen Glendwyr publicly
proclaimed his illustrious origin, laying claim to the inde
pendent sovereignty of Wales. Fire smouldered under the
ashes among these people, subjected for so many years ; the
love of national liberty was not extinguished. From all parts
the Welsh hastened round Owen; students quitted their uni
versities, laborers their ploughshares, at the call of indepen
dence. At the beginning of the year 1401, King Henry IV.
found himself compelled to proceed to Wales with an army.
But Owen was too shrewd to hazard a pitched battle ; he left
to the climate and to famine the task of fighting for him.
From the mountains in which he had taken refuge, he soon
saw King Henry compelled to retire. A second campaign,
attempted in 1402, was not more fortunate : the rain fell in
torrents ; the rivers became swollen at the approach of the
English soldiers, who left Wales convinced that Glendwyr
was a sorcerer in league with the elements.
The rumor that King Richard was still living had come
once more to be circulated in Scotland and in the North of
England, restoring a certain amount of courage to the mal
contents. In vain had King Henry severely punished the

HENRY IV. RECEIVING THE HOMAGE OP THE NOBLES.

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 367
fomenters of this news ; Richard was expected with the Scottish
army, when it entered into England in the spring of 1402.
At the head of the English opposition was a Scotchman,
George, Earl of March. The Duke of Rothsay was to have
married his daughter, and had then rejected her, to unite
himself with the family of the "Earl of Douglas, the heredi
tary enemy of the Earls of March. The Earl of March had
thereupon renounced his aUegiance to the King of Scotland,
and had aUied himself with the Percies, all-powerful in the
county of Northumberland. It was with his assistance that
the Scots were defeated and repulsed at Nesbit Moor, in
June, 1402. Internal rancors soon brought forward a sec
ond army ; the Earl of Douglas, furious at the success of his
rival, soUcited the assistance of the Duke of Albany, and, at
the head of a considerable force, he soon overran the two
banks of Tyne. Having advanced as far as Newcastle, he
was faUing back, loaded with booty, when the Earls of North
umberland and March cut off his road on the 14th of Sep
tember. The Scots covered Homildon Hill, and the English
were stationed opposite upon another elevation. Hotspur
Percy had already commanded the charge of his men-at-arms,
when the Earl of March restrained him by the arm. " Let
your archers commence," he said ; " the turn of your horse
men wiU soon come." Arrows rained down upon the Scots
deployed upon the flank of the hill: Douglas did not stir;
his men were faUing in their ran^s, when a Scottish baron,
Fordun Swinton, at length cried, " Ah ! my brave comrades,
who restrains you to-day, that you should remain there, like
deer or stags, to allow yourselves to be killed, instead of dis
playing your former valor by fighting man to man ! Let us
descend from here in the name of God ! " And the Scottish
men-at-arms, thereupon moving, caused the English archers
to faU back. The latter, however, continued to shoot, and

POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
Douglas received five wounds ; he fell from his horse, and was
made a prisoner. Disorder set in in the Scottish ranks ; the
flower of their chivalry had been decimated by the arrows
or had surrendered without striking a blow.
The son of the Duke of Albany, Murdoch Stewart, was
among the number of the prisoners. The English knights had
not raised their lances or drawn their swords; the battle had
been won by the archers of old England. The Earl of North
umberland arrived on the 20th of October at the Parliament
convoked at Westminster, gloriously accompanied by all his
prisoners. The Percies had recently gained a victory for King Henry
IV., whom tbey had so powerfully contributed to place upon
the throne. They were about to turn their arms against him.
Shakspeare attributes their discontent to the prohibition which
the king put upon their setting ransoms upon their prisoners,
a measure which deprived them of all the pecuniary advantage
of the capture ; but this interdiction had been frequent under
the preceding reigns, particularly under Edward III., and King
Henry IV. indemnified the Earl of Northumberland by grant
ing vast domains to him. Another cause for anger had recently
sprung up. During the lucky campaigns of Owen Glendwyr
the latter had captured his old enemy, Lord Grey de Ruthyn,
and Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle of the young Earl of March,
the legitimate heir to the throne. The relatives of Lord Grey
had been authorized to redeem him ; but the king had refused
the same favor to the family of Sir Edmund. Hotspur Percy
had married his sister, and, acutely wounded by this refusal,
he began to set on foot a conspiracy to overthrow the king
and place the crown upon the head of the little Earl of March.
He was confirmed in this resolution by the Archbishop of York,
Scrope, brother of the favorite of Richard II. ; and the con
spirators did not hesitate to caU Owen Glendwyr to their aid.

Chap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 369
He gave his daughter in marriage to Mortimer, and promised
to invade England with twelve thousand Welshmen. The Earl
of Douglas was liberated without any ransom, on condition
of recrossing the frontier with a Scottish army. It is even
said that Hotspur wrote to the Duke of Orleans, from whom
King Henry had recently received a warlike challenge on
account of the insults offered to Queen Isabel.
So many movements had not escaped the vigilant eye of
King Henry. Hotspur was marching forward, commanding
the rebels in place of his father, who was ill ; and supported
by his uncle, the Earl of Worcester. Henry planted his army
corps between the earls and Owen Glendwyr, with whom they
were endeavoring to effect a junction. The Welshman had
made no haste, and when, on arriving at Shrewsbury, Henry
received the challenge of his enemies, it was issued only
in the name of the Percies. They reproached the king with
his usurpation, the death of Richard, the captivity of the little
Earl of March, his manoeuvres in the election of Parliament,
the levying of taxes which had not been voted by the Commons,
&c. At the end appeared the real subject of the quarrel, the
denial of the negotiations relating to Sir Edmund Mortimer.
Henry IV. smiled bitterly, and disdained to reply. " The
sword shall decide," he said, " and I am assured that God
wiU give me victory over perjured traitors." It was on the
20th of July, 1403 ; on the morrow the two armies found
themselves face to face on Shrewsbury Plain.
The insurgents numbered about fourteen thousand men ;
the king had no more. Before fighting, he dispatched the
Abbot of Shrewsbury to his adversaries, with proposals for
peace. Hotspur, less impetuous than Shakspeare has depicted
him, hesitated ; but the Earl of Worcester persuaded him to
reject the royal overtures. " Banners to the' front, then ! "
cried Henry. The combat began. " St. George ! " was the
VOL. i. 47

370 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIL
cry around the king. " Hope ! Percy ! " responded the rebels.
The archers were drawing on both sides, and the knights did
not abandon to them, as at HomUdon Hill, all the honor of
the combat. Percy and Douglas, rivals in glory, had precipi
tated themselves together into the midst of the enemy with a
small foUowing ; everything gave way before them ; the Prince
of Wales had been wounded in the face. They sought for
the king ; but, upon the advice of the Scottish refugee, the
Earl of March, he had laid aside, for that day, all the royal
insignia, and he fought valiantly, without having been recog
nized. At the moment when the two chiefs of the insurgents
endeavored to retrace their steps, opening up a way through
the crowd of the enemies, Percy was struck by an arrow in
the head, and fell dead. Disorder immediately set in among
his partisans. Douglas had been made a prisoner; the Earl
of Worcester shortly afterwards suffered the same fate, as well
as the Lord of Kinderton and Sir Richard Vernon. The trai
tors' punishment awaited the three Englishmen. Douglas was
honorably treated. The field of battle was covered with dead
and dying. The insurgents had fled ; they went and carried
to the old Earl of Northumberland the news of the defeat
and death of his son. He was marching forward to join him,
and he thereupon shut himself up in his castle at Warkworth.
Being summoned to appear before the king at York, he was
detained there in honorable captivity until the Parliament
should have decided upon his fate. He had not taken part
personally in the insurrection, and he declared that his son
had acted without his approval. The Lords treated him with
indulgence ; he retired after having sworn fidelity to the king
and the Prince of Wales. Eighteen months had not elapsed
before he was again in arms against Henry.
The conspiracies had not ceased in this interval. A former
chamberlain of King Richard, named Serle, had again spread

Chap. XIL] BOLINGBROKE. 371
the rumor that that monarch was living. He led about with
him a poor idiot who resembled Richard, and a certain number
of partisans had rallied round him. Three princes of the House
of Bourbon had attacked the islands of Jersey and Guern
sey, and burned down the town of Plymouth; the French
vessels had brought reinforcements to Owen Glendwyr, against
whom the young Prince of Wales was at war ; and a woman,
Lady Le Despencer, had carried off the young Earl of March
and his brother. She was already approaching the frontiers
of Wales when she was seized, and the prisoners were brought
back to Windsor. She exculpated herself by throwing the
responsibihty of the undertaking upon her brother, the Duke
of York, formerly Earl of Rutland. He was arrested, and
languished for several years in prison.
King Henry had always avoided asking large subsidies of
the ParUament ; he was not sufficiently assured of the affec
tion of his people to ask any sacrifices of them. In 1404,
however, he had come to the end of his resources, and in
a parUament known in history as " the lack-learning," be
cause the king had, it was said, dismissed from it all the law
yers, he made a proposal which was ardently sustained by
the Commons : it forbade the king to alienate the property
of the crown without the authorization of Parliament, but
permitted him to take back all the gifts of land and the
pensions granted by his predecessors ; he was even allowed
to seize a certain portion of the property of the clergy. The
Church uttered a cry of terror and rage, which arrested the ,
zeal of the king and the Commons. Henry hastened to
renounce his project, assuring the Archbishop of Canterbury
that it was his intention to leave the Church in a better
position than he had found it ; but he accomplished his res
olutions upon the lands and pensions given by Edward III.
and Richard II. The disaffection of the barons was very

