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diff --git a/19211-0.txt b/19211-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a1b652 --- /dev/null +++ b/19211-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21195 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of England in Three Volumes, +Vol.I., Part A., by David Hume + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part A. + From the Britons of Early Times to King John + +Author: David Hume + +Release Date: September 8, 2006 [EBook #19211] +Last Updated: September 6, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: frontispiece.jpg PORTRAIT OF HUME.] + +[Illustration: titlepage.jpg BOADICEA HARANGUING THE BRITONS] + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +FROM THE INVASION OF JULIUS CÆSAR + +TO THE END OF THE REIGN OF JAMES THE SECOND, + + +BY DAVID HUME, ESQ. + +1688 + + + +London: James S. Virtue, City Road and Ivy Lane +New York: 26 John Street +1860 + +And + +Philadelphia: +J. B. Lippincott & Co. +March 17, 1901 + + + +In Three Volumes: + +VOLUME ONE: The History Of England From The Invasion Of Julius Cæsar To +The End Of The Reign Of James The Second............ By David Hume, Esq. + +VOLUME TWO: Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of +George II........................................... by Tobias Smollett. + +VOLUME THREE: From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year +of the Reign of Queen Victoria............... by E. Farr and E.H. Nolan. + + + + +VOLUME ONE + +Part A. + +THE EARLY BRITONS TO KING JOHN + + + + +TO WHICH IS PREFIXED + +A SHORT ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE. + +WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. + + + + +THE LIFE OF DAVID HUME, ESQ. + +WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. + + +MY OWN LIFE. + +It is difficult for a man to speak long of himself without vanity; +therefore I shall be short. It may be thought an instance of vanity +that I pretend at all to write my life; but this narrative shall contain +little more than the history of my writings; as, indeed, almost all +my life has been spent in literary pursuits and occupations. The first +success of most of my writings was not such as to be an object of +vanity. + +I was born the twenty-sixth of April, 1711, old style, at Edinburgh. I +was of a good family, both by father and mother: my father’s family is +a branch of the earl of Home’s, or Hume’s; and my ancestors had been +proprietors of the estate which my brother possesses, for several +generations. My mother was daughter of Sir David Falconer, president of +the college of justice; the title of Lord Halkerton came by succession +to her brother. + +My family, however, was not rich; and being myself a younger brother, +my patrimony, according to the mode of my country, was of course very +slender. My father, who passed for a man of parts, died when I was an +infant, leaving me, with an elder brother and a sister, under the +care of our mother, a woman of singular merit, who, though young and +handsome, devoted herself entirely to the rearing and educating of +her children. I passed through the ordinary course of education with +success, and was seized very early with a passion for literature, which +has been the ruling passion of my life, and the great source of my +enjoyments. My studious disposition, my sobriety, and my industry, gave +my family a notion that the law was a proper profession for me; but +I found an insurmountable aversion to every thing but the pursuits of +philosophy and general learning; and while they fancied I was poring +upon Voet and Vinnius, Cicero and Virgil were the authors which I was +secretly devouring. + +My very slender fortune, however, being unsuitable to this plan of life, +and my health being a little broken by my ardent application, I was +tempted, or rather forced, to make a very feeble trial for entering +into a more active scene of life. In 1734, I went to Bristol, with some +recommendations to several eminent merchants; but in a few months found +that scene totally unsuitable to me. I went over to France, with a view +of prosecuting my studies in a country retreat; and I there laid that +plan of life which I have steadily and successfully pursued. I resolved +to make a very rigid frugality supply my deficiency of fortune, to +maintain unimpaired my independency, and to regard every object as +contemptible, except the improvement of my talents in literature. + +During my retreat in France, first at Rheims, but chiefly at La Fleche, +in Anjou, I composed my Treatise of Human Nature. After passing three +years very agreeably in that country, I came over to London in 1737. In +the end of 1738, I published my Treatise, and immediately went down +to my mother and my brother, who lived at his country house, and was +employing himself very judiciously and successfully in the improvement +of his fortune. + +Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of +Human Nature. It fell dead-born from the press, without reaching such +distinction as even to excite a murmur among the zealots. But being +naturally of a cheerful and sanguine temper, I very soon recovered the +blow, and prosecuted with great ardor my studies in the country. In +1742, I printed at Edinburgh the first part of my Essays. The work +was favorably received, and soon made me entirely forget my former +disappointment. I continued with my mother and brother in the country, +and in that time recovered the knowledge of the Greek language, which I +had too much neglected in my early youth. + +In 1745, I received a letter from the marquis of Annandale, inviting me +to come and live with him in England; I found also that the friends and +family of that young nobleman were desirous of putting him under my care +and direction, for the state of his mind and health required it. I +lived with him a twelve-month. My appointments during that time made +a considerable accession to my small fortune. I then received an +invitation from General St. Clair to attend him as a secretary to his +expedition, which was at first meant against Canada, but ended in an +incursion on the coast of France. Next year, to wit, 1747, I received +an invitation from the general to attend him in the same station in +his military embassy to the courts of Vienna and Turin. I then wore the +uniform of an officer, and was introduced at these courts as aid-de-camp +to the general, along with Sir Harry Erskine and Captain Grant, now +General Grant. These two years were almost the only interruptions which +my studies have received during the course of my life: I passed them +agreeably, and in good company; and my appointments, with my frugality, +had made me reach a fortune which I called independent, though most of +my friends were inclined to smile when I said so: in short, I was now +master of near a thousand pounds. + +I had always entertained a notion, that my want of success in publishing +the Treatise of Human Nature had proceeded more from the manner than +the matter, and that I had been guilty of a very usual indiscretion, in +going to the press too early. I, therefore, cast the first part of +that work anew in the Inquiry concerning Human Understanding, which was +published while I was at Turin. But this piece was at first little more +successful than the Treatise on Human Nature. On my return from Italy, +I had the mortification to find all England in a ferment, on account +of Dr. Middleton’s Free Inquiry, while my performance was entirely +overlooked and neglected, A new edition, which had been published at +London, of my Essays, moral and political, met not with a much better +reception. + +Such is the force of natural temper, that these disappointments made +little or no impression on me. I went down, in 1749, and lived two years +with my brother at his country house, for my mother was now dead. I +there composed the second part of my Essay, which I called Political +Discourses, and also my Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, +which is another part of my Treatise that I cast anew. Meanwhile, my +bookseller, A. Millar, informed me, that my former publications (all +but the unfortunate Treatise) were beginning to be the subject of +conversation; that the sale of them was gradually increasing, and that +new editions were demanded. Answers by reverends and right reverends +came out two or three in a year; and I found, by Dr. Warburton’s +railing, that the books were beginning to be esteemed in good company. +However, I had fixed a resolution, which I inflexibly maintained, never +to reply to any body; and not being very irascible in my temper, I have +easily kept myself clear of all literary squabbles. These symptoms of a +rising reputation gave me encouragement, as I was ever more disposed to +see the favorable than unfavorable side of things; a turn of mind +which it is more happy to possess, than to be born to an estate of ten +thousand a year. + +In 1751, I removed from the country to the town, the true scene for a +man of letters. In 1752 were published at Edinburgh, where I then lived, +my Political Discourses, the only work of mine that was successful on +the first publication. It was well received at home and abroad. In the +same year was published, at London, my Inquiry concerning the Principles +of Morals; which, in my own opinion, (who ought not to judge on +that subject,) is, of all my writings, historical, philosophical, or +literary, incomparably the best, It came unnoticed and unobserved into +the world. + +In 1752, the Faculty of Advocates chose me their librarian, an office +from which I received little or no emolument, but which gave me the +command of a large library, I then formed the plan of writing the +History of England; but being frightened with the notion of continuing a +narrative through a period of seventeen hundred years, I commenced with +the accession of the house of Stuart, an epoch when, I thought, the +misrepresentations of faction began chiefly to take place. I was, I own, +sanguine in my expectations of the success of this work. I thought +that I was the only historian that had at once neglected present power, +interest, and authority, and the cry of popular prejudices; and as the +subject was suited to every capacity, I expected proportional applause. +But miserable was my disappointment; I was assailed by one cry of +reproach, disapprobation, and even detestation; English, Scotch, +and Irish, whig and tory, churchman and sectary, freethinker and +religionist, patriot and courtier, united in their rage against the man +who had presumed to shed a generous tear for the fate of Charles I. and +the earl of Stratford; and after the first ebullitions of their fury +were over, what was still more mortifying, the book seemed to sink +into oblivion. Mr. Millar told me that in a twelvemonth he sold only +forty-five copies of it. I scarcely, indeed head of one man in the three +kingdoms, considerable for rank or letters, that could endure the book. +I must only except the primate of England, Dr. Herring, and the primate +of Ireland, Dr. Stone, which seem two odd exceptions. These dignified +prelates separately sent me messages not to be discouraged. + +I was, however, I confess, discouraged; and had not the war been at that +time breaking out between France and England, I had certainly retired +to some provincial town of the former kingdom, have changed my name, and +never more have returned to my native country. But as this scheme +was not now practicable, and the subsequent volume was considerably +advanced, I resolved to pick up courage and to persevere. + +In this interval, I published, at London, my Natural History of +Religion, along with some other small pieces. Its public entry was +rather obscure, except only that Dr. Hurd wrote a pamphlet against +it, with all the illiberal petulance, arrogance, and scurrility, +which distinguish the Warburtonian school. This pamphlet gave me some +consolation for the otherwise indifferent reception of my performance. + +In 1756, two years after the fall of the first volume, was published +the second volume of my history, containing the period from the death of +Charles I. till the revolution. This performance happened to give less +displeasure to the whigs, and was better received. It not only rose +itself, but helped to buoy up its unfortunate brother. + +But though I had been taught by experience that the whig party were in +possession of bestowing all places, both in the state and in Literature, +I was so little inclined to yield to their senseless clamor, that in +above a hundred alterations, which further study, reading, or reflection +engaged me to make in the reigns of the two first Stuarts, I have made +all of them invariably to the tory side. It is ridiculous to consider +the English constitution before that period as a regular plan of +liberty. + +In 1759, I published my history of the house of Tudor. The clamor +against this performance was almost equal to that against the history +of the two first Stuarts. The reign of Elizabeth was particularly +obnoxious. But I was now callous against the impressions of public +folly, and continued very peaceably and contentedly, in my retreat at +Edinburgh, to finish, in two volumes, the more early part of the English +history, which I gave to the public in 1761, with tolerable, and but +tolerable, success. + +But, notwithstanding this variety of winds and seasons, to which my +writings had been exposed, they had still been making such advances, +that the copy-money given me by the booksellers much exceeded any +thing formerly known in England; I was become not only independent, but +opulent. I retired to my native country of Scotland, determined never +more to set my foot out of it; and retaining the satisfaction of never +having preferred a request to one great man, or even making advances of +friendship to any of them. As I was now turned of fifty, I thought of +passing all the rest of my life in this philosophical manner: when I +received, in 1763, an invitation from the earl of Hertford, with whom I +was not in the least acquainted, to attend him on his embassy to Paris, +with a near prospect of being appointed secretary to the embassy; and, +in the mean while, of performing the functions of that office. This +offer, however inviting, I at first declined; both because I was +reluctant to begin connections with the great, and because I was afraid +that the civilities and gay company of Paris would prove disagreeable +to a person of my age and humor; but on his lordship’s repeating the +invitation, I accepted of it. I have every reason, both of pleasure and +interest; to think myself happy in my connections with that nobleman, as +well as afterwards with his brother, General Conway. + +Those who have not seen the strange effects of modes, will never imagine +the reception I met with at Paris, from men and women of all ranks and +stations. The more I resiled from their excessive civilities, the more +I was loaded with them. There is, however, a real satisfaction in living +at Paris, from the great number of sensible, knowing, and polite company +with which that city abounds above all places in the universe. I thought +once of settling there for life. + +I was appointed secretary to the embassy; and, in summer, 1765, Lord +Hertford left me, being appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland. I was +chargé d’affaires till the arrival of the duke of Richmond, towards the +end of the year. In the beginning of 1766, I left Paris, and next summer +went to Edinburgh, with the same view as formerly, of burying myself in +a philosophical retreat. I returned to that place, not richer, but with +much more money, and a much larger income, by means of Lord Hertford’s +friendship, than I left it; and I was desirous of trying what +superfluity could produce, as I had formerly made an experiment of a +competency. But in 1767, I received from Mr. Conway an invitation to be +under-secretary; and this invitation, both the character of the person, +and my connections with Lord Hertford, prevented me from declining. I +returned to Edinburgh in 1769, very opulent, (for I possessed a revenue +of one thousand pounds a year,) healthy, and though somewhat stricken +in years, with the prospect of enjoying long my ease, and of seeing the +increase of my reputation. + +In spring, 1775, I was struck with a disorder in my bowels, which at +first gave me no alarm, but has since, as I apprehend it, become mortal +and incurable. I now reckon upon a speedy dissolution. I have suffered +very little pain from my disorder; and what is more strange, have, +notwithstanding the great decline of my person, never suffered a +moment’s abatement of my spirits; insomuch, that were I to name a period +of my life which I should most choose to pass over again, I might be +tempted to point to this later period. I possess the same ardor as ever +in study, and the same gayety in company. I consider, besides, that a +man of sixty-five, by dying, cuts off only a few years of infirmities; +and though I see many symptoms of my literary reputation’s breaking out +at last with additional lustre, I know that I could have but few years +to enjoy it. It is difficult to be more detached from life than I am at +present. + +To conclude historically with my own character: I am, or rather was, +(for that is the style I must now use in speaking of myself, which +imboldens me the more to speak my sentiments;) I was, I say, a man of +mild disposition, of command of temper, of an open, social, and cheerful +humor, capable of attachment, but little susceptible of enmity, and of +great moderation in all my passions. Even my love of literary fame, +my ruling passion, never soured my temper, notwithstanding my frequent +disappointments. My company was not unacceptable to the young and +careless, as well as to the studious and literary; and as I took a +particular pleasure in the company of modest women, I had no reason to +be displeased with the reception I met with from them. In a word, though +most men, anywise eminent, have found reason to complain of Calumny, I +never was touched, or even attacked, by her baleful tooth; and though +I wantonly exposed myself to the rage of both civil and religious +factions, they seemed to be disarmed in my behalf of their wonted fury. +My friends never had occasion to vindicate any one circumstance of my +character and conduct; not but that the zealots, we may well +suppose, would have been glad to invent and propagate any story to my +disadvantage, but they could never find any which they thought would +wear the face of probability. I cannot say there is no vanity in making +this funeral oration of myself, but I hope it is not a misplaced one; +and this is a matter of fact which is easily cleared and ascertained. + + + +April 18, 1776. + +LETTER FROM ADAM SMITH, LL. D. TO WILLLIAM STRAHAN, ESQ. + +Kirkaldy, Fifeshire, Nov. 9, 1778.[**] + +DEAR SIR, + +It is with a real, though a very melancholy pleasure, that I sit down to +give you some account of the behavior of our late excellent friend, Mr. +Hume, during his last illness. + +Though, in his own judgment, his disease was mortal and incurable, yet +he allowed himself to be prevailed upon, by the entreaty of his friends, +to try what might be the effects of a long journey. A few days before he +set out, he wrote that account of his own life, which, together with +his other papers, he has left to your care. My account, therefore, shall +begin where his ends. + +He set out for London towards the end of April, and at Morpeth met with +Mr. John Home and myself, who had both come down from London on purpose +to see him, expecting to have found him at Edinburgh. Mr. Home returned +with him, and attended him during the whole of his stay in England, +with that care and attention which might be expected from a temper so +perfectly friendly and affectionate. As I had written to my mother that +she might expect me in Scotland, I was under the necessity of continuing +my journey. His disease seemed to yield to exercise and change of air; +and when he arrived in London, he was apparently in much better health +than when he left Edinburgh. He was advised to go to Bath to drink the +waters, which appeared for some time to have so good an effect upon him, +that even he himself began to entertain, what he was not apt to do, a +better opinion of his own health. His symptoms, however, soon returned +with their usual violence; and from that moment he gave up all thoughts +of recovery, but submitted with the utmost cheerfulness, and the most +perfect complacency and resignation. Upon his return to Edinburgh, +though he found himself much weaker, yet his cheerfulness never abated, +and he continued to divert himself, as usual, with correcting his own +works for a new edition, with reading books of amusement, with the +conversation of his friends; and, sometimes in the evening, with a party +at his favorite game of whist. His cheerfulness was so great, and his +conversation and amusements ran so much in their usual strain, that, +notwithstanding all bad symptoms, many people could not believe he was +dying. “I shall tell your friend, Colonel Edmonstone,” said Dr. Dundas, +to him one day, “that I left you much better, and in a fair way of +recovery.” “Doctor,” said he, “as I believe you would not choose to tell +any thing but the truth, you had better tell him that I am dying as fast +as my enemies, if I have any, could wish, and as easily and cheerfully +as my best friends could desire.” Colonel Edmonstone soon afterwards +came to see him, and take leave of him; and on his way home he could not +forbear writing him a letter, bidding him once more an eternal adieu, +and applying to him, as to a dying man, the beautiful French verses in +which the abbé Chaulieu in expectation of his own death, laments his +approaching separation from his friend the marquis de la Fare. Mr. +Hume’s magnanimity and firmness were such, that his most affectionate +friends knew that they hazarded nothing in talking or writing to him as +to a dying man, and that so far from being hurt by this frankness, he +was rather pleased and flattered by it. I happened to come into his room +while he was reading this letter, which he had just received, and which +he immediately showed me. I told him, that though I was sensible how +very much he was weakened, and that appearances were in many respects +very bad, yet his cheerfulness was still so great, the spirit of +life seemed still to be so very strong in him, that I could not help +entertaining some faint hopes. He answered, “Your hopes are groundless. +An habitual diarrhoea of more than a year’s standing, would be a very +bad disease at any age; at my age it is a mortal one. When I lie down in +the evening, I feel myself weaker than when I rose in the morning; and +when I rise in the morning, weaker than when I lay down in the evening. +I am sensible besides, that some of my vital parts are affected, so that +I must soon die.” “Well,” said I, “if it must be so, you have at least +the satisfaction of leaving all your friends, your brother’s family in +particular, in great prosperity.” He said that he felt that satisfaction +so sensibly, that when he was reading, a few days before, Lucian’s +Dialogues of the Dead, among all the excuses which are alleged to Charon +for not entering readily into his boat, he could not find one that +fitted him: he had no house to finish, he had no daughter to provide for +he had no enemies upon whom he wished to revenge himself. “I could not +well imagine,” said he, “what excuse I could make to Charon in order to +obtain a little delay. I have done every thing of consequence which I +ever meant to do; and I could at no time expect to leave my relations +and friends in a better situation than that in which I am now likely +to leave them: I, therefore, have all reason to die contented.” He +then diverted himself with inventing several jocular excuses, which +he supposed he might make to Charon, and with imagining the very surly +answers which it might suit the character of Charon to return to them. +“Upon further consideration,” said he, “I thought I might say to him, +‘Good Charon, I have been correcting my works for a new edition. +Allow me a little time, that I may see how the public receives the +alterations.’ But Charon would answer, ‘When you have seen the effect of +these, you will be for making other alterations. There will be no end of +such excuses; so, honest friend, please step into the boat.’ But I +might still urge, ‘Have a little patience, good Charon: I have been +endeavoring to open the eyes of the public. If I live a few years +longer, I may have the satisfaction of seeing the downfall of some of +the prevailing systems of superstition.’ But Charon would then lose all +temper and decency. ‘You loitering rogue, that will not happen these +many hundred years. Do you fancy I will grant you a lease for so long a +term? Get into the boat this instant, you lazy, loitering rogue.’” + +But, though Mr. Hume always talked of his approaching dissolution +with great cheerfulness, he never affected to make any parade of his +magnanimity. He never mentioned the subject but when the conversation +naturally led to it, and never dwelt longer upon it than the course +of the conversation happened to require; it was a subject indeed which +occurred pretty frequently, in consequence of the inquiries which his +friends, who came to see him, naturally made concerning the state of his +health. The conversation which I mentioned above, and which passed on +Thursday the eighth of August, was the last, except one, that I ever had +with him. He had now become so very weak, that the company of his most +intimate friends fatigued him; for his cheerfulness was still so great, +his complaisance and social disposition were still so entire, that +when any friend was with him, he could not help talking more, and with +greater exertion, than suited the weakness of his body. At his own +desire, therefore, I agreed to leave Edinburgh, where I was staying +partly upon his account and returned to my mother’s house here at +Kirkaldy, upon condition that he would send for me whenever he wished +to see me; the physician who saw him most frequently, Dr. Black, +undertaking, in the mean time, to write me occasionally an account of +the state of his health. + +On the twenty-second of August, the doctor wrote me the following +letter;-- + +“Since my last, Mr. Hume has passed his time pretty easily, but is much +weaker. He sits up, goes down stairs once a day, and amuses himself with +reading, but seldom sees any body. He finds that even the conversation +of his most intimate friends fatigues and oppresses him; and it is happy +that he does not need it, for he is quite free from anxiety, impatience, +or low spirits, and passes his time very well with the assistance of +amusing books.” + + +I received, the day after, a letter from Mr. Hume himself, of which the +following is an extract:-- + + “Edinburgh, 23d August, 1776. + + “MY DEAREST FRIEND, + + “I am obliged to make use of my nephew’s hand + in writing to you, as I do not rise to-day. + + “I go very fast to decline, and last night had a + small fever, which I hoped might put a quicker period + to this tedious illness; but unluckily it has, in a + great measure, gone off. I cannot submit to your + coming over here on my account, as it is possible for + me to see you so small a part of the day; but Dr. + Black can better inform you concerning the degree of + strength which may from time to time remain with + me. Adieu, etc.” + +Three days after, I received the following letter from Dr. Black:-- + + “Edinburgh, Monday, 26th August, 1776. + + “DEAR SIR, + + “Yesterday, about four o’clock, afternoon, Mr. Hume expired. + The near approach of his death became evident in the night + between Thursday and Friday, when his disease became + excessive, and soon weakened him so much, that he could no + longer rise out of his bed He continued to the last + perfectly sensible, and free from much pain or feelings of + distress. He never dropped the smallest expression of + impatience; but when he had occasion to speak to the people + about him, always did it with affection and tenderness. I + thought it improper to write to bring you over, especially + as I heard that he had dictated a letter to you, desiring + you not to come. When he became very weak, it cost him an + effort to speak; and he died in such a happy composure of + mind, that nothing could exceed it.” + +Thus died our most excellent and never to be forgotten friend; +concerning whose philosophical opinions men will, no doubt, judge +variously, every one approving or condemning them, according as they +happen to coincide or disagree with his own; but concerning whose +character and conduct there can scarce be a difference of opinion. His +temper, indeed, seemed to be more happily balanced, if I may be allowed +such an expression, than that perhaps of any other man I have ever +known. Even in the lowest state of his fortune, his great and necessary +frugality never hindered him from exercising, upon proper occasions, +acts both of charity and generosity. It was a frugality founded not upon +avarice, but upon the love of independency. The extreme gentleness +of his nature never weakened either the firmness of his mind or the +steadiness of his resolutions. His constant pleasantry was the genuine +effusion of good nature and good humor, tempered with delicacy and +modesty, and without even the slightest tincture of malignity, so +frequently the disagreeable source of what is called wit in other men. +It never was the meaning of his raillery to mortify; and therefore, far +from offending, it seldom failed to please and delight, even those who +were the objects of it. To his friends who were frequently the objects +of it, there was not perhaps any one of all his great and amiable +qualities which contributed more to endear his conversation. And +that gayety of temper, so agreeable in society, but which is so often +accompanied with frivolous and superficial qualities, was in him +certainly attended with the most severe application, the most extensive +learning, the greatest depth of thought, and a capacity in every respect +the most comprehensive. Upon the whole, I have always considered him, +both in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as nearly to +the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man as perhaps the nature of +human frailty will permit. + +I ever am, dear sir, + +Most affectionately yours, + +ADAM SMITH. + + + + +HISTORY OF ENGLAND. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + + +THE BRITONS. + +The curiosity entertained by all civilized nations, of inquiring into +the exploits and adventures of their ancestors, commonly excites a +regret that the history of remote ages should always be so much involved +in obscurity, uncertainty, and contradiction. Ingenious men, possessed +of leisure, are apt to push their researches beyond the period in which +literary monuments are framed or preserved; without reflecting, that the +history of past events is immediately lost or disfigured when intrusted +to memory and oral tradition, and that the adventures of barbarous +nations, even if they were recorded, could afford little or no +entertainment to men born in a more cultivated age. The convulsions of +a civilized state usually compose the most instructive and most +interesting part of its history; but the sudden, violent, and unprepared +revolutions incident to barbarians, are so much guided by caprice, and +terminate so often in cruelty, that they disgust us by the uniformity of +their appearance; and it is rather fortunate for letters that they are +buried in silence and oblivion. The only certain means by which nations +can indulge their curiosity in researches concerning their remote +origin, is to consider the language, manners, and customs of their +ancestors, and to compare them with those of the neighboring nations. +The fables, which are commonly employed to supply the place of true +history, ought entirely to be disregarded; or if any exception be +admitted to this general rule, it can only be in favor of the ancient +Grecian fictions, which are so celebrated and so agreeable, that they +will ever be the objects of the attention of mankind. Neglecting, +therefore, all traditions, or rather tales, concerning the more early +history of Britain, we shall only consider the state of the inhabitants +as it appeared to the Romans on their invasion of this country: we shall +briefly run over the events which attended the conquest made by that +empire, as belonging more to Roman than British story: we shall hasten +through the obscure and uninteresting period of Saxon annals; and shall +reserve a more full narration for those times, when the truth is both +so well ascertained, and so complete, as to promise entertainment and +instruction to the reader. + +All ancient writers agree in representing the first inhabitants of +Britain as a tribe of the Gauls or Celtæ, who peopled that island from +the neighboring continent. Their language was the same, their manners, +their government, their superstition; varied only by those small +differences which time or a communication with the bordering nations +must necessarily introduce. The inhabitants of Gaul, especially in those +parts which lie contiguous to Italy, had acquired, from a commerce with +their southern neighbors, some refinement in the arts, which gradually +diffused themselves northwards, and spread but a very faint light over +this island. The Greek and Roman navigators or merchants (for there +were scarcely any other travellers in those ages) brought back the most +shocking accounts of the ferocity of the people, which they magnified, +as usual, in order to excite the admiration of their countrymen. The +south-east parts, however, of Britain had already, before the age +of Cæsar, made the first and most requisite step towards a civil +settlement; and the Britons, by tillage and agriculture, had there +increased to a great multitude.[*] + + [* Cæsar, lib. iv.] + +The other inhabitants of the island still maintained themselves by +pasture: they were clothed with skins of beasts: they dwelt in huts, +which they reared in the forests and marshes, with which the country was +covered: they shifted easily their habitation, when actuated either by +the hopes of plunder or the fear of an enemy: the convenience of feeding +their cattle was even a sufficient motive for removing their seats and +as they were ignorant of all the refinements of life, their wants and +their possessions were equally scanty and limited. + +The Britons were divided into many small nations or tribes and being a +military people, whose sole property was then arms and their cattle, It +was impossible, after they had acquired a relish of liberty for their +princes or chieftains to establish any despotic authority over them. +Their governments, though monarchical,[*] were free, as well as those of +all the Celtic nations; and the common people seem even to have enjoyed +more liberty among them,[**] than among the nations of Gaul,[***] from +whom they were descended. Each state was divided into factions within +itself:[****] it was agitated with jealousy or animosity against the +neighboring states: and while the arts of peace were yet unknown, wars +were the chief occupation, and formed the chief object of ambition, +among the people. + + [* Diod. Sic. lib. iv. Mela, lib. iii. cap. 6. + Strabo, lib. iv.] + + [** Dion Cassius, lib. lxxv.] + + [*** Cæsar, lib. vi.] + + [**** Tacit. Agr.] + +The religion of the Britons was one of the most considerable parts of +their government; and the druids, who were their priests, possessed +great authority among them. Besides ministering at the altar, and +directing all religious duties, they presided over the education of +youth; they enjoyed an immunity from wars and taxes; they possessed +both the civil and criminal jurisdiction; they decided all controversies +among states as well as among private persons, and whoever refused to +submit to their decree was exposed to the most severe penalties. The +sentence of excommunication was pronounced against him: he was forbidden +access to the sacrifices or public worship: he was debarred all +intercourse with his fellow-citizens, even in the common affairs of +life: his company was universally shunned, as profane and dangerous: +he was refused the protection of law:[*] and death itself became an +acceptable relief from the misery and infamy to which he was exposed. +Thus the bands of government, which were naturally loose among that rude +and turbulent people, were happily corroborated by the terrors of their +superstition. + + [* Cæsar, lib. vi. Strabo, lib. iv.] + +No species of superstition was ever more terrible than that of the +druids. Besides the severe penalties, which it was in the power of the +ecclesiastics to inflict in this world, they inculcated the eternal +transmigration of souls; and thereby extended their authority as far as +the fears of their timorous votaries. They practised their rites in +dark groves or other secret recesses;[*] and in order to throw a greater +mystery over their religion, they communicated their doctrines only to +the initiated, and strictly forbade the committing of them to writing, +lest they should at any time be exposed to the examination of the +profane vulgar. + + [* Plin. lib. xii. cap. 1.] + +Human sacrifices were practised among them: the spoils of war were +often devoted to their divinities; and they punished with the severest +tortures whoever dared to secrete any part of the consecrated offering: +these treasures they kept in woods and forests, secured by no other +guard than the terrors of their religion;[*] and this steady conquest +over human avidity may be regarded as more signal than their prompting +men to the most extraordinary and most violent efforts. No idolatrous +worship ever attained such an ascendant over mankind as that of the +ancient Gauls and Britons; and the Romans, after their conquest, finding +it impossible to reconcile those nations to the laws and institutions of +their masters, while it maintained its authority, were at last obliged +to abolish it by penal statutes; a violence which had never, in any +other instance, been practised by those tolerating conquerors.[**] + + [* Cæsar, lib. vi.] + + [* Sueton. in vita Claudii.] + + + + +THE ROMANS. + +The Britons had long remained in this rude but independent state, when +Cæsar, having overrun all Gaul by his victories, first cast his eye on +their island. He was not allured either by its riches or its renown; but +being ambitious of carrying the Roman arms into a new world, then mostly +unknown, he took advantage of a short interval in his Gaulic wars, and +made an invasion on Britain. The natives, informed of his intention, +were sensible of the unequal contest, and endeavored to appease him by +submissions, which, however, retarded not the execution of his design. +After some resistance, he landed, as is supposed, at Deal, [Anno ante, +C. 55;] and having obtained several advantages over the Britons, and +obliged them to promise hostages for their future obedience, he was +constrained, by the necessity of his affairs, and the approach of +winter, to withdraw his forces into Gaul. The Britons relieved, from the +terror of his arms, neglected the performance of their stipulations; and +that haughty conqueror resolved next summer to chastise them for this +breach of treaty. He landed with a greater force; and though he found +a more regular resistance from the Britons, who had united under +Cassivelaunus, one of their petty princes, he discomfited them in every +action. He advanced into the country; passed the Thames in the face of +the enemy; took and burned the capital of Cassivelaunus; established his +ally, Mandubratius, in the sovereignty of the Trinobantes; and having +obliged the inhabitants to make him new submissions, he again returned +with his army into Gaul, and left the authority of the Romans more +nominal than real in this island. + +The civil wars which ensued, and which prepared the way for the +establishment of monarchy in Rome, saved the Britons from that yoke +which was ready to be imposed upon them. Augustus, the successor of +Cæsar, content with the victory obtained over the liberties of his own +country, was little ambitious of acquiring fame by foreign wars; and +being apprehensive lest the same unlimited extent of dominion, which had +subverted the republic, might also overwhelm the empire, he recommended +it to his successors never to enlarge the territories of the Romans. +Tiberius, jealous of the fame which might be acquired by his generals, +made this advice of Augustus a pretence for his inactivity.[*] + + [* Tacit. Agr.] + +The mad sallies of Caligula, in which he menaced Britain with an +invasion, served only to expose himself and the empire to ridicule; +and the Britons had now, during almost a century, enjoyed their liberty +unmolested, when the Romans, in the reign of Claudius, began to think +seriously of reducing them under their dominion. Without seeking any +more justifiable reasons of hostility than were employed by the late +Europeans in subjecting the Africans and Americans, they sent over an +army, [A. D. 43,] under the command of Plautius, an able general, who +gained some victories, and made a considerable progress in subduing the +inhabitants. Claudius himself, finding matters sufficiently prepared for +his reception, made a journey into Britain, and received the +submission of several British states, the Cantii, Atrebates, Regni, and +Trinobantes, who inhabited the south-east parts of the island, and whom +their possessions and more cultivated manner of life rendered willing to +purchase peace at the expense of their liberty. The other Britons, under +the command of Caractacus, still maintained an obstinate resistance, and +the Romans made little progress against them; till Ostorius Scapula was +sent over to command their armies. [A. D. 50.] This general advanced +the Roman conquests over the Britons; pierced into the country of +the Silures, a warlike nation, who inhabited the banks of the Severn; +defeated Caractacus in a great battle; took him prisoner, and sent him +to Rome, where his magnanimous behavior procured him better treatment +than those conquerors usually bestowed on captive princes.[*] + + [* Tacit. Ann lib. xii.] + +Notwithstanding these misfortunes, the Britons were not subdued; and +this island was regarded by the ambitious Romans as a field in which +military honor might still be acquired. [A. D. 59.] Under the reign of +Nero, Suetonius Paulinus was invested with the command, and prepared to +signalize his name by victories over those barbarians. Finding that +the island of Mona, now Anglesey, was the chief seat of the druids, he +resolved to attack it, and to subject a place which was the centre of +their superstition, and which afforded protection to all their baffled +forces. The Britons endeavored to obstruct his landing on this sacred +island, both by the force of their arms and the terrors of their +religion. The women and priests were intermingled with the soldiers upon +the shore; and running about with flaming torches in their hands, and +tossing their dishevelled hair, they struck greater terror into the +astonished Romans by their bowlings, cries, and execrations, than the +real danger from the armed forces was able to inspire. But Suetonius, +exhorting his troops to despise the menaces of a superstition which they +despised, impelled them to the attack, drove the Britons off the field, +burned the druids in the same fires which those priests had prepared for +their captive enemies, destroyed all the consecrated groves and altars; +and having thus triumphed over the religion of the Britons, he thought +his future progress would be easy in reducing the people to subjection. +But he was disappointed in his expectations. The Britons, taking +advantage of his absence, were all in arms; and headed by Boadicea, +queen of the Iceni, who had been treated in the most ignominious manner +by the Roman tribunes, had already attacked, with success, several +settlements of their insulting conquerors. Suetonius hastened to the +protection of London, which was already a flourishing Roman colony; +but found, on his arrival, that it would be requisite for the general +safety, to abandon that place to the merciless fury of the enemy. London +was reduced to ashes; such of the inhabitants as remained in it were +cruelly massacred; the Romans and all strangers, to the number of +seventy thousand, were every where put to the sword without distinction; +and the Britons, by rendering the war thus bloody, seemed determined +to cut off all hopes of peace or composition with the enemy. But this +cruelty was revenged by Suetonius in a great and decisive battle, where +eighty thousand of the Britons are said to have perished, and Boadicea +herself, rather than fall into the hands of the enraged victor, put an +end to her own life by poison.[*] Nero soon after recalled Suetonius +from a government, where, by suffering and inflicting so many +severities, he was judged improper for composing the angry and alarmed +minds of the inhabitants. After some interval, Cerealis received the +command from Vespasian, and by his bravery propagated the terror of the +Roman arms, Julius Frontinus succeeded Cerealis both in authority and in +reputation: but the general who finally established the dominion of +the Romans in this island, was Julius Agricola, who governed it in the +reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, and distinguished himself in +that scene of action. + +This great commander formed a regular plan for subduing Britain, and +rendering the acquisition useful to the conquerors. He carried his +victorious arms northwards, defeated the Britons in every encounter, +pierced into the inaccessible forests and mountains of Caledonia, +reduced every state to subjection in the southern parts of the island, +and chased before him all the men of fiercer and more intractable +spirits, who deemed war and death itself less intolerable than servitude +under the victors. He even defeated them in a decisive action, which +they fought under Galgacus, their leader; and having fixed a chain of +garrisons between the Friths of Clyde and Forth, he thereby cut off +the ruder and more barren parts of the island, and secured the Roman +province from the incursions of the barbarous inhabitants.[*] + + [* Tacit Ann. lib. xiv.] + +During these military enterprises, he neglected not the arts of peace. +He introduced laws and civility among the Britons, taught them to desire +and raise all the conveniences of life, reconciled them to the Roman +language and manners, instructed them in letters and science, and +employed every expedient to render those chains which he had forged both +easy and agreeable to them.[*] + + [* Tacit. Agr.] + +The inhabitants, having experienced how unequal their own force was to +resist that of the Romans, acquiesced in the dominion of their masters, +and were gradually incorporated as a part of that mighty empire. + +This was the last durable conquest made by the Romans, and Britain, +once subdued, gave no further inquietude to the victor. Caledonia alone, +defended by its barren mountains, and by the contempt which the Romans +entertained for it, sometimes infested the more cultivated parts of the +island by the incursions of its inhabitants. The better to secure +the frontiers of the empire, Adrian, who visited this island, built a +rampart between the River Tyne and the Frith of Solway; Lollius Urbicus, +under Antoninus Pius, erected one in the place where Agricola had +formerly established his garrisons, Severus, who made an expedition +into Britain, and carried his arms to the most northern extremity of it, +added new fortifications to the wall of Adrian; and during the reigns +of all the Roman emperors, such a profound tranquillity prevailed in +Britain, that little mention is made of the affairs of that island by +any historian. The only incidents which occur, are some seditions or +rebellions of the Roman legions quartered there, and some usurpations +of the imperial dignity by the Roman governors. The natives, disarmed, +dispirited, and submissive, had lost all desire and even idea of their +former liberty and independence. + + +But the period was now come, when that enormous fabric of the Roman +empire, which had diffused slavery and oppression, together with peace +and civility, over so considerable a part of the globe, was approaching +towards its final dissolution. Italy, and the centre of the empire, +removed during so many ages from all concern in the wars, had entirely +lost the military spirit, and were peopled by an enervated race, equally +disposed to submit to a foreign yoke, or to the tyranny of their own +rulers. The emperors found themselves obliged to recruit their +legions from the frontier provinces, where the genius of war, though +languishing, was not totally extinct; and these mercenary forces, +careless of laws and civil institutions, established a military +government no less dangerous to the sovereign than to the people. +The further progress of the same disorders introduced the bordering +barbarians into the service of the Romans; and those fierce nations, +having now added discipline to their native bravery, could no longer be +restrained by the impotent policy of the emperors, who were accustomed +to employ one in the destruction of the others. Sensible of their own +force, and allured by the prospect of so rich a prize, the northern +barbarians, in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, assailed at once +all the frontiers of the Roman empire; and having first satiated their +avidity by plunder, began to think of fixing a settlement in the wasted +provinces. The more distant barbarians, who occupied the deserted +habitations of the former, advanced in their acquisitions, and pressed +with their incumbent weight the Roman state, already unequal to the load +which it sustained. Instead of arming the people in their own defence, +the emperors recalled all the distant legions, in whom alone they +could repose confidence; and collected the whole military force for +the defence of the capital and centre of the empire. The necessity of +self-preservation had superseded the ambition of power; and the ancient +point of honor, never to contract the limits of the empire, could no +longer be attended to in this desperate extremity. + +Britain by its situation was removed from the fury of these barbarous +incursions; and being also a remote province, not much valued by +the Romans, the legions which defended it were carried over to the +protection of Italy and Gaul. But that province, though secured by +the sea against the inroads of the greater tribes of barbarians, found +enemies on its frontiers, who took advantage of its present defenceless +situation. The Picts and Scots, who dwelt in the northern parts, +beyond the wall of Antoninus, made incursions upon their peaceable and +effeminate neighbors; and besides the temporary depredations which they +committed, these combined nations threatened the whole province with +subjection, or, what the inhabitants more dreaded, with plunder and +devastation, The Picts seem to have been a tribe of the native British +race, who, having been chased into the northern parts by the conquests +of Agricola, had there intermingled with the ancient inhabitants: +the Scots were derived from the same Celtic origin, had first been +established in Ireland, had migrated to the north-west coasts of this +island, and had long been accustomed, as well from their old as their +new seats, to infest the Roman province by piracy and rapine. [1] + + [* See note A, at the end of the volume.] + +These tribes finding their more opulent neighbors exposed to invasion, +soon broke over the Roman wall, no longer defended by the Roman arms; +and, though a contemptible enemy in themselves, met with no resistance +from the unwarlike inhabitants. The Britons, accustomed to have recourse +to the emperors for defence as well as government, made supplications to +Rome: and one legion was sent over for their protection. This force was +an overmatch for the barbarians, repelled their invasion, touted them +in every engagement, and having chased them into their ancient limits, +returned in triumph to the defence of the southern provinces of the +empire.[*] + + [* Gildas, Bede, lib. i. cap. 12.] + +Their retreat brought on a new invasion of the enemy. The Britons made +again an application to Rome, and again obtained the assistance of a +legion, which proved effectual for their relief: but the Romans, reduced +to extremities at home, and fatigued with those distant expeditions, +informed the Britons that they must no longer look to them for succor, +exhorted them to arm in their own defence, and urged, that, as they were +now their own masters, it became them to protect by their valor that +independence which their ancient lords had conferred upon them.[*] That +they might leave the island with the better grace, the Romans assisted +them in erecting anew the wall of Severus, which was built entirely of +stone, and which the Britons had not at that time artificers skilful +enough to repair.[*] + + [* Paul. Diacon. p. 43.] + +And having done this last good office to the inhabitants, they bade a +final adieu to Britain, about the year 448, after being masters of the +more considerable part of it during the course of near four centuries. + + + + +THE BRITONS. + +The abject Britons regarded this present of liberty as fatal to them; +and were in no condition to put in practice the prudent counsel given +them by the Romans, to arm in their own defence. Unaccustomed both +to the perils of war and to the cares of civil government, they found +themselves incapable of forming or executing any measures for resisting +the incursions of the barbarians. Gratian also and Constantine, two +Romans who had a little before assumed the purple in Britain, had +carried over to the continent the flower of the British youth; and +having perished in their unsuccessful attempts on the imperial throne, +had despoiled the island of those who, in this desperate extremity, were +best able to defend it. The Picts and Scots, finding that the Romans had +finally relinquished Britain, now regarded the whole as their prey, and +attacked the northern wall with redoubled forces. The Britons, already +subdued by their own fears, found the ramparts but a weak defence for +them; and deserting their station, left the country entirely open to +the inroads of the barbarous enemy. The invaders carried devastation and +ruin along with them; and exerted to the utmost their native ferocity, +which was not mitigated by the helpless condition and submissive +behavior of the inhabitants.[*] + + [* Gildas, Bede, lib. i. Allured. Beverl. p. 45.] + +The unhappy Britons had a third time recourse to Rome, which had +declared its resolution forever to abandon them. Ætius, the patrician, +sustained at that time, by his valor and magnanimity, the tottering +ruins of the empire, and revived for a moment among the degenerate +Romans the spirit, as well as discipline, of their ancestors. The +British ambassadors carried to him the letter of their countrymen, which +was inscribed, “The groans of the Britons.” The tenor of the epistle was +suitable to its superscription. “The barbarians,” say they, “on the one +hand, chase us into the sea; the sea, on the other, throws us back upon +the barbarians; and we have only the hard choice left us of perishing by +the sword or by the waves.”[*] + + [* Gildas, Bede, lib. i. cap. 13. William of + Malmesbury, lib. i. cap. 1 Alured. Beverl. p. 45.] + +But Ætius, pressed by the arms of Attila, the most terrible enemy that +ever assailed the empire, had no leisure to attend to the complaints of +allies, whom generosity alone could induce him to assist.[*] + + [* Saxon Chron. p. 11, edit. 1692.] + +The Britons, thus rejected, were reduced to despair, deserted their +habitations, abandoned tillage, and flying for protection to the forests +and mountains, suffered equally from hunger and from the enemy. The +barbarians themselves began to feel the pressures of famine in a country +which they had ravaged; and being harassed by the dispersed Britons, who +had not dared to resist them in a body, they retreated with their spoils +into their own country.[*] + + [* Alured. Beverl, p. 45.] + +The Britons, taking advantage of this interval, returned to their usual +occupations; and the favorable seasons which succeeded, seconding their +industry, made them soon forget their past miseries, and restored +to them great plenty of all the necessaries of life. No more can be +imagined to have been possessed by a people so rude, who had not, +without the assistance of the Romans, art of masonry sufficient to raise +a stone rampart for their own defence; yet the monkish historians,[*] +who treat of those events, complain of the luxury of the Britons +during this period, and ascribe to that vice, not to their cowardice or +improvident counsels, all their subsequent calamities. + + [* Gildas, Bede, lib. i. cap. 14.] + +The Britons, entirely occupied in the enjoyment of the present interval +of peace, made no provision for resisting the enemy, who, invited by +their former timid behavior, soon threatened them with a new invasion. +We are not exactly informed what species of civil government the Romans, +on their departure, had left among the Britons, but it appears probable +that the great men in the different districts assumed a kind of regal, +though precarious authority, and lived in a great measure independent of +each other.[*] + + [* Gildas, Usher, Ant. Brit. p. 248, 347.] + +To this disunion of counsels were also added the disputes of theology; +and the disciples of Pelagius, who was himself a native of Britain, +having increased to a great multitude, gave alarm to the clergy, who +seem to have been more intent on suppressing them, than on opposing the +public enemy.[*] + + [* Gildas, Bede, lib. i. cap. 17. Constant, in Vita Germ.] + +Laboring under these domestic evils, and menaced with a foreign +invasion, the Britons attended only to the suggestions of their present +fears, and following the counsels of Vortigern, prince of Dumnonium, +who, though stained with every vice, possessed the chief authority among +them,[*] they sent into Germany a deputation to invite over the Saxons +for their protection and assistance. + + [* Gildas, W. Malms. p. 8.] + + + + +THE SAXONS. + +Of all the barbarous nations, known either in ancient or modern times, +the Germans seem to have been the most distinguished both by their +manners and political institutions, and to have carried to the highest +pitch the virtues of valor and love of liberty; the only virtues which +can have place among an uncivilized people, where justice and humanity +are commonly neglected. Kingly government, even when established among +the Germans, (for it was not universal,) possessed a very limited +authority; and though the sovereign was usually chosen from among the +royal family, he was directed in every measure by the common consent +of the nation over whom he presided. When any important affairs were +transacted, all the warriors met in arms; the men of greatest authority +employed persuasion to engage their consent; the people expressed their +approbation by rattling their armor, or their dissent by murmurs; there +was no necessity for a nice scrutiny of votes among a multitude, who +were usually carried with a strong current to one side or the other; +and the measure, thus suddenly chosen by general agreement, was executed +with alacrity, and prosecuted with vigor. Even in war, the princes +governed more by example than by authority, but in peace, the civil +union was in a great measure dissolved, and the inferior leaders +administered justice, after an independent manner, each in his +particular district. These were elected by the votes of the people in +their great councils; and though regard was paid to nobility in the +choice, their personal qualities, chiefly their valor, procured +them, from the suffrages of their fellow-citizens, that honorable but +dangerous distinction. The warriors of each tribe attached themselves +to the[**possibly this word is their] leader, with the most devoted +affection and most unshaken constancy. They attended him as his ornament +in peace, as his defence in war, as his council in the administration of +justice. Their constant emulation in military renown dissolved not that +inviolable friendship which they professed to their chieftain and to +each other. To die for the honor of their band was their chief ambition; +to survive its disgrace, or the death of their leader, was infamous. +They even carried into the field their women and children, who adopted +all the martial sentiments of the men: and being thus impelled by every +human motive, they were invincible; where they were no[**possibly the +word is not] opposed, either by the similar manners and institutions +of the neighboring Germans, or by the superior discipline, arms, and +numbers of the Romans.[*] + + [* Caesar, lib. vi.] + +The leaders and their military companions were maintained by the labor +of their slaves, or by that of the weaker and less warlike part of the +community whom they defended. The contributions which they levied went +not beyond a bare subsistence; and the honors, acquired by a superior +rank, were the only reward of their superior dangers and fatigues. All +the refined arts of life were unknown among the Germans: tillage itself +was almost wholly neglected; they even seem to have been anxious to +prevent any improvements of that nature; and the leaders, by annually +distributing anew all the land among the inhabitants of each village, +kept them from attaching themselves to particular possessions, or +making such progress in agriculture as might divert their attention from +military expeditions, the chief occupation of the community.[*] + + [* Tacit. de Mor. Germ] + +The Saxons had been for some time regarded as one of the most warlike +tribes of this fierce people, and had become the terror of the +neighboring nations.[*] + + [* Amm. Marcell. lib. xxviii. Orosius.] + +They had diffused themselves from the northern parts of Germany and the +Cimbrian Chersonesus, and had taken possession of all the sea-coast +from the mouth of the Rhine to Jutland; whence they had long infested +by their piracies all the eastern and southern parts of Britain, and the +northern of Gaul.[*] + + [* Amm. Marcell. lib. xxvii. cap. 7. lib. xxviii. cap. 7] + +In order to oppose their inroads, the Romans had established an officer, +whom they called “Count of the Saxon shore;” and as the naval arts can +flourish among a civilized people alone, they seem to have been more +successful in repelling the Saxons than any of the other barbarians by +whom they were invaded. The dissolution of the Roman power invited them +to renew their inroads; and it was an acceptable circumstance that +the deputies of the Britons appeared among them, and prompted them to +undertake an enterprise to which they were of themselves sufficiently +inclined.[*] + + [* W. Malms, p. 8.] + +Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, possessed great credit among the +Saxons, and were much celebrated both for their valor and nobility. They +were reputed, as most of the Saxon princes, to be sprung from Woden, who +was worshipped as a god among those nations, and they are said to be his +great grandsons;[*] a circumstance which added much to their authority. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 15. Chron. Sax. p. 13. Nennius, cap. + 28.] + +We shall not attempt to trace any higher the origin of those princes +and nations. It is evident what fruitless labor it must be to search, +in those barbarous and illiterate ages, for the annals of a people, when +their first leaders, known in any true history, were believed by them to +be the fourth in descent from a fabulous deity, or from a man exalted by +ignorance into that character. The dark industry of antiquaries, led by +imaginary analogies of names, or by uncertain traditions, would in +vain attempt to pierce into that deep obscurity which covers the remote +history of those nations. + +These two brothers, observing the other provinces of Germany to be +occupied by a warlike and necessitous people, and the rich provinces of +Gaul already conquered or overrun by other German tribes, found it +easy to persuade their countrymen to embrace the sole enterprise +which promised a favorable opportunity of displaying their valor and +gratifying their avidity. They embarked their troops in three vessels +and about the year 449 or 450,[*] earned over one thousand six hundred +men, who landed in the Isle of Thanet, and immediately marched to the +defence of the Britons against the northern invaders. The Scots and +Picts were unable to resist the valor of these auxiliaries; and the +Britons, applauding their own wisdom in calling over the Saxons, hoped +thenceforth to enjoy peace and security under the powerful protection of +that warlike people. + +But Hengist and Horsa, perceiving, from their easy victory over the +Scots and Picts, with what facility they might subdue tae Britons +themselves, who had not been able to resist those feeble invaders, were +determined to conquer and fight for their own grandeur, not for the +defence of their degenerate allies. They sent intelligence to Saxony +of the fertility and riches of Britain, and represented as certain the +subjection of a people so long disused to arms, who, being now cut off +from the Roman empire, of which they had been a province during so +many ages, had not yet acquired any union among themselves, and were +destitute of all affection to their new liberties, and of all national +attachments and regards.[**] The vices, and pusillanimity of Vortigern, +the British leader, were a new ground of hope; and the Saxons in +Germany, following such agreeable prospects, soon reënforced Hengist and +Horsa with five thousand men, who came over in seventeen vessels. The +Britons now began to entertain apprehensions of their allies, whose +numbers they found continually augmenting; but thought of no remedy, +except a passive submission and connivance. This weak expedient soon +failed them. The Saxons sought a quarrel, by complaining that their +subsidies were ill paid, and their provisions withdrawn;[***] and +immediately taking off the mask, they formed an alliance with the Picts +and Scots, and proceeded to open hostility against the Britons. + +The Britons, impelled by these violent extremities, ana roused to +indignation against their treacherous auxiliaries, were necessitated to +take arms; and having deposed Vortigern, who had become odious from his +vices, and from the bad event of his rash counsels, they put themselves +under the Command of his son, Vortimer. They fought many battles with +their enemies; and though the victories in these actions be disputed +between the British and Saxon annalists, the progress still made by the +Saxons proves that the advantage was commonly on their side. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 12. W. Malms, p. 11. Hunting, + lib. U. p. 309. Ethelwerd, Brompton, p. 728.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 12. Alured. Beverl. p. 49.] + + [*** Bede, lib. i cap. 15. Nennius, cap. 35. Gildas, + sect 2d.] + +In one battle, however, fought at Faglesford, now Ailsford, Horsa, the +Saxon general, was slain and left the sole command over his countrymen +in the hands of Hengist. This active general, continually reënforced +oy fresh numbers from Germany, carried devastation into the most remote +corners of Britain; and being chiefly anxious to spread the terror of +his arms, he spared neither age, nor sex, nor condition, wherever he +marched with his victorious forces. The private and public edifices of +the Britons were reduced to ashes; the priests were slaughtered on the +altars by those idolatrous ravagers; the bishops and nobility shared +the fate of the vulgar; the people, flying to the mountains and deserts, +were intercepted and butchered in heaps: some were glad to accept of +life and servitude under their victors: others, deserting their +native country, took shelter in the province of Armorica; where, being +charitably received by a people of the same language and manners, they +settled in great numbers, and gave the country the name of Brittany.[*] + +The British writers assign one cause which facilitated the entrance of +the Saxons into this island--the love with which Vortigern was at +first seized for Rovena, the daughter of Hengist, and which that artful +warrior made use of to blind the eyes of the imprudent monarch.[**] +The same historians add, that Vortimer died; and that Vortigern, +being restored to the throne, accepted of a banquet from Hengist, at +Stonehenge, where three hundred of his nobility were treacherously +slaughtered, and himself detained captive.[***] But these stories seem +to have been invented by the Welsh authors, in order to palliate the +weak resistance made at first by their countrymen, and to account for +the rapid progress and licentious devastations of the Saxons.[****] + +After the death of Vortimer, Ambrosius, a Briton, though of Roman +descent, was invested with the command over his countrymen, and +endeavored, not without success, to unite them in their resistance +against the Saxons. Those contests increased the animosity between the +two rations, and roused the military spirit of the ancient inhabitants, +which had before been sunk into a fatal lethargy. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 15. Usher, p. 226. Gildas, + sect. 24.] + + + [** Nennius, Galfr. lib. vi. cap. 12.] + + + [*** Nennius, cap. 47. Galfr.] + + + [**** Stillingfleet’s Orig. Britt. p. 324,325.] + +Hengist, however, notwithstanding their opposition, still maintained his +ground in Britain and in order to divide the forces and attention of the +natives he called over a new tribe of Saxons, under the command of his +brother Octa, and of Ebissa, the son of Octa; and he settled them in +Northumberland. He himself remained in the southern parts of the island, +and laid the foundation of their kingdom of Kent, comprehending the +county of that name Middlesex, Essex, and part of Surrey. He fixed his +royal seat at Canterbury, where he governed about forty years, and he +died in or near the year 488, leaving his new-acquired dominions to his +posterity. + +The success of Hengist excited the avidity of the other northern +Germans; and at different times, and under different leaders, they +flocked over in multitudes to the invasion of mis island. These +conquerors were chiefly composed of three tribes, the Saxons, Angles, +and Jutes,[*] who all passed under the common appellation, sometimes, +of _Saxons_, sometimes of _Angles_; and speaking the same +language, and being governed by the same institutions, they were +naturally led, from these causes, as well as from their common interest, +to unite themselves against the ancient inhabitants. The resistance, +however, though unequal, was still maintained by the Britons; but became +every day more feeble; and their calamities admitted of few intervals, +till they were driven into Cornwall and Wales, and received protection +from the remote situation or inaccessible mountains of those countries. + +The first Saxon state, after that of Kent, which was established in +Britain, was the kingdom of South Saxony. In the year 477,[**] Ælla, +a Saxon chief, brought over an army from Germany; and, landing on +the southern coast, proceeded to take possession of the neighboring +territory. The Britons, now armed, did not tamely abandon their +possessions; nor were they expelled till defeated in many battles +by their war-like invaders. The most memorable action, mentioned by +historians, is that of Mearcredes Burn;[***] where, though the Saxons +seem to have obtained the victory, they suffered so considerable a loss, +as somewhat retarded the progress of their conquests. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 15. Ethelwerd, p. 833, edit. + Camdeni. Chron. Sax. p. 12. Alured. Beverl. p. 78. The + inhabitants of Kent and the Isle of Wight were Jutes. Essex, + Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex, and all the southern counties to + Cornwall, were peopled by Saxons: Mercis mud other parts of + the kingdom were inhabited by Angles.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p.14. Alured Beverl. p. 81.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. A. D. 485. Flor. Wigron] + +But Ælla, reénforced by fresh numbers of his countrymen, again took the +field against the Britons; and laid siege to Ancired Ceaster, which was +defended by the garrison and inhabitants with desperate valor.[*] The +Saxons, enraged by this resistance, and by the fatigues and dangers +which they had sustained, redoubled their efforts against the place; +and, when masters of it, put all their enemies to the sword without +distinction. This decisive advantage secured the conquests of Ælla, who +assumed the name of king, and extended his dominion over Sussex and a +great part of Surrey He was stopped in his progress to the east by the +kingdom of Kent; in that to the west by another tribe of Saxons, who had +taken possession of that territory. + +These Saxons, from the situation of the country in which they settled, +were called the _West Saxons_, and landed in the year 495, under +the command of Cerdic, and of his son Kenric.[**] The Britons were, by +past experience, so much on their guard, and so well prepared to receive +the enemy, that they gave battle to Cerdic the very day of his landing; +and, though vanquished, still defended, for some time, their liberties +against the invaders. None of the other tribes of Saxons met with such +vigorous resistance, or exerted such valor and perseverance in pushing +their conquests. Cerdic was even obliged to call for the assistance of +his countrymen from the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex, as well as from +Germany, and he was thence joined by a fresh army under the command +of Porte, and of his sons Bleda and Megla.[***] Strengthened by these +succors, he fought, in the year 508, a desperate battle with the +Britons, commanded by Nazan Leod, who was victorious in the beginning of +the action, and routed the wing in which Cerdic himself commanded. But +Kenric, who had prevailed in the other wing, brought timely assistance +to his father, and restored the battle, which ended in a complete +victory gained by the Saxons.[****] Nazan Leod perished, with +five thousand of his army; but left the Britons more weakened than +discouraged by his death. The war still continued, though the success +was commonly on the side of the Saxons, whose short swords and manner +of fighting gave them great advantage over the missile weapons of the +Britons. + + [* H. Hunting, lib. ii.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. I, p. 12. Chron. Sax. p. + 15.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 17.] + + [**** H. Hunting, lib ii. Ethelwerd, lib. i. Chron. + Sax. p. 17.] + +Cerdic was not wanting to in good fortune; and in order to extend +his conquests, he laid siege to Mount Badon or Banesdowne, near Bath, +whither the most obstinate of the discomfited Britons had retired. The +southern Britons, in this extremity, applied for assistance to Arthur, +prince of the Silures, whose heroic valor now sustained the declining +fate of his country.[*] This is that Arthur so much celebrated in the +songs of Thaliessin, and the other British bards, and whose military +achievements have been blended with so many fables, as even to give +occasion for entertaining a doubt of his real existence. But poets, +though they disfigure the most certain history by their fictions, ana +use strange liberties with truth where they are the sole historians, as +among the Britons, have commonly some foundation for their wildest +exaggerations. Certain it is, that the siege of Badon was raised by the +Britons in the year 520; and the Saxons were there discomfited in a +great battle.[**] This misfortune stopped the progress of Cerdic; but +was not sufficient to wrest from him the conquests which he had already +made. He and his son Kenric, who succeeded him, established the kingdom +of the West Saxons, or of Wessex, over the counties of Hants, Dorset, +Wilts, Berks, and the Isle of Wight, and left their new-acquired +dominions to their posterity. Cerdic died in 534, Kenric in 560. + + +While the Saxons made this progress in the south, their countrymen were +not less active in other quarters. In the year 527, a great tribe of +adventurers, under several leaders, landed on the east coast of Britain; +and after fighting many battles, of which history has preserved no +particular account, they established three new kingdoms in this island. +Uffa assumed the title of king of the East Angles in 575; Crida, that of +Mercia in 585;[***] and Erkenwin, that of East Saxony, or Essex, nearly +about the same time; but the year is uncertain. This latter kingdom was +dismembered from that of Kent, and comprehended Essex, Middlesex, +and part of Hertfordshire; that of the East Angles, the counties of +Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk: Mercia was extended over all the middle +counties from the banks of the Severn to the frontiers of these two +kingdoms. + + [* H. Hunting, lib. ii.] + + [** Gildas, Chron. Sax. H. Hunting, lib. ii.] + + [*** M. West. H. Hunting, lib. ii.] + +The Saxons, soon after the landing of Hengist, had been planted in +Northumberland; but as they met with an obstinate resistance, and made +but small progress in subduing the inhabitants, their affairs were in +so unsettled a condition, that none of their princes for a long time +assumed the appellation of king. At last, in 547,[*] Ida, a Saxon prince +of great valor,[**] who claimed a descent, as did all the other princes +of that nation, from Woden, brought over a reénforcement from Germany, +and enabled the Northumbrians to carry on their conquests over the +Britons. He entirely subdued the county now called Northumberland, +the bishopric of Durham, as well as some of the south-east counties of +Scotland; and he assumed the crown under the title of king of Bernicia. +Nearly about the same time, Ælla, another Saxon prince, having conquered +Lancashire and the greater part of Yorkshire, received the appellation +of king of Deïri.[***] These two kingdoms were united in the person of +Ethelfrid, grandson of Ida, who married Acca, the daughter of Ælla; and +expelling her brother Edwin, established one of the most powerful of the +Saxon kingdoms, by the title of Northumberland. How far his dominions +extended into the country now called Scotland is uncertain: but it +cannot be doubted, that all the lowlands, especially the east coast of +that country, were peopled in a great measure from Germany; though the +expeditions, made by the several Saxon adventurers, have escaped the +records of history. The language spoken in those countries, which is +purely Saxon, is a stronger proof of this event than can be opposed by +the imperfect, or rather fabulous annals, which are obtruded on us by +the Scottish historians. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 19.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 19.] + + [*** Alured, Beverl. p. 78]. + + + + +THE HEPTARCHY + +Thus was established, after a violent contest of near a hundred and +fifty years, the Heptarchy, or seven Saxon kingdoms, in Britain; and +the whole southern part of the island, except Wales and Cornwall, +had totally changed its inhabitants, language, customs, and political +institutions. The Britons, under the Roman dominion, had made +such advances towards arts and civil manners, that they had built +twenty-eight considerable cities within their province, besides a great +number of villages and country seats; [*] but the fierce conquerors, +by whom they were now subdued, threw every thing back into ancient +barbarity; and those few natives, who were not either massacred or +expelled their habitations, were reduced to the most abject slavery. + + [* Gildas, Sede, lib, i.] + +None of the other northern conquerors, the Franks, Goths, Vandals, or +Burgundians, though they overran the southern provinces of the +empire like a mighty torrent, made such devastations in the conquered +territories, or were inflamed into so violent an animosity against the +ancient inhabitants. As the Saxons came over at intervals in separate +bodies, the Britons, however at first unwarlike, were tempted to make +resistance; and hostilities, being thereby prolonged, proved more +destructive to both parties, especially to the vanquished. The first +invaders from Germany, instead of excluding other adventurers, who must +share with them the spoils of the ancient inhabitants, were obliged to +solicit fresh supplies from their own country; and a total extermination +of the Britons became the sole expedient for providing a settlement and +subsistence to the new planters. Hence there have been found in history +few conquests more ruinous than that of the Saxons, and few revolutions +more violent than that which they introduced. + + +So long as the contest was maintained with the natives, the several +Saxon princes preserved a union of counsels and interests; but after the +Britons were shut up in the barren countries of Cornwall and Wales, and +gave no further disturbance to the conquerors, the band of alliance was +in a great measure dissolved among the princes of the Heptarchy. Though +one prince seems still to have been allowed, or to have assumed, an +ascendant over the whole, his authority, if it ought ever to be deemed +regular or legal, was extremely limited; and each state acted as if it +had been independent, and wholly separate from the rest Wars, therefore, +and revolutions and dissensions, were unavoidable among a turbulent and +military people; and these events, however intricate or confused, ought +now to become the objects of our attention But, added to the difficulty +of carrying on at once the history of seven independent kingdoms, there +is great discouragement to a writer, arising from the uncertainty, at +least barrenness, of the accounts transmitted to us. The monks, who were +the only annalists during those ages, lived remote from public +affairs, considered the civil transactions as entirely subordinate the +ecclesiastical, and, besides partaking of the ignorance and barbarity +which were then universal, were strongly infected with credulity, with +the love of wonder, and with a propensity to imposture; vices almost +inseparable from their profession and manner of life. The history of +that period abounds in names, but is extremely barren of events; or the +events are related so much without circumstances and causes, that the +most profound or most eloquent writer must despair of rendering them +either instructive or entertaining to the reader. Even the great +learning and vigorous imagination of Milton sunk under the weight; and +this author scruples not to declare, that the skirmishes of kites +or crows as much merited a particular narrative, as the confused +transactions and battles of the Saxon Heptarchy.[*] In order, however, +to connect the events in some tolerable measure, we shall give a +succinct account of the successions of kings, and of the more remarkable +revolutions in each particular kingdom; beginning with that of Kent, +which was the first established. + + [* Milton in Kennet, p. 50] + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF KENT + +Escus succeeded his father, Hengist, in the kingdom of Kent; but seems +not to have possessed the military genius of that conqueror, who first +made way for the entrance of the Saxon arms into Britain. All the +Saxons, who sought either the fame of valor, or new establishments by +arms, flocked to the standard of Ælla, king of Sussex, who was carrying +on successful war against the Britons, and laying the foundations of a +new kingdom. Escus was content to possess in tranquillity the kingdom +of Kent, which he left in 512 to his son Octet, in whose time the East +Saxons established their monarchy, and dismembered the provinces of +Essex and Middlesex from that of Kent. His death, after a reign of +twenty two years, made room for his son Hermenric in 534, who performed +nothing memorable during a reign of thirty-two years; excepting +associating with him his son Ethelbert in the government, that he might +secure the succession hi his family, and prevent such revolutions as are +incident to a turbulent and barbarous monarchy. + +Ethelbert revived the reputation of his family, which had languished for +some generations. The inactivity of his predecessors, and the situation +of his country, secured from all hostility with the Britons, seem +to have much enfeebled the warlike genius of the Kentish Saxons; +and Ethelbert, in his first attempt to aggrandize his country, and +distinguish his own name, was unsuccessful.[*] He was twice discomfited +in battle by Ceaulin, king of Wessex, and obliged to yield the +superiority in the Heptarchy to that ambitious monarch, who preserved +no moderation in his victory, and by reducing the kingdom of Sussex to +subjection, excited jealousy in all the other princes. An association +was formed against him; and Ethelbeit, intrusted with the command of the +allies, gave him battle, and obtained a decisive victory.[**] Ceaulin +died soon after; and Ethelbert succeeded as well to his ascendant among +the Saxon states, as to his other ambitious projects. He reduced all the +princes, except the king of Northumberland, to a strict dependence upon +him; and even established himself by force on the throne of Mercia, +the most extensive of the Saxon kingdoms. Apprehensive, however, of a +dangerous league against him, like that by which he himself had been +enabled to overthrow Ceaulin, he had the prudence to resign the kingdom +of Mercia to Webba, the rightful heir, the son of Crida, who had first +founded that monarchy. But governed still by ambition more than by +justice, he gave Webba possession of the crown on such conditions, as +rendered him little better than a tributary prince under his artful +benefactor. + +But the most memorable event which distinguished the reign of this great +prince, was the introduction of the Christian religion among the English +Saxons. The superstition of the Germans, particularly that of the +Saxons, was of the grossest and most barbarous kind; and being founded +on traditional tales, received from their ancestors, not reduced to +any system, not supported by political institutions, like that of the +druids, it seems to have made little impression on its votaries, and to +have easily resigned its place to the new doctrine promulgated to them. +Woden, whom they deemed the ancestor of all their princes, was regarded +as the god of war, and, by a natural consequence, became their supreme +deity, and the chief object of their religious worship. They believed +that, if they obtained the favor of this divinity by their valor, (for +they made less account of the other virtues,) they should be admitted +after their death into his hall; and reposing on couches, should satiate +themselves with ale from the skulls of their enemies, whom they had +slain in battle. Incited by this idea of paradise, which gratified +at once the passion of revenge and that of intemperance, the ruling +inclinations of barbarians, they despised the dangers of war, and +increased their native ferocity against the vanquished by their +religious prejudices. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 21.] + + [** H. Hunting, lib ii.] + +We know little of the other theological tenets of the Saxons; we only +learn that they were polytheists; that they worshipped the sun and moon; +that they adored the god of thunder, under the name of Thor; that they +had images in their temples; that they practised sacrifices; believed +firmly in spells and enchantments; and admitted in general a system +of doctrines which they held as sacred, but which, like all other +superstition must carry the air of the wildest extravagance, if +propounded to those who are not familiarized to it from their earliest +infancy. + +The constant hostilities which the Saxons maintained against the +Britons, would naturally indispose them for receiving the Christian +faith, when preached to them by such inveterate enemies; and perhaps the +Britons, as is objected to them by Gildas and Bede, were not over-fond +of communicating to their cruel invaders the doctrine of eternal life +and salvation. But as a civilized people, however subdued by arms, still +maintain a sensible superiority over barbarous and ignorant nations, +all the other northern conquerors of Europe had been already induced to +embrace the Christian faith, which they found established in the empire; +and it was impossible but the Saxons, informed of this event, must have +regarded with some degree of veneration a doctrine which had acquired +the ascendant over all their brethren. However limited in their news, +they could not but have perceived a degree of cultivation in the +southern countries beyond what they themselves possessed; and it was +natural for them to yield to that superior knowledge, as well as zeal, +by which the inhabitants of the Christian kingdoms were even at that +time distinguished. + +But these causes might long have failed of producing any considerable +effect, had not a favorable incident prepared the means of introducing +Christianity into Kent. Ethelbert, in his father’s lifetime, had married +Bertha, the only daughter of Cariben, king of Paris,[*] one of the +descendants of Clovis, the conqueror of Gaul. + + [* Greg, of Tours, lib, ix. cap. 26. H. Hunting, + lib. ii.] + +But before he was admitted to this alliance, he was obliged to +stipulate, that the princess should enjoy the free exercise of her +religion; a concession not difficult to be obtained from the idolatrous +Saxons.[*] Bertha brought over a French bishop to the court of +Canterbury; and being zealous for the propagation of her religion, she +had been very assiduous in her devotional exercises, had supported the +credit of her faith by an irreproachable conduct, and had employed every +an of insinuation and address to reconcile her husband to her religious +principles. Her popularity in the court, and her influence over +Ethelbert, had so well paved the way for the reception of the Christian +doctrine, that Gregory, surnamed the Great, then Roman pontiff, began +to entertain hopes of effecting a project which lie himself, before he +mounted the papal throne, had once embraced, of converting the British +Saxons. + +It happened that this prelate, at that time in a private station, had +observed in the market place of Rome some Saxon youth exposed to sale, +whom the Roman merchants, in their trading voyages to Britain, had +bought of their mercenary parents. Struck with the beauty of their fair +complexions and blooming countenances, Gregory asked to what country +they belonged; and being told they were “Angles,” he replied that they +ought more properly to be denominated “angels.” it were a pity that the +prince of darkness should enjoy so fair a prey, and that so beautiful +a frontispiece should cover a mind destitute of internal grace and +righteousness. Inquiring further concerning the name of their province, +he was Informed, that it was “Deïri,” a district of Northumberland. +“Deïri!” replied he, “that is good! They are called to the mercy of God +from his anger--_de ira_. But what is the name of the king of that +province?” He was told it was “Ælla,” or “Alia.” “Alleluiah;” cried he, +“we must endeavor that the praises of God be sung in their country.” + Moved by these allusions, which appeared to him so happy, he deter mined +to undertake himself a mission into Britain; and having obtained the +pope’s approbation, he prepared for that perilous journey; but his +popularity at home was so great, that the Romans, unwilling to expose +him to such dangers, opposed his design, and he was obliged for the +present to lay aside all further thoughts of executing that pious +purpose.[**] + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 25. Brompton, p. 729.] + + [** Bede, lib. ii. cap. 1. Spell. Concil. p. 91.] + +The controversy between the pagans and the Christians was not entirely +cooled in that age; and no pontiff before Gregory had ever carried to +greater excess an intemperate zeal against the former religion. He had +waged war with all the precious monuments of the ancients, and even with +their writings, which, as appears from the strain of his own wit, as +well as from the style of his compositions, he had not taste or genius +sufficient to comprehend. Ambitious to distinguish his pontificate by +the conversion of the British Saxons, he pitched on Augustine, a Roman +monk, and sent him with forty associates to preach the gospel in this +island. These missionaries, terrified with the dangers which might +attend their proposing a new doctrine to so fierce a people, of whose +language they were ignorant, stopped some time in France, and sent back +Augustine to lay the hazards and difficulties before the pope, and crave +his permission to desist from the undertaking. But Gregory exorted them +to persevere in their purpose, advised them to choose some interpreters +from among the Franks, who still spoke the same language with the +Saxons,[*] and recommended them to the good offices of Queen Brunehaut, +who had at this time usurped the sovereign power in France. This +princess, though stained with every vice of treachery and cruelty, +either possessed or pretended great zeal for the cause; and Gregory +acknowledged, that to her friendly assistance was, in a great measure, +owing the success of that undertaking.[**] + +Augustine, on his arrival in Kent in the year 597,[***] found the danger +much less than he had apprehended. Ethelbert, already well disposed +towards the Christian faith, assigned him a habitation in the Isle +of Thanet, and soon after admitted him to a conference. Apprehensive, +however, lest spells or enchantments might be employed against him by +priests, who brought an unknown worship from a distant country, he had +the precaution to receive them in the open air, where, he believed, +the force of their magic would be more easily dissipated,[****] Here +Augustine, by means of his interpreters, delivered to him the tenets of +the Christian faith, and promised him eternal joys above, and a kingdom +in heaven without end, if he would be persuaded to receive that salutary +doctrine. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 23.] + + [** Greg. Epist. lib. ix. epist. 56. Spell. Concil. + p. 82.] + + [*** Higden Polychron. lib. v. Chron. Sax. p. 23.] + + [**** Bede, lib. i. cap. 25. H. Hunting, lib. iii. + Brompton, p. 729 Parker, Antiq. Brit. Eccel. p 61.] + +“Our words and promises,”[*] replied Ethelbert, “are fair; but because +they are new and uncertain, I cannot entirely yield to them, and +relinquish the principles which I and my ancestors have so long +maintained. You are welcome, however, to remain here in peace; and as +you have undertaken so long a journey, solely, as it appears, for +what you believe to be for our advantage, I will supply you with +all necessaries, and permit you to deliver your doctrine to my +subjects.”[**] + +Augustine, encouraged by this favorable reception, and seeing now a +prospect of success, proceeded with redoubled zeal to preach the gospel +to the Kentish Saxons. He attracted their attention by the austerity of +his manners, by the severe penances to which he subjected himself, by +the abstinence find self-denial which he practised; and having excited +then wonder by a course of life which appeared so contrary to nature, he +procured more easily their belief of miracles, which, it was pretended, +he wrought for their conversion. Influenced by these motives, and +by the declared favor of the court, numbers of the Kentish men were +baptized; and the king himself was persuaded to submit to that rite of +Christianity. His example had great influence with his subjects; but +he employed no force to bring them over to the new doctrine. Augustine +thought proper, in the commencement of his mission, to assume the +appearance of the greatest lenity; he told Ethelbert, that the service +of Christ must be entirely voluntary, and that no violence ought ever to +be used in propagating so salutary a doctrine.[****] + +The intelligence received of these spiritual conquests afforded great +joy to the Romans, who now exulted as much in those peaceful trophies as +their ancestors had ever done in their most sanguinary triumphs and most +splendid victories. Gregory wrote a letter to Ethelbert, in which, after +informing him that the end of the world was approaching, he exhorted him +to display his zeal in the conversion of his subjects, to exert rigor +against the worship of idols, and to build up the good work of +holiness by every expedient of exhortation, terror, blandishment, or +correction;[*****] a doctrine more suitable to that age, and to the +usual papal maxims, than the tolerating principles which Augustine had +thought it prudent to inculcate. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 25. Chron. W. Thorn, p. + 1759.] + + [** Bede, lib. i. cap. 25. H. Hunting, lib. iii. + Brompton, p. 729] + + [*** Bede, lib. i. cap. 26.] + + [**** Bede, cap 26. H. Hunting, lib. iii.] + + [***** Bede, lib. i. cap. 32. Brompton, p. 732 Spell. + Concil, 785] + +The pontiff also answered some questions, which the missionary had +put concerning the government of the new church of Kent. Besides other +queries, which it is not material here to relate, Augustine asked, +“Whether cousins-german might be allowed to marry.” Gregory answered, +that that liberty had indeed been formerly granted by the Roman law; +but that experience had shown that no issue could ever come from such +marriages; and he therefore prohibited them. Augustine asked, “Whether +a woman pregnant might be baptized.” Gregory answered, that he saw no +objection. “How soon after the birth the child might receive baptism.” + It was answered, immediately, if necessary. “How soon a husband might +have commerce with his wife after her delivery.” Not till she had given +suck to her child; a practice to which Gregory exhorts all women. “How; +soon a man might enter the church, or receive the sacrament, after +having had commerce with his wife.” It was replied, that, unless he had +approached her without desire, merely for the sake of propagating his +species, he was not without sin; but in all cases it was requisite for +him, before he entered the church, or communicated, to purge himself +by prayer and ablution; and he ought not, even after using these +precautions, to participate immediately of the sacred duties.[*] There +are some other questions and replies still more indecent and more +ridiculous.[**] And on the whole it appears that Gregory and his +missionary, if sympathy of manners have any influence, were better +calculated than men of more refined understandings, for making a +progress with the ignorant and barbarous Saxons. + +The more to facilitate the reception of Christianity, Gregory enjoined +Augustine to remove the idols from the heathen altars, but not to +destroy the altars themselves; because the people, he said, would be +allured to frequent the Christian worship, when they found it celebrated +in a place which they were accustomed to revere. + + [* Bede, lib. i. cap. 27. Spell. Concil. p. 97, + 98, 99, &c.] + + [** Augustine asks, “Si mulier menstrua + consuetudine tenetur, an ecclesiam intrare et licet, aut + sacræ communionis sacramenta percipere?” Gregory answers, + “Santæ communionis mysterium in eisdem diebus percipere non + debet prohiberi. Si autem ex veneratione magna percipere non + præsumitur, laudanda est.” Augustine asks, “Si post + illusionem, quae par somnum solet accidere, vel corpus + Domini quilibet accipere valeat; vel, si sacerdos sit, sacra + mysteria celebrare?” Gregory answers this learned question + by many learned distinctions.] + +And as the pagans practised sacrifices, and feasted with the priests on +their offerings, he also exhorted the missionary to persuade them, on +Christian festivals, to kill their cattle in the neighborhood of the +church, and to indulge themselves in those cheerful entertainments to +which they had been habituated.[*] These political compliances +show that, notwithstanding his ignorance and prejudices, he was +not unacquainted with the arts of governing mankind. Augustine was +consecrated archbishop of Canterbury, was endowed by Gregory with +authority over all the British churches, and received the pall, a badge +of ecclesiastical honor, from Rome.[**] Gregory also advised him not +to be too much elated with his gift of working miracles;[***] and as +Augustine, proud of the success of his mission, seemed to think himself +entitled to extend his authority over the bishops of Gaul, the +pope informed him that they lay entirely without the bounds of his +jurisdiction.[****] + +The marriage of Ethelbert with Bertha, and, much more his embracing +Christianity, begat a connection of his subjects with the French, +Italians, and other nations on the continent, and tended to reclaim them +from that gross ignorance and barbarity, in which all the Saxon tribes +had been hitherto involved.[*****] Ethelbert also enacted,[******] with +the consent of the states of his kingdom, a body of laws, the first +written laws promulgated by any of the northern conquerors; and his +reign was in every respect glorious to himself and beneficial to his +people. He governed the kingdom of Kent fifty years; and dying in 616, +left the succession to his son, Eadbald. This prince, seduced by a +passion for his mother-in-law, deserted, for some time, the Christian +faith, which permitted not these incestuous marriages: his whole people +immediately returned with him to idolatry. Laurentius, the successor of +Augustine found the Christian worship wholly abandoned, and was prepared +to return to France, in order to escape the mortification of preaching +the gospel without fruit to the infidels. + + [* Bede lib. i. cap. 30. Spell. Concil. p. 89. + Greg. Epist. lib. ix. epist. 71.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 23,24.] + + [*** H. Hunting, lib. iii. Spell. Concil. p. 83. + Bede, lib. i. Greg Epist. lib. ix. epist. 60.] + + [**** Bede, lib. i. cap. 27.] + + [***** W. Malms, p. 10.] + + [****** Wilkins, Leges Sax. p. 13.] + +Mellitus and Justus, who had been consecrated bishops of London and +Rochester, had already departed the kingdom,[*] when Laurentius, before +he should entirely abandon his dignity, made one effort to reclaim the +king. He appeared before that prince, and, throwing off his vestments, +showed his body all torn with bruises and stripes which he had received. +Eadbald, wondering that any man should have dared to treat in that +manner a person of his rank, was told by Laurentius, that he had +received this chastisement from St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, +who had appeared to him in a vision, and severely reproving him for his +intention to desert his charge, had inflicted on him these visible marks +of his displeasure.[**] Whether Eadbald was struck with the miracle, +or influenced by some other motive, he divorced himself from his +mother-in-law, and returned to the profession of Christianity:[***] +his whole people returned with him. Eadbald reached not the fame or +authority of his father, and died in 640, after a reign of twenty-five +years, leaving two sons, Erminfrid and Ercombert. + + [* Bede, lib. ii. cap 5.] + + [** Bede, lib. ii cap. 2. Chron. Sax. p. 26. + Higden, lib. v] + + [*** Brompton, p 739.] + +Ercombert, though the younger son, by Emma, a French princess, +found means to mount the throne. He is celebrated by Bede for two +exploits--for establishing the fast of Lent in his kingdom, and for +utterly extirpating idolatry, which, notwithstanding the prevalence of +Christianity, had hitherto been tolerated by the two preceding monarchs. +He reigned twenty-four years, and left the crown to Egbert, his son, +who reigned nine years. This prince is renowned for his encouragement of +learning; but infamous for putting to death his two cousins-german, sons +of Erminfrid, his uncle. The ecclesiastical writers praise him for his +bestowing on his sister, Domnona, some lands in the Isle of Thanet, +where she founded a monastery. + + +The bloody precaution of Egbert could not fix the crown on the head of +his son Edric. Lothaire, brother of the deceased prince, took possession +of the kingdom; and in order to secure the power in his family, he +associated with him Richard, his son, in the administration of the +government. Edric, the dispossessed prince, had recourse to Edilwach, +king of Sussex, for assistance; and being supported by that prince, +fought a battle with his uncle, who was defeated and slain. Richard fled +into Germany, and afterwards died in Lucca, a city of Tuscany. William +of Malmsbury ascribes Lothaire’s bad fortune to two crimes--his +concurrence in the murder of his cousins, and his contempt for +relics.[*] + +Lothaire reigned eleven years; Edric, his successor, only two. Upon the +death of the latter, which happened in 686 Widred, his brother, obtained +possession of the crown. But as the succession had been of late so much +disjointed by revolutions and usurpations, faction began to prevail +among the nobility; which invited Cedwalla, king of Wessex, with his +brother Mollo, to attack the kingdom. These invaders committed great +devastations in Kent; but the death of Mollo, who was slain in a +skirmish,[**] gave a short breathing time to that kingdom. Widred +restored the affairs of Kent, and, after a reign of thirty-two +years,[***] left the crown to his posterity. Eadbert, Ethelbert, and +Alric, his descendants, successively mounted the throne. After the +death of the last, which happened in 794, the royal family of Kent was +extinguished; and every factious leader, who could entertain hopes of +ascending the throne, threw the state into confusion.[****] Egbert, who +first succeeded, reigned but two years; Cuthred, brother to the king of +Mercia, six years; Baldred, an illegitimate branch of the royal family, +eighteen; and after a troublesome and precarious reign, he was, in the +year 823, expelled by Egbert, king of Wessex, who dissolved the Saxon +Heptarchy, and united the several kingdoms under his dominion. + + [* W. Malms, p. 11.] + + [** Higden, lib. v.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 52.] + + [**** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 1, p.11.] + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND + +Adelfrid, king of Bernicia, having married Acca, the daughter of Ælla, +king of Deïri, and expelled her infant brother, Edwin, had united all +the counties north of Humber into one monarchy, and acquired a great +ascendant in the Heptarchy. He also spread the terror of the Saxon +arms to the neighboring people; and by his victories over the Scots +and Picts, as well as Welsh, extended on all sides the bounds of his +dominions. Having laid siege to Chester, the Britons marched out with +all their forces to engage him; and they were attended by a body of +twelve hundred and fifty monks from the monastery of Bangor, who stood +at a small distance from the field of battle, in order to encourage the +combatants by their presence and exhortations. Adelfrid, inquiring into +the purpose of this unusual appearance, was told that these priests had +come to pray against him: “Then are they as much our enemies,” said he, +“as those who intend to fight against us;”[*] and he immediately sent a +detachment, who fell upon them, and did such execution, that only fifty +escaped with their lives.[**] The Britons, astonished at this event, +received a total defeat: Chester was obliged to surrender; and Adelfrid, +pursuing his victory, made himself master of Bangor, and entirely +demolished the monastery, a building so extensive, that there was a +mile’s distance from one gate of it to another; and it contained two +thousand one hundred monks, who are said to have been there maintained +by their own labor.[***] Notwithstanding Adelfrid’s success in war, +he lived in inquietude on account of young Edwin, whom he had unjustly +dispossessed of the crown of Deïri. This prince, now grown to man’s +estate, wandered from place to place, in continual danger from the +attempts of Adelfrid; and received at last protection in the court +of Redwald, king of the East Angles; where his engaging and gallant +deportment procured him general esteem and affection. Redwald, however, +was strongly solicited, by the king of Northumberland, to kill or +deliver up his guest: rich presents were promised him if he would +comply, and war denounced against him in case of his refusal. After +rejecting several messages of this kind, his generosity began to yield +to the motives of interest; and he retained the last ambassador, till +he should come to a resolution in a case of such importance. Edwin, +informed of his friend’s perplexity, was yet determined at all hazards +to remain in East Anglia; and thought, that if the protection of that +court failed him, it were better to die than prolong a life so much +exposed to the persecutions of his powerful rival. This confidence in +Redwald’s honor and friendship, with his other accomplishments, engaged +the queen on his side; and she effectually represented to her husband +the infamy of delivering up to certain destruction their royal guest, +who had fled to them for protection against his cruel and jealous +enemies.[****] Redwald, embracing more generous resolutions, thought +it safest to prevent Adelfrid, before that prince was aware of his +intention, and to attack him while he was yet unprepared for defence. + + [* Brompton, p. 779.] + + [** Trivet, apud Spell. Concil. p. 111.] + + [*** Bede, lib. ii. cap. 2. W. Malms, lib. i. cap. + 3.] + + [**** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 3. H. Hunting, lib. + iii. Bede.] + + +He marched suddenly with an army into the kingdom of Northumberland, and +fought a battle with Adelfrid; in which that monarch was defeated +and killed, after revenging himself by the death of Regner, son of +Redwald.[*] His own sons, Eanfrid. Oswald, and Oswy, yet infants, were +carried into Scotland; and Edwin obtained possession of the crown of +Northumberland. + +Edwin was the greatest prince of the Heptarchy in that age, +and distinguished himself, both by his influence over the other +kingdoms,[**] and by the strict execution of justice in his own +dominions. He reclaimed his subjects from the licentious life to which +they had been accustomed; and it was a common saying, that during his +reign a woman or child might openly carry every where a purse of +gold, without any danger of violence or robbery. There is a remarkable +instance, transmitted to us, of the affection borne him by his servants. +Cuichelme, king of Wessex, was his enemy; but finding himself unable +to maintain open war against so gallant and powerful a prince, he +determined to use treachery against him, and he employed one Eumer for +that criminal purpose, The assassin, having obtained admittance, by +pretending to deliver a message from Cuichelme, drew his dagger, and +rushed upon the king. Lilla, an officer of his army, seeing his master’s +danger, and having no other means of defence, interposed with his own +body between the king and Burner’s dagger, which was pushed with such +violence, that, after piercing Lilla, it even wounded Edwin; but before +the assassin could renew his blow, he was despatched by the king’s +attendants. + + +The East Angles conspired against Redwald, their king; and having put +him to death, they offered their crown to Edwin, of whose valor and +capacity they had had experience, while he resided among them. But +Edwin, from a sense o£ gratitude towards his benefactor, obliged them +to submit to Earpwold, the son of Redwald; and that prince preserved his +authority, though on a precarious footing, under the protection of the +Northumbrian monarch.[***] + + [* Bede, lib. ii. cap. 12. Bromton, p. 781.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 27.] + + [*** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 3] + +Edwin, after his accession to the crown, married Ethelburga, the +daughter of Ethelbert, king of Kent. This princess, emulating the glory +of her mother, Bertha, who had been the instrument for converting her +husband and his people to Christianity, carried Paullinus, a learned +bishop, along with her;[*] and besides stipulating a toleration for the +exercise of her own religion, which was readily granted her, she used +every reason to persuade the king to embrace it. Edwin, like a +prudent prince, hesitated on the proposal, but promised to examine +the foundations of that doctrine, and declared that, if he found them +satisfactory, he was willing to be converted.[**] Accordingly he held +several conferences with Paullinus; canvassed the arguments propounded +with the wisest of his counsellors; retired frequently from company, in +order to revolve alone that important question; and, after a serious +and long inquiry, declared in favor of the Christian religion;[***] +the people soon after imitated his example. Besides the authority and +influence of the king, they were moved by another striking example. +Coifi, the high priest, being converted after a public conference with +Paullinus, led the way in destroying the images, which he had so long +worshipped, and was forward in making this atonement for his past +idolatry.[****] + +This able prince perished with his son Osfrid, in a great battle which +he fought against Penda, king of Mercia, and Caedwalla, king of the +Britons.[*****] That event, which happened in the forty-eighth year of +Edwin’s age and seventeenth of his reign,[******] divided the monarchy +of Northumberland, which that prince had united in his person. Eanfrid, +the son of Adelfrid, returned with his brothers, Oswald and Oswy, from +Scotland, and took possession of Bernicia, his paternal kingdom; Osric, +Edwin’s cousin-german, established himself in Deïri, the inheritance +of his family, but to which the sons of Edwin had a preferable title. +Eanfrid, the elder surviving son, fled to Penda, by whom he was +treacherously slain. The younger son, Vuscfraea, with Yffi, the +grandson of Edwin, by Osfrid, sought protection in Kent, and not finding +themselves in safety there, retired into France to King Dagobert, where +they died.[*******] + + [* H. Hunting, lib. iii.] + + [** Bede, lib. ii. cap. 9.] + + [*** Bede, lib. ii. cap. 9. W. Malms, lib. i. cap. + 3.] + + [**** Bede, lib. ii. cap. 13. Brompton, Higden, + lib. v.] + + [***** M. West. p. 114. Chron. Sax. p. 29.] + + [****** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 3.] + + [******* Bede, lib. ii, cap. 29.] + +Osric, king of Deïri and Eanfrid of Bernicia, returned to paganism; and +the whole people seem to have returned with them; since Paullinus, who +was the first archbishop of York; and who had converted them, thought +proper to retire with Ethelburga, the queen dowager, into Kent. Both +these Northumbrian kings perished soon after, the first in battle +against Caedwalla, the Briton; the second by the treachery of that +prince. Oswald, the brother of Eanfrid, of the race of Bernicia, united +again the kingdom of Northumberland in the year 634, and restored +the Christian religion in his dominions. He gained a bloody and +well-disputed battle against Caedwalla; the last vigorous effort which +the Britons made against the Saxons. Oswald is much celebrated for his +sanctity and charity by the monkish historians; and they pretend that +his relics wrought miracles, particularly the curing of a sick horse, +which had approached the place of his interment.[*] + + [* Bede, lib. iii. cap. 9.] + +He died in battle against Penda, king of Mercia, and was succeeded by +his brother Oswy, who established himself in the government of the whole +Northumbrian kingdom, by putting to death Oswin, the son of Osric, +the last king of the race of Deïri. His son Egfrid succeeded him; who +perishing in battle against the Picts, without leaving any children, +because Adelthrid, his wife, refused to violate her vow of chastity, +Alfred, his natural brother, acquired possession of the kingdom, which +he governed for nineteen years; and he left it to Osred, his son, a boy +of eight years of age. This prince, after a reign of eleven years, was +murdered by Kenred, his kinsman, who, after enjoying the crown only a +year, perished by a like fate. Osric, and after him Celwulph, the son +of Kenred, next mounted the throne, which the latter relinquished in +the year 738, in favor of Eadbert, his cousin-german, who, imitating +his predecessor, abdicated the crown, and retired into a monastery. +Oswolf, son of Eadbert, was slain in a sedition, a year after his +accession to the crown; and Mollo, who was not of the royal family, +seized the crown. He perished by the treachery of Ailred, a prince of +the blood; and Ailred, having succeeded in his design upon the throne, +was soon after expelled by his subjects. Ethelred, his successor, the +son of Mollo, underwent a like fate. Celwold, the next king, the brother +of Ailred, was deposed and slain by the people; and his place was filled +by Osred, his nephew, who, after a short reign of a year, made way for +Ethelbert, another son of Mollo whose death was equally tragical +with that of almost all his predecessors. After Ethelbert’s death, a +universal anarchy prevailed in Northumberland; and the people having, by +so many fatal revolutions, lost all attachment to their government and +princes, were well prepared for subjection to a foreign yoke; which +Egbert, king of Wessex, finally imposed upon them. + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF EAST ANGLIA + +The history of this kingdom contains nothing memorable except the +conversion of Earpwold, the fourth king, and great-grandson of Una, the +founder of the monarchy. The authority of Edwin, king of Northumberland, +on whom that prince entirety depended, engaged him to take this step; +but soon after, his wife, who was an idolatress, brought him back to her +religion; and he was found unable to resist those allurements which have +seduced the wisest of mankind. After his death, which was violent, +like that of most of the Saxon princes that did not early retire into +monasteries, Sigebert, his successor and half-brother, who had been +educated in France, restored Christianity, and introduced learning +among the East Angles. Some pretend that he founded the university +of Cambridge, or rather some schools in that place. It is almost +impossible, and quite needless, to be more particular in relating the +transactions of the East Angles. What instruction or entertainment can +it give the reader, to hear a long bead-roll of barbarous names, +Egric, Annas, Ethelbert, Ethelwald, Aldulf, Elfwald, Beorne, Ethelred, +Ethelbert, who successively murdered, expelled, or inherited from each +other, and obscurely filled the throne of that kingdom? Ethelbert, +the last of these princes, was treacherously murdered by Offa, king of +Mercia, in the year 792, and his state was thenceforth [*mited] with +that of Offa, as we shall relate presently. + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF MERCIA + +Mercia, the largest, if not the most powerful, kingdom of the Heptarchy, +comprehended all the middle counties of England; and as its frontiers +extended to those of all the other kingdoms, as well as to Wales, +it received its name from that circumstance. Wibba, the son of Crida, +founder of the monarchy, being placed on the throne by Ethelbert, king +of Kent, governed his paternal dominions by a precarious authority; +and after his death, Ceorl, his kinsman, was, by the influence of the +Kentish monarch, preferred to his son Penda, whose turbulent character +appeared dangerous to that prince. Penda was thus fifty years of age +before he mounted the throne; and his temerity and restless disposition +were found nowise abated by time, experience, or reflection. He engaged +in continual hostilities against all the neighboring states; and, by +his injustice and violence, rendered himself equally odious to his own +subjects and to strangers. Sigebert, Egric, and Annas, three kings of +East Anglia, perished successively in battle against him; as did +also Edwin and Oswald, the two greatest princes that had reigned over +Northumberland. At last Oswy, brother to Oswald, having defeated and +slain him in a decisive battle, freed the world from this sanguinary +tyrant. Peada, his son, mounted the throne of Mercia in 655, and lived +under the protection of Oswy, whose daughter he had espoused. This +princess was educated in the Christian faith, and she employed her +influence, with success, in converting her husband and his subjects to +that religion. Thus the fair sex have had the merit of introducing the +Christian doctrine into all the most considerable kingdoms of the Saxon +Heptarchy. Peada died a violent death.[*] His son Wolfhere succeeded to +the government; and, after having reduced to dependence the kingdoms of +Essex and East Anglia, he left the crown to his brother Ethelred, +who, though a lover of peace, showed himself not unfit for military +enterprises. Besides making a successful expedition into Kent, he +repulsed Egfrid, king of Northumberland, who had invaded his dominions; +and he slew in battle Elswin, the brother of that prince. Desirous, +however, of composing all animosities with Egfrid, he paid him a sum of +money as a compensation for the loss of his brother. After a prosperous +reign of thirty years, he resigned the crown to Kendred, son of +Wolfhere, and retired into the monastery of Bardney.[**] + + [* Hugo Candidas (p. 4) says, that he was + treacherously murdered by his queen, by whose persuasion he + had embraced Christianity; but this account of the matter is + found in that historian alone.] + + [** Bede, lib. v.] +Kendred returned the present of the crown to Ceolred, the son of +Ethelred; and making a pilgrimage to Rome, passed his life there in +penance and devotion. The place of Ceolred was supplied by Ethelbald, +great-grand-nephew to Penda, by Alwy, his brother; and this prince, +being slain in a mutiny, was succeeded by Offa, who was a degree more +remote from Penda, by Eawa, another brother. + +This prince, who mounted the throne in 755,[*] had some great qualities, +and was successful in his warlike enterprises against Lothaire, king of +Kent, and Kenwulph, king of Wessex, He defeated the former in a bloody +battle, at Otford upon the Darent, and reduced his kingdom to a state +of dependence; he gained a victory over the latter at Bensington, in +Oxfordshire; and conquering that county, together with that of +Glocester, annexed both to his dominions. But all these successes were +stained by his treacherous murder of Ethelbert, king of the East Angles, +and his violent seizing of that kingdom. This young prince, who is said +to have possessed great merit, had paid his addresses to Elfrida, the +daughter of Offa, and was invited with all his retinue to Hereford, in +order to solemnize the nuptials: amidst the joy and festivity of these +entertainments, he was seized by Offa, and secretly beheaded; and though +Elfrida, who abhorred her father’s treachery, had time to give warning +to the East Anglian nobility, who escaped into their own country, +Offa, having extinguished the royal family, succeeded in his design +of subduing that kingdom.[**] The perfidious prince, desirous of +reestablishing his character in the world, and perhaps of appeasing +the remorses of his own conscience, paid great court to the clergy, and +practised all the monkish devotion so much esteemed in that ignorant and +superstitious age. He gave the tenth of his goods to the church;[***] +bestowed rich donations on the cathedral of Hereford, and even made a +pilgrimage to Rome, where his great power and riches could not fail of +procuring him the papal absolution. The better to ingratiate himself +with the sovereign pontiff, he engaged to pay him a yearly donation for +the support of an English college at Rome,[****] and in order to raise +the sum, he imposed a tax of a penny on each house possessed of thirty +pence a year. This imposition, being afterwards levied on all England, +was commonly denominated _Peter’s pence_;[*****] and though +conferred at first as a gift, was afterwards claimed as a tribute by the +Roman pontiff. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 59.] + + [** Brompton, p. 750, 751, 752.] + + [*** Spell. Concil. p 308. Brompton, p. 776.] + + [**** Spell. Concil. p. 230, 310, 312.] + + [***** Higden, lib. v.] + +Carrying his hypocrisy still further, Offa, feigning to be directed by +a vision from heaven, discovered at Verulam the relics of St Alban, the +martyr, and endowed a magnificent monastery in that place.[*] Moved by +al these acts of piety, Malmsbury, one of the best of the old English +historians, declares himself at a loss to determine[**] whether the +merits or crimes of this prince preponderated. Offa died, after a reign +of thirty-nine years, in 794.[***] + +This prince was become so considerable in the Heptarchy, that the +emperor Charlemagne entered into an alliance and friendship with him; +a circumstance which did honor to Offa; as distant princes at that time +had usually little communication with each other. That emperor being a +great lover of learning and learned men, in an age very barren of that +ornament, Offa, at his desire, sent him over Alcuin, a clergyman +much celebrated for his knowledge, who received great honors from +Charlemagne, and even became his preceptor in the sciences. The chief +reason why he had at first desired the company of Alcuin, was that he +might oppose his learning to the heresy of Felix, bishop of Urgel, in +Catalonia; who maintained that Jesus Christ, considered in his human +nature, could more properly be denominated the adoptive than the natural +son of God.[****] This heresy was condemned in the council of Francfort, +held in 794, and consisting of three hundred bishops. Such were the +questions which were agitated in that age, and which employed the +attention not only of cloistered scholars, but of the wisest and +greatest princes.[*****] + +Egfrith succeeded to his father Offa, but survived him only five +months;[******] when he made way for Kenulph, a descendant of the royal +family. This prince waged war against Kent, and taking Egbert, the king, +prisoner, he cut off his hands, and put out his eyes; leaving Cuthred, +his own brother, in possession of the crown of that kingdom. Kenulph +was killed in an insurrection of the East Anglians, whose crown his +predecessor, Offa, had usurped. He left his son Kenelm, a minor; who was +murdered the same year by his sister Quendrade, who had entertained the +ambitious views of assuming the government.[*******] + + [* Ingulph. p. 5. W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 4.] + + [** Lib. i. cap. 4.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 65.] + + [**** Dupin, cent. viii. chap. 4]. + + [***** Offa, in order to protect his country from + Wales, drew a rampart or ditch of a hundred miles in length, + from Basinwerke in Flintshire to the south sea near Bristol. + See Speed’s Description of Wales.] + + [****** Ingulph. p. 6] + + [******* Ingulph, p. 7. Brompton, p. 776.] + +But she was supplanted by her uncle Ceolulf; who, two years after, was +dethroned by Beornulf The reign of this usurper, who was not of the +royal family, was short and unfortunate; he was defeated by the West +Saxons, and killed by his own subjects, the East Angles.[*] Ludican, his +successor, underwent the same fate;[**] and Wiglaff, who mounted this +unstable throne, and found everything in the utmost confusion, could not +withstand the fortune of Egbert, who united all the Saxon kingdoms into +one great monarchy. + + [* Ingulph. p. 7.] + + [** Alured. Beverl. p. 87.] + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF ESSEX. + +This kingdom made no great figure in the Heptarchy; and the history +of it is very imperfect. Sleda succeeded to his father, Erkinwin, the +founder of the monarchy; and made way for his son Sebert, who, being +nephew to Ethelbert, king of Kent, was persuaded by that prince to +embrace the Christian faith.[***] His sons and conjunct successors, +Sexted and Seward, relapsed into idolatry, and were soon after slain in +a battle against the West Saxons. To show the rude manner of living +in that age, Bede tells us,[****] that these two kings expressed great +desire to eat the white bread, distributed by Mellitus, the bishop, at +the communion.[*****] But on his refusing them, unless they would submit +to be baptized, they expelled him their dominions. The names of the +other princes, who reigned successively in Essex, are Sigebert the +little, Sigebert the good, who restored Christianity, Swithelm, Sigheri, +Offa. This last prince, having made a vow of chastity, notwithstanding +his marriage with Keneswitha, a Mercian princess, daughter to Penda, +went in pilgrimage to Rome, and shut himself up during the rest of his +life in a cloister. Selred, his successor, reigned thirty-eight years; +and was the last of the royal line; the failure of which threw the +kingdom into great confusion, and reduced it to dependence under +Mercia.[******] Switherd first acquired the crown, by the concession of +the Mercian princes; and his death made way for Sigeric, who ended his +life in a pilgrimage to Rome. His successor. Sigered, unable to defend +his kingdom, submitted to the victorious arms of Egbert. + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 24]. + + [**** Lib. ii. cap. 5.] + + [***** H. Hunting, lib. iii. Brompton, p. 738, + 743. Bede.] + + [****** W Malms, lib. i. cap. 6.] + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF SUSSEX. + +The history of this kingdom, the smallest in the Heptarchy, is still more +imperfect than that of Essex. Ælla, the founder of the monarchy, left +the crown to his son Cissa, who is chiefly remarkable for his long reign +of seventy-six years. During his time, the South Saxons fell almost into +a total dependence on the kingdom of Wessex; and we scarcely know the +names of the princes who were possessed of this titular sovereignty. +Adelwalch, the last of them, was subdued in battle by Ceadwalla, king +of Wessex, and was slain in the action; leaving two infant sons, who, +falling into the hand of the conqueror, were murdered by him. The abbot +of Bedford opposed the order for this execution; but could only prevail +on Ceadwalla to suspend it till they should be baptized. Bercthun and +Audhum, two noblemen of character, resisted some time the violence +of the West Saxons; but their opposition served only to prolong the +miseries of their country; and the subduing of this kingdom was the +first step which the West Saxons made towards acquiring the sole +monarchy of England.[*] + + [* Brompton, p. 800.] + + + + +THE KINGDOM OF WESSEX. + +The kingdom of Wessex, which finally swallowed up all the other Saxon +states, met with great resistance on its first establishment; and +the Britons, who were now inured to arms, yielded not tamely their +possessions to those invaders. Cerdic, the founder of the monarchy, and +his son Kenric, fought many successful, and some unsuccessful battles, +against the natives; and the martial spirit, common to all the Saxons, +was, by means of these hostilities, carried to the greatest height among +this tribe. Ceaulin, who was the son and successor of Kenric, and who +began his reign in 560, was still, more ambitious and enterprising than +his predecessors; and by waging continual war against the Britons, he +added a great part of the counties of Devon and Somerset to his other +dominions. Carried along by the tide of success, he invaded the other +Saxon states in his neighborhood, and becoming terrible to all, he +provoked a general confederacy against him. This alliance proved +successful under the conduct of Ethelbert, king of Kent; and Ceaulin, +who had lost the affections of his own subjects by his violent +disposition, and had now fallen into contempt from his misfortunes, was +expelled the throne,[**]and died in exile and misery. Cuichelme, and +Cuthwin, his sons, governed jointly the kingdom, till the expulsion +of the latter in 591, and the death of the former in 593, made way +for Cealric, to whom succeeded Ceobaîd in 593, by whose death, which +happened in 611, Kynegils inherited the crown. + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 22.] + +This prince embraced Christianity,[*] through the persuasion of Oswald, +king of Northumberland, who had married his daughter, and who had +Attained a great ascendant in the Heptarchy. Kenwalch next succeeded to +the monarchy, and dying in 672, left the succession so much disputed, +that Sexburga, his widow, a woman of spirit,[**] kept possession of the +government till her death, which happened two years after. Escwin then +peaceably acquired the crown; and, after a short reign of two years, +made way for Kentwin, who governed nine years. Ceodwalla, his successor, +mounted not the throne without opposition; but proved a great prince, +according to the ideas of those times; that is, he was enterprising, +warlike, and successful. He entirely subdued the kingdom of Sussex, and +annexed it to his own dominions He made inroads into Kent; but met with +resistance from Widred, the king, who proved successful against Mollo, +brother to Ceodwalla, and slew him in a skirmish. Ceodwalla at last, +tired with wars and bloodshed, was seized with a fit of devotion; +bestowed several endowments on the church; and made a pilgrimage to +Rome, where he received baptism, and died in 689. Ina, his successor, +inherited the military virtues of Ceodwalla, and added to them the more +valuable ones of justice, policy, and prudence. He made war upon the +Britons in Somerset; and, having finally subdued that province, he +treated the vanquished with a humanity hitherto unknown to the Saxon +conquerors. He allowed the proprietors to retain possession of their +lands, encouraged marriages and alliances between them and his ancient +subjects, and gave them the privilege of being governed by the same +laws. These laws he augmented and ascertained; and though he was +disturbed by some insurrections at home, his long reign of thirty-seven +years may be regarded as one of the most glorious and most prosperous of +the Heptarchy. In the decline of his age he made a pilgrimage to Rome; +and after his return, shut himself up in a cloister, where he died. + + [* Higden, lib. v. Chron. Sax. p. 15. Alured + Beverl p. 94.] + + [** Bede, lib. iv. cap., 12. Chron. Sax. p. 41.] + +Though the kings of Wessex had always been princes of the blood, +descended from Cerdic, the founder of the monarchy, the order of +succession had been far from exact; and a more remote prince had often +found means to mount the throne, in preference to one descended from a +nearer branch of the royal family. Ina, therefore, having no children +of his own and lying much under the influence of Ethelburga, his queen, +left by will the succession to Adelard, her brother, who was his +remote kinsman; but this destination did not take place without some +difficulty. Oswald, a prince more nearly allied to the crown, took arms +against Adelard; but he being suppressed, and dying soon after, the +title of Adelard was not any further disputed; and in the year 741, +he was succeeded by his cousin Cudred. The reign of this prince was +distinguished by a great victory, which he obtained by means of Edelhun, +his general, over Ethelbald, king of Mercia. His death made way for +Sigebert, his kinsman, who governed so ill, that his people rose in +an insurrection, and dethroned him, crowning Cenulph in his stead. The +exiled prince found a refuge with Duke Cumbran, governor of Hampshire; +who, that he might add new obligations to Sigebert, gave him many +salutary counsels for his future conduct, accompanied with some +reprehensions for the past. But these were so much resented by the +ungrateful prince, that he conspired against the life of his protector, +and treacherously murdered him. After this infamous action, he was +forsaken by all the world; and skulking about in the wilds and forests, +was at last discovered by a servant of Cumbran’s, who instantly took +revenge upon him for the murder of his master.[*] + + +Cenulph, who had obtained the crown on the expulsion of Sigebert, was +fortunate in many expeditions against the Britons of Cornwall; but +afterwards lost some reputation by his ill success against Offa, king +of Mercia.[**] Kynehard also, brother to the deposed Sigebert, gave +him disturbance; and though expelled the kingdom, he hovered on the +frontiers, and watched an opportunity for attacking his rival. The king +had an intrigue with a young woman, who lived at Merton, in Surrey, +whither having secretly retired, he was on a sudden environed, in the +night time, by Kynehard and his followers, and after making a vigorous +resistance, was murdered, with all his attendants. The nobility and +people of the neighborhood, rising next day in arms, took revenge on +Kynehard for the slaughter of their king, and put every one to the sword +who had been engaged in that criminal enterprise. This event happened in +784. + + [* Higden, lib. v. W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 2.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. i. cap. 2.] + +Brthric next obtained possession of the government, though remotely +descended from the royal family; but he enjoyed not that dignity without +inquietude. Eoppa, nephew to King Ina, by his brother Ingild, who died +before that prince, had begot Eata, father to Alchmond, from whom sprung +Egbert,[*] a young man of the most promising hopes, who gave great +jealousy to Brithric, the reigning prince, both because he seemed by his +birth better entitled to the crown, and because he had acquired, to an +eminent degree, the affections of the people. Egbert, sensible of +his danger from the suspicions of Brithric, secretly withdrew into +France;[**] where he was well received by Charlemagne. By living in the +court, and serving in the armies of that prince, the most able and most +generous that had appeared in Europe during several ages, he acquired +those accomplishments which afterwards enabled him to make such a +shining figure on the throne. And familiarizing himself to the manners +of the French, who, as Malmsbury observes,[***] were eminent both for +valor and civility above all the western nations, he learned to polish +the rudeness and barbarity of the Saxon character: his early misfortunes +thus proved of singular advantage to him. + + +It was not long ere Egbert had opportunities of displaying his natural +and acquired talents. Brithric, king of Wessex, had married Eadburga, +natural daughter of Offa, king of Mercia, a profligate woman, equally +infamous for cruelty and for incontinence. Having great influence over +her husband, she often instigated him to destroy such of the nobility as +were obnoxious to her; and where this expedient failed, she scrupled not +being herself active in traitorous attempts against them. She had mixed +a cup of poison for a young nobleman, who had acquired her husband’s +friendship, and had on that account become the object of her jealousy; +but unfortunately the king drank of the fatal cup along with his +favorite, and soon after expired.[****] This tragical incident, joined +to her other crimes, rendered Eadburga so odious, that she was obliged +to fly into France; whence Egbert was at the same time recalled by the +nobility, in order to ascend the throne of his ancestors.[*****] He +attained that dignity in the last year of the eighth century. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 16.] + + [** H. Hunting. lib. iv.] + + [*** Lib. ii. cap. 11.] + + [**** Higden, lib. v. M West. p. 152. Asser. in + vita Alfiredi, p, 3. ex edit, Camdeni.] + + [***** Chron. Sax. A.D. 800. Brompton, p. 801] + +In the kingdoms of the Heptarchy, an exact rule of succession was either +unknown or not strictly observed; and thence the reigning prince was +continually agitated with jealousy against all the princes of the blood, +whom he still considered as rivals, and whose death alone could give him +entire security in his possession of the throne. From this fatal cause, +together with the admiration of the monastic life, and the opinion of +merit attending the preservation of chastity even in a married state, +the royal families had been entirely extinguished in all the kingdoms +except that of Wessex; and the emulations, suspicions, and conspiracies, +which had formerly been confined to the princes of the blood alone, were +now diffused among all the nobility in the several Saxon states. Egbert +was the sole descendant of those first conquerors who subdued Britain, +and who enhanced their authority by claiming a pedigree from Woden, the +supreme divinity of their ancestors. But that prince, though invited by +this favorable circumstance to make attempts on the neighboring Saxons, +gave them for some time no disturbance, and rather chose to turn his +arms against the Britons in Cornwall, whom he defeated in several +battles.[*] He was recalled from the conquest of that country by an +invasion made upon his dominions by Bernulf, king of Mercia. + +The Mercians, before the accession of Egbert, had very nearly attained +the absolute sovereignty in the Heptarchy: they had reduced the East +Angles under subjection, and established tributary princes in the +kingdoms of Kent and Essex. Northumberland was involved in anarchy; and +no state of any consequence remained but that of Wessex, which, +much inferior in extent to Mercia, was supported solely by the great +qualities of its sovereign. Egbert led his army against the invaders; +and encountering them at Ellandun, in Wiltshire, obtained a complete +victory, and by the great slaughter which he made of them in their +flight, gave a mortal blow to the power of the Mercians. Whilst he +himself, In prosecution of his victory, entered their country on the +side of Oxfordshire, and threatened the heart of their dominions, he +sent an army into Kent, commanded by Ethelwolph, his eldest son,[**] +and, expelling Baldred. The tributary king, soon made himself master of +that county. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 69.] + + [** Ethelwerd, lib iii. cap. 2.] + +The kingdom of Essex was conquered with equal facility; and the East +Angles, from their hatred to the Mercian gov ernment, which had been +established over them by treachery and violence, and probably exercised +with tyranny, immediately rose in arms, and craved the protection of +Egbert.[*] Bernulf, the Mercian king, who marched against them, was +feated and siain; and two years after, Ludican, his successor, met +with the same fate. These insurrections and calamities facilitated +the enterprises of Egbert, who advanced into the centre of the Mercian +territories, and made easy conquests over a dispirited and divided +people. In order to engage them more easily to submission, he allowed +Wiglef, their countryman, to retain the title of king, whilst he +himself exercised the real powers of sovereignty.[**] The anarchy which +prevailed in Northumberland tempted him to carry still farther his +victorious arms; and the inhabitants, unable to resist his power, +and desirous of possessing some established form of government, were +forward, on his first appearance, to send deputies, who submitted to +his authority, and swore allegiance to him as their sovereign. Egbert, +however, still allowed to Northumberland, as he had done to Mercia, and +East Anglia, the power of electing a king, who paid him tribute, and was +dependent on him. + +Thus were united all the kingdoms of the Heptarchy in one great state, +near four hundred years after the first arrival of the Saxons in +Britain; and the fortunate arms and prudent policy of Egbert at +last effected what had been so often attempted in vain by so many +princes.[***] Kent, Northumberland, and Mercia, which had successively +aspired to general dominion, were now incorporated in his empire; and +the other subordinate kingdoms seemed willingly to share the same fate. +His territories were nearly of the same extent with what is now +properly called England; and a favorable prospect was afforded to +the Anglo-Saxons of establishing a civilized monarchy, possessed of +tranquillity within itself, and secure against foreign invasion. This +great event happened in the year 827.[****] + + [* Ethelwerd, lib. iii. cap. 2.] + + [** Ingulph. p. 7, 8, 19.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 71.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 71.] + +The Saxons, though they had been so long settled in the island, seem not +as yet to have been much improved beyond their German ancestors, either +hi arts, civility, knowledge, humanity, justice, or obedience to the +laws. Even Christianity, though it opened the way to connections between +their and the more polished states of Europe, had not hitherto been very +effectual in banishing their ignorance, or softening their barbarous +manners. As they received that doctrine through the corrupted channels +of Rome, it carried along with it a great mixture of credulity and +superstition, equally destructive to the understanding and to morals. +The reverence towards saints and relics seems to have almost supplanted +the idoration of the Supreme Being; monastic observances were esteemed +more meritorious than the active virtues; the knowledge of natural +causes was neglected, from the universal belief of miraculous +interpositions and judgments; bounty to the church atoned for every +violence against society; and the remorses for cruelty, murder, +treachery, assassination, and the more robust vices, were appeased, not +by amendment of life, but by penances, servility to the monks, and an +abject and illiberal devotion.[*] The reverence for the clergy had +been carried to such a height, that, wherever a person appeared in a +sacerdotal habit, though on the highway, the people flocked around him, +and, showing him all marks of profound respect, received every word he +uttered as the most sacred oracle.[**] Even the military virtues, +so inherent in all the Saxon tribes, began to be neglected; and the +nobility, preferring the security and sloth of the cloister to the +tumults and glory of war, valued themselves chiefly on endowing +monasteries, of which they assumed the government.[***] The several +kings too, being extremely impoverished by continual benefactions to the +church, to which the states of their kingdoms had weakly assented, could +bestow no rewards on valor or military services, and retained not even +sufficient influence to support their government.[****] + + [* These abuses were common to all the European + churches; but the priests in Italy, Spain, and Gaul, made + some atonement for them by other advantages which they + rendered society. For several ages, they were almost all + Romans, or, in other words, the ancient natives; and they + preserved the Roman language and laws, with some remains of + the former civility. But the priests in the Heptarchy, after + the first missionaries, were wholly Saxons, and almost as + ignorant and Barbarous as the laity. They contributed, + therefore, little to no improvement of society in knowledge + or the arts.] + + [** Bede, lib. iii. cap. 26.] + + [*** Bede, lib. v. cap. 23. Bedae Epist. ad + Egbert.] + + [**** Bedse Epist. ad Egbert.] + +Another inconvenience which attended this corrupt species of +Christianity, was the superstitious attachment to Rome, and the gradual +subjection of the kingdom to a foreign jurisdiction. The Britons, having +never acknowledged any subordination to the Roman pontiff, had conducted +all ecclesiastical government by their domestic synods and councils;[*] +but the Saxons, receiving their religion from Roman monks, were taught +at the same time a profound reverence for that see, and were naturally +led to regard it as the capital of their religion. Pilgrimages to Rome +were represented as the most meritorious acts of devotion. Not only +noblemen and ladies of rank undertook this tedious journey,[**] but +kings themselves, abdicating their crowns, sought for a secure passport +to heaven at the feet of the Roman pontiff. New relics, perpetually sent +from that endless mint of superstition, and magnified by lying miracles, +invented in convents, operated on the astonished minds of the multitude. +And every prince has attained the eulogies of the monks, the only +historians of those ages, not in proportion to his civil and military +virtues, but to his devoted attachment towards their order, and his +superstitious reverence for Rome. + +The sovereign pontiff, encouraged by this blindness and submissive +disposition of the people, advanced every day in his encroachments +on the independence of the English churches. Wilfrid, bishop of +Lindisferne, the sole prelate of the Northumbrian kingdom, increased +this subjection in the eighth century, by his making an appeal to +Rome against the decisions of an English synod, which had abridged his +diocese by the erection of some new bishoprics.[***] Agatho, the pope, +readily embraced this precedent of an appeal to his court; and Wilfrid, +though the haughtiest and most luxurious prelate of his age,[****] +having obtained with the people the character of sanctity, was thus able +to lay the foundation of this papal pretension. + + [* Append, to Bede, numb. 10, ex edit. 1722. + Spehn. Concil p.108, 109.] + + [** Bede. lib. v. cap. 7.] + + [*** See Appendix to Bede, numb. 19. Higden, lib. + v.] + + [**** Eddius, vita Vilfr. sect. 24, 60] + +The great topic by which Wilfrid confounded the imaginations of men, +was, that St. Peter, to whos custody the keys of heaven were intrusted, +would certainly refuse admittance to every one who should be wanting +in respect to his successor, This conceit, well suited to vulgar +conceptions, made great impression on the people during several +ages, and has act even at present lost all influence in the Catholic +countries. Had this abject superstition produced general peace and +tranquillity, it had made some atonement for the ills attending it; +but besides the usual avidity of men for power and riches, frivolous +controversies in theology were engendered by it, which were so much +the more fatal, as they admitted not, like the others, of any final +determination from established possession. The disputes, excited in +Britain, were of the most ridiculous kind, and entirely worthy of those +ignorant and barbarous ages. There were some intricacies, observed by +all the Christian churches, in adjusting the day of keeping Easter; +which depended on a complicated consideration of the course of the sun +and moon; and it happened that the missionaries, who had converted the +Scots and Britons, had followed a different calendar from that which was +observed at Rome, in the age when Augustine converted the Saxons. The +priests also of all the Christian churches were accustomed to shave part +of their head; but the form given to this tonsure was different in the +former from what was practised in the latter. The Scots and Britons +pleaded the antiquity of _their_ usages; the Romans and their +disciples, the Saxons, insisted on the universality of _theirs_. +That Easter must necessarily be kept by a rule, which comprehended both +the day of the year and age of the moon, was agreed by all; that the +tonsure of a priest could not be omitted without the utmost impiety, was +a point undisputed; but the Romans and Saxons called their antagonists +schismatics, because they celebrated Easter on the very day of the full +moon in March, if that day fell on a Sunday, instead of waiting till the +Sunday following; and because they shaved the fore part of their head +from ear to ear, instead of making that tonsure on the crown of the +head, and in a circular form. In order to render their antagonists +odious, they affirmed that, once in seven years, they concurred with the +Jews in the time of celebrating that festival;[*] and that they might +recommend their own form of tonsure, they maintained, that it imitated +symbolically the crown of thorns worn by Christ in his passion; whereas +the other form was invented by Simon Magus, without any regard to that +representation.