ENGLAND

ENGLAND, the southern division of the island of Great Britain. Including Wales, it is of a triangular form, and lies between the 50th and 55th degrees of north latitude, extending about 400 miles in length from south to north, and in some places it is 300 miles in breadth. It is bounded by Scotland on the north; by the English Channel on the south, dividing it from France; by the German sea on the east; and on the west by St George's, or the Irish Channel.

At what time the island of Britain was peopled is whence uncertain; nor do we know whether the southern or northern parts were first inhabited. We have no accounts that can be depended upon before the arrival of Julius Cæsar, and it is certain he found the southern parts full of people of a very warlike disposition. These people, according to Cæsar, were a colony of the Gauls; and this opinion is embraced by most of the ancient as well as modern writers. It is chiefly founded on the agreement observed by the Romans between the two nations in their customs, manners, language, religion, government, way of fighting, &c. The more northern inhabitants, according to Tacitus, came from Germany. This he infers from the make of their limbs; but Cæsar simply calls them Aborigenes.

England, including the principality of Wales, when first invaded by the Romans, was divided into 17 petty states. 1. The Damnonii, called also Donmonii and Donmonii, inhabiting the counties of Cornwall and Devonshire. 2. The Durotriges, who inhabited the tract now called Dorsetshire. 3. The Belgæ possessed Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. 4. The Atrebatii, or inhabitants of Berkshire. 5. The Regni, whose country bordered on that of the Atrebatii, and comprehended Surrey, Sussex, and part of the sea-coast of Hampshire. 6. The Cantii, inhabiting the county now called Kent. 7. The Dobuni are placed by Ptolemy on the north side of the Thames, near its head, in the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. 8. The Cattieuchlani, Calycuechiani, Cattidudani, or Cathicudani, inhabited Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire. 9. The Trinobantes, who possessed the counties of Essex and Middlesex. 10. The Iceni, whose country comprehended Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdonshire. These are by Ptolemy called Simeni, and by others Tigeni. Camden is of opinion, that they were the same whom Cæsar calls Cenomagni. 11. The Coritani, whose country comprehended Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire. 12. The Cornavii possessed Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Cheshire. 13. The Silures inhabited the counties of Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Glamorganhire, with Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. 14. The Demetæ inhabited part of Caernarvonshire, Pembrokeshire, and Cardiganshire. 15. The country of the Ordovices comprehended Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. 16. The Brigantes possessed the counties of Yorkshire, the bishopric of Durham, Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland. 17. The county of Northumberland was held by the Ottadini, Ottadeni, or Ottalini. Their country, according to some, reached from the Tyne to the river Forth; though the most common opinion is, that it reached only to the Tweed.

The above-mentioned names of these nations are plainly Roman, but the etymology of them is not easily ascertained. Some attempt to derive them from words in the old British language; but as this subject at best must be very obscure and uncertain, we shall not enter into it.

Before the time of Julius Cæsar, the Romans had scarcely any knowledge of Britain; but that conqueror having subdued most of the Gallic nations on the opposite side of the channel, began to think of extending his conquests by the reduction of Britain. The motive for this expedition, ascribed to him by Suetonius, was a desire of enriching himself with the British pearls, which were then very much esteemed. The pretence, however, which he made use of in order to justify his invasion was, that the Britons had sent assistance to the Gauls during his wars with them.

Cæsar undertook his first expedition against Britain when the summer was already far spent, and therefore he did not expect to finish the conquest of the country that campaign. He thought, however, that it would be a considerable advantage to view the island, and learn something of the manners and customs of the natives; after which he could more easily take such mea-

asures as would ensure a permanent conquest on his return. Having marched all his forces into the country of the Morini, now the province of Picardy, from whence was the shortest passage into Britain; he ordered at the same time all the vessels that lay in the neighbouring ports, and a fleet which he had built the year before for an expedition against the Morini, to attend him. The Britons, alarmed at his preparations, sent ambassadors with offers of submission; but Cæsar, though he received them with great kindness, did not abandon his intended scheme of an invasion. He waited till the arrival of C. Volufenus, whom he had sent out with a single galley to make discoveries on the coast. Volufenus did not think proper to land; but, having made what observations he could, returned after five days absence, and Cæsar immediately set sail for Britain. His force consisted of two legions, embarked on board 80 transports; and he appointed 18 more which lay wind-bound about eight miles off, to convey over the cavalry; but these last orders were too slowly executed, which occasioned some difficulty in his landing.

The Britons at this time, according to Cæsar and other Roman historians, were very numerous, and had their country well stocked with cattle. Their houses resembled those of the Gauls; and they used copper or iron plates weighed by a certain standard instead of money. Their towns were a confused parcel of huts placed at a small distance from one another, generally in the middle of a wood, to which all the avenues were slightly guarded with ramparts of earth, or with trees. All the nations were in a state of the most wretched barbarism, even when compared with the barbarous Gauls on the continent. The use of clothes was scarcely known in the island. Only the inhabitants of the southern coast covered their nakedness with the skins of wild beasts; and this rather to avoid giving offence to the strangers who came to trade with them, than out of any principle of decency. It was a general custom among the Britons to paint their bodies with the juice of woad: but whether this was designed as ornament, or for any other purpose, is not known. They shaved their beards all except their upper lip, and wore long hair. They also had their wives in common, a custom which made them detestable to all other nations.

The arms of the Britons were a sword, a short lance, and a shield. Breast-plates and helmets they looked upon rather to be incumbrances, and therefore made no use of them. They usually fought in chariots, some of which were armed with scythes at the wheels; they were fierce and cruel, and exceedingly blood-thirsty. When driven to distress, they could subsist themselves even on the bark and roots of trees; and Dio Cassius tells us, that they had ready, on all occasions, a certain kind of food, of which, if they took but the quantity of a bean, they were not troubled with hunger or thirst for a considerable time after. The southern nations, however, were somewhat more civilized; and the Cantii, or inhabitants of Kent, more so than any of the rest.

All the British nations at this time were very brave and resolute, owing to the continual dissensions among themselves. They proved therefore very formidable enemies to the Romans; but the same dissensions which had

England. had taught them the art of war, also prevented them from uniting in the defence of their country. As soon as they perceived Cæsar's fleet approaching, a number of cavalry and chariots were dispatched to oppose his landing, while a considerable body of infantry hastened after. What chiefly embarrassed the Romans in their attempt to land, was the largeness of their ships, which required a considerable depth of water. The soldiers, therefore, were obliged to leap into the sea while loaded with their armour; and at the same time to encounter the enemy, who were quite disengaged, as they either stood on dry ground, or waded but a little way into the water. Cæsar perceiving this disadvantage, ordered his galleys to advance, with their broadsides towards the shore, in order to drive the Britons from the water-side with their slings and arrows. On this the Britons, surprised at the galleys, a sort of shipping they had never before seen, began to give ground. The fight, however, continued for some time, greatly to the disadvantage of the Romans; till at last Cæsar, observing the distress of his men, caused several boats to be manned, and sent them to the assistance of those who were most exposed to the enemy's assault. The Romans then soon got the better of the undisciplined barbarians, however brave, and made good their landing; but they were unable to pursue the enemy for want of cavalry, which had not yet arrived.

6 They are defeated and sue for peace.

The Britons were so disheartened with this bad success, that they immediately sent ambassadors to sue for peace; which was granted, on condition of their delivering a certain number of hostages for their fidelity. Part of these they brought immediately; and promised to return in a few days with the rest, who, they said, lived at some distance. But, in the mean time, the 18 transports which carried Cæsar's cavalry, being driven back by a violent storm, and the fleet which lay in the road being greatly damaged by the same, the Britons thought proper to break their engagements. Having therefore privately assembled their forces, they fell unexpectedly on the seventh legion while at a distance from the rest and busied in foraging. Cæsar being apprised of their danger, hastened to their assistance with two cohorts, and at last repulsed the enemy.—This, however, proved only a temporary deliverance; for the Britons, thinking it would be possible for them to cut off all the Romans at once, dispatched messengers to inform several of the neighbouring nations of the weakness of the enemy's forces, and the happy opportunity that offered itself of destroying all these invaders at one blow.—On this, they drew together a great body of horse and foot, which boldly advanced to the Roman intrenchments. But Cæsar came out to meet them; and the undisciplined Britons being by no means able to cope with the Romans, were put to flight with great slaughter. Having burnt several towns and villages, the victors returned to their camp, where they were soon followed by new deputies from the Britons. Cæsar being in want of horse, and afraid lest another storm should destroy the remainder of his fleet, granted them peace on condition of their sending him double the number of hostages into Gaul which they had before promised. The same night he set sail, and soon arrived safe in Gaul.

The Britons no sooner perceived the Romans gone, England. than, as before, they broke through their engagements. Of all the states who had promised to send hostages, only two performed their promises; and this neglect so provoked Cæsar, that he determined to return the year following with a far greater force. Having, therefore, caused his old vessels to be refitted, and a great many new ones to be built, he arrived off the coast of Britain with a fleet of 600 ships and 28 galleys. The Britons made no opposition to his landing; but Cæsar, getting intelligence that an army was assembled at no great distance, marched in quest of them. He found them encamped on the banks of a river, supposed to be the Stour, about 12 miles distant from the place where he had landed. They attempted to oppose his passage; but being briskly attacked by the Roman cavalry, they were obliged to retire into a wood, all the avenues of which were blocked up by trees cut down for that purpose. This fortification, however, proved insufficient to protect them. The seventh legion having cast themselves into a testudo, and Britons. thrown up a mount against their works, drove them from their asylum; but as the day was far spent, a pursuit was not thought advisable.

Next morning Cæsar, with the greatest part of his army, which he divided into three bodies, marched out in quest of the enemy. But when he was already come in sight of their rear, he was overtaken by messengers, who informed him, that his fleet was greatly damaged by a violent storm which had happened the preceding night. This put an end to the pursuit for that time; but Cæsar having employed all the carpenters he had with him, and sent for others from Gaul, in order to repair the damage, resolved to prevent misfortunes of this kind for the future. He therefore drew all his ships ashore, and enclosed them within the fortifications of his camp. This arduous undertaking employed his whole army for 10 days; after which he again set out in quest of the enemy.

The Britons had made the best use they could of the respite afforded them by the storm. They were headed by Cassibelaunus king of the Trinobantes. He had formerly made war upon his neighbours; and having rendered himself terrible to them, was looked upon to be the most proper person for leading them on against the common enemy; and as several states had now joined their forces, the British army was very numerous. Their cavalry and chariots attacked the Roman army while on their march; but were repulsed with loss, and driven into the woods. The Romans pursued them too eagerly, and thus lost some of their own men; which encouraged the Britons to make another fierce attack; but in this also they were finally unsuccessful, and obliged to retire, though their loss seems not to have been great.

Next day the Britons suddenly attacked the Roman legions as they were foraging; but meeting with a vigorous resistance, they soon betook themselves to flight. The Romans pursued them so closely, that having neither time to rally nor get down from their chariots according to custom, great numbers of them were cut in pieces; and this overthrow had such an effect upon the auxiliaries of Cassibelaunus, that all of them abandoned him; nor did the Britons ever afterwards engage Cæsar with united forces. Cæsar, pursuing his victory, marched

marched towards the Thames, with a design to cross that river, and enter the territories of the Trinobantes. The river was fordable only at one place, and that not without great difficulty; but when he came to it, he found the enemy's forces drawn up in a considerable body on the opposite bank, which was fortified with sharp stakes. They had likewise driven many stakes of the same kind into the bottom of the river, the tops of which were covered with water. These stakes are visible to this day as a place called Watson in Surrey. They are made of oak; and though they have been so long in the water, are as hard as Brazil, and as black as jet; and have sometimes been pulled out in order to make knife handles of them.

Caesar was not at all dismayed at these difficulties, which he had intelligence of by prisoners and deserters. He ordered the cavalry to enter first, and the foot to follow. His orders were obeyed, and the soldiers advanced with such resolution, that though the infantry were up to the chin in water, the enemy, unable to sustain their assault, abandoned the bank and fled. After this defeat, Cassibelaunus himself despaired of success, and therefore dismissed all his forces except about 4000 clariots, with which he observed the motions of the Romans, harassing them by cutting off straggling parties, &c. This, however, was not sufficient to keep up the spirits of his countrymen. On the contrary, they deposed him from the kingdom, and chose Mandubratius, whose father had been murdered by Cassibelaunus, who thereupon usurped the kingdom. The young prince had fled to Caesar, who gave him protection; and the Trinobantes now offered to submit to the conqueror, provided he would give them Mandubratius for their king.

Caesar readily complied with the request of the Trinobantes upon their sending him 40 hostages; and the submission of the Trinobantes was soon followed by that of other states and tribes; for each of the 17 nations already mentioned were composed of several different tribes, of which no particular account can be given. —Caesar next marched to Verulamium, or Canterbury, which was Cassibelaunus's capital, and which he still kept possession of; but though the place was strongly fortified both by nature and art, the Britons were unable to bear the assault of the Romans, and therefore soon fled out at one of the avenues. Many were taken as they attempted to make their escape, and many more cut in pieces.

After this loss, Cassibelaunus, as his last resource, found means to draw into confederacy with him four kings of the Cantii. But though Caesar gives them the title of kings, it is probable that they were only petty princes, tributary to the king of that nation. Their names were Cingetorix, Corvilius, Taximagus, and Segonax. These, having raised what forces they could, attacked the camp where the ships were laid up: but the Romans having made a sally, repulsed them with great slaughter, and then returned to their trenches without any loss; after which, Cassibelaunus thought proper to submit to the conqueror. As the summer was already far spent, Caesar hearkened to his proposals. A peace was concluded on the following terms, viz. that the Britons should pay an annual tribute to the Romans, that Cassibelaunus should leave

Mandubratius in peaceable possession of his dominions, that he should not molest the Trinobantes, and that he should deliver a certain number of hostages. These terms being agreed to, Caesar set sail with his whole fleet from Britain, to which he never returned.

Such is the account given by Caesar himself of his two expeditions into Britain; but other authors have spoken very doubtfully of his victories in this island. Dio Cassius tells us, that the Britons utterly defeated the Roman infantry, but were at last put in disorder by their cavalry. Horace and Tibullus, in many parts of their works, speak of the Britons as a people not yet conquered. Tacitus says, that Caesar rather showed the Romans the way to Britain, than put them in possession of it; and Lucan tells us plainly, that Caesar turned his back to the Britons and fled. This last, however, considering the consummate military genius of Caesar, is by no means probable. That he left Britain, during the winter, was, in all probability, to prevent insurrections among the Gauls, which might very readily have happened: and that he did not return to finish his conquest can be no wonder, seeing his ambition would certainly be more gratified by being called emperor of Rome, than conqueror of Britain.

The departure of Julius Caesar, which happened about 53 years before Christ, left the Britons without any fear of a foreign enemy. We are not, therefore, to imagine, that they would regard their promises of paying tribute; nor was it probably demanded for a good number of years afterwards. Augustus, however, when he had got himself fully established on the throne, had twice a design of invading Britain and forcing the inhabitants to pay the tribute promised to Julius Caesar. Both times, however, he was prevented by revolts in different provinces in the empire, so that the Britons still continued to enjoy their liberty. They thought proper, however, to court the favour of the Romans as much as they could by pretended submissions; but, in the reign of Claudius, the Romans set about reducing them to subjection in good earnest. The occasion of this war is related by Dio Cassius as follows. —Ca-

ssibelaunus, the third in succession from Cassibelaunus, being dead, his two sons, Togodumnus and Carac-
tacus, succeeded to the throne; but whether they reigned jointly or separately, is not known. In their reign one Bercius, of whom we also know very little, being driven out of the island for attempting to raise a sedition, fled with some of his partisans to Rome, and persuaded Claudius to make war on his countrymen. The Britons, on the other hand, resented the behaviour of Claudius in receiving these vagabonds, and therefore prohibited all intercourse with the Romans. A much smaller offence than this would have been sufficient at any time to provoke that haughty nation to declare war. An army was therefore immediately ordered into Britain, under the command of Plautius proctor in Gaul. The soldiers at first refused to embark, from a superstitious notion, that they were going to be sent without the compass of the world; and this mutiny being related to the Britons, they did not make the necessary preparations for their own defence. The Roman soldiers were soon brought to a sense of their duty; and set out from three different ports, in order to land in three different places of Britain at once.

England. Being driven back by contrary winds, their fears began to return; but they resumed their courage on the appearance of a meteor shooting from the east, which they imagined was sent from heaven to direct their course. They landed without opposition; and the Britons, not having drawn together a sufficient army, kept in small bodies behind their marshes, and in woods, in order to spin out the war till winter; which they thought Plautius, as Cæsar had done, would pass in Gaul.

¹⁴ The Britons defeated.
The Roman general marched first in quest of the two kings Togodumnus and Caractacus; both of whom he found out, and defeated one after another. He then reduced part of the Dobuni, at that time subject to the Cattiuchlani; and leaving a garrison to keep them in awe, he advanced to a river where the Britons lay carelessly encamped, supposing that the Romans could not pass it without a bridge. But the Germans in the Roman army had been accustomed to swim across the strongest currents with their heavy armour. They therefore passed the river first; and having, according to their orders, fallen only upon the enemy's horses which drew their chariots, these formidable machines were rendered entirely useless; and the Britons were put to flight as soon as another part of the forces could pass the river.

The Britons were not disheartened with this defeat, but engaged the Romans next day with great bravery. Victory continued long doubtful; but at length the Romans prevailed, and the Britons were forced to take themselves to flight. This battle is thought to have been fought on the banks of the Severn. From thence the Britons fled to the mouth of the Thames. They were closely pursued by the Romans; but the latter being unacquainted with the flats and shallows of the river, were often in great danger. The Germans, however, crossed by swimming as before, and the rest on a bridge somewhat farther up the river; so that the Britons were in a short time surrounded on all sides, and great numbers of them cut in pieces. Many of the Romans, also, pursuing the fugitives with too great eagerness, were lost in the marshes.—In one of these battles Togodumnus was killed; but the Britons were so far from being disheartened, that they showed more eagerness than ever to oppose the Romans, in order to revenge his death. Plautius, therefore, did not think proper to penetrate farther into the country, but contented himself with putting garrisons in the places he had already conquered. He then wrote to the emperor himself; who no sooner received an account of his success, than he set out for Britain; where, having landed after a short voyage, he joined Plautius on the banks of the Thames.

¹⁵ Claudius arrives in Britain.

Soon after the arrival of Claudius, the Romans passed the Thames, attacked the British army, and totally defeated it. The consequence of this was the taking of Cunobelinus's capital, and the submission of several of the neighbouring states. The emperor, however, did not make a long stay in the island, but left Plautius to pursue his conquests. This he did with such success, that, on his return to Rome, he was met without the gates by the emperor himself, who, at his solemn entry, gave him the right hand.—The Britons seem to have made a very obstinate resistance to the Roman arms about this time. Vespasian, who was

afterwards emperor, is said to have fought 30 battles England with them; and the exploits of Titus his son are also much celebrated by the Roman historians.

In the ninth year of Claudius, P. Ostorius Scapula was sent into Britain. By far the greater part of the 17 nations formerly mentioned were at this time unconquered. Some of these had broken into the Roman territories; but Ostorius falling unexpectedly upon them, put great numbers to the sword, and dispersed the rest. To prevent them for the future from making inroads into the territories of the Romans or their allies, he built several forts on the Severn, the Avon, and the Nen, reducing the country south of these rivers to a Roman province. This so highly offended the Iceni, that, being joined by the neighbouring nations, they raised a considerable army, and encamped in an advantageous situation, in order to prevent the Romans from penetrating farther into the island. Ostorius, however, soon advanced against them. The Romans, as usual, got the victory, and the enemy were pursued with great slaughter. The Roman general then, having quelled an insurrection among the Brigantes, led his army against the Silures. They were Caractacus headed by their king Caractacus, a most renowned warrior. He showed his military talents by choosing a very advantageous place for engaging the enemy. Tacitus tells us, "it was on the ridge of an exceeding steep mountain; and where the sides of it were inclining and accessible, he reared walls of stone for a rampart. At the foot of the mountain flowed a river dangerous to be forded, and an army of men guarded his entrenchments." This hill is thought to be one called Cæcer-Caradec in Shropshire, situated near the conflux of the rivers Colun and Teme, and where the remains of ancient entrenchments are still visible.—On the approach of the enemy, Caractacus drew up his troops in order of battle, animating them with the following speech, according to Tacitus. "That from this day, and this battle, they must date their liberty rescued, or their slavery for ever established. He then invoked the shades of those heroes who had expelled Cæsar the dictator; those brave men by whose valour they still enjoyed freedom from Roman tribute and taxes, and by which their wives and children were as yet preserved from prostration." The whole army then took a solemn oath either to conquer or die, and prepared for the charge with the most terrible shouts. Ostorius was somewhat dismayed when he considered the uncommon fierceness of the enemy, and the other difficulties which he had to encounter. He led on his men, however, to the charge; and the Romans were attended with their usual good fortune. The Britons were put to flight. Vast numbers fell on the field of battle and in the pursuit, and many more were taken prisoners. Among the latter were the wife, the daughter, and the brothers, of Caractacus. The unfortunate prince himself fled to Cartimundua queen of the Brigantes, by whom he was delivered up to the Roman general, who sent him in chains to Rome. Caractacus bore his misfortunes with magnanimity; and when he came before the emperor, addressed him in the following terms. "If my moderation in prosperity, O His speech Claudius! had been as conspicuous as my birth and to the Roman fortune, I should now have entered this city as a friend, and not as prisoner; nor would you have disdained the

England. the friendship of a prince descended from such illustrious ancestors, and governing so many nations. My present condition, I own, is to you honourable, to me humiliating. I was lately possessed of subjects, horses, arms, and riches. Can you be surprised that I endeavoured to preserve them? If you Romans have a desire to arrive at universal monarchy, must all nations, to gratify you, tamely submit to servitude? If I had submitted without a struggle, how much would it have diminished the lustre of my fall, and of your victory? And now, if you resolve to put me to death, my story will soon be buried in oblivion; but if you think proper to preserve my life, I shall remain a lasting monument of your clemency."—This speech had such an effect upon Claudius, that he immediately pardoned Caractacus and his whole family, and commanded them to be set at liberty.

The Silures, notwithstanding this terrible blow, continued the war with great vigour, and gained considerable advantages over the Romans; which so much affected Ostorius, that he died of grief. He was succeeded by A. Didius, who restrained the incursions of the Silures, but was not able to restore Cartimundua queen of the Brigantes, who had been deposed by her subjects. Didius was succeeded by Veranius, and he by Suetonius Paulinus, who reduced the island of ANGLESEY, as related under that article. But while Paulinus was employed in the conquest of this island, he was alarmed by the news of an almost universal revolt among those nations which had submitted to the Romans. The Britons, though conquered, had still a desire of returning to their former state of independence; and the Roman yoke became every day more unsupportable to them, through the insolence and oppressions of the Roman soldiers. The Britons had been long discontented, and were already in a very proper disposition for a revolt, when an event happened which kindled these discontents into an open flame. Prasutagus king of the Iceni, a prince renowned for opulence and grandeur, had, by his last will, left the Roman emperor, joint-heir with his two daughters, in hopes of obtaining his favour and protection by so great an obligation. But the event turned out very different. No sooner was he dead, than his houses and possessions were all plundered by the Roman soldiers. The queen Boadicea remonstrated against this injustice; but, instead of obtaining any redress, she herself was publicly whipped, her daughters ravished, and all the relations of the late king reduced to slavery. The whole country also was plundered, and all the chiefs of the Iceni deprived of their possessions.

Boadicea was a woman of too haughty a spirit tamely to bear such indignities. She therefore persuaded the Iceni to take up arms, which they very readily did. Then, being joined by the Trinobantes, and some other nations, they poured like a torrent on the Roman colonies. Every thing was destroyed with fire and sword. The ninth legion, which had been left for the defence of the country under Petilius Cerealis, was defeated, the infantry totally cut in pieces, and the commander himself with the cavalry escaped with the utmost difficulty. Suetonius, alarmed at this news, immediately left Anglesey, and marched with the greatest expedition to London. The inhabitants were overjoyed at his arrival, and used their utmost endeavours to detain

VOL. VIII. Part I.

him for their defence. But he refused to stay, and in a short time left the place, notwithstanding the intreaties of the inhabitants. The whole city lamented his departure; and they had reason. Suetonius was scarce gone, when Boadicea with her Britons entered, and strove put all they found in it to the sword. None were taken prisoners, nor was any sex or age spared, and many were tortured in the most cruel manner. Seventy thousand persons are said to have perished on this occasion at London and other Roman colonies.

The Britons, now elated with success, assembled from all quarters in great numbers, so that Boadicea's army soon amounted to 230,000 men. They despised the Romans; and became so confident of victory, that they brought their wives and children along with them in waggons to be spectators of the destruction of their enemies. The event was what might naturally have been expected from such ill-judged confidence. The Britons were overthrown with most terrible slaughter, no fewer than 80,000 being killed in the battle and pursuit; while the Romans had not above 400 killed, and not many more wounded. Boadicea, not able to survive so great a calamity, put an end to her life by poison.

By this overthrow the Britons, who had once been subdued, were thoroughly prevented from raising any more insurrections, and even those who had not yet submitted to the Roman yoke seemed to be intimidated from making incursions into their dominions. Nothing remarkable therefore happened for some time. In the time of Vespasian, Petilius Cerealis being appointed governor of Britain, attacked the Brigantes, defeated them in several battles, and reduced great part of their country. He was succeeded by Julius Frontinus; who not only maintained the conquests of his predecessor, but reduced entirely the warlike nation of the Silures. Frontinus was succeeded by the celebrated Cneius Julius Agricola, who completed the conquest of all the southern Britons.

Just before the arrival of Agricola, the Ordovices had cut in pieces a band of horse stationed on their confines, after which the whole nation had taken arms. The summer was pretty far spent, and the Roman army was quite separated and dispersed; the soldiers having assured themselves of rest for the remaining part of the year. Agricola, however, was no sooner landed, than, having drawn together his legions, he marched against the enemy without delay. The Britons kept upon the ridges of the mountains; but Agricola led them in person up the ascents. The Romans were victorious; and such a terrible slaughter was made of the Britons, that almost the whole nation of Ordovices was cut off. Without giving the enemy time to recover from the terror which this overthrow had occasioned, Agricola resolved upon the immediate reduction of Anglesey, which had been lost by the revolt of Boadicea. Being destitute of ships, he detached a chosen body of auxiliaries who knew the fords, and were accustomed to manage their arms and horses in the water. The Britons, who had expected a fleet and transports, were so terrified by the appearance of the Roman forces on their island, that they immediately submitted, and Anglesey was once more restored to the Romans.

With the conquest of Anglesey ended the first campaign.

^England. paign of Agricola; and he employed the winter in reconciling the Britons to the Roman yoke. In this he met with such success, through his wife and equitable conduct, that the Britons, barbarous as they were, began to prefer a life of security and peace, to that independency which they had formerly enjoyed, and which continually exposed them to the tumults and calamities of war. The succeeding campaigns of Agricola were attended with equal success; he not only subdued the 17 nations inhabiting England, but carried the Roman arms almost to the extremity of Scotland. He also caused his fleet to sail round the island, and discovered the Orcades, or Orkney islands, which had before been unknown to the rest of the world. His expedition took him up about six years, and was completed in the year of Christ 84.