372 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XII.
great, and the uneasiness of the clergy was in no wise dis
pelled. In 1405, two great councils were convoked by the king:
in London and at St. Alban's. There the bad state of
feeling was manifested ; all the demands of the king were
rejected, and more than one baron quitted St. Alban's to
join the insurgents, who Were again beginning to form in
groups round the Earl of Northumberland. The Archbishop
of York had this time taken up arms ; he was made a
prisoner, as well as the Earl of Nottingham, by Prince John,
the second son of the king. In vain did the archbishop
claim ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the earl that of his peers ;
in vain did Chief Justice Gascoyne refuse to preside at their
trial : the king had resolved to make an example. He found
some more complaisant magistrates ; the archbishop and the
Earl of Nottingham were beheaded ; a fine was imposed upon
the city of. York, temporarily deprived of its charters, and
the king marched against Berwick, where the Earl of North
umberland had taken refuge. On the way he caused Lord
Hastings and Lord Falconbridge to be tried, and they were
beheaded. Berwick surrendered ; but the old Percy had fled
to Edinburgh, and the king did not penetrate into Scotland ;
he contented himself with ravaging Northumberland, taking
possession of all the castles which belonged to the rebels.
He then turned his arms in the direction of Wales, where
Prince Henry had valiantly sustained the struggle for nearly
two years. He had triumphed over the Welsh at Grosmont,
in Monmouthshire, in the month of March, 1405 ; one of the
sons of Owen Glendwyr had been made a prisoner, and the
prince had only been arrested in the course of his successes
by the arrival of a French reinforcement sent by the Duke
of Orleans, in defiance of the truce which still reigned between
the two nations. The young Prince Henry had been com-

Chap. XIL] BOLINGBROKE. 373
peUed to withdraw to Worcester; but the king soon drove
the French into the mountains of Wales, whither he pursued
them. The Welsh arrested his march 4 but the French were
weary of their reverses, of the poverty of their allies, of the
rough Ufe which they led ; they retreated into their vessels
again. The king withdrew in his turn ; Prince Henry con
tinued the war with alternations of successes and reverses,
always holding his ground with a skill and perseverance
worthy of his adversary, and which finally wearied the popu
lation. Glendwyr found himself graduaUy abandoned, and
an invasion attempted in 1409 by his son-in-law, Scudamore,
in Shropshire, completed the ruin of his cause ; the Welsh
were repulsed, and the chiefs put to death. The independent
character of Owen Glendwyr allowed him neither to submit
nor to despair ; he no longer appeared in the regions occu
pied by the English, but he stUl maintained himself in the
mountains, taking up arms when his enemies pressed him
closely in his haunts ; his name, published several times in the
amnesty acts, prove that he was neither dead nor subjugated,
even after the battle of Agincourt. The period of his death
and the place of his burial are unknown; the end of his
Ufe remains enveloped in mystery, as though he had really
possessed the magic power which his friends and enemies
attributed to him in his lifetime.
King Henry had not been under the necessity of pros
ecuting his campaigns in Scotland ; he held in his hands the
heir to the throne of that kingdom. The Duke of Rothsay,
imprudent and bold, had entered into a contention with his
uncle, the Duke of Albany. Being accused of rebellion and
imprisoned in Falkland Castle, he had there died of hunger,
it was said. The unhappy King Robert had become alarmed
for the Ufe of James, the only son who remained to him,
and he had embarked him upou a ship which was to take

374 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIL
him to France, but the vessel had fallen intp the hands of
some English cruisers, who brought the prince in triumph
to King Henry. " I speak French as weU as my brother
Charles," the king had said laughingly, " and I am as well
adapted as he to bring up a king of Scotland." The young
Prince James therefore remained at the court of England,
closely guarded, but educated with care, kindly treated, and
at, liberty to devote himself to his passion for poetry. The
old King Robert had died of grief in 1406, and the Duke
of Albany, who continued to govern Scotland, servilely sub
mitted to the wishes of the King pf England, who, at the
least appearance of insubordination, threatened him with the
release of his nephew* This state of affairs was destined to
be prolonged fpr a considerable time.
The most irreconcUable adversary of the king had at length
succumbed. The old Earl of Northumberland, homeless,
childless, and without riches, had wandered for more than
two years from kingdom to kingdom, endeavoring to raise
up embarrassments and enemies against King Henry. At the
beginning of 1408, he appeared in Northumberland with Lord
Bardolf, the friend and companion of his whole life. Rallying
a certain number of his old vassals, he overran tile country,
took possession of several castles, and had gathered together a
small body of troops, when he was defeated on the 28th
pf February, by Sir Thomas Rpkeby, upon Branham Heath,
near Tadcaster. He was kiUed in the combat ; Lord Bardolf,
grievously wounded, died shortly afterwards, and their bodies,
cut in pieces, were sent to the towns of Northumberland,
where they had found adherents. It was all over with the
Percies. The commotions in France continued to increase. The
poor king, Charles VI., would pass from furious madness to
docile melancholy ; his kingdom, rent, asunder by factions.,

Chap. XIL] BOLINGBROKE. 37'5
was the scene of the crimes, debaucheries, and exactions of
all parties. The Duke of Orleans had recently been assas
sinated in the Rue Barbette (23d of November, 1407), by
the servants of his cousin, the Duke of Burgundy, a circum
stance which had not prevented the latter from reappearing
at court, without fearing punishment from the king for this
murder, which the duke caused to be publicly justified at the
Sorbonne, by Maitre Jean Petit, doctor in theology. From
treason to treason, from reconciliation to reconciliation, the
Duke of Burgundy was aU-powerful in 1409, when the young
Duke of Orleans, who had lost his wife, Isabel of France,
widow of King Richard IL, was married a second time, to
Bonne, the daughter of the wealthy Count of Armagnac.
The time had at length arrived for prosecuting revenge :
supported by the experience and miUtary talents of the count,
the partisans of the House of Orleans assumed the name of
Armagnacs ; the red scarf was put on by the Duke of Berry,
the Duke of Brittany, and the Duke of Alengon; John the
Fearless was driven from Paris, and the Duke of Orleans,
sword in hand, demanded justice for the death of his
father. Then, for the first time, amid the factions which had
desolated France for ten years, England was called upon to
play a part. John the Fearless asked assistance of Henry IV.
The latter sent, in the month of October, 1411, a small body
of a thousand archers and eight hundred men-at-arms, with
whom the duke marched against Paris. He re-entered there
in force on the 23d, and drove out the Armagnacs, who had
already begun to make themselves detested. John the Fearless
followed up his advantages, and hoped to crush his enemies ;
but they, in their turn, had negotiated with the King of
England, promising to recognize him as Duke of Aquitaine,
and to assure to him, after the death of the present possessors,

376 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIL
the counties of Poitou and AngoulSme. As the price of
these concessions, the EngUsh army was preparing to invade
France, under the orders of the third son of the king, the
Duke of Clarence, when the Duke of Berry, uncle of Charles
VI., fiUed with horror at the prospect of the evils which
the foreigners were about to bring down upon France, once
more interposed between the beUigerents, and effected one
of those reconciUations which prepared the way for fresh acts
of perfidy. The Dukes of Orleans and Burgundy entered
Paris mounted upon the same horse, and repaired thus to
church. The people cried "Noel!" and thanked God for
this hope of peace. But the Duke of Clarence had landed
in Normandy ; the news of the pacification had been power
less to arrest him. Maine and Anjou had already been
ravaged. The Duke of Orleans contrived to purchase the
retreat of the allies whom he himself had summoned : the
English, laden with gold and booty, took the road to Gui
enne, traversing France without any obstacle. " We wiU
return hither," they said as they passed, " to fight with our
King Henry." Eight thousand Englishmen embarked at Bor
deaux towards the close of the year 1412.
King Henry had nearly arrived at the end of his career.
He was ill and sad. His throne had always appeared to
him to be tottering ; conspiracies had been so often repeated
around him, that he had ended by suspecting them where
they did not exist. A keen jealousy towards his eldest son
troubled him. The Prince of Wales had given proofs of
rare courage ; when yet young, he had been wounded at
the battle of Shrewsbury ; being afterwards despatched by
his father into Wales, he had there constantly held in check
Owen Glendwyr, over whom he had finally triumphed. It
is related — and, in his admirable tragedy of Henry TV.,
Shakspeare made use of these accounts, of which the authen-

(^ s

Chap. XIL] BOLINGBROKE. 377'
ticity is not well proved — that the young prince, besides"
his budding greatness, had given other causes for anxiety to
bis father: it is said that his debauches and coarse amuse
ments had caused alarm for the fate of the State which he
was one day to govern, so that a judge before whom he
had been brought, although knowing him, thought it his
duty to condemn him like a simple private person. Perhaps
the jealousy of the father and the restraint which he claimed
to impose upon the son, to whom he left neither power nor
resources, had contributed to plunge a sanguine, energetic
young man, fuU of life and strength, into those excesses with
which he was reproached. It is affirmed that the king had
one day swooned, in consequence of one of the attacks of,
his distemper ; he was believed to be dead. The Prince of
Wales, entering the apartment, had carried off the crown
which lay upon a cushion. When Henry IV. came to
himself again, he asked for the crown. The prince was
sent for. " You have no right to it," cried the king. " You
know that your father had none." " Your sword gave it
to you, sire, and my sword will be able to defend it," replied
the prince, exonerating himself as well as he could against
the suspicions of his father. He demanded the punishment
of those who accused him of prematurely claiming the throne,
and the king referred him to the next session of the Parlia
ment. He was weary of reigning and of living. " You shall
do as you please," he said; "I have done with all these
matters. May the Lord have mercy upon my soul ! " But
the young Prince Henry suffered in mind from the alienation
of his father ; he presented himself before him clad in a
blue satin robe, covered with button-holes, a tag still hanging
from each opening, and, in this strange costume, he threw
himself at the feet of the king, drew a dagger from his
bosom, and begged him to take his Ufe if he had deprived
vol. i. 48

37B POPULAR HISTORY 'OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XH;
him of his favor. The father and son became reconciled, it
is said, after this scene.
The torments of jealousy, added to the troubles of his
conscience and the cares of power, overwhelmed the monarch.
He was not yet forty-seven years of age, and the proud
Bolingbroke, formerly so handsome, so bold, so adventurous,
was bowed down like an old man. He was praying, on
the 20th of March, 1413, before the shrine of Edward the
Confessor, in Westminster Abbey, when he feU into a swoon.
He was carried into the apartment of the abbot, and as he
recovered his senses, he asked where he Was. " In the
Jerusalem Chamber," was the reply ; for such was the name
of the chamber to which he had been carried. He closed
his eyes. " I was always told that I should die at Jerusa
lem," he muttered, and he expired. He was interred in
Canterbury Cathedral, beside his first wife, Lady Mary de
Bohun, the mother of all his children. His second wife,
Queen Joan of Navarre, had not presented any to him.
Ambitious and inflexible, harsh towards his enemies, skilful
and cunning as well as enterprising, Henry IV. had always
Continued to treat the Parliament with respect, and had
never made any attempt against its authority. The House
of Commons, especially, had seen its privileges confirmed
under his reign, and its influence had been constantly grow
ing. Thus the liberties of England, formerly conquered by
the barons at the price of so much bloodshed, were gradually
developing, profiting by the weakness as well as the temerity
of the sovereigns, until the day when the religious reform
was to raise them to their highest pitch.
Absorbed in the internal struggles consequent upon usur
pation, for ever dreading real or supposed conspiracies, Henry
IV. had not had leisure to think of foreign wars. The
wish, however, had not been wanting ; he had everywhere

PRINCE HENRY OFFERS HIS LIFE TO HIS FATHER.