[**] + + [* Bede, lib. ii. cap. 19.] + + [** Bede, lib. v. cap. 21. Eddius, sect. 24] + +These controversies had, from the beginning, excited such animosity +between the British and Romish priests that, instead of concurring +in their endeavors to convert the idolatrous Saxons, they refused all +communion together, and each regarded his opponent as no better than +a pagan.[*] The dispute lasted more than a century; and was at last +finished, not by men’s discovering the folly of it, which would have +been too great an effort for human reason to accomplish, but by the +entire prevalence of the Romish ritual over the Scotch and British.[**] +Wilfrid, bishop of Lindisferne, acquired great merit, both with the +court of Rome and with all the southern Saxons, by expelling the +quartodeciman schism, as it was called, from the Northumbrian kingdom, +into which the neighborhood of the Scots had formerly introduced +it.[***] + +Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, called, in the year 680, a synod +at Hatfield, consisting of all the bishops in Britain,[****] where was +accepted and ratified the decree of the Lateran council, summoned by +Martin, against the heresy of the Monothelites. The council and synod +maintained, in opposition to these heretics, that, though the divine +and human nature in Christ made but one person, yet had they different +inclinations, wills, acts, and sentiments, and that the unity of the +person implied not any unity in the consciousness.[*****] This opinion +it seems somewhat difficult to comprehend; and no one, unacquainted with +the ecclesiastical history of those ages, could imagine the height of +zeal and violence with which it was then inculcated. The decree of +the Lateran council calls the Monothelites impious, execrable, wicked, +abominable, and even diabolical; and curses and anathematizes them to +all eternity.[******] + + [* Bede, lib. ii. cap. 2, 4, 20. Eddius, sect. + 12.] + + [** Bede, lib. v. cap. 16, 22.] + + [*** Bede, lib. iii. cap. 25. Eddius, sect. 12.] + + [**** Spell. Concil. vol. i. p. 168.] + + [***** Spell. Concil. vol. i. p. 171.] + + [****** Spell. Concil. vol. i. p. 172, 173, 174.] + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Saxons, from the first introduction of Christianity among them, had +admitted the use of images; and perhaps that religion, without some of +those exterior ornaments, had not made so quick a progress with these +idolaters; but they had not paid any species of worship or address +to images; and this abuse never prevailed among Christians, till it +received the sanction of the second council of Nice. + + + + +EGBERT. + +[Sidenote: 827.] The kingdoms of the Heptarchy, though united by a +recent conquest, seemed to be firmly cemented into one state under +Egbert; and the inhabitants of the several provinces had lost all desire +of revolting from that monarch, or of restoring their former independent +governments. Their language was every where nearly the same, their +customs, laws, institutions, civil and religious; and as the race of +the ancient kings was totally extinct in all the subjected states, the +people readily transferred their allegiance to a prince who seemed +to merit it by the splendor of his victories, the vigor of hia +administration, and the superior nobility of his birth. A union also in +government opened to them the agreeable prospect of future tranquillity; +and it appeared more probable that they would thenceforth become +formidable to their neighbors, than be exposed to their inroads and +devastations. But these flattering views were soon overcast by +the appearance of the Danes, who, during some centuries, kept the +Anglo-Saxons in perpetual inquietude, committed the most barbarous +ravages upon them, and at last reduced them to grievous servitude. + +The emperor Charlemagne, though naturally generous and humane, had been +induced by bigotry to exercise great severities upon the pagan Saxons in +Germany, whom he subdued; and besides often ravaging their country with +fire and sword, he had, in cool blood, decimated all the inhabitants +for their revolts, and had obliged them, by the most rigorous edicts, +to make a seeming compliance with the Christian doctrine. That religion, +which had easily made its way among the British Saxons by insinuation +and address, appeared shocking to their German brethren, when imposed on +them by the violence of Charlemagne; and the more generous and warlike +of these pagans had fled northward into Jutland, in order to escape +the fury of his persecutions. Meeting there with a people of similar +manners, they were readily received among them; and they soon stimulated +the natives to concur in enterprises which both promised revenge on +the haughty conqueror, and afforded subsistence to those numerous +inhabitants with which the northern countries were now overburdened.[*] +They invaded the provinces of France, which were exposed by the +degeneracy and dissensions of Charlemagne’s posterity; and being there +known under the general name of Normans, which they received from their +northern situation, they became the terror of all the maritime and even +of the inland countries. They were also tempted to visit England in +their frequent excursions; and being able, by sudden inroads, to make +great progress over a people who were not defended by any naval force, +who had relaxed their military institutions, and who were sunk into a +superstition which had become odious to the Danes and ancient Saxons, +they made no distinction in their hostilities between the French and +English kingdoms. Their first appearance in this island was in the year +787,[**] when Brithric reigned in Wessex. A small body of them landed in +that kingdom, with a view of learning the state of the country; and when +the magistrate of the place questioned them concerning their enterprise, +and summoned them to appear before the king, and account for their +intentions, they killed him, and, flying to, their ships, escaped into +their own country. The next alarm was given to Northumberland in the +year 794,[***] when a body of these pirates pillaged a monastery; but +their ships being much damaged by a storm, and their leader slain in +a skirmish, they were at last defeated by the inhabitants, and the +remainder of them put to the sword. [Sidenote: 832] Five years after +Egbert had established his monarchy over England, the Danes landed in +the Isle of Shepey, and having pillaged it, escaped with impunity.[****] +They were not so fortunate in their next year’s enterprise, when they +disembarked from thirty-five ships, and were encountered by Egbert, at +Charmouth, in Dorsetshire. The battle was bloody; but though the Danes +lost great numbers, they maintained the post which they had taken, and +thence made good their retreat to their ships.[*****] + + [* Ypod. Neust. p. 414.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 64.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 66. Alured. Beveri. p. 108.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 72] + + [***** Chiron. Sax. p. 72. Ethelwerd,lib. iii. + cap. 2.] + +Having learned, by experience, that they must expect a vigorous +resistance from this warlike prince, they entered into an alliance with +the Britons of Cornwall; and, landing two years after in that country, +made an inroad with their confederates into the county of Devon, but +were met at Hengesdown by Egbert, and totally defeated.[*] While England +remained in this state of anxiety, and defended itself more by temporary +expedients than by any regular plan of administration, Egbert, who alone +was able to provide effectually against this new evil, unfortunately +died, and left the government to his son Ethelwolf. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 72.] + + + + +ETHELWOLF. + +This prince had neither the abilities nor the vigor of his father, and +was better qualified for governing a convent than a kingdom.[*] He began +his reign with making a partition of his dominions, and delivering over +to his eldest son, Athelstan, the new-conquered provinces of Essex, +Kent, and Sussex. But no inconveniences seem to have arisen from this +partition as the continual terror of the Danish invasions prevented +all domestic dissension. A fleet of these ravagers, consisting of +thirty-three sail, appeared at Southampton, but were repulsed with loss +by Wolfhere, governor of the neighboring country.[**] The same year, +Æthelhelm, governor of Dorsetshire, routed another band, which had +disembarked at Portsmouth; but he obtained the victory after a furious +engagement, and he bought it with the loss of his life.[***] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap 2.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 73. Ethelwerd, lib. iii. cap. + 3.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 73. H. Hunting, lib. v.] + +Next year, the Danes made several inroads into England, and fought +battles, or rather skirmishes, in East Anglia and Lindesey and Kent; +where, though they were sometimes repulsed and defeated, they always +obtained their end, of committing spoil upon the country, and carrying +off their booty. They avoided coming to a general engagement, which was +not suited to their plan of operations. Their vessels were small, and +ran easily up the creeks and rivers, where they drew them ashore, and, +having formed an intrenchment round them, which they guarded with part +of their number, the remainder scattered themselves every where, and +carrying off the inhabitants, and cattle, and goods, they hastened +to their ships, and quickly disappeared. If the military force of the +county were assembled, (for there was no time for troops to march from +a distance,) the Danes either were able to repulse them, and to continue +their ravages with impunity, or they betook themselves to their vessels, +and, setting sail, suddenly invaded some distant quarter, which was not +prepared for their reception. + +Every part of England was held in continual alarm; and the inhabitants +of one county durst not give assistance to those of another, lest their +own families and property should in the mean time be exposed by their +absence to the fury of these barbarous ravagers.[*] + +[* Alured. Beverl. p. 108.] + +All orders of men were involved in this calamity; and the priests and +monks, who had been commonly spared in the domestic quarrels of +the Heptarchy, were the chief objects on which the Danish idolaters +exercised their rage and animosity. Every season of the year was +dangerous, and the absence of the enemy was no reason why any man could +esteem himself a moment in safety. + +These incursions had now become almost annual; when the Danes, +encouraged by their successes against France as well as England, (for +both kingdoms were alike exposed to this dreadful calamity,) invaded +the last in so numerous a body as seemed to threaten it with universal +subjection. But the English, more military than the Britons, whom a few +centuries before they had treated with like violence, roused themselves +with a vigor proportioned to the exigency. Ceorle, governor of +Devonshire, fought a battle with one body of the Danes at Wiganburgh,[*] +and put them to rout with great slaughter. + + [* H. Hunting, lib. v. Ethelwerd, lib. iii. cap 3. + Sim. Dunelm. p. 120.] + +King Athelstan attacked another at sea, near Sandwich, sunk nine of +their ships, and put the rest to flight.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 74. Asser. p. 2.] + +A body of them, however, ventured, for the first time, to take up winter +quarters in England; and receiving in the spring a strong reënforcement +of their countrymen, in three hundred and fifty vessels, they advanced +from the Isle of Thanet, where they had stationed themselves, burnt the +cities of London and Canterbury, and having put to flight Brichtric, who +now governed Mercia under the title of king, they marched into the heart +of Surrey, and laid every place waste around them. Ethelwolf, impelled +by the urgency of the danger, marched against them at the head of the +West Saxons; and, carrying with him his second son, Ethelbald, gave them +battle at Okely, and gained a bloody victory over them. This advantage +procured but a short respite to the English. The Danes still maintained +their settlement in the Isle of Thanet; and, being attacked by Ealher +and Huda, governors of Kent and Surrey, though defeated in the beginning +of the action, they finally repulsed the assailants, and killed both +the governors, removed thence to the Isle of Shepey, where they took up +their winter quarters, that they might farther extend their devastation +and ravages. + + +This unsettled state of England hindered not Ethelwolf from making a +pilgrimage to Rome, whither he carried his fourth and favorite son, +Alfred, then only six years of age.[*] He passed there a twelvemonth +in exercises of devotion; and failed not in that most essential part of +devotion, liberality to the church of Rome. Besides giving presents to +the more distinguished ecclesiastics, he made a perpetual grant of three +hundred mancuses[**] a year to that see; one third to support the +lamps of St. Peter’s, another those of St. Paul’s, a third to the pope +himself.[***] In his return home, he married Judith, daughter of the +emperor Charles the Bald; but, on his landing in England, he met with an +opposition which he little looked for. + + +His eldest son, Athelstan, being dead, Ethelbald, his second, who had +assumed the government, formed, in concert with many of the nobles, the +project of excluding his father from a throne which his weakness and +superstition seem to have rendered him so ill qualified to fill. The +people were divided between the two princes, and a bloody civil war, +joined to all the other calamities under which the English labored, +appeared inevitable, when Ethelwolf had the facility to yield to the +greater part of his son’s pretensions. He made with him a partition of +the kingdom; and, taking to himself the eastern part, which was always, +at that time, esteemed the least considerable, as well as the most +exposed,[****] he delivered over to Ethelbald the sovereignty of the +western. Immediately after, he summoned the states of the whole kingdom, +and with the same facility conferred a perpetual and important donation +on the church. + + [* Asser. p. 2. Chron. Sax. 76. H. Hunting, lib. + v.] + + [** A mancus was about the weight of our present + half crown. See Spelman’s Glossary, in verbo Mancus.] + + [*** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 2.] + + [**** Asser. p. 3. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 2. M. + West. p. 7, 8.] + +The ecclesiastics, in those days of ignorance, made rapid advances in +the acquisition of power and grandeur; and, inculcating the most absurd +and most interested doctrines, though they sometimes met, from the +contrary interests of the laity, with an opposition which it required +time and address to overcome, they found no obstacle in their reason or +understanding. Not content with the donations of land made them by the +Saxon princes and nobles, and with temporary oblations from the devotion +of the people, they had cast a wishful eye on a vast revenue, which they +claimed as belonging to them by a sacred and indefeasible title. However +little versed in the Scriptures, they had been able to discover that, +under the Jewish law, a tenth of all the produce of land was conferred +on the priesthood; and, forgetting what they themselves taught, that the +moral part only of that law was obligatory on Christians, they insisted +that this donation conveyed a perpetual property, inherent by divine +right in those who officiated at the altar. During some centuries, the +whole scope of sermons and homilies was directed to this purpose; and +one would have imagined, from the general tenor of these discourses, +that all the practical parts of Christianity were comprised in the exact +and faithful payment of tithes to the clergy.[*] Encouraged by their +success in inculcating these doctrines, they ventured farther than they +were warranted even by the Levitical law, and pretended to draw the +tenth of all industry, merchandise, wages of laborers, and pay of +soldiers;[**] nay, some canonists went so far as to affirm that the +clergy were entitled to the tithe of the profits made by courtesans +in the exercise of their profession.[***] Though parishes had been +instituted in England by Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, near two +centuries before,[****] the ecclesiastics had never yet been able to get +possession of the tithes; they therefore seized the present favorable +opportunity of making that acquisition; when a weak, superstitious +prince filled the throne, and when the people, discouraged by their +losses from the Danes, and terrified with the fear of future invasions, +were susceptible of any impression which bore the appearance of +religion.[*****] So meritorious was this concession deemed by the +English, that, trusting entirely to supernatural assistance, they +neglected the ordinary means of safety; and agreed, even in the present +desperate extremity, that the revenues of the church should be +exempted from all burdens, though imposed for national defence and +security.[******] + + [* Padre Paolo, sopra beneficii ecclesiastici, p. + 51, 52, edit. Colon. 1675.] + + [** Spell. Concil. vol. i. p. 268.] + + [*** Padre Paolo, p. 132.] + + [**** Parker, p. 77.] + + [***** Ingulph. p. 862. Selden’s Hist. of Tithes, + c. 8.] + + [****** Asser. p. 2. Chron. Sax. p. 76. W. Malms, + lib. ii. cap. 2. Ethelwerd, lib. iii. cap. 3. M. West. p. + 158. Ingulph. p. 17. Alured. Beverl. p. 95.] + + + + +ETHELBALD AND ETHELBERT. + +Ethelwolf lived only two years after making this grant; and by his will +he shared England between his two eldest sons, Ethelbald and Ethelbert; +the west being assigned to the former, the east to the latter. Ethelbald +was a profligate prince; and marrying Judith, his mother-in-law, gave +great offence to the people; but moved by the remonstrances of Swithun, +bishop of Winchester, he was at last prevailed on to divorce her. +His reign was short; and Ethelbert, his brother, succeeding to the +government, behaved himself, during a reign of five years, in a manner +more worthy of his birth and station. The kingdom, however, was still +infested by the Danes, who made an inroad and sacked Winchester, but +were there defeated. A body also of these pirates, who were quartered +in the Isle of Thanet, having deceived the English by a treaty, +unexpectedly broke into Kent, and committed great outrages. + + + + +ETHERED + +Ethelbert was succeeded by his brother Ethered, who, though he defended +himself with bravery, enjoyed, during his whole reign, no tranquillity +from those Danish irruptions. His younger brother, Alfred, seconded him +in all his enterprises, and generously sacrificed to the public good all +resentment, which he might entertain on account of his being excluded by +Ethered from a large patrimony which had been left him by his father. + +The first landing of the Danes, in the reign of Ethered, was among the +East Angles, who, more anxious for their present safety than for the +common interest, entered into a separate treaty with the enemy, and +furnished them with horses, which enabled them to make an irruption by +land into the kingdom of Northumberland. They there seized the city +of York, and defended it against Osbricht and Ælia, two Northumbrian +princes, who perished in the assault.[*] Encouraged by these successes, +and by the superiority which they had acquired in arms, they now +ventured, under the command of Hinguar and Hubba, to leave the +sea-coast, and penetrating into Mercia, they took up their winter +quarters at Nottingham, where they threatened the kingdom with a final +subjection. + + [* Asser, p. 6. Chron. Sax. p. 79.] + +The Mercians, in this extremity, applied to Ethered for succor; and that +prince, with his brother Alfred, conducting a great army to Nottingham, +obliged the enemy to dislodge, and to retreat into Northumberland. +{870.} Their restless disposition, and their avidity for plunder, +allowed them not to remain long in those quarters; they broke into East +Anglia, defeated and took prisoner Edmund, the king of that country, +whom they afterwards murdered in cool blood; and, committing the most +barbarous ravages on the people, particularly on the monasteries, they +gave the East Angles cause to regret the temporary relief which they had +obtained, by assisting the common enemy. + +The next station of the Danes was at Reading; whence they infested +the neighboring country by their incursions. The Mercians, desirous of +shaking off their dependence on Ethered, refused to join him with +their forces; and that prince, attended by Alfred, was obliged to march +against the enemy with the West Saxons alone, his hereditary subjects. +The Danes, being defeated in an action, shut themselves up in their +garrison; but quickly making thence an irruption, they routed the West +Saxons, and obliged them to raise the siege. An action soon after ensued +at Aston, in Berkshire, where the English, in the beginning of the day, +were in danger of a total defeat. Alfred, advancing with one division +of the army, was surrounded by the enemy in disadvantageous ground; +and Ethered, who was at that time hearing mass, refused to march to his +assistance till prayers should be finished;[*] but, as he afterwards +obtained the victory, this success, not the danger of Alfred, was +ascribed by the monks to the piety of that monarch. + + [* Asser. p. 7. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 3 Sim. + Dunelm. p. 125. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 205.] + +[Illustration: 035.jpg ALFRED BEFORE THE DANISH GENERAL] + + + + +ALFRED. + +This battle of Aston did not terminate the war; another battle was a +little after fought at Basing, where the Danes were more successful; and +being reënforced by a new army from their own country, they became every +day more terrible to the English. Amidst these confusions, Ethered died +of a wound which he had received in an action with the Danes; and +left the inheritance of his cares and misfortunes, rather than of his +grandeur, to his brother Alfred, who was now twenty-two years of age. + +This prince gave very early marks of those great virtues and shining +talents, by which, during the most difficult times, he saved his country +from utter ruin and subversion. Ethelwolf, his father, the year after +his return with Alfred from Rome, had again sent the young prince +thither with a numerous retinue; and a report being spread of the king’s +death, the Pope, Leo III., gave Alfred the royal unction;[*] whether +prognosticating his future greatness from the appearances of his +pregnant genius, or willing to pretend, even in that age, to the right +of conferring kingdoms. Alfred, on his return home, became every day +more the object of his father’s affections; but being indulged in all +youthful pleasures, he was much neglected in his education; and he had +already reached his twelfth year, when he was yet totally ignorant of +the lowest elements of literature. His genius was first roused by +the recital of Saxon poems, in which the queen took delight; and this +species of erudition, which is sometimes able to make a considerable +progress even among barbarians, expanded those noble and elevated +sentiments which he had received from nature.[**] Encouraged by the +queen, and stimulated by his own ardent inclination, he soon learned to +read those compositions; and proceeded thence to acquire the knowledge +of the Latin tongue, in which he met with authors that better prompted +his heroic spirit, and directed his generous views. Absorbed in these +elegant pursuits, he regarded his accession to royalty rather as an +object of regret than of triumph;[***] but being called to the throne, +in preference to his brother’s children, as well by the will of +his father,--a circumstance which had great authority with the +Anglo-Saxons[****]--as by the vows of the whole nation, and the urgency +of public affairs, he shook off his literary indolence, and exerted +himself in the defence of his people. He had scarcely buried his +brother, when he was obliged to take the field, in order to oppose the +Danes, who had seized Wilton, and were exercising their usual ravages on +the countries around. + + [* Asser. p. 2. W. Malms, lib. ii. chap. 2. + Ingulph. p. 869. Sim. Dunelm. p. 120, 139.] + + [** Asser. p. 5. M. West, p. 167.] + + [*** Asser. p. 7.] + + [**** Asser. p. 22. Sim. Dunelm. p. 121.] + +He marched against them with the few troops which he could assemble on +a sudden, and, giving them battle, gained at first an advantage; +but, by his pursuing the victory too far, the superiority of the enemy’s +numbers prevailed, and recovered them the day. Their loss, however, +in the action, was so considerable, that, fearing Alfred would receive +daily reënforcements from his subjects, they were content to stipulate +for a safe retreat, and promised to depart the kingdom. For that +purpose, they were conducted to London, and allowed to take up winter +quarters there; but, careless of their engagements, they immediately +set themselves to the committing of spoil on the neighboring country. +Burrhed, king of Mercia, in whose territories London was situated, made +a new stipulation with them, and engaged them, by presents of money, to +remove to Lindesey, in Lincolnshire, a country which they had already +reduced to ruin and desolation. Finding, therefore, no object in that +place, either for their rapine or violence, they suddenly turned +back upon Mercia, in a quarter where they expected to find it without +defence; and fixing their station at Repton, in Derbyshire, they laid +the whole country desolate with fire and sword. Burrhed, despairing of +success against an enemy whom no force could resist, and no treaties +bind, abandoned his kingdom, and, flying to Rome, took shelter in a +cloister.[*] He was brother-in-law to Alfred, and the last who bore the +title of king in Mercia. + +The West Saxons were now the only remaining power in England; and though +supported by the vigor and abilities of Alfred, they were unable to +sustain the efforts of those ravagers, who from all quarters invaded +them. A new swarm of Danes came over this year under three princes, +Guthrum, Oscitel, and Amund; and having first joined their countrymen at +Repton, they soon found the necessity of separating, in order to provide +for their subsistence. Part of them, under the command of Haldene, +their chieftain,[**] marched into Northumberland, where they fixed +their residence; part of them took quarters at Cambridge, whence they +dislodged in the ensuing summer and seized Wereham, in the county of +Dorset, the very centre of Alfred’s dominions. That prince so straitened +them in these quarters, that they were content to come to a treaty with +him, and stipulated to depart his country. Alfred, well acquainted with +their usual perfidy, obliged them to swear upon the holy relics to the +observance of the treaty;[***] not that he expected they would pay any +veneration to the relics; but he hoped that, if they now violated this +oath, their impiety would infallibly draw down upon them the vengeance +of Heaven. + + [* Asser. p. 8. Chron. Sax. p. 82. Ethelwerd, lib. + iv. cap. 4.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 83.] + + [*** Asser. p 8.] + +But the Danes, little apprehensive of the danger suddenly, without +seeking any pretence, fell upon Alfred’s army; and having put it to +rout, marched westward, and took possession of Exeter. The prince +collected new forces, and exerted such vigor, that he fought in one +year eight battles with the enemy,[*] and reduced them to the utmost +extremity. He hearkened, however, to new proposals of peace, and was +satisfied to stipulate with them, that they would settle somewhere in +England,[**] and would not permit the entrance of more ravagers into the +kingdom. But while he was expecting the execution of this treaty, which +it seemed the interest of the Danes themselves to fulfil, he heard that +another body had landed, and, having collected all the scattered troops +of their country men, had surprised Chippenham, then a considerable +town, and were exercising their usual ravages all around them. + + +This last incident quite broke the spirit of the Saxons, and reduced +them to despair. Finding that, after all the miserable havoc which they +had undergone in their persons and in their property, after all the +vigorous actions which they had exerted in their own defence, a new +band, equally greedy of spoil and slaughter, had disembarked among +them, they believed themselves abandoned by Heaven to destruction, and +delivered over to those swarms of robbers which the fertile north thus +incessantly poured forth against them. Some left their country and +retired into Wales, or fled beyond sea; others submitted to +the conquerors, in hopes of appeasing their fury by a servile +obedience.[***] And every man’s attention being now engrossed in concern +for his own preservation, no one would hearken to the exhortations of +the king, who summoned them to make, under his conduct, one effort more +in defence of their prince, their country, and their liberties. Alfred +himself was obliged to relinquish the ensigns of his dignity, to dismiss +his servants, and to seek shelter in the meanest disguises from the +pursuit and fury of his enemies. He concealed himself under a peasant’s +habit, and lived some time in the house of a neat-herd, who had been +intrusted with the care of some of his cows.[****] + + [* Asser. p. 8. The Saxon Chronicle, p. 82, says + nine battles.] + + [** Asser. p. 9. Alured. Beverl. p. 104.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 84. Alured. Beverl. p. 105.] + + [**** Asser. p. 9.] + +There passed here an incident, which has been recorded by all the +historians, and was long preserved by popular tradition, though +it contains nothing memorable in itself, except so far as every +circumstance is interesting which attends so much virtue and dignity +reduced to such distress. The wife of the neat-herd was ignorant of the +condition of her royal guest; and observing him one day busy, by the +fireside, in trimming his bow and arrows, she desired him to take care +of some cakes which were toasting, while she was employed elsewhere +in other domestic affairs. But Alfred, whose thoughts were otherwise +engaged, neglected this injunction; and the good woman, on her return, +finding her cakes all burnt, rated the king very severely, and upbraided +him, that he always seemed very well pleased to eat her warm cakes +though he was thus negligent in toasting them.[*] + + +By degrees, Alfred, as he found the search of the enemy become more +remiss, collected some of his retainers, and retired into the centre +of a bog, formed by the stagnating waters of the Thone and Parret, in +Somersetshire. He here found two acres of firm ground; and building a +habitation on them, rendered himself secure by its fortifications, and +still more by the unknown and inaccessible roads which led to it, and +by the forests and morasses with which it was every way environed. This +place he called Æthelingay, or the Isle of Nobles;[**] and it now bears +the name of Athelney. He thence made frequent and unexpected sallies +upon the Danes, who often felt the vigor of his arm, but knew not from +what quarter the blow came. He subsisted himself and his followers by +the plunder which he acquired; he procured them consolation by +revenge; and from small successes, he opened their minds to hope that, +notwithstanding his present low condition, more important victories +might at length attend his valor. + + [* Asser. p. 9. M. West. p. 170.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 85. W Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4. Ethelwerd, + lib iv. cap. 4. Ingulph. p. 26.] + +Alfred lay here concealed, but not inactive, during a twelvemonth; when +the news of a prosperous event reached his ears, and called him to the +field. Hubba the Dane, having spread devastation, fire, and slaughter +over Wales, had landed in Devonshire from twenty-three vessels, and laid +siege to the castle of Kinwith, a place situated near the mouth of the +small river Tau. Oddune, earl of Devonshire, with his followers, had +taken shelter there; and being ill supplied with provisions, and +even with water, he determined, by some vigorous blow, to prevent the +necessity of submitting to the barbarous enemy. He made a sudden sally +on the Danes before sun-rising; and taking them unprepared, he put them +to rout, pursued them with great slaughter, killed Hubba himself, and +got possession of the famous Reafen, or enchanted standard, in which the +Danes put great confidence.[*] It contained the figure of a raven, which +had been inwoven by the three sisters of Hinguar and Hubba, with +many magical incantations, and which, by its different movements, +prognosticated, as the Danes believed, the good or bad success of any +enterprise.[**] + + +When Alfred observed this symptom of successful resistance in his +subjects, he left his retreat; but before he would assemble them in +arms, or urge them to any attempt, which, if unfortunate, might, in +their present despondency, prove fatal, he resolved to inspect himself +the situation of the enemy, and to judge of the probability of success. +For this purpose he entered their camp under the disguise of a harper, +and passed unsuspected through every quarter. He so entertained +them with his music and facetious humors, that he met with a welcome +reception, and was even introduced to the tent of Guthrum, their prince, +where he remained some days.[***] He remarked the supine security of the +Danes, their contempt of the English, their negligence in foraging and +plundering, and their dissolute wasting of what they gained by rapine +and violence. Encouraged by these favorable appearances, he secretly +sent emissaries to the most considerable of his subjects, and summoned +them to a rendezvous, attended by their warlike followers, at Brixton, +on the borders of Selwood Forest.[****] The English, who had hoped to +put an end to their calamities by servile submission, now found the +insolence and rapine of the conqueror more intolerable than all past +fatigues and dangers; and at the appointed day, they joyfully resorted +to their prince. On his appearance, they received him with shouts of +applause,[*****] and could not satiate their eyes with the sight of this +beloved monarch, whom they had long regarded as dead, and who now, with +voice and looks expressing his confidence of success, called them to +liberty and to vengeance. + + [* Asser. p. 10. Chron. Sax. p. 84. Abbas Rieval. p. 395. + Alured. Beverl. p. 105.] + + [** Asser. p. 10.] + + [*** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4.] + + [**** Chron Sax. p. 85.] + + [***** Asser. p. 10. Chron. Sax. p. 85. Sim. Dunelm. p. 128. + Alured. Beverl. p. 105. Abbas Rieval. p. 354.] + +He instantly conducted them to Eddington, where the Danes were encamped; +and taking advantage of his previous knowledge of the place, he directed +his attack against the most unguarded quarter of the enemy. The Danes, +surprised to see an army of English, whom they considered as totally +subdued, and still more astonished to hear that Alfred was at their +head, made but a faint resistance, notwithstanding their superiority of +number, and were soon put to flight with great slaughter. The remainder +of the routed army, with their prince, was besieged by Alfred in a +fortified camp to which they fled; but being reduced to extremity by +want and hunger, they had recourse to the clemency of the victor, and +offered to submit on any conditions. The king, no less generous than +brave, gave them their lives, and even formed a scheme for converting +them from mortal enemies into faithful subjects and confederates. He +knew that the kingdoms of East Anglia and Northumberland were totally +desolated by the frequent inroads of the Danes, and he now proposed to +repeople them, by settling there Guthrum and his followers. He hoped +that the new planters would at last betake themselves to industry, when, +by reason of his resistance, and the exhausted condition of the country, +they could no longer subsist by plunder; and that they might serve him +as a rampart against any future incursions of their countrymen. But +before he ratified these mild conditions with the Danes, he required +that they should give him one pledge of their submission, and of +their inclination to incorporate with the English, by declaring their +conversion to Christianity.[*] Guthrum and his army had no aversion to +the proposal; and, without much instruction, or argument, or conference, +they were all admitted to baptism. The king answered for Guthrum at the +font, gave him the name of Athelstan, and received him as his adopted +son.[**] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 85.] + + [** Asser. p. 10. Chron. Sax. p. 90.] + +The success of this expedient seemed to correspond to Alfred’s hopes: +the greater part of the Danes settled peaceably in their new quarters: +some smaller bodies of the same nation, which were dispersed in Mercia, +were distributed into the five cities of Derby, Leicester, Stamford, +Lincoln, and Nottingham, and were thence called the Fif or Five-burgers. +The more turbulent and unquiet made an expedition into France, under the +command of Hastings;[*] and except by a short incursion of Danes, who +sailed up the Thames, and landed at Fulham, but suddenly retreated to +their ships, on finding the country in a posture of defence, Alfred was +not for some years infested by the inroads of those barbarians.[**] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4. Ingulph. p. 26.] + + [** Asser. p. 11.] + +The king employed this interval of tranquillity in restoring order to +the state, which had been shaken by so many violent convulsions; in +establishing civil and military institutions; in composing the minds of +men to industry and justice; and in providing against the return of like +calamities. He was, more properly than his grandfather Egbert, the sole +monarch of the English, (for so the Saxons were now universally called,) +because the kingdom of Mercia was at last incorporated in his state, +and was governed by Ethelbert, his brother-in-law, who bore the title of +earl; and though the Danes, who peopled East Anglia and Northumberland, +were for some time ruled immediately by their own princes, they all +acknowledged a subordination to Alfred, and submitted to his superior +authority. As equality among subjects is the great source of concord, +Alfred gave the same laws to the Danes and English, and put them +entirely on a like footing in the administration both of civil and +criminal justice. The fine for the murder of a Dane was the same with +that for the murder of an Englishman; the great symbol of equality in +those ages. + +The king, after rebuilding the ruined cities, particularly London,[*] +which had been destroyed by the Danes in the reign of Ethelwolf, +established a regular militia for the defence of the kingdom. He +ordained that all his people should be armed and registered; he assigned +them a regular rotation of duty; he distributed part into the castles +and fortresses, which he built at proper places;[**] he required another +part to take the field on any alarm, and to assemble at stated places of +rendezvous; and he left a sufficient number at home, who were employed +in the cultivation of the land, and who afterwards took their turn in +military service.[***] + + [* Asser. p. 15. Chron. Sax. p. 88. M. West. p. 171. Sim. + Dunelm. p. 131. Brompton, p. 812. Alured. Beverl. ex edit. + Hearns, p. 106.] + + [** Asser. p 18. Ingulph. p. 27.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 92, 93.] + +The whole kingdom was like one great garrison; and the Danes could no +sooner appear in one place, than a sufficient number was assembled +to oppose them, without leaving the other quarters defenceless or +disarmed.[*] + + [* Spelman’s Life of Alfred, p. 147, edit. 1709.] + +But Alfred, sensible that the proper method of opposing an enemy who +made incursions by sea, was to meet them on their own element, took care +to provide himself with a naval force,[*] which, though the most +natural defence of an island, had hitherto been totally neglected by +the English. He increased the shipping of his kingdom both in number and +strength, and trained his subjects in the practice as well of sailing +as of naval action. He distributed his armed vessels in proper stations +around the island, and was sure to meet the Danish ships, either before +or after they had landed their troops, and to pursue them in all their +incursions. Though the Danes might suddenly, by surprise, disembark +on the coast, which was generally become desolate by their frequent +ravages, they were encountered by the English fleet in their retreat; +and escaped not, as formerly, by abandoning their booty, but paid, by +their total destruction, the penalty of the disorders which they had +committed. + + [* Asser. p. 9. M. West. p. 179.] + +In this manner Alfred repelled several inroads of these piratical +Danes, and maintained his kingdom, during some years, in safety and +tranquillity. A fleet of a hundred and twenty ships of war was stationed +upon the coast; and being provided with warlike engines, as well as +with expert seamen, both Frisians and English, (for Alfred supplied the +defects of his own subjects by engaging able foreigners in his service,) +maintained a superiority over those smaller bands, with which England +had so often been infested.[*] + + [* Asser. p. 11. Chiron Sax p. 86, 87. M. West. p. 176.] + +But at last Hastings, the famous Danish chief, having ravaged all the +provinces of France, both along the sea-coast and the Loire and Seine, +and being obliged to quit that country, more by the desolation which +he himself had occasioned, than by the resistance of the inhabitants, +appeared off the coast of Kent with a fleet of three hundred and thirty +sail. The greater part of the enemy disembarked in the Rother and seized +the fort of Apuldore. Hastings himself, commanding a fleet of eighty +sail, entered the Thames, and fortifying Milton, in Kent, began to +spread his forces over the country, and to commit the most destructive +ravages. But Alfred, on the first alarm of this descent, flew to the +defence of his people, at the head of a select band of soldiers, whom he +always kept about his person,[*] and, gathering to him the armed militia +from all quarters, appeared in the field with a force superior to the +enemy. All straggling parties, whom necessity, or love of plunder, had +drawn to a distance from their chief encampment, were cut off by the +English;[**] and these pirates, instead of increasing their spoil, found +themselves cooped up in their fortifications, and obliged to subsist by +the plunder which they had brought from France. Tired of this situation, +which must in the end prove ruinous to them, the Danes at Apuldore rose +suddenly from their encampment, with an intention of marching towards +the Thames, and passing over into Essex: but they escaped not the +vigilance of Alfred, who encountered them at Farnham, put them to +rout,[***] seized all their horses and baggage, and chased the runaways +on board their ships, which carried them up the Colne to Mersey, in +Essex, where they intrenched themselves. Hastings, at the same time, and +probably by concert, made a like movement; and deserting Milton, +took possession of Bamflete, near the Isle of Canvey, in the same +county,[****] where he hastily threw up fortifications for his defence +against the power of Alfred. + + [* Asser. p. 19.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 92.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 93. Flor. Wigorn. p. 595.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 93.] + +Unfortunately for the English, Guthrum, prince of the East Anglian +Danes, was now dead; as was also Guthred, whom the king had appointed +governor of the Northumbrians; and those restless tribes, being +no longer restrained by the authority of their princes, and being +encouraged by the appearance of so great a body of their countrymen, +broke into rebellion, shook off the authority of Alfred, and yielding to +their inveterate habits of war and depredation,[*] embarked on board two +hundred and forty vessels, and appeared before Exeter, in the west of +England. Alfred lost not a moment in opposing this new enemy. Having +left some forces at London to make head against Hastings and the other +Danes, he marched suddenly to the west,[**] and, falling on the +rebels before they were aware, pursued them to their ships with great +slaughter. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 92.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 93.] + +These ravagers, sailing next to Sussex, began to plunder the country +near Chichester; but the order which Alfred had everywhere established, +sufficed here, without his presence, for the defence of the place, +and the rebels, meeting with a new repulse, in which many of them were +killed, and some of their ships taken,[*] were obliged to put again to +sea, and were discouraged from attempting any other enterprise. + + [* Chron. Sax p. 96. Flor. Wigorn. p. 596.] + +Meanwhile the Danish invaders in Essex, having united their force under +the command of Hastings, advanced into the inland country, and made +spoil of all around them; but soon had reason to repent of their +temerity. The English army left in London, assisted by a body of the +citizens, attacked the enemy’s intrenchments at Bamflete, overpowered +the garrison, and having done great execution upon them, carried off +the wife and two sons of Hastings.[*] Alfred generously spared these +captives, and even restored them to Hastings,[**] on condition that he +should depart the kingdom. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 94. M. West. w 178.] + + [** M. West, p. 179.] + +But though the king had thus honorably rid himself of this dangerous +enemy, he had not entirely subdued or expelled the invaders. The +piratical Danes willingly followed in an excursion any prosperous +leader who gave them hopes of booty, but were not so easily induced to +relinquish their enterprise, or submit to return, baffled and without +plunder, into their native country. Great numbers of them, after the +departure of Hastings, seized and fortified Shobury, at the mouth of the +Thames; and having left a garrison there, they marched along the river, +till they came to Boddington, in the county of Glocester; where, being +reënforced by some Welsh, they threw up intrenchments, and prepared for +their defence. The king here surrounded them with the whole force of +his dominions; [*] and as he had now a certain prospect of victory, he +resolved to trust nothing to chance, but rather to master his enemies by +famine than assault. They were reduced to such extremities, that +having eaten their own horses, and having many of them perished with +hunger,[**] they made a desperate sally upon the English; and though +the greater number fell in the action, a considerable body made their +escape.[***] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 94.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 94. M. West. p. 179. Flor. + Wigorn. p. 596.] + + [*** Chron. Sax p. 96.] + +These roved about for some time in England, still pursued by the +vigilance of Alfred; they attacked Leicester with success, defended +themselves in Hartford, and then fled to Quatford, where they were +finally broken and subdued. The small remains of them either dispersed +themselves among their countrymen in Northumberland and East Anglia,[*] +or had recourse again to the sea, where they exercised piracy, under the +command of Sigefert, a Northumbrian. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 97.] + +This freebooter, well acquainted with Alfred’s naval preparations, had +framed vessels of a new construction, higher, and longer, and swifter +than those of the English; but the king soon discovered his superior +skill, by building vessels still higher, and longer, and swifter than +those of the Northumbrians; and falling upon them, while they were +exercising their ravages in the west, he took twenty of their ships; and +having tried all the prisoners at Winchester, he hanged them as pirates, +the common enemies of mankind. + + +The well-timed severity of this execution, together with the excellent +posture of defence established every where, restored full tranquillity +in England, and provided for the future security of the government. The +East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, on the first appearance of Alfred +upon their frontiers, made anew the most humble submissions to him; +and he thought it prudent to take them under his immediate government, +without establishing over them a viceroy of their own nation.[*] The +Welsh also acknowledged his authority; and this great prince had now, by +prudence, and justice, and valor, established his sovereignty over +all the southern parts of the island, from the English Channel to the +frontiers of Scotland; when he died, {901.} in the vigor of his age +and the full strength of his faculties, after a glorious reign of +twenty-nine years and a half,[**] in which he deservedly attained the +appellation of Alfred the Great, and the title of founder of the English +monarchy. + + [* Flor. Wigorn. p. 598.] + + [** Asser. p. 21. Chron. Sax. p. 95.] + +The merit of this prince, both in private and public life, may with +advantage be set in opposition to that of any monarch, or citizen, +which the annals of any age, or any nation, can present to us. He seems, +indeed, to be the model of that perfect character, which, under the +denomination of a sage or wise man, philosophers have been fond of +delineating, rather as a fiction of their imagination, than in hopes of +ever seeing it really existing; so happily were all his virtues tempered +together, so justly were they blended, and so powerfully did each +prevent the other from exceeding its proper boundaries. He knew how to +reconcile the most enterprising spirit with the coolest moderation; +the most obstinate perseverance with the easiest flexibility: the +most severe justice with the gentlest lenity; the greatest vigor in +commanding with the most perfect affability of deportment;[*] the +highest capacity and inclination for science with the most shining +talents for action. + + [* Asser. p. 13.] + +His civil and his military virtues are almost equally the objects of +our admiration; excepting only that the former, being more rare among +princes, as well as more useful, seem chiefly to challenge our applause. +Nature, also, as if desirous that so bright a production of her skill +should be set in the fairest light, had bestowed on him every bodily +accomplishment--vigor of limbs, dignity of shape and air, with a +pleasing, engaging, and open countenance. Fortune alone, by throwing him +into that barbarous age, deprived him of historians worthy to transmit +his fame to posterity; and we wish to see him delineated in more lively +colors, and with more particular strokes, that we may at least perceive +some of those small specks and blemishes, from which, as a man, it is +impossible he could be entirely exempted. + +But we should give but an imperfect idea of Alfred’s merit, were we +to confine our narration to his military exploits, and were not more +particular in our account of his institutions for the execution of +justice, and of his zeal for the encouragement of arts and sciences. + +After Alfred had subdued, and had settled or expelled the Danes, he +found the kingdom in the most wretched condition; desolated by the +ravages of those barbarians, and thrown into disorders which were +calculated to perpetuate its misery. Though the great armies of the +Danes were broken, the country was full of straggling troops of that +nation, who, being accustomed to live by plunder, were become incapable +of industry; and who, from the natural ferocity of their manners, +indulged themselves in committing violence, even beyond what was +requisite to supply their necessities. The English themselves, reduced +to the most extreme indigence by those continued depredations, had +shaken off all bands of government; and those who had been plundered +to-day, betook themselves next day to a like disorderly life, and, +from despair, joined the robbers in pillaging and ruining their +fellow-citizens. These were the evils for which it was necessary that +the vigilance and activity of Alfred should provide a remedy. + +That he might render the execution of justice strict and regular, he +divided all England into counties: these counties he subdivided +into hundreds, and the hundreds into tithings. Every householder was +answerable for the behavior of his family and slaves, and even of his +guests, if they lived above three days in his house. Ten neighboring +householders were formed into one corporation, who, under the name of +a tithing, decennary, or fribourg, were answerable for each other’s +conduct, and over whom, one person, called a tithing-man, headbourg, +or borsholder, was appointed to preside. Every man was punished as an +outlaw who did not register himself in some tithing. And no man +could change his habitation without a warrant or certificate from the +borsholder of the tithing to which he formerly belonged. + +When any person, in any tithing or decennary, was guilty of a crime, the +borsholder was summoned to answer for him; and if he were not willing to +be surety for his appearance, and his clearing himself, the criminal +was committed to prison, and there detained till his trial. If he fled, +either before or after finding sureties, the borsholder and decennary +became liable to inquiry, and were exposed to the penalties of law. +Thirty-one days were allowed them for producing the criminal; and if +that time elapsed without their being able to find him, the borsholder, +with two other members of the decennary, was obliged to appear, and, +together with three chief members of the three neighboring decennaries, +(making twelve in all,) to swear that his decennary was free from all +privity, both of the crime committed, and of the escape of the criminal. +If the borsholder could not find such a number to answer for their +innocence, the decennary was compelled by fine to make satisfaction to +the king, according to the degree of the offence.[*] + + [* Leges St. Edw. cap. 20, apud Wilkins, p. 202.] + +By this institution, every man was obliged, from his own interest, to +keep a watchful eye over the conduct of his neighbors; and was in +a manner surety for the behavior of those who were placed under the +division to which he belonged; whence these decennaries received the +name of frank-pledges. + +Such a regular distribution of the people, with such a strict +confinement in their habitation, may not be necessary in times when +men are more inured to obedience and justice; and it might, perhaps, be +regarded as destructive of liberty and commerce in a polished state; but +it was well calculated to reduce that fierce and licentious people under +the salutary restraint of law and government. But Alfred took care to +temper these rigors by other institutions favorable to the freedom of +the citizens; and nothing could be more popular and liberal than his +plan for the administration of justice. The borsholder summoned together +his whole decennary to assist him in deciding any lesser differences +which occurred among the members of this small community. In affairs +of greater moment, in appeals from the decennary, or in controversies +arising between members of different decennaries, the cause was brought +before the hundred, which consisted of ten decennaries, or a hundred +families of freemen, and which was regularly assembled once in four +weeks, for the deciding of causes.[*] Their method of decision deserves +to be noted, as being the origin of juries; an institution admirable in +itself, and the best calculated for the preservation of liberty and +the administration of justice that ever was devised by the wit of man. +Twelve freeholders were chosen, who, having sworn, together with the +hundreder, or presiding magistrate of that division, to administer +impartial justice,[**] proceeded to the examination of that cause which +was submitted to their jurisdiction. And beside these monthly meetings +of the hundred, there was an annual meeting, appointed for a more +general inspection of the police of the district; for the inquiry into +crimes, the correction of abuses in magistrates, and the obliging of +every person to show the decennary in which he was registered. The +people, in imitation of their ancestors, the ancient Germans, assembled +there in arms; whence a hundred was sometimes called a wapentake, and +its courts served both for the support of military discipline and for +the administration of civil justice.[***] + + [* Leges St. Edw. cap. 2.] + + [** Foedus Alfred. et Gothurn. apud Wilkins, cap. 3, p. 47. + Leg. Ethelstani cap. 2, apud Wilkins, p. 58. LL. Ethelr. + sect. 4. Wilkins, p. 117.] + + [*** Spelman, in voce Wapentake.] + +The next superior court to that of the hundred was the county court, +which met twice a year, after Michaelmas and Easter, and consisted +of the freeholders of the county, who possessed an equal vote in the +decision of causes. The bishop presided in this court, together with +the alderman; and the proper object of the court was, the receiving +of appeals from the hundreds and decennaries, and the deciding of such +controversies as arose between men of different hundreds. Formerly, the +alderman possessed both the civil and military authority; but Alfred, +sensible that this conjunction of powers rendered the nobility dangerous +and independent, appointed also a sheriff in each county, who enjoyed +a coördinate authority with the former in the judicial function.[*] +His office also impowered him to guard the rights of the crown in the +county, and to levy the fines imposed, which in that age formed no +contemptible part of the public revenue. + + [* Ingulph. p. 870.] + +There lay an appeal, in default of justice, from all these courts, to +the king himself in council; and as the people, sensible of the equity +and great talents of Alfred, placed their chief confidence in him, he +was soon overwhelmed with appeals from all parts of England. He was +indefatigable in the despatch of these causes;[*] but finding that his +time must be entirely engrossed by this branch of duty, he resolved to +obviate the inconvenience, by correcting the ignorance or corruption of +the inferior magistrates, from which it arose.[**] He took care to have +his nobility instructed in letters and the laws; [***] he chose the +earls and sheriffs from among the men most celebrated for probity and +knowledge; he punished severely all malversation in office;[****] and +he removed all the earls whom he found unequal to the trust;[*****] +allowing only some of the more elderly to serve by a deputy, till their +death should make room for more worthy successors. + + [* Asser. p. 20.] + + [** Asser. p. 18, 21. Flor. Wigorn. p. 594. Abbas + Rieval. p. 355.] + + [*** Flor. Wigorn. p. 594. Brompton, p. 814.] + + [**** Le Miroir de Justice, chap. 2.] + + [***** Asser, p. 20.] + +The better to guide the magistrates in the administration of justice, +Alfred framed a body of laws, which, though now lost, served long as the +basis of English jurisprudence, and is generally deemed the origin of +what is denominated the COMMON LAW. He appointed regular meetings of the +states of England twice a year, in London,[*] a city which he himself +had repaired and beautified, and which he thus rendered the capital of +the kingdom. + + [* Le Miroir de Justice.] + +The similarity of these institutions to the customs of the ancient +Germans, to the practice of the other northern conquerors, and to the +Saxon laws during the Heptarchy, prevents us from regarding Alfred +as the sole author of this plan of government, and leads us rather +to think, that, like a wise-man, he contented himself with reforming, +extending, and executing the institutions which he found previously +established. But, on the whole, such success attended his legislation, +that everything bore suddenly a new face in England. Robberies and +iniquities of all kinds were repressed by the punishment or reformation +of the criminals;[*] and so exact was the general police, that Alfred, +it is said, hung up, by way of bravado, golden bracelets near the +highways, and no man dared to touch them.[**] Yet, amidst these rigors +of justice, this great prince preserved the most sacred regard to the +liberty of his people; and it is a memorable sentiment preserved in +his will, that it was just the English should forever remain as free as +their own thoughts.[***] + + [* Ingulph. p. 27.] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4.] + + [* Asset, p. 24.] + +As good morals and knowledge are almost inseparable, in every age, +though not in every individual, the care of Alfred for the encouragement +of learning among his subjects was another useful branch of his +legislation, and tended to reclaim the English from their former +dissolute and ferocious manners; but the king was guided, in this +pursuit, less by political views than by his natural bent and propensity +towards letters. When he came to the throne, he found the nation sunk +into the grossest ignorance and barbarism, proceeding from the continued +disorders in the government, and from the ravages of the Danes. The +monasteries were destroyed, the monks butchered or dispersed, their +libraries burnt; and thus the only seats of erudition in those ages were +totally subverted. Alfred himself complains, that on his accession he +knew not one person, south of the Thames, who could so much as interpret +the Latin service, and very few in the northern parts who had reached +even that pitch of erudition. But this prince invited over the most +celebrated scholars from all parts of Europe; he established schools +every where for the instruction of his people; he founded, at least +repaired, the University of Oxford, and endowed it with many privileges +revenues, and immunities; he enjoined by law all freeholders possessed +of two hides[*] of land, or more, to send their children to school, for +their instruction; he gave preferment both in church and state to +such only as had made some proficiency in knowledge; and by all these +expedients he had the satisfaction, before his death, to see a great +change in the face of affairs; and in a work of his, which is still +extant, he congratulates himself on the progress which learning, under +his patronage, had already made in England. + + [* A hide contained land sufficient to employ one plough. See + H. Hunting, lib. vi. in A. D. 1008. Annal. Waverl. in A. D. + 1083. Gervase of Tilbury says, it commonly contained about + one hundred acres.] + +But the most effectual expedient, employed by Alfred for the +encouragement of learning, was his own example, and the constant +assiduity with which, notwithstanding the multiplicity and urgency +of his affairs, he employed himself in the pursuits of knowledge. He +usually divided his time into three equal portions: one was employed in +sleep, and the refection of his body by diet and exercise; another, in +the despatch of business; a third, in study and devotion; and that he +might more exactly measure the hours, he made use of burning tapers of +equal length, which he fixed in lanterns,[*] an expedient suited to that +rude age, when the geometry of dialling, and the mechanism of clocks and +watches, were totally unknown. And by such a regular distribution of his +time though he often labored under great bodily infirmities,[**] +this martial hero, who fought in person fifty-six battles by sea and +land,[***] was able, during a life of no extraordinary length, to +acquire more knowledge, and even to compose more books, than most +studious men, though blessed with the greatest leisure and application, +have, in more fortunate ages, made the object of their uninterrupted +industry. + + [* Asser. p. 20. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4. Ingulph. p. 870.] + + [** Asser. p.4, 12, 13, 17, J W. Malms, lib. iv. cap. 4.] + + [*** Asser. p. 13.] + +Sensible that the people, at all times, especially when their +understandings are obstructed by ignorance and bad education, are not +much susceptible of speculative instruction, Alfred endeavored to convey +his morality by apologues, parables, stories, apothegms, couched in +poetry; and besides propagating among his subjects former compositions +of that kind, which he found in the Saxon tongue,[*] he exercised +his genius in inventing works of a like nature,[**] as well as in +translating from the Greek the elegant Fables of Æsop. He also gave +Saxon translations of Orosius’s and Bede’s histories; and of Boethius +concerning the consolation of philosophy.[***] And he deemed it nowise +derogatory from his other great characters of sovereign, legislator, +warrior, and politician, thus to lead the way to his people in the +pursuits of literature. + + [* Spelruan, p. 124.] + + [** Abbas Rieval. p. 355.] + + [*** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4, Brompton, p. 814.] + +Meanwhile, this prince was not negligent in encouraging the vulgar +and mechanical arts, which have a more sensible, though not a closer +connection with the interests of society. He invited, from all quarters, +industrious foreigners to re-people his country, which had been +desolated by the ravages of the Danes.[*] He introduced and encouraged +manufactures of all kinds, and no inventor or improver of any ingenious +art did he suffer to go unrewarded.[**] He prompted men of activity to +betake themselves to navigation, to push commerce into the most remote +countries, and to acquire riches by propagating industry among their +fellow-citizens. He set apart a seventh portion of his own revenue +for maintaining a number of workmen, whom he constantly employed in +rebuilding the ruined cities, castles, palaces, and monasteries.[***] +Even the elegances of life were brought to him from the Mediterranean +and the Indies;[****] and his subjects, by seeing those productions of +the peaceful arts, were taught to respect the virtues of justice and +industry, from which alone they could arise. Both living and dead, +Alfred was regarded by foreigners, no less than by his own subjects, +as the greatest prince, after Charlemagne, that had appeared in Europe +during several ages, and as one of the wisest and best that had ever +adorned the annals of any nation. + + [* Asser. p. 13. Flor. Wigorn. p. 588.] + + [** Asser. p. 20.] + + [*** Asser. p. 20. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4.] + + [**** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 4.] + + +Alfred had, by his wife Ethelswitha, daughter of a Mercian earl, three +sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Edmund, died without issue, +in his father’s lifetime. The third, Ethelward, inherited his father’s +passion for letters, and lived a private life. The second, Edward, +succeeded to his power, and passes by the appellation of Edward the +Elder, being the first of that name who sat on the English throne. + + + + +EDWARD THE ELDER. + + +This prince, who equalled his father in military talents, though +inferior to him in knowledge and erudition,[*] found immediately on his +accession, a specimen of that turbulent life to which all princes, and +even all individuals, were exposed, in an age when men, less restrained +by law or justice, and less occupied by industry, had no aliment for +their inquietude out wars, insurrections, convulsions, rapine, and +depredation. + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii cap. 4, Hoveden, p. 421.] + +Ethelwald, his cousin-german, son of King Ethelbert, the elder +brother of Alfred, insisted on his preferable title;[*] and arming his +partisans, took possession of Winburne, where he seemed determined to +defend himself to the last extremity, and to await the issue of his +pretensions.[**] But when the king approached the town with a great +army, Ethelwald, having the prospect of certain destruction, made his +escape, and fled first into Normandy, thence into Northumberland, where +he hoped that the people, who had been recently subdued by Alfred, and +who were impatient of peace, would, on the intelligence of that great +prince’s death, seize the first pretence or opportunity of rebellion. +The event did not disappoint his expectations: the Northumbrians +declared for him,[***] and Ethelwald, having thus connected his +interests with the Danish tribes, went beyond sea, and collecting a body +of these freebooters, he excited the hopes of all those who had been +accustomed to subsist by rapine and violence.[****] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 99, 100.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 100. H. Hunting, lib. v. p. + 352.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 100. H. Hunting, lib. v. p. + 352.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 100. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de + Burgo, p. 24.] + +The East Anglian Danes joined his party; the Five-burgers, who were +seated in the heart of Mercia, began to put themselves in motion; and +the English found that they were again menaced with those convulsions +from which the valor and policy of Alfred had so lately rescued them. +The rebels, headed by Ethelwald, made an incursion into the counties +of Glocester, Oxford, and Wilts; and having exercised their ravages in +these places, they retired with their booty, before the king, who had +assembled an army, was able to approach them. Edward, however, who was +determined that his preparations should not be fruitless, conducted +his forces into East Anglia, and retaliated the injuries which the +inhabitants had committed, by spreading the like devastation among them. +Satiated with revenge, and loaded with booty, he gave orders to retire; +but the authority of those ancient kings, which was feeble in peace, was +not much better established in the field; and the Kentish men, greedy of +more spoil, ventured, contrary to repeated orders, to stay behind him, +and to take up their quarters in Bury. This disobedience proved, in the +issue, fortunate to Edward. The Danes assaulted the Kentish men, but +met with so vigorous a resistance, that, though they gained the field of +battle, they bought that advantage by the loss of their bravest +leaders, and, among the rest, by that of Ethelwald, who perished in the +action.[*] The king, freed from the fear of so dangerous a competitor, +made peace on advantageous terms with the East Angles.[**] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 101. Brompton, p. 832.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 102. Brompton, p. 832. M West. + p. 181.] + +In order to restore England to such a state of tranquillity as it was +then capable of attaining, nought was wanting but the subjection of +the Northumbrians, who, assisted by the scattered Danes in Mercia, +continually infested the bowels of the kingdom. Edward, in order to +divert the force of these enemies, prepared a fleet to attack them by +sea, hoping that when his ships appeared on their coast, they must +at least remain at home, and provide for their defence. But the +Northumbrians were less anxious to secure their own property, than +greedy to commit spoil on their enemy; and, concluding that the chief +strength of the English was embarked on board the fleet, they thought +the opportunity favorable, and entered Edward’s territories with all +their forces. The king, who was prepared against this event, attacked +them, on their return, at Tetenhall in the county of Stafford, put them +to rout, recovered all the booty, and pursued them with great slaughter +into their own country. + +All the rest of Edward’s reign was a scene of continued and successful +action against the Northumbrians, the East Angles, the Five-burgers, and +the foreign Danes, who invaded him from Normandy and Brittany. Nor was +he less provident in putting his kingdom in a posture of defence, than +vigorous in assaulting the enemy. He fortified the towns of Chester, +Eddesbury, Warwick, Cherbury, Buckingham, Towcester, Maldon, Huntingdon, +and Colchester. He fought two signal battles at Temsford and Maldon.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 10, Flor. Wigorn. p. 6.] + +He vanquished Thurketill, a great Danish chief, and obliged him to +retire with his followers into France, in quest of spoil and adventures. +He subdued the East Angles, and forced them to swear allegiance to +him: he expelled the two rival princes of Northumberland, Reginald and +Sidroc, and acquired, for the present, the dominion of that province: +several tribes of the Britons were subjected by him; and even the Scots, +who, during the reign of Egbert, had, under the conduct of Kenneth, +their king, increased their power by the final subjection of the Picts, +were nevertheless obliged to give him marks of submission.[*] In all +these fortunate achievements, he was assisted by the activity and +prudence of his sister Ethelfleda, who was widow of Ethelbert, earl of +Mercia, and who after her husband’s death, retained the government +of that province. This princess, who had been reduced to extremity in +childbed, refused afterwards all commerce with her husband; not from any +weak superstition, as was common in that age, but because she deemed all +domestic occupations unworthy of her masculine and ambitious spirit.[**] +She died before her brother; and Edward, during the remainder of his +reign, took upon himself the immediate government of Mercia, which +before had been intrusted to the authority of a governor.[***] The Saxon +Chronicle fixes the death of this prince in 925 his kingdom devolved to +Athelstan, his natural son. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 110. Hoveden, p. 421.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 5. M. West. p. 182. + Ingulph. p. 28. Higgen p. 261.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 110. Brompton, p. 831.] + + + + +ATHELSTAN. + +{925.} The stain in this prince’s birth was not, in those times, deemed +so considerable as to exclude him from the throne; and Athelstan, being +of an age, as well as of a capacity, fitted for government, obtained the +preference to Edward’s younger children, who, though legitimate, were +of too tender years to rule a nation so much exposed both to foreign +invasion and to domestic convulsions. Some discontents, however, +prevailed on his accession; and Alfred, a nobleman of considerable +power, was thence encouraged to enter into a conspiracy against him. +This incident is related by historians, with circumstances which the +reader, according to the degree of credit he is disposed to give them, +may impute either to the invention of monks, who forged them, or to +their artifice, who found means of making them real. Alfred, it is said, +being seized upon strong suspicions, but without any certain proof, +firmly denied the conspiracy imputed to him; and, in order to justify +himself, he offered to swear to his innocence before the pope, whose +person, it was supposed, contained such superior sanctity, that no one +could presume to give a false oath in his presence, and yet hope to +escape the immediate vengeance of Heaven. The king accepted of the +condition, and Alfred was conducted to Rome, where, either conscious of +his innocence, or neglecting the superstition to which he appealed, he +ventured to make the oath required of him, before John, who then filled +the papal chair; but no sooner had he pronounced the fatal words, than +he fell into convulsions, of which, three days after, he expired. The +king, as if the guilt, of the conspirator were now fully ascertained, +confiscated his estate, and made a present of it to the monastery +of Malmesbury,[*] secure that no doubts would ever thenceforth be +entertained concerning the justice of his proceedings. + + [* W. Malms. lib. ii. cap. 6. Spel. Concil. p. 407.] + +The dominion of Athelstan was no sooner established over his English +subjects, than he endeavored to give security to the government, by +providing against the insurrections of the Danes, which had created so +much disturbance to his predecessors. He marched into Northumberland; +and, finding that the inhabitants bore with impatience the English yoke, +he thought it prudent to confer on Sithric, a Danish nobleman, the title +of king, and to attach him to his interests by giving him his sister +Editha in marriage. But this policy proved by accident the source of +dangerous consequences. Sithric died in a twelvemonth after; and his two +sons by a former marriage, Anlaf and Godfrid, founding pretensions on +their father’s elevation, assumed the sovereignty, without waiting +for Athelstan’s consent. They were soon expelled by the power of that +monarch; and the former took shelter in Ireland, as the latter did +in Scotland, where he received, during some time, protection from +Constantine, who then enjoyed the crown of that kingdom. The Scottish +prince, however, continually solicited, and even menaced by Athelstan, +at last promised to deliver up his guest; but secretly detesting this +treachery, he gave Godfrid warning to make his escape;[*] and that +fugitive, after subsisting by piracy for some years, freed the king, by +his death, from any further anxiety. Athelstan, resenting Constantine’s +behavior, entered Scotland with an army, and ravaging the country with +impunity,[**] he reduced the Scots to such distress, that their king was +content to preserve his crown by making submissions to the enemy. The +English historians assert,[***] that Constantine did homage to Athelstan +for his kingdom; and they add, that the latter prince, being urged by +his courtiers to push the present favorable opportunity, and entirely +subdue Scotland, replied, that it was more glorious to confer than +conquer kingdoms.[****] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 6.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 111. Hoveden, p. 422. H. Hunting, lib. v. + p. 354.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 422.] + + [**** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 6. Anglia Sacra, + vol. i. p. 212.] + +But those annals, so uncertain and imperfect in themselves, lose all +credit when national prepossessions and animosities have place; and, +on that account, the Scotch historians, who, without having any more +knowledge of the matter, strenuously deny the fact, seem more worthy of +belief. + +Constantine, whether he owed the retaining of his crown to the +moderation of Athelstan, who was unwilling to employ all his advantages +against him, or to the policy of that prince who esteemed the +humiliation of an enemy a greater acquisition than the subjection of +a discontented and mutinous people thought the behavior of the English +monarch more an object of resentment than of gratitude. He entered +into a confederacy with Anlaf, who had collected a great body of Danish +pirates, whom he found hovering in the Irish seas, and with some Welsh +princes, who were terrified at the growing power of Athelstan; and +all these allies made by concert an irruption with a great army into +England. Athelstan, collecting his forces, met the enemy hear Brunsbury, +in Northumberland, and defeated them in a general engagement. This +victory was chiefly ascribed to the valor of Turketul, the English +chancellor; for, in those turbulent ages, no one was so much occupied in +civil employments as wholly to lay aside the military character.[*] + + [* The office of chancellor, among the Anglo- + Saxons, resembled more that of a secretary of state than + that of our present chancellor See Spelman in voce + Cancellarius.] + +There is a circumstance, not unworthy of notice, which historians +relate, with regard to the transactions of this war. Anlaf, on the +approach of the English army, thought that he could not venture too +much to insure a fortunate event, and employing the artifice formerly +practised by Alfred against the Danes, he entered the enemy’s camp, in +the habit of a minstrel. The stratagem was, for the present, attended +with like success. He gave such satisfaction to the soldiers, who +flocked about him, that they introduced him to the king’s tent; and +Anlaf, having played before that prince and his nobles during their +repast, was dismissed with a handsome reward. His prudence kept him from +refusing the present; Dut his pride determined him, on his departure, +to bury it while he fancied that he was unespied by all the world. But +a soldier in Athelstan’s camp, who had formerly served under Anlaf, had +been struck with some suspicion on the first appearance of the minstrel, +and was engaged by curiosity to observe all his motions. He regarded +this last action as a full proof of Anlaf’s disguise; and he immediately +carried the intelligence to Athelstan, who blamed him for not sooner +giving him information, that he might have seized his enemy. But the +soldier told him, that, as he had formerly sworn fealty to Anlaf, he +could never have pardoned himself the treachery of betraying and ruining +his ancient master; and that Athelstan himself, after such an instance +of his criminal conduct, would have had equal reason to distrust his +allegiance. Athelstan, having praised the generosity of the soldier’s +principles, reflected on the incident, which he foresaw might be +attended with important consequences. He removed his station in the +camp; and as a bishop arrived that evening with a reënforcement of +troops, (for the ecclesiastics were then no less warlike than the civil +magistrates,) he occupied with his train that very place which had been +left vacant by the king’s removal. The precaution of Athelstan was found +prudent; for no sooner had darkness fallen, than Anlaf broke into the +camp, and hastening directly to the place where he had left the king’s +tent, put the bishop to death, before he had time to prepare for his +defence.[*] + + +There fell several Danish and Welsh princes in the action of +Brunsbury;[**] and Constantine and Anlaf made their escape with +difficulty, leaving the greater part of their army on the field of +battle. After this success, Athelstan enjoyed his crown in tranquillity; +and he is regarded as one of the ablest and most active of those ancient +princes. He passed a remarkable law, which was calculated for the +encouragement of commerce, and which it required some liberality of mind +in that age to have devised--that a merchant, who had made three long +sea voyages on his own account, should be admitted to the rank of a +thane or gentleman. This prince died at Glocester, in the year 94l,[***] +after a reign of sixteen years, and was succeeded by Edmund, his +legitimate brother. + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 6. Higden, p. 263.] + + [** Brompton, p. 839 Ingulph. p. 29.] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 114] + + + + +EDMUND. + +{941.} Edmund, on his accession, met with disturbance from the restless +Northumbrians, who lay in wait for every opportunity of breaking into +rebellion. But marching suddenly with his forces into their country, he +so overawed the rebels that they endeavored to appease him by the most +humble submissions.[*] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 7. Brompton, p 857.] + +In order to give him the surer pledge of their obedience, they offered to +embrace Christianity; a religion which the English Danes had frequently +professed, when reduced to difficulties, but which, for that very +reason, they regarded as a badge of servitude, and shook off as soon +as a favorable opportunity offered. Edmund, trusting little to their +sincerity in this forced submission, used the precaution of removing the +Five-burgers from the towns of Mercia, in which they had been allowed +to settle; because it was always found that they took advantage of every +commotion, and introduced the rebellious or foreign Danes into the +heart of the kingdom. He also conquered Cumberland from the Britons; and +conferred that territory on Malcolm, king of Scotland, on condition that +he should do him homage for it, and protect the north from all future +incursions of the Danes. + +Edmund was young when he came to the crown; yet was his reign short, as +his death was violent. One day, as he was solemnizing a festival in the +county of Glocester, he remarked that Leolf, a notorious robber, whom +he had sentenced to banishment, had yet the boldness to enter the hall +where he himself dined, and to sit at table with his attendants. Enraged +at this insolence, he ordered him to leave the room; but on his refusing +to obey, the king, whose temper, naturally choleric, was inflamed by +this additional insult, leaped on him himself, and seized him by the +hair; but the ruffian, pushed to extremity, drew his dagger, and gave +Edmund a wound of which he immediately expired. This event happened in +the year 946, and in the sixth year of the king’s reign. Edmund left +male issue, but so young, that they were incapable of governing the +kingdom; and his brother, Edred, was promoted to the throne. + + + + +EDRED + +{946.} The reign of this prince, as those of his predecessors, was +disturbed by the rebellions and incursions of the Northumbrian Danes, +who, though frequently quelled, were never entirely subdued, nor had +ever paid a sincere allegiance to the crown of England. The accession +of a new king seemed to them a favorable opportunity for shaking off the +yoke; but on Edred’s appearance with an army, they made him their wonted +submissions; and the king, having wasted the country with fire and +sword, as a punishment of their rebellion, obliged them to renew their +oaths of allegiance; and he straight retired with his forces. The +obedience of the Danes lasted no longer than the present terror. +Provoked at the devastations of Edred, and even reduced by necessity +to subsist on plunder, they broke into a new rebellion, and were again +subdued; but the king, now instructed by experience, took greater +precautions against their future revolt. He fixed English garrisons in +their most considerable towns, and placed over them an English governor, +who might watch all their motions, and suppress any insurrection on its +first appearance. He obliged also Malcolm, king of Scotland, to renew +his homage for the lands which he held in England. + +Edred, though not unwarlike, nor unfit for active life, lay under the +influence of the lowest superstition, and had blindly delivered over +his conscience to the guidance of Dunstan commonly called _St. +Dunstan_, abbot of Glastonbury, whom he advanced to the highest +offices, and who covered, under the appearance of sanctity, the most +violent and most insolent ambition. Taking advantage of the implicit +confidence reposed in him by the king, this churchman imported +into England a new order of monks, who much changed the state of +ecclesiastical affairs, and excited, on their first establishment, the +most violent commotions. + +From the introduction of Christianity among the Saxons, there had +been monasteries in England; and these establishments had extremely +multiplied by the donations of the princes and nobles, whose +superstition, derived from their ignorance and precarious life, and +increased by remorses for the crimes into which they were so frequently +betrayed, knew no other expedient for appeasing the Deity, than a +profuse liberality towards the ecclesiastics. But the monks had hitherto +been a species of secular priests, who lived after the manner of the +present canons or prebendaries, and were both intermingled, in some +degree, with the world, and endeavored to render themselves useful +to it. They were employed in the education of youth;[*] they had the +disposal of their own time and industry; they were not subjected to +the rigid rules of an order; they had made no vows of implicit to their +superiors;[*] and they still retained the choice, without quitting the +convent, either of a married or a single life.[**] + + [* Osberne in Anglia Sacra, tom. ii. p. 91.] + + [** See Wharton’s notes to Anglia Sacra, tom. ii. + p. 91. Gervase, p 1645. Chron. Wint. MS. apud Spel. Concil. + p. 434.] The Pope, having cast his eye on the monks as the + basis of his authority, was determined to reduce them under + strict rules of obedience, to procure them the credit of + sanctity by an appearance of the most rigid mortification, + and to break off all their other ties which might interfere + with his spiritual policy. Under pretence, therefore, of + reforming abuses which were in some degree unavoidable in + the ancient establishments, he had already spread over the + southern countries of Europe the severe laws of the monastic + life, and began to form attempts towards a like innovation + in England. The favorable opportunity offered itself, (and + it was greedily seized,) arising from the weak superstition + of Edred, and the violent, impetuous character of Dunstan. + As the bishops and parochial clergy lived apart with their + families, and were more connected with the world, the hopes + of success with them were fainter, and the pretence for + making them renounce marriage was much less plausible. + +But a mistaken piety had produced in Italy a new species of monks, +called Benedictines; who, carrying farther the plan sible principles of +mortification, secluded themselves entirely from the world, renounced +all claim to liberty, and made a merit of the most inviolable chastity. +These practices and principles, which superstition at first engendered, +were greedily embraced and promoted by the policy of the court of Rome. +The Roman pontiff, who was making every day great advances towards an +absolute sovereignty over the ecclesiastics, perceived that the celibacy +of the clergy alone could break off entirely their connection with the +civil power, and, depriving them of every other object of ambition, +engage them to promote, with unceasing industry, the grandeur of their +own order. He was sensible that so long as the monks were indulged +in marriage, and were permitted to rear families, they never could be +subjected to strict discipline, or reduced to that slavery, under their +superiors, which was requisite to procure to the mandates, issued from +Rome, a ready and zealous obedience. Celibacy, therefore, began to be +extolled as the indispensable duty of priests; and the pope undertook to +make all the clergy, throughout the western world, renounce at once +the privilege of marriage; a fortunate policy, but at the same time +an undertaking the most difficult of any, since he had the strongest +propensities of human nature to encounter, and found that the same +connections with the female sex, which generally encourage devotion, +were here unfavorable to the success of his project. It is no wonder, +therefore, that this master-stroke of art should have met with violent +contradiction, and that the interests of the hierarchy, and the +inclinations of the priests, being now placed in this singular +opposition, should, notwithstanding the continued efforts of Rome have +retarded the execution of that bold scheme during the course of near +three centuries. + +Dunstan was born of noble parents in the west of England; and being +educated under his uncle Aldhelm, then archbishop of Canterbury, had +betaken himself to the ecclesiastical life, and had acquired some +character in the court of Edmund. He was, however, represented to +that prince as a man of licentious manners;[*] and finding his fortune +blasted by these suspicions, his ardent ambition prompted him to repair +his indiscretions, by running into an opposite extreme. He secluded +himself entirely from the world; he framed a cell so small, that he +could neither stand erect in it, nor stretch out his limbs during his +repose; and he here employed himself perpetually either in devotion +or in manual labor.[**] It is probable that his brain became gradually +crazed by these solitary occupations, and that his head was filled with +chimeras, which, being believed by himself and his stupid votaries, +procured him the general character of sanctity among the people. He +fancied that the devil, among the frequent visits which he paid him, +was one day more earnest than usual in his temptations, till Dunstan, +provoked at his importunity, seized him by the nose with a pair of +red-hot pincers, as he put his head into the cell; and he held him there +till that malignant spirit made the whole neighborhood resound with his +bellowings. This notable exploit was seriously credited and extolled by +the public; it is transmitted to posterity by one, who, considering the +age in which he lived, may pass for a writer of some elegance;[***] +and it insured to Dunstan a reputation which no real piety, much less +virtue, could, even in the most enlightened period, have ever procured +him with the people. + + [* Osberne, p. 95. M. West, p. 187.] + + [** Osberne, p. 96.] + + [*** Osberne, p. 97.] + +Supported by the character obtained in his retreat, Dunstan appeared +again in the world; and gained such an ascendent over Edred who had +succeeded to the crown, as made him not only the director of that +prince’s conscience, but his counsellor in the most momentous affairs of +government. He was placed at the head of the treasury,[*] and being thus +possessed both of power at court, and of credit with the populace, +he was enabled to attempt with success the most arduous enterprises. +Finding that his advancement had been owing to the opinion of his +austerity, he professed himself a partisan of the rigid monastic +rules; and after introducing that reformation into the convents of +Glastonbury and Abingdon, he endeavored to render it universal in the +kingdom. + +The minds of men were already well prepared for this innovation. The +praises of an inviolable chastity had been carried to the highest +extravagance by some of the first preachers of Christianity among the +Saxons: the pleasures of love had been represented as incompatible with +Christian perfection; and a total abstinence from all commerce with the +sex was deemed such a meritorious penance, as was sufficient to atone +for the greatest enormities. The consequence seemed natural, that +those, at least, who officiated at the altar, should be clear of this +pollution; and when the doctrine of transubstantiation, which was now +creeping in,[**] was once fully established, the reverence to the real +body of Christ in the eucharist bestowed on this argument an additional +force and influence. + + [* Osberne, p. 102. “Wallingford,” p. 541,] + + [** Spel. Concil. vol. i. p. 452.] + +The monks knew how to avail themselves of all these popular topics, and +to set off their own character to the best advantage. They affected the +greatest austerity of life and manners; they indulged themselves in the +highest strains of devotion; they inveighed bitterly against the vices +and pretended luxury of the age; they were particularly vehement against +the dissolute lives of the secular clergy, their rivals; every instance +of libertinism in any individual of that order was represented as a +general corruption; and where other topics of defamation were wanting, +their marriage became a sure subject of invective, and their wives +received the name of concubine, or other more opprobrious appellation. +The secular clergy, on the other hand, who were numerous and rich, and +possessed of the ecclesiastical dignities, defended themselves with +vigor and endeavored to retaliate upon their adversaries. The people +were thrown into agitation; and few instances occur of more violent +dissensions, excited by the most material differences in religion; or +rather by the most frivolous; since it is a just remark, that the more +affinity there is between theological parties, the greater commonly is +their animosity. + +The progress of the monks, which was become considerable, was somewhat +retarded by the death of Edred, their partisan, who expired after a +reign of nine years. He left children; but as they were infants, his +nephew Edwy, son of Edmund, was placed on the throne. + + + + +EDWY + +{955.} Edwy, at the time of his accession, was not above sixteen or +seventeen years of age, was possessed of the most amiable figure, +and was even endowed, according to authentic accounts, with the most +promising virtues.[*] He would have been the favorite of his people, had +he not unhappily, at the commencement of his reign, been engaged in a +controversy with the monks, whose rage neither the graces of the body +nor virtues of the mind could mitigate, and who have pursued his memory +with the same unrelenting vengeance, which they exercised against his +person and dignity during his short and unfortunate reign. There was +a beautiful princess of the royal blood, called Elgiva, who had made +impression on the tender heart of Edwy; and as he was of an age when the +force of the passions first begins to be felt, he had ventured, contrary +to the advice of his gravest counsellors, and the remonstrances of the +more dignified ecclesiastics,[**] to espouse her; though she was within +the degrees of affinity prohibited by the canon law.[***] + + [* Chron. Sax. p, 115.] + + [** H. Hunting, lib. v. p. 356.] + + [*** W. Malms. lib. ii. cap. 7.] + +As the austerity affected by the monks made them particularly violent on +this occasion, Edwy entertained a strong prepossession against them; +and seemed, on that account, determined not to second their project +of expelling the seculars from all the convents, and of possessing +themselves of those rich establishments. War was therefore declared +between the king and the monks; and the former soon found reason +to repent his provoking such dangerous enemies. On the day of his +coronation, his nobility were assembled in a great hall, and were +indulging themselves in that riot and disorder, which, from the example +of their German ancestors, had become habitual to the English;[*] when +Edwy, attracted by softer pleasures, retired into the queen’s apartment, +and in that privacy gave reins to his fondness towards his wife, which +was only moderately checked by the presence of her mother. Dunstan +conjectured the reason of the king’s retreat; and, carrying along with +him Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, over whom he had gained an absolute +ascendant, he burst into the apartment, upbraided Edwy with his +lasciviousness, probably bestowed on the queen the most opprobrious +epithet that can be applied to her sex, and tearing him from her arms, +pushed him back, in a disgraceful manner, into the banquet of the +nobles.[**] Edwy, though young, and opposed by the prejudices of the +people, found an opportunity of taking revenge for this public insult. +He questioned Dunstan concerning the administration of the treasury +during the reign of his predecessor;[***] and when that minister refused +to give any account of money expended, as he affirmed, by orders of the +late king, he accused him of malversation in his office, and banished +him the kingdom. But Dunstan’s cabal was not inactive during his +absence: they filled the public with high panegyrics on his sanctity: +they exclaimed against the impiety of the king and queen; and having +poisoned the minds of the people by these declamations, they proceeded +to still more outrageous acts of violence against the royal authority. +Archbishop Odo sent into the palace a party of soldiers, who seized +the queen; and having burned her face with a rod-hot iron, in order to +destroy that fatal beauty which had seduced Edwy, they carried her by +force into Ireland, there to remain in perpetual exile.[****] Edwy, +finding it in vain to resist, was obliged to consent to his divorce, +which was pronounced by Odo;[*****] and a catastrophe still more dismal +awaited the unhappy Elgiva. That amiable princess being cured of her +wounds, and having even obliterated the scars with which Odo had hoped +to deface her beauty, returned into England, and was flying to the +embraces of the king, whom she still regarded as her husband; when she +fell into the hands of a party whom the primate had sent to intercept +her. Nothing but her death could now give security to Odo and the monks, +and the most cruel death was requisite to satiate their vengeance. She +was hamstringed; and expired a few days after at Glocester in the most +acute torments.[******] + + [* Wallingford, p. 542.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 7. Osberne, p. 83, 105. M. West. + p. 195, 196.] + + [*** Wallingford, p. 542. Alured. Beverl. p. 112.] + + [**** Osberne, p. 84. Gervase, p. 1644.] + + [***** Hoveden, p. 425.] + + [****** Osberne, p. 84. Gervase, p. 1645, 1646] + +The English, blinded with superstition, instead of being shocked with +this inhumanity, exclaimed that the misfortunes of Edwy and his consort +were a just judgment for their dissolute contempt of the ecclesiastical +statutes. They even proceeded to rebellion against their sovereign; and +having placed Edgar at their head, the younger brother of Edwy, a boy +of thirteen years of age, they soon put him in possession of Mercia, +Northumberland, East Anglia, and chased Edwy into the southern counties. +That it might not be doubtful at whose instigation this revolt was +undertaken, Dunstan returned into England, and took upon him the +government of Edgar and his party. He was first installed in the see +of Worcester, then in that of London,[**] and, on Odo’s death, and +the violent expulsion of Brithelm, his successor, in that of +Canterbury;[***] of all which he long kept possession. Odo is +transmitted to us by the monks under the character of a man of piety: +Dunstan was even canonized; and is one of those numerous saints of the +same stamp, who disgrace the Romish calendar. Meanwhile the unhappy Edwy +was excommunicated,[****] and pursued with unrelenting vengeance; but +his death, which happened soon after, freed his enemies from all +further inquietude, and gave Edgar peaceable possession of the +government.[*****] [2] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 117. Flor. Wigorn. p. 605. + Wallingford, p. 544] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 425. Osberne, p. 109.] + + [**** Brompton, p. 863.] + + [***** See note B, at the end of the volume.] + + + + + +EDGAR + +{959.} This prince, who mounted the throne in such early youth, soon +discovered an excellent capacity in the administration of affairs, and +his reign is one of the most fortunate that we meet with in the ancient +English history. He showed no aversion to war; he made the wisest +preparations against invaders; and, by this vigor and foresight, he +was enabled without any danger of suffering insults, to indulge his +inclination towards peace, and to employ himself in supporting and +improving the internal government of his kingdom. He maintained a body +of disciplined troops; which he quartered in the north, in order to keep +the mutinous Northumbrians in subjection, and to repel the inroads of +the Scots. He built an supported a powerful navy;[*] and that +he might retain the seamen in the practice of their duty, and always +present a formidable armament to his enemies, he stationed three +squadrons off the coast, and ordered them to make, from time to time, +the circuit of his dominions.[**] [3] The foreign Danes dared not to +approach a country which appeared in such a posture of defence: the +domestic Danes saw inevitable destruction to be the consequence of +their tumults and insurrections: the neighboring sovereigns, the king of +Scotland, the princes of Wales, of the Isle of Man, of the Orkneys, and +even of Ireland,[***] were reduced to pay submission to so formidable +a monarch. He carried his superiority to a great height, and might have +excited a universal combination against him, had not his power been so +well established, as to deprive his enemies of hopes of shaking it It is +said, that residing once at Chester, and having purposed to go by water +to the abbey of St. John the Baptist, he obliged eight of his tributary +princes to row him in a barge upon the Dee.[****] The English historians +are fond of mentioning the name of Kenneth III., king of Scots, among +the number: the Scottish historians either deny the fact, or assert that +their king, if ever he acknowledged himself a vassal to Edgar, did +him homage, not for his crown, but for the dominions which he held in +England. + + +But the chief means by which Edgar maintained his authority, and +preserved public peace, was the paying of court to Dunstan and the +monks, who had at first placed him on the throne, and who, by their +pretensions to superior sanctity and purity of manners, had acquired an +ascendant over the people. He favored their scheme for dispossessing the +secular canons of all the monasteries;[*****] he bestowed preferment +on none but their partisans; he allowed Dunstan to resign the see of +Worcester into the hands of Oswald, one of his creatures; [******] and +to place Ethelwold, another of them, in that of Winchester;[*******] he +consulted these prelates in the administration of all ecclesiastical +and even in that of many civil affairs; and though the vigor of his own +genius prevented him from being implicitly guided by them, the king and +the bishops found such advantages in their mutual agreement, that they +always acted in concert, and united their influence in preserving the +peace and tranquillity of the kingdom. + + [* Higden, p. 265.] + + [** See note C, at the end of the volume] + + [*** Spel. Concil. p. 432.] + + [**** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 8. Hoveden, p. 406. + H. Hunting, lib. v.p. 356]. + + [***** Chron. Sax. p. 117, 118. W, Malms, lib. ii. + cap. 8. Hoveden, p. 425, 426. Osberne, p. 112.] + + [****** W. Malms. lib. ii. cap. 8. Hoveden, p. + 425.] + + [******* Gervase, p. 1646. Brompton, p. 864, Flor. + Wigorn. p. 606. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, p. 27, 28.] + +In order to complete the great work of placing the new order of monks in +all the convents, Edgar summoned a general council of the prelates, +and the heads of the religious orders. He here inveighed against the +dissolute lives of the secular clergy; the smallness of their tonsure, +which, it is probable, maintained no longer any resemblance to the crown +of thorns; their negligence in attending the exercise of their function; +their mixing with the laity in the pleasures of gaming, hunting, +dancing, and singing; and their openly living with concubines, by which +it is commonly supposed he meant their wives. He then turned himself to +Dunstan, the primate; and in the name of King Edred, whom he supposed to +look down from heaven with indignation against all those enormities, +he thus addressed him: “It is you, Dunstan, by whose advice I founded +monasteries, built churches, and expended my treasure in the support of +religion and religious houses. You were my counsellor and assistant in +all my schemes: you were the director of my conscience: to you I was +obedient in all things. When did you call for supplies, which I refused +you? Was my assistance ever wanting to the poor? Did I deny support and +establishments to the clergy and the convents? Did I not hearken to your +instructions, who told me that these charities were, of all others, the +most grateful to my Maker, and fixed a perpetual fund for the support +of religion? And are all our pious endeavors now frustrated by the +dissolute lives of the priests? Not that I throw any blame on you: you +have reasoned, besought, inculcated, inveighed; but it now behoves you +to use sharper and more vigorous remedies; and conjoining your spiritual +authority with the civil power, to purge effectually the temple of God +from thieves and intruders.”[*] + + [* Abbas Rieval. p. 360, 361. Spel. Concil. p. + 476, 477, 478.] + +It is easy to imagine that this harangue had the desired effect; and +that, when the king and prelates thus concurred with popular prejudices, +it was not long before the monks prevailed, and established their new +discipline in almost all the convents. + +We may remark, that the declamations against the secular clergy are, +both here and in all the historians, conveyed in general terms; and +as that order of men are commonly restrained by the decency of their +character, it is difficult to believe that the complaints against their +dissolute manners could be so universally just as is pretended. It is +more probable that the monks paid court to the populace by an affected +austerity of life; and representing the most innocent liberties taken by +the other clergy as great and unpardonable enormities, thereby prepared +the way for the increase of their own power and influence. Edgar, +however, like a true politician, concurred with the prevailing party; +and he even indulged them in pretensions, which, though they might, when +complied with, engage the monks to support royal authority during his +own reign, proved afterwards dangerous to his successors, and gave +disturbance to the whole civil power. He seconded the policy of the +court of Rome, in granting to some monasteries an exemption from +episcopal jurisdiction; he allowed the convents, even those of royal +foundation, to usurp the election of their own abbot; and he admitted +their forgeries of ancient charters, by which, from the pretended grant +of former kings, they assumed many privileges and immunities.[*] + + +These merits of Edgar have procured him the highest panegyrics from the +monks; and he is transmitted to us, not only under the character of a +consummate statesman and an active prince,--praises to which beseems to +have been justly entitled,--but under that of a great saint and a man of +virtue. But nothing could more betray both his hypocrisy in inveighing +against the licentiousness of the secular clergy, and the interested +spirit of his partisans in bestowing such eulogies on his piety, than +the usual tenor of his conduct, which was licentious to the highest +degree, and violated every law, human and divine. Yet those very monks, +who, as we are told by Ingulf, a very ancient historian, had no idea of +any moral or religious merit, except chastity and obedience, not only +connived at his enormities, but loaded him with the greatest praises. +History, however, has preserved some instances of his amours, from +which, as from a specimen, we may form a conjecture of the rest. + +Edgar broke into a convent, carried off Editha, a nun, by force, and +even committed violence on her person.[**] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 118. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 8. + Seldom Spicileg, ad Eadm. p. 149, 157.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. ii cap. 8. Osberne, p. 3. + Diceto, p. 457. Higden, p. 265, 267, 268. Spel. Concil. p. + 481.] + +For this act of sacrilege he was reprimanded by Dunstan; and that he +might reconcile himself to the church, he was obliged, not to separate +from his mistress, but to abstain from wearing his crown during seven +years, and to deprive himself so long of that vain ornament;[*] +a punishment very unequal to that which had been inflicted on the +unfortunate Edwy, who, for a marriage, which in the strictest sense +could only deserve the name of irregular, was expelled his kingdom, saw +his queen treated with singular barbarity, was loaded with calumnies, +and has been represented to us under the most odious colors. Such is the +ascendant which may be attained, by hypocrisy and cabal, over mankind. + + [* Osberne, p. 111.] + +There was another mistress of Edgar’s, with whom he first formed a +connection by a kind of accident. Passing one day by Andover, he lodged +in the house of a nobleman, whose daughter, being endowed with all the +graces of person and behavior, inflamed him at first sight with the +highest desire; and he resolved by any expedient to gratify it. As +he had not leisure to employ courtship or address for attaining his +purpose, he went directly to her mother, declared the violence of his +passion, and desired that the young lady might be allowed to pass that +very night with him. The mother was a woman of virtue, and determined +not to dishonor her daughter and her family by compliance; but being +well acquainted with the impetuosity of the king’s temper, she thought +it would be easier, as well as safer, to deceive than refuse him. She +feigned therefore a submission to his will; but secretly ordered a +waiting maid, of no disagreeable figure, to steal into the king’s bed, +after all the company should be retired to rest. In the morning, before +daybreak, the damsel, agreeably to the injunctions of her mistress, +offered to retire; but Edgar, who had no reserve in his pleasures, and +whose love to his bed-fallow was rather inflamed by enjoyment, refused +his consent, and employed force and entreaties to detain her. Elfleda +(for that was the name of the maid) trusting to her own charms, and +to the love with which, she hoped, she had now inspired the king, made +probably but a faint resistance; and the return of light discovered the +deceit to Edgar. He had passed a night so much to his satisfaction, that +he expressed no displeasure with the old lady on account of her fraud; +his love was transferred to Elfleda; she became his favorite mistress, +and maintained her ascendant over him, till his marriage with +Elfrida.[*] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 8. Higden, p. 268.] + +The circumstances of his marriage with this lady were more singular +and more criminal. Elfrida was daughter and heir of Olgar, earl of +Devonshire; and though she had been educated in the country, and had +never appeared at court, she had filled all England with the reputation +of her beauty. Edgar himself, who was indifferent to no accounts of this +nature, found his curiosity excited by the frequent panegyrics which he +heard of Elfrida; and reflecting on her noble birth, he resolved, if he +found her charms answerable to their fame, to obtain possession of her +on honorable terms. He communicated his intention to Earl Athelwold, his +favorite, but used the precaution, before he made any advances to her +parents, to order that nobleman, on some pretence, to pay them a visit, +and to bring him a certain account of the beauty of their daughter. +Athelwold, when introduced to the young lady, found general report to +have fallen short of the truth; and being actuated by the most vehement +love, he determined to sacrifice to this new passion his fidelity to his +master, and to the trust reposed in him. He returned to Edgar, and told +him, that the riches alone, and high quality of Elfrida, had been the +ground of the admiration paid her, and that her charms, far from being +any wise extraordinary would have been overlooked in a woman of inferior +station. When he had, by this deceit, diverted the king from his purpose +he took an opportunity, after some interval, of turning again the +conversation on Elfrida; he remarked, that though the parentage and +fortune of the lady had not produced on him, as on others, any illusion +with regard to her beauty, he could not forbear reflecting, that she +would, on the whole, be an advantageous match for him, and might, by her +birth and riches, make him sufficient compensation for the homeliness of +her person. If the king, therefore, gave his approbation he was +determined to make proposals in his own behalf to the earl of +Devonshire, and doubted not to obtain his, as well as the young lady’s, +consent to the marriage. Edgar, pleased with an expedient for +establishing his favorite’s fortune, not only exhorted him to execute +his purpose but forwarded his success by his recommendations to the +parents of Elfrida; and Athelwold was soon made happy in the possession +of his mistress. Dreading, however, the detection of the artifice, he +employed every pretence for detaining Elfrida in the country, and for +keeping her at a distance from Edgar. + +The violent passion of Athelwold had rendered him blind to the necessary +consequences which must attend his conduct, and the advantages which +the numerous enemies, that always pursue a royal favorite, would, by +its means, be able to make against him. Edgar was soon informed of the +truth; but before he would execute vengeance on Athelwold’s treachery, +he resolved to satisfy himself, with his own eyes, of the certainty +and full extent of his guilt. He told him that he intended to pay him +a visit in his castle, and be introduced to the acquaintance of his +new-married wife; and Athelwold, as he could not refuse the honor, only +craved leave to go before him a few hours, that he might the better +prepare every thing for his reception. He then discovered the whole +matter to Elfrida; and begged her, if she had any regard either to her +own honor or his life, to conceal from Edgar, by every circumstance +of dress and behavior, that fatal beauty which had seduced him from +fidelity to his friend, and had betrayed him into so many falsehoods. +Elfrida promised compliance, though nothing was farther from her +intentions. She deemed herself little beholden to Athelwold for a +passion which had deprived her of a crown; and knowing the force of her +own charms, she did not despair, even yet, of reaching that dignity, of +which her husband’s artifice had bereaved her. She appeared before the +king with all the advantages which the richest attire, and the most +engaging airs, could bestow upon her, and she excited at once in his +bosom the highest love towards herself, and the most furious desire of +revenge against her husband. He knew, however, how to dissemble these +passions; and seducing Athelwold into a wood, on pretence of hunting, +he stabbed him with his own hand, and soon after publicly espoused +Elfrida.[*] + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 8. Hoveden, p. 426. Brompton, p. + 865, 866. Flor. Wigorn. p. 606. Higden, p. 268.] + +Before we conclude our account of this reign, we must mention two +circumstances, which are remarked by historians. The reputation of Edgar +allured a great number of foreigners to visit his court; and he gave +them encouragement to settle in England.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 116. H. Hunting, lib. v. p. 356. Brompton, + p. 865.] + +We are told that they imported all the vices of their respective +countries, and contributed to corrupt the simple manners of the +natives;[*] but as this simplicity of manners so highly and often +so injudiciously extolled, did not preserve them from barbarity and +treachery, the greatest of all vices, and the most incident to a rude, +uncultivated people, we ought perhaps to deem their acquaintance with +foreigners rather an advantage; as it tended to enlarge their views, and +to cure them of those illiberal prejudices and rustic manners to which +islanders are often subject. + +Another remarkable incident of this reign was the extirpation of wolves +from England. This advantage was attained by the industrious policy +of Edgar. He took great pains in hunting and pursuing those ravenous +animals; and when he found that all that escaped him had taken shelter +in the mountains and forests of Wales, he changed the tribute of money +imposed on the Welsh princes of Athelstan, his predecessor,[**] into +an annual tribute of three hundred heads of wolves; which produced such +diligence in hunting them, that the animal has been no more seen in this +island. + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 8.] + + [** W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 6. Brompton, p. 838,] + +Edgar died after a reign of sixteen years, and in the thirty-third of +his age. He was succeeded by Edward, whom he had by his first marriage +with the daughter of Earl Ordmer. + + + + +EDWARD THE MARTYR + +{957.} The succession of this prince, who was only fifteen years of age +at his father’s death, did not take place without much difficulty and +opposition. Elfrida, his step-mother, had a son, Ethelred, seven years +old, whom she attempted to raise to the throne: she affirmed that +Edgar’s marriage with the mother of Edward was exposed to insuperable +objections; and as she had possessed great credit with her husband, she +had found means to acquire partisans, who seconded all her pretensions. +But the title of Edward was supported by many advantages. He was +appointed successor by the will of his father;[*] he was approaching +to man’s estate, and might soon be able to take into his own hands the +reins of government; the principal nobility, dreading the imperious +temper of Clirida, were averse to her son’s government, which must +enlarge her authority, and probably put her in possession of the +regency; above all, Dunstan, whose character of sanctity had given him +the highest credit with the people, hud espoused the cause of Edward, +over whom he had already acquired a great ascendant;[**] and he was +determined to execute the will of Edgar in his favor. To cut off all +opposite pretensions, Dunstan resolutely anointed and crowned the young +prince at Kingston; and the whole kingdom, without further dispute, +submitted to him.[***] + + [* Hoveden, p. 427. Eadmer p. 3.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 3.] + + [*** W. Malms, lib. ii cap. 9. Hoveden, p. 427. + Osberne, p. 113.] + +It was of great importance to Dunstan and the monks to place on the +throne a king favorable to their cause; the secular clergy had still +partisans in England, who wished to support them in the possession +of the convents, and of the ecclesiastical authority. On the first +intelligence of Edgar’s death, Alfere, duke of Mercia, expelled the +new orders of monks from all the monasteries which lay within his +jurisdiction;[***] but Elfwin, duke of East Anglia, and Brithnot, +duke of the East Saxons, protected them within their territories, and +insisted upon the execution of the late laws enacted in their favor. In +order to settle this controversy, there were summoned several synods, +which, according to the practice of those times, consisted partly of +ecclesiastical members, partly of the lay nobility. The monks were able +to prevail in these assemblies; though, as it appears, contrary to the +secret wishes, if not the declared inclination, of the leading men in +he nation.[****] They had more invention in forging miracles to +support their cause; or having been so fortunate as to obtain, by their +pretended austerities, the character of piety, their miracles were more +credited by the populace. + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 123. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. + 9. Hoveden, p. 427 Brompton, p. 870. Flor. Wigorn. p, 307.] + + [**** W. Malms. lib. ii. cap. 9.] + +In one synod, Dunstan, finding the majority of votes against him, rose +up, and informed the audience, that he had that instant received +an immediate revelation in behalf of the monks: the assembly was +so astonished at this intelligence, or probably so overawed by the +populace, that they proceeded no farther in their deliberations. In +another synod, a voice issued from the crucifix, and informed the +members that the establishment of the monks was founded on the will +of Heaven and could not be opposed without impiety.[*] But the miracle +performed in the third synod was still more alarming: the floor of the +hall in which the assembly met, sunk of a sudden, and a great number of +the members were either bruised or killed by the fall. It was remarked, +that Dunstan had that day prevented the king from attending the synod, +and that the beam on which his own chair stood was the only one that did +not sink under the weight of the assembly;[**] but these circumstances, +instead of begetting any suspicion of contrivance, were regarded as the +surest proof of the immediate interposition of Providence in behalf of +those favorites of Heaven. + + [* W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 9. Osberne, p. 112. + Gervase, p. 1647, Brompton, p. 870. Higden, p. 269.] + + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 124. W. Malms, lib. ii. cap. 9. + Hoveden, p. 427. H. Hunting, lib. v. p. 357. Gervase, p. + 1647. Brompton, p. 870. Flor. Wigorn. p. 607 Higden, p 269. + Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, p. 29] + +Edward lived four years after his accession, and there passed +nothing memorable during his reign. His death alone was memorable and +tragical.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 124.] + +This young prince was endowed with the most amiable innocence of +manners; and as his own intentions were always pure, he was incapable +of entertaining any suspicion against others. Though his step-mother had +opposed his succession, and had raised a party in favor of her own +son, he always showed her marks of regard, and even expressed, on all +occasions, the most tender affection towards his brother. He was hunting +one day in Dorsetshire, and being led by the chase near Corfe Castle, +where Elfrida resided, he took the opportunity of paying her visit, +unattended by any of his retinue, and he thereby presented her with +the opportunity which she had long wished for. After he had mounted his +horse, he desired some liquor to be brought him: while he was holding +the cup to his head, a servant of Elfrida approached him, and gave him +a stab behind. The prince, finding himself wounded, put spurs to his +horse; but becoming faint by loss of blood, he fell from the saddle, his +foot stuck in the stirrup, and he was dragged along by his unruly horse +till he expired. Being tracked by the blood, his body was found, and was +privately interred at Wereham by his servants. + +The youth and innocence of this prince, with his tragical death, begat +such compassion among the people, that they believed miracles to be +wrought at his tomb; and they gave him the appellation of _martyr_, +though his murder had no connection with any religious principle or +opinion. Elfrida built monasteries, and performed many penances, in +order to atone for her guilt; but could never, by all her hypocrisy +or remorses, recover the good opinion of the public, though so easily +deluded in those ignorant ages. + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + + +ETHELRED + +{978} THE freedom which England had so long enjoyed from the +depredations of the Danes, seems to have proceeded, partly from the +establishments which that piratical nation had obtained in the north +of France, and which employed all then superfluous hands to people and +maintain them; partly from the vigor and warlike spirit of a long race +of English princes, who preserved the kingdom in a posture of defence, +by sea and land, and either prevented or repelled every attempt of +the invaders. But a new generation of men being now sprung up in the +northern regions, who could no longer disburden themselves on Normandy, +the English had reason to dread that the Danes would again visit an +island to which they were invited, both by the memory of their past +successes, and by the expectation of assistance from their countrymen, +who, though long established in the kingdom, were not yet thoroughly +incorporated with the natives, nor had entirely forgotten their +inveterate habits of war and depredation. And as the reigning prince +was a minor, and even when he attained to man’s estate, never discovered +either courage or capacity sufficient to govern his own subjects, much +less to repel a formidable enemy, the people might justly apprehend the +worst calamities from so dangerous a crisis. + + +{981.} The Danes, before they durst attempt any important enterprise +against England, made an inconsiderable descent by way of trial; and +having landed from seven vessels near Southamptom, they ravaged the +country, enriched themselves by spoil, and departed with impunity. Six +years after, they made a like attempt in the west, and met with like +success. The invaders, having now found affairs in a very different +situation from that in which they formerly appeared, encouraged +their countrymen to assemble a greater force, and to hope for more +considerable advantages. + + +{991} They landed in Essex, under the command of two leaders; and +having defeated and slain, at Maldon, Brithnot, duke of that county, +who ventured with a small body to attack them, they spread their +devastations over all the neighboring provinces. In this extremity, +Ethelred, to whom historians give the epithet of the _Unready_, +instead of rousing his people to defend with courage their honor and +their property, hearkened to the advice of Siricius, archbishop of +Canterbury, which was seconded by many of the degenerate nobility; +and paying the enemy the sum of ten thousand pounds, he bribed them +to depart the kingdom. This shameful expedient was attended with the +success which might be expected. The Danes next year appeared off the +eastern coast, in hopes of subduing a people who defended themselves +by their money, which invited assailants, instead of their arms, which +repelled them. But the English, sensible of their folly, had in the +interval assembled in a great council, and had determined to collect +at London a fleet able to give battle to the enemy;[*] though that +judicious measure failed of success, from the treachery of Alfric, duke +of Mercia, whose name is infamous in the annals of that age, by the +calamities which his repeated perfidy brought upon his country. This +nobleman had, in 983, succeeded to his father, Alfere, in that extensive +command; but, being deprived of it two years after, and banished the +kingdom, he was obliged to employ all his intrigue, and all his power, +which was too great for a subject, to be restored to his country, and +reinstated in his authority. Having had experience of the credit and +malevolence of his enemies, he thenceforth trusted for security, not to +his services, or to the affections of his fellow-citizens, but to the +influence which he had obtained over his vassals, and to the public +calamities, which he thought must, in every revolution, render his +assistance necessary. Having fixed this resolution, he determined to +prevent all such successes as might establish the royal authority, or +render his own situation dependent or precarious. As the English had +formed the plan of surrounding and destroying the Danish fleet in +harbor, he privately informed the enemy of their danger; and when they +put to sea, in consequence of this intelligence, he deserted to them, +with the squadron under his command, the night before the engagement, +and thereby disappointed all the efforts of his countrymen.[**] +Ethelred, enraged at his perfidy, seized his son Alfgar, and ordered his +eyes to be put out.[***] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 126.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 127. W. Malms, p. 62. Higden, + p. 270.] + + [*** Chror. Sax. p. 128. W. Malms, p. 62.] + +But such was the power of Alfric, that he again forced himself into +authority; and though he had given this specimen of his character, and +received this grievous provocation, it was found necessary to intrust +him anew with the government of Mercia. This conduct of the court, +which, in all its circumstances, is so barbarous, weak, and imprudent +both merited and prognosticated the most grievous calamities. + +{993.} The northern invaders, now well acquainted with the defenceless +condition of England, made a powerful descent under the command of +Sweyn, king of Denmark, and Olave king of Norway; and sailing up the +Humber, spread on all sides their destructive ravages. Lindesey was laid +waste; Banbury was destroyed; and all the Northumbrians, though mostly +of Danish descent, were constrained either to join the invaders, or to +suffer under their depredations. A powerful army was assembled to oppose +the Danes, and a general action ensued; but the English were deserted in +the battle, from the cowardice or treachery of their three leaders, all +of them men of Danish race, Frena, Frithegist, and Godwin, who gave the +example of a shameful flight to the troops under their command. + +Encouraged by this success, and still more by the contempt which it +inspired for their enemy, the pirates ventured to attack the centre of +the kingdom; and entering the Thames in ninety-four vessels, laid siege +to London, and threatened it with total destruction. But the citizens, +alarmed at the danger, and firmly united among themselves, made a bolder +defence than the cowardice of the nobility and gentry gave the invaders +reason to apprehend; and the besiegers, after suffering the greatest +hardships, were finally frustrated in their attempt. In order to revenge +themselves, they laid waste Essex, Sussex, and Hampshire; and having +there procured horses, they were thereby enabled to spread through the +more inland counties the fury of their depredations. In this extremity, +Ethelred and his nobles had recourse to the former expedient; and +sending ambassadors to the two northern kings, they promised them +subsistence and tribute, on condition they would, for the present, put +an end to their ravages, and soon after depart the kingdom. Sweyn and +Olave agreed to the terms, and peaceably took up their quarters at +Southampton, where the sum of sixteen thousand pounds was paid to them. +Olave even made a journey to Andover, where Ethelred resided; and he +received the rite of confirmation from the English bishops, as well as +many rich presents from the king. He here promised that he would never +more infest the English territories; and he faithfully fulfilled the +engagement. This prince receives the appellation of St. Olave from the +church of Rome; and, notwithstanding the general presumption, which lies +either against the understanding or morals of every one who in those +ignorant ages was dignified with that title, he seems to have been a man +of merit and of virtue, Sweyn, though less scrupulous than Olave, was +constrained, upon the departure of the Norwegian prince, to evacuate +also the kingdom, with all his followers. + +{997.} This composition brought only a short interval to the miseries of +the English. The Danish pirates appeared soon after in the Severn; and +having committed spoil in Wales, as well as in Cornwall and Devonshire, +they sailed round to the south coast, and entering the Tamar, completed +the devastation of these two counties. They then returned to the Bristol +Channel; and penetrating into the country by the Avon, spread themselves +over all that neighborhood, and carried fire and sword even into +Dorsetshire. They next changed the seat of war; and after ravaging the +Isle of Wight, they entered the Thames and Medway, and laid siege to +Rochester, where they defeated the Kentish men in a pitched battle. +After this victory, the whole province of Kent was made a scene of +slaughter, fire, and devastation. The extremity of these miseries forced +the English into counsels for common defence, both by sea and land; +but the weakness of the king, the divisions among the nobility, the +treachery of some, the cowardice of others, the want of concert in all, +frustrated every endeavor; their fleets and armies either came too late +to attack the enemy, or were repulsed with dishonor; and the people +were thus equally ruined by resistance or by submission. The English, +therefore, destitute both of prudence and unanimity in council, +of courage and conduct in the field, had recourse to the same weak +expedient which, by experience, they had already found so ineffectual: +they offered the Danes to buy peace, by paying them a large sum of +money, These ravagers rose continually in their demands; and now +required the payment of twenty-four thousand pounds, to which the +English were so mean and imprudent as to submit.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 429. Chron. Malm. p. 153.] + +The departure of the Danes procured them another short interval of +repose, which they enjoyed as if it were to be perpetual without making +any effectual preparations for a more vigorous resistance upon the next +return of the enemy. + +Besides receiving this sum, the Danes were engaged by another motive to +depart a kingdom which appeared so little in a situation to resist their +efforts. They were invited over by their countrymen in Normandy, who at +this time were hard pressed by the arms of Robert, king of France, and +who found it difficult to defend the settlement, which, with so much +advantage to themselves, and glory to their nation, they had made in +that country. It is probable, also, that Ethelred, observing the close +connections thus maintained among all the Danes, however divided in +government or situation, was desirous of forming an alliance with that +formidable people. For this purpose, being now a widower, he made his +addresses to Emma, sister to Richard II., duke of Normandy, and he soon +succeeded in his negotiation. The princess came over this year {1001.} +to England, and was married to Ethelred.[*] + + [* H, Hunting, p. 359. Higden, p. 271.] + +In the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth century--when the +north, not yet exhausted by that multitude of people, or rather nations, +which she had successively emitted, sent forth a new race, not of +conquerors, as before, but of pirates and ravagers, who infested the +countries possessed by her once warlike sons--lived Rollo, a petty +prince or chieftain in Denmark, whose valor and abilities soon en gaged, +the attention of his countrymen. He was exposed in his youth to the +jealousy of the king of Denmark, who attacked his small but independent +principality, and who, being foiled in every assault, had recourse at +last to perfidy for effecting his purpose, which he had often attempted +in vain by force of arms.[**] + + [** Dudo, ex edit. Duchesne, p. 70, 71. Gul. + Gemeticenia, lib. ii, cap. 2, 3.] + +He lulled Rollo into security by an insidious peace and falling suddenly +upon him, murdered his brother and his bravest officers, and forced him +to fly for safety into Scandinavia. Here many of his ancient subjects, +induced partly by affection to their prince, partly by the oppressions +of the Danish monarch, ranged themselves under his standard, and offered +to follow him in every enterprise. Rollo, instead of attempting +to recover his paternal dominions, where he must expect a vigorous +resistance from the Danes, determined to pursue an easier but more +important undertaking, and to make rus fortune, in imitation of his +countrymen, by pillaging the richer and more southern coasts of Europe. +He collected a body of troops, which, like that of all those ravagers, +was composed of Norwegians, Swedes, Frisians, Danes, and adventurers +of all nations, who being accustomed to a roving, unsettled life, took +delight in nothing but war and plunder. His reputation brought him +associates from all quarters; and a vision, which he pretended to have +appeared to him in his sleep, and which, according to his interpretation +of it, prognosticated the greatest successes, proved also a powerful +incentive with those ignorant and superstitious people.[*] + + [* Dudo, p. 71. Gul. Gemet. in epist. ad Gul. + Conq.] + +The first attempt made by Rollo was on England, near the end of Alfred’s +reign, when that great monarch, having settled Guthrum and his followers +in East Anglia, and others of those freebooters in Northumberland, and +having restored peace to his harassed country, had established the most +excellent military, as well as civil, institutions among the English. +The prudent Dane, finding that no advantages could be gained over such +a people, governed by such a prince, soon turned his enterprises against +France, which he found more exposed to his inroads;[**] and during the +reigns of Eudes, a usurper, and of Charles the Simple, a weak prince, he +committed the most destructive ravages, both on the inland and maritime +provinces of that kingdom. The French, having no means of defence +against a leader who united all the valor of his countrymen with +the policy of more civilized nations, were obliged to submit to the +expedient practised by Alfred, and to offer the invaders a settlement in +some of those provinces which they had depopulated by their arms.[***] + + [** Gul Gemet lib. ii. cap 6.] + + [*** Dudo, p. 82.] + +The reason why the Danes, for many years, pursued measures so different +from those which had been embraced by the Goths, Vandals, Franks, +Burgundians, Lombards, and other northern conquerors, was the great +difference in the method of attack which was practised by these +several nations, and to which the nature of their respective situations +necessarily confined them. The latter tribes, living in an inland +country, made incursions by land upon the Roman empire; and when they +entered far into the frontiers, they were obliged to carry along +with them their wives and families, whom they had no hopes of soon +revisiting, and who could not otherwise participate of their plunder. +This circumstance quickly made them think of forcing a settlement in +the provinces which they had overrun: and these barbarians, spreading +themselves over the country, found an interest in protecting the +property and industry of the people whom they had subdued. But the Danes +and Norwegians, invited by their maritime situation, and obliged to +maintain themselves in their uncultivated country by fishing, had +acquired some experience of navigation; and, in their military +excursions, pursued the method practised against the Roman empire by the +more early Saxons. They made descents in small bodies from their ships, +or rather boats, and ravaging the coasts, returned with the booty to +their families, whom they could not conveniently carry along with them +in those hazardous enterprises. But when they increased their armaments, +made incursions into the inland countries, and found it safe to remain +longer in the midst of the enfeebled enemy, they had been accustomed to +crowd their vessels with their wives and children, and having no longer +any temptation to return to their own country, they willingly embraced +an opportunity of settling in the warm climates and cultivated fields of +the south. + +Affairs were in this situation with Rollo and his followers, when +Charles proposed to relinquish to them part of the province formerly +called Neustria, and to purchase peace on these hard conditions. After +all the terms were fully settled, there appeared only one circumstance +shocking to the haughty Dane: he was required to do homage to Charles +for this province, and to put himself in that humiliating posture +imposed on vassals by the rites of the feudal law. He long refused to +submit to this indignity; but, being unwilling to lose such important +advantages for a mere ceremony, he made a sacrifice of his pride to his +interest, and acknowledged himself, in form, the vassal of the French +monarch.[*] Charles gave him his daughter Gisla in marriage; and, that +he might bind him faster to his interests, made him a donation of a +considerable territory, besides that which he was obliged to surrender +to him by his stipulation. + + [* Ypod. Neust. p. 417.] + +When some of the French nobles informed him that, in return for so +generous a present, it was expected that he should throw himself at the +king’s feet, and make suitable acknowledgments for his bounty, Rollo +replied, that he would rather decline the present; and it was with some +difficulty they could persuade him to make that compliment by one of his +captains. The Dane, commissioned for this purpose, full of indignation +at the order, and despising so unwarlike a prince, caught Charles by the +foot, and pretending to carry it to his mouth, that he might kiss it, +overthrew him before all his courtiers. The French, sensible of their +present weakness, found it prudent to overlook this insult.[*] + + [* Gul. Gemet. lib. ii. cap. 17.] + +Rollo, who was now in the decline of life, and was tired of wars and +depredations, applied himself, with mature counsels to the settlement of +his new-acquired territory, which was thenceforth called Normandy; and +he parcelled it out among his captains and followers. He followed, +in this partition, the customs of the feudal law, which was then +universally established in the southern countries of Europe, and which +suited the peculiar circumstances of that age. He treated the French +subjects, who submitted to him, with mildness and justice; he reclaimed +his ancient followers from their ferocious violence; he established law +and order throughout his state; and after a life spent in tumults and +ravages, he died peaceably in a good old age, and left his dominions to +his posterity.[**] + + [** Gul. Gemet. lib. ii. cap. 19, 20, 21.] + +William I., who succeeded him, governed the duchy twenty-five years; +and, during that time, the Normans, who were thoroughly intermingled +with the French, had acquired their language, had imitated their +manners, and had made such progress towards cultivation, that, on the +death of William, his son Richard, though a minor,[***] inherited his +dominions; a sure proof that the Normans were already somewhat advanced +in civility, and that their government could now rest secure on its laws +and civil institutions, and was not wholly sustained by the abilities +of the sovereign. Richard, after a long reign of fifty-four years, was +succeeded by his son, of the same name, in the year 996,[****] which +was eighty-five years after the first establishment of the Normans +in France. This was the duke who gave his sister Emma in marriage to +Ethelred, king of England, and who thereby formed connections with a +country which his posterity was so soon after destined to subdue. + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 459. Grl. Geinet, lib. iv. + cup. 1.] + + [**** Order. Vitalis, p. 459.] + +The Danes had been established during a longer period in England than in +France; and though the similarity of their original language to that of +the Saxons invited them to a more early coalition with the natives, +they had hitherto found so little example of civilized manners among +the English, that they retained all their ancient ferocity, and valued +themselves only on their national character of military bravery. The +recent, as well as more ancient achievements of their countrymen +tended to support this idea; and the English princes particularly +Athelstan and Edgar, sensible of that superiority had been accustomed +to keep in pay bodies of Danish troops, who were quartered about the +country, and committed many violences upon the inhabitants. These +mercenaries had attained to such a height of luxury, according to the +old English writers,[*] that they combed their hair once a day, bathed +themselves once a week, changed their clothes frequently; and by all +these arts of effeminacy, as well as by their military character, had +rendered themselves so agreeable to the fair sex, that they debauched +the wives and daughters of the English, and dishonored many families. +But what most provoked the inhabitants was, that instead of defending +them against invaders, they were ever ready to betray them to the +foreign Danes, and to associate themselves with all straggling parties +of that nation. + +The animosity between the inhabitants of English and Danish race, had, +from these repeated injuries, risen to a great height, when Ethelred, +from a policy incident to weak princes embraced the cruel resolution of +massacring the latter throughout all his dominions.[**] [4] + + [* Wallingford, p. 547.] + + [** See note D, at the end of the volume.] + +{1002.}Secret orders were despatched to commence the execution every +where on the same day, and the festival of St. Brice, which fell on +a Sunday, [November 13,] the day on which the Danes usually bathed +themselves, was chosen for that purpose. It is needless to repeat the +accounts transmitted concerning the barbarity of this massacre: the rage +of the populace, excited by so many injuries, sanctioned by authority, +and stimulated by example, distinguished not between innocence and +guilt, spared neither sex nor age, and was not satiated without the +tortures as well as death of the unhappy victims. Even Gunilda, sister +to the king of Denmark, who had married Earl Paling, and had embraced +Christianity, was, by the advice of Edric, earl of Wilts, seized and +condemned to death by Ethelred, after seeing her husband and children +butchered before her face. This unhappy princess foretold, in the +agonies of despair, that her murder would soon be avenged by the total +ruin of the English nation. + +{1003.} Never was prophecy better fulfilled; and never did barbarous +policy prove more fatal to the authors. Sweyn and his Danes, who wanted +but a pretence for invading the English, appeared off the western +coast, and threatened to take full revenge for the slaughter of their +countrymen. Exeter fell first into their hands, from the negligence +or treachery of Earl Hugh, a Norman, who had been made governor by the +interest of Queen Emma. They began to spread their devastations over the +country, when the English, sensible what outrages they must now expect +from their barbarous and offended enemy, assembled more early, and +in greater numbers than usual, and made an appearance of vigorous +resistance. But all these preparations were frustrated by the treachery +of Duke Alfric, who was intrusted with the command, and who, feigning +sickness, refused to lead the army against the Danes, till it was +dispirited, and at last dissipated, by his fatal misconduct. Alfric soon +after died, and Edric, a greater traitor than he, who had married the +king’s daughter, and had acquired a total ascendant over him, succeeded +Alfric in the government of Mercia, and in the command of the English +armies. A great famine, proceeding partly from the bad seasons, partly +from the decay of agriculture, added to all the other miseries of the +inhabitants. + +{1007} The country, wasted by the Danes, harassed by the fruitless +expeditions of its own forces, was reduced to the utmost desolation, and +at last submitted to the infamy of purchasing a precarious peace from +the enemy, by the payment of thirty thousand pounds. + +The English endeavored to employ this interval in making preparations +against the return of the Danes, which they had reason soon to expect. A +law was made, ordering the proprietors of eight hides of land to provide +each a horseman and a complete suit of armor, and those of three hundred +and ten hides to equip a ship for the defence of the coast. When this +navy was assembled, which must have consisted of near eight hundred +vessels,[*] all hopes of its success were disappointed by the factions, +animosities, and dissensions of the nobility. Edric had impelled his +brother Brightric to prefer an accusation of treason against Wolfnoth, +governor of Sussex, the father of the famous Earl Godwin; and that +nobleman, well acquainted with the malevolence as well as power of his +enemy, found no means of safety Dut in deserting with twenty ships to +the Danes. + + [* There were two hundred and forty-three thousand + six hundred hides in England. Consequently, the ships + equipped must be seven hundred and eighty-five. The cavalry + was thirty thousand four hundred and fifty men.] + +Brightric pursued him with a fleet of eighty sail; but his ships being +shattered in a tempest, and stranded on the coast, he was suddenly +attacked by Wolfnoth, and all his vessels burnt and destroyed. The +imbecility of the king was little capable of repairing this misfortune. +The treachery of Edric frustrated every plan for future defence; and +the English navy, disconcerted, discouraged, and divided, was at last +scattered into its several harbors. + +It is almost impossible, or would be tedious, to relate particularly all +the miseries to which the English were henceforth exposed. We hear of +nothing but the sacking and burning of towns; the devastation of the +open country; the appearance of the enemy in every quarter of the +kingdom; their cruel diligence in discovering any corner which had +not been ransacked by their former violence. The broken and disjointed +narration of the ancient historians is here well adapted to the nature +of the war, which was conducted by such sudden inroads, as would have +been dangerous even to a united and well-governed kingdom, but proved +fatal where nothing but a general consternation and mutual diffidence +and dissension prevailed. The governors of one province refused to march +to the assistance of another, and were at last terrified from assembling +their forces for the defence of their own province. General councils +were summoned; but either no resolution was taken, or none was carried +into execution. And the only expedient in which the English agreed, was +the base and imprudent one of buying a new peace from the Danes, by the +payment of forty-eight thousand pounds. + + +{1011.