Had this commander been continued in Britain, it is probable that both Scotland and England would have been permanently subdued; but he was recalled by Domitian in the year 85, and we are then almost totally in the dark about the British affairs till the reign of the emperor Adrian. During this interval the Caledonians had taken arms, and not only refused subjection to the Roman power themselves, but ravaged the territories of the Britons who continued faithful to them. Adrian, for what reason is not well known, abandoned to them the whole tract lying between the Tyne and the Forth. At the same time, in order to restrain them from making incursions into the Roman territories, he built a wall 80 miles in length from the river Eden in Cumberland to the Tyne in Northumberland*. He was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, in whose reign the Brigantes revolted; and the Caledonians, having in several places broken down the wall built by Adrian, began anew to ravage the Roman territories. Against them the emperor sent Lollius Urbicus, who reduced the Brigantes; and having defeated the northern nations, confined them within narrower bounds by a new wall†, extending probably between the friths of Forth and Clyde. From the time of Antoninus to that of Severus, the Roman dominions in Britain continued to be much infested by the inroads of the northern nations. That emperor divided Britain into two governments, the southern and northern; but the governor of the northern division was so harassed by continual incursions of the Caledonians, that he was at length obliged to purchase a peace with money. The Caledonians kept the treaty for 15 years; after which, breaking into the Roman territories anew, they committed terrible ravages. Virius Lupus the governor, not being in a condition to withstand them, acquainted the emperor with his distress, intreating him to send powerful and speedy supplies. Upon this Severus resolved to put an end to the perpetual incursions of the enemy, by making a complete conquest of their country; for which purpose he set out for Britain, together with his two sons Caracalla and Geta, at the head of a numerous army. The Caledonians no sooner heard of his arrival, than they sent ambassadors offering to conclude a peace upon honourable terms. But these the emperor detained till he was ready to take the field, and then dismissed them without granting their request.

As soon as the season was fit for action, Severus

marched into the territories of the Caledonians, where he put all to fire and sword. He advanced even to the most northerly parts of the island; and though no battle was fought in this expedition, yet through the continual ambuscades of the enemy, and the inhospitable nature of the country, he is said to have lost 50,000 men. At last the Caledonians were obliged to sue for peace; which was granted them on condition of their yielding part of their country, and delivering up their arms. After this the emperor returned to York, leaving his son Caracalla to command the army, and finish the new wall which had been begun between the friths of Forth and Clyde. But the emperor being taken ill at York, the Caledonians no sooner heard of his indisposition, than they again took up arms. This provoked Severus to such a degree, that he commanded his son Caracalla to enter their country anew with the whole army, and to put all he met to the sword without distinction of sex or age. Before these orders, however, could be put in execution, his two sons, having concluded a shameful peace with the Caledonians, returned to Rome.

A long chasm now takes place in the history of the Roman dominions in Britain. In the beginning of Diocletian's reign, Carausius a native of Gaul, passing over into Britain, took upon him the title of emperor, and was acknowledged by all the troops quartered here. He was, however, killed in a battle with one of Constantius's officers, after he had enjoyed the sovereignty for six or seven years. Constantine the Great began his reign in this island; and returned soon after he had left it, probably with a design to put a stop to the daily incursions of the Caledonians. He altered the division of that part of Britain subject to the Romans. Severus had divided it only into two provinces; but Constantine increased the number to three, viz. Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, and Maxima Cæsaricensis; and this last was afterwards divided into two, viz. Maxima Cæsaricensis and Flavia Cæsaricensis. The removal of the imperial seat from Rome to Constantinople, which happened in the reign of Constantine, gave the northern nations an opportunity of making frequent incursions into the Roman provinces; the emperor having carried with him, first into Gaul, and then into the East, not only most of the Roman troops, but likewise the flower of the British youth.

About the latter end of the reign of Constantius son to Constantine the Great, the government of the province of Britain, and other western parts of the empire, was committed to Julian, afterwards called the apostate. While he was in his winter quarters at Paris, he was informed that the Scots and Picts, about this time first distinguished by these names, had broken into the Roman territories and committed everywhere dreadful ravages. Against them Julian dispatched a body of troops under the command of Lucicinius. He embarked from Boulogne in the depth of winter, but was no sooner arrived at London than he was recalled; the enemy having probably found means to appease Julian by their submissions. Till the reign of Valentinian I. these nations still continued to infest the Roman territories in Britain, and had now reduced the country to a most deplorable condition by their continual ravages. Valentinian sent against them Theodosius, father to the emperor of that name. That gene-

England. ral having divided his forces into several bodies, advanced against the enemy, who were roving up and down the country. The Scots and Picts were obliged to yield to the superior valour and discipline of the Romans. Great numbers were cut in pieces; they were forced to abandon all the booty and prisoners they had taken, and to retire beyond the friths of Forth and Clyde. Theodosius then entered London in triumph, and restored that city to its former splendor, which had suffered greatly by the former incursions of the northern Britons. To restrain them from breaking anew into the provinces, Theodosius built several forts or castles between the two friths; and having thus recovered all the country between Adrian's wall and the friths of Forth and Clyde, he formed of it a fifth province, which he called Valentia.

Though Britain was now reduced to a state of temporary tranquillity, yet as the Roman empire was daily declining, it is not to be supposed that sufficient care could be taken to secure such a distant province. In the reign of the emperor Honorius, the provincial Britons found themselves annoyed not only by the Scots and Picts, but also by the depredations of the Saxons, who began to commit ravages on the sea-coasts. By the care, however, of Stilicho, prime minister to Honorius, matters were once more settled, and a particular officer was appointed to guard the coast against the attempts of the Saxons, with the title of Comes limitis Saxonici. But, not long after, the empire being overrun by barbarians, most of the Roman troops quartered in Britain were recalled, and the country left quite open to the attacks of the Scots and Picts.

Upon this the provincials expecting no more assistance from Honorius, resolved to set up an emperor of their own. Accordingly they invaded with the imperial dignity one Mark, an officer of great credit among them. Him they murdered in a few days, and placed on the throne one Gratian a native of Britain. After a reign of four months, Gratian underwent the fate of his predecessor; and was succeeded by Constantine, a common soldier, who was chosen merely for the sake of his name. He seems, however, to have been a man of some knowledge and experience in war. He drove the Scots and Picts beyond the limits of the Roman territories; but being elated with this success, he would now be satisfied with nothing less than the conquest of the whole Roman empire. He therefore passed over into Gaul; and took with him not only the few Roman forces that had been left, but such of the provincial Britons as were most accustomed to arms. That unhappy people, being now left entirely defenceless, were harassed in the most cruel manner by their enemies; who broke into the country, and destroyed all with fire and sword. In this miserable situation they continued from the year 407, when the usurper Constantine passed over into Gaul, till the year 410. Having during the last three years frequently implored assistance from Rome without receiving any, they now resolved to withdraw their allegiance from an empire which was no longer able to protect them. Honorius himself applauded their conduct; and advised them by letters to provide for their own safety, which was in effect an implicit resignation of the sovereignty of the island.

The provincial Britons now regained their liberty;

but they had lost the martial spirit which had at first rendered them so formidable to the Romans. They seem, however, to have met with some success in their first enterprises; for Zosimus tells us, that they delivered their cities from the insults of an haughty enemy. But being at last overpowered, they were again obliged to have recourse to the Roman emperor, to whom they promised a most perfect submission, provided they were delivered from the hands of their merciless and implacable enemies. Honorius, touched with compassion, sent a legion to their relief. The Roman forces landed in Britain unexpectedly; and having destroyed great numbers of the Scots and Picts, they drove them beyond the friths of Forth and Dunbruton. After this they advised the natives to build a wall on the isthmus from sea to sea, and to reassume their courage, and defend themselves from their enemies by their own valour. The Romans then quitted the country; being obliged to return, in order to repulse those barbarians who had broken into the empire from all quarters.

The Britons immediately set about building the wall, as they had been desired, with great alacrity. But as it was constructed only of turf, the Scots and Picts soon broke it down in several places; and, pouring in upon the defenceless and effeminate provincials, committed more cruel ravages than ever. At last, after very many and grievous calamities, the latter sent ambassadors once more to Rome. These appeared with their garments rent and dust on their heads; and at last prevailed on the emperor, by their earnest intreaties, to send another legion to their relief. The troops arrived in Britain before the enemy had the least knowledge of their having set sail. They were therefore quite unprepared for an attack, and roving up and down the country in the utmost disorder. The Romans made a terrible havoc among them, and drove the remainder into their own country. As Honorius had sent them not with any ambitious view of retaining the island in subjection, but merely out of compassion to the unhappy provincials, the Romans told them, they had now no farther assistance to expect from them. They informed them, that the legion must immediately return to the continent, to protect the empire from the barbarians, who had extended their ravages almost to every part of it; and therefore, that they must now take their last farewell of Britain, and totally abandon the island. After this declaration Gallio, the commander of the Roman troops, exhorted the provincials to defend themselves, by fighting bravely for their country, wives, and children, and what ought to be dearer than life itself, their liberty; telling them, at the same time, that their enemies were no stronger than themselves, provided they would but lay aside their fears, and exert their ancient courage and resolution. That they might the better withstand the attacks of the enemy, he advised them to build a wall, not of turf, but of stone; offering to assist them with his soldiers, and to direct them himself in the execution. Upon this the Britons immediately fell to work; and with the assistance of the Romans, finished it in a short time, though it was no less than eight feet thick, and twelve feet in height. It is thought to have been built on the same place where Severus's wall formerly stood. Towers were also built at convenient

venient distances on the east coast, to prevent the de-
scents of the Saxons and other barbarians that came
from Germany. Gallio employed the rest of his time
in teaching the provincials the art of war. He left
them patterns of the Roman weapons, which he also
taught them to make; and after many encouraging
exhortations, he took his last farewell of Britain, to
which the Romans never returned. There is a great
disagreement among chronologists as to the year in
which the Romans finally abandoned Britain; some
placing it in 422; others in 423, or 426; and some
in 431, 435, or 437.

The final departure of the Romans was no sooner
known to the Scots and Picts, than they poured in
upon the provincial Britons from all quarters, like hun-
gry wolves breaking into a sheep-fold. When the Scots
approached the new built-wall, they found it comple-
tely finished, and guarded by great numbers of armed
men. But so little had the provincial Britons profited
by the military instructions of the Romans, that in-
stead of placing proper guards and centinels, and re-
lieving one another by turns, their whole number had
staid several days and nights upon the ramparts with-
out intermission. Being therefore quite benumbed and
wearyed out, they were able to make but very little
resistance. Many were pulled down with hooks from
the battlements, and dashed in pieces. The rest were
driven from their stations with showers of darts and
arrows. They betook themselves to flight; but that
could not save them. The Scots and Picts pursued
them close, made a dreadful havoc among the fugi-
tives, and took possession of the frontier towns, which
they found deserted by the inhabitants. As they now
met with no more opposition, they overran the whole
country, putting every thing to fire and sword. Their
ravages soon occasioned a famine; and this was follow-
ed by a kind of civil war. The provincials, unable to
support themselves, were obliged to plunder each other
of the little the common enemy had left them. The
whole country at last became so incapable of support-
ing those who were left in it, that many fled into the
woods, in order to subsist themselves there by hunting.

In this extremity of distress they had once more re-
course to the Romans; and wrote in the most mourn-
ful style that can possibly be imagined to Aetius, who
was then consul the third time. Their letter they di-
rected thus: "The groans of the Britons to the con-
sul Aetius." The contents of this letter were answer-
able to the direction. "The barbarians (say they)
drive us to the sea; the sea drives us back to the bar-
barians; between which we have only the choice of
two deaths, either to be swallowed up by the waves,
or to be cruelly massacred by the enemy."

To this letter the Roman general gave no satisfac-
tory answer, and the provincials were thereupon re-
duced to despair. Great numbers of them fled over to Ar-
morica, where they settled along with others who had
formerly gone over with an usurper called Maximus;
while others submitted to the Scots and Picts. Some,
however, more resolute than the rest, had once more
recourse to arms. They sallied out in parties from the
woods and caves where they had been obliged to hide
themselves, and, falling unexpectedly on the enemy,
cut great numbers of them in pieces, and obliged the
rest to retire. Having thus obtained some respite,

they began again to cultivate their lands; which, ha-
ving lain fallow for a long time, now produced all
sorts of corn in the greatest plenty. This plenty, ac-
cording to the historian Gildas, occasioned the most
consummate wickedness and corruption of manners
among all ranks of men. The clergy, says he, who
should have reclaimed the laity by their example,
proved the ringleaders in every vice; being addicted to
drunkenness, contention, envy, &c.—It is possible,
however, that this description might be exaggerated by
Gildas, who was himself a monk. But however this
was, the Britons had not long enjoyed peace, when
they were alarmed by a report, that the Scots and
Picts were about to return with a far greater force
than before, utterly to extirpate the name of their
southern neighbours, and seize upon the country for
themselves. This report threw them into a terrible
consternation; and to add to the rest of their misfor-
tunes, they were now visited by a dreadful plague,
which raged with such violence, that the living were
scarce sufficient to bury the dead. The contagion no
sooner ceased, than they found their country invaded
by the Scots and Picts, who destroyed every thing with
fire and sword; so that the provincials were soon re-
duced to the same miserable state they had formerly
been in.

At this time the chief, if not the only, king of the
southern division of Britain, was one Vortigern. He
is said to have been a cruel, debauched tyrant, regard-
less of the public welfare, and totally incapable of pro-
moting it. Being now roused from his insensibility,
however, by a sense of his own danger, he summoned
a council of the chief men of the nation, in order to
deliberate about the proper means for delivering the
country from those calamities under which it groaned.
In this council the most pernicious measure was ad-
opted that could possibly have been resolved on; namely,
to invite to their assistance the Saxons, a people famous
for their piracies and cruelty, and justly dreaded by
the Britons themselves. This fatal expedient be-
ing agreed upon, ambassadors were immediately dis-
patched into Germany with advantageous proposals to
the Saxons in case they would come over to their as-
sistance.

The British ambassadors soon arrived in Germany,
and, according to Witichind, a Saxon historian of the
ninth century, made the following speech before an as-
sembly of the Saxons. "Illustrious Saxons, the fame
of your victories having reached our ears, the distress-
ed Britons, harassed by the continual invasions of a
neighbouring enemy, send us to implore your as-
sistance. We have a fertile and spacious country, which
we are commanded to submit to you. We have hitherto
lived under the protection of the Roman empire;
but our ancient masters having abandoned us,
we know no nation more powerful than you, and bet-
ter able to protect us. We therefore recur to your
valour. Forgive us not in our distress, and we shall
readily submit to what terms you yourselves shall think
fit to prescribe to us."—If this abject and shameful
speech was really made, it must give us a very strange
idea of the national spirit of the provincial Britons at
that time. It is, however, probable that the whole is
a fiction, designed only to excuse the perfidious treat-
ment which these Britons afterwards received from the
Saxons.

England. Saxons. The most respectable even of the Saxon historians make no mention of such a speech; and it is certain, that when the Saxons themselves wanted to quarrel with the Britons, they never insisted upon the promise made by the British ambassadors; which they most certainly would have done, had any such promise ever been made.

The British ambassadors were very favourably received by the Saxons. The latter embraced their proposal with joy; and the rather, because their soothsayers foretold that they should plunder their British allies for 150 years, and reign over them for twice that time. Three long ships, in the Saxon language called chines, were therefore fitted out, under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa. These were two brothers much celebrated both for their valour and nobility. They were sons of Witigisil, said to be great-grandson to the Saxon god Woden; a circumstance which added much to their authority. Having embarked about 1600 men on board their three vessels, the two brothers arrived in the isle of Thanet, in the year 449 or 450. ³² They were received by the inhabitants with the greatest demonstrations of joy: the isle in which they had landed was immediately appointed for their habitation; and a league was concluded, in virtue of which the Saxons were to defend the provincial Britons against all foreign enemies; and the provincials were to allow the Saxons pay and maintenance, besides the place allotted them for their abode. Soon after their arrival, King Vortigern led them against the northern nations, who had lately broke into the kingdom, and advanced as far as Stanford in the county of Lincolnshire. Here a battle was fought, in which the Scots and Picts were utterly defeated, and obliged to relinquish their booty.

Vortigern was so highly pleased with the behaviour of his new allies, that he bestowed large possessions in the country they had newly delivered, upon the two commanders Hengist and Horsa. It is said, that, even at this time, Hengist was taken with the wealth and fertility of the country; and at the same time observing the inhabitants to be quite enervated with luxury, began to entertain hopes of conquering part of it. He therefore, with Vortigern's consent, invited over some more of his countrymen; giving them notice at the same time of the fruitfulness of the country, the effeminacy of the inhabitants, and how easily a conquest might be effected.

³³ New supplies of Saxons arrive. The Saxons readily complied with the invitation; and, in 452, as many more arrived in 17 vessels, as with those already in Britain, made up an army of 5000 men. Along with these, according to Nennius, came over Rowena the daughter of Hengist. Vortigern fell in love with this lady; and in order to obtain her in marriage, divorced his lawful wife. Hengist pretended to be averse to the match; but Vortigern obtained his consent by investing him with the sovereignty of Kent. The Saxon historians, indeed, make no mention of Rowena; but rather intimate, that their countrymen made themselves masters of Kent by force of arms. It seems most probable, however, that Vortigern had as yet continued in friendship with the Saxons, and even put more confidence in them than in his own subjects. For, not long after the arrival of this first reinforcement, Hengist obtained leave to send

for a second, in order, as was pretended, to defend the king from the attempts of his rebellious subjects, as well as of the Scots and Picts. These embarked in 40 ships, under the command of Osta and Ebusa, the son and nephew, or, according to some, the brother and nephew of Hengist. They landed at the Orkney islands; and having ravaged them, as well as all the northern coasts of Scotland, they conquered several places beyond the Frith, and at last obtained leave to settle in Northumberland.

The pretence made for this settlement was, that the Saxons under Osta and Ebusa might defend the northern frontiers of the kingdom, as those under Hengist and Horsa did the southern parts. Many more Saxons were, under various pretences, invited over; till at last the countries from which they came were in a manner depopulated. And now their numbers being greatly increased, the Saxons began to quarrel with the natives. They demanded larger allowances of corn, and other provisions; threatening to lay waste the whole country if their demands were not complied with. The Britons, instead of complying with these demands, desired them to return home, since their numbers exceeded what they were able to maintain. Upon this, the Saxons concluded a peace with the Scots and Picts; and, turning their arms against the unhappy provincials, overran the whole country. The Saxons committed everywhere the greatest cruelties. All buildings, whether public or private, they levelled with the ground. The cities were pillaged and burnt; and the people massacred without distinction of sex or age, and that in such numbers, that the living scarce sufficed to bury the dead. Some of those who escaped the general slaughter, took refuge among inaccessible rocks and mountains; but there great numbers perished with hunger, or were forced to surrender themselves as slaves to their enemies. Some crossed the sea and settled either in Holland or in Armorica, now the province of Brittany in France.

Vortigern, we are told by Nennius, was so far from being reclaimed by these calamities, that he added incessantly to his other crimes, and married his own daughter. At last, his own subjects, provoked at his enormous wickedness, and the partiality he showed to the Saxons, deposed him, and raised his son Vortimer to the throne. He was a young man of great valour, and willingly undertook the defence of his distressed country. He first fell upon the Saxons with what troops he could assemble, and drove them into the isle of Thanet. Here they were besieged, till, being reinforced by fresh supplies from Germany, they opened themselves a way through the British troops. Vortimer, however, was not yet disheartened. He engaged the Saxons on the banks of the Derwent in Kent, where he obtained a complete victory, and cut in pieces great numbers of the enemy. Another battle was fought at Aylesford in Kent. Some ascribe the victory at this time to the Saxons, and some to the Britons. It is certain, however, that Horsa the brother of Hengist was killed in this engagement. He is said to have been buried at a place in the neighbourhood, which from him obtained the name of Horsfed.—A third battle was fought, in which the victory was uncertain, as is also the place where it happened. The fourth battle, however, according to Nennius proved decisive.

decisive in favour of the Britons. Vortimer engaged his enemies, according to some, at Folkstone, according to others, at a place called Stonar, in the isle of Thanet. The Saxons were defeated with great slaughter, and driven back to their ships. So complete is the victory said to have been, that the Saxons quitted the island, without making any attempt upon it for five years afterwards. These battles, however, rest entirely upon the credit of Nennius, and the historians who have followed him. They are taken notice of neither by Gildas nor Bede. The former only acquaints us, that the Saxons retired. This, by most historians, is understood of their returning home; though it is possible he might mean no more, than that, after they had laid waste the country, they retired into the territories allotted them by Vortigern, in Kent and Northumberland.

Vortimer is said to have died after a reign of six years. On his death-bed, he desired his servants to bury him near the place where the Saxons used to land; being persuaded, that the virtue of his bones would effectually prevent them from ever touching the British shore. This command, however, was neglected; and Vortimer was buried at Lincoln, according to some, or London, according to others. Hengist was no sooner informed of his death, than he invaded Britain anew with a numerous body of Saxons. He was opposed by Vortigern, who had been restored to the throne after the death of his son Vortimer. Several battles were fought on this occasion; but at last the provincials being overthrown at a place called Crecanford, with the loss of 4000 men, were obliged to abandon Kent to their enemies, and retire to London. This happened about the year 458 or 459; and from this time most historians date the erection of the first Saxon kingdom in Britain, viz. that of Kent. Hengist assumed the title of king, and chose Elk his son for his colleague.

The Britons under Vortigern still continued the war. Hengist finding himself unable to gain a decisive advantage over them in the field, had recourse to treachery. He pretended to be desirous of concluding a peace with the British monarch, and of renewing his ancient friendship with him; and therefore required an interview. To this Vortigern readily consented, and accepted of an entertainment prepared for him by Hengist. The king was attended by 300 nobility all unarmed; but the Saxons had concealed daggers below their garments. The British nobility were all treacherously massacred in the height of their mirth; Vortigern himself was taken and put in fetters; nor could his liberty be procured, but by ceding to the Saxons those provinces now called Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex. Thus the Saxons got such a footing in Britain, that they could never afterwards be expelled. Vortigern, after being set at liberty, is said to have retired to a vast wilderness near the fall of the Wye in Radnorshire, where he was some time after consumed by lightning, together with a city called Kaer Gourigern which he had built in that place.

On the retreat of Vortigern, the command of the British forces devolved upon Aurelius Ambrosius, or as Gildas calls him, Ambrosius Aurelianus. He was a Roman, and perhaps the last that remained in the island. He is said to have gained several victories over the

Saxons. Notwithstanding this, however, they still continued to gain ground; and in the year 491, the foundation of a second Saxon kingdom was laid in Britain. This at first comprehended only the county of Sussex, but soon after extended over most of the counties lying south of the Humber. It was called the kingdom of the South Saxons.

The German nations being now informed of the good success which had attended the Saxons in Britain, new adventurers daily flocked over to share the good fortune of the others. They were chiefly composed of three nations, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. All these passed under the common appellation sometimes of Saxons, sometimes of Angles. They spoke the same language, and agreed very much in their customs and institutions, so that all of them were naturally led to combine against the natives. The most active of these adventurers was Cerdic a Saxon, said to be the tenth in descent from Woden. He landed with his son Cenric, and as many men as he could convey in five ships, at Yarmouth in Norfolk. The provincials immediately attacked him with great vigour; but after a short engagement, they were totally defeated. Many other battles were fought, the event of which was always favourable to the Saxons, so that the Britons were forced to abandon their sea-coasts to them.

In 497, Porta, another Saxon, with his two sons Bleda and Magla, arrived at Portsmouth, so called, as some imagine, from this chieftain. The provincials, under the command of a young prince a native of the country, attempted to oppose the landing of the Saxons; but his army was defeated with great slaughter, and he himself killed in the engagement; after which Porta made himself master of all the neighbouring country. The progress of Cerdic, however, alarmed the Britons more than that of all the other Saxon princes. About the year 508, therefore, Nazaleod, styled, by Henry of Huntingdon, the greatest of all the British kings, assembled almost the whole strength of the provincial Britons in order to drive him out of the island. Cerdic, on the other hand, took care to strengthen himself by procuring assistance from all the Saxons already in the island. He then advanced against the Britons, commanding the right wing himself, and his son Cenric the left. As the two armies drew near each other, Nazaleod perceived the enemy's right wing to be much stronger than the left. He therefore attacked it with the flower of his army; and after an obstinate resistance, obliged Cerdic to save himself by flight. Being too eager in the pursuit, however, Cenric fell upon his rear, and the battle was renewed with great vigour. The British army was at last entirely defeated; and 3000 men, among whom was Nazaleod himself, were left dead on the spot.

Who succeeded Nazaleod in the kingdom of Britain, is not known. The Welsh annals leave an interregnum of about six years, after which they place the beginning of the reign of Arthur, the most renowned British prince mentioned in history. The history of King Arthur is so much obscured by fables, and many absurd, romantic, and ridiculous stories, that some have supposed that no such person ever existed. On this subject Milton gives the following reasons against the existence of King Arthur: 1. He is not mentioned by Gildas,

36
They returned and defeated the Britons, and erected a kingdom in Kent.

37
Treachery of the Saxons.

[England.] Gildas, or any British historian except Nennius, who is allowed on all hands to have been a very credulous writer, and to have published a great many fables. 2. Though William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon have both related his exploits, yet the latter took all he wrote from Nennius; and the former, either from the same fabulous writer, or some monkish legends in the abbey of Glastenbury; for both these writers flourished several centuries after King Arthur. 3. In the pretended history of Geoffrey of Monmouth, such contradictions occur concerning this monarch's victories in France, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Italy, &c. as must cause us to look upon him as a hero altogether fabulous and romantic.

In answer to this it has been said, 1. That his not being mentioned by Gildas cannot seem strange to us, seeing it was not that author's design to write an exact history of his country, but only to give a short account of the causes of its ruin by the Scots, Picts, and Saxons. He had also a particular system to support, namely, That the ruin of the Britons was owing to the judgements of God upon them for their wickedness. He lies therefore under a great temptation to conceal the successes of the Britons, and to relate only their misfortunes. 2. Though Nennius was a credulous writer, it is unreasonable to think that the whole history of King Arthur was an invention of his. It is more probable that he copied it from other more ancient authors, or took it from the common tradition of his countrymen. That the Saxon annals make no mention of this king is not to be wondered at, seeing it is natural to think that they would wish to conceal the many defeats he gave their nation. 3. The most convincing proof of the existence of King Arthur is, that his tomb was discovered at Glastenbury in Somersetshire, and his coffin dug up, in the reign of Henry II. with the following inscription upon it in Gothic characters: "Hic jacet sepultus inclytus rex Arturius in insula Avalonia." We are told that on his body were plainly to be seen the marks of 10 wounds, only one of which seemed to be mortal.

This renowned prince is said to have defeated the Saxons under Cerdic in 12 pitched battles. The last of these was fought on Badon-hill, supposed to be Banstown near Bath; in which the Saxons received such a terrible overthrow, that for many years they gave the Britons no further molestation. As new supplies of Saxons, however, were continually flocking over, a third and fourth kingdom of them were soon formed. The third kingdom comprehended the counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Berkshire; to which was afterwards added Cornwall. This was called the kingdom of the West Saxons. The other kingdom, which was called the kingdom of the East Saxons, comprehended Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire.