THE BODY OF RICHARD II. INTERRED AT WESTMINSTER.

Qhap. XH.] BOLINGBROKE. 379
plunged himself into the intrigues and divisions which deso
lated France under the unhappy Charles VI., and he had
thus prepared the return of the great English ambitions,
which were destined, for a whUe, to raise so high the glory
of Henry V., his son, at the price of so much bloodshed
and so many sorrows for the two nations.

380 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Xm.

CHAPTER Xni.
HENRY V. 1413-1422.
HENRY of Monmouth ascended the throne under happy
auspices. His father had expended the popularity
which in the first place had carried him into power, and had
lived amid the anxieties and cares of usurpation ; but the
work was accomplished, and his son felt his authority so well
estabUshed, that the first acts of his reign bear testimony to
a generous disdain towards conspiracies and rivals. The body
of King Richard II. was carried away from the convent of
Langley, and solemnly brought back to Westminster, to be
interred there beside his wife, Anne of Bohemia, as the un
happy monarch had wished during his lifetime. The king
himself was the chief mourner. The young Edmund, Earl of
March, was restored to liberty, and the son of Hotspur Percy
was recalled from the long exile which retained him in Scot
land. Everywhere the former adversaries of Henry IV., exfled
or punished through his fear and prudence, experienced the
clemency of the young king, who contrived to gain the affec
tion of the greater number of them, by the firmness and energy
of character which were united in him with generosity.
Recovered from any follies and excesses which may have
sulUed his youth, Henry V., when he ascended the throne,
showed himself from the first to be austere in his life and in
his morals, resolved to fear God, and to cause his laws to be
respected. He was not in favor of the religious movement
which was being propagated in his kingdom, particularly

Chap. XIIL] HENRY V. 381
among the lower classes of society. The doctrines and the
preaching of Wickliffe, and the knowledge of the Holy Scrip
tures which he had begun to diffuse, had borne much good
fruit ; but the disciples had, upon several points, swerved from
the teaching of their master, and from free investigation had
sprung up many dangerous errors as well as the most sacred
truths. The people designated the reformers under the name
of "LoUards," a word, the origin of which is not exactly
known, but which very possibly came from the German her
etic, Walter Lolhard, burned at Cologne in 1322. Already,
under Henry IV., the secular arm had descended heavily upon
the partisans of the new ideas. A priest, formerly rector of
Lynn, in Norfolk, and who had for a while abjured his opin
ions, had asked to be heard by the Parliament, before which
he had frankly expounded the doctrines which he had been
compelled to abandon. Being declared for this deed a heretic
and a relapser, Sacoytre had been burned at Smithfield in the
month of March, 1401, presenting for the first time to the
English people the terrible spectacle of a man put to death
for his opinions. A tailor, named John Batby, suffered the
same punishment in 1410. But at the beginning of the reign
of Henry V, the anger and uneasiness of the Church were
directed against a personage better known, and of higher
rank. The Lollards had become sufficiently numerous to have
attributed to them a declaration, placarded by night in Lon
don, announcing that a hundred thousand men were ready to
defend their rights by arms. All regarded as their chief Sir
John Oldcastle, generaUy called Lord Cobham, by the right
of his wife. He was a good soldier, and the friend of Henry
V. in his youth. When Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury,
came to accuse Lord Cobham before the king, the latter could
not decide to deUver him up upon the spot to the Church,
and he promised to labor himself to reclaim him ; but the

382 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
king's powers of controversy miscarried before the convictions
of Lord Cobham. The monarch became angry, and as his
old friend had taken refuge in his manor of Cowling, in Kent,
Henry abandoned him to the archbishop. For some time the
clever soldier contrived to prevent the delivery of the arrest
warrant, but a body of troops sent by the king having sur
rounded the castle, Oldcastle surrendered, and was conducted
to the Tower. For two daj's he defended himself unaided
against all the clergy assembled ; he was then condemned to
the stake ; but the king, who still retained some affection for
him, obtained a respite, during which Sir John contrived to
escape from the Tower. He no longer hoped to live in peace ;
perhaps he reckoned upon the devotion of his brethren. It is
related that he assembled a considerable number of Lollards,
and that he made an attempt to surprise the king ; having
failed in his design, he had convoked his partisans in the
fields of St. Giles, near London, on the morrow of the Epiph
any. The king was forewarned of the conspiracy and repaired
thither. Sir John was not there ; a hundred men at the
utmost had assembled in the meadow ; they carried arms, and
confessed that they were waiting for Oldcastle. Two or three
other little assemblages were also captured, and on the 13th
of January, thirty Lollards suffered at St. Giles's the punish
ment of traitors. The Parliament was agitated, and the State
was believed to be in danger ; the judges and magistrates
were authorized to arrest every individual suspected of heresy,
and made oath to prosecute the guilty in all parts. Death
and confiscation were decreed against them. Sir Roger Acton,
a friend of Oldcastle, was arrested, hanged and quartered on
the 10th of February. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Arun
del, died on the 28th of the same month ; but his successor,
Chicheley, was no less ardent than he against heresy, and it
was at his request and at his suit that Sir John Oldcastle,

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 383
Lord Cobham, after having for a long while remained con
cealed, was rearrested in 1417, and burned at a slow fire in
the meadow of St. Giles, on the 25th of December fol
lowing. The terror which the Lollards had caused was beginning
to subside. The king had had leisure to reflect upon the sad
condition of Trance ; the weakness in which it was plunged
reminded him of the counsels of his dying father. It is said
, that Henry IV. had advised his son to engage his country in
a great war, to divert it from conspiracies. The ardor of the
young king had become inflamed at this idea, and he had come
to look upon himself as the messenger of God, sent to punish
the crimes of the French princes, and to deliver from their
hands the kingdom which they were oppressing. In the month
of July, 1414, he suddenly laid claim to the crown of France,
as the descendant of Isabel, the daughter of Philip the Fair.
This pretension, groundless on the part of Edward III., be
came absurd in the mouth of Henry V., because the right of
succession, if transmissible by females, belonged to the Earl
of March. The Duke of Berry, then in power, peremptorily
repelled the demand of King Henry, who thereupon proclaimed
other pretensions. He consented to leave the throne to King
Charles, but he claimed for England the absolute sovereignty
of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine, besides the towns
and territories ceded in other parts of France by the treaty
of Bre'tigny. He claimed at the same time one half of Provence,
the inheritance of Eleanor and Sanche, the wives of Henry
III., and of his brother, the Duke of Cornwall ; and the fifteen
hundred thousand crowns remaining to be paid upon the ran
som of King John ; finaUy, he formally demanded the hand
of the Princess Catherine, the daughter of King Charles VI.,
with a dowry of two mUlions of crowns. In reply to these
exorbitant demands, the Duke of Berry proposed to surrender

384 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Xm.
Aquitaine to the King of England, and to give him the Prin
cess Catherine, with a dowry of six hundred thousand crowns.
Never had a daughter of France brought so large a dowry to
her husband, and the payment of it would probably have been
difficult in the state of poverty which the country was in.
King Henry thereupon recalled his ambassadors, convoked the
Parliament, and, having obtained large subsidies, he sent a
second mission to the court of France. The Earl of Dorset
entered Paris with a magnificent retinue. He proposed a
prolongation of the truce for four months, and consented to
receive the princess with a dowry of one million of crowns
only. Henry had, besides, renounced his pretensions to Maine,
Anjou, and Normandy. The answer was the same, but two
hundred thousand crowns were added to the dowry of Cath
erine. The ambassadors returned to England in March,
1415 ; the preparations for war immediately commenced.
The situation of France was more than ever deplorable. The
Armagnacs and the Burgundians were contending with each
other for the power, and a third competitor had entered the
lists ; the Dauphin, Louis, the eldest son of the unhappy Charles
VI., arrived at manhood, and, supported by his uncle, the Duke
of Berry, endeavored to seize the reins of government. Dis
solute and unmannerly, as profligate and as cruel as his adver
saries, he sometimes made use of the king's name, at others,
declared him incapable of directing his affairs, and plotted
to drive out the Armagnacs or the Burgundians. Blood flowed
in all parts, and the unhappy populations of the towns and
the country, exhausted by taxes and exactions, sighed after
each abuse of a new master : " What worse could the Eng
Ush do than that from which we suffer ? "
While the French nation, overwhelmed by its misfortunes,
lost even the wish of defending itself against foreigners, King
Henry had summoned a council of the Lords at Westminster.