} This measure did not bring them even that short interval of +repose which they had expected from it. The Danes, disregarding all +engagements, continued their devastations and hostilities; levied a new +contribution of eight thousand pounds upon the county of Kent alone; +murdered the archbishop of Canterbury, who had refused to countenance +this exaction; and the English nobility found no other resource than +that of submitting everywhere to the Danish monarch, swearing allegiance +to him, and delivering him hostages for their fidelity. Ethelred equally +afraid of the violence of the enemy, and the treachery of his own +subjects, fled into Normandy, {1013} whither he had sent before him +Queen Emma, and her two sons, Alfred and Edward. Richard received his +unhappy guests with a generosity that does honor to his memory. + +{1014} The king had not been above six weeks in Normandy, when he heard +of the death of Sweyn, who expired at Gainsborough, before he had time +to establish himself in his new-acquired dominions. The English prelates +and nobility, taking advantage of this event, sent over a deputation to +Normandy, inviting Ethelred to return to them, expressing a desire of +being again governed by their native prince, and intimating their hopes +that, being now tutored by experience, he would avoid all those errors +which had been attended with such misfortunes to himself and to his +people. But the misconduct of Ethelred was incurable; and on his +resuming the government, he discovered the same incapacity, indolence, +cowardice, and credulity, which had so often exposed him to the insults +of his enemies. His son-in-law Edric, notwithstanding his repeated +treasons, retained such influence at court, as to instil into the king +jealousies of Sigefert and Morcar, two of the chief nobles of Mercia. +Edric allured them into his house, where he murdered them; while +Ethelred participated in the infamy of the action, by confiscating their +estates, and thrusting into a convent the widow of Sigefert. She was a +woman of singular beauty and merit; and in a visit which was paid her, +during her confinement, by Prince Edmond, the king’s eldest son, she +inspired him with so violent an affection, that he released her from the +convent, and soon after married her, without the consent of his father. + +Meanwhile the English found in Canute, the son and successor of Sweyn, +an enemy no less terrible than the prince from whom death had so lately +delivered them. He ravaged the eastern coast with merciless fury, and +put ashore all the English hostages at Sandwich, after having cut off +their hands and noses. He was obliged, by the necessity of his affairs, +to make a voyage to Denmark; but, returning soon after, he continued his +depredations along the southern coast He even broke into the counties +of Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset where an army was assembled against him, +under the command of Prince Edmond and Duke Edric. The latter still +continued his perfidious machinations, and after endeavoring in vain to +got the prince into his power, he found means to disperse the army, and +he then openly deserted to Canute with forty vessels. {1015.} + +Notwithstanding this misfortune, Edmond was not disconcerted; but +assembling all the force of England, was in a condition to give battle +to the enemy. The king had had such frequent experience of perfidy among +his subjects, that he had lost all confidence in them: he remained at +London, pretending sickness, but really from apprehensions that they +intended to buy their peace, by delivering him into the hands of his +enemies. The army called aloud for their sovereign to march at their +head against the Danes; and, on his refusal to take the field, they were +so discouraged, that those vast preparations became ineffectual for +the defence of the kingdom. Edmond, deprived of all regular supplies to +maintain his soldiers, was obliged to commit equal ravages with those +which were practised by the Danes; and, after making some fruitless +expeditions into the north, which had submitted entirely to Canute’s +power, he retired to London, determined there to maintain to the last +extremity the small remains of English liberty. He here found every +thing in confusion by the death of the king, who expired after an +unhappy and inglorious reign of thirty-five years. {1016.} He left two +sons by his first marriage, Edmond, who succeeded him, and Edwy, whom +Canute afterwards murdered. His two sons by the second marriage, Anred +and Edward, were, immediately upon Ethelred’s death, conveyed into +Normandy by Queen Emma. + + + + +EDMOND IRONSIDE + +This prince, who received the name of _Ironside_ from his hardy +valor, possessed courage and abilities sufficient to have prevented his +country from sinking into those calamities, but not to raise it from +that abyss of misery into which it had already fallen. Among the other +misfortunes of the English, treachery and disaffection had crept in +among the nobility and prelates; and Edmond found no better expedient +for stopping the further progress of these fatal evils, than to lead +his army instantly into the field, and to employ them against the +common enemy. After meeting with some success at Gillingnam, he prepared +himself to decide, in one general engagement, the fate of his crown: +and at Scoerston, in the county of Glocester, he offered battle to the +enemy, who were commanded by Canute and Edric. Fortune, in the beginning +of the day, declared for him; but Edric, having cut off the head of one +Osmer, whose countenance resembled that of Edmond fixed it on a spear, +carried it through the ranks in triumph, and called aloud to the +English, that it was time to fly; for, behold! the head of their +sovereign. And though Edmond, observing the consternation of the troops, +took off his helmet, and showed himself to them, the utmost he could +gain by his activity and valor was to leave the victory undecided. Edric +now took a surer method to ruin him, by pretending to desert to him; and +as Edmond was well acquainted with his power, and probably knew no other +of the chief nobility in whom he could repose more confidence, he was +obliged, notwithstanding the repeated perfidy of the man, to give him +a considerable command in the army. A battle soon after ensued at +Assington, in Essex; where Edric, flying in the beginning of the +day, occasioned the total defeat of the English, followed by a great +slaughter of the nobility. The indefatigable Edmond, however, had still +resources. Assembling a new army at Glocester, he was again in condition +to dispute the field; when the Danish and English nobility, equally +harassed with those convulsions obliged their kings to come to a +compromise, and to divide the kingdom between them by treaty. Canute +reserved to himself the northern division, consisting of Mercia, East +Anglia, and Northumberland, which he had entirely subdued. The southern +parts were left to Edmond. The prince survived the treaty about a month. +He was murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, accomplices of +Edric, who thereby made way for the succession of Canute the Dane to the +crown of England. + + + + +CANUTE + +{1017.} The English, who had been unable to defend their country, and +maintain their independency, under so active and brave a prince as +Edmond, could after his death expect nothing but total subjection from +Canute, who, active and brave himself, and at the head of a great force, +was ready to take advantage of the minority of Edwin and Edward, the +two sons of Edmond. Yet this conqueror, who was commonly so little +scrupulous, showed himself anxious to cover his injustice under +plausible pretences. Before he seized the dominions of the English +princes, he summoned a general assembly of the states, in order to fix +the succession of the kingdom. He here suborned some nobles to depose +that, in the treaty of Glocester it had been verbally agreed, either to +name Canute, in case of Edmond’s death, successor to his dominions, or +tutor to hit children, (for historians vary in this particular;) and +that evidence, supported by the great power of Canute, determined +the states immediately to put the Danish monarch in possession of the +government. Canute, jealous of the two princes, but sensible that +he should render himself extremely odious if he ordered them to be +despatched in England, sent them abroad to his ally, the king of Sweden, +whom he desired, as soon as they arrived at his court, to free him, +by their death, from a& farther anxiety. The Swedish monarch was too +generous to comply with the request; but being afraid of drawing on +himself a quarrel with Canute, by protecting the young princes, he +sent them to Solomon, king of Hungary, to be educated in his court. +The elder, Edwin, was afterwards married to the sister of the king of +Hungary; but the English prince dying without issue, Solomon gave his +sister-in-law, Agatha, daughter of the emperor Henry the Second, +in marriage to Edward, the younger brother; and she bore him Edgar, +Atheling, Margaret, afterwards queen of Scotland, and Christina, who +retired into a convent. + +Canute, though he had reached the great point of his ambition in +obtaining possession of the English crown, was obliged at first to make +great sacrifices to it; and to gratify the chief of the nobility, by +bestowing on them the most extensive governments and jurisdictions. He +created Thurkill earl or duke of East Anglia, (for these titles were +then nearly of the same import,) Yric of Northumberland, and Edric of +Mercia; reserving only to himself the administration of Wessex. But +seizing afterwards a favorable opportunity, he expelled Thurkill and +Yric from their governments, and banished them the kingdom; he put to +death many of the English nobility, on whose fidelity he could not rely, +and whom he hated on account of their disloyalty to their native prince. +And even the traitor Edric, having had the assurance to reproach him +with his services, was condemned to be executed, and his body to be +thrown into the Thames; a suitable reward for his multiplied acts of +perfidy and rebellion. + +Canute also found himself obliged, in the beginning of his reign, +to load the people with heavy taxes, in order to reward his Danish +followers: he exacted from them at one time the sum of seventy-two +thousand pounds; besides eleven thousand pounds which he levied on +London alone. He was probably willing, from political motives, to mulct +severely that city, on account of the affection which it had borne to +Edmond, and the resistance which it had made to the Danish power in two +obstinate sieges.[*] But these rigors were imputed to necessity, +and Canute, like a wise prince, was determined that the English, now +deprived of all their dangerous leaders, should be reconciled to the +Danish yoke, by the justice and impartiality of his administration. He +sent back to Denmark as many of his followers as he could safely spare; +he restored the Saxon customs in a general assembly of the states; he +made no distinction between Danes and English in the distribution of +justice; and he took care, by a strict execution of law, to protect +the lives and properties of all his people. The Danes were gradually +incorporated with his new objects; and both were glad to obtain a little +respite from those multiplied calamities, from which the one, no less +than the other, had, in their fierce contest for power, experienced such +fatal consequences. + +The removal of Edmond’s children into so distant a country as Hungary, +was, next to their death, regarded by Canute as the greatest security to +his government: he had no further anxiety, except with regard to Alfred +and Edward, who were protected and supported by their uncle Richard, +duke of Normandy. Richard even fitted out a great armament, in order to +restore the English princes to the throne of their ancestors; and though +the navy was dispersed by a storm, Canute saw the danger to which he was +exposed, from the enmity of so warlike a people as the Normans. In order +to acquire the friendship of the duke, he paid his addresses to Queen +Emma, sister of that prince; and promised that he would leave the +children, whom he should have by that marriage, in possession of the +crown of England. Richard complied with his demand, and sent over Emma +to England, where she was soon after married to Canute.[**] The English, +though they disapproved of her espousing the mortal enemy of her former +husband and his family, were pleased to find at court a sovereign to +whom they were accustomed, and who had already formed connections with +them; and thus Canute besides securing, by this marriage, the alliance +of Normandy gradually acquired, by the same means, the confidence of his +own subjects.[***] The Norman prince did not long survive the marriage +of Emma; and he left the inheritance of the duchy to his eldest son +of the same name; who, dying a year after him without children, was +succeeded by his brother Robert, a man of valor and abilities. + + [* W. Malms, p. 72. In one of these sieges, Canute + diverted the coarse of the Thames, and by that means brought + his ships above London bridge.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 151. W. Malms, p. 73.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 73. Higden, p 275.] + +Canute, having settled his power in England beyond all danger of a +revolution, made a voyage to Denmark, in order to resist the attacks of +the king of Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body of the +English, under the command of Earl Godwin. This nobleman had here an +opportunity of performing a service, by which he both reconciled the +king’s mind to the English nation, and gaining to himself the friendship +of his sovereign, laid the foundation of that immense fortune which +he acquired to his family. He was stationed next the Swedish camp, and +observing a favorable opportunity, which he was obliged suddenly +to seize, he Attacked the enemy in the night, drove them from their +trenches, threw them into disorder, pursued his advantage, and obtained +a decisive victory over them. Next morning, Canute, seeing the English +camp entirely abandoned, imagined that those disaffected troops had +deserted to the enemy: he was agreeably surprised to find that they were +at that time engaged in pursuit of the discomfited Swedes. He was so +pleased with this success, and with the manner of obtaining it that +he bestowed his daughter in marriage upon Godwin, and treated him ever +after with entire confidence and regard. + + +{1028.} In another voyage, which he made afterwards to Denmark, Canute +attacked Norway, and expelling the just but unwarlike Olaus, kept +possession of his kingdom till the death of that prince. He had now by +his conquests and valor attained the utmost height of grandeur: having +leisure from wars and intrigues, he felt the unsatisfactory nature of +all human enjoyments; and equally weary of the glories and turmoils +of this life, he began to cast his view towards that future existence, +which it is so natural for the human mind, whether satiated by +prosperity or disgusted with adversity, to make the object of its +attention. Unfortunately, the spirit which prevailed in that age gave a +wrong direction to his devotion: instead of making compensation to those +whom he had injured by his former acts of violence, he employed himself +entirely in those exercises of piety which the monks represented as the +most meritorious. He built churches, he endowed monasteries, he enriched +the ecclesiastics, and he bestowed revenues for the support of chantries +at Assington and other places; where he appointed prayers to be said for +the souls of those who had there fallen in battle against him. He even +undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, where he resided a considerable time: +besides obtaining from the pope some privileges for the English school +erected there, he engaged all the princes, through whose dominions he +was obliged to pass, to desist from those heavy impositions and tolls +which they were accustomed to exact from the English pilgrims. By +this spirit of devotion no less than by his equitable and politic +administration, he gained, in a good measure, the affections of his +subjects. + +Canute, the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign +of Denmark and Norway, as well as of England, could not fail of meeting +with adulation from his courtiers; a tribute which is liberally paid +even to the meanest and weakest princes. Some of his flatterers breaking +out one day in admiration of his grandeur, exclaimed that every thing +was possible for him; upon which the monarch, it is said, ordered his +chair to be set on the sea-shore, while the tide was rising; and as the +waters approached, he commanded them to retire, and to obey the voice +of him who was lord of the ocean. He feigned to sit some time in +expectation of their submission; but when the sea still advanced towards +him, and began to wash him with its billows, he turned to his courtiers, +and remarked to them, that every creature in the universe was feeble and +impotent, and that power resided with one being alone, in whose hands +were all the elements of nature; who could say to the ocean, “Thus far +shalt thou go, and no farther;” and who could level with his nod the +most towering piles of human pride and ambition. + +{1031.} The only memorable action which Canute performed after his +return from Rome, was an expedition against Malcolm, king of Scotland. +During the reign of Ethelred, a tax of a shilling a hide had been imposed +on all the lands of England. It was commonly called ‘danegelt;’ because +the revenue bar been employed either in buying peace with the Danes, or +in making preparations against the inroads of that hostile nation. That +monarch had required that the same tax should be paid by Cumberland, +which was held by the Scots; but Malcolm a warlike prince, told him, +that as he was always able to repulse the Danes by his own power, he +would neither submit to buy peace of his enemies, nor pay others for +resisting them. Ethelred, offended at this reply, which contained a +secret reproach on his own conduct, undertook an expedition against +Cumberland; but though he committed ravages upon the country, he could +never bring Malcolm to a temper more humble or submissive. Canute, +after his accession, summoned the Scottish king to acknowledge himself +a vassal for Cumberland to the crown of England; but Malcolm refused +compliance, on pretence that he owed homage to those princes only who +inherited that kingdom by right of blood. Canute was not of a temper to +bear this insult; and the king of Scotland soon found, that the sceptre +was in very different hands from those of the feeble and irresolute +Ethelred. Upon Canute’s appearing on the frontiers with a formidable +army Malcolm agreed that his grandson and heir, Duncan, whom he put in +possession of Cumberland, should make the submissions required, and that +the heirs of Scotland should always acknowledge themselves vassals to +England for that province.[*] Canute passed four years in peace after +this enterprise, and he died at Shaftesbury;[**] leaving three sons, +Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute. Sweyn, whom he had by his first marriage +with Alfwen, daughter of the earl of Hampshire, was crowned in Norway: +Hardicanute, whom Emma had borne him, was in possession of Denmark: +Harold, who was of the same marriage with Sweyn, was at that time in +England. + + [* W. Malms, p. 74.] + + [** Chron Sax p. 154. W. Malms, p. 76] + + + + +HAROLD HAREFOOT + +{1035.} Though Canute, in his treaty with Richard, duke of Normandy, +had stipulated that his children by Emma should succeed to the crown +of England, he had either considered himself as released from that +engagement by the death of Richard, or esteemed it dangerous to leave an +unsettled and newly-conquered kingdom in the hands of so young a prince +as Hardicanute: he therefore appointed, by his will, Harold successor +to the crown. This prince was besides present, to maintain his claim; he +was favored by all the Danes; and he got immediately possession of his +father’s treasures, which might be equally useful, whether he found it +necessary to proceed by force or intrigue, in insuring his succession. +On the other hand, Hardicanute had the suffrages of the English, who, +on account of his being from among them of Queen Emma, regarded him as +their countryman; he was favored by the articles of treaty with the duke +of Normandy; and above all, his party was espoused by Earl Godwin, the +most powerful nobleman in the kingdom, especially in the province of +Wessex, the chief seat of the ancient English. Affairs were likely to +terminate in a civil war; when, by the interposition of the nobility +of both parties, a compromise was made; and it was agreed that Harold +should enjoy, together with London, all the provinces north of the +Thames, while the possession of the south should remain to Hardicanute: +and till that prince should appear and take possession of his dominions, +Emma fixed her residence at Winchester, and established her authority +over her son’s share of the partition. + +Meanwhile Robert, duke of Normandy, died in a pilgrimage to the Holy +Land, and being succeeded by a son, yet a minor, the two English +princes, Alfred and Edward, who found no longer any countenance or +protection in that country, gladly embraced the opportunity of paying a +visit, with a numerous retinue, to their mother, Emma, who seemed to be +placed in a state of so much power and splendor at Winchester. But the +face of affairs soon wore a melancholy aspect. Earl Godwin had been +gained by the arts of Harold, who promised to espouse the daughter of +that nobleman; and while the treaty was yet a secret, these two tyrants +laid a plan for the destruction of the English princes. Alfred was +invited to London by Harold with many professions of friendship; but +when he had reached Guilford, he was set upon by Godwin’s vassals, about +six hundred of his train were murdered in the most cruel manner, he +himself was taken prisoner, his eyes were put out, and he was conducted +to the monastery of Ely, where he died soon after.[*] Edward and Emma, +apprised of the fate which was awaiting them, fled beyond sea, the +former into Normandy, the latter into Flanders; while Harold, triumphing +in his bloody policy, took possession, without resistance, of all the +dominions assigned to his brother. + + [* H. Hunting, p. 365. Ypod. Neust. p. 434. + Hoveden, p. 438. Chron. Mailr. p. 156. Higden, p. 277. + Chron. St. Petri de Burgo, p. 39. Sim. Dunelm. p. 179. Abbas + Rieval. p. 366, 374. Brompton, p. 935. Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. + cap. 11. M. West. p. 209 Flor. Wigorn, p. 622. Alured. + Beverl. p. 118.] + +This is the only memorable action performed, during a reign of four +years, by this prince, who gave so bad a specimen of his character, and +whose bodily accomplishments alone are known to us by his appellation +of _Harefoot_, which he acquired from his agility in running +and walking. He died on the 14th of April, 1039, little regretted or +esteemed by his subjects, and left the succession open to his brother +Hardicanute. + + + + +HARDICANUTE + +{1039.} Hardicanute, or Canute the hardy, that is, the robust, (for +he top is chiefly known by his bodily accomplishments,) though, by +remaining so long in Denmark, he had been deprived of his share in the +partition of the kingdom, had not abandoned his pretensions; and he had +determined, before Harold’s death, to recover by arms what he had lost, +either by his own negligence or by the necessity of his affairs. On +pretence of paying a visit to the queen dowager in Flanders, ne had +assembled a fleet of sixty sail, and was preparing to make a descent on +England, when intelligence of his brother’s death induced him to +sail immediately to London, where he was received in triumph, and +acknowledged king without opposition. + +The first act of Hardicanute’s government afforded his subjects a +bad prognostic of his future conduct. He was so enraged at Harold for +depriving him of his share of the kingdom, and for the cruel treatment +of his brother Alfred, that in an impotent desire of revenge against +the dead, he ordered his body to be dug up, and to be thrown into the +Thames; and when it was found by some fishermen, and buried in London, +he ordered it again to be dug up, and to be thrown again into the +river; but it was fished up a second time, and then interred with great +secrecy. Godwin, equally servile and insolent, submitted to be his +instrument in this unnatural and brutal action. + +That nobleman knew that he was universally believed to have been an +accomplice in the barbarity exercised on Alfred, and that he was on that +account obnoxious to Hardicanute; and perhaps he hoped, by displaying +this rage against Harold’s memory, to justify himself from having had +any participation in his counsels. But Prince Edward, being invited +over by the king, immediately on his appearance preferred an accusation +against Godwin for the murder of Alfred, and demanded justice for that +crime. Godwin, in order to appease the king; made him a magnificent +present of a galley with a gilt stern, rowed by fourscore men, who wore +each of them a gold bracelet on his arm, weighing sixteen ounces, +and were armed and clothed in the most sumptuous manner. Hardicanute, +pleased with the splendor of this spectacle, quickly forgot his +brother’s murder; and on Godwin’s swearing that he was innocent of the +crime, he allowed him to be acquitted. + +Though Hardicanute before his accession had been called over by the +vows of the English, he soon lost the affections of the nation by his +misconduct; but nothing appeared more grievous to them than his renewing +the imposition of danegelt, and obliging the nation to pay a great sum +of money to the fleet which brought him from Denmark. The discontents +ran high in many places: in Worcester the populace rose, and put to +death two of the collectors. The king, enraged at this opposition, swore +vengeance against the city, and ordered three noblemen, Godwin, duke of +Wessex, Siward, duke of Northumberland, and Leofric, duke of Mercia, to +execute his menaces with the utmost rigor. They were obliged to set fire +to the city, and deliver it up to be plundered by their soldiers; but +they saved the lives of the inhabitants, whom they confined in a small +island of the Severn, called Beverey, till, by their intercession, they +were able to appease the king, and obtain the pardon of the supplicants. + +This violent government was of short duration. Hardicanute died in two +years after his accession, at the nuptials of a Danish lord, which he +had honored with his presence. His usual habits of intemperance were so +well known, that, notwithstanding his robust constitution, his sudden +death gave as little surprise as it did sorrow to his subjects. + + + + +EDWARD THE CONFESSOR + +{1041.} The English, on the death of Hardicanute, saw a favorable +opportunity for recovering their liberty, and for shaking off the Danish +yoke, under which they had so long labored. Sweyn, king of Norway, the +eldest son of Canute, was absent; and as the two last kings had died +without issue, none of that race presented himself, nor any whom the +Danes could support as successor to the throne. Prince Edward was +fortunately at court on his brother’s demise; and though the descendants +of Edmond Ironside were the true heirs of the Saxon family, yet their +absence in so remote a country as Hungary, appeared a sufficient reason +for their exclusion to a people, like the English, so little accustomed +to observe a regular order in the succession of their monarchs. All +delays might be dangerous, and the present occasion must hastily be +embraced, while the Danes, without concert, without a leader, astonished +at the present incident, and anxious only for their personal safety, +durst not oppose the united voice of the nation. + +But this concurrence of circumstances in favor of Edward might have +failed of its effect, had his succession been opposed by Godwin, whose +power, alliances, and abilities gave him a great influence at all times, +especially amidst those sudden opportunities which always attend +a revolution of government, and which, either seized or neglected, +commonly prove decisive. There were opposite reasons, which divided +men’s hopes and fears with regard to Godwin’s conduct. On the one hand, +the credit of that nobleman lay chiefly in Wessex, which was almost +entirely inhabited by English; it was therefore presumed that he would +second the wishes of that people in restoring the Saxon line, and in +humbling the Danes, from whom he, as well as they, had reason to dread, +as they had already felt, the most grievous oppressions. On the other +hand, there subsisted a declared animosity between Edward and Godwin, +on account of Alfred’s murder; of which the latter had publicly been +accused by the prince, and which he might believe so deep an offence, as +could never, on account of any subsequent merits, be sincerely pardoned. +But their common friends here interposed; and representing the necessity +of their good correspondence, obliged them to lay aside all jealousy and +rancor, and concur in restoring liberty to their native country. Godwin +only stipulated that Edward, as a pledge of his sincere reconciliation, +should promise to marry his daughter Editha; and having fortified +himself by this alliance, he summoned a general council at Gillingham, +and prepared every measure for securing the succession to Edward. The +English were unanimous and zealous in their resolutions; the Danes were +divided and dispirited: any small opposition, which appeared in this +assembly, was browbeaten and suppressed; and Edward was crowned king, +with every Demonstration of duty and affection. + +The triumph of the English upon this signal and decisive advantage, was +at first attended with some insult and violence against the Danes, but +the king, by the mildness of his character, soon reconciled the latter +to his administration, and the distinction between the two nations +gradually disappeared. The Danes were interspersed with the English +in most of the provinces; they spoke nearly the same language; they +differed little in their manners and laws; domestic dissensions in +Denmark prevented, for some years, any powerful invasion from thence +which might awaken past animosities; and as the Norman conquest, which +ensued soon after, reduced both nations to equal subjection, there is +no further mention in history of any difference between them. The joy, +however, of their present deliverance made such impression on the minds +of the English, that they instituted an annual festival for celebrating +that great event; and it was observed in some counties, even to the time +of Spelman.[*] + + [* Spelm. Glossary in verbo Hocday.] + +The popularity which Edward enjoyed on his accession was not destroyed +by the first act of his administration, his resuming all the grants of +his immediate predecessors; an attempt which is commonly attended with +the most dangerous consequences. The poverty of the crown convinced the +nation that this act of violence was become absolutely necessary; and as +the loss fell chiefly on the Danes, who had obtained large grants +from the late kings, their countrymen, on account of their services +in subduing the kingdom, the English were rather pleased to see them +reduced to their primitive poverty. The king’s severity also towards his +mother, the queen dowager, though exposed to some more censure, met not +with very, general disapprobation. He had hitherto lived on indifferent +terms with that princess; he accused her of neglecting him and his +brother during their adverse fortune;[**] he remarked that, as the +superior qualities of Canute, and his better treatment of her, had made +her entirely indifferent to the memory of Etheldred, she also gave +the preference to her children of the second bed, and always regarded +Hardicanute as her favorite. + + [** Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p.237] + +The same reasons had probably made her unpopular in England; and though +her benefactions to the monks obtained her the favor of that order, the +nation was not, in general, displeased to see her stripped by Edward +of immense treasures which she had amassed. He confined her, during the +remainder of her life, in a monastery at Winchester; but carried his +rigor against her no farther. The stories of his accusing her of +a participation in her son Alfred’s murder, and of a criminal +correspondence with the bishop of Winchester, and also of her justifying +herself by treading barefoot, without receiving any hurt, over nine +burning ploughshares, were the inventions of the monkish historians, and +were propagated and believed from the silly wonder of posterity.[*] + + [* Higden, p. 277.] + +The English flattered themselves that, by the accession of Edward, they +were delivered forever from the dominion of foreigners; but they soon +found that this evil was not yet entirely removed. The king had been +educated in Normandy, and had contracted many intimacies with the +natives of that country, as well as an affection for their manners.[**] +The court of England was soon filled with Normans, who, being +distinguished both by the favor of Edward, and by a degree of +cultivation superior to that which was attained by the English in those +ages, soon rendered their language, customs, and laws fashionable in the +kingdom. The study of the French tongue became general among the people. +The courtiers affected to imitate that nation in their dress, equipage, +and entertainments; even the lawyers employed a foreign language +in their deeds and papers;[***] but above all, the church felt the +influence and dominion of those strangers: Ulf and William, two Normans, +who had formerly been the king’s chaplains, were created bishops of +Dorchester and London. Robert, a Norman also, was promoted to the see of +Canterbury,[****] and always enjoyed the highest favor of his master, +of which his abilities rendered him not unworthy. And though the king’s +prudence, or his want of authority, made him confer almost all the civil +and military employments on the natives, the ecclesiastical preferments +fell often to the share of the Normans; and as the latter possessed +Edward’s confidence, they had secretly a great influence on public +affairs, and excited the jealousy of the English, particularly of Earl +Godwin.[*****] + + [** Ingulph. p. 62.] + + [*** Ingulph. p. 62.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 161.] + + [***** W. Malms, p. 80.] + +This powerful nobleman, besides being duke or earl of Wessex, had the +counties of Kent and Sussex annexed to his government. His eldest son, +Sweyn, possessed the same authority in the counties of Oxford, Berks, +Glocester, and Hereford; and Harold, his second son, was duke of East +Anglia, and at the same time governor of Essex. The great authority of +this family was supported by immense possessions and powerful alliances; +and the abilities, as well as ambition of Godwin himself, contributed to +render it still more dangerous. A prince of greater capacity and vigor +than Edward would have found it difficult to support the dignity of the +crown under such circumstances; and as the haughty temper of Godwin +made him often forget the respect due to his prince Edward’s +animosity against him was grounded on personal as well as political +considerations, on recent as well as more ancient injuries. The king, in +pursuance of his engagements, had indeed married Editha, the daughter +of Godwin;[*] but this alliance became a fresh source of enmity between +them. Edward’s hatred of the father was transferred to that princess-; +and Editha, though possessed of many amiable accomplishments, could +never acquire the confidence and affection of her husband. It is even +pretended, that, during the whole course of her life, he abstained from +all commerce of love with her; and such was the absurd admiration paid +to an inviolable chastity during those ages, that his conduct in this +particular is highly celebrated by the monkish historians, and greatly +contributed to his acquiring the title of saint and confessor[**] +{1048.} + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 157.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 80, Higden, p. 277. Abbae Rieval. + p. 366, 377 M. West. p. 221. Chron. Thorn. Wykes, p. 21, + Anglia Sacra, vol i. p, 241.] + +The most popular pretence on which Godwin could ground his disaffection +to the king and his administration, was to complain of the influence +of the Normans in the government; and a declared opposition had thence +arisen between him and these favorites. It was not long before this +animosity broke out into action. Eustace, count of Boulogne, having paid +a visit to the king, passed by Dover in his return: one of his train, +being refused entrance to a lodging, which had been assigned him, +attempted to make his way by force, and in the contest he wounded the +master of the house. The inhabitants revenged this insult by the death +of the stranger; the count and his train took arms, and murdered the +wounded townsman; a tumult ensued; near twenty persons were killed on +each side; and Eustace, being overpowered by numbers, was obliged to +save his life by flight from the fury of the populace. + +He hurried immediately to court, and complained of tne usage he had +met with: the king entered zealously into the quarrel, and was highly +displeased that a stranger of such distinction, whom he had invited +over to his court, should, without any just cause, as he believed, have +felt so sensibly the insolence and animosity of his people. He gave +orders to Godwin, in whose government Dover lay, to repair immediately +to the place, and to punish the inhabitants for tne crime; but Godwin, +who desired rather to encourage than express the popular discontents +against foreigners, refused obedience, and endeavored to throw the whole +blame of the riot on the count of Boulogne and his retinue.[*] Edward, +touched in so sensible a point, saw the necessity of exerting the +royal authority; and he threatened Godwin, if he persisted in his +disobedience, to make him feel the utmost effects of his resentment. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 163. W. Malms, p. 81. Higden, p. + 279] + +The earl, perceiving a rupture to be unavoidable, and pleased to embark +in a cause where it was likely he should be supported by his countrymen, +made preparations for his own defence, or rather for an attack on +Edward. Under pretence of repressing some disorders on the Welsh +frontier, he secretly assembled a great army, and was approaching the +king, who resided, without any military force, and without suspicion, at +Glocester.[**] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 163. W. Mabus. p. 81.] + +Edward applied for protection to Siward, duke of Northumberland, and +Leofric, duke of Mercia, two powerful noblemen, whose jealousy of +Godwin’s greatness, as well as their duty to the crown, engaged them to +defend the king in this extremity. They hastened to him with such of +their followers as they could assemble on a sudden; and finding the +danger much greater than they had at first apprehended, they issued +orders for mustering all the forces within their respective governments, +and for marching them without delay to the defence of the king’s +person and authority. Edward, meanwhile, endeavored to gain time by +negotiation; while Godwin, who thought the king entirely in his power, +and who was willing to save appearances, fell into the snare; and not +sensible that he ought to have no further reserve after he had proceeded +so far, he lost the favorable opportunity of rendering himself master of +the government. + +The English, though they had no high idea of Edward’s vigor and +capacity, bore him great affection on account of his humanity, justice, +and piety, as well as the long race of their native kings, from whom he +was descended; and they hastened from all quarters to defend him from +the present danger. Hia army was now so considerable, that he ventured +to take the field; and marching to London, he summoned a great council +to judge of the rebellion of Godwin and his sons. These noblemen +pretended at first that they were willing to stand their trial; but +having in vain endeavored to make their adherents persist in rebellion, +they offered to come to London, provided they might receive hostages for +their safety: this proposal being rejected, they were obliged to disband +the remains of their forces, and have recourse to flight. Baldwin, earl +of Flanders, gave protection to Godwin and his three sons, Gurth, Sweyn, +and Tosti, the latter of whom had married the daughter of that prince; +Harold and Leofwin, two others of his sons, took shelter in Ireland. The +estates of the father and sons were confiscated; their governments were +given to others; Queen Editha was confined in a monastery at Warewel; +and the greatness of this family, once so formidable, seemed now to be +totally supplanted and overthrown But Godwin had fixed his authority on +too firm a basis, and he was too strongly supported by alliances both +foreign and domestic, not to occasion further disturbances, and make new +efforts for his reëstablishment. {1052.} The earl of Flanders permitted +him to purchase and hire ships within his harbors; and Godwin, having +manned them with his followers, and with freebooters of all nations, put +to sea, and attempted to make a descent at Sandwich. The king, informed +of his preparations, had equipped a considerable fleet, much superior to +that of the enemy; and the earl hastily, before their appearance, made +his retreat into the Flemish harbors.[*] The English court, allured by +the present security, and destitute of all vigorous counsels, allowed +the seamen to disband, and the fleet to go to decay;[**] while Godwin, +expecting this event, kept his men in readiness for action. He put to +sea immediately, and sailed to the Isle of Wight, where he was joined by +Harold with a squadron, which that nobleman had collected in Ireland. +He was now master of the sea; and entering every harbor in the southern +coast, he seized all the ships,[***] and summoned his followers in those +counties, which had so long been subject to his government, to assist +him in procuring justice to himself his family, and his country, against +the tyranny of foreigners. + + [* Sim. Dunelm. p. 186.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 166] + + [*** Chron. Sax. p. 166.] + +Reënforced by great numbers from all quarters, he entered the Thames; +and appearing before London, threw every thing into confusion. The king +alone seemed resolute to defend himself to the last extremity; but the +interposition of the English nobility, many of whom favored Godwin’s +pretensions, made Edward hearken to terms of accommodation; and the +feigned humility of the earl, who disclaimed all intentions of offering +violence to his sovereign, and desired only to justify himself by a +fair and open trial, paved the way for his more easy admission. It was +stipulated that he should give hostages for his good behavior, and that +the primate and all the foreigners should be banished: by this treaty +the present danger of a civil war was obviated, but the authority of the +crown was considerably impaired, or rather entirely annihilated. Edward, +sensible that he had not power sufficient to secure Godwin’s hostages in +England, sent them over to his kinsman, the young duke of Normandy. + +Godwin’s death, which happened soon after, while he was sitting at table +with the king, prevented him from further establishing the authority +which he had acquired, and from reducing Edward to still greater +subjection.[*] [5] He was succeeded in the government of Wessex, Sussex, +Kent, and Essex, and in the office of steward of the household, a place +of great power, by his son Harold, who was actuated by an ambition +equal to that of his father, and was superior to him in address, in +insinuation, and in virtue. By a modest and gentle demeanor, he acquired +the good will of Edward; at least, softened that hatred which the prince +had so long borne his family;[**] and gaining every day new partisans by +his bounty and affability, he proceeded, in a more silent, and therefore +a more dangerous manner, to the increase of his authority. The king, +who had not sufficient vigor directly to oppose his progress, knew of +no other expedient than that hazardous one of raising him a rival in the +family of Leofric, duke of Mercia, whose son Algar was invested with the +government of East Anglia, which, before the banishment of Harold, had +belonged to the latter nobleman. But this policy, of balancing opposite +parties, required a more steady hand to manage it than that of Edward, +and naturally produced faction and even civil broils, among nobles of +such mighty and independent authority. + + [* See note E, at the end of the volume.] + + [** Brompton, p. 918] + +Algar was soon after expelled his government by the intrigues and power +of Harold; but being protected by Griffith, prince of Wales, who had +married his daughter, as well as by the power of his father Leofric, he +obliged Harold to submit to an accommodation, and was reinstated in the +government of East Anglia. This peace was not of long duration: Harold, +taking advantage of Leofric’s death, which happened soon after, expelled +Algar anew, and banished him the kingdom: and though that nobleman +made a fresh irruption into East Anglia with an army of Norwegians, and +overran the country, his death soon freed Harold from the pretensions +of so dangerous a rival. Edward, the eldest son of Algar, was indeed +advanced to the government of Mercia; but the balance which the king +desired to establish between those potent families, was wholly lost, and +the influence of Harold greatly preponderated. + +{1055.} The death of Siward, duke of Northumberland, made the way still +more open to the ambition of that nobleman. Siward, besides his other +merits, had acquired honor to England by his successful conduct in the +only foreign enterprise undertaken during the reign of Edward. Duncan, +king of Scotland, was a prince of a gentle disposition, but possessed +not the genius requisite for governing a country so turbulent, and so +much infested by the intrigues and animosities of the great. Macbeth, +a powerful nobleman, and nearly allied to the crown, not content with +curbing the king’s authority, carried still farther his pestilent +ambition: he put his sovereign to death; chased Malcolm Kenmore, his son +and heir, into England, and usurped the crown. Siward, whose daughter +was married to Duncan, embraced, by Edward’s orders, the protection of +this distressed family: he marched an army into Scotland; and having +defeated and killed Macbeth in battle, he restored Malcolm to the throne +of his ancestors.[*] + + [* W. Malms, p. 79. Hoveden, p. 443. Chron. Mailr. + p. 158 Buchanan, p, 115, edit. 1715]. + +This service, added to his former connections with the royal family of +Scotland, brought a great accession to the authority of Siward in the +north; but as he had lost his eldest son, Osberne, in the action with +Macbeth, it proved in the issue fatal to his family. His second son, +Walthoef, appeared, on his father’s death, too young to be intrusted +with the government of Northumberland; and Harold’s influence obtained +that dukedom for his own brother Tosti. + +There are two circumstances related of Siward, which discover his high +sense of honor, and his martial disposition. When intelligence was +brought him of his son Osberne’s death, he was inconsolable; till he +heard that the wound was received in the breast, and that he had +behaved with great gallantry in the action. When he found his own death +approaching, he ordered his servants to clothe him in a complete suit +of armor; and sitting erect on the couch, with a spear in his hand, +declared, that in that posture, the only one worthy of a warrior, he +would patiently await the fatal moment. + +The king, now worn out with cares and infirmities, felt himself far +advanced in the decline of life; and having no issue himself, began to +think of appointing a successor to the kingdom. He sent a deputation to +Hungary, to invite over his nephew Edward, son of his elder brother, and +the only remaining heir of the Saxon line. That prince, whose succession +to the crown would have been easy and undisputed, came to England with +his children, Edgar, surnamed Atheling, Margaret, and Christina; but his +death, which happened a few days after his arrival, threw the king into +new difficulties. He saw that the great power and ambition of Harold had +tempted him to think of obtaining possession of the throne on the first +vacancy, and that Edgar, on account of his youth and inexperience, was +very unfit to oppose the pretensions of so popular and enterprising a +rival. The animosity which he had long borne to Earl Godwin, made him +averse to the succession of his son; and he could not, without extreme +reluctance, think of an increase of grandeur to a family which had risen +on the ruins of royal authority, and which, by the murder of Alfred, his +brother, had contributed so much to the weakening of the Saxon line. In +this uncertainty, he secretly cast his eye towards his kinsman, William +duke of Normandy, as the only person whose power, and reputation, and +capacity, could support any destination which he might make in his +favor, to the exclusion of Harold and his family.[*] + + [* Irgulph. p. 68] + +This famous prince was natural son of Robert, duke of Normandy, by +Harlotta, daughter of a tanner in Falaise,[**] and was very early +established in that grandeur, from which his birth seemed to have set +him at so great a distance. + + [** Brompton, p. 910.] + +While he was but nine years of age, his father had resolved to undertake +a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; a fashionable act of devotion, which had +taken place of the pilgrimages to Rome, and which, as it was attended +with more difficulty and danger, and carried those religious adventurers +to the first sources of Christianity, appeared to them more meritorious. +Before his departure, he assembled the states of the duchy; and in +forming them of his design, he engaged them to swear allegiance to his +natural son, William, whom, as he had no legitimate issue, he intended, +in case he should die in the pilgrimage, to leave successor to his +dominions.[*] As he was a prudent prince, he could not but foresee +the great inconveniencies which must attend this journey, and this +settlement of his succession; arising from the perpetual turbulency +of the great, the claims of other branches of the ducal family and +the power of the French monarch; but all these considerations were +surmounted by the prevailing zeal for pilgrimages;[**] and probably the +more important they were, the more would Robert exult in sacrificing +them to what he imagined to be his religious duty. + + [* W. Malms, p. 95.] + + [** Ypod. Neust. p. 452.] + +This prince, as he had apprehended, died in his pilgrimage; and the +minority of his son was attended with all those disorders which were +almost unavoidable in that situation. The licentious nobles, freed from +the awe of sovereign authority, broke out into personal animosities +against each other, and made the whole country a scene of war and +devastation.[***] Roger, count of Toni, and Alain, count of Brittany, +advanced claims to the dominion of the state; and Henry the First king +of France, thought the opportunity favorable for reducing the power of +a vassal, who had originally acquired his settlement in so violent +and invidious a manner, and who had long appeared formidable to his +sovereign.[****] The regency established by Robert encountered great +difficulties in supporting the government under his complication of +dangers; and the young prince, when he came to maturity, found himself +reduced to a very low condition. But the great qualities which he soon +displayed in the field and in the cabinet, gave encouragement to his +friends, and struck a terror into his enemies. He opposed himself on all +sides against his rebellious subjects, and against foreign invaders; and +by his valor and conduct prevailed in every action. + + [*** Malms, p. 95. Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. cap. 1] + + [**** W. Malms, p. 97.] + +He obliged the French king to grant him peace on reasonable terms; he +expelled all pretenders to the sovereignty; and he reduced his turbulent +barons to pay submission to his authority, and to suspend their mutual +animosities. The natural severity of his temper appeared in a rigorous +administration of justice; and having found the happy effects of this +plan of government, without which the laws in those ages became totally +impotent, he regarded it as a fixed maxim, that an inflexible conduct +was the first duty of a sovereign. + + +The tranquillity which he had established in his dominions, had given +William leisure to pay a visit to the king of England, during the time +of Godwin’s banishment; and he was received in a manner suitable to the +great reputation which he had acquired, to the relation by which he was +connected with Edward, and to the obligations which that prince owed to +his family.[*] On the return of Godwin, and the expulsion of the Norman +favorites, Robert, archbishop of Canterbury, had, before his departure, +persuaded Edward to think of adopting William as his successor; +a counsel which was favored by the king’s aversion to Godwin, his +prepossessions for the Normans, and his esteem of the duke. That +prelate, therefore, received a commission to inform William of the +king’s intentions in his favor; and he was the first person that opened +the mind of the prince to entertain those ambitious hopes.[**] But +Edward, irresolute and feeble in his purpose, finding that the English +would more easily acquiesce in the restoration of the Saxon line, and +in the mean time invited his brother’s descendants from Hungary, with a +view of having them recognized heirs to the crown. + + [* Hoveden, p. 442. Ingulph. p, 65. Chron. Mailr. + p. 157 Higden, p. 279.] + + [** Ingulph. p. 68. Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. cap. 31 + Order Vitalis. p. 492.] + +The death of his nephew, and the inexperience and unpromising qualities +of young Edgar, made him resume his former intentions in favor of the +duke of Normandy; though his aversion to hazardous enterprises engaged +him to postpone the execution, and even to keep his purpose secret from +all his ministers. + +Harold, meanwhile, proceeded after a more open manner, in increasing his +popularity, in establishing his power, and in preparing the way for +his advancement on the first vacancy; an event which, from the age and +infirmities of the king, appeared not very distant. But there was still +an obstacle, which it was requisite for him previously to overcome. Earl +Godwin, when restored to his power and fortune, had given hostages for +his good behavior; and among the rest one son and one grandson, whom +Edward, for greater security, as has been related, had consigned to the +custody of the duke of Normandy. Harold, though not aware of the duke’s +being his competitor, was uneasy that such near relations should be +detained prisoners in a foreign country; and he was afraid lest William +should, in favor of Edgar, retain these pledges as a check on the +ambition of any other pretender. He represented, therefore, to the king +his unfeigned submission to royal authority, his steady duty to his +prince, and the little necessity there was, after such a uniform trial +of his obedience, to detain any longer those hostages, who had been +required on the first composing of civil discords. By these topics, +enforced by his great power, he extorted the king’s consent to release +them; and in order to effect his purpose, he immediately proceeded, with +a numerous retinue, on his journey to Normandy. A tempest drove him +on the territory of Guy, count of Ponthieu, who, being informed of his +quality, immediately detained him prisoner, and demanded an exorbitant +sum for his ransom. Harold found means to convey intelligence of his +situation to the duke of Normandy; and represented that, while he was +proceeding to his court, in execution of a commission from the king +of England, he had met with this harsh treatment from the mercenary +disposition of the count of Ponthieu. + +William was immediately sensible of the importance of the incident. He +foresaw that, if he could once gain Harold, either by favors or menaces, +his way to the throne of England would be open, and Edward would meet +with no further obstacle in executing the favorable intentions which he +had entertained in his behalf. He sent, therefore, a messenger to Guy, +in order to demand the liberty of his prisoner; and that nobleman, not +daring to refuse so great a prince, put Harold into the hands of the +Norman, who conducted him to Rouen. William received him with every +demonstration of respect and friendship; and after showing himself +disposed to comply with his desire in delivering up the hostages, +he look an opportunity of disclosing to him the great secret of his +pretensions to the crown of England, and of the will which Edward +intended to make in his favor. He desired the assistance of Harold in +perfecting that design; he made professions of the utmost gratitude in +return for so great an obligation; he promised that the present grandeur +of Harold’s family, which supported itself with difficulty under the +jealousy and hatred of Edward, should receive new increase from a +successor, who would be so greatly beholden to him for his advancement +Harold was surprised at this declaration of the duke; but being sensible +that he should never recover his own liberty, much less that of his +brother and nephew, if he refused the demand, he feigned a compliance +with William, renounced all hopes of the crown for himself, and +professed his sincere intention of supporting the will of Edward, and +seconding the ptetensions of the duke of Normandy. William, to bind him +faster to his interests, besides offering him one of his daughters +in marriage, required him to take an oath that, he would fulfil his +promises; and in order to render the oath more obligatory, he employed +an artifice well suited to the ignorance and superstition of the age. He +secretly conveyed under the altar, on which Harold agreed to swear, the +relics of some of the most revered martyrs; and when Harold had taken +the oath, he showed him the relics, and admonished him to observe +religiously an engagement which had been ratified by so tremendous a +sanction.[*] The English nobleman was astonished; but dissembling his +concern, he renewed the same professions, and was dismissed with all the +marks of mutual confidence by the duke of Normandy. + + [* Wace, p. 459, 460. MS. penes Carte, p. 354. W. + Malms, p. 93 H Hunting, p 366. Hoveden, p. 449. Brompton, p. + 947.] + +When Harold found himself at liberty, his ambition suggested casuistry +sufficient to justify to him the violation of an oath, which had been +extorted from him by fear, and which, if fulfilled, might be attended +with the subjection of his native country to a foreign power. He +continued still to practise every art of popularity; to increase the +number of his partisans; to reconcile the minds of the English to the +idea of his succession; to revive their hatred of the Normans; and, by +an ostentation of his power and influence, to deter the timorous Edward +from executing his intended destination in favor of William. Fortune, +about this time, threw two incidents in his way, by which he was enabled +to acquire general favor, and to increase the character, which he had +already attained, of virtue and abilities. + +The Welsh, though a less formidable enemy than the Danes, had long been +accustomed to infest the western borders; and after committing spoil +on the low countries, they usually made a hasty retreat into their +mountains, where they were sheltered from the pursuit of their enemies, +and were ready to seize the first favorable opportunity of renewing +their depredations. Griffith, the reigning prince, had greatly +distinguished himself in those incursions; and his name had become so +terrible to the English, that Harold found he could do nothing more +acceptable to the public, and more honorable for himself, than +the suppressing of so dangerous an enemy. He formed the plan of an +expedition against Wales; and having prepared some light-armed foot to +pursue the natives in their fastnesses, some cavalry to scour the open +country, and a squadron of ships to attack the sea-coast, he employed at +once all these forces against the Welsh, prosecuted his advantages with +vigor, made no intermission in his assaults, and at last reduced +the enemy to such distress, that, in order to prevent their total +destruction, they made a sacrifice of their prince, whose head they +cut off, and sent to Harold; and they were content to receive as their +sovereigns two Welsh noblemen appointed by Edward to rule over them. The +other incident was no less honorable to Harold. + +Tosti, brother of this nobleman, who had been created duke of +Northumberland, being of a violent, tyrannical temper, had acted with +such cruelty and injustice, that the inhabitants rose in rebellion, +and chased him from his government. Morcar and Edwin, two brothers, +who possessed great power in those parts, and who were grandsons of +the great duke, Leofric, concurred in the insurrection; and the former, +being elected duke, advanced with an army to oppose Harold, who was +commissioned by the king to reduce and chastise the Northumbrians. +Before the armies came to action, Morcar, well acquainted with the +generous disposition of the English commander, endeavored to justify +his own conduct. He represented to Harold, that Tosti had behaved in a +manner unworthy of the station to which he was advanced, and no one, not +even a brother, could support such tyranny, without participating, +in some degree, of the infamy attending it; that the Northumbrians, +accustomed to a legal administration, and regarding it as their +birthright, were willing to submit to the king, but required a governor +who would pay regard to their rights and privileges; that they had been +taught by their ancestors, that death was preferable to servitude, and +had taken the field determined to perish, rather than suffer a renewal +of those indignities to which they had so long been exposed; and they +trusted that Harold, on reflection, would not defend in another that +violent conduct, from which he himself in his own government, had always +kept at so great a distance. Thus vigorous remonstrance was accompanied +with such a detail of facts, so well supported, that Harold found it +prudent to abandon his brother’s cause; and returning to Edward, he +persuaded him to pardon the Northumbrians, and to confirm Morcar in the +government. He even married the sister of that nobleman;[*] and by his +interest procured Edwin, the younger brother, to be elected into the +government of Mercia. Tosti in a rage departed the kingdom, and took +shelter in Flanders with Earl Baldwin, his father-in-law. + +By this marriage, Harold broke all measures with the duke of Normandy, +and William clearly perceived that he could no longer rely on the oaths +and promises which he had extorted from him. But the English nobleman +was now in such a situation, that he deemed it no longer necessary to +dissemble. He had, in his conduct towards the Northumbrians, given such +a specimen of his moderation as had gained him the affections of his +countrymen. He saw that almost all England was engaged in his interests; +while he himself possessed the government of Wessex, Morcar that of +Northumberland, and Edwin that of Mercia. He now openly aspired to the +succession; and insisted, that since it was necessary, by the confession +of all, to set aside the royal family, on account of the imbecility of +Edgar, the sole surviving heir, there was no one so capable of filling +the throne, as a nobleman of great power of mature age, of long +experience, of approved courage and abilities, who, being a native +of the kingdom, would effectually secure it against the dominion and +tyranny of foreigners. Edward, broken with age and infirmities, saw the +difficulties too great for him to encounter; and though his inveterate +prepossessions kept him from seconding the pretensions of Harold, he +took but feeble and irresolute steps for securing the succession to the +duke of Normandy.[**] [6] While he continued in this uncertainty, he was +surprised by sickness, which brought him to his grave on the fifth of +January, 1066, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and twenty-fifth of +his reign. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 492.] + + [** See note F, at the end of the volume.] + +This prince, to whom the monks gave the title of Saint and Confessor, +was the last of the Saxon line that ruled in England. Though his reign +was peaceable and fortunate, he owed his prosperity less to his own +abilities than to the conjunctures of the times. The Danes, employed +in other enterprises, at tempted not those incursions which had been +so troublesome to all his predecessors, and fatal to some of them. The +facility of his disposition made him acquiesce under the government of +Godwin and his son Harold; and the abilities, as well as the power of +these noblemen, enabled them, while they were intrusted with authority, +to preserve domestic peace and tranquillity. The most commendable +circumstance of Edward’s government was his attention to the +administration of justice, and his compiling, for that purpose, a body +of laws which he collected from the laws of Ethelbert, Ina, and Alfred. +This compilation, though now lost, (for the laws that pass under +Edward’s name were composed afterwards,[*]) was long the object of +affection to the English nation. + + [* Spelm. in verbo Belliva.] + +Edward the Confessor was the first that touched for the king’s evil: the +opinion of his sanctity procured belief to this cure among the people: +his successors regarded it as a part of their state and grandeur to +uphold the same opinion. It has been continued down to our time; and +the practice was first dropped by the present royal family, who observed +that it could no longer give amazement even to the populace, and was +attended with ridicule in the eyes of all men of understanding. + + + + +HAROLD + +{1066.} Harold had so well prepared matters before the death of Edward, +that he immediately stepped into the vacant throne; and his accession +was attended with as little opposition and disturbance, as if he had +succeeded by the most undoubted hereditary title. The citizens of London +were his zealous partisans; the bishops and clergy had adopted his +cause; and all the powerful nobility, connected with him by alliance +or friendship, willingly seconded his pretensions. The title of Edgar +Atheling was scarcely mentioned, much less the claim of the duke of +Normandy; and Harold, assembling his partisans, received the crown from +their hands, without waiting for the free deliberation of the states, or +regularly submitting the question to their determination.[*] If any were +averse to this measure, they were obliged to conceal their sentiments; +and the new prince, taking a general silence for consent, and founding +his title on the supposed suffrages of the people, which appeared +unanimous, was, on the day immediately succeeding Edward’s death, +crowned and anointed king, by Aldred, archbishop of York. The whole +nation seemed joyfully to acquiesce in his elevation. + + +The first symptoms of danger which the king discovered, came from +abroad, and from his own brother, Tosti, who had submitted to a +voluntary banishment in Flanders. Enraged at the successful ambition of +Harold, to which he himself had fallen a victim, he filled the court +of Baldwin with complaints of the injustice which he had suffered; he +engaged the interest of that family against his brother; he endeavored +to form intrigues with some of the discontented nobles in England he +sent his emissaries to Norway, in order to rouse to arms the freebooters +of that kingdom, and to excite their hopes of reaping advantage from the +unsettled state of affairs on the usurpation of the new king; and, that +he might render the combination more formidable, he made a journey to +Normandy, in expectation that the duke, who had married Matilda, another +daughter of Baldwin, would, in revenge of his own wrongs, as well +as those of Tosti, second, by his counsels and forces, the projected +invasion of England.[**] + + [* Gul. Pictavensis, p. 196. Ypod. Neust. p. 486. + Order. Vitalis, p. 492. M. West. p. 221. W. Malms, p. 93. + Ingulph. p. 68. Brompton, p. 957. Knyghton, p. 2339. H. + Hunting, p. 210. Many of the historians say, that Harold was + regularly elected by the states; some that Edward left him + his successor by will] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 492.] + +The duke of Normandy, when he first received intelligence of Harold’s +intrigues and accessions, had been moved to the highest pitch of +indignation; but that he might give the better color to his pretensions, +he sent an embassy to England, upbraiding that prince with his breach +of faith, and summoning him to resign, immediately, possession of the +kingdom. Harold replied to the Norman ambassadors, that the oath, with +which he was reproached, had been extorted by the well-grounded fear of +violence, and could never, for that reason, be regarded as obligatory; +that he had had no commission, either from the late king or the states +of England, who alone could dispose of the crown, to make any tender of +the succession to the duke of Normandy; and if he, a private person, had +assumed so much authority, and had even voluntarily sworn to support the +duke’s pretensions, the oath was unlawful, and It was his duty to seize +the first opportunity of breaking it: that he had obtained the crown by +the unanimous suffrages of the people, and should prove himself totally +unworthy of their favor, did he not strenuously maintain those national +liberties, with whose protection they had intrusted him; and that the +duke, if he made any attempt by force of arms, should experience the +power of a united nation, conducted by a prince who, sensible of the +obligations imposed on him by his royal dignity, was determined that the +same moment should put a period to his life and to his government.[*] + + [* W. Malms, p. 99. Higden, p. 28,5. M. West. p. + 222. De Gest Angl., incerto auctore, p. 331.] + +This answer was no other than William expected; and he had previously +fixed his resolution of making an attempt upon England. Consulting only +his courage, his resentment, and his ambition, he overlooked all the +difficulties inseparable from an attack on a great kingdom by such +inferior force, and he saw only the circumstances which would facilitate +his enterprise. He considered that England, ever since the accession of +Canute, had enjoyed profound tranquillity, during a period of near fifty +years; and it would require time for its soldiers, enervated by long +peace, to learn discipline, and its generals experience. He knew that it +was entirely unprovided with fortified towns, by which it could prolong +the war; but must venture its whole fortune in one decisive action, +against a veteran enemy, who, being once master of the field, would be +in a condition to overrun the kingdom. He saw that Harold, though he had +given proofs of vigor and bravery, had newly mounted a throne which he +had acquired by faction, from which he had excluded a very ancient royal +family, and which was likely to totter under him by its own instability, +much more if shaken by any violent external impulse. And he hoped that +the very circumstance of his crossing the sea, quitting his own country, +and leaving himself no hopes of retreat, as it would astonish the +enemy by the boldness of the enterprise, would inspirit his soldiers by +despair, and rouse them to sustain the reputation of the Norman arms. + + +The Normans, as they had long been distinguished by valor among all the +European nations, had, at this time, attained to the highest pitch of +military glory. Besides acquiring by arms such a noble territory in +France, besides defending it against continual attempts of the French +monarch and all its neighbors, besides exerting many acts of vigor under +their present sovereign, they had, about this very time, revived their +ancient fame, by the most hazardous exploits, and the moat wonderful +successes, in the other extremity of Europe. A few Norman adventurers +in Italy had acquired such an ascendant, not only over the Italians +and Greeks, but the Germans and Saracens, that they expelled those +foreigners, procured to themselves ample establishments, and laid +the foundation of the opulent kingdom of Naples and Sicily.[*] These +enterprises of men, who were all of them vassals in Normandy many of +them banished for faction and rebellion, excited the ambition of the +haughty William, who disdained, after such examples of fortune and +valor, to be deterred from making an Attack on a neighboring country, +where he could be supported by the whole force of his principality. + + [* Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. cap. 30.] + +The situation also of Europe inspired William with hopes that, besides +his brave Normans, he might employ against England the flower of the +military force which was dispersed in all the neighboring states. +France, Germany, and the Low Countries, by the progress of the feudal +institutions, were divided and subdivided into many principalities and +baronies; and the possessors, enjoying the civil jurisdiction within +them selves, as well as the right of arms, acted, in many respects, as +independent sovereigns, and maintained their propertied and privileges, +less by the authority of laws, than by their own force and valor. A +military spirit had universally diffused itself throughout Europe; +and the several leaders, whose minds were elevated by their princely +situation, greedily embraced the most hazardous enterprises; and being +accustomed to nothing, from their infancy, but recitals of the success +attending wars and battles, they were prompted by a natural ambition to +imitate those adventures which they heard so much celebrated, and which +were so much exaggerated by the credulity of the age. United, however +loosely, by their duty to one superior lord, and by their connections +with the great body of the community to which they belonged, they +desired to spread their fame each beyond his own district and in all +assemblies, whether instituted for civil deliberations for military +expeditions, or merely for show and entertainment, to outshine each +other by the reputation of strength and prowess. Hence their genius for +chivalry; hence their impatience of peace and tranquillity; and hence +their readiness to embark in any dangerous enterprise, how little soever +interested in its failure or success. + +William, by his power, his courage, and his abilities, had long +maintained a preeminence among those haughty chieftains; and every one +who desired to signalize himself by his address in military exercises, +or his valor in action, had been ambitious of acquiring a reputation +in the court and in the armies of Normandy. Entertained with that +hospitality and courtesy which distinguished the age, they had formed +attachments with the prince, and greedily attended to the prospects +of the signal glory and elevation which he promised them in return for +their concurrence in an expedition against England. The more grandeur +there appeared in the attempt, the more it suited their romantic spirit; +the fame of the intended invasion was already diffused everywhere; +multitudes crowded to tender to the duke their service, with that of +their vassals and retainers;[*] and William found less difficulty in +completing his levies, than in choosing the most veteran forces, and in +rejecting the offers of those who were impatient to acquire fame under +so renowned a leader. + +Besides these advantages, which William owed to his personal valor +and good conduct, he was indebted to fortune for procuring him some +assistance, and also for removing many obstacles which it was natural +for him to expect, in an undertaking in which all his neighbors were so +deeply interested. Conan, count of Brittany, was his mortal enemy: +in order to throw a damp upon the duke’s enterprise, he chose this +conjuncture for reviving his claim to Normandy itself; and he required +that, in case of William’s success against England, the possession of +that duchy should devolve to him.[**] But Conan died suddenly after +making this demand; and Hoel, his successor, instead of adopting the +malignity, or, more properly speaking, the prudence of his predecessor, +zealously seconded the duke’s views, and sent his eldest son, Alain +Fergant, to serve under him with a body of five thousand Bretons. The +counts of Anjou and of Flanders encouraged their subjects to engage in +the expedition; and even the court of France, though it might justly +fear the aggrandizement of so dangerous a vassal, pursued not its +interests on this occasion with sufficient vigor and resolution. + + [* Gul Pict. p. 198.] + + [** Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. cap. 33] + +Philip I., the reign ing monarch, was a minor; and William, having +communicated his project to the council, having desired assistance, and +offered to do homage, in case of his success, for the crown of England, +was indeed openly ordered to lay aside all thoughts of the enterprise; +but the earl of Flanders, his father-in-law, being at the head of the +regency, favored underhand his levies, and secretly encouraged the +adventurous nobility to enlist under the standard of the duke of +Normandy. + +The emperor, Henry IV., besides openly giving all his vassals permission +to embark in this expedition, which so much engaged the attention of +Europe, promised his protection to the duchy of Normandy during the +absence of the prince, and thereby enabled him to employ his whole force +in the invasion of England.[*] + + [* Gul. Pict. p, 198.] + +But the most important ally that William gained by his negotiations, was +the pope, who had a mighty influence over the ancient barons, no less +devout in their religious principles than valorous in their military +enterprises. The Roman pontiff, after an insensible progress during +several ages of darkness and ignorance, began now to lift his head +openly above all the princes of Europe; to assume the office of a +mediator, or even an arbiter, in the quarrels of the greatest monarchs; +to interpose in all secular affairs; and lo obtrude his dictates as +sovereign laws on his obsequious disciples, It was a sufficient motive +to Alexander II., the reigning pope, for embracing William’s quarrel, +that he alone had made an appeal to his tribunal, and rendered him +umpire of the dispute between him and Harold; but there were other +advantages which that pontiff foresaw must result from the conquest of +England by the Norman arms. That kingdom, though at first converted +by Romish missionaries, though it had afterwards advanced some farther +steps towards subjection to Rome, maintained still a considerable +independence in its ecclesiastical administration; and forming a world +within itself, entirely separated from the rest of Europe, it had +hitherto proved inaccessible to those exorbitant claims which supported +the grandeur of the papacy. Alexander therefore hoped, that the French +and Norman barons, if successful in their enterprise, might import into +that country a more devoted reverence to the holy see, and bring the +English churches to a nearer conformity with those of the continent. He +declared immediately in favor of William’s claim; pronounced Harold +a perjured usurper; denounced excommunication against him and his +adherents; and the more to encourage the duke of Normandy in his +enterprise, he sent him a consecrated banner, and a ring with one of St. +Peter’s hairs in it.[*] Thus were all the ambition and violence of that +invasion covered over safely with the broad mantle of religion. + +The greatest difficulty which William had to encounter in his +preparations, arose from his own subjects in Normandy. The states of the +duchy were assembled at Lislebonne; and supplies being demanded for the +intended enterprise, which promised so much glory and advantage to their +country, there appeared a reluctance in many members both to grant sums +so much beyond the common measure of taxes in that age, and to set a +precedent of performing their military service at a distance from their +own country. The duke, finding it dangerous to solicit them in a body, +conferred separately with the richest individuals in the province; and +beginning with those on whose affections he most relied, he gradually +engaged all of them to advance the sums demanded. The count of +Longueville seconded him in this negotiation; as did the count of +Mortaigne, Odo, bishop of Baieux, and especially William Fitz-Osborne, +count of Breteuil, and constable of the duchy. Every person, when he +himself was once engaged, endeavored to bring over others; and at last +the states themselves, after stipulating that this concession should be +no precedent, voted that they would assist their prince to the utmost in +his intended enterprise.[**] + +William had now assembled a fleet of three thousand vessels, great and +small,[***] and had selected an army of sixty thousand men from among +those numerous supplies, which from every quarter solicited to be +received into his service. + + [* Baker, p. 22, edit. 1634.] + + [** Camden. Introd. ad Britann. p. 212, 2d edit. + Gibs. Verstegan. p. 173] + + [*** Gul. Gemet. lib. vii. cap. 34.] + +The camp bore a splendid, yet a martial appearance, from the discipline +of the men, the beauty and vigor of the horses, the lustre of the arms, +and the accoutrements of both; but above all, from the high names of +nobility who engaged under the banners of the duke of Normandy. The +most celebrated were Eustace, count of Boulogne, Aimeri de Thouars, Hugh +d’Estaples, William d’Evreux, Geoffrey de Rotrou, Roger de Beaumont, +William de Warenne, Roger de Montgomery, Hugh de Grantmesnil, Charles +Martel, and Geoffrey Giffard.[*] To these bold chieftains William held +up the spoils of England as the prize of their valor; and pointing to +the opposite shore, called to them that _there_ was the field, +on which they must erect trophies to their name, and fix their +establishments. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 501.] + +While he was making these mighty preparations, the duke, that he might +increase the number of Harold’s enemies, excited the inveterate rancor +of Tosti, and encouraged him, in concert with Harold Halfager, king of +Norway, to infest the coasts of England. Tosti, having collected about +sixty vessels in the ports of Flanders, put to sea; and after +committing some depredations on the south and east coasts, he sailed to +Northumberland, and was there joined by Halfager, who came over with a +great armament of three hundred sail. The combined fleets entered +the Humber, and disembarked the troops, who began to extend their +depredations on all sides; when Morcar, earl of Northumberland, and +Edwin, earl of Mercia, the king’s brother-in-law, having hastily +collected some forces, ventured to give them battle. The action ended in +the defeat and flight of these two noblemen. + +Harold, informed of this defeat, hastened with an army to the protection +of his people; and expressed the utmost ardor to show himself worthy of +the crown, which had been conferred upon him. This prince, though he +was not sensible of the full extent of his danger, from the great +combination against him, had employed every art of popularity to acquire +the affections of the public; and he gave so many proofs of an equitable +and prudent administration, that the English found no reason to repent +the choice which they had made of a sovereign. They flocked from all +quarters to join his standard; and as soon as he reached the enemy at +Standford, he found himself in condition to give them battle. The action +was bloody; but the victory was decisive on the side of Harold, and +ended in the total rout of the Norwegians, together with the death of +Tosti and Halfager. Even the Norwegian fleet fell into the hands +of Harold, who had the generosity to give prince Olave, the son of +Halfager, his liberty, and allow him to depart with twenty vessels. +But he had scarcely time to rejoice for this victory, when he received +itelligence that the duke of Normandy was landed with a great army in +the south of England. + +The Norman fleet and army had been assembled, early in the summer, at +the mouth of the small river Dive, and all the troops had been instantly +embarked; but the winds proved long contrary, and detained them in +that harbor. The authority, however, of the duke, the good discipline +maintained among the seamen and soldiers, and the great care in +supplying them with provisions, had prevented any disorder, when at last +the wind became favorable, and enabled them to sail along the coast, +till they reached St. Valori. There were, however, several vessels lost +in this short passage; and as the wind again proved contrary, the +army began to imagine that Heaven had declared against them, and that, +notwithstanding the pope’s benediction, they were destined to certain +destruction. These bold warriors, who despised real dangers, were +very subject to the dread of imaginary ones; and many of them began +to mutiny, some of them even to desert their colors, when the duke, in +order to support their drooping hopes, ordered a procession to be +made with the relics of St. Valori,[*] and prayers to be said for more +favorable weather. + + [* Higden, p. 285. Order Vitalis, p. 500. M. + Paris, edit. Pai anno 1644, p. 2.] + +The wind instantly changed; and as this incident happened on the eve of +the feast of St. Michael, the tutelar saint of Normandy, the +soldiers, fancying they saw the hand of Heaven in all these concurring +circumstances, set out with the greatest alacrity: they met with no +opposition on their passage. A great fleet which Harold had assembled, +and which had cruised all summer off the Isle of Wight, had been +dismissed on his receiving false intelligence that William, discouraged +by contrary winds and other accidents, had laid aside his preparations. +The Norman armament, proceeding in great order, arrived, without any +material loss, at Pevensey, in Sussex; and the army quietly disembarked. +The duke himself, as he leaped on shore, happened to stumble and fall; +but had the presence of mind, it is said, to turn the omen to his +advantage, by calling aloud that he had taken possession of the country. +And a soldier, running to a neighboring cottage, plucked some thatch, +which, as if giving him seizin of the kingdom, he presented to his +general. The joy and alacrity of William and his whole army was so +great, that they were nowise discouraged, evan when they heard of +Harold’s great victory over the Norwegians. They seemed rather to wait +with impatience the arrival of the enemy. + +The victory of Harold, though great and honorable, had proved in the +main prejudicial to his interests, and may be regarded as the immediate +cause of his ruin. He lost many of his bravest officers and soldiers +in the action, and he disgusted the rest by refusing to distribute the +Norwegian spoils among them; a conduct which was little agreeable to his +usual generosity of temper, but which his desire of sparing the people, +in the war that impended over him from the duke of Normandy, had +probably occasioned. He hastened by quick marches to reach this new +invader; but though he was reènforced at London and other places with +fresh troops, he found himself also weakened by the desertion of his old +soldiers, who from fatigue and discontent secretly withdrew from their +colors. His brother Gurth, a man of bravery and conduct, began to +entertain apprehensions of the event; and remonstrated with the king, +that it would be better policy to prolong the war; at least, to spare +his own person in the action. He urged to him that the desperate +situation of the duke of Normandy made it requisite for that prince to +bring matters to a speedy decision, and put his whole fortune on the +issue of a battle; but that the king of England, in his own country, +beloved by his subjects, provided with every supply, had more certain +and less dangerous means of insuring to himself the victory; that the +Norman troops, elated on the one hand with the highest hopes, and seeing +on the other no resource in case of a discomfiture, would fight to +the last extremity; and being the flower of all the warriors of the +continent, must be regarded as formidable to the English; that if their +first fire, which is always the most dangerous, were allowed to languish +for want of action, if they were harassed with small skirmishes, +straitened in provisions, and fatigued with the bad weather and deep +roads during the winter season which was approaching, they must fall an +easy and a bloodless prey to their enemy; that if a general action were +delayed, the English, sensible of the imminent danger to which their +properties, as well as liberties, were exposed from those rapacious +invaders, would hasten from all quarters to his assistance, and would +render his army invincible; that, at least, if he thought it necessary +to hazard a battle, he ought not to expose his own person out reserve, +in case of disastrous accidents, some resource to the liberty and +independence of the kingdom; and that having once been so unfortunate +as to be constrained to swear, and that upon the holy relics, to support +the pretensions of the duke of Normandy, it were better that the command +of the army should be intrusted to another, who, not being bound by +those sacred ties, might give the soldiers more assured hopes of a +prosperous issue to the combat. + +Harold was deaf to all these remonstrances. Elated with his past +prosperity, as well as stimulated by his native courage, he resolved to +give battle in person; and for that purpose he drew near to the Normans, +who had removed their camp and fleet to Hastings, where they fixed their +quarters. He was so confident of success, that he sent a message to +the duke, promising him a sum of money if he would depart the kingdom +without effusion of blood; but his offer was rejected with disdain; and +William, not to be behind with his enemy in vaunting, sent him a message +by some monks, requiring him either to resign the kingdom, or to hold +it of him in fealty, or to submit their cause to the arbitration of the +pope, or to fight him in single combat. Harold replied, that the God of +battles would soon be the arbiter of all their differences.[*] + +The English and Normans now prepared themselves for this important +decision; but the aspect of things, on the night before the battle, was +very different in the two camps. The English spent the time in riot, and +jollity, and disorder; the Normans, in silence, and in prayer, and in +the other functions of their religion.[**] + + [* Higden, p. 286] + + [** W. Malms, p. 101. De Gest Angl. p. 332] + +On the morning, the duke called together the most considerable of +his commanders, and made them a speech suitable to the occasion. He +represented to them, that the event which they and he had long wished +for, was approaching; the whole fortune of the war now depended on their +swords, and would be decided in a single action; that never army had +greater motives for exerting a vigorous courage, whether they +considered the prize which would attend their victory, or the inevitable +destruction which must ensue upon their discomfiture; that if their +martial and veteran bands could once break those raw soldiers, who had +rashly dared to approach them, they conquered a kingdom at one blow, +and were justly entitled to all its possessions as the reward of their +prosperous valor; that, on the contrary, if they remitted in the least +their wonted prowess, an enraged enemy hung upon their rear, the sea +met them in their retreat, and an ignominious death was the certain +punishment of their imprudent cowardice; that by collecting so numerous +and brave a host, he had insured every human means of conquest; and +the commander of the enemy, by his criminal conduct, had given him just +cause to hope for the favor of the Almighty, in whose hands alone +lay the event of wars and battles; and that a perjured usurper, +anathematized by the sovereign pontiff, and conscious of his own breach +of faith would be struck with terror on their appearance, and would +prognosticate to himself that fate which--his multiplied crimes had so +justly merited.[*] The duke next divided his army into three lines: the +first, led by Montgomery, consisted of archers and light-armed infantry; +the second, commanded by Martel, was composed of his bravest battalions, +heavy-armed, and ranged in close order; his cavalry, at whose head he +placed himself, formed the third line, and were so disposed, that they +stretched beyond the infantry, and flanked each wing of the army.[**] He +ordered the signal of battle to be given; and the whole army, moving +at once, and singing the hymn or song of Roland, the famous peer of +Charlemagne,[***] advanced, in order and with alacrity, towards the +enemy. + + [* H. Hunting, p. 368. Brompton, p. 959. Gul. + Pict. p. 201.] + + [** Gul. Pict. p. 201. Order. Vitalis, p. 501.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 101. Higden, p. 286. M. West. p. + 223. Dr Cange’s Glossary, in verbo Cantilena Rolandi.] + +Harold had seized the advantage of a rising ground, and having likewise +drawn some trenches to secure his flanks, he resolved to stand upon the +defensive, and to avoid all action with the cavalry, in which he was +inferior. The Kentish men were placed in the van; a post which they had +always claimed as their due: the Londoners guarded the standard; and +the king himself, accompanied by his two valiant brothers, Gurth and +Leofwin, dismounting, placed himself at the head of his infantry, and +expressed his resolution to conquer or to perish in the action. The +first attack of the Normans was desperate, but was received with equal +valor by the English; and after a furious combat, which remained long +undecided, the former, overcome by the difficulty of the ground, and +hard pressed by the enemy, began first to relax their vigor, then to +retreat; and confusion was spreading among the ranks; when William, who +found himself on the brink of destruction, hastened, with a select band, +to the relief of his dismayed forces. His presence restored the action; +the English were obliged to retire with loss; and the duke, ordering his +second line to advance, renewed the attack with fresh forces and with +redoubled courage. Finding that the enemy aided by the advantage of +ground, and animated by the example of their prince, still made a +vigorous resistance, he tried a stratagem which was very delicate in +its management, but which seemed advisable in his desperate situation, +where, if he gained not a decisive victory, he was totally undone: he +commanded his troops to make a hasty retreat, and to allure the enemy +from their ground by the appearance of flight. The artifice succeeded +against those unexperienced soldiers, who, heated by the action, and +sanguine in their hopes, precipitately followed the Normans into the +plain. William gave orders, that at once the infantry should face about +upon their pursuers, and the cavalry make an assault upon their wings, +and both of them pursue the advantage, which the surprise and terror +of the enemy must give them in that critical and decisive moment. The +English were repulsed with great slaughter, and driven back to the +hill; where, being rallied by the bravery of Harold, they were able, +notwithstanding their loss, to maintain the post and continue the +combat. The duke tried the same stratagem a second time with the same +success; but even after this double advantage, he still found a great +body of the English, who, maintaining themselves in firm array, seemed +determined to dispute the victory to the last extremity. He ordered his +heavy-armed infantry to make an assault upon them; while his archers, +placed behind, should gall the enemy, who were exposed by the situation +of the ground, and who were intent in defending themselves against the +swords and spears of the assailants. By this disposition he at last +prevailed: Harold was slain by an arrow, while he was combating with +great bravery at the head of his men; his two brothers shared the same +fate; and the English, discouraged by the fall of those princes, gave +ground on all sides, and were pursued with great slaughter by the +victorious Normans. A few troops, however, of the vanquished had still +the courage to turn upon their pursuers; and attacking them in deep and +miry ground, obtained some revenge for the slaughter and dishonor of the +day. But the appearance of the duke obliged them to seek their safety by +flight; and darkness saved them from any further pursuit by the enemy. + +Thus was gained by William, duke of Normandy, the great and decisive +victory of Hastings, after a battle which was fought from morning till +sunset, and which seemed worthy, by the heroic valor displayed by both +armies and by both commanders, to decide the fate of a mighty kingdom. +William had three horses killed under him; and there fell near fifteen +thousand men on the side of the Normans: the loss was still more +considerable on that of the vanquished, besides the death of the king +and his two brothers. The dead body of Harold was brought to William, +and was generously restored without ransom to his mother. The Norman +army left not the field of battle without giving thanks to Heaven, +in the most solemn manner, for their victory: and the prince, having +refreshed his troops, prepared to push to the utmost his advantage +against the divided, dismayed, and discomfited English. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + + +THE ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENT AND MANNERS. + +The government of the Germans, and that of all the northern nations who +established themselves on the ruins of Rome, was always extremely free; +and those fierce people, accustomed to independence and inured to arms, +were more guided by persuasion than authority in the submission which +they paid to their princes. The military despotism which had taken place +in the Roman empire, and which, previously to the irruption of those +conquerors, had sunk the genius of men, and destroyed every noble +principle of science and virtue, was unable to resist the vigorous +efforts of a free people; and Europe, as from a new epoch, rekindled her +ancient spirit, and shook off the base servitude to arbitrary will and +authority under which she had so long labored. The free constitutions +then established, however impaired by the encroachments of succeeding +princes, still preserve an air of independence and legal administration, +which distinguished the European nations; and if that part of the globe +maintain sentiments of liberty, honor, equity, and valor superior to the +rest of mankind, it owes these advantages chiefly to the seeds implanted +by those generous barbarians. + +The Saxons who subdued Britain, as they enjoyed great liberty in their +own country, obstinately retained that invaluable possession in their +new settlement; and they imported into this island the same principles +of independence which they had inherited from their ancestors. The +chieftains, (for such they were, more properly than kings or princes,) +who commanded them in those military expeditions, still possessed a very +limited authority; and as the Saxons exterminated, rather than subdued, +the ancient inhabitants, they were indeed transplanted into a new +territory, but preserved unaltered all their civil and military +institutions. The language was pure Saxon; even the names of places, +which often remain while the tongue entirely changes, were almost all +affixed by the conquerors; the manners and customs were wholly German; +and the same picture of a fierce and bold liberty, which is drawn by +the masterly pencil of Tacitus, will suit those founders of the English +government. The king, so far from being invested with arbitrary power, +was only considered as the first among the citizens; his authority +depended more on his personal qualities than on his station; he was even +so far on a level with the people, that a stated price was fixed for +his head, and a legal fine was levied upon his murderer, which, though +proportionate to his station, and superior to that paid for the life of +a subject, was a sensible mark of his subordination to the community. + +It is easy to imagine that an independent people, so little restrained +by law and cultivated by science, would not be very strict in +maintaining a regular succession of their princes. Though they paid +great regard to the royal family, and ascribed to it an undisputed +superiority, they either had no rule, or none that was steadily +observed, in filling the vacant throne; and present convenience, in that +emergency, was more attended to than general principles. We are +not, however, to suppose that the crown was considered as altogether +elective; and that a regular plan was traced by the constitution for +supplying, by the suffrages of the people, every vacancy made by the +demise of the first magistrate. If any king left a son of an age and +capacity fit for government, the young prince naturally stepped into the +throne: if he was a minor, his uncle, or the next prince of the blood, +was promoted to the government, and left the sceptre to his posterity: +any sovereign, by taking previous measures with the leading men, had it +greatly in his power to appoint his successor: all these changes, and +indeed the ordinary administration of government, required the express +concurrence, or at least the tacit acquiescence of the people; but +possession, however obtained, was extremely apt to secure their +obedience, and the idea of any right, which was once excluded was +but feeble and imperfect. This is so much the case in all barbarous +monarchies, and occurs so often in the history of the Anglo-Saxons, that +we cannot consistently entertain any other notion of their government. +The idea of an hereditary succession in authority is so natural to +men, and is so much fortified by the usual rule in transmitting private +possessions, that it must retain a great influence on every society, +which does not exclude it by the refinements of a republican +constitution. But as there is a material difference between gov-* +*ernment and private possessions, and every man is not as much qualified +for exercising the one as for enjoying the other, a people who are not +sensible of the general advantages attending a fixed rule are apt to +make great leaps in the succession, and frequently to pass over the +person, who, had he possessed the requisite years and abilities, would +have been thought entitled to the sovereignty. Thus these monarchies are +not, strictly speaking, either elective or hereditary; and though +the destination of a prince may often be followed in appointing his +successor, they can as little be regarded as wholly testamentary. The +states by their suffrage may sometimes establish a sovereign; but they +more frequently recognize the person whom they find established: a few +great men take the lead; the people, overawed and influenced, acquiesce +in the government; and the reigning prince, provided he be of the royal +family, passes undisputedly for the legal sovereign. + +It is confessed that our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon history and +antiquities is too imperfect to afford us means of determining with +certainty all the prerogatives of the crown and privileges of the +people, or of giving an exact delineation of that government. It is +probable, also, that the constitution might be somewhat different hi the +different kingdoms of the Heptarchy, and that it changed considerably +during the course of six centuries, which elapsed from the first +invasion of the Saxons till the Norman conquest.[*] But most of these +differences and changes, with their causes and effects, are unknown to +us; it only appears that, at all times and in all the kingdoms, there +was a national council, called a wittenagemot, or assembly of the wise +men, (for that is the import of the term,) whose consent was requisite +for enacting laws, and for ratifying the chief acts of public +administration. + + [* We know of one change, not inconsiderable, in + the Saxon constitution. The Saxon Annals (p. 49) inform us, + that it was, in early times, the prerogative of the king to + name the dukes, earls, aldermen, and sheriffs of the + counties. Asser, a contemporary writer, informs us that + Alfred deposed all the ignorant aldermen, and appointed men + of more capacity in their place: yet the laws of Edward the + Confessor (sect. 35) say expressly that the heretoghs, or + dukes, and the sheriffs were chosen by the freeholders in + the folk-mote, a county court, which was assembled once a + year, and where all the freeholders swore allegiance to the + king.] + +The preambles to all the laws of Ethelbert, Ina, Alfred, Edward the +Elder, Athelstan, Edmond, Edgar, Ethelred, and Edward the Confessor; +even those to the laws of Canute though a kind of conqueror, put this +matter beyond controversy, and carry proofs every where of a limited +and legal government. But who were the constituent members of this +wittenagemot has not been determined with certainty by antiquaries. It +is agreed that the bishops and abbots[*] were an essential part; and +it is also evident, from the tenor of those ancient laws, that the +wittenagemot enacted statutes which regulated the ecclesiastical as well +as civil government, and that those dangerous principles, by which the +church is totally severed from the state, were hitherto unknown to the +Anglo-Saxons.[**] It also appears that the aldermen or governors of +counties, who, after the Danish times, were often called earls,[***] [7] +were admitted into this council, and gave their consent to the public +statutes. But besides the prelates and aldermen, there is also mention +of the wites, or wisemen, as a component part of the wittenagemot; but +who these were is not so clearly ascertained by the laws or the history +of that period. The matter would probably be of difficult discussion, +even were it examined impartially; but as our modern parties have chosen +to divide on this point, the question has been disputed with the greater +obstinacy, and the arguments on both sides have become, on that account, +the more captious and deceitful. Our monarchical faction maintain that +these “wites,” or “sapientes,” were the judges, or men learned in +the law: the popular faction assert them to be representatives of the +boroughs, or what we now call the commons. + +The expressions employed by all ancient historians in mentioning the +wittenagemot, seem to contradict the latter supposition. The members +are almost always called the “principes, satrapæ, optimates, magnates, +proceres;” terms which seem to suppose an aristocracy, and to exclude +the commons. The boroughs also, from the low state of commerce, were so +small and so poor, and the inhabitants lived in such dependence on the +great men,[****] that it seems nowise probable they would be admitted as +a part of the national councils. The commons are well known to have had +no share in the governments established by the Franks, Burgundians, +and other northern nations; and we may conclude that the Saxons, who +remained longer barbarous and uncivilized than those tribes, would +never think of conferring such an extraordinary privilege on trade and +industry. + + [* Sometimes abbesses were admitted; at least they + often sign the king’s charters or grants. Spelm. Gloss. in + verbo Parliamentum.] + + [** Wilkins, passim.] + + [*** See note G, at the end of the volume.] + + [**** Brady’s Treatise of English Boroughs, p. 3, + 4, 5, etc.] + +The military profession alone was honorable among all those conquerors: +the warriors subsisted by their possessions in land: they became +considerable by their influence over their vassals, retainers, tenants, +and slaves: and it requires strong proof to convince us that they would +admit any of a rank so much inferior as the burgesses, to share with +them in the legislative authority. Tacitus indeed affirms that, among +the ancient Germans, the consent of all the members of the community +was required in every important deliberation; but he speaks not of +representatives; and this ancient practice, mentioned by the Roman +historian, could only have place in small tribes, where every citizen +might without inconvenience be assembled upon any extraordinary +emergency. After principalities became extensive, after the difference +of property had formed distinctions more important than those which +arose from personal strength and valor, we may conclude that the +national assemblies must have been more limited in their number, and +composed only of the more considerable citizens. + +But, though we must exclude the burgesses or commons from the Saxon +wittenagemot, there is some necessity for supposing that this assembly +consisted of other members than the prelates, abbots, alderman, and +the judges or privy council. For as all these, excepting some of the +ecclesiastics,[*] were anciently appointed by the king, had there been +no other legislative authority, the royal power had been, in a great +measure, absolute, contrary to the tenor of all the historians, and to +the practice of all the northern nations. + + [* There is some reason to think that the bishops + were sometimes chosen by the wittenagemot, and confirmed by + the king. Eddius, cap. 2. The abbots in the monasteries of + royal foundation were anciently named by the king; though + Edgar gave the monks the election, and only reserved to + himself the ratification. This destination was afterwards + frequently violated, and the abbots as well as bishops were + afterwards all appointed by the king, as we learn from + Ingulf, a writer contemporary to the conquest.] + +We may, therefore, conclude that the more considerable proprietors of +land were, without any election, constituent members of the national +assembly: there is reason to think that forty hides, or between four +and five thousand acres, was the estate requisite for entitling the +possessors to this honorable privilege. We find a passage in an ancient +author,[*] by which it appears that a person of very noble birth, even +one allied to the crown, was not esteemed a “princeps” (the term usually +employed by ancient historians, when the wittenagemot is mentioned) till +he had acquired a fortune of that amount. Nor need we imagine that the +public council would become disorderly or confused by admitting so great +a multitude. The landed property of England was probably in few hands +during the Saxon times, at least, during the latter part of that period; +and, as men had hardly any ambition to attend those public councils, +there was no danger of the assembly’s becoming too numerous for the +despatch of the little business which was brought before them. + +It is certain that, whatever we may determine concerning the constituent +members of the wittenagemot, in whom, with the king, the legislature +resided, the Anglo-Saxon government, in the period preceding the Norman +conquest, was becoming extremely aristocratical: the royal authority +was very limited; the people, even if admitted to that assembly, were +of little or no weight and consideration. We have hints given us in +historians of the great power and riches of particular noblemen; and +it could not but happen, after the abolition of the Heptarchy, when +the king lived at a distance from the provinces, that those great +proprietors, who resided on their estates, would much augment their +authority over their vassals and retainers, and over all the inhabitants +of the neighborhood. Hence the immeasurable power assumed by Harold, +Godwin, Leofric, Siward, Morcar, Edwin, Edric, and Alfric who controlled +the authority of the kings, and rendered themselves quite necessary in +the government. The two latter, though detested by the people on account +of their joining a foreign enemy, still preserved their power and +influence; and we may therefore conclude that their authority was +founded, not on popularity, but on family rights and possessions. There +is one Athelstan, mentioned in the reign of the king of that name, who +is called alderman of all England, and is said to be half king; though +the monarch himself was a prince of valor and abilities.[**] And we find +that in the later Saxon times, and in these alone, the great offices +went from father to sun, and became in a manner hereditary in the +families.[A] + + [* Hist. Eliensis, lib. ii. cap 40] + [** Hist. Rames. Beet. iii. p. 387] + +The circumstances attending the invasions of the Danes would also serve +much to increase the power of the principal nobility. Those freebooters +made unexpected inroads on all quarters, and there was a necessity that +each county should resist them by its own force, and under the conduct +of its own nobility and its own magistrates. For the same reason that a +general war, managed by the united efforts of the whole state commonly +augments the power of the crown, those private wars and inroads turned +to the advantage of the aldermen and nobles. + +Among that military and turbulent people, so averse to commerce and the +arts, and so little inured to industry, justice was commonly very ill +administered, and great oppression and violence seem to have prevailed. +These disorders would be increased by the exorbitant power of the +aristocracy; and would, in their turn, contribute to increase it. Men, +not daring to rely on the guardianship of the laws, were obliged to +devote themselves to the service of some chieftain, whose orders they +followed even to the disturbance of the government, or the injury of +their fellow-citizens, and who afforded them, in return, protection from +any insult or injustice by strangers. Hence we find, by the extracts +which Dr. Brady has given us from Domesday, that almost all the +inhabitants, even of towns, had placed themselves under the clientship +of some particular nobleman, whose patronage they purchased by annual +payments, and whom they were obliged to consider as their sovereign, +more than the king himself, or even the legislature.[B] + + [A] Roger Hoveden, giving the reason why William the Conqueror + made Cospatric earl of Northumberland, says, “Nam ex materno + sanguine attinebat ad eum honor illius comitatus. Erat enim + ex matre Algitha, filia Uthredi comitis.” See also Sim. + Dunelm. p. 205. We see in those instances the same tendency + towards rendering offices hereditary which took place, + during a more early period, on the continent; and which had + already produced there its full effect. + + [B] Brady’s Treatise of Boroughs, p. 3, 4, 5, etc. The case + was the same with the freemen in the country. See Pref. to + his Hist. p. 8, 9, 10, etc. + +A client, though a freeman, was supposed so much to belong to his +patron, that his murderer was obliged by law to pay a fine to the +latter, as a compensation for his loss; in like manner as he paid a fine +to the master for the murder of his slave.[A] Men who were of a more +considerable rank, but not powerful enough each to support himself by +his own independent authority, entered into formal confederacies with +each other, and composed a kind of separate community, which rendered +itself formidable to all aggressors. Dr. Hickes has preserved a curious +Saxon bond of this kind, which he calls a “sodalitium,” and which +contains many particulars characteristical of the manners and customs +of the times.[B] All the associates are there said to be gentlemen of +Cambridgeshire; and they swear before the holy relics to observe their +confederacy, and to be faithful to each other: they promise to bury +any of the associates who dies, in whatever place he had appointed; to +contribute to his funeral charges, and to attend to his interment; and +whoever is wanting in this last duty, binds himself to pay a measure +of honey. When any of the associates is in danger, and calls for the +assistance of his fellows, they promise, besides flying to his succor, +to give information to the sheriff; and if he be negligent in protecting +the person exposed to danger, they engage to levy a fine of one pound +upon him; if the president of the society himself be wanting in this +particular, he binds himself to pay one pound; unless he has the +reasonable excuse of sickness, or of duty to his superior. When any +of the associates is murdered, they are to exact eight pounds from the +murderer; and if he refuse to pay it, they are to prosecute him for the +sum at their joint expense. If any of the associates, who happens to +be poor, kill a man, the society are to contribute, by a certain +proportion, to pay his fine,--a mark apiece, if the fine be seven +hundred shillings; less if the person killed be a clown or ceorle; +the half of that sum, again, if he be a Welshman But where any of the +associates kill a man wilfully and without provocation, he must himself +pay the fine. If any of the associates kill any of his fellows in a like +criminal manner, besides paying the usual fine to the relations of +the deceased, he must pay eight pounds to the society, or renounce the +benefit of it; in which case they bind themselves, under the penalty of +one pound, never to eat or drink with him, except in the presence of +the king, bishop, or alderman. There are other regulations to protect +themselves and their servants from all injuries, to revenge such as are +committed, and to prevent their giving abusive language to each other; +and the fine which they engage to pay for this last offence is a measure +of honey. + + [A] LL. Edw. Conf. Sect. viii. apad Ingulph. + + [B] Dissert. Epist. p. 21. + +It is not to be doubted but a confederacy of this kind must have been a +great source of friendship and attachment, when men lived in perpetual +danger from enemies, robbers, and oppressors, and received protection +chiefly from their personal valor, and from the assistance of their +friends and patrons. As animosities were then more violent, connections +were also more intimate, whether voluntary or derived from blood: the +most remote degree of propinquity was regarded; an indelible memory of +benefits was preserved; severe vengeance was taken for injuries, both +from a point of honor and as the best means of future security; and the +civil union being weak, many private engagements were contracted, in +order to supply its place, and to procure men that safety, which the +laws and their own innocence were not alone able to insure to them. + +On the whole, notwithstanding the seeming liberty, or rather +licentiousness, of the Anglo-Saxons, the great body, even of the free +citizens, in those ages, really enjoyed much less true liberty than +where the execution of the laws is the most severe, and where subjects +are reduced to the strictest subordination and dependence on the +civil magistrate. The reason is derived from the excess itself of that +liberty. Men must guard themselves at any price against insults and +injuries; and where they receive not protection from the laws and +magistrates, they will seek it by submission to superiors, and by +herding in some private confederacy, which acts under the direction of a +powerful leader. And thus all anarchy is the immediate cause of tyranny, +if not over the state, at least over many of the individuals. + +Security was provided by the Saxon laws to all members of the +wittenagemot, both in going and returning, “except they were notorious +thieves and robbers.” + +The German Saxons, as the other nations of that continent, were divided +into three ranks of men--the noble, the free, and the slaves.[A] This +distinction they brought over with them into Britain. + + [A] Nithard. Hist. lib. iv. + +The nobles were called thanes; and were of two kinds, the king’s thanes +and lesser thanes. The latter seem to have been dependent on the former, +and to have received lands, for which they paid rent, services, or +attendance in peace and war.[*] We know of no title which raised any one +to the rank of thane, except noble birth and the possession of land. The +former was always much regarded by all the German nations, even in their +most barbarous state; and as the Saxon nobility, having little credit, +could scarcely burden their estates with much debt, and as the commons +had little trade or industry by which they could accumulate riches’ +these two ranks of men, even though they were not separated by positive +laws, might remain long distinct, and the noble families continue many +ages in opulence and splendor. There were no middle ranks of men, that +could gradually mix with their superiors, and insensibly procure to +themselves honor and distinction. If, by any extraordinary accident, +a mean person acquired riches, a circumstance so singular made him +be known and remarked; he became the object of envy, as well as of +indignation, to all the nobles; he would have great difficulty to defend +what he had acquired; and he would find it impossible to protect +himself from oppression, except by courting the patronage of some great +chieftain, and paying a large price for his safety. + + +There are two statutes among the Saxon laws, which seem calculated to +confound those different ranks of men; that of Athelstan, by which a +merchant, who had made three long sea voyages on his own account, was +entitled to the quality of thane;[**] and that of the same prince, by +which a ceorle, or husbandman, who had been able to purchase five hides +of land, and had a chapel, a kitchen, a hall, and a bell, was raised to +the same distinction.[***] But the opportunities were so few, by which a +merchant or ceorle could thus exalt himself above his rank, that the law +could never overcome the reigning prejudices; the distinction between +noble and base blood would still be indelible; and the well-born thanes +would entertain the highest contempt for those legal and factitious +ones. Though we are not informed of any of these circumstances by +ancient historians, they are so much founded on the nature of things, +that we may admit them as a necessary and infallible consequence of the +situation of the kingdom during those ages. + + [* Spel. Feus and Tenures, p. 40.] + + [** Wilkins, p. 71.] + + [*** Selden, Titles of Honor, p, 515. Wilkins, p. + 7.] + +The cities appear by domesday-book to have been, at the conquest little +better than villages.[*] York itself, though it was always the second, +at least the third[**] city in England, and was the capital of a great +province, which never was thoroughly united with the rest, contained +then but one thousand four hundred and eighteen families.[***] Malmsbury +tells us,[****] that the great distinction between the Anglo-Saxon +nobility and the French and Norman, was, that the latter built +magnificent and stately castles; whereas the former consumed their +immense fortunes in riot and hospitality, and in mean houses. We may +thence infer, that the arts in general were much less advanced in +England than in France: a greater number of idle servants and retainers +lived about the great families; and as these, even in France, were +powerful enough to disturb the execution of the laws, we may judge of +the authority acquired by the aristocracy in England. When Earl Godwin +besieged the Confessor in London, he summoned from all parts his +huscarles, or houseceorles and retainers, and thereby constrained his +sovereign to accept of the conditions which he was pleased to impose +upon him. + + +The lower rank of freemen were denominated ceorles among the +Anglo-Saxons; and where they were industrious they were chiefly employed +in husbandry; whence a ceorle and a husbandman became in a manner +synonymous terms. They cultivated the farms of the nobility, or thanes, +for which they paid rent; and they seem to have been removable at +pleasure; for there is little mention of leases among the Anglo-Saxons: +the pride of the nobility, together with the general ignorance of +writing, must have rendered those contracts very rare, and must have +kept the husbandmen in a dependent condition. The rents of farms were +then chiefly paid in kind.[*****] + + [* Winchester, being the capital of the West Saxon + monarchy, was anciently a considerable city. Gul. Pict. p. + 210.] + + [** Norwich contained 738 houses; Exeter, 315; + Ipswich, 538; Northampton, 60; Hertford, 146; Canterbury, + 262; Bath, 61; Southampton 84; Warwick, 225. See Brady, of + Boroughs, p. 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. These are the most + considerable he mentions. The account of these is extracted + from domesday-book.] + + [*** Brady’s Treatise of Boroughs, p. 10. There + were six wards, besides the archbishop’s palace; and five of + these wards contained the number of families here mentioned, + which at the rate of five persons to a family, makes about + seven thousand souls. The sixth ward was laid waste.] + + [**** Page 102. See also de Gest. Angl. p. 333.] + + [***** LL. Inae, sect. 70. These laws fixed the + rents for a hide; but it is difficult to convert it into + modern measures.] + +But the most numerous rank by far in the community to have been the +slaves or villains, who were the property of their lords, and were +consequently incapable themselves of possessing any property. Dr. Brady +assures us, from a survey of domesday-book,[*] that, in all the counties +of England, the far greater part of the land was occupied by them, and +that the husbandmen, and still more the socmen, who were tenants that, +could not be removed at pleasure, were very few in comparison. This was +not the case with the German nations, as far as we can collect from the +account given us by Tacitus. The perpetual wars in the Heptarchy, and +the depredations of the Danes, seem to have been the cause of this great +alteration with the Anglo-Saxons. Prisoners taken in battle, or carried +off in the frequent inroads, were then reduced to slavery, and became, +by right of war,[**] entirely at the disposal of their lords. +Great property in the nobles, especially if joined to an irregular +administration of justice, naturally favors the power of the +aristocracy; but still more so, if the practice of slavery be admitted, +and has become very common. The nobility not only possess the influence +which always attends riches, but also the power which the laws give them +over their slaves and villains. It then becomes difficult, and almost +impossible, for a private man to remain altogether free and independent. + +There were two kinds of slaves among the Anglo-Saxons; household slaves, +after the manner of the ancients, and praedial, or rustic, after the +manner of the Germans.[***] These latter resembled the serfs, which are +at present to be met with in Poland, Denmark, and some parts of Germany. +The power of a master over his slaves was not unlimited among the +Anglo-Saxons, as it was among their ancestors. If a man beat out his +slave’s eye or teeth, the slave recovered his liberty:[****] if he +killed him, he paid a fine to the king, provided the slave died within a +day after the wound or blow; otherwise it passed unpunished.[*****] The +selling of themselves or children to slavery, was always the +practice among the German nations,[******] and was continued by the +Anglo-Saxons.[*******] + + [* General Preface to his Hist. p. 7, 8, 9, etc.] + + [** LL. Edg. sect. 14, apud Spel. Concil. vol. i. + p. 471.] + + [*** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Servus.] + + [**** LL. Ælf. sect. 20] + + [***** LL. Ælf. sect. 17.] + + [****** Tacit, de Mor. Germ] + + [******* LL. Inse, sect. 11. LL. Ælf. sect. 12.] + +The great lords and abbots among the Anglo-Saxons possessed a criminal +jurisdiction within their territories, and could punish without appeal +any thieves or robbers whom they caught there.[*] This institution must +have had a very contrary effect to that which was intended, and must +have procured robbers a sure protection on the lands of such noblemen as +did not sincerely mean to discourage crimes and violence. + +But though the general strain of the Anglo-Saxon government seems to +have become aristocratical, there were still considerable remains of +the ancient democracy, which were not indeed sufficient to protect the +lowest of the people, without the patronage of some great lord, but +might give security, and even some degree of dignity, to the gentry or +inferior nobility. The administration of justice, in particular, by +the courts of the decennary, the hundred, and the county, was well +calculated to defend general liberty, and to restrain the power of the +nobles. In the county courts, or shiremotes, all the freeholders were +assembled twice a year, and received appeals from the inferior courts. +They there decided all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil; and the +bishop, together with the alderman or earl, presided over them.[**] +The affair was determined in a summary manner, without much pleading +formality, or delay, by a majority of voices; and the bishop and +alderman had no further authority than to keep order among the +freeholders, and interpose with their opinion.[***] Where justice was +denied during three sessions by the hundred, and then by the county +court, there lay an appeal to the king’s court;[****] but this was not +practised on slight occasions. The aldermen received a third of the +fines levied in those courts;[*****] and as most of the punishments +were then pecuniary, this perquisite formed a considerable part of the +profits belonging to his office. The two thirds also, which went to the +king, made no contemptible part of the public revenue. Any free-holder +was fined who absented himself thrice from these courts.[******] + + [* Higden, lib, i. cap. 50. LL. Edw. Conf. sect. + 26. Spel. Concil vol. i. p. 415. Gloss, in verbo. Haligemot + ot Infangenthefe.] + + [** LL. Edg. sect. 5. Wilkins, p. 78. LL. Cantit. + sect. 17. Wilkins. p. 136.] + + [*** Hickes, Dissert, epist. p. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, + 8.] + + [**** LL. Edg. sect. 2. Wilkins, p. 77. LL. Canut. + sect. 18, apud Wilkins, p. 136.] + + [***** LL. Edw. Conf. sect. 31]. + + [****** LL. Ethelst. sect, 20.] + +As the extreme ignorance of the age made deeds and writings very rare, +the county or hundred court was the place where the most remarkable +civil transactions were finished, in order to preserve the memory of +them, and prevent all future disputes. Here testaments were promulgated, +slaves manumitted, bargains of sale concluded, and sometimes, for +greater security, the most considerable of these deeds were inserted +in the blank leaves of the parish Bible, which thus became a kind of +register, too sacred to be falsified. It was not unusual to add to the +deed an imprecation on all such as should be guilty of that crime.[*] + + [* Hickes, Dissert, epist.] + +Among a people who lived in so simple a manner as the Anglo-Saxons, the +judicial power is always of greater importance than the legislative. +There were few or no taxes imposed by the states; there were few +statutes enacted; and the nation was less governed by laws, than by +customs, which admitted a great latitude of interpretation. Though it +should, therefore, be allowed, that the wittenagemot was altogether +composed of the principal nobility, the county courts, where all the +freeholders were admitted, and which regulated all the daily +occurrences of life, formed a wide basis for the government, and were no +contemptible checks on the aristocracy. But there is another power still +more important than either the judicial or legislative; to wit, the +power of injuring or serving by immediate force and violence, for which +it is difficult to obtain redress in courts of justice. In all extensive +governments, where the execution of the laws is feeble, this power +naturally falls into the hands of the principal nobility; and the +degree of it which prevails, cannot be determined so much by the public +statutes, as by small incidents in history, by particular customs, and +sometimes by the reason and nature of things. The highlands of Scotland +have long been entitled by law to every privilege of British subjects; +but it was not till very lately that the common people could in fact +enjoy these privileges. + +The powers of all the members of the Anglo-Saxon government are disputed +among historians and antiquaries: the extreme obscurity of the subject, +even though faction had never entered into the question, would naturally +have begotten those controversies. But the great influence of the lords +over their slaves and tenants, the clientship of the burghers, the total +want of a middling rank of men, the extent of the mon archy, the loose +execution of the laws, the continued disorders and convulsions of the +state,--all these circumstances evince that the Anglo-Saxon government +became at last extremely aristocratical; and the events, during the +period immediately preceding the conquest, confirm this inference or +conjecture. + +Both the punishments inflicted by the Anglo-Saxon courts of judicature, +and the methods of proof employed in all causes, appear somewhat +singular, and are very different from those which prevail at present +among all civilized nations. + +We must conceive that the ancient Germans were little removed from the +original state of nature: the social confederacy among them was more +martial than civil: they had chiefly in view the means of attack or +defence against public enemies, not those of protection against their +fellow-citizens: their possessions were so slender and so equal, that +they were not exposed to great danger; and the natural bravery of the +people made every man trust to himself and to his particular friends for +his defence or vengeance. This defect in the political union drew much +closer the knot of particular confederacies: an insult upon any man was +regarded by all his relations and associates as a common injury: they +were bound by honor, as well as by a sense of common interest, +to revenge his death, or any violence which he had suffered: they +retaliated on the aggressor by like acts of violence; and if he were +protected, as was natural and usual, by his own clan, the quarrel was +spread still wider, and bred endless disorders in the nation. + +The Frisians, a tribe of the Germans, had never advanced beyond this +wild and imperfect state of society; and the right of private revenge +still remained among them unlimited and uncontrolled.[*] But the other +German nations, in the age of Tacitus, had made one step farther towards +completing the political or civil union. Though it still continued to be +an indispensable point of honor for every clan to revenge the death or +injury of a member, the magistrate had acquired a right of interposing +in the quarrel, and of accommodating the difference. He obliged the +person maimed or injured, and the relations of one killed, to accept of +a present from the aggressor and his relations,[**] as a compensation +for the injury.[***] and to drop all farther prosecution of revenge. +That the accommodation of one quarrel might not be the source of more, +this present was fixed and certain according to the rank of the person +killed or injured, and was commonly paid in cattle, the chief property +of those rude and uncultivated nations. + + [* LL. Fris. tit. 2, apud Lindenbrog. p. 491.] + + [** LL. Æthelb, sect. 23. LL. Ælf. sect. 27] + + [*** Called by the Saxons “maegbota.”] + +A present of this kind gratified the revenge of the injured family by +the loss which the aggressor suffered: it satisfied then pride by the +submission which it expressed: it diminished their regret for the loss +or injury of a kinsman by their acquisition of new property; and thus +general peace was for a moment restored to the society.[*] + +But when the German nations had been settled some time in the provinces +of the Roman empire, they made still another step towards a more +cultivated life, and their criminal justice gradually improved and +refined itself. The magistrate, whose office it was to guard public +peace, and to suppress private animosities, conceived himself to be +injured by every injury done to any of his people; and besides the +compensation to the person who suffered, or to his family, he thought +himself entitled to exact a fine, called the “fridwit,” as an atonement +for the breach of peace, and as a reward for the pains which he had +taken in accommodating the quarrel. When this idea, which is so natural, +was once suggested, it was willingly received both by sovereign and +people. The numerous fines which were levied, augmented the revenue of +the king; and the people were sensible that he would be more vigilant +in interposing with his good offices, when he reaped such immediate +advantage from them; and that injuries would be less frequent, when, +besides compensation to the person injured, that they were exposed to +this additional penalty.[**] + + [* Tacit, de Mor. Germ. The author says, that the + price of the composition was fixed; which must have been by + the laws, and the interposition of the magistrates.] + + [** Besides paying money to the relations of the + deceased, and to the king, the murderer was also obliged to + pay the master of a slave of vassal a sum, as a compensation + for his loss. This was called the “manbote” See Spel. Gloss, + in verb. Fredum, Manbot.] + +This short abstract contains the history of the criminal jurisprudence +of the northern nations for several centuries. The state of England in +this particular, during the period of the Anglo-Saxons, may be judged of +by the collection of ancient laws, published by Lambard and Wilkins. +The chief purport of these laws is not to prevent or entirely suppress +private quarrels, which the legislators knew to be impossible, but only +to regulate and moderate them. The laws of Alfred enjoin, that if +any one know that his enemy or aggressor, after doing him an injury, +resolves to keep within his own house _and his own lands_[*] he +shall not fight him, till he require compensation for the injury. If +he be strong enough to besiege him in his house, he may do it for seven +days without attacking him; and if the aggressor be a willing, during +that time, to surrender himself and his arms, his, adversary may detain +him thirty days, but is afterwards obliged to restore him safe to his +kindred, “and be content with the compensation.” If the criminal fly to +the temple, that sanctuary must not be violated. Where the assailant has +not force sufficient to besiege the criminal in his house, he must +apply to the alderman for assistance; and if the alderman refuse aid +the assailant must have recourse to the king; and he is not allowed +to assault the house till after this supreme magistrate has refused +assistance. If any one meet with his enemy, and be ignorant that he was +resolved to keep within his own lands he must, before he attack him, +require him to surrender him self prisoner, and deliver up his arms; in +which case he may detain him thirty days; but if he refuse to deliver +up his arms it is then lawful to fight him. A slave may fight in his +master’s quarrel: a father may fight in his son’s with any one except +with his master.[**] + + +It was enacted by King Ina, that no man should take revenge for an +injury till he had first demanded compensation, and had been refused +it.[***] + + [* The addition of these last words is Italics + appears necessary from what follows in the same law.] + + [** IL. Ælf. sect. 28. Wilkins, p. 43.] + + [*** LL. Inae sect. 9] + +King Edmond, in the preamble to his laws, mentions the general misery +occasioned by the multiplicity of private feuds and battles; and he +establishes several expedients for remedying this grievance. He ordains +that if any one commit murder, he may, with the assistance of his +kindred, pay within a twelvemonth the fine of his crime; and if they +abandon him, he shall alone sustain the deadly feud or quarrel with the +kindred of the murdered person: his own kindred are free from the feud, +but on condition that they neither converse with the criminal, nor +supply him with meat or other necessaries: if any of them, after +renouncing him, receive him into their house, or give him assistance, +they are finable to the king, and are involved in the feud. If the +kindred of the murdered person take revenge on any but the criminal +himself, after he is abandoned by his kindred, all their property is +forfeited, and they are declared to be enemies to the king and all his +friends.[*] It is also ordained that the fine for murder shall never be +remitted by the king,[**] and that no criminal shall be killed who flies +to the church, or any of the king’s towns;[***] and the king himself +declares, that his house shall give no protection to murderers, till +they have satisfied the church by their penance, and the kindred of +the deceased by making compensation.[****] The method appointed for +transacting this composition is found in the same law.[*****] + + +These attempts of Edmond, to contract and diminish the feuds, were +contrary to the ancient spirit of the northern barbarians, and were a +step towards a more regular administration of justice. By the salic law, +any man-night, by a public declaration, exempt himself from his family +quarrels: but then he was considered by the law as no longer belonging +to the family; and he was deprived of all right of succession, as the +punishment of his cowardice.[******] + + +The price of the king’s head, or his weregild, as it was then called, +was by law thirty thousand thrimsas, near thirteen hundred pounds of +present money. The price of the prince’s head was fifteen thousand +thrimsas; that of a bishop’s or alderman’s, eight thousand; a sheriff’s, +four thousand; a thane’s or clergyman’s, two thousand; a ceorle’s, +two hundred and sixty-six. These prices were fixed by the laws of the +Angles. By the Mercian law, the price of a ceorle’s head was two hundred +shillings; that of a thane’s, six times as much; that of a king’s, six +times more.[*******] By the laws of Kent, the price of the archbishop’s +head was higher than that of the king’s.[********] Such respect was then +paid to the ecclesiastics! It must be understood, that where a +person was unable or unwilling to pay the fine, he was put out of the +protection of law, and the kindred of the deceased had liberty to punish +him as they thought proper. + + +Some antiquaries [*********] have thought that these compensations were +only given for manslaughter, not for wilful murder. + + [* LL. Edm. sect,. 1. Wilkins, p. 73.] + + [** LL. Edm. sect. 3.] + + [*** LL. Edm. sect. 2.] + + [**** LL. Edm. sect. 4.] + + [***** LL. Edm. sect. 7,] + + [****** Tit. 63.] + + [******* Wilkins, p. 71, 72] + + [******** LL. Elthredi, apud Wilkins, p. 110.] + + [********* Tyrrel, Introduct. vol. i. p. 120. Carte vol i. + p. 366.] + +But no such distinction appears in the laws; and it is contradicted +by the practice of all the other barbarous nations,[*] by that of the +ancient Germans,[**] and by that curious monument above mentioned of +Saxon antiquity, preserved by Hickes. There is indeed a law of Alfred’s +which makes wilful murder capital;[***] but this seems only to have been +an attempt of that great legislator towards establishing a better police +in the kingdom, and it probably remained without execution. By the laws +of the same prince, a conspiracy against the life of the king might be +redeemed by a fine.[****] + + +The price of all kinds of wounds was likewise fixed by the Saxon laws: a +wound of an inch long under the hair was paid with one shilling: one of +a like size in the face, two shillings; thirty shillings for the loss of +an ear; and so forth.[*****] There seems not to have been any difference +made, according to the dignity of the person. By the laws of Ethelbert, +any one who committed adultery with his neighbor’s wife was obliged to +pay him a fine, and buy him another wife.[******] + + +These institutions are not peculiar to the ancient Germans. They seem +to be the necessary progress of criminal jurisprudence among every free +people, where the will of the sovereign is not implicitly obeyed. We +find them among the ancient Greeks during the time of the Trojan war. +Compositions for murder are mentioned in Nestor’s speech to Achilles, in +the ninth Iliad, and are called [Greek: apoinai]. The Irish, who never +had any connections with the German nations, adopted the same practice +till very lately; and the price of a man’s head was called among them +his “eric;” as we learn from Sir John Davis. The same custom seems also +to have prevailed among the Jews.[*******] + + +Theft and robbery were frequent among the Anglo-Saxons In order to +impose some check upon these crimes, it was ordained, that no man +should sell or buy any thing above twenty pence value, except in open +market;[********] and every bargain of sale must be executed before +witnesses.[*********] + + [1: Lindenbrogius, passim.] + + [2: Tacit, de Mor. Germ.] + + [3: LL. Ælf. sect. 12. Wilkins, p. 29. It is + probable that by wilful murder Alfred means a treacherous + murder, committed by one who has no declared feud with + another.] + + [4: LL. Ælf. sect. 4. Wilkins, p. 35.] + + [5: LL. Ælf. sect. 40. See also LL. Ethelb. sect. + 34, etc.] + + [6: LL Ethelb. sect. 32.] + + [7: Exod. cap. xxi. 29, 30.] + + [8: LL. Æthelst. sect. 12.] + + [9: LL. Æthelst. sect. 10, 12. LL.Edg. apud + Wilkins, p. 80. LL Ethelredi, sect 4, apud Wilkins, p. 103. + Hloth. et Eadm. sect 16. LL. Canute. sect. 22.] + +Gangs of robbers much disturbed the peace of the country, and the law +determined that a tribe of banditti, consisting of between seven and +thirty-five persons, was to be called a “turma,” or troop; any greater +company was denominated an army.[*] The punishments for this crime were +various, but none of them capital.[**] If any man could track his stolen +cattle into another’s ground, the latter was obliged to show the tracks +out of it, or pay their value.[***] + + +Rebellion, to whatever excess it was carried, was not capital but +might be redeemed by a sum of money.[****] The legislators, knowing +it impossible to prevent all disorders, only imposed a higher fine +on breaches of the peace committed in the king’s court, or before an +alderman or bishop. An ale-house, too, seems to have been considered as +a privileged place; and any quarrels that arose there were more severely +punished than else where.[*****] + + [* LL. Inæ, sect. 12.] + + [* LL. Inæ, sect. 37.] + + [* LL. Æthelst. sect. 2. Wilkins, p. 63.] + + [* LL. Ethelredi, apud Wilkins, p. 110. LL. Ælf. sect. 4. + Wilkins, p35.] + + [* LL. Hloth. et Eadm. sect. 12, 13. LL. Ethelr. apud + Wilkins, P 117.] + +If the manner of punishing crimes among the Anglo-Saxons appear +singular, the proofs were not less so; and were also the natural result +of the situation of those people. Whatever we may imagine concerning the +usual truth and sincerity of men who live in a rude and barbarous state, +there is much more falsehood, and even perjury, among them, than among +civilized nations: virtue, which is nothing but a more enlarged and more +cultivated reason, never flourishes to any degree, nor is founded +on steady principles of honor, except where a good education becomes +general; and where men are taught the pernicious consequences of vice, +treachery, and immorality. Even superstition, though more prevalent +among ignorant nations, is but a poor supply for the defects in +knowledge and education; our European ancestors, who employed every +moment the expedient of swearing on extraordinary crosses and relics, +were less honorable in all engagements than their posterity, who from +experience have omitted those ineffectual securities. This general +proneness to assumed perjury was much increased by the usual want of +discernment in judges, who could not discuss an intricate evidence, and +were obliged to number, not weigh, the testimony of the witnesses,[*] +Hence the ridiculous practice of obliging men to bring compurgators, +who, as they did not pretend to know any thing of the fact, expressed +upon oath, that they believed the person spoke true; and these +compurgators were in some cases multiplied to the number of three +hundred.[**] The practice also of single combat was employed by most +nations on the continent as a remedy against false evidence;[***] and +though it was frequently dropped, from the opposition of the clergy, it +was continually revived, from experience of the falsehood attending +the testimony of witnesses.[****] It became at last a species of +jurisprudence: the cases were determined by law, in which the +party might challenge his adversary or the witnesses, or the judge +himself;[*****] and though these customs were absurd, they were rather +an improvement on the methods of trial which had formerly been practised +among those barbarous nations, and which still prevailed among the +Anglo-Saxons. + + [* Præf. Nicol. ad Wilkins, p. 11.] + + [** LL. Burgund. cap. 45. LL. Lomb. lib. ii. tit. + 55, cap. 34.] + + [*** LL. Longob. lib. ii. tit. 55, cap. 23, apud + Lindenbrog. p. 661] + + [**** See Desfontaines and Beaumanoir.] + + [***** Sometimes the laws fixed easy general rules + for weighing the credibility of witnesses. A man whose life + was estimated at a hundred and twenty shillings, + counterbalanced six ceorles, each of whose lives was only + valued at twenty shillings, and his oath was esteemed + equivalent to that of all the six. See Wilkins, p. 72.] + +When any controversy about a fact became too intricate for those +ignorant judges to unravel, they had recourse to what they called the +judgment of God, that is, to fortune. Their methods of consulting this +oracle were various. One of them was the decision by the cross: it was +practised in this manner: When a person was accused of any crime, +he first cleared himself by oath, and he was attended by eleven +compurgators. He next took two pieces of wood, one of which was marked +with the sign of the cross, and wrapping both up in wool, he placed them +on the altar, or on some celebrated relic. After solemn prayers for the +success of the experiment, a priest, or in his stead some unexperienced +youth, took up one of the pieces of wood, and if he happened upon that +which was marked with the figure of the cross, the person was pronounced +innocent; if otherwise, guilty. [*] This practice, as it arose from +superstition, was abolished by it in France. + + [* LL. Prison, tit. 14, apud Lindenbrog. p. 496. + trial, not because it was uncertain, but lest that sacred + figure says he, of the cross should be prostituted in common + disputes and controversies.] + +The ordeal was another established method of trial among Saxons. It +was practised either by boiling water or red-hot iron. The former was +appropriated to the common people; the latter to the nobility. The +water or iron was consecrated by many prayers, masses, fastings, and +exorcisms,[*] after which, the person accused either took up a stone +sunk in the water[**] to a certain depth, or carried the iron to a +certain distance; and his hand being wrapped up, and the covering sealed +for three days, if there appeared, on examining it, no marks of burning, +he was pronounced innocent; if otherwise, guilty.