In the year 542, happened the death of the great King Arthur, said to have been killed in battle with a treacherous kinsman of his own. Five years afterwards was erected the Saxon kingdom of Northumberland. It extended, however, much farther than the present bounds of that county; for it comprehended all Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Northumberland, with part of Scotland, as far as the frith of Forth. Between the Saxon

kings frequent contentions now arose; by which England means the Britons enjoyed an uninterrupted tranquillity for at least 44 years. This interval, however, according to Gildas, they employed only in corrupting their manners more and more, till at last they were roused from their security by the setting up of a sixth Saxon kingdom, called the kingdom of the East Angles. It was founded in 575, and comprehended the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and the Isle of Ely. The Saxons once more attacked the Britons, and overthrew them in many battles. The war was continued for ten years; after which, another Saxon kingdom called Mercia was set up. It comprehended 17 counties; viz. Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northampton, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Stafford, Nottingham, Derby, Shropshire, Cheshire, and part of Hertfordshire.

The provincial Britons were now confined within very narrow bounds. However, before they entirely gave up the best part of their country to their enemies, they once more resolved to try the event of a battle. At this time they were assisted by the Angles, who were jealous of the overgrown power of the West Saxons. The battle was fought in Wiltshire, at Woden's Bearth, a place near the ditch called Wansdike or Woden'sdike; which runs through the middle of the county. The battle was very oblitinate and bloody; but at last the Saxons were entirely defeated, and almost their whole army cut off. The victory, however, proved of little service to the Britons: for being greatly inferior in number to the Saxons, and harassed by them on the one side, and by the Scots and Picts on the other, they were daily more and more confined; and at last obliged to take refuge among the craggy and mountainous places in the west of the island, where their enemies could not pursue them. At first they possessed all the country beyond the rivers Dee and Severn, which anciently divided Cambria, or Wales, from England; the towns which stand on the eastern banks of these rivers having mostly been built in order to restrain the incursions of the Welsh. But the English, having passed the Severn, by degrees seized on the country lying between that river and the Wye. Nay, in former times, some parts of Flintshire and Denbighshire were subject to the kings of Mercia: for Uffa, the most powerful king of that country, caused a deep ditch to be drawn, and a high wall built, as a barrier between his dominions and the territories of the Welsh, from the mouth of the Dee, a little above Flint-castle, to the mouth of the Wye. This ditch is still to be seen in several places; and is called by the Welsh Claudh Uffa, or the Ditch of Uffa. The inhabitants of the towns on the east side of this ditch are called by the same people Gwyn y Mers; that is, the men of Mercia.

Thus, after a violent contest of near 150 years, the Saxons entirely subdued the Britons whom they had the means to defend, and had erected seven independent kingdoms in England, now commonly denominated the Saxon Heptarchy. By these conquerors the country was now reduced to a degree of barbarity almost as great as it had been in when first invaded by the Romans. The provincial Britons, during their subjection to that people, had made considerable advances in civilization.

England. vilization. They had built 28 considerable cities, be-
fides a number of villages and country-feats; but now
these were all levelled with the ground, the native inha-
bitants who remained in England were reduced to the
most abject slavery, and every art and science totally
extinguished among them.

Before these fierce conquerors could be civilized in
any degree, it was necessary that all the seven king-
doms should be reduced under one head; for as long
as they remained independent, their continual wars with
each other still kept them in the same state of barbari-
ty and ignorance.

The history of these seven kingdoms affords no event
that can be in the least interesting. It consists only of
a detail of their quarrels for the sovereignty. This
was at last obtained by Egbert king of the West
Saxons, or Wessex, in 827. Before this time, Chris-
tianity had been introduced into almost all the king-
doms of the heptarchy; and however much corrupted
it might be by coming through the impure channel of
the church of Rome, and misunderstood through the
ignorance of those who received it, it had consider-
ably softened the barbarous manners of the Saxons.
It had also opened a communication between Bri-
tain and the more polite parts of Europe, so that
there was now some hope of the introduction of arts
and sciences into this country. Another effect was,
that, by the ridiculous notions of preserving inviolable
chastity even between married people, the royal fami-
lies of most of the kingdoms were totally extinct;
and the people, being in a state of anarchy, were ready
to submit to the first who assumed any authority over
them.

All these things contributed to the success of Eg-
bert in uniting the heptarchy under his own dominion.
He was of the royal family of Wessex; and a nearer
heir than Brithric, who had been raised to the king-
dom in 784. As Egbert was a prince of great ac-
complishments, Brithric, knowing that he had a better
title to the crown than himself, began to look upon
him with a very jealous eye. Young Egbert, sensible
of his danger, privately withdrew to France; where he
was well received by Charlemagne, the reigning mon-
arch. The French were reckoned at this period the
most valiant and polite people in Europe; so that this
exile proved of great service to Egbert.

He continued at the court of France till he was re-
called by the nobility to take possession of the king-
dom of Wessex. This recall was occasioned by the
following accident. Brithric the king of Wessex had
married Eadburga, natural daughter of Offa king of
Mercia; a woman infamous for cruelty and inconsis-
tency. Having great influence over her husband, she
often persuaded him to destroy such of the nobility as
were obnoxious to her; and where this expedient failed,
she herself had not scrupled to become their execu-
tioner. She had mixed a cup of poison for a young
nobleman, who had acquired a great share of her hus-
band's friendship: but, unfortunately, the king drank
of the fatal potion along with his favourite, and soon
after expired. By this and other crimes Eadburga
became so odious to the people, that she was forced to
fly into France, while Egbert was at the same time
recalled, as above-mentioned.

Egbert ascended the throne of Wessex in the year

799. He was the sole descendant of those conquerors England
who first invaded Britain, and who derived their pedigree
from the god Woden. But though this circumstance
might have given him great advantages in attempting
to subdue the neighbouring kingdoms, Egbert for
some time gave them no disturbance; but turned his
arms against the Britons, who had retired into Corn-
wall, whom he defeated in several battles. He was
recalled from his conquests in that country, by hearing
that Bernulf king of Mercia had invaded his domi-
nions. Egbert quickly led his army against the in-
vaders, whom he totally defeated at Eilendun in Wilts-
shire. He then entered their kingdom on the side of
Oxfordshire with an army, and at the same time sent
his eldest son Ethelwolf with another into Kent. The
young prince expelled Baldred the tributary king of
Kent, and soon made himself master of the country.
The kingdom of Essex was conquered with equal ease;
and the East Angles, who had been reduced under
subjection by the Mercians, joyfully put themselves
under the protection of Egbert. Bernulf himself
marched against them, but was defeated and killed;
and Ludcan his successor met with the same fate two
years after.

These misfortunes greatly facilitated the reduction
of Mercia. Egbert soon penetrated into the very heart
of the Mercian territories, and gained an easy victory
over a dispirited and divided people; but in order to
engage them to submit with the less reluctance, he al-
lowed Wiglef, their countryman, to retain the title of
king, whilst he himself exercised the real power of a
sovereign. Northumberland was at present in a state
of anarchy: and this tempted Egbert to carry his vic-
torious arms into that kingdom also. The inhabi-
tants, being desirous of living under a settled form of
government, readily submitted, and owned him for
their sovereign. To them, however, he likewise al-
lowed the power of electing a king; who paid him a
tribute, and was dependent on him.

Egbert became sole master of England about the ⁴⁵ year 827. A favourite opportunity was now offered ^{Egbert the} to the Anglo-Saxons of becoming a civilized people, ^{first king of} as they were at peace among themselves, and seemed ^England. free from any danger of a foreign invasion. But this
flattering prospect was soon overcast. Five years after
Egbert had established his new monarchy, the Danes
landed in the isle of Shepey, plundered it, and then
made their escape with safety. Encouraged by this ⁴⁶ suc-
cess, next year they landed from a fleet of 35 ships, ^valued.
They were encountered by Egbert at Charmouth in
Dorsetshire. The battle was obstinate and bloody.
Great numbers of the Danes were killed, but the rest
made good their retreat to their ships. They next en-
tered into an alliance with the Britons of Cornwall; and
landing two years after in that country, they made an
irruption into Devonshire. Egbert met them at Hen-
gesdown, and totally defeated them; but before he
had time to form any regular plan for the defence of
the kingdom, he died, and left the government to his
son Ethelwolf.

The new king was weak and superstitious. He be-⁴⁷gan with dividing the kingdom, which had so lately
been united, with his son Athelstan. To the young
prince he gave the counties of Essex, Kent, and Sussex.
But though this division might have been productive
of

England. of bad consequences at another time, the fear of the Danes kept every thing quiet for the present. These barbarians had some how or other conceived such hopes of enriching themselves by the plunder of England, that they scarce ever failed of paying it an annual visit. The English historians tell us, that they met with many severe repulses and defeats; but on the whole it appears that they had gained ground: for in 851 a body of them took up their winter-quarters in England. Next year they received a strong reinforcement of their countrymen in 350 vessels; and advancing from the isle of Thanet, where they had stationed themselves, they burnt the cities of London and Canterbury. Having next put to flight Brictric the governor of Mercia, they marched into the heart of Surrey, laying waste the whole country through which they passed.

Ethelwolf, though naturally little fitted for military enterprises, was now obliged to take the field. He marched against the Danes at the head of the West Saxons, and gained an indecisive and bloody victory over his enemies. The Danes still maintained their settlement in the isle of Thanet. They were attacked by Ealher and Huda, governors of Kent and Surrey: both of whom they defeated and killed. Afterwards they removed to the isle of Shepey, where they took up their winter-quarters, with a design to extend their ravages the next year.

The deplorable state of the kingdom did not hinder Ethelwolf from making a pilgrimage to Rome, whither he carried his fourth and favourite son Alfred, then only six years of age. He passed a twelvemonth in that city; made presents to the principal ecclesiastics there; and made a grant of 300 mancusels (a silver coin about the weight of our half-crown) annually to the fee of Rome. One-third of this was to support the lamps of St Peter's, another those of St Paul's, and the third was for the Pope himself. In his return to England, Ethelwolf married Judith, daughter of the emperor Charles the Bald; but when he landed, he found himself deprived of his kingdom by his son Ethelbald. That prince assumed the government of Athelstan's dominions, who was lately dead; and, with many of Ethelwolf's nobles, formed a design of excluding him from the throne altogether, on account of his weaknesses and superstitions. Ethelwolf, however, delivered the people from the calamities of a civil war, by dividing the kingdom with his son. He gave to Ethelbald the government of the western, and reserved to himself that of the eastern, part of the kingdom. Immediately after this, he summoned the states of the whole kingdom, and conferred on the clergy a perpetual donation of tythes, for which they had long contended, and which had been the subject of their sermons for several centuries.

This concession was deemed so meritorious by the English, that they now thought themselves sure of the favour of heaven; and therefore neglected to use the natural means for their safety which they might have done. They even agreed, that, notwithstanding the desperate situation of affairs at present, the revenues of the church should be exempted from all burdens, though imposed for the immediate security and defence of the nation. Ethelwolf died two years after he had made the above-mentioned grant, and left the

VOL. VIII. Part I.

kingdom to his two eldest sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert. Both these princes died in a few years, and left the kingdom to Ethered their brother, in the year 866.

The whole course of Ethered's reign was disturbed by the irruptions of the Danes. The king defended himself against them with great bravery, being seconded in all his military enterprises by his younger brother Alfred, who afterwards ascended the throne. In this reign, the Danes first landed among the East Angles. That people treacherously entered into an alliance with the common enemy; and furnished them with horses, which enabled them to make an irruption into Northumberland. There they seized upon the city of York. Osbriht and Ælla, two Northumbrian princes who attempted to rescue the city, were defeated and killed. Encouraged by this success, the Danes penetrated into the kingdom of Mercia, took up their winter-quarters at Nottingham, and thus threatened the kingdom with a final subjection. From this peril, however, they were dislodged by Ethered and Alfred, who forced them to retire into Northumberland. Their restless and savage disposition, however, did not suffer them to continue long in one place. They broke into East Anglia; defeated and took prisoner Edmund the tributary king of that country, whom they afterwards murdered; and committed everywhere the most barbarous ravages. In 871, they advanced to Reading; from whence they infested the neighbouring country by their incursions. The Mercians, desirous of recovering their independency, refused to join Ethered with their forces; so that he was obliged to march against the Danes, attended only by the West Saxons, who were his hereditary subjects. Several actions ensued, in which the Danes are said to have been unsuccessful; but being continually reinforced from their own country, they became every day more and more formidable to the English. During the confusion and distress in which the nation was now necessarily involved, King Ethered died of a wound he had received in an action with the Danes; and left to his brother Alfred the kingdom almost totally subdued by a foreign power.

Alfred, who may properly be called the founder of the English monarchy, ascended the throne in the year 871, being then only 22 years of age. His great virtues and shining talents saved his country from ruin, which seemed almost unavoidable. His exploits against the Danes, his dangers and distresses, are related under the article ALFRED. Having settled the nation in a much better manner than could have been expected, he died in 901, leaving the kingdom to his second son Edward the Elder.

The beginning of this monarch's reign was disturbed by those intestine commotions from which the wife and elder politic Alfred had taken so much pains to free the nation. Ethelwald, son to King Ethelbert, Alfred's elder brother, claimed a right to the throne. Having armed his partisans, he took possession of Winburne, where he seemed determined to hold out to the last extremity. On the approach of Edward, however, with a powerful army, he first fled into Normandy, and afterwards into Northumberland. He hoped to find the Northumbrians ready to join him, as most of them were Danes, lately subdued by Alfred, and very impatient of peace. The event did not disappoint his expectations.

England. pestations. The Northumbrians declared for him; and Ethelwald having thus connected himself with the Danish tribes, went beyond sea, whence he returned with a great body of these banditti. On his return, he was joined by the Danes of East Anglia and Mercia. Ethelwald, at the head of the rebels, made an irruption into the counties of Gloucester, Oxford, and Wilts; and having ravaged the country, retired with his booty before the king could approach him. Edward, however, took care to revenge himself, by conducting his forces into East Anglia, and ravaging it in like manner. He then gave orders to retire; but the Kentish men, greedy of more plunder, staid behind, and took up their quarters at Bury. Here they were assaulted by the Danes; but the Kentishmen made such an obstinate defence, that though their enemies gained the victory, it was bought by the loss of their bravest men, and, among the rest, of the usurper Ethelwald himself.

The king, now freed from the attempts of so dangerous a rival, concluded an advantageous peace with the East Angles. He next set about reducing the Northumbrians; and for this purpose equipped a fleet, hoping that thus they would be induced to remain at home to defend their own country, without attempting to invade his territories. He was disappointed in his expectations. The Northumbrians were more eager to plunder their neighbours than to secure themselves. Imagining that the whole of Edward's forces were embarked on board his fleet, they entered his territories with all the troops they could raise. The king, however, was better prepared for them than they had expected. He attacked them on their return at Tettenhall in the county of Stafford, put them to flight, recovered all the booty, and pursued them with great slaughter into their own country.

The rest of Edward's reign was a scene of continued and successful action against the Northumbrians, East Angles, the Danes of Mercia, and those who came from their native country in order to invade England. He put his kingdom in a good posture of defence, by fortifying the towns of Chester, Edesbury, Warwick, Cherbury, Buckingham, Towcester, Maldon, Huntingdon, and Colchester. He vanquished Thurketill a Danish chieftain, and obliged him to retire with his followers into France. He subdued the East Anglians, Northumbrians, and several tribes of the Britons; and even obliged the Scots to make submissions. He died in 925, and was succeeded by Athelstan his natural son.

51 Athelstan. This prince, notwithstanding his illegitimate birth, ascended the throne without much opposition, as the legitimate children of Edward were too young to rule a nation so much liable both to foreign invasions and domestic troubles as England at present was. One Alfred, however, a nobleman of considerable power, entered into a conspiracy against him. It is said, that this nobleman was seized upon strong suspicions, but without any certain proof. He offered to swear to his innocence before the pope; and in those ages it was supposed that none could take a false oath in presence of such a sacred person, without being visited by an immediate judgment from God. Alfred was accordingly conducted to Rome, and took the oath required of him before Pope John. The words were no sooner

pronounced, than he fell into convulsions, of which he expired in three days. The king, fully convinced of his guilt, confiscated his estate, and made a present of it to the monastery of Malmesbury.

This accident proved the means of establishing the authority of Athelstan in England. But finding the Northumbrians bore the English yoke with impatience, he gave Sithric, a Danish nobleman, the title of king of Northumberland; and in order to secure his friendship, gave him his own sister Editha in marriage. This was productive of bad consequences. Sithric died the year after his marriage with Editha; upon which Anlaf and Godfrid, Sithric's sons by a former marriage, assumed the sovereignty without waiting for Athelstan's consent. They were, however, soon obliged to yield to the superior power of that monarch. The former fled to Ireland; and the latter to Scotland, where he was protected by Constantine king of that country. The Scottish monarch was continually importuned by Athelstan to deliver up his guest, and even threatened with an invasion in case he did not comply. Constantine, detecting this treachery, advised Godfrid to make his escape. He did so, turned pirate, and died soon after. Athelstan, however, resenting this conduct of Constantine, invaded his kingdom, and reduced him, it is said, so low, that he was obliged to make the most humble submissions. This, however, is denied by all the Scottish historians.

Constantine, after the departure of Athelstan, entered into a confederacy with Anlaf, who subsisted by his piracies, and with some of the Welsh princes who were alarmed at the increase of Athelstan's power. All these confederates made an irruption into England at once; but Athelstan meeting them at Brumbury in Northumberland, gave them a total overthrow. Anlaf enemies. 52 Defeats his and Constantine made their escape with difficulty, leaving the greatest part of their men dead on the field of battle. After this period, Athelstan enjoyed his crown in tranquillity. He died in 941, after a reign of 16 years. He passed a remarkable law, for the encouragement of commerce: viz. that a merchant, who had made three long sea-voyages on his own account, should be admitted to the rank of athane or gentleman.

Athelstan was succeeded by his brother Edmund. 53 Edmund. On his accession, he found the kingdom disturbed by the restless Northumbrians, who watched for every opportunity of rising in rebellion. They were, however, soon reduced; and Edmund took care to ensure the peace of the kingdom, by removing the Danes from the towns of Mercia where they had been allowed to settle, because it was found that they took every opportunity to introduce foreign Danes into the kingdom. He also conquered Cumberland from the Britons. This country, however, he bestowed upon Malcolm king of Scotland, upon condition that he should do homage for it, and protect the north of England from all future incursions of the Danes.

Edmund was unfortunately murdered in Gloucester, 54 Murdered by one Leolf a notorious robber. This man had been by Leolf formerly sentenced to banishment; yet had the boldness to enter the hall where the king himself dined, and to sit at table with his attendants. Edmund immediately ordered him to leave the room. The villain refused to obey; upon which the king leaped upon him,

England. him, and seized him by the hair. Leolf then drew a dagger, and gave the king a wound, of which he instantly died, A. D. 946, being the sixth year of his reign.

55
Edred. As the children of Edmund were too young at the time of his decease, his brother Edred succeeded to the throne. The beginning of his reign, as well as those of his predecessors, was disturbed by the rebellions and incursions of the Northumbrian Danes, who looked upon the succession of every new king to be a favourable opportunity for shaking off the English yoke. On the appearance of Edred with an army, however, they immediately submitted: but before the king withdrew his forces, he laid waste their territories as a punishment for their offence. He was no sooner gone, than

56
Subdued the Northumbrians. they rose in rebellion a second time. They were again subdued; and the king took effectual precautions against their future revolts, by placing English garrisons in all their towns, and appointing an English governor to watch their motions, and suppress their in-

57
Celibacy of the clergy introduced. surrections on the first appearance. In the reign of Edred, celibacy of the clergy began to be preached up under the patronage of St. DUNSTAN. This man had obtained such an ascendant over Edred, who was naturally superstitious, that he not only directed him in affairs of conscience, but in the most important matters of state. He was placed at the head of the treasury; and being thus possessed of great power at court, he was enabled to accomplish the most arduous undertakings. He professed himself a partisan of the rigid monastic rules; and having introduced celibacy among the monks of Glastenbury and Abingdon, he endeavoured to render it universal among the clergy throughout the kingdom. The monks in a short time generally embraced the pretended reformation; after which they inveighed bitterly against the vices and luxury of the age. When other topics of defamation were wanting, the marriages of clergymen became a sure object of invective. Their wives received the appellation of concubines or some other more opprobrious name. The secular clergy, on the other hand, who were numerous and rich, defended themselves with vigour, and endeavoured to retaliate upon their adversaries. The people were thrown into the most violent ferment; but the monks, being patronised by King Edred, gained ground greatly upon their opponents. Their progress, however, was somewhat retarded by the king's death, which happened in 955, after a reign of nine years. He left children; but as they were infants, his nephew Edwy, son to Edmund, was placed on the throne.

58
Edwy. The new king was not above 16 or 17 years of age at the time of his accession. His reign is only remarkable for the tragical story of his queen Elgiva. She was a princess of the royal blood, with whom Edwy was deeply enamoured. She was his second or third cousin, and therefore within the degrees of affinity prohibited by the canon law. Edwy, however, hearkening only to the dictates of his passion, married her, contrary to the advice of the more dignified ecclesiastics. The monks on this occasion were particularly violent; and therefore Edwy determined not to second their ambitious projects. He soon found reason to repent his having provoked such dangerous enemies. On his coronation day, while his nobility were indulging them-

elves in riotous mirth in a great hall where they had assembled, Edwy withdrew to another apartment to enjoy the company of his beloved queen and her mother. Dunstan guessed the reason of his absence. With unparalleled impudence, he burst into the queen's apartment; and upbraiding Edwy with his lasciviousness, as he termed it, pushed him back to the hall where the nobles were assembled. The king determined to resent such a daring insult. He required from Dunstan an account of his administration of the treasury during the late reign. The monk, probably unable to give a just account, refused to give any; upon which Edwy accused him of malversation in his office, and banished him the kingdom.

This proved the worst step that could possibly have been taken. Dunstan was no sooner gone than the whole nation was in an uproar about his sanctity and the king's impiety. These clamours, as they had been begun by the clergy, so they were kept up and increased by them, till at last they proceeded to the most outrageous violence. Archbishop Odo sent a party of soldiers to the palace. They seized the queen, and Tragic death of the queen. burned her face with a red-hot iron, in order to destroy her beauty by which she had enticed her husband; after which they carried her by force into Ireland, there to remain in perpetual exile. The king, finding it in vain to resist, was obliged to consent to a divorce from her, which was pronounced by Archbishop Odo. A catastrophe still more dismal awaited Elgiva. She had been cured of her wounds, and had even found means to efface the scars with which her persecutors had hoped to destroy her beauty. She then came to England, with a design to return to the king, whom she still considered as her husband. Unfortunately, however, she was intercepted by a party of soldiers sent for that purpose by the primate. Nothing but her most cruel death could now satisfy that wretch and his accomplices. She was hamstrung at Gloucester, and expired in a few days.

The minds of the English were at this time so much sunk in superstition, that the monstrous inhumanity above mentioned was called a judgment from God upon Edwy and his spouse for their dissolute life, i. e. their love to each other. They even proceeded to rebellion against their sovereign; and having raised to the throne Edgar, the younger brother of Edwy, at that time only 13 years of age, they soon put him in possession of Mercia, Northumberland, and East Anglia. Edwy being thus confined to the southern counties, Dunstan returned, and took upon him the government of Edgar and his party; but the death of Edwy soon removed all difficulties, and gave Edgar peaceable possession of the government.

60
The reign of Edgar proved one of the most fortunate mentioned in the ancient English history. He took the most effectual methods both for preventing tumults at home and invasions from abroad. He quartered a body of disciplined troops in the north, in order to repel the incursions of the Scots, and to keep the Northumbrians in awe. He built a powerful navy; and that he might keep the seamen in the practice of their duty, as well as present a formidable armament to his enemies, he commanded the fleet from time to time to make the circuit of his dominions.

The greatness of King Edgar, which is very much celebrated by the English historians, was owing to the harmony which reigned between him and his subjects; and the reason of this good agreement was, that the king sided with Dunstan and the monks, who had acquired a great ascendancy over the people. He enabled them to accomplish their favourite scheme of dispossessing the secular canons of all the monasteries; and he consulted them not only in ecclesiastical but also in civil affairs. On these accounts, he is celebrated by the monkish writers with the highest praises; though it is plain, from some of his actions, that he was a man who could be bound neither by the ties of religion nor humanity. He broke into a convent, and carried off by force, and ravished, a nun called Editha. His spiritual instructor, Dunstan, for this offence, obliged the king, not to separate from his mistress, but to abstain from wearing his crown for seven years!

Edgar, however, was not to be satisfied with one mistress. He happened once to lodge at the house of a nobleman who had a very beautiful daughter. Edgar inflamed with desire at the sight of the young lady, without ceremony asked her mother to allow her to pass a night with him. She promised compliance; but secretly ordered a waiting-maid, named Elfrida, to steal into the king's bed when the company were gone, and to retire before day-break. Edgar, however, detained her by force, till day-light discovered the deceit. His love was now transferred to the waiting-maid; who became his favourite mistress, and maintained a great ascendancy over him till his marriage with Elfrida.

The circumstances of this marriage were still more singular and criminal than those above mentioned. Elfrida was daughter and heiress to Olga earl of Devonshire. She was a person of such exquisite beauty, that her fame was spread all over England, though she had never been at court. Edgar's curiosity was excited by the accounts he had heard of her, and therefore formed a design of marrying her. He communicated his intention to Earl Athelwold his favourite; and ordered him, on some pretence or other, to visit the earl of Devonshire, and bring him a certain account concerning Elfrida. Athelwold went as he was desired; but fell so deeply in love with the lady himself, that he resolved to sacrifice his fidelity to his passion. He returned to Edgar, and told him, that Elfrida's charms were by no means extraordinary, and would have been totally overlooked in a woman of inferior station. After some time, however, turning the conversation again upon Elfrida, he told the king that he thought her parentage and fortune made her a very advantageous match; and therefore, if the king gave his consent, he would make proposals to the earl of Devonshire on his own behalf. Edgar consented, and Athelwold was married to Elfrida.—After his marriage, he used his utmost endeavours to keep his wife from court, that Edgar might have no opportunity of observing her beauty. The king, however, was soon informed of the truth; and told Athelwold, that he intended to pay him a visit in his castle, and be made acquainted with his new-married wife. The earl could make no objections; only he desired a few hours to prepare for the visit. He then confessed the whole

to Elfrida, and begged of her to appear before the king as much to the disadvantage as possible. Instead of this, she dressed herself to the greatest advantage. Edgar immediately conceived a violent passion for her; and, in order to gratify it, seduced Athelwold into a wood under pretence of hunting, where he stabbed him with his own hand, and afterwards married his widow.