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 385
In the last Parliament, his uncle, Beaufort, Bishop of Win
chester and Chancellor of England, had delivered a great speech
upon this text: "While we have time, let us do every good
work." The king announced to his councillors that he had
resolved to put his hand to the task, and to recover his in
heritance. AU the prelates and barons approved of his inten
tions, and his brother John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed
Regent of England in his absence. The conditions of mUitary
service were determined. The king undertook to make a reg
ular payment, curiously graduated according to the rank of
those who foUowed him: a duke was to receive every day
thirteen shilUngs and fourpence ; an earl, six shillings and
eightpence ; a baron, four shiUings ; a knight, two shUlings ;
an esquire, one shiUing, and an archer sixpence. All wer©
to bring a certain number of horses, which the king undertook
to equip. Henry had pawned his jewels, contracted loans,
and he had collected a very considerable sum of money, when
he marched forth in the month of July, to embark at South
ampton. At Winchester, the king encountered the Archbishop of
Bourges, sent by the Duke of Berry, in the frivolous hope of
appeasing the storm which threatened France. " I have a
right to the crown," said Henry, " and I will conquer it with
my sword." In vain did the archbishop invoke the help of
God, of the Virgin Mary, and of the saints, who would defend
the just cause of King Charles ; in vain, exasperated by the
disdain of the English, did he exclaim that the king had only
made such liberal offers for love of peace, and that King Henry
would soon find himself repulsed as far as the sea, if he should
not be kiUed or made prisoner ; Henry contented himself with
smiUng. " We shall see shortly," said he ; and loading the
prelate and his retinue with presents, he sent him back with
no other reply.
vol. i. 49

386 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
The embarkation of the troops had already commenced,
when the king was suddenly warned of a plot hatched against
his life. One of his friends, Lord Scroop of Masham, in whom
the king reposed such confidence that he always made him
sleep in his own chamber, and Sir Thomas Grey Heton, had
made an agreement with the Earl of Cambridge, the brother
of the Duke of York, and as treacherous as he. The king
dead, the young Earl of March was to replace him upon the
throne. The three conspirators had suffered the penalty of
their crime, when Henry at length set sail for France, on
the 13th of August, 1415.
The fleet entered the Seine on the morning of the 14th
of August, and thirty thousand men, which it carried, landed
within a league of Harfleur. The spot was iU chosen for
the landing, and the defence would have been easy ; but
no obstacle presented itself to impede the operations of the
English, and, on the 17th, King Henry laid siege to Harfleur.
The town was strong and well defended by the Sire d'Estoute-
ville ; sickness was beginning to ravage the English army ;
several barons of consequence were dead, as well as a large
number of soldiers ; but the besieged suffered also, and the
governor in vain asked for assistance.
The Sire d'Estouteville formed his resolution ; he issued
secretly out of the town and repaired in person to Rouen,
where the French forces were beginning to assemble. But
confusion and disorder reigned there ; no one thought of
delivering Harfleur. The brave governor returned, re-entered
the town, and surrendered it on the 22d of September, after a
siege which had lasted thirty-six days. King Henry installed
a garrison there ; he embarked his sick and wounded soldiers,
whom he sent back to England; and when he took account
of his army thus diminished, nine thousand men at the utmost
remained under his banners. His supporters hesitated to

Chap.XIH.] HENRY V. 387
advance into France. Henry had sent to the Dauphin a chal
lenge to single combat ; but Louis had not even replied. The
king sUenced the timid counsels. " No," said he ; " with
the help of God, we must first see a little more of this good
soil of France, which all belongs to us. We will go, with
God's help, without hurt or danger ; but if we should be
interfered with, we will fight, and the victory wiU be ours."
Reassuring his men thus, the King of England set out on
his way to Calais, on the 6th of October. The army at
Rouen, under the orders of the king and the Dauphin, did
not stir ; but that of the Constable had preceded the Eng
lish in Picardy, and every day troops passed by to go and
join him. Watched by some detachments larger than his
entire army, Henry traversed Normandy without any obstacle ;
near Dieppe, however, he was attacked by the garrison of
Eu, but the enemy was thrown back in disorder. Like
Edward III., Henry found himself stopped by the river
Somme, and could not discover a ford ; Blanche-Tache was
guarded; the great number of the passages were furnished
with stakes. The soldiers were beginning to murmur, when,
on the 19th of October, a passage was found between Bethen-
court and Vogenme, and the English army crossed the Somme
without impediment. The Constable had established himself
at AbbevUle ; the mUitary council assembled at Rouen decided
that battle should be given. The immense superiority of
the French army had caused the wise usages of King Charles
V. to be forgotten. i
On the 20th of October, three French heralds presented
themselves at the camp of the enemy, and the Duke of
York conducted them to the king. " Sire," they said,
bending their knee before him, "my masters, the Dukes of
Orleans and Bourbon, and my lord the Constable, inform
you that they intend to give battle to you." " God's will

POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
be done," replied the king without emotion. " And by which
road do you intend to proceed ? " resumed the heralds, who
had noticed with amazement the small number of English
tents, and the weary appearance of the soldiers. "That
of Calais, straight along," replied Henry. " If my enemies
wish to stop me, it will be at their peril. I do not seek
them, but I will proceed neither faster nor more slowly to
avoid them." And breaking camp on the morrow, Henry
indeed continued his march, as though death or defeat
could not lie hidden behind each hill, or await him in the
neighboring plains. On the 24th he had crossed the river
of Ternois, when he perceived the first columns of the
enemy. He immediately formed his troops into battle-order;
but the Constable had fallen back upon Agincourt, and the
King of England took up his quarters in the village of Mai-
soncelles. The royal standard of France was planted on the
road to Calais ; death or victory was imperative.
King Henry had sent his marshals to reconnoitre the posi
tion of the French. They brought back alarming particulars
as to their strength, and the number of pennants and banners
spread out in the wind ; the soldiers were laughing around
their fires, and the spies heard them calculating the ransom
of the English barons. The veteran knights alone appeared
less joyful ; the Duke of Berry, who, when quite a chUd,
had fought at Poitiers, had opposed with all ' his might the
project of giving battle. He had succeeded in preventing
the arrival of the king. " It is better," he said, remember
ing the captivity of his father, King John, " to lose the
battle than to lose both the king and the battle." The
English trumpets sounded throughout the night ; but the
soldiers had confessed, many of them had made their wills ;
they appreciated all the danger that threatened them.
At daybreak, on the 25th of October, the king attended

THE FRENCH CHIVALRY THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 389
mass. Three altars had been erected in the camp, in order
that the soldiers might all be present at divine worship.
The English were composed of three divisions; two detach
ments were stationed at the wings. The archers, placed in
the form of a wedge in front of the men-at-arms, drove into
the ground long stakes, intended to protect them against
the charge of the cavalry ; for the first time, the points of
the stakes were tipped with iron. The baggage, the priests,
and the greater number of the horses, had remained in the
rear-guard, near Maisoncelles. The king rode slowly along
the lines upon his little gray horse ; the crown which sur
mounted his helmet sparkled in the rays of the sun, but the
youthful and handsome countenance of the young sovereign
above aU attracted the attention of his soldiers. " My course
is taken," he said, " to conquer or die here. Never shall
England pay a ransom for me. Remember Soissons,* my
archers ; the French have sworn to cut off three fingers from
the right hand of every one of you, so that you may never
be able to shoot an arrow again in your lives. We have
not come to our kingdom of France like enemies ; we have
not sacked the towns and insulted the women ; they are
full of sin and have not the fear of God before their eyes."
A gaUant' warrior, Walter Hungerford, said aloud, as the
king passed by, that he would like to see at his side a few
of the good knights who remained idle in England. " No,"
cried Henry, " I would not have here one man more. If God
give us the victory, the fewer we are, the greater will be
the honor; if we fail, the country will be less unhappy."
And he smUed, like a man certain of victory.
The French did not make an attack. By the advice of the
old Duke of Berry, they had resolved to await the onslaught,
* Two hundred English archers, prisoners of war, had been hanged at
Soissons.

390 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.XIIL
and they had seated themselves upon the ground, like the
English at Crecy. Henry had reckoned upon the confusion
and disorder which every movement would bring upon this
compact and confused mass, where each knight obeyed his
liege lord, without concerning himself about the general
direction, and he hesitated to make an attack. The Constable
wished to wait for the Duke of Brittany, who was to bring
fresh reinforcements to him ; and, seeing that the English
remained stationary, he dispatched Messire Guichard Dauphin
to King Henry, to offer him a free passage, if he would
surrender Harfleur and renounce his pretensions to the crown
of France. Henry refused without hesitation ; he was will
ing to negotiate, he said, upon the conditions which he had
offered from London. They could delay no longer ; the
English army was destitute of victuals. The king gave
orders to his two detachments to creep, oue to the left and
the other to the rear of the French army ; he then in a
ringing voice cried, " Advance, banners ! " It was mid
day. Sir Thomas Erpingham, the venerable commander of
the archers, threw into the air his white staff, saying,
" Shoot." The English had advanced within bowshot ; they
planted their stakes, and, uttering their battle-cries, began
to shoot. Their comrades, hidden upon the left flank of
the French, answered them with cries and with arrows.
Messire Clignet de Brabant charged at the archers, crying,
" Montjoie ! Saint Denis ! " The ground was soft and moist
with the rain ; the horses slipped and fell ; the horsemen
were wounded by the arrows, and their lances could not
reach, behind the ramparts of stakes, the bare breasts of
the archers, who had nearly all thrown off a portion of their
clothing, to fight more at their ease. The Brabantines were
compelled to retire in disorder, breaking up at their rear
the advancing ranks. The mass was so confused and the

HENRY V. REVIEWING HIS TROOPS.

Chap.XHI.] HENRY V. 391
ranks so serried, that neither horses nor men had room to
move. The English archers had drawn their stakes, and,
having discontinued shooting, charged mallet and battle-axe in
hand. The French cavalry had made a side movement ; the
horses sank into the freshly ploughed soil ; the cavalry, heavily
armed, had difficulty in dismounting, while their enemies ran
lightly upon the yielding ground. The Constable had been
slain ; the Duke Anthony of Brabant succumbed beneath a
battle-axe at the moment when the second French division
attacked the English men-at-arms, who were advancing in
their turn. The struggle then began between the cavalry.
The Duke of Clarence had been overthrown ; Henry, stand
ing before his body, defended him single-handed. Eighteen
knights, bearing the banner of the Count of Croy, attacked
him at the same moment ; they had sworn to capture the
King of England dead or alive. A blow from a battle-axe
caused Henry to fall upon his knees ; he was about to perish,
but his knights had rejoined him ; the king rose, and the
eighteen assailants were killed. The Duke of Alencon, sword
in hand, had arrived at the foot of the standard of Eng
land; he had overthrown the Duke of York. King Henry
defended his treacherous relative, and the battle-axe of the
French prince smashed a half of the crown which surmounted
his helmet. At the same moment the duke was surrounded.
" I surrender," he cried. " I am the Duke of Alencon."
But already the blows of the English had stretched him
upon the ground ; when King Henry would have received his
gage, he was dead. The French troops faltered ; the chiefs
were either captured or slain. The third division began to
fly ; the ground gave under their feet ; the horses sank into
the mud. A great tumult arose in the rear of the English.
The third division of the enemy began to rally; the Duke of
Brittany was hourly expected with numerous reinforcements :

892 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. Xm,
King Henry gave orders to kill the prisoners with whom each
Englishman was incumbered ; the greatest names of France
were faUing beneath the dagger. But the alarm subsided;
the peasants who had made a raid upon the baggage had
been repulsed, the French cavalry had resumed their gallop i
the King of England arrested the slaughter,, and gave orders.
to raise the wounded. The day was ended ; the king rode
over the field of battle with his barons ; the heralds examined.
the arms of the dead knights. Henry encountered Montjoie,
the French king-at-arms, who had been made a prisoner..
" This butchery is not of our doing," he said, " but of the
Almighty, who wished to punish the sins of France, To
whom falls the honor of the victory ? " " To the King of
England," gravely replied Montjoie. " What is the name
of this castle?" resumed the king. " Agincourt." "The
day's' work shall then be called the battle of Agincourt,"
said Henry, and he resumed his march amid the dead and the.
dying. Eight thousand gentlemen had fallen upon the field
of battle, of whom one hundred and twenty were great
noblemen bearing banners. The Duke of Orleans, the Count
of Richemont, Marshal Boucicault, the Duke of Bourbon, the
Counts of Eu and VendSme, were prisoners. Among the
English, the Earl of Suffolk and the Duke of York had been
killed. The king retook the road to Calais ; the young Count of
Charolais, the son of the Duke of Burgundy, whom his father
had forbidden to take part in the combat, had performed the
last duties towards his uncles, the Duke pf Brabant and the
Count of Nevers. At the same time he caused to be interred,
at his own expense, all those whose friends had not come
to take away their bodies. Nearly six thousand men were
deposited in the cemetery improvised upon the field of battle,
and the Bishop of Guines performed the last prayers there.