[***] The trial by cold +water was different: the person was thrown into consecrated water; if he +swam, he was guilty, if he sunk, innocent.[****] It is difficult for us +to conceive how any innocent person could ever escape by the one trial, +or any criminal be convicted by the other. But there was another usage +admirably calculated for allowing every criminal to escape, who had +confidence enough to try it. A consecrated cake, called a corsned, +was produced, which if the person could swallow and digest, he was +pronounced innocent.[******] + + +The feudal law, if it had place at all among the Anglo-Saxons, which is +doubtful, was not certainly extended over all the landed property, and +was not attended with those consequences of homage, reliefs,[*******] +wardship, marriage, and other burdens, which were inseparable from it +in the kingdoms of the continent. As the Saxons expelled, or almost +entirely destroyed, the ancient Britons, they planted themselves in this +island on the same footing with their ancestors in Germany, and found no +occasion for the feudal institutions,[********] which were calculated +to maintain a kind of standing army, always in readiness to suppress any +insurrection among the conquered people. + + [* Du Cange, in verbo Crux.] + + [** Spel in verbo Ordealium. Parker, p. 155. + Lindenbrog. p, 1299] + + [*** LL. Inæ, sect. 77.] + + [**** Sometimes the person accused walked barefoot + over a red hot iron] + + [***** Spel in verbo Ordealium.] + + [****** Spel in verbo Corsned. Parker, p. 156. + Text. Roffens. p. 33.] + + [******* On the death of an alderman, a greater or + lesser thane, there was a payment made to the king of his + best arms; and this was called his heriot; but this was not + of the nature of a relief. See Spel. of Tenures, p. 2. The + value of this heriot was fixed by Canute’s laws, sect. 69.] + + [******** Bracton de Acqu. Rer. Domin. ii. cap. + 16. See more fully Spel of Feus and Tenures, and Q aigius de + Jure Feud, lib. i. dieg.] + +The trouble and expense of defending the state in England lay equally +upon all the land; and it was usual for every five hides to equip a +man for the service. The “trinoda necessitas,” as it was called, or the +burden of military expeditions, of repairing highways, and of building +and supporting bridges, was inseparable from landed property, even +though it belonged to the church or monasteries, unless exempted by a +particular charter.[*] The ceorles, or husbandmen, were provided with +arms, and were obliged to take their turn in military duty.[**] There +were computed to be two hundred and forty-three thousand six hundred +hides in England;[***] consequently the ordinary military force of the +kingdom consisted of forty-eight thousand seven hundred and twenty men; +though, no doubt, on extraordinary occasions, a greater number might +be assembled. The king and nobility had some military tenants, who were +called “sithcun-men.”[****] And there were some lands annexed to the +office of aldermen, and to other offices; but these probably were not +of great extent, and were possessed only during pleasure, as in the +commencement of the feudal law in other countries of Europe. + +The revenue of the king seems to have consisted chiefly in his demesnes, +which were large; and in the tolls and imposts which he probably levied +at discretion on the boroughs and seaports that lay within his demesnes. +He could not alienate any part of the crown lands, even to religious +uses, without the consent of the states.[*****] Danegelt was a land-tax +of a shilling a hide, imposed by the states,[******] either for payment +of the sums exacted by the Danes, or for putting the kingdom in a +posture of defence against those invaders.[*******] + + +The Saxon pound, as likewise that which was coined for some centuries +after the conquest, was near three times the weight of our present +money. There were forty-eight shillings in the pound, and five pence +in a shilling;[********] consequently a Saxon shilling was near a +fifth heavier than ours, and a Saxon penny near three times as +heavy.[*********] + + [* Spel. Concil. vol. i. p. 256.] + + [** Inæ, sect. 51.] + + [*** Spel. of Feus and Tenures, p. 17.] + + [**** Spel. Concil. vol. i. p. 195.] + + [***** Spel. Concil. vol. i. p. 340.] + + [****** Chron. Sax. p. 128.] + + [******* LL. Edw. Conf. sect. 12.] + + [******** LL. Ælf. sect. 40.] + + [********* Fleetwood’s Chron. Pretiosum, p. 27 28, etc.] + + +As to the value of money in those times, compared to commodities, there +are some though not very certain, means of computation. A sheep, of the +laws of Athelstan, was estimated at a shilling; that is, fifteen pence +of our money. The fleece was two fifths of the value of the whole +sheep,[*] much above its present estimation; and the reason probably +was, that the Saxons, like the ancients, were little acquainted with any +clothing but what was made of wool. Silk and cotton were quite unknown: +linen was not much used. An ox was computed at six times the value of +a sheep; a cow at four.[**] If we suppose that the cattle in that age, +from the defects in husbandry, were not so large as they are at present +in England, we may compute that money was then near ten times of greater +value. A horse was valued at about thirty-six shillings of our money, +or thirty Saxon shillings;[***] a mare a third less. A man at three +pounds.[****] The board-wages of a child the first year was eight +shillings, together with a cow’s pasture in summer, and an ox’s in +winter.[*****] William of Malmsbury mentions it as a remarkably high +price that William Rufus gave fifteen marks for a horse, or about thirty +pounds of our present money.[******] Between the years 900 and 1000, +Ednoth bought a hide of land for about one hundred and eighteen +shillings of present money.[*******] This was little more than a +shilling an acre, which indeed appears to have been the usual price, +as we may learn from other accounts.[********] A palfrey was sold for +twelve shillings about the year 966.[*********] The value of an ox in +King Ethel ed’s[** word?] time was between seven and eight shillings; +a cow about six shillings.[*********] Gervas of Tilbury says, that in +Henry I’s time, bread which would suffice a hundred men for a day was +rated at three shillings, or a shilling of that age: for it is thought +that soon after the conquest a pound sterling was divided into twenty +shillings. A sheep was rated at a shilling, and so of other things in +proportion. In Athelstan’s time, a ram was valued at a shilling, or +fourpence Saxon.[**********] The tenants of Shireburn were obliged, at +their choice, to pay either sixpence or four hens.[***********] + + [* LL. Inse, sect. 69.] + + [** Wilkins, p. 126. + + [*** LL. Inse, sect. 38.] + + [**** Hist. Eliens. p. 471] + + [***** Wilkins, p. 56.] + + [****** Wilkins, p. 66.] + + [******* Wilkins, p. 126.] + + [******** Page 121.] + + [********* Hist. Eliens. p. 473.] + + [********** Wilkins, p. 126.] + + [*********** Monast. Anglie. vol. ii. p. 528.] + +About 1232, the abbot of St. Alban’s, going on a journey, hired seven +handsome, stout horses; and agreed, if any of them died on the road, to +pay the owner thirty shillings apiece of our present money.[*] It is to +be remarked, that in all ancient times the raising of corn, especially +wheat, being a species of manufactory, that commodity always bore a +higher price, compared to cattle, than it does in our times.[**] The +Saxon Chronicle tells us,[***] that in the reign of Edward the Confessor +there was the most terrible famine ever known; insomuch that a quarter +of wheat rose to sixty pennies, or fifteen shillings of our present +money. Consequently, it was as dear as if it now cost seven pounds +ten shillings. This much exceeds the great famine in the end of Queen +Elizabeth, when a quarter of wheat was sold for four pounds. Money in +this last period was nearly of the same value as in our time. These +severe famines are a certain proof of bad husbandry. + + [* M. Paris]. + + [** Fleetwood. p. 83, 94, 96. 98] + + [*** Page 157.] + +On the whole, there are three things to be considered, wherever a sum of +money is mentioned in ancient times. First, the change of denomination, +by which a pound has been reduced to the third part of its ancient +weight in silver. Secondly, the change in value by the greater plenty +of money, which has reduced the same weight of silver to ten times less +value, compared to commodities; and consequently a pound sterling to the +thirtieth part of the ancient value. Thirdly, the fewer people and less +industry which were then to be found in every European kingdom. This +circumstance made even the thirtieth part of the sum more difficult to +levy, and caused any sum to have more than thirty times greater weight +and influence, both abroad and at home, than in our times; in the +same manner that a sum, a hundred thousand pounds, for instance, is at +present more difficult to levy in a small state, such as Bavaria, and +can produce greater effects on such a small community than on England. +This last difference is not easy to be calculated; but, allowing that +England has now six times more industry, and three times more people +than it had at the conquest, and for some reigns after that period, +we are upon that supposition to conceive, taking all circumstances +together, every sum of money mentioned by historians, as if it were +multiplied more than a hundred fold above a sum of the same denomination +at present. + +In the Saxon times, land was divided equally among all the male children +of the deceased, according to the custom of gavelkind. The practice of +entails is to be found in those times.[*] Land was chiefly of two kinds, +bockland, or land held by book or charter, which was regarded as full +property, and descended to the heirs of the possessor; and folkland, or +the land held by the ceorles and common people, who were removable at +pleasure, and were, indeed, only tenants during the will of their lords. + +The first attempt which we find in England to separate the +ecclesiastical from the civil jurisdiction, was that law of Edgar by +which all disputes among the clergy were ordered to be carried before +the bishop.[**] The penances were then very severe; but as a man could +buy them off with money, or might substitute others to perform them, +they lay easy upon the rich.[***] + +With regard to the manners of the Anglo-Saxons, we can say little, +but that they were in general a rude, uncultivated people, ignorant of +letters, unskilled in the mechanical arts, untamed to submission under +law and government, addicted to intemperance, riot, and disorder. Their +best quality was their military courage, which yet was not supported by +discipline or conduct. Their want of fidelity to the prince, or to any +trust reposed in them, appears strongly in the history of their later +period; and their want of humanity in all their history. Even the Norman +historians, notwithstanding the low state of the arts in their own +country, speak of them as barbarians, when they mention the invasion +made upon them by the duke of Normandy.[****] The conquest put the +people in a situation of receiving slowly, from abroad, the rudiments +of science and cultivation, and of correcting their rough and licentious +manners. + + [* LL. Ælf. sect. 37, apud Wilkins, p. 43.] + + [** Wilkins, p. 83.] + + [*** Wilkins, p. 96, 97. Spel. Concil. p. 473.] + + [**** Gul, Pict. p. 202.] + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +[Illustration: 068.jpg WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] + + + + +WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. + +Contemporary Monarchs: + + EMP. OF GERM. K. OF SCOTLAND K. OF FRANCE. Ks. OF SPAIN. + Henry IV. Malcolm III. 1093 Philip I. Sancho II. 1072 + Alphonso VI. + + POPES. + Alexander II.1073 + Gregory VII. 1085 + Victor III. 1087 + +{1066.} _Nothing_ could exceed the consternation which seized the +English when they received intelligence of the unfortunate battle of +Hastings, the death of their king, the slaughter of their principal +nobility and of their bravest warriors, and the rout and dispersion +of the remainder. But though the loss which they had sustained in that +fatal action was considerable, it might have been repaired by a great +nation; where the people were generally armed, and where there resided +so many powerful noblemen in every province, who could have assembled +their retainers, and have obliged the duke of Normandy to divide his +army, and probably to waste it in a variety of actions and rencounters. +It was thus that the kingdom had formerly resisted for many years its +invaders, and had been gradually subdued by the continued efforts of +the Romans, Saxons, and Danes; and equal difficulties might have been +apprehended by William in this bold and hazardous enterprise. But there +were several vices in the Anglo-Saxon constitution, which rendered it +difficult for the English to defend their liberties in so critical an +emergency. The people had in a great measure lost all national pride and +spirit by their recent and long subjection to the Danes; and as Canute +had, in the course of his administration, much abated the rigors of +conquest, and had governed them equitably by their own laws, they +regarded with the less terror the ignominy of a foreign yoke, and +deemed the inconveniences of submission less formidable than those of +bloodshed, war, and resistance. Their attachment also to the ancient +royal family had been much weakened by their habits of submission to +the Danish princes, and by their late election of Harold or their +acquiescence in his usurpation. And as they had long been accustomed +to regard Edgar Atheling, the only heir of the Saxon line, as unfit +to govern them even in times of order and tranquillity, they could +entertain small hopes of his being able to repair such great losses as +they had sustained, or to withstand the victorious arms of the duke of +Normandy. + +That they might not, however, be altogether wanting to themselves in +this extreme necessity, the English took some steps towards adjusting +their disjointed government, and uniting themselves against the common +enemy. The two potent earls, Edwin and Morcar, who had fled to London +with the remains of the broken army, took the lead on this occasion: in +concert with Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, a man possessed of great +authority and of ample revenues, they proclaimed Edgar, and endeavored +to put the people in a posture of defence, and encourage them to +resist the Normans.[*] But the terror of the late defeat, and the near +neighborhood of the invaders, increased the confusion inseparable from +great revolutions; and every resolution proposed was hasty, fluctuating, +tumultuary; disconcerted by fear or faction; ill planned, and worse +executed. + +William, that his enemies might have no leisure to recover from their +consternation or unite their counsels, immediately put himself in motion +after his victory, and resolved to prosecute an enterprise which nothing +but celerity and vigor could render finally successful. His first +attempt was against Rornney, whose inhabitants he severely punished, on +account of their cruel treatment of some Norman seamen and soldiers, who +had been carried thither by stress of weather, or by a mistake in their +course;[**] and foreseeing that his conquest of England might still be +attended with many difficulties and with much opposition, he deemed it +necessary, before he should advance farther into the country, to make +himself master of Dover, which would both secure him a retreat in +cast of adverse fortune, and afford him a safe landing-place for such +supplies as might be requisite for pushing his advantages. + + [* Gill. Pict. p. 205. Order. Vitaas, p. 502. + Hoveden, p. 449 Knygnton, p. 2343.] + + [** Gul. Pict. p. 204] + +The terror diffused by his victory at Hastings was so great that the +garrison of Dover, though numerous and well provided, immediately +capitulated; and as the Normans, rushing in to take possession of the +town, hastily set fire to some of the houses, William, desirous to +conciliate the minds of the English by an appearance of lenity and +justice, made compensation to the inhabitants for their losses.[*] + +The Norman army, being much distressed with a dysentery, was obliged to +remain here eight days; but the duke, on their recovery, advanced +with quick marches towards London, and by his approach increased the +confusions which were already so prevalent in the English counsels. The +ecclesiastics in particular, whose influence was great over the people +began to declare in his favor; and as most of the bishops and dignified +clergymen were even then Frenchmen or Normans, the pope’s bull, by which +his enterprise was avowed and hallowed, was now openly insisted on as a +reason for general submission. The superior learning of those prelates, +which, during the Confessor’s reign, had raised them above the ignorant +Saxons, made their opinions be received with implicit faith; and a +young prince; like Edgar, whose capacity was deemed so mean, was but ill +qualified to resist the impression which they made on the minds of the +people. A repulse which a body of Londoners received from five hundred +Norman horse, renewed in the city the terror of the great defeat at +Hastings; the easy submission of all the inhabitants of Kent was an +additional discouragement to them; the burning of Southwark before +their eyes made them dread a like fate to their own city; and no man +any longer entertained thoughts but of immediate safety ana of +self-preservation. Even the Earls Edwin and Morcar, in despair of making +effectual resistance, retired with their troops to their own provinces; +and the people thenceforth disposed themselves unanimously to yield to +the victor. As soon as he passed the Thames at Wallingford, and reached +Berkhamstead, Stigand, the primate, made submissions to him: before +he came within sight of the city, all the chief nobility, and Edgar +Atheling himself, the new elected king, came into his camp, and declared +their intention of yielding to his authority.[**] They requested him to +mount their throne, which they now considered as vacant; and declare to +him, that as they had always been ruled by regal power, they desired to +follow, in this particular, the example of their ancestors, and knew of +no one more worthy than himself to hold the reins of government.[***] + + [* Gul. Pict. p. 204.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 450. Flor. Wigorn. p, 634] + + [*** Gul. Pict. p. 205. Order. Vitalis, p. 503.] + +Though this was the great object to which the duke’s enterprise tended, +he feigned to deliberate on the offer; and being desirous, at first, of +preserving the appearance of a legal administration, he wished to obtain +a more explicit and formal consent of the English nation;[*] but Aimar +of Aquitain, a man equally respected for valor in the field and for +prudence in council, remonstrating with him on the danger of delay in so +critical a conjuncture, he laid aside all further scruples, and accepted +of the crown which was tendered him. Orders were immediately issued to +prepare every thing for the ceremony of his coronation; but as he +was yet afraid to place entire confidence in the Londoners, who were +numerous and warlike, he meanwhile commanded fortresses to be erected, +in order to curb the inhabitants, and to secure his person and +government.[**] + +Stigand was not much in the duke’s favor, both because he had intruded +into the see on the expulsion of Robert the Norman, and because he +possessed such influence and authority over the English[***] as might be +dangerous to a new-established monarch. William, therefore, pretending +that the primate had obtained his pall in an irregular manner from Pope +Benedict IX., who was himself a usurper, refused to be consecrated +by him, and conferred this honor on Aldred, arch bishop of York. +Westminster Abbey was the place appointed for that magnificent +ceremony; the most considerable of the nobility, both English and +Norman, attended the duke on this occasion; Aldred, in a short speech, +asked the former whether they agreed to accept of William as their king; +the bishop of Coutance put the same question to the latter; and both +being answered with acclamations,[****] Aldred administered to the duke +the usual coronation oath, by which he bound himself to protect the +church, to administer justice, and to repress violence; he then anointed +him, and put the crown upon his head.[*****] There appeared nothing but +joy in the countenance of the spectators; but in that very moment there +burst forth the strongest symptoms of the jealousy and animosity which +prevailed between the nations, and which continually increased during +the reign of this prince. + + [* Gul. Pict. p. 205]. + + [** Gul. Pict. p. 205.] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 6.] + + [**** Order. Vitalis, p. 503.] + + [***** Malmsbury (p. 271) says, that he also + promised to govern the Normans and English by equal laws; + and this addition to the usual oath seems not improbable, + considering the circumstances of the time!] + +The Norman soldiers, who were placed without in order to guard the +church, hearing the shouts within, fancied that the English were +offering violence to their duke; and they immediately assaulted the +populace, and set fire to the neighboring houses. The alarm was conveyed +to the nobility who surrounded the prince; both English and Normans, +full of apprehensions, rushed out to secure themselves from the present +danger; and it was with difficulty that William himself was able to +appease the tumult.[*] + +The king, thus possessed of the throne by a pretended descination of +King Edward, and by an irregular election of the people, but still more +by force of arms, retired from London to Berking, in Essex, {1067.} and +there received the submissions of all the nobility who had not attended +his coronation. Edric, surnamed the Forester, grand-nephew to that Edric +so noted for his repeated acts of perfidy during the reigns of Ethelred +and Edmond; Earl Coxo, a man famous for bravery; even Edwin and Morcar, +earls of Mercia and Northumberland; with the other principal noblemen +of England, came and swore fealty to him; were received into favor; and +were confirmed in the possession of their estates and dignities.[**] +Every thing bore the appearance of peace and tranquillity; and William +had no other occupation than to give contentment to the foreigners who +had assisted him to mount the throne, and to his new subjects, who had +so readily submitted to him. + +He had got possession of the treasure of Harold, which was considerable; +and being also supplied with rich presents from the opulent men in all +parts of England, who were solicitous to gain the favor of their new +sovereign, he distributed great sums among his troops, and by this +liberality gave them hopes of obtaining at length those more durable +establishments which they had expected from his enterprise.[***] The +ecclesiastics, both at home and abroad, had much forwarded his success; +and he failed not, in return, to express his gratitude and devotion in +the manner which was most acceptable to them; he sent Harold’s +standard to the pope, accompanied with many valuable presents; all the +considerable monasteries and churches in France, where prayers had been +put up for his success, now tasted of his bounty;[****] the English +monks found him well disposed to favor their order; and he built a +new convent near Hastings, which he called Battle Abbey, and which on +pretence of supporting monks to pray lor his own soul, and for that of +Harold, served as a lasting memorial of his victory.[*****] + + [* Gul Pict. p. 206. Order. Vitalis, p. 503.] + + [** Gul. Pict. p. 208. Order. Vitalis, p. 506.] + + [*** Gul. Pict. p. 206.] + + [**** Gul. Pict. p. 205.] + + [***** Gul. Gemet. p. 288. Chron. Sax. p. 189. M. + West. p. 226. M. Paris, p. 9. Diceto, p. 482. This convent + was freed by him from all episcopal jurisdiction. Monast. + Anglic, tom. i. p. 311, 312.] + +He introduced into England that strict execution of justice, for which +his administration had been much celebrated in Normandy; and even during +this violent revolution, every disorder or oppression met with rigorous +punishment.[*] + + [* Gul. Pict. p. 208. Order, Vitalis, p. 506.] + +His army in particular was governed with severe discipline; and +notwithstanding the insolence of victory, care was taken to give as +little offence as possible to the jealousy of the vanquished. The king +appeared solicitous to unite in an amicable manner the Normans and the +English, by intermarriages and alliances; and all his new subjects who +approached his person were received with affability and regard. No signs +of suspicion appeared, not even towards Edgar Atheling, the heir of the +ancient royal family, whom William confirmed in the honors of earl of +Oxford, conferred on him by Harold, and whom he affected to treat with +the highest kindness, as nephew to the Confessor, his great friend and +benefactor. Though he confiscated the estates of Harold, and of those +who had fought in the battle of Hastings on the side of that prince, +whom he represented as a usurper, he seemed willing to admit of every +plausible excuse for past opposition to his pretensions, and he received +many into favor who had carried arms against him, He confirmed the +liberties and immunities of London and the other cities of England; and +appeared desirous of replacing every thing on ancient establishments. +In his whole administration, he bore the semblance of the lawful prince, +not of the conqueror; and the English began to flatter themselves, that +they had changed, not the form of their government, but the succession +only of their sovereigns; a matter which gave them small concern. The +better to reconcile his new subjects to his authority, William made a +progress through some parts of England; and besides a splendid court and +majestic presence, which overawed the people, already struck with his +military fame, the appearance of his clemency and justice gained the +approbation of the wise, attentive to the first steps of their new +sovereign. + +But amidst this confidence and friendship which he expressed for the +English, the king took care to place all real power in the hands of his +Normans, and still to keep possession of the sword, to which, he +was sensible, he had owed his advancement to sovereign authority. +He disarmed the city of London and other places, which appeared most +warlike and populous; and building citadels in that capital, as well as +in Winchester, Hereford, and the cities best situated for commanding the +kingdom, he quartered Norman soldiers in all of them, and left nowhere +any power able to resist or oppose him. He bestowed the forfeited +estates on the most eminent of hia captains, and established funds for +the payment of his soldiers. And thus, while his civil administration +carried the face of a legal magistrate, his military institutions were +those of a master and tyrant; at least of one who reserved to himself, +whenever he pleased, the power of assuming that character. + +By this mixture, however, of vigor and lenity, he had so soothed the +minds of the English, that he thought he might safely revisit his +native country, and enjoy the triumph and congratulation of his ancient +subjects. He left the administration in the hands of his uterine +brother, Odo, bishop of Baieux, and of William Fitz-Osberne. That their +authority might be exposed to less danger, he carried over with him all +the most considerable nobility of England, who, while they served to +grace his court by their presence and magnificent retinues, were in +reality hostages for the fidelity of the nation. Among these were Edgar +Atheling, Stigand the primate, the earls Edwin and Morcar, Waltheof, the +son of the brave Earl Siward, with others, eminent for the greatness +of their fortunes and families, or for their ecclesiastical and civil +dignities. He was visited at the abbey of Fescamp, where he resided +during some time, by Rodulph, uncle to the king of France, and by many +powerful princes and nobles, who, having contributed to his enterprise, +were desirous of participating in the joy and advantages of its success. +His English courtiers, willing to ingratiate themselves with their new +sovereign, outvied each other in equipages and entertainments; and +made a display of riches which struck the foreigners with astonishment. +William of Poictiers, a Norman historian,[*] who was present, speaks +with admiration of the beauty of their persons, the size and workmanship +of their silver plate, the costliness of their embroideries, an art in +which the English then excelled; and he expresses himself in such terms, +as tend much to exalt our idea of the opulence and cultivation of the +people.[**] + + + [* Page 211, 212.] + + [** As the historian chiefly insists on the siver + plate, his panegyric on the English magnificence shows only + how incompetent a judge he was of the matter. Silver was + then of ten times the value, and was more than twenty times + more rare than at present; and consequently of all species + of luxury, plate must have been the rarest.] + +But though every thing bure the face of joy and festivity, and William +himself treated nia new courtiers with great appearance of kindness, it +was impossible altogether to prevent the insolence of the Normans; +and the English nobles derived little satisfaction from those +entertainments, where they considered themselves as led in triumph by +their ostentatious conqueror. + +In England affairs took still a worse turn during the absence of the +sovereign. Discontents and complaints multiplied every where; secret +conspiracies were entered into against the government; hostilities +were already begun in many places; and every thing seemed to menace a +revolution as rapid as that which had placed William on the throne. The +historian above mentioned, who is a panegyrist of his master, throws the +blame entirely on the fickle and mutinous disposition of the English, +and highly celebrates the justice and lenity of Odo’s and Fitz-Osborne’s +administration.[**] But other historians, with more probability, impute +the cause chiefly to the Normans; who, despising a people that had so +easily submitted to the yoke, envying their riches, and grudging the +restraints imposed upon their own rapine, were desirous of provoking +them to a rebellion, by which they expected to acquire new confiscations +and forfeitures, and to gratify those unbounded hopes which they had +formed in entering on this enterprise.[***] + + [** Page 212.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 507] + +It is evident that the chief reason of this alteration in the sentiments +of the English must be ascribed to the departure of William, who was +alone able to curb the violence of his captains, and to overawe the +mutinies of the people. Nothing indeed appears more strange than that +this prince, in less than three months after the conquest of a great, +warlike, and turbulent nation, should absent himself in order to revisit +his own country, which remained in profound tranquillity, and was not +menaced by any of its neighbors; and should so long leave his jealous +subjects at the mercy of an insolent and licentious army. Were we not +assured of the solidity of his genius, and the good sense displayed in +all other circumstances of his conduct, we might ascribe this measure to +a vain ostentation, which rendered him impatient to display his pomp and +magnificence among his ancient subjects. It is therefore more natural to +believe that, in so extraordinary a step, he was guided by a concealed +policy; and that though he had thought proper at first to allure the +people to submission by the semblance of a legal administration, he +found that he could neither satisfy his rapacious captains, nor +secure his unstable government, without farther exerting the rights of +conquest, and seizing the possessions of the English. In order to have +a pretext for this violence, he endeavored without discovering his +intentions, to provoke and allure them into insurrections, which he +thought could never prove dangerous, while he detained all the principal +nobility in Normandy, while a great and victorious army was quartered +in England, and while he himself was so near to suppress any tumult or +rebellion. But as no ancient writer has ascribed this tyrannical purpose +to William, it scarcely seems allowable, from conjecture alone, to throw +such an imputation upon him. + +But whether we are to account for that measure from the king’s vanity or +from his policy, it was the immediate cause of all the calamities which +the English endured during this and the subsequent reigns, and gave rise +to those mutual jealousies and animosities between them and the Normans, +which were never appeased till a long tract of time had gradually united +the two nations, and made them one people. The inhabitants of Kent, who +had first submitted to the conqueror, were the first that attempted to +throw off the yoke; and in confederacy with Eustace, count of Boulogne, +who had also been disgusted by the Normans, they made an attempt, though +without success, on the garrison of Dover.[*] Edric the Forester, +whose possessions lay on the banks of the Severn, being provoked at +the depredations of some Norman captains in his neighborhood, formed an +alliance with Blethyn and Rowallan, two Welsh princes; and endeavored, +with their assistance, to repel force by force.[**] + + [* Gul. Gemet. p. 239. Order. Vitalis, p. 508. + Anglia Sacra, vol i. p, 245.] + + [** Hoveden, p 450. M. West, p 226. Sim. Dunelm. + p. 197.] + +But though these open hostilities were not very considerable, the +disaffection was general among the English, who had become sensible, +though too late, of their defenceless condition, and began already to +experience those insults and injuries, which a nation must always expect +that allows itself to be reduced to that abject situation. A secret +conspiracy was entered into, to perpetrate in one day, a general +massacre of the Normans, like that which had formerly been executed upon +the Danes; and the quarrel was become so general and national, that +the vassals of Earl Coxo, having desired him to head them in an +insurrection, and finding him resolute in maintaining his fidelity to +William, put him to death as a traitor to his country. + +The king, informed of these dangerous discontents, hastened over +to England; and by his presence, and the vigorous measures which he +pursued, disconcerted all the schemes of the conspirators. Such of them +as had been more violent in their mutiny, betrayed their guilt by flying +or concealing themselves; and the confiscation of their estates, while +it increased the number of malecontents, both enabled William to gratify +farther the rapacity of his Norman captains, and gave them the prospect +of new forfeitures and attainders. The king began to regard all +his English subjects as inveterate and irreclaimable enemies; and +thenceforth either embraced, or was more fully confirmed in the +resolution of seizing their possessions, and of reducing them to the +most abject slavery. Though the natural violence and severity of his +temper made him incapable of feeling any remorse in the execution of +this tyrannical purpose, he had art enough to conceal his intention, +and to preserve still some appearance of justice in his oppressions. He +ordered all the English who had been arbitrarily expelled by the Normans +during his absence, to be restored to their estates;[*] but at the same +time he imposed a general tax on the people, that of danegelt, which +had been abolished by the Confessor, and which had always been extremely +odious to the nation.[**] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 173. This fact is a full proof + that the Normans had committed great injustice, and were the + real cause of the insurrections of the English.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 450. Sim. Dunelm. p. 197. Alured. + Beverl. p. 127] + +{1068.} As the vigilance of William overawed the malecontents, their +insurrections were more the result of an impatient humor in the people, +than of any regular conspiracy which could give them a rational hope of +success against the established power of the Normans. The inhabitants of +Exeter, instigated by Githa, mother to King Harold, refused to admit a +Norman garrison, and, betaking themselves to arms, were strengthened +by the accession of the neighboring inhabitants of Devonshire and +Cornwall.[*] The king hastened with his forces to chastise the revolt; +and on his approach, the wiser and more considerable citizens, sensible +of the unequal contest, persuaded the people to submit, and to deliver +hostages for their obedience. A sudden mutiny of the populace broke this +agreement; and William, appearing before the walls, ordered the eyes of +one of the hostages to be put out, as an earnest of that severity which +the rebels must expect, if they persevered in their revolt.[**] +The inhabitants were anew seized with terror, and surrendering at +discretion, threw themselves at the king’s feet, and supplicated his +clemency and forgiveness. William was not destitute of generosity, +when his temper was not hardened either by policy or passion: he was +prevailed on to pardon the rebels, and he set guards on all the gates, +in order to prevent the rapacity and insolence of his soldiery.[***] + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 510.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 510] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 510.] + +Githa escaped with her treasures to Flanders. The malecontents of +Cornwall imitated the example of Exeter, and met with like treatment; +and the king having built a citadel in that city, which he put under +the command of Baldwin, son of Earl Gilbert, returned to Winchester, and +dispersed his army into their quarters. He was here joined by his wife, +Matilda, who had not before visited England, and whom he now ordered to +be crowned by Archbishop Aldred. Soon after she brought him an accession +to his family, by the birth of a fourth son, whom he named Henry. +His three elder sons, Robert, Richard, and William, still resided in +Normandy. + +But though the king appeared thus fortunate both in public and domestic +life, the discontents of his English subjects augmented daily; and +the injuries committed and suffered on both sides rendered the quarrel +between them and the Normans absolutely incurable. The insolence of +victorious masters, dispersed throughout the kingdom, seemed intolerable +to the natives; and wherever they found the Normans separate or +assembled in small bodies, they secretly set upon them, and gratified +their vengeance by the slaughter of their enemies. But an insurrection +in the north drew thither the general attention, and seemed to threaten +more important consequences. Edwin and Morcar appeared at the head +of this rebellion; and these potent noblemen, before they took arms, +stipulated for foreign succors from their nephew Blethyn, prince of +North Wales, from Malcolm, king of Scotland and from Sweyn, king of +Denmark. Besides the general discontent which had seized the English, +the two earls were incited to this revolt by private injuries. William, +in order to insure them to his interests, had on his accession promised +his daughter in marriage to Edwin; but either he had never seriously +intended to perform this engagement, or, having changed his plan of +administration in England from clemency to rigor, he thought it was +to little purpose if he gained one family, while he enraged the whole +nation. When Edwin, therefore, renewed his applications, he gave him +an absolute denial;[*] and this disappointment, added to so many other +reasons of disgust, induced that nobleman and his brother to concur +with their incensed countrymen, and to make one general effort for the +recovery of their ancient liberties. William knew the importance of +celerity in quelling an insurrection supported by such powerful leaders, +and so agreeable to the wishes of the people; and having his troops +always in readiness, he advanced by great journeys to the north. On his +march he gave orders to fortify the castle of Warwick, of which he left +Henry de Beaumont governor, and that of Nottingham, which he committed +to the custody of William Peverell, another Norman captain.[**] He +reached York before the rebels were in any condition for resistance, or +were joined by any of the foreign succors which they expected, except a +small reënforcement from Wales;[***] and the two earls found no means +of safety but having recourse to the clemency of the victor. Archil, a +potent nobleman in those parts, imitated their example, and delivered +his son as a hostage for his fidelity;[****] nor were the people, thus +deserted by their leaders, able to make any farther resistance. But the +treatment which William gave the chiefs was very different from that +which fell to the share of their followers. He observed religiously +the terms which he had granted to the former, and allowed them for the +present to keep possession of their estates; but he extended the rigors +of his confiscations over the latter, and gave away their lands to his +foreign adventurers. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 511.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 511.] + + [*** Order. Vitalia, p. 511.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 511.] + +These, planted throughout the whole country, and in possession of the +military power, left Edwin and Morcar, whom he pretended to spare, +destitute of all support, and ready to fall whenever he should think +proper to command their ruin. A peace which he made with Malcolm, who +did him homage for Cumberland, seemed at the same time to deprive them +of all prospect of foreign assistance.[*] + +The English were now sensible that their final destruction was intended; +and that instead of a sovereign, whom they had hoped to gain by their +submission, they had tamely surrendered themselves, without resistance, +to a tyrant and a conqueror. Though the early confiscation of Harold’s +followers might seem iniquitous, being inflicted on men who had +never sworn fealty to the duke of Normandy, who were ignorant of his +pretensions, and who only fought in defence of the government which they +themselves had established in their own country, yet were these rigors, +however contrary to the ancient Saxon laws, excused on account of the +urgent necessities of the prince; and those who were not involved in +the present ruin, hoped that they should thenceforth enjoy, without +molestation, their possessions and their dignities. But the successive +destruction of so many other families convinced them that the king +intended to rely entirely on the support and affections of foreigners; +and they foresaw new forfeitures, attainders, and acts of violence, as +the necessary result of this destructive plan of administration. They +observed that no Englishman possessed his confidence, or was intrusted +with any command or authority; and that the strangers, whom a rigorous +discipline could have but ill restrained, were encouraged in their +insolence and tyranny against them. The easy submission of the +kingdom on its first invasion had exposed the natives to contempt; the +subsequent proofs of their animosity and resentment had made them the +object of hatred; and they were now deprived of every expedient by which +they could hope to make themselves either regarded or beloved by their +sovereign. Impressed with the sense of this dismal situation, many +Englishmen fled into foreign countries, with an intention of passing +their lives abroad free from oppression, or of returning, on a favorable +opportunity, to assist their friends in the recovery of their native +liberties.[**] Edgar + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 511.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 508. M. West. p. 225. M. + Paris, p. 4. Sim Dunehn. p. 197.] + +Atheling himself, dreading the insidious caresses of William, was, +persuaded by Cospatric, a powerful Northumbrian, to escape with him +into Scotland; and he carried thither his two sisters, Margaret and +Christina. They were well received by Malcolm, who soon after espoused +Margaret, the elder sister; and partly with a view of strengthening +his kingdom by the accession of so many strangers, partly in hopes +of employing them against the growing power of William, he gave great +countenance to all the English exiles. Many of them settled there, and +laid the foundation of families which afterwards made a figure in that +country. + +While the English suffered under these oppressions, even the foreigners +were not much at their ease; but finding themselves surrounded on all +hands by engaged enemies, who took every advantage against them, and +menaced them with still more bloody effects of the public resentment, +they began to wish again for the tranquillity and security of their +native country. Hugh de Grentmesnil and Humphry de Teliol, though +intrusted with great commands, desired to be dismissed the service; +and some others imitated their example; a desertion which was highly +resented by the king, and which he punished by the confiscation of all +their possessions ii England.[*] But William’s bounty to his followers +could not fail of alluring many new adventurers into his service; and +the rage of the vanquished English served only to excite the attention +of the king and those warlike chiefs, and keep them in readiness to +suppress every commencement of domestic rebellion or foreign invasion. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 512] + +It was not long before they found occupation for their prowess and +military conduct. Godwin, Edmond, and Magnus, three sons of Harold, had, +immediately after the defeat at Hastings, sought a retreat in Ireland, +where, having met with a kind reception from Dermot and other princes of +that country, they projected an invasion on England, and they hoped that +all the exiles from Denmark, Scotland, and Wales, assisted by forces +from these several countries, would at once commence hostilities, and +rouse the indignation of the English against their haughty conquerors. +They landed in Devonshire; but found Brian, son of the count of +Brittany, at the head of some foreign troops, ready to oppose them; and +being defeated in several actions, they were obliged to retreat to their +ships, and to return with great loss to Ireland.[*] The efforts of the +Normans were now directed to the north, where affairs had fallen into +the utmost confusion. The more impatient of the Northumbrians had +attacked Robert de Comyn, who was appointed governor of Durham; and +gaining the advantage over him from his negligence, they put him to +death in that city, with seven hundred of his followers.[**] This +success animated the inhabitants of York, who, rising in arms, slew +Robert Fitz-Richard, their governor,[***] and besieged in the castle +William Mallet, on whom the command now devolved. A little after, the +Danish troops landed from three hundred vessels: Osberne, brother to +King Sweyn, was intrusted with the command of these forces, and he +was accompanied by Harold and Canute, two sons of that monarch. Edgar +Atheling appeared from Scotland, and brought along with him Cospatric, +Waltheof, Siward, Bearne, Merleswain, Adelin, and other leaders, who, +partly from the hopes which they gave of Scottish succors, partly +from their authority in those parts, easily persuaded the warlike and +discontented Northumbrians to join the insurrection. Mallet, that he +might better provide for the defence of the citadel of York, set fire +to some houses which lay contiguous; but this expedient proved the +immediate cause of his destruction. The flames, spreading into the +neighboring streets, reduced the whole city to ashes. The enraged +inhabitants, aided by the Danes, took advantage of the confusion to +attack the castle, which they carried by assault; and the garrison, +to the number of three thousand men, was put to the sword without +mercy.[****] + +This success proved a signal to many other parts of England, and gave +the people an opportunity of showing their malevolence to the Normans. +Hereward, a nobleman in East Anglia, celebrated for valor, assembled his +followers, and taking shelter in the Isle of Ely, made inroads on all +the neighboring country.[*****] The English in the counties of Somerset +and Dorset rose in arms, and assaulted Montacute, the Norman governor; +while the inhabitants of Cornwall and Devon invested Exeter, which from +the memory of William’s clemency still remained faithful to him. + + [* Gul. Gemet. p. 290. Order. Vitalis, p. 513. + Anglia Sacra, TO! I. p. 216.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 512. Chron. de Mailr. p. + 116. Hoveden, p. 450. M. Paris, p. 5. Sim. Dunelm. p. 198.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 512.] + + [**** Order. Vitalis, p. 513. Hoveden, p. 451.] + + [***** Ingulph. p. 71. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de + Burgo, p. 47.] + +Edric the Forester, calling in the assistance of the Welsh, laid siege +to Shrewsbury, and made head against Earl Brient and Fitz-Osberne, who +commanded in those quarters.[*] The English, everywhere repenting their +former easy submission, seemed determined to make by concert one great +effort for the recovery of their liberties, and for the expulsion of +their oppressors. + +William, undismayed amidst this scene of confusion, assembled. his +forces, and animating them with the prospect of new confiscations +and forfeitures, he marched against the rebels in the north, whom he +regarded as the most formidable, and whose defeat, he knew, would strike +a terror into all the other malecontents. Joining policy to force, he +tried, before his approach, to weaken the enemy, by detaching the Danes +from them; and he engaged Osberne, by large presents, and by offering +him the liberty of plundering the sea-coast, to retire without +committing farther hostilities into Denmark.[**] Cospatric also, in +despair of success, made his peace with the king, and paying a sum of +money as an atonement for his insurrection, was received into favor, +and even invested with the earldom of Northumberland. Waltheof, who long +defended York with great courage, was allured with this appearance of +clemency; and as William knew how to esteem valor, even in an enemy, +that nobleman had no reason to repent of this confidence.[***] Even +Edric, compelled by necessity, submitted to the conqueror, and received +forgiveness, which was soon after followed by some degree of trust +and favor. Malcolm, coming too late to support his confederates, was +constrained to retire; and all the English rebels in other parts, except +Hereward, who still kept in his fastnesses, dispersed themselves, and +left the Normans undisputed masters of the kingdom. Edgar Atheling, with +his followers, sought again a retreat in Scotland from the pursuit of +his enemies. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 514.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 451. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de + Burgo, p. 47. Sim Dunelm. p. 199.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 104. H. Hunting, p. 369.] + +{1070.} But the seeming clemency of William toward the English leaders, +proceeded only from artifice, or from his esteem of individuals: his +heart, was hardened against all compassion towards the people, and he +scrupled no measure, however violent or severe, which seemed requisite +to support his plan of tyrannical administration. Sensible of the +restless disposition of the Northumbrians, he determined to incapacitate +them even after from giving him disturbance; and he issued orders for +laying entirely waste that fertile country, which, for the extent of +sixty miles, lies between the Humber and the Tees.[*] The houses were +reduced to ashes by the merciless Normans; the cattle seized and driven +away; the instruments of husbandry destroyed; and the inhabitants +compelled either to seek for a subsistence in the southern parts of +Scotland, or if they lingered in England, from a reluctance to abandon +their ancient habitations, they perished miserably in the woods from +cold and hunger. The lives of a hundred thousand persons are computed to +have been sacrificed to this stroke of barbarous policy,[**] which, by +seeking a remedy for a temporary evil, thus inflicted a lasting wound on +the power and populousness of the nation. + +But William, finding himself entirely master of a people who had given +him such sensible proofs of their impotent rage and animosity, now +resolved to proceed to extremities against all the natives of England; +and to reduce them to a condition in which they should no longer be +formidable to his government. The insurrections and conspiracies in +so many parts of the kingdom had involved the bulk of the landed +proprietors, more or less, in the guilt of treason; and the king took +advantage of executing against them, with the utmost rigor, the laws of +forfeiture and attainder. Their lives were, indeed, commonly spared; +but their estates were confiscated, and either annexed to the royal +demesnes, or conferred with the most profuse bounty, on the Normans +and other foreigners.[***] While the king’s declared intention was to +depress, or rather entirely extirpate, the English gentry,[****] [8] it +is easy to believe that scarcely the form of justice would be observed +in those violent proceedings;[*****] and that any suspicions served as +the most undoubted proofs of guilt against a people thus devoted to +destruction. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 174. Ingulph. p. 79. W. Malms, + p. 103. Hoveden, p. 451. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, p. + 47. M. Paris, p. 5. Sim. Dunelm. p. 199. Brompton, p. 966. + Knyghton, p. 2344. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p, 702.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 515.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 104.] + + [**** H. Hunting, p. 370.] + + [***** H See note H, at the end of the volume.] + +It was crime sufficient in an Englishman to be opulent, or noble, or +powerful; and the policy of the king, concurring with the rapacity of +foreign adventurers, produced almost a total revolution in the landed +property of the kingdom. Ancient and honorable families were reduced to +beggary; the nobles themselves were every where treated with ignominy +and contempt; they had the mortification of seeing their castles and +manors possessed by Normans of the meanest birth and lowest stations;[*] +and they found themselves carefully excluded from every road which led +either to riches or preferment.[**] [9] + +As power naturally follows property, this revolution alone gave great +security to the foreigners; but William, by the new institutions which +he established, took also care to retain forever the military authority +in those hands which had enabled him to subdue the kingdom. He +introduced into England the feudal law, which he found established in +France and Normandy, and which, during that age, was the foundation +both of the stability and of the disorders in most of the monarchical +governments of Europe. He divided all the lands of England, with +very few exceptions, beside the royal demesnes, into baronies; and he +conferred these, with the reservation of stated services and payments, +on the most considerable of his adventurers. These great barons, who +held immediately of the crown, shared out a great part of their lands to +other foreigners, who were denominated knights or vassals, and who paid +their lord the same duty and submission, in peace and war, which he +himself owed, to his sovereign. The whole kingdom contained about +seven hundred chief tenants, and sixty thousand two hundred and fifteen +knights’ fees;[***] and as none of the native English were admitted into +the first rank, the few who retained their landed property were glad to +be received into the second, and, under the protection of some powerful +Norman, to load themselves and their posterity with this grievous +burden, for estates which they had received free from their +ancestors.[****] The small mixture of English which entered into this +civil or military fabric, (for it partook of both species,) was so +restrained by subordination under the foreigners, that the Norman +dominion seemed now to be fixed on the most durable basis, and to defy +all the efforts of its enemies. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 521. M. West, p. 229.] + + [** See note I, at the end of the volume.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 523. Secretum Abbatis, + apud Selden. Title of Honor, p. 573. Spel. Gloss, in verbo + Feodum. Sir Robert Cotton.] + + [**** M. West. p. 225. M. Paris, p. 4. Bracton, + lib. i. cap. 11, num. I, Flets, lib, cap. 8, n. 2] + +The better to unite the parts of the government, and to bind them into +one system, which might serve both for defence against foreigners +and for the support of domestic tranquillity, William reduced the +ecclesiastical revenues under the same feudal law; and though he had +courted the church on his invasion and accession, he now subjected it to +services which the clergy regarded as a grievous slavery, and as totally +unbefitting their profession. The bishops and abbots were obliged, when +required, to furnish to the king, during war, a number of knights or +military tenants, proportioned to the extent of property possessed by +each see or abbey; and they were liable, in case of failure, to the +same penalties which were exacted from the laity.[*] The pope and the +ecclesiastics exclaimed against this tyranny, as they called it; but the +king’s authority was so well established over the army, who held every +thing from his bounty, that superstition itself, even in that age, +when it was most prevalent, was constrained to bend under his superior +influence. + +But as the great body of the clergy were still natives, the king had +much reason to dread the effects of their resentment; he therefore +used the precaution of expelling the English from all the considerable +dignities, and of advancing foreigners in their place. The partiality +of the Confessor towards the Normans had been so great, that, aided by +their superior learning, it had promoted them to many of the sees in +England; and even before the period of the conquest, scarcely more than +six or seven of the prelates were natives of the country. But among +these was Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, a man who, by his address +and vigor, by the greatness of his family and alliances, by the extent +of his possessions, as well as by the dignity of his office, and his +authority among the English, gave jealousy to the king.[**] Though +William had, on his accession, affronted this prelate by employing the +archbishop of York to officiate at his consecration, he was careful, +on other occasions, to load him with honors and caresses, and to +avoid giving him farther offence till the opportunity should offer of +effecting his final destruction.[***] + + [* M. Paris, p. 5. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 248.] + + [** Parker, p. 161.] + + [*** Parker, p. 164.] + +The suppression of the late rebellions, and the total subjection of the +English, made him hope that an attempt against Stigand, however violent, +would be covered by his great successes and be overlooked amidst the +other important revolutions, which affected so deeply the property and +liberty of the kingdom. Yet, notwithstanding these great advantages, +he did not think it safe to violate the reverence usually paid to the +primate, but under cover of a new superstition, which he was the great +instrument of introducing into England. + +The doctrine which exalted the papacy above all human power, had +gradually diffused itself from the city and court of Rome; and was, +during that age, much more prevalent in the southern than in the +northern kingdoms of Europe. Pope Alexander, who had assisted William +in his conquests, naturally expected, that the French and Normans would +import into England the same reverence for his sacred character with +which they were impressed in their own country; and would break the +spiritual as well as civil independency of the Saxons who had hitherto +conducted their ecclesiastical government, with an acknowledgment indeed +of primacy in the see of Rome, but without much idea of its title to +dominion or authority. As soon, therefore, as the Norman prince seemed +fully established on the throne, the pope despatched Ermenfloy, bishop +of Sion, as his legate into England; and this prelate was the first +that had ever appeared with that character in any part of the British +islands. The king, though he was probably led by principle to pay this +submission to Rome, determined, as is usual, to employ the incident as a +means of serving his political purposes, and of degrading those English +prelates, who were become obnoxious to him. The legate submitted to +become the instrument of his tyranny; and thought, that the more violent +the exertion of power, the more certainly did it confirm the authority +of that court from which he derived his commission. He summoned, +therefore, a council of the prelates and abbots at Winchester; and +being assisted by two cardinals, Peter and John, he cited before him +Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, to answer for his conduct. The +primate was accused of three crimes; the holding of the see of +Winchester together with that of Canterbury; the officiating in the pall +of Robert, his predecessor; and the having received his own pall from +Benedict IX., who was afterwards deposed for simony, and for intrusion +into the papacy.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 453. Diceto, p. 482. Knyghton, p. + 2345. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 5, 6. Ypod. Neust. p. 438.] + +These crimes of Stigand were mere pretences; since the first had been a +practice not unusual in England, and was never any where subjected to a +higher penalty than a resignation of one of the sees; the second was a +pure ceremonial; and as Benedict was the only pope who then officiated, +and his acts were never repealed, all the prelates of the church, +especially thope who lay at a distance, were excusable for making their +applications to him. Stigand’s ruin, however, was resolved on, and +was prosecuted with great severity. The legate degraded him from his +dignity; the king confiscated his estate, and cast him into prison, +where he continued in poverty and want during the remainder of his life. +Like rigor was exercised against the other English prelates: Agelric, +bishop of Selesey, and Agelmare, of Elmham, were deposed by the legate, +and imprisoned by the king. Many considerable abbots shared the same +fate: Egelwin, bishop of Durham, fled the kingdom Wulstan, of Worcester, +a man of an inoffensive character was the only English prelate that +escaped this general proscription,[*] and remained in possession of his +dignity. Aldred, archbishop of York, who had set the crown on William’s +head, had died a little before of grief and vexation, and had left his +malediction to that prince, on account of the breach of his coronation +oath, and of the extreme tyranny with which he saw he was determined to +treat his English subjects.[**] + +It was a fixed maxim in this reign, as well as in some of the +subsequent, that no native of the island should ever be advanced to any +dignity, ecclesiastical, civil, or military[***] + + [* Brompton relates, that Wulstan was also + deprived by the synod; out refusing to deliver his pastoral + staff and ring to any but the person from whom he first + received it, he went immediately to King Edward’s tomb, and + struck the staff so deeply into the stone, that none but + himself was able to pull it out; upon which he was allowed + to keep his bishopric. This instance may serve, instead of + many, as a specimen of the monkish miracles. See also the + Annals of Burton, p. 284.] + + [** W. Malmes de Gest. Pont. p. 154.] + + [*** Ingulph. p. 70, 71.] + +The king, therefore, upon Stigand’s deposition, promoted Lanfranc, a +Milanese monk, celebrated for his learning and piety, to the vacant see. +This prelate was rigid in defending the prerogatives of his station; and +after a long process before the pope, he obliged Thomas, a Norman monk, +who had been appointed to the see of York, to acknowledge the primacy of +the archbishop of Canterbury. Where ambition can be so happy as to cover +its enterprises, even to the person himself, under the appearance +of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of all human +passions. Hence Lanfranc’s zeal in promoting the interests of +the papacy, by which he himself augmented his own authority, was +indefatigable, and met with proportionable success. The devoted +attachment to Rome continually increased in England and being favored +by the sentiments of the conquerors, as well as by the monastic +establishments formerly introduced by Edred and by Edgar, it soon +reached the same height at which it had, during some time, stood in +France and Italy.[*] It afterwards went much farther; being favored by +that very remote situation which had at first obstructed its progress; +and being less checked by knowledge and a liberal education, which were +still somewhat more common in the southern countries. + +The prevalence of this superstitious spirit became dangerous to some +of William’s successors, and incommodious to most of them; but the +arbitrary sway of this king over the English, and his extensive +authority over the foreigners, kept him from feeling any immediate +inconveniences from it. He retained the church in great subjection, as +well as his lay subjects; and would allow none, of whatever character, +to dispute his sovereign will and pleasure. He prohibited his subjects +from acknowledging any one for pope whom he himself had not previously +received; he required that all the ecclesiastical canons, voted in +any synod, should first be laid before him, and be ratified by his +authority; even bulls or letters from Rome could not legally be +produced, till they received the same sanction; and none of his +ministers or barons, whatever offences they were guilty of, could be +subjected to spiritual censures, till he himself had given his consent +to their excommunication.[**] These regulations were worthy of a +sovereign, and kept united the civil and ecclesiastical powers, which +the principles, introduced by this prince himself, had an immediate +tendency to separate. + +But the English had the cruel mortification to find that their king’s +authority, however acquired or however extended, was all employed in +their oppression; and that the scheme of their subjection, attended with +every circumstance of insult and indignity,[***] was deliberately formed +by the prince, and wantonly prosecuted by his followers.[****] + + [* M. West, p. 228. Lanfranc wrote in defence of + the real presence against Berengarius; and in those ages of + stupidity and ignorance, he was greatly applauded for that + performance.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 6] + + [*** Order Vitalis, p. 523. H. Hunting, p. 370.] + + [**** Ingulph. p. 71] + +William had even entertained the difficult project of totally abolishing +the English language; and for that purpose he ordered, that in all +schools throughout the kingdom, the youth should be instructed in the +French tongue; a practice which was continued from custom till after +the reign of Edward III., and was never indeed totally discontinued +in England. The pleadings in the supreme courts of judicature were in +French:[*] the deeds were often drawn in the same language: the laws +were composed in that idiom:[**] no other tongue was used at court: +it became the language of all fashionable company; and the English +themselves, ashamed of their own country, affected to excel in that +foreign dialect. From this attention of William, and from the extensive +foreign dominions, long annexed to the crown of England, proceeded that +mixture of French which is at present to be found in the English tongue, +and which composes the greatest and best part of our language. But +amidst those endeavors to depress the English nation, the king, moved by +the remonstrances of some of his prelates, and by the earnest desires +of the people, restored a few of the laws of King Edward;[***] [11] +which, though seemingly of no great importance towards the protection of +general liberty, gave them extreme satisfaction, as a memorial of their +ancient government, and an unusual mark of complaisance in their +imperious conquerors.[****] + + [* 36 Ed. III. cap. 15. Selden. Spicileg. ad Eadm. + p. 189. Fortesque de Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 48.] + + [** Chron. Rothom. A.D. 1066.] + + [*** Ingulph. p. 88. Brompton, p. 982. Knyghton, + p. 2355 Hoveden, p. 600.] + + [**** See note K, at the end of the volume.] + +{1071.} The situation of the two great earls, Morcar and Edwin, became +now very disagreeable. Though they had retained their allegiance during +this general insurrection of their countrymen, they had not gained the +king’s confidence, and they found themselves exposed to the malignity +of the courtiers, who envied them on account of their opulence and +greatness, and at the same time involved them in that general contempt +which they entertained for the English. Sensible that they had entirely +lost their dignity, and could not even hope to remain long in safety, +they determined, though too kite, to share the same fate with their +countrymen. While Edwin retired to his estate in the north, with a view +of commencing an insurrection, Morcar took shelter in the Isle of Ely, +with the brave Hereward, who, secured by the inaccessible situation of +the place, still defended himself against the Normans. But this attempt +served only to accelerate the ruin of the few English who had hitherto +been able to preserve their rank or fortune during the past convulsions. +William employed all his endeavors to subdue the Isle of Ely; and having +surrounded it with flat-bottomed boats, and made a causeway through the +morasses to the extent of two miles, he obliged the rebels to surrender +at discretion. Hereward alone forced his way, sword in hand, through the +enemy; and still continued his hostilities by sea against the Normans, +till at last William, charmed with his bravery, received him into favor, +and restored him to his estate. Earl Morcar, and Egelwin, bishop of +Durham, who had joined the malecontents, were thrown into prison, and +the latter soon after died in confinement. Edwin, attempting to make +his escape into Scotland, was betrayed by some of his followers, and was +killed by a party of Normans, to the great affliction of the English, +and even to that of William, who paid a tribute of generous tears to +the memory of this gallant and beautiful youth. The king of Scotland, +in hopes of profiting by these convulsions, had fallen upon the northern +counties; but on the approach of William, he retired; and when the king +entered his country, he was glad to make peace, and to pay the usual +homage to the English crown. To complete the king’s prosperity, Edgar +Atheling himself, despairing of success, and weary of a fugitive +life, submitted to his enemy; and receiving a decent pension for his +subsistence, was permitted to live in England unmolested. But these acts +of generosity towards the leaders were disgraced, as usual, by William’s +rigor against the inferior malecontents. He ordered ihe hands to be +lopped off, and the eyes to be put out, of many of the prisoners whom +he had taken in the Isle of Ely; and he dispersed them in that miserable +condition throughout the country, as monuments of his severity. + +{1073.} The province of Maine, in France, had, by the will of Herbert, +the last count, fallen under the dominion of William some years before +his conquest of England; but the inhabitants, dissatisfied with the +Norman government, and instigated by Fulk, count of Anjou, who had some +pretensions to the succession, now rose in rebellion, and expelled the +magistrates whom the king had placed over them. The full settlement of +England afforded him leisure to punish this insult on his authority; but +being unwilling to remove his Norman forces from this island, he carried +over a considerable army, composed almost entirely of English, and +joining them to some troops levied in Normandy, he entered the revolted +province. The English appeared ambitious of distinguishing themselves on +this occasion, and of retrieving that character of valor which had long +been national among them, but which their late easy subjection under the +Normans had some what degraded and obscured. Perhaps, too, they hoped +that, by their zeal and activity, they might recover the confidence of +their sovereign, as their ancestors had formerly, by like means, gained +the affections of Canute; and might conquer his inveterate prejudices +in favor of his own countrymen. The king’s military conduct, seconded +by these brave troops, soon overcame all opposition in Maine: the +inhabitants were obliged to submit, and the count of Anjou relinquished +his pretensions. + +{1074.} But during these transactions, the government of England was +greatly disturbed; and that, too, by those very foreigners who owed +every thing to the king’s bounty, and who were the sole object of his +friendship and regard. The Norman barons, who had engaged with their +duke in the conquest of England, were men of the most independent +spirit; and though they obeyed their leader in the field, they would +have regarded with disdain the richest acquisitions, had they been +required, in return, to submit, in their civil government, to the +arbitrary will of one man. But the imperious character of William, +encouraged by his absolute dominion over the English, and often impelled +by the necessity of his affairs, had prompted him to stretch his +authority over the Normans themselves beyond what the free genius of +that victorious people could easily bear. The discontents were become +general among those haughty nobles; and even Roger, earl of Hereford, +son and heir of Fitz-Osberne, the king’s chief favorite, was strongly +infected with them. This nobleman, intending to marry his sister to +Ralph de Guader, earl of Norfolk, had thought, it his duty to inform the +king of his purpose, and to desire the royal consent; but meeting with +a refusal, he proceeded nevertheless to complete the nuptials, and +assembled all his friends, and those of Guader, to attend the solemnity. +The two earls, disgusted by the denial of their request, and dreading +William’s resentment for their disobedience, here prepared measures for +a revolt; and during the gayety of the festival, while the company was +heated with wine, they opened the design to their guests. They inveighed +against the arbitrary conduct of the king; his tyranny over the English, +whom they affected on this occasion to commiserate; his imperious +behavior to his barons of the noblest birth; and his apparent intention +of reducing the victors and the vanquished to a like ignominious +servitude. Amidst their complaints, the indignity of submitting to +a bastard[*] was not forgotten; the certain prospect of success in a +revolt, by the assistance of the Danes and the discontented English, was +insisted on; and the whole company, inflamed with the same sentiments, +and warmed by the jollity of the entertainment, entered, by a solemn +engagement, into the design of shaking off the royal authority. +Even Earl Waltheof, who was present, inconsiderately expressed his +approbation of the conspiracy, and promised his concurrence towards its +success. + +This nobleman, the last of the English who for some generations +possessed any power or authority, had, after his capitulation at York, +been received into favor by the conqueror; had even married Judith, +niece to that prince; and had been promoted to the earldoms of +Huntingdon and Northampton.[**] Cospatric, earl of Northumberland, +having, on some new disgust from William, retired into Scotland, where +he received the earldom of Dunbar from the bounty of Malcolm, Waltheof +was appointed his successor in that important command, and seemed still +to possess the confidence and friendship of his sovereign.[***] + + [* William was so little ashamed of his birth, + that he assumed the appellation of Bastard in some of his + letters and charters. Spel Gloss. in verbo Bastardus. Camden + in Richmondshire.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 522 Hoveden, p. 454.] + + [*** Sim, Dunelm. p. 205.] + +But as he was a man of generous principles, and loved his country, it is +probable that the tyranny exercised over the English lay heavy upon his +mind, and destroyed all the satisfaction which he could reap from his +own grandeur and advancement. When a prospect, therefore, was opened of +retrieving their liberty, he hastily embraced it; while the fumes of the +liquor and the ardor of the company prevented him from reflecting on the +consequences of that rash attempt. But after his cool judgment returned, +he foresaw that the conspiracy of those discontented barons was not +likely to prove successful against the established power of William; or, +if it did, that the slavery of the English, instead of being alleviated +by that event, would become more grievous under a multitude of foreign +leaders, factious and ambitious, whose union and whose discord would be +equally oppressive to the people. Tormented with these reflections, he +opened his mind to his wife Judith, of whose fidelity he entertained +no suspicion, but who, having secretly fixed her affections on another, +took this opportunity of ruining her easy and credulous husband. She +conveyed intelligence of the conspiracy to the king, and aggravated +every circumstance which she believed would tend to incense him against +Waltheof, and render him absolutely implacable.[*] Meanwhile the earl, +still dubious with regard to the part which he should act, discovered +the secret in confession to Lanfranc, on whose probity and judgment he +had a great reliance: he was persuaded by the prelate, that he owed +no fidelity to those rebellious barons, who had by surprise gained +his consent to a crime; that his first duty was to his sovereign and +benefactor, his next to himself and his family; and that if he seized +not the opportunity of making atonement for his guilt by revealing it, +the temerity of the conspirators was so great, that they would give +some other person the means of acquiring the merit of the discovery. +Waltheof, convinced by these arguments, went over to Normandy; but +though he was well received by the king, and thanked for his fidelity, +the account previously transmitted by Judith had sunk deep into +William’s mind, and had destroyed all the merit of her husband’s +repentance. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 536.] + +The conspirators, hearing of Waltheof’s departure, immediately concluded +their design to be betrayed; and they flew to arms before their schemes +were ripe for execution, and before the arrival of the Danes, in whose +aid they placed their chief confidence. The Earl of Hereford was checked +by Walter de Lacy, a great baron in those parts, who, supported by the +bishop of Worcester and the abbot of Evesham, raised some forces, and +prevented the earl from passing the Severn, or advancing into the +heart of the kingdom. The earl of Norfolk was defeated at Fagadun, +near Cambridge, by Odo the regent, assisted by Richard de Bienfaite and +William de Warrenne, the two justiciaries. The prisoners taken in this +action had their right foot cut off, as a punishment of their treason +the earl himself escaped to Norwich, thence to Denmark where the +Danish fleet, which had made an unsuccessful attempt upon the coast of +England,[*] soon after arrived, and brought him intelligence, that all +his confederates were suppressed, and were either killed, banished, +or taken prisoners.[**] Ralph retired in despair to Brittany, where he +possessed a large estate and extensive jurisdictions. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 183. M. Paris, p. 7.] + + [** Many of the fugitive Normans are supposed to + have fled into Scotland, where they were protected, as well + as the fugitive English, by Malcolm; whence come the many + French and Norman families which are found at present in + that country.] + +The king, who hastened over to England in order to suppress the +insurrection, found that nothing remained but the punishment of the +criminals, which he executed with great severity. Many of the rebels +were hanged; some had their eyes put out; others their hands cut off. +But William, agreeably to his usual maxims, showed more lenity to their +leader, the earl of Hereford, who was only condemned to a forfeiture of +his estate, and to imprisonment during pleasure. The king seemed even +disposed to remit this last part of the punishment; had not Roger, by +a fresh insolence, provoked him to render his confinement perpetual. +{1075.} But Waltheof, being an Englishman, was not treated with so much +humanity; though his guilt, always much inferior to that of the other +conspirators, was atoned for by an early repentance and return to his +duty. William, instigated by his niece, as well as by his rapacious +courtiers, who longed for so rich a forfeiture, ordered him to be tried, +condemned, and executed. The English, who considered this nobleman as +the last resource of their nation, grievously lamented his fate, and +fancied that miracles were wrought by his relics, as a testimony of his +innocence and sanctity. The infamous Judith, falling soon after under +the king’s displeasure, was abandoned by all the world, and passed the +rest of her life in contempt, remorse, and misery. + +Nothing remained to complete William’s satisfaction but the punishment +of Ralph de Guader; and he hastened over to Normandy, in order to +gratify his vengeance on that criminal. But though the contest seemed +very unequal between a private nobleman and the king of England, Ralph +was so well supported both by the earl of Brittany and the king of +France that William, after besieging him for some time in Dol, was +obliged to abandon the enterprise, and make with those powerful princes +a peace, in which Ralph himself was included England, during his +absence, remained in tranquillity; and nothing remarkable occurred, +except two ecclesiastical synods, which were summoned, one at London, +another at Winchester. In the former, the precedency among the +episcopasees was settled, and the seat of some of them was removed from +small villages to the most considerable town within the diocese. In the +second was transacted a business of more importance. + +{1076.} The industry and perseverance are surprising, with which the +popes had been treasuring up powers and pretensions during so many ages +of ignorance; while each pontiff employed every fraud for advancing +purposes of imaginary piety, and cherished all claims which might turn +to the advantage of his successors, though he himself could not expect +ever to reap any benefit from them. All this immense storm of spiritual +and civil authority was now devolved on Gregory VII., of the name of +Hildebrand, the most enterprising pontiff that had ever filled that +chair, and the least restrained by fear, decency, or moderation. Not +content with shaking off the yoke of the emperors, who had hitherto +exercised the power of appointing the pope on every vacancy, at least +of ratifying his election, he undertook the arduous task of entirely +disjoining the ecclesiastical from the civil power, and of excluding +profane laymen from the right which they had assumed, of filling the +vacancies of bishoprics, abbeys, and other spiritual dignities.[*] The +sovereigns, who had long exercised this power, and who had acquired +it, not by encroachments on the church, but on the people, to whom it +originally belonged,[**] made great opposition to this claim of the +court of Rome; and Henry IV., the reigning emperor, defended this +prerogative of his crown with a vigor and resolution suitable to its +importance. + + [* L’Abbé Conc. tom. x. p. 371, 372, com, 2.] + + [** Padre Paolo sopra Benef. Eccles. p. 30] + +The few offices, either civil or military, which the feudal institutions +left the sovereign the power of bestowing, made the prerogative of +conferring the pastoral ring and staff the most valuable jewel of the +royal diadem: especially as the general ignorance of the age bestowed a +consequence on the ecclesiastical offices, even beyond the great extent +of power and property which belonged to them. Superstition, the child of +ignorance, invested the clergy with an authority almost sacred; and +as they engrossed the little learning of the age, their interposition +became requisite in all civil business, and a real usefulness in common +life was thus superadded to the spiritual sanctity of their character. + +When the usurpations, therefore, of the church had come to such maturity +as to embolden her to attempt extorting the right of investitures from +the temporal power, Europe, especially Italy and Germany, was thrown +into the most violent convulsions, and the pope and the emperor waged +implacable war on each other. Gregory dared to fulminate the sentence +of excommunication against Henry and his adherents, to pronounce him +rightfully deposed, to free his subjects from their oath of allegiance; +and, instead of shocking mankind by this gross encroachment on the +civil authority, he found the stupid people ready to second his most +exorbitant pretensions. Every minister, servant, or vassal of the +emperor, who received any disgust, covered his rebellion under the +pretence of principle; and even the mother of this monarch, forgetting +all the ties of nature, was seduced to countenance the insolence of +his enemies. Princes themselves, not attentive to the pernicious +consequences of those papal claims, employed them for their present +purposes; and the controversy, spreading into every city of Italy, +engendered the parties of Guelf and Ghibbelin; the most durable and most +inveterate factions that ever arose from the mixture of ambition +and religious zeal. Besides numberless assassinations, tumults, and +convulsions, to which they gave rise, it is computed that the quarrel +occasioned no less then sixty battles in the reign of Henry IV., and +eighteen in that of his successor, Henry V., when the claims of the +sovereign pontiff finally prevailed.[*] + + [* Padre Paolo sopra Eccles. Benef. p. 113.] + +But the bold spirit of Gregory, not dismayed with the vigorous +opposition which he met with from the emperor, extended his usurpations +all over Europe; and well knowing the nature of mankind, whose +blind astonishment ever inclines them to yield to the most impudent +pretensions, he seemed determined to set no bounds to the spiritual, or +rather temporal monarchy which he had undertaken to erect. He pronounced +the sentence of excommunication against Nicephorus, emperor of the east; +Robert Guiscard, the adventurous Norman who had acquired the dominion of +Naples, was attacked by the same dangerous weapon: he degraded Boleslas, +king of Poland from the rank of king; and even deprived Poland of the +title of a kingdom: he attempted to treat Philip, king of France, +with the same rigor which he had employed against the emperor;[*] he +pretended to the entire property and dominion of Spain; and he parcelled +it out amongst adventurers, who undertook to conquer it from the +Saracens, and to hold it in vassalage under the see of Rome:[**] even +the Christian bishops, on whose aid he relied for subduing the temporal +princes, saw that he was determined to reduce them to servitude, and, +by assuming the whole legislative and judicial power of the church to +centre all authority in the sovereign pontiff.[***] + +William the Conqueror, the most potent, the most haughty, and the most +vigorous prince in Europe, was not, amidst all his splendid successes, +secure from the attacks of this enterprising pontiff. Gregory wrote him +a letter, requiring him to fulfil his promise in doing homage for the +kingdom of England to the see of Rome, and to sent him over that tribute +which all his predecessors had been accustomed to pay to the vicar of +Christ. By the tribute, he meant Peter’s pence; which, though at first a +charitable donation of the Saxon princes, was interpreted, according +to the usual practice of the Romish court, to be a badge of subjection +acknowledged by the kingdom. William replied, that the money should +be remitted as usual; but that neither had he promised to do homage to +Rome, nor was it in the least his purpose to impose that servitude on +his state.[****] And the better to show Gregory his independence, he +ventured, notwithstanding the frequent complaints of the pope, to refuse +to the English bishops the liberty of attending a general council, which +that pontiff had summoned against his enemies. + + [* Epist. Greg. VII. epist. 32, 35; lib. ii. + epist. 5] + + [** Epist. Greg. VII. lib. i. epist. 7.] + + [*** Epist. Greg. VII. lib. ii. epist. 55.] + + [**** Seldini Spicileg. ad Eadm. p. 4.] + +But though the king displayed this vigor in supporting the royal +dignity, he was infected with the general superstition of the age; and +he did not perceive the ambitious scope of those institutions, which +under color of strictness in religion, were introduced or promoted +by the court of Rome. Gregory, while he was throwing all Europe into +combustion by his violence and impostures, affected an anxious care for +the purity of manners; and even the chaste pleasures of the marriage bed +were inconsistent, in his opinion, with the sanctity of the sacerdotal +character. He had issued a decree prohibiting the marriage of priests, +excommunicating all clergymen who retained their wives, declaring such +unlawful commerce to be fornication, and rendering it criminal in the +laity to attend divine worship, when such profane priests officiated at +the altar.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 455, 457. Flor. Wigorn. p. 638 + Spel. Concil fol, 13, A. D. 1078.] + +This point was a great object in the politics of the Roman pontiffs; and +it cost them infinitely more pains to establish it than the propagation +of any speculative absurdity which they had ever attempted to introduce. +Many synods were summoned in different parts of Europe before it was +finally settled; and it was there constantly remarked, that the +younger clergymen complied cheerfully with the pope’s decrees in this +particular, and that the chief reluctance appeared in those who were +more advanced in years; an event so little consonant to men’s natural +expectations, that it could not fail to be glossed on even in that blind +and superstitious age. William allowed the pope’s legate to assemble, in +his absence a synod at Winchester, in order to establish the celibacy of +the clergy; but the church of England could not yet be carried the whole +length expected. The synod was content with decreeing, that the bishops +should not thenceforth ordain any priests or deacons without exacting +from them a promise of celibacy; but they enacted that none, except +those who belonged to collegiate or cathedral churches, should be +obliged to separate from their wives. + +The king passed some years in Normandy; but his long residence there +was not entirely owing to his declared preference of that duchy: his +presence was also necessary for composing those disturbances which +had arisen in that favorite territory, and which had even originally +proceeded from his own family. Robert, his eldest son, surnamed Gambaron +or Courthose, from his short legs, was a prince who inherited all +the bravery of his family and nation; but without that policy and +dissimulation by which his father was so much distinguished, and which, +no less than his military valor, had contributed to his great successes. +Greedy of fame, impatient of contradiction, without reserve in his +friendships, declared in his enmities, this prince could endure no +control even from his imperious father, and openly aspired to that +independence, to which his temper, as well as some circumstances in +his situation, strongly invited him.[*] When William first received the +submissions of the province of Maine, he had promised the inhabitants +that Robert should be their prince; and before he undertook the +expedition against England, he had, on the application of the French +court, declared him his successor in Normandy, and had obliged the +barons of that duchy to do him homage as their future sovereign. By this +artifice, he had endeavored to appease the jealousy of his neighbors, +as affording them a prospect of separating England from his dominions +on the continent; but when Robert demanded of him the execution of those +engagements, he gave him an absolute refusal, and told him, according to +the homely saying, that he never intended to throw off his clothes +till he went to bed.[**] Robert openly declared his discontent, and was +suspected of secretly instigating the king of France and the earl of +Brittany to the opposition which they made to William, and which had +formerly frustrated his attempts upon the town of Dol. And as the +quarrel still augmented, Robert proceeded to entertain a strong jealousy +of his two surviving brothers, William and Henry, (for Richard +was killed, in hunting, by a stag,) who, by greater submission and +complaisance, had acquired the affections of their father. In this +disposition, on both sides, the greatest trifle sufficed to produce a +rupture between them. + +The three princes, residing with their father in the castle of L’Aigle, +in Normandy, were one day engaged in sport together, and after some +mirth and jollity, the two younger took a fancy of throwing over +some water on Robert as he passed through the court on leaving their +apartment;[***] a frolic which he would naturally have regarded as +innocent, had it not been for the suggestions of Alberic de Grentmesnil, +son of that Hugh de Grentmesnil whom William had formerly deprived +of his fortunes, when that baron deserted him during his greatest +difficulties in England. The young man, mindful of the injury, persuaded +the prince that this action was meant as a public affront, which it +behoved him in honor to resent; and the choleric Robert, drawing +his sword, ran up stairs, with an intention of taking revenge on his +brothers.[****] + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 545. Hoveden, p. 457. Flor. + Wigorn. p. 639.] + + [** Chron. de Mailr. p. 160.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p 545] + + [**** Order. Vitalis, p 545] + +The whole castle was filled with tumult, which the king himself, who +hastened from his apartment, found some difficulty to appease. But +he could by no means appease the resentment of his eldest son who, +complaining of his partiality, and fancying that no proper atonement +had been made him for the insult, left the court that very evening, +and hastened to Rouen, with an intention of seizing the citadel of that +place.[*] But being disappointed in this view by the precaution +and vigilance of Roger de Ivery, the governor, he fled to Hugh de +Neufchatel, a powerful Norman baron, who gave him protection in his +castles; and he openly levied war against his father.[**] The popular +character of the prince, and a similarity of manners, engaged all the +young nobility of Normandy and Maine, as well as of Anjou and Brittany, +to take part with him: and it was suspected that Matilda, his mother, +whose favorite he was, supported him in his rebellion by secret +remittances of money; and by the encouragement which she gave his +partisans. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 545.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 545. Hoveden, 457, Sim. + Dunelm. p. 210. Diceto, p. 487] + +All the hereditary provinces of William, as well as his family, were +during several years thrown into convulsions by this war; and he was at +last obliged to have recourse to England, where that species of military +government, which he had established, gave him greater authority than +the ancient feudal institutions permitted him to exercise in Normandy. +He called over an army of English under his ancient captains, who soon +expelled Robert and his adherents from their retreats, and restored the +authority of the sovereign in all his dominions. The young prince was +obliged to take shelter in the castle of Gerberoy, in the Beauvoisis, +which the king of France, who secretly fermented all these dissensions, +had provided for him. In this fortress he was closely besieged by his +father, against whom having a strong garrison, he made an obstinate +defence. There passed under the walls of this place many rencounters +which resembled more the single combats of chivalry than the military +actions of armies; but one of them was remarkable for its circumstances +and its event. Robert happened to engage the king, who was concealed +by his helmet, and, both of them being valiant, a fierce combat ensued, +till at last the young prince wounded his father in the arm and unhorsed +him. On his calling out for assistance, his voice discovered him to his +son, who, struck with remorse for his past guilt, and astonished with +the apprehensions of one much greater, which he had so nearly incurred, +instantly threw himself at his father’s feet, craved pardon for his +offences, and offered to purchase forgiveness by any atonement.[*] +The resentment harbored by William was so implacable, that he did not +immediately correspond to this dutiful submission of his son with like +tenderness; but, giving him his malediction, departed for his own camp, +on Robert’s horse, which that prince had assisted him to mount, He soon +after raised the siege, and marched with his army to Normandy; where +the interposition of the queen and other common friends brought about +a reconcilement, which was probably not a little forwarded by the +generosity of the son’s behavior in this action, and by the returning +sense of his past misconduct. The king seemed so fully appeased that he +even took Robert with him into England, where he intrusted him with +the command of an army, in order to repel an inroad of Malcolm, king +of Scotland, and to retaliate by a like inroad into that country. The +Welsh, unable to resist William’s power, were, about the same time, +necessitated to pay a compensation for their incursions; and every thing +was reduced to full tranquillity in this island. + + [* W. Malms, p. 106. H. Hunting, p. 369. Hoveden, + p. 457. Flor Wigorn. p. 639. Sim. Dunelm. p. 210. Diceto, p. + 287. Knyghton, p. 2351. Alured. Beverl. p. 135.] + +{1081.} This state of affairs gave William leisure to begin and finish +an undertaking, which proves his extensive genius and does honor to his +memory; it was a general survey of all the lands in the kingdom, their +extent in each district, their proprietors, tenures, value; the quantity +of meadow, pasture, wood, and arable land, which they contained; and +in some counties, the number of tenants, cottagers, and slaves of all +denominations, who lived upon them. He appointed commissioners for this +purpose, who entered every particular in their register by the verdict +of juries; and after a labor of six years, (for the work was so long in +finishing,) brought him an exact account of all the landed property of +his kingdom.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 190. Ingulph. p. 79. Chron. T. + Wykes, p. 23. H. Hunting, p. 370. Hoveden, p. 460. M. West. + p. 229. Flor Wigorn. p. 641. Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, + p. 51. M. Paris p. 8. The more northern counties were not + comprehended in this survey; I suppose because of their + wild, uncultivated state.] + +This monument, called domesday-book, the most valuable piece of +antiquity possessed by any nation, is still preserved in the exchequer; +and though only some extracts of it have hitherto been published, it +serves to illustrate to us, in many particulars, the ancient state of +England. The great Alfred had finished a like survey of the kingdom in +his time, which was long kept at Winchester, and which probably served +as a model to William in this undertaking.[*] + +The king was naturally a great economist; and though no prince had ever +been more bountiful to his officers and servants, it was merely because +he had rendered himself universal proprietor of England, and had a whole +kingdom to bestow. He reserved an ample revenue for the crown; and in +the general distribution of land among his followers, he kept possession +of no less than one thousand four hundred and twenty--two manors in +different parts of England,[**] which paid him rent either in money, or +in corn, cattle, and the usual produce of the soil. An ancient historian +computes that his annual fixed income, besides escheats, fines, reliefs, +and other casual profits to a great value, amounted to near four hundred +thousand pounds a year;[***] a sum which, if all circumstances be +attended to, will appear wholly incredible. A pound in that age, as we +have already observed, contained three times the weight of silver that +it does at present; and the same weight of silver, by the most probable +computation, would purchase near ten times more of the necessaries of +life, though not in the same proportion of the finer manufactures. This +revenue, therefore, of William, would be equal to at least nine or ten +millions at present; and as that prince had neither fleet nor army to +support, the former being only an occasional expense, and the latter +being maintained, without any charge to him, by his military vassals, +we must thence conclude that no emperor or prince, in any age or nation, +can be compared to the Conqueror for opulence and riches. This leads us +to suspect a great mistake in the computation of the historian; though, +if we consider that avarice is always imputed to William as one of his +vices, and that, having by the sword rendered himself master of all the +lands in the kingdom, he would certainly, in the partition, retain a +great proportion for his own share, we can scarcely be guilty of any +error in asserting, that perhaps no king of England was ever more +opulent, was more able to support by his revenue the splendor and +magnificence of a court, or could bestow more on his pleasures, or in +liberalities to his servants and favorites.[****] + + [* Ingulph. p. 8.] + + [** West’s Inquiry into the Manner of creating + Peers, p. 24.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 523. He says, one thousand + and sixty pounds and some odd shillings and pence a day.] + + [**** Fortescue, de Dom. Reg. el Politic, cap. + 111.] + +There was one pleasure to which William, as well as all the Normans and +ancient Saxons, was extremely addicted, and that was hunting; but this +pleasure he indulged more at the expense of his unhappy subjects, whose +interests he always disregarded, than to the loss or diminution of his +own revenue. Not content with those large forests which former kings +possessed in all parts of England, he resolved to make a new forest near +Winchester, the usual place of his residence; and for that purpose, +he laid waste the country in Hampshire for an extent of thirty miles, +expelled the inhabitants from their houses, seized their property, even +demolished churches and convents, and made the sufferers no compensation +for the injury.[*] At the same time, he enacted new laws, by which he +prohibited all his subjects from hunting in any of his forests, and +rendered the penalties more severe than ever had been inflicted for such +offences. The killing of a deer or boar, or even a hare, was punished +with the loss of the delinquent’s eyes; and that at a time when the +killing of a man could be atoned for by paying a moderate fine or +composition. + + [* W. Malms, p. 3. H. Hunting, p. 731. Anglia + Sacra, vol. i. p. 258] + +The transactions recorded during the remainder of this reign may be +considered more as domestic occurrences, which concern the prince, than +as national events, which regard England. Odo, bishop of Baieux, the +king’s uterine brother, whom he had created earl of Kent, and intrusted +with a great share of power during his whole reign, had amassed immense +riches; and agreeably to the usual progress of human wishes, he began +to regard his present acquisitions but as a step to further grandeur. +He had formed the chimerical project of buying the papacy; and though +Gregory, the reigning pope, was not of advanced years, the prelate had +confided so much in the predictions of an astrologer, that he reckoned +upon the pontiff’s death, and upon attaining, by his own intrigues and +money, that envied state of greatness. Resolving, therefore, to remit +all his riches to Italy, he had persuaded many considerable barons, and +among the rest Hugh, earl of Chester, to take the same course; in hopes +that, when he should mount the papal throne, he would bestow on them +more considerable establishments in that country. The king, from +whom all these projects had been carefully concealed, at last got +intelligence of the design, and ordered Odo to be arrested. His +officers, from respect to the immunities which the ecclesiastics now +assumed, scrupled to execute the command, till the king himself was +obliged in person to seize him; and when Odo insisted that he was a +prelate, and exempt from all temporal jurisdiction, William replied, +that he arrested him, not as bishop of Baieux, but as earl of Kent. He +was sent prisoner to Normandy; and notwithstanding the remonstrances and +menaces of Gregory, was detained in custody during the remainder of this +reign. + +{1083.} Another domestic event gave the king much more concern: it was +the death of Matilda, his consort, whom he tenderly loved, and for +whom he had ever preserved the most sincere friendship. Three years +afterwards he passed into Normandy, and carried with him Edgar Atheling, +to whom he willingly granted permission to make a pilgrimage to the Holy +Land. He was detained on the continent by a misunderstanding which broke +out between him and the king of France, and which was occasioned by +inroads made into Normandy by some French barons on the frontiers. +{1087.} It was little in the power of princes at that time to restrain +their licentious nobility; but William suspected, that these barons +durst not have provoked his indignation, had they not been assured of +the countenance and protection of Philip. His displeasure was increased +by the account he received of some railleries which that monarch had +thrown out against him. William, who was become corpulent, had been +detained in bed some time by sickness; upon which Philip expressed +his surprise that his brother of England should be so long in being +delivered of his big belly. The king sent him word, that, as soon as he +was up, he would present so many lights at Notre-dame, as would perhaps +give little pleasure to the king of France; alluding to the usual +practice at that time of women after childbirth. Immediately on his +recovery, he led an army into L’Isle de France, and laid every thing +waste with fire and sword. He took the town of Mante, which he reduced +to ashes. But the progress of these hostilities was stopped by an +accident which soon after put an end to William’s life. His horse +starting aside of a sudden, he bruised his belly on the pommel of the +saddle; and being in a bad habit of body, as well as somewhat advanced +in years, he began to apprehend the consequences, and ordered himself +to be carried in a litter to the monastery of St Gervas. Finding his +illness increase, and being sensible of the approach of death, he +discovered at last the vanity of all human grandeur, and was struck with +remorse for those horrible cruelties and acts of violence, which, in the +attainment and defence of it, he had committed during the course of +his reign over England. He endeavored to make atonement by presents to +churches and monasteries; and he issued orders that Earl Morcar, Siward, +Bearne, and other English prisoners, should be set at liberty. He was +even prevailed on, though not without reluctance, to consent, with his +dying breath, to release his brother Odo, against whom he was extremely +incensed. He left Normandy and Maine to his eldest son, Robert: he +wrote to Lanfranc, desiring him to crown William king of England; he +bequeathed to Henry nothing but the possessions of his mother, Matilda; +but foretold that he would one day surpass both his brothers in power +and opulence. He expired in the sixty-third year of his age, in the +twenty-first year of his reign over England, and in the fifty-fourth of +that over Normandy. + +Few princes have been more fortunate than this great monarch, or were +better entitled to grandeur and prosperity, from the abilities and the +vigor of mind which he displayed in all his conduct. His spirit was +bold and enterprising, yet guided by prudence; his ambition, which was +exorbitant, and lay little under the restraints of justice, still less +under those of humanity, ever submitted to the dictates of sound policy. +Born in an age when the minds of men were intractable, and unacquainted +with submission, he was yet able to direct them to his purposes, and, +partly from the ascendant of his vehement character, partly from art +and dissimulation, to establish an unlimited authority. Though not +insensible to generosity, he was hardened against compassion; and he +seemed equally ostentatious and equally ambitious of show and parade in +his clemency and in his severity. The maxims of his administration were +austere, but might have been useful, had they been solely employed to +preserve order in an established government:[*] they were ill calculated +for softening the rigors which, under the most gentle management, are +inseparable from conquest. + + [* M. West. p. 230. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 258.] + +His attempt against England was the last great enterprise of the kind, +which, during the course of seven hundred years, has fully succeeded +in Europe, and the force of his genius broke through those limits which +first the feudal institutions, chen the refined policy of princes, have +fixed to the several states of Christendom. Though he rendered himself +infinitely odious to his English subjects, he transmitted his power +to his posterity, and the throne is still filled by his descendants; a +proof that the foundations which he laid were firm and solid, and that, +amidst all his violence, while he seemed only to gratify the present +passion, he had still an eye towards futurity. + +Some writers have been desirous of refusing to this prince the title of +conqueror, in the sense which that term commonly bears; and on pretence +that the word is sometimes in old books applied to such as make an +acquisition of territory by any means, they are willing to reject +William’s title, by right of war, to the crown of England. It is +needless to enter, into a controversy, which, by the terms of it, must +necessarily degenerate into a dispute of words. It suffices to say, that +the duke of Normandy’s first invasion of the island was hostile; that +his subsequent administration was entirely supported by arms; that in +the very frame of his laws he made a distinction between the Normans and +English, to the advantage of the former;[*] that he acted in every thing +as absolute master over the natives, whose interests and affections he +totally disregarded; and that if there was an interval when he assumed +the appearance of a legal sovereign, the period was very short, and was +nothing but a temporary Sacrifice, which he, as has been the case with +most conquerors, was obliged to make, of his inclination to his present +policy. + + [* Hoveden, p. 600.] + +Scarce any of those revolutions, which, both in history and in common +language, have always been denominated conquests, appear equally +violent, or were attended with so sudden an alteration both of power and +property. The Roman state, which spread its dominion over Europe, +left the rights of individuals in a great measure untouched; and those +civilized conquerors, while they made their own country the seat of +empire, found that they could draw most advantage from the subjected +provinces, by securing to the natives the free enjoyment cf their own +laws and of their private possessions. The barbarians who subdued the +Roman empire, though they settled in the conquered countries, yet being +accustomed to a rude, uncultivated life, found a part only of the land +sufficient to supply all their wants; and they were not tempted to seize +extensive possessions, which they knew neither how to cultivate nor +enjoy. But the Normans and other foreigners who followed the standard of +William while they made the vanquished kingdom the seat of government, +were yet so far advanced in arts as to be acquainted with the advantages +of a large property; and having totally subdued the natives, they +pushed the rights of conquest (very extensive in the eyes of avarice +and ambition, however narrow in those of reason) to the utmost extremity +against them. Except the former conquest of England by the Saxons +themselves, who were induced, by peculiar circumstances, to proceed even +to the extermination of the natives, it would be difficult to find +in all history a revolution more destructive, or attended with a more +complete subjection of the ancient inhabitants. Contumely seems even +co have been wantonly added to oppression;[*] and the natives were +universally reduced to such a state of meanness and poverty, that the +English, name became a term of reproach; and several generations elapsed +before one family of Saxon pedigree was raised to any considerable +honors, or could so much as attain the rank of baron of the realm.[**] +These facts are so apparent from the whole tenor of the English history, +that none would have been tempted to deny or elude them, were they no +heated by the controversies of faction; while one party was absurdly +afraid of those absurd consequences which they saw the other party +inclined to draw from this event. But it is evident that the present +rights and privileges of the people, who are a mixture of English and +Normans, can never be affected by a transaction which passed seven +hundred years ago; and as all ancient authors,[***] [12] who lived +nearest the time, and best knew the state of the country, unanimously +speak of the Norman dominion as a conquest by war and arms, no +reasonable man, from the fear of imaginary consequences, will ever be +tempted to reject their concurring and undoubted testimony. + + [* H. Hunting, p. 370. Brompton, p. 980.] + + [** So late as the reign of King Stephen, the earl + of Albemarle, before the battle of the Standard, addressed + the officers of his army in these terms: “Proceres Angliae + clarissimi, et genere Normanni, etc.” Brompton, p. 1026. See, + further, Abbas Rieval, p. 339, etc All the barons and + military men of England still called themselves Normans.] + + [*** See note L. at the end of the volume.] + +King William had issue, besides his three sons who survived him, five +daughters, to wit, first, Cicily, a nun in the monastery of Feschamp, +afterwards abbess in the Holy Trinity at Caen, where she died in 1127. +Second, Constantia, married to Alan Fergant, earl of Brittany: she died +without issue. Third Alice, contracted to Harold. Fourth, Adela, married +to Stephen, earl of Blois, by whom she had four sons, William, Theobold, +Henry, and Stephen; of whom the elder was neglected, on account of the +imbecility of his understanding. Fifth, Agatha, who died a virgin; but +was betrothed to the king of Gallicia. She died on her journey thither +before she joined her bridegroom. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +[Illustration: 081.jpg WILLIAM II.] + + + + +WILLIAM RUFUS. + +_Contemporary Monarchs_ + + EMP. OF GERM. KINGS OF SCOTLAND. K. OF FRANCE. K. OF SPAIN. + Henry IV. Malcolm III 1093 Philip I. Alphonso VI. + Donald Bane, dep 1091 + Duncan 1094 + Donald Bane 1097 + Edgar. + + POPES. + Urban II. 1099 + Paschal II. + +{1087.} WILLIAM, surnamed Rufus, or the Red, from the color of his hair, +had no sooner procured his father’s recommendatory letter to Lanfranc, +the primate, than he hastened to take measures for securing to himself +the government of England. Sensible that a deed so unformal, and so +little prepared, which violated Robert’s right of promigeniture, might +meet with great opposition, he trusted entirely for success to his own +celerity; and having left St. Gervas while William was breathing his +last, he arrived in England before intelligence of his father’s death +had reached that kingdom.[*] Pretending orders from the king, he +secured the fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, whose situation +rendered them of the greatest importance; and he got possession of the +royal treasure at Winchester, amounting to the sum of sixty thousand +pounds, by which he hoped to encourage and increase his partisans,[**] +The primate, whose rank and reputation in the kingdom gave him great +authority, had been intrusted with the care of his education, and had +conferred on him the honor of knighthood;[***] and being connected with +him by these ties, and probably deeming his pretensions just, declared +that he would pay a willing obedience to the last will of the Conqueror, +his friend and benefactor. Having assembled some bishops and some of the +principal nobility, he instantly proceeded to the ceremony of crowning +the new king;[****] and by this despatch endeavored to prevent all +faction and resistance. At the same time, Robert, who had been already +acknowledged successor to Normandy, took peaceable possession of that +duchy. + + [* W. Malms, p. 120. M. Paris, p. 10.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 192. Brompton, p. 983.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 120. M. Paris, p. 10. Thorn. + Rudborne, p. 263] + + [**** Hoveden, p. 461.] + +But though this partition appeared to have been made without any +violence or opposition, there remained in England many causes +of discontent, which seemed to menace that kingdom with a sudden +revolution. The barons, who generally possessed large estates both +in England and in Normandy, were uneasy at the separation of those +territories; and foresaw that, as it would be impossible for them to +preserve long their allegiance to two masters, they must necessarily +resign either their ancient patrimony or their new acquisitions.[*] + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 666.] + +Robert’s title to the duchy they esteemed incontestable; his claim to +the kingdom plausible; and they all desired that this prince, who alone +had any pretensions to unite these states, should be put in possession +of both. A comparison also of the personal qualities of the two brothers +led them to give the preference to the elder. The duke was brave, open, +sincere, generous: even his predominant faults, his extreme indolence +and facility, were not disagreeable to those haughty barons, who +affected independence, and submitted with reluctance to a vigorous +administration in their sovereign. The king, though equally brave, was +violent, haughty, tyrannical; and seemed disposed to govern more by +the fear than by the love of his subjects. Odo, bishop of Baieux, and +Robert, earl of Mortaigne, maternal brothers of the Conqueror, envying +the great credit of Lanfranc, which was increased by his late services +enforced all these motives with their partisans, and engaged them in a +formal conspiracy to dethrone the king. They communicated their design +to Eustace, count of Boulogne Roger, earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel, +Robert de Belesme, his eldest son, William, bishop of Durham, Robert de +Moubray, Roger Bigod, Hugh de Grentmesnil; and they easily procured the +assent of these potent noblemen. The conspirators, retiring to their +castles, hastened to put themselves in a military posture; and expecting +to be soon supported by a powerful army from Normandy, they had already +begun hostilities in many places. + +The king, sensible of his perilous situation, endeavored to engage the +affections of the native English, As that people were now so thoroughly +subdued that they no longer aspired to the recovery of their ancient +liberties, and were content with the prospect of some mitigation in ihe +tyranny of the Norman princes, they zealously embraced William’s cause, +upon receiving general promises of good treatment, and of enjoying +the license of hunting in the royal forests. The king was soon in a +situation to take the field; and as he knew the danger of delay, he +suddenly marched into Kent, where his uncles had already seized the +fortresses of Pevensey and Rochester. These places he successively +reduced by famine; and though he was prevailed on by the earl of +Chester, William de Warrenne, and Robert Fitz-Hammon, who had embraced +his cause, to spare the lives of the rebels, he confiscated all their +estates, and banished them the kingdom.[*] This success gave authority +to his negotiations with Roger, earl of Shewsbury, whom he detached +from the confederates; and as his powerful fleet, joined to the indolent +conduct of Robert, prevented the arrival of the Norman succors, all the +other rebels found no resource but in flight or submission. Some of them +received a pardon; but the greater part were attainted; and the king +bestowed their estates on the Norman barons who had remained faithful to +him. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 195. Order. Vitalis, p. 668.] + +{1089.} William, freed from the danger of these insurrections, took +little care of fulfilling his promises to the English, who still found +themselves exposed to the same oppressions which they had undergone +during the reign of the Conqueror, and which were rather augmented +by the violent, impetuous temper of the present monarch. The death of +Lanfranc, who retained great influence over him, gave soon after a full +career to his tyranny; and all orders of men found reason to complain +of an arbitrary and illegal administration. Even the privileges of the +church, held sacred in those days, were a feeble rampart against his +usurpations. He seized the temporalities of all the vacant bishoprics +and abbeys; he delayed the appointing of successors to those dignities, +that he might the longer enjoy the profits of their revenue; he bestowed +some of the church lands in property on his captains and favorites; +and he openly set to sale such sees and abbeys as he thought proper to +dispose of. Though the murmurs of the ecclesiastics, which were quickly +propagated to the nation, rose high against this grievance, the terror +of William’s authority, confirmed by the suppression of the late +insurrections, retained everyone in subjection, and preserved general +tranquillity in England. + +{1090.} The king, even thought himself enabled to disturb his brother +in the possession of Normandy. The loose and negligent administration +of that prince had imboldened the Norman barons to affect a great +independency; and their mutual quarrels and devastations had rendered +that whole territory a scene of violence and outrage. Two of them, +Walter and Odo, were bribed by William to deliver the fortresses of +St. Valori and Albemarle into his hands: others soon after imitated +the example of revolt, while Philip, king of France, who ought to have +protected his vassal in the possession of his fief, was, after making +some efforts in his favor, engaged by large presents to remain neuter. +The duke had also reason to apprehend danger from the intrigues of his +brother Henry. + +This young prince, who had inherited nothing of his father’s great +possessions but some of his money, has furnished Robert, while he was +making his preparations against England, with ihe sum of three thousand +marks; and in return for so slender a supply, had been put in possession +of the Cotentin, which comprehended near a third of the duchy of +Normandy. Robert afterwards, upon some suspicion, threw him into prison; +but finding himself exposed to invasion from the king of England, ind +dreading the conjunction of the two brothers against him, he now gave +Henry his liberty, and even made use of his assistance in suppressing +the insurrections of his rebellious subjects. Conan, a rich burgess of +Rouen, had entered into a conspiracy to deliver that city to William; +but Henry, on the detection of his guilt, carried the traitor up to a +high tower and with his own hands flung him from the battlements. + +The king appeared in Normandy at the head of an army and affairs seemed +to have come to extremity between the brothers, when the nobility on +both sides, strongly connected by interest and alliances, interposed, +and meditated an accommodation. The chief advantage of this treaty +accrued to William, who obtained possession of the territory of Eu, the +towns of Aumule, Fescamp, and other places; but in return he promised, +that he would assist his brother in subduing Maine, which had rebelled; +and that the Norman barons, attainted in Robert’s cause, should be +restored to their estates in England. The two brothers also stipulated, +that, on the demise of either without issue, the survivor should inherit +all his dominions; and twelve of the most powerful barons on each +side swore that they would employ their power to insure the effectual +execution of the whole treaty,[*] a strong proof of the great +independence and authority of the nobles in those ages. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 197. W. Malms, p. 121. Hoveden, + p. 462. M Paris, p. 11. Annul. Waverl. p. 137. W. Heming. p. + 463. Sum Dunelm. p. 216. Brompton, p. 986.] + +Prince Henry, disgusted that so little care had been taken of his +interests in this accommodation, retired to St. Michael’s Mount, a +strong fortress on the coast of Normandy, and infested the neighborhood +with his incursions. Robert and William, with their joint forces, +besieged him in this place, and had nearly reduced him by the scarcity +of water, when the elder, hearing of his distress, granted him +permission to supply himself, and also sent him some pipes of wine for +his own table. Being reproved by William for this ill-timed generosity, +he replied, “What, shall I suffer my brother to die of thirst? Where +shall we find another when he is gone?” The king also, during this +siege, performed an act of generosity which was less suitable to his +character. Riding out one day alone, to take a survey of the fortress, +he was attacked by two soldiers, and dismounted. One of them drew his +sword in order to despatch him, when the king exclaimed, “Hold, knave! I +am the king of England.” The soldier suspended his blow and, raising the +king from the ground with expressions of respect, received a handsome +reward, and was taken into his service. Prince Henry was soon after +obliged to capitulate; and being despoiled of all his patrimony, +wandered about for some time with very few attendants, and often in +great poverty. + +{1091.} The continued intestine discord among the barons was alone in +that age destructive; the public wars were commonly short and feeble, +produced little bloodshed, and were attended with no memorable event. +To this Norman war, which was so soon concluded, there succeeded +hostilities with Scotland, which were not of longer duration. Robert +here Commanded his brother’s army, and obliged Malcolm to accept of +peace, and do homage to the crown of England. This peace was not more +durable. {1093.} Malcolm, two years after, levying an army, invaded +England; and after ravaging, Northumberland, he laid siege to Alnwick, +where, a party of Earl Moubray’s troops falling upon him by surprise, +a sharp action ensued in which Malcolm was slain. This incident +interrupted for some years the regular succession to the Scottish crown, +Though Malcolm left legitimate sons, his brother Donald, on account of +the youth of these princes, was advanced to the throne; but kept +not long possession of it. Duncan, natural son of Malcolm, formed a +conspiracy against him; and being assisted by William with a small +force, made himself master of the kingdom. New broils ensued with +Normandy. The frank, open, remiss temper of Robert was ill fitted to +withstand the interested, rapacious character of William, who, supported +by greater power, was still encroaching on his brother’s possessions, +and instigating his turbulent barons to rebellion against him. The king, +having gone over to Normandy to support his partisans, ordered an army +of twenty thousand men to be levied in England, and to be conducted to +the sea-coast, as if they were instantly to be embarked. {1094.} Here +Ralph Flambard, the king’s minister, and the chief instrument of his +extortions, exacted ten shillings apiece from them, in lieu of their +service, and then dismissed them into their several counties. This money +was so skilfully employed by William that it rendered him better service +than he could have expected from the army. He engaged the French king +by new presents to depart from the protection of Robert; and he daily +bribed the Norman barons to desert his service; but was prevented from +pushing his advantages by an incursion of the Welsh, which obliged him +to return to England, tie found no difficulty in repelling the enemy; +but was not able to make any considerable impression on a country +guarded by its mountainous situation. A conspiracy of his own barons +which was detected at this time, appeared a more serious concern, +and engrossed all his attention. {1095.} Robert Moubray, earl of +Northumberland, was at the head of this combination; and he engaged in +it the count d’Eu, Richard de Tunbridge, Roger de Lacy, and many others. +The purpose of the conspirators was to dethrone the king, and to +advance in his stead Stephen, count of Aumale, nephew to the Conqueror. +William’s despatch prevented the design from taking effect, and +disconcerted the conspirators. Moubray made some resistance; but being +taken prisoner, was attainted and thrown into confinement, where he died +about thirty years after. {1096.} The count d’Eu denied his concurrence +in the plot, and to justify himself, fought, in the presence of the +court at Windsor, a duel with Geoffrey Bainard, who accused him. But +being worsted in the combat, he was condemned to be castrated, and +to have his eyes put out. William de Alderi, another conspirator, was +supposed to be treated with more rigor when he was sentenced to be +hanged. + +But the noise of these petty wars and commotions was quite sunk in the +tumult of the crusades, which now engrossed the attention of Europe, and +have ever since engaged the curiosity of mankind, as the most signal and +most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or +nation. After Mahomet had, by means of his pretended revelations, united +the dispersed Arabians under one head, they issued forth from their +deserts in great multitudes; and being animated with zeal for their new +religion, and supported by the vigor of their new government, they made +deep impression on the eastern empire, which was far in the decline with +regard both to military discipline and to civil policy. Jerusalem, +by its situation, became one of their most early conquests; and the +Christians had the mortification to see the holy sepulchre, and the +other places consecrated by the presence of their religious founder, +fallen into the possession of infidels. But the Arabians or Saracens +were so employed in military enterprises, by which they spread their +empire, in a few years, from the banks of the Ganges to the Straits of +Gibraltar, that they had no leisure for theological controversy; and +though the Alcoran, the original monument of their faith, seems to +contain some violent precepts, they were much less infected with the +spirit of bigotry and persecution than the indolent and speculative +Greeks, who were continually refining on the several articles of their +religious system. They gave little disturbance to those zealous pilgrims +who daily flocked to Jerusalem; and they allowed every man, after +paying a moderate tribute, to visit the holy sepulchre, to perform his +religious duties, and so return in peace. But the Turcomans or Turks, +a tribe of Tartars, who had embraced Mahometanism, having wrested Syria +from the Saracens, and having in the year 1065 made themselves masters +of Jerusalem, rendered the pilgrimage much more difficult and dangerous +to the Christians. The barbarity of their manners, and the confusions +attending their unsettled government, exposed the pilgrims to many +insults, robberies, and extortions; and these zealots, returning from +their meritorious fatigues and sufferings, filled all Christendom with +indignation against the infidels, who profaned the holy city by their +presence, and derided the sacred mysteries in the very place of +their completion. Gregory VII., among the other vast ideas which he +entertained, had formed the design of uniting all the western Christians +against the Mahometans; but the egregious and violent invasions of that +pontiff on the civil power of princes had created him so many enemies, +and had rendered his schemes so suspicious, that he was not able to make +great progress in this undertaking. The work was reserved for a meaner +instrument, whose low condition ir life exposed aim to no jealousy, +and whose folly was well calculated to coincide with the prevailing +principles of the times. + +Peter, commonly called the Hermit, a native of Amiens, in Picardy, had +made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Being deeply affected with the dangers +to which that act of piety now exposed the pilgrims, as well as with the +instances of oppression under which the eastern Christians labored, he +entertained the bold, and, in all appearance, impracticable project of +leading into Asia, from the farthest extremities of the west, armies +sufficient to subdue those potent and warlike nations which now held +the holy city in subjection.[*] He proposed his views to Martin II., who +filled the papal chair, and who, though sensible of the advantages which +the head of the Christian religion must reap from a religious war, and +though he esteemed the blind zeal of Peter a proper means for effecting +the purpose,[**] resolved not to interpose his authority till he saw +a greater probability of success. He summoned a council at Placentia, +which consisted of four thousand ecclesiastics and thirty thousand +seculars; and which was so numerous that no hall could contain the +multitude, and it was necessary to hold the assembly in a plain. + + [* Gul. Tyrius, lib. i. cap. 11 M. Paria, p, 17.] + + [** Gul. Trrius, lib. i. cap. 13.] + +The harangues of the pope, and of Peter himself, representing the dismal +situation of their brethren in the East, and the indignity suffered by +the Christian name, in allowing the holy city to remain in the hands of +infidels, here found the minds of men so well prepared, that the whole +multitude suddenly and violently declared for the war, and solemnly +devoted themselves to perform this service, so meritorious, as they +believed it, to God and religion. + +But though Italy seemed thus to have zealously embraced the enterprise, +Martin knew that, in order to insure success, it was necessary to enlist +the greater and more warlike nations in the same engagement; and having +previously exhorted Peter to visit the chief cities and sovereigns of +Christendom, he summoned another council at Clermont, in Auvergne.[*] +The fame of this great and pious design being now universally diffused, +procured the attendance of the greatest prelates, nobles, and princes; +and when the pope and the hermit renewed their pathetic exhortations, +the whole assembly, as if impelled by an immediate inspiration, not +moved by their preceeding impressions, exclaimed with one voice, “It is +the will of God, It is the will of God”--words deemed so memorable and +so much the result of a divine influence, that they were employed as +the signal of rendezvous and battle in all the future exploits of those +adventurers.[**] Men of all ranks flew to arms with the utmost ardor; +and an exterior symbol too--a circumstance of chief moment,--was here +chosen by the devoted combatants. The sign of the cross, which had been +hitherto so much revered among Christians, and which, the more it was +an object of reproach among the pagan world, was the more passionately +cherished by them, became the badge of union, and was affixed to +their right shoulder by all who enlisted themselves in this sacred +warfare.[***] + +Europe was at this time sunk into profound ignorance and superstition. +The ecclesiastics had acquired the greatest ascendant over the human +mind; the people, who, being little restrained by honor, and less by +law, abandoned themselves to the worst crimes and disorders, knew of no +other expiation than the observances imposed on them by their spiritual +pastors; and it was easy to represent the holy war as an equivalent for +all penances,[****] and an atonement for every violation of justice and +humanity. + + [* Concil. torn. x. Concil. Clarom. M. Paris, p. + 16. M. West, p. 233.] + + [** Historia Bell. Sacri, torn. i. Musaei Ital.] + + [*** Hist. Bell Sacri, tom. i. Mua. Ital. Order. + Vitalis, p. 721.] + + [**** Order. Vitalis, p. 720.] + +But amidst the abject superstition which now prevailed, the military +spirit also had universally diffused itself; and though not supported +by art or discipline, was become the general passion of the nations +governed by the feudal law. All the great lords possessed the right +of peace and war: they were engaged in perpetual hostilities with each +other: the open country was become a scene of outrage and disorder: the +cities, still mean and poor, were neither guarded by walls nor protected +by privileges, and were exposed to every insult: individuals were +obliged to depend for safety on their own force, or their private +alliances; and valor was the only excellence which was held in esteem, +or gave one man the preeminence above another. When all the particular +superstitions, therefore, were here united in one great object, the +ardor for military enterprises took the same direction; and Europe, +impelled by its two ruling passions, was loosened, as it were, from its +foundations, and seemed to precipitate itself in one united body upon +the East. + +All orders of men, deeming the crusades the only road to heaven, +enlisted themselves under these sacred banners, and were impatient +to open the way with their sword to the holy city. Nobles, artisans, +peasants, even priests,[*] enrolled their names; and to decline this +meritorious service was branded with the reproach of impiety, or, +what perhaps was esteemed still more disgraceful, of cowardice and +pusillanimity.[**] The infirm and aged contributed to the expedition by +presents and money; and many of them, not satisfied with the merit of +this atonement, attended it in person, and were determined, if possible, +to breathe their last in sight of that city where their Savior had died +for them. Women themselves, concealing their sex under the disguise of +armor, attended the camp; and commonly forgot still more the duty of +their sex, by prostituting themselves without reserve to the army.[***] +The greatest criminals were forward in a service which they regarded +as a propitiation for all crimes; and the most enormous disorders were, +during the course of those expeditions, committed by men inured to +wickedness, encouraged by example, and impelled by necessity. The +multitude of the adventurers soon became so great, that their more +sagacious leaders, Hugh, count of Vermandois, brother to the French +king, Raymond, count of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, prince of +Brabant, and Stephen, count of Blois,[****] became apprehensive lest the +greatness itself of the armament should disappoint its purpose; and they +permitted an undisciplined multitude, computed at three hundred thousand +men, to go before them, under the command of Peter the Hermit, and +Walter the Moneyless.[*****] + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 720.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 133,] + + [*** Vertot, Hist. de Chev. de Malte, vol. i. p. + 46.] + + [**** Sim. Dunelm. p. 222] + + [***** M. Paris, p. 17.] + +These men took the road towards Constantinople, through Hungary and +Bulgaria; and trusting that Heaven, by supernatural assistance, would +supply all their necessities, they made no provision for subsistence +on their march. They soon found themselves obliged to obtain by plunder +what they had vainly expected from miracles; and the enraged inhabitants +of the countries through which they passed, gathering together in arms, +attacked the disorderly multitude, and put them to slaughter without +resistance. The more disciplined armies followed after; and passing the +straits at Constantinople, they were mustered in the plains of Asia, +and amounted in the whole to the number of seven hundred thousand +combatants.[*] + +Amidst this universal frenzy, which spread itself by contagion +throughout Europe, especially in France and Germany, men were not +entirely forgetful of their present interests; and both those who went +on this expedition, and those who stain behind, entertained schemes of +gratifying by its means their avarice or their ambition. The nobles who +enlisted themselves were moved, from the romantic spirit of the age, to +hope for opulent establishments in the East, the chief seat of arts and +commerce during those ages; and in pursuit of these chimerical projects, +they sold at the lowest price their ancient castles and inheritances, +which had now lost all value in their eyes. The greater princes, who +remained at home, besides establishing peace in their dominions by +giving occupation abroad to the inquietude and martial disposition of +their subjects, took the opportunity of annexing to their crown many +considerable fiefs, either by purchase or by the extinction of heirs. +The pope frequently turned the zeal of the crusaders from the infidels +against his own enemies, whom he represented as equally criminal with +the enemies of Christ. The convents and other religious societies bought +the possessions of the adventurers; and as the contributions of the +faithful were commonly intrusted to their management, they often +diverted to this purpose what was intended to be employed against the +infidels.[**] But no one was a more immediate gainer by this epidemic +fury than the king of England, who kept aloof from all connections with +those fanatical and romantic warriors. + + [* M. Paris, p. 20, 21.] + + [** Padre Paolo, Hist. delle Benef. Eccles. p. + 128] + +Robert, duke of Normandy, impelled by the bravery and mistaken +generosity of his spirit, had early enlisted himself in the crusade; +but being always unprovided with money, he found that it would be +impracticable for him to appear in a manner suitable to his rank +and station, at the head of his numerous vassals and subjects, who, +transported with the general rage, were determined to follow him into +Asia. He resolved, therefore, to mortgage, or rather to sell, his +dominions, which he had not talents to govern; and he offered them to +his brother William for the very unequal sum of ten thousand marks.[*] +The bargain was soon concluded: the king raised the money by violent +extortions on his subjects of all ranks, even on the convents, who were +obliged to melt their plate in order to furnish the quota demanded of +them[**] he was put in possession of Normandy and Maine; and Robert, +providing himself with a magnificent train, set out for the Holy Land, +in pursuit of glory, and in full confidence of securing his eternal +salvation. + +The smallness of this sum, with the difficulties which William found +in raising it, suffices alone to refute the account which is heedlessly +adopted by historians, of the enormous revenue of the Conqueror. Is it +credible that Robert would consign to the rapacious hands of his brother +such considerable dominions, for a sum which, according to that account, +made not a week’s income of his father’s English revenue alone? or +that the king of England could not on demand, without oppressing his +subjects, have been able to pay him the money? The Conqueror, it is +agreed, was frugal as well as rapacious, yet his treasure at his death +exceeded not sixty thousand pounds, which hardly amounted to his income +for two months; another certain refutation of that exaggerated account. + +The fury of the crusades during this age less infected England than the +neighboring kingdoms; probably because the Norman conquerors, finding +their settlement in that kingdom still somewhat precarious, durst +not abandon their homes in quest of distant adventures. The selfish, +interested spirit also of the king, which kept him from kindling in the +general flame, checked its progress among his subjects; and as he is +accused of open profaneness,[***] and was endued with a sharp wit,[****] +it is likely that he made the romantic chivalry of the crusaders the +object of his perpetual raillery. + + [* W. Malms, p. 123. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 24. + Annal. Waverl p. 139. W. Heming. p. 467. Flor. Wigorn. p. + 648. Sim. Dunelm, p. 222. Knyghton, p. 2364.] + + [** Eadmer,p. 35. W. Malms, p. 123. W. Heming. p. + 467.] + + [*** Gul. Newbr. p. 358. Gul. Gemet. p. 292.] + + [**** W. Malms, p. 122]. + +As an instance of his religion, we are told that he once accepted of +sixty marks from a Jew, whose son had been converted to Christianity, +and who engaged him by that present to assist him in bringing back the +youth to Judaism. William employed both menaces and persuasion for that +purpose; but finding the convert obstinate in his new faith, he sent for +the father, and told him that as he had not succeeded, it was not just +that he should keep the present; but as he had done his utmost, it +was but equitable that he should be paid for his pains; and he would +therefore retain only thirty marks of the money.[*] At another time, +it is said, he sent for some learned Christian theologians and some +rabbies, and bade them fairly dispute the question of their religion in +his presence. He was perfectly indifferent between them; had his ears +open to reason and conviction; and would embrace that doctrine +which, upon comparison, should be found supported by the most solid +arguments.[**] If this story be true, it is probable that he meant only +to amuse himself by turning both into ridicule; but we must be cautious +of admitting every thing related by the monkish historians to the +disadvantage of this prince. He had the misfortune to be engaged in +quarrels with the ecclesiastics, particularly with Anselm, commonly +called St. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury; and it is no wonder his +memory should be blackened by the historians of that order. + +After the death of Lanfranc, the king for several years retained in +his own hands the revenues of Canterbury, as he did those of many other +vacant bishoprics: but falling into a dangerous sickness, he was seized +with remorse; and the clergy represented to him, that he was in danger +of eternal perdition, if before his death he did not make atonement +for those multiplied impieties and sacrileges of which he had been +guilty.[***] He resolved, therefore, to supply instantly the vacancy of +Canterbury; and for that purpose he sent for Anselm, a Piedmontese +by birth, abbot of Bee, in Normandy, who was much celebrated for his +learning and piety. The abbot earnestly refused the dignity, fell on +his knees, wept, and entreated the king to change his purpose,[****] and +when he found the prince obstinate in forcing the pastoral staff upon +him, he kept his fist so fast clinched, that it required the utmost +violence of the bystanders to open it, and force him to receive that +ensign of spiritual dignity.[*****] + + [* Eadmer, p. 47.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 123.] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 16. Chron. Sax. p. 198,] + + [**** Eadmer, p. 17. Diceto, p. 494.] + + [***** Eadmer, p. 18.] + +William soon after recovered; and his passions regaining their wonted +vigor, he returned to his former violence and rapine. He detained in +prison several persons whom he had ordered to be freed during the time +of his penitence; he still preyed upon the ecclesiastical benefices; +the sale of spiritual dignities continued as open as ever; and he kept +possession of a considerable part of the revenues belonging to the see +of Canterbury.[**] But he found in Anselm that persevering opposition +which he had reason to expect from the ostentatious humility which that +prelate had displayed in refusing his promotion. + +The opposition made by Anselm was the more dangerous on account of the +character of piety which he soon acquired in England by his great zeal +against all abuses, particularly those in dress and ornament. There was +a mode which, in that age, prevailed throughout Europe, both among men +and women, to give an enormous length to their shoes, to draw the toe to +a sharp point, and to affix to it the figure of a bird’s bill, or some +such ornament, which was turned upwards, and which was often sustained +by gold or silver chains tied to the knee.[***] The ecclesiastics took +exception at this ornament, which, they said, was an attempt to bely +the Scripture, where it is affirmed, that no man can add a cubit to +his stature; and they declaimed against it with great vehemence, nay, +assembled some synods, who absolutely condemned it. But--such are the +strange contradictions in human nature--though the clergy, at that time, +could overturn thrones, and had authority sufficient to send above a +million of men on their errand to the deserts of Asia, they could never +prevail against these long-pointed shoes: on the contrary, that caprice, +contrary to all other modes, maintained its ground during several +centuries; and if the clergy had not at last desisted from their +persecution of it, it might still have been the prevailing fashion in +Europe. + + [** Eadmer, p. 19, 43. Chron. Sax. p. 199.] + + [*** Order. Vitalis, p. 082. W. Malms, p. 123. + Knyghton, p. 2369] + +But Anselm was more fortunate in decrying the particular mode which was +the object of his aversion, and which probably had not taken such fast +hold of the affections of the people. He preached zealously against +the long hair and curled locks which were then fashionable among the +courtiers; he refused the ashes on Ash-Wednesday to those who were +so accoutred; and his authority and eloquence had such influence, that +the young men universally abandoned that ornament, and appeared in +the cropped hair which was recommended to them by the sermons of the +primate. The noted historian of Anselm, who was also his companion and +secretary, celebrates highly this effort of his zeal and piety.