The reign of Edgar is remarkable among historians for the encouragement he gave to foreigners to reside at his court and throughout the kingdom. These foreigners, it is said, corrupted the former simple manners of the nation. Of this simplicity, however, there seems to be no great reason to boast; seeing it could not preserve them from treachery and cruelty, the greatest of all vices: so that their acquaintance with foreigners was certainly an advantage to the people, as it tended to enlarge their views, and cure them of those illiberal prejudices and rustic manners to which islanders are often subject.—Another remarkable incident, is the extirpation of wolves from England. The king took great pleasure in hunting and destroying these animals himself. At last he found that they had all taken shelter in the mountains and forests of Wales. Upon this he changed the tribute imposed upon the Welsh princes by Athelstan, into an annual tribute of 300 wolves heads; and thus produced such diligence in hunting them, that the animal has never since appeared in England.

Edgar died in 957, after a reign of 16 years. He left a son named Edward, whom he had by his first wife the daughter of Earl Ordmer; and another, named Ethelred, by Elfrida. The mental qualifications of this lady were by no means answerable to the beauty of her person. She was ambitious, haughty, treacherous, and cruel. The principal nobility, therefore, were greatly averse from the succession of her son Ethelred, which would unavoidably throw too much power into the hands of his mother, as he himself was only seven years of age. Edward, afterwards named the Martyr, was therefore pitched upon: and was certainly the most proper person, as he was 15 years of age, and might soon be able to take the government into his own hands. Elfrida opposed his advancement with all her might: but Dunstan overcame every obstacle, by anointing and crowning the young prince at Kingston; upon which the whole kingdom submitted without farther opposition.

The only remarkable occurrence in this reign was the complete victory gained by the monks over the secular clergy, who were now totally expelled from the convents. Though this had been pretty nearly accomplished by Edgar, the secular clergy still had partisans in England who made considerable opposition: but these were all silenced by the following miracles. In one synod, Dunstan, finding the majority of votes against him, rose up, and declared that he had that infant received from heaven a revelation in favour of the monks. The whole assembly was so much overawed by this intelligence, that they proceeded no farther in their deliberations. In another synod, a voice issued from the crucifix, acquainting the members, that the establishment of the monks was founded on the will of heaven, and could not be opposed without impiety. But the third miracle was still more alarming. In another

England. other synod the floor of the hall sunk, and great numbers of the members were killed or bruised by their fall. It was remarked that Danstan had that day prevented the king from attending the synod, and that the beam on which his own chair stood was the only one which did not sink. These circumstances, instead of making him suspected as the author of the miracle, were regarded as proofs of the interposition of Providence in his favour.

Edward lived four years after he was raised to the throne, in perfect innocence and simplicity. Being incapable of any treacherous intention himself, he suspected none in others. Though his stepmother had opposed his succession, he had always behaved towards her with the greatest respect; and expressed on all occasions the most tender affection for his brother Ethelred. Being one day hunting in the neighbourhood of the castle where Elfrida resided, he paid her a visit unattended by any of his retinue. After mounting his horse with a design to return, he desired some liquor to be brought him. But while he was holding the cup to his head, a servant of Elfrida stabbed him behind. The king, finding himself wounded, clapped spurs to his horse; but soon becoming faint by the loss of blood, he fell from the saddle, and his foot being entangled in the stirrup, he was dragged along till he expired. His body was found and privately interred at Wareham by his servants. The English had such compassion for this amiable prince, that they bestowed on him the appellation of Martyr, and even fancied that miracles were wrought at his tomb. Elfrida built monasteries, and submitted to many penances, in order to atone for her guilt; but, even in that barbarous age, she could never regain the good opinion of the public.

⁶⁶
The king
murdered.

⁶⁷
Ethelred.

After the murder of Edward, his brother Ethelred succeeded to the throne without opposition. As he was a minor when he was raised to the throne, and, even when he came to man's estate, never discovered any vigour or capacity of defending the kingdom against invaders, the Danes began to renew their incursions. Before they durst attempt any thing of importance, however, they first made a small incursion by way of trial. In the year 981, they landed in Southampton from seven vessels; and having ravaged the country, they retired with impunity, carrying a great booty along with them. In 987, they made a similar attempt on the west coast, and were attended with the like success. Finding that matters were now in a favourable situation for their enterprises, they landed in Essex under the command of two chieftains; and, having defeated and killed Brithnot duke of that county, laid waste all the neighbouring provinces. In this extremity, Ethelred, furnished, on account of his preposterous conduct, the Unready, bribed the enemy with 10,000. to depart the kingdom. This advice was given by Siricius archbishop of Canterbury, and some of the degenerate nobility; and was attended with the success that might have been expected. The Danes appeared next year off the eastern coast. But, in the mean time, the English had determined to assemble at London a fleet capable of repulsing the enemy. This failed of success through the treachery of Alfric duke of Mercia. Having been formerly banished the kingdom, and found great difficulty in getting himself restored to his former dignity, he trusted thenceforth,

not to his services or the affections of his countrymen, but to the influence he had over his vassals, and to the public calamities. These last he determined always to promote as far as he could: because in every revolution his assistance would be necessary, and consequently he must receive a continual accession of power. The English had formed a plan for surrounding and destroying the Danish fleet in the harbour; but Alfric not only gave the enemy notice of this design, but also deserted with his squadron the night before the engagement. The English by this means proved unsuccessful; and Ethelred, in revenge, took Alfric, Alfric's son, and ordered his eyes to be put out. This piece of cruelty could be productive of no good effect. Alfric had become so powerful, that, notwithstanding his treachery, it was found impossible to deprive him of the government of Mercia.

In 993, the Danes under the command of Sweyn their king, and the Norwegians conducted by Olave king of that country, sailed up the Humber, and destroyed all around them. A powerful army was assembled to oppose these invaders; but through the treachery of the three leaders, all men of Danish extraction, the English were totally defeated. Encouraged by this success, the Danes entered the Thames in 94 vessels, and laid siege to London. The inhabitants, however, made such a brave defence, that the besiegers were finally obliged to give over the attempt. Out of revenge for this disappointment, they laid waste Essex, Sussex, and Hampshire. In these counties they procured horses; by which means they were enabled to penetrate into the more inland parts, and threatened the kingdom with total subjection. Ethelred and his nobles had now recourse to their former expedient. They sent ambassadors to the two northern kings, to whom they promised subsistence and tribute, provided they would, for the present, put an end to their ravages, and soon after depart the kingdom. They agreed to the terms, and peaceably took up their quarters at Southampton. Olave even paid a visit to Ethelred, and received the rite of confirmation from the English bishops. The king also made him many presents; and Olave promised never more to infest the English territories; which promise it is said he afterwards religiously observed.

After the departure of Olave with his Norwegians, Sweyn, though less scrupulous than the king of Norway, was obliged to leave the kingdom also. But this shameful composition procured only a short relief to the nation. The Danes soon after appeared in the Severn; and having ravaged Wales as well as Cornwall and Devon, they sailed round, and, entering the mouth of the Tamar, completed the ruin of these two counties. Then, returning to the Bristol channel, and penetrating into the country by the Avon, they overran all that country, and carried fire and sword even into Dorsetshire. In 998, they changed the feat of war; and, after ravaging the Isle of Wight, they entered the Thames and Medway, where they laid siege to Rochester and defeated the Kentish men in a great battle. After this victory, the whole province of Kent was made a scene of slaughter 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,

England. the want of concert in all, frustrated every endeavour; and their fleets and armies either came too late to attack the enemy, or were repulsed with dishonour. The English, therefore, devoid both of prudence and unanimity in council, had recourse to the expedient which by experience they had found to be ineffectual. They offered the Danes a large sum if they would conclude a peace and depart the kingdom. These ravagers continually rose in their demands; and now required the payment of 24,000l. which the English submitted to give. The departure of the Danes procured them a temporary relief; which they enjoyed as if it was to be perpetual, without making any effectual preparations for giving them a more vigorous reception upon their next return.

Besides the receiving this sum, the Danes were at present engaged by another motive to depart from England. They were invited over by their countrymen in Normandy, who at this time were hard pressed by Robert king of France, and who found it difficult to defend their settlements against him. It is probable also, that Ethelred, observing the close connection of all the Danes with one another, however they might be divided in government or situation, was desirous of procuring an alliance with that formidable people. For this purpose, being at present a widower, he made his addresses to Emma, sister to Richard II. duke of Normandy. He soon succeeded in his negotiations; the princess came over to England, and was married to the king in the year 1001.

Though the Danes had been for a long time established in England, and though the similarity of their language with the Saxon had invited them to an early coalition with the natives; they had as yet 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 English princes had been so well acquainted with their superiority in this respect, that Athelstan and Edgar had been accustomed to keep in pay large 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 in 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 had dishonoured many families. But what most provoked the inhabitants was, that, instead of defending them against invaders, they were always ready to betray

them to the foreign Danes, and to associate themselves with every straggling party which came from that nation.

The animosities between the native English and the Danes who inhabited among them, had from these causes risen to a great height; when Ethelred, from a policy commonly adopted by weak princes, took the cruel resolution of massacring the Danes throughout the kingdom. On the 13th of November 1002, secret orders were dispatched to commence the execution everywhere on the same day; and the festival of St Brice, which fell on a Sunday, the day on which the Danes usually bathed themselves, was chosen for this purpose. These cruel orders were executed with the utmost exactness. No distinction was made betwixt the innocent and the guilty; neither sex nor age was spared; nor were the cruel executioners satisfied without the tortures, as well as death, of the unhappy victims. Even Gunilda, sister to the king of Denmark, who had married Earl Peling, 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 (A).

The prophecy of Gunilda was exactly fulfilled. In New 1003, Sweyn and his Danes, who wanted only a pre- 78
tence to renew their invasions, appeared off the western coast, and threatened revenge for the slaughter of their countrymen. The English took measures for repulsing the enemy; but these were defeated through the treachery first of Alfric, and then of Edric, a still greater traitor, who had married the king's daughter, and succeeded Alfric in the command of the British armies. The Danes therefore ravaged the whole country. Agriculture was neglected, a famine ensued, and the kingdom was reduced to the utmost degree of misery. At last the infamous expedient of buying a peace was resorted to; and the departure of the Danes was purchased, in 1007, at the expence of 30,000l.

The English endeavoured 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 themselves of a horseman and a complete suit of armour; and those of 310 hides to equip a ship for the defence of the kingdom. By this means a formidable armament was raised. There were 243,600 hides in England; consequently the ships equipped must be 785. The cavalry was 30,450 men. All hopes of success from this equipment, however, were disappointed by the factions, animosities, and dissensions

69
Marriage
of the king
with the
princess of
Normandy.

England. tions of the nobility. Edric had caused his brother Brightic to advance an accusation of treason against Wolfnoth governor of Sussex, the father of the famous Earl Godwin; and that nobleman, knowing the power and malice of his enemy, consulted his own safety by deserting with 20 ships to the Danes. Brightic pursued him with a fleet of 80 sail; but his ships being shattered in a tempest, and stranded on the coast, he was suddenly attacked by Wolfnoth, and all his vessels were burnt or otherwise destroyed. The treachery of Edric frustrated every plan of future defence; and the whole navy was at last scattered into the several harbours.

By these fatal miscarriages, the enemy had leisure to overrun the whole kingdom. They had now got such a footing, indeed, that they could hardly have been expelled though the nation had been ever so unanimous. But so far did mutual disfidence and diffension prevail, that 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. At last the usual expedient was tried. A peace was bought with 48,000l.; but this did not procure even the usual temporary relief. The Danes, knowing that they were now masters of the kingdom, took the money, and continued their devastations. They levied a new contribution of 8000l. on the county of Kent alone; murdered the archbishop of Canterbury, who had refused to countenance this exaction; and the English nobility submitted everywhere to the Danish monarch, swearing allegiance to him, and giving hostages for their good behaviour. At last, Ethelred himself, dreading equally the violence of the enemy and the treachery of his own subjects, fled into Normandy, whither he had already sent Queen Emma and her two sons Alfred and Edward. The duke received his unhappy guests with a generosity which does honour to his memory.

The flight of King Ethelred happened in the end of the year 1013. He had not been above six weeks in Normandy, when he heard of the death of Sweyn, which happened at Gainborough before he had time to establish himself in his new dominions. At the same time he received an invitation from the prelates and nobility to resume the kingdom; expressing also their hopes, that, being now better taught by experience, he would avoid those errors which had been so fatal to himself and his people. But the misconduct of Ethelred was incurable; and, on his resuming the government, he behaved in the very same manner that he had done before. His son-in-law Edric, notwithstanding his repeated treasons, retained such influence at court, that he instilled into the king jealousies of Sigefert and Morcar, two of the chief nobles of Mercia. Edric enticed them into his house, where he murdered them; while Ethelred partook of the infamy of this action, by confiscating their estates, and confining the widow of Sigefert in a convent. She was a woman of singular beauty and merit; and in a visit which was paid her, during her confinement, by Prince Edmund 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 his father's consent.

In the mean time, Canute, the son and successor of Sweyn, proved an enemy no less terrible to the English

than his father had been. He ravaged the eastern coast England, with merciless fury; and put ashore all the English hostages at Sandwich, after having cut off their hands and noses. He was at last obliged, by the necessity of his affairs, to return to Denmark. In a short time, however, he returned, and continued his depredations along the southern coast. He then broke into the counties of Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset; where an army was assembled against him under the command of Prince Edmund and Duke Edric. The latter still continued his perfidious machinations; and after endeavouring in vain to get the prince into his power, found means to dissipate the army, and then deserted to Canute with 40 vessels.

Edmund was not disheartened by this treachery. He again assembled his forces, and was in a condition to give the enemy battle. Ethelred, however, had now such frequent experience of the treachery of his subjects, that he had lost all confidence in them. He remained in London, pretending sickness, but in reality from an apprehension 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 all the preparations which had been made became ineffectual for the defence of the kingdom. Edmund, deprived of all regular resources for the maintenance of the soldiers, was obliged to commit similar ravages to those practised by the Danes; and after making some fruitless expeditions into the north, which had submitted entirely to Canute's power, he returned to London, where he found every thing in confusion by the death of the king.

Ethelred died in 1016, after an unhappy reign of Edmund 35 years; and was succeeded by his eldest son Edmund, surnamed Ironside on account of his great strength and valour. He possessed abilities sufficient to have with the saved his country from ruin, had he come sooner to Danes. the throne; but it was now too late. He bravely opposed the Danes, however, notwithstanding every disadvantage; till at last the nobility of both nations obliged their kings to come to a compromise, and divide the kingdom between them by treaty. Canute reserved to himself Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumberland, which he had entirely subdued. The southern parts were left to Edmund. This prince survived the treaty only about a month; being murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, accomplices of Edric.

After the death of Edmund, nothing was left for Canute. the English but submission to Canute. The least scrupulous of mankind, however, dare not at all times openly commit injustice. Canute therefore, before he seized the dominions of Edwin and Edward, the two sons of Edmund, suborned some of the nobility to depose, that, in the last treaty with Edmund, it had been verbally agreed, that, in case of Edmund's death, Canute should either be successor to his dominions, or tutor to his children; for historians differ with regard to this particular. This evidence, supported by the great power of Canute, was sufficient to get him elected king of England. Immediately after his accession to the throne, he sent the two sons of Edmund to the court of Sweden, on pretence of being there educated; but

England, but charged the king to put them to death as soon as they arrived. The Swedish monarch did not comply with this request; but sent them to Solomon king of Hungary, to be educated in his court. The elder, Edwin, was afterwards married to Solomon's sister: but he dying without issue, that prince gave his sister-in-law, Agatha, daughter of the emperor Henry II. 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 was obliged at first to make great concessions to the nobility: but he afterwards put to death many of those in whom he could not put confidence; and, among the rest, the traitor Edric himself, who was publicly executed, and his body thrown into the Thames. In order to prevent any danger from the Normans, who had threatened him with an invasion, he married Emma the widow of Ethelred, and who now came over from Normandy; promising that he would leave the children he should have by that marriage heirs to the crown after his decease. The English were at first displeased with Emma for marrying the mortal enemy of her former husband; but at the same time were glad 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 his marriage the alliance with Normandy, gradually acquired by the same means the confidence of his own people.

The most remarkable transaction in this prince's reign, besides those mentioned under the article CANUTE, is his expedition to Scotland against Malcolm king of that country, whom he forced to do homage for the county of Cumberland, which the Scots at that time possessed. After this enterprise, Canute passed four years in peace, and died at Shaftbury; 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 born, was in possession of Denmark; and Harold, who was of the same marriage with Sweyn, was at that time in England.

Harold succeeded to the crown of England; though it had been stipulated that Emma's son, Hardicanute, should be heir to that kingdom. This advantage Harold obtained by being on the spot, and getting possession of his father's treasures, while Hardicanute was at a distance. As Hardicanute, however, was supported by Earl Godwin, a civil war was likely to ensue, when a compromise was made; by which it was agreed, that Harold should enjoy London, and 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 ruled her son's part. Harold reigned four years; during which time, the only memorable action he performed was a most infamous piece of treachery.—Alfred and Edward, the two sons of Emma by Ethelred, paid a visit to their mother in England. But, in the mean time, Earl Godwin being gained over by Harold, a plan was laid for the destruction of the two princes. Alfred was accordingly invited to London by Harold,

with many professions of friendship; but when he had reached Guildford, he was set upon by Godwin's vassals: about 600 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 awaited them, fled beyond sea, the former into Normandy, the latter into Flanders; while Harold took possession of all his brother's dominions without opposition.—He died in April 1039.

Hardicanute succeeded his brother Harold without opposition. His government was extremely violent and tyrannical. However, it was but of short duration. He died, in 1041, of a debauch at the marriage of a Danish lord. After his death, a favourable opportunity was offered to the English for shaking off the Danish yoke. Sweyn, king of Norway, the eldest son of Canute, was absent; and as the two last kings had died without issue, there appeared none of that race whom the Danes could support as successor to the throne. For this reason, the eyes of the nation were naturally drawn towards Prince Edward, who happened to be at court when the king died. There were some reasons, however, to fear, that Edward's succession would be opposed by Earl Godwin, who was by far the most powerful nobleman in the kingdom. A declared animosity subsisted between Edward and Godwin, on account of the hand which the latter had in the murder of his brother Alfred; and this was thought to be an offence of so grievous a nature, that Edward could never forgive it. But here their common friends interposed; and representing the necessity of their good correspondence, obliged them to lay aside their animosities, and to 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. This proposal was agreed to; Edward was crowned king of England, and married Editha as he had promised. The marriage, however, proved rather a source of discord than otherwise between the king and Godwin. Editha, though a very amiable woman, could never obtain the confidence and affection of her husband. It is even said that during the whole course of her life he abstained from all matrimonial converse with her; and this ridiculous behaviour was highly celebrated by the monkish writers of the age, and contributed to the king's acquiring the title of Saint and Confessor.

Though the neglect of his daughter could not fail to awaken Godwin's former enmity against King Edward, it was necessary to choose a more popular ground before he could vent his complaints against the king in a public manner. He therefore chose for his theme the influence which the Normans had on the affairs of the government; and declared opposition took place between him and these favourites. In a short time, this animosity openly broke out with great violence. Euflace count of Boulogne having paid a visit to the king, passed by Dover on his return. One of his train being refused access to a lodging which had been appointed for him, attempted to make his way by force, and wounded the master of the house in the contest. The townsmen revenged this insult by the death of the stranger; the count and his train took arms, and murdered

England! murdered the townsman in his own house. A tumult ensued; near 20 persons were killed on each side; and Eustace being overpowered with numbers, was at last obliged to fly. He complained to the king, who gave orders to Earl Godwin, in whose government Dover lay, to punish the inhabitants. But this nobleman refused to obey the command, and endeavoured to throw the whole blame on Count Eustace and his followers. The king was displeased; and threatened to make him feel the utmost effects of his resentment, in case he finally refused to comply. Upon this, Godwin assembled a powerful army, on pretence of repressing some disorders on the frontiers of Wales; but, instead of this, marched directly to Gloucester, where the king at that time was without any military force, as suspecting no danger.

Edward, perceiving his danger, applied to Siward duke of Northumberland, and Leofric duke of Mercia, two very powerful noblemen. They hastened to him with such followers as they could assemble, issuing orders at the same time for all the forces under their respective governments to march without delay to the defence of the king. Godwin, in the mean time, suffered himself to be deceived by negotiations, till the king's army became so powerful, that he was not able to cope with it. He was therefore obliged to fly with his family to Flanders. Here he was protected by Baldwin earl of that country, together with his three sons, Gurth, Sweyn, and Tosti; the last of whom had married Baldwin's daughter. Harold and Leofwin, two other sons of Godwin, took shelter in Ireland.

After the flight of Earl Godwin, he was proceeded against as a traitor by King Edward. His estates, and those of his sons, were confiscated; his governments given to others; Queen Editha was confined in a monastery; and the great power of this family, which had become formidable to the crown itself, seemed to be totally overthrown. Godwin, however, soon found means to retrieve his affairs. Having hired some ships, and manned them with his followers, he attempted to make a descent at Sandwich. The king, informed of his preparations, equipped a fleet which Godwin could not resist, and he therefore retreated into the Flemish harbours. On his departure, the English dismissed their armament. This Godwin had expected, and therefore kept himself in readiness for the favourable opportunity. He immediately put to sea, and sailed to the isle of Wight, where he was joined by Harold with a squadron which he had collected in Ireland. Being thus master of the sea, Godwin entered the harbours on the southern coast; seized all the ships; and being joined by great numbers of his former vassals, he sailed up the Thames, and appeared before London.

The approach of such a formidable enemy threw every thing into confusion. The king alone seemed resolute to defend himself to the last extremity; but the interposition of many of the nobility, together with the submissions of Godwin himself, at last produced an accommodation. It was stipulated, that Godwin should give hostages for his good behaviour, and that all the foreigners should be banished the kingdom; after which, Edward, sensible that he had not power sufficient to detain the earl's hostages in England, sent

them over to his kinsman the young duke of Normandy. England.

Soon after this reconciliation, Godwin died as he ⁸³ was fitting at table with the king. He was succeeded ⁸³ in the government of Wessex, Sussex, Kent, and to the Essex, and the office of steward of the household, a place of great power, by his son Harold. The son was no less ambitious than his father had been; and as he was a man of much greater abilities, he became a more dangerous enemy to Edward than even Godwin had been. Edward knew no better expedient to prevent the increase of Harold's power, than by giving him a rival. This was Algar son of Leofric duke of Mercia, whom he invested with the government of East Anglia, which had formerly belonged to Harold. The latter however, after some broils, finally got the better of his rival, and banished him the kingdom. Algar returned soon after with an army of Norwegians, with whom he invaded East Anglia; but his death in a short time freed Harold from all further apprehensions from that quarter. His power was still further increased in a short time after by the accession of his brother Tosti to the government of Northumberland; and Edward now declining in years, and apprehensive that Harold would attempt to usurp the crown after his death, resolved to appoint a successor. He therefore sent a deputation into Hungary, to invite over his nephew, Edward, son to his elder brother, who was the only remaining heir of the Saxon line. That prince accordingly came over with his children, Edgar Atheling, Margaret, and Christina; but died a few days after his arrival. His death threw the king into greater perplexity than ever. Being resolved to exclude Harold if possible, he secretly cast his eye on his kinsman William duke of Normandy; a person of whose power, character, and capacity, he had justly a very high opinion. This advice had formerly been given him by Robert archbishop of Canterbury, who was himself a Norman, and had been banished along with the rest upon the return of Earl Godwin. But Edward finding that the English would more easily acquiesce in the restoration of the Saxon line, had in the mean time invited his brother's descendants from Hungary, as already mentioned. The death of his nephew, and the inexperience and unpromising qualities of young Edgar, made him resume his former intentions in favour of the duke of Normandy, though his aversion to hazardous enterprises engaged him to postpone the execution, and even to keep his purpose concealed from all his ministers.

Harold in the mean time increased his popularity by all possible means, in order to prepare his way for being advanced to the throne after the death of Edward, which now seemed to be fast approaching. He had no suspicion of the duke of Normandy as a rival; but as he knew that a son and grandson of the Earl Godwin were in the hands of that prince as hostages, he feared that they might be made use of as checks upon his ambition, in case he attempted afterwards to ascend the throne. He therefore prevailed upon Edward to release these hostages unconditionally; and having obtained his consent, he set out for Normandy himself, attended by a numerous retinue. He was driven by a tempest on the territory of Guy count of

England. Pontieu, who detained him prisoner, and demanded an exorbitant sum for his ransom. Harold found means to acquaint William with his situation. The duke of Normandy, desirous of gaining Harold over to his party, commanded Guy to restore his prisoner to his liberty. Upon this Harold was immediately put into the hands of the Norman ambassador, who conducted him to Rouen. William received him with great demonstrations of respect and friendship; but soon took an opportunity of acquainting him with his pretensions to the crown of England, and asked his assistance in the execution of his scheme. Harold was surprised with this declaration of the duke; but being entirely in his power, he feigned a compliance with his desires, and promised to second to the utmost of his ability the will of King Edward. William, to secure him as much as possible to his interest, promised him his daughter in marriage, and required him to take an oath that he would fulfil his promises. Harold readily complied; but to make the oath more binding, William privately conveyed under the altar where the oath was taken 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 such a solemn engagement.

Harold was no sooner set at liberty, than he found himself master of casuistry sufficient to excuse the breaking of his oath, which had been extorted from him, and which, if kept, might be attended with the subjection of his country to a foreign power. He continued to practise every art to increase his popularity; and about this time, two accidents enabled him to add much to that character which he had already so well established. The Welsh had for some time made incursions into the English territories, and had lately become so troublesome, that Harold thought he could not do a more acceptable piece of service to the public, than undertake an expedition against these invaders. Having therefore prepared some light-armed foot to pursue the natives into their fortresses, some cavalry to secure the open country, and a squadron of ships to attack the sea-coasts, he employed all these forces against the enemy at once; and thus reduced them to such distress, that they were obliged to purchase peace by sending their prince's head to Harold, and submitting to the government of two Welsh noblemen appointed by Edward.

The other incident was no less honourable to Harold. Tosti his brother had been created duke of Northumberland; but being of a violent tyrannical temper, had treated the inhabitants with such cruelty, that they rose in rebellion against him, and drove him from his government. Morcar and Edwin, two brothers, grandsons of the great Duke Leofric, joined in the insurrection; and the former being elected duke, advanced with an army to oppose Harold, who had been commissioned by the king to reduce and punish the Northumbrians. Before the armies engaged, Morcar endeavoured to justify his conduct, and represented to Harold, that Tosti had behaved in such a manner, that no one, not even a brother, could defend him without participating of the infamy of his conduct: that the Northumbrians were willing to submit to the king, but required a governor that would pay some attention to their privileges; and they trust-

ed that Harold would not defend in another that violent conduct from which his own government had always kept at so great a distance. This speech was accompanied by such a detail of well supported facts, that Harold abandoned his brother's cause; and returning to Edward, persuaded him to pardon the Northumbrians, and confirm Morcar in his government. He even married the sister of that nobleman; and by his interest procured Edwin the younger brother to be chosen governor of Mercia. Tosti, in a rage, departed the kingdom, and took shelter in Flanders with Baldwin his father-in-law; while William of Normandy saw that now he had nothing to expect from Harold, who plainly intended to secure the crown for himself.