Chap.XHL] HENRY V. 393
The King of England had merely passed through Calais,
and had returned into his kingdom, laden with booty, amid
the cries of joy of his subjects, who had thrown themselves
into the sea on his arrival, and had borne him to land upon
their shoulders. In its gratitude, the Parliament had granted
to him, for his lifetime, the subsidy upon wools and leathers,
which it had formerly so bitterly regretted presenting to King
Richard. Henry V. was too much occupied by his foreign
ventures, and he was naturally too just and too generous to
abuse the favors of his people. During the whole course
of his reign he Uved in peace and in mutual understand
ing with his Parliament.
The King of England was occupied in receiving with
magnificence the Emperor Sigismund, who was traveUing,
like a knight-errant, from kingdom to kingdom, endeavoring
to effect the cessation of the schism which was desolating
the Church, by causing the anti-popes to abdicate, to restore
to Christianity a universaUy recognized chief, when, in the
month of August, 1416, came the news that Harfleur was
closely pressed by a body of French troops. The king was
ready to embark ; but Sigismund dissuaded him, under the
pretext that this enterprise was not worthy of so great a
prince, and to the Duke of Bedford was intrusted the res
cue of the garrison of Harfleur. He found a considerable
fleet, reinforced by some Genoese and Spaniards, which
awaited him at the mouth of the Seine ; and on the 15th
of August he was attacked by the French, who were soon
defeated ; but the Genoese caracks rose so high above the
water that the EngUsh saUors were compelled to climb up
Uke cats to board them: they succeeded, however; for "at
sea," says the old chronicler, "neither those who attack,
nor those who defend, have any place of refuge or means
of escape, and the combat is therefore more desperate." The
vol. i. 50

394 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XDX
French fleet was destroyed, and the land forces were retreat
ing in disorder ; but the sea was covered with dead bodies,
which came floating around the vessels, and the sight was
still lugubrious when the Duke of Bedford returned to Eng
land, leaving Harfleur revictualled and in a good state of
defence. The Emperor Sigismund had accompanied his royal host
to a conference, at Calais, whither the Duke of Burgundy,
who began to incline towards the English, had repaired.
The Count of Armagnac was all-powerful in Paris, and King
Henry was preparing a large army to attempt a fresh invasion
of France.
The Dauphin Louis was dead, poisoned, it was said, by
the Armagnacs, who dreaded the influence of his father-in-
law, the Duke of Burgundy, over him. Prince John, who
had become Dauphin, had been accompanied to Compiegne
by his brother-in-law, the Count of Hainault. He was quite
a Burgundian, and did not long survive his elevation. "At
the beginning of 1417," wrote the Duke of Burgundy, " our
much dreaded lord and nephew was stricken one evening with
so severe an illness that he died immediately ; his lips, tongue,
and face all swollen, which was a piteous sight, for like this
are persons who are poisoned." The new Dauphin, Charles,
was but sixteen years of age ; he belonged to the Armagnacs,
who had caused Queen Isabel to be seized in the castle of
Vincennes, and had imprisoned her at Tours. She had there
upon entered into relations with the Duke of Burgundy, whose
partisans had been driven in a mass from Paris. The Eng
lish disembarked at the same time at Touques, in Normandy.
From this period, and for twenty years, the history of
England takes place in France. Absorbed at first in their
conquests, then in the attempt to preserve them, the English
princes asked nothing of their native country but men and

CHAr. XIIL]

HENRY V. 395

money. The towns of Normandy fell one after another into
the power of King Henry. Caen was taken by storm ; Lisieux,
Bayeux, Laigle, had been abandoned by the population, who
had taken refuge in Brittany. Nothing arrested his triumphal
march. In vain did the French deputies endeavor to nego
tiate ; Henry demanded the - hand of the Princess Catherine,
and only consented to leave the royal title to Charles VI.
on condition of governing during his lifetime as regent, and
having possession of the crown after his death. The winter
had arrived, and the Scots had attempted an incursion into
the Northern counties ; but Bedford had repulsed them. In
the beginning of the spring (1418), King Henry resumed his
mUitary operations. Large reinforcements had arrived from
England ; Cherbourg, Domfront, Louviers, Pont-de-1'Arche,
besieged by large detachments, surrendered almost at the
same time. The whole of Lower Normandy was in the hands
of the conqueror, who established his government there. The.
salt tax was abolished, and the chancellor of the duchy was
directed to govern with strict justice. On the 30th of July,
the King of England laid siege to Rouen.
Meanwlule Paris was more than ever a prey to the flames
and to bloodshed. The Duke of Burgundy had released
Queen Isabel, who had declared herself regent of the king
dom, without concerning herself about the rights of her son.
She was advancing against Paris, which trembled under the
Count of Armagnac. " In those days it was sufficient in
Paris to say that a man was a Burgundian for him to be
dead," say the chronicles. The population began to weary
of this sanguinary yoke. In the night of the 23d of May,
1418, one of the gates of the city was secretly opened to
a small body of Burgundians, by Perrinet Leclerc, the son
of a civil guard. The Sire of Isle-Adam, who commanded
the detachment, hastened to the H6tel St. Pol; the Dauphin

396 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
had already been dragged as far as the Bastille by Tanneguy-
Duchatel, a Breton knight and an ardent Armagnac. The
Constable had concealed himself; the poor king, awakened
with a start, recognized Isle-Adam. " How is my cousin
of Burgundy ? " he said courteously. " It is a very long
time since I have seen him." The populace of Paris had
risen and were rushing upon the Armagnacs ; the king was
placed on horseback and conducted through the streets of
Paris. The Constable had been discovered, and thrown into
prison with his partisans ; but on the 12th' of June a cry
was raised that the' enemy were at the gates;: the people ran
to the prisons, the captives were dragged into the yards, and
immediately slaughtered, notwithstanding some efforts of the
Burgundian knights. Nearly five thousand persons perished in
this massacre, which lasted several days. Tamieguy-Duchatel
had conducted the Dauphin to BourgeSj when the Duke of
Burgundy and the queen entered Paris in triumph. The
two parties endeavored to negotiate with King Henry, whp
listened to them and rejected their proposals one by one : he
had come to persuade himself that he was the avenger sent
by God. " He has conducted me hither by the hand to
punish the sins of the land and to reign as a true king,"
he replied to the solicitations of the Papal Legate in favor
of peace. " There is neither law nor sovereign in France,
none thinks of resisting me ; I will maintain my just rights
and will place the crown upon my head. It is the wiU of
God." Meanwhile the siege of Rouen still continued. From every
captured town and every abandoned castle, the best com
batants had taken refuge in the capital of Normandy. The
citizens thereof had always been valiant and passionately
attached to independence. Henry in vain repeated to them
that he was of Norman race, a descendant of RoUo and

ENTRY OF THE BURGUNDIANS INTO PARIS.

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 397
WUliam the Conqueror ; the Rouennais kept their gates
closed, fighting valiantly upon the ramparts, and making
frequent sorties. Hunger, however, began to make itself
felt ; an old priest left the city secretly and repaired to Paris
to ask for assistance. He addressed himself to Maitre Pavilly,
the greatest doctor and preacher of the Sorbonne, beseeching
him to preach a sermon in favor of the unfortunate besieged
of Rouen. The eloquence of Maitre Pavilly moved all his
auditors to tears. "I have come to raise the hue and cry,"
said the old priest. Assistance was promised to him, but
days elapsed and nobody came. The dogs and cats were
eaten ; the besieged caused a capitulation to be proposed to
King Henry. " In your present state," replied the con
queror, "I intend to see you at my mercy." When Messire
Le Bouteiller, the governor of the city, received this answer,
he no longer took any counsel but that of despair. " Let
us set fire to the houses," he said, " and arm ourselves as
weU as we are able, with the women and children in our
midst; and so we wiU make a breach in the waU which is
ruined, and will throw ourselves upon the camp of the
English, to go where we can." The rumor of this resolve
reached the ears of King Henry. He was harsh, and urged
on his projects without concerning himself much about human
sufferings ; but he was unwilling to see Rouen reduced to
ashes; he promised to the men-at-arms their life and liberty,
on condition of not fighting against him for one year. The
citizens retained their property and their liberties, by paying
a fine of three hundred thousand crowns. The king entered
Rouen on the 16th of January, 1419, amid the dead bodies
with which the streets were strewn : fifty thousand persons,
it was said, had perished in the city during the siege.
The consternation was great in France when it was learned
that Rouen had succumbed. The Duke of Burgundy quitted

398 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
Paris with the king and queen, and negotiations were again
entered into with the King of England. The conditions
offered by the Duke of Burgundy were so advantageous that
Henry consented to negotiate in. person. The plain of the
environs of Meulan was chosen for the interview ; the court
of France was at Pontoise, and the King of England had
established himself at Mantes. On the 30th of May, two
magnificent retinues appeared in the field, around whom a
crowd of people thronged ; silken tents had been erected.
For the first time Henry saw that Princess Catherine with
whom he had been smitten through a portrait, and whom
he had chosen for the lady of his thoughts. Tall, slim, fair,
with black eyes, the beauty of the princess made a lively
impression upon her knight, but without disturbing for a
moment the policy of the king. Interviews succeeded each
other, but Henry abated nothing of his pretensions. " Good
cousin of Burgundy," said he, " I will have the daughter
of your king for my wife, and with her all that I have
demanded." But when the King of England presented him
self for the eighth conference, the French tents were de
serted. A treaty had been concluded between the Duke
of Burgundy and the Dauphin, who had embraced upon the
road between Melun and Corbeil ; the two parties were
for the moment reunited against the English. King Henry,
indignant at this treachery, and swearing to avenge himseff
unaided, advanced as far as Pontoise, which was taken on
the 27th of July. Isle-Adam, who defended the town, was
compelled to fly, leaving behind him the treasure which he
had amassed in Paris by hanging the Armagnacs.
The Duke of Burgundy was at Saint-Denis ; but he made
no effort to defend Pontoise. Paris remained undefended;
nobody thought any longer of taking possession of that
unhappy city, the scene of so many horrors and crimes.