[*] + +When William’s profaneness therefore returned to him with his health, he +was soon engaged in controversies with this austere prelate. There was +at that time a schism in the church between Urban and Clement, who +both pretended to the papacy;[**] and Anselm, who, as abbot of Bee, +had already acknowledged the former, was determined, without the king’s +consent, to introduce his authority into England.[***] William, who, +imitating his father’s example, had prohibited his subjects from +recognizing any pope whom he had not previously received, was enraged at +this attempt, and summoned a synod at Buckingham, with an intention of +deposing Anselm; but the prelate’s suffragans declared, that, without +the papal authority, they knew of no expedient for inflicting that +punishment on their primate.[****] The king was at last engaged by other +motives to give the preference to Urban’s title; Anselm received the +pall from that pontiff; and matters seemed to be accommodated between +the king and the primate,[*****] when the quarrel broke out afresh from +a new cause. William had undertaken an expedition against Wales, and +required the archbishop to furnish his quota of soldiers for that +service, but Anselm, who regarded the demand as an oppression on the +church, and yet durst not refuse compliance, sent them so miserably +accoutred, that the king was extremely displeased, and threatened +him with a prosecution.[******] Anselm, on the other hand, demanded +positively that all the revenues of his see should be restored to him; +appealed to Borne against the king’s injustice;[*******] and affairs +came to such extremities, that the primate, finding it dangerous to +remain in the kingdom, desired and obtained the king’s permission to +retire beyond sea. All his temporalities were seized;[********] but he +was received with great respect by Urban, who considered him as a martyr +in the cause of religion, and even menaced the king, on account of his +proceedings against the primate and the church with the sentence of +excommunication. + + [* Eadmer, p. 23.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 463] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 25. M. Paris, p. 13. Diceto, p. + 494. Spei Concil vol. ii. p. 16.] + + [**** Eadmer, p. 30] + + [***** Diceto, p 495.] + + [****** Eadmer, p. 37, 43.] + + [******* Eadmer, p. 40.] + + [******** M. Paris, p. 13. Parker, p. 178.] + +Anselm assisted at the council of Bari, where, besides fixing the +controversy between the Greek and Latin churches concerning the +procession of the Holy Ghost,[*] the right of election to church +preferments was declared to belong to the clergy alone, and spiritual +censures were denounced against all ecclesiastics who did homage to +laymen for their sees or benefices, and against all laymen who exacted +it.[**] The rite of homage, by the feudal customs, was, that the vassal +should throw himself on his knees, should put his joined hands between +those of his superior, and should in that posture swear fealty to +him.[***] But the council declared & execrable that pure hands, +which could create God, and could offer him up as a sacrifice for the +salvation of mankind, should be put, after this humiliating manner, +between profane hands, which, besides being inured to rapine and +bloodshed, were employed day and night in impure purposes and obscene +contacts.[****] Such were the reasonings prevalent in that age; +reasonings which, though they cannot be passed over in silence, without +omitting the most curious and perhaps not the least instructive part +of history, can scarcely be delivered with the requisite decency and +gravity. + + [* Eadmer, p. 49. M. Paris, p. 13. Sim. Dunelm,p. + 224.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 14.] + + [*** Spelman. Du Cange, in verbo Hominium.] + + [**** W. Hemmg. p. 467. Flor. Wigorn. p. 649. Sim. + Dunelm p. 524. Brompton, p. 994.] + +{1097.} The cession of Normandy and Maine by Duke Robert increased the +king’s territories; but brought him no great increase of power, because +of the unsettled state of those countries the mutinous disposition of +the barons, and the vicinity of the French king, who supported them in +all their insurrections. Even Helie, lord of La Fleche, a small town +in Anjou, was able to give him inquietude; and this great monarch +was obliged to make several expeditions abroad, without being able +to prevail over so petty a baron, who had acquired the confidence and +affections of the inhabitants of Maine. He was, however, so fortunate as +at last to take him prisoner in a rencounter, but having released him, +at the intercession of the French king and the count of Anjou, he found +the province of Maine still exposed to his intrigues and incursions. +Helie, being introduced by the citizens into the town of Mans, besieged +the garrison in the citadel, {1099.} William, who was hunting in the +new forest when he received intelligence of this hostile attempt, was +so provoked, that he immediately turned his horse, and galloped to the +sea-shore at Dartmouth, declaring that he would not stop a moment till +he had taken, vengeance for the offence. He found the weather so cloudy +and tempestuous, that the mariners thought it dangerous to put to sea: +but the king hurried on board, and ordered them to set sail instantly; +telling them that they never yet heard of a king that was drowned.[*] +By this vigor and celerity he delivered the citadel of Mans from its +present danger, and pursuing Helie into his own territories, he laid +siege to Majol, a small castle in those parts: {1100.} but a wound which +he received before this place, obliged him to raise the siege; and he +returned to England. + +The weakness of the greatest monarchs during this age, in their +military expeditions against their nearest neighbors, appears the more +surprising, when we consider the prodigious numbers, which even petty +princes, seconding the enthusiastic rage of the people, were able +to assemble, and to conduct in dangerous enterprises to the remote +provinces of Asia. William earl of Poitiers and duke of Guienne, +inflamed with the glory and not discouraged by the misfortunes, which +had attended the former adventurers in the crusades, had put himself at +the head of an immense multitude, computed by some historians to amount +to sixty thousand horse, and a much greater number of foot,[**] and he +purposed to lead them into the Holy Land against the infidels. He wanted +money to forward the preparations requisite for this expedition, and he +offered to mortgage all his dominions to William, without entertaining +any scruple on account of that rapacious and iniquitous hand to which he +resolved to consign them.[***] + + [* W. Malms, p. 124. H. Hunting, p. 378. M. Paris, + p. 33. Ypod. Neust. p. 442.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 149. The whole is said, by Order. + Vitalie (p. 789) to amount to three hundred thousand men.] + + [*** W. Maims, p. 127.] + +The king accepted the offer; and had prepared a fleet and an army, in +order to escort the money and take possession of the rich provinces of +Guienne and Poictou; when an accident put an end to his life, and to all +his ambitious projects. He was engaged in hunting, the sole amusement, +and indeed the chief occupation of princes in those rude times, when +society was little cultivated and the arts afforded few objects worthy +of attention. Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman, remarkable for his +address in archery, attended him in this recreation, of which the new +forest was the scene: and as William had dismounted after a chase, +Tyrrel, impatient to show his dexterity, let fly an arrow at a stag +which suddenly started before him. The arrow, glancing from a tree, +struck the king in the breast, and instantly slew him;[*] while Tyrrel, +without informing any one of the accident, put spurs to his horse, +hastened to the sea-shore, embarked for France, and joined the crusade +in an expedition to Jerusalem; a penance which he imposed on himself for +this involuntary crime. The body of William was found in the forest +by the country people, and was buried without any pomp or ceremony at +Winchester. His courtiers were negligent in performing the last duties +to a master who was so little beloved; and every one was too much +occupied in the interesting object of fixing his successor, to attend +the funeral of a dead sovereign. + + [* W. Malms, p. 126. H. Hunting, p. 378. M. Paris, + p. 87. Petr. Bles. p. 110] + +The memory of this monarch is transmitted to us with little advantage +by the churchmen, whom he had offended; and though we may suspect in +general that their account of his vices is somewhat exaggerated, his +conduct affords little reason for contradicting the character which +they have assigned him, or for attributing to him any very estimable +qualities. He seems to have been a violent and tyrannical prince; +a perfidious, encroaching, and dangerous neighbor; an unkind and +ungenerous relation. He was equally prodigal and rapacious in the +management of his treasury; and if he possessed abilities, he lay so +much under the government of impetuous passions, that he made little +use of them in his administration; and he indulged without reserve that +domineering policy which suited his temper, and which, if supported, as +it was it him, with courage and vigor, proves often more successful in +disorderly times, than the deepest foresight and most refined artifice. + +The monuments which remain of this prince in England are the Tower, +Westminster Hall, and London Bridge, which he built. The most laudable +foreign enterprise which he undertook was the sending of Edgar Atheling, +three years before his death, into Scotland, with a small army, to +restore Prince Edgar, the true heir of that kingdom, son of Malcolm, +and of Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling; and the enterprise proved +successful. It was remarked in that age, that Richard, an elder brother +of William’s, perished by an accident in the new forest; Richard, his +nephew, natural son of Duke Robert, lost his life in the same place +after the same manner; and all men, upon the king’s fate, exclaimed +that, as the Conqueror had been guilty of extreme violence in expelling +all the inhabitants of that large district to make room for his game, +the just vengeance of Heaven was signalized in the same place by the +slaughter of his posterity. William was killed in the thirteenth year of +his reign, and about the fortieth of his age. As he was never married, +he left no legitimate issue. + +In the eleventh year of this reign, Magnus, king of Norway, made a +descent on the Isle of Anglesea; but was repulsed by Hugh, earl of +Shrewsbury. This is the last attempt made by the northern nations upon +England. That restless people seem about this time to have learned the +practice of tillage, which thenceforth kept them at home, and freed the +other nations of Europe from the devastations spread over them by +those piratical invaders. This proved one great cause of the subsequent +settlement and improvement of the southern nations. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +[Illustration: 86.jpg HENRY I.] + + + + +HENRY I. + +{1100.} After the adventurers in the holy war were assembled on the +banks of the Bosphorus, opposite to Constantinople, they proceeded on +their enterprise; but immediately experienced those difficulties which +their zeal had hitherto concealed from them, and for which, even if they +had foreseen them, it would have been almost impossible to provide +a remedy. The Greek emperor, Alexis Comnenus, who had applied to the +western Christians for succor against the Turks, entertained hopes, and +those but feeble ones, of obtaining such a moderate supply as, acting +under his command, might enable him to repulse the enemy; but he was +extremely astonished to see his dominions overwhelmed on a sudden by +such an inundation of licentious barbarians, who, though they pretended +friendship, despised his subjects as unwarlike, and detested them +as heretical. By all the arts of policy, in which he excelled, he +endeavored to divert the torrent; but while he employed professions, +caresses, civilities, and seeming services towards the leaders of the +crusade, he secretly regarded those imperious allies as more dangerous +than the open enemies by whom his empire had been formerly invaded. +Having effected that difficult point of disembarking them safely in +Asia, he entered into a private correspondence with Soliman, emperor +of the Turks; and practised every insidious art which his genius, his +power, or his situation enabled him to employ, for disappointing the +enterprise, and, discouraging the Latins from making thenceforward any +such prodigious migrations. His dangerous policy was seconded by the +disorders inseparable from so vast a multitude, who were not united +under one head, and were conducted by leaders of the most independent, +intractable spirit, unacquainted with military discipline, and +determined enemies to civil authority and submission. The scarcity of +provisions, the excess of fatigue, the influence of unknown climates, +joined to the want of concert in their operations, and to the sword of +a warlike enemy, destroyed the adventurers by thousands, and would have +abated the ardor of men impelled to war by less powerful motives. Their +zeal, however, their bravery, and their irresistible force still carried +them forward, and continually advanced them to the great end of their +enterprise. After an obstinate siege, they took Nice, the seat of the +Turkish empire; they defeated Soliman in two great battles; they made +themselves masters of Antioch; and entirely broke the force of the +Turks, who had so long retained those countries in subjection. The +soldan of Egypt, whose alliance they had hitherto courted, recovered, on +the fall of the Turkish power, his former authority in Jerusalem; and +he informed them by his ambassadors, that if they came disarmed to +that city, they might now perform their religious vows, and that all +Christian pilgrims, who should thenceforth visit the holy sepulchre, +might expect the same good treatment which they had ever received from +his predecessors. The offer was rejected; the soldan was required to +yield up the city to the Christians; and on his refusal, the champions +of the cross advanced to the siege of Jerusalem, which they regarded +as the consummation of their labors. By the detachments which they had +made, and the disasters which they had undergone, they were diminished +to the number of twenty thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse; but +these were still formidable from their valor, their experience, and the +obedience which, from past calamities, they had learned to pay to their +leaders. After a siege of five weeks, they took Jerusalem by assault; +and, impelled by a mixture of military and religious rage, they put the +numerous garrison and inhabitants to the sword, without distinction. +Neither arms defended the valiant, nor submission the timorous; no age +or sex was spared; infants on the breast were pierced by the same blow +with their mothers, who implored for mercy; even a multitude, to the +number of ten thousand persons, who had surrendered themselves prisoners +and were promised quarter, were butchered in cold blood by those +ferocious conquerors.[*] The streets of Jerusalem were covered with dead +bodies;[**] and the triumphant warriors, after every enemy was subdued +and slaughtered, immediately turned themselves, with the sentiments of +humiliation and contrition, towards the holy sepulchre. + + [* Vertot, vol. i. p. 57.] + + + [** M. Paris, p. 34. Order.] + +They threw aside their arms, still streaming with blood; they advanced +with reclined bodies, and naked feet and heads, to that sacred monument; +they sung anthems to their Savior, who had there purchased their +salvation by his death and agony; and their devotion enlivened by the +presence of the place where he had suffered, so overcame their fury, +that they dissolved in tears, and bore the appearance of every soft and +tender sentiment. So inconsistent is human nature with itself! and so +easily does the most effeminate superstition ally, both with the most +heroic courage and with the fiercest barbarity! + +This great event happened on the fifth of July in the last year of +the eleventh century. The Christian princes and nobles, after choosing +Godfrey of Bouillon king of Jerusalem, began to settle themselves in +their new conquests; while some of them returned to Europe, in order +to enjoy at home that glory which their valor had acquired them in this +popular and meritorious enterprise. Among these was Robert, duke of +Normandy, who, as he had relinquished the greatest dominions of any +prince that attended the crusade, had all along distinguished himself +by the most intrepid courage, as well as by that affable disposition and +unbounded generosity which gain the hearts of soldiers, and qualify a +prince to shine in a military life. In passing through Italy, he became +acquainted with Sibylla, daughter of the count of Conversana, a young +lady of great beauty and merit, whom he espoused: indulging himself in +this new passion, as well as fond of enjoying ease and pleasure after +the fatigues of so many rough campaigns, he lingered a twelvemonth in +that delicious climate; and though his friends in the north looked every +moment for his arrival, none of them knew when they could with certainty +expect it. By this delay he lost the kingdom of England, which the +great fame he had acquired during the crusades, as well as his undoubted +title, both by birth and by the preceding agreement with his deceased +brother, would, had he been present, have infallibly secured to him. + +Prince Henry was hunting with Rufus in the new forest, when intelligence +of that monarch’s death was brought him, and being sensible of the +advantage attending the conjuncture he hurried to Winchester, in order +to secure the royal treasure, which he knew to be a necessary implement +for facilitating his designs on the crown. He had scarcely reached the +place when William de Breteuil, keeper of the treasure, arrived, and +opposed himself to Henry’s pretensions. This nobleman, who had been +engaged in the same party of hunting, had no sooner heard of his +master’s death, than he hastened to take care of his charge; and he told +the prince, that this treasure, as well as the crown, belonged to his +elder brother, who was now his sovereign; and that he himself, for his +part, was determined, in spite of all other pretensions, to maintain +his allegiance to him. But Henry, drawing his sword, threatened him +with instant death if he dared to disobey him; and as others of the late +king’s retinue, who came every moment to Winchester, joined the prince’s +party, Breteuil was obliged to withdraw his opposition, and to acquiesce +in this violence.[*] + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 782.] + +Henry, without losing a moment, hastened with the money to London; +and having assembled some noblemen and prelates, whom his address, or +abilities, or presents, gained to his side, he was suddenly elected, or +rather saluted king; and immediately proceeded to the exercise of +royal authority. In less than three days after his brother’s death, the +ceremony of his coronation was performed by Maurice, bishop of London, +who was persuaded to officiate on that occasion;[**] and thus, by his +courage and celerity, he intruded himself into the vacant throne. + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 208. Order.] + +No one had sufficient spirit or sense of duty to appear in defence +of the absent prince; all men were seduced or intimidated; present +possession supplied the apparent defects in Henry’s title, which was +indeed founded on plain usurpation; and the barons, as well as the +people, acquiesced in a claim, which, though it could neither be +justified nor comprehended, could now, they found, be opposed through +the perils alone of civil war and rebellion. + +But as Henry foresaw that a crown usurped against all rules of justice +would sit unsteady on his head, he resolved, by fair professions at +least, to gain the affections of all his subjects. Besides taking the +usual coronation oath to maintain the laws and execute justice, he +passed a charter, which was calculated to remedy many of the grievous +oppressions which had been complained of during the reigns of his father +and brother.[*] He there promised, that, at the death of any bishop or +abbot, he never would seize the revenues of the see or abbey during the +vacancy, but would leave the whole to be reaped by the successor; and +that he would never let to farm any ecclesiastical benefice, nor dispose +of it for money. After this concession to the church, whose favor was +of so great importance, he proceeded to enumerate the civil grievances +which he purposed to redress. He promised that, upon the death of any +earl, baron, or military tenant, his heir should be admitted to the +possession of his estate, on paying a just and lawful relief, without +being exposed to such violent exactions as had been usual during the +late reigns: he remitted the wardship of minors, and allowed guardians +to be appointed, who should be answerable for the trust: he promised +not to dispose of any heiress in marriage but by the advice of all the +barons; and if any baron intended to give his daughter sister, niece, +or kinswoman in marriage, it should only be necessary for him to consult +the king, who promised to take no money for his consent, nor ever to +refuse permission, unless the person to whom it was purposed to marry +her should happen to be his enemy: he granted his barons and military +tenants the power of bequeathing by will their money or personal +estates; and if they neglected to make a will, he promised that their +heirs should succeed to them: he renounced the right of imposing +moneyage, and of levying taxes at pleasure on the farms which the barons +retained in their own hands:[**] he made some general professions of +moderating fines: he offered a pardon for all offences; and he remitted +all debts due to the crown: he required that the vassals of the barons +should enjoy the same privileges which he granted to his own barons; and +he promised a general confirmation and observance of the laws of King +Edward. This is the substance of the chief articles contained in that +famous charter.[***] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 208. Sim. Dunelm. p. 225.] + + [** See Appendix II.] + + [*** Mr Paris, p. 38. Hoveden, p. 468. Brompton, p. 1021. + Haguistadt, p. 310.] + +To give greater authenticity to these concessions, Henry lodged a copy +of his charter in some abbey of each county, as if desirous that +it should be exposed to the view of all his subjects, and remain a +perpetual rule for the limitation and direction of his government: yet +it is certain that, after the present purpose was served, he never once +thought, during his reign, of observing one single article of it; and +the whole fell so much into neglect and oblivion, that, in the following +century, when the barons, who had heard an obscure tradition of it, +desired to make it the model of the Great Charter which they exacted +from King John, they could with difficulty find a copy of it in the +kingdom. But as to the grievances here meant to be redressed, they were +still continued in their full extent; and the royal authority, in all +those particulars, lay under no manner of restriction. Reliefs of heirs, +so capital an article, were never effectually fixed till the time of +Magna Charta;[*] and it is evident that the general promise here given, +of accepting a just and lawful relief, ought to have been reduced to +more precision, in order to give security to the subject. The oppression +of wardship and marriage was perpetuated even till the reign of Charles +II.; and it appears from Glanville,[**] the famous justiciary of Henry +II., that in his time, where any man died intestate--an accident which +must have been very frequent when the art of writing was so little +known--the king, or the lord of the fief, pretended to seize all the +movables, and to exclude every heir, even the children of the deceased; +a sure mark of a tyrannical and arbitrary government. + + [* Glanv. lib. ii. cap. 36.] + + [** Lib. vii. cap. 15.] + +The Normans, indeed, who domineered in England, were, during this age, +so licentious a people, that they may be pronounced incapable of any +true or regular liberty; which requires such improvement in knowledge +and morals, as can only be the result of reflection and experience, and +must grow to perfection during several ages of settled and established +government. A people so insensible to the rights of their sovereign, as +to disjoint, without necessity, the hereditary succession, and permit +a younger brother to intrude himself into the place of the elder, whom +they esteemed, and who was guilty of no crime but being absent, could +not expect that. What is called a relief in the Conqueror’s laws, +preserved by Ingulf, seems to have been the heriot; since reliefs, as +well as the other burdens of the feudal law, were unknown in the age +of the Confessor, whose laws these originally were. This practice was +contrary to the laws of King Edward, ratified by the Conqueror, as +we learn from Ingulf, p. 91. But laws had at that time very little +influence: power and violence governed every thing. Prince would pay any +greater regard to their privileges, or allow his engagements to fetter +his power, and debar him from any considerable interest or convenience. +They had indeed arms in their hands, which prevented the establishment +of a total despotism, and left their posterity sufficient power, +whenever they should attain a sufficient degree of reason, to assume +true liberty; but their turbulent disposition frequently prompted them +to make such use of their arms, that they were more fitted to obstruct +the execution of justice, than to stop the career of violence and +oppression. The prince, finding that greater opposition was often made +to him when he enforced the laws than when he violated them, was apt +to render his own will and pleasure the sole rule of government; and on +every emergency to consider more the power of the persons whom he might +offend, than the rights of those whom he might injure. The very form of +this charter of Henry proves, that the Norman barons (for they, rather +than the people of England, are chiefly concerned in it,) were totally +ignorant of the nature of limited monarchy, and were ill qualified to +conduct, in conjunction with their sovereign, the machine of government. +It is an act of his sole power, is the result of his free grace, +contains some articles which bind others as well as himself, and is +therefore unfit to be the deed of any one who possesses not the +whole legislative power, and who may not at pleasure revoke all his +concessions. + +Henry, further to increase his popularity, degraded and committed +to prison Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham, who had been the chief +instrument of oppression under his brother.[*] But this act was followed +by another, which was a direct violation of his own charter, and was a +bad prognostic of his sincere intentions to observe it: he kept the +see of Durham vacant for five years, and during that time retained +possession of all its revenues. Sensible of the great authority which +Anselm had acquired by his character of piety, and by the persecutions +which he had undergone from William, he sent repeated messages to him at +Lyons, where he resided, and invited him to return and take possession +of his dignities.[**] On the arrival of the prelate, he proposed to him +the renewal of that homage which he had done his brother, and which had +never been refused by any English bishop; but Anslem had acquired +other sentiments by his journey to Rome, and gave the king an absolute +refusal. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 208. W. Malms, p. 156. M. Paris, p. 39. + Alured. Beverl. p. 144.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 208. Order. Vitalis, p. 783. M. Paris, p. + 39 C. Judon, p 273.] + +He objected the decrees of the council of Bari, at which he himself +had assisted; and he declared, that, so far from doing homage for +his spiritual dignity, he would not so much as communicate with any +ecclesiastic who paid that submission, or who accepted of investitures +from laymen. Henry, who expected, in his present delicate situation, to +reap great advantages from the authority and popularity of Anselm, durst +not insist on his demand;[*] he only desired that the controversy might +be suspended, and that messengers might be sent to Rome, in order to +accommodate matters with the pope, and obtain his confirmation of the +laws and customs of England. + +There immediately occurred an important affair, in which the king was +obliged to have recourse to the authority of Anselm. Matilda, daughter +of Malcolm III., king of Scotland, and niece to Edgar Atheling, had, +on her father’s death, and the subsequent revolutions in the Scottish +government, been brought to England, and educated under her aunt +Christina, in the nunnery of Rumsey. This princess Henry purposed to +marry; but as she had worn the veil, though never taken the vows, doubts +might arise concerning the lawfulness of the act; and it behoved him to +be very careful not to shock, in any particular, the religious prejudges +of his subjects. The affair was examined by Anselm, in a council of +the prelates and nobles, which was summoned at Lambeth; Matilda there +proved, that she had put on the veil, not with a view of entering into +a religious life, but merely in consequence of a custom familiar to the +English ladies who protected their chastity from the brutal violence of +the Normans by taking shelter under that habit,[**] which, amidst the +horrible licentiousness of the times, was yet generally revered. The +council, sensible that even a princess had otherwise no security for her +honor, admitted this reason as valid: they pronounced that Matilda was +still free to marry;[***] and her espousals with Henry were celebrated +by Anselm with great pomp and solemnity.[****] No act of the king’s +reign rendered him equally popular with his English subjects, and tended +more to establish him on the throne. Though Matilda, during the life of +her uncle and brothers, was not heir of the Saxon line, she was become +very dear to the English on account of her connections with it; and that +people, who, before the conquest, had fallen into a kind of indifference +towards their ancient royal family, had felt so severely the tyranny +of the Normans, that they reflected with extreme regret on their former +liberty, and hoped for a more equal and mild administration, when the +blood of their native princes should be mingled with that of their new +sovereigns.[*****] + + [* W. Malms, p. 225.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 57.] + + [*** Eadmer p. 57.] + + [**** Hoveden, p. 468.] + + [***** M. Paris, p. 40.] + +But the policy and prudence of Henry, which, if time had been allowed +for these virtues to produce their full effect, would have secured him +possession of the crown, ran great hazard of being frustrated by the +sudden appearance of Robert, who returned to Normandy about a month +after the death of his brother William. {1101.} He took possession, +without opposition, of that duchy; and immediately made preparations +for recovering England, of which, during his absence, he had, by Henry’s +intrigues, been so unjustly defrauded. The great fame which he had +acquired in the East forwarded his pretensions, and the Norman barons, +sensible of the consequences, expressed the same discontent at the +separation of the duchy and kingdom, which had appeared on the accession +of William. Robert de Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel, William +de Warrenne, earl of Surrey, Arnulf de Montgomery, Walter Giffard, +Robert de Pontefract, Robert de Mallet, Yvo de Grentmesnil, and many +others of the principal nobility,[*] invited Robert to make an attempt +upon England, and promised on his landing to join him with all their +forces. + + [* Order. Vitalis, p. 785] + +Even the seamen were affected with the general popularity of his name, +and they carried over to him the greater part of a fleet which had been +equipped to oppose his passage. Henry, in this extremity, began to be +apprehensive for his life, as well as for his crown and had recourse to +the superstition of the people, in order to oppose their sentiment of +justice. He paid diligent court to Anselm, whose sanctity and wisdom +he pretended to revere. He consulted him in all difficult emergencies; +seemed to be governed by him in every measure; promised a strict regard +to ecclesiastical privileges; professed a great attachment to Rome, and +a resolution of persevering in an implicit obedience to the decrees of +councils, and to the will of the sovereign pontiff. By these caresses +and declarations he entirely gained the confidence of the primate, whose +influence over the people, and authority with the barons, were of the +utmost service to him in his present situation. Anselm scrupled not to +assure the nobles of the king’s sincerity in those professions which he +made, of avoiding the tyrannical and oppressive government of his father +and brother: he even rode through the ranks of the army, recommended +to the soldiers the defence of their prince, represented the duty +of keeping their oaths of allegiance, and prognosticated to them the +greatest happiness from the government of so wise and just a sovereign. +By this expedient, joined to the influence of the earls of Warwick and +Mellent, of Roger Bigod, Richard de Redvers, and Robert Fitz-Hamon, +powerful barons, who still adhered to the present government, the army +was retained in the king’s interests, and marched, with seeming union +and firmness, to oppose Robert, who had landed with his forces at +Portsmouth. + +The two armies lay in sight of each other for some days without coming +to action; and both princes, being apprehensive of the event, which +would probably be decisive, hearkened the more willingly to the counsels +of Anselm and the other great men, who mediated an accommodation between +them. After employing some negotiation, it was agreed, that Robert +should resign his pretensions to England, and receive, in lieu of +them, an annual pension of three thousand marks; that, if either of the +princes died without issue, the other should succeed to his dominions; +that the adherents of each should be pardoned, and restored to all their +possessions either in Normandy or England; and that neither Robert nor +Henry should thenceforth encourage, receive, or protect the enemies of +the other.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 209. W. Malms, p. 156.] + +{1102.} This treaty, though calculated so much for Henry’s advantage, he +was the first to violate. He restored indeed the estates of all Robert’s +adherents; but was secretly determined, that noblemen so powerful and +so ill affected, who had both inclination and ability to disturb his +government, should not long remain unmolested in their present opulence +and grandeur. He began with the earl of Shrewsbury, why was watched +for some time by spies, and then indicted on a charge, consisting of +forty-five articles. This turbulent nobleman, knowing his own guilt, as +well as the prejudices of his judges and the power of his prosecutor, +had recourse to aims for defence; but being soon suppressed by the +activity and address of Henry, he was banished the kingdom, and +his great estate was confiscated. His ruin involved that of his two +brothers, Arnulf de Montgomery, and Roger, earl of Lancaster. Soon after +followed the prosecution and condemnation of Robert de Pontefract +and Robert de Mallet, who had distinguished themselves among Robert’s +adherents. William de Warrenne was the next victim; {1103.} even +William, earl of Cornwall, son of the earl of Mortaigne, the king’s +uncle, having given matter of suspicion against him, lost all the vast +acquisitions of his family in England. Though the usual violence and +tyranny of the Norman barons afforded a plausible pretence for those +prosecutions, and it is probable that none of the sentences pronounced +against these noblemen was wholly iniquitous, men easily saw, or +conjectured, that the chief part of their guilt was not the injustice or +illegality of their conduct Robert, enraged at the fate of his friends, +imprudently ventured to come into England; and he remonstrated with his +brother, in severe terms, against this breach of treaty; but met with so +bad a reception, thai he began to apprehend danger to his own liberty, +and was glad to purchase an escape by resigning his pension. + +The indiscretion of Robert soon exposed him to more fatal injuries. +This prince, whose bravery and candor procured him respect while at a +distance, had no sooner attained the possession of power and enjoyment +of peace, than all the vigor of his mind relaxed; and he fell into +contempt among those who approached his person, or were subjected to his +authority. Alternately abandoned to dissolute pleasures and to womanish +superstition, he was so remiss, both in the care of his treasure and the +exercise of his government, that his servants pillaged his money with +impunity, stole from him his very clothes, and proceeded thence to +practise every species of extortion on his defenceless subjects. The +barons, whom a severe administration alone could have restrained, +gave way to their unbounded rapine upon their vassals, and inveterate +animosities against each other; and all Normandy, during the reign of +this benign prince, was become a scene of violence and depredation. +The Normans at last, observing the regular government which Henry, +notwithstanding his usurped title, had been able to establish in +England, applied to him, that he might use his authority for the +suppression of these disorders and they thereby afforded him a pretence +for interposing in the affairs of Normandy. Instead of employing his +mediation to render his brother’s government respectable, or to redress +the grievances of the Normans, he was only attentive to support his +own partisans, and to increase their number by every art of bribery, +intrigue, and insinuation. Having found, in a visit which he made to that +duchy, that the nobility were more disposed to pay submission to him +than to their legal sovereign, he collected, by arbitrary extortions on +England a great army and treasure, and returned next year to Normandy, +in a situation to obtain, either by violence or corruption, the dominion +of that province. {1105.} He took Baieux by storm, after an obstinate +siege; he made himself master of Caen, by the voluntary submission of +the inhabitants; but being repulsed at Falaise, and obliged, by the +winter season, to raise the siege, he returned into England; after +giving assurances to his adherents, that he would persevere in +supporting and protecting them. + +{1106.} Next year he opened the campaign with the siege of Tenchebray; +and it became evident, from his preparations and progress, that he +intended to usurp the entire possession of Normandy. Robert was at last +roused from his lethargy; and being supported by the earl of Mortaigne +and Robert de Belesme, the king’s inveterate enemies, he raised a +considerable army, and approached his brother’s camp, with a view of +finishing, in one decisive battle, the quarrel between them. He was +now entered on that scene of action in which alone he was qualified to +excel; and he so animated his troops by his example, that they threw the +English into disorder, and had nearly obtained the victory,[*] when the +flight of Belesme spread a panic among the Normans, and occasioned their +total defeat. Henry, besides doing great execution on the enemy, made +near ten thousand prisoners; among whom was Duke Robert himself, and all +the most considerable barons, who adhered to his interests.[**] + + [* H. Hunting, p. 379. M. Paris, p. 48. Brompton, + p. 1002.] + + [** Eadmer, p, 90. Chron. Sax. p. 214. Order. + Vitalis p. 821.] + +This victory was followed by the final reduction of Normandy: Rouen +immediately submitted to the conqueror: Falaise, after some negotiation, +opened its gates; and by this acquisition, besides rendering himself +master of an important fortress, he got into his hands Prince William, +the only son of Robert: he assembled the states of Normandy; and having +received the homage of all the vassals of the duchy, having settled the +government, revoked his brother’s donations, and dismantled the castles +lately built, he returned into England and carried along with him the +duke as prisoner. That unfortunate prince was detained in custody during +the remainder of his life, which was no less than twenty-eight years, +and he died in the castle of Cardiff in Glamorganshire; happy, if, +without losing his liberty, he could have relinquished that power which +he was not qualified either to hold or exercise. Prince William was +committed to the care of Helie de St. Saen, who had married Robert’s +natural daughter, and who, being a man of probity and honor, beyond what +was usual in those ages, executed the trust with great affection and +fidelity, Edgar Atheling, who had followed Robert in the expedition +to Jerusalem, and who had lived with him ever since in Normandy, was +another illustrious prisoner taken in the battle of Tenchebray.[*] Henry +gave him his liberty, and settled a small pension on him, with which he +retired; and he lived to a good old age in England, totally neglected +and forgotten. This prince was distinguished by personal bravery; but +nothing can be a stronger proof of his mean talents in every other +respect, than that, notwithstanding he possessed the affections of the +English, and enjoyed the only legal title to the throne, he was allowed, +during the reigns of so many violent and jealous usurpers, to live +unmolested, and go to his grave in peace. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 214. Annal. Waverl. p. 144] + +{1107.} A little after Henry had completed the conquest of Normandy, and +settled the government of that province, he finished a controversy which +had been long depending between him and the pope, with regard to the +investitures in ecclesiastical benefices; and though he was here obliged +to relinquish some of the ancient rights of the crown, he extricated +himself from the difficulty on easier terms than most princes, who in +that age were so unhappy as to be engaged in disputes with the apostolic +see. The king’s situation in the beginning of his reign, obliged him to +pay great court to Anselm: the advantages which he had reaped from the +zealous friendship of that prelate, had made him sensible how prone +the minds of his people were to superstition, and what an ascendant the +ecclesiastics had been able to assume over them. He had seen, on the +accession of his brother Rufus, that though the rights of primogeniture +were then violated, and the inclinations of almost all the barons +thwarted, yet the authority of Lanfranc, the primate, had prevailed +over all other considerations: his own case, which was still more +unfavorable, afforded an instance in which the clergy had more evidently +shown their influence and authority. These recent examples, while they +made him cautious not to offend that powerful body, convinced him, at +the same time, that it was extremely his interest to retain the former +prerogative of the crown in filling offices of such vast importance, and +to check the ecclesiastics in that independence to which they visibly +aspired. The choice which his brother, in a fit of penitence, had made +of Anselm, was so far unfortunate to the king’s pretensions, that this +prelate was celebrated for his piety and zeal, and austerity of manners; +and though his monkish devotion and narrow principles prognosticated no +great knowledge of the world or depth of policy, he was, on that very +account, a more dangerous instrument in the hands of politicians, and +retained a greater ascendant over the bigoted populace. The prudence +and temper of the king appear in nothing more conspicuous than in the +management of this delicate affair; where he was always sensible that +it had become necessary for him to risk his whole crown, in order to +preserve the most invaluable jewel of it.[*] + +Anselm had no sooner returned from banishment, than his refusal to do +homage to the king raised a dispute, which Henry evaded at that critical +juncture, by promising to send a messenger, in order to compound the +matter with Pascal II, who then filled the papal throne. The messenger, +as was probably foreseen, returned with an absolute refusal of the +king’s demands;[**] and that fortified by many reasons which were well +qualified to operate on the understandings of men in those ages. Pascal +quoted the Scriptures to prove that Christ was the door; and he thence +inferred that all ecclesiastics must enter into the church through +Christ alone, not through the civil magistrate, or any profane +laymen.[***] + + [* Eadmer, p. 56.] + + [** W Malms, p. 225] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 60. This topic is further enforced + in p. 73, 74. See also W. Malms, p. 163.] + +“It is monstrous,” added the pontiff, “that a son should pretend to +beget his father, or a man to create his God: priests are called gods in +Scripture, as being the vicars of God; and will you, by your abominable +pretensions to grant them their investiture, assume the right of +creating them?”[*] + +But how convincing soever these arguments, they could not persuade Henry +to resign so important a prerogative; and perhaps, as he was possessed +of great reflection and learning, he thought that the absurdity of a +man’s creating his God, even allowing priests to be gods, was not urged +with the best grace by the Roman pontiff. But as he desired still to +avoid, at least to delay, the coming to any dangerous extremity with +the church, he persuaded Anselm that he should be able, by further +negotiation, to attain some composition with Pascal; and for that +purpose he despatched three bishops to Rome, while Anselm sent +two messengers of his own, to be more fully assured of the pope’s +intentions.[**] Pascal wrote back letters equally positive and arrogant, +both to the king and primate, urging to the former that, by assuming the +right of investitures, he committed a kind of spiritual adultery with +the church, who was the spouse of Christ, and who must not admit of such +a commerce with any other person;[***] and insisting with the latter, +that the pretension of kings to confer benefices was the source of all +simony; a topic which had but too much foundation in those ages.[****] + +Henry had now no other expedient than to suppress the letter addressed +to himself, and to persuade the three bishops to prevaricate, and +assert, upon their episcopal faith, that Pascal had assured them in +private of his good intentions towards Henry, and of his resolution +not to resent any future exertion of his prerogative in granting +investitures, though he himself scrupled to give this assurance under +his hand, lest other princes should copy the example and assume a like +privilege.[*****] + + [* Eadmer, p. 61. I much suspect that this text of + Scripture is a forgery of his holiness; for I have not been + able to find it. Yet it passed current in those ages, and + was often quoted by the clergy as the foundation of their + power. See Epist. St. Thorn, p. 169.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 62. W. Malms, p. 225.] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 63] + + [**** Eadmer, p. 64, 66.] + + [***** Eadmer, p. 65. W. Malms, p. 225] + +Anselm’s two messengers, who were monks, affirmed to him that it was +impossible this story could have any foundation; but their word was +not deemed equal to that of three bishops; and the king, as if he had +finally gained his cause, proceeded to fill the sees of Hereford and +Salisbury, and to invest the new bishops in the usual manner.[*] But +Anselm, who, as he had good reason, gave no credit to the asseveration +of the king’s messengers, refused not only to consecrate them, but +even to communicate with them; and the bishops’ themselves, finding how +odious they were become, returned to Henry the ensigns of their dignity. +The quarrel every day increased between the king and the primate. The +former, notwithstanding the prudence and moderation of his temper, threw +out menaces against such as should pretend to oppose him in exerting +the ancient prerogatives of his crown; and Anselm, sensible of his own +dangerous situation, desired leave to make a journey to Rome, in order +to lay the case before the sovereign pontiff. Henry, well pleased to rid +himself without violence of so inflexible an antagonist, readily granted +him permission. The prelate was attended to the shore by infinite +multitudes, not only of monks and clergymen, but people of all ranks, +who scrupled not in this manner to declare for their primate against +their sovereign, and who regarded his departure as the final abolition +of religion and true piety in the kingdom.[**] The king, however, seized +all the revenues of his see; and sent William de Warelwast to negotiate +with Pascal, and to find some means of accommodation in this delicate +affair. + +The English minister told Pascal, that his master would rather lose +his crown than part with the right of granting investitures. “And I,” + replied Pascal, “would rather lose my head than allow him to retain +it.”[***] Henry secretly prohibited Anselm from returning, unless he +resolved to conform himself to the laws and usages of the kingdom; and +the primate took up his residence at Lyons, in expectation that the king +would at last be obliged to yield the point which was the present object +of controversy between them. Soon after, he was permitted to return to +his monastery at Bec, in Normandy; and Henry, besides restoring to him +the revenues of his see, treated him with the greatest respect, and held +several conferences with him, in order to soften his opposition, and +bend him to submission.[****] + + [* Eadmer, p. 66. W. Malms, p. 225. Hoveden, p. + 469. Sim. Dunelm. p. 228.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 71.] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 73 W. Malms, p. 226. M. Paris, p. + 40] + + [**** Hoveden, p. 471] + +The people of England, who thought all differences now accommodated, +were inclined to blame their primate for absenting, himself so long +from his charge; and he daily received letters from his partisans +representing the necessity of his speedy return. The total extinction, +they told him, of religion and Christianity was likely to ensue from the +want of his fatherly care: the most shocking customs prevail in England; +and the dread of his severity being now removed, sodomy and the practice +of wearing long hair gain ground among all ranks of men, and these +enormities openly appear every where, without sense of shame or fear of +punishment.[*] + + [* Eadmer, p. 81.] + +The policy of the court of Rome has commonly been much admired; and men, +judging by success, have bestowed the highest eulogies on that prudence +by which a power, from such slender beginnings, could advance, without +force of arms, to establish a universal and almost absolute monarchy +in Europe. But the wisdom of so long a succession of men who filled +the papal throne, and who were of such different ages, tempers, and +interests, is not intelligible, and could never have place in nature. +The instrument, indeed, with which they wrought, the ignorance and +superstition of the people, is so gross an engine, of such universal +prevalence, and so little liable to accident or disorder, that it may be +successful even in the most unskilful hands; and scarce any indiscretion +can frustrate its operations. While the court of Rome was openly +abandoned to the most flagrant disorders, even while it was torn with +schisms and factions, the power of the church daily made a sensible +progress in Europe; and the temerity of Gregory and caution of Pascal +were equally fortunate in promoting it. The clergy, feeling the +necessity which they lay under of being protected against the violence +of princes, or rigor of the laws, were well pleased to adhere to a +foreign head, who, being removed from the fear of the civil authority, +could freely employ the power of the whole church in defending her +ancient or usurped properties and privileges, when invaded in any +particular country. The monks, desirous of an independence on their +diocesans, professed a still more devoted attachment to the triple +crown; and the stupid people possessed no science or reason which they +could oppose to the most exorbitant pretensions. Nonsense passed for +demonstration: the most criminal means were sanctified by the piety of +the end: treaties were not supposed to be binding, where the interests +of God were concerned: the ancient laws and customs of states had no +authority against a divine right: impudent forgeries were received as +authentic monuments of antiquity: and the champions of holy church, if +successful, were celebrated as heroes; if unfortunate, were worshipped +as martyrs; and all events thus turned out equally to the advantage of +clerical usurpations. Pascal himself, the reigning pope, was, in the +course of this very controversy concerning investitures, involved in +circumstances, and necessitated to follow a conduct which would +have drawn disgrace and ruin on any temporal prince that had been so +unfortunate as to fail into a like situation. His person was seized by +the emperor Henry V., and he was obliged, by a formal treaty, to resign +to that monarch the right of granting investitures, for which they +had so long contended.[*] In order to add greater solemnity to this +agreement, the emperor and pope communicated together on the same +host; one half of which was given to the prince, the other taken by the +pontiff. The most tremendous imprecations were publicly denounced on +either of them who should violate the treaty; yet no sooner did Pascal +recover his liberty, than he revoked all his concessions, and pronounced +the sentence of excommunication against the emperor, who, in the end, +was obliged to submit to the terms required of him, and to yield up all +his pretensions, which he never could resume.[**] + +The king of England had very nearly fallen into the same dangerous +situation: Pascal had already excommunicated the earl of Mallent, and +the other ministers of Henry who were instrumental in supporting +his pretensions:[***] he daily menaced the king himself with a like +sentence, and he suspended the blow only to give him leisure to prevent +it by a timely submission. The malecontents waited impatiently for +the opportunity of disturbing his government by conspiracies and +insurrections:[****] the king’s best friends were anxious at the +prospect of an incident which would set their religious and civil duties +at variance; and the countess of Blois, his sister, a princess of piety, +who had great influence over him, was affrightened with the danger of +her brother’s eternal damnation.[*****] + + [* W. Malms, p. 167.] + + [** Padre Paolo, sopra Benef. Eccles. p. 112. W. + Malms, p. 179 Chron. Abb St. Petri de Burgo, p. 63. Sim. + Dunelm. p. 233.] + + [*** Eadmer p. 79.] + + [**** Eadmer, p. 80.] + + [***** Eadmer, p. 79.] + +Henry, on the other hand, seemed determined to run all hazards, rather +than resign a prerogative of such importance, which had been enjoyed by +all his predecessors; and it seemed probable from his great prudence +and abilities, that he might be able co sustain his rights, and finally +prevail in the contest. While Pascal and Henry thus stood mutually in +awe; of each other, it was the more easy to bring about an accommodation +between them, and to find a medium in which they might agree. + +Before bishops took possession of their dignities, they had formerly +been accustomed to pass through two ceremonies: they received from the +hands of the sovereign a ring and crosier, as symbols of their office; +and this was called their investiture: they also made those submissions +to the prince which were required of vassals by the rites of the feudal +law, and which received the name of homage. And as the king might refuse +both to grant the investiture and to receive the homage, though the +chapter had, by some canons of the middle age, been endowed with the +right of election, the sovereign had in reality the sole power of +appointing prelates. Urban II. had equally deprived laymen of the rights +of granting investiture and of receiving homage:[*] the emperors never +were able, by all their wars and negotiations, to make any distinction +be admitted between them: the interposition of profane laymen, in any +particular, was still represented as impious and abominable; and the +church openly aspired to a total independence on the state. But Henry +had put England, as well as Normandy, in such a situation as gave +greater weight to his negotiations, and Pascal was for the present +satisfied with his resigning the right of granting investitures, by +which the spiritual dignity was supposed to be conferred; and he +allowed the bishops to do homage for their temporal properties +and privileges.[**] The pontiff was well pleased to have made this +acquisition, which, he hoped, would in time involve the whole; and the +king, anxious to procure an escape from a very dangerous situation, +was content to retain some, though a more precarious authority, in the +election of prelates. + + [* Eadmer, p. 91. W. Malms, p. 163. Sim. Dunelm. + p. 230.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 91. W Malms, p. 164. 227. Hoveden, + p. 471, M. Paris, p. 43. T. Rudborne, p. 274. Brompton. p. + 1000. Wilkins, p. 303, Chron. Dunst. p. 21.] + +After the principal controversy was accommodated, it was not difficult +to adjust the other differences. If the pope allowed Anselm to +communicate with the prelates who had already received investitures from +the crown; and he only required of them some submissions for their past +misconduct.[*] He also granted Anselm a plenary power of remedying every +other disorder, which, he said, might arise from the barbarousness of he +country.[**] Such was the idea which the popes then entertained of the +English; and nothing can be a stronger proof of the miserable ignorance +in which that people were then plunged, than that, a man who sat on +the papal throne, and who subsisted by absurdities and nonsense, should +think himself entitled to treat them as barbarians. + +During the course of these controversies, a synod was held at +Westminster, where the king, intent only on the mam dispute, allowed +some canons of less importance to be enacted, which tended to promote +the usurpations of the clergy. The celibacy of priests was enjoined; a +point which it was still found very difficult to carry into execution; +and even laymen were not allowed to marry within the seventh degree of +affinity.[***] By this contrivance, the pope augmented the profits which +he reaped from granting dispensations, and likewise those from divorces. +For as the art of writing was then rare, and parish registers were not +regularly kept, it was not easy to ascertain the degrees of affinity +even among people of rank; and any man, who had money sufficient to +pay for it, might obtain a divorce, on pretence that his wife was more +nearly related to him than was permitted by the canons. The synod also +passed a vote, prohibiting the laity from wearing long hair.[****] The +aversion of the clergy to this mode was not confined to England. When +the king went to Normandy, before he had conquered that province, the +bishop of Seeze, in a formal harangue, earnestly exhorted him to redress +the manifold disorders under which the government labored, and to oblige +the people to poll their hair in a decent form. Henry, though he would +not resign his prerogatives to the church willingly parted with his +hair: he cut it in the form which they required of him, and obliged all +the courtiers to imitate his example.[*****] + + [* Eadmer, p. 87.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 91.] + + [*** Eadmer, p 67, 68. Spel. Concil. vol. ii. p. + 22.] + + [**** Eadmer, p 68. ] + + [***** Order. Vitalis, p 816.] + +The acquisition of Normandy was a great point of Henry’s ambition; being +the ancient patrimony of his family, and the only territory winch, +while in his possession, gave him any weight or consideration on the +continent: but the injustice of his usurpation was the source of great +inquietude, involved him in frequent wars, and obliged him to impose on +his English subjects those many heavy and arbitrary taxes, of which all +the historians of that age unanimously complain.[*] His nephew William +was but six years of age when he committed him to the care of Helie +de St. Saen; and it is probable that his reason for intrusting that +important charge to a man of so unblemished a character, was to prevent +all malignant suspicions, in case any accident should befall the life +of the young prince, {1110.} He soon repented of his choice; but when +he desired to recover possession of William’s person, Helie withdrew his +pupil, and carried him to the court of Fulk, count of Anjou, who gave +him protection.[**] + + [* Eadmer, p. 83. Chron. Sax. p. 211, 212, 213, + 219, 220, 228. H Hunting. p. 380. Hoveden, p. 470. Aimal. + Waverl. p. 143.] + + [** Ordei Vitalis, p 837.] + +In proportion as the prince grew up to man’s estate, he discovered +virtues becoming his birth; and wandering through different courts of +Europe, he excited the friendly compassion of many princes, and raised a +general indignation against his uncle, who had so unjustly bereaved him +of his inheritance. Lewis the Gross son of Philip, was at this time king +of France, a brave and generous prince, who, having been obliged, during +the lifetime of his father, to fly into England, in order to escape the +persecutions of his step-mother Gertrude, had been protected by Henry, +and had thence conceived a personal friendship for him. But these +ties were soon dissolved after the accession of Lewis, who found his +interests to be, in so many particulars opposite to those of the English +monarch, and who became sensible of the danger attending the annexation +of Normandy to England. He joined, therefore, the counts of Anjou and +Flanders in giving disquiet to Henry’s government; and this monarch, in +order to defend his foreign dominions, found himself obliged to go over +to Normandy, where he resided two years. The war which ensued among +those princes was attended with no memorable event, and produced only +slight skirmishes on the frontiers, agreeably to the weak condition of +the sovereigns in that age, whenever their subjects were not roused by +some great and urgent occasion. Henry, by contracting his eldest +son, William, to the daughter of Fulk, detached that prince from the +alliance, and obliged the others to come to an accommodation with him. +This peace was not of long duration. His nephew William retired to the +court of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, who espoused his cause; and the king +of France, having soon after, for other reasons, joined the party, a new +war was kindled in Normandy, which produced no event more memorable than +had attended the former. {1118.} At last the death of Baldwin, who was +slain in an action near Eu, gave some respite to Henry, and enabled him +to carry on war with more advantage against his enemies. + +Lewis, finding himself unable to wrest Normandy from the king by force +of arms, had recourse to the dangerous expedient of applying to the +spiritual power, and of affording the ecclesiastics a pretence to +interpose in the temporal concerns of princes. {1019.} He carried young +William to a general council, which was assembled at Rheims, by Pope +Calixtus II., presented the Norman prince to them, complained of the +manifest usurpation and injustice of Henry, craved the assistance of the +church for reinstating the true heir in his dominions, and represented +the enormity of detaining in captivity so brave a prince as Robert, +one of the most eminent champions of the cross, and who, by that very +quality, was placed under the immediate protection of the holy see. +Henry knew how to defend the rights of his crown with vigor, and yet +with dexterity. He had sent over the English bishops to this synod; +but at the same time had warned them, that, if any further claims were +started by the pope or the ecclesiastics, he was determined to adhere +to the laws and customs of England and maintain the prerogatives +transmitted to him by his predecessors. “Go,” said he to them, “salute +the pope in my name; hear his apostolical precepts; but take care to +bring none of his new inventions into my kingdom.” Finding, however, +that it would be easier for him to elude than oppose the efforts of +Calixtus, he gave his ambassadors orders to gain the pope and his +favorites by liberal presents and promises. The complaints of the Norman +prince were thenceforth heard with great coldness by the council; and +Calixtus confessed, after a conference which he had the same sunaaier +with Henry, and when that prince probably renewed his presents, that, +of all men whom he had ever yet been acquainted with, he was, beyond +comparison, the most eloquent and persuasive. + +The warlike measures of Lewis proved as ineffectual as his intrigues. +He had laid a scheme for surprising Noyon; but Henry, having received +intelligence of the design, marched to the relief of the place, and +suddenly attacked the French at Brenneville, as they were advancing +towards it. A sharp conflict ensued, where Prince William behaved with +great bravery, and the king himself was in the most imminent danger. He +was wounded in the head by Crispin, a gallant Norman officer, who had +followed the fortunes of William;[*] but being rather animated than +terrified by the blow, he immediately beat his antagonist to the ground, +and so encouraged his troops by the example, that they put the French to +total rout, and had very nearly taken their king prisoner. The dignity +of the persons engaged in this skirmish rendered it the most memorable +action of the war; for in other respects it was not of great importance. +There were nine hundred horsemen who fought on both sides, yet were +there only two persons slain. The rest were defended by that heavy armor +worn by the cavalry in those times.[**] An accommodation soon after +ensued between the kings of France and England, and the interests of +young William were entirely neglected in it. + + [* H. Hunting, p. 381. M. Paris, p 47. Diceto, p. + 503.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 854.] + +{1120.} But this public prosperity of Henry was much overbalanced by +a domestic calamity, which befell him. His only son, William, had now +reached his eighteenth year; and the king, from the facility with which +he himself had usurped the crown, dreading that a like revolution might +subvert his family, had taken care to have him recognized successor by +the states of the kingdom, and had carried him over to Normandy, that he +might receive the homage of the barons of that duchy. The king, on his +return, set sail from Barfleur, and was soon carried by a fair wind +out of sight of land. The prince was detained by some accident; and his +sailors, as well as their captain, Thomas Fitz-Stephens, having spent +me interval in drinking, were so flustered, that, being in a hurry to +follow the king, they heedlessly carried the ship on a rock, where she +immediately foundered. William was put into the long boat, and had got +clear of the ship, when, hearing the cries of his natural sister, the +countess of Perche, he ordered the seamen to row back, in hopes of +saving her: but the numbers who then crowded in, soon sunk the boat; +and the prince with all his retinue perished. Above a hundred and forty +young noblemen, of the principal families of England and Normandy, were +lost on this occasion. A butcher of Rouen was the only person on board +who escaped:[*] he clung to the mast, and was taken up next morning by +fishermen. Fitz-Stephens also took hold of the mast; but being informed +by the butcher that Prince William had perished, he said that he +would not survive the disaster; and he threw himself headlong into the +sea.[**] Henry entertained hopes for three days that his son had put +into some distant port of England; but when certain intelligence of the +calamity was brought him, he fainted away; and it was remarked, that +he never after was seen to smile, nor ever recovered his wonted +cheerfulness.[***] + +The death of William may be regarded, in one respect, as a misfortune +to the English; because it was the immediate source of those civil +wars which, after the demise of the king, caused such confusion in the +kingdom; but it is remarkable, that the young prince had entertained a +violent aversion to the natives; and had been heard to threaten, that +when he should be king he would make them draw the plough, and would +turn them into beasts of burden. These prepossessions he inherited from +his father; who, though he was wont, when it might serve his purpose, to +value himself on his birth, as a native of England,[****] showed, in the +course of his government, an extreme prejudice against that people. All +hopes of preferment to ecclesiastical as well as civil dignities were +denied them during this whole reign; and any foreigner, however +ignorant or worthless, was sure to have the preference in every +competition.[*****] As the English had given no disturbance to the +government during the course of fifty years, this inveterate antipathy +in a prince of so much temper as well as penetration, forms a +presumption that the English of that age were still a rude and barbarous +people even compared to the Normans, and impresses us with no very +favorable idea of the Anglo-Saxon manners. + +Prince William left no children; and the king had not now any legitimate +issue, except one daughter, Matilda, whom, in 1110, he had betrothed, +though only eight years of age,[******] to the emperor Henry V., and +whom he had then sent over to be educated in Germany.[*******] [13] + + [* Sim. Dunelm. p. 242. Alured. Beverl. p. 148.] + + [** Order. Vitalis, p. 868.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 476. Order. Vitalis, p. 869.] + + [**** Gul. Neubr. lib. i. cap, 3.] + + [***** Eadmer, p 110.] + + [****** Chron, Sax. p. 215. W. Malms, p. 166. + Order. Vitalis, p 83] + + [******* See note M, at the end of the volume.] + +But as her absence from the kingdom, and her marriage into a foreign +family, might endanger the succession, Henry, who was now a widower, +was induced to marry, in hopes of having male heirs; and he made his +addresses to Adelais, daughter of Godfrey, duke of Lovainc, and niece +of Pope Calixtus, a young princess of an amiable person.[*] {1121.} But +Adelais brought him no children; and the prince who was most likely to +dispute the succession, and even the immediate possession of the crown, +recovered hopes of subverting his rival, who had successively seized all +his patrimonial dominions. William, the son of Duke Robert, was still +protected in the French court; and as Henry’s connections with the count +of Anjou were broken off by the death of his son, Fulk joined the party +of the unfortunate prince, gave him his daughter in marriage, and aided +him in raising disturbances in Normandy. But Henry found the means +of drawing off the count of Anjou, by forming anew with him a nearer +connection than the former, and one more material to the interests of +that count’s family. {1127.} The emperor, his son-in-law, dying without +issue, he bestowed his daughter on Geoffrey, the eldest son of Fulk, and +endeavored to insure her succession, by having her recognized heir to +all his dominions, and obliging the barons both of Normandy and England +to swear fealty to her. He hoped that the choice of this husband would +be more agreeable to all his subjects than that of the emperor; as +securing them from the danger of falling under the dominion of a great +and distant potentate, {1128.} who might bring them into subjection, +and reduce their country to the rank of a province; but the barons were +displeased that a step so material to national interests had been taken +without consulting them;[**] and Henry had too sensibly experienced +the turbulence of their disposition not to dread the effects of their +resentment. + + [* Chron. Sax. p. 223. W. Malms, p. 165.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 175. The Annals of (Waverly p. + 150) say that the king asked and obtained the consent of all + the barons.] + +It seemed probable that his nephew’s party might gain force from the +increase of the malecontents; an accession of power, which that prince +acquired a little after, tended to render his pretensions still more +dangerous. Charles, earl of Flanders, being assassinated during the +celebration of divine service, King Lewis immediately put the young +prince in possession of that county, to which he had pretensions in the +right of his grandmother Matilda, wife to the Conqueror. But William +survived a very little time this piece of good fortune, which seemed to +open the way to still further prosperity. He was killed in a skirmish +with the landgrave of Alsace, his competitor for Flanders; and his death +put an end, for the present, to the jealousy and inquietude of Henry. + +The chief merit of this monarch’s government consists in the profound +tranquillity which he established and maintained throughout all his +dominions during the greater part of his reign. The mutinous barons were +retained in subjection; and his neighbors, in every attempt which they +made upon him, found him so well prepared that they were discouraged +from continuing or renewing their enterprises. In order to repress the +incursions of the Welsh, he brought over some Flemings in the year +1111, and settled them in Pembrokeshire, where they long maintained +a different language, and customs, and manners, from their neighbors. +Though his government seems to have been arbitrary in England, it was +judicious and prudent; and was as little oppressive as the necessity +of his affairs would permit. He wanted not attention to the redress +of grievances; and historians mention in particular the levying of +purveyance, which he endeavored to moderate and restrain. The tenants +in the king’s demesne lands were at that time obliged to supply, gratis, +the court with provisions, and to furnish carriages on the same hard +terms, when the king made a progress, as he did frequently, into any +of the counties. These exactions were so grievous, and levied in so +licentious a manner, that the farmers, when they heard of the approach +of the court, often deserted their houses, as if an enemy had invaded +the country;[*] and sheltered their persons and families in the +woods, from the insults of the king’s retinue. Henry prohibited those +enormities, and punished the persons guilty of them by cutting off their +hands, legs, or other members.[**] But the prerogative was perpetual; +the remedy applied by Henry was temporary; and the violence itself of +this remedy, so far from giving security to the people, was only a proof +of the ferocity of the government, and threatened a quick return of like +abuses. + + [* Eadmer, p. 94. Chron. Sax., p. 212.] + + [** Eadmer, p. 94.] + +One great and difficult object of the king’s prudence was the guarding +against the encroachments of the court of Rome, and protecting the +liberties of the church of England. The pope, in the year 1101, had sent +Guy, archbishop of Vienne, as legate into Britain; and though he was the +first that for many years had appeared there in that character, and +his commission gave general surprise,[*] the king, who was then in the +commencement of his reign, and was involved in many difficulties, was +obliged to submit to this encroachment on his authority. But in the +year 1116, Anselm, abbot of St. Sabas, who was coming over with a like +legantine commission, was prohibited from entering the kingdom;[**] +and Pope Calixtus, who in his turn was then laboring under many +difficulties, by reason of the pretensions of Gregory, an antipope, +was obliged to promise that he never would for the future, except +when solicited by the king himself, send any legate into England.[***] +Notwithstanding this engagement, the pope, as soon as he had suppressed +his antagonist, granted the cardinal De Crema a legantine commission +over that kingdom; and the king, who, by reason of his nephew’s +intrigues and invasions, found himself at that time in a +dangerous situation, was obliged to submit to the exercise of this +commission.[****] A synod was called by the legate at London; where, +among other canons, a vote passed enacting severe penalties on the +marriages of the clergy.[*****] The cardinal, in a public harangue, +declared it to be an unpardonable enormity, that a priest should dare to +consecrate and touch the body of Christ immediately after he had risen +from the side of a strumpet; for that was the decent appellation which +he gave to the wives of the clergy. But it happened, that the very next +night the officers of justice, breaking into a disorderly house, found +the cardinal in bed with a courtesan;[******] an incident which threw +such ridicule upon him, that he immediately stole out of the kingdom; +the synod broke up; and the canons against the marriage of clergymen +were worse executed than ever.[*******] + + [* Eadmer, p. 58.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 474.] + + [*** Eadmer, p. 125, 137, 138.] + + [**** Chron. Sax. p. 229.] + + [***** Spel. Concil. vol. ii. p. 34.] + + [****** Hoveden, p. 478. M. Paris. p. 48.] + + [******* M. West. ad ann 1125. H. Hunting. p. 382.] + +It is remarkable that this last writer, who was a clergyman as well as +the others, makes an apology for using such freedom with the fathers of +the church; but says, that the fact was notorious, and ought not to be +concealed. + +Henry, in order to prevent this alternate revolution of concessions +and encroachments, sent William, then archbishop of Canterbury, to +remonstrate with the court of Rome against those abuses, and to assert +the liberties of the English church. It was a usual maxim with every +pope, when he found that he could not prevail in any pretension, to +grant princes or states a power which they had always exercised, to +resume at a proper juncture the claim which seemed to be resigned, and +to pretend that the civil magistrate had possessed the authority only +from a special indulgence of the Roman pontiff. After this manner, +the pope, finding that the French nation would not admit his claim +of granting investitures, had passed a bull, giving the king that +authority; and he now practised a like invention to elude the complaints +of the king of England. He made the archbishop of Canterbury his legate, +renewed his commission from time to time, and still pretended that +the rights which that prelate had ever exercised as metropolitan, were +entirely derived from the indulgence of the apostolic see. The English +princes, and Henry in particular, who were glad to avoid any immediate +contest of so dangerous a nature, commonly acquiesced by their silence +in these pretensions of the court of Rome.[*] [14] + + [* See note N, at the end of the volume.] + +{1131.} As every thing in England remained in tranquillity, Henry took +the opportunity of paying a visit to Normandy, to which he was invited, +as well by his affection for that country as by his tenderness for his +daughter the empress Matilda, who was always his favorite. Some time +after, that princess was delivered of a son, {1132.} who received the +name of Henry; and the king, further to insure her succession, made all +the nobility of England and Normandy renew the oath of fealty, {1135.} +which they had already sworn to her.[*] The joy of this event, and +the satisfaction which he reaped from his daughter’s company, who +bore successively two other sons, made his residence in Normandy very +agreeable to him;[**] and he seemed determined to pass the remainder of +his days in that country, when an incursion of the Welsh obliged him to +think of returning into England. He was preparing for the journey, but +was seized with a sudden illness at St. Dennis le Forment, from eating +too plentifully of lampreys, a food which always agreed better with his +palate than his constitution.[***] + + [* W. Malms, p. 177.] + + [** H. Hunting, p. 315.] + + [*** H. Hunting, p. 385. M. Paris p. 50.] + +He died in the sixty-seventh year of his age and the thirty-fifth year +of his reign, leaving by will his daughter Matilda heir of all his +dominions, without making any mention of her husband, Geoffrey, who had +given him several causes of displeasure.[*] + + [* W. Malms, p. 178.] + +This prince was one of the most accomplished that has filled the English +throne, and possessed all the great qualities both of body and mind, +natural and acquired, which could fit him for the high station to which +he attained. His person was manly, his countenance engaging, his eyes +clear serene, and penetrating. The affability of his address encouraged +those who might be overawed by the sense of his dignity or of his +wisdom; and though he often indulged his facetious humor, he knew how to +temper it with discretion, and ever kept at a distance from all indecent +familiarities with his courtiers. His superior eloquence and judgment +would have given him an ascendant, even had he been born in a private +station; and his personal bravery would have procured him respect, +though it had been less supported by art and policy. By his great +progress in literature, he acquired the name of ‘Beauclerk,’ or the +scholar; but his application to those sedentary pursuits abated nothing +of the activity and vigilance of his government; and though the learning +of that age was better fitted to corrupt than improve the understanding, +his natural good sense preserved itself untainted both from the pedantry +and superstition which were then so prevalent among men of letters. His +temper was susceptible of the sentiments as well of friendship as of +resentment; and his ambition, though high, might be deemed moderate and +reasonable, had not his conduct towards his brother and nephew showed +that he was too much disposed to sacrifice to it all the maxims of +justice and equity. But the total incapacity of Robert for government +afforded his younger brother a reason or pretence for seizing the +sceptre both of England and Normandy; and when violence and usurpation +are once begun, necessity obliges a prince to continue in the same +criminal course, and engages him in measures which his better judgment +and sounder principles would otherwise have induced him to reject with +warmth and indignation. + +King Henry was much addicted to women; and historians mention no less +than seven illegitimate sons and six daughters born to him.[*] Hunting +was also one of his favorite amusements; and he exercised great rigor +against those who encroached on the royal forests, which were augmented +during his reign,[**] though their number and extent were already too +great. To kill a stag was as criminal as to murder a man: he made all +the dogs be mutilated which were kept on the borders of his forests; and +he sometimes deprived his subjects of the liberty of hunting on their +own lands, or even cutting their own woods. In other respects he +executed justice, and that with rigor; the best maxim which a prince +in that age could follow. Stealing was first made capital in this +reign;[***] false coining, which was then a very common crime, and by +which the money had been extremely debased, was severely punished by +Henry.* Near fifty criminals of this kind were at one time hanged or +mutilated; and though these punishments seem to have been exercised in +a manner somewhat arbitrary, they were grateful to the people, more +attentive to present advantages than jealous of general laws. There is +a code which passes under the name of Henry I.; but the best antiquaries +have agreed to think it spurious. It is, however, a very ancient +compilation, and may be useful to instruct us in the manners and customs +of the times. We learn from it, that a great distinction was then made +between the English and Normans, much to the advantage of the latter.* +The deadly feuds and the liberty of private revenge, which had been +avowed by the Saxon laws, were still continued, and were not yet wholly +illegal.[****] + +Among the laws granted on the king’s accession, it is remarkable that +the reunion of the civil and ecclesiastical courts, as in the Saxon +times, was enacted.[*****] But this law, like the articles of his +charter, remained without effect, probably from the opposition of +Archbishop Anselm. + + [Footnonte * Sim. Dunelm. p. 231. Brompton, p. 1000. Flor. Wigorn. p. + 653 Hoveden, p. 471.] + + [Footnonte ** Sim. Dunelm. p. 231. Brompton, p. 1000. Hoveden, p. 471 + Annal. Waverl. p. 149.] + + [Footnonte *** LL. Hen. I. sect. 18, 75.] + + [Footnonte **** LL. Hen. I. sect. 82.] + + [Footnonte ***** Spel. p. 305. Blackstone, vol. iii. p. 63. Coke, 2 + Inst. 70.] + +Henry, on his accession, granted a charter to London, which seems to +have been the first step towards rendering that city a corporation. By +this charter, the city was empowered to keep the farm of Middlesex at +three hundred pounds a year, to elect its own sheriff and justiciary, +and to bold pleas of the crown; and it was exempted from scot, +danegelt, trials by combat, and lodging the king’s retinue These, with +a confirmation of the privileges of their court of hustings, wardmotes, +and common halls, and their liberty of hunting in Middlesex and Surrey, +are the chief articles of this charter.[*] + +It is said [**] that this prince, from indulgence to his tenants, +changed the rents of his demesnes, which were formerly paid in kind, +into money, which was more easily remitted to the exchequer. But the +great scarcity of coin would render that commutation difficult to be +executed, while at the same time provisions could not be sent to a +distant quarter of the kingdom. This affords a probable reason why the +ancient kings of England so frequently changed their place of abode: +they carried their court from one place to another, that they might +consume upon the spot the revenue of their several demesnes. + + [Footnonte * Lambardi Archaionomia, ex edit. Twisden. + Wilkins, p. 385.] + + [Footnonte ** Dail. de Scaocario, lib. i. cap. 7.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +[Illustration: 095.jpg STEPHEN] + + + + +STEPHEN. + +_Contemporary Monarchs._ + + EMP. OF GERM K. OF SCOTLAND. K. OF FRANCE K. OF SPAIN. + + Lothaire II. 1138 David I. 1143 Louis VI. 1137 Alphonse VIII. + Conrad III. 1152 Malcolm IV. Louis VII. + Frederic I. Lucius II.1145 + + POPES + Innocent II. 1142 + Celestin II. 1144 + Eugenius III. 1153 + Anastasius IV. + +{1135.} IN the progress and settlement of the feudal law, the male +succession to fiefs had taken place some time before the female was +admitted; and estates, being considered as military benefices, not as +property, were transmitted to such only as could serve in the armies, +and perform in person the conditions upon which they were originally +granted. But when the continuance of rights, during some generations, +in the same family, had, in a great measure, obliterated the primitive +idea, the females were gradually admitted to the possession of feudal +property; and the same revolution of principles which procured them the +inheritance of private estates, naturally introduced their succession to +government and authority. The failure, therefore, of male heirs to the +kingdom of England and duchy of Normandy, seemed to leave the succession +open, without a rival, to the empress Matilda; and as Henry had made all +his vassals in both states swear fealty to her, he presumed that they +would not easily be induced to depart at once from her hereditary right, +and from their own reiterated oaths and engagements. But the irregular +manner in which he himself had acquired the crown might have instructed +him, that neither his Norman nor English subjects were as yet capable of +adhering to a strict rule of government; and as every precedent of this +kind seems to give authority to new usurpations, he had reason to dread, +even from his own family, some invasion of his daughter’s title, which +he had taken such pains to establish. + +Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, had been married to Stephen, +count of Blois, and had brought him several sons; among whom Stephen and +Henry, the two youngest, had been invited over to England by the late +king and had received great honors, riches, and preferment, from the +zealous friendship which that prince bore to every one that had been +so fortunate as to acquire his favor and good opinion. Henry, who had +betaken himself to the ecclesiastical profession, was created abbot of +Glastonbury and bishop of Winchester; and though these dignities +were considerable, Stephen had, from his uncle’s liberality, attained +establishments still more solid and durable.[*] The king had married him +to Matilda, who was daughter and heir of Eustace, count of Boulogne, and +who brought him, besides that feudal sovereignty in France, an immense +property in England, which, in the distribution of lands, had been +conferred by the Conqueror on the family of Boulogne. Stephen also +by this marriage acquired a new connection with the royal family of +England, as Mary, his wife’s mother, was sister to David, the reigning +king of Scotland, and to Matilda, the first wife of Henry, and mother +of the empress. The king, still imagining that he strengthened the +interests of his family by the aggrandizement of Stephen, took pleasure +in enriching him by the grant of new possessions; and he conferred on +him the great estate forfeited by Robert Mallet in England, and that +forfeited by the earl of Mortaigne in Normandy. Stephen, in return, +professed great attachment to his uncle, and appeared so zealous for +the succession of Matilda, that, when the barons swore fealty to that +princess, he contended with Robert, earl of Glocester, the king’s +natural son, who should first be admitted to give her this testimony of +devoted zeal and fidelity.[**] Meanwhile he continued to cultivate, by +every art of popularity, the friendship of the English nation; and many +virtues with which he seemed to be endowed, favored the success of his +intentions. By his bravery, activity, and vigor, he acquired the +esteem of the barons; by his generosity, and by an affable and familiar +address, unusual in that age among men of his high quality, he obtained +the affections of the people, particularly of the Londoners.[***] And +though he dared not to take any steps towards his further grandeur, lest +he should expose himself to the jealousy of so penetrating a prince as +Henry, he still hoped that, by accumulating riches and power, and by +acquiring popularity, he might in time be able to open his way to the +throne. + + [* Gul. Neubr. p. 360. Brompton, p. 1023.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 192.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 179. Gest. Steph. p. 925.] + +No sooner had Henry breathed his last, than Stephen, insensible to all +the ties of gratitude and fidelity, and blind to danger, gave full reins +to his criminal ambition; and trusted that, even without any previous +intrigue, the celerity of his enterprise, and the boldness of his +attempt, might overcome the weak attachment which the English and +Normans in that age bore to the laws and to the rights of their +sovereign. He hastened over to England, and though the citizens of +Dover and those of Canterbury, apprised of his purpose, shut their gates +against him, he stopped not till he arrived at London, where some of +the lower rank, instigated by his emissaries, as well as moved by his +general popularity, immediately saluted him king. His next point was to +acquire the good will of the clergy; and by performing the ceremony of +his coronation, to put himself in possession of the throne, from which +he was confident it would not be easy afterwards to expel him. His +brother, the bishop of Winchester, was useful to him in these capital +articles; having gained Roger, bishop of Salisbury, who, though he owed +a great fortune and advancement to the favor of the late king, +preserved no sense of gratitude to that prince’s family, he applied, in +conjunction with that prelate, to William, archbishop of Canterbury, +and required him, in virtue of his office, to give the royal unction +to Stephen. The primate, who, as all the others, had sworn fealty +to Matilda, refused to perform this ceremony; but his opposition was +overcome by an expedient equally dishonorable with the other steps +by which this revolution was effected. Hugh Bigod, steward of the +household, made oath before the primate, that the late king, on his +death-bed, had shown a dissatisfaction with his daughter Matilda, and +had expressed his intention of leaving the count of Boulogne heir to +all his dominions.[*] William, either believing or feigning to believe +Bigod’s testimony, anointed Stephen, and put the crown upon his head; +and from this religious ceremony, that prince, without any shadow, +either of hereditary title or consent of the nobility or people, was +allowed to proceed to the exercise of sovereign authority. Very few +barons attended his coronation;[**] but none opposed his usurpation, +however unjust or flagrant. + + [* M. Paris, p. 51. Diccto, p. 505 Chron. Durst. + p. 23.] + + [* Brompton, p. 1023.] + +The sentiment of religion which, if corrupted into superstition, has +often little efficacy in fortifying the duties of civil society, was +not affected by the multiplied oaths taken in favor of Matilda, and only +rendered the people obedient to a prince who was countenanced by the +clergy, and who had received from the primate the rite of royal unction +and consecration.[*] + +Stephen, that he might further secure his tottering throne passed a +charter, in which he made liberal promises to all orders of men; to +the clergy, that he would speedily fill all vacant benefices, and would +never levy the rents of any of them during the vacancy; to the nobility, +that he would reduce the royal forests to their ancient boundaries, and +correct all encroachments; and to the people, that he would remit the +tax of danegelt, and restore the laws of King Edward.[**] The late king +had a great treasure at Winchester, amounting to a hundred thousand +pounds; and Stephen, by seizing this money, immediately turned against +Henry’s family the precaution which that prince had employed for their +grandeur and security; an event which naturally attends the policy of +amassing treasures. By means of this money, the usurper insured the +compliance, though not the attachment, of the principal clergy and +nobility; but not trusting to this frail security, he invited over from +the continent, particularly from Brittany and Flanders, great numbers +of those bravoes, or disorderly soldiers, with whom every country in +Europe, by reason of the general ill police and turbulent government, +extremely abounded.[***] These mercenary troops guarded his throne by +the terrors of the sword; and Stephen, that he might also overawe all +malecontents by new and additional terrors of religion, procured a bull +from Rome, which ratified his title, and which the pope, seeing this +prince in possession of the throne, and pleased with an appeal to his +authority in secular controversies, very readily granted him.[****] + + [* Such stress was formerly laid on the right of + coronation, that the monkish, writers never give any prince + the title of king till he is crowned, though he had for some + time been in possession of the crown, and exercised all the + powers of sovereignty.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 179. Hoveden, p. 482.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 179.] + + [**** Hagulstadt, p. 259, 313.] + +{1136.} Matilda and her husband Geoffrey were as unfortunate in Normandy +as they had been in England. The Norman nobility, moved by an hereditary +animosity against the Angevins, first applied to Theobold, count of +Blois, Stephen’s elder brother for protection and assistance; but +hearing afterwards that Stephen had got possession of the English crown, +and having, many of them, the same reasons as formerly for desiring a +continuance of their union with that kingdom, they transferred their +allegiance to Stephen, and put him in possession of their government. +Lewis the younger, the reigning king of France, accepted the homage +of Eustace, Stephen’s eldest son, for the duchy; and the more to +corroborate his connections with that family, he betrothed his sister +Constantia to the young prince. The count of Blois assigned all his +pretensions, and received in lieu of them an annual pension of two +thousand marks; and Geoffrey himself was obliged to conclude a truce for +two years with Stephen, on condition of the king’s paying him, during +that time, a pension of five thousand.[*] Stephen, who had taken a +journey to Normandy, finished all these transactions in person, and soon +after returned to England. + +Robert, earl of Glocester, natural son of the late king, was a man of +honor and abilities; and as he was much attached to the interests of his +sister Matilda, and zealous for the lineal succession, it was chiefly +from his intrigues and resistance that the king had reason to dread a +new revolution of government. This nobleman, who was in Normandy when +he received intelligence of Stephen’s accession, found himself much +embarrassed concerning the measures which he should pursue in that +difficult emergency. To swear allegiance to the usurper appeared to him +dishonorable, and a breach of his oath to Matilda: to refuse giving +this pledge of his fidelity was to banish himself from England, and be +totally incapacitated from serving the royal family, or contributing to +their restoration.[**] He offered Stephen to do him homage, and to take +the oath of fealty; but with an express condition, that the king should +maintain all his stipulations, and should never invade any of Robert’s +rights or dignities; and Stephen, though sensible that this reserve, so +unusual in itself, and so unbefitting the duty of a subject, was meant +only to afford Robert a pretence for a revolt on the first favorable +opportunity, was obliged by the numerous friends and retainers of that +nobleman, to receive him on those terms.[***] + + [* M. Paris, p. 52.] + + [** W. Malms, p. 170.] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 179. M Paris, p. 51.] + + +The clergy, who could scarcely at this time be deemed subjects to the +crown, imitated that dangerous example: they annexed to their oaths of +allegiance this condition, that they were only bound so long as the king +defended the ecclesiastical liberties, and supported the discipline of +the church.[*] The barons, in return for their submission, exacted terms +still more destructive of public peace, as well as of royal authority. +Many of them required the right of fortifying their castles, and of +putting themselves in a posture of defence; and the king found himself +totally unable to refuse his consent to this exorbitant demand.[**] All +England was immediately filled with those fortresses, which the noblemen +garrisoned either with their vassals, or with licentious soldiers, who +flocked to them from all quarters. Unbounded rapine was exercised upon +the people for the maintenance of these troops; and private animosities, +which had with difficulty been restrained by law, now breaking out +without control, rendered England a scene of uninterrupted violence and +devastation. Wars between the nobles were carried on with the utmost +fury in every quarter; the barons even assumed the right of coining +money, and of exercising, without appeal, every act of jurisdiction; +[***] and the inferior gentry, as well as the people, finding no defence +from the laws during this total dissolution of sovereign authority, were +obliged, for their immediate safety, to pay court to some neighboring +chieftain, and to purchase his protection, both by submitting to his +exactions, and by assisting him in his rapine upon others. The erection +of one castle proved the immediate cause of building many others; and +even those who obtained not the king’s permission, thought that they +were entitled, by the great principle of self-preservation, to put +themselves on an equal footing with their neighbors, who commonly +were also their enemies and rivals. The aristocratical power, which is +usually so oppressive in the Feudal governments, had now risen to its +utmost height, during the reign of a prince who, though endowed with +vigor and abilities, had usurped the throne without the pretence of a +title, and who was necessitated to tolerate in others the same violence +to which he himself had been holden for his sovereignty. + + [* W. Malms, p. 179.] + + [** W. Malms, p, 180] + + [*** Trivet, p, 19 Gul Neub. p. 372. W. Heming. p. + 487. Brompton, p. 1035.] + +But Stephen was not of a disposition to submit long to these +usurpations, without making some effort for the recovery of royal +authority. Finding that the legal prerogatives of the crown were +resisted and abridged, he was also tempted to make his power the sole +measure of his conduct, and to violate all those concessions which he +himself had made on his accession,[*] as well as the ancient privileges +of his subjects. The mercenary soldiers, who chiefly supported +his authority, having exhausted the royal treasure, subsisted by +depredations; and every place was filled with the best grounded +complaints against the government. The earl of Glocester, having now +settled with his friends the plan of an insurrection, retired beyond +sea, sent the king a defiance, solemnly renounced his allegiance, and +upbraided him with the breach of those conditions which had been annexed +to the oath of fealty sworn by that nobleman.[**] + + [* W. Malms, p. 180. M. Paris, p. 5 ] + + [** W. Malms, p. 180.] + +{1137.} David, king of Scotland, appeared at the head of an army in +defence of his niece’s title, and penetrating into Yorkshire, committed +the most barbarous devastations on that country. {1138.} The fury of his +massacres and ravages enraged the northern nobility, who might otherwise +have been inclined to join him; and William, earl of Albemarle, Robert +de Ferrers, William Piercy, Robert de Brus, Roger Moubray, Ilbert Lacy, +Walter l’Espee, powerful barons in those parts, assembled an army, with +which they encamped at North Allerton, and awaited the arrival of +the enemy. A great battle was here fought, called the battle of the +Standard, from a high crucifix, erected by the English on a wagon, and +carried along with the army as a military ensign. The king of Scots was +defeated; and he himself, as well as his son Henry, narrowly escaped +falling into the hands of the English. This success overawed the +malecontents in England, and might have given some stability to +Stephen’s throne, had he not been so elated with prosperity as to engage +in a controversy with the clergy, who were at that time an overmatch for +any monarch. + +Though the great power of the church, in ancient times, weakened the +authority of the crown, and interrupted the course of the laws, it may +be doubted whether, in ages of such violence and outrage, it was not +rather advantageous that some limits were set to the power of the sword, +both in the hands of the prince and nobles, and that men were taught +to pay regard to some principles and privileges. {1139.} The chief +misfortune was, that the prelates, on some occasions, acted entirely +as barons, employed military power against their sovereign or their +neighbors, and thereby often increased those disorders which it was +their duty to repress. The bishop of Salisbury, in imitation of the +nobility, had built two strong castles, one at Sherborne, another at +the Devizes, and had laid the foundations of a third at Malmsbury: his +nephew; Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, had erected a fortress at Newark; +and Stephen, who was now sensible from experience of the mischiefs +attending these multiplied; citadels, resolved to begin with destroying +those of the clergy, who by their function seemed less entitled than the +barons to such military securities.[*] Making pretence of a fray, which +had arisen in court between the retinue of the bishop of Salisbury and +that of the earl of Brittany, he seized both that prelate and the bishop +of Lincoln, threw them into prison, and obliged them by menaces to +deliver up those places of strength which they had lately erected.[**] + +Henry, bishop of Winchester, the king’s brother, being armed with a +legantine commission, now conceived himself to be an ecclesiastical +sovereign no less powerful than the civil; and forgetting the ties of +blood which connected him with the king, he resolved to vindicate the +clerical privileges which, he pretended, were here openly violated. He +assembled a synod at Westminster, and there complained of the impiety +of Stephen’s measures, who had employed violence against the dignitaries +of the church, and had not awaited the sentence of a spiritual court, by +which alone, he affirmed, they could lawfully be tried and condemned, if +their conduct had anywise merited censure or punishment.[***] The synod, +ventured to send a summons to the king, charging him to appear before +them, and to justify his measures;[****] and Stephen, instead of +resenting this indignity, sent Aubrey de Vere to plead his cause +before that assembly. De Vere accused; the two prelates of treason and +sedition; but the synod refused, to try the cause, or examine their +conduct, till those castles of which they had been dispossessed, were +previously restored to them.[*****] The bishop of Salisbury declared, +that he would appeal to the pope; and had not Stephen and his partisans +employed menaces, and even shown a disposition of executing violence +by the hands of the soldiery, affairs had instantly come to extremity +between the crown and the mitre.[******] + + [* Gul. Neub. p. 362.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p. 238. W. Malms, p. 181] + + [*** W. Malms p. 182.] + + [**** W. Malms, p. 182. M. Paris, p. 53,] + + [***** W. Malms, p 183.] + + [****** W. Malms p 183.] + +While this quarrel, joined to so many other grievances, increased the +discontents among the people, the empress, invited by the opportunity, +and secretly encouraged by the legate himself, landed in England, with +Robert, earl of Glocester, and a retinue of a hundred and forty knights. +She fixed her residence at Arundel Castle, whose gates were opened to +her by Adelais, the queen dowager, now married to William de Albini, +earl of Sussex; and she excited, by messengers, her partisans to take +arms in every county of England. Adelais, who had expected that her +daughter-in-law would have invaded the kingdom with a much greater +force, became apprehensive of danger; and Matilda, to ease her of her +fears, removed first to Bristol, which belonged to her brother Robert, +thence to Glocester, where she remained under the protection of Milo, a +gallant nobleman in those parts, who had embraced her cause. Soon after, +Geoffrey Talbot, William Mohun, Ralph Lovell, William Fitz-John, William +Fitz-Alan, Paganell, and many other barons, declared for her; and her +party, which was generally favored in the kingdom, seemed every day to +gain ground upon that of her antagonist. + +Were we to relate all the military events transmitted to us by +contemporary and authentic historians, it would be easy to swell our +accounts of this reign into a large volume; but those incidents, so +little memorable in themselves, and so confused both in time and place, +could afford neither instruction nor entertainment to the reader. It +suffices to say, that the war was spread into every quarter; and that +those turbulent barons, who had already shaken off, in a great measure, +the restraint of government, having now obtained the pretence of +a public cause, carried on their devastations with redoubled fury, +exercised implacable vengeance on each other, and set no bounds to their +oppressions over the people. The castles of the nobility were become +receptacles of licensed robbers, who, sallying forth day and night, +committed spoil on the open country, on the villages, and even on the +cities; put the captives to torture, in order to make them reveal their +treasures; sold their persons to slavery; and set fire to their houses, +after they had pillaged them of every thing valuable. The fierceness of +their disposition, leading them to commit wanton destruction, frustrated +their rapacity of its purpose; and the property and persons even of the +ecclesiastics, generally so much revered, were at last, from necessity, +exposed to the same outrage which had laid waste the rest of the +kingdom. The land was left untilled; the instruments of husbandry were +destroyed or abandoned; and a grievous famine, the natural result +of those disorders, affected equally both parties, and reduced the +spoilers, as well as the defenceless people, to the most extreme want +and indigence.[*] + + [* Chron. Sax, p. 238. W. Malms, p. 185. Gest. + Steph. p. 961.] + +{1140.} After several fruitless negotiations and treaties of peace, +which never interrupted these destructive hostilities, there happened at +last an event which seemed to promise some end of the public calamities. +Ralph, earl of Chester, and his half-brother, William de Roumara, +partisans of Matilda, had surprised the Castle of Lincoln; but the +citizens, who were better affected to Stephen, having invited him to +their aid, that prince laid close siege to the castle, in hopes of soon +rendering himself master of the place, either by assault or by famine. +The earl of Glocester hastened with an army to the relief of his +friends; and Stephen, informed of his approach, took the field with a +resolution of giving him battle. {1141.} After a violent shock, the +two wings of the royalists were put to flight; and Stephen himself, +surrounded by the enemy, was at last, after exerting great efforts of +valor, borne down by numbers and taken prisoner. He was conducted to +Glocester; and though at first treated with humanity, was soon after, on +some suspicion, thrown into prison, and loaded with irons. + +Stephen’s party was entirely broken by the captivity of their leader, +and the barons came in daily from all quarters, and did homage to +Matilda. The princess, however, amidst all her prosperity, knew that she +was not secure of success, unless she could gain the confidence of +the clergy; and as the conduct of the legate had been of late very +ambiguous, and showed his intentions to have rather aimed at humbling +his brother, than totally ruining him, she employed every endeavor to +fix him in her interests. She held a conference with him in an open +plain near Winchester; where she promised upon oath, that if he would +acknowledge her for sovereign, would recognize her title as the sole +descendant of the late king, and would again submit to the allegiance +which he, as well as the rest of the kingdom, had sworn to her, +he should in return be entire master of the administration, and in +particular should, at his pleasure, dispose of all vacant bishoprics and +abbeys. Earl Robert, her brother, Brian Fitz-Count, Milo of Glocester, +and other great men, became guaranties for her observing these +engagements;[*] and the prelate was at last induced to promise her +allegiance, but that still burdened with the express condition, that +she should on her part fulfil her promises. He then conducted her to +Winchester, led her in procession to the cathedral, and with great +solemnity, in the presence of many bishops and abbots, denounced curses +against all those who cursed her, poured out blessings on those who +blessed her granted absolution to such as were obedient to her, and +excommunicated such as were rebellious.[**] Theobald, archbishop of +Canterbury, soon after came also to court, and swore allegiance to the +empress.[***] + + [* W. Malms, p. 187.] + + [** Chron. Sax. p 242. Contin. Flor. Wigorn. p. + 676] + + [*** W. Malms, p. 187.] + +Matilda, that she might further insure the attachment of the clergy, was +willing to receive the crown from their hands; and instead of assembling +the states of the kingdom, the measure which the constitution, had it +been either fixed or regarded, seemed necessarily to require, she was +content that the legate should summon an ecclesiastical synod, and +that her title to the throne should there be acknowledged. The legate, +addressing himself to the assembly, told them, that in the absence of +the empress, Stephen, his brother, had been permitted to reign, and, +previously to his ascending the throne, had seduced them by many fair +promises, of honoring and exalting the church, of maintaining the laws, +and of reforming all abuses; that it grieved him to observe how much +that prince had in every particular been wanting to his engagements; +public peace was interrupted, crimes were daily committed with +impunity, bishops were thrown into prison and forced to surrender their +possessions, abbeys were put to sale, churches were pillaged and +the most enormous disorders prevailed in the administration; that he +himself, in order to procure a redress of these grievances, had formerly +summoned the king before a council of bishops; but instead of inducing +him to amend his conduct, had rather offended him by that expedient; +that, how much soever misguided, that prince was still his brother, +and the object of his affections; but his interests, however, must be +regarded as subordinate to those of their heavenly Father, who had now +rejected him, and thrown him into the hands of his enemies; that it +principally belonged to the clergy to elect and ordain kings; he had +summoned them together for that purpose; and having invoked the divine +assistance, he now pronounced Matilda, the only descendant of Henry, +their late sovereign, queen of England. The whole assembly, by their +acclamations or silence, gave or seemed to give, their assent to this +declaration.[*] + +The only laymen summoned to this council, which decided the fate of +the crown, were the Londoners; and even these were required not to give +their opinion, but to submit to the decrees of the synod. The deputies +of London, however, were not so passive; they insisted that their king +should be delivered from prison; but were told by the legate, that it +became not the Londoners, who were regarded as noblemen in England, +to take part with those barons who had basely forsaken their lord in +battle, and who had treated holy church with contumely. It is with +reason that the citizens of London assumed so much authority, if it be +true, what is related by Fitz-Stephen, a contemporary author, that +that city should at this time bring into the field no less than eighty +thousand combatants.[**] + + [* W. Malms, p. 188. This author, a judicious man, + was present, and says that he was very attentive to what + passed. This speech therefore, may be regarded as entirely + genuine.] + + [** Were this account to be depended on, London + must at that time have contained near four hundred thousand + inhabitants, which is above double the number it contained + at the death of Queen Elizabeth. But these loose + calculations, or rather guesses, deserve very little + credit. Peter of Blois, a contemporary writer, and a man of + sense, says there were then only forty thousand inhabitants + in London, which is much more likely. See epist. 151. What + Fitz-Stephen says of the prodigious riches, splendor, and + commerce of London, proves only the great poverty of the + other towns of the kingdoms and indeed of all the northern + parts of Europe.] + +London, notwithstanding its great power, and its attachment to Stephen, +was at length obliged to submit to Matilda; and her authority, by the +prudent conduct of Earl Robert, seemed to be established over the whole +kingdom; but affairs remained not long in this situation. That princess, +besides the disadvantages of her sex, which weakened her influence over +a turbulent and martial people, was of a passionate, imperious spirit, +and knew not how to temper with affability the harshness of a refusal. +Stephen’s queen, seconded by many of the nobility, petitioned for the +liberty of her husband; and offered, that, on this condition, he should +renounce the crown, and retire into a convent. The legate desired +that Prince Eustace, his nephew, might inherit Boulogne and the other +patrimonial estates of his father.[*] The Londoners applied for the +establishment of King Edward’s laws, instead of those of King Henry, +which, they said, were grievous and oppressive.[**] All these petitions +were rejected in the most haughty and peremptory manner. + + [* Brompton, p. 1031.] + + [** Contin. Flor. Wigorn. p. 677. Gervase, p.1855] + +The legate, who had probably never been sincere in his compliance with +Matilda’s government, availed himself of the ill humor excited by this +imperious conduct, and secretly instigated the Londoners to a revolt. A +conspiracy was entered into to seize the person of the empress, and +she saved herself from the danger by a precipitate retreat. She fled to +Oxford: soon after she went to Winchester, whither the legate, desirous +to save appearances, and watching the opportunity to ruin her cause, had +retired. But having assembled all his retainers, he openly joined his +force to that of the Londoners, and to Stephen’s mercenary troops, +who had not yet evacuated the kingdom; and he besieged Matilda in +Winchester. The princess, being hard pressed by famine, made her escape; +but in the flight, Earl Robert, her brother, fell into the hands of the +enemy. This nobleman, though a subject, was as much the life and soul of +his own party, as Stephen was of the other: and the empress, sensible of +his merit and importance, consented to exchange the prisoners on equal +terms. The civil war was again kindled with greater fury than ever. + +{1142.} Earl Robert, finding the successes on both sides nearly +balanced, went over to Normandy, which, during Stephen’s captivity, had +submitted to the earl of Anjou; and he persuaded Geoffrey to allow his +eldest son, Henry, a young prince of great hopes, to take a journey +into England, and appear at the head of his partisans. {1143.} This +expedient, however, produced nothing decisive. Stephen took Oxford after +a long siege: he was defeated by Earl Robert at Wilton; and the empress, +though of a masculine spirit, yet being harassed with a variety of good +and bad fortune, and alarmed with continual dangers to her person and +family, at last retired into Normandy, {1146.} whither she had sent her +son some time before. The death of her brother, which happened nearly +about the same time, would have proved fatal to her interests, hail +not some incidents occurred which checked the course of Stephen’s +prosperity. This prince, finding that the castles built by the noblemen +of his own party encouraged the spirit of independence, and were little +less dangerous than those which remained in the hands of the enemy, +endeavored to extort from them a surrender of those fortresses and he +alienated the affections of many of them by this equitable demand. The +artillery, also, of the church, which his brother had brought over to +his side, had, after some interval, joined the other party. Eugenius +III. had mounted the papal throne; the bishop of Winchester was deprived +of the legantine commission, which was conferred on Theobald, archbishop +of Canterbury, the enemy and rival of the former legate. That pontiff, +also, having summoned a general council at Rheims, in Champagne, instead +of allowing the church of England, as had been usual, to elect its own +deputies, nominated five English bishops to represent that church, and +required their attendance in the council. Stephen, who, notwithstanding +his present difficulties, was jealous of the rights of his crown, +refused them permission to attend;[*] and the pope, sensible of his +advantage in contending with a prince who reigned by a disputed title, +took revenge by laying all Stephen’s party under an interdict.[**] +{1147.} The discontents of the royalists at being thrown into this +situation, were augmented by a comparison with Matilda’s party, who +enjoyed all the benefits of the sacred ordinances; and Stephen was at +last obliged, by making proper submissions to the see of Rome, to remove +the reproach from his party.[***] + +{1148.} The weakness of both sides, rather than any decrease of mutual +animosity, having produced a tacit cessation of arms in England, many of +the nobility, Roger de Moubray, William de Warrenne, and others, +finding no opportunity to exert their military ardor at home, enlisted +themselves in a new crusade, which, with surprising success after former +disappointments and misfortunes, was now preached by St. Barnard.[****] +But an event soon after happened which threatened a revival of +hostilities in England. Prince Henry, who had reached his sixteenth +year, was desirous of receiving the honor of knighthood; a ceremony +which every gentleman in that age passed through before he was admitted +to the use of arms, and which was even deemed requisite for the greatest +princes. + + [* Epist. St. Thom, p. 225.] + + [** Chron. W. Thom, p. 1807.] + + [*** Epist. St. Thom, p. 226.] + + [**** Hagulstadt, p. 275, 276.] + +He intended to receive his admission from his great-uncle, David, king +of Scotland; and for that purpose he passed through England with a great +retinue, and was attended by the most considerable of his partisans. +He remained some time with the king of Scotland, made incursions into +England, and by his dexterity and vigor in all manly exercises, by his +valor in war, and his prudent conduct in every occurrence, he roused the +hopes of his party, and gave symptoms of those great qualities which he +afterwards displayed when he mounted the throne of England. {1150.} Soon +after his return to Normandy, he was, by Matilda’s consent, invested in +that duchy, and upon the death of his father Geoffrey, which happened +in the subsequent year, he took possession both of Anjou and Maine, and +concluded a marriage which brought him a great accession of power, and +rendered him extremely formidable to his rival. Eleanor, the daughter +and heir of William, duke of Guienne, and earl of Poictou, had been +married sixteen years to Lewis VII., king of France, and had attended +him in a crusade which that monarch conducted against the infidels; but +having there lost the affections of her husband, and even fallen +under some suspicion of gallantry with a handsome Saracen, Lewis, more +delicate than politic, procured a divorce from her, and restored her +those rich provinces, which, by her marriage, she had annexed to the +crown of France. Young Henry, neither discouraged by the inequality +of years, nor by the reports of Eleanor’s gallantries, made successful +courtship to that princess, and espousing her six weeks after her +divorce, got possession of all her dominions as her dowry. {1152.} The +lustre which he received from this acquisition, and the prospect of +his rising fortune, had such an elect in England, that when Stephen, +desirous to insure the crown to his son Eustace, required the archbishop +of Canterbury to anoint that prince as his successor, the primate +refused compliance, and made his escape beyond sea, to avoid the +violence and resentment of Stephen. + +{1153.} Henry, informed of these dispositions in the people, made +an invasion on England: having gained some advantage over Stephen at +Malmsbury, and having taken that place, he proceeded thence to throw +succors into Wallingford, which the king had advanced with a superior +army to besiege. A decisive action was every day expected, when the +great men of both sides, terrified at the prospect of further bloodshed +and confusion, interposed with their good offices, and set on foot a +negotiation between the rival princes, The death of Eustace, during the +course of the treaty, facilitated its conclusion: an accommodation was +settled, by which it was agreed that Stephen should possess the crown +during his lifetime, that justice should be administered in his name, +even in the provinces which had submitted to Henry, and that this latter +prince should, on Stephen’s demise, succeed to the kingdom, and William, +Stephen’s son, to Boulogne and his patrimonial estate. After all the +barons had sworn to the observance of this treaty, and done homage to +Henry, as to the heir of the crown, that prince evacuated the kingdom; +and the death of Stephen which happened next year, [October 25, 1154,] +after a short illness, prevented all those quarrels and jealousies which +were likely to have ensued in so delicate a situation. + +England suffered great miseries during the reign of this prince: but +his personal character, allowing for the temerity and injustice of his +usurpation, appears not liable to any great exception; and he seems +to have been well qualified, had he succeeded by a just title, to +have promoted the happiness and prosperity of his subjects.[*] He was +possessed of industry, activity, and courage, to a great degree; though +not endowed with a sound judgment, he was not deficient in abilities; +he had the talent of gaining men’s affections, and notwithstanding his +precarious situation, he never indulged himself in the exercise of any +cruelty or revenge. His advancement to the throne procured him neither +tranquillity nor happiness; and though the situation of England +prevented the neighboring states from taking any durable advantage of +her confusions, her intestine disorders were to the last degree ruinous +and destructive. The court of Rome was also permitted, during those +civil wars, to make further advances in her usurpations; and appeals to +the pope, which had always been strictly prohibited by the English laws, +became now common in every ecclesiastical controversy. + + [* W. Malms, p. 180., M. Paris, p. 51 Hagul, p. 312., H. + Hunting. p. 395.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +[Illustration: 100.jpg HENRY II.] + + + + +HENRY II. + +{1154.} The extensive confederacies, by which the European potentates +are now at once united and set in opposition to each other, and which, +though they are apt to diffuse the least spark of dissension throughout +the whole, are at least attended with this advantage, that they prevent +any violent revolutions or conquests in particular states, were totally +unknown in ancient ages; and the theory of foreign politics in each +kingdom formed a speculation much less complicated and involved than at +present. Commerce had not yet bound together the most distant nations +in so close a chain: wars, finished in one campaign, and often in one +battle, were little affected by the movements of remote states: the +imperfect communication among the kingdoms, and their ignorance of each +other’s situation, made it impracticable for a great number of them to +combine in one object or effort: and above all, the turbulent spirit and +independent situation of the barons or great vassals in each state, gave +so much occupation to the sovereign, that he was obliged to confine his +attention chiefly to his own state and his own system of government, +and was more indifferent about what passed among his neighbors. Religion +alone, not politics, carried abroad the views of princes, while it +either fixed their thoughts on the Holy Land, whose conquest and defence +was deemed a point of common honor and interest, or engaged them in +intrigues with the Roman pontiff, to whom they had yielded the direction +of ecclesiastical affairs, and who was every day assuming more authority +than they were willing to allow him. + +Before the conquest of England by the duke of Normandy, this island +was as much separated from the rest of the world in politics as in +situation; and except from the inroads of the Danish pirates, the +English, happily confined at home, had neither enemies nor allies on the +continent. The foreign dominions of William connected them with the king +and great vassals of France; and while the opposite pretensions of +the pope and emperor in Italy produced a continual intercourse between +Germany and that country, the two great monarchs of France and England +formed, in another part of Europe, a separate system, and carried on +their wars and negotiations, without meeting either with opposition or +support from the others. + +On the decline of the Carlovingian race, the nobles in every province of +France, taking advantage of the weakness of the sovereign, and obliged +to provide each for his own defence against the ravages of the Norman +freebooters, had assumed, both in civil and military affairs, an +authority almost independent, and had reduced within very narrow limits +the prerogative of their princes. The accession of Hugh Capet, by +annexing a great fief to the crown, had brought some addition to +the royal dignity; but this fief, though considerable for a subject, +appeared a narrow basis of power for a prince who was placed at the head +of so great a community. The royal demesnes consisted only of Paris, +Orleans, Estampes, Compiegne, and a few places scattered over the +northern provinces: in the rest of the kingdom, the prince’s authority +was rather nominal than real: the vassals were accustomed, nay, +entitled, to make war, without his permission, on each other: they were +even entitled, if they conceived themselves injured, to turn their arms +against their sovereign: they exercised all civil jurisdiction, without +appeal, over their tenants and inferior vassals: their common jealousy +of the crown easily united them against any attempt on their exorbitant +privileges; and as some of them had attained the power and authority +of great princes, even the smallest baron was sure of immediate and +effectual protection. Besides six ecclesiastical peerages, which, +with the other immunities of the church, cramped extremely the general +execution of justice, there were six lay peerages, Burgundy, Normandy +Guienne, Flanders, Toulouse, and Champagne, which formed very extensive +and puissant sovereignties. And though the combination of all those +princes and barons could on urgent occasions, muster a mighty power, +yet was it very difficult to set that great machine in movement; it was +almost impossible to preserve harmony in its parts; a sense of common +interest alone could, for a time, unite them under their sovereign +against a common enemy; but if the king attempted to turn the force +of the community against any mutinous vassal, the same sense of common +interest made the others oppose themselves to the success of his +pretensions. Lewis the Gross, the last sovereign, marched, at one time, +to his frontiers against the Germans at the head of an army of two +hundred thousand men; but a petty lord of Corbeil, of Puiset, of Couci, +was able, at another period, to set that prince at defiance, and to +maintain open war against him. + +The authority of the English monarch was much more extensive within his +kingdom, and the disproportion much greater between him and the most +powerful of his vassals. His demesnes and revenue were large, compared +to the greatness of his state: he was accustomed to levy arbitrary +exactions on his subjects: his courts of judicature extended their +jurisdiction into every part of the kingdom: he could crush by his +power, or by a judicial sentence, well or ill founded, any obnoxious +baron: and though the feudal institutions, which prevailed in his +kingdom, had the same tendency, as in other states, to exalt the +aristocracy and depress the monarchy, it required in England, according +to its present constitution, a great combination of the vassals to +oppose their sovereign lord, and there had not hitherto arisen any baron +so powerful, as of himself to levy war against the prince, and to afford +protection to the inferior barons. + +While such were the different situations of France and England, and the +latter enjoyed so many advantages above the former, the accession +of Henry II., a prince of great abilities, possessed of so many rich +provinces on the continent, might appear an event dangerous, if not +fatal to the French monarchy, and sufficient to break entirely the +balance between the states. He was master, in the right of his father, +of Anjou and Touraine; in that of his mother, of Normandy and Maine; in +that of his wife, of Guienne, Poictou, Xaintonge, Auvergne, Perigord, +Angoumois, the Limousin. He soon after annexed Brittany to his other +states, and was already possessed of the superiority over that province, +which, on the first cession of Normandy to Rollo the Dane, had been +granted by Charles the Simple in vassalage to that formidable ravager. +These provinces composed above a third of the whole French monarchy, and +were much superior, in extent and opulence, to those territories which +were subjected to the immediate jurisdiction and government of the king. +The vassal was here more powerful than his liege lord: the situation +which had enabled Hugh Capet to depose the Carlovingian princes, seemed +to be renewed, and that with much greater advantages on the side of the +vassal: and when England was added to so many provinces, the French king +had reason to apprehend, from this conjuncture, some great disaster to +himself and to his family. But, in reality, it was this circumstance, +which appeared so formidable, that saved the Capetian race, and, by +its consequences, exalted them to that pitch of grandeur which they at +present enjoy. + +The limited authority of the prince in the feudal constitutions, +prevented the king of England from employing with advantage the force +of so many states which were subjected to his government; and these +different members, disjoined in situation, and disagreeing in laws, +language, and manners, were never thoroughly cemented into one monarchy. +He soon became, both from his distant place of residence and from +the incompatibility of interests, a kind of foreigner to his French +dominions; and his subjects on the continent considered their allegiance +as more naturally due to their superior lord, who lived in their +neighborhood, and who was acknowledged to be the supreme head of their +nation. He was always at hand to invade them; their immediate lord was +often at too great a distance to protect them; and any disorder in any +part of his dispersed dominions gave advantages against him The other +powerful vassals of the French crown were rather pleased to see the +expulsion of the English, and were not affected with that jealousy which +would have arisen from the oppression of a co-vassal who was of the same +rank with themselves. By this means, the king of France found it more +easy to conquer those numerous provinces from England than to subdue a +duke of Normandy or Guienne, a count of Anjou, Maine, or Poietou. +And after reducing such extensive territories, which immediately +incorporated with the body of the monarchy, he found greater facility in +uniting to the crown the other great fiefs which still remained separate +and independent. + +But as these important consequences could not be foreseen by human +wisdom, the king of France remarked with terror the rising grandeur of +the house of Anjou or Plantagenet; and in order to retard its progress, +he had ever maintained a strict union with Stephen, and had endeavored +to support the tottering fortunes of that bold usurper. But after this +prince’s death, it was too late to think of opposing the succession of +Henry, or preventing the performance of those stipulations which, with +the unanimous consent of the nation, he had made with his predecessor. +The English, harassed with civil wars, and disgusted with the bloodshed +and depredations which, during the course of so many years, had attended +them were little disposed to violate their oaths, by excluding the +lawful heir from the succession of their monarchy.* Many of the most +considerable fortresses were in the hands of his partisans; the whole +nation had had occasion to see the noble qualities with which he was +endowed, and to compare them with the mean talents of William, the son +of Stephen; and as they were acquainted with his great power, and were +rather pleased to see the accession of so many foreign dominions to the +crown of England, they never entertained the least thoughts of resisting +him. Henry himself, sensible of the advantages attending his present +situation, was in no hurry to arrive in England; and being engaged in +the siege of a castle on the frontiers of Normandy, when he received +intelligence of Stephen’s death, he made it a point of honor not to +depart from his enterprise till he had brought it to an issue. He +then set out on his journey, and was received in England with the +acclamations of all orders of men, who swore with pleasure the oath of +fealty and allegiance to him. + +{1155.} The first act of Henry’s government corresponded to the +high idea entertained of his abilities, and prognosticated the +reestablishment of justice and tranquillity, of which the kingdom had +so long been bereaved. He immediately dismissed all those mercenary +soldiers who had committed great disorders in the nation; and he sent +them abroad, together with William of Ypres, their leader, the friend +and confidant of Stephen. He revoked all the grants made by his +predecessor, even those which necessity had extorted from the empress +Matilda; and that princess, who had resigned her rights in favor of +Henry, made no opposition to a measure so necessary for supporting the +dignity of the crown. He repaired the coin, which had been extremely +debased during the reign of his predecessor; and he took proper measures +against the return of a like abuse. He was rigorous in the execution +of justice, and in the suppression of robbery and violence; and that +he might restore authority to the laws, he caused all the new erected +castles to be demolished, which had proved so many sanctuaries to +freebooters and rebels. The earl of Albemarle, Hugh Mortimer, and Roger +the son of Milo of Glocester, were inclined to make some resistance to +this salutary measure; but the approach of the king with his forces soon +obliged them to submit. + +{1156.} Everything being restored to full tranquillity in England, Henry +went abroad in order to oppose the attempts of his brother Geoffrey, +who, during his absence, had made an incursion into Anjou and Maine, +{1157.} had advanced some pretensions to those provinces, and had got +possession of a considerable part of them. On the king’s appearance, the +people returned to their allegiance; and Geoffrey, resigning his claim +for an annual pension of a thousand pounds, departed and took possession +of the county of Nantz, which the inhabitants, who had expelled Count +Iloel, their prince, had put into his hands. Henry returned to England +the following year: the incursions of the Welsh then provoked him to +make an invasion upon them; where the natural fastnesses of the country +occasioned him great difficulties, and even brought him into danger. +His vanguard, being engaged in a narrow pass, was put to rout: Henry de +Essex, the hereditary standard-bearer, seized with a panic, threw down +the standard, took to flight, and exclaimed that the king was slain; and +had not the prince immediately appeared in person, and led on his troops +with great gallantry, the consequences might have proved fatal to the +whole army. For this misbehavior, Essex was afterwards accused of felony +by Robert de Montfort; was vanquished in single combat; his estate was +confiscated; and he himself was thrust into a convent. The submissions +of the Welsh procured them an accommodation with England. + +{1158.} The martial disposition of the princes in that age engaged them +to head their own armies in every enterprise, even the most frivolous; +and their feeble authority made it commonly impracticable for them to +delegate, on occasion, the command to their generals. Geoffrey, the +king’s brother, died soon after he had acquired possession of Nantz; +though he had no other title to that county than the voluntary +submission or election of the inhabitants two years before, Henry laid +claim to the territory as devolved to him by hereditary right, and he +went over to support his pretensions by force of arms. Conan, duke or +earl of Brittany (for these titles are given indifferently by historians +to those princes) pretended that Nantz had been lately separated by +rebellion from his principality, to which of right it belonged; and +immediately on Geoffrey’s death, he took possession of the disputed +territory. Lest Lewis, the French king, should interpose in the +controversy, Henry paid him a visit; and so allured him by caresses +and civilities, that an alliance was contracted between them; and +they agreed that young Henry, heir to the English monarchy, should be +affianced to Margaret of France, though the former was only five years +of age; the latter was still in her cradle. Henry, now secure of meeting +with no interruption on this side, advanced with his army into Brittany; +and Conan, in despair of being able to make resistance, delivered up +the county of Nantz to him. The able conduct of the king procured +him further and more important advantages from this incident. Conan, +harassed with the turbulent disposition of his subjects, was desirous of +procuring to himself the support of so great a monarch; and he betrothed +his daughter and only child, yet an infant, to Geoffrey, the king’s +third son, who was of the same tender years. The duke of Brittany died +about seven years after; and Henry, being mesne lord and also natural +guardian to his son and daughter-in-law, put himself in possession of +that principality, and annexed it for the present to his other great +dominions. + +{1159.} The king had a prospect of making still further acquisitions; +and the activity of his temper suffered no opportunity of that kind to +escape him. Philippa, duchess of Guienne, mother of Queen Eleanor, +was the only issue of William IV., count of Toulouse; and would have +inherited his dominions, had not that prince, desirous of preserving the +succession in the male line, conveyed the principality to his brother +Raymond de St. Gilles, by a contract of sale which was in that age +regarded as fictitious and illusory. By this means the title to the +county of Toulouse came to be disputed between the male and female +heirs; and the one or the other, as opportunities favored them, had +obtained possession. Raymond, grandson of Raymond de St. Gilles was +the reigning sovereign; and on Henry’s reviving his wife’s claim, this +prince had recourse for protection to the king of France, who was so +much concerned in policy to prevent the further aggrandizement of the +English monarch. Lewis himself, when married to Eleanor, had asserted +the justice of her claim, and had demanded possession of Toulouse; but +his sentiments changing with his interest, he now determined to defend, +by his power and authority, the title of Raymond. Henry found that +it would be requisite to support his pretensions against potent +antagonists; and that nothing but a formidable army could maintain a +claim which he had in vain asserted by arguments and manifestoes. + +An army composed of feudal vassals was commonly very intractable and +undisciplined, both because of the independent spirit of the persons +who served in it, and because the commands were not given either by the +choice of the sovereign or from the military capacity and experience of +the officers. Each baron conducted his own vassals: his rank was greater +or less, proportioned to the extent of his property: even the supreme +command under the prince was often attached to birth; and as the +military vassals were obliged to serve only forty days at their own +charge, though, if the expedition were distant, they were put to great +expense, the prince reaped little benefit from their attendance. Henry, +sensible of these inconveniences, levied upon his vassals in Normandy +and other provinces, which were remote from Toulouse, a sum of money +in lieu of their service; and this commutation, by reason of the +great distance, was still more advantageous to his English vassals. He +imposed, therefore, a scutage of one hundred and eighty thousand pounds +on the knights’ fees, a commutation to which, though it was unusual, +and the first perhaps to be met with in history,[*] [16] the military +tenants willingly submitted; and with this money he levied an army which +was more under his command, and whose service was more durable and +constant. + + [* See note P, at the end of the volume.] + +Assisted by Berenger, count of Barcelona, and Trincaval, count of +Nismes, whom he had gained to his party, he invaded the county of +Toulouse; and after taking Verdun, Castlenau, and other places, he +besieged the capital of the province, and was likely to prevail in the +enterprise; when Lewis, advancing before the arrival of his main body, +threw himself into the place with a small reenforcement. Henry was urged +by some of his ministers to prosecute the siege, to take Lewis prisoner, +and to impose his own terms in the pacification; but he either thought +it so much his interest to maintain the feudal principles, by which his +foreign dominions were secured, or bore so much respect to his superior +lord, that he declared he would not attack a place defended by him in +person; and he immediately raised the siege. He marched into Normandy +to protect that province against an incursion which the count of Dreux, +instigated by King Lewis, his brother, had made upon it. War was now +openly carried on between the two monarchs, but produced no memorable +event: it soon ended in a cessation of arms, and that followed by a +peace, which was not, however, attended with any confidence or good +correspondence between those rival princes. {1160.} The fortress of +Gisors, being part of the dowry stipulated to Margaret of France, had +been consigned by agreement to the knights templars, on condition that +it should be delivered into Henry’s hands after the celebration of +the nuptials. The king, that he might have a pretence for immediately +demanding the place, ordered the marriage to be solemnized between +the prince and princess, though both infants; and he engaged the grand +master of the templars, by large presents, as was generally suspected, +to put him in possession of Gisors.[*] {1161.} Lewis, resenting this +fraudulent conduct, banished the templars, and would have made war upon +the king of England, had it not been for the mediation and authority +of Pope Alexander III., who had been chased from Rome by the antipope, +Victor IV., and resided at that time in France. + + [* Since the first publication of this History, + Lord Lyttleton has published a copy of the treaty between + Henry and Lewis, by which it appears, if there was no secret + article, that Henry was not guilty of any fraud in this + transaction, observe, that the two kings had the year + before, met the pope at the castle of Torci on the Loir; and + they gave him such marks of respect, that both dismounted to + receive him, and holding each of them one of the reins of + his bridle, walked on foot by his side, and conducted him in + that submissive manner into the castle: “a spectacle,” + cries Baronius in an ecstasy, “to God, angels, and men; and + such as had never before been exhibited to the world!”] + +{1162.} Henry, soon after he had accommodated his differences with Lewis +by the pope’s mediation, returned to England; where he commenced an +enterprise, which, though required by sound policy, and even conducted +in the main with prudence, bred him great disquietude, involved him in +danger, and was not concluded without some loss and dishonor. + +The usurpations of the clergy, which had at first been gradual, were +now become so rapid, and had mounted to such a height, that the contest +between the regale and pontificale was really arrived at a crisis in +England; and it became necessary to determine whether the king or the +priests, particularly the archbishop of Canterbury, should be sovereign +of the kingdom. The aspiring spirit of Henry, which gave inquietude to +all his neighbors, was not likely long to pay a tame submission to +the encroachments of subjects; and as nothing opens the eyes of men +so readily as their interest, he was in no danger of falling, in this +respect, into that abject superstition which retained his people in +subjection. From the commencement of his reign, in the government of his +foreign dominions, as well as of England, he had shown a fixed purpose +to repress clerical usurpations, and to maintain those prerogatives +which had been transmitted to him by his predecessors. During the schism +of the papacy between Alexander and Victor, he had determined, for some +time, to remain neuter; and when informed that the archbishop of Rouen +and the bishop of Mans had, from their own authority, acknowledged +Alexander as legitimate pope, he was so enraged, that, though he spared +the archbishop on account of his great age, he immediately issued orders +for overthrowing the houses of the bishop of Mans and archdeacon of +Rouen;[*] [17] and it was not till he had deliberately examined the +matter, by those views which usually enter into the councils of princes, +that he allowed that pontiff to exercise authority over any of his +dominions. + + [* See note Q, at the end of the volume.] + +In England, the mild character and advanced years of Theobald, +archbishop of Canterbury, together with his merits in refusing to put +the crown on the head of Eustace, son of Stephen, prevented Henry, +during the lifetime of that primate, from taking any measures against +the multiplied encroachments of the clergy; but after his death, the +king resolved to exert himself with more activity; and that he might be +secure against any opposition, he advanced to that dignity Becket, his +chancellor, on whose compliance he thought he could entirely depend. + +Thomas à Becket, the first man of English descent who, since the Norman +conquest, had, during the course of a whole century, risen to any +considerable station, was born of reputable parents in the city of +London; and being endowed both with industry and capacity, he early +insinuated himself into the favor of Archbishop Theobald, and obtained +from that prelate some preferments and offices. By their means he was +enabled to travel for improvement to Italy, where he studied the civil +and canon law at Bologna; and on his return he appeared to have made +such proficiency in knowledge, that he was promoted by his patron to the +archdeaconry of Canterbury, an office of considerable trust and profit. +He was afterwards employed with success by Theobald in transacting +business at Rome; and on Henry’s accession, he was recommended to that +monarch as worthy of further preferment Henry, who knew that Becket had +been instrumental in supporting that resolution of the archbishop, which +had tended so much to facilitate his own advancement to the throne, was +already prepossessed in his favor; and finding on further acquaintance, +that his spirit and abilities entitled him to any trust he soon promoted +him to the dignity of chancellor, one of the first civil offices in the +kingdom. The chancellor, in that age, besides the custody of the great +seal, had possession of all vacant prelacies and abbeys; he was the +guardian of all such minors and pupils as were the king’s tenants; all +baronies which escheated to the crown were under his administration; he +was entitled to a place in council, even though he were not particularly +summoned; and as he exercised also the office of secretary of state, and +it belonged to him to countersign all commissions, writs, and letters +patent, he was a kind of prime minister and was concerned in the +despatch of every business of importance. Besides exercising this high +office, Becket by the favor of the king or archbishop, was made provost +of Beverley, dean of Hastings, and constable of the Tower: he was put +in possession of the honors of Eye and Berkham large baronies that had +escheated to the crown; and to complete his grandeur, he was intrusted +with the education of Prince Henry, the king’s eldest son, and heir +of the monarchy. The pomp of his retinue, the sumptuousness of his +furniture, the luxury of his table, the munificence of his presents, +corresponded to these great preferments; or rather exceeded any thing +that England had ever before seen in any subject. His historian and +secretary, Fitz-Stephens, mentions, among other particulars, that his +apartments were every day in winter covered with clean straw or hay, and +in summer with green rushes or boughs, lest the gentlemen who paid court +to him and who could not, by reason of their great number, find a place +at table, should soil their fine clothes by sitting on a dirty floor.