Edward died in 1067, and was succeeded by Harold with as little opposition as though he had been the lawful heir. The very day after Edward's death, he was anointed and crowned by the archbishop of York. The whole nation seemed joyfully to swear allegiance to him. But he did not long enjoy the crown, to obtain which he had taken so much pains, and which he seemed to have such capacity for wearing. His brother Tosti, provoked at his success, stirred up against him every enemy he could have any influence with. The duke of Normandy also was enraged to the last degree at the perfidy of Harold; but before he commenced hostilities, he sent an embassy to England, upbraiding the king with his breach of faith, and summoning him to resign the kingdom immediately. Harold replied, that the oath, with which he was reproached, had been extorted by the well grounded fear of violence, and for that reason could never be regarded as obligatory: that he never had any 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 take the first opportunity of breaking it: that he had obtained the crown by the unanimous suffrages of the people; and should show himself totally unworthy of their favour, did he not strenuously maintain those liberties with which they had entrusted him; and that the duke, if he made any attempt by force of arms, should experience the power of an 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.

This answer was according to William's expectations; and therefore he had already made preparations for invading England. He was encouraged and assisted in this enterprise by Howel count of Brittany, Baldwin earl of Flanders, the emperor Henry IV. and Pope Alexander II. The latter declared Harold a perjured usurper; denounced excommunication against him and his adherents; and the more to encourage William in his enterprises, sent him a consecrated banner, and a ring with one of St Peter's hairs in it. Thus he was enabled to assemble a fleet of 3000 vessels, on board of which were embarked 60,000 men, chosen from among those numerous supplies which were sent him from all quarters. Many eminent personages were enlisted under

England. der his banners. The most celebrated were Eustace count of Boulogne, Aimeri de Thouars, Hugh d'Estaples, William d'Evreux, Geoffroy de Rotrou, Roger de Beaumont, William de Warenne, Roger de Montgomery, Hugh de Grantmesnil, Charles Martel, and Geoffroy Gifford.

In order to embarrass the affairs of Harold the more effectually, William also excited Tosti, in concert with Halfager king of Norway, to invest the English coasts. These two having collected a fleet of 350 ships, sailed up the Humber, and disembarked their troops, who began to commit great depredations. They were opposed by Morcar earl or duke (B) of Northumberland, and Edwin earl of Mercia, who were defeated. Harold, on the news of this invasion, assembled a considerable army, engaged the enemy at Stamford, and after a bloody battle entirely defeated them. Tosti and Halfager were killed in the action, and all the fleet fell into the hands of the victors; but Harold generously allowed Olave the son of Halfager to depart with 20 vessels.

The king of England had scarce time to rejoice on account of his victory, when news were brought him that the Normans were landed in Sussex. Harold's victory had considerably weakened his army. He lost many of his bravest officers and soldiers in the action; and he disguised the rest, by refusing to distribute the Danish spoils among them. He hastened, however, by quick marches, to repel this new invader; but though he was reinforced at London and other places with fresh troops, he found himself weakened by the desertion of his old soldiers, who, from fatigue and discontent, secretly withdrew from their colours. Gurth, the brother of Harold, a man of great conduct as well as bravery, became apprehensive of the event; and entreated the king to avoid a general engagement for some time, or at least not to hazard his person. But though this advice was in itself evidently proper, and enforced by all the arguments which Gurth could suggest, Harold continued deaf to every thing that could be said. Accordingly, on the 14th of October 1066, the two armies engaged near Hastings, a town of Sussex. After a most obstinate and bloody battle †, the English were entirely defeated, Harold and his two brothers killed, and William left master of the kingdom of England.

Nothing could exceed the terror of the English upon the news of the defeat and death of Harold. As soon as William passed the Thames at Wallingford, Stigand, the primate, made submissions to him in the name of the clergy; and before he came within sight of London, all the chief nobility, and even Edgar Atheling himself, who, being the rightful heir to the throne, had just before been declared king, came and submitted to the conqueror. William very readily accepted of the crown upon the terms that were offered him; which were, that he should govern according to the established customs of the country. He could indeed have made what terms he pleased; but, though really a conqueror, he chose rather to be thought an elected king. For this reason he was crowned at Westminster by the archbishop of York, and took the oath administered to the former kings of England; namely,

that he would protect and defend the church, observe the laws of the realm, and govern the kingdom with impartiality.

The English historians complain of the most grievous oppression by William and his Normans. When by his conduct the conqueror willingly gave the English opportunities of rebelling against him, in order to have a pretence for oppressing them afterwards, is not easy to say; but it is certain that the beginning of his reign cannot justly be blamed. The first disgust against his government was excited among the clergy. William could not avoid the rewarding of those numerous adventurers who had accompanied him in his expedition. He first divided the lands of the English barons who had opposed him, among his Norman barons; but as these were found insufficient, he quartered the rest on the rich abbeys, of which there were many in the kingdom, until some other opportunity of providing for them offered itself.

Though this last step was highly resented by the clergy, it gave very little offence to the laity. The whole nation, however, was soon after disgusted, by seeing all the real power of the kingdom placed in the hands of the Normans. He disarmed the city of London, and other places which appeared most warlike and populous, and quartered Norman soldiers wherever he dreaded an insurrection. This was indeed acting as a conqueror, and not as an elected king; but the event showed the necessity of such precautions. The king having thus secured, as he imagined, England from any danger of a revolt, determined to pay a visit to his Norman dominions. He appointed his brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and William Fitz-Osborne, regents in his absence; and to secure himself yet farther, he resolved to carry along with him such of the English nobility as he put the least confidence in.

Having taken all these methods to ensure the tranquillity of his new kingdom, William set sail for Normandy in March 1067; but his absence produced the most fatal consequences. Discontents and murmurs were multiplied everywhere; secret conspiracies were entered into against the government; hostilities were commenced in many places; and every thing seemed to threaten a speedy revolution. William of Poitiers, a Norman historian, throws the blame entirely on the English. He calls them a fickle and mutinous race, while he celebrates with the highest encomiums the justice and lenity of Odo's and Fitz-Osborne's administration. On the other hand, the English historians tell us, that these governors took all opportunities of oppressing the people, either with a view to provoke them to rebellion, or in case they tamely submitted to their impositions, to grow rich by plundering them. Be this as it will, however, a secret conspiracy was formed among the English for a general massacre of the Normans, like what had formerly been made of the Danes. This was prosecuted with so much animosity, that the vassals of the earl Coxo put him to death because he refused to head them in the enterprise. The conspirators had already taken the resolution, and fixed the day for their intended massacre, which was to be on Ath-Wednesday, during the time of divine service,

England. vice, when all the Normans would be unarmed as penitents, according to the discipline of the times. But the presence of William disconcerted all their schemes. Having got intelligence of their bloody purpose, he hastened over to England. Such of the conspirators as had been more open in their rebellion, consulted their safety by flight; and this served to confirm the proofs of an accusation against those who remained. From this time the king not only lost all confidence in his English subjects, but regarded them as inveterate and irreconcilable enemies. He had already raised such a number of fortresses in the country, that he no longer dreaded the tumultuous or transient efforts of a discontented multitude. He determined therefore to treat them as a conquered nation. The first instance of this treatment was his revival of the tax of Danegelt, which had been imposed by the Danish conquerors, and was very odious to the people. This produced great discontents, and even insurrections. The inhabitants of Exeter and Cornwall revolted; but were soon reduced, and obliged to implore the mercy of the conqueror. A more dangerous rebellion happened in the north; but this was also soon quashed, and the English became sensible that their destruction was intended. Their easy submission after the battle of Hastings had inspired the Normans with contempt; their commotions afterwards had rendered them objects of hatred; and they were now deprived of every expedient which could make them either regarded or beloved by their sovereign. Many fled into foreign countries; and among the rest Edgar Atheling himself, who made his escape to Scotland, and carried thither his two sisters Margaret and Chrillina. They were well received by Malcolm, who soon after married Margaret the elder sister, and also received great numbers of other exiles with the utmost kindness.

The English, though unable to make any resistance openly, did not fail to gratify their resentment against the Normans in a private manner. Seldom a day passed, but the bodies of assassinated Normans were found in the woods and highways, without any possibility of bringing the perpetrators to justice. Thus, at length, the conquerors themselves began again to wish for tranquillity and security; and several of them, though entrusted with great commands, desired to be dismissed from the service. In order to prevent these deserts, which William highly resented, he was obliged to allure others to stay by the largeness of his bounties. The consequences were, fresh exactions from the English, and new insurrections on their part against their cruel masters. The Norman power, however, was too well founded to be now removed, and every attempt of the English to regain their liberty served only to rivet their chains the more firmly. The county of Northumberland, which had been most active in these insurrections, now suffered most severely. The whole of it was laid waste, the houses were burned, the instruments of agriculture destroyed, and the inhabitants forced to seek new places of abode. On this occasion it is said that above 100,000 persons perished either by the sword or famine; and the country is supposed, even to this day, to retain the marks of its ancient depopulation. The estates of all the English gentry were next confiscated, and bestowed on the Normans. By this means all the ancient and honourable families were re-

duced to beggary; and the English found themselves totally excluded from every road that led either to honour or preferment.

By proceeding in this manner, William at last broke the spirit of the English nation, and received no farther trouble from them. In 1076, however, he found that the latter part of his life was likely to be unhappy through dissensions in his own family. He had four sons, Robert, Richard, William, and Henry, besides several daughters. Robert, his eldest son, furnished Curtthofe, from the shortness of his legs, was a prince who inherited all the bravery and ambition of his family. He had formerly been promised by his father the government of the province of Maine in France, and was also declared successor to the dukedom of Normandy. He demanded from his father the fulfilment of these promises; but William gave him a flat denial, observing, that "it was not his custom to throw off his clothes till he went to bed." Robert declared his resentment; and openly expressed his jealousy of his two brothers William and Henry, (for Richard was killed, in hunting, by a flag). An open rupture was soon commenced. The two young princes one day took it into their heads to throw water on their elder brother as he passed through the court after leaving their apartment. Robert construed this frolic into a studied indignity; and having these jealousies still farther inflamed by one of his favourites, he drew his sword, and ran up stairs with an intent to take revenge. The whole castle was quickly filled with tumult, and it was not without some difficulty that the king himself was able to appease it. But he could not allay the animosity which from that moment prevailed in his family. Robert, attended by several of his confederates, withdrew to Rouen that very night, hoping to surprise the castle; but his design was defeated by the governor. The popular character of the prince, however, engaged all the young nobility of Normandy, as well as of Anjou and Brittany, to espouse his quarrel; even his mother is supposed to have supported him in his rebellion by secret remittances. The unnatural contest continued for several years; and William was at last obliged to have recourse to England for support against his own son. Accordingly, he drew an army of Englishmen together; he led them over to Normandy, where he soon compelled Robert and his adherents to quit the field, and was quickly reinstated in all his dominions. Robert then took shelter in the castle of Gerberoy, which the king of France had provided for him, where he was shortly after besieged by his father. As the garrison was strong, and conscious of their treason, they made a gallant defence; and many skirmishes and duels were fought under its walls. In one of these the king and his son happened to meet; but being both concealed by their helmets, they attacked each other with mutual fury. The young prince wounded his father in the arm, and threw him from his horse. The next blow would probably have put an end to his life, had he not called for assistance. Robert instantly recollected his father's voice, leaped from his horse, and raised him from the ground. He prostrated himself in his presence, asked pardon for his offences, and promised for the future a strict adherence to his duty. The king was not so easily appeased; and perhaps his resentment was heightened by

England. by the disgrace of being overcome. He therefore gave his malediction to his son; and returned to his own camp on Robert's horse, which he had assisted him to mount. After some recollection, however, he was reconciled to Robert, and carried him with him into England.

William returned in 1087; and being now freed from his enemies both at home and abroad, began to have more leisure to attend to his own domestic affairs. For this purpose the Doomsday-Book was composed by his order, of which an account is given under that article. He reserved a very ample revenue for the crown; and in the general distribution of land among his followers, kept possession of no fewer than 1400 manors in different parts of the country. No king of England was ever so opulent; none was able to support the splendour and magnificence of a court to such a degree; none had so many places of trust and profit to bestow; and consequently none ever had such implicit obedience paid to his commands. He delighted greatly in hunting; and to indulge himself in this with the greater freedom, he depopulated the county of Hampshire for 30 miles, turning out the inhabitants, destroying all the villages, and making the wretched outcasts no compensation for such an injury. In the time of the Saxon kings, all noblemen without distinction had a right to hunt in the royal forests; but William appropriated all these to himself, and published very severe laws to prohibit his subjects from encroaching on this part of his prerogative. The killing of a boar, a deer, or even a hare, was punished with the loss of the delinquent's eyes; at the time when the killing of a man might be atoned for by paying a moderate fine or composition.

As the king's wealth and power were so great, it may reasonably be supposed that the riches of his ministers were in proportion. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's brother, was become so rich, that he resolved to purchase the papacy. For this purpose, taking the opportunity of the king's absence, he equipped a vessel in the isle of Wight, on board of which he sent immense treasures, and prepared for his embarkation. He was detained, however, by contrary winds; and, in the mean time, William, being informed of his design, resolved to prevent the exportation of so much wealth from his dominions. Returning therefore from Normandy, where he was at that time, he came to England the very instant his brother was stepping on board. He immediately ordered him to be made prisoner: but his attendants, respecting the bishop's ecclesiastical character, scrupled to execute his commands; so that the king was obliged to seize him with his own hand. Odo appealed to the Pope: but the king replied, that he did not seize him as bishop of Bayeux, but as earl of Kent; and, in that capacity, he expected, and would have, an account of his administration. He was therefore sent prisoner to Normandy; and, notwithstanding all the remonstrances and threats of Pope Gregory, was detained in custody during the remainder of William's reign.

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Death of the queen. Soon after this, William felt a severe blow in the death of Matilda his queen; and, almost at the same time, received information of a general insurrection in Maine, the nobility of which had always been averse to his government. Upon his arrival on the continent, he

England. found that the insurgents had been secretly assisted and excited by the king of France, who took all opportunities of lessening the Norman power, by creating dissensions among the nobles. His displeasure on this account was very much increased, by notices he received of some railleries thrown out against him by the French monarch. It seems that William, who was become corpulent, had been detained in bed some time by sickness; and Philip was heard to say, that he only lay in of a big belly. This so provoked the English monarch, that he sent him word, he would soon be up, and would, at his churching, present such a number of tapers as would set the kingdom of France in a flame.

To perform this promise, he levied a powerful army; and, entering the isle of France, destroyed every thing with fire and sword. He took the town of Mante, and reduced it to ashes. But a period was soon put to the conquests and to the life of this great warrior by an accident. His horse happening to put his fore feet on some hot ashes, plunged so violently, that the rider was thrown forward, and bruised his belly on the pommel of the saddle. Being now in a bad habit of body, as well as somewhat advanced in years, he began to be apprehensive of the consequences, and ordered himself to be carried in a litter to the monastery of St Germaine. 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 many cruelties and violences of which he had been guilty. He endeavoured to make compensation by presents to churches and monasteries, and gave orders for the liberation of several English noblemen. He was even prevailed upon, though not without reluctance, to release his brother Odo, against whom he was very much incensed. He left Normandy and Maine to his eldest son Robert. He wrote to Lanfranc the primate of England, desiring him to crown William king of England. To Henry he bequeathed nothing but the possessions of his mother Matilda; but foretold, that one day he would surpass both his brothers in power and opulence. He expired on the 9th September 1087, in the 63d year of his age, in the 21st of his reign over England, and 54th of that over Normandy.

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And of the king. William, furnished Rufus, from his red hair, was in Normandy at the time of his father's illness. He no sooner received the letter for Lanfranc, than, leaving his father in the agonies of death, he set out for England; where he arrived before intelligence of the decease of the Conqueror had reached that kingdom. Being sensible that his brother Robert, as being the eldest son, had a preferable title to himself, he used the utmost dispatch in getting himself firmly established on the throne. The English were so effectually subdued, that they made no opposition; but the Norman barons were attached to Robert. This prince was brave, open, sincere, and generous; and even his predominant fault of indolence was not disagreeable to those haughty barons, who affected an almost total independence of their sovereign. The king, on the other hand, was violent, haughty, and tyrannical. A powerful conspiracy was therefore carried on against William; and Odo, bishop of Bayeux, undertook to conduct it. Many of the most powerful nobility were concerned; and

England. as the conspirators expected to be in a short time supported by powerful succours from Normandy, they retired to their castles, and put themselves in an offensive posture.

William, sensible of his danger, engaged the English on his side, by promising some mitigation of their hardships, and liberty to hunt in the royal forests. Robert, in the mean time, through his natural indolence, neglected to give his allies proper assistance. The conspirators were obliged to submit. Some of them were pardoned; but most of them confiscated, and their estates bestowed on the barons who had continued faithful to the king.

William, freed from this danger, thought no more of his promises to the English. He proved a greater tyrant than his father; and, after the death of Lanfranc, who had been his preceptor, and kept him within some bounds, he gave full scope to his violent and rapacious disposition. Not content with oppressing the laity, he invaded the privileges of the church; which, in those days, were held most sacred. He seized the temporalities of all the vacant bishoprics and abbeys, and openly put to sale those fees and abbeys which he thought proper to dispose of.

These proceedings occasioned great murmurs among the ecclesiastics, which were quickly spread through the nation, but the terror of William's authority preserved the public tranquillity. In 1090, the king thought himself strong enough to attempt the conquest of Normandy, which at that time was in the greatest confusion through the indolent and negligent administration of Robert. Several of the barons had revolted, and these revolts were encouraged by the king of France. Robert also imagined he had reason to fear the intrigues of his other brother Henry, whom for 3000 marks he had put in possession of Contevain, near a third part of the duchy of Normandy. He therefore threw him into prison; but finding himself threatened with an invasion from the king of England, he gave Henry his liberty, and even made use of his assistance in suppressing the insurrections of his rebellious subjects. William, however, was no sooner landed in Normandy, than the nobility on both sides interposed, and a treaty of peace was concluded. In this treaty Henry finding his interests entirely neglected, retired to St Michael's Mount, a strong fortress on the coast of Normandy, and infested the neighbourhood with his incursions. He was besieged by his two brothers, and obliged to capitulate in a short time; after which, being deprived of all his dominions, he wandered about for some time with very few attendants, and often in great poverty.

The peace with Robert was of no long duration. In the interval some hostilities with Scotland succeeded, and these terminated in the death of Malcolm king of that country; after which new broils ensued with Normandy. The rapacious temper of William prompted him to encroach upon his brother's territories, and the same rapacity prompted him to use a very extraordinary expedient in order to accomplish his designs. Having gone over to Normandy to support his partisans, he ordered an army of 20,000 men to be raised in England, and conducted to the sea-coast as if they were to be immediately embarked: but when they came there, instead of embarking, they were forced to pay the king ten shillings a man; after which they were dismissed to their

several counties. With this money William engaged the king of France to depart from the protection of Robert; and also bribed many of the Norman barons to revolt. He was called from Normandy, however, by an irruption of the Welsh; and having repulsed them, he was prevented from attempting other enterprises by a conspiracy of his barons.

In 1096, however, the superstition of Robert put the king of England in possession of those dominions which he had not been able to conquer by force of arms. The crusades were now commenced, and Robert was desirous of undertaking an expedition into the Holy Land. As money for this purpose was wanting, he mortgaged his dominions to his brother for 10,000 marks. The king raised the money by violent extortions on his subjects; forcing even the convents to melt their plate, in order to furnish the quota demanded of them. He was then put in possession of Normandy and Maine; and Robert with a magnificent train set out for the Holy Land.

After the death of Lanfranc, the king had retained in his own hands the revenues of Canterbury, as he had done those of many other bishoprics; but falling into a dangerous illness, he was seized with remorse; and the clergy represented to him that he was in danger of eternal perdition if he did not make atonement for those impieties and sacrilegies of which he had been guilty. He therefore instantly resolved to supply the vacancy of Canterbury: he sent for Anselm, a Piedmontese by birth, abbot of Bec in Normandy, who was much celebrated for his piety and devotion. The abbot refused the dignity with great earnestness; fell on his knees, wept, and intreated the king to change his purpose; and when he found him obdurate in forcing the pastoral staff upon him, he kept his fist so hard clenched, that it required the utmost violence of the bystanders to open it, and force him to receive that ensign of his spiritual dignity. William soon after recovered his health, and with it his violence and rapacity. As he now spared the church no more than before, a quarrel with the Anselm soon ensued; and this was the more dangerous to the king, on account of the great character for piety which the primate had acquired by his zeal against abuses of all kinds, particularly those of dress and ornament.

At this time there was a mode which prevailed not only in England, but throughout Europe, both among men and women, of giving an enormous length to their shoes, drawing the toe to a sharp point, and affixing 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 belie the Scripture, where it is affirmed, that no man can add a cubit to his stature; and they not only decried against it with vehemence, but assembled some synods, in which the fashion was absolutely condemned. Such, however, are the contradictions in human nature, that all the influence of the clergy, which at that time was sufficient to send vast multitudes of people into Asia to butcher one another, was not able to prevail against those long-pointed shoes. The fashion, contrary to what hath happened to almost all others, maintained its ground for several centuries; and even Anselm found his endeavours

England. deavours against it ineffectual. He was more successful in decrying the long hair and curled locks then worn by the courtiers. He refused the ailes on Ash-Wednesday to such as were so accoutred; and his authority and eloquence had such influence, that the young men universally abandoned that ornament, and appeared in the cropt hair recommended to them by the sermons of the primate. For this reformation Anselm is highly celebrated by his historian Eadmer, who was also his companion and secretary.

When William's profaneness returned with his health, he was engaged in almost perpetual contests with this austere prelate*. These were pretty well settled, when the king, who had undertaken an expedition into Wales, required Anselm to furnish him with a certain number of soldiery. The primate regarded this as an invasion of the rights of the church; and therefore, though he durst not refuse compliance, sent the men so miserably accoutred, that the king was exceedingly displeased, and threatened him with a prosecution. Anselm demanded restitution of all his revenues which the king had seized, and appealed to the pope. The quarrel, however, ran so high, that the primate found it dangerous to remain in England. He desired and obtained the king's permission to retire beyond sea. His temporalities were confiscated immediately on his departure; but Pope Urban received him as a martyr in the cause of religion, and even threatened the king with sentence of excommunication. William, however, proceeded in his projects of ambition and violence, without regarding the threats of the pope; who he knew was at that time too much engaged with the crusades to mind any other business. Though his acquisition of Maine and Normandy had brought him into perpetual contests with the haughty and turbulent barons who inhabited those countries, and raised endless tumults and insurrections; yet William seemed still intent on extending his dominions either by purchase or conquest. William earl of Poictiers and duke of Guienne had resolved upon an expedition to the Holy Land; and, for this purpose, had put himself at the head of a vast multitude, consisting, according to some historians, of 60,000 horse, and a much greater number of foot. Like Robert of Normandy, he offered to mortgage his dominions for money sufficient to conduct this multitude into Asia. The king accepted his offer; and had prepared a fleet and army to take possession of these dominions, when an unfortunate accident put an end to his projects and his life. He was engaged in hunting, the sole amusement, and indeed the principal occupation, of princes in those rude times. Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman remarkable for his skill in archery, attended him in this recreation, of which the new forest was the scene. William had dismounted after a chase; and Tyrrel, impatient to show his dexterity, let fly an arrow at a stag which suddenly started before him. The arrow glanced from a tree, and struck the king to the heart. He instantly fell down dead; and Tyrrel, terrified at the accident, clapt spurs to his horse, hastened to the sea-shore, and embarked for France, where he joined the crusade that was setting out from that country. This happened on the 2d of August 1100, after the king had reigned 13 years, and lived about 40. His body was found in

the woods by the country-people, and buried without ceremony at Winchester. England.

After the death of William, the crown of right devolved to Robert his eldest brother; for William had no legitimate children. But what Robert had formerly lost by his indolence, he was again deprived of by his absence at the holy war. Prince Henry was in the forest with William Rufus at the time the latter was killed. He no sooner heard the important news, than he hurried to Winchester, and secured the royal treasure. William de Breteuil, keeper of the treasure, arrived almost the same instant, and opposed his pretensions; telling him, that the treasure belonged to his elder brother, who was now his sovereign, and for whom he was determined to keep it. But Henry, drawing his sword, threatened him with instant death if he dared to disobey him; and others of the late king's retinue, who came every moment to Winchester, joining the prince's party, he was obliged to desist. Henry lost no time in fully accomplishing his purpose. In less than three days he got himself crowned king of England by Maurice bishop of London. Present possession supplied every deficiency of title; and no one dared to appear in defence of the absent prince.

The beginning of King Henry's reign promised to be favourable to the English liberty; owing chiefly to his fear of his brother. To conciliate the affections of his subjects, he passed a charter calculated to remove many of the grievous oppressions which had been complained of during the reigns of his father and brother. He promised, that at the death of any abbot or bishop, he never would seize the revenues of the fee 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, or dispose of it for money. To the laity 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 those enormous exactions which had been formerly required. 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 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 proposed 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 kept in their own hands. He made some general professions of moderating fines; he offered a pardon for all offences; and remitted all debts due to the crown. He also 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*. To give greater authenticity to these concessions, a

copy

England. copy of the charter was lodged in some abbey of each county.

King 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. He sent for Anselm who was then at Lyons, inviting him to return and take possession of his dignities. Anselm returned; but when Henry proposed to him to do the same homage to him which he had done to his brother, the king met with an absolute refusal. During his exile, Anselm had 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 fees and benefices, and on all laymen who exacted it. The rite of homage^† by the feudal customs was, that the vassal should throw himself on his knees, put his joined hands between those of his superior, and should in that posture swear fealty to him. But the council declared it execrable, that pure hands, which could create God, and offer him up 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. To this decree therefore Anselm appealed; and declared, that so far from doing homage for his spiritual dignity, he would not even communicate with any ecclesiastic who paid that submission, or who accepted of investitures from laymen. Henry durst not insist; and therefore desired that the controversy might be suspended, and that messengers might be sent to Rome to accommodate matters with the Pope, and to obtain his confirmation of the laws and customs of England.

Henry now took another step which seemed capable of confirming his claims to the crown without any danger of a rival. The English remembered with regret their Saxon monarchs, when they compared the liberty they enjoyed under them with the tyranny of the Normans. Some descendants of that favourite line still remained; and among the rest, Matilda, the niece of Edgar Atheling. Upon her the king fixed his eyes as a proper consort, by whose means the breach between the Saxons and Normans might be cemented. A difficulty, however, occurred, because she had been educated in a nunnery. The affair was examined by Anselm in a council of prelates and nobles summoned at Lambeth. Matilda there proved, that she had put on the veil, not with a design of entering into a religious life, but merely in imitation 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 amid the horrid licentiousness of the times was yet generally revered. The council, sensible that even a princess had otherwise no security for her honour, admitted this reason as valid. They pronounced that Matilda was still free to marry; and her nuptials with Henry were celebrated by Anselm with great solemnity and pomp.

While Henry was thus rendering himself popular at home, his brother Robert, who had loitered away a

twelvemonth in Italy, where he married Sibylla daughter of the count of Conversana, arrived in England, in 1101, in order to put in his late and ineffectual claim to the crown. His fame, however, on account of the exploits he had performed in Palestine, was so great, that even yet he was joined by many noblemen of the first rank, and the whole nation seemed prepossessed in his favour. But Henry, having paid his court to Anselm, by his means retained the army in his interests, and marched with them to Portsmouth, where Robert had landed his forces a few days before. The armies lay for some time in sight of each other; when an accommodation was effected through the mediation of Anselm and other great men. By this treaty it was agreed, that Robert should resign his pretensions to England, and receive in lieu of them an annual pension of 3000 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 each other.