5 .,

f

Chap. XIIL] HENRY V. 399
There was uneasiness around the King of England ; the
negotiations which were on foot between the court of France
and the Regent of Scotland were known ; the King of Cas
tile had armed a large fleet which ravaged the coasts of Gui
enne. Henry V. alone had not lost confidence : he counted
upon the justice of God as weU as upon the internal treachery
of his adversaries ; the event proved that he had not been
mistaken. Since his reconciliation with the Dauphin, the
Duke of Burgundy strongly urged the latter to repair to
Troyes, where were the king and queen ; the young prince,
or rather his counciUors, insisted upon a preliminary inter
view at Montereau. The duke hesitated ; he had received
several warnings of the evil designs of Tanneguy-Duchatel.
But the influence of a woman, the Dame de Giac, gained over
by the Armagnacs, decided him to risk all, and he started
for Montereau. Tanneguy-Duch&tel came forward to meet
him ; the servants of the duke still insisted to make him
retreat. " No," said he ; " if I die, it will be as a martyr,
and the councillors of, my lord the Dauphin are good
knights." Then, as Duchatel entered, " This is what I rely
upon," he said, resting his hand upon his shoulder ; " Messire
Tanneguy answers for my safety." The Armagnac reiterated
protestations, while leading the duke towards the pavilion
which had been prepared upon the bridge. Barriers closed
it upon both sides ; they were carefully thrown down as soon
as the duke had entered. He uncovered his head and placed
one knee upon the ground before the Dauphin, who leaned
against the balustrade in the centre of the pavilion. The
young prince scarcely answered, muttering some reproaches.
At the same moment, upon a movement of John the Fear
less, which caused his sword to clatter, Tanneguy cried, "A
sword in my lord's presence ! " and struck the duke a blow
on the head with his battle-axe. The Sire de NavaiUes raised

400 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XHI.
his arm to defend his master ; but the Viscount of Narbonne
sprang upon him. The duke had been thrown down without
having been able to draw his sword ; two noblemen raised
his coat of maU and plunged their daggers in his breast ;
the Burgundians of the retinue were made prisoners ; two
of them were seriously wounded. The troops of the Dauphin
had scattered the escort ; the young prince had retired ; John
the Fearless remained lifeless upon the bridge, divested of
his jewels and his rich habiliments. This bold and cunning
heart, this egotistical ambition which nothing arrested, this
magnificent life of pleasures and politics, all had been ended
by a crime, and the public indignation enumerated the vir
tues of the duke without recalling his vices ; the death of
John the Fearless opened a wide entrance for the EngUsh
in France.
Philip, Count of Charolais, now Duke of Burgundy, was at
Ghent when he learned of the assassination of his father.
"Michelle," he said, turning towards his wife, the daughter
of Charles VI., "your brother has killed my father." Amid
deputations which arrived from all parts to deplore the crime,
and to throw the responsibUity of it upon the Dauphin, the
first care of the new duke was to enter into negotiations
with the King of England.
Anger and vengeance were about to give to Henry all that
his victories had not yet been able to wrest from the weak
ness of France. The proposals of the Dauphin had been
rejected ; but when the young Duke of Burgundy was in
trusted to negotiate by Queen Isabel, the king entered into
parleys ; the hand of the Princess Catherine was promised
to him, with the regency of the kingdom, and the crown at
the death of Charles VI. He consented, in his turn, to re
nounce the title of King of France during the Ufetime of King
Charles, to govern his new kingdom by the advice of a French

Chap. XIII.] • HENRY V. 401
councU, to respect the liberties of the parliaments and towns,
and to reannex Normandy to the crown of France on his
accession to the throne. A private treaty assured certain
favors to the Duke of Burgundy. Neither of these documents
contained the clause which had led to their conclusion ; but
it was understood that the Dauphin should be pursued to the
death, and driven from his inheritance by the English arms.
The Duke of Burgundy had assured himself of his revenge ;
he returned to Trc-yes ; all the constituent bodies had already
reassembled at Paris, — the Parliament, the Chamber of Ac
counts, the University, — and all had approved of the treaty
with the English. The great qualities of King Henry were
enumerated ; prudent and wise, loving peace and justice, main
taining a strict discipline among warriors, protecting the poor
people, resigned to the will of God, praising Him in good for
tune and accepting bad fortune without anger. It was added
that he was of noble bearing and of an agreeable countenance.
None objected ; people were weary of the civil wars ; misery
had exhausted their hearts, and benumbed their courage ; the
Duke of Burgundy was aU-powerful. A few noblemen alone
dared to complain ; the Duke Philip had great difficulty in
making John of Luxembourg and the Bishop of Therouenne,
his brother, to swear peace. "You wish it," they said, "we
will therefore take the oath, and also wUl we keep it until
death." Others formally refused, and, in the duchy of Bur
gundy, all the towns at first resisted the oath of fidelity
required by the King of England. " Those who looked dis
pleased," says Juvenal des Ursins, " were treated as Armagnacs,
but they were only good and loyal Frenchmen." The treaty
of Troyes was the disgrace bf France.
King Henry arrived at the court on the 20th of May, fol
lowed by the flower of his army, upon which he had imposed
a severe discipline ; in traversing the country, he had every-
Vol. i. 51

402 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap.XHL
where required the soldiers to put water in their wine. The
Princess Catherine was awaiting her chevalier, who was affi
anced to her with great ceremony, and on the morrow the
treaty was signed. The King of England, regent of France,
had received the oaths of his new subjects, when his marriage
was celebrated on the 2d of June, by the Archbishop of Sens,
amid the most brilliant ceremonies. The young knights and
gallants hoped for a joust and some passages of arms on the
occasion of this great union ; but Henry was not so fuU of
love as to forget his affairs. " I beg my lord the king," he
said, "for permission, and I command his servants as well as
my own be in readiness to-morrow morning to proceed to lay
siege to the city of Sens, where are the enemies of the king.
There each of us will be able to joust, tourney, and display
his prowess and courage, for there is no finer prowess than
to mete out justice to the wicked in order that the poor people
may live." The court of Queen Isabel was not accustomed
to this serious and firm language, but thejr set out without
complaining for Sens. The town was taken at the end of
two days ; the king caused the archbishop to be called, and
conducted him to the church. " You have given me a bride,
and I restore yours to you," he said to the prelate.
From Sens the army went to Montereau ; the Burgundians
were fighting furiously, eager to have possession of the spot in
which the body of their duke reposed. The garrison had been
compelled to retire within the castle, where the Sire de Guitry
defended himself yet for some time. Scarcely had Philip of
Burgundy entered the town, when the women conducted him
to the church wherein his father had been hurriedly interred.
He caused the tomb to be opened ; the body was riddled with
wounds, disfigured by the blows of the battle-axe of Tanneguy-
Duchatel ; all wept while looking at him ; the body was trans
ported to Dijon with the greatest honors, and deposited in

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 403
the tomb of Philip the Bold. The bastard De Croy, killed
during the siege, took, in the church of Montereau, the place
which the Duke John left empty.
The army had repaired to Melun ; but the town was de
fended by the Sire de Barbazan, one of the Dauphin's most
gaUant knights. The siege was likely to be protracted ; the
court came and established itself at Corbeil. Every day the
besieged made sorties; an assault had been attempted with
out success ; mines were defeated by counter-mines. The Eng
Ush, Burgundian, and French knights sometimes took pleasure
in breaking lances in those dark galleries ; the Sire de Barbazan
there had the honor of encountering the King of England
without knowing him. But the combats of the men-at-arms
were more serious, and the knights sometimes took part in
them. " You do not know what it is to fight in a mine,"
said De Barbazan to the young Louis des Ursins, who was
preparing to descend there ; " have the handle of your battle-
axe cut down ; the passages in the mines are often narrow
and zigzagged ; short sticks are necessary for fighting hand
to hand."
MeanwhUe the people suffered cruelly within the town, and
the Dauphin could not succor it : the English and Burgundian
forces would have crushed his little army. The besieged stUl
held out. King Henry had in vain caused Charles VI. to
he brought to the camp ; De Barbazan replied that he would
open the gates to him willingly, but not to the mortal enemies
of France. Already the English and the Burgundians began to
quarrel among themselves : the French noblemen complained
of the small court, and the shabby costume of their king,
whUe the King of England had a gorgeous establishment.
Henry, besides, feeling himself surrounded by scarcely sub
jected enemies, and little accustomed to all the delicate shades
of French courtesy, treated the barons with less consideration