[*] +A great number of knights were retained in his service; the greatest +barons were proud of being received at his table; his house was a place +of education for the sons of the chief nobility; and the king himself +frequently vouchsafed to partake of his entertainments. As his way of +life was splendid and opulent, his amusements and occupations were gay, +and partook of the cavalier spirit, which, as he had only taken deacon’s +orders, he did not think unbefitting his character. He employed himself +at leisure hours in hunting, hawking, gaming, and horsemanship; he +exposed his person in several military actions; he carried over, at +his own charge, seven hundred knights to attend the king in his wars +at Toulouse; in the subsequent wars on the frontiers of Normandy, he +maintained, during forty days, twelve hundred knights, and four +thousand of their train; and in an embassy to France, with which he was +intrusted, he astonished that court by the number and magnificence of +his retinue. + + + [* John Baldwin held the manor of Oterarsfee in + Aylesbury of the king in soccage, by the service of finding + litter for the king’s bed, viz., in summer, grass or herbs, + and two gray geese, and in winter, straw, and three eels, + thrice in the year, if the king should come thrice in the + year to Aylesbury. Madox, Bar. Anglica, p. 247.] + +Henry, besides committing all his more important business to Becket’s +management, honored him with his friendship and intimacy; and whenever +he was disposed to relax himself by sports of any kind, he admitted his +chancellor to the party. An instance of their familiarity is mentioned +by Fitz-Stephens which, as it shows the manners of the age, it may not +be improper to relate. One day, as the king and the chancellor were +riding together in the streets of London, they observed a beggar, who +was shivering with cold. “Would it not be very praiseworthy,” said the +king, “to give that poor man a warm coat in this severe season?” “It +would, surely,” replied the chancellor; “and you do well, sir, in +thinking of such good actions.” “Then he shall have one presently,” + cried the king; and seizing the skirt of the chancellor’s coat, which +was scarlet, and lined with ermine, began to pull it violently. The +chancellor defended himself for some time; and they had both of them +like to have tumbled off their horses in the street, when Becket, after +a vehement struggle, let go his coat; which the king bestowed on the +beggar, who, being ignorant of the quality of the persons, was not a +little surprised at the present. + +Becket, who, by his complaisance and good humor, had rendered himself +agreeable, and by his industry and abilities useful, to his master, +appeared to him the fittest person for supplying the vacancy made by the +death of Theobold. As he was well acquainted with the king’s intentions +of retrenching, or rather confining within the ancient bounds, all +ecclesiastical privileges, and always showed a ready disposition to +comply with them, Henry, who never expected any resistance from that +quarter, immediately issued orders for electing him archbishop of +Canterbury. But this resolution, which was taken contrary to the opinion +of Matilda, and many of the ministers, drew after it very unhappy +consequences; and never prince of so great penetration appeared, in +the issue, to have so little understood the genius and character of his +minister. + +No sooner was Becket installed in this high dignity, which rendered +him for life the second person in the kingdom, with some pretensions +of aspiring to be the first, than he totally altered his demeanor and +conduct, and endeavored to acquire the character of sanctity, of which +his former busy and ostentatious course of life might, in the eyes of +the people, have naturally bereaved him. Without consulting the king, +he immediately returned into his hands the commission of chancellor; +pretending that he must thenceforth detach himself from secular affairs, +and be solely employed in the exercise of his spiritual function; but in +reality, that he might break off all connections with Henry, and apprise +him that Becket, as primate of England, was now become entirely a new +personage. He maintained, in his retinue and attendants alone, his +ancient pomp and lustre, which was useful to strike the vulgar; in +his own person he affected the greatest austerity and most rigid +mortification, which he was sensible would have an equal or a greater +tendency to the same end. He wore sackcloth next his skin, which, by his +affected care to conceal it, was necessarily the more remarked by all +the world: he changed it so seldom, that it was filled with dirt +and vermin: his usual diet was bread; his drink water, which he even +rendered further unpalatable by the mixture of unsavory herbs: he tore +his back with the frequent discipline which he inflicted on it: he +daily on his knees washed, in imitation of Christ, the feet of thirteen +beggars, whom he afterwards dismissed with presents: he gained the +affections of the monks by his frequent charities to the convents and +hospitals: every one who made profession of sanctity, was admitted to +his conversation, and returned full of panegyrics on the humility, as +well as on the piety and mortification, of the holy primate: he seemed +to be perpetually employed in reciting prayers and pious lectures, or +in perusing religious discourses: his aspect wore the appearance of +seriousness, and mental recollection, and secret devotion; and all men +of penetration plainly saw that he was meditating some great design, +and that the ambition and ostentation of his character had turned itself +towards a new and a more dangerous object. + +{1163.} Becket waited not till Henry should commence those projects +against the ecclesiastical power, which he knew had been formed by that +prince: he was himself the aggressor, and endeavored to overawe the king +by the intrepidity and boldness of his enterprises. He summoned the earl +of Clare to surrender the barony of Tunbridge, which, ever since the +conquest, had remained in the family of that nobleman, but which, as it +had formerly belonged to the see of Canterbury, Becket pretended his +predecessors were prohibited by the canons to alienate. The earl of +Clare, besides the lustre which he derived from the greatness of his own +birth and the extent of his possessions, was allied to all the principal +families in the kingdom; his sister, who was a celebrated beauty, had +further extended his credit among the nobility and was even supposed to +have gained the king’s affections; and Becket could not better discover, +than by attacking so powerful an interest, his resolution of maintaining +with vigor the rights, real or pretended, of his see. + +William de Eynsford, a military tenant of the crown, was patron of +a living which belonged to a manor that held of the archbishop of +Canterbury; but Becket, without regard to William’s right, presented, +on a new and illegal pretext, one Laurence to that living, who was +violently expelled by Eynsford. The primate, making himself, as was +usual in spiritual courts, both judge and party, issued in a summary +manner the sentence of excommunication against Eynsford, who complained +to the king, that he, who held “in capite” of the crown, should, +contrary to the practice established by the Conqueror, and maintained +ever since by his successors, be subjected to that terrible sentence +without the previous consent of the sovereign. Henry, who had now broken +off all personal intercourse with Becket, sent him, by a messenger, his +orders to absolve Eynsford; but received for answer, that it belonged +not for the king to inform him whom he should absolve and whom +excommunicate; and it was not till after many remonstrances and menaces +that Becket, though with the worst grace imaginable, was induced to +comply with the royal mandate. + +Henry, though he found himself thus grievously mistaken in the character +of the person whom he had promoted to the primacy, determined not to +desist from his former intention of retrenching clerical usurpations. He +was entirely master of his extensive dominions: the prudence and vigor +of his administration, attended with perpetual success, had raised his +character above that of any of his predecessors: the papacy seemed to +be weakened by a schism which divided all Europe; and he rightly judged +that, if the present favorable opportunity were neglected, the crown +must, from the prevalent superstition of the people, be in danger of +falling into entire subordination under the mitre. + +The union of the civil and ecclesiastical power serves extremely, in +every civilized government, to the maintenance of peace and order; and +prevents those mutual encroachments which, as there can be no ultimate +judge between them, are often attended with the most dangerous +consequences Whether the supreme magistrate who unites these powers +receives the appellation of prince or prelate, is not material. +The superior weight which temporal interests commonly bear in the +apprehensions of men above spiritual, renders the civil part of his +character most prevalent; and in time prevents those gross impostures +and bigoted persecutions which, in all false religions, are the +chief foundation of clerical authority. But during the progress of +ecclesiastical usurpations, the state, by the resistance of the civil +magistrate, is naturally thrown into convulsions; and it behoves the +prince, both for his own interest and for that of the public, to provide +in time sufficient barriers against so dangerous and insidious a rival. +This precaution had hitherto been much neglected in England, as well as +in other Catholic countries; and affairs at last seemed to have come to +a dangerous crisis: a sovereign of the greatest abilities was now on +the throne: a prelate of the most inflexible and intrepid character was +possessed of the primacy: the contending powers appeared to be armed +with their full force and it was natural to expect some extraordinary +event to result from their conflict. + +Among their other inventions to obtain money, the clergy had inculcated +the necessity of penance as an atonement for sin; and having again +introduced the practice of paying them large sums as a commutation, or +species of atonement for the remission of those penances, the sins of +the people, by these means, had become a revenue to the priests; and the +king computed, that by this invention alone they levied more money upon +his subjects than flowed, by all the funds and taxes, into the royal +exchequer. That he might ease the people of so heavy and arbitrary +an imposition, Henry required that a civil officer of his appointment +should be present in all ecclesiastical courts, and should, for the +future, give his consent to every composition which was made with +sinners for their spiritual offences. + +The ecclesiastics in that age had renounced all immediate subordination +to the magistrate: they openly pretended to an exemptior, in criminal +accusations, from a trial before courts of justice; and were gradually +introducing a like exemption in civil causes: spiritual penalties alone +could be inflicted on their offences; and as the clergy had extremely +multiplied in England, and many of them were consequently of very low +characters, crimes of the deepest dye--murders, robberies, adulteries, +rapes--were daily committed with impunity by the ecclesiastics. It +had been found, for instance, on inquiry, that no less than a hundred +murders had, since the king’s accession, been perpetrated by men of that +profession, who had never been called to account for these offences; and +holy orders were become a full protection for all enormities. A clerk +in Worcestershire, having debauched a gentleman’s daughter, had, at +this time, proceeded to murder the father; and the general indignation +against this crime moved the king to attempt the remedy of an abuse +which was become so palpable, and to require that the clerk should be +delivered up, and receive condign punishment from the magistrate. Becket +insisted on the privileges of the church; confined the criminal in +the bishop’s prison, lest he should be seized by the king’s officers; +maintained that no greater punishment could be inflicted on him than +degradation; and when the king demanded that, immediately after he was +degraded, he should be tried by the civil power, the primate asserted +that it was iniquitous to try a man twice upon the same accusation, and +for the same offence. + +Henry, laying hold of so plausible a pretence, resolved to push the +clergy with regard to all their privileges, which they had raised to +an enormous height, and to determine at once those controversies which +daily multiplied between the civil and the ecclesiastical jurisdictions. +He summoned an assembly of all the prelates in England; and he put +to them this concise and decisive question, whether or not they were +willing to submit to the ancient laws and customs of the kingdom? The +bishops unanimously replied, that they were willing, “saving their own +order;” a device by which they thought to elude the present urgency +of the king’s demand, yet reserve to themselves, on a favorable +opportunity, the power of resuming all their pretensions. The king was +sensible of the artifice, and was provoked to the highest indignation. +He left the assembly with visible marks of his displeasure: he required +the primate instantly to surrender the honors and castles of Eye and +Berkham: the bishops were terrified, and expected still further effects +of his resentment. Becket alone was inflexible; and nothing but the +interposition of the pope’s legate and almoner, Philip, who dreaded a +breach with so powerful a prince at so unseasonable a juncture, could +have prevailed on him to retract the saving clause, and give a general +and absolute promise of observing the ancient customs. + +But Henry was not content with a declaration in these general terms; he +resolved, ere it was too late, to define expressly those customs with +which he required compliance, and to put a stop to clerical usurpations, +before they were fully consolidated, and could plead antiquity, as they +already did a sacred authority, in their favor. The claims of the church +were open and visible. After a gradual and insensible progress during +many centuries, the mask had at last been taken off, and several +ecclesiastical councils, by their canons, which were pretended to be +irrevocable and infallible, had positively defined those privileges and +immunities which gave such general offence, and appeared so dangerous +to the civil magistrate. Henry, therefore, deemed it necessary to define +with the same precision the limits of the civil power; to oppose +his legal customs to their divine ordinances; to determine the exact +boundaries of the rival jurisdictions; and for this purpose he summoned +a general council of the nobility and prelates at Clarendon, to whom he +submitted this great and important question. [15th Jan. 1164.] + +The barons were all gained to the king’s party, either by the reasons +which he urged, or by his superior authority. The bishops were overawed +by the general combination against them; and the following laws, +commonly called the “Constitutions of Clarendon,” were voted without +opposition by this assembly. It was enacted, that all suits concerning +the advowson and presentation of churches should be determined in the +civil courts: that the churches, belonging to the king’s fee, should not +be granted in perpetuity without his consent; that clerks, accused +of any crime, should be tried in the civil courts: that no person, +particularly no clergyman of any rank, should depart the kingdom without +the king’s license: that excommunicated persons should not be bound to +give security for continuing in their present place of abode: that laics +should not be accused in spiritual courts, except by legal and reputable +promoters and witnesses: that no chief tenant of the crown should be +excommunicated, nor his lands be put under an interdict, except with the +king’s consent: that all appeals in spiritual causes should be carried +from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop to the primate, from +him to the king; and should be carried no farther without the king’s +consent: that if any lawsuit arose between a layman and a clergyman +concerning a tenant, and it be disputed whether the land be a lay or +an ecclesiastical fee, it should first be determined by the verdict of +twelve lawful men to what class it belonged; and if it be found to be +a lay fee, the cause should finally be determined in the civil +courts: that no inhabitant in demesne should be excommunicated for +non-appearance in a spiritual court, till the chief officer of the +place where he resides be consulted, that he may compel him by the civil +authority to give satisfaction to the church: that the archbishops, +bishops, and other spiritual dignitaries, should be regarded as barons +of the realm; should possess the privileges and be subjected to the +burdens belonging to that rank; and should be bound to attend the king +in his great councils, and assist at all trials, till the sentence, +either of death or loss of members, be given against the criminal: that +the revenue of vacant sees should belong to the king; the chapter, or +such of them as he pleases to summon, should sit in the king’s chapel +till they made the new election with his consent, and that the bishop +elect should do homage to the crown: that if any baron or tenant “in +capite” should refuse to submit to the spiritual courts, the king should +employ his authority in obliging him to make such submissions; if any +of them throw off his allegiance to the king, the prelates should assist +the king with their censures in reducing him: that goods forfeited to +the king should not be protected in churches or churchyards: that the +clergy should no longer pretend to the right of enforcing payment of +debts contracted by oath or promise; but should leave these lawsuits, +equally with others, to the determination of the civil courts; and that +the sons of villains should not be ordained clerks, without the consent +of their lord. + +These articles, to the number of sixteen, were calculated to prevent the +chief abuses which had prevailed in ecclesiastical affairs, and to put +an effectual stop to the usurpations of the church, which, gradually +stealing on, had threatened the total destruction of the civil power. +Henry, therefore, by reducing those ancient customs of the realm to +writing, and by collecting them in a body, endeavored to prevent +all future dispute with regard to them; and by passing so many +ecclesiastical ordinances in a national and civil assembly, he fully +established the superiority of the legislature above all papal decrees +or spiritual canons, and gained a signal victory over the ecclesiastics. +But as he knew that the bishops, though overawed by the present +combination of the crown and the barons, would take the first +favorable opportunity of denying the authority which had enacted these +constitutions, he resolved that they should all set their seal to them, +and give a promise to observe them. None of the prelates dared to oppose +his will, except Becket, who, though urged by the earls of Cornwall and +Leicester, the barons of principal authority in the kingdom, obstinately +withheld his assent. At last, Richard de Hastings, grand prior of the +templars in England, threw himself on his knees before him, and with +many tears entreated him, if he paid any regard either to his own safety +or that of the church, not to provoke, by a fruitless opposition, the +indignation of a great monarch, who was resolutely bent on his purpose, +and who was determined to take full revenge on every one that should +dare to oppose him. Becket, finding himself deserted by all the +world, even by his own brethren, was at last obliged to comply; and he +promised, “legally, with good faith, and without fraud or reserve,” + to observe the constitutions; and he took an oath to that purpose. +The king, thinking that he had now finally prevailed in this great +enterprise, sent the constitutions to Pope Alexander, who then resided +in France; and he required that pontiff’s ratification of them; but +Alexander, who, though he had owed the most important obligations to +the king, plainly saw that these laws were calculated to establish the +independency of England on the papacy, and of the royal power on the +clergy, condemned them in the strongest terms; abrogated, annulled, and +rejected them. There were only six articles, the least important, which, +for the sake of peace, he was willing to ratify. + +Becket, when he observed that he might hope for support in an +opposition, expressed the deepest sorrow for his compliance; and +endeavored to engage all the other bishops in a confederacy to adhere to +their common rights, and to the ecclesiastical privileges, in which he +represented the interest and honor of God to be so deeply concerned. He +redoubled his austerities in order to punish himself for his criminal +assent to the constitutions of Clarendon: he proportioned his discipline +to the enormity of his supposed offence: and he refused to exercise any +part of his archiepiscopal function, till he should receive absolution +from the pope, which was readily granted him. Henry, informed of his +present dispositions, resolved to take vengeance for this refractory +behavior; and he attempted to crush him by means of that very power +which Becket made such merit in supporting. He applied to the pope +that he should grant the commission of legate in his dominions to the +archbishop of York; but Alexander, as politic as he, though he granted +the commission, annexed a clause, that it should not empower the legate +to execute any act in prejudice of the archbishop of Canterbury: and the +king, finding how fruitless such an authority would prove, sent back the +commission by the same messenger that brought it. + +The primate, however, who found himself still exposed to the king’s +indignation, endeavored twice to escape secretly from the kingdom; but +was as often detained by contrary winds: and Henry hastened to make +him feel the effects of an obstinacy which he deemed so criminal. +He instigated John, mareschal of the exchequer, to sue Becket in the +archiepiscopal court for some lands, part of the manor of Pageham; and +to appeal thence to the king’s court for justice. On the day appointed +for trying the cause, the primate sent four knights to represent certain +irregularities in John’s appeal; and at the same time to excuse himself, +on account of sickness, for not appearing personally that day in the +court. This slight offence (if it even deserve the name) was represented +as a grievous contempt; the four knights were menaced, and with +difficulty escaped being sent to prison, as offering falsehoods to the +court;[*] [18] and Henry, being determined to prosecute Becket to the +utmost, summoned at Northampton a great council, which he purposed to +make the instrument of his vengeance against the inflexible prelate. + +[* See note R, at the end of the volume.] + +The king had raised Becket from a low station to the highest offices, +had honored him with his countenance and friendship, had trusted to his +assistance in forwarding his favorite project against the clergy; and +when he found him become of a sudden his most rigid opponent, while +every one beside complied with his will, rage at the disappointment, and +indignation against such signal ingratitude, transported him beyond all +bounds of moderation; and there seems to have entered more of passion +than of justice, or even of policy, in this violent prosecution. The +barons, notwithstanding, in the great council voted whatever sentence +he was pleased to dictate to them; and the bishops themselves, who +undoubtedly bore a secret favor to Becket, and regarded him as the +champion of their privileges, concurred with the rest in the design of +oppressing their primate. In vain did Becket urge that his court +was proceeding with the utmost regularity and justice in trying the +mareschal’s cause; which, however, he said, would appear, from the +sheriff’s testimony, to be entirely unjust and iniquitous: that he +himself had discovered no contempt of the king’s court; but, on the +contrary, by sending four knights to excuse his absence, had virtually +acknowledged its authority: that he also, in consequence of the king’s +summons, personally appeared at present in the great council, ready to +justify his cause against the mareschal, and to submit his conduct to +their inquiry and jurisdiction: that even should it be found that he +had been guilty of non-appearance, the laws had affixed a very slight +penalty to that offence; and that as he was an inhabitant of Kent, where +his archiepiscopal palace was seated, he was by law entitled to some +greater indulgence than usual in the rate of his fine. Notwithstanding +these pleas, he was condemned as guilty of a contempt of the king’s +court, and as wanting in the fealty which he had sworn to his sovereign; +all his goods and chattels were confiscated; and that this triumph over +the church might be carried to the utmost, Henry, bishop of Winchester, +the prelate who had been so powerful in the former reign, was in spite +of his remonstrances, obliged, by order of the court, to pronounce the +sentence against him. The primate submitted to the decree; and all the +prelates, except Folliot, bishop of London, who paid court to the king +by this singularity, became sureties for him. It is remarkable, that +several Norman barons voted in this council; and we may conclude, with +some probability, that a like practice had prevailed in many of the +great councils summoned since the conquest. For the contemporary +historian, who has given us a full account of these transactions, does +not mention this circumstance as anywise singular; and Becket, in all +his subsequent remonstrances with regard to the severe treatment which +he had met with, never founds any objection on an irregularity, which to +us appears very palpable and flagrant. So little precision was there at +that time in the government and constitution! + +The king was not content with this sentence, however violent and +oppressive. Next day he demanded of Becket the sum of three hundred +pounds, which the primate had levied upon the honors of Eye and Berkham, +while in his possession. Becket, after premising that he was not obliged +to answer to this suit, because it was not contained in his summons; +after remarking that he had expended more than that sum in the repairs +of those castles, and of the royal palace at London, expressed, however, +his resolution, that money should not be any ground of quarrel between +him and his sovereign; he agreed to pay the sum, and immediately gave +sureties for it. In the subsequent meeting, the king demanded five +hundred marks, which, he affirmed, he had lent Becket during the war at +Toulouse; and another sum to the same amount, for which that prince had +been surety for him to a Jew. Immediately after these two claims, he +preferred a third, of still greater importance; he required him to give +in the accounts of his administration while chancellor, and to pay +the balance due from the revenues of all the prelacies, abbeys, +and baronies, which had, during that time, been subjected to his +management.[*] Becket observed that, as this demand was totally +unexpected, he had not come prepared to answer it; but he required a +delay, and promised in that case to give satisfaction. The king insisted +upon sureties; and Becket desired leave to consult his suffragans in a +case of such importance.[**] + +It is apparent, from the known character of Henry, and from the usual +vigilance of his government, that, when he promoted Becket to the see +of Canterbury, he was, on good grounds, well pleased with his +administration in the former high office with which he had intrusted +him; and that, even if that prelate had dissipated money beyond the +income of his place, the king was satisfied that his expenses were not +blamable, and had in the main been calculated for his service.[***] Two +years had since elapsed; no demand had during that time been made +upon him; it was not till the quarrel arose concerning ecclesiastical +privileges, that the claim was started, and the primate was, of a +sudden, required to produce accounts of such intricacy and extent before +a tribunal which had shown a determined resolution to ruin and oppress +him. To find sureties that he should answer so boundless and uncertain +a claim, which in the king’s estimation amounted to forty-four thousand +marks,[****] was impracticable; and Becket’s suffragans were extremely +at a loss what counsel to give him in such a critical emergency. By the +advice of the bishop of Winchester he offered two thousand marks as a +general satisfaction for all demands; but this offer was rejected by the +king,[*****] Some prelates exhorted him to resign his see, on condition +of receiving an acquittal; others were of opinion that he ought to +submit himself entirely to the king’s mercy;[******] but the primate, +thus pushed to the utmost, had too much courage to sink under +oppression; he determined to brave all his enemies, to trust to the +sacredness of his character for protection, to involve his cause with +that of God and religion, and to stand the utmost efforts of royal +indignation. + + [* Hoveden, p. 494. Diceto, p. 537.] + + [** Fitz-Steph. p. 38] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 495.] + + [**** Epist. St. Thorn, p. 315] + + [***** Fitz-Steph. p. 38.] + + [****** Fitz-Steph. p. 39. Gervase, p. 1390.] + +After a few days spent in deliberation Becket went to church, and said +mass, where he had previously ordered that the entroit to the communion +service should begin with these words, “Princes sat and spake against +me;” the passage appointed for the martyrdom of St. Stephen, whom the +primate thereby tacitly pretended to resemble in his sufferings for the +sake of righteousness. He went thence to court arrayed in his sacred +vestments: as soon as he arrived within the palace gate, he took the +cross into his own hands, bore it aloft as his protection, and marched +in that posture into the royal apartments.[*] The king, who was in an +inner room, was astonished at this parade, by which the primate seemed +to menace him and his court with the sentence of excommunication; and +he sent some of the prelates to remonstrate with him on account of +such audacious behavior. These prelates complained to Becket, that, by +subscribing himself to the constitutions of Clarendon, he had seduced +them to imitate his example; and that now, when it was too late, +he pretended to shake off all subordination to the civil power, and +appeared desirous of involving them in the guilt which must attend any +violation of those laws, established by their consent and ratified by +their subscriptions.[**] + + [* Fitz-Steph. p. 40. Hist. Quad. p. 53 Hoveden, + p. 404. Gul Neubr. p. 394. Epist. St. Thom. p. 43.] + + [** Fitz-Steph p. 35] + +Becket replied, that he had indeed subscribed the constitutions of +Clarendon, “legally, with good faith, and without fraud or reserve;” + but in these words was virtually implied a salvo for the rights of their +order, which, being connected with the cause of God and his church, +could never be relinquished by their oaths and engagements: that if he +and they had erred in resigning the ecclesiastical privileges, the best +atonement they could now make was to retract their consent, which +in such a case could never Be obligatory, and to follow the pope’s +authority, who had solemnly annulled the constitutions of Clarendon, and +had absolved them from all oaths which they had taken to observe them: +that a determined resolution was evidently embraced to oppress the +church; the storm had first broken upon him; for a slight offence, and +which too was falsely imputed to him, he had been tyrannically condemned +to a grievous penalty; a new and unheard-of claim was since started, +in which he could expect no justice; and he plainly saw that he was +the destined victim, who, by his ruin, must prepare the way for the +abrogation of all spiritual immunities: that he strictly prohibited +them who were his suffragans from assisting at any such trial, or giving +their sanction to any sentence against him; he put himself and his see +under the protection of the supreme pontiff; and appealed to him against +any penalty which his iniquitous judges might think proper to inflict +upon him; and that, however terrible the indignation of so great a +monarch as Henry, his sword could only kill the body; while that of the +church, intrusted into the hands of the primate, could kill the soul, +and throw the disobedient into infinite and eternal perdition.[*] + +Appeals to the pope, even in ecclesiastical causes, had been abolished +by the constitutions of Clarendon, and were become criminal by law but +an appeal in a civil cause, such as the king’s demand upon Becket, was +a practice altogether new and unprecedented; it tended directly to the +subversion of the government, and could receive no color of excuse, +except from the determined resolution, which was but too apparent to +Henry and the great council, to effectuate, without justice, but under +color of law, the total ruin of the inflexible primate. The king, having +now obtained a pretext so much more plausible for his violence, would +probably have pushed the affair to the utmost extremity against him; +but Becket gave him no leisure to conduct the prosecution. He refused +so much as to hear the sentence which the barons, sitting apart from the +bishops, and joined to some sheriffs and barons of the second rank,[**] +had given upon the king’s claim; he departed from the palace; asked +Henry’s immediate permission to leave Northampton; and upon meeting with +a refusal, he withdrew secretly, wandered about in disguise for some +time, and at last took shipping and arrived safely at Gravelines. + + [* Fitz-Steph. p. 42,44,45,46. Hist. Quad. p. 57. + Hoveden, p. 495, M. Paris, p. 72. Epist. St. Thorn, p. 45, + 195.] + + [** Fitz-Steph. p. 46. This historian is supposed + to mean the more considerable vassals of the chief barons: + these had no title to sit in the great council, and the + giving them a place there was a palpable irregularity; + which, however, is not insisted on in any of Becket’s + remonstrances: a further proof how little fixed the + constitution was at that time.] + +The violent and unjust prosecution of Becket had a natural tendency to +turn the public favor on his side, and to make men overlook his former +ingratitude towards the king and his departure from all oaths and +engagements, as well as the enormity of those ecclesiastical privileges, +of which he affected to be the champion. There were many other reasons +which procured him countenance and protection in foreign countries. +Philip, earl of Flanders,[*] and Lewis, king of France,[**] jealous of +the rising greatness of Henry, were well pleased to give him disturbance +in his government; and forgetting that this was the common cause of +princes, they affected to pity extremely the condition of the exiled +primate; and the latter even honored him with a visit at Soissons, in +which city he had invited him to fix his residence.[***] + + [* Epist. St Thom. p. 35.] + + [** Epist. St. Thom. p. 36, 37.] + + [*** Hist. Quad. p. 76.] + +The pope, whose interests were more immediately concerned in supporting +him, gave a cold reception to a magnificent embassy which Henry sent +to accuse him; while Becket himself, who had come to Sens in order to +justify his cause before the sovereign pontiff was received with the +greatest marks of distinction. The king in revenge, sequestered +the revenues of Canterbury; and by conduct which might be esteemed +arbitrary, had there been at that time any regular check on royal +authority, he banished all the primate’s relations and domestics, to +the number of four hundred, whom he obliged to swear, before their +departure, that they would instantly join their patron. But this policy, +by which Henry endeavored to reduce Becket sooner to necessity, lost its +effect; the pope, when they arrived beyond sea, absolved them from their +oath, and distributed them among the convents in Franc? and Flanders; +a residence was assigned to Becket himself, in the convent of Pontigny, +where he lived for some years in great magnificence, partly from +a pension granted him on the revenues of that abbey, partly from +remittances made him by the French monarch. + +{1165.} The more to ingratiate himself with the pope, Becket resigned +into his hands the see of Canterbury, to which, he affirmed, he had +been uncanonically elected, by the authority of the royal mandate; and +Alexander, in his turn, besides investing him anew with that dignity, +pretended to abrogate by a bull, the sentence which the great council +of England had passed against him. Henry, after attempting in vain to +procure a conference with the pope, who departed soon after for Rome, +whither the prosperous state of his affairs now invited him, made +provisions against the consequences of that breach which impended +between his kingdom and the apostolic see. He issued orders to his +justiciaries, inhibiting, under severe penalties, all appeals to the +pope or archbishop, forbidding any one to receive any mandates from +them, or apply in any case to their authority; declaring it treasonable +to bring from either of them an interdict upon the kingdom, and +punishable in secular clergymen, by the loss of their eyes and by +castration, in regulars by amputation of their feet, and in laies +with death; and menacing with sequestration and banishment the persons +themselves, as well as their kindred, who should pay obedience to any +such interdict; and he further obliged all his subjects to swear to +the observance of those orders.[*] These were edicts of the utmost +importance, affected the lives and properties of all the subjects, and +even changed, for the time, the national religion, by breaking off all +communication with Rome; yet were they enacted by the sole authority of +the king, and were derived entirely from his will and pleasure. + +The spiritual powers, which, in the primitive church, were, in a great +measure, dependent on the civil, had, by a gradual progress, reached +an equality and independence; and though the limits of the two +jurisdictions were difficult to ascertain or define, it was not +impossible but, by moderation on both sides, government might still have +been conducted in that imperfect and irregular manner which attends +all human institutions But as the ignorance of the age encouraged the +ecclesiastics daily to extend their privileges, and even to advance +maxims totally incompatible with civil government,[**] Henry had thought +it high time to put an end to their pretensions, and formally, in a +public council, to fix those powers which belonged to the magistrate, +and which he was for the future determined to maintain. In this attempt +he was led to reestablish customs which, though ancient, were beginning +to be abolished by a contrary practice, and which were still more +strongly opposed by the prevailing opinions and sentiments of the age. + + [* Hist. Quad. p. 88,167. Hoveden, p. 496. M. + Paris, p. 73,] + + [** “Quis dubitet,” says Becket to the king, + “sacerdotes Christi legum et principum omniumque fidelium + patres et magistros censeri,” Epist. St. Thom. 97, 148.] + +Principle, therefore, stood on the one side, power on the other; and +if the English had been actuated by conscience more than by present +interest, the controversy must soon, by the general defection of Henry’s +subjects, have been decided against him, Becket, in order to forward +this event, filled all places with exclamations against the violence +which he had suffered. He compared himself to Christ, who had been +condemned by a lay tribunal,[*] and who was crucified anew in the +present oppressions under which his church labored: he took it for +granted, as a point incontestable, that his cause was the cause of +God:[**] he assumed the character of champion for the patrimony of the +divinity: he pretended to be the spiritual father of the king and all +the people of England:[***] he even told Henry that kings reign solely +by the authority of the church,[****] and though he had thus torn off +the veil more openly on the one side than that prince had on the other, +he seemed still, from the general favor borne him by the ecclesiastics, +to have all the advantage in the argument. The king, that he might +employ the weapons of temporal power remaining in his hands, suspended +the payment of Peter’s pence; he made advances towards an alliance with +the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, who was at that time engaged in violent +wars with Pope Alexander; he discovered some intentions of acknowledging +Pascal III., the present antipope, who was protected by that emperor; +and by these expedients he endeavored to terrify the enterprising though +prudent pontiff from proceeding to extremities against him. + +{1166.} But the violence of Becket, still more than the nature of the +controversy, kept affairs from remaining long in suspense between +the parties. That prelate, instigated by revenge, and animated by the +present glory attending his situation, pushed matters to a decision, and +issued a censure excommunicating the king’s chief ministers by name, +and comprehending in general all those who favored or obeyed the +constitutions of Clarendon: these constitutions he abrogated and +annulled; he absolved all men from the oaths which they had taken to +observe them; and he suspended the spiritual thunder over Henry himself +only that the prince might avoid the blow by a timely repentance.[*****] + + [* Epist. St. Thom. p. 63, 105, 194.] + + [** Epist St. Thom. p. 29, 30, 31, 226.] + + [*** Fitz-Steph. p. 46. Epist. St. Thom. p. + 52,148.] + + [**** Brady’s Append. No. 56. Epist. St. Thom. p. + 94,95, 97, 99,197. Roveden, p, 497.] + + [***** Fitz-Steph. p.56. Hist. Quad. p. 93. M. + Paris, p. 74. Beaulieu. Vie de St. Thom. p. 213. Erzst. St. + Thom. p. 149, 229. Hoveden p. 499.] + +The situation of Henry was so unhappy, that he could employ no expedient +for saving his ministers from this terrible censure, but by appealing to +the pope himself, and having recourse to a tribunal whose authority he +had himself attempted to abridge in this very article of appeals, and +which he knew was so deeply engaged on the side of his adversary. But +even this expedient was not likely to be long effectual. Becket had +obtained from the pope a legantine commission over England; and in +virtue of that authority, which admitted of no appeal, he summoned the +bishops of London, Salisbury, and others to attend him, and ordered, +under pain of excommunication, the ecclesiastics, sequestered on his +account, to be restored in two months to all their benefices. But John +of Oxford, the king’s agent with the pope, had the address to procure +orders for suspending this sentence; and he gave the pontiff such hopes +of a speedy reconcilement between the king and Becket, that two legates, +William of Pavia and Otho, were sent to Normandy, where the king then +resided, and they endeavored to find expedients for that purpose. But +the pretensions of the parties were as yet too opposite to admit of an +accommodation: the king required that all the constitutions of Clarendon +should be ratified; Becket, that previously to any agreement, he and his +adherents should be restored to their possessions; and as the legates +had no power to pronounce a definite sentence on either side, the +negotiation soon after came to nothing. The cardinal of Pavia also, +being much attached to Henry, took care to protract the negotiation; +to mitigate the pope by the accounts which he sent of that prince’s +conduct, and to procure him every possible indulgence from the see +of Rome. About this time, the king had also the address to obtain a +dispensation for the marriage of his third son, Geoffrey, with the +heiress of Brittany; a concession which, considering Henry’s demerits +towards the church, gave great scandal both to Becket, and to his +zealous patron, the king of France. + +{1167.} The intricacies of the feudal law had, in that age, rendered the +boundaries of power between the prince and his vassals, and between +one prince and another, as uncertain as those between the crown and the +mitre; and all wars took their origin from disputes, which, had there +been any tribunal possessed of power to enforce their decrees, ought +to have been decided only before a court of judicature. Henry, in +prosecution of some controversies in which he was involved with the +count of Auvergne, a vassal of the duchy of Guienne, bad invaded the +territories of that nobleman; who had recourse to the king of France, +his superior lord, for protection, and thereby kindled a war between +the two monarchs. Bur the war was, as usual, no less feeble in its +operations than it wail frivolous in its cause and object; and after +occasioning some mutual depredations,[*] and some insurrections among +the barons of Poictou and Guienne, was terminated by a peace. The terms +of this peace were rather disadvantageous to Henry, and prove that +that prince had, by reason of his contest with the church, lost the +superiority which he had hitherto maintained over the crown of France; +an additional motive to him for accommodating those differences. + +The pope and the king began at last to perceive that, in the present +situation of affairs, neither of them could expect a final and decisive +victory over the other, and that they had more to fear than to hope from +the duration of the controversy. Though the vigor of Henry’s government +had confirmed his authority in all his dominions, his throne might be +shaken by a sentence of excommunication; and if England itself could, +by its situation, be more easily guarded against the contagion +of superstitious prejudices, his French provinces at least, whose +communication was open with the neighboring states, would be much +exposed, on that account, to some great revolution or convulsion, +He could not, therefore, reasonably imagine that the pope, while +he retained such a check upon him, would formally recognize the +constitutions of Clarendon, which both put an end to papal pretensions +in England,[**] and would give an example to other states of asserting a +like independency.[***] + + [* Hoveden, p. 517. M. Paris, p. 75. Diecto, p. + 547 p. 1402, 1403. Robert de Monte.] + + [** Epist. St. Thom, p. 230.] + + [*** Epist. St. Thom, p. 276.] + +Pope Alexander, on the other hand, being still engaged in dangerous wars +with the emperor Frederic, might justly apprehend that Henry, rather +than relinquish claims of such importance, would join the party of +his enemy; and as the trials hitherto made of the spiritual weapons +by Becket had not succeeded to his expectation, and every thing had +remained quiet in all the king’s dominions, nothing seemed impossible +to the capacity and vigilance of so great a monarch. The disposition +of minds on both sides, resulting from these circumstances, produced +frequent attempts towards an accommodation; but as both parties knew +that the essential articles of the dispute could not then be terminated, +they entertained a perpetual jealousy of each other, and were anxious +not to lose the least advantage in the negotiation. The nuncios, Gratian +and Vivian, having received a commission to endeavor a reconciliation, +met with the king in Normandy; and after all differences seemed to be +adjusted, Henry offered to sign the treaty, with a salvo to his royal +dignity; which gave such umbrage to Becket, that the negotiation in the +end became fruitless, and the excommunications were renewed against the +king’s ministers. Another negotiation was conducted at Montmirail, in +presence of the king of France and the French prelates where Becket also +offered to make his submissions, with a salvo to the honor of God and +the liberties of the church; which, for a like reason, was extremely +offensive to the king, and rendered the treaty abortive, {1169.} A +third conference, under the same mediation, was broken off, by Becket’s +insisting on a like reserve in his submissions; and even in a fourth +treaty, when all the terms were adjusted, and when the primate expected +to be introduced to the king, and to receive the kiss of peace, which it +was usual for princes to grant in those times, and which was regarded +as a sure pledge of forgiveness, Henry refused him that honor, under +pretence that, during his anger, he had made a rash vow to that purpose. +This formality served, among such jealous spirits, to prevent the +conclusion of the treaty; and though the difficulty was attempted to be +overcome by a dispensation which the pope granted to Henry from his vow, +that prince could not be pre vailed on to depart from the resolution +which he had taken. + +In one of these conferences, at which the French king was present, Henry +said to that monarch, “There have been many kings of England, some of +greater, some of less authority than myself: there have also been many +archbishops of Canterbury, holy and good men, and entitled to every kind +of respect: let Becket but act towards me with the same submission which +the greatest of his predecessors have paid to the least of mine, and +there shall be no controversy between us.” Lewis was so struck with +this state of the case, and with an offer which Henry made to submit +his cause to the French clergy, that he could not forbear condemning the +primate, and withdrawing his friendship from him during some time; but +the bigotry of that prince, and their common animosity against Henry, +soon produced a renewal of their former good correspondence. + +{1170.} All difficulties were at last adjusted between the parties; and +the king allowed Becket to return, on conditions which may be esteemed +both honorable and advantageous to that prelate. He was not required +to give up any rights of the church, or resign any of those pretensions +which had been the original ground of the controversy. It was agreed +that all these questions should be buried in oblivion; but that Becket +and his adherents should, without making further submission, be restored +to all their livings, and that even the possessors of such benefices +as depended on the see of Canterbury and had been filled during the +primate’s absence, should be expelled, and Becket have liberty to supply +the vacancies.[*] In return for concessions which intrenched so deeply +on the honor and dignity of the crown, Henry reaped only the advantage +of seeing his ministers absolved from the sentence of excommunication +pronounced against them, and of preventing the interdict, which, if +these hard conditions had not been complied with, was ready to be laid +on all his dominions.[**] It was easy to see how much he dreaded that +event, when a prince of so high a spirit could submit to terms +so dishonorable, in order to prevent it. So anxious was Henry to +accommodate all differences, and to reconcile himself fully with Becket, +that he took the most extraordinary steps to flatter his vanity, and +even on one occasion humiliated himself so far as to hold the stirrup of +that haughty prelate while he mounted.[***] + + [* Fitz-Steph. p. 68, 69. Hoveden, p. 520.] + + [** Hist Quad. p. 104. Brompton, p, 1062. Gervase, + p. 1408, Epist. St. Thom. 704, 705, 706, 707, 792, 793, 794. + Benedict. Abbas p. 70.] + + [*** Epist. 45, lib. r] + +But the king attained not even that temporary tranquillity which he had +hoped to reap from these expedients. During the heat of his quarrel with +Becket, while he was every day expecting an interdict to be laid on his +kingdom, and a sentence of excommunication to be fulminated against +his person, he had thought it prudent to have his son. Prince Henry, +associated with him in the royalty, and to make him be crowned king, +by the hands of Roger, archbishop of York. By this precaution, he both +insured the succession of that prince, which, considering the many +past irregularities in that point, could not but be esteemed somewhat +precarious; and he preserved at least his family on the throne, if the +sentence of excommunication should have the effect which he dreaded, and +should make his subjects renounce their allegiance to him. Though his +design was conducted with expedition and secrecy, Becket, before it was +carried into execution, had got intelligence of it, and being desirous +of obstructing all Henry’s measures, as well as anxious to prevent this +affront to himself, who pretended to the sole right, as archbishop of +Canterbury, to officiate in the coronation, he had inhibited all the +prelates of England from assisting at this ceremony, had procured from +the pope a mandate to the same purpose, and had incited the king of +France to protest against the coronation of young Henry, unless the +princess, daughter of that monarch, should at the same time receive the +royal unction. There prevailed in that age an opinion which was akin +to its other superstitions, that the royal unction was essential to the +exercise of royal power: it was therefore natural, both for the king of +France, careful of his daughter’s establishment and for Becket, +jealous of his own dignity, to demand, in the treaty with Henry, some +satisfaction in this essential point. Henry, after apologizing to Lewis +for the omission with regard to Margaret, and excusing it on account of +the secrecy and despatch requisite for conducting that measure, promised +that the ceremony should be renewed in the persons both of the prince +and princess; and he assured Becket, that besides receiving the +acknowledgments of Roger and the other bishops for the seeming +affront put on the see of Canterbury, the primate should, as a further +satisfaction, recover his rights by officiating in this coronation. But +the violent spirit of Becket, elated by the power of the church, and by +the victory which he had already obtained over his sovereign, was not +content with this voluntary compensation, but resolved to make the +injury, which he pretended to have suffered, a handle for taking revenge +on all his enemies. On his arrival in England, he met the archbishop of +York and the bishops of London and Salisbury, who were on their journey +to the king in Normandy. He notified to the archbishop the sentence of +suspension, and to the two bishops that of excommunication, which, at +his solicitation, the pope had pronounced against them. Reginald de +Warrenne and Gervase de Cornhill, two of the king’s ministers, who +were employed on their duty in Kent, asked him, on hearing of this bold +attempt whether he meant to bring fire and sword into the kingdom. But +the primate, heedless of the reproof, proceeded in the most ostentatious +manner to take possession of his diocese in Rochester and all the +towns through which he passed, he was received with the shouts and +acclamations of the populace. As he approached Southwark, the clergy, +the laity, men of all ranks and ages, came forth to meet him, and +celebrated with hymns of joy his triumphant entrance. And though he +was obliged, by order of the young prince, who resided at Woodstock, +to return to his diocese, he found that he was not mistaken, when he +reckoned upon the highest veneration of the public towards his person +and his dignity. He proceeded, therefore, with the more courage to +dart his spiritual thunders. He issued the sentence of excommunication +against Robert de Broc and Nigel de Sackville, with many others, who +either had assisted at the coronation of the prince, or been active +in the late persecution of the exiled clergy. This violent measure, by +which he, in effect, denounced war against the king himself, is commonly +ascribed to the vindictive disposition and imperious character of +Becket; but as this prelate was also a man of acknowledged abilities, we +are not in his passions alone to look for the cause of his conduct, when +he proceeded to these extremities against his enemies. His sagacity had +led him to discover all Henry’s intentions; and he proposed, by this +bold and unexpected assault, to prevent the execution of them. + +The king, from his experience of the dispositions of his people, was +become sensible that his enterprise had been too bold, in establishing +the constitutions of Clarendon, in defining all the branches of royal +power, and in endeavoring to extort from the church of England, as well +as from the pope, an express avowal of these disputed prerogatives. +Conscious also of his own violence in attempting to break or subdue the +inflexible primate, he was not displeased to undo that measure which had +given his enemies such advantage against him, and he was contented that +the controversy should terminate in that ambiguous manner, which was +the utmost that princes, in those ages, could hope to attain in their +disputes with the see of Rome. Though he dropped for the present +the prosecution of Becket, he still reserved to himself the right of +maintaining, that the constitutions of Clarendon, the original ground +of the quarrel, were both the ancient customs and the present law of +the realm; and though he knew that the papal clergy asserted them to +be impious in themselves, as well as abrogated by the sentence of the +sovereign pontiff, he intended, in spite of their clamors, steadily to +put those laws in execution, and to trust to his own abilities, and to +the course of events, for success in that perilous enterprise. He hoped +that Becket’s experience of a six years’ exile would, after his pride +was fully gratified by his restoration, be sufficient tc teach him more +reserve in his opposition; or if any controversy arose, he expected +thenceforth to engage in a more favorable cause, and to maintain with +advantage, while the primate was now in his power, the ancient and +undoubted customs of the kingdom against the usurpations of the clergy. +But Becket, determined not to betray the ecclesiastical privileges by +his connivance, and apprehensive lest a prince of such profound policy, +if allowed to proceed in his own way, might probably in the end prevail, +resolved to take all the advantage which his present victory gave him, +and to disconcert the cautious measures of the king, by the vehemence +and rigor of his own conduct. Assured of support from Rome, he was +little intimidated by dangers which his courage taught him to despise, +and which, even if attended with the most fatal consequences, would +serve only to gratify his ambition and thirst of glory. + +When the suspended and excommunicated prelates arrived at Baieux, where +the king then resided, and complained to him of the violent proceedings +of Becket, he instantly perceived the consequences; was sensible that +his whole plan of operations was overthrown; foresaw that the dangerous +contest between the civil and spiritual powers, a contest which he +himself had first roused, but which he had endeavored, by all his late +negotiations and concessions, to appease, must come to an immediate +and decisive issue; and he was thence thrown into the most violent +commotion. The archbishop of York remarked to him, that so long as +Becket lived, he could never expect to enjoy peace or tranquillity. The +king himself, being vehemently agitated, burst forth into an exclamation +against his servants, whose want of zeal, he said, had so long left him +exposed to the enterprises of that ungrateful and imperious prelate. +Four gentlemen of his household, Reginald Fitz-Urse, William de +Traci, Hugh de Moreville, and Richard Brito, taking these passionate +expressions to be a hint for Becket’s death, immediately communicated +their thoughts to each other; and swearing to avenge their prince’s +quarrel secretly withdrew from court. Some menacing expressions which +they had dropped, gave a suspicion of their design; and the king +despatched a messenger after them, charging them to attempt nothing +against the person of the primate; but these orders arrived too late +to prevent their fatal purpose. The four assassins, though they took +different roads to England, arrived nearly about the same time at +Saltwoode, near Canterbury; and being there joined by some assistants, +they proceeded in a great haste to the archiepiscopal palace. They found +the primate, who trusted entirely to the sacredness of his character, +very slenderly attended; and though they threw out many menaces and +reproaches against him, he was so incapable of fear, that, without +using any precautions against their violence, he immediately went to St. +Benedict’s church, to hear vespers. They followed him thither, attacked +him before the altar, and having cloven his head with many blows, +retired without meeting any opposition. This was the tragical end of +Thomas à Becket, a prelate of the most lofty, intrepid, and inflexible +spirit, who was able to cover to the world, and probably to himself, the +enterprises of pride and ambition, under the disguise of sanctity, +and of zeal for the interests of religion; an extraordinary personage, +surely, had he been allowed to remain in his first station, and had +directed the vehemence of his character to the support of law and +justice; instead of being engaged, by the prejudices of the times, to +sacrifice all private duties and public connections to ties which he +imagined, or represented, as superior to every civil and political +consideration. But no man, who enters into the genius of that age, can +reasonably doubt of this prelate’s sincerity. The spirit of superstition +was so prevalent, that it infallibly caught every careless reasoner, +much more every one whose interest, and honor, and ambition were engaged +to support it. All the wretched literature of the times was enlisted on +that side. Some faint glimmerings of common sense might sometimes pierce +through the thick cloud of ignorance, or, what was worse, the illusions +of perverted science, which had blotted out the sun, and enveloped the +face of nature; but those who preserved themselves untainted by the +general contagion, proceeded on no principles which they could pretend +to justify; they were more indebted to their total want of instruction +than to their knowledge, if they still retained some share of +understanding; folly was possessed of all the schools as well as all the +churches; and her votaries assumed the garb of philosophers, together +with the ensigns of spiritual dignities. Throughout that large +collection of letters which bears the name of St. Thomas, we find, in +all the retainers of that aspiring prelate, no less than in himself, a +most entire and absolute conviction of the reason and piety of their own +party, and a disdain of their antagonists; nor is there less cant and +grimace in their style, when they address each other, than when they +compose manifestoes for the perusal of the public. The spirit of +revenge, violence, and ambition which accompanied their conduct, instead +of forming a presumption of hypocrisy, are the surest pledges of their +sincere attachment to a cause which so much flattered these domineering +passions. + +Henry, on the first report of Becket’s violent measures, had purposed +to have him arrested, and had already taken some steps towards the +execution of that design; but the intelligence of his murder threw the +prince into great consternation; and he was immediately sensible of +the dangerous consequences which he had reason to apprehend from so +unexpected an event. An archbishop of reputed sanctity assassinated +before the altar, in the exercise of his functions, and on account +of his zeal in maintaining ecclesiastical privileges, must attain the +highest honors of martyrdom; while his murderer would be ranked among +the most bloody tyrants that ever were exposed to the hatred and +detestation of mankind. Interdicts and excommunications, weapons in +themselves so terrible, would, he foresaw, be armed with double force, +when employed in a cause so much calculated to work on the human +passions, and so peculiarly adapted to the eloquence of popular +preachers and declaimers. In vain would he plead his own innocence, and +even his total ignorance of the fact; he was sufficiently guilty, if +the church thought proper to esteem him such; and his concurrence in +Becket’s martyrdom, becoming a religious opinion, would be received with +all the implicit credit which belonged to the most established articles +of faith. These considerations gave the king the most unaffected +concern; and as it was extremely his interest to clear himself from all +suspicion, he took no care to conceal the depth of his affliction. He +shut himself up from the light of day, and from all commerce with his +servants; he even refused, during three days, all food and sustenance; +the courtiers, apprehending dangerous effects from his despair were +at last obliged to break in upon his solitude; and they employed every +topic of consolation, induced him to accept of nourishment, and occupied +his leisure in taking precautions against the consequences which he so +justly apprehended from the murder of the primate. + +{1171.} The point of chief importance to Henry was to convince the pope +of his innocence; or rather, to persuade him that he would reap greater +advantages from the submissions of England than from proceeding to +extremities against that kingdom. The archbishop of Rouen, the bishops +of Worcester and Evreux, with five persons of inferior quality, were +immediately despatched to Rome, and orders were given them to perform +their journey with the utmost expedition. Though the name and authority +of the court of Rome were so terrible in the remote countries of Europe, +which were sunk in profound ignorance, and were entirely unacquainted +with its character and conduct, the pope was so little revered at home, +that his inveterate enemies surrounded the gates of Rome itself, and +even controlled his government in that city; and the ambassadors, who, +from a distant extremity of Europe, carried to him the humble, or rather +abject submissions of the greatest potentate of the age, found the +utmost difficulty to make their way to him and to throw themselves +at his feet. It was at length agreed that Richard Barre, one of their +number, should leave the rest behind, and run all the hazards of the +passage, in order to prevent the fatal consequences which might ensue +from any delay in giving satisfaction to his holiness. He found, on +his arrival, that Alexander was already wrought up to the greatest rage +against the king, that Becket’s partisans were daily stimulating him to +revenge, that the king of France had exhorted him to fulminate the most +dreadful sentence against England, and that the very mention of Henry’s +name before the sacred college, was received with every expression of +horror and execration. + +The Thursday before Easter was now approaching, when it is customary for +the pope to denounce annual curses against all his enemies; and it was +expected that Henry should, with all the preparations peculiar to the +discharge of that sacred artillery, be solemnly comprehended in the +number. But Barre found means to appease the pontiff, and to deter him +from a measure which, if it failed of success, could not afterwards be +easily recalled: the anathemas were only levelled in general against all +the actors, accomplices and abettors of Becket’s murder. The abbot of +Valasse, and the archdeacons of Salisbury and Lisieux, with others +of Henry’s ministers, who soon after arrived, besides asserting their +prince’s innocence, made oath before the whole consistory, that he would +stand to the pope’s judgment in the affair, and make every submission +that should be required of him. The terrible blow was thus artfully +eluded; the cardinals Albert and Theodin were appointed legates to +examine the cause, and were ordered to proceed to Normandy for that +purpose; and though Henry’s foreign dominions were already laid under +an interdict by the archbishop of Sens, Becket’s great partisan, and the +pope’s legate in France, the general expectation that the monarch would +easily exculpate himself from any concurrence in the guilt, kept every +one in suspense, and prevented all the bad consequences which might be +dreaded from that sentence. + +The clergy, meanwhile, though their rage was happily diverted from +falling on the king, were not idle in magnifying the sanctity of Becket, +in extolling the merits of his martyrdom, and in exalting him above all +that devoted tribe who, in several ages, had, by their blood, cemented +the fabric of the temple. Other saints had only borne testimony by their +sufferings to the general doctrines of Christianity; but Becket had +sacrificed his life to the power and privileges of the clergy; and this +peculiar merit challenged, and not in vain, a suitable acknowledgment to +his memory. Endless were the panegyrics on his virtues; and the miracles +wrought by his relics were more numerous, more nonsensical, and more +impudently attested than those which ever filled the legend of any +confessor or martyr. Two years after his death, he was canonized by Pope +Alexander; a solemn jubilee was established for celebrating his merits; +his body was removed to a magnificent shrine, enriched with presents +from all parts of Christendom; pilgrimages were performed to obtain his +intercession with Heaven, and it was computed, that in one year above +a hundred thousand pilgrims arrived in Canterbury, and paid their +devotions at his tomb. It is indeed a mortifying reflection to those +who are actuated by the love of fame, so justly denominated the last +infirmity of noble minds, that the wisest legislator and most exalted +genius that ever reformed or enlightened the world, can never expect +such tributes of praise an are lavished on the memory of pretended +saints, whose whole conduct was probably to the last degree odious or +contemptible, and whose industry was entirely directed to the pursuit +of objects pernicious to mankind. It is only a conqueror, a personage no +less entitled to our hatred, who can pretend to the attainment of equal +renown and glory. + +It may not be amiss to remark, before we conclude this subject of Thomas +à Becket, that the king, during his controversy with that prelate, +was on every occasion more anxious than usual to express his zeal for +religion, and to avoid all appearance of a profane negligence on that +head. He gave his consent to the imposing of a tax on all his dominions, +for the delivery of the Holy Land, now threatened by the famous Salad +me: this tax amounted to twopence a pound for one year, and a penny a +pound for the four subsequent.[*] Almost all the princes of Europe +laid a like imposition on their subjects, which received the name of +Saladine’s tax. During this period there came over from Germany about +thirty heretics of both sexes, under the direction of one Gerard, +simple, ignorant people, who could give no account of their faith, but +declared themselves ready to suffer for the tenets of their master. They +made only one convert in England, a woman as ignorant as themselves; yet +they gave such umbrage to the clergy, that they were delivered over to +the secular arm, and were punished by being burned on the forehead, +and then whipped through the streets. They seemed to exult in their +sufferings, and as they went along sung the beatitude, “Blessed are ye, +when men hate you and persecute you.”[**] + + [* Gervase, p. 1399. M. Paris, p. 74.] + + [** Neubr. p. 391. M. Pang, p. 74. Heining. p. + 494.] + +After they were whipped, they were thrust out almost naked in the midst +of winter, and perished through cold and hunger; no one daring, or +being willing, to give them the least relief. We are ignorant of the +particular tenets of these people; for it would be imprudent to rely on +the representations left of them by the clergy, who affirm, that they +denied the efficacy of the sacraments and the unity of the church. It is +probable that their departure from the standard of orthodoxy was still +more subtile and minute. They seem to have been the first that ever +suffered for heresy in England. + +As soon as Henry found that he was in no immediate danger from the +thunders of the Vatican, he undertook an expedition against Ireland; a +design which he had long projected, and by which he hoped to recover his +credit, somewhat impaired by his late transactions with the hierarchy. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + + +HENRY II. + +{1172.} As Britain was first peopled from Gaul, so was Ireland probably +from Britain; and the inhabitants of all these countries seem to have +been so many tribes of the Celtae, who derive their origin from an +antiquity that lies far beyond the records of any history or tradition. +The Irish, from the beginning of time, had been buried in the most +profound barbarism and ignorance; and as they were never conquered or +even invaded by the Romans, from whom all the western world derived its +civility, they continued still in the most rude state of society, and +were distinguished by those vices alone, to which human nature, not +tamed by education or restrained by laws, is forever subject. The small +principalities into which they were divided, exercised perpetual rapine +and violence against each other: the uncertain succession of their +princes was a continual source of domestic convulsions; the usual title +of each petty sovereign was the murder of his predecessor; courage and +force, though exercised in the commission of crimes, were more honored +than any pacific virtues; and the most simple arts of life, even tillage +and agriculture, were almost wholly unknown among them. They had felt +the invasions of the Danes and the other northern tribes; but these +inroads, which had spread barbarism in other parts of Europe, tended +rather to improve the Irish; and the only towns which were to be found +in the island, had been planted along the coast by the freebooters of +Norway and Denmark. The other inhabitants exercised pasturage in the +open country, sought protection from any danger in their forests and +morasses, and being divided by the fiercest animosities against each +other, were still more intent on the means of mutual injury than on the +expedients for common or even for private interest. + +Besides many small tribes, there were in the age of Henry II. five +principal sovereignties in the island, Minister, Leinster Meath, Ulster, +and Connaught; and as it had been usual for the one or the other of +these to take the lead in their wars, there was commonly some prince, +who seemed, for the time, to act as monarch of Ireland. Roderic +O’Connor, king of Connaught, was then advanced to this dignity;[*] but +his government, ill obeyed even within his own territory, could not +unite the people in any measures, either for the establishment of order, +or for defence against foreigners. + + [* Hoveden, p. 527] + +The ambition of Henry had, very early in his reign, been moved, by the +prospect of these advantages, to attempt the subjecting of Ireland; +and a pretence was only wanting to invade a people who, being always +confined to their own island, had never given any reason of complaint to +any of their neighbors. For this purpose he had recourse to Rome, which +assumed a right to dispose of kingdoms and empires; and not foreseeing +the dangerous disputes which he was one day to maintain with that see, +he helped, for present, or rather for an imaginary convenience, to give +sanction to claims which were now become dangerous to all sovereigns. +Adrian III., who then filled the papal chair, was by birth an +Englishman; and being on that account the more disposed to oblige Henry, +he was easily persuaded to act as master of the world, and to make, +without any hazard or expense, the acquisition of a great island to his +spiritual jurisdiction. The Irish had, by precedent missions from the +Britons, been imperfectly converted to Christianity; and, what the pope +regarded as the surest mark of their imperfect conversion, they followed +the doctrines of their first teachers, and had never acknowledged any +subjection to the see of Rome. Adrian, therefore, in the year 1156 +issued a bull in favor of Henry; in which, after premising that this +prince had ever shown an anxious care to enlarge the church of God on +earth, and to increase the number of his saints and elect in heaven, he +represents his design of subduing Ireland as derived from the same pious +motives: he considers his care of previously applying for the +apostolic sanction as a sure earnest of success and victory; and having +established it as a point incontestable, that all Christian kingdoms +belong to the patrimony of St. Peter, he acknowledges it to be his own +duty to sow among them the seeds of the gospel, which might in the last +day fructify to their eternal salvation: he exhorts the king to invade +Ireland, in order to extirpate the vice and wickedness of the natives, +and oblige them to pay yearly, from every house a penny to the see of +Rome: he gives him entire right and authority over the island, commands +all the inhabitants to obey him as their sovereign, and invests with +full power all such godly instruments as he should think proper to +employ in an enterprise thus calculated for the glory of God and +the salvation of the souls of men.[*] Henry, though armed with this +authority, did not immediately put his design in execution; but being +detained by more interesting business on the continent, waited for a +favorable opportunity of invading Ireland. Dermot Macmorrogh, king of +Leinster, had, by his licentious tyranny, rendered himself odious to his +subjects, who seized with alacrity the first occasion that offered of +throwing off the yoke, which was become grievous and oppressive to them. +This prince had formed a design on Dovergilda, wife of Ororic, prince +of Breffny; and taking advantage of her husband’s absence, who, being +obliged to visit a distant part of his territory, had left his wife +secure, as he thought, in an island surrounded by a bog, he suddenly +invaded the place, and carried off the princess.[**] This exploit, +though usual among the Irish, and rather deemed a proof of gallantry +and spirit,[***] provoked the resentment of the husband; who, having +collected forces, and being strengthened by the alliance of Roderic, +king of Connaught, invaded the dominions of Dermot, and expelled him his +kingdom. The exiled prince had recourse to Henry, who was at this time +in Guienne, craved his assistance in restoring him to his sovereignty, +and offered, on that event, to hold his kingdom in vassalage under the +crown of England. Henry, whose views were already turned towards making +acquisitions in Ireland, readily accepted the offer; but being at that +time embarrassed by the rebellions of his French subjects, as well as +by his disputes with the see of Rome, he declined, for the present, +embarking in the enterprise, and gave Dermot no further assistance than +letters patent, by which he empowered all his subjects to aid the Irish +prince in the recovery of his dominions.[****] + + [* M. Paris, p. 67. Girali. Camltr. Spel. Concil. + vol. ii. p. 51. Rymer, vol. i. p. 15.] + + [** Girald. Cambr. p. 760] + + [*** Spencer, vol. vi.] + + [**** Girald. Cambr. p. 760] + +Dermot, supported by this authority, came to Bristol; and after +endeavoring, though for some time in vain, to engage adventurers in the +enterprise, he at last formed a treaty with Richard, surnamed Strongbow, +earl of Strigul. This nobleman, who was of the illustrious house of +Clare, had impaired his fortune by expensive pleasures; and being ready +for any desperate undertaking, he promised assistance to Dermot, on +condition that he should espouse Eva, daughter of that prince, and be +declared heir to all his dominions. While Richard was assembling his +succors, Dermot went into Wales; and meeting with Robert Fitz-Stephens, +constable of Abertivi, and Maurice Fitz-Gerald he also engaged them in +his service, and obtained their promise of invading Ireland. Being now +assured of succor, he returned privately to his own state; and lurking +in the monastery of Fernes, which he had founded, (for this ruffian +was also a founder of monasteries,) he prepared every thing for the +reception of his English allies. + +The troops of Fitz-Stephens were first ready. That gentleman landed in +Ireland with thirty knights, sixty esquires, and three hundred archers; +but this small body, being brave men, not unacquainted with discipline, +and completely armed,--a thing almost unknown in Ireland,--struck a +great terror into the barbarous inhabitants, and seemed to menace them +with some signal revolution. The conjunction of Maurice de Prendergast, +who, about the same time, brought over ten knights and sixty archers, +enabled Fitz-Stephens to attempt the siege of Wexford, a town inhabited +by the Danes; and after gaining an advantage, he made himself master +of the place. Soon after, Fitz-Gerald arrived with ten knights, +thirty esquires, and a hundred archers; and being joined by the former +adventurers, composed a force which nothing in Ireland was able to +withstand. Roderic, the chief monarch of the island, was foiled in +different actions: the prince of Ossory was obliged to submit, and give +hostages for his peaceable behavior; and Dermot, not content with +being restored to his kingdom of Leinster, projected the dethroning of +Roderic, and aspired to the sole dominion over the Irish. + +In prosecution of these views, he sent over a messenger to the earl of +Strigul, challenging the performance of his promise, and displaying +the mighty advantages which might now be reaped by a reënforcement of +warlike troops from England. Richard, not satisfied with the general +allowance given by Henry to all his subjects, went to that prince, +then in Normandy, and having obtained a cold or ambiguous permission, +prepared himself for the execution of his designs. He first sent over +Raymond, one of his retinue, with ten knights and seventy archers, who, +landing near Waterford, defeated a body of three thousand Irish that +had ventured to attack him, and as Richard himself, who brought over +two hundred horse and a body of archers, joined, a few days after, +the victorious English, they made themselves masters of Waterford, and +proceeded to Dublin, which was taken by assault. Roderic, in revenge, +cut off the head of Dermot’s natural son, who had been left as a hostage +in his hands; and Richard, marrying Eva, became soon after, by the death +of Dermot, master of the kingdom of Leinster, and prepared to extend his +authority over all Ireland. Roderic, and the other Irish princes, were +alarmed at the danger; and combining together, besieged Dublin with an +army of thirty thousand men; but Earl Richard, making a sudden sally at +the head of ninety knights with their followers, put this numerous +army to rout, chased them off the field, and pursued them with great +slaughter. None in Ireland now dared to oppose themselves to the +English. + +Henry, jealous of the progress made by his own subjects, sent orders to +recall all the English, and he made preparations to attack Ireland in +person; but Richard and the other adventurers found means to appease +him, by making him the most humble submissions, and offering to hold +all their acquisitions in vassalage to his crown. That monarch landed in +Ireland at the head of five hundred knights, besides other soldiers; +he found the Irish so dispirited by their late misfortunes, that, in a +progress which he made through the island, he had no other occupation +than to receive the homage of his new subjects. He left most of the +Irish chieftains or princes in possession of their ancient territories; +bestowed some lands on the English adventurers; gave Earl Richard the +commission of seneschal of Ireland; and after a stay of a few months, +returned in triumph to England. By these trivial exploits, scarcely +worth relating, except for the importance of the consequences, was +Ireland subdued, and annexed to the English crown. + +The low state of commerce and industry during those ages made it +impracticable for princes to support regular armies, which might retain +a conquered country in subjection; and the extreme barbarism and poverty +of Ireland could still less afford means of bearing the expense. +The only expedient by which a durable conquest could then be made or +maintained, was by pouring in a multitude of new inhabitants, dividing +among them the lands of the vanquished, establishing them in all offices +of trust and authority, and thereby transforming the ancient inhabitants +into a new people. By this policy the northern invaders of old, and of +late the duke of Normandy, had been able to fix their dominions, and +to erect kingdoms which remained stable on their foundations, and were +transmitted to the posterity of the first conquerors. But the state of +Ireland rendered that island so little inviting to the English, that +only a few of desperate fortunes could be persuaded, from time to time, +to transport themselves thither; and instead of reclaiming the natives +from their uncultivated manners, they were gradually assimilated to +the ancient inhabitants, and degenerated from the customs of their +own nation. It was also found requisite to bestow great military and +arbitrary powers on the leaders, who commanded a handful of men amidst +such hostile multitudes; and law and equity, in a little time, became as +much unknown in the English settlements, as they had ever been among the +Irish tribes. Palatinates were erected in favor of the new adventurers; +independent authority conferred; the natives, never fully subdued, +still retained their animosity against the conquerors; their hatred was +retaliated by like injuries; and from these causes the Irish, during the +course of four centuries, remained still savage and untractable: it was +not till the latter end of Elizabeth’s reign, that the island was fully +subdued; nor till that of her successor, that it gave hopes of becoming +a useful conquest to the English nation. + +Besides that the easy and peaceable submission of the Irish left Henry +no further occupation in that island, he was recalled from it by another +incident, which was of the last importance to his interest and safety. +The two legates, Albert and Theodin, to whom was committed the trial +of his conduct in the murder of Archbishop Becket, were arrived in +Normandy; and being impatient of delay, sent him frequent letters, full +of menaces, if he protracted any longer making his appearance before +them. He hastened therefore to Normandy, and had a conference with them +at Savigny, where their demands were so exorbitant, that he broke off +the negotiation, threatened to return to Ireland, and bade them do +their worst against him. They perceived that the season was now past +for taking advantage of that tragical incident; which, had it been hotly +pursued by interdicts and excommunications, was capable of throwing +the whole kingdom into combustion. But the time which Henry had happily +gained, had contributed to appease the minds of men; the event could +not now have the same influence as when it was recent; and as the +clergy every day looked for an accommodation with the king, they had not +opposed the pretensions of his partisans, who had been very industrious +in representing to the people his entire innocence in the murder of the +primate, and his ignorance of the designs formed by the assassins. The +legates, therefore, found themselves obliged to lower their terms; and +Henry was so fortunate as to conclude an accommodation with them. He +declared upon oath, before the relics of the saints, that so far from +commanding or desiring the death of the arch bishop, he was extremely +grieved when he received intelligence of it; but as the passion which +he had expressed on account of that prelate’s conduct, had probably been +the occasion of his murder, he stipulated the following conditions as an +atonement for the offence. He promised, that he should pardon all such +as had been banished for adhering to Becket, and should restore them to +their livings; that the see of Canterbury should be reinstated in all +its ancient possessions; that he should pay the templars a sum of money +sufficient for the subsistence of two hundred knights during a year in +the Holy Land; that he should himself take the cross at the Christmas +following, and, if the pope required it, serve three years against the +infidels, either in Spain or Palestine; that he should not insist on the +observance of such customs derogatory to ecclesiastical privileges, as +had been introduced in his own time; and that he should not obstruct +appeals to the pope in ecclesiastical causes, but should content himself +with exacting sufficient security from such clergymen as left his +dominions to prosecute an appeal, that they should attempt nothing +against the rights of his crown. Upon signing these concessions, Henry +received absolution from the legates, and was confirmed in the grant of +Ireland made by Pope Adrian; and nothing proves more strongly the great +abilities of this monarch than his extricating himself on such easy +terms from so difficult a situation. He had always insisted, that the +laws established at Clarendon contained not any new claims, but +the ancient customs of the kingdom; and he was still at liberty, +notwithstanding the articles of this agreement, to maintain his +pretensions. Appeals to the pope were indeed permitted by that treaty; +but as the king was also permitted to exact reasonable securities from +the parties, and might stretch his demands on this head as far as he +pleased, he had it virtually in his power to prevent the pope from +reaping any advantage by this seeming concession. And on the whole, the +constitutions of Clarendon remained still the law of the realm; though +the pope and his legates seem so little to have conceived the king’s +power to lie under any legal limitations, that they were satisfied with +his departing, by treaty, from one of the most momentous articles of +these constitutions, without requiring any repeal by the states of the +kingdom. + +Henry, freed from this dangerous controversy with the ecclesiastics and +with the see of Rome, seemed now to have reached the pinnacle of human +grandeur and felicity, and to be equally happy in his domestic situation +and in his political government. A numerous progeny of sons and +daughters gave both lustre and authority to his crown, prevented the +danger of a disputed succession, and repressed all pretensions of +the ambitious barons. The king’s precaution also, in establishing the +several branches of his family, seemed well calculated to prevent all +jealousy among the brothers, and to perpetuate the greatness of his +family. He had appointed Henry, his eldest son, to be his successor +in the kingdom of England, the duchy of Normandy, and the counties of +Anjou, Maine, and Touraine; territories which lay contiguous, and which, +by that means, might easily lend to each other mutual assistance both +against intestine commotions and foreign invasions. Richard, his +second son, was invested in the duchy of Guienne and county of Poictou; +Geoffrey, his third son, inherited, in right of his wife, the duchy of +Brittany, and the new conquest of Ireland was destined for the appanage +of John, his fourth son. He had also negotiated, in favor of this last +prince, a marriage with Adelais, the only daughter of Humbert, count +of Savoy and Maurienne; and was to receive as her dowry considerable +demesnes in Piedmont, Savoy, Bresse, and Dauphiny. But this exaltation +of his family excited the jealousy of all his neighbors, who made those +very sons, whose fortunes he had so anxiously established, the means of +imbittering his future life, and disturbing his government. + +Young Henry, who was rising to man’s estate, began to display his +character, and aspire to independence: brave, ambitious, liberal, +munificent, affable: he discovered qualities which give great lustre to +youth; prognosticate a shining fortune; but, unless tempered in mature +age with discretion, are the forerunners of the greatest calamities. It +is said that at the time when this prince received the holy unction, his +father, in order to give greater dignity to the ceremony, officiated at +table as one of the retinue; and observed to his son that never king was +more royally served. “It is nothing extraordinary,” said young Henry to +one of his courtiers, “if the son of a count should serve the son of a +king.” This saying, which might pass only for an innocent pleasantry, or +even for an oblique compliment to his father, was, however, regarded as +a symptom of his aspiring temper; and his conduct soon after justified +the conjecture. + +{1173.} Henry, agreeable to the promise which he had given both to the +pope and French king, permitted his son to be crowned anew by the hands +of the archbishop of Rouen, and associated the Princess Margaret, spouse +to young Henry, in the ceremony.[*] He afterwards allowed him to pay +a visit to his father-in-law at Paris, who took the opportunity of +instilling into the young prince those ambitious sentiments to which he +was naturally but too much inclined. + + [* Hoveden, p. 529. Diceto, p. 560. Brompton, p. + 1080. Gervase, p. 1421. Trivet, p. 58. It appears from + Madox’s History of the Exchequer, that silk garments were + then known in England, and that the coronation robes of the + young king and queen cost eighty-seven pounds ten shillings + and fourpence, money of that age.] + +Though it had been the constant practice of France, ever since the +accession of the Capetian line, to crown the son during the lifetime +of the father without conferring on him any present participation of +royalty; Lewis persuaded his son-in-law, that, by this ceremony, which +in those ages was deemed so important, he had acquired a title to +sovereignty, and that the king could not, without injustice, exclude +him from immediate possession of the whole, or at least a part of his +dominions. In consequence of these extravagant ideas, young Henry, +on his return, desired the king to resign to him either the crown of +England or the duchy of Normandy; discovered great discontent on the +refusal; spake in the most undutiful terms of his father; and soon +after, in concert with Lewis, made his escape to Paris, where he was +protected and supported by that monarch. + +While Henry was alarmed at this incident, and had the prospect of +dangerous intrigues, or even of a war, which, whether successful or +not, must be extremely calamitous and disagreeable to him, he received +intelligence of new misfortunes, which must have affected him in the +most sensible manner. Queen Eleanor, who had disgusted her first husband +by her gallantries, was no less offensive to her second by her jealousy; +and after this manner carried to extremity, in the different periods of +her life, every circumstance of female weakness. She communicated her +discontents against Henry to her two younger sons, Geoffrey and Richard; +persuaded them that they were also entitled to present possession of the +territories assigned to them; engaged them to fly secretly to the court +of France; and was meditating herself an escape to the same court, and +had even put on man’s apparel for that purpose, when she was seized by +orders from her husband, and thrown into confinement. Thus Europe saw +with astonishment the best and most indulgent of parents at war with +his whole family; three boys, scarcely arrived at the age of puberty, +require a great monarch, in the full vigor of his age and height of his +reputation, to dethrone himself in their favor; and several princes not +ashamed to support them in these unnatural and absurd pretensions. + +Henry, reduced to this perilous and disagreeable situation, had recourse +to the court of Rome. Though sensible of the danger attending the +interposition of ecclesiastical authority in temporal disputes, he +applied to the pope, as his superior lord, to excommunicate his enemies, +and by these censures to reduce to obedience his undutiful children, +whom he found such reluctance to punish by the sword of the +magistrate.[*] Alexander, well pleased to exert his power in so +justifiable a cause, issued the bulls required of him; but it was soon +found, that these spiritual weapons had not the same force as when +employed in a spiritual controversy; and that the clergy were very +negligent in supporting a sentence which was nowise calculated to +promote the immediate interests of their order. The king, after taking +in vain this humiliating step, was obliged to have recourse to arms, +and to enlist such auxiliaries as are the usual resource of tyrants, and +have seldom been employed by so wise and just a monarch. + +The loose government which prevailed in all the states of Europe, the +many private wars carried on among the neighboring nobles, and the +impossibility of enforcing any general execution of the laws, had +encouraged a tribe of banditti to disturb every where the public peace, +to infest the highways, to pillage the open country, and to brave all +the efforts of the civil magistrate, and even the excommunications of +the church, which were fulminated against them. Troops of them were +sometimes enlisted in the service of one prince or baron, sometimes +in that of another: they often acted in an independent manner, under +leaders of their own; the peaceable and industrious inhabitants, reduced +to poverty by their ravages, were frequently obliged for subsistence to +betake themselves to a like disorderly course of life; and a continual +intestine war, pernicious to industry, as well as to the execution +of justice, was thus carried on in the bowels of every kingdom. Those +desperate ruffians received the name sometimes of Brabançons, sometimes +of Routiers or Cottereaux; but for what reason is not agreed by +historians; and they formed a kind of society or government among +themselves, which set at defiance the rest of mankind. The greatest +monarchs were not ashamed, on occasion, to have recourse to their +assistance; and as their habits of war and depredation had given them +experience, hardiness, and courage, they generally composed the most +formidable part of those armies which decided the political quarrels +of princes. Several of them were enlisted among the forces levied by +Henry’s enemies; but the great treasures amassed by that prince enabled +him to engage more numerous troops of them in his service; and the +situation of his affairs rendered even such banditti the only forces on +whose fidelity he could repose any confidence. + + [* Epist. Petri Bles. epist. 136, in Biblioth. + Patr. tom. xxiv. p. 1048. His words are, “Vestrae + jurisdictionis est regnum Angliæ, et quantum ad feudatorii + juris obligationem, vobis duntaxat obnoxius teneor.” The + same strange paper is in Rymer, vol. i. p. 35, and Trivet, + vol. i. p. 62.] + +His licentious barons, disgusted with a vigilant government, +were more desirous of being ruled by young princes, ignorant of public +affairs, remiss in their conduct, and profuse in their grants; and as +the king had insured to his sons the succession to every particular +province of his dominions, the nobles dreaded no danger in adhering to +those who, they knew, must some time become their sovereigns. Prompted +by these motives, many of the Norman nobility had deserted to his son +Henry; the Breton and Gascon barons seemed equally disposed to embrace +the quarrel of Geoffrey and Richard. Disaffection had crept in among the +English; and the earls of Leicester and Chester in particular had openly +declared against the king. Twenty thousand Brabançons, therefore, joined +to some troops which he brought over from Ireland, and a few barons +of approved fidelity, formed the sole force with which he intended to +resist his enemies. + +Lewis, in order to bind the confederates in a closer union, summoned +at Paris an assembly of the chief vassals of the crown, received their +approbation of his measures, and engaged them by oath to adhere to the +cause of young Henry. This prince, in return, bound himself by a like +tie never to desert his French allies; and having made a new great seal, +he lavishly distributed among them many considerable parts of those +territories which he purposed to conquer from his father. The counts of +Flanders, Boulogne, Blois, and Eu, partly moved by the general jealousy +arising from Henry’s power and ambition, partly allured by the prospect +of reaping advantage from the inconsiderate temper and the necessities +of the young prince, declared openly in favor of the latter. William, +king of Scotland, had also entered into this great confederacy; and +a plan was concerted for a general invasion on different parts of the +king’s extensive and factious dominions. + +Hostilities were first commenced by the counts of Flanders and Boulogne +on the frontiers of Normandy. Those princes laid siege to Aumale, which +was delivered into their hands by the treachery of the count of that +name: this nobleman surrendered himself prisoner; and on pretence of +thereby paying his ransom, opened the gates of all his other fortresses. +The two counts next besieged and made themselves masters of Drincourt; +but the count of Boulogne was here mortally wounded in the assault; and +this incident put some stop to the progress of the Flemish arms. + +In another quarter, the king of France, being strongly assisted by his +vassals, assembled a great army of seven thousand knights and their +followers on horseback, and a proportionable number of infantry; +carrying young Henry along with him he laid siege to Verneuil, which +was vigorously defended by Hugh de Lacy and Hugh de Beauchamp, the +governors. After he had lain a month before the place, the garrison, +being straitened for provisions, were obliged to capitulate; and they +engaged, if not relieved within three days, to surrender the town, and +to retire into the citadel. On the last of these days, Henry appeared +with his army upon the heights above Verneuil. Lewis, dreading an +attack, sent the archbishop of Sens and the count of Blois to the +English camp, and desired that next day should be appointed for a +conference, in order to establish a general peace, and terminate the +difference between Henry and his sons. The king, who passionately +desired this accommodation, and suspected no fraud, gave his consent; +but Lewis, that morning, obliging the garrison to surrender, according +to the capitulation, set fire to the place, and began to retire with his +army. Henry, provoked at this artifice, attacked the rear with vigor, +put them to rout, did some execution, and took several prisoners. The +French army, as their time of service was now expired, immediately +dispersed themselves into their several provinces, and left Henry free +to prosecute his advantages against his other enemies. + +The nobles of Brittany, instigated by the earl of Chester and Ralph de +Fougeres, were all in arms; but their progress was checked by a body +of Brabançons, which the king, after Lewis’s retreat, had sent against +them. The two armies came to an action near Dol, where the rebels were +defeated, fifteen hundred killed on the spot, and the leaders, the earls +of Chester and Fougeres, obliged to take shelter in the town of Dol. +Henry hastened to form the siege of that place, and carried on the +attack with such ardor, that he obliged the governor and garrison to +surrender themselves prisoners. By these rigorous measures and happy +successes, the insurrections were entirely quelled in Brittany; and the +king, thus fortunate in all quarters, willingly agreed to a conference +with Lewis, in hopes that his enemies, finding all their mighty efforts +entirely frustrated, would terminate hostilities on some moderate and +reasonable conditions. + +The two monarchs met between Trie and Gisofs; and Henry had here the +mortification to see his three sons in the retinue of his mortal enemy. +As Lewis had no other pretence for war than supporting the claims of +the young princes, the king made them such offers as children might be +ashamed to insist on, and could be extorted from him by nothing but his +parental affection, or by the present necessity of his affairs.[*] He +insisted only on retaining the sovereign authority in all his dominions; +but offered young Henry half the revenues of England, with some places +of surety in that kingdom; or, if he rather chose to reside in Normandy, +half the revenues of that duchy, with all those of Anjou. He made a like +offer to Richard in Guienne; he promised to resign Brittany to Geoffrey; +and if these concessions were not deemed sufficient, he agreed to add +to them whatever the pope’s legates, who were present, should require of +him.[**] The earl of Leicester was also present at the negotiation; and +either from the impetuosity of his temper, or from a view of abruptly +breaking off a conference which must cover the allies with confusion, he +gave vent to the most violent reproaches against Henry, and he even put +his hand to his sword, as if he meant to attempt some violence against +him. This furious action threw the whole company into confusion, and put +an end to the treaty.[***] + +The chief hopes of Henry’s enemies seemed now to depend oft the state of +affairs in England, where his authority was exposed to the most imminent +danger. One article of Prince Henry’s agreement with his foreign +confederates was, that he should resign Kent, with Dover, and all its +other fortresses, into the hands of ihe earl of Flanders:[****] yet so +little national or public spirit prevailed among the independent English +nobility, so wholly bent were they on the aggrandizement each of himself +and his own family, that, notwithstanding this pernicious concession, +which must have produced the ruin of the kingdom, the greater part of +them had conspired to make an insurrection, and to support the prince’s +pretensions. + + [* Hoveden, p. 539.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 536. Brompton, p. 1085.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 536.] + + [**** Hoveden, p. 533. Brompton, p. 1084. Gal. + Neubr. p. 508.] + +The king’s principal resource lay in the church and the bishops with +whom he was now in perfect agreement; whether that the decency of their +character made them ashamed of supporting so unnatural a rebellion, or +that they were entirely satisfied with Henry’s atonement for the murder +of Becket and for his former invasion of ecclesiastical immunities. That +prince, however, had resigned none of the essential rights of his crown +in the accommodation: he maintained still the same prudent jealousy of +the court of Rome; admitted no legate into England, without his swearing +to attempt nothing against the royal prerogatives; and he had even +obliged the monks of Canterbury, who pretended to a free election on the +vacancy made by the death of Becket, to choose Roger, prior of Dover, in +the place of that turbulent prelate.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 537.] + +The king of Scotland made an irruption into Northumberland, and +committed great devastations; but being opposed by Richard de Lucy, whom +Henry had left guardian of the realm, he retreated into his own country, +and agreed to a cessation of arms. This truce enabled the guardian to +march southwards with his army, in order to oppose an invasion which +the earl of Leicester, at the head of a great body of Flemings, had made +upon Suffolk. The Flemings had been joined by Hugh Bigod, who made them +masters of his castle of Framlingham; and marching into the heart of the +kingdom, where they hoped to be supported by Leicester’s vassals, they +were met by Lucy, who, assisted by Humphry Bohun, the constable, and the +earls of Arundel, Glocester, and Cornwall, had advanced to Farnham with +a less numerous, but braver army to oppose them. The Flemings, who were +mostly weavers and artificers, (for manufactures were now beginning to +be established in Flanders,) were broken in an instant, ten thousand of +them were put to the sword, the earl of Leicester was taken prisoner, +and the remains of the invaders were glad to compound for a safe retreat +into their own country. + +{1174.} This great defeat did not dishearten the malecontents; who, +being supported by the alliance of so many foreign princes, and +encouraged by the king’s own sons, determined to persevere in their +enterprise. The earl of Ferrars, Roger de Moubray, Archetil de Mallory, +Richard de Moreville, Hamo de Mascie, together with many friends of the +earls of Leicester and Chester, rose in arms: the fidelity of the +earls of Clare and Glocester was suspected; and the guardian, though +vigorously supported by Geoffrey, bishop of Lincoln, the king’s natural +son by the fair Rosamond, found it difficult to defend himself, on all +quarters, from so many open and concealed enemies. The more to augment +the confusion, the king of Scotland, on the expiration of the truce, +broke into the northern provinces with a great army[*] of eighty +thousand men; which, though undisciplined and disorderly, and better +fitted for committing devastation, than for executing any military +enterprise, was become dangerous from the present factious and turbulent +spirit of the kingdom. + + [* W. Heming. p. 501.] + +Henry, who had baffled all his enemies in France, and had put his +frontiers in a posture of defence, now found England the seat of danger; +and he determined by his presence to overawe the malecontents, or by +his conduct and courage to subdue them. He lauded at Southampton; and +knowing the influence of superstition over the minds of the people, +he hastened to Canterbury, in order to make atonement to the ashes of +Thomas à Becket, and tender his submissions to a dead enemy. As soon as +he came within sight of the church of Canterbury, he dismounted walked +barefoot towards it, prostrated himself before the shrine of the saint, +remained in fasting and prayer during a whole day, and watched all night +the holy relics. Not content with this hypocritical devotion towards +a man whose violence and ingratitude had so long disquieted his +government, and had been the object of his most inveterate animosity, he +submitted to a penance still more singular and humiliating. He assembled +a chapter of the monks, disrobed himself before them, put a scourge of +discipline into the hands of each, and presented his bare shoulders to +the lashes which these ecclesiastics successively inflicted upon him. +Next day he received absolution; and, departing for London, got soon +after the agreeable intelligence of a great victory which his generals +had obtained over the Scots, and which, being gained, as was reported, +on the very day of his absolution, was regarded as the earnest of his +final reconciliation with Heaven and with Thomas a Becket William, +king of Scots, though repulsed before the castle of Prudhow, and other +fortified places, had committed the most horrible depredations upon +the northern provinces; but on the approach of Ralph de Glanville, the +famous justiciary, seconded by Bernard de Baliol, Robert de Stuteville, +Odonel de Umfreville, William de Vesci, and other northern barons +together with the gallant bishop of Lincoln, he thought proper to +retreat nearer his own country, and he fixed his camp at Alnwick. He had +here weakened his army extremely, by sending out numerous detachments in +order to extend his ravages; and he lay absolutely safe, as he imagined, +from any attack of the enemy. But Glanville, informed of his situation, +made a hasty and fatiguing march to Newcastle; and allowing his soldiers +only a small interval for refreshment, he immediately set out towards +evening for Alnwick. He marched that night above thirty miles; arrived +in the morning, under cover of a mist, near the Scottish camp; and +regardless of the great numbers of the enemy, he began the attack with +his small but determined body of cavalry. William was living in such +supine security that he took the English at first for a body of his own +ravagers who were returning to the camp; but the sight of their banners +convincing him of his mistake, he entered on the action with no greater +body than a hundred horse, in confidence that the numerous army which +surrounded him would soon hasten to his relief. He was dismounted on +the first shock, and taken prisoner; while his troops, hearing of this +disaster, fled on all sides with the utmost precipitation. The dispersed +ravagers made the best of their way to their own country; and discord +arising among them, they proceeded even to mutual hostilities, and +suffered more from each other’s sword than from that of the enemy. + +This great and important victory proved at last decisive in favor of +Henry, and entirely broke the spirit of the English rebels. The bishop +of Durham, who was preparing to revolt, made his submissions; Hugh +Bigod, though he had received a strong reénforcement of Flemings, was +obliged to surrender all his castles, and throw himself on the king’s +mercy; no better resource was left to the earl of Ferrars and Roger +de Moubray; the inferior rebels imitating the example, all England was +restored to tranquillity in a few weeks; and as the king appeared to +be under the immediate protection of Heaven, it was deemed impious any +longer to resist him. The clergy exalted anew the merits and +powerful intercession of Becket; and Henry, instead of opposing this +superstition, plumed himself on the new friendship of the-saint, and +propagated an opinion which was so favorable to his interests.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 539.] + +Prince Henry, who was ready to embark at Gravelines with the earl of +Flanders and a great army, hearing that his partisans in England were +suppressed, abandoned all thoughts of the enterprise, and joined +the camp of Lewis, who, during the absence of the king, had made an +irruption into Normandy and had laid siege to Rouen.[*] The place was +defended with great vigor by the inhabitants;[**] and Lewis, despairing +of success by open force, tried to gain the town by a stratagem, which, +in that superstitious age, was deemed not very honor able. He proclaimed +in his own camp a cessation of arms on pretence of celebrating the +festival of St. Laurence; and when the citizens, supposing themselves in +safety, were so imprudent as to remit their guard, he purposed to +take advantage of their security. Happily, some priests had, from mere +curiosity, mounted a steeple, where the alarm bell hung; and observing +the French camp in motion, they immediately rang the bell, and gave +warning to the inhabitants, who ran to their several stations. The +French, who, on hearing the alarm hurried to the assault, had already +mounted the walls in several places; but being repulsed by the enraged +citizens were obliged to retreat with considerable loss.[***] Next day, +Henry, who had hastened to the defence of his Norman dominions, passed +over the bridge in triumph; and entered Rouen in sight of the French +army. The city was now in absolute safety; and the king, in order to +brave the French, monarch, commanded the gates, which had been walled +up, to be opened; and he prepared to push his advantages against the +enemy. Lewis saved himself from this perilous situation by a new piece +of deceit, not so justifiable. He proposed a conference for adjusting +the terms of a general peace, which he knew would be greedily embraced +by Henry; and while the king of England trusted to the execution of his +promise, he made a retreat with his army into France. + + [* Brompton, p. 1096.] + + [** Diceto, p. 578.] + + [*** Brompton, p. 1096 Gul. Neubr. p. 411. W. + Heming. p, 503] + +There was, however, a necessity on both sides for an accommodation. +Henry could no longer bear to see his three sons in the hands of his +enemy; and Lewis dreaded lest this great monarch, victorious in all +quarters, crowned with glory, and absolute master of his dominions, +might take revenge for the many dangers and disquietudes which the arms, +and still more the intrigues, of France had, in his disputes both with +Becket and his sons, found means to raise him. After making a cessation +of arms, a conference was agreed on near Tours; where Henry granted his +sons much less advantageous terms than he had formerly offered; and he +received their submissions. The most material of his concessions were +some pensions which he stipulated to pay them, and some castles which +he granted them for the place of their residence; together with an +indemnity for all their adherents, who were restored to their estates +and honors.[*] + +Of all those who had embraced the cause of the young princes, William, +king of Scotland, was the only considerable loser by that invidious and +unjust enterprise. Henry delivered from confinement, without exacting +any ransom, about nine hundred knights, whom he had taken prisoners; but +it cost William the ancient independency of his crown as the price of +his liberty. He stipulated to do homage to Henry for Scotland and all +his other possessions; he engaged that all the barons and nobility of +his kingdom should also do homage; that the bishops should take an +oath of fealty; that both should swear to adhere to the king of England +against their native prince, if the latter should break his engagements; +and that the fortresses of Edinburgh, Stirling, Berwick, Roxborough, and +Jedborough should be delivered into Henry’s hands, till the performance +of articles.[**] {1175.} This severe and humiliating treaty was executed +in its full rigor. William, being released, brought up all his barons, +prelates, and abbots; and they did homage to Henry in the cathedral +of York, and acknowledged him and his successors for their superior +lord.[***] + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 35. Benedict. Abbas, p. 88. + Hoveden, p. 540 Diceto, p. 583. Brompton, p. 1098. W. + Heming. p. 505. Chron. Dunst. p. 36.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 91. Chron. Dunst. p. 36. Hoveden, + p. 545. M West. p. 251. Diceto, p. 584. Brompton, p. 1103. + Rymer, vol i, p. 39. Liber Nig. Scac. p. 36.] + + [*** Benedict Abbas, p. 113.] + +The English monarch stretched still further the rigor of the conditions +which he exacted. He engaged the king and states of Scotland to make a +perpetual cession of the fortresses of Berwick and Roxborough, and to +allow the castle of Edinburgh to remain in his hands for a limited time +This was the first great ascendant which England obtained over Scotland; +and indeed the first important transaction which had passed between the +kingdoms. Few princes have been so fortunate as to gain considerable +advantages over their weaker neighbors with less violence and injustice +than was practised by Henry against the king of Scots, whom he had taken +prisoner in battle, and who had wantonly engaged in a war, in which all +the neighbors of that prince, and even his own family, were, without +provocation, combined against him.[*] + +Henry having thus, contrary to expectation, extricated himself with +honor from a situation in which his throne was exposed to great danger, +was employed for several years in the administration of justice, in the +execution of the laws, and in guarding against those inconveniencies, +which either the past convulsions of his state, or the political +institutions of that age, unavoidably occasioned. The provisions which +he made, show such largeness of thought as qualified him for being a +legislator; and they were commonly calculated as well for the future as +the present happiness of his kingdom. + +{1176.} He enacted severe penalties against robbery, murder, false +coining, arson; and ordained that these crimes should be punished by +the amputation of the right hand and right foot.[**] The pecuniary +commutation for crimes, which has a false appearance of lenity, had +been gradually disused; and seems to have been entirely abolished by the +rigor of these statutes. The superstitious trial by water ordeal, though +condemned by the church,[***] still subsisted; but Henry ordained, that +any man accused of murder, or any heinous felony, by the oath of the +legal knights of the county, should, even though acquitted by the +ordeal, be obliged to abjure the realm.[****] + +All advances towards reason and good sense are slow and gradual. Henry, +though sensible of the great absurdity attending the trial by duel or +battle, did not venture to abolish it: he only admitted either of +the parties to challenge a trial by an assize or jury of twelve +freeholders.[*****] + + [* Some Scotch historians pretend, that William + paid, besides, one hundred thousand pounds of ransom, which + is quite incredible. The ransom of Richard I., who, besides + England, possessed so many rich territories in France, was + only one hundred and fifty thousand marks, and yet was + levied with great difficulty. Indeed, two thirds of it only + could be paid before his deliverance.] + + [** Benedict. Abbas, p. 132. Hoveden, p. 549.] + + [*** Seldeni Spicileg. ad Eadm. p. 204,] + + [**** Benedict. Abbas, p. 132.] + + [***** Glanv. lib. ii. cap. 7.] + +This latter method of trial seems to have been very ancient in England, +and was fixed by the laws of King Alfred: but the barbarous and violent +genius of the age had of late given more credit to the trial by +battle, which had become the general method of deciding all important +controversies. It was never abolished by law in England; and there is +an instance of it so late as the reign of Elizabeth: but the institution +revived by this king, being found more reasonable and more suitable to a +civilized people, gradually prevailed over it. + +The partition of England into four divisions, and the appointment of +itinerant justices to go the circuit in each division, and to decide the +causes in the counties, was another important ordinance of this prince, +which had a direct tendency to curb the oppressive barons, and to +protect the inferior gentry and common people in their property.[*] +Those justices were either prelates or considerable noblemen; who, +besides carrying the authority of the king’s commission, were able, +by the dignity of their own character, to give weight and credit to +the laws. + +That there might be fewer obstacles to the execution of justice, the +king was vigilant in demolishing all the new erected castles of the +nobility, in England as well as in his foreign dominions; and he +permitted no fortress to remain in the custody of those whom he found +reason to suspect.[**] + +But lest the kingdom should be weakened by this demolition of the +fortresses, the king fixed an assize of arms, by which all his subjects +were obliged to put themselves in a situation for defending themselves +and the realm. Every man possessed of a knight’s fee was ordained to +have for each fee, a coat of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; +every free layman, possessed of goods to the value of sixteen marks, +was to be armed in like manner; every one that possessed ten marks +was obliged to have an iron gorget, a cap of iron, and a lance; all +burgesses were to have a cap of iron, a lance, and a wambais; that is, +a coat quilted with wool, tow, or such like materials.[***] It appears +that archery, for which the English were afterwards so renowned, had +not at this time become very common among them. The spear was the chief +weapon employed in battle. + + [* Hoveden, p. 590]. + + [** Benedict. Abbas, p. 202. Diceto p. 585.] + + [*** Benedict, Abbas, p. 305. Annal. Waverl. p. + 181.] + +The clergy and the laity were, during that age, in a strange situation +with regard to each other, and such as may seem totally incompatible +with a civilized, and indeed with any species of government. If a +clergyman were guilty of murder, he could be punished by degradation +only: if he were murdered, the murderer was exposed to nothing but +excommunication and ecclesiastical censures; and the crime was atoned +for by penances and submission.[*] Hence the assassins of Thomas +à Becket himself, though guilty of the most atrocious wickedness, and the +most repugnant to the sentiments of that age, lived securely in their +own houses, without being called to account by Henry himself, who was +so much concerned, both in honor and interest, to punish that crime, and +who professed or affected, on all occasions, the most extreme abhorrence +of it. It was not till they found their presence shunned by every one +as excommunicated persons, that they were induced to take a journey to +Rome, to throw themselves at the feet of the pontiff, and to submit to +the penances imposed upon them; after which, they continued to possess +without molestation their honors and fortunes, and seem even to have +recovered the countenance and good opinion of the public. But as the +king, by the constitutions of Clarendon, which he endeavored still +to maintain,[**] had subjected the clergy to a trial by the civil +magistrate, it seemed but just to give them the protection of that +power, to which they owed obedience: it was enacted, that the murderers +of clergymen should be tried before the justiciary, in the presence of +the bishop or his official; and besides the usual punishment for murder, +should be subjected to a forfeiture of their estates, and a confiscation +of their goods and chattels.[***] + + [* Petri Bles. epist. 73, apud Bibl. Patr. torn. + xxiv. p. 992.] + + [** Gervase, p. 1433. ] + + [*** Diceto, p. 592. Gervase, p. 1433] + +The king passed an equitable law, that the goods of a vassal should not +be seized for the debt of his lord, unless the vassal be surety for the +debt; and that the rents of vassals should be paid to the creditors of +the lord, not to the lord himself. It is remarkable, that this law was +enacted by the king in a council which he held at Verneuil, and which +consisted of some prelates and barons of England, as well as some of +Normandy, Poictou, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Brittany and the statute +took place in all these last-mentioned territories,[*] though totally +unconnected with each other;[**] a certain proof how irregular the +ancient feudal government was, and how near the sovereigns, in some +instances, approached to despotism, though in others they seemed +scarcely to possess any authority. If a prince, much dreaded and +revered like Henry, obtained but the appearance of general consent to +an ordinance which was equitable and just, it became immediately an +established law, and all his subjects acquiesced in it, If the prince +was hated or despised; if the nobles, who supported him, had small +influence; if the humors of the times disposed the people to question +the justice of his ordinance; the fullest and most authentic assembly +had no authority. Thus all was confusion and disorder; no regular idea +of a constitution; force and violence decided every thing. + +The success which had attended Henry in his wars, did not much encourage +his neighbors to form any attempt against him; and his transactions with +them, during several years, contain little memorable. Scotland remained +in that state of feudal subjection to which he had reduced it, and +gave him no further inquietude. He sent over his fourth son, John, into +Ireland, with a view of making a more complete conquest of the island; +but the petulance and incapacity of this prince, by which he enraged the +Irish chieftains, obliged the king soon after to recall him.[***] + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 248. It was usual for the + kings of England, after the conquest of Ireland, to summon + barons and members of thai country to the English + parliament. Molineux’s case of Ireland, p. 64, 65, 66.] + + [** Spelman even doubts whether the law were not + also extended to England. If it were not, it could only be + because Henry did not choose it; for his authority was + greater in that kingdom than in his transmarine dominions.] + + [*** Benedict. Abbas, p. 437, etc.] + +The king of France had fallen into an abject superstition; and was +induced, by a devotion more sincere than that of Henry, to make a +pilgrimage to the tomb of Becket, in order to obtain his intercession +for the cure of Philip, his eldest son. He probably thought himself +well entitled to the favor of that saint, on account of their ancient +intimacy; and hoped that Becket, whom he had protected while on earth, +would not now, when he was so highly exalted in heaven, forget his old +friend and benefactor. The monks, sensible that their saint’s honor was +concerned in the case, failed not to publish that Lewis’s prayers were +answered, and that the young prince was restored to health by Becket’s +intercession. That king himself was soon after struck with an apoplexy, +which deprived him of his understanding: Philip though a youth of +fifteen, took on him the administration, till his father’s death, which +happened soon after, {1180.} opened his way to the throne; and he proved +the ablest and greatest monarch that had governed that kingdom since +the age of Charlemagne. The superior years, however, and experience of +Henry, while they moderated his ambition, gave him such an ascendant +over this prince, that no dangerous rivalship for a long time arose +between them. The English monarch, instead of taking advantage of +his own situation, rather employed his good offices in composing +the quarrels which arose in the royal family of France; and he was +successful in mediating a reconciliation between Philip and his mother +and uncles. These services were but ill requited by Philip, who, when +he came to man’s estate, fomented all the domestic discords in the royal +family of England, and encouraged Henry’s sons in their ungrateful +and undutiful behavior towards him. Prince Henry, equally impatient +of obtaining power, and incapable of using it, renewed to the king the +demand of his resigning Normandy; and on meeting with a refusal, he fled +with his consort to the court of France: but not finding Philip at +that time disposed to enter into war for his sake, he accepted of his +father’s offers of reconciliation, and made him submissions. It was +a cruel circumstance in the king’s fortune, that he could hope for no +tranquillity from the criminal enterprises of his sons but by their +mutual discord and animosities, which disturbed his family and threw his +state into convulsions. Richard, whom he had made master of Guienne, +and who had displayed his valor and military genius by suppressing the +revolts of his mutinous barons refused to obey Henry’s orders, in doing +homage to his elder brother for that duchy; and he defended himself +against young Henry and Geoffrey, who, uniting their arms, carried war +into his territories.[**] + + [* Ypod. Neust. p. 451.] + + [** Benedict. Abbas, p 383. Diceto, p.617.] + +The king with some difficulty composed this difference; but immediately +found his eldest son engaged in conspiracies, and ready to take arms +against himself. While the young prince was conducting these criminal +intrigues, he was seized with a fever at Martel, {1183.} a castle near +Turenne to which he had retired in discontent; and seeing the approaches +of death, he was at last struck with remorse for his undutiful behavior +towards his father. He sent a message to the king, who was not far +distant; expressed his contrition for his faults; and entreated the +favor of a visit, that he might at least die with the satisfaction of +having obtained his forgiveness. Henry, who had so often experienced +the prince’s ingratitude and violence, apprehended that his sickness was +entirely feigned, and he durst not intrust himself into his son’s hands: +but when he soon after received intelligence of young Henry’s death, +and the proofs, of his sincere repentance, this good prince was affected +with the deepest sorrow; he thrice fainted away; he accused his own hard +hearted ness in refusing the dying request of his son; and he lamented +that he had deprived that prince of the last opportunity of making +atonement for his offences, and of pouring out his soul in the bosom of +his reconciled father.[*] This prince died in the twenty-eighth year of +his age. + +The behavior of his surviving children did not tend to give the king any +consolation for the loss. As Prince Henry had left no posterity, Richard +was become heir to all his dominions; and the king intended that John, +his third surviving son and favorite, should inherit Guienne as his +appanage; but Richard refused his consent, fled into that duchy, and +even made preparations for carrying on war, as well against his father +as against his brother Geoffrey, who was now put in possession of +Brittany. Henry sent for Eleanor, his queen, the heiress of Guienne, and +required Richard to deliver up to her the dominion of these territories; +which that prince, either dreading an insurrection of the Gascons in her +favor, or retaining some sense of duty towards her, readily performed; +and he peaceably returned to his father’s court. No sooner was this +quarrel accommodated, than Geoffrey, the most vicious perhaps of all +Henry’s unhappy family, broke out into violence; demanded Anjou to be +annexed to his dominions of Brittany; and on meeting with a refusal, +fled to the court of France, and levied forces against his father.[**] +{1185.} Henry was freed from this danger by his son’s death who was +killed in a tournament at Paris.[***] + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 393. Hoveden, p. 621. + Trivet, vol. i. p. 84,] + + [** Gul. Neubr. p. 422.] + + [*** Benedict. Abbas, p. 451. Gervase, p. 1480.] + +The widow of Geoffrey, soon after his decease, was delivered of a +son who received the name of Arthur, and was invested in the duchy of +Brittany, under the guardianship of his grandfather, who, is duke of +Normandy, was also superior lord of that territory. Philip, as lord +paramount, disputed some time his title to this wardship; but was +obliged to yield to the inclinations of the Bretons, who preferred the +government of Henry. + +But the rivalship between these potent princes, and all their inferior +interests, seemed now to have given place to the general passion for +the relief of the Holy Land and the expulsion of the Saracens. +Those infidels, though obliged to yield to the immense inundation of +Christians in the first crusade, had recovered courage after the +torrent was past; and attacking on all quarters the settlements of the +Europeans, had Deduced these adventurers to great difficulties, and +obliged them to apply again for succors from the west. A second crusade, +under the emperor Conrade, and Lewis VII., king of France, in which +there perished above two hundred thousand men, brought them but a +temporary relief; and those princes, after losing such immense armies, +and seeing the flower of their nobility fall by their side, returned +with little honor into Europe. But these repeated misfortunes, which +drained the western world of its people and treasure, were not yet +sufficient to cure men of their passion for those spiritual adventures; +and a new incident rekindled with fresh fury the zeal of the +ecclesiastics and military adventurers among the Latin Christians. +Saladin, a prince of great generosity, bravery, and conduct, having +fixed himself on the throne of Egypt, began to extend his conquests over +the East; and finding the settlement of the Christians in Palestine an +invincible obstacle to the progress of his arms, he bent the whole force +of his policy and valor to subdue that small and barren, but important +territory. Taking advantage of dissensions which prevailed among the +champions of the cross, and having secretly gained the count of Tripoli, +who commanded their armies, he invaded the frontiers with a mighty power +and, aided by the treachery of that count, gained over them at Tiberiade +a complete victory, which utterly annihilated the force of the already +languishing kingdom of Jerusalem {1187.} The holy city itself fell into +his hands after a feeble resistance; the kingdom of Antioch was almost +entirely subdued and except some maritime towns, nothing considerable +remained of thope boasted conquests, which, near a century before, it +had cost the efforts of all Europe to acquire. + +The western Christians were astonished on receiving this dismal +intelligence. Pope Urban III., it is pretended, died of grief; and +his successor, Gregory VIII., employed the whole time of his short +pontificate in rousing to arms all the Christians who acknowledged his +authority. The general cry was, that they were unworthy of enjoying any +inheritance in heaven, who did not vindicate from the dominion of the +infidels the inheritance of God on earth, and deliver from slavery that +country which had been consecrated by the foot-steps of their Redeemer. +{1188.} William, archbishop of Tyre, having procured a conference +between Henry and Philip near Gisors, enforced all these topics; gave a +pathetic description of the miserable state of the eastern Christians; +and employed every argument to excite the ruling passions of the +age, superstition, and jealousy of military honor. The two monarchs +immediately took the cross; many of their most considerable vassals +imitated the example; and as the emperor Frederic I. entered into the +same confederacy, some well-grounded hopes of success were entertained; +and men flattered themselves that an enterprise, which had failed under +the conduct of many independent leaders, or of imprudent princes, might +at last, by the efforts of such potent and able monarchs, be brought to +a happy issue. + +The kings of France and England imposed a tax, amounting to the tenth +of all movable goods, on such as remained at home; but as they exempted +from this burden most of the regular clergy, the secular aspired to +the same immunity; pretended that their duty obliged them to assist the +crusade with their prayers alone; and it was with some difficulty they +were constrained to desist from an opposition, which in them who had +been the chief promoters of those pious enterprises, appeared with the +worst grace imaginable. This backwardness of the clergy is perhaps a +symptom that the enthusiastic ardor which had at first seized the people +for crusades, was now by time and ill success considerably abated; and +that the frenzy was chiefly supported by the military genius and love of +glory in the monarchs. + +But before this great machine could be put in motion, there were still +many obstacles to surmount. Philip, jealous of Henry’s power, entered +into a private confederacy with young Richard; and working on his +ambitious and impatient temper, persuaded him, instead of supporting +and aggrandizing that monarchy which he was one day to inherit, to seek +present power and independence by disturbing and dismembering it. {1189.} +In order to give a pretence for hostilities between the two kings, +Richard broke into the territories of Raymond, count of Toulouse, who +immediately carried complaints of this violence before the king of +France, as his superior lord. Philip remonstrated with Henry; but +received for answer, that Richard had confessed to the archbishop of +Dublin, that his enterprise against Raymond had been undertaken by the +approbation of Philip himself, and was conducted by his authority. The +king of France, who might have been covered with shame and confusion by +this detection, still prosecuted his design, and invaded the provinces +of Berri and Auvergne, under color of revenging the quarrel of the count +of Toulouse. Henry retaliated by making inroads upon the frontiers of +France and burning Dreux. As this war, which destroyed all hopes of +success in the projected crusade, gave great scandal, the two kings held +a conference at the accustomed place between Gisors and Trie, in order +to find means of accommodating their differences; they separated on +worse terms than before; and Philip, to show his disgust, ordered a +great elm, under which the conferences had been usually held, to be +cut down; as if he had renounced all desire of accommodation, and was +determined to carry the war to extremities against the king of England. +But his own vassals refused to serve under him in so invidious a cause; +and he was obliged to come anew to a conference with Henry, and to offer +terms of peace. These terms were such as entirely opened the eyes of the +king of England, and fully convinced him of the perfidy of his son, and +his secret alliance with Philip, of which he had before only entertained +some suspicion. The king of France required that Richard should be +crowned king of England in the lifetime of his father, should be +invested in all his transmarine dominions, and should immediately +espouse Alice, Philip’s sister, to whom he had been formerly affianced, +and who had already been conducted into England. Henry had experienced +such fatal effects, both from the crowning of his eldest son, and from +that prince’s alliance with the royal family of France, that he rejected +these terms; and Richard, in con sequence of his secret agreement with +Philip, immediately revolted from him, did homage to the king of France +for all the dominions which Henry held of that crown, and received the +investitures, as if he had already been the lawful possessor. Several +historians assert, that Henry himself had become enamored of young +Alice, and mention this as an additional reason for his refusing these +conditions; but he had so many other just and equitable motives for +his conduct, that it is superfluous to assign a cause, which the great +prudence and advanced age of that monarch render somewhat improbable. + +Cardinal Albano, the pope’s legate, displeased with these increasing +obstacles to the crusade, excommunicated Richard, as the chief spring +of discord; but the sentence of excommunication, which, when it was +properly prepared and was zealously supported by the clergy, had often +great influence in that age, proved entirely ineffectual in the present +case. The chief barons of Poictou, Guienne, Normandy, and Anjou, being +attached to the young prince, and finding that he had now received the +investiture from their superior lord, declared for him, and made inroads +into the territories of such as still adhered to the king. Henry, +disquieted by the daily revolts of his mutinous subjects, and dreading +still worse effects from their turbulent disposition, had again recourse +to papal authority; and engaged the cardinal Anagni, who had succeeded +Albano in the legateship, to threaten Philip with laying an interdict +on all his dominions. But Philip, who was a prince of great vigor and +capacity, despised the menace, and told Anagni, that it belonged not to +the pope to interpose in the temporal disputes of princes, much less in +those between him and his rebellious vassal. He even proceeded so far +as to reproach him with partiality, and with receiving bribes from the +king of England; while Richard, still more outrageous, offered to draw +his sword against the legate, and was hindered by the interposition +alone of the company, from committing violence upon him. + +The king of England was now obliged to defend his dominions by arms, +and to engage in a war with France and with his eldest son, a prince +of great valor, on such disadvantageous terms. Ferte-Bernard fell first +into the hands of the enemy; Mans was next taken by assault; and Henry, +who had thrown himself into that place, escaped with some difficulty; +Amboise, Chaumont, and Château de Loire, opened their gates on the +appearance of Philip and Richard: Tours was menaced; and the king, +who had retired to Saumur, and had daily instances of the cowardice or +infidelity of his governors, expected the most dismal issue to all his +enterprises. While he was in this state of despondency, the duke of +Burgundy, the earl of Flanders, and the archbishop of Rheims interposed +with their good offices; and the intelligence which he received of the +taking of Tours, and which made him fully sensible of the desperate +situation of his affairs, so subdued his spirit, that he submitted to +all the rigorous terms which, were imposed upon him. He agreed that +Richard should marry the princess Alice; that that prince should receive +the homage and oath of fealty of all his subjects both in England and +his transmarine dominions; that he himself should pay twenty thousand +marks to the king of France, as a compensation for the charges of the +war; that his own barons should engage to make him observe this treaty +by force, and in case of his violating it should promise to join Philip +and Richard against him; and that all his vassals, who had entered into +confederacy with Richard, should receive an indemnity for the offence. + +But the mortification which Henry, who had been accustomed to give the +law in most treaties, received from these disadvantageous terms, was +the least that he met with on this occasion. When he demanded a list +of those barons to whom he was bound to grant a pardon for their +connections with Richard, he was astonished to find, at the head +of them, the name of his second son, John; who had always been his +favorite, whose interests he had ever anxiously at heart, and who had +even, on account of his ascendant over him, often excited the jealousy +of Richard. The unhappy father, already overloaded with cares and +sorrows, finding this last disappointment in his domestic tenderness, +broke out into expressions of the utmost despair, cursed the day in which +he received his miserable being, and bestowed on his ungrateful and +undutiful children a malediction which he never could be prevailed on +to retract. The more his heart was disposed to friendship and affection, +the more he resented the barbarous return which his four sons had +successively made to his parental care; and this finishing blow, by +depriving him of every comfort in life, quite broke his spirit, and +threw him into a lingering fever, of which he expired, at the castle of +Chinon, near Saumur. His natural son, Geoffrey, who alone had +behaved dutifully towards him, attended his corpse to the nunnery of +Fontervrault; where it lay in state in the abbey church. Next day, +Richard, who came to visit the dead body of his father, and who, +notwithstanding his criminal conduct, was not wholly destitute of +generosity, was struck with horror and remorse at the sight; and as the +attendants observed that, at that very instant, blood gushed from the +mouth and nostrils of the corpse, he exclaimed, agreeably to a vulgar +superstition, that he was his father’s murderer; and he expressed a deep +sense, though too late, of that undutiful behavior which had brought his +parent to an untimely grave. + +Thus died, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and thirty-fifth of +his reign, the greatest prince of his time for wisdom, virtue, and +abilities, and the most powerful in the extent of dominion of all those +that had ever filled the throne of England. His character in private, +as well as in public life, is almost without a blemish; and he seems to +have possessed every accomplishment, both of body and mind, which makes +a man either estimable or amiable. He was of a middle stature, strong +and well proportioned; his countenance was lively and engaging; his +conversation affable and entertaining; his elocution easy, persuasive, +and ever at command. He loved peace, but possessed both bravery and +conduct in war; was provident without timidity; severe in the execution +of justice without rigor; and temperate without austerity. He preserved +health, and kept himself from corpulency, to which he was somewhat +inclined, by an abstemious diet, and by frequent exercise, particularly +hunting. When he could enjoy leisure, he recreated himself either +in learned conversation or in reading; and he cultivated his natural +talents by study above any prince of his time. His affections, as well +as his enmities, were warm and durable; and his long experience of +the ingratitude and infidelity of men never destroyed the natural +sensibility of his temper, which disposed him to friendship and society. +His character has been transmitted to us by several writers, who were +his contemporaries; and it extremely resembles, in its most remarkable +features, that of his maternal grandfather, Henry I.; excepting only, +that ambition, which was a ruling passion in both, found not in the +first Henry such unexceptionable means of exerting itself, and pushed +that prince into measures which were both criminal in themselves, and +were the cause of further crimes, from which his grandson’s conduct was +happily exempted. + +This prince, like most of his predecessors of the Norman line, except +Stephen, passed more of his time on the continent than in this island: +he was surrounded with the English gentry and nobility when abroad: the +French gentry and nobility attended him when he resided in England: both +nations acted in the government as if they were the same people; and, on +many occasions, the legislatures seem not to have been distinguished. +As the king and all the English barons were of French extraction, the +manners of that people acquired the ascendant, and were regarded as the +models of imitation. All foreign improvements, therefore, such as they +were, in literature and politeness, in laws and arts, seem now to have +been, in a good measure, transplanted into England and that kingdom was +become little inferior, in all the fashionable accomplishments, to any +of its neighbors on the continent. The more homely but more sensible +manners and principles of the Saxons, were exchanged for the +affectations of chivalry, and the subtilties of school philosophy: the +feudal ideas of civil government, the Romish sentiments in religion, +had taken entire possession of the people: by the former, the sense of +submission towards princes was somewhat diminished in the barons; by +the latter, the devoted attachment to papal authority was much augmented +among the clergy. The Norman and other foreign families established in +England, had now struck deep root; and being entirely incorporated with +the people, whom at first they oppressed and despised, they no longer +thought that they needed the protection of the crown for the enjoyment +of their possessions, or considered their tenure as precarious. They +aspired to the same liberty and independence which they saw enjoyed +by their brethren on the continent, and desired to restrain those +exorbitant prerogatives and arbitrary practices, which the necessities +of war and the violence of conquest had at first obliged them to indulge +in their monarch. That memory also of a more equal government under the +Saxon princes, which remained with the English, diffused still further +the spirit of liberty, and made the barons both desirous of more +independence to themselves and willing to indulge it to the people. +And it was not long ere this secret revolution in the sentiments of +men produced, first violent convulsions in the state, then an evident +alteration in the maxims of government. + +The history of all the preceding kings of England since the conquest, +gives evident proofs of the disorders attending the feudal institutions; +the licentiousness of the barons, their spirit of rebellion against the +prince and laws, and of animosity against each other: the conduct of the +barons in the transmarine dominions of those monarchs, afforded perhaps +still more flagrant instances of these convulsions; and the history of +France, during several ages, consists almost entirely of narrations +of this nature. The cities, during the continuance of this violent +government, could neither be very numerous nor populous; and there occur +instances which seem to evince that, though these are always the +first seat of law and liberty, their police was in general loose and +irregular, and exposed to the same disorders with those by which the +country was generally infested. It was a custom in London for great +numbers, to the amount of a hundred or more, the sons and relations of +considerable citizens, to form themselves into a licentious confederacy, +to break into rich houses and plunder them, to rob and murder the +passengers, and to commit with impunity all sorts of disorder. By these +crimes it had become so dangerous to walk the streets by night, that +the citizens durst no more venture abroad after sunset, than if they +had been exposed to the incursions of a public enemy. The brother of the +earl of Ferrars had been murdered by some of those nocturnal rioters; +and the death of so eminent a person, which was much more regarded than +that of many thousands of an inferior station, so provoked the king, +that he swore vengeance against the criminals, and became thenceforth +more rigorous in the execution of the laws. + +There is another instance given by historians, which proves to what a +height such riots had proceeded, and how open these criminals were in +committing their robberies. A band of them had attacked the house of a +rich citizen, with an intention of plundering it; had broken through a +stone wall with hammers and wedges; and had already entered the house +sword in hand, when the citizen, armed cap-á-pie, and supported by his +faithful servants, appeared in the passage to oppose them: he cut off +the right hand of the first robber that entered, and made such stout +resistance that his neighbors had leisure to assemble and come to his +relief. The man who lost his hand was taken; and was tempted by the +promise of pardon to reveal his confederates; among whom was one John +Senex, esteemed among the richest and best-born citizens in London. He +was convicted by the ordeal; and though he offered five hundred marks +for his life, the king refused the money, and ordered him to be hanged. +It appears, from a statute of Edward I., that these disorders were not +remedied even in that reign. It was then made penal to go out at night +after the hour of the curfew, to carry a weapon, or to walk without a +light or lantern. It is said in the preamble to this law, that both by +night and by day there were continual frays in the streets of London. + +Henry’s care in administering justice had gained him so great a +reputation, that even foreign and distant princes made him arbiter, and +submitted their differences to his judgment. Sanchez, king of Navarre, +having some controversies with Alphonso, king of Castile, was contented, +though Alphonso had married the daughter of Henry, to choose this prince +for a referee; and they agreed each of them to consign three castles +into neutral hands, as a pledge of their not departing from his award. +Henry made the cause be examined before his great council, and gave +a sentence, which was submitted to by both parties. These two Spanish +kings sent each a stout champion to the court of England, in order to +defend his cause by arms, in case the way of duel had been chosen by +Henry. + +Henry so far abolished the barbarous and absurd practice of confiscating +ships which had been wrecked on the coast, that he ordained if one man +or animal were alive in the ship that the vessel and goods should be +restored to the owners. + +The reign of Henry was remarkable also for an innovation which was +afterwards carried further by his successors, and was attended with the +most important consequences. This prince was disgusted with the species +of military force which was established by the feudal institutions, and +which, though it was extremely burdensome to the subject, yet rendered +very little service to the sovereign. The barons, or military tenants, +came late into the field; they were obliged to serve only forty days; +they were unskilful and disorderly in all their operations; and they +were apt to carry into the camp the same refractory and independent +spirit to which they were accustomed in their civil government. Henry, +therefore, introduced the practice of making a commutation of their +military service for money; and he levied scutages from his baronies +and knights’ fees, instead of requiring the personal attendance of his +vassals. There is mention made, in the history of the exchequer, of +these scutages in his second, fifth, and eighteenth year; and other +writers give us an account of three more of them.