The two princes separated with mutual marks of friendship; but next year, Henry, under various pretences, confiscated the estates of almost all the noblemen who had favoured his brother's pretensions. Robert, enraged at the fate of his friends, ventured to come to England in order to remonstrate with his brother in person. But he met with such a bad reception, that, apprehending his liberty to be in danger, he was glad to make his escape by resigning his pension.

This infringement of the treaty was followed the ensuing year by an invasion of Normandy, at the desire of Robert's own subjects, whom he was totally incapable of governing*. The event of this war was the defeat and captivity of Robert, who was henceforth deprived not only of all his dominions, but of his personal liberty. He lived 28 years a prisoner, and died in the castle of Cardiff in Glamorganhire. It is even said by some, that he was deprived of his sight by a red-hot copper basin applied to his eyes, and that King Henry appealed his conscience by founding the monastery of Reading.

The conquest of Normandy was completed in 1106; and next year the controversy between the king and primate, concerning the investitures of clergymen and their doing homage to princes, was resumed. The king was very sensible that it was not his interest to quarrel with such a powerful body as the clergy were at that time; and on the other hand, he fully understood the necessity of guarding the prerogatives of the crown from their encroachments. While, therefore, he avoided an open rupture with Anselm, he obstinately refused to give up the privileges which had been enjoyed by his predecessors. On the first arrival of Anselm, the king had avoided the dispute in the manner already mentioned. A messenger was dispatched to Rome, in order to compromise matters with the pope. The messenger returned with an absolute refusal of the king's demands. One of the reasons given by the pope on this occasion was expressed in the following words: "It is monstrous that a son should pretend to beget his father, or a man to create his God: priests are called

England. 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?" Henry was not yet convinced; but as he was determined to avoid, or at least to delay, the coming to any dangerous extremity with the church, he persuaded Anselm, that by farther negotiation he should be able to compound matters with the pope. Messengers were therefore dispatched to Rome a second time from the king; and also from Anselm, who wanted to be fully assured of the pope's intentions. They returned with letters wrote in the most arrogant and positive manner, both to the king and primate. The king suppressed the letter sent to himself; and persuaded the three bishops, by whom it was sent, to assert, upon their episcopal faith, that the pope had assured them of his private good intentions towards King 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. Anselm's two messengers, who were monks, affirmed that it was impossible this story could have any foundation; but their word was not deemed equivalent 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. Anselm, however, gave no credit to the assertions of the king's messengers; and therefore refused not only to consecrate them, but even to communicate with them; and the bishops themselves, finding they were become universally odious, returned the ensigns of their spiritual dignity.

The quarrel continued between the king and primate, till the latter, sensible of his dangerous situation, desired leave to make a journey to Rome, in order to lay the case before the pope. This permission was easily obtained; but no sooner was the primate gone, than Henry confiscated all his revenues, and sent another messenger to negotiate with the pope. The new messenger told his holiness, that his master would sooner part with his crown than the right of granting investitures. "And I (replied the pope) would rather lose my head than allow him to retain it." This quarrel now became very dangerous to the king; as he was threatened by the pope with excommunication, which would have been attended with terrible consequences. At last, however, a compromise was made in the following manner. Before bishops took possession of their dignities, they had formerly been accustomed to pass through two ceremonials: They received, from the hands of the sovereign, a ring and cross as the symbols of their office, and this was called their investiture: they also made those submissions to the prince, which were required of the vassals by the rites of the feudal law, and which received the name of homage. The pope, therefore, was for the present contented with Henry's resigning his 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. After this, 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 conduct. He also granted to England. Anselm a plenary power of remedying every disorder, which he said might arise from the barbarousness of the country. About the same time the marriage of priests was prohibited; 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 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. A decree was also published, prohibiting the clergy to wear long hair; and the king, though he would not resign his prerogatives to the church, very willingly cut his hair in the form which was required of him, obliging all the courtiers at the same time to follow his example.

From the time of this compromise, which happened in 1107, to the year 1120, nothing remarkable happened except some slight commotions in Normandy: but this year, Prince William, the king's only son, was unfortunately drowned off the coast of Normandy; Prince and Henry was so much affected, that he is said never to have smiled or recovered his wonted cheerfulness. It is very doubtful, however, whether the death of this prince was not an advantage to the British nation, since he was often heard to express the utmost hatred to the natives; inasmuch that he had threatened, that when he came to the throne, 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 purposes, 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 preference to ecclesiastical as well as civil dignities were denied to the English during this whole reign; and any foreigner, however ignorant or worthless, was sure to have the preference in every competition. The charter formerly mentioned, which the king granted at the beginning of his reign, was no more thought of; 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 only find one copy of it in the whole kingdom; while the grievances, proposed to be redressed by it, continued still in their full extent.

As Henry had now no legitimate children except Matilda, whom in 1110 he had betrothed, though only eight years of age, to the emperor of Germany, he was induced to marry a second time in hopes of having sons. He made his addresses accordingly to Adelais the daughter of Godfrey duke of Lorraine, and niece to Pope Calixtus; a young princess of an amiable person. But Adelais brought him no children: and in 1135, the king died in Normandy, from eating too plentifully of lampreys; having lived 67 years, and King Henry reigned 35.

By the will of King Henry, his daughter Matilda became heiress of all his dominions. She had been

England. married, after her first husband's death, to Geoffrey Plantagenet, eldest son of the count of Anjou, by whom she had a son named Henry; but as Geoffrey had given umbrage to the king of England in several instances, no notice was taken of him in the will. The nobility had already sworn fealty to her; and the foremost to show this mark of submission to the king's will had been Stephen, son of the count of Blois (who had married Adela the daughter of William the Conqueror). He had been married to Matilda, daughter and heiress of Eustace count of Boulogne; who brought him, besides that feudal sovereignty of France, a vast property in England, which in the distribution of lands had been conferred by the Conqueror on the family of Boulogne. By this marriage Stephen acquired a new connection with the royal family of England: for Mary, his wife's mother, was sister to David the present king of Scotland, and to Matilda the first wife of Henry and mother of the empress. The king also, imagining that by the aggrandizement of Stephen he strengthened the interest of his own family, had enriched him with many possessions; but instead of this, it appeared by the event that he had only put it more and more in his power to usurp the throne.

108 Stephen usurps the throne.
No sooner was Henry dead, than Stephen hastened from Normandy into England. The citizens of Dover and Canterbury, apprised of his purpose, shut their gates against him; but when he arrived at London, some of the lower class of people, instigated by his emissaries, immediately proclaimed him king. The archbishop of Canterbury refused to give him the royal unction; but this difficulty was got over by Stephen's brother, the bishop of Winchester. Hugh Bigod, steward of the household, made oath before the primate, that the late king, on his death-bed, had discovered a dissatisfaction with his daughter Matilda, and had expressed his intention of leaving the count of Boulogne heir to all his dominions; and the bishop either believing, or pretending to believe, this testimony, gave Stephen the royal unction. Very few of the nobility attended his coronation; but none opposed his usurpation, however unjust or flagrant.

Stephen, in order to establish himself on the throne as firmly as possible, passed a charter, in which he made liberal promises to all ranks of men. To the clergy he promised, that he would speedily fill all the vacant benefices, and never would levy any of the rents during the vacancy. To the nobility he gave liberty to hunt in their own forests; and to the people he promised to remit the tax of danegelt, and to restore the laws of Edward the Confessor. He seized the king's treasure at Winchester, amounting to 100,000l.; with part of which money he hired mercenary soldiers from the continent; and with another part procured a bull from the pope, confirming his title to the English throne.

Matilda, in the mean time, endeavoured to recover her just rights, of which Stephen had deprived her; but for some time she met with no success either in England or Normandy. Her husband Geoffrey himself was obliged to conclude a peace with Stephen, on condition of the king's paying him during that time an annual pension of 500l.

Robert earl of Gloucester was the first who shook the power of Stephen. He was natural son to the late

king; a man of great honour and ability, and was very much attached to the interests of Matilda. When Stephen usurped the throne, he offered to do him homage, and take the oath of fealty; but with an express condition, that the king should maintain all his stipulations, and never invade any of Robert's rights or dignities. With this condition Stephen was obliged to comply, on account of the great power of that nobleman, though he knew that it was meant only to afford him a favourable opportunity of revolting when occasion served. The clergy imitated Robert's example; and annexed to their oath of allegiance the following condition, namely; that they were only bound as long as the king defended the ecclesiastical liberties, and supported the discipline of the church. The barons, in return for their submission, exacted terms of still more pernicious tendency. Many of them required to have the right of fortifying their castles, and putting themselves in a posture of defence; and with this exorbitant demand the king was forced to comply. All England was immediately filled with these fortresses; which the noblemen garrisoned either with their vassals, or with licentious soldiers, who flocked to them from all quarters. The whole kingdom now became a scene of rapine and devastation. Wars were carried on by the nobles 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 neighbouring chieftain, and to purchase his protection, both by submitting to his exactions, and by assisting him in his rapine upon others.

In 1137, the earl of Gloucester having projected an insurrection, retired beyond sea, sent the king a defiance, and solemnly renounced his allegiance. The next year David king of Scotland appeared with an army in defence of his niece's title; and penetrating into Yorkshire, committed the greatest devastations. He was defeated, however, with great slaughter, at Northallerton, by some of the northern barons, who had raised a powerful army; and this success so much overawed the malecontents in England, that Stephen's power might have received some stability, had he not unfortunately engaged himself in a contest with the clergy. He had already seen the mischief arising from the liberty he had granted of fortifying so many castles in different parts of the kingdom. He therefore determined to abridge this liberty as much as possible; and for that purpose he began with the castles erected by the clergy, who seemed to have less right to these military securities than the barons. Taking advantage therefore of a fray which had arisen at court between the retinue of the bishop of Salisbury and the earl of Brittany, he seized the bishops both of Salisbury and Lincoln, threw them into prison, and obliged them to deliver up the castles which they had lately erected. This produced such a violent commotion, that the opportunity seemed favourable to the pretensions of Matilda. On the 22d of September 1139, she landed in England with Robert earl of Gloucester, at lands intended only by 140 knights; but her partizans daily increased, and she was soon in a condition to face Stephen.

England. Stephen with equal forces in the field. Numberless encounters happened, the detail of which could afford very little entertainment to the reader. War was spread through every quarter; and the turbulent barons having, in a great measure, shaken off all restraint of government, and now obtained the sanction of fighting in the cause of their country, redoubled their oppressions, tyrannies, and devastations. The castles of the nobility became receptacles of licenced robbers; who, sailing forth day and night, spoiled the open country, plundered the villages, and even cities. They tortured the captives to make them reveal their treasures, sold their persons to slavery; and set fire to the houses, after they had pillaged them of every thing valuable. In consequence of this destruction, the land was left untilled; the instruments of husbandry were abandoned; and a grievous famine reduced the nation to the most deplorable state that can be imagined.

After a multitude of indecisive conflicts, a battle ensued which seemed likely to ensure the public peace for some time. Stephen had marched his forces to relieve the city of Lincoln; the earl of Gloucester led a body of troops to assist those of Matilda's party, who were besieging that place. The two armies engaged on the 2d of February within sight of the city, and a desperate battle ensued. At last Stephen's army was defeated. He himself was for some time left without attendants; and fought on foot in the midst of his enemies, assaulted by multitudes, and resisting all their efforts with astonishing intrepidity. Being hemmed in on every side, he forced a way for some time with his battle-axe; but that breaking, he drew his sword, and with it furiously assailed his antagonists for some time longer. But at length the sword also flying in pieces, he was obliged to surrender himself a prisoner. He was conducted to Gloucester; and though at first treated with respect, he was in a short time, upon some suspicions, thrown into irons.

About a month after, Matilda was crowned at Winchester with great solemnity; but soon showed herself totally incapable of governing such a turbulent nation. She determined to repress the power of the nobles, who had now left only the shadow of authority to their sovereign. But being destitute of policy or prudence sufficient to accomplish so difficult an undertaking, a conspiracy was soon formed against her, and the bishop of Winchester detached a party of his friends and vassals to block up the city of London where the queen resided. At the same time measures were taken to instigate the Londoners to a revolt, and to seize the queen's person. Matilda, having timely notice of this conspiracy, fled to Winchester. Here she was soon after besieged by the bishop; but the town being distressed by famine, she with difficulty made her escape; while her brother the earl of Gloucester, endeavouring to follow, was taken prisoner, and exchanged for Stephen.

Matilda was now obliged to take shelter in Oxford, while Stephen reascended the throne. The civil war broke out with redoubled fury. Many battles were fought, and both parties were involved in many distresses. Matilda escaped from Oxford at a time when the fields were covered with snow, by being dressed all in white, with four knights her attendants dressed in the same colour. Another time Stephen was surprised

by the earl of Gloucester at Wilton, and made his England escape with the utmost difficulty. At last Matilda was obliged to quit the kingdom; and the death of the earl of Gloucester soon after seemed to give a fatal blow to her interests. In 1153, however, Prince Henry, Matilda's son by her second husband Geoffrey, came over to England, in order once more to dispute Stephen's pretensions to the crown. After some success on his first landing, he was opposed by Stephen with a powerful army, and matters seemed likely to come to the decision of a general engagement. But while the two armies continued within a quarter of a mile of each other, a treaty was set on foot by the interposition of William earl of Arundel, for terminating the dispute in an amicable manner. The death of Eustace, Stephen's son, whom he had designed for the throne, which happened during the course of the treaty, facilitated its conclusion. It was agreed, that Stephen should reign during his life, and that justice should be administered in his name; that Henry, on Stephen's death, should succeed to the kingdom; and that William, Stephen's son, should inherit Boulogne and his patrimonial estate. This treaty filled all Europe with joy; and after the barons had sworn to it, Henry left England, and Stephen returned to the peaceable enjoyment of his throne. His reign, however, was but of short continuance; his death happening on the 23th of October 1154. His death.

Henry was on the continent besieging a castle of one of the mutinous barons, when news was brought him of Stephen's death. But, as he was sensible of the goodness of his title, he did not abandon his enterprise till the place was reduced. He then set out on his journey, and was received in England with the utmost joy. The first acts of his reign seemed to promise a happy and prosperous administration. He instantly dismissed the mercenary soldiers who had committed the greatest disorders throughout the nation. He ordered all the castles which had been erected since the death of Henry I. to be demolished, except a few which he retained in his own hands for the protection of the kingdom. The adulterated coin which had been struck during the reign of Stephen was cried down, and new money struck of the right value and standard. He resumed many of those benefactions which had been made to churches and monasteries in the former reigns. He gave charters to several towns, by which the citizens claimed their freedom and privileges independent of any superior but himself. These charters were the ground-work of the English liberty; for thus a new order, namely, the more opulent of the people, began to claim a share in the administration, as well as the nobility and clergy. Thus the feudal government was at first impaired; and liberty began to be more equally diffused throughout the nation.

Henry II. on his accession to the English throne, found himself possessed of very extensive dominions on the continent. In the right of his father, he possessed Anjou, Touraine, and Maine; in that of his mother, Normandy; in that of his wife, Guienne, Poitou, Xaintonge, Auvergne, Perigord, Angoumois, and the Limousin. Soon after, he annexed Brittany to his other states, by marrying his son, who was yet a child, to the heiress of Brittany, who was a child also,

England, also, and was already in possession of the superiority over that province. These territories composed above a third of the French monarchy, and were by far the most opulent part of it; so that Henry, though vassal to the king of France, was greatly superior to him in power; and when England was added to all these, the French king had great reason to apprehend some disaster to himself and family. The king of England, however, resided at too great a distance to be able to employ this formidable power with success against the French monarch. He soon became a kind of stranger in his continental dominions; and his subjects there considered their allegiance as more naturally due to their superior lord, who lived in their neighbourhood, and who was acknowledged to be the supreme head of their nation. Their immediate lord was often at too great a distance to protect them; and a commotion in any part of Henry's extensive dominions gave great advantages against him. The wise and vigorous administration of Henry, however, counterbalanced in a great measure these disadvantages; and he maintained a surprising tranquillity throughout his extensive dominions during the greatest part of his reign.

Henry found no great difficulty in circumscribing the power of the barons; but when he attempted to do the same thing with the clergy, he met with the most violent opposition. That body had carried their independence on the civil power so far, that now they seemed to aim at nothing less than a liberty to commit all manner of crimes with impunity. During the reign of Stephen, they had extorted an immunity from all but ecclesiastical penalties; and that grant they were resolved to maintain for the future. It may easily be supposed, that a law which thus screened their wickedness, contributed to increase it; and we accordingly find upon record, not less than 100 murders committed by men in holy orders, in the short period since the king's accession, not one of which was punished even with degradation, while the bishops themselves seemed to glory in this horrid indulgence. The king did not make any attempts against them during the life of Theobald archbishop of Canterbury, who was a man of a mild character, and besides had great merit; because, during the former reign, he had refused to put the crown on the head of Eustace, Stephen's son. He died in 1162; and the king, after his death, advanced to the see of Canterbury Thomas à Becket, his chancellor, on whose compliance he thought he might entirely depend.

The new archbishop was the first man of English pedigree, who, since the Norman conquest, had risen to any considerable station. Before his instalment in the see of Canterbury, Becket had been exceedingly complaisant, good-humoured, and agreeable to his master; and had also been accustomed to live very freely. But no sooner was he invested with this high dignity, than he totally altered his conduct, and put on all those airs of affected and ostentatious humility which could recommend him to the superstitious and ignorant multitude in that age. The first step taken by this hypocrite after his advancement, was to resign the office of chancellor. This he did without consulting the king: the reason he gave was, that henceforth he must detach himself from secular affairs, and be solely employed in the duties of his sacred function;

but in reality, that he might break off all connection with Henry. As he knew that the king intended to abridge the ecclesiastical power, he thought the best method would be to become himself the aggressor. He therefore 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, the primate pretended that his predecessors were prohibited by the canons from alienating. 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; and Becket, without regard to William's right, presented, on a new and illegal pretence, one Laurence to that living, who was violently expelled by Eynsford. Upon this Eynsford was excommunicated. He 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, by a messenger, commanded Becket to absolve Eynsford. The haughty primate answered, that it belonged not to the king to inform him whom he should absolve, and whom excommunicate; but, after all, he was obliged to comply with the king's orders, though with the worst grace imaginable.

As Henry perceived that the crown was now in danger, through the superstition of the people, of falling totally under the power of the clergy, he resolved to exert himself to the utmost against their scandalous usurpations. Among their other inventions to obtain money, they had now inculcated the necessity of penance as an atonement for sin; and having again introduced the practice of paying them large sums as an equivalent for these penances, the sins of the people had thus become a revenue to the priests; and the king computed, that, by this invention alone, they levied more money from his subjects than what flowed by all the funds and taxes into the royal exchequer. To ease the people of so heavy and arbitrary an imposition, the king 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 made for spiritual offences. About this time also the king had an opportunity of proceeding against the clergy on another footing. A clerk in Worcestershire, having debauched a gentleman's daughter, murdered her father. The king required that the clerk should be delivered up to the magistrate. Becket pleaded the privileges of the church; confined the criminal in the bishop's prison, left he should be seized by the king's officers; and maintained that no greater punishment could be inflicted on him than degradation. The king then required, that, immediately after he was degraded, he should be tried by the civil powers; but the primate asserted, that it was iniquitous to try a man twice upon the same accusation, and for the same crime. Upon this, Henry summoned an assembly of all the prelates in England; and put to them this 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. The king was provoked

England. provoked to the last degree at this equivocal answer. He left the assembly with evident marks of displeasure; and required the primate instantly to surrender the castles of Eye and Berkham. The other prelates were terrified; but Becket continued inflexible: however, he was at last prevailed upon, by the interposition of Philip the pope's legate and almoner, to retract the saving clause, and promise without any reserve to observe the ancient customs.

The king was not now to be satisfied with general promises from the clergy: he was determined that the ancient laws and customs should be defined, as well as the privileges of the clergy. He therefore summoned another great council of the clergy and nobility at Clarendon, to whom he submitted this important affair. A number of regulations was there drawn up, which were afterwards well known by the title of the Constitutions of Clarendon. By these it was enacted, that clergymen accused of any crime should be tried in the civil courts; that laymen should not be tried in spiritual courts, except by legal and reputable witnesses; that the king should ultimately judge in ecclesiastical and spiritual appeals; that the archbishops and bishops should be regarded as barons, and obliged to contribute to the public expences like other persons of their rank; that the goods forfeited to the king should not be protected in churches or church-yards by the clergy; and that the sons of villeins should not take orders without the consent of their lord. These, with some others of less consequence, to the number of 16, were subscribed by all the bishops present, and even by Becket himself; who, however, at first, showed some reluctance.

Nothing now remained but to get the constitutions ratified by the pope; but in this the king was disappointed. The pope rejected them with the utmost indignation; and, out of 16, admitted only six, which he thought were not important enough to deserve censure.—Becket was now mortified to the highest degree. He retracted his consent to the constitutions, redoubled his asperities, and even refused to execute any part of his sacerdotal function till he had obtained absolution from his holiness. Henry, considering these humiliations as insults offered to himself, desired the pope to send him a legate. He did so; but annexed a clause to his commission, by which he was prohibited from acting against the archbishop of Canterbury. The king sent back the commission to the pope; and being now exasperated beyond all patience, commenced furious prosecutions against Becket. He first sued him for some lands belonging to his principality; and Becket being detained by sickness from coming into court, his non-attendance was construed into disrespect. The primate afterwards defended his cause in person; but all his goods and chattels were confiscated, and the bishop of Winchester was obliged to pronounce the sentence. Another suit was commenced against him for 300l. which he had levied on the honours of Eye and Berkham, and the primate agreed to give securities for the payment of the sum. The next day a third suit was commenced against him for 1000 marks, which the king had lent him upon some former occasion; and immediately following these, a still greater demand was made; namely, that Becket should give an account of the money he had received and

expended during the time he was chancellor. The England. money was computed at no less than 40,000 marks; and the primate, unable either to give an account, or find securities, took the following extraordinary method of evading the king's designs. He arrayed himself in his episcopal vestments; and with the cross in his hand, went forward to the palace. Having entered the royal apartments, he sat down, holding up the cross as his banner and protection. The king, who sat in an inner apartment, ordered by proclamation all the prelates and nobility to attend him; to whom he loudly complained of Becket's insolence. The whole council joined in condemning this instance of his unaccountable pride; and determined to expostulate with him about his inconsistency concerning the constitutions of Clarendon. But all their messages, threats, and arguments, were in vain. Becket put himself, in the most solemn manner, under the protection of the supreme pontiff, and appealed to him against any penalty which his iniquitous judges might think proper to inflict. Then leaving the palace, he asked the king's immediate permission to quit Northampton; but being refused, he secretly withdrew in disguise, and at last found means to cross over to the continent.

Becket was received with the greatest marks of esteem, first by the king of France (who hated Henry on account of his great power), and then by the pope, whose cause he had so strenuously defended in England. Henry at the same time sent ambassadors to the pope, who were treated with coolness and contempt, while Becket was honoured with the greatest marks of distinction. These favours bestowed upon an exile and a perjured traitor (for such had been Becket's sentence of condemnation in England), irritated the king to such a degree, that he resolved to throw off at once all dependence upon the pope. He accordingly issued out orders to his justices; inhibiting, under severe penalties, all appeals to the pope or the archbishop; and forbidding any of them to receive mandates from them, or to apply to their authority. He declared it treasonable to bring over from either of them any interdiction upon the kingdom. This he made punishable in secular clergymen by the loss of their livings, and by castration; in regulars, by the amputation of their feet; and in laymen, by death. On the other hand, the pope and the archbishop did not fail to issue forth their fulminations in such a manner as to shake the very foundation of the king's authority. Becket excommunicated by name all the king's chief ministers who had been concerned in sequestrating the revenues of his fee, and all who obeyed or favoured the constitutions of Clarendon. He even threatened to excommunicate the king if he did not speedily repent; and had not the pope himself been threatened every day with the machinations of an antipope, whose pretensions he was afraid the king of England might support, the sentence of excommunication would certainly have been denounced.

At first, Henry paid little regard to these fulminations; but afterwards, when he found that his authority over his subjects began to decline on that account, and that his rivals on the continent were endeavouring to disturb the tranquillity of his dominions, he began sincerely to desire a reconciliation. This the pope and Becket.

^England. Becket also became desirous of, because they saw that their utmost endeavours were insufficient to draw Henry's subjects into a revolt against him. The treaty of accommodation, however, was often broken off, through the extreme jealousy of each of the parties; but at length, by the mediation of the pope's legate, all differences were adjusted, and Becket was reinstated in the see of Canterbury.

¹¹⁹ Is restored, and behaves with his former insolence. On the recovery of his dignity, the primate behaved with all his usual arrogance. Instead of retiring quietly to his diocese when he landed in England, he made a progress through Kent with all the splendor and magnificence of a sovereign pontiff. As he approached Southwark, the clergy, the laity, and all ranks of people, come forth to meet him, and celebrated his triumphal entry with hymns of joy. Being thus confident of the support of the people, he resolved to make his enemies feel the severest effects of his vengeance. He suspended the archbishop of York, who had crowned Henry's eldest son in his absence. He excommunicated the bishops of London and Salisbury, with some of the principal nobility and prelates who had assisted at the coronation. One man he excommunicated for having spoken against him, and another for having cut off the tail of one of his horses. The excommunicated and degraded prelates immediately made their complaints to the king; and he having dropped some passionate expressions, intimating a desire to have Becket's life taken away, the supposed will of the king was instantly accomplished; nor could the king's express orders to the contrary arrive time enough to hinder the execution of this fatal purpose. See BECKET.

¹²⁰ Grief of the king for his death. The king was thrown into the utmost consternation on hearing of Becket's murder. He knew that the primate's death would accomplish what his most violent opposition during his life could never have done, and therefore he gave himself up to sorrow: for three days he even refused all nourishment; till at last his courtiers were obliged to break in upon his solitude, and induce him to acquiesce in an event which could not possibly be recalled. The pope was with some difficulty made sensible of the king's innocence; but refused to grant him a pardon, except on condition that he should make every future submission and perform every injunction the holy see thought proper to demand. When things were thus adjusted, the assassins who had murdered Becket were allowed to retire in safety to the enjoyment of their former dignities; and the king, with a view to divert the minds of the people to a different object, undertook an expedition into Ireland, and totally reduced that island. See IRELAND.