404 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
than they were wont to receive. The Marshal of Isle-
Adam, who was in command at Joigny, had come to Sens
for some matters of business. " Is that the dress of a mar
shal of France ? " asked King Henry, while surveying him
from head to foot. " Sire," replied the marshal, " I had this
light gray robe made to come here by water." " What ! "
cried the king, " do you look a prince in the face in speak
ing to him?" "Sire," and the Burgundian drew himself
up, " in France it is the custom when one man speaks to an
other, of whatever rank, or whatever power he may be, that
he pass for a worthless man and despicable if he does not dare
to look the other in the face." "It is not our fashion,"
muttered Henry, and shortly afterwards Isle-Adam was de
prived of his command.
Melun had at length been reduced to capitulate, on the
18th of November, and the King of England made his entry
into Paris. That city was a prey to the most frightful misery ;
little children were abandoned and died of hunger and of cold
in the streets ; wolves entered the cemeteries and even into
the streets, to devour the dead bodies which none took the
trouble to inter. Notwithstanding the distress, all Paris was
holiday-making for the arrival of the two kings. The poor
Charles VI. rode beside his son-in-law, who vied with him in
courtesy at the doors of the churches when the relics were
presented to them to kiss. The Duke of Burgundy, clad in
mourning, as well as all his household, followed the King of
France ; the Dukes of Clarence and Bedford accompanied their
brother. The misery was redoubled within Paris after the
magnificences of the royal reception. Henry established him
self at the Louvre, where he held his court sumptuously ; the
old king had re-entered the Hotel St. Paul, and few people
repaired thither to him, to wish him a happy Christmas.
The Duke of Burgundy had formally demanded justice for

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 405
the death of his father, and the murderers had been con
demned by a decree of Charles VI., without giving the names
and without personally accusing the Dauphin. The king of
England was in need of money, and intrusting the command
of his army to the Duke of Clarence, after having filled the
principal offices of the kingdom with men who were de
voted to him, he set sail for England, notwithstanding the
severity of the weather. He landed at Dover, in the middle
of January, to the sound of the acclamations of his people.
The royal retinue resembled a triumph when it entered Lon
don. Catherine was crowned at Westminster, " with such
great pomp, and feasting, and jollity, that since the time of
the very noble and very warlike King Artus was not seen in
the city of London a similar rejoicing for any English king,"
says Monstrelet. The sovereigns had commenced a journey
in their states, when, at York, the king learned the sad news
of the death of his well-beloved brother, the Duke of Clarence,
slain in the combat of Bauge\ He was ravaging Anjou, which
stUl recognized the authority of the Dauphin. The Seigneur
de la Fayette had raised a few troops to resist him, and a
numerous body of Scottish auxiliaries had come and joined
him under the orders of the Earl of Buchan. Clarence did
not know with what enemies he had to deal ; he had im
prudently advanced, had been killed by Lord Buchan, and a
great number of English had remained upon the field. The
Dauphin had appointed the Earl of Buchan Constable of
France. Negotiations were then in progress for the release of King
James of Scotland, so long a prisoner at the court of England ;
King Henry caused him to come, and, his eyes flashing with
rage, " Forbid all your subjects ever to lend assistance against
me to the Dauphin," he said. " I should make a sorry figure
at giving orders, being a prisoner," firmly replied James; "but

406 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIII.
if you wUl take me with you to France, I shall learn the art
of war in a good- school, and, perhaps, when my Scots shaU
see me with you, they wUl not fight on the other side."
Henry V. had an affection for the King of Scotland, and
granted him his request ; but Archibald Douglas was already
preparing to proceed to France, to join Lord Buchan.
Meanwhile the king was assembling a more considerable
army than all those which he had ever led beyond the seas ;
the Parliament had liberally voted subsidies ; and on the 10th
of June, 1421, Henry landed at Calais, leaving Queen Cath
erine in England. The King of Scotland was sent to
besiege Dreux, and Henry himself laid siege to Meaux, which
detained him for several months. The town was commanded
by the Bastard De Vaurus, who had made of it a haunt of
crimes and of pillage. When the castle was at length surren
dered, in the month of May, 1422, the governor was hanged
upon the great oak of which the branches had so often borne
the corpses of his victims. Catherine, accompanied by the
Duke of Bedford, had rejoined her husband, to whom she had
recently presented a son. The Dauphin, driven back by de
grees by the English arms, had finally taken refuge in Bourges ;
but the Earl of Buchan continued to keep the field; he had
taken La Charity, and was besieging Cosne. The Dauphin
had repaired to the army, and the King of England, already for
a long time enfeebled by fever, was preparing to* attack him
with the Duke of Burgundy, when his strength completely
failed his courage ; he was compelled to halt at Corbeil, and
the Duke of Bedford having assumed the command of the
army, the king was carried back in a litter to the castle of
Vincennes. The queen had remained at Paris.
The hand of God was about to arrest this great career;
at thirty-four years of age, King Henry V. was dying; the
Duke of Bedford was arrested in a march during which he

Chap. XIII.] HENRY V. 407
had encountered no enemies, by the wish of his brother, who
desired to say farewell to him. Every worldly gift had been
lavished upon the young conqueror ; the master of two king
doms, surrounded by the esteem and affection of his Eng
lish subjects, recently married to the woman of his choice,
just become the father of an infant son, he was about to
leave them ; but the faith and resignation of a Christian
surmounted in the soul ready to take flight, the frail, benefits
of the earth. Amid his grandeurs and his conquests, Henry
had led a pure and austere life, and had not neglected to
serve God. He dreamed continually, when peace should be
re-established, of proceeding to the East, to deliver the Holy
Sepulchre ; this vision stUl floated around his death-bed.
He had caused his faithful servants to be summoned. " Since
it is the will of God, my Creator, thus to shorten my life," he
said to them, " His will be done ! Console my sweet Cathe
rine ; she wiU be the most disconsolate creature there is in the
world." He confided the education of his son to the Earl
of Warwick. " You cannot yet love him for his own sake ;
but if you feel that you owe me anything, return it to him."
He had intrusted to John, Duke of Bedford, the government
of France, and named Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, regent
of England. " Tell Humphrey, for love of me, to beware of
quarrels, and never to allow anything in the world to separate
him from John ; do not separate yourselves from the Duke
of Burgundy." He had summoned his physicians, asking them
how long he had yet to live. They hesitated. " Speak,"
said he impatiently. " Sire," said one of them, " think of
your soul, for in our judgment you have not two hours to
remain on earth."
The king had finished his last instructions ; he had said
farewell to the affairs of this world ; his confessor and the
priests of his chapel surrounded his bed ; the fifty-first Psalm

408 POPULAR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Chap. XIIL
was being recited. " Build the walls of Jerusalem ! " chanted
the chaplain. " Upon the faith of a dying king," murmured
Henry, " if it had pleased the Lord God to prolong my
life, I intended to proceed against the Infidels, and deUver
the Holy Sepulchre from their hands." His voice died
away ; he closed his eyes, and, amid the prayers which were
repeated around him, the great soul of King Henry V. entered
into eternal repose.

END OP VOL. I.

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force and. precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency of hie whole political life, he has had no equal, either
iu his own country or, as- far aa we know, in any other." —
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"Any historical work from bo accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — London Standard.

"ToamoSt interesting subject he brings the experience of
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accomplished writer."— Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of Guizot is remarkable, for
thoroughness of investigation and . exact statement; for Tare
insight into the philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart of the student." — Wendell Phillips.

"M. Guizot possesses pr6-eminently the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none wno
interpret history more faithfully than the illusttfouB author Of
* The History of Civilization.' He lifts the mind to-heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." -*¦ London Times.

((His highest and most enduring reputation rests on Wfl
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facts, and great power for comprehensive and well balanced
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Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular History op France, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which.has fully justified the <
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewitt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure in
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminent
historian. 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

"Among this band of great and honorable men, we thinfc
that M. Guizot will retain in history, as he occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety of his literary
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency of Ms whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, as far as we know, in any other." —
Edinburgh Review.
"Any historical work from so accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — Loudon Standard.

*' To a most interesting subject he brings the experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the charm of an
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from tbe pen of Guizot ia remarkable for
thoroughness of investigation and exact statement:, for -tare
insight into the philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart of the student." — Wendell Phillips.

" M. Guizot possesses pre-eminently, the historic faculty.
For the past there-are few guides so trustworthy, and nono who.
Interpret history more faithfully than the Illustrious author of
' The History of Civilization.3 He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on nls
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power, for comprehensive and-well balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION.
This work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the History op France. It will be fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. DeNeuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Leyendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard, De La Chak-
lerie, E. Eoniat, T. Weber, A. Marie, Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
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number, and will, when complete, make 5 Koyal Octavo volumes.
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has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work Was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewitt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure in
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating'
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced!
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminem,
historian, 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

" Among this band of great and honorable men, we thinfe
that M. Guizot will retain in history, aa he occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety ofhis literary
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency of his whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, aa far as we tnow, in any other." —
Edinburgh. Review.
"Any historical work from so accomplished a writer as
M. Q-UIZOT must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — London Standard.

"To a most interesting subject he. bring* the experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, "and the charm of an
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of Guizot ia remarkable- for
thoroughness of investigation and exact statement} for rare
insight into the. philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all, readers. His earnestness ia sure to win
the heart of the s tudcu t." — Wendell Phillips.

"M. G-utzot possesses pre-eminently' the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none who
interpret history more faithfully than the :illustrioua author of
* The History of Civilization.* He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which, be evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power for comprehensive and well balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION,
This work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the History of France. It will be fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most * celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. De Neuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Letendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard, De La Char-
lerie, E. Eoniat, T. Weber, A; Marie, Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of Cambridge. The work will be issued "in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it exceed- thia
number, and will, when complete, make 5 Koyal Octavo volumes.
Price per Part, 25 cts.
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Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular History op France, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, hy the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewitt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is nowt6 be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure iu
announcing that the services ofthe best Eurojfean artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminent
historian . 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

*' Among this band of great and honorable men, we think
that K. Guizot will retain in history, aa he occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety ofhis literary-
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency of his whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, as far as we know, in any other." —
Edinburgh Review. 
"Any historical work from eo accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than ia
France." — London Standard. ^

" To a most interesting subjecfche brings the experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the charm of an
accomplished writer."— Charles Sumner,

"Everything from the pen of Guizot is remarkable foi
thoroughness of investigation and exact statement; for rare
insight into the philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart of the student." — Wendell Phillips.

"M. Guizot possesses pre-eminently the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none wfio
Interpret history more faithfully than the illustrious author of
* The History of Civilization.' He lifts the 'mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a" drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power for comprehensive and well balanced
generalization," — New Universal Cyclopedia,

CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION.
This 'work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the History of France. It ¦will he fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. De Neuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Leyendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard,* De La Char-
lerie, E. Eoniat, T. Weber, A. Marie, Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of Cambridge. The work will be issued in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it exceed this
number, aud will, when complete, make 5 Koyal Octavo volumes.
Price per Part, 25 cts.
This valuable work will be sold only by our authorized Canvassing Agents.
No Subscriber's Name will be taken for less than the entire work.
The Parts are payable for on delivery, ihe Carrier not being permitted to give credit or receive money in
advance. gJf= Subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, will please address the Publishers by mail or
otherwise.