[*] When the prince had +thus obtained money, he made a contract with some of those adventurers +in which Europe at that time abounded; they found him soldiers of the +same character with themselves, who were bound to serve for a stipulated +time: the armies were less numerous, but more useful, than when composed +of all the military vassals of the crown: the feudal institutions began +to relax: the kings became rapacious for money, on which all their power +depended: the barons, seeing no end of exactions, sought to defend their +property, and as the same causes had nearly the same effects in the +different countries of Europe, the several crowns either lost or +acquired authority, according to their different success in the contest. + +This prince was also the first that levied a tax on the movables or +personal estates of his subjects, nobles as well as commons. Their zeal +for the holy wars made them submit to this innovation; and a precedent +being once obtained, this taxation became, in following reigns, the +usual method of supplying the necessities of the crown. The tax of +danegelt, so generally odious to the nation, was remitted in this reign. + + [* Tyrrel, vol. ii. p. 466, from the records. It + was a usual practice of the kings of England to repeat the + ceremony of their coronation thrice every year, on + assembling the states at the three great festivals. Henry, + after the first years of his reign, never renewed this + ceremony, which was found to be very expensive and very + useless. None of his successors revived it. It is considered + as a great act of grace in this prince, that he mitigated + the rigor of the forest laws, and punished any + transgressions of them, not capitally, but by fines, + imprisonments, and other moderate penalties.] + +Since we are here collecting some detached incidents, which show the +genius of the age, and which could not so well enter into the body +of our history, it may not be improper to mention the quarrel between +Roger, archbishop of York, and Richard, archbishop of Canterbury. We +may judge of the violence of military men and laymen, when ecclesiastics +could proceed to such extremities. Cardinal Haguezun, being sent, in +1176, as legate into Britain, summoned an assembly of the clergy at +London; and, as both the archbishops pretended to sit on his right hand, +this question of precedency begat a controversy between them. The monks +and retainers of Archbishop Richard fell upon Roger, in the presence +of the cardinal and of the synod, threw him to the ground, trampled him +under foot, and so bruised him with blows, that he was taken up half +dead, and his life was with difficulty saved from their violence. The +archbishop of Canterbury was obliged to pay a large sum of money to +the legate, in order to suppress all complaints with regard to this +enormity. + +We are told by Giraldus Cambrensis, that the monks and prior of St. +Swithun threw themselves one day prostrate on the ground and in the mire +before Henry, complaining, with many tears and much doleful lamentation, +that the bishop of Winchester, who was also their abbot, had cut off +three dishes from their table. “How many has he left you?” said the +king. “Ten only,” replied the disconsolate monks. “I myself,” exclaimed +the king, “never have more than three; and I enjoin your bishop to +reduce you to the same number.” + +This king left only two legitimate sons, Richard, who succeeded him, and +John, who inherited no territory, though his father had often intended +to leave him a part of his extensive dominions. He was thence commonly +denominated Lackland. Henry left three legitimate daughters; Maud, born +in 1156, and married to Henry, duke of Saxony; Eleanor, born in 1162, +and married to Alphonso, king of Castile: Joan, born in 1165, and +married to William, king of Sicily. + +Henry is said by ancient historians to have been of a very amorous +disposition; they mention two of his natural sons by Rosamond, daughter +of Lord Clifford; namely, Richard Longespée, or Longsword, (so called +from the sword he usually wore,) who was afterwards married to Ela, the +daughter and heir of the earl of Salisbury; and Geoffrey, first bishop +of Lincoln, then archbishop of York. All the other circumstances of the +story commonly told of that lady seem to be fabulous. + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +[Illustration: 123.jpg RICHARD I.] + + + + +RICHARD I. + +{1189.} The compunction of Richard, for his undutiful behavior towards +his father, was durable, and influenced him in the choice of his +ministers and servants after his accession. Those who had seconded and +favored his rebellion, instead of meeting with that trust and honor +which they expected, were surprised to find that they lay under disgrace +with the new king, and were on all occasions hated and despised by him. +The faithful ministers of Henry, who had vigorously opposed all +the enterprises of his sons, were received with open arms, and were +continued in those offices which they had honorably discharged to their +former master. This prudent conduct might be the result of reflection; +but in a prince like Richard, so much guided by passion, and so little +by policy, it was commonly ascribed to a principle still more virtuous +and more honorable. + +Richard, that he might make atonement to one parent for his breach +of duty to the other, immediately sent orders for releasing the queen +dowager from the confinement in which she had long been detained; and he +intrusted her with the government of England, till his arrival in +that kingdom. His bounty to his brother John was rather profuse +and imprudent. Besides bestowing on him the county of Mortaigne, in +Normandy, granting him a pension of four thousand marks a year, and +marrying him to Avisa, the daughter of the earl of Glocester, by whom he +inherited all the possessions of that opulent family, he increased +this appanage, which the late king had destined him, by other extensive +grants and concessions. He conferred on him the whole estate of William +Peverell, which had escheated to the crown: he put him in possession +of eight castles, with all the forests and honors annexed to them: +he delivered over to him no less than six earldoms, Cornwall, Devon, +Somerset, Nottingham, Dorset, Lancaster and Derby. And endeavoring, by +favors, to fix that vicious prince in his duty, he put it too much in +his power, whenever he pleased, to depart from it. + +The king, impelled more by the love of military glory than by +superstition, acted, from the beginning of his reign, as if the sole +purpose of his government had been the relief of the Holy Land, and the +recovery of Jerusalem from the Saracens. This zeal against infidels, +being communicated to his subjects, broke out in London on the day of +his coronation, and made them find a crusade less dangerous and attended +with more immediate profit. The prejudices of the age had made the +lending of money on interest pass by the invidious name of usury: yet +the necessity of the practice had still continued it, and the greater +part of that kind of dealing fell every where into the hands of the +Jews, who, being already infamous on account of their religion, had no +honor to lose, and were apt to exercise a profession, odious in itself, +by every kind of rigor, and even sometimes by rapine and extortion. The +industry and frugality of this people had put them in possession of all +the ready money which the idleness and profusion common to the English +with other European nations, enabled them to lend at exorbitant and +unequal interest. The monkish writers represent it as a great stain +on the wise and equitable government of Henry, that he had carefully +protected this infidel race from all injuries and insults; but the zeal +of Richard afforded the populace a pretence for venting their animosity +against them. The king had issued an edict, prohibiting their appearance +at his coronation; but some of them, bringing him large presents from +their nation, presumed, in confidence of that merit, to approach the +hall in which he dined: being discovered, they were exposed to the +insults of the bystanders; they took to flight; the people pursued them; +the rumor was spread that the king had issued orders to massacre all the +Jews; a command so agreeable was executed in an instant on such as fell +into the hands of the populace; those who had kept at home were exposed +to equal danger; the people, moved by rapacity and zeal, broke into +their houses which they plundered, after having murdered the owners; +where the Jews barricadoed their doors, and defended themselves with +vigor, the rabble set fire to their houses and made way through the +flames to exercise the pillage and violence; the usual licentiousness of +London, which the sovereign power with difficulty restrained, broke +out with fury, and continued these outrages; the houses of the richest +citizens, though Christians, were next attacked and plundered; and +weariness and satiety at last put an end to the disorder: yet when the +king empowered Glanville, the justiciary, to inquire into the authors +of these crimes, the guilt was found to involve so many of the most +considerable citizens, that it was deemed more prudent to drop the +prosecution; and very few suffered the punishment due to this enormity. +But the disorder stopped not at London. The inhabitants of the other +cities of England, hearing of this slaughter of the Jews, imitated the +example: in York five hundred of that nation, who had retired into the +castle for safety, and found themselves unable to defend the place, +murdered their own wives and children, threw the dead bodies over the +walls upon the populace, and then setting fire to the houses, perished +in the flames. The gentry of the neighborhood, who were all indebted to +the Jews, ran to the cathedral, where their bonds were kept, and made +a solemn bonfire of the papers before the altar. The compiler of the +Annals of Waverley, in relating these events, blesses the Almighty for +thus delivering over this impious race to destruction. + +The ancient situation of England, when the people possessed little +riches and the public no credit, made it impossible for sovereigns to +bear the expense of a steady or durable war, even on their frontiers; +much less could they find regular means for the support of distant +expeditions like those into Palestine, which were more the result +of popular frenzy than of sober reason or deliberate policy. Richard +therefore knew that he must carry with him all the treasure necessary +for his enterprise, and that both the remoteness of his own country +and its poverty, made it unable to furnish him with those continued +supplies, which the exigencies of so perilous a war must necessarily +require. His father had left him a treasure of above a hundred thousand +marks; and the king, negligent of every consideration but his present +object, endeavored to augment his sum by all expedients, how pernicious +soever ta the public, or dangerous to royal authority. He put to sale +the revenues and manors of the crown; the offices of greatest trust +and power, even those of forester and sheriff, which anciently were so +important,[*] became venal; the dignity of chief justiciary, in whose +hands was lodged the whole execution of the laws, was sold to Hugh de +Puzas, bishop of Durham, for a thousand marks; the same prelate bought +the earldom of Northumberland for life;[**] many of the champions of the +cross, who had repented of their vow, purchased the liberty of violating +it; and Richard, who stood less in need of men than of money, dispensed, +on these conditions, with their attendance. Elated with the hopes of +fame, which in that age attended no wars but those against the infidels, +he was blind to every other consideration; and when some of his wiser +ministers objected to this dissipation of the revenue and power of the +crown, he replied, that he would sell London itself could he find a +purchaser.[***] Nothing indeed could be a stronger proof how negligent +he was of all future interests in comparison of the crusade, than his +selling, for so small a sum as ten thousand marks, the vassalage of +Scotland, together with the fortresses of Roxborough and Berwick, the +greatest acquisition that had been made by his father during the course +of his victorious reign; and his accepting the homage of William in +the usual terms, merely for the territories which that prince held in +England.[****] The English of all ranks and stations were oppressed by +numerous exactions: menaces were employed both against the innocent and +the guilty, in order to extort money from them; and where a pretence +was wanting against the rich, the king obliged them, by the fear of his +displeasure, to lend him sums which he knew it would never be in his +power to repay. + + [* The sheriff had anciently both the + administration of justice and the management of the king’s + revenue committed to him in the county. See Hale, of + Sheriffs’ Accounts.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 109.] + + [*** W. Hemming, p. 519. Knyghton, p. 2402.] + + [**** Hoveden, p. 562. Rymer, vol. i. p. 64. M. + West. p. 257.] + +But Richard, though he sacrificed every interest and consideration to +the success of this pious enterprise, carried so little the appearance +of sanctity in his conduct, that Fulk curate of Neuilly, a zealous +preacher of the crusade, who from that merit had acquired the privilege +of speaking the boldest truths, advised him to rid himself of his +notorious vices, particularly his pride, avarice, and voluptuousness, +which he called the king’s three favorite daughters. “You counsel well,” + replied Richard; “and I hereby dispose of the first to the Templars, of +the second to the Benedictines, and of the third to my prelates.” + +Richard, jealous of attempts which might be made on England during his +absence, laid Prince John, as well as his natural brother Geoffrey, +archbishop of York, under engagements, confirmed by their oaths, that +neither of them should enter the kingdom till his return; though he +thought proper, before his departure, to withdraw this prohibition. The +administration was left in the hands of Hugh, bishop of Durham, and of +Longchamp, bishop of Ely, whom he appointed justiciaries and guardians +of the realm. The latter was a Frenchman of mean birth, and of a violent +character; who by art and address had insinuated himself into favor, +whom Richard had created chancellor, and whom he had engaged the pope +also to invest with the legantine authority, that, by centring every +kind of power in his person, he might the better insure the public +tranquillity. All the military and turbulent spirits flocked about the +person of the king, and were impatient to distinguish themselves against +the infidels in Asia; whither his inclinations, his engagements, led +him, and whither he was impelled by messages from the king of France, +ready to embark in this enterprise. + +The emperor Frederic, a prince of great spirit and conduct, had already +taken the road to Palestine, at the head of one hundred and fifty +thousand men, collected from Germany and all the northern states. Having +surmounted every obstacle thrown in his way by the artifices of the +Greeks and the power of the infidels, he had penetrated to the borders +of Syria; when, bathing in the cold river Cydnus, during the greatest +heat of the summer season, he was seized with a mortal distemper, which +put an end to his life and his rash enterprise.[*] + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 556.] + +His army, under the command of his son Conrade, reached Palestine; but +was so diminished by fatigue famine, maladies, and the sword, that it +scarcely amounted to eight thousand men, and was unable to make any +progress against the great power, valor, and conduct of Saladin. These +reiterated calamities attending the crusades, had taught the kings of +France and England the necessity of trying another road to the Holy Land +and they determined to conduct their armies thither by sea, to carry +provisions along with them, and by means of their naval power to +maintain an open communication with then own states, and with the +western parts of Europe. The place of rendezvous was appointed in the +plains of Vezelay, on the borders of Burgundy.[*] {1190.} Philip and +Richard, on their arrival there, found their combined army amount to +one hundred thousand men;[**] a mighty force, animated with glory and +religion, conducted by two warlike monarchs, provided with every thing +which their several dominions couid supply, and not to be overcome but +by their own misconduct, or by the unsurmountable obstacles of nature. + + [* Hoveden, p. 660.] + + [** Vinisnuf, p. 305] + +The French prince and the English here reiterated their promises of +cordial friendship, pledged their faith not to invade each other’s +dominions during the crusade, mutually exchanged the oaths of all their +barons and prelates to the same effect, and subjected themselves to the +penalty of interdicts and excommunications, if they should ever violate +this public and solemn engagement. They then separated; Philip took the +road to Genoa, Richard that to Marseilles, with a view of meeting their +fleets, which were severally appointed to rendezvous in these harbors. +They put to sea; and nearly about the same time were obliged, by stress +of weather, to take shelter in Messina, where they were detained during +the whole winter. This incident laid the foundation of animosities which +proved fatal to their enterprise. + +Richard and Philip were, by the situation and extent of their dominions, +rivals in power; by their age and inclinations, competitors for glory; +and these causes of emulation, which, had the princes been employed +in the field against the common enemy, might have stimulated them +to martial enterprises, soon excited, during the present leisure and +repose, quarrels between monarchs of such a fiery character. Equally +haughty, ambitious, intrepid, and inflexible, they were irritated +with the least appearance of injury, and were incapable, by mutual +condescensions, to efface those causes of complaint which unavoidably +rose between them. Richard, candid, sincere, undesigning, impolitic, +violent, laid himself open on every occasion to the designs of his +antagonist; who, provident, interested, intriguing, failed not to take +all advantages against him: and thus, both the circumstances of +their disposition in which they were similar, and those in which they +differed, rendered it impossible for them to persevere in that harmony +which was so necessary to the success of their undertaking. + +The last king of Sicily and Naples was William II., who had married +Joan, sister to Richard, and who, dying without issue, had bequeathed +his dominions to his paternal aunt Constantia, the only legitimate +descendant surviving of Roger the first sovereign of those states who +had been honored with the royal title. This princess had, in expectation +of that rich inheritance, been married to Henry VI., the reigning +emperor;[*] but Tancred, her natural brother, had fixed such an interest +among the barons, that, taking advantage of Henry’s absence, he had +acquired possession of the throne, and maintained his claim, by force +of arms, against all the efforts of the Germans.[**] The approach of the +crusaders naturally gave him apprehensions for his unstable government; +and he was uncertain whether he had most reason to dread the presence +of the French or of the English monarch. Philip was engaged in a strict +alliance with the emperor, his competitor: Richard was disgusted by his +rigors towards the queen dowager, whom the Sicilian prince had confined +in Palermo because she had opposed with all her interest his succession +to the crown. Tancred, therefore, sensible of the present necessity, +resolved to pay court to both these formidable princes; and he was not +unsuccessful in his endeavors. He persuaded Philip that it was highly +improper for him to interrupt his enterprise against the infidels by +any attempt against a Christian state: he restored Queen Joan to her +liberty; and even found means to make an alliance with Richard, who +stipulated by treaty to marry his nephew Arthur; the young duke of +Brittany, to one of the daughters of Tancred.[***] + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 580.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 663] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 676, 677. Benedict. Abbas, p. + 615.] + +But before these terms of friendship were settled. Richard, jealous both +of Tancred and of the inhabitants of Messina, had taken up his quarters +in the suburbs, and had possessed himself of a small fort, which +commanded the harbor; and he kept himself extremely on his guard against +their enterprises. The citizens took umbrage. Mutual insults and attacks +passed between them and the English: Philip, who had quartered his +troops in the town, endeavored to accommodate the quarrel, and held a +conference with Richard for that purpose. While the two kings, meeting +in the open fields, were engaged in discourse on this subject, a body +of those Sicilians seemed to be drawing towards them; and Richard pushed +forwards in order to inquire into the reason of this extraordinary +movement.[*] The English, indolent from their power, and inflamed with +former animosities, wanted but a pretence for attacking the Messinese: +they soon chased them off the field, drove them into the town, and +entered with them at the gates. The king employed his authority to +restrain them from pillaging and massacring the defenceless inhabitants; +but he gave orders, in token of his victory, that the standard of +England should be erected on the walls. Philip, who considered that +place as his quarters, exclaimed against the insult, and ordered some +of his troops to pull down the standard: but Richard informed him by a +messenger, that though he himself would willingly remove that ground of +offence, he would not permit it to be done by others; and if the French +king attempted such an insult upon him, he should not succeed but by the +utmost effusion of blood. Philip, content with this species of haughty +submission, recalled his orders:[**] the difference was seemingly +accommodated, but still left the remains of rancor and jealousy in the +breasts of the two monarchs. + +Tancred, who for his own security desired to inflame their mutual +hatred, employed an artifice which might have been attended with +consequences still more fatal. {1191.} He showed Richard a letter, +signed by the French king, and delivered to him, as he pretended, by the +duke of Burgundy; in which that monarch desired Tancred to fall upon the +quarters of the English, and promised to assist him in putting them +to the sword as common enemies. The unwary Richard gave credit to the +information; but was too candid not to betray his discontent to Philip, +who absolutely denied the letter, and charged the Sicilian prince with +forgery and falsehood. Richard either was, or pretended to be, entirely +satisfied.[***] + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 608.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 674.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 688. Benedict. Abbas, p. 642, + 643. Brompton, p. 1125] + +Last these jealousies and complaints should multiply between them, it +was proposed that they should, by a solemn treaty, obviate all future +differences, and adjust every point that couid possibly hereafter become +a controversy between them. But this expedient started a new dispute, +which might have proved more dangerous than any of the foregoing, and +which deeply concerned the honor of Philip’s family. When Richard, +in every treaty with the late king, insisted so strenuously on being +allowed to marry Alice of France, he had only sought a pretence for +quarrelling, and never meant to take to his bed a princess suspected +of a criminal amour with his own father. After he became master, he +no longer spake of that alliance: he even took measures for espousing +Berengaria, daughter of Sanchez, king of Navarre, with whom he had +become enamored during his abode in Guienne.[*] Queen Eleanor was daily +expected with that princess at Messina;[**] and when Philip renewed to +him his applications for espousing his sister Alice, Richard was obliged +to give him an absolute refusal. It is pretended by Hoveden and other +historians,[***] that he was able to produce such convincing proofs of +Alice’s infidelity, and even of her having borne a child to Henry, that +her brother desisted from his applications, and chose to wrap up the +dishonor of his family in silence and oblivion. It is certain, from the +treaty itself which remains,[****] that, whatever were his motives, he +permitted Richard to give his hand to Berengaria; and having settled all +other controversies with that prince, he immediately set sail for the +Holy Land. Richard awaited some time the arrival of his mother and +bride, and when they joined him, he separated his fleet into two +squadrons, and set forward on his enterprise. Queen Eleanor returned to +England; but Berengaria, and the queen dowager of Sicily, his sister, +attended him on the expedition.[*****] + + [* Vinisauf, p. 316.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 112. Trivet, p. 102. W. Heming. + p. 519.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 688.] + + [**** Bymer, vol. i. p. 69. Chron. Dunst. p. 44.] + + [***** Benedict. Abbas, p. 644.] + +The English fleet, on leaving the port of Messina, met with a furious +tempest; and the squadron on which the two princesses were embarked was +driven on the coast of Cyprus, and some of the vessels were wrecked +near Limisso, in that island. Isaac, prince of Cyprus, who assumed the +magnificent title of emperor, pillaged the ships that were stranded, +brew the seamen and passengers into prison, and even refused to the +princesses liberty, in their dangerous situation, of entering the harbor +of Limisso. But Richard, who arrived soon after, took ample vengeance on +him for the injury. He disembarked his troops; defeated the tyrant, who +opposed his landing; entered Limisso by storm; gained next day a second +victory; obliged Isaac to surrender at discretion; and established +governors over the island. The Greek prince, being thrown into prison +and loaded with irons, complained of the little regard with which he was +treated; upon which Richard ordered silver fetters to be made for him; +and this emperor, pleased with the distinction, expressed a sense of the +generosity of his conqueror.[*] The king here espoused Berengaria, who, +immediately embarking, carried along with her to Palestine the daughter +of the Cypriot prince; a dangerous rival, who was believed to have +seduced the affections of her husband. Such were the libertine character +and conduct of the heroes engaged in this pious enterprise! + +The English army arrived in time to partake in the glory of the siege +of Acre or Ptolemais, which had been attacked for above two years by the +united force of all the Christians in Palestine, and had been defended +by the utmost efforts of Saladin and the Saracens. The remains of the +German army, conducted by the emperor Frederic, and the separate bodies +of adventurers who continually poured in from the west, had enabled the +king of Jerusalem to form this important enterprise;[**] but Saladin +having thrown a strong garrison into the place under the command of +Caracos, his own master in the art of war, and molesting the besiegers +with continual attacks and sallies, had protracted the success of the +enterprise, and wasted the force of his enemies. + + [* Benedict. Abbas, p. 650 Ann. Waverl. p. 164. + Vinisauf, p 328 W. Heming. p. 523.] + + [** Vinisauf. p 269, 271, 279] + +The arrival of Philip and Richard inspired new life into the Christians; +and these princes acting by concert, and sharing the honor and danger +of every action, gave hopes of a final victory over the infidels. They +agreed on this plan of operations: when the French monarch attacked +the town, the English guarded the trenches: next day, when the English +prince conducted the assault, the French succeeded him in providing for +the safety of the assailants. The emulation between those rival kings +and rival nations produced extraordinary acts of valor: Richard, in +particular animated with a more precipitate courage than Philip, and +more agreeable to the romantic spirit of that age, drew to himself the +general attention, and acquired a great and splendid reputation. But +this harmony was of short duration, and occasions of discord soon arose +between these jealous and haughty princes. + +The family of Bouillon, which had first been placed on the throne of +Jerusalem, ending in a female, Fulk, count of Anjou, grandfather +to Henry II. of England, married the heiress of that kingdom, and +transmitted his title to the younger branches of his family. The Anjevan +race ending also in a female, Guy de Lusignan, by espousing Sibylla, the +heiress, had succeeded to the title; and though he lost his kingdom by +the invasion of Saladin, he was still acknowledged by all the Christians +for king of Jerusalem.[*] But as Sibylla died without issue during the +siege of Acre, Isabella, her younger sister, put in her claim to that +titular kingdom, and required Lusignan to resign his pretensions to her +husband, Conrade, marquis of Montferrat. Lusignan, maintaining that +the royal title was unalienable and indefeasible, had recourse to +the protection of Richard, attended on him before he left Cyprus, and +engaged him to embrace his cause.[**] There needed no other reason for +throwing Philip into the party of Conrade; and the opposite views of +these great monarchs brought faction and dissension into the Christian +army, and retarded all its operations. The templars, the Genoese, and +the Germans, declared for Philip and Conrade; the Flemings, the +Pisans, the knights of the hospital of St. John, adhered to Richard and +Lusignan, But notwithstanding these disputes, as the length of the siege +had reduced the Saracen garrison to the last extremity, they surrendered +themselves prisoners; stipulated, in return for their lives, other +advantages to the Christians, such as restoring of the Christian +prisoners, and the delivery of the wood of the true cross;[***] and this +great enterprise, which had long engaged the attention of all Europe and +Asia, was at last, after the loss of three hundred thousand men, brought +to a happy period. + + [* Vinisauf, p. 281.] + + [** Trivet, p. 104. Vinisauf, p. 342. W. Heming. + p. 524.] + + [*** This true cross was lost in the battle of + Tiberiade, to which it had been carried by the crusaders for + their protection. Rigord, an author of that age, says, that + after this dismal event, all the children who were born + throughout all Christendom, had only twenty or twenty-two + teeth, instead of thirty or thirty-two, which was their + former complement (p. 14.)] + +But Philip, instead of pursuing the hopes of further conquest, and of +redeeming the holy city from slavery, being disgusted with the ascendant +assumed and acquired by Richard, and having views of many advantages +which he might reap by his presence in Europe, declared his resolution +of returning to France; and he pleaded his bad state of health as +an excuse for his desertion of the common cause. He left however, to +Richard ten thousand of his troops, under the command of the duke of +Burgundy; and he renewed his oath never to commence hostilities against +that prince’s dominions during his absence. But he had no sooner reached +Italy than he applied, it is pretended, to Pope Celestine III. for +a dispensation from this vow; and when denied that request, he still +proceeded, though after a covert manner, in a project which the present +situation of England rendered inviting, and which gratified, in an +eminent degree, both his resentment and his ambition. + +Immediately after Richard had left England, and begun his march to +the Holy Land, the two prelates whom he had appointed guardians of the +realm, broke out into animosities against each other, and threw the +kingdom into combustion. Longchamp, presumptuous in his nature, elated +by the favor which he enjoyed with his master, and armed with the +legantine commission, could not submit to an equality with the bishop +of Durham: he even went so far as to arrest his colleague, and to extort +from him a resignation of the earldom of Northumberland, and of his +other dignities, as the price of his liberty.[*] The king, informed of +these dissensions, ordered, by letters from Marseilles, that the +bishop should be reinstated in his offices; but Longchamp had still the +boldness to refuse compliance, on pretence that he himself was better +acquainted with the king’s secret intentions.[**] He proceeded to +govern the kingdom by his sole authority; to treat all the nobility +with arrogance; and to display his power and riches with an invidious +ostentation. He never travelled without a strong guard of fifteen +hundred foreign soldiers, collected from that licentious tribe, with +which the age was generally infested: nobles and knights were proud +of being admitted into his train his retinue wore the aspect of royal +magnificence; and when in his progress through the kingdom, he lodged in +any monastery, his attendants, it is said, were sufficient to devour in +one night the revenue of several years.[***] + + [* Hoveden, p. 665. Knyghton, p. 2403.] + + [** W. Heming. p 528,] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 680. Benedict. Abbas, p. 626, + 700. Brompton, p. 1193.] + +The king, who was detained in Europe longer than the haughty prelate +expected, hearing of this ostentation, which exceeded even what the +habits of that age indulged in ecclesiastics; being also informed of the +insolent, tyrannical conduct of his minister, thought proper to restrain +his power: he sent new orders, appointing Walter, archbishop of Rouen, +William Mareshal, earl of Strigul, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, William Brie +were, and Hugh Bardolf, counsellors to Longchamp, and commanding him to +take no measure of importance without their concurrence and approbation. +But such general terror had this man impressed by his violent conduct, +that even the archbishop of Rouen and the earl of Strigul durst not +produce this mandate of the king’s: and Longchamp still maintained an +uncontrolled authority over the nation. But when he proceeded so far as +to throw into prison Geoffrey, archbishop of York, who had opposed +his measures, this breach of ecclesiastical privileges excited such a +universal ferment, that Prince John, disgusted with the small share he +possessed in the government, and personally disobliged by Longchamp, +ventured to summon at Reading a general council of the nobility and +prelates, and cite him to appear before them. Longchamp thought it +dangerous to intrust his person in their hands, and he shut himself, +up in the tower of London; but being soon obliged to surrender that +fortress, he fled beyond sea, concealed under a female habit, and was +deprived of his offices of chancellor and chief justiciary, the last of +which was conferred on the archbishop of Rouen, a prelate of prudence +and moderation. The commission of legate, however, which had been +renewed to Longchamp by Pope Celestine, still gave him, notwithstanding +his absence, great authority in the kingdom, enabled him to disturb +the government, and forwarded the views of Philip, who watched every +opportunity of annoying Richard’s dominions. {1192.} That monarch first +attempted to carry open war into Normandy: but as the French nobility +refused to follow him in an invasion of a state which they had sworn to +protect, and as the pope, who was the general guardian of all princes +that had taken the cross, threatened him with ecclesiastical censures, +he desisted from his enterprise, and employed against England the +expedient of secret policy and intrigue. He debauched Prince John from +his allegiance; promised him his sister Alice in marriage; offered to +give him possession of all Richard’s transmarine dominions; and had not +the authority of Queen Eleanor, and the menaces of the English council, +prevailed over the inclinations of that turbulent prince, he was ready +to have crossed the seas, and to have put in execution his criminal +enterprises. + +The jealousy of Philip was every moment excited by the glory which the +great actions of Richard were gaining him in the east, and which, being +compared to his own desertion of that popular cause, threw a double +lustre on his rival. His envy, therefore, prompted him to obscure +that fame which he had not equalled; and he embraced every pretence of +throwing the most violent and most improbable calumnies on the king of +England. There was a petty prince in Asia, commonly called the Old Man +of the Mountain, who had acquired such an ascendant over his fanatical +subjects, that they paid the most implicit deference to his commands; +esteemed assassination meritorious when sanctified by his mandate; +courted danger, and even certain death, in the execution of his orders; +and fancied, that when they sacrificed their lives for his sake, the +highest joys of paradise were the infallible reward of their devoted +obedience.[*] It was the custom of this prince, when he imagined +himself injured, to despatch secretly some of his subjects against the +aggressor, to charge them with the execution of his revenge, to instruct +them in every art of disguising their purpose; and no precaution was +sufficient to guard any man, however powerful, against the attempts of +these subtle and determined ruffians. The greatest monarchs stood in awe +of this prince of the assassins, (for that was the name of his people. +whence the word has passed into most European languages,) and it was the +highest indiscretion in Conrade, marquis of Montferrat, to offend +and affront him. The inhabitants of Tyre, who were governed by that +nobleman, had put to death some of this dangerous people: the prince +demanded satisfaction; for as he piqued himself on never beginning any +offence,[**] he had his regular and established formalities in requiring +atonement: Conrade treated his messengers with disdain: the prince +issued the fatal orders: two of his subjects, who had insinuated +themselves in disguise among Conrade’s guards, openly, in the streets +of Sidon, wounded him mortally; and when they were seized and put to the +most cruel tortures, they triumphed amidst their agonies, and rejoiced +that they had been destined by Heaven to suffer in so just and +meritorious a cause. + + [* W. Heming. p. 532. Brompton, p. 1243.] + + [** Rymer vol. i. p. 71.] + +Every one in Palestine knew from what hand the blow came. Richard +was entirely free from suspicion. Though that monarch had formerly +maintained the cause of Lusignan against Conrade, he had become sensible +of the bad effects attending those dissensions, and had voluntarily +conferred on the former the kingdom of Cyprus, on condition that he +should resign to his rival all pretensions on the crown of Jerusalem,[*] +Conrade himself, with his dying breath, had recommended his widow to the +protection of Richard;[**] the prince of the assassins avowed the action +in a formal narrative which he sent to Europe; yet, on this foundation, +the king of France thought fit to build the most egregious calumnies, +and to impute to Richard the murder of the marquis of Montferrat, +whose elevation he had once openly opposed. He filled all Europe with +exclamations against the crime; appointed a guard for his own person, in +order to defend himself against a like attempt; and endeavored, by these +shallow artifices, to cover the infamy of attacking the dominions of a +prince whom he himself had deserted, and who was engaged with so much +glory in a war universally acknowledged to be the common cause of +Christendom. + + [* Vinisauf, p. 391.] + + [** Brompton, p. 1248.] + +But Richard’s heroic actions in Palestine were the best apology for +his conduct. The Christian adventurers under his command determined, +on opening the campaign, to attempt the siege of Ascalon, in order +to prepare the way for that of Jerusalem; and they marched along the +sea-coast with that intention. Saladin purposed to intercept their +passage: and he placed himself on the road with an army, amounting to +three hundred thousand combatants. On this occasion was fought one +of the greatest battles of that age; and the most celebrated, for the +military genius of the commanders, for the number and valor of the +troops, and for the great variety of events which attended it. Both +the right wing of the Christians, commanded by D’Avesnes, and the left +conducted by the duke of Burgundy, were, in the beginning of the day, +broken and defeated; when Richard, who led on the main body, restored +the battle; attacked the enemy with intrepidity and presence of mind; +performed the part both of a consummate general and gallant soldier; and +not only gave his two wings leisure to recover from their confusion, but +obtained a complete victory over the Saracens, of whom forty thousand +are said to have perished in the field.[*] Ascalon soon after fell into +the hands of the Christians: other sieges were carried on with equal +success; Richard was even able to advance within sight of Jerusalem, the +object of his enterprise; when he had the mortification to find that he +must abandon all hopes of immediate success, and must put a stop to his +career of victory. The crusaders, animated with an enthusiastic ardor +for the holy wars, broke at first through all regards to safety or +interest in the prosecution of their purpose; and trusting to the +immediate assistance of Heaven, set nothing before their eyes but fame +and victory in this world, and a crown of glory in the next. But long +absence from home, fatigue, disease, want, and the variety of incidents +which naturally attend war, had gradually abated that fury, which +nothing was able directly to withstand; and every one except the king of +England, expressed a desire of speedily returning into Europe. The +Germans and the Italians declared their resolution of desisting from the +enterprise: the French were still more obstinate in this purpose: the +duke of Burgundy, in order to pay court to Philip, took all +opportunities of mortifying and opposing Richard:[**] and there appeared +an absolute necessity of abandoning for the present all hopes of further +conquest, and of securing the acquisitions of the Christians by an +accommodation with Saladin, Richard, therefore concluded a truce with +that monarch; and stipulated that Acre, Joppa, and other seaport towns +of Palestine, should remain in the hands of the Christians, and that +every one of that religion should have liberty to perform his pilgrimage +to Jerusalem unmolested. This truce was concluded for three years, three +months, three weeks, three days, and three hours; a magical number, +which had probably been devised by the Europeans, and which was +suggested by a superstition well suited to the object of the war. + + [* Hovelen, p. 698. Benedict. Abbas, p. 677. + Diceto, p. 662 Brompton, p. 1214.] + + [** Vinisauf, p. 380.] + +The liberty in which Saladin indulged the Christians, to perform their +pilgrimages to Jerusalem, was an easy sacrifice on his part; and the +furious wars which he waged in defence of the barren territory of Judea, +were not with him, as with the European adventurers, the result +of superstition, but of policy, The advantage indeed of science, +moderation, humanity, was at that time entirely on the side of the +Saracens; and this gallant emperor, in particular, displayed, during +the course of the war, a spirit and generosity, which even his bigoted +enemies were obliged to acknowledge and admire. Richard, equally martial +and brave, carried with him more of the barbarian character, and +was guilty of acts of ferocity which threw a stain on his celebrated +victories. When Saladin refused to ratify the capitulation of Acre, +the king of England ordered all his prisoners, to the number of five +thousand, to be butchered; and the Saracens found themselves obliged to +retaliate upon the Christians by a like cruelty.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 697. Benedict Abbas, p. 673. M. + Paris, p. 115. Vinisauf, p. 846. W. Heming. p. 531.] + +Saladin died at Damascus soon after concluding this truce with the +princes of the crusade; it is memorable that, before he expired, he +ordered his winding-sheet to be carried as a standard through every +street of the city; while a crier went before, and proclaimed with +a loud voice, “This is all that remains to the mighty Saladin, the +conqueror of the East.” By his last will, he ordered charities to be +distributed to the poor, without distinction of Jew, Christian, or +Mahometan. + +There remained, after the truce, no business of importance to detain +Richard in Palestine; and the intelligence which he received, concerning +the intrigues of his brother John, and those of the king of France, +made him sensible that his presence was necessary in Europe. As he +dared not to pass through France, he sailed to the Adriatic; and being +ship-wrecked near Aquileia, he put on the disguise of a pilgrim, with a +purpose of taking his journey secretly through Germany. Pursued by the +governor of Istria, he was forced out of the direct road to England, +and was obliged to pass by Vienna, where his expenses and liberalities +betrayed the monarch in the habit of the pilgrim; and he was arrested by +orders of Leopold, duke of Austria. This prince had served under Richard +at the siege of Acre; but being disgusted by some insult of that haughty +monarch, he was so ungenerous as to seize the present opportunity of +gratifying at once his avarice and revenge; and he threw the king into +prison. {1193.} The emperor, Henry VI., who also considered Richard as +an enemy, on account of the alliance contracted by him with Tancred, +king of Sicily, despatched messengers to the duke of Austria, required +the royal captive to be delivered to him, and stipulated a large sum of +money as a reward for this service. Thus the king of England, who had +filled the whole world with his renown, found himself, during the most +critical state of his affairs, confined in a dungeon, and loaded with +irons, in the heart of Germany,[*] and entirely at the mercy of his +enemies, the basest and most sordid of mankind. + +The English council was astonished on receiving this fatal intelligence, +and foresaw all the dangerous consequences which might naturally arise +from that event. The queen dowager wrote reiterated letters to Pope +Celestine; exclaiming against the injury which her son had sustained, +representing the impiety of detaining in prison the most illustrious +prince that had yet carried the banners of Christ into the Holy Land; +claiming the protection of the apostolic see, which was due even to the +meanest of those adventurers; and upbraiding the pope, that, in a cause +where justice, religion, and the dignity of the church, were so much +concerned, a cause which it might well befit his holiness himself to +support by taking in person a journey to Germany, the spiritual thunders +should so long be suspended over those sacrilegious offenders.[**] +The zeal of Celestine corresponded not to the impatience of the queen +mother; and the regency of England were, for a long time, left to +struggle alone with all their domestic and foreign enemies. + +The king of France, quickly informed of Richard’s confinement by a +message from the emperor,[***] prepared himself to take advantage of the +incident; and he employed every means of force and intrigue, of war and +negotiation, against the dominions and the person of his unfortunate +rival. He revived the calumny of Richard’s assassinating the marquis of +Montferrat; and by that absurd pretence he induced his barons to violate +their oaths, by which they had engaged that, during the crusade, +they never would, on any account, attack the dominions of the king of +England. He made the emperor the largest offers, if he would deliver +into his hands the royal prisoner, or at least detain him in perpetual +captivity he even formed an alliance by marriage with the king of +Denmark, desired that the ancient Danish claim to the crown of England +should be transferred to him, and solicited a supply of shipping to +maintain it. + + [* Chron. T. Wykes, p. 35.] + + [** Rymer, vol. i. p. 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, etc] + + [*** Rymer, vol. i. p. 70.] + +But the most successful of Philip’s negotiations was with Prince +John, who, forgetting every tie to his brother, his sovereign, and his +benefactor, thought of nothing but how to make his own advantage of the +public calamities. That traitor, on the first invitation from the court +of France, suddenly went abroad, had a conference with Philip, and made +a treaty, of which the object was the perpetual ruin of his unhappy +brother. He stipulated to deliver into Philip’s hands a great part of +Normandy:[*] he received, in return, the investiture of all Richard’s +transmarine dominions; and it is reported by several historians, that he +even did homage to the French king for the crown of England. + +In consequence of this treaty, Philip invaded Normandy; and by the +treachery of John’s emissaries, made himself master, without opposition, +of many fortresses--Neufchatel, Neaufle, Gisors, Pacey, Ivrée: he +subdued the counties of Eu and Aumale; and advancing to form the siege +of Rouen, he threatened to put all the inhabitants to the sword if they +dared to make resistance. Happily, Robert, earl of Leicester appeared in +that critical moment, a gallant nobleman, who had acquired great honor +during the crusade, and who, being more fortunate than his master in +finding his passage homewards, took on him the command in Rouen, and +exerted himself, by his exhortations and example, to infuse courage into +the dismayed Normans. Philip was repulsed in every attack; the time of +service from his vassals expired; and he consented to a truce with +the English regency, received in return the promise of twenty thousand +marks, and had four castles put into his hands as security for the +payment.[**] + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 85.] + + [** Hoveden, p, 730, 731. Rymer, vol. i. p. 81] + +Prince John, who, with a view of increasing the general confusion, went +over to England, was still less successful in his enterprises. He +was only able to make himself master of the castles of Windsor and +Wallingford; but when he arrived in London, and claimed the kingdom +as heir to his brother, of whose death he pretended to have received +certain intelligence he was rejected by all the barons, and measures +were taken to oppose and subdue him.[*] The justiciaries, supported by +the general affection of the people, provided so well for the defence +of the kingdom, that John was obliged, after some fruitless efforts, +to conclude a truce with them; and before its expiration, he thought it +prudent to return into France, where he openly avowed his alliance with +Philip.[**] + +Meanwhile the high spirit of Richard suffered in Germany every kind of +insult and indignity. The French ambassadors, in their master’s name, +renounced him as a vassal to the crown of France, and declared all his +fiefs to be forfeited to his liege lord. The emperor, that he might +render him more impatient for the recovery of his liberty, and make him +submit to the payment of a larger ransom, treated him with the greatest +severity, and reduced him to a condition worse than that of the meanest +malefactor. He was even produced before the diet of the empire at Worms, +and accused by Henry of many crimes and misdemeanors; of making an +alliance with Tancred, the usurper of Sicily; of turning the arms of the +crusade against a Christian prince, and subduing Cyprus; of affronting +the duke of Austria before Acre; of obstructing the progress of the +Christian arms by his quarrels with the king of France; of assassinating +Conrade, marquis of Montferrat; and of concluding a truce with Saladin, +and leaving Jerusalem in the hands of the Saracen emperor.[***] + + [* Hoveden, p. 724.] + + [** W Heming. p. 556.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 121. W. Heming. p. 536.] + +Richard, whose spirit was not broken by his misfortunes, and whose +genius was rather roused by these frivolous or scandalous imputations, +after premising that his dignity exempted him from answering before any +jurisdiction, except that of Heaven, yet condescended, for the sake of +his reputation, to justify his conduct before that great assembly. He +observed, that he had no hand in Tancred’s elevation, and only concluded +a treaty with a prince whom he found in possession of the throne: that +the king, or rather tyrant, of Cyprus had provoked his indignation by +the most ungenerous and unjust proceedings; and though he chastised +this aggressor, he had not retarded a moment the progress of his chief +enterprise: that if he had at any time been wanting in civility to the +duke of Austria, he had already been sufficiently punished for that +sally of passion; and it better became men, embarked together in so holy +a cause, to forgive each other’s infirmities, than to pursue a slight +offence with such unrelenting vengeance: that it had sufficiently +appeared by the event, whether the king of France or he were most +zealous for the conquest of the Holy Land, and were most likely to +sacrifice private passions and animosities to that great object: that +if the whole tenor of his life had not shown him incapable of a base +assassination, and justified him from that imputation in the eyes +of his very enemies, it was in vain for him, at present, to make his +apology, or plead the many irrefragable arguments which he could produce +in his own favor: and that, however he might regret the necessity, he +was so far from being ashamed of his truce with Saladin, that he rather +gloried in that event; and thought it extremely honorable that, though +abandoned by all the world, supported only by his own courage, and +by the small remains of his national troops, he could yet obtain such +conditions from the most powerful and most warlike emperor that the East +had ever yet produced. Richard, after thus deigning to apologize for his +conduct, burst out into indignation at the cruel treatment which he +had met with; that he, the champion of the cross, still wearing that +honorable badge, should, after expending the blood and treasure of his +subjects in the common cause of Christendom, be intercepted by Christian +princes in his return to his own country, be thrown into a dungeon, be +loaded with irons, be obliged to plead his cause as if he were a +subject and a malefactor, and, what he still more regretted, be thereby +prevented from making preparations for a new crusade, which he had +projected, after the expiration of the truce, and from redeeming the +sepulchre of Christ, which had so long been profaned by the dominion of +infidels. The spirit and eloquence of Richard made such impression on +the German princes, that they exclaimed loudly against the conduct of +the emperor; the pope threatened him with excommunication; and Henry, +who had hearkened to the proposals of the king of France and Prince +John, found that it would be impracticable for him to execute his and +their base purposes, or to detain the king of England any longer in +captivity. He therefore concluded with him a treaty for his ransom, and +agreed to restore him to his freedom for the sum of one hundred and +fifty thousand marks about three hundred thousand pounds of our present +money of which one hundred thousand marks were to be paid before +he received his liberty, and sixty-seven hostages delivered for the +remainder.[*] The emperor, as if to gloss over the infamy of this +transaction, made at the same time a present to Richard of the kingdom +of Arles, comprehending Provence, Dauphiny, Narbonne, and other states, +over which the empire had some antiquated claims; a present which the +king very wisely neglected. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 84.] + +The captivity of the superior lord was one of the cases provided for by +the feudal tenures; and all the vassals were in that event obliged to +give an aid for his ransom. Twenty shillings were therefore levied on +each knight’s fee in England; but as this money came in slowly, and +was not sufficient for the intended purpose, the voluntary zeal of the +people readily supplied the deficiency. The churches and monasteries +melted down their plate, to the amount of thirty thousand marks; the +bishop, abbots, and nobles, paid a fourth of their yearly rent; the +parochial clergy contributed a tenth of their tithes; and the requisite +sura being thus collected queen Eleanor, and Walter, archbishop of +Rouen, set out with it for Germany; {1194.} paid the money to the +emperor and the duke of Austria at Mentz; delivered them hostages for +the remainder, and freed. Richard from captivity. His escape was very +critical. Henry had been detected in the assassination of the bishop of +Liege, and in an attempt of a like nature on the duke of Louvaine; and +finding himself extremely obnoxious to the German princes on account +of these odious practices, he had determined to seek support from an +alliance with the king of France; to detain Richard, the enemy of that +prince, in perpetual captivity; to keep in his hands the money which +he had already received for his ransom; and to extort fresh sums from +Philip and prince John, who were very liberal in their offers to him. He +therefore gave orders that Richard should be pursued and arrested; but +the king, making all imaginable haste, had already embarked at the mouth +of the Schelde, and was out of sight of land when the messengers of the +emperor reached Antwerp. + +The joy of the English was extreme on the appearance of their monarch, +who had suffered so many calamities, who had acquired so much glory, +and who had spread the reputation of their name into the farthest east, +whither their fame had never before been able to extend. He gave them, +soon after his arrival, an opportunity of publicly displaying their +exultation, by ordering himself to be crowned anew at Winchester; as if +he intended, by that ceremony, to reinstate himself in his throne, and +to wipe off he ignominity of his captivity. Their satisfaction was +not damped, even when he declared his purpose of resuming all those +exorbitant grants which he had been necessitated to make before his +departure for the Holy Land. The barons also, in a great council, +confiscated, on account of his treason, all Prince John’s possessions +in England and they assisted the king in reducing the fortresses which +still remained in the hands of his brother’s adherents.[*] Richard, +having settled every thing in England, passed over with an army into +Normandy; being impatient to make war on Philip, and to revenge himself +for the many injuries which he had received from that monarch.[**] As +soon as Philip heard of the king’s deliverance from captivity, he wrote +to his confederate John in these terms: “Take care of yourself: the +devil is broken loose.”[***] + + [* Hoveden, p, 737. Ann. Waverl. p. 165. W. + Heming. p. 540.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 740.] + + [*** Hoveden p. 739] + +When we consider such powerful and martial monarchs, inflamed with +personal animosity against each other, enraged by mutual injuries, +excited by rivalship, impelled by opposite interests, and instigated by +the pride and violence of their own temper, our curiosity is naturally +raised, and we expect an obstinate and furious war, distinguished by the +greatest events, and concluded by some remarkable catastrophe. Yet are +the incidents which attended those hostilities so frivolous, that scarce +any historian can entertain such a passion for military descriptions as +to venture on a detail of them; a certain proof of the extreme weakness +of princes in those ages, and of the little authority they possessed +over their refractory vassals The whole amount of the exploits on both +sides, is the taking of a castle, the surprise of a straggling party, a +rencounter of horse, which resembles more a rout than a battle. Richard +obliged Philip to raise the siege of Verneuil; he took Loches, a small +town in Anjou; he made himself master of Beaumont, and some other places +of little consequence; and after these trivial exploits, the two kings +began already to hold conferences for an accommodation. Philip insisted +that, if a general peace were concluded, the barons on each side should +for the future be prohibited from carrying on private wars against +each other; but Richard replied, that this was a right claimed by +his vassals, and he could not debar them from it After this fruitless +negotiation, there ensued an action between the French and English +cavalry at Fretteval, in which the former were routed, and the king of +France’s cartulary and records, which commonly at that time attended his +person, were taken. But this victory leading to no important advantages, +a truce for a year was at last, from mutual weakness, concluded between +the two monarchs. + +During this war, Prince John deserted from Philip, threw himself at his +brother’s feet, craved pardon for his offences, and by the intercession +of Queen Eleanor was received into favor. “I forgive him,” said the +king, “and hope I shall as easily forget his injuries as he will my +pardon.” John was incapable even of returning to his duty without +committing a baseness. Before he left Philip’s party, he invited to +dinner all the officers of the garrison which that prince had placed in +the citadel of Evreux; he massacred them during the entertainment; fell, +with the assistance of the townsmen, on the garrison, whom he put to the +sword; and then delivered up the place to his brother. + +The king of France was the great object of Richard’s resentment and +animosity. The conduct of John, as well as that of the emperor and duke +of Austria, had been so base, and was exposed to such general odium and +reproach, that the king deemed himself sufficiently revenged for +their injuries; and he seems never to have entertained any project of +vengeance against any of them. The duke of Austria, about this time, +having crushed his leg by the fall of his horse at a tournament, was +thrown into a fever; and being struck, on the approaches of death, with +remorse for his injustice to Richard, he ordered by will all the English +hostages in his hands to be set at liberty and the remainder of the debt +due to him to be remitted: his son, who seemed inclined to disobey these +orders, was constrained by his ecclesiastics to execute them.[*] {1195.} +The emperor also made advances for Richard’s friendship, and offered to +give him a discharge of all the debt not yet paid to him, provided he +would enter into an offensive alliance against the king of France; a +proposal which was very acceptable to Richard, and was greedily embraced +by him. The treaty with the emperor took no effect; but it served to +rekindle the war between France and England before the expiration of the +truce. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 88, 102.] + +This war was not distinguished by any more remarkable incidents than the +foregoing. After mutually ravaging the open country, and taking a few +insignificant castles, the two kings concluded a peace at Louviers, and +made an exchange of some territories with each other.[*] {1196.} Their +inability to wage war occasioned the peace; their mutual antipathy +engaged them again in war before two months expired. Richard imagined +that he had now found an opportunity of gaining great advantages over +his rival, by forming an alliance with the counts of Flanders, Toulouse, +Boulogne, Champagne, and other considerable vassals of the crown of +France.[**] But he soon experienced the insincerity of those princes; +and; was not able to make any impression on that kingdom, while +governed by a monarch of so much vigor and activity as Philip. The most +remarkable incident of this war was the taking prisoner, in battle, the +bishop of Beauvais, a martial prelate who was of the family of Dreux, +and a near relation of the French king. Richard, who hated that bishop, +threw him into prison, and loaded him with irons; and when the pope +demanded his liberty, and claimed him as his son, the king sent to his +holiness the coat of mail which the prelate had worn in battle, and +which was all besmeared with blood; and he replied to him in the terms +employed by Jacob’s sons to that patriarch: “This have we found: know +now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.”[***] This new war between +England and France, though carried on with such animosity that both +kings frequently put out the eyes of their prisoners, was soon finished +by a truce of five years; and immediately after signing this treaty, +the kings were ready, on some new offence, to break out again into +hostilities, when the mediation of the cardinal of St. Mary, the pope’s +legate, accommodated the difference.[****] This prelate even engaged the +princes to commence a treaty for a more durable peace; but the death of +Richard put an end to the negotiation. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 91] + + [** W. Heming, p. 549. Brompton, p. 1273. Rymer, + vol i. p. 94.] + + [*** Genesis, chap, xxxvii. ver. 32. M. Paris, p; + 128. Brompton, p. 1273] + + [**** Rymer, vol. i. p. 109, 110.] + +{1199.} Vidomar, viscount of Limoges, a vassal of the king, had found a +treasure, of which he sent part to that prince as a present. Richard, as +superior lord, claimed the whole; and, at the head of some Brabançons, +besieged the viscount in the castle of Chalus, near Limoges, in order to +make him comply with his demand.[*] The garrison offered to surrender; +but the king replied, that since he had taken the pains to come thither +and besiege the place in person, he would take it by force, and would +hang every one of them. The same day Richard, accompanied by Marcadée, +leader of his Brabançons, approached the castle in order to survey it, +when one Bertrand de Gourdon, an archer, took aim at him, and pierced +his shoulder with an arrow. The king, however, gave orders for the +assault, took the place, and hanged all the garrison, except Gourdon, +who had wounded him, and whom he reserved for a more deliberate and more +cruel execution.[**] + +The wound was not in itself dangerous; but the unskilfulness of the +surgeon made it mortal; he so rankled Richard’s shoulder in pulling out +the arrow, that a gangrene ensued; and that prince was now sensible that +his life was drawing towards a period. He sent for Gourdon, and asked +him, “Wretch, what have I ever done to you, to oblige you to seek my +life?” “What have you done to me?” replied coolly the prisoner: “you +killed with your own hands my father, and my two brothers; and you +intended to have hanged myself: I am now in your power, and you may take +revenge by inflicting on me the most severe torments; but I shall endure +them all with pleasure, provided I can think that I have been so happy +as to rid the world of such a nuisance,”[***] Richard, struck with the +reasonableness of this reply, and humbled by the near approach of death, +ordered Gourdon to be set at liberty, and a sum of money to be given +him; but Marcadée, unknown to him, seized the unhappy man, flayed him +alive, and then hanged him. Richard died in the tenth year of his reign, +and the forty-second of his age; and he left no issue behind him. + + [* Hoveden, p. 791. Knyghton, p. 2413.] + + [** Hoveden, p. 791. Knyghton, p. 2413.] + + [*** Hoveden, p. 791. Brompton, p. 1277 Knyghton, + p. 2413.] + +The most shining part of this prince’s character are his military +talents. No man, even in that romantic age, carried personal courage +and intrepidity to a greater height, and this quality gained him the +appellation of the Lion-hearted, “Coeur de Lion.” He passionately loved +glory, chiefly military glory; and as his conduct in the field was not +inferior to his valor, he seems to have possessed every talent +necessary for acquiring it. His resentments also were high; his pride +unconquerable; and his subjects, as well as his neighbors, had therefore +reason to apprehend, from the continuance of his reign, a perpetual +scene of blood and violence. Of an impetuous and vehement spirit, he was +distinguished by all the good, as well as the bad, qualities incident to +that character; he was open, frank, generous, sincere, and brave; he +was revengeful, domineering, ambitious, haughty, and cruel; and was thus +better calculated to dazzle men by the splendor of his enterprises, than +either to promote their happiness, or his own grandeur, by a sound and +well-regulated policy. As military talents make great impression on the +people, he seems to have been much beloved by his English subjects; and +he is remarked to have been the first prince of the Norman line that +bore any sincere regard to them. He passed, however, only four months of +his reign in that kingdom; the crusade employed him near three years; he +was detained about fourteen months in captivity; the rest of his reign +was spent either in war or preparations for war against France; and he +was so pleased with the fame which he had acquired in the East, that +he determined, notwithstanding his past misfortunes, to have further +exhausted his kingdom, and to have exposed himself to new hazards, by +conducting another expedition against the infidels. + +Though the English pleased themselves with the glory which the king’s +martial genius procured them, his reign was very oppressive, and +somewhat arbitrary, by the high taxes which he levied on them, and often +without consent of the states or great council. In the ninth year of his +reign, he levied five shillings on each hide of land; and because +the clergy refused to contribute their share, he put them out of the +protection of law, and ordered the civil courts to give them no sentence +for any debts which they might claim.[*] Twice in his reign he ordered +all his charters to be sealed anew, and the parties to pay fees for the +renewal.[**] + + [* Hoveden, p. 743. Tyrrel, vol. ii. p, 563.] + + [** Pryrnne’s Chronol. Vindic. tom. i. p. 1133.] + +{1133.} It is said that Hubert, his justiciary, sent him over to France, +in the space of two years, no less a sum than one million one hundred +thousand marks, besides bearing all the charges of the government in +England. But this account is quite incredible, unless we suppose that +Richard made a thorough dilapidation of the demesnes of the crown, +which it is not likely he could do with any advantage after his former +resumption of all grants. A king who possessed such a revenue, could +never have endured fourteen months’ captivity for not paying one hundred +and fifty thousand marks to the emperor, and be obliged at last to leave +hostages for a third of the sum. The prices of commodities in this reign +are also a certain proof that no such enormous sum could be levied on +the people. A hide of land, or about a hundred and twenty acres, was +commonly let at twenty shillings a year, money of that time. As there +were two hundred and forty-three thousand six hundred hides in England, +it is easy to compute the amount of all the landed rents of the kingdom. +The general and stated price of an ox was four shillings; of a laboring +horse, the same; of a sow, one shilling; of a sheep with fine wool, +tenpence with coarse wool, sixpence.[*] These commodities seem not to +have advanced in their prices since the conquest,[**] [19] and to have +still been ten times cheaper than at present. + +Richard renewed the severe laws against transgressors in his forests, +whom he punished by castration and putting out their eyes, as in the +reign of his great-grandfather. He established by law one weight and +measure throughout his kingdom;[***] a useful institution, which the +mercenary disposition and necessities of his successor engaged him to +dispense with for money. + + [* Hoveden, p. 745.] + + [** See note S, at the end of the volume.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 109, 134. Trivet, p. 127. Ann. + Waverl. p. 165. Hoveden, p. 7.] + +The disorders in London, derived from its bad police, had risen to a +great height during this reign; and in the year 1196, there seemed to +be formed so regular a conspiracy among the numerous malefactors, as +threatened the city with destruction. There was one William Fitz-Osbert, +commonly called Longbeard, a lawyer, who had rendered himself extremely +popular among the lower rank of citizens; and by defend ing-them on all +occasions, had acquired the appellation of the advocate or savior of +the poor. He exerted his authority by injuring and insulting the more +substantial citizens, with whom he lived in a state of hostility, and +who were every moment exposed to the most outrageous violences from +him and his licentious emissaries. Murders were daily committed in the +streets; houses were broken open and pillaged in daylight; and it is +pretended, that no less than fifty-two thousand persons had entered into +an association, by which they bound themselves to obey all the orders +of this dangerous ruffian. Archbishop Hubert, who was then chief +justiciary, summoned him before the council to answer for his conduct; +but he came so well attended, that no one durst accuse him, or give +evidence against him; and the primate, finding the impotence of law, +contented himself with exacting from the citizens hostages for their +good behavior. He kept, however, a watchful eye on Fitz-Osbert, and +seizing a favorable opportunity, attempted to commit him to custody; +but the criminal, murdering one of the public officers, escaped with his +concubine to the church of St. Mary le Bow, where he defended himself +by force of arms. He was at last forced from his retreat, condemned, and +executed, amidst the regrets of the populace, who were so devoted to his +memory, that they stole his gibbet, paid the same veneration to it as to +the cross, and were equally zealous in propagating and attesting reports +of the miracles wrought by it.[*] But though the sectaries of this +superstition were punished by the justiciary,[**] it received so little +encouragement from the established clergy whose property was endangered +by such seditious practices, that it suddenly sunk and vanished. + + [* Hoveden, p 765. Diceto, p. 691. Neub. p 192, + 498] + + [** Gervase, p. 1551.] + +It was during the crusades that the custom of using coats of arms was +first introduced into Europe. The knights, cased up in armor, had no +way to make themselves be known and distinguished in battle, but by +the devices on their shields; and these were gradually adopted by +their posterity and families, who were proud of the pious and military +enterprises of their ancestors. + +King Richard was a passionate lover of poetry: there even remain +some poetical works of his composition: and he bears a rank among +the Provençal poets or Trobadores, who were the first of the modern +Europeans that distinguished themselves by attempts of that nature. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +[Illustration: 132.jpg JOHN] + + + + +JOHN. + +{1199.} THE noble and free genius of the ancients, which made the +government of a single person be always regarded as a species of tyranny +and usurpation, and kept them from forming any conception of a legal and +regular monarchy, had rendered them entirely ignorant both of the rights +of primogeniture and a representation in succession; inventions so +necessary for preserving order in the lines of princes, for obviating +the evils of civil discord and of usurpation, and for begetting +moderation in that species of government, by giving security to the +ruling sovereign. These innovations arose from the feudal law; which, +first introducing the right of primogeniture, made such a distinction +between the families of he elder and younger brothers, that the son +of the former was thought entitled to succeed to his grandfather, +preferably to his uncles, though nearer allied to the deceased monarch. +But though this progress of ideas was natural, it was gradual. In +the age of which we treat, the practice of representation was indeed +introduced, but not thoroughly established; and the minds of men +fluctuated between opposite principles. Richard, when he entered on the +holy war, declared his nephew Arthur, duke of Brittany, his successor; +and by a formal deed he set aside, in his favor, the title of his +brother John, who was younger than Godfrey, the father of that +prince.[*] + + [* Hoveden, p. 677.] + +But John so little acquiesced in that destination that when he gained +the ascendant in the English ministry by expelling Longchamp, the +chancellor and great justiciary, he engaged all the English barons to +swear that they would maintain his right of succession; and Richard, on +his return, took no steps towards restoring or securing the order which +he had at first established. He was even careful, by his last will, to +declare his brother John heir to all his dominions; whether, that he now +thought Arthur, who was only twelve years of age, incapable of asserting +his claim against John’s faction, or was influenced by Eleanor, the +queen mother, who hated Constantia, mother of the young duke, and who +dreaded the credit which that princess would naturally acquire if her +son should mount the throne. The authority of a testament was great in +that age, even where the succession of a kingdom was concerned; and John +had reason to hope, that this title, joined to his plausible right +in other respects, would insure him the succession. But the idea of +representation seems to have made, at this time, greater progress in +France than in England; the barons of the transmarine provinces Anjou, +Maine, and Touraine, immediately declared in favor of Arthur’s title, +and applied for assistance to the French monarch as their superior lord. +Philip, who desired only an occasion to embarrass John, and dismember +his dominions, embraced the cause of the young duke of Brittany, took +him under his protection, and sent him to Paris to be educated along +with his own son Lewis. In this emergency, John hastened to establish +his authority in the chief members of the monarchy; and after sending +Eleanor into Poictou and Guienne, where her right was incontestable, and +was readily acknowledged, he hurried to Rouen, and having secured the +duchy of Normandy, he passed over, without loss of time, to England. +Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, William Mareschal, earl of Strigul, +who also passes by the name of earl of Pembroke, and Geoffrey +Fitz-Peter, the justiciary, the three most favored ministers of the +late king, were already engaged on his side; and the submission or +acquiescence of all the other barons put him, without opposition, in +possession of the throne. + +The king soon returned to France, in order to conduct the war against +Philip, and to recover the revolted provinces from his nephew Arthur. +The alliances which Richard had formed with the earl of Flanders, and +other potent French princes, though they had not been very effectual, +still subsisted, and enabled John to defend himself against all the +efforts of his enemy. In an action between the French and Flemings, the +elect bishop of Cambray was taken prisoner by the former; and when the +cardinal of Capua claimed his liberty, Philip, instead of complying, +reproached him with the weak efforts which he had employed in favor of +the bishop of Beauvais, who was in a like condition. The legate, to show +his impartiality, laid at the same time the kingdom of France and the +duchy of Normandy under an interdict; and the two kings found themselves +obliged to make an exchange of these military prelates. + +{1200.} Nothing enabled the king to bring this war to a happy issue so +much as the selfish, intriguing character of Philip, who acted, in +the provinces that had declared for Arthur, without any regard to the +interests of that prince. Constantia, seized with a violent jealousy +that he intended to usurp the entire dominion of them, found means to +carry off her son secretly from Paris: she put him into the hands of his +uncle; restored the provinces which had adhered to the young prince; and +made him do homage for the duchy of Brittany, which was regarded as a +rere-fief of Normandy. From this incident, Philip saw that he could not +hope to make any progress against John; and being threatened with an +interdict on account of his irregular divorce from Ingelburga, the +Danish princess whom he had espoused, he became desirous of concluding a +peace with England. After some fruitless conferences, the terms were +at last adjusted; and the two monarchy seemed in this treaty to have an +intention, besides ending the present quarrel, of preventing all future +causes of discord, and of obviating every controversy which could +hereafter arise between them. They adjusted the limits of all their +territories; mutually secured the interests of their vassals, and, to +render the union more durable, John gave his niece, Blanche of Castile, +in marriage to Prince Lewis, Philip’s eldest son, and with her the +baronies of Issoudun and Graçai, and other fiefs in Berri. Nine +barons of the king of England, and as many of the king of France, +were guaranties of this treaty; and all of them swore, that, if their +sovereign violated any article of it, they would declare themselves +against him, and embrace the cause of the injured monarch. John, now +secure, as he imagined, on the side of France indulged his passion for +Isabella, the daughter and heir of Aymar Tailleffer, count of Angouleme, +a lady with whom he had become much enamored. His queen, the heiress of +the family of Glocester, was still alive: Isabella was married to +the count de la Marche, and was already consigned to the care of that +nobleman; though, by reason of her tender years, the marriage had +not been consummated. The passion of John made him overlook all these +obstacles: he persuaded the count of Angouleme to carry off his daughter +from her husband; and having, on some pretence or other, procured a +divorce from his own wife, he espoused Isabella; regardless both of the +menaces of the pope, who exclaimed against these irregular proceedings, +and of the resentment of the injured count, who soon found means of +punishing his powerful and insolent rival. + +{1201.} John had not the art of attaching his barons either by affection +or by fear. The count de la Marche, and his brother, the count d’Eu, +taking advantage of the general discontent against him, excited +commotions in Poictou and Normandy, and obliged the king to have +recourse to arms, in order to suppress the insurrection of his vassals. +He summoned together the barons of England, and required them to pass +the sea under his standard, and to quell the rebels: he found that he +possessed as little authority in that kingdom as in his transmarine +provinces. The English barons unanimously replied, that they would not +attend him on this expedition, unless he would promise to restore and +preserve their privileges; the first symptom of a regular association +and plan of liberty among those noblemen. But affairs were not yet fully +ripe for the revolution projected. John, by menacing the barons, broke +the concert; and both engaged many of them to follow him into Normandy, +and obliged the rest, who staid behind, to pay him a scutage of two +marks on each knight’s fee, as the price of their exemption from the +service. + +The force which John carried abroad with him, and that which joined him +in Normandy, rendered him much superior to his malecontent barons; and +so much the more, as Philip did not publicly give them any countenance, +and seemed as yet determined to persevere steadily in the alliance +which he had contracted with England. But the king, elated with his +superiority, advanced claims which gave a universal alarm to his +vassals, and diffused still wider the general discontent. As the +jurisprudence of those times required that the causes in the lord’s +court should chiefly be decided by duel, he carried along with him +certain bravos, whom he retained as champions, and whom he destined to +fight with his barons, in order to determine any controversy which he +might raise against them. The count de la Marche and other noblemen +regarded this proceeding as an affront, as well as an injury; and +declared, that they would never draw their swords against men of such +inferior quality. The king menaced them with vengeance; but he had not +vigor to employ against them the force in his hands, or to prosecute the +injustice, by crushing entirely the nobles who opposed it. + +This government, equally feeble and violent, gave the injured barons +courage, as well as inclination, to carry further their opposition: they +appealed to the king of France; complained of the denial of justice +in John’s court; demanded redress from him as their superior lord; and +entreated him to employ his authority, and prevent their final ruin and +oppression. Philip perceived his advantage, opened his mind to great +projects, interposed in behalf of the French barons, and began to talk +in a high and menacing style to the king of England. {1202.} John, +who could not disavow Philip’s authority, replied, that it belonged to +himself first to grant them a trial by their peers in his own court; it +was not till he failed in this duty, that he was answerable to his peers +in the supreme court of the French king; and he promised, by a fair +and equitable judicature, to give satisfaction to his barons. When the +nobles, in consequence of this engagement, demanded a safe conduct, that +they might attend his court, he at first refused it: upon the renewal +of Philip’s menaces, he promised to grant their demand; he violated +this promise: fresh menaces extorted from him a promise to surrender +to Philip the fortresses of Tillíeres and Boutavant, as a security for +performance; he again violated this engagement: his enemies, sensible +both of his weakness and want of faith combined still closer in the +resolution of pushing him to extremities; and a new and powerful ally +soon appeared to encourage them in their invasion of this odious and +despicable government. + +{1203.} The young duke of Brittany, who was now rising to man’s estate, +sensible of the dangerous character of his uncle, determined to +seek both his security and elevation by a union with Philip and +the malecontent barons. He joined the French army which had begun +hostilities against the king of England: he was received with great +marks of distinction by Philip; was knighted by him; espoused his +daughter Mary; and was invested not only in the duchy of Brittany, but +in the counties of Anjou and Maine, which he had formerly resigned +to his uncle. Every attempt succeeded with the allies. Tillieres and +Boutavant were taken by Philip, after making a feeble defence: Mortimar +and Lyons fell into his hands almost without resistance. That prince +next invested Gournai; and opening the sluices of a lake which lay in +the neighborhood, poured such a torrent of water into the place, that +the garrison deserted it, and the French monarch, without striking a +blow, made himself master of that important fortress. The progress of +the French arms was rapid, and promised more considerable success than +usually in that age attended military enterprises. In answer to every +advance which the king made towards peace, Philip still insisted that +he should resign all his transmarine dominions to his nephew and rest +contented with the kingdom of England; when an event happened, which +seemed to turn the scales in favor of John, and to give him a decisive +superiority over his enemies. + +Young Arthur, fond of military renown, had broken into Poictou at the +head of a small army; and passing near Mirebeau, he heard that his +grandmother, Queen Eleanor, who had always opposed his interests, was +lodged in that place and was protected by a weak garrison and ruinous +fortifications. He immediately determined to lay siege to the fortress, +and make himself master of her person; but John, roused from his +indolence by so pressing an occasion, collected an army of English and +Brabançons, and advanced from Normandy with hasty marches to the relief +of the queen mother. He fell on Arthur’s camp, before that prince was +aware of the danger; dispersed his army; took him prisoner together with +the count de la Marche, Geoffrey de Lusignan, and the most considerable +of the revolted barons, and returned in triumph to Normandy. Philip, +who was lying before Arques, in that duchy, raised the siege and retired +upon his approach. The greater part of the prisoners were sent over to +England, but Arthur was shut up in the castle of Falaise. + +The king had here a conference with his nephew; represented to him +the folly of his pretensions; and required him to renounce the French +alliance, which had encouraged him to live in a state of enmity with all +his family; but the brave, though imprudent youth, rendered more haughty +from misfortunes, maintained the justice of his cause; asserted his +claim, not only to the French provinces, but to the crown of England; +and, in his turn, required the king to restore the son of his elder +brother to the possession of his inheritance; John, sensible, from these +symptoms of spirit, that the young prince, though now a prisoner, might +hereafter prove a dangerous enemy, determined to prevent all future +peril by despatching his nephew; and Arthur was never more heard of. +The circumstances which attended this deed of darkness were, no +doubt, carefully concealed by the actors, and are variously related by +historians; but the most probable account is as follows: The king, it +is said, first proposed to William de la Braye, one of his servants, +to despatch Arthur; but William replied that he was a gentleman, not +a hangman; and he positively refused compliance. Another instrument of +murder was found, and was despatched with proper orders to Falaise; but +Huber de Bourg, chamberlain to the king, and constable of the castle, +feigning that he himself would execute the king’s mandate, sent back the +assassin, spread the report that the young prince was dead, and publicly +performed all the ceremonies of his interment; but finding that the +Bretons vowed revenge for the murder, and that all the revolted barons +persevered more obstinately in their rebellion, he thought it prudent to +reveal the secret, and to inform the world that the duke of Brittany +was still alive, and in his custody. This discovery proved fatal to the +young prince: John first removed him to the castle of Rouen; and coming +in a boat, during the night time, to that place, commanded Arthur to +be brought forth to him. The young prince, aware of his danger, and now +more subdued by the continuance of his misfortunes, and by the approach +of death, threw himself on his knees before hia uncle, and begged for +mercy: but the barbarous tyrant, making no reply, stabbed him with his +own hands; and fastening a stone to the dead body, threw it into the +Seine. + +All men were struck with horror at this inhuman deed; and from that +moment the king, detested by his subjects, retained a very precarious +authority over both the people and the barons in his dominions. The +Bretons, enraged at this disappointment in their fond hopes, waged +implacable war against him; and fixing the succession of their +government, put themselves in a posture to revenge the murder of their +sovereign. John had got into his power his niece, Eleanor, sister to +Arthur, commonly called ‘the damsel of Brittany,’ and carrying her over +to England, detained her ever after in captivity:[*] but the Bretons, in +despair of recovering this princess, chose Alice for their sovereign; +a younger daughter of Constantia, by her second marriage with Gui +de Thouars; and they intrusted the government of the duchy to that +nobleman. The states of Brittany meanwhile carried their complaints +before Philip as their liege lord, and demanded justice for the violence +committed by John on the person of Arthur, so near a relation, who, +notwithstanding the homage which he did to Normandy, was always +regarded as one of the chief vassals of the crown. Philip received their +application with pleasure; summoned John to stand a trial before him; +and on his non-appearance, passed sentence, with the concurrence of the +peers, upon that prince; declared him guilty of felony and parricide; +and adjudged him to forfeit to his superior lord all his seigniories and +fiefs in France.[**] + + [* Trivet, p. 143. T. Wykes, p. 36. Ypod. Neust. + p. 469.] + + [** W. Heming. p. 455. M. West. p. 264. Knyghton, + p. 2420] + +The king of France, whose ambitious and active spirit had been hitherto +confined, either by the sound policy of Henry, or the martial genius +of Richard, seeing now the opportunity favorable against this base and +odious prince, embraced the project of expelling the English, or rather +the English king, from France, and of annexing to the crown so many +considerable fiefs, which, during several ages, had been dismembered +from it. Many of the other great vassals, whose jealousy might have +interposed, and have obstructed the execution of this project, were not +at present in a situation to oppose it; and the rest either looked +on with indifference or gave their assistance to this dangerous +aggrandizement of their superior lord. The earls of Flanders and Blois +were engaged in the holy war: the count of Champagne was an infant, and +under the guardianship of Philip: the duchy of Brittany, enraged at the +murder of their prince, vigorously promoted all his measures: and the +general defection of John’s vassals made every enterprise easy and +successful against him. Philip, after taking several castles and +fortresses beyond the Loire, which he either garrisoned or dismantled, +received the submissions of the count of Alençon, who deserted John, and +delivered up all the places under his command to the French; upon which +Philip broke up his camp, in order to give the troops some repose after +the fatigues of the campaign. John, suddenly collecting some forces, +laid siege to Alençon; and Philip, whose dispersed army could not +be brought together in time to succor it, saw himself exposed to the +disgrace of suffering the oppression of his friend and confederate. +But his active and fertile genius found an expedient against this evil. +There was held at that very time a tournament at Moret, in the Gatinois; +whither all the chief nobility of France and the neighboring countries +had resorted, in order to signalize their prowess and address. Philip +presented himself before them; craved their assistance in his distress; +and pointed out the plains of Alençon, as the most honorable field in +which they could display their generosity and martial spirit. Those +valorous knights vowed that they would take vengeance on the base +parricide, the stain of arms and of chivalry; and putting themselves, +with all their retinue, under the command of Philip, instantly marched +to raise the siege of Alençon. John, hearing of their approach, fled +from before the place; and in the hurry, abandoned all his tents, +machines, and baggage to the enemy. + +This feeble effort was the last exploit of that slothful and cowardly +prince for the defence of his dominions. He thenceforth remained in +total inactivity at Rouen; passing ill his time with his young wife in +pastimes and amusements, as if his state had been in the most profound +tranquillity, or his affairs in the most prosperous condition. If he +ever mentioned war, it was only to give himself vaunting airs, which, in +the eyes of all men, rendered him still more despicable and ridiculous. +“Let the French go on,” said he; “I will retake in a day what it has +cost them years to acquire.”[*] His stupidity and indolence appeared so +extraordinary that the people endeavored to account for the infatuation +by sorcery, and believed that he was thrown into this lethargy by some +magic or witchcraft. The English barons, finding that their time was +wasted to no purpose, and that they must suffer the disgrace of seeing, +without resistance, the progress of the French arms, withdrew from their +colors, and secretly returned to their own country,[**] No one thought +of defending a man who seemed to have deserted himself; and his subjects +regarded his fate with the same indifference, to which in this pressing +exigency, they saw him totally abandoned. + + [* M. Paris, p. 146. M. West. p. 266.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 146. M. West. p. 264,] + +John, while he neglected all domestic resources, had the meanness to +betake himself to a foreign power, whose protection he claimed: he +applied to the pope, Innocent III., and entreated him to interpose his +authority between him and the French monarch. Innocent, pleased with +any occasion of exerting his superiority, sent Philip orders to stop the +progress of his arms, and to make peace with the king of England. But +the French barons received the message with indignation; disclaimed the +temporal authority assumed by the pontiff; and vowed that they would, +to the uttermost, assist their prince against all his enemies; Philip, +seconding their ardor, proceeded, instead of obeying the pope’s envoys, +to lay siege to Chateau Gaillard, the most considerable fortress which +remained to guard the frontiers of Normandy. + +{1204.} Chateau Gaillard was situated partly on an island in the +River Seine, partly on a rock opposite to it; and was secured by every +advantage which either art or nature could bestow upon it. The late +king, having cast his eye on this favorable situation, had spared no +labor or expense in fortifying it; and it was defended by Roger de Laci, +constable of Chester, a determined officer, at the head of a numerous +garrison. Philip, who despaired of taking the place by force proposed +to reduce it by famine; and that he might cut off its communication with +the neighboring country, he threw a bridge across the Seine, while he +himself, with his army blockaded it by land. The earl of Pembroke, the +man of greatest vigor and capacity in the English court, formed a plan +for breaking through the French intrenchments, and throwing relief into +the place. He carried with him an army of four thousand infantry and +three thousand cavalry, and suddenly attacked, with great success, +Philip’s camp in the night time; having left orders that a fleet of +seventy flat-bottomed vessels should sail up the Seine, and fall at the +same instant on the bridge. But the wind and the current of the river, +by retarding the vessels, disconcerted this plan of operations; and it +was morning before the fleet appeared; when Pembroke, though successful +in the beginning of the action, was already repulsed with considerable +loss, and the king of France had leisure to defend himself against these +new assailants, who also met with a repulse. After this misfortune, John +made no further efforts for the relief of Château Gaillard: and Philip +had all the leisure requisite for conducting and finishing the siege. +Roger de Laci defended himself for a twelvemonth with great obstinacy; +and having bravely repelled every attack, and patiently borne all the +hardships of famine, he was at last overpowered by a sudden assault in +the night time, and made prisoner of war, with his garrison.[*] Philip, +who knew how to respect valor, even in an enemy, treated him with +civility, and gave him the whole city of Paris for the place of his +confinement. + + [* Trivet p. 144. Gul. Britto, lib. vii. Ann. + Waverl, p. 168.] + +When this bulwark of Normandy was once subdued, all the province lay +open to the inroads of Philip; and the king of England despaired of +being any longer able to defend it. He secretly prepared vessels for a +scandalous flight; and, that the Normans might no longer doubt of his +resolution to abandon them, he ordered the fortifications of Pont de +l’Arche, Moulineux, and Monfort l’Amauri to be demolished. Not daring +to repose confidence in any of his barons whom he believed to be +universally engaged in a conspiracy against him, he intrusted the +government of the province to Arenas Martin and Lupicaire, two mercenary +Brabançons, whom he had retained in his service. Philip, now secure +of his prey, pushed his conquests with vigor and success against +the dismayed Normans. Falaise was first besieged; and Lupicare, who +commanded in this impregnable fortress, after surrendering the place, +enlisted himself with his troops in the service of Philip, and carried +on hostilities against his ancient master. Caen, Coutance, Seez, Evreux, +Baieux, soon fell into the hands of the French monarch, and all +the lower Normandy was reduced under his dominion! To forward his +enterprises on the other division of the province, Gui de Thouars, at +the head of the Bretons, broke into the territory, and took Mount St. +Michael, Avranches, and all the other fortresses in that neighborhood. +The Normans, who abhorred the French yoke and who would have defended +themselves to the last extremity, if their prince had appeared to +conduct them, found no resource but in submission; and every city opened +its gates as soon as Philip appeared before it. Rouen alone, Arques, +and Verneuil determined to maintain their liberties; and formed a +confederacy for mutual defence. {1205.} Philip began with the siege of +Rouen: the inhabitants were so inflamed with hatred to France, that on +the appearance of his army, they fell on all the natives of that country +whom they found within their walls, and put tham to death. But after the +French king had begun his operations with success, and had taken some of +their outworks, the citizens, seeing no resource, offered to capitulate; +and demanded only thirty days to advertise their prince of their danger, +and to require succors against the enemy. Upon the expiration of the +term, as no supply had arrived, they opened their gates to Philip;[*] +and the whole province soon after imitated the example, and submitted to +the victor. Thus was this important territory reunited to the crown of +France, about three centuries after the cession of it by Charles the +Simple to Rollo, the first duke; and the Normans, sensible that this +conquest was probably final, demanded the privilege of being governed +by French laws; which Philip, making a few alterations on the ancient +Norman customs, readily granted them. But the French monarch had too +much ambition and genius to stop in his present career of success. He +carried his victorious army into the western provinces; soon reduced +Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and part of Poictou;[**] and in this manner the +French crown, during the reign of one able and active prince, received +such an accession of power and grandeur, as, in the ordinary course of +things, it would have required several ages to attain. + +John, on his arrival in England, that he might cover the disgrace of his +own conduct, exclaimed loudly against his barons, who, he pretended, had +deserted his standard in Normandy; and he arbitrarily extorted from them +a seventh of all their movables, as a punishment for the offence.[***] + + [* Trivet, p. 147. Ypod. Neust. p. 469.] + + [** Trivet, p 149] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 146. M. West. p. 265.] + +Soon after he forced them to grant him a scutage of two marks and a half +on each knights’ fee for an expedition into Normandy; but he did not +attempt to execute the service for which he pretended to exact it. Next +year, he summoned all the barons of his realm to attend him on this +foreign expedition, and collected ships from all the seaports; but +meeting with opposition from some of his ministers, and abandoning +his design, he dismissed both fleet and army, and then renewed his +exclamations against the barons for deserting him. He next put to sea +with a small army, and his subjects believed that he was resolved to +expose himself to the utmost hazard for the defence and recovery of his +dominions; but they were surprised, after a few days, to see him +return again into harbor, without attempting anything. {1206.} In the +subsequent season, he had the courage to carry his hostile measures +a step farther. Gui de Thouars, who governed Brittany, jealous of the +rapid progress made by his ally, the French king, promised to join the +king of England with all his forces; and John ventured abroad with a +considerable army, and landed at Rochelle. He marched to Angers, which +he took and reduced to ashes. But the approach of Philip with an army +threw him into a panic; and he immediately made proposals for peace, and +fixed a place of interview with his enemy; but instead of keeping +this engagement, he stole off with his army, embarked at Rochelle, +and returned, loaded with new shame and disgrace, into England. The +mediation of the pope procured him at last a truce for two years +with the French monarch;[*] almost all the transmarine provinces +were ravished from him; and his English barons, though harassed with +arbitrary taxes and fruitless expeditions, saw themselves and their +country baffled and affronted in every enterprise. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 141.] + +In an age when personal valor was regarded as the chief accomplishment, +such conduct as that of John, always disgraceful, must be exposed to +peculiar contempt; and he must thenceforth have expected to rule his +turbulent vassals with a very doubtful authority. But the government +exercised by the Norman princes had wound up the royal power to so high +a pitch, and so much beyond the usual tenor of the feudal constitutions, +that it still behoved him to be debased by new affronts and disgraces, +ere his barons could entertain the view of conspiring against him in +order to retrench his prerogatives. + +The church, which at that time declined not a contest with the most +powerful and most vigorous monarchs, took first advantage of John’s +imbecility; and, with the most aggravating circumstances of insolence +and scorn, fixed her yoke upon him. + +{1207.} The papal chair was then filled by Innocent III., who, having +attained that dignity at the age of thirty-seven years, and being +endowed with a lofty and enterprising genius gave full scope to +his ambition, and attempted, perhaps more openly than any of his +predecessors, to convert that superiority which was yielded him by all +the European princes, into a real dominion over them. The hierarchy, +protected by the Roman pontiff, had already carried to an enormous +height its usurpations upon the civil power; but in order to extend them +farther, and render them useful to the court of Rome, it was necessary +to reduce the ecclesiastics themselves under an absolute monarchy, and +to make them entirely dependent on their spiritual leader. For this +purpose, Innocent first attempted to impose taxes at pleasure upon the +clergy; and in the first year of this century, taking advantage of the +popular frenzy for crusades, he sent collectors over all Europe, who +levied by his authority the fortieth of all ecclesiastical revenues for +the relief of the Holy Land, and received the voluntary contributions +of the laity to a like amount.[*] The same year, Hubert, archbishop of +Canterbury, attempted another innovation, favorable to ecclesiastical +and papal power: in the king’s absence, he summoned, by his legantine +authority, a synod of all the English clergy, contrary to the inhibition +of Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, the chief justiciary; and no proper censure was +ever passed on this encroachment, the first of the kind, upon the royal +power. But a favorable incident soon after happened, which enabled so +aspiring a pontiff as Innocent to extend still farther his usurpations +on so contemptible a prince as John. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 119.] + +Hubert, the primate, died in 1205; and as the monks or canons of +Christ-church, Canterbury, possessed a right of voting in the election +of their archbishop, some of the juniors of the order, who lay in wait +for that event, met clandestinely the very night of Hubert’s death; +and without any congé d’élire from the king, chose Reginald, their +sub-prior, for the successor; installed him in the archiepiscopal throne +before midnight; and having enjoined him the strictest secrecy, sent +him immediately to Rome, in order to solicit the confirmation of his +election.[*] The vanity of Reginald prevailed over his prudence; and he +no sooner arrived in Flanders than he revealed to every one the purpose +of his journey, which was immediately known in England.[**] The king +was enraged at the novelty and temerity of the attempt, in filling so +important an office without his knowledge or consent: the suffragan +bishops of Canterbury, who were accustomed to concur in the choice of +their primate, were no less displeased at the exclusion given them in +this election: the senior monks of Christ-church were injured by the +irregular proceedings of their juniors: the juniors themselves, ashamed +of their conduct, and disgusted with the levity of Reginald, who +had broken his engagements with them, were willing to set aside his +election:[***] and all men concurred in the design of remedying the +false measures which had been taken. But as John knew that this affair +would be canvassed before a superior tribunal, where the interposition +of royal authority in bestowing ecclesiastical benefices was very +invidious; where even the cause of suffragan bishops was not so +favorable as that of monks; he determined to make the new election +entirely unexceptionable, he submitted the affair wholly to the +canons of Christ-church; and departing from the right claimed by his +predecessors, ventured no farther than to inform them, privately, that +they would do him an acceptable service if they chose John de Gray, +bishop of Norwich, for their primate.[****] + + [* M. Paris, p 148. M. West. p. 266.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 148. M. West. p. 266.] + + [*** M. West. p. 266.] + + [**** M. Paris, p. 149. M. West. p. 266.] + +The election of that prelate was accordingly made without a +contradictory vote; and the king, to obviate all contests, endeavored +to persuade the suffragan bishops not to insist on their claim of +concurring in the election; but those prelates, persevering in their +pretensions, sent an agent to maintain their cause before Innocent; +while the king, and the convent of Christ-church, despatched twelve +monks of that order to support, before the same tribunal, the election +of the bishop of Norwich. + +Thus there lay three different claims before the pope, whom all parties +allowed to be the supreme arbiter in the contest The claim of the +suffragans, being so opposite to the usual maxims of the papal court, +was soon set aside: the election of Reginald was so obviously fraudulent +and irregular, that there was no possibility of defending it: but +Innocent maintained, that though this election was null and invalid, it +ought previously to have been declared such by the sovereign pontiff, +before the monks could proceed to a new election; and that the choice +of the bishop of Norwich was of course as uncanonical as that of his +competitor.[*] Advantage was, therefore taken of this subtlety for +introducing a precedent, by which the see of Canterbury, the most +important dignity, in the church after the papal throne, should ever +after be at the disposal of the court of Rome. + +While the pope maintained so many fierce contests, in order to wrest +from princes the right of granting investitures, and to exclude laymen +from all authority in conferring ecclesiastical benefices, he was +supported by the united influence of the clergy; who, aspiring to +independence, fought, with all the ardor of ambition, and all the zeal +of superstition, under his sacred banners. But no sooner was this point, +after a great effusion of blood, and the convulsions of many states, +established in some tolerable degree, than the victorious leader as is +usual, turned his arms against his own community, and aspired to centre +all power in his person. By the invention of reserves, provisions, +commendams, and other devices, the pope gradually assumed the right +of filling vacant benefices; and the plenitude of his apostolic power, +which was not subject to any limitations, supplied all defects of title +in the person on whom he bestowed preferment. The canons which regulated +elections were purposely rendered intricate and involved: frequent +disputes arose among candidates: appeals were every day carried to +Rome: the apostolic see, besides reaping pecuniary advantages from these +contests, often exercised the power of setting aside both the litigants, +and, on pretence of appeasing faction, nominated a third person, who +might be more acceptable to the contending parties. + +The present controversy about the election to the see of Canterbury +afforded Innocent an opportunity of claiming this right; and he failed +not to perceive and avail himself of the advantage. He sent for the +twelve monks deputed by the convent to maintain the cause of the bishop +of Norwich; and commanded them, under the penalty of excommunication, to +choose for their primate, Cardinal Langton, an Englishman by birth, but +educated in France, and connected, by his interests and attachments, +with the see of Rome.[**] + + [* M. Paris, p. 155. Chron. de Mailr.p. 182.] + + [** M. Paris, p 155. Ann. Waverl. p. 169. W. + Heming. p. 553 Knyghton, p. 2415.] + +In vain did the monks represent, that they had received from their +convent no authority for this purpose; that an election without a +previous writ from the king, would be deemed highly irregular and that +they were merely agents for another person, whose right they had no +power or pretence to abandon. None of them had the courage to persevere +in this opposition, except one, Elias de Brantefield: all the rest, +overcome by the menaces and authority of the pope, complied with his +orders, and made the election required of them. + +Innocent, sensible that this flagrant usurpation would be highly +resented by the court of England, wrote John a mollifying letter; +sent him four golden rings set with precious stones; and endeavored to +enhance the value of the present, by informing him of the many mysteries +implied in it. He begged him to consider seriously the form of the +rings, their number, their matter, and their color. Their form, he said, +being round, shadowed out eternity, which had neither beginning nor end; +and he ought thence to learn his duty of aspiring from earthly objects +to heavenly, from things temporal to tilings eternal. The number four, +being a square, denoted steadiness of mind, not to be subverted either +by adversity or prosperity, fixed forever on the firm basis of the four +cardinal virtues. Gold, which is the matter, being the most precious +of metals, signified wisdom, which is the most valuable of all +accomplishments, and justly preferred by Solomon to riches, power, and +all exterior attainments. The blue color of the sapphire represented +faith; the verdure of the emerald, hope; the redness of the ruby, +charity; and the splendor of the topaz, good works.[*] By these +conceits, Innocent endeavored to repay John for one of the most +important prerogatives of his crown, which he had ravished from him; +conceits probably admired by Innocent himself. For it is easily possible +for a man, especially in a barbarous age, to unite strong talents for +business with an absurd taste for literature and the arts. + +John was inflamed with the utmost rage when he heard of this attempt +of the court of Rome;[**] and he immediately vented his passion on the +monks of Christ-church, whom he found inclined to support the election +made by their fellows at Rome. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 139. M. Paris, p. 155] + + [** Rymer, vol. i. p. 143.] + +He sent Fulk de Cantelupe, and Henry de Cornhulle, two knights of his +retinue, men of violent tempers and rude manners, to expel them the +convent, and take possession of their revenues. These knights entered +the monastery with drawn swords, commanded the prior and the monks to +depart the kingdom, and menaced them, that in case of disobedience +they would instantly burn them with the convent.[*] Innocent, +prognosticating, from the violence and imprudence of these measures, +that John would finally sink in the contest, persevered the more +vigorously in his pretensions, and exhorted the king not to oppose God +and the church any longer, nor to persecute that cause for which the +holy martyr St. Thomas had sacrificed his life, and which had exalted +him equal to the highest saints in heaven;[**] a clear hint to John to +profit by the example of his father, and to remember the prejudices and +established principles of his subjects, who bore a profound veneration +to that martyr, and regarded his merits as the subject of their chief +glory and exultation. + +Innocent, finding that John was not sufficiently tamed to submission, +sent three prelates, the bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester, to +intimate, that, if he persevered in his disobedience, the sovereign +pontiff would be obliged to lay the kingdom under an interdict.[***] +All the other prelates threw themselves on their knees before him, and +entreated him, with tears in their eyes, to prevent the scandal of this +sentence, by making a speedy submission to his spiritual father, by +receiving from his hands the new elected primate, and by restoring the +monks of Christ-church to all their rights and possessions. He burst out +into the most indecent invectives against the prelates; swore by God’s +teeth, his usual oath, that, if the pope presumed to lay his kingdom +under an interdict, he would send to him all the bishops and clergy of +England, and would confiscate all their estates; and threatened that, +if thenceforth he caught any Romans in his dominions, he would put out +their eyes, and cut off their noses, in order to set a mark upon them, +which might distinguish them from all other nations.[****] + + [* M. Paris, p. 156. Trivet, p. 151. Ann. Waverl. + p. 169.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 157.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 157.] + + [**** M. Paris, p. 157.] + +Amidst all this idle violence, John stood on such bad terms with his +nobility, that he never dared to assemble the states of the kingdom, +who, in so, just a cause, would probably have adhered to any other +monarch, and have defended with vigor the liberties of the nation +against these palpable usurpations of the court of Rome. Innocent, +therefore, perceiving the king’s weakness, fulminated at last the +sentence of interdict which he had for some time held suspended over +him.[*] + +The sentence of interdict was at that time the great instrument of +vengeance and policy employed by the court of Rome; was denounced +against sovereigns for the lightest offences; and made the guilt of one +person involve the ruin of millions, even in their spiritual and eternal +welfare. The execution of it was calculated to strike the senses in +the highest degree, and to operate with irresistible force on the +superstitious minds of the people. The nation was of a sudden deprived +of all exterior exercise of its religion: the altars were despoiled of +their ornaments: the crosses, the relics, the images, the statues of the +saints were laid on the ground; and as if the air itself were profaned, +and might pollute them by its contact, the priests carefully covered +them up, even from their own approach and veneration. The use of bells +entirely ceased in all the churches: the bells themselves were removed +from the steeples, and laid on the ground with the other sacred +utensils. Mass was celebrated with shut doors; and none but the +priests were admitted to that holy institution. The laity partook of no +religious rite, except baptism to new-born infants, and the communion to +the dying: the dead were not interred in consecrated ground: they were +thrown into ditches, or buried in common fields; and their obsequies +were not attended with prayers or any hallowed ceremony Marriage was +celebrated in the churchyards;[**] and that every action in life might +bear the marks of this dreadful situation, the people were prohibited +the use of meat, as in Lent, or times of the highest penance; were +debarred from all pleasures and entertainments; and were forbidden even +to salute each other, or so much as to shave their beards, and give any +decent attention to their person and apparel. Every circumstance carried +symptoms of the deepest distress, and of the most immediate apprehension +of divine vengeance and indignation. + +The king, that he might oppose the temporal to their spiritual terrors, +immediately, from his own authority, confiscated the estates of all the +clergy who obeyed the interdict;[***] banished the prelates, confined +the monks in their convents, and gave them only such a small allowance +from their own estates, as would suffice to provide them with food and +raiment. + + [* M. Paris, p. 157. Trivet, p. 152. Ann. Waverl. + p. 170. M. West. p. 268.] + + [** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 51.] + + [*** Ann. Waverl. p. 170] + +He treated with the utmost rigor all Langton’s adherents, and every one +that showed any disposition to obey the commands of Rome: and in order +to distress the clergy in the tenderest point, and at the same time +expose them to reproach and ridicule, he threw into prison all their +concubines, and required high fines as the price of their liberty.[*] + +After the canons which established the celibacy of the clergy were, by +the zealous endeavors of Archbishop Anselrn, more rigorously executed in +England, the ecclesiastics gave, almost universally and avowedly, into +the use of concubinage and the court of Rome, which had no interest in +prohibiting this practice, made very slight opposition to it. The custom +was become so prevalent, that, in some cantons of Switzerland, before +the reformation, the laws not only permitted, but, to avoid scandal, +enjoined the use of concubines to the younger clergy;[**] and it was +usual every where for priests to apply to the ordinary, and obtain from +him a formal liberty for this indulgence. The bishop commonly took +care to prevent the practice from degenerating into licentiousness: he +confined the priest to the use of one woman, required him to be constant +to her bed, obliged him to provide for her subsistence and that of her +children; and, though the offspring was, in the eye of the law, deemed +illegitimate, this commerce was really a kind of inferior marriage, such +as is still practised in Germany among the nobles; and may be regarded +by the candid, as an appeal from the tyranny of civil and ecclesiastical +institutions, to the more virtuous and more unerring laws of nature. + + [* M. Paris, p. 158. Ann. Waverl. p. 170.] + + [** Padre Paolo, Hist. Cone. Prid. lib. i.] + +The quarrel between the king and the see of Rome continued for some +years; and though many of the clergy, from the fear of punishment, +obeyed the orders of John, and celebrated divine service, they complied +with the utmost reluctance, and were regarded, both by themselves and +the people, as men who betrayed their principles, and sacrificed their +conscience to temporal regards and interests. During this violent +situation, the king, in order to give a lustre to his government, +attempted military expeditions against Scotland, against Ireland, +against the Welsh:[*] and he commonly prevailed, more from the weakness +of his enemies than from his own vigor or abilities. Meanwhile, the +danger to which hia government stood continually exposed from the +discontents of the ecclesiastics, increased his natural propension to +tyranny; and he seems to have even wantonly disgusted all orders of +men, especially his nobles, from whom alone he could reasonably expect +support and assistance. He dishonored their families by his licentious +amours; he published edicts, prohibiting them from hunting feathered +game, and thereby restrained them from their favorite occupation and +amusement;[**] he ordered all the hedges and fences near his forests to +be levelled, that his deer might have more ready access into the +fields for pasture; and he continually loaded the nation with arbitrary +impositions. + + [* W. Heming. p. 556. Ypod. Neust p. 450. + Knyghton, p. 2420 M. West p. 268.] + +{1208.} Conscious of the general hatred which he had incurred, he +required his nobility to give him hostages for security of their +allegiance; and they were obliged to put in his hands their sons, +nephews, or near relations. When his messengers came with like orders +to the castle of William de Braouse, a baron of great note, the lady +of that nobleman replied, that she would never intrust her son into the +hands of one who had murdered his own nephew, while in his custody. Her +husband reproved her for the severity of this speech; but, sensible +of his danger, he immediately fled with his wife and son into Ireland, +where he endeavored to conceal himself. Tha king discovered the unhappy +family in their retreat; seized the wife and son, whom he starved to +death in prison; and the baron himself narrowly escaped, by flying into +France. + +{1209.} The court of Rome had artfully contrived a gradation of +sentences; by which it kept offenders in awe; still afforded them an +opportunity of preventing the next anathema by submission; and, in case +of their obstinacy, was able to refresh the horror of the people against +them, by new denunciations of the wrath and vengeance of Heaven. As the +sentence of interdict had not produced the desired effect on John, +and as his people, though extremely discontented had hitherto been +restrained from rising in open rebellion against him, he was soon +to look for the sentence of excommunication; and he had reason to +apprehend, that, notwithstanding all his precautions, the most dangerous +consequences might ensue from it. He was witness of the other scenes +which at that very time were acting in Europe, and which displayed the +unbounded and uncontrolled power of the papacy. Innocent, far from being +dismayed at his contests with the king of England, had excommunicated +the emperor Otho, John’s nephew;[*] and soon brought that powerful +and haughty prince to submit to his authority. He published a crusade +against the Albigenses, a species of enthusiasts in the south of France, +whom he denominated heretics; because, like other enthusiasts, they +neglected the rites of the church, and opposed the power and influence +of the clergy: the people from all parts of Europe, moved by their +superstition and their passion for wars and adventures, flocked to his +standard: Simon de Montfort, the general of the crusade, acquired to +himself a sovereignty in these provinces: the count of Toulouse, who +protected, or perhaps only tolerated, the Albigenses, was stripped of +his dominions: and these sectaries themselves, though the most innocent +and inoffensive of mankind, were exterminated with all the circumstances +of extreme violence and barbarity. Here were therefore both an army and +a general, dangerous from their zeal and valor, who might be directed +to act against John; and Innocent, after keeping the thunder long +suspended, gave at last authority to the bishops of London, Ely, and +Worcester, to fulminate the sentence of excommunication against +him.[**] These prelates obeyed; though their brethren were deterred from +publishing, as the pope required of them, the sentence in the several +churches of their dioceses. + +No sooner was the excommunication known, than the effects of it +appeared. Geoffrey, archdeacon of Norwich, who was intrusted with a +considerable office in the court of exchequer, being informed of it +while sitting on the bench observed to his colleagues the danger of +serving under an excommunicated king; and he immediately left his chair, +and departed the court. John gave orders to seize him, to throw him +into prison, to cover his head with a great leaden cope, and by this and +other severe usage, he soon put an end to his life:[***] nor was there +any thing wanting to Geoffrey, except the dignity and rank of Becket, to +exalt him to an equal station in heaven with that great and celebrated +martyr. + + [* M. Paris, p. 160. Trivet, p. 154. M, West. p. + 269.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 159. M. West. p. 270.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 159.] + +Hugh de Wells, the chancellor, being elected by the king’s appointment +bishop of Lincoln, upon a vacancy in that see, desired leave to go +abroad, in order to receive consecration from the archbishop of Rouen; +but he no sooner reached France, than he hastened to Pontigny, where +Langton then resided, and paid submissions to him as his primate. The +bishops, finding themselves exposed either to the jealousy of the king +or hatred of the people, gradually stole out of the kingdom; and at +last there remained only three prelates to perform the functions of the +episcopal office.[*] Many of the nobility, terrified by John’s tyranny, +and obnoxious to him on different accounts, imitated the example of +the bishops; and most of the others, who remained, were with reason +suspected of having secretly entered into a confederacy against him.[**] +John was alarmed at his dangerous situation; a situation which prudence, +vigor, and popularity might formerly have prevented, but which no +virtues or abilities were now sufficient to retrieve. He desired a +conference with Langton at Dover; offered to acknowledge him as primate, +to submit to the pope, to restore the exiled clergy, even to pay them +a limited sum as a compensation for the rents of their confiscated +estates. But Langton, perceiving his advantage, was not satisfied with +these concessions: he demanded that full restitution and reparation +should be made to all the clergy; a condition so exorbitant, that the +king, who probably had not the power of fulfilling it, and who foresaw +that this estimation of damages might amount to an immense sum, finally +broke off the conference.[***] + +{1212.} The next gradation of papal sentences was to absolve John’s +subjects from their oaths of fidelity and allegiance, and to declare +every one excommunicated who had any commerce with him, in public or +in private; at his table, in his council, or even in private +conversation:[****] and this sentence was accordingly, with all +imaginable solemnity, pronounced against him. But as John still +persevered in his contumacy, there remained nothing but the sentence of +deposition; which, though intimately connected with the former had been +distinguished from it by the artifice of the court of Rome; and Innocent +determined to dart this last thunderbolt against the refractory monarch. + + [* Ann. Waverl. p. 170. Ann. Marg. p. 14.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 162. M. West p. 270, 271.] + + [*** Ann. Waverl. p. 171.] + + [**** M. Paris, p. 161. M. West. p. 270.] + +But as a sentence of this kind required an armed force to execute it, +the pontiff, casting his eyes around, fixed at last on Philip, king of +France, as the person into whose powerful hand he could most properly +intrust that weapon, the ultimate resource of his ghostly authority. +And he offered the monarch, besides the remission of all his sins, and +endless spiritual benefits, the property and possession of the kingdom +of England, as the reward of his labor.[*] + +{1213.} It was the common concern of all princes to oppose these +exorbitant pretensions of the Roman pontiff, by which they themselves +were rendered vassals, and vassals totally dependent, of the papal +crown: yet even Philip, the most able monarch of the age, was seduced by +present interest, and by the prospect of so tempting a prize, to accept +this liberal offer of the pontiff, and thereby to ratify that authority +which, if he ever opposed its boundless usurpations, might next day +tumble him from the throne. He levied a great army; summoned all the +vassals of the crown to attend him at Rouen; collected a fleet of one +thousand seven hundred vessels, great and small, in the seaports of +Normandy and Picardy; and partly from the zealous spirit of the age, +partly from the personal regard universally paid him, prepared a force +which seemed equal to the greatness of his enterprise. The king, on +the other hand, issued out writs, requiring the attendance of all his +military tenants at Dover, and even of all able-bodied men, to defend +the kingdom in this dangerous extremity. A great number appeared; and +he selected an army of sixty thousand men; a power invincible, had they +been united in affection to their prince, and animated with a becoming +zeal for the defence of their native country.[**] + + [* M. Paris, p. 162. M. West, p. 271.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 162. M. West, p. 271.] + +But the people were swayed by superstition, and regarded their king with +horror, as anathematized by papal censures: the barons, besides lying +under the same prejudices, were all disgusted by his tyranny, and were, +many of them, suspected of holding a secret correspondence with the +enemy: and the incapacity and cowardice of the king himself, ill fitted +to contend with those mighty difficulties, made men prognosticate the +most fatal effects from the French invasion. + +Pandolf, whom the pope had chosen for his legate, and appointed to +head this important expedition, had, before he left Rome, applied for +a secret conference with his master, and had asked him, whether, if the +king of England, in this desperate situation, were willing to submit +to the apostolic see, the church should, without the consent of Philip, +grant him any terms of accommodation.[*] Innocent, expecting from his +agreement with a prince so abject both in character and fortune, more +advantages than from his alliance with a great and victorious monarch, +who, after such mighty acquisitions, might become too haughty to be +bound by spiritual chains, explained to Pandolf the conditions on which +he was willing to be reconciled to the king of England. The legate, +therefore, as soon as he arrived in the north of France, sent over two +knights templars to desire an interview with John at Dover, which +was readily granted: he there represented to him in such strong, and +probably in such true colors, his lost condition, the disaffection of +his subjects, the secret combination of his vassals against him, the +mighty armament of France, that John yielded at discretion,[**] and +subscribed to all the conditions which Pandolf was pleased to impose +upon him. He promised, among other articles, that he would submit +himself entirely to the judgment of the pope; that he would acknowledge +Langton for primate; that he would restore all the exiled clergy and +laity who had been banished on account of the contest; that he would +make them full restitution of their goods, and compensation for all +damages, and instantly consign eight thousand pounds, in part of +payment; and that every one outlawed or imprisoned for his adherence to +the pope, should immediately be received into grace and favor.[***] Four +barons swore, along with the king, to the observance of this ignominious +treaty.[****] + + [* M. Paris, p. 162.] + + [** M. West. p. 271.] + + [*** Rymer, vol. i. p. 166. M. Paris, p. 163. + Annal Burt. p. 288.] + + [**** Rymer, vol. i p. 170. M. Paris, p. 163.] + +But the ignominy of the king was not yet carried to its full height. +Pandolf required him, as the first trial of obedience, to resign his +kingdom to the church; and he persuaded him, that he could nowise so +effectually disappoint the French invasion, as by thus putting himself +under the immediate protection of the apostolic see. John, lying under +the agonies of present terror, made no scruple of submitting to this +condition He passed a charter, in which he said, that, not constrained +by fear, but of his own free will, and by the common advice and consent +of his barons, he had, for remission of hia own sins and those of his +family, resigned England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter and St. Paul, +and to Pope Innocent and his successors in the apostolic chair: he +agreed to hold these dominions as feudatory of the church of Rome, by +the annual payment of a thousand marks; seven hundred for England, three +hundred for Ireland: and he stipulated, that, if he or his successors +should ever presume to revoke or infringe this charter, they should +instantly, except upon admonition they repented of their offence, +forfeit all right to their dominions.[*] + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 176. M. Paris, p. 165.] + +In consequence of this agreement, John did homage to Pandolf as the +pope’s legate, with all the submissive rites which the feudal law +required of vassals before their liege lord and superior. He came +disarmed into the legate’s presence, who was seated on a throne; he +flung himself on his knees before him; he lifted up his joined hands, +and put them within those of Pandolf; he swore fealty to the pope; +and he paid part of the tribute which he owed for his kingdom as the +patrimony of St. Peter. The legate, elated by this supreme triumph of +sacerdotal power, could not forbear discovering extravagant symptoms of +joy and exultation: he trampled on the money, which was laid at his feet +as an earnest of the subjection of the kingdom; an insolence of which, +however offensive to all the English, no one present, except the +archbishop of Dublin, dared to take any notice. But though Pandolf had +brought the king to submit to these base conditions, he still refused +to free him from the excommunication and interdict, till an estimation +should be taken of the losses of the ecclesiastics, and full +compensation and restitution should be made them. + +John, reduced to this abject situation under a foreign power, still +showed the same disposition to tyrannize over his subjects, which had +been the chief cause of all his misfortunes. One Peter of Pomfret, a +hermit, had foretold that the king, this very year, should lose his +crown; and for that rash prophecy, he had been thrown into prison in +Corfe castle. Johfi now determined to bring him to punishment as an +impostor; and though the man pleaded that his prophecy was fulfilled, +and that the king had lost the royal and independent crown which he +formerly wore, the defence was supposed to aggravate his guilt: he was +dragged at horses’ tails to the town of Warham, and there hanged on a +gibbet with his son.[*] + +When Pandolf, after receiving the homage of John, returned to France, +he congratulated Philip on the success of his pious enterprise; and +informed him that John, moved by the terror of the French arms, had now +come to a just sense of his guilt; had returned to obedience under +the apostolic see; had even consented to do homage to the pope for +his dominions; and having thus made his kingdom a part of St. Peter’s +patrimony, had rendered it impossible for any Christian prince, without +the most manifest and most flagrant impiety, to attack him.[**] Philip +was enraged on receiving this intelligence: he exclaimed, that having, +at the pope’s instigation, undertaken an expedition which had cost him +above sixty thousand pounds sterling, he was frustrated of his purpose, +at the time when its success was become infallible: he complained that +all the expense had fallen upon him; all the advantages had accrued to +Innocent: he threatened to be no longer the dupe of these hypocritical +pretences: and assembling his vassals, he laid before them the ill +treatment which he had received, exposed the interested and fraudulent +conduct of the pope, and required their assistance to execute his +enterprise against England, in which he told them, that notwithstanding +the inhibitions and menaces of the legate, he was determined to +persevere. The French barons were in that age little less ignorant and +superstitious than the English: yet, so much does the influence of those +religious principles depend on the present dispositions of men! they +all vowed to follow their prince on his intended expedition, and were +resolute not to be disappointed of that glory and those riches which +they had long expected from this enterprise. The earl of Flanders alone, +who had previously formed a secret treaty with John, declaring +against the injustice and impiety of the undertaking, retired with his +forces;[***] and Philip, that he might not leave so dangerous an enemy +behind him, first turned his arms against the dominions of that prince. + + [* M. Paris, p. 165. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 56.] + + [** Trivet, p. 160.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 166.] + +Meanwhile the English fleet was assembled under the earl of Saltsbury, +the king’s natural brother; and, though inferior in number, received +orders to attack the French in their harbors. Salisbury performed this +service with so much success that he took three hundred ships; destroyed +a hundred more;[*] and Philip, finding it impossible to prevent the rest +from falling into the hands of the enemy, set fire to them himself, and +thereby rendered it impossible for him to proceed any farther in his +enterprise. + +John, exulting in his present security, insensible to his past disgrace, +was so elated with this success, that he thought of no less than +invading France in his turn, and recovering all those provinces which +the prosperous arms of Philip had formerly ravished from him. He +proposed this expedition to the barons, who were already assembled +for the defence of the kingdom. But the English nobles both hated and +despised their prince: they prognosticated no success to any enterprise +conducted by a such a leader: and, pretending that their time of service +was elapsed, and all their previsions exhausted, they refused to +second his undertaking.[**] The king, however, resolute in his purpose, +embarked with a few followers, and sailed to Jersey, in the foolish +expectation that the barons would at last be ashamed to stay +behind.[***] But finding himself disappointed, he returned to England; +and raising some troops, threatened to take vengeance on all his nobles +for their desertion and disobedience. The archbishop of Canterbury, who +was in a confederacy with the barons here interposed; strictly inhibited +the king from thinking of such an attempt; and threatened him with a +renewal of the sentence of excommunication if he pretended to levy war +upon any of his subjects before the kingdom were freed from the sentence +of interdict.[****] + + [* M. Paris, p. 166. Chron. Dunst. vci i. p. 59. + Trivet, p. 157] + + [** M. Paris, p. 166.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 166.] + + [**** M. Paris, p. 167.] + +The church had recalled the several anathemas pronounced against John, +by the same gradual progress with which she had at first issued them. +By receiving his homage, and admitting him to the rank of a vassal, +his deposition had been virtually annulled, and his subjects were +again bound by their oaths of allegiance. The exiled prelates had then +returned in great triumph, with Langton at their head; and the king, +hearing of their approach, went forth to meet them, and throwing +himself on the ground before them, he entreated them with tears to have +compassion on him and the kingdom of England.[*] The primate, seeing +these marks of sincere penitence, led him to the chapter-house of +Winchester, and there administered an oath to him, by which he again +swore fealty and obedience to Pope Innocent and his successors; promised +to love, maintain, and defend holy church and the clergy; engaged that +he would reestablish the good laws of his predecessors, particularly +those of St. Edward, and would abolish the wicked ones; and +expressed his resolution of maintaining justice and right in all his +dominions.[**] The primate next gave him absolution in the requisite +forms, and admitted him to dine with him, to the great joy of all the +people. The sentence of interdict, however, was still upheld against the +kingdom. A new legate, Nicholas, bishop of Frescati, came into England +in the room of Pandolf; and he declared it to be the pope’s intentions +never to loosen that sentence till full restitution were made to the +clergy of every thing taken from them, and ample reparation for all +damages which they had Sustained. He only permitted mass to be said +with a low voice in the churches, till those losses and damages could +be estimated to the satisfaction of the parties. Certain barons were +appointed to take an account of the claims; and John was astonished +at the greatness of the sums to which the clergy made their losses to +amount. No less than twenty thousand marks were demanded by the monks of +Canterbury alone; twenty-three thousand for the see of Lincoln; and the +king, finding these pretensions to be exorbitant and endless, offered +the clergy the sum of a hundred thousand marks for a final acquittal, +The clergy rejected the offer with disdain; but the pope, willing to +favor his new vassal, whom he found zealous in his declarations of +fealty, and regular in paying the stipulated tribute to Rome, directed +his legate to accept of forty thousand. The issue of the whole was, that +the bishops and considerable abbots got reparation beyond what they +had any title to demand; the inferior clergy were obliged to sit down +contented with their losses: and the king, after the interdict was taken +off, renewed, in the most solemn manner, and by a new charter sealed +with gold, his professions of homage and obedience to the see of Rome. + + [* M. Paris, p. 166. Ann. Waverl. p. 178.