¹²¹ Difficulties in Henry's family. The king was scarcely freed from the war with Ireland, and the dangerous controversy in which he had engaged with the church of Rome, when he found himself involved in the most unnatural contests with his children, to whom he had always behaved in the most tender and affectionate manner. He had ordered Henry his eldest son to be anointed king; and had destined him for 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 might thus easily lend their assistance to one another. Richard his second son

was invested in the duchy of Guenne 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 appendage of John his fourth son, for whom he had negotiated a marriage with Adelais the only daughter of Humbert count of Savoy and Maurienne; and with whom he was to receive as a dowry very considerable demesnes in Piedmont, Savoy, Bresse, and Dauphiny. This greatness of Henry's family alarmed the king of France; and he therefore excited young Prince Henry to demand of his father, either the immediate resignation of the crown of England, or the duchy of Normandy. The king refused to comply with such an extravagant demand; upon which the prince made his escape to Paris, where he was protected by the French king. This happened in 1173; and the same year, Queen Eleanor, finding that she was now grown very disagreeable to the king, communicated her discontent to her two younger children Geoffrey and Richard, whom she engaged also to demand the territories assigned them, and then fly to the court of France. The queen herself was meditating an escape to the same ¹²² Queen E-court, and had put on man's apparel for that purpose, when she was seized and confined by Henry's order, ^{leaver con-} fined. The licentious barons in the mean time wished for a change of government; hoping to have liberty, under young and inexperienced princes, to commit those rapines and violences which they could not do with safety when governed by such a prudent and vigilant king as Henry. In the midst of this universal defection, however, the English monarch still retained his usual intrepidity, and prepared with as much vigour as possible for the contest. As he could depend on the fidelity of very few of his nobility, he was obliged to enlist in his service a number of desperate ruffians called Brabengons, and sometimes Routiers or Cottereaux, though for what reason is not mentioned in history. These banditti were very numerous during the times of the feudal government, when many private wars were carried on between the nobles; and 20,000 of these, with a few forces furnished by his faithful barons, composed the whole of Henry's army on this occasion.

With this force the king of England totally overthrew the schemes of his enemies on the continent; but being very desirous of putting an end to the war, he this very year (1173) agreed to a conference with the king of France. At this interview, Henry offered his children the most advantageous terms. He insisted only on retaining the sovereign authority in all his dominions. To Henry he offered half the revenues of the crown of England, with some places of surety in that kingdom; or if he chose rather to reside in Normandy, half the revenues of that duchy, with all those of Anjou. He made a like offer to Richard in Guenne; he promised to resign all 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 conference, however, was broken off by the violence of the earl of Leicester; who not only reproached Henry in the most indecent manner, but even put his hand to his sword, as if he intended to attempt some violence against him.

England. In the mean time, the most of the English nobility united in opposition against their sovereign; and an irruption at this time by the king of Scotland assailed their rebellious schemes. The earl of Leicester soon after invaded Suffolk at the head of a body of Flemings; but they were repulsed with great slaughter and the earl himself was taken prisoner. Soon after, William king of Scotland, who had been repulsed, and agreed to a cessation of arms, broke the truce, and invaded England with an army of 80,000 men, committing the most terrible devastations. Henry in the mean time, to reconcile himself thoroughly to the church, performed the penances at the tomb of Thomas a Becket which he had formerly promised to do. As soon as he came within sight of the church of Canterbury, he alighted from his horse, walked barefoot towards the town, and prostrated himself before the shrine of the saint. He remained a whole day in prayer and fasting, watched the holy relics all night, made a grant of 500. a-year to the convent for a constant supply of tapers to illuminate the shrine; and not satisfied with these submissions, he assembled a chapter of monks, disrobed himself before them, put a scourge into each of their hands, and presented his bare shoulders to their strokes. Next day he received absolution; and, departing for London, had the agreeable news of the defeat and captivity of William king of Scotland, which happened on the very day of his absolution.

This victory proved decisive in Henry's favour. The English barons who had revolted, or were preparing for a revolt, instantly delivered up their castles to the victor, and the kingdom was in a few weeks restored to perfect tranquillity. Prince Henry, who was ready to embark with a great army to join the English rebels, abandoned all thoughts of the enterprise. Soon after a treaty was concluded with the king of France; in which Henry granted his children much less advantageous terms than he had offered them before. The principal were, some pensions for their support, castles for their residence, and an indemnity to all their adherents. The greatest sufferer by this war was William king of Scotland. He was compelled to sign a treaty, by which he obliged himself to do homage to Henry for the kingdom of Scotland. It was agreed, that his barons and bishops should do the same; and that the fortresses of Edinburgh, Stirling, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh, should be delivered into the hands of the conqueror till the articles were performed. This treaty was executed most punctually and rigorously on the 10th of August 1175. The king, barons, and prelates of Scotland, did homage to Henry in the cathedral of York; the greatest humiliation to which the Scottish nation had ever been subjected.

Henry was now freed from all troubles, either at home or abroad, for five years; during which time he made several salutary laws for the good of his kingdom. But, in 1180, the ambitious spirits of his children involved him in fresh calamities. Richard, who had been invested by his father with the sovereignty of Guienne, refused to do homage to his elder brother, as King Henry had required him to do. Young Henry and Geoffrey, uniting their arms, invaded their brother's dominions; and while the king was endeavour-

ing to compose their differences, he found himself conspired against by them all. The conspiracy, however, was defeated by the death of Prince Henry in 1183. He had retired to Martel, a castle near Turenne, where he was seized with a fever; and perceiving the approaches of death, he was at last struck with remorse for his un dutiful behaviour towards his father. He sent a messenger to the king, who was not far distant; expressed his contrition for his faults; and intreated the favour of a visit, that he might at least die with the satisfaction of having received his forgiveness. The king, who had so often experienced his son's ingratitude and violence, apprehended that his sickness was entirely a feint, and dared not trust himself in the prince's hands. But soon after, receiving certain intelligence of his death, and proofs of his sincere repentance, the good old king was affected with the deepest sorrow. He thrice fainted away; he accused his own hard-heartedness in refusing the dying request of his son; and he lamented that he had deprived the prince of the last opportunity of making atonement for his offences.

Prince Henry, who died in the 28th year of his age, left no posterity. His brother Richard succeeded to his dominions, and soon discovered as turbulent a spirit as that which had actuated his brother. He refused to give up Guienne, which Henry had designed for his fourth son John; and even made preparations for carrying on war against his father, and brother Geoffrey. Henry sent for Eleanor his queen, the heiress of Guienne; to whom Richard, either dreading an insurrection in her favour, or out of a sense of duty, willingly yielded up the territory, and retired peacefully to his father's court. This breach, however, was no sooner made up, than Geoffrey demanded Anjou to be added to his dominions in Brittany. This the king refused; upon which he fled to the court of France, and prepared to levy an army against his father. Henry, however, was freed from the danger which threatened him from that quarter, by his son's death, who was killed in a tournament at Paris. The loss of this prince gave few, except the king himself, any uneasiness; for he was universally hated, and went among the people by the name of the Child of Perdition. 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, as duke of Normandy, was also superior lord of that territory. Philip, as lord paramount, disputed for some time his title to this wardship; but was obliged to yield to the inclinations of the Bretons, who preferred the government of Henry. Some other causes inflamed the dissension between these two monarchs, and Philip once more seduced Richard from his duty. He insisted, that his marriage with Adelais, Philip's sister, should be immediately completed, and threatened to enforce his pretensions with a formidable army. This occasioned another conference between Gisors and Trie, the usual place of meeting, under a vast elm that is said to have shaded more than an acre. In the midst of this conference the archbishop of Tyre appeared before the assembly in the most miserable habit, and begged assistance against the infidels, who, under Saladin, had almost totally expelled the Christians from Asia. His intelli-

gence.

gence appeared so very dismal, that the kings of France and England laid aside their animosity. Both of them immediately took the cross; but Richard, who had long wished to have all the glory of such an expedition to himself, could not bear to have even his father for a partner in his victories. He therefore entered into a confederacy with the king of France; so that Henry found himself at last obliged to give up all thoughts of the crusade, in order to defend himself against this unnatural combination. The event of the war proved very unfortunate for Henry, who lost several towns, and narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the enemy himself. At last a treaty was concluded at the intercession of the duke of Burgundy, the count of Flanders, and the archbishop of Rheims; but upon terms very humiliating to the king of England. It was agreed that Richard should marry the princess Adelais, and be crowned king of England during the lifetime of his father; that Henry should pay 20,000 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, and in case of violating it, to join Philip and Richard against him; and that all his vassals who had espoused the cause of Richard should receive an indemnity for their offence. These terms, mortifying as they were, Henry bore with patience; but when, upon receiving a list of the barons that were to be pardoned, he found his own son John, who was his favourite, among them, he could no longer support his grief. He broke out into the most lamentable expressions of despair; cursed the day in which he received his miserable being; and bestowed on his ungrateful children a malediction which he could never afterwards be prevailed upon to retract. Soon after, he fell into a lingering fever occasioned by his grief, and of this he died on the 6th of July 1189, in the 58th year of his age and 35th of his reign. His natural son Geoffrey, who alone had behaved dutifully towards him, attended his corpse to the nunnery of Fontevault, where it lay in state in the abbey-church. Next day Richard, who came to visit the dead body of his father, was struck with horror at the sight. At his approach, the blood was seen to gush out at the mouth and nostrils of the corpse; and this accident was, by the superstition of the times, interpreted as the most dreadful rebuke. Richard could not endure the sight. He exclaimed that he was his father's murderer; and expressed a strong, though too late, sense of his undutiful conduct.

Richard succeeded to the throne without opposition immediately after his father's death; and, on his accession, set his mother Eleanor (who had been again confined) at liberty. A romantic desire for strange adventures, and an immoderate zeal for the external rites of religion, were the ruling passions of the times. By the first of these Richard was inflamed to the highest degree, and therefore behaved as if the whole design of his government had been to attempt the recovery of the Holy Land from the Infidels. The superstition of the people showed itself in a most violent and tragical manner on the very day of the king's coronation. The Jews were the objects of universal hatred, so that Richard had issued out orders forbidding any of them from appearing at his coronation. But some of them bringing him large presents from

their nation, presumed, notwithstanding these orders, to approach the hall in which the king dined. Being discovered, they were exposed to the insults and injuries of the bystanders; in consequence of which they fled, and were pursued by the people. A report was spread, that the king had given orders to massacre all the Jews. This supposed command was executed in the most cruel manner. Multitudes were slaughtered in the city of London; and this example was followed in most of the cities in England. Five hundred Jews had retired into York castle for safety: but finding themselves unable to defend the place, they murdered their wives and children; threw the dead bodies over the wall against their enemies who attempted to scale it; and then, setting fire to the houses, perished in the flames. The gentry in the neighbourhood, who were all indebted to the Jews, ran to the cathedral where their bonds were kept, and made a solemn bonfire of them before the altar.

Richard immediately began to take measures for his expedition into Palestine. His father had left him 100,000 marks; and this sum he augmented by all expedients he could think of, however pernicious to the public, or dangerous to the royal authority. He set up to sale the revenues and manors of the crown, and several offices of the greatest trust and power. Liberties, charters, castles, were given to the best bidders. His friends warned him of the danger attending this venality; but he told them he would sell the city of London itself, if he could find a purchaser. Numerous exactions were also practised upon all ranks and stations; menaces, promises, and expostulations, were used to fright the timid, and allure the avaricious. A zealous preacher of those times was emboldened to remonstrate against the king's conduct; and advised him to part with his three daughters, which were pride, avarice, and sensuality. To this Richard readily replied, "You counsel right, my friend; and I have already provided husbands for them all. I will dispose of my pride to the templars; my avarice to the monks; and as for my sensuality, the clergy shall share that among them." At length the king having got together a sufficient supply for his undertaking, and even sold his superiority over Scotland for a moderate sum, set out for the Holy Land; whither he was impelled by repeated messages from the king of France, who was ready to embark in the same enterprise.

An account of Richard's exploits in this expedition is given under the articles EGYPT, SICILY, CYPRUS, &c.—Having at last concluded a truce with Saladin, he set out on his return for England. He was, however, at a loss how to proceed. He durst not return by the way he came, as this would put him in the power of the king of France, between whom and the king of England an irreconcilable enmity had taken place. No way therefore was left but by going more to the north; for which reason he took shipping for Italy, but was wrecked near Aquileia. From thence he travelled towards Ragusa, and resolved to make his way through Germany in the habit of a pilgrim. But his expenses and liberalities having betrayed him, notwithstanding this disguise, he was arrested by Leopold, duke of Austria, who commanded him to be loaded with shackles. This prince had served under Richard

England. at the siege of Acre (the ancient Ptolemais), where having received some disgust, he took this base method of revenging himself. Henry VI. emperor of Germany, was then equally an enemy to Richard on account of his having married Berengaria the daughter of Tancred king of Sicily. He therefore required the royal captive to be delivered up to him, and stipulated a large sum of money to the duke as a reward for his service.

The kingdom of England in the mean time was in great confusion. Richard had left it under the direction of Hugh bishop of Durham, and Longchamp bishop of Ely. The tempers of these prelates being very different, an animosity between them soon took place. Longchamp at last arrested his colleague, and obliged him to resign his power in order to obtain his liberty. The king, by many letters, commanded Longchamp to replace his coadjutor, but to no purpose. When the situation of the king became uncertain, Longchamp tyrannized to such a degree, that John the king's brother thought proper to oppose him. He then left the kingdom; and upon this the archbishop of Rouen was made justiciary in his room. The king of France being informed of these dissensions, strove to increase them as much as possible; and had even almost prevailed upon John to throw off his allegiance, by promising to put him in possession of all Richard's continental dominions.

When the English first received the news of Richard's captivity, a general indignation was excited through the whole nation. The greatest, and almost the only traitor in the kingdom, was the king's own brother John. On the very first invitation from the court of France, he went abroad, and held a consultation with Philip, the object of which was the perpetual ruin and captivity of his unhappy brother. He promised to deliver into Philip's hands a great part of Normandy; and, in return, he received the investiture of all Richard's transmarine dominions: it is even said, that he did homage to the French king for the crown of England.

In consequence of this treaty, Philip invaded Normandy, and made considerable progress in the conquest of it. He was, however, at last repulsed by the earl of Leicester, who was now returned from the Holy Land; and a truce was concluded, on condition of paying the French king 20,000 marks, and putting four castles into his hands by way of security for the payment.—John, who had come over to England, met with still less success in his enterprises. He was only able to make himself master of the castles of Windsor and Wallingford; but when he came to London, and demanded the kingdom as heir to this 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 defence of the kingdom was so well provided for, that John after some fruitless efforts, was obliged to conclude a truce with his opponents; and, before the expiration of it, he thought proper to retire to France, where he openly acknowledged his alliance with Philip.

All the efforts of Richard's enemies proved ineffectual to detain him in captivity. He was brought before the diet of the empire at Worms, where the emperor Henry brought against him a charge of many

crimes and misdemeanours: but to this the king replied with so much spirit and eloquence, that the German princes 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 impossible for him to execute his and their base purposes, and detain the king of England any longer in captivity. He therefore concluded a treaty with him for his ransom; and agreed to restore him to his liberty for 150,000 marks, about 100,000l. of our money, of which 100,000 marks were to be paid immediately, and 67 hostages delivered for the remainder.

The money for the king's ransom was most cheerfully raised by the English. The churches and monasteries melted down their plate to the amount of 30,000 marks; the bishops, abbots, and monks, paid a fourth part of their yearly rent; the parochial clergy contributed a tenth part of their tythes; and the requisite sum being thus collected, Queen Eleanor and Walter archbishop of Rouen set out with it for Germany, paid the money to the emperor and duke of Austria at Mentz, delivered them hostages for the remainder, and freed Richard from his captivity. His escape was very critical. Henry had been detected in the assassination of the bishop of Liege, and in an attempt of the like nature on the duke of Louvain; 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 French king, and to detain Richard in perpetual captivity, notwithstanding the sum he had already received for his ransom. 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 Scheldt, and was out of sight of land when the emperor's messengers reached Antwerp. The king of France no sooner heard of Richard's deliverance, than he wrote to John his confederate in these terms: "Take care of yourself: the devil is broke loose."

The king of England returned from captivity on the 20th of March 1194, and was received with the utmost joy by his subjects. He had been but one day landed, when his treacherous brother John came to make his submission. At the intercession of Queen Eleanor he was received into favour. "I forgive him (said the king), and hope I shall as easily forget his offences as he will my pardon." Richard was impatient to revenge himself on the king of France, and therefore instantly made war upon him. But though both kings were inflamed with the most violent resentment against each other, they found it impossible to engage their powerful barons heartily in their cause. The war, therefore, produced no remarkable event; and, in 1195, was concluded by a truce for five years. On some slight occasion it was ready to break out anew, when the pope's legate interposed, and a treaty was about to be concluded. King Richard in the mean time was wounded by an arrow at the siege of Chalus, a castle of Limoges. The wound was not itself dangerous; but being unskillfully treated, a mortification ensued, and the king expired on the 6th of April 1199, in the 10th year of his reign and 42d of his

England. his age. By his will he left the kingdom to his brother John, but distributed a fourth part of his treasure among his servants.

135
John succeeded to the crown of England without opposition, but soon found his affairs embarrassed on the continent. The king of France, who, during the life of King Richard, had always supported the pretensions of John, now gave a like support to the claims of Prince Arthur the son of Geoffrey, who, though only 12 years of age, promised to be deserving of the kingdom. But in this matter the king of France showed so much regard to his own interest, that Constantia, the mother of the young prince, thinking that he really designed to keep for himself the provinces which he pretended to conquer for Arthur, submitted herself and her son to John, who detained them in Mans; and thus became undisputed master of the whole empire.

136
His bad qualities.
The new king was weak, tyrannical, cruel, and treacherous. In short, he seemed to be endowed with almost every bad quality that can fall to the share of man. His conduct, therefore, soon rendered him universally odious. Imagining himself now secure on the side of France, he indulged his passion for Isabella, the daughter and heiress of the count of Angoulême, with whom he was much enamoured. His queen, the heiress of the family of Gloucelier, was still alive; and Isabella was married to the count de la Marche, though, by reason of her youth, the marriage had not been consummated. John persuaded the count de Angoulême to carry off his daughter from her husband; at the same time that he procured, under some pretence or other, a divorce from the queen. Thus he incurred the displeasure of the pope, and also of the count de la Marche, and a powerful confederacy was formed against him.

137
Murders his nephews.
As John had neither courage nor policy sufficient to keep his barons in awe, he took a method for that purpose equally base and cruel. This was by hiring a set of ruffians, whom he called his champions, to fight duels with them, in cases where they required to clear themselves from any charge by fighting a duel, according to the custom of those times. Thus he proposed to get rid of his refractory barons; but they, despising opponents who were so far below their rank, refused to fight with them, and a dangerous combination was formed among the barons against him.

The murder of Prince Arthur rendered John still more generally detested. The young prince with his mother had fled to the court of France, where they were received with the greatest kindness, and found their interests more vigorously supported than before. Their enterprises were attended with considerable success, when Arthur himself had the misfortune to be taken prisoner. All the other captives were sent to England; but the prince was shut up in the castle of Falaise, and from that time was never heard of. It was universally believed that John had murdered him with his own hand; and this inflamed the general resentment against him to such a degree, that he soon after lost all his French provinces. In 1205, the duchy of Normandy itself was also conquered by Philip, and John was forced to fly with disgrace to England.

The king was resolved to wreak his vengeance upon the barons, who, he pretended, had deserted his stand-

ard in Normandy. For this reason, he levied large sums on their estates; in order, as he said, to undertake an expedition to the continent. This expedition, however, he several times capriciously deferred; and once having ventured out to sea, returned again without making the smallest attempt. At last, he landed at Rochelle, and burnt the city of Angiers; but hearing that the enemy were preparing to oppose him, he returned without attempting any thing else.

This irresolute and cowardly behaviour of John made him contemptible in the eyes of his subjects; but the Norman princes had so far extended the prerogatives of the English crown, that the barons, however discontented, durst not yet attempt to change the form of government. John, by entering into a controversy with the church, completed his ruin. The clergy, who for some time had acted as a community totally independent of the civil power, had their elections of each other generally confirmed by the pope, to whom alone they owned subjection. The election of archbishops, however, had been a subject of continual dispute between the suffragan bishops and the Augustine monks. In the mean time the archbishop of Canterbury died; and the Augustine monks, in a very private manner, elected Reginald, their superior, in his place. The bishops exclaimed against this election, as a manifest innovation of their privileges; and a furious theological contest was likely to ensue. John very imprudently took a side in this controversy, and espoused the cause of the suffragan bishops; in consequence of which, John de Grey bishop of Norwich was chosen. The cause was appealed to Rome; and Pope Innocent III. seizing with avidity an opportunity of extending his power, commanded the monks to choose Cardinal Stephen Langton, an Englishman, then at the court of Rome. The power of nominating an archbishop of Canterbury (a person of almost equal authority with the king), was an acquisition that would effectually give the court of Rome an unlimited authority over England. John therefore was resolved not to submit to this imposition; but he had not judgment sufficient to conduct him. He violently expelled the monks from their convent, and seized upon their revenues. The pope perceiving, from this absurd conduct, that John was unequal to the task he had undertaken, after some intrigues, threatened to put the whole kingdom under an interdict. The prelates threw themselves on their knees before the king, and in the most earnest manner intreated him to avoid the resentment of the holy tribunal, by receiving the primate, and restoring the monks to their convent. John, however, broke out into the most violent invectives. He swore by God's teeth (his usual oath), that if the kingdom was put under an interdict, he would banish the whole body of the clergy, and confiscate all their possessions. The pope at last, finding he might do it with safety, issued forth this terrible sentence, so much dreaded by the whole nation. A stop was immediately put to divine service, and the administration of all the sacraments except baptism. The church-doors were shut, and the images of the saints laid on the ground. The dead were refused Christian burial; and were thrown into ditches and on the highways, without any funeral solemnity. Marriage was celebrated in the churchyards, and the people prohibited the use of meat as in.

England. in times of public penance. They were debarred from all pleasure; even from shaving their beards, saluting each other, or paying any regard to their apparel. The clergy deplored the unhappy state of the nation in the most lamentable manner; while John, in revenge, imprisoned all their concubines, and treated the adherents of Langton with the utmost rigour.

¹⁴⁰ The king excommunicated, and the kingdom given to Philip of France. The furious and imprudent efforts of John proved totally ineffectual. He had scarce a friend left in the whole nation; and therefore, in 1209, the pope denounced a sentence of excommunication against him. This was soon followed by another still more terrible; namely, the absolving all the subjects of the king of England from their allegiance, and declaring every one to be excommunicated who had any commerce with him at his table, council, or even in private conversation. The king, rendered quite furious by these repeated indignities, wreaked his vengeance on his unhappy subjects, whose affections he ought rather to have attempted to conciliate. The pope, therefore, proceeded to execute the full measure of his wrath on this devoted prince, by giving away his kingdom to Philip of France. He published a crusade all over Europe against King John; exhorting the nobility, the knights and men of every condition, to take up arms against him, and enlist under the French banner. Philip was not less active on his part. He summoned all the vassals of the crown to attend him at Rouen; and having collected a fleet of 1700 vessels, was ready, in 1213, to invade England.

¹⁴¹ John's submission to the pope. The pope had now overstretched his power; and had the English nation been governed by a prince of any degree of prudence or resolution, the power of the clergy would in all probability have been totally broken. The people, however superstitious and ready to obey in matters of religion, could not tamely submit to be given away by the pope as slaves from one master to another; and therefore this consideration, added to the natural antipathy subsisting between the French and English, put John, notwithstanding all his offences, at the head of an army of 60,000 men. But the pope was too great a politician to suffer matters to be carried to extremities. He promised himself many more advantages from the submission of John than from an alliance with Philip; and therefore came over in person, or, according to some, sent over his legate, to England, under pretence of conferring with the barons, but in reality to hold a conference with John. He there represented to this forlorn prince, the numbers of the enemy, the hatred of his own subjects, and the secret confederacy there was against him in England. He intimated, that there was but one way to secure him from the impending danger; namely, to put himself under the protection of the pope, who was a merciful father, and still willing to receive a repenting sinner. The abject and irresolute spirit of John submitted to this last piece of arrogance, and he took an oath to obey whatever the pope should command. In consequence of this oath, he took another, the most extraordinary mentioned in the records of history, and which, as it was taken while he commanded an army of 60,000 men, discovers a meanness of spirit almost incredible. The terms imposed by it were expressed in the following words. "I John, by the grace of God king of England and lord of Ireland, in order to

expiate my sins, from my own free will, and the advice of my barons, give to the church of Rome, to Pope Innocent and his successors, the kingdom of England, and all other prerogatives of my crown. I will hereafter hold them as the pope's vassal. I will be faithful to God, to the church of Rome, to the pope my master, and his successors legitimately elected. I promise to pay him a tribute of 1000 marks; to wit, 700 for the kingdom of England, and 300 for the kingdom of Ireland."

This oath was taken by the king before all the people, kneeling, and with his hands held up between those of the legate. Having then agreed to reinstate Langton in the primacy, he received the crown which he had been supposed to have forfeited; while the legate, to add to his former insolence, trampled under his feet the tribute which John had consented to pay. The king of France was enraged at this behaviour of the pope; and resolved to execute his project of conquering England, in spite of him and all his censures. His fleet, however, was attacked in their harbours by the English, who took 300 vessels, and destroyed about 100 more; while Philip, finding it impossible to prevent the rest from falling into the hands of the enemy, set fire to them himself, and thus was obliged to give up all hopes of success.

¹⁴² John being thus freed from all danger, continued to follow the same cruel and tyrannical measures which had hitherto rendered him odious to his subjects. His scandalous subjection to the clergy now gave the barons an opportunity of exerting themselves, in order to reduce the enormous prerogatives of the crown. Their designs were greatly facilitated by the concurrence of Langton the primate, who on all occasions showed a sincere regard for the interests of the kingdom. At a synod of his prelates and clergy, convened in St Paul's, on pretence of examining into the losses of some bishops who had been exiled by John, he privately conferred with a number of barons, to whom he expatiated upon the vices and injustice of their sovereign. He showed them a copy of Henry the first's charter; (being the only one in the kingdom, and which had been buried in the rubbish of an obscure monastery). Langton exhorted the barons to insist on a renewal of it; and this they solemnly swore to perform. The same agreement was afterwards renewed at a more numerous meeting of barons summoned by Langton at St Edmonbury. Here it was resolved, that at Christmas they should prefer their common petition in a body, and in the mean time they separated with a design to put themselves in a posture of defence, enlist men, and fortify their castles. In the beginning of January 1215, they repaired to London, accoutred in their military garb and equipage, and presented their petition to the king, alleging that he had promised to grant a confirmation of the laws of Edward the Confessor, at the time he was absolved from his excommunication. John resisted their presumption; and required a promise under their hands and seals, that they would never demand, or attempt to extort, such privileges for the future. This they refused with such unanimity and resolution, that the king desired time to consider of their demands. He promised, that, at the festival of Easter, he would give a positive answer to their petition; and offered them the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of

England. Ely, and the earl marefchal, as sureties for fulfilling his engagements.

The barons accepted of his securities, and departed peaceably; but John had no design of complying with their desires. He had recourse to the clergy, whose power he had seen and felt in so many instances. He courted their favour, by granting them a charter establishing all those rights of which they were already in the possession, and which he now pretended to confirm when he had not the liberty to refuse. To ingratiate himself still farther with this body, he took the cross, and appealed to the pope against the usurpation of the barons. The pope wrote letters to England, reproaching the primate and bishops with favouring these dissensions; and commanded them to promote peace between the two parties. He exhorted the barons to conciliate the king, not with menaces, but with humble intreaties; and promised, upon their obedience, to interpose his own authority in favour of such of their petitions as he should find to be just. At the same time, he annulled their association, and forbade them to enter into any confederacy for the future.