C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO., 299 Washington Street, Boston.

Part O

25 Cents,

POPCHiAR

bv eaizot.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES

INCLUDING-

THE REIGD OF QOEED VKJTORI/I
iBY iPMBES¥ M'FJ^W

lWs&

B0ST0I2
C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO.,
299 WASHINGTON STREET.
SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS FOR THE WHOLE WORK.

G

PROSPECTUS

P

UIZOT'S POPULAR

H

ISTORY

,NGLAND.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, INCLUDING THE KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

By the author of

The Popular History of France," " The History of Civilizationi'
"History of The Revolution in England."

and

Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular History of France, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewttt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure iu
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminent
historian. 
Notices from the JPress and Distinguished Statesmen :

"Among this "band of great and honorable men, we-thinfe
that M. Guizot will retain in history? aa ne occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety of his literary-
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency ofhiB whole political life, he has had no equal, either
iu his own country or, as far as we know, in any other." —
Edinburgh. Review. 
"Any historical work from so accomplished' a writer as
M. G-uizuT must he welcomed in this country not less than in
France."— -London Standard.

"To a most interesting subject he brings the experience of .
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the charm, of an
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of G-tjizot is remarkable for
thoroughness of investigation and exact statement; for rare
insight into the philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart of the student." — Wendell Phillips.

"M. Guizot possesses pre-eminently the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none who
interpret history more faithfully than the illustrious author of
' The History of Civilization.' He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, aud great power for comprehensive and well balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OP PUBLICATION.
This -work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the History of France. It will be fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. De Neuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Leyendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard, De La ChaS-
lerie, E. Eoniat, T. "Weber, A. Marie, Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain, several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of Cambridge. The work will be issued in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it' exceed this
number, and will, when complete, inako 5 Royal Octavo volumes.
Price per Part, 25 cts.
This valuable work will be sold only by our authorized Canvassing Agents.
No Subscriber s Name will be taken for less than the entire work.
The Parts are payable for on delivery, the Carrier not being permitted to give credit or receive money in
advance. gf= Subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, will please address the Publishers by mail or
otherwise.

C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO., 299 Washington Street, Boston.

Part

25 Cents.

EOTCHaAR

BY 6HIZ0T.

FROM THE TRUEST TIMES

INCLUDING-

THE REM) OF QOEED VICTOR^

IBY W& BESW MTOES

iWr

BOSTOn
C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO.,
299 WASHING-TON STREET.
SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS FOR THE WHOLE WORK

G

PROSPECTUS

P

UIZOTS POPULAR

H

ISTORY

NGLAND.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, INCLUDING THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

By the author of

The Popular History of France," "The History of Civilization,'
"History of The Revolution in England."

and,

Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular History op Prance, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his. lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewitt, and afterward carefully revised "by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure in
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminem
historian. 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

" Among this band of great and honorable men, we thinfc
that M. U-uizot -will retain in history, as he occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety ofhis literary
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
foroe and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency of his whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, as far as we know, in any other." —
Edinburgh Review. 
"Any historical work from so accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — Loudon Standard.

" To a most interesting subject he brings the experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the' charm of an
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of Guizot is remarkable for
thoroughness of investigation . and exact statement; for rare
insight into the philosophy of history; entire impartiality, and
a 'style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart ofthe student.'' — Wendell Phillips.

" M. Goizot possesses pre-eminently the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none who
interpret history more faithfully than the illustrious author of
' The History of Civilization.' He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old.'' — Loudon Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power for comprehensive and well balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION.
This work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the History of France. It will be fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. De Neuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Leyendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard, T>e La Chae-
leeie, E. Roniat, T. Weber, A. Marie. Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of Cambridge. The work will be issued in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it exceed this
number, and will, when complete, make o Royal Octavo volumes. '
Price per Part, 25 cts.
This valuable work will be sold only by our authorized Canvassing Agents.
No Subscriber s Name will be taken for less than the entire work.
The Parts are payable for on delivery, the Carrier not being permitted to give credit or receive money in
advance. H= Subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, will please address the Publishers by mail or_
otherwise.

C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO., 299 Washington Street, Boston.

Part

25 Cents.

POPQIaAR

BY GfcllZOT.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES

INCLUDING

THE REIGD OF QOEED VKJTORIj?.

MR BBS¥ ATOTLSW

Tflapr

BOSTOI2
C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO.,
299 WASHINGTON STREET.
SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS FOR THE WHOLE WORK.

G

PROSPECTUS

P

UIZOTS r^OPULAR

H

ISTORY

,NGLAND.
FEOM THE EABHEST TIMES, INCLUDING THE EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOBIA.

By the author of

The Popular History of France," "The History of Civilization," and
"History of The Revolution in England."

Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular History of France, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world,' and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work. The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewttt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure in
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians whieh the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminent
historian. 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

" Among this hand of great and honorable men, we thlnfc
that M. Guizot will retain in history, as he occupied in life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety ofhis literary
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of hia oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency ofhis whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, as far as we know, in any other." —
Edinburgh Review. 
"Any historical work from so accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — London Standard.

<< To a moat interesting subject he brings tbe experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the charm of aa
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of Guizot la remarkable for
thoroughness of Investigation and exact statement; for rare
insight into the philosophy of history ; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to via
tbe heart of the student." — Wendell Phillips.

" M. Guizot possesses pre-eminently tbe historic faculty.
"For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none who
interpret history more faithfully than the illustrious author of
' The History of Civilization.' He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power for comprehensive and weU balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OP PUBLICATION.
This work will be issued in the sumptuous style of tho History of France. It will be fully
Illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. DeNeuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Leyendecker, G. Staal, Emile Bayard, De La Chab-
Lerie, E. Eoniat, T. Weber, A. Marie, Riou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of Cambridge. The work will be issued in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it exceed this
number, aud will, when complete, make 5 Royal Octavo volumes.
Price per Part, 25 cts.
This valuable work will be sold only by our authorized Canvassing Agents.
No Subscriber's Name will be taken for less than the entire work.
The Parts are payable for on delivery, the Carrier not being permitted to give credit or receive money in
advance. f£g= Subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, will please address the Publishers by mail or
otherwise.

C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO., 299 Washington Street, Boston.

part 9

25 Cents.

POPCUaAR

IISTORY o

by eaizof.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES

INCLUDING-

THE REIGD OF QUEED VICTORI/I

iBTm^ii^SM

BOSTOI2
C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO.,
299 WASHINGTON STREET.
SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS FOR THE WHOLE WORK.

G

PROSPECTUS

P

UIZOT'S POPULAR

H

ISTORY

,NGLAND.
FROM THE EAKIIEST TIMES, INCLUDING THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

By the author of

The Popular History of France," "The History of Civilization,'
"History of The Revolution in England."

and

Having completed the publication of Guizot's Popular Histort op France, which it is believed
has proved the most successful work of its class ever issued in the world, and which has fully justified the
lavish outlay expended upon its production, we now offer as a companion work, The Popular History
of England, by the same distinguished author. This work was taken down from his lips by his
daughter, Madame Guizot-Dewttt, and afterward carefully revised by him, and is now to be published
for the first time simultaneously in Paris, London and Boston. We therefore take great pleasure in
announcing that the services ofthe best European artists have been secured for the purpose of illustrating
this crowning work of one of the greatest statesmen and historians which the world has ever produced.
It is confidently believed that it will immediately take the position of
The Standard History of England,
and it will possess the great advantage of being the only complete one ever written by an eminem,
historian. 
Notices from the Press and Distinguished Statesmen :

" Among this band of great and honorable men, we thinfc
. that M. Guizot will retain in history, as he occupied ia life, the
first and highest place. In the depth and variety of his literary
labors, which have enlarged the philosophy of history, in the
force and precision of his oratory, and in the systematic con
sistency ofhis whole political life, he has had no equal, either
in his own country or, as far as we know, in any other ." —
Edinburgh Review. 
"Any historical work from so accomplished a writer as
M. Guizot must be welcomed in this country not less than in
France." — London Standard.

" To a most interesting subject he brings the experience of
a statesman, the study of a professor, and the charm, of au
accomplished writer." — Charles Sumner.

" Everything from the pen of Guizot is remarkable for
thoroughness of investigation and exact statement; for rare
insight into the philosophy of history ; entire impartiality, and
a style intelligible to all readers. His earnestness is sure to win
the heart ofthe student." — Wendell Phillips.

" M. Guizot possesses pre-eminently the historic faculty.
For the past there are few guides so trustworthy, and none who
interpret history more faithfully than the illustrious author of
' The History of Civilization.' He lifts the mind to heights of
history. He unfolds it as a drama, which interests young and
old." — London Times.

"His highest and most enduring reputation rests on his
historical writings, in which he evinces accurate knowledge of
facts, and great power for comprehensive and well balanced
generalization." — New Universal Cyclopedia.

CONDITIONS OP PUBLICATION.
This work will be issued in the sumptuous style of the Histort of France. It will be fully
illustrated with Wood and Steel Plates by the most celebrated European Artists, among whom are—
A. De Neuville, Sir John Gilbert, P. Letendecker, G. Staal, Emile Batard, De La Chae-
leeie, E. Eoniat, T. Weber, A. Marie, Kiou, Viollat, and others. It will also contain several
carefully drawn and engraved maps, and will be printed from new type at the world-renowned University
Press, of i Cambridge. The work will be issued in 50 Parts, and under no circumstances will it exceed this
number, and will, when complete, make 5 Royal Octavo volumes.
Price per Part, 25 cts.
This valuable toork will be sold only by our authorized Canvassing Agents.
No Subscriber's Name will be taken for less than the entire work.
The Parts are payable for on delivery, the Carrier not being permitted to give credit or receive money in
advance. &g= Subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, will please address the Publishers by mail or
otherwise.

C. F. JEWETT PUBLISHING CO., 299 Washington Street, Boston.