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 166.] + +{1214.} When this vexatious affair was at last brought to a conclusion, +the king, as if he had nothing further to attend but triumphs +and victories, went over to Poictou, which still acknowledged his +authority;[*] and he carried war into Philip’s dominions. + + [* Queen Eleanor died in 1203 or 1204.] + +He besieged a castle near Angiers; but the approach of Prince Lewis, +Philip’s son, obliged him to raise the siege with such precipitation, +that he left his tents, machines, and baggage behind him; and he +returned to England with disgrace. About the same time, he heard of the +great and decisive victory gained by the king of France at Bovines over +the emperor Otho, who had entered France at the head of one hundred and +fifty thousand Germans; a victory which established forever the glory +of Philip, and gave full security to all his dominions. John could, +therefore, think henceforth of nothing further than of ruling peaceably +his own kingdom; and his close connections with the pope, which he was +determined at any price to maintain, insured him, as he imagined the +certain attainment of that object. But the last and most grievous scene +of this prince’s misfortunes still awaited him; and he was destined to +pass through a series of more humiliating circumstances than had ever +yet fallen to the lot of any other monarch. + +The introduction of the feudal law into England by William the Conqueror +had much infringed the liberties, however imperfect, enjoyed by the +Anglo-Saxons in their ancient government, and had reduced the whole +people to a state of vassalage under the king or barons, and even the +greater part of them to a state of real slavery, the necessity, also, +of intrusting great power in the hands of a prince, who was to maintain +military dominion over a vanquished nation, had engaged the Norman +barons to submit to a more severe and absolute prerogative than that +to which men of their rank, in other feudal governments, were commonly +subjected. The power of the crown, once raised to a high pitch, was not +easily reduced; and the nation, during the course of a hundred and fifty +years, was governed by an authority unknown, in the same degree, to all +the kingdoms founded by the northern conquerors. Henry I., that he might +allure the people to give an exclusion to his elder brother Robert, +had granted them a charter, favorable in many particulars to their +liberties; Stephen had renewed the grant; Henry II. had confirmed it: +but the concessions of all these princes had still remained without +effect; and the same unlimited, at least in regular authority, continued +to be exercised both by them and their successors. The only happiness +was, that arms were never yet ravished from the hands of the barons and +people: the nation, by a great confederacy, might still vindicate its +liberties: and nothing was more likely than the character, conduct, and +fortunes of the reigning prince, to produce such a general combination +against him. Equally odious and contemptible, both in public and +private life, he affronted the barons by his insolence, dishonored their +families by his gallantries, enraged them by his tyranny, and +gave discontent to all ranks of men by his endless exactions and +impositions.[*] The effect of these lawless practices had already +appeared in the general demand made by the barons of a restoration of +their privileges; and after he had reconciled himself to the pope, +by abandoning the independence of the kingdom, he appeared to all his +subjects in so mean a light, that they universally thought they might +with safety and honor insist upon their pretensions. + +But nothing forwarded this confederacy so much as the concurrence of +Langton, archbishop of Canterbury; a man whose memory, though he was +obtruded on the nation by a palpable encroachment of the see of Rome, +ought always to be respected by the English. This prelate, whether he +was moved by the generosity of his nature and his affection to public +good; or had entertained an animosity against John, on account of the +long opposition made by that prince to his election; or thought that an +acquisition of liberty to the people would serve to increase and secure +the privileges of the church; had formed the plan of reforming the +government, and had prepared the way for that great innovation, by +inserting those singular clauses above mentioned, in the oath which he +administered to the king, before he would absolve him from the sentence +of excommunication. Soon after, in a private meeting of some principal +barons at London, he showed them a copy of Henry I.’s charter, which, +he said, he had happily found in a monastery; and he exhorted them to +insist on the renewal and observance of it: the barons swore that +they would sooner lose their lives than depart from so reasonable a +demand.[**] + + [* Chron. Mailr. p. 188. T. Wykes, p. 36. Ann. + Waverl. p. 181 W. Heming. p. 657.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 167.] + +The confederacy began now to spread wider, and to comprehend almost all +the barons in England; and a new and more numerous meeting was summoned +by Langton at St. Edmondsbury, under color of devotion. He again +produced to the assembly the old charter of Henry; renewed his +exhortations of unanimity and vigor in the prosecution of their purpose; +and represented in the strongest colors the tyranny to which they had +so long been subjected, and from which it now behoved them to free +themselves and their posterity.[*] The barons, inflamed by his +eloquence, incited by the sense of their own wrongs, and encouraged by +the appearance of their power and numbers, solemnly took an oath, before +the high altar, to adhere to each other, to insist on their demands, and +to make endless war on the king till he should submit to grant them.[**] +They agreed that, after the festival of Christmas, they would prefer in +a body their common petition; and in the mean time they separated, +after mutually engaging that they would put themselves in a posture +of defence, would enlist men and purchase arms, and would supply their +castles with the necessary provisions. + +{1215.} The barons appeared in London on the day appointed, and demanded +of the king, that, in consequence of his own oath before the primate, +as well as in deference to their just rights, he should grant them +a renewal of Henry’s charter, and a confirmation of the laws of St. +Edward. The king, alarmed with their zeal and unanimity, as well as with +their power, required a delay; promised that, at the festival of Easter, +he would give them a positive answer to their petition; and offered +them the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, and the earl +of Pembroke, the mareschal, as sureties for his fulfilling this +engagement.[***] The barons accepted of the terms, and peaceably +returned to their castles. + + [* M. Paris, p. 175.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 176,] + + [*** M Paris, p 176. M. West. p. 273] + +During this interval, John, in order to break or subdue the league of +his barons, endeavored to avail himself of the ecclesiastical power, of +whose influence he had, from his own recent misfortunes, had such fatal +experience. He granted to the clergy a charter, relinquishing forever +that important prerogative for which his father and all his ancestors +had zealously contended; yielding to them the free election on all +vacancies; reserving only the power to issue a conge d’élire and to +subjoin a confirmation of the election; and declaring that, if either of +these were withheld, the choice should nevertheless be deemed just +and valid.[*] He made a vow to lead an army into Palestine against the +infidels, and he took on him the cross, in hopes that he should receive +from the church that protection which she tendered to every one that had +entered into this sacred and meritorious engagement.[**] And he sent +to Rome his agent, William de Mauclere, in order to appeal to the pope +against the violence of his barons, and procure him a favorable sentence +from that powerful tribunal.[***] The barons, also, were not negligent +on their part in endeavoring to engage the pope in their interests: they +despatched Eustace de Vescie to Rome; laid their case before Innocent +as their feudal lord; and petitioned him to interpose his authority +with the king, and oblige him to restore and confirm all their just and +undoubted privileges.[****] + +Innocent beheld with regret the disturbances which had arisen in +England, and was much inclined to favor John in his pretensions. He had +no hopes of retaining and extending his newly-acquired superiority over +that kingdom, but by supporting so base and degenerate a prince, who was +willing to sacrifice every consideration to his present safety: and he +foresaw, that if the administration should fall into the hands of those +gallant and high-spirited barons, they would vindicate the honor, +liberty, and independence of the nation, with the same ardor which they +now exerted in defence of their own. He wrote letters, therefore, to +the prelates, to the nobility, and to the king himself. He exhorted the +first to employ their good offices in conciliating peace between the +contending parties, and putting an end to civil discord: to the second +he expressed his disapprobation of their conduct in employing force to +extort concessions from their reluctant sovereign: the last lie advised +to treat his nobles with grace and indulgence, and to grant them such of +their demands as should appear just and reasonable. + + [* Rymer, vol. i. p. 197.] + + [** Rymer, vol. i. p. 200. Trivet, p. 162. T. + Wykes, p. 37. M West. p. 273.] + + [*** Rymer, vol i. p. 184] + + [**** Rymer, vol i. p. 184] + +The barons easily saw, from the tenor of these letters, that they must +reckon on having the pope, as well as the king, for their adversary; but +they had already advanced too far to recede from their pretensions, and +their passions were so deeply engaged, that it exceeded even the power +of superstition itself any longer to control them. They also foresaw, +that the thunders of Rome, when not seconded by the efforts of the +English ecclesiastics, would be of small avail against them and they +perceived that the most considerable of the prelates, as well as all +the inferior clergy, professed the highest approbation of their cause. +Besides that these men were seized with the national passion for laws +and liberty, blessings of which they themselves expected to partake, +there concurred very powerful causes to loosen their devoted attachment +to the apostolic see. It appeared, from the late usurpations of the +Roman pontiff, that he pretended to reap alone all the advantages +accruing from that victory, which under his banners, though at their own +peril, they had every where obtained over the civil magistrate. The +pope assumed a despotic power over all the churches; their particular +customs, privileges, and immunities were treated with disdain; even the +canons of general councils were set aside by his dispensing power; the +whole administration of the church was centred in the court of Rome; +all preferments ran, of course, in the same channel; and the provincial +clergy saw, at least felt, that there was a necessity for limiting these +pretensions. The legate, Nicholas, in filling those numerous vacancies +which had fallen in England during an interdict of six years, had +proceeded in the most arbitrary manner; and had paid no regard, in +conferring dignities, to personal merit, to rank, to the inclination of +the electors, or to the customs of the country. The English church was +universally disgusted; and Langton himself, though he owed his elevation +to an encroachment of the Romish see, was no sooner established in his +high office, than he became jealous of the privileges annexed to it, and +formed attachments with the country subjected to his jurisdiction. These +causes, though they opened slowly the eyes of men, failed not to produce +their effect: they set bounds to the usurpations of the papacy; the tide +first stopped, and then turned against the sovereign pontiff; and it is +otherwise inconceivable, how that age, so prone to superstition, and so +sunk in ignorance, or rather so devoted to a spurious erudition, could +have escaped falling into an absolute and total slavery under the court +of Rome. + +About the time that the pope’s letters arrived in England, The +malevolent barons, on the approach of the festival of Easter, when they +were to expect the king’s answer to their petition, met by agreement at +Stamford; and they assembled a force, consisting of above two thousand +knights, besides then retainers and inferior persons without number. +Elated with their power, they advanced in a body to Brackley, within +fifteen miles of Oxford, the place where the court then resided; and +they there received a message from the king, by the archbishop of +Canterbury and the earl of Pembroke, desiring to know what those +liberties were which they so zealously challenged from their sovereign. +They delivered to these messengers a schedule, containing the chief +articles of their demands; which was no sooner shown to the king, than +he burst into a furious passion, and asked why the barons did not also +demand of him his kingdom; swearing that he would never grant them such +liberties as must reduce himself to slavery.[*] + +No sooner were the confederated nobles informed of John’s reply, than +they chose Robert Fitz-Walter their general, whom they called “the +mareschal of the army of God and of holy church;” and they proceeded +without further ceremony to levy war upon the king. They besieged the +castle of Northampton during fifteen days, though without success:[**] +the gates of Bedford castle were willingly opened to them by William +Beauchamp, its owner: they advanced to Ware in their way to London, +where they held a correspondence with the principal citizens: they were +received without opposition into that capital: and finding now the great +superiority of their force, they issued proclamations, requiring the +other barons to join them, and menacing them, in case of refusal or +delay, with committing devastation on their houses and estates.[***] In +order to show what might be expected from their prosperous arms, +they made incursions from London, and laid waste the king’s parks and +palaces; and all the barons, who had hitherto carried the semblance +of supporting the royal party, were glad of this pretence for openly +joining a cause which they always had secretly favored. The king was +left at Odiham, in Hampshire, with a poor retinue of only seven knights; +and after trying several expedients to elude the blow, after offering to +refer all differences to the pope alone, or to eight barons, four to be +chosen by himself, and four by the confederates,[****] he found himself +at last obliged to submit at discretion. + + [* M. Paris, p. 176.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 177.] + + [*** M. Paris, p. 177. ] + + [**** Rymer, vol. i. p. 200.] + +A conference between the king and the barons was appointed at Runnemede, +between Windsor and Staines; a place which has ever since been extremely +celebrated on account of this great event. The two parties encamped +apart, like open enemies; and after a debate of a few days, the king, +with a facility somewhat suspicious, signed and sealed the charter +which was required of him. This famous deed, commonly called the +_Great Charter_, either granted or secured very important liberties and +privileges to every order of men in the kingdom; to the clergy, to the +barons, and to the people. + +The freedom of elections was secured to the clergy: the former charter +of the king was confirmed, by which the necessity of a royal conge +d’élire and confirmation was superseded: all check upon appeals to Rome +was removed, by the allowance granted every man to depart the kingdom +at pleasure: and the fines to be imposed on the clergy, for any offence, +were ordained to be proportional to their lay estates, not to their +ecclesiastical benefices. + +The privileges granted to the barons were either abatements in the rigor +of the feudal law, or determinations in points which had been left +by that law, or had become, by practice, arbitrary and ambiguous. The +reliefs of heirs succeeding to a military fee were ascertained; +an earl’s and baron’s at a hundred marks, a knight’s at a hundred +shillings. It was ordained by the charter that, if the heir be a minor, +he shall, immediately upon his majority, enter upon his estate, without +paying any relief: the king shall not sell his wardship; he shall levy +only reasonable profits upon the estate, without committing waste, or +hurting the property: he shall uphold the castles, houses, mills, +parks, and ponds, and if he commit the guardianship of the estate to the +sheriff or any other, he shall previously oblige them to find surety to +the same purpose. During the minority of a baron, while his lands are +in wardship, and are not in his own possession, no debt which he owes +to the Jews shall bear any interest. Heirs shall be married without +disparagement; and before the marriage be contracted, the nearest +relations of the person shall be informed of it. A widow, without paying +any relief, shall enter upon her dower, the third part of her husband’s +rents: she shall not be compelled to marry, so long as she chooses to +continue single; she shall only give security never to marry without her +lord’s consent. The king shall not claim the wardship of any minor who +holds lands by military tenure, of a baron, on pretence that he also +holds lands of the crown, by soccage or any other tenure. Scutages shall +be estimated at the same rate as in the time of Henry I.; and no scutage +or aid, except in the three general feudal cases, the king’s captivity, +the knighting of his eldest son, and the marrying of his eldest +daughter, shall be imposed but by the great council of the kingdom; +the prelates, earls, and great barons, shall be called to this great +council, each by a particular writ; the lesser barons by a general +summons of the sheriff. The king shall not seize any baron’s land for a +debt to the crown if the baron possesses as many goods and chattels as +are sufficient to discharge the debt. No man shall be obliged to perform +more service for his fee than he is bound to by his tenure. No governor +or constable of a castle shall oblige any knight to give money for +castle guard, if the knight be willing to perform the service in +person, or by another able-bodied man; and if the knight be in the field +himself, by the king’s command, he shall be exempted from all other +service of this nature. No vassal shall be allowed to sell so much of +his land as to incapacitate himself from performing his service to his +lord. + +These were the principal articles, calculated for the interest of +the barons; and had the charter contained nothing further, national +happiness and liberty had been very little promoted by it, as it would +only have tended to increase the power and independence of an order of +men who were already too powerful, and whose yoke might have become +more heavy on the people than even that of an absolute monarch. But the +barons, who alone drew and imposed on the prince this memorable charter, +were necessitated to insert in it other claused of a more extensive and +more beneficent nature: they could not expect the concurrence of the +people without comprehending, together with their own, the interest of +inferior ranks of men; and all provisions, which the barons, for +their own sake, were obliged to make, in order to insure the free and +equitable administration of justice, tended directly to the benefit of +the whole community. The following were the principal clauses of this +nature. + +It was ordained that all the privileges and immunities above mentioned, +granted to the barons against the king, should be extended by the barons +to their inferior vassals. The king bound himself not to grant any writ, +empowering a baron to levy aids from his vassals, except in the three +feudal cases. One weight and one measure shall be established throughout +the kingdom. Merchants shall be allowed to transact all business without +being exposed to any arbitrary tolls and impositions; they and all +free men shall be allowed to go out of the kingdom and return to it +at pleasure: London, and all cities and burghs, shall preserve their +ancient liberties, immunities, and free customs: aids shall not be +required of them but by the consent of the great council: no towns or +individuals shall be obliged to make or support bridges but by ancient +custom: the goods of every freeman shall he disposed of according to his +will: if he die intestate, his heirs shall succeed to them. No officer +of the crown shall take any horses, carts, or wood, without the consent +of the owner. The king’s courts of justice shall be stationary, and +shall no longer follow his person: they shall be open to every one; and +justice shall no longer be sold, refused, or delayed by them. Circuits +shall be regularly held every year: the inferior tribunals of justice, +the county court, sheriff’s turn, and court-leet shall meet at their +appointed time and place: the sheriffs shall be incapacitated to hold +pleas of the crown; and shall not put any person upon his trial, from +rumor or suspicion alone, but upon the evidence of lawful witnesses. +No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or dispossessed of his free +tenement and liberties, or outlawed, or banished, or anywise hurt or +injured, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of the +land; and all who suffered otherwise in this or the two former reigns, +shall be restored to their rights and possessions. Every freeman shall +be fined in proportion to his fault; and no fine shall be levied on him +to his utter ruin; even a villain or rustic shall not by any fine be +bereaved of his carts, ploughs, and implements of husbandry. This was +the only article calculated for the interests of this body of men, +probably at that time the most numerous in the kingdom. + +It must be confessed that the former articles of the Great Charter +contain such mitigations and explanations of the feudal law as are +reasonable and equitable; and that the latter involve all the chief +outlines of a legal government, and provide for the equal distribution +of justice, and free enjoyment of property; the great objects for which +political society was at first founded by men, which the people have +a perpetual and unalienable right to recall, and which no time, nor +precedent, nor statute, nor positive institution, ought to deter them +from keeping ever uppermost in their thoughts and attention. Though the +provisions made by this charter might, conformably to the genius of the +age, be esteemed too concise, and too bare of circumstances to maintain +the execution of its articles, in opposition to the chicanery of +lawyers, supported by the violence of power, time gradually ascertained +the sense of all the ambiguous expressions; and those generous barons, +who first extorted this concession, still held their swords in their +hands, and could turn them against those who dared, on any pretence, to +depart from the original spirit and meaning of the grant. We may now, +from the tenor of this charter, conjecture what those laws were of +King Edward which the English nation, during so many generations, still +desired, with such an obstinate perseverance, to have recalled and +established. They were chiefly these latter articles of Magna Charta; +and the barons who, at the beginning of these commotions, demanded +the revival of the Saxon laws, undoubtedly thought that they had +sufficiently satisfied the people by procuring them this concession, +which comprehended the principal objects to which they had so long +aspired. But what we are most to admire is, the prudence and moderation +of those haughty nobles themselves, who were enraged by injuries, +inflamed by opposition, and elated by a total victory over their +sovereign. They were content, even in this plenitude of power, to depart +from some articles of Henry I.’s charter, which they made the foundation +of their demands, particularly from the abolition of wardships, a matter +of the greatest importance; and they seem to have been sufficiently +careful not to diminish too far the power and revenue of the crown. If +they appear, therefore, to have carried other demands to too great +a height, it can be ascribed only to the faithless and tyrannical +character of the king himself, of which they had long had experience, +and which they foresaw would, if they provided no further security, +lead him soon to infringe their new liberties, and revoke his own +concessions. This alone gave birth to those other articles, seemingly +exorbitant, which were added as a rampart for the safeguard of the Great +Charter. + +The barons obliged the king to agree that London should remain in their +hands, and the Tower be consigned to the custody of the primate, +till the 15th of August ensuing, or till the execution of the several +articles of the Great Charter. The better to insure the same end, he +allowed them to choose five-and-twenty members from their own body, +as conservators of the public liberties; and no bounds were set to the +authority of these men either in extent or duration. If any complaint +were made of a violation of the charter, whether attempted by the king, +justiciaries, sheriffs, or foresters, any four of these barons might +admonish the king to redress the grievance: if satisfaction were not +obtained, they could assemble the whole council of twenty-five; who, +in conjunction with the great council, were empowered to compel him to +observe the charter, and, in case of resistance, might levy war against +him, attack his castles, and employ every kind of violence, except +against his royal person, and that of his queen and children. All men +throughout the kingdom were bound, under the penalty of confiscation, to +swear obedience to the twenty-five barons; and the freeholders of each +county were to choose twelve knights, who were to make report of such +evil customs as required redress, conformably to the tenor of the Great +Charter.[*] The names of those conservators were, the earls of Clare, +Albemarle, Glocesteer, Winchester, Hereford, Roger Bigod, earl of +Norfolk, Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, William Mareschal the younger, +Robert Fitz-Walter, Gilbert de Clare, Eustace de Vescey, Gilbert +Delaval, William de Moubray, Geoffrey de Say, Roger de Mombezon, William +de Huntingfield, Robert de Ros, the constable of Chester, William de +Aubenie, Richard de Perci, William Malet, John Fitz-Robert, William de +Lanvalay, Hugh de Bigod, and Roger de Montfichet. These men were, by +this convention, really invested with the sovereignty of the kingdom: +they were rendered coordinate with the king, or rather superior to him, +in the exercise of the executive power; and as there was no circumstance +of government which, either directly or indirectly, might not bear a +relation to the security or observance of the Great Charter, there could +scarcely occur any incident in which they might not lawfully interpose +their authority. + + [* This seems a very strong proof that the house + of commons was not then in being; otherwise the knights and + burgesses from the several counties could have given in to + the lords a list of grievances, without so unusual an + election.] + +John seemed to submit passively to all these regulations, however +injurious to majesty: he sent writs to all the sheriffs, ordering them +to constrain every one to swear obedience to the twenty-five barons: he +dismissed all his foreign force; he pretended, that his government was +thenceforth to run in a new tenor, and be more indulgent to the liberty +and independence of his people. But he only dissembled till he should +find a favorable opportunity for annulling all his concessions. The +injuries and indignities which he had formerly suffered from the pope +and the king of France, as they came from equals or superiors, seemed +to make but small impression on him; but the sense of this perpetual +and total subjection under his own rebellious vassals, sunk deep in his +mind; and he was determined, at all hazards, to throw off so ignominious +a slavery. He grew sullen, silent, and reserved: he shunned the society +of his courtiers and nobles: he retired into the Isle of Wight, as +if desirous of hiding his shame and confusion; but in this retreat he +meditated the most fatal vengeance against all his enemies. He secretly +sent abroad his emissaries to enlist foreign soldiers, and to invite the +rapacious Brabançons into his service, by the prospect of sharing +the spoils of England, and reaping the forfeitures of so many opulent +barons, who had incurred the guilt of rebellion, by rising in arms +against him. And he despatched a messenger to Rome, in order to lay +before the pope the Great Charter, which he had been compelled to sign, +and to complain, before that tribunal, of the violence which had been +imposed upon him. + +Innocent, considering himself as feudal lord of the kingdom, was +incensed at the temerity of the barons, who, though they pretended to +appeal to his authority, had dared, without waiting for his consent, to +impose such terms on a prince, who, by resigning to the Roman pontiff +his crown and independence, had placed himself immediately under the +papal protection. He issued, therefore, a bull, in which, from the +plenitude of his apostolic power, and from the authority which God had +committed to him, to build and destroy kingdoms, to plant and overthrow, +he annulled and abrogated the whole charter, as unjust in itself, +as obtained by compulsion, and as derogatory to the dignity of the +apostolic see. He prohibited the barons from exacting the observance of +it: he even prohibited the king himself from paying any regard to it: +he absolved him and his subjects from all oaths which they had been +constrained to take to that purpose; and he pronounced a general +sentence of excommunication against every one who should persevere in +maintaining such treasonable and iniquitous pretensions. + +The king, as his foreign forces arrived along with this bull now +ventured to take off the mask; and, under sanction of the pope’s decree, +recalled all the liberties which he had granted to his subjects, and +which he had solemnly sworn to observe. But the spiritual weapon was +found upon trial to carry less force with it than he had reason from +his own experience to apprehend. The primate refused to obey the pope +in publishing the sentence of excommunication against the barons; and +though he was cited to Rome, that he might attend a general council +there assembled, and was suspended, on account of his disobedience to +the pope, and his secret correspondence with the king’s enemies; though +a new and particular sentence of excommunication was pronounced by name +against the principal barons; John still found that his nobility and +people, and even his clergy, adhered to the defence of their liberties, +and to their combination against him: the sword of his foreign +mercenaries was all he had to trust to for restoring his authority. + +The barons, after obtaining the Great Charter, seem to have been lulled +into a fatal security, and to have taken no rational measures, in case +of the introduction of a foreign force, for reassembling their armies. +The king was, from the first, master of the field; and immediately laid +siege to the castle of Rochester, which was obstinately defended by +William de Albiney, at the head of a hundred and forty knights with +their retainers, but was at last, reduced by famine. John, irritated +with the resistance, intended to have hanged the governor and all the +garrison; but on the representation of William de Mauleon, who suggested +to him the danger of reprisals, he was content to sacrifice, in this +barbarous manner, the inferior prisoners only. The captivity of William +de Albiney, the best officer among the confederated barons, was +an irreparable loss to their cause; and no regular opposition was +thenceforth made to the progress of the royal arms. The ravenous and +barbarous mercenaries, incited by a cruel and enraged prince were let +loose against the estates, tenants, manors, houses, parks of the barons, +and spread devastation over the face of the kingdom. Nothing was to +be seen but the flames of villages, and castles reduced to ashes, the +consternation and misery of the inhabitants, tortures exercised by the +soldiery to make them reveal their concealed treasures, and reprisals no +less barbarous, committed by the barons and their partisans on the royal +demesnes, and on the estates of such as still adhered to the crown. +The king, marching through the whole extent of England, from Dover to +Berwick, laid the provinces waste on each side of him; and considered +every estate, which was not his immediate property, as entirely hostile, +and the object of military execution. The nobility of the north in +particular, who had shown greatest violence in the recovery of their +liberties, and who, acting in a separate body, had expressed their +discontent even at the concessions made by the Great Charter, as they +could expect no mercy, fled before him with their wives and families, +and purchased the friendship of Alexander, the young king of Scots, by +doing homage to him. + +The barons, reduced to this desperate extremity, and menaced with +the total loss of their liberties, their properties, and their lives, +employed a remedy no less desperate; and making applications to the +court of France, they offered to acknowledge Lewis, the eldest son of +Philip, for their sovereign, on condition that he would afford them +protection from the violence of their enraged prince. Though the sense +of the common rights of mankind, the only rights that are entirely +indefeasible, might have justified them in the deposition of their king, +they declined insisting before Philip on a pretension which is commonly +so disagreeable to sovereigns, and which sounds harshly in their royal +ears. They affirmed that John was incapable of succeeding to the crown, +by reason of the attainder passed upon him during his brother’s reign; +though that attainder had been reversed, and Richard had even, by his +last will, declared him his successor. They pretended, that he was +already legally deposed by sentence of the peers of France, on account +of the murder of his nephew; though that sentence could not possibly +regard any thing but his transmarine dominions, which alone he held in +vassalage to that crown. On more plausible grounds, they affirmed, that +he had already deposed himself by doing homage to the pope, changing the +nature of his sovereignty, and resigning an independent crown for a fee +under a foreign power. And as Blanche of Castile, the wife of Lewis, +was descended by her mother from Henry II., they maintained, though many +other princes stood before her in the order of succession, that they +had not shaken off the royal family, in choosing her husband for their +sovereign. + +Philip was strongly tempted to lay hold on the rich prize which +was offered to him. The legate menaced him with interdicts and +excommunications, if he invaded the patrimony of St. Peter, or attacked +a prince who was under the immediate protection of the holy see; but as +Philip was assured of the obedience of his own vassals, his principles +were changed with the times, and he now undervalued as much all papal +censures, as he formerly pretended to pay respect to them. His chief +scruple was with regard to the fidelity which he might expect from the +English barons in their new engagements, and the danger of intrusting +his son and heir into the hands of men who might, on any caprice or +necessity, make peace with their native sovereign, by sacrificing +a pledge of so much value. He therefore exacted from the barons +twenty-five hostages of the most noble birth in the kingdom; and having +obtained this security, he sent over first a small army to the relief +of the confederates; then more numerous forces, which arrived with Lewis +himself at their head. + +The first effect of the young prince’s appearance in England was +the desertion of John’s foreign troops, who, being mostly levied in +Flanders, and other provinces of France, refused to serve against the +heir of their monarchy. The Gascons and Poictevins alone, who were +still John’s subjects, adhered to his cause; but they were too weak to +maintain that superiority in the field which they had hitherto supported +against the confederated barons. Many considerable noblemen deserted +John’s party, the earls of Salisbury, Arundel, Warrenne, Oxford, +Albemarle, and William Mareschal the younger: his castles fell daily +into the hands of the enemy; Dover was the only place which, from the +valor and fidelity of Hubert de Burgh, the governor, made resistance +to the progress of Lewis; and the barons had the melancholy prospect +of finally succeeding in their purpose, and of escaping the tyranny of +their own king, by imposing on themselves and the nation a foreign yoke. +But this union was of short duration between the French and English +nobles; and the imprudence of Lewis, who on every occasion showed too +visible a preference to the former, increased that jealousy which it was +so natural for the latter to entertain in their present situation. The +viscount of Melun, too, it is said, one of his courtiers, fell sick at +London; and finding the approaches of death, he sent for some of his +friends among the English barons, and warning them of their danger, +revealed Lewis’s secret intentions of exterminating them and their +families as traitors to their prince, and of bestowing their estates +and dignities on his native subjects, in whose fidelity he could more +reasonably place confidence. This story, whether true or false, +was universally reported and believed; and, concurring with other +circumstances, which rendered it credible, did great prejudice to the +cause of Lewis. The earl of Salisbury and other noblemen deserted +again to John’s party; and as men easily change sides in a civil war, +especially where their power is founded on an hereditary and independent +authority, and is not derived from the opinion and favor of the people, +the French prince had reason to dread a sudden reverse of fortune. The +king was assembling a considerable army, with a view of fighting one +great battle for his crown; but passing from Lynne to Lincolnshire, his +road lay along the sea-shore, which was overflowed at high water; and +not choosing the proper time for his journey, he lost in the inundation +all his carriages, treasure, baggage, and regalia. The affliction for +this disaster, and vexation from the distracted state of his affairs, +increased the sickness under which he then labored; and though he +reached the castle of Newark, he was obliged to halt there, and his +distemper soon after put an end to his life, in the forty-ninth year +of his age, and eighteenth of his reign; and freed the nation from +the dangers to which it was equally exposed by his success or by his +misfortunes. + +The character of this prince is nothing but a complication of vices, +equally mean and odious; ruinous to himself and destructive to +his people. Cowardice, inactivity, folly, levity licentiousness, +ingratitude, treachery, tyranny, and cruelty all these qualities appear +too evidently in the several incidents of his life, to give us room to +suspect that the disagreeable picture has been anywise overcharged by +the prejudices of the ancient historians. It is hard to say whether his +conduct to his father, his brother, his nephew, or his subjects, was +most culpable; or whether his crimes, in these respects, were not even +exceeded by the baseness which appeared in his transactions with the +king of France, the pope, and the barons. His European dominions, when +they devolved to him by the death of his brother, were more extensive +than have ever, since his time, been ruled by any English monarch: but +he first lost by his misconduct the flourishing provinces in France, the +ancient patrimony of his family: he subjected his kingdom to a shameful +vassalage under the see of Rome: he saw the prerogatives of his crown +diminished by law, and still more reduced by faction; and he died at +last, when in danger of being totally expelled by a foreign power, and +of either ending his life miserably in prison, or seeking shelter as a +fugitive from the pursuit of his enemies. + +The prejudices against this prince were so violent, that he was believed +to have sent an embassy to the Miramoulin, or emperor of Morocco, and +to have offered to change his religion and become Mahometan, in order to +purchase the protection of that monarch. But though this story is told +us, on plausible authority, by Matthew Paris,* it is in itself utterly +improbable; except that there is nothing so incredible but may be +believed to proceed from the folly and wickedness of John. + +The monks throw great reproaches on this prince for his impiety, and +even infidelity; and as an instance of it, they tell us that, having +one day caught a very fat stag, he exclaimed, “How plump and well fed +is this animal! and yet I dare swear he never heard mass.” This sally of +wit upon the usual corpulency of the priests, more than all his enormous +crimes and iniquities, made him pass with them for an atheist. + +John left two legitimate sons behind him, Henry, born on the first of +October, 1207, and now nine years of age; and Richard, born on the +sixth of January, 1209; and three daughters, Jane, afterwards married +to Alexander, king of Scots; Eleanor, married first to William Mareschal +the younger, earl of Pembroke, and then to Simon Mountfort earl of +Leicester; and Isabella, married to the emperor Frederic II. All these +children were born to him by Isabella of Angouleme, his second wife. +His illegitimate children were numerous; but none of them were anywise +distinguished. + +It was this king who, in the ninth year of his reign, first gave by +charter to the city of London, the right of electing annually a mayor +out of its own body, an office which was till now held for life. He gave +the city also power to elect and remove its sheriffs at pleasure, and +its common-council men annually. London bridge was finished in this +reign: the former bridge was of wood. Maud, the empress, was the first +that built a stone bridge in England. + + + + + +APPENDIX II. + + + + +THE FEUDAL AND ANGLO-NORMAN GOVERNMENT AND MANNERS. + +The feudal law is the chief foundation both of the political government +and of the jurisprudence established by the Normans in England. Our +subject therefore requires that we should form a just idea of this law, +in order to explain the state, as well of that kingdom, as of all other +kingdoms of Europe, which during those ages were governed by similar +institutions. And though I am sensible that I must here repeat many +observations and reflections which have been communicated by others, yet +as every book, agreeably to the observation of a great historian, should +be as complete as possible within itself, and should never refer for +any thing material to other books, it will be necessary in this place +to deliver a short plan of that prodigious fabric, which for several +centuries preserved such a mixture of liberty and oppression, order and +anarchy, stability and revolution, as was never experienced in any other +age or any other part of the world. + +After the northern nations had subdued the provinces of the Roman +empire, they were obliged to establish a system of government which +might secure their conquests, as well against the revolt of their +numerous subjects who remained in the provinces, as from the inroads +of other tribes, who might be tempted to ravish from them their new +acquisitions. The great change of circumstances made them here depart +from those institutions which prevailed among them while they remained +in the forests of Germany; yet was it still natural for them to retain, +in their present settlement, as much of their ancient customs as was +compatible with their new situation. + +The German governments, being more a confederacy of independent warriors +than a civil subjection, derived their principal force from many +inferior and voluntary associations which individuals formed under a +particular head or chieftain, and which it became the highest point +of honor to maintain with inviolable fidelity. The glory of the chief +consisted in the number, the bravery, and the zealous attachment of his +retainers; the duty of the retainers required that they should accompany +their chief in all wars and dangers, that they should fight and perish +by his side, and that they should esteem his renown or his favor a +sufficient recompense for all their services.[*] The prince himself was +nothing but a great chieftain, who was chosen from among the rest on +account of his superior valor or nobility; and who derived his power +from the voluntary association or attachment of the other chieftains. + + [* Tacit. de Mor. Germ.] + +When a tribe, governed by these ideas, and actuated by these principles, +subdued a large territory, they found that, though it was necessary to +keep themselves in a military posture, they could neither remain united +in a body, nor take up their quarters in several garrisons, and that +their manners and institutions debarred them from using these expedients +the obvious ones, which, in a like situation, would have been employed +by a more civilized nation. Their ignorance in the art of finances, +and perhaps the devastations inseparable from such violent conquests, +rendered it impracticable for them to levy taxes sufficient for the pay +of numerous armies; and their repugnance to subordination, with their +attachment to rural pleasures, made the life of the camp or garrison, +if perpetuated during peaceful times, extremely odious and disgustful to +them. They seized, therefore, such a portion of the conquered lands as +appeared necessary; they assigned a share for supporting the dignity +of their prince and government; they distributed other parts, under the +title of fiefs, to the chiefs; these made a new partition among their +retainers; the express condition of all these grants was, that they +might be resumed at pleasure, and that the possessor, so long as he +enjoyed them, should still remain in readiness to take the field for the +defence of the nation. And though the conquerors immediately separated, +in order to enjoy their new acquisitions, their martial disposition made +them readily fulfil the terms of their engagement: they assembled on +the first alarm; their habitual attachment to the chieftain made them +willingly submit to his command; and thus a regular military force +though concealed was always ready to defend, on any emergency, the +interest and honor of the community. + +We are not to imagine, that all the conquered lands were seized by +the northern conquerors, or that the whole of the land thus seized was +subjected to those military services. This supposition is confuted by +the history of all the nations on the continent. Even the idea given us +of the German manners by the Roman historian, may convince us, that +that bold people would never have been content with so precarious a +subsistence, or have fought to procure establishments which were only +to continue during the good pleasure of their sovereign. Though the +northern chieftains accepted of lands which, being considered as a kind +of military pay, might be resumed at the will of the king or general, +they also took possession of estates which, being hereditary and +independent, enabled them to maintain their native liberty, and support, +without court favor, the honor of their rank and family. + +But there is a great difference, in the consequences, between the +distribution of a pecuniary subsistence, and the assignment of lands +burdened with the condition of military service. The delivery of the +former, at the weekly, monthly, or annual terms of payment, still +recalls the idea of a voluntary gratuity from the prince, and reminds +the soldier of the precarious tenure by which he holds his commission. +But the attachment, naturally formed with a fixed portion of land, +gradually begets the idea of something like property, and makes the +possessor forget his dependent situation, and the condition which was +at first annexed to the grant. It seemed equitable, that one who had +cultivated and sowed a field, should reap the harvest: hence fiefs, +which were at first entirely precarious were soon made annual. A man +who had employed his money in building, planting, or other improvements, +expected to reap the fruits of his labor or expense: hence they were +next granted during a term of years. It would be thought hard to expel a +man from his possessions who had always done his duty, and performed the +conditions on which he originally received them: hence the chieftains, +in a subsequent period, thought themselves entitled to demand the +enjoyment of their feudal lands during life. It was found, that a man +would more willingly expose himself in battle, if assured that his +family should inherit his possessions, and should not be left by his +death in want and poverty; hence fiefs were made hereditary in families, +and descended, during one age to the son, then to the grandson, next to +the brothers, and afterwards to more distant relations.[*] The idea of +property stole in gradually upon that of military pay; and each century +made some sensible addition to the stability of fiefs and tenures. + + [* Lib. Feud. lib. i. tit. i.] + +In all these successive acquisitions, the chief was supported by his +vassals; who, having originally a strong connection with him, augmented +by the constant intercourse of good offices, and by the friendship +arising from vicinity and dependence, were inclined to follow their +leader against all his enemies, and voluntarily, in his private +quarrels, paid him the same obedience to which, by their tenure, they +were bound in foreign wars. While he daily advanced new pretensions to +secure the possession of his superior fief, they expected to find the +same advantage in acquiring stability to their subordinate ones; +and they zealously opposed the intrusion of a new lord, who would be +inclined, as he was fully entitled, to bestow the possession of their +lands on his own favorites and retainers. Thus the authority of the +sovereign gradually decayed; and each noble, fortified in his own +territory by the attachment of his vassals, became too powerful to be +expelled by an order from the throne; and he secured by law what he had +at first acquired by usurpation. + +During this precarious state of the supreme power, a difference would +immediately be experienced between those portions of territory which +were subjected to the feudal tenures, and those which were possessed by +an allodial or free title. Though the latter possessions had at first +been esteemed much preferable, they were soon found, by the progressive +changes introduced into public and private law, to be of an inferior +condition to the former. The possessors of a feudal territory, united by +a regular subordination under one chief, and by the mutual attachments +of the vassals, had the same advantages over the proprietors of the +other, that a disciplined army enjoys over a dispersed multitude; and +were enabled to commit with impunity all injuries on their defenceless +neighbors Every one, therefore, hastened to seek that protection which +he found so necessary; and each allodial proprietor, resigning his +possessions into the hands of the king, or of some nobleman respected +for power or valor, received them back with the condition of feudal +services,[*] which, though a burden somewhat grievous, brought, him +ample compensation, by connecting him with the neighboring proprietors, +and placing him under the guardianship of a potent chieftain. The decay +of the political government thus necessarily occasioned the extension of +the feudal: the kingdoms of Europe were universally divided into +baronies, and these into inferior fiefs; and the attachment of vassals +to their chief, which was at first an essential part of the German +manners, was still supported by the same causes from which it at first +arose; the necessity of mutual protection, and the continued +intercourse, between the head and the members, of benefits and services. + + [* Marculf. Form. 47, apud lindenbr. p. 1238,] + +But there was another circumstance, which corroborated these feudal +dependencies, and tended to connect the vassals with their superior lord +by an indissoluble bond of union. The northern conquerors, as well +as the more early Greeks and Romans, embraced a policy, which is +unavoidable to all nations that have made slender advances in +refinement: they every where united the civil jurisdiction with the +military power. Law, in its commencement, was not an intricate science, +and was more governed by maxims of equity, which seem obvious to common +sense, than by numerous and subtile principles, applied to a variety +of cases by profound reasonings from analogy. An officer, though he +had passed his life in the field, was able to determine all legal +controversies which could occur within the district committed to his +charge; and his decisions were the most likely to meet with a prompt and +ready obedience, from men who respected his person, and were accustomed +to act under his command. The profit arising from punishments, Which +were then chiefly pecuniary, was another reason for his desiring to +retain the judicial power; and when his fief became hereditary, this +authority, which was essential to it, was also transmitted to his +posterity. The counts and other magistrates, whose power was merely +official, were tempted, in imitation of the feudal lords, whom they +resembled in so many particulars, to render their dignity perpetual +and hereditary; and in the decline of the regal power, they found no +difficulty in making good their pretentions. After this manner the vast +fabric of feudal subordination became quite solid and comprehensive; it +formed every where an essential part of the political constitution; and +the Norman and other barons, who followed the fortunes of William, were +so accustomed to it, that they could scarcely form an idea of any other +species of civil government.[*] + +The Saxons who conquered England, as they exterminated the ancient +inhabitants, and thought themselves secured by the sea against new +invaders, found it less requisite to maintain themselves in a military +posture: the quantity of land which they annexed to offices seems to +have been of small value; and for that reason continued the longer in +its original situation, and was always possessed during pleasure by +those who were intrusted with the command. These conditions were too +precarious to satisfy the Norman barons, who enjoyed more independent +possessions and jurisdictions in their own country; and William was +obliged, in the new distribution of land, to copy the tenures which +were now become universal on the continent. England of a sudden became a +feudal kingdom,[**] and received all the advantages, and was exposed to +all the inconveniences, incident to that species of civil polity. + +According to the principles of the feudal law, the king wa the supreme +lord of the landed property: all possessors, who enjoyed the fruits or +revenue of any part of it, held those privileges, either mediately or +immediately, of him; and their property was conceived to be, in some +degree, conditional.[***] The land was still apprehended to be a species +of benefice, which was the original conception of a feudal property; and +the vassal owed, in return for it, stated services to his baron, as the +baron himself did for his land to the crown. The vassal was obliged to +defend his baron in war; and the baron, at the head of his vassal, was +bound to fight in defence of the king and kingdom. But besides these +military services, which were casual, there were others imposed of a +civil nature, which were more constant and durable. + + [* The ideas of the feudal government were so + rooted, that even lawyers in those ages could not form a + notion of any either constitution. Regnum (says Braeton, + lib. ii. cap. 34) quod ex comitatibus et baronibus dicitur + esse constitutum.] + + [** Coke, Comm. on Lit. p. 1, 2, ad sect. 1.] + + [*** Somner of Gavelk. p. 109, Smith de Rep. lib. + iii. cap. 10.] + +The northern nations had no idea that any man trained up to honor and +inured to arms, was ever to be governed, without his own consent, by the +absolute will of another; or that the administration of justice was ever +to be exercised by the private opinion of any one magistrate, without +the concurrence of some other persons, whose interest might induce them +to check his arbitrary and iniquitous decisions. The king, therefore, +when he found it necessary to demand any service of his barons or chief +tenants, beyond what was due by their tenures, was obliged to assemble +them, in order to obtain their consent; and when it was necessary to +determine any controversy which might arise among the barons themselves, +the question must be discussed in their presence, and be decided +according to their opinion or advice. In these two circumstances of +consent and advice, consisted chiefly the civil services of the ancient +barons; and these implied all the considerable incidents of government. +In one view, the barons regarded this attendance as their principal +privilege; in another, as a grievous burden. That no momentous affairs +could be transacted without their consent and advice, was in general +esteemed the great security of their possessions and dignities; but as +they reaped no immediate profit from their attendance at court, and were +exposed to great inconvenience and charge by an absence from their +own estates, every one was glad to exempt himself liom each particular +exertion of this power; and was pleased both that the call for that duty +should seldom return upon him, and that others should undergo the burden +in his stead. The king, on the other hand, was usually anxious, for +several reasons, that the assembly of the barons should be full at every +stated or casual meeting: this attendance was the chief badge of their +subordination to his crown, and drew them from that independence which +they were apt to affect in their own castles and manors; and where the +meeting was thin or ill attended, its determinations had less authority, +and commanded not so ready an obedience from the whole community. + +The case was the same with the barons in their courts, as with the king +in the supreme council of the nation. It was requisite to assemble the +vassals, in order to determine by their vote any question which regarded +the barony; and they sat along with the chief in all trials, +whether civil or criminal, which occurred within the limits of their +jurisdiction. They were; bound to pay suit and service at the court +of their baron; and as their tenure was military, and consequently +honorable, they were admitted into his society, and partook of his +friendship. Thus, a kingdom was considered only as a great barony, and +a barony as a small kingdom. The barons were peers to each other in the +national council, and in some degree companions to the king; the vassals +were peers to each other in the court of barony, and companions to their +baron.[*] + + [* Du Cange, Gloss, in verb. Par. Cujac. Commun. + in Lib, Feud lib. I, tit i. p. 18, Spelm. Gloss, in verb.] + +But though this resemblance so far took place, the vassals by the +natural course of things, universally, in the feudal constitutions, fell +into a greater subordination under the baron, than the baron himself +under his sovereign; and these governments had a necessary and +infallible tendency to augment the power of the nobles. The great chief, +residing in his country seat, which he was commonly allowed to fortify, +lost, in a great measure, his connection or acquaintance with the +prince, and added every day new force to his authority over the +vassals of the barony. They received from him education in all military +exercises; his hospitality invited them to live and enjoy society in his +hall; their leisure, which was great, made them perpetual retainers on +his person, and partakers of his country sports and amusements; they +had no means of gratifying their ambition but by making a figure in +his train; his favor and countenance was their greatest honor; his +displeasure exposed them to contempt and ignominy; and they felt every +moment the necessity of his protection, both in the controversies which +occurred with other vassals, and, what was more material, in the daily +inroads and injuries which were committed by the neighboring barons. +During the time of general war, the sovereign, who marched at the head +of his armies, and was the great protector of the state, always acquired +some accession to his authority, which he lost during the intervals +of peace and tranquillity; but the loose police incident to the feudal +constitutions, maintained a perpetual, though secret hostility, between +the several members of the state; and the vassals found no means of +securing themselves against the injuries to which they were continually +exposed, but by closely adhering to their chief, and falling into a +submissive dependence upon him. + +If the feudal government was so little favorable to the true liberty +even of the military vassal, it was still more destructive of the +independence and security of the other members of the state, or what in +a proper sense we call the people. A great part of them were serfs, +and lived in a state of absolute slavery or villainage; the other +inhabitants of the country paid then rent in services, which were in a +great measure arbitrary; and they could expect no redress of injuries in +a court of barony from men who thought they had a right to oppress and +tyrannize over them: the towns were situated either within the demesnes +of the king, or the lands of the great barons, and were almost entirely +subjected to the absolute will of their master. The languishing state of +commerce kept the inhabitants poor and contemptible; and the political +institutions were calculated to render that poverty perpetual. The +barons and gentry, living in rustic plenty and hospitality, gave +no encouragement to the arts, and had no demand for any of the more +elaborate manufactures: every profession was held in contempt but +that of arms; and if any merchant or manufacturer rose by industry and +frugality to a degree of opulence, he found himself but the more exposed +to injuries, from the envy and avidity of the military nobles. + +These concurring causes gave the feudal governments so strong a bias +towards aristocracy, that the royal authority was extremely eclipsed +in all the European states; and, instead of dreading the growth of +monarchical power, we might rather expect, that the community would +every where crumble into so many independent baronies, and lose the +political union by which they were cemented. In elective monarchies, +the event was commonly answerable to this expectation; and the barons, +gaining ground on every vacancy of the throne, raised themselves almost +to a state of sovereignty, and sacrificed to their power both the rights +of the crown and the liberties of the people. But hereditary monarchies +had a principle of authority which was not so easily subverted; and +there were several causes which still maintained a degree of influence +in the hands of the sovereign. + +The greatest baron could never lose view entirely of those principles of +the feudal constitution which bound him, as, a vassal, to submission and +fealty towards his prince; because he was every moment obliged to have +recourse to those principles, in exacting fealty and submission from his +own vassals The lesser barons, finding that the annihilation of royal +authority left them exposed without protection to the insults and +injuries of more potent neighbors, naturally adhered to the crown, and +promoted the execution of general and equal laws. The people had still a +stronger interest to desire the grandeur of the sovereign; and the king, +being the legal magistrate, who suffered by every internal convulsion or +oppression, and who regarded the great nobles as his immediate rivals, +assumed the salutary office of general guardian or protector of the +commons. Besides the prerogatives with which the law invested him, his +large demesnes and numerous retainers rendered him, in one sense, the +greatest baron in his kingdom; and where he was possessed of personal +vigor and abilities, (for his situation required these advantages,) he +was commonly able to preserve his authority, and maintain his station as +head of the community, and the chief fountain of law and justice. + +The first kings of the Norman race were favored by another circumstance, +which preserved them from the encroachments of their barons. They +were generals of a conquering army, which was obliged to continue in +a military posture, and to maintain great subordination under their +leader, in order to secure themselves from the revolt of the numerous +natives, whom they had bereaved of all their properties and privileges. +But though this circumstance supported the authority of William and his +immediate successors, and rendered them extremely absolute, it was lost +as soon as the Norman barons began to incorporate with the nation, to +acquire a security in their possessions, and to fix their influence over +their vassals, tenants, and slaves. And the immense fortunes which the +Conqueror had bestowed on his chief captains, served to support their +independence, and make them formidable to the sovereign. + +He gave, for instance, to Hugh de Abrincis, his sister’s son, the whole +county of Chester, which he erected into a palatinate, and rendered by +his grant almost independent of the crown.[*] Robert, earl of Mortaigne, +had nine hundred and seventy-three manors and lordships: Allan, earl +of Brittany and Richmond, four hundred and forty-two: Odo, bishop of +Baieux, four hundred and thirty-nine:[**] Geoffrey, bishop of Coutance, +two hundred and eighty:[***] Walter Giffard, earl of Buckingham, one +hundred and seven. + + [* Camd. in Chesh. Spel. Gloss, in verb. Comes + Palatinus.] + + [** Brady’s Hist. p. 198, 200.] + + [*** Order Vitalia.] + +William, earl Warrenne, two hundred and ninety-eight, besides +twenty-eight towns or hamlets in Yorkshire: Todenei, eighty-one: Roger +Bigod, one hundred and twenty-three: Robert, earl of Eu, one hundred and +nineteen: Roger Mortimer, one hundred and thirty-two, besides several +hamlets: Robert de Stafford, one hundred and thirty: Walter de Eurus, +earl of Salisbury, forty-six Geoffrey de Mandeville, one hundred +and eighteen Richard de Clare, one hundred and seventy-one: Hugh de +Beauchamp, forty-seven: Baldwin de Rivers, one hundred and sixty-four: +Henry de Ferrers, two hundred and twenty? two: William de Percy, one +hundred and nineteen:[*] Norman d’Arcy, thirty-three.[**] Sir Henry +Spelman computea that, in the large county of Norfolk, there were not, +in the Conqueror’s time, above sixty-six proprietors of land.[***] Men +possessed of such princely revenues and jurisdictions could not long +be retained in the rank of subjects. The great Earl Warrenne, in a +subsequent reign, when he was questioned concerning his right to the +lands which he possessed, drew his sword, which he produced as his +title; adding, that William the bastard did not conquer the kingdom +himself; but that the barons, and his ancestor among me rest, were joint +adventurers in the enterprise.[****] + + [* Dugdale’s Baronage, from Domesday-book, vol. i. + p. 60, 74; iii. 112, 132, 136, 138, 156, 174, 200, 207, 223, + 254, 257, 269.] + + [** Ibid. p. 319. It is remarkable that this + family of D’Arcy seema to be the only male descendants of + any of the Conqueror’s barons now remaining among the peers. + Lord Holdernesse is the heir of that family.] + + [*** Spel. Gloss, hi verb. Domesday.] + + [**** Dug. Bar. vol. i. p. 79. Ibid. Origines + Juridicales p. 13,] + + [***** Spel. Glos. it verb. Baro.] in parliament + before the king had made him restitution of his + temporalities; and during the vacancy of a see, the guardian + of the spiritualities was summoned to attend along with the + bishops. + +The supreme legislative power of England was lodged in the king and +great council, or what was afterwards called the parliament. It is not +doubted but the archbishops, bishops, and most considerable abbots were +constituent members of this council. They sat by a double title: by +prescription, as having always possessed that privilege, through the +whole Saxon period, from the first establishment of Christianity; and +by their right of baronage, as holding of the king in capite by +military service. These two titles of the prelates were never accurately +distinguished. When the usurpations of the church had risen to such a +height, as to make the bishops affect a separate dominion, and regard +their seat in parliament as a degradation of their episcopal dignity, +the king insisted that they were barons, and, on that account, obliged, +by the general principles of the feudal law, to attend on him in his +great councils. Yet there still remained some practices, which supposed +their title to be derived merely from ancient possession. + +The barons were another constituent part of the great council of the +nation These held immediately of the crown by a military tenure: they +were the most honorable members of the state, and had a right to be +consulted in all public deliberations: they were the immediate vassals +of the crown, and owed as a service their attendance in the court of +their supreme lord. A resolution taken without their consent was likely +to be but ill executed: and no determination of any cause or controversy +among them had any validity, where the vote and advice of the body did +not concur. The dignity of earl or count was official and territorial, +as well as hereditary; and as ali the earls were also barons, they +were considered as military vassals of the crown, were admitted in that +capacity into the general council, and formed the most honorable and +powerful branch of it. + +But there was another class of the immediate military tenants of the +crown, no less, or probably more numerous than the barons, the tenants +in capite by knights’ service and these, however inferior in power or +property, held by a tenure which was equally honorable with that of the +others. A barony was commonly composed of several knightsr fees: +and though the number seems not to have been exactly defined, seldom +consisted of less than fifty hides of land:[*] but where a man held of +the king only one or two knight’s fees, he was still an immediate vassal +of the crown, and as such had a title to have a seat in the general +councils. But as this attendance was usually esteemed a burden, and +one too great for a man of slender fortune to bear constantly, it is +probable that, though he had a title, if he pleased, to be admitted, +he was not obliged by any penalty, like the barons, to pay a regular +attendance. + + [* Four hides made one knight’s fee: the relief of + a barony was twelve times greater than that of a knight’s + fee; whence we may conjecture its usual value. Spel. Gloss, + in verb. Feodum. There were two hundred and forty-three + thousand six hundred hides in England, and sixty thousand + two hundred and fifteen knights’ fees; whence it is evident + that there were a little more than four hides in each + knight’s fee.] + +All the immediate military tenants of the crown amounted not fully to +seven hundred, when Domesday-book was framed; and as the membeirs were +well pleased, on any pretext, to excuse themselves from attendance, the +assembly was never likely to become too numerous for the despatch of +public business. + +So far the nature of a general council or ancient parliament is +determined without any doubt or controversy, The only question seems to +be with regard to the commons, or the representatives of counties and +boroughs; whether they were also, in more early times, constituent parts +of parliament. This question was once disputed in England with great +acrimony; but such is the force of time and evidence, that they can +sometimes prevail even over faction; and the question seems, by general +consent, and even by their own, to be at last determined against the +ruling party. It is agreed, that the commons were no part of the great +council till some ages after the conquest; and that the military tenants +alone of the crown composed that supreme and legislative assembly. + +The vassals of a baron were by their tenure immediately dependent on +him, owed attendance at his court, and paid all their duty to the king, +through that dependence which their lord was obliged by his tenure to +acknowledge to his sovereign and superior. Their land, comprehended in +the barony, was represented in parliament by the baron himself, who was +supposed, according to the fictions of the feudal law, to possess the +direct property of it; and it would have been deemed incongruous to give +it any other representation. They stood m the same capacity to him, that +he and the other barons did to the king: the former were peers of the +barony; the latter were peers of the realm: the vassals possessed a +subordinate rank within their district: the baron enjoyed a superior +dignity in the great assembly: they were in some degree his companions +at home; he the king’s companion at court: and nothing can be +more evidently repugnant to all feudal ideas, and to that gradual +subordination which was essential to those ancient institutions, than to +imagine that the king would apply either for the advice or consent of +men who were of a rank so much inferior, and whose duty was immediately +paid to the mesne lord that was interposed between them and the +throne.[*] + + [* Spel. Gloss, in verb. Baro.] + +If it be unreasonable to think that the vassals of a barony, though +their tenure was military, and noble, and honorable, were ever summoned +to give their opinion in national councils, much less can it be supposed +that the tradesmen or inhabitants of boroughs, whose condition was so +much inferior, would be admitted to that privilege. It appears from +Domesday, that the greatest boroughs were, at the time of the conquest, +scarcely more than country villages; and that the inhabitants lived +in entire dependence on the king or great lords, and were of a +station little better than servile.[*] They were not then so much as +incorporated; they formed no community; were not regarded as a body +politic; and being really nothing but a number of low, dependent +tradesmen, living, without any particular civil tie, in neighborhood +together, they were incapable of being represented in the states of the +kingdom. Even in France, a country which made more early advances in +arts and civility than England, the first corporation is sixty years +posterior to the conquest under the duke of Normandy; and the erecting +of these communities was an invention of Lewis the Gross, in order +to free the people from slavery under the lords, and to give +them protection by means of certain privileges and a separate +jurisdiction.[**] An ancient French writer calls them a new and wicked +device, to procure liberty to slaves, and encourage them in shaking off +the dominion of their masters.[***] The famous charter, as it is called, +of the Conqueror to the city of London, though granted at a time when he +assumed the appearance of gentleness and lenity, is nothing but a letter +of protection, and a declaration that the citizens should not be treated +as slaves.[****] By the English feudal law, the superior lord +was prohibited from marrying his female ward to a burgess or a +villain;[*****] so near were these two ranks esteemed to each other, +and so much inferior to the nobility and gentry. Besides possessing the +advantages of birth, riches, civil powers and privileges, the nobles +and gentlemen alone were armed a circumstance which gave them a mighty +superiority, in an age when nothing but the military profession +was honorable, and when the loose execution of laws gave so much +encouragement to open violence, and rendered it so decisive in all +disputes and controversies.[*****] + + [* “Liber homo” anciently signified a gentleman: + for scarce any one beside was entirely free. Spel. Gloss, in + verbo.] + + [** Du Gauge’s Gloss, in verb. Commune, + Communitas.] + + [*** Guibertus, de vita sua, lib. iii. cap. 7.] + + [**** Stat. of Merton, 1235, esp. 6.] + + [***** Holingshed. vol. iii. p. 15.] + + [****** Madox, Baron. Angl. p. 19.] + +The great similarity among the feudal governments of Europe is well +known to every man that has any acquaintance with ancient history: and +the antiquaries of all foreign countries, where the question was never +embarrassed by party disputes, have allowed that the commons came very +late to be admitted to a share in the legislative power. In Normandy +particularly, whose constitution was most likely to be William’s +model in raising his new fabric of English government, the states were +entirely composed of the clergy and nobility; and the first incorporated +boroughs or communities of that duchy were Rouen and Falaise, which +enjoyed their privileges by a grant of Philip Augustus in the year +1207.[**] All the ancient English historians, when they mention the +great council of the nation, call it an assembly of the baronage, +nobility, or great men; and none of their expressions, though several +hundred passages might be produced, can, without the utmost violence, +be tortured to a meaning which will admit the commons to be constituent +members of that body.[***] + + [** Norman, du Chesnil, p. 1066. Du Cange, Gloss, + in verb. Commune.] + + [*** Sometimes the historians mention the people, + “populus,” as a part of the parliament; but they always mean + the laity, in opposition to the clergy. Sometimes the word + “communitas” is found; but it always means “communitas + baronagii.” These points are clearly proved by Dr. Brady. + There is also mention sometimes made of a crowd or multitude + that thronged into the great council on particular + interesting occasions; but as deputies from boroughs are + never once spoken of, the proof that they had not then any + existence becomes the more certain and undeniable. These + never could make a crowd, as they must have had a regular + place assigned them if they had made a regular part of the + legislative body. There were only one hundred and thirty + boroughs who received writs of summons from Edward I. It is + expressly said in Gesta Reg. Steph. p. 932, that it was + usual for the populace, “vulgus,” to crowd into the great + councils; where they were plainly mere spectators, and could + only gratify their curiosity.] + +If in the long period of two hundred years, which elapsed between +the conquest and the latter end of Henry III., and which abounded +in factions, revolutions, and convulsions of all kinds, the house of +commons never performed one single legislative act so considerable as +to be once mentioned by any of the numerous historians of that age, they +must have been totally insignificant: and in that case, what reason can +be assigned for their ever being assembled? Can it be supposed that men +of so little weight or importance possessed a negative voice against the +king and the barons? Every page of the subsequent histories discovers +their existence; though these histories are not written with greater +accuracy than the preceding ones, and indeed scarcely equal them in that +particular. The Magna Charta of King John provides that no scutage or +aid should be imposed, either on the land or towns, but by consent +of the great council; and for more security it enumerates the persons +entitled to a seat in that assembly, the prelates and immediate tenants +of the crown, without any mention of the commons; an authority so full, +certain, and explicit, that nothing but the zeal of party could ever +have procured credit to any contrary hypothesis. + +It was probably the example of the French barons, which first imboldened +the English to require greater independence from their sovereign: it +is also probable that the boroughs and corporations of England were +established in imitation of those of France. It may, therefore, be +proposed as no unlikely conjecture, that both the chief privileges of +the peers in England and the liberty of the commons were originally the +growth of that foreign country. + +In ancient times, men were little solicitous to obtain a place in +the legislative assemblies; and rather regarded their attendance as +a burden, which was not compensated by any return of profit or +honor, proportionate to the trouble and expense. The only reason for +instituting those public councils was, on the part of the subject, that +they desired some security from the attempts of arbitrary power; and on +the part of the sovereign, that he despaired of governing men of such +independent spirits without their own consent and concurrence. But the +commons, or the inhabitants of boroughs, had not as yet reached such a +degree of consideration, as to desire security against their prince, or +to imagine that, even if they were assembled in a representative body, +they had power or rank sufficient to enforce it. The only protection +which they aspired to, was against the immediate violence and injustice +of their fellow-citizens; and this advantage each of them looked for +from the courts of justice, or from the authority of some great lord, to +whom, by law or his own choice, he was attached. On the other hand, the +sovereign was sufficiently assured of obedience in the whole community +if he procured the concurrence of the nobles; nor had he reason to +apprehend that any order of the state could resist his and their united +authority. The military sub-vassals could entertain no idea of opposing +both their prince and their superiors: the burgesses and tradesmen +could much legs aspire to such a thought: and thus, even if history were +silent on the head, we have reason to conclude, from the known situation +of society during those ages, that the commons were never admitted as +members of the legislative body. + +The executive power of the Anglo-Norman government was lodged in the +king. Besides the stated meetings of the national council at the +three great festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide,[*] he was +accustomed, on any sudden exigence to summon them together. He could at +his pleasure command the attendance of his barons and their vassals, +in which consisted the military force of the kingdom; and could employ +titem, during forty days, either in resisting a foreign enemy, or +reducing his rebellious subjects. And what was of great importance, the +whole judicial power was ultimately in his bands, and was exercised by +officers and ministers of his appointment. + +The general plan of the Anglo-Norman government was, that the court of +barony was appointed to decide such controversies as arose between the +several vassals or subjects of the same barony: the hundred court and +county court, which were still continued as during the Saxon times,[**] +to judge between the subjects of different baronies;[***] and the +curia regis, or king’s court, to give sentence among the barons +themselves.[****] + + [* Dugd. Orig. Jurid, p. 1.5 Spel. Gloss, in verbo + Parliamentum.] + + [** Ang. Sacra, vol. i., p. 334, etc. Dugd. Orig. + Jurid., p. 27, 29. Madox, Hist, of the Exch., p. 75, 76. + Spel. Gloss, in verbo Hundred:] + + [*** None of the feudal governments in Europe had + such institutions as the county courts, which the great + authority of the Conqueror still retained from the Saxon + customs. All the freeholders of the county, even the + greatest barons, were obliged to attend the sheriff in these + courts, and to assist them in the administration of justice. + By this means they received frequent and sensible + admonitions of their dependence on the king or supreme + magistrate: they formed a kind of community with their + fellow-barons and freeholders; they were often drawn from + their individual and independent state, peculiar to the + feudal system, and were made members of a political body: + and perhaps this institution of county courts in England has + had greater effects on the government than has yet been + distinctly pointed out by historians, or traced by + antiquaries. The barons were never able to free themselves + from this attendance on the sheriffs and itinerant justices + till the reign of Henry III.] + + [**** Brady, Tref. p. 143.] + +Circumstances which, being derived from a very extensive authority +assumed by the conqueror, contributed to increase the royal prerogative; +and, as long as the state was not disturbed by arms, reduced every order +of the community to some degree of dependence and subordination. + +The king himself often sat in his court, which always attended his +person:[**] he there heard causes and pronounced judgment;[***] and +though he was assisted by the advice of the other members, it is not to +be imagined that a decision could easily be obtained, contrary to his +inclination or opinion. In his absence the chief justiciary presided, +who was the first magistrate in the state, and a kind of viceroy, on +whom depended all the civil affairs of the kingdom.[****] The other +chief officers of the crown, the constable, mareschal, seneschal +chamberlain, treasurer, and chancellor,[*****] were members, together +with such feudal barons as thought proper to attend, and the barons of +the exchequer, who at first were also feudal barons appointed by the +king.[******] This court, which was sometimes called the king’s court, +sometimes the court of exchequer, judged in all causes, civil and +criminal, and comprehended the whole business which is now shared out +among four courts the chancery, the king’s bench, the common pleas, and +the exchequer.[*******] + +Such an accumulation of powers was itself a great source of authority, +and rendered the jurisdiction of the court formidable to all the +subjects; but the turn which judicial trials took soon after the +conquest, served still more to increase its authority, and to augment +the royal prerogatives. William, among the other violent changes +which he attempted and effected, had introduced the Norman law into +England,[********] had ordered all the pleadings to be in that tongue, +and had interwoven with the English jurisprudence all the maxims and +principles which the Normans, more advanced in cultivation and naturally +litigious, were accustomed to observe in the distribution of justice. + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 103.] + + [*** Bracton, lib. iii. cap. 9, sect. 1; cap. 10, + sect. 1.] + + [**** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Justiciarii.] + + [***** Madox, Hist. Exch. p. 27, 29, 83, 38, 41, + 54. The Normans introduced the practice of sealing charters; + and the chancellor’s office was to keep the great seal. + Ingulph. Dugd. p. 33, 34.] + + [****** Madox, Hist, of the Exch. p. 134, 135. + Gerv. Dorob. p, 1387,] + + [******* Madox. Hist. of the Exch. p. 56, 70.] + + [******** Dial, de Scac. p. 30, apud Madox, Hist, + of the Exch.] + +Law now became a science, which at first fell entirely into the hands of +the Normans; and which, even after it was communicated to the English, +required so much study and application, that the laity in those ignorant +ages were incapable of attaining it, and it was a mystery almost solely +confined to the clergy, and chiefly to the monks[*] The great officers +of the crown, and the feudal barons, who were military men, found +themselves unfit to penetrate into those obscurities; and though they +were entitled to a seat in the supreme judicature, the business of the +court was wholly managed by the chief justiciary and the law barons, who +were men appointed by the king, and entirely at his disposal.[**] This +natural course of things was forwarded by the multiplicity of business +which flowed into that court, and which daily augmented by the appeals +from all the subordinate judicatures of the kingdom. + +In the Saxon times, no appeal was received in the king’s court, except +upon the denial or delay of justice by the inferior courts; and the same +practice was still observed in most of the feudal kingdoms of Europe. +But the great power of the Conqueror established at first in England an +authority which the monarchs in France were not able to attain till the +reign of St. Lewis, who lived near two centuries after: he empowered his +court to receive appeals both from the courts of barony and the +county courts, and by that means brought the administration of justice +ultimately into the hands of the sovereign.[***] And, lest the expense +or trouble of a journey to court should discourage suitors, and make +them acquiesce in the decision of the inferior judicatures, itinerant +judges were afterwards established, who made their circuits throughout +the kingdom, and tried all causes that were brought before them.[****] + + [* Malms, lib. iv. p. 123.] + + [** Dugd. Orig. Jurid. p. 25.] + + [*** Madox, Hist. of the Exch, p.65. Glanv. lib. + xii. cap. 1, 7. LL. Hen. I. sect. 31, apud Wilkins, p. 248. + Fitz-Stephens, p. 36. Coke’s Comment, on the Statute of + Mulbridge, cap. 20.] + + [**** Madox, Hist, of the Exch. p. 83, 84, 100. + Gerv. Dorob. p. 1410 What made the Anglo-Norman barons more + readily submit to appeals from their court to the king’s + court of exchequer, was their being accustomed to like + appeals in Normandy to the ducal court of exchequer. See + Gilbert’s History of the Exchequer, p. 1, 2; though the + author thinks it doubtful whether the Norman court was not + rather copied from English. (p. 6.)] + +By this expedient the courts of barony were kept in awe: and if they +still preserved some influence, it was only from the apprehensions which +the vassals might entertain of disobliging their superior, by appealing +from his jurisdiction. But tha county courts were much discredited; and +as the freeholders were found ignorant of the intricate principles and +forms of the new law, the lawyers gradually brought all business +before the king’s judges, and abandoned the ancient simple and popular +judicature. After this manner the formalities of justice, which, though +they appear tedious and cumbersome, are found requisite to the support +of liberty in all monarchical governments, proved at first, by a +combination of causes, very advantageous to royal authority in England. + +The power of the Norman kings was also much supported by a great +revenue; and by a revenue that was fixed, perpetual, and independent +of the subject. The people, without betaking themselves to arms, had no +check upon the king, and no regular security for the due administration +of justice. In those days of violence, many instances of oppression +passed unheeded; and soon after were openly pleaded as precedents, which +it was unlawful to dispute or control. Princes and ministers were +too ignorant to be themselves sensible of the advantages attending +an equitable administration; and there was no established council or +assembly which could protect the people, and, by withdrawing supplies, +regularly and peaceably admonish the king of his duty, and insure the +execution of the laws. + +The first branch of the king’s stated revenue was the royal demesnes, or +crown lands, which were very extensive, and comprehended, beside a +great number of manors, most of the chief cities of the kingdom. It was +established by law, that the king could alienate no part of his demesne, +and that he himself, or his successor, could at any time resume such +donations:[*] but this law was never regularly observed; which happily +rendered, in time, the crown somewhat more dependent. + + [* [*Feta], lib. i. cap. 8, sect. 17; lib. iii. + cap. 6, sect. 3. Bracton, lib ii. cap. 5.] + +The rent of the crown-lands, considered merely as so much riches, was a +source of power: the influence of the king over his tenants and the +inhabitants of his towns increased this power: but the other numerous +branches of his revenue, besides supplying his treasury, gave, by their +very nature, a great latitude to arbitrary authority, and were a support +of the prerogative; as will appear from an enumeration of them. + +The king was never content with the stated rents, but levied heavy +talliages at pleasure on the inhabitants both of town and, country who +lived within his demesne. All bargains of sale, in order to prevent +theft, being prohibited, except in boroughs and public markets,[*] he +pretended to exact tolls on all goods whist were there sold.[**] He +seized two hogsheads, one before and one behind the mast, from every +vessel that imported wine. All goods paid to his customs a proportional +part of their value:[***] passage over bridges and on rivers was loaded +with tolls at pleasure:[****] and though the boroughs by degrees bought +the liberty of farming these impositions, yet the revenue profited +by these bargains, new sums were often exacted for the renewal and +confirmation of their Charters,[*****] and the people were thus held in +perpetual dependence. + +Such was the situation of the inhabitants within the royal demesnes. But +the possessors of land, or the military tenants, though they were better +protected, both by law and by the great privilege of carrying arms, +were, from the nature of their tenures, much exposed to the inroads of +power, and possessed not what we should esteem in our age a very durable +security. The Conqueror ordained that the barons should be obliged to +pay nothing beyond their stated services,[******] except a reasonable +aid to ransom his person if he were taken in war, to make his eldest +son a knight, and to marry his eldest daughter. What should on these +occasions be deemed a reasonable aid, was not determined; and the +demands of the crown were so far discretionary. + +The king could require in war the personal attendance of his vassals, +that is, of almost all the landed proprietors; and if they declined the +service, they were obliged to pay him a composition in money, which +was called a scutage. The sum was, during some reigns, precarious and +uncertain; it was sometimes levied without allowing the vassal the +liberty of personal service;[*******] and it was a usual artifice of the +king’s to pretend an expedition, that he might be entitled to levy the +scutage from his military tenants. + + [* LL. Will. i. cap. 61.] + + [** Madox, p. 530.] + + [*** Madox, p. 529. This author says a fifteenth. + But it is not easy to reconcile this account to other + authorities.] + + [**** Madox, p. 529.] + + [***** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 275, 276, 277, + etc.] + + [****** LL. Will. Conq. sect. 55.] + + [******* Gervase de Tilbury, p. 25.] + +Danegelt was another species of land-tax levied by the early Norman +kings, arbitrarily, and contrary to the laws of the Conqueror.[*] +Moneyage was also a general land-tax of the same nature, levied by the +two first Norman kings, and abolished by the charter of Henry I.[**] It +was a shilling paid every three years by each hearth, to induce the king +not to use his prerogative in debasing the coin. Indeed, it appears from +that charter, that though the Conqueror had granted his military tenants +an immunity from all taxes and talliages, he and his son William had +never thought themselves bound to observe that rule, but had levied +impositions at pleasure on all the landed estates of the kingdom. The +utmost that Henry grants is, that the land cultivated by the military +tenant himself shall not be so burdened; but he reserves the power of +taxing the farmers: and as it is known that Henry’s charter was never +observed in any one article, we may be assured that this prince and his +successors retracted even this small indulgence, and levied arbitrary +impositions on all the lands of all their subjects. These taxes were +sometimes very heavy; since Malmsbury tells us that, in the reign of +William Rufus, the farmers, on account of them, abandoned tillage, and a +famine ensued.[***] + + [* Madox, Hist, of the Exch. p. 475.] + + [** M. Paris, p. 38.] + + [*** So also Chron. Abb. St. Petri de Burgo, p. + 55. Knyghton, p. 2366.] + +The escheats were a great branch both of power and of revenue, +especially during the first reigns after the conquest. In default of +posterity from the first baron, his land reverted to the crown, and +continually augmented the king’s possessions. The prince had indeed by +law a power of alienating these escheats; but by this means he had an +opportunity of establishing the fortunes of his friends and servants, +and thereby enlarging his authority. Sometimes he retained them in his +own hands; and they were gradually confounded with the royal demesnes, +and became difficult to be distinguished from them. This confusion is +probably the reason why the king acquired the right of alienating his +demesnes. + +But besides escheats from default of heirs, those which ensued from +crimes or breach of duty towards the superior lord were frequent in +ancient times. If the vassal, being thrice summoned to attend his +superior’s court, and do fealty, neglected or refused obedience, he +forfeited all title to his land.[*] If he denied his tenure, or refused +his service, he was exposed to the same penalty.[**] If he sold his +estate without license from his lord,[***] or if he sold it upon any +other tenure or title than that by which he himself held it,[****] +he lost all right to it. The adhering to his lord’s enemies,[*****] +deserting him in war,[******] betraying his secrets,[*******] debauching +his wife or his near relations,[********] or even using indecent +freedoms with them,[*********] might be punished by forfeiture. The +higher crimes, rapes, robbery, murder, arson, etc., were called felony; +and being interpreted want of fidelity to his lord, made him lose his +fief.[**********] Even where the felon was vassal to a baron, though his +immediate lord enjoyed the forfeiture, the king might retain possession +of his estate during a twelvemonth, and had the right of spoiling +and destroying it, unless the baron paid him a reasonable +composition.[***********] We have not here enumerated all the species +of felonies, or of crimes by which forfeiture was incurred: we have said +enough to prove that the possession of feudal property was anciently +somewhat precarious, and that the primary idea was never lost, of its +being a kind of fee or benefice. + + [* Hottom. de Feud. Disp. cap. 38, col. 886.] + + [** Lib. Feud. lib. iii. tit. 1; lib. iv. tit. 21, + 39.] + + [*** Lib. Feud. lib. i. tit. 21.] + + [**** Lib. Feud. lib. iv. tit. 44.] + + [***** Lib. Feud. lib. iii. tit. 1.] + + [****** Lib. Feud. lib. iv. tit. 14, 21] + + [******* Lib. Feud. lib. iv. tit. 14.] + + [******** Lib. Feud. lib. i. tit. 14, 21.] + + [********* Lib. Feud. lib. i. tit. 1.] + + [********** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Felonia] + + [*********** Spel. Glos. Glanville, lib. vii. cap. + 17.] + +When a baron died, the king immediately took possession of the estate; +and the heir, before he recovered his right, was obliged to make +application to the crown, and desire that he might be admitted to do +homage for his land, and pay a composition to the king. This composition +was not at first fixed by law, at least by practice: the king was often +exorbitant in his demands, and kept possession of the land till they +were complied with. + +If the heir were a minor, the king retained the whole profit of the +estate till his majority; and might grant what sum he thought proper for +the education and maintenance of the young baron. This practice was also +founded on the notion that a fief was a benefice, and that, while the +heir could not perform his military services, the revenue devolved to +the superior, who employed another in his stead. It is obvious that a +great proportion of the landed property must, by means of this device, +be continually in the hands of the prince, and that all the noble +familius were thereby held in perpetual dependence. When the king +granted the wardship of a rich heir to any one, he had the opportunity +of enriching a favorite or minister: if he sold it, he thereby levied +a considerable sum of money. Simon de Mountfort paid Henry III. ten +thousand marks, an immense sum in those days, for the wardship of +Gilbert de Umfreville.[*] Geoffrey de Mandeville paid to the same prince +the sum of twenty thousand marks, that he might marry Isabel, countess +of Glocester, and possess all her lands and knights’ fees. This sum +would be equivalent to three hundred thousand, perhaps four hundred +thousand pounds in our time.[**] + +If the heir were a female, the king was entitled to offer her any +husband of her rank he thought proper; and if she refused him, she +forfeited her land. Even a male heir could not marry without the royal +consent; and it was usual for men to pay large sums for the liberty of +making their own choice in marriage.[**] No man could dispose of his +land, either by sale or will, without the consent of his superior. The +possessor was never considered as full proprietor; he was still a kind +of beneficiary; and could not oblige his superior to accept of any +vassal that was not agreeable to him. + +Fines, amerciaments, and oblatas, as they were called, were another +considerable branch of the royal power and revenue. The ancient records +of the exchequer, which are still preserved, give surprising accounts of +the numerous fines anc amerciaments levied in those days,[****] and of +the strange inventions fallen upon to exact money from the subject. + + [* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 223.] + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 322.] + + [*** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 320.] + + [**** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 272.] + +It appears that the ancient kings of England put themselves entirely on +the footing of the barbarous Eastern princes, whom no man must approach +without a present, who sell all their good offices, and who intrude +themselves into every business, that they may have a pretence for +extorting money. Even justice was avowedly bought and sold; the king’s +court itself, though the supreme judicature of the kingdom, was open +to none that brought not presents to the king; the bribes given for the +expedition, delay,[*] suspension, and, doubtless, for the perversion of +justice, were entered in the public registers of the royal revenue, and +remain as monuments of the perpetual iniquity and tyranny of the times. +The barons of the exchequer, for instance, the first nobility of the +kingdom, were not ashamed to insert, as an article in their records, +that the county of Norfolk paid a sum that they might be fairly dealt +with;[**] the borough of Yarmouth, that the king’s charters, which they +have for their liberties, might not be violated;[***] Richard, son +of Gilbert, for the king’s helping him to recover his debt from the +Jews;[****] Serlo, son of Terlavaston, that he might be permitted to +make his defence, in case he were accused of a certain homicide;[*****] +Waiter de Burton, for free law, if accused of wounding another;[******] +Robert de Essart, for having an Liquest to find whether Roger the +butcher, and Wace and Humphrey, accused him of robbery and theft out +of envy and ill will, or not;[*******] William Buhurst, for having an +inquest to find whether he were accused of the death of one Goodwin +out of ill will, or for just cause.[********] I have selected these few +instances from a great number of a like kind, which Madox had selected +from a still greater number, preserved in the ancient rolls of the +exchequer.[*********] + +Sometimes the party litigant offered the king a certain portion, a half, +a third, a fourth, payable out of the debts which he, as the executor +of justice, should assist him in recovering.[**********] Theophania de +Westland agreed to pay the half of two hundred and twelve marks, that +she might recover that sum against James de Fughleston;[*] Solomon the +Jew engaged to pay one mark out of every seven that he should recover +against Hugh dè la Hose;[************] Nicholas Morrel promised to pay +sixty pounds, that the earl of Flanders might be distrained to pay him +three hundred and forty-three pounds, which the earl had taken from +him; and these sixty pounds were to be paid out of the first money that +Nicholas should recover from the earl.[*************] + + [* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 274, 309.] + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 295] + + [*** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 295.] + + [**** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 296. He paid + two hundred marks, a great sum in those days.] + + [***** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 296.] + + [****** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 296.] + + [******* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p 298.] + + [******** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 302.] + + [********* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. chap. xii.] + + [********** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 311.] + + [*********** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 311.] + + [************ Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 79, + 312.] + + [************* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 312.] + +As the king assumed the entire power over trade, he was to be paid for a +permission to exercise commerce or industry of any kind.[**] Hugh Oisel +paid four hundred marks for liberty to trade in England:[***] Nigel de +Havene gave fifty marks for the partnership in merchandise which he +had with Gervase de Hanton:[****] the men of Worcester paid one hundred +shillings, that they might have the liberty of selling and buying +dyed cloth, as formerly;[*****] several other towns paid for a like +liberty.[******] The commerce indeed of the kingdom was so much under +the control of the king, that he erected guilds, corporations, and +monopolies wherever he pleased; and levied sums for these exclusive +privileges.[*******] + +There were no profits so small as to be below the king’s attention. +Henry, son of Arthur, gave ten dogs, to have a recognition against +the countess of Copland for one knight’s fee.[********] Roger, son of +Nicholas, gave twenty lampreys and twenty shads for an inquest to find +whether Gilbert, son of Alured, gave to Roger two hundred muttons to +obtain his confirmation for certain lands, or whether Roger took +them from him by violence;[*********] Geoffrey Fitz-Pierre, the chief +justiciary, gave two good Norway hawks, that Walter le Madine might +have leave to export a hundred weight of cheese out ot the king’s +dominions.[**********] + +It is really amusing to remark the strange business in which the king +sometimes interfered, and never without a present; the wife of Hugh +de Nevile gave the king two hundred hens, that she might lie with her +husband one night;[***********] and she brought with her two sureties, +who answered each for a hundred hens. + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 323.] + + [*** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 323.] + + [**** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 323.] + + [***** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 324.] + + [****** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 324.] + + [******* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 232, 233, + etc.] + + [******** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 298.] + + [********* Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 305.] + + [*0: Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 325.] + + [*1: Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 326 ] + + [*2: Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p 326] + +It is probable that her husband was a prisoner, which debarred her from +having access to him. The abbot of Rucford paid ten marks for leave +to erect houses and place men upon his land near Welhang, in order to +secure his wood there from being stolen; Hugh, archdeacon of Wells, gave +one tun of wine for leave to carry six hundred summs of corn whither he +would; Peter de Perariis gave twenty marks for leave to salt fishes as +Peter Chevalier used to do. + +It was usual to pay high fines, in order to gain the king’s good will +or mitigate his anger. In the reign of Henry II., Gilbert, the son of +Fergus, fines in nine hundred and nineteen pounds nine shillings, to +obtain that prince’s favor; William de Chataignes, a thousand marks, +that he would remit his displeasure. In the reign of Henry III., the +city of London fines in no less a sum than twenty thousand pounds on the +same account. + +The king’s protection and good offices of every kind were bought and +sold. Robert Grislet paid twenty marks of silver, that the king would +help him against the earl of Mortaigne in a certain plea: Robert de +Cundet gave thirty marks of silver, that the king would bring him to an +accord with the bishop of Lincoln; Ralph de Bréckham gave a hawk, that +the king would protect him; and this is a very frequent reason for +payments; John, son of Ordgar, gave a Norway hawk, to have the king’s +request to the king of Norway to let him have his brother Godard’s +chattels; Richard de Neville gave twenty palfreys to obtain the king’s +request to Isolda Bisset, that she should take him for a husband; Roger +Fitz-Walter gave three good palfreys to have the king’s letter to Roger +Bertram’s mother, that she should marry him; Eling the dean paid one +hundred marks, that his whore and his children might be let out upon +bail; the bishop of Winchester gave one tun of good wine for his not +putting the king in mind to give a girdle to the countess of Albemarle; +Robert de Veaux gave five of the best palfreys, that the king would +hold his tongue about Henry Pinel’s wife. There are in the records of +exchequer many other singular instances of a like nature.[*] It will, +however, be just to remark, that the same ridiculous practices and +dangerous abuses prevailed in Normandy, and probably in all the other +states of Europe.[**] England was not in this respect more barbarous +than its neighbors. + +These iniquitous practices of the Norman kings were so well known, that, +on the death of Hugh Bigod, in the reign of Henry II., the best and most +just of these princes, the eldest son and the widow of this nobleman +came to court, and strove, by offering large presents to the king, each +of them to acquire possession of that rich inheritance. The king was so +equitable as to order the cause to be tried by the great council! +But, in the mean time, he seized all the money and treasure of the +deceased,[***] Peter, of Blois, a judicious, and even an elegant writer, +for that age, gives a pathetic description of the reign of Henry; and he +scruples not to complain to the king himself of these abuses.[****] + + [* We shall gratify the reader’s curiosity by + subjoining a few more instances from Madox, p. 332. Hugh + Oisel was to give the king two robes of a good green color, + to have the king’s letters patent to the merchants of + Flanders with a request to render him one thousand marks, + which he lost in Flanders. The abbot of Hyde paid thirty + marks, to have the king’s letters of request to the + archbishop of Canterbury, to remove certain monks that were + against the abbot. Roger de Trihanton paid twenty marks and + a palfrey, to have the king’s request to Richard de + Umfreville to give him his sister to wife, and to the sister + that she would accept of him for a husband; William de + Cheveringworth paid five marks, to have the king’s letter to + the abbot of Perfore, to let him enjoy peaceably his tithes + as formerly; Matthew de Hereford, clerk, paid ten marks for + a letter of request to the bishop of Llandaff, to let him + enjoy peaceably his church of Schenfrith; Andrew Neuhm gave + three Flemish caps, for the king’s request to the prior of + Chikesand, for performance of an agreement made between + them; Henry de Fontibus gave a Lombardy horse of value, to + have the king’s request to Henry Fitz-Hervey, that he would + give him his daughter to wife; Roger, son of Nicholas, + promised all the lampreys he could get, to have the king’s + request to Earl William Mareschal, that he would grant him + the manor of Langeford at Ferm. The burgesses of Glocester + promised three hundred lampreys, that they might not be + distrained to find the prisoners of Poictou with + necessaries, unless they pleased. Madox, p. 352. Jordan, sen + of Reginald, paid twenty marks, to have the king’s request + to William Panier, that he would grant him the land of Mill + Nierenuit, and the custody of his heirs; and if Jordan + obtained the same, he was to pay the twenty marks, otherwise + not. Madox, p. 333,] + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p, 359.] + + [*** Benedict. Abbas, p. 180, 181.] + + [**** Petri Bless. Epist. 95, apud Bibl. Patrum, + tom. 24, p. 2014.] + +We may judge what the case would be under the government of worse +princes. The articles of inquiry concerning the conduct of sheriffs, +which Henry promulgated in 1170, show the great power as well as the +licentiousness of these officers.[**] + +Amerciaments or fines for crimes and trespasses were an ether +considerable branch of the royal revenue.[***] Most crimes were atoned +for by money; the fines imposed were not limited by any rule or statute; +and frequently occasioned the total ruin of the person, even for the +slightest trespasses. The forest laws, particularly, were a great source +of oppression The king possessed sixty-eight forests, thirteen +chases, and seven hundred and eighty-one parks, in different parts of +England;[****] and, considering the extreme passion of the English and +Normans for hunting, these were so many snares laid for the people, by +which they were allured into trespasses and brought within the reach of +arbitrary and rigorous laws, which the king had thought proper to enact +by his own authority. + +But the most barefaced acts of tyranny and oppression were practised +against the Jews, who were entirely out of the protection of law, were +extremely odious from the bigotry of the people, and were abandoned to +the immeasurable rapacity of the king and his ministers. Besides many +other indignities to which they were continually exposed, it appears +that they were once all thrown into prison, and the sum of sixty-six +thousand marks exacted for their liberty:[*****] at another time, Isaac +the Jew paid, alone, five thousand one hundred marks[******] Brim, three +thousand marks;[*******] Jurnet, two thousand; Bennet, five hundred: at +another, Licorica, widow of David the Jew, of Oxford, was required to +pay six thousand marks; and she was delivered over to six of the +richest and discreetest Jews in England, who were to answer for the +sum.[********] + + [** Hoveden, Chron. Gerv. p. 1410.] + + [*** Madox, chap. xiv.] + + [**** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Forests.] + + [***** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 151. This + happened in the reign of King John.] + + [****** Madox, Hist. of the Exch, p. 151] + + [******* Madox, Hist. of the Exch, p. 153.] + + [******** Madox, Hist. of the Exch, p, 168.] + +Henry III borrowed five thousand marks from the earl of Cornwall; and +for his repayment consigned over to him all the Jews in England. The +revenue arising from exactions upon this nation was so considerable, +that there was a particular court of exchequer set apart for managing +it. + +We may judge concerning the low state of commerce among the English, +when the Jews, notwithstanding these oppressions, could still find +their account in trading among them, and lending them money. And as +the improvements of agriculture were also much checked by the immense +possessions of the nobility, by the disorders of the times, and by the +precarious state of feudal property, it appears that industry of no kind +could then have place in the kingdom. + +It is asserted by Sir Harry Spelman,[*] as an undoubted truth, that, +during the reigns of the first Norman princes, every edict of the king, +issued with the consent of his privy council, had the full force of +law. But the barons surely were not so passive as to intrust a power, +entirely arbitrary and despotic, into the hands of the sovereign. It +only appears, that the constitution had not fixed any precise boundaries +to the royal power; that the right of issuing proclamations on any +emergence, and of exacting obedience to them,--a right which was always +supposed inherent in the crown,--is very difficult to be distinguished +from a legislative authority; that the extreme imperfection of the +ancient laws, and the sudden exigencies which often occurred in such +turbulent governments, obliged the prince to exert frequently the +latent powers of his prerogative; that he naturally proceeded, from the +acquiescence of the people, to assume, in many particulars of moment, +an authority from which he had excluded himself by express statutes, +charters, or concessions, and which was, in the main, repugnant to the +general genius of the constitution; and that the lives; the personal +liberty, and the properties of all his subjects were less secured by law +against the exertion of his arbitrary authority than by the independent +power and private connections of each individual. + + [* We learn from the extracts given us of Domesday + by Brady in his Treatise of Boroughs, that almost all the + boroughs of England had suffered in the shock of the + conquest, and had extremely decayed between the death of the + Confessor and the time when Domesday was framed. * Gross. in + verb. Justicium Dei. The author of the Miroir des Justices + complains that ordinances are only made by the king and his + clerks, and by aliens and others, who dare not contradict + the king, but study to please him. Whence, he concludes, + laws are oftener dictated by will than founded on right.] + +It appears from the Great Charter itself, that not only John, a +tyrannical prince, and Richard, a violent one, but their father, Henry, +under whose reign the prevalence of gross abuses is the least to be +suspected, were accustomed, from their sole authority, without process +of law, to imprison, banish, and attaint the freemen of their kingdom. + +A great baron, in ancient times, considered himself as a kind of +sovereign within his territory; and was attended by courtiers and +dependants more zealously attached to him than the ministers of state +and the great officers were commonly o their sovereign. He often +maintained in his court the parade of royalty, by establishing +a justiciary, constable, mareschal, chamberlain, seneschal, and +chancellor, and assigning to each of these officers a separate +province and command He was usually very assiduous in exercising his +jurisdiction, and took such delight in that image of sovereignty, that +it was found necessary to restrain his activity, and prohibit him by law +from holding courts too frequently.[*] It is not to be doubted but the +example set him by the prince, of a mercenary and sordid extortion, +would be faithfully copied; and that all his good and bad offices, his +justice and injustice, were equally put to sale. He had the power, with +the king’s consent, to exact talliages even from the free citizens who +lived within his barony; and as his necessities made him rapacious, his +authority was usually found to be more oppressive and tyrannical than +that of the sovereign.[**] He was ever engaged in hereditary or +personal animosities or confederacies with his neighbors, and often +gave protection to all desperate adventurers and criminals, who could be +useful in serving his violent purposes. He was able alone, in times +of tranquillity, to obstruct the execution of justice within his +territories; and by combining with a few malecontent barons of high rank +and power, he could throw the state into convulsions. And, on the whole, +though the royal authority was confined within bounds, and often within +very narrow ones, yet the check was Irregular, and frequently the source +of great disorders; nor was it derived from the liberty of the people, +but from the military power of many petty tyrants, who were equally +dangerous to the prince and oppressive to the subject. + + [* Dugd. Jurid. Orig. p. 26.] + + [** Madox, Hist. of the Exch. p. 520.] + +The power of the church was another rampart against royal authority; but +this defence was also the cause of many mischiefs and inconveniencies. +The dignified clergy, perhaps, were not so prone to immediate violence +as the barons; but as they pretended to a total independence on the +state, and could always cover themselves with the appearances of +religion, they proved, in one respect, an obstruction to the settlement +of the kingdom, and to the regular execution of the laws. The policy +of the Conqueror was in this particular liable to some exception. He +augmented the superstitious veneration for Rome, to which that age was +so much inclined, and he broke those bands of connection which, in the +Saxon times, had preserved a union between the lay and the clerical +orders. He prohibited the bishops from sitting in the county courts; he +allowed ecclesiastical causes to be tried in spiritual courts only;[**] +and he so much exalted the power of the clergy, that of sixty thousand +two hundred and fifteen knights’ fees, into which he divided England, +he placed no less than twenty-eight thousand and fifteen under the +church.[**] + +The right of primogeniture was introduced with the feudal law; an +institution which is hurtful by producing and maintaining an unequal +division of private propeny; but is advantageous in another respect, by +accustoming the people to a preference in favor of the eldest son, and +thereby preventing a partition or disputed succession in the monarchy. +The Normans introduced the use of surnames, which tend to preserve the +knowledge of families and pedigrees. They abolished none of the old, +absurd methods of trial by the cross or ordeal; and they added a new +absurdity--the trial by single combat--[***] which became a regular +part of jurisprudence, and was conducted with all the order, method, +devotion, and solemnity imaginable.[****] The ideas of chivalry also +seem to have been imported by the Normans: no traces of those fantastic +notions are to be found among the plain and rustic Saxons. + + [* Char. Will, apud Wilkms, p. 230. Spel. Concil. + vol. ii p. 14.] + + [** Spel. Gloss, in verb. Manus mortua. We are not + to imagine, as some have done, that the church possessed + lands in this proportion, but only that they and their + vassals enjoyed such a proportionable part of the landed + property.] + + [*** LL. Will. cap. 68.] + + [**** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Campus. The last + instance of these duels was in the 16th of Eliz. So long did + that absurdity remain.] + +The feudal institutions, by raising the military tenants to a kind of +sovereign dignity, by rendering personal strength and valor requisite, +and by making every knight and baron his own protector and avenger, +begat that martial pride and sense of honor which, being cultivated +and embellished by the poets and romance writers of the age, ended in +chivalry. The virtuous knight fought not only in his own quarrel, but in +that of the innocent, of the helpless, and, above all, of the fair, whom +he supposed to be forever under the guardianship of his valiant arm. +The uncourteous knight who, from his castle, exercised robbery on +travellers, and committed violence on virgins, was the object of his +perpetual indignation; and he put him to death, without scruple, or +trial, or appeal, wherever he met with him. The great independence +of men made personal honor and fidelity the chief tie among them, +and rendered it the capital virtue of every true knight, or genuine +professor of chivalry. The solemnities of single combat, as established +by law, banished the notion of every thing unfair or unequal in +rencounters, and maintained an appearance of courtesy between the +combatants till the moment of their engagement. The credulity of the +age grafted on this stock the notion of giants, enchanters, dragons, +spells,[*] and a thousand wonders, which still multiplied during the +times of the crusades; when men, returning from so great a distance, +used the liberty of imposing every fiction on their believing audience. +These ideas of chivalry infected the writings, conversation, and +behavior of men, during some ages; and even after they were, in a great +measure, banished by the revival of learning, they left modern gallantry +and the point of honor, which still maintain their influence, and are +the genuine off-spring of those ancient affectations. + + [* In all legal single combats, it was part of the + champion’s oath, that he carried not about him any herb, + spell, or enchantment, by which he might procure victory. + Dugd. Orig. Jurid. p. 82.] + +The concession of the Great Charter, or rather its full establishment, +(for there was a considerable interval of time between the one and +the other,) gave rise, by degrees, to a new species of government, and +introduced some order and justice into the administration. The ensuing +scenes of our history are therefore somewhat different from the +preceding. Yet the Great Charter contained no establishment of new +courts magistrates, or senates, nor abolition of the old. It introduced +no new distribution of the powers of the common-wealth, and no +innovation in the political or public law of the kingdom. It only +guarded, and that merely by verbal clauses, against such tyrannical +practices as are incompatible with civilized government, and, if +they become very frequent, are incompatible with all government. +The barbarous license of the kings, and perhaps of the nobles, was +thenceforth somewhat more restrained: men acquired some more security +for their properties and their liberties; and government approached a +little nearer to that end for which it was originally instituted--the +distribution of justice, and the equal protection of the citizens. Acts +of violence and iniquity in the crown, which before were only deemed +injurious to individuals, and were hazardous chiefly in proportion to +the number, power, and dignity of the persons affected by them, were now +regarded, in some degree, as public injuries, and as infringements of a +charter calculated for general security. And thus the establishment of +the Great Charter, without seeming anywise to innovate in the +distribution of political power, became a kind of epoch in the +constitution. + + + + +NOTES. + + +[Footnote 1: NOTE A, p. 9. This question has been disputed With as great +zeal, and even acrimony, between the Scotch and Irish antiquaries, as if +the honor of their respective countries were the most deeply concerned +in the decision. We shall not enter into any detail on so uninteresting +a subject, but shall propose our opinion in a few words. It appears more +than probable, from the similitude of language and manners, that Britain +either was originally peopled, or was subdued, by the migration of +inhabitants from Gaul, and Ireland from Britain: the position of the +several countries is an additional reason that favors this conclusion. +It appears also probable, that the migrations of that colony of Gauls +or Celts, who peopled or subdued Ireland, was originally made from the +north-west parts of Britain; and this conjecture (if it do not merit +a higher name) is founded both on the Irish language which is a very +different dialect from the Welsh, and from the language anciently +spoken in South Britain, and on the vicinity of Lancashire, Cumberland, +Galloway, and Argyleshire, to that island. These events, as they passed +along before the age of history and records, must be known by reasoning +alone, which, in this case, seems to be pretty satisfactory. Caesar and +Tacitus, not to mention a multitude of other Greek and Roman authors, +were guided by like inferences. But, besides these primitive facts, which +lie in a very remote antiquity, it is a matter of positive and undoubted +testimony, that the Roman province of Britain, during the time of the +lower empire, was much infested by bands of robbers or pirates, whom +the provincial Britons called Scots or Scuits; a name which was probably +used as a term of reproach, and which these bandits themselves did not +acknowledge or assume. We may infer, from two passages in Claudian, +and from one in Orosius, and another in Isidore, that the chief seat +of these Scots was in Ireland. That some part ot the Irish freebooters +migrated back to the north-west parts of Britain, whence their ancestors +had probably been derived in a more remote age, is positively asserted +by Bede, and implied in Gildas. I grant, that neither Bede nor Gildas +are Caesars or Tacituses; but such as they are, they remain the sole +testimony on the subject, and therefore must be relied on for want of +better: happily, the frivolousness of the question corresponds to the +weakness of the authorities. Not to mention, that, if any part of the +traditional history of a barbarous people can be relied on, it is the +genealogy of nations, and even sometimes that of families. It is in vain +to argue against these facts, from the supposed warlike disposition of +the Highlanders, and unwarlike of the ancient Irish. Those arguments are +still much weaker than the authorities. Nations change very quickly +in these particulars. The Britons were unable to resist the Picts and +Scots, and invited over the Saxons for their defence, who repelled those +invaders; yet the same Britons valiantly resisted, for one hundred +and fifty years, not only this victorious band of Saxons, but infinite +numbers more, who poured in upon them from all quarters. Robert Bruce, +in 1322, made a peace, in which England, after many defeats, was +constrained to acknowledge the independence of his country; yet in no +more distant period than ten years after, Scotland was totally subdued +by a small handful of English, led by a few private noblemen. All +history is full of such events. The Irish Scots, in the course of two or +three centuries, might find time and opportunities sufficient to settle +in North Britain, though we can neither assign the period nor causes +of that revolution. Their barbarous manner of life rendered them much +fitter than the Romans for subduing these mountaineers. And, in a +word, it is clear, from the language of the two countries, that the +Highlanders and the Irish are the same people, and that the one are a +colony from the other. We have positive evidence, which, though from +neutral persons, is not perhaps the best that may be wished for, that +the former, in the third or fourth century, sprang from the latter; we +have no evidence at all that the latter sprang from the former. I shall +add, that the name of Erse, or Irish, given by the low country Scots +to the language of the Scotch Highlanders, is a certain proof of the +traditional opinion delivered from father to son, that the latter people +came originally from Ireland.] + + +[Footnote 2: NOTE B, p. 90. There is a seeming contradiction in ancient +historians with regard to some circumstances in the story of Edwy and +Elgiva. It is agreed, that this prince had a violent passion for his +second or third cousin, Elgiva, whom he married, though within the +degrees prohibited by the canons. It is also agreed, that he was +dragged from a lady on the day of his coronation, and that the lady was +afterwards treated with the singular barbarity above mentioned. The only +difference is, that Osborne and some others call her his strumpet, not +his wife, as she is said to be by Malmsbury. But this difference is +easily reconciled for if Edwy married her contrary to the canons, the +monks would be sure to deny her to be his wife, and would insist that +she could be nothing but his strumpet: so that, on the whole, we may +esteem this representation of the matter as certain; at least, as by far +the most probable. If Edwy had only kept a mistress, it is well known, +that there are methods of accommodation with the church, which would +have prevented the clergy from proceeding to such extremities against +him: but his marriage, contrary to the canons, was an insult on their +authority, and called for their highest resentment.] + + +[Footnote 3: NOTE C, p. 91. Many of the English historians make Edgar’s +ships amount to an extravagant number, to three thousand or three +thousand six hundred. See Hoveden, p. 426. Flor. Wigorn, p. 607. Abbas +Rieval, p. 360. Brompton (p. 869) says that Edgar had four thousand +vessels. How can these accounts be reconciled to probability, and to +the state of the navy in the time of Alfred? W. Thorne makes the whole +number amount only to three hundred, which is more probable. The fleet +of Ethelred, Edgar’s son, must have been short of a thousand ships; yet +the Saxon Chronicle (p. 137) says it was the greatest navy that ever had +been seen in England.] + + +[Footnote 4: NOTE D, p. 109. Almost all the ancient historians speak of +this massacre of the Danes as if it had been universal, and as if every +individual of that nation throughout England had been put to death. +But the Danes were almost the sole inhabitants in the kingdoms of +Northumberland and East Anglia, and were very numerous in Mercia. This +representation, therefore, of the matter is absolutely impossible. Great +resistance must have been made, and violent wars ensued; which was not +the case. This account given by Wallingford, though he stands single, +must be admitted as the only true one. We are told that the name +Lurdane, Lord Dane, for an idle, lazy fellow, who lives at other +people’s expense, came from the conduct of the Danes who were put to +death. But the English princes had been entirely masters for several +generations, and only supported a military corps of that nation. It +seems probable, therefore, that it was these Danes only that were put to +death.] + + +[Footnote 5: NOTE E, p. 129. The ingenious author of the article Godwin, +in the Biographia Britannica, has endeavored to clear the memory of +that nobleman, upon the supposition that all the English annals had been +falsified by the Norman historians after the conquest. But that this +supposition has not much foundation appears hence, that almost all these +historians have given a very good character of his son Harold, whom it +was much more the interest of the Norman cause to blacken.] + + +[Footnote 6: Note F, p. 137. The whole story of the transactions between +Edward, Harold, and the duke of Normandy, is told so differently by the +ancient writers, that there are few important passages of the English +history liable to so great uncertainty. I have followed the account +which appeared to me the most consistent and probable. It does not seem +likely that Edward ever executed a will in the duke’s favor; much less +that he got it ratified by the states of the kingdom, as is affirmed by +some. The will would have been known to all, and would have been pro-* +*duced by the Conqueror, to whom it gave so plausible, and really so +just, a title; but the doubtful and ambiguous manner in which he seems +always to have mentioned it, proves that he could only plead the known +intentions of that monarch in his favor, which he was desirous to call +a will. There is indeed a charter of the Conqueror preserved by Dr. +Hickes, (vol. i.) where he calls himself “rex hereditarius,” meaning +heir by will; but a prince possessed of so much power, and attended with +so much success, may employ what pretence he pleases; it is sufficient +to refute his pretences to observe, that there is a great difference +and variation among historians with regard to a point which, had it been +real, must have been agreed upon by all of them. + +Again, some historians, particularly Malmsbury and Matthew of +Westminster, affirm that Harold had no intention of going over to +Normandy, but that taking the air in a pleasure boat on the coast, he +was driven over by stress of weather to the territories of Guy, count of +Ponthieu: but besides that this story is not probable in itself, and is +contradicted by most of the ancient historians, it is contradicted by a +very curious and authentic monument lately discovered. It is a tapestry, +preserved in the ducal palace of Rouen, and supposed to have been +wrought by orders of Matilda, wife to the emperor; at least it is +of very great antiquity. Harold is there represented as taking his +departure from King Edward, in execution of some commission, and +mounting his vessel with a great train. The design of redeeming his +brother and nephew, who were hostages, is the most likely cause that can +be assigned; and is accordingly mentioned by Eadmer, Hoveden, Brompton, +and Simeon of Durham. For a further account of this piece of tapestry, +see Histoire de l’Académie de Littérature, tom. ix. p. 535.] + + +[Footnote 7: NOTE G, p. 155. It appears from the ancient translations of +the Saxon annals and laws, and from King Alfred’s translation of +Bede, as well as from all the ancient historians, that comes in Latin, +alderman in Saxon, and earl in Dano-Saxon, were quite synonymous. There +is only a clause in a law of King Athetetan’s, (see Spel. Concil. p. +406,) which has stumbled some antiquaries, and has made them imagine +that an earl was superior to an alderman. The weregild, or the price of +an earl’s blood, is there fixed at fifteen thousand thrimsas, equal to +that of an archbishop; whereas that of a bishop and alderman is only +eight thousand thrimsas. To solve this difficulty, we must have recourse +to Selden’s conjecture, (see his Titles of Honor, chap. v. p. 603, 604,) +that the term of earl was in the age of Athelstan just beginning to be +in use in England, and stood at that time for the atheling or prince of +the blood, heir to the crown. This he confirms by a law of Canute, sect. +55, where an atheling and an archbishop are put upon the same footing. +In another law of the same Athelstan, the weregild of the prince or +atheling, is said to be fifteen thousand thrimsas. See Wilkins, p. 71 He +is therefore the same who is called earl in the former law.] + + +[Footnote 8: NOTE H, p. 194. There is a paper or record of the family +of Slarneborne, which pretends that that family, which was Saxon, was +restored upon proving their innocence, as well as other Saxon families +which were in the same situation. Though this paper was able to impose +on such great antiquaries as Spelman (see Gloss, in verbo Drenges) and +Dugdale, (see Baron, vol. i. p. 118,) it is proved by Dr. Brady (see +Answer to Petyt, p. 11, 12) to have been a forgery; and is allowed as +such by Tyrrel, though a pertinacious defender of his party notions: +(see his history, vol. ii. introd. p. 51, 73.) Ingulf (p. 70) tells us, +that very early Hereward, though absent during the time of the conquest, +was turned out of all his estate, and could not obtain redress, William +even plundered the monasteries. Flor. Wigorn. p. 636 Chron. Abb. St. +Petri de Burgo, p. 48. M. Paris, p. 5. Sim. Dun p. 200. Diceto, p. 482. +Brompton, p. 967. Knyghton, p. 2344. Alured. Beverl. p. 130. We are told +by Ingulf, that Ivo de Taillebois plundered the monastery of Croylaud of +a great part of its land, and no redress could be obtained.] + + +[Footnote 9: NOTE I, p. 195. The obliging of all the inhabitants to +put out their fires and lights it certain hours, upon the sounding of a +bell, called the Courfeu, is represented by Polydore Virgil, lib. ix., +as a mark of the servitude of the English. But this was a law of police, +which William had previously established in Normandy. See Du Moulin, +Hist de Normandie, p. 160. The same law had place in Scotland. LL. +Burgor. cap. 86.] + + +[Footnote 11: NOTE K, p. 200. What these laws were of Edward the +Confessor, which the English, every reign during a century and a +half, desire so passionately to have restored, is much disputed by +antiquaries, and our ignorance of them seems one of the greatest defects +in the ancient English history. The collection of laws in Wilkins, which +pass under the name of Edward, are plainly a posterior and an ignorant +compilation. Those to be found in Ingulf are genuine; but so imperfect, +and contain so few clauses favorable to the subject, that we see no +great reason for their contending for them so vehemently. It is probable +that the English meant the common law, as it prevailed during the +reign of Edward; which we may conjecture to have been more indulgent to +liberty than the Norman institutions. The most material articles of it +were afterwards comprehended in Magna Charta.] + + +[Footnote 12: NOTE L, p. 218. Ingulf p. 70. H. Hunt. p. 370, 372. M. +West. p. 225. Gul. Neub. p. 357. Alured. Beverl. p. 124. De Gest, Angl. +p. 333. M Paris, p. 4. Sim. Dun. p. 206. Brompton, p. 962, 980, 1161. +Gervase. lib. i. cap. 16. Textus Roffensis apud Seld. Spieileg. ad Eadm. +p. 197. Gul. Pict. p. 206. Ordericus Vitalis, p. 521, 666, 853., Epist. +St. Thom, p. 801. Gul. Malms, p. 52, 57. Knyghton, p. 2354. Eadmer, p. +110. Thorn. Rudborne in Ang. Sacra, vol. i p. 248. Monach. Roff. in Ang. +Sacra, vol. ii. p. 276. Girald. Camb. in eadem, vol. ii. p. 413. Hist. +Elyensis, p. 516. + +The words of this last historian, who is very ancient, are remarkable, +and worth transcribing. Rex itaque factus, Willielmus, quid in principes +Anglorum, qui tantæ cladi superesse poterant, fecerit, dicere, cum nihil +prosit, omitto. Quid enim prodesset, si nec unum in toto regno de +illis dicerem pristina potestate uti permissum, sed omnes aut in gravem +paupertatis ærumnam detrusos, aut exhæredatos, patria pulsos, aut +effossia, oculis, vel cæteris amputatis membris, opprobrium hominum +factos, aut certe miserrime afflictos, vita privatos. Simili modo +utilitate carere existimo dicere quid in minorem populum, non solum ab +esed[**] a suis actum sit, cum id dictu sciamus difficile et ob immanem +crudelitatem fortassis incredibile.] + + +[Footnote 13: NOTE M, p. 263 Henry, by the feudal customs, was entitled +to levy a tax for the marrying of his eldest daughter, and he exacted +three shillings a hide on all England. H. Hunting, p. 379. Some +historians (Brady, p. 270, and Tyrrel, vol. ii. p. 182) heedlessly make +this sum amount to above eight hundred thousand pounds of our present +money; but it could not exceed one hundred and thirty-five thousand. +Five hides, sometimes less, made a knight’s fee, of which there were +about sixty thousand in England, consequently near three hundred +thousand hides; and at the rate of three shillings a hide, the sum would +amount to forty-five thousand pounds, or one hundred and thirty-five +thousand of our present money. See Rudborne, p. 257. In the Saxon +times there were only computed two hundred and forty-three thousand six +hundred hides in England.] + + +[Footnote 14: NOTE N, p. 266. The legates a latere, as they were called, +were a kind of delegates, who possessed the full power of the pope +in all the provinces committed to their charge, and were very busy +in extending, as well as exercising it. They nominated to all vacant +benefices, assembled synods, and were anxious to maintain ecclesiastical +privileges, which never could be fully protected without encroachments +on the civi[**] power. If there were the least concurrence or +opposition, it was always supposed that the civil power was to give +way; every deed, which had the least pretence of holding of any thing +spiritual, as marriages, testaments, promissory oaths, were brought +into the spiritual court, and could not be canvassed before a civil +magistrate. These were the established laws of the church; and where a +legate was sent immediately from Rome, he was sure to maintain the papal +claims with the utmost rigor; but it was an advantage to the king +to have the archbishop of Canterbury appointed legate, because the +connections of that prelate with the kingdom tended to moderate +his measures. William of Newbridge, p. 383, (who is copied by later +historians), asserts that Geoffrey had some title to the counties of +Maine and Anjou. He pretends that Count Geoffrey, his father, had left +his these dominions by a secret will, and had ordered that his body +should not be buried till Henry should swear to the observance of it, +which he, ignorant of the contents, was induced to do. But besides that +this story is not very likely in itself, and savers of monkish fiction, +it is found in no other ancient writer, and is contradicted by some of +them, particularly the monk of Marmoutier, who had better opportunities +than Newbridge of knowing the truth. See Vita Gauf Duc. Norman, p. 103.] + + +[Footnote 16: NOTE P, p. 293. The sum scarcely appears credible; as it +would amount to much above half the rent of the whole land. Gervase is +indeed a contemporary author; but churchmen are often guilty of strange +mistakes of that nature, and are commonly but little acquainted with +the public revenues. This sum would make five hundred and forty thousand +pounds of our present money. The Norman Chronicle (p. 995) lays, that +Henry raised only sixty Angevin shillings on each knight’s fee in his +foreign dominions: this is only a fourth of the sum which Gervase says +he levied on England, an inequality nowise probable. A nation may by +degrees be brought to bear a tax of fifteen shillings in the pound; but +a sudden and precarious tax can never be imposed to that amount without +a very visible necessity, especially in an age so little accustomed to +taxes. In the succeeding reign the rent of a knight’s fee was computed +at four pounds a year. There were sixty thousand knights fees in +England.] + + +[Footnote 17: NOTE Q, p. 295. Fitz-Stephen, p. 18. This conduct appears +violent and arbitrary; but was suitable to the strain of administration +in those days. His father Geoffrey, though represented as a mild prince, +set him an example of much greater violence. When Geoffrey was master of +Normandy, the chapter of Sens presumed, without his consent, to proceed +to the election of a bishop; upon which he ordered all of them with the +bishop elect, to be castrated, and made all their testicles be brought +him in a platter. Fitz-Steph. p. 44. In the war of Toulouse, Henry laid +a heavy and an arbitrary tax on all the churches within his dominions. +See Epist. St. Thom. p. 232.] + + +[Footnote 18: NOTE R, p. 307. I follow here the narrative of +Fitz-Stephens, who was secretary to Becket; though, no doubt, he may be +suspected of partiality towards his patron. Lord Lyttleton chooses to +follow the authority of a manuscript letter, or rather manifesto of +Folliot, bishop of London, which is addressed to Becket himself; at +the time when the bishop appealed to the pope from the excommunication +pronounced against him by his primate. My reasons why I give the +preference to Fitz-Stephens are, 1. If the friendship of Fitz-Stephens +might render him partial to Becket even after the death of that prelate, +the declared enmity of the bishop must, during his lifetime, have +rendered him more partial on the other side. 2. The bishop was moved +by interest, as well as enmity, to calumniate Becket. He had himself +to defend against the sentence of excommunication, dreadful to all, +especially to a prelate; and no more effectual means than to throw all +the blame on his adversary. 3. He has actually been guilty of palpable +calumnies in that letter. Among these, I reckon the following. He +affirms that when Becket subscribed the Constitutions of Clarendon, he +said plainly to all the bishops of England, “It is my master’s pleasure, +that I should forswear myself, and at present I submit to it, and do +resolve to incur a perjury, and repent afterwards as I may.” However +barbarous the times, and however negligent zealous churchmen were then +of morality, these are not words which a primate of great sense and of +much seeming sanctity would employ in an assembly of his suffragans: he +might act upon these principles, but never surely would publicly avow +them. Folliot also says, that all the bishops were resolved obstinately +to oppose the Constitutions of Clarendon, but the primate himself +betrayed them from timidity, and led the way to their subscribing. +This is contrary to the testimony of all the historians, and directly +contrary to Beeket’s character, who surely was not destitute either of +courage or of zeal for ecclesiastical immunities. 4. The violence and +injustice of Henry, ascribed to him by Fitz-Stephens, is of a piece +with the rest of the prosecution. Nothing could be more iniquitous than, +after two years’ silence, to make a sudden and unprepared demand upon +Becket to the amount of forty-four thousand marks, (equal to a sum of +near a million in our time,) and not allow him the least interval to +bring in his accounts. If the king was so palpably oppressive in one +article, he may be presumed to be equally so in the rest. 5. Though +Folliot’s letter, or rather manifesto, be addressed to Becket himself, +it does not acquire more authority on that account. We know not what +answer was made by Becket; the collection of letters cannot be supposed +quite complete. But that the collection was not made by one (whoever +he were) very partial to that primate, appears from the tenor of them, +where there are many passages very little favorable to him, insomuch +that the editor of them at Brussels, a Jesuit, thought proper to publish +them with great omissions, particularly of this letter of Folliot’s. +Perhaps Becket made no answer at all, as not deigning to write to ah +excommunicated person, whose very commerce would contaminate him; and +the bishop, trusting to this arrogance of his primate, might calumniate +him the more freely. 6. Though the sentence pronounced on Becket by the +great council, implies that he had refused to make any answer to the +king’s court, this does not fortify the narrative of Folliot. For if his +excuse was rejected as false and frivolous, it would be treated as no +answer. Becket submitted so far to the sentence of confiscation of goods +and chattels, that he gave surety, which is a proof that he meant not at +that time to question the authority of the king’s courts. 7. It may be +worth observing, that both the author of Historia Quadrapartita, Gervase, +contemporary writers, agree with Fitz-Stephens; and the latter is not +usually very partial to Becket. All the ancient historians give the same +account.] + + +[Footnote 19: NOTE S, p. 392. Madox, in his Baronia Anglica, (cap. 14,) +tells us, that in the thirtieth year of Henry II., thirty-three cows and +two bulls cost but eight pounds seven shillings, money of that age; five +hundred sheep, twenty-two pounds ten shillings, or about tenpence three +farthings per sheep; sixty-six oxen, eighteen pounds three shillings; +fifteen breeding mares, two pounds twelve shillings and sixpence; and +twenty-two hogs, one pound two shillings. Commodities seem then to have +been about ten times cheaper than at present; all except the sheep, +probably on account of the value of the fleece. The same author, in his +Formulare Anglicanum, (p. 17,) says, that in the tenth year of Richard +I., mention is made of ten per cent, paid for money; but the Jews +frequently exacted much higher interest.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of England in Three +Volumes, Vol.I., Part A., by David Hume + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 19211-0.txt or 19211-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/2/1/19211/ + +Produced by David Widger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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