The barons paid no regard to the pope's remonstrances; knowing that the fulminations of the court of Rome would be of little avail, unless they were seconded by the clergy of England. After waiting till Easter, when the king promised to return them an answer, they met by agreement at Stamford. There they assembled a force of above 2000 knights, and a prodigious number of foot. Thence they marched to Brackley, about 15 miles from Oxford, the place where the court then resided. John, hearing of their approach, sent the archbishop of Canterbury, the earl of Pembroke, and others of his council, to know the particulars of their request, and what those liberties were which they so much importuned him to grant. The barons delivered a schedule containing the chief articles of their demands, founded on the charters of Henry and Edward; but which were in the highest degree displeasing to the king. He burst into a furious passion, asked the barons why they did not also demand his kingdom; and swore that he would never comply with such exorbitant demands. The confederates then chose Robert Fitzwalter for their general; whom they dignified with the title of "Marefchal of the army of God and of the holy church." They laid siege to Northampton, took Bedford, and were joyfully received into London. They wrote letters to all the nobility and gentry who had not yet declared in their favour, threatening their estates with devastation in case of refusal or delay.

In the mean time the king was left at a place called Odisham in Surrey, attended only by seven knights. He vainly endeavoured to avert the storm by the mediation of his bishops and ministers. He appealed to Langton against the barons, not suspecting that he was engaged in the confederacy; and desired him to fulminate the church censures against those who had made war upon their lawful prince. Langton declared that he would pass no censure where he found no delinquent; but said, that much might be done if the king would dismiss some foreign auxiliaries which he had lately brought over. Upon this John disbanded a great body of Germans and Flemings whom he had hitherto retained in his service, and Langton refused

to excommunicate a single baron. The king, being now quite defenceless, was obliged at last to comply with the demands of his subjects. A conference was accordingly appointed, and all things were adjusted for this most important treaty.

The king's commissioners met the barons at a place called Ranmede, between Staines and Windsor; and which is yet held in reverence as the spot where the standard of freedom was first erected in England. Here the king signed the charter called Magna Charta: which continues in force to this day, and is still regarded as the great bulwark of British liberty. See Magna Charta.

This charter, however, at the time that it was made, secured liberty to the clergy, barons, and gentlemen, much more than to the bulk of the people, who did not for a long time obtain any privileges of importance. Freedom of elections was secured to the clergy; and it was determined, that fines on them for any offence should be laid on in proportion to their estates, and not the value of their benefices. The privileges secured to the barons were, either abatements in the rigour of the feudal laws, or relief from arbitrary and ambiguous decisions before the courts. It was also decreed, that barons should recover the lands of their vassals, even though forfeited by felony, after having been in the possession of the crown for a year and a day; and no tax was to be imposed without consent of the great council of the nation, excepting in case of the captivity of the king, the knighting of his eldest son, or marrying his eldest daughter. No land belonging to any baron was to be seized for a crown-debt, unless the possessor had not personal property enough to pay it; neither was any vassal to be allowed to sell so much of his land as to incapacitate him from performing the necessary service to his lord. It was also determined, that when the great council of the nation was called, the prelates, earls, and barons, should be summoned by a particular writ, and the lesser barons should receive a summons from the sheriff. In favour of the people it was stipulated, that they should have from the barons all the immunities and privileges granted by the king to the former. Merchants were to be allowed to carry on their business without any arbitrary tolls or impositions, and to go out of the kingdom and return at pleasure. The goods of every freeman were to be disposed of according to his will; or if he died intestate, the nearest heir should succeed him. No carts, horses, or wood, were to be taken by the crown officers without the consent of the owner. The king's courts were to be stationary, and no delay to be made in doing justice to every one; no freeman should be taken or imprisoned, dispossessed of his free tenement, outlawed or banished, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, &c. It was likewise stipulated, that London should remain in the hands of the barons, and the tower be confiscated to the primate, till the 15th of August following; or till the articles of the charter should be fulfilled. To give the more security for this, the king allowed them to choose 25 of their own number, to whose authority no limits were set either in extent or duration. If any complaint were made of a violation of the charter, either by the king or his officers, any four of the barons might admonish the king to redress the grievance; and if satisfaction were not obtained,

England. obtained, they might assemble the whole council of 25; and they, in conjunction with the great council, were empowered to compel him to fulfil the charter. In case of his resistance, they had liberty to levy war against him, attack his castles, and use every kind of violence, except against his person, or those of the queen or children. All men throughout the kingdom were bound, under the penalty of confiscation, to swear obedience to the 23 barons; and the freeholders of each county were to choose 12 knights, whose business it was to report such evil customs as ought to be redressed in terms of Magna Charta.

But although John had thus obliged himself, by writing, to allow liberty to his subjects, he had no mind that they should enjoy it in reality. The sense of his subjection to his own vassals sunk deep in his mind. He became sullen, silent, and reserved. He thinned the society of his former friends; and retired into the Isle of Wight, as if to hide his disgrace in solitude; but, in reality, to meditate revenge against the barons. He sent to the continent to enlist a large body of mercenary troops, and made complaints to the pope of the insurrections of the barons against him. The pontiff very warmly espoused his cause; a bull was sent over, annulling the whole charter; and at the same time the foreign troops arriving, the king once more found himself in a condition to demand his own terms from his subjects.

The barons had made no preparations for war, not suspecting the introduction of a foreign army. The king, therefore, was for some time undisputed master of the field, and the most horrid cruelties were committed by his army. The nobility who had been most active in procuring the great charter fled with their families to Scotland, where they obtained the protection of King Alexander by doing homage to him. The barons being totally unable to raise an army capable of contending with that of John, applied to their old enemy Philip of France, offering to acknowledge his eldest son Louis for their sovereign, on condition of his protecting them from the fury of John and his mercenaries. The French king accepted their proposal with joy; and twenty-five hostages which he demanded being sent over, began to make the most diligent preparations for this expedition, regardless of the menaces of the pope, who threatened him with excommunication, and actually excommunicated his son Louis some time after.

The first troops who came to the assistance of the barons, were only a body of 7000 men; but, soon after, Louis with a powerful army landed at Sandwich. The first effect of this invasion was, that most of John's foreign troops deserted, refusing to serve against the heir of their monarchy. Many considerable noblemen also deserted his cause, and Louis daily gained ground. This prince advanced to London, where the barons and burghers did him homage, and took the oath of allegiance, after he had sworn to confirm the liberties and privileges of the people. His imprudence, however, in preferring on all occasions his French subjects to the English, soon excited a jealousy against him, which proved very prejudicial to his cause. This jealousy was greatly increased by the death-bed confession of the Count de Melun, one of his courtiers, who declared to those about him, that it was Louis's design to exterminate the English barons as traitors,

and to bestow their dignities and estates upon his French subjects, on whose fidelity he could more safely rely. This caused a considerable defection among Louis's party: so that John once more found himself in a condition to make an effort for his crown. He resolved to penetrate into the heart of the kingdom; and, for this purpose, he departed from Lynn, and took the road towards Lincolnshire at the head of a great body of troops. His road lay along the shore, which was overflowed at high water; but the king, not being apprised of this, or being ignorant of the tides of the place, lost all his carriages, treasure, and baggage by their influx. He himself escaped with the utmost difficulty, and arrived at the abbey of Swinfield; where his grief for the loss he had sustained, and the distracted state of his affairs, threw him into a fever, which soon appeared to be attended with fatal symptoms. He died at Newark in the year 1216, the 51st Death of his age, and 18th of his reign. He left two legitimate sons: Henry, who succeeded him on the throne, and was about nine years of age; and Richard, who was about seven. He left also three daughters; Jane, married to Alexander king of Scotland; Eleanor, married to the earl of Pembroke; and Isabella, married to the emperor Frederic II.

When John died, the earl of Pembroke was marshal of England. By this office he was at the head of the army, and of consequence, in times of such turbulence, at the head of the state. He was a nobleman of great honour and fidelity, and had continued faithful to John in his greatest reverses of fortune. He now determined to support the authority of the infant Prince Henry; and therefore carried him immediately to Gloucester, where the ceremony of coronation was performed, in the presence of Gualo the legate and a very few noblemen, by the bishops of Winchester and Bath. The young prince was obliged to swear fealty to the pope, and renew the homage which his father had done for the kingdom; after which the earl of Pembroke was chosen protector.

Till the king arrived at the years of maturity, the transactions of his reign can only be considered as the consequences of the disposition of his tutors. Pembroke caused him grant a new charter of liberties, consisting of the concessions extorted from John, with some alterations; and the next year it was renewed, with the addition of some other articles. Thus these famous charters were brought very nearly to the shape in which they have ever since stood; and they were, during many generations, esteemed the most sacred rampart to national liberty and independence. As they secured the rights of all orders of men, they were anxiously defended by all, and became in a manner the basis of the English monarchy, and a kind of original contract, which both limited the authority of the king, and ensured the conditional allegiance of his subjects. Though often violated, they were still claimed and recalled by the nobility and people; and as no precedents were supposed valid that infringed them, they rather acquired, than lost, authority, from the frequent attempts made against them, in several ages, by regal and arbitrary power.

These charters were made use of by Pembroke as arguments to draw off the malecontent barons from their allegiance to Louis. He represented to them, that, whatever

England whatever jealousy they might have entertained against the late king, a young prince, the lineal heir of their ancient monarchs, had now succeeded to the throne, without succeeding either to the resentments or principles of his predecessor: That the desperate expedient, which they had employed, of calling in a foreign potentate, had, happily for them, as well as for the nation, failed of entire success; and it was still in their power, by a quick return to their duty, to restore the independence of the kingdom, and to secure that liberty for which they so zealously contended: That, as all past offences of the barons were now buried in oblivion, they ought, on their part, to forget their complaints against their late sovereign; who, if he had been anywise blameable in his conduct, had left to his son the salutary warning to avoid his paths, which had led to such fatal extremities: And that, having now obtained a charter for their liberties, it was their interest to show, by their conduct, that the acquisition was not incompatible with their allegiance; and that the rights of the king and people, so far from being hostile and opposite, might mutually support and sustain each other.

150 Decline of Prince Louis's party. These considerations, enforced by Pembroke's known character of constancy and fidelity, had a very great influence on the barons. Most of them began to negotiate with him, and many actually returned to their duty. At the same time Louis continued to disgust those of his own party by the preference which he visibly gave to the French. Though he went over to France, therefore, and brought fresh succours from thence, he found that his party was greatly weaker than before, by the desertion of his English confederates; and that the death of King John had, contrary to his expectations, occasioned the total ruin of his affairs. In a short time Pembroke was so much strengthened by deserters from Louis's party, that he ventured to invest Mount Sorel; though upon the approach of the count de Perche with the French army, he desisted from that enterprise. The French general immediately marched to Lincoln; and, being admitted into the town, laid siege to the castle, and soon reduced it to extremity. Pembroke summoned his forces from every quarter, in order to relieve this important place; and he appeared so much superior to the French, that they shut themselves up within the city, resolving to take shelter there. But the garrison of the castle, having received a strong reinforcement, made a vigorous fall upon the besiegers, while the English army assaulted them from without. The French army was totally routed; the count de Perche with only two persons more were killed; but many of the chief commanders, and about 400 knights, were made prisoners. On the news of this fatal event, Louis raised the siege of Dover, and retired to London; where he received intelligence of a new disaster, which put an end to all his hopes. A French fleet, which carried a strong reinforcement, had appeared on the coast of Kent; where they were attacked and repulsed with considerable loss by Philip d'Albiny. He is said to have gained the victory by the following stratagem. Having got the wind of the French, he came down upon them with violence; and throwing on their faces a great quantity of quicklime, which he purposely carried on board, they were so blinded that they were

disabled from defending themselves. This misfortune so discouraged the barons who yet adhered to Louis, that they came from every quarter to make their submission to Pembroke: and Louis himself, finding his affairs totally desperate, was glad to make his escape from a country where every thing was become hostile to him. He therefore concluded a peace with the pro-¹⁵¹ He leaves tector; promised to evacuate the kingdom; and only the king-^dom. stipulated, in return, an indemnity to his adherents, and a restitution of their honours and fortunes, together with the free and equal enjoyments of those liberties which had been granted to the rest of the nation.

When the king grew up, he was found to be very unfit for the government of such a turbulent people as the English at that time were. Though his temper was mild and humane, he was also very weak, feeble, and irresolute. He disguised the people by the carles he bestowed on foreigners; and this disgust rose once to such a height, that the barons refused to assemble in the general council of the nation, or parliament, at his desire. When commanded to do so, they sent a message to Henry, desiring him to dismiss his foreigners; otherwise they would drive both him and them out of the kingdom, and put the crown on the head of one who was more worthy to wear it. The facility of Henry's temper also induced him to heap riches upon his foreign favourites in a manner which he could by no means afford: this often brought him into very great straits; and to relieve himself, he was obliged to have recourse to many arbitrary measures, which he could not otherwise have chosen. Nothing, however, of very great moment happened till the year 1255, when the pope found means to embark Henry in a scheme for the conquest of Naples, or Sicily on this side the Mare, as it was called; an enterprise which not only brought much dishonour on the king, but involved him for some years in very great expense and trouble. The court of Rome some time before had reduced the kingdom of Sicily to the same state of feudal vassalage which he pretended to exercise over England; but Mainfroy, an usurper, under pretence of governing the kingdom for the lawful heir, had seized the crown, and was resolved to reject the pope's authority. As the pope found that his own force alone was not sufficient to gain his point, he had recourse to Richard the king of England's brother, who had been created earl of Cornwall, and had such talents for amassing money, that he was reckoned the richest prince in Christendom. To him the pope offered the kingdom of Sicily, upon the single condition of his conquering it from the usurper. Richard was too wise to accept this offer; upon which the pope applied to Henry, and offered him the crown of Sicily for his second son Edmund. Henry, dazzled by this proposal, without reflecting on the consequences, or without consulting his brother or the parliament, gave the pope unlimited credit to expend whatever sums he thought necessary for completing the conquest of Sicily. In consequence of this unlimited grant, his holiness determined to exert his apostolical authority to the utmost, in extorting money from the English. A crusade was published, requiring every one who had taken the cross against the infidels, or even vowed to advance money for that purpose, to support the war against Mainfroy, whom he accused as being a more terrible enemy

England. enemy to the Christian faith than any Saracen. A tenth on all the ecclesiastical benefices in England was levied for three years; and orders were given to excommunicate the bishops who did not make punctual payment. A grant was made to the king of the goods of intestate clergymen, as well as of the revenues of vacant benefices and those of non-residents. These taxations, however grievous, were submitted to with little murmuring; but another suggested by the bishop of Hereford excited the most violent clamours. This prelate, who at that time resided at the court of Rome, drew bills on all the abbots and bishops of the kingdom, to the amount of no less than 150,540 marks, which he granted to Italian merchants in consideration of the money they had advanced or pretended to advance for the support of the Sicilian war. As it was apprehended that the English clergy would not easily submit to such an extraordinary demand, a commission was given to Ruffald, the pope's legate, to use his authority. An assembly of the prelates and abbots was accordingly summoned; who, on hearing the proposal sanctioned with the names both of the pope and king, were struck with the utmost surprise and indignation. A violent altercation took place; during which the legate told them, that all ecclesiastical benefices were the property of the pope, and that he might dispose of them as he pleased. The affair ended, however, in the submission of the clergy: but the barons still continued refractory, and for some time answered the king's demands of supplies with expostulations; urging the king's partiality to foreigners, and the various injuries the nation had sustained from the servants of the crown. The great council of the nation, which had lately obtained the name of parliament, was therefore dissolved, and another called, but with as little success as before. The king, however, had involved himself in so much debt, that a large supply was become absolutely necessary; and as that could by no means be obtained from parliament, he was now reduced to the humiliating expedient of going about among such of his subjects as he thought most attached to him, and begging assistance from them at their own houses. At length his barons, perceiving the exigencies to which he was reduced, seemed willing to afford him aid; and, upon his promising to grant them a plenary redress of grievances, a very liberal supply was obtained, for which he renewed their charter with more than usual solemnity. All the prelates and abbots were assembled with burning tapers in their hands; the magna charta was read in their presence; and they denounced sentence of excommunication upon all who should infringe upon its decisions. They then put out their tapers on the ground, and exclaimed, "May every soul that proves false to this agreement so sink and corrupt in hell." The king subjoined, "So help me God, I will inviolably keep all these things, as I am a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a knight, and as I am a king crowned and anointed."

England. and ambitious temper, determined to attempt an innovation in the government. He formed a powerful confederacy against the king, and the designs of the conspirators were effectually put in execution in the year 1258. Henry had summoned a parliament in expectation of receiving supplies for his Sicilian project; when the barons appeared in the hall, clad in complete armour, with their swords by their sides. The king, struck with this unusual appearance, asked them what was their purpose, and whether they pretended to make him their prisoner? Roger Bigod, earl of Hereford, answered in name of the rest, that he was not their prisoner; that they even intended to grant him large supplies, in order to fix his son on the throne of Sicily; that they only expected some return for this expense and service; and that as the king had frequently made submissions to the parliament, had acknowledged his past errors, and had still allowed himself to be carried into the same path, which gave them such reason of complaint, he must now yield to more strict regulations, and confer authority on those who were able and willing to redress the public grievances. Henry instantly assured them of his intentions to grant them all possible satisfaction; and for that purpose summoned another parliament at Oxford, to digest the new plan of government, and to elect proper persons who were to be entrusted with the chief authority. This assembly, afterwards called the mad parliament, went very expeditiously to work on the business of reformation. Twenty-four barons were appointed, with supreme authority, to reform the abuses of the state; and Leicester was placed at their head. Their first step was to order four knights to be chosen out of each county, who should examine into the state of their respective constituencies, and should attend at the ensuing parliament to give information of their complaints. They ordained that three sessions of parliament should be regularly held every year; that a new high sheriff should be elected annually; that no wards nor castles should be entrusted to foreigners, no new forests made, nor the revenues of any counties let to farm.

These constitutions were so just, that some of them remain to this day. But the parliament having once obtained the sovereign power, took care not to part with it again. They not only protracted the time of their sitting under various pretences; but at last had the effrontery to impose an oath upon every individual of the nation, declaring an implicit obedience to all the statutes executed or to be yet executed by the barons who were thus appointed as rulers. They not only abridged the authority of the king, but the efficacy of parliament also; giving up to 12 persons the whole parliamentary power between each session. Their usurpations were first opposed by the knights of the shire, whom they themselves had appointed. These had for some time begun to be regularly assembled in a separate house, to consider of the national grievances; the first of which was the conduct of the 24 rulers. They represented, that though the king had performed all that was required of him, the barons had hitherto done nothing on their part that showed an equal regard for the people; that their own interest and power seemed the only aim of all their decrees; and they even called upon the king's eldest son Prince Edward,

England. Edward to interpose his authority, and save the sinking nation.

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Opposed by Prince Edward.

The prince was at this time about 22 years of age, and by his active and resolute conduct had inspired the nation with great hopes. He told those who made the application to him, that he had sworn to the late constitutions; and, on that account, though they were contrary to his own private opinions, he was resolved not to infringe them. At the same time, however, he sent a message to the barons, requiring them to bring their undertaking to an end, or otherwise to expect the most vigorous resistance to their usurpations. On this the barons were obliged to publish a new code of laws, which, though it contained scarce any thing material, yet, it was supposed, would for a while dazzle the eyes of the people, until they could take measures to establish their authority upon firmer foundations. In this manner, under various pretences, they continued their power for three years; while the whole nation loudly condemned their treachery, and the pope himself at last absolved the king and his subjects from the oath they had taken to obey their injunctions. Soon after this, a parliament was called, and the king reinstated in his former authority. The barons were obliged to submit for a time; but the earl of Leicester having joined the Welsh, who at this time made an irruption into England, the kingdom was reduced to the most deplorable situation. The pusillanimity of the king prevented any proper or judicious method from being pursued for extricating the people from their distresses; and at last a treaty was concluded with the barons on the most disadvantageous terms that can be imagined. They were restored to the sovereignty of the kingdom, took possession of all the royal castles and fortresses, and even named the officers of the king's household. They summoned a parliament to meet at Oxford, in order more fully to settle the plan of government; and by this assembly it was enacted that the authority of the 24 barons should continue not only during the life of King Henry, but also during that of Prince Edward.

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Who is defeated and taken prisoner, with the king and his brother.

These scandalous conditions would have been easily complied with by King Henry; but they were utterly rejected by Prince Edward, and a civil war immediately ensued. The prince was at first successful; but, through his impetuosity, occasioned the loss of a great battle, in which his father and uncle were taken prisoners, and he himself was obliged soon after to surrender to the earl of Leicester. The king was now reduced to the most deplorable situation. His partisans were totally disarmed, while those of the earl of Leicester still kept themselves in an offensive posture. Leicester seized the estates of no fewer than 18 barons; engrossed to himself the ransom of all the prisoners; monopolized the sale of wood to foreign markets; and at last ordained that all power should be exercised by nine persons, who were to be chosen by three others, or the majority of them; and these three were the earl of Leicester himself, the earl of Gloucester, and the bishop of Chichester.

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First House of Commons.

The miserable situation to which the kingdom was now reduced, proved at last the means of settling the government on a more proper foundation. Leicester, in order to secure himself, was obliged to have recourse to an aid, till now entirely unknown in England, namely, that of the body of the people. He called a

parliament, where, besides the barons of his own party, and several ecclesiastics who were not proper tenants of the crown, he ordered returns to be made of two knights from every shire; and also deputies from the boroughs, which had been hitherto considered as too inconsiderable to be allowed any share in the legislation. This parliament was called on the 20th of January 1265; and here we find the first outline of an English House of Commons; an institution which has ever since been considered as the bulwark of British liberty.

The new parliament was far from being so compliant to Leicester as he had desired or expected. Many of the barons who had hitherto steadfastly adhered to his party were disgusted with his boundless ambition; and the people, who found that a change of masters was not a change from misery to happiness, began to wish for the re-establishment of royal authority. Leicester at last, to make a merit of what he could not prevent, released Prince Edward from his confinement, and had him introduced at Westminster-hall, where his freedom was confirmed by the unanimous voice of the barons. But though Leicester had all the popularity of restoring the prince, he was yet politic enough to keep him guarded by his emissaries, who watched all his actions. At last, however, he found means to make his escape in the following manner. The duke of Gloucester, being disgusted with Leicester, retired from court, and went to his estates on the borders of Wales. His antagonist pursued him thither: and to give the greater authority to his arms, carried the king and prince of Wales along with him. This furnished young Edward with the opportunity he had so long desired. Being furnished by the earl of Gloucester with a horse of extraordinary swiftness, he took leave of his attendants, who were in fact his guards, but were not able to come up with him. They pursued him, however, for some time; but the appearance of a body of troops belonging to Gloucester soon put an end to their pursuit.

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The prince no sooner recovered his liberty, than the Prince Edward-royalists joined him from all quarters, and an army was soon procured which Leicester could not withstand. This nobleman now found himself in a remote quarter of the kingdom; surrounded by his enemies; and debarr'd from all communication with his friends by the river Severn, whose bridges Edward had broken down. In this extremity, he wrote to his son to hasten to his assistance from London, with a considerable body which he had under his command. With this view his son advanced to Kenilworth; but here he was surprised, and his army entirely dispersed by Prince Edward. The young prince, immediately after this victory, advanced against Leicester himself; who, ignorant of the fate of his son's army, had passed the Severn in boats. He was by no means able to cope with the royalists; his men being inferior both in numbers and resolution to their antagonists. His army was defeated with great slaughter. Leicester himself was slain, though he called out for quarter, together with his eldest son Henry, and about 160 knights and other gentlemen. The old king had been purposely placed by the rebels in the front of the battle, where he was wounded, and in great danger of being killed; but, crying out, "I am Henry of Winchester your king," he was saved and put in a place of security by his son, who

England. who had flown to his assistance. The body of Leicester being found among the dead, was barbarously mangled by one Roger Mortimer; and then sent to his widow, as a testimony of the royal party's barbarity and success.

This victory, gained at Evesham, proved decisive in favour of the royal party. Almost all the castles, garrisoned by the barons, hastened to make their submissions, and opened their gates to the king. The Isle of Axholme alone, and that of Ely, trusting to the strength of their situation, ventured to make resistance; but were at last reduced, as well as the castle of Dover, by the valour and activity of Prince Edward. Adam de Gourdon, a courageous baron, maintained himself some time in the forests of Hampshire, committing depredations in the neighbourhood; and obliged the prince to lead a body of troops into that country against him. Edward attacked the camp of the rebels; and being transported by the ardour of action, leaped over the trench with a few followers, and encountered Gourdon himself in single combat. The victory was long disputed between these two valiant combatants; but ended at last in the prince's favour, who wounded his antagonist, threw him from his horse, and took him prisoner. He not only granted him his life; but introduced him that very night to the queen at Guildford, procured his pardon, and was ever after faithfully served by him.

In 1271, Prince Edward, having settled the affairs of the kingdom, undertook an expedition to the Holy Land, where he signalized himself by many acts of valour. The king's health declined visibly after the departure of his son; and at last, worn out with cares and the infirmities of age, he expired at St Edmundbury on the 16th of November 1272, in the 64th year of his age and the 36th of his reign.

Prince Edward had reached Sicily in his return from the Holy Land, when he received an account of his father's death; at which he expressed much concern. As he knew that England was at that time in a state of perfect tranquillity, he was in no haste to return, but spent near a year in France before he made his appearance in England. He was received by his subjects with the utmost joy, and crowned at Westminster by Robert archbishop of Canterbury on the 19th of August 1274. He immediately applied himself to the correcting of those disorders which the civil commotions, and weak administration of his father, had introduced. A system of strict justice, bordering on severity, was introduced and kept up through the whole of this reign. The Jews were the only part of his subjects whom Edward oppressed. Many arbitrary taxes were levied upon them; 280 of them were hanged at once for adulterating the coin; the goods of the rest were confiscated, and all of them banished the kingdom.

In 1276, the king undertook an expedition against Lewellyn prince of Wales, who had refused to do homage for his crown. The conquest of that country was not fully accomplished till the year 1283; after which the principality of Wales was annexed to the crown of England, and thenceforth gave a title to the king's eldest son. — In 1286, the settlement of Wales appeared so complete, that the king went abroad in order to make peace between Alfonso king of Arra-

gon and Philip le Bel king of France, who had a difference about the kingdom of Sicily. He succeeded in his negotiations; but, staying abroad three years, he found that many disorders had been introduced in his absence. Many instances of robbery and violence had broke out in all parts of England; but the corruption of the judges, by which the fountains of justice were poisoned, was of still more dangerous consequence. Edward, in order to remedy this prevailing abuse, summoned a parliament, and brought the judges to a trial; where all of them except two, who were clergymen, were convicted of this flagrant iniquity, were fined, and deposed from their office. The amount of the fines levied upon them is of itself a sufficient proof of their guilt, being above 100,000 marks; an immense sum in those days, sufficient to defray the expenses of a war betwixt two great nations. The king afterwards made all the new judges swear that they would take no bribes; but the deposing and fining the old ones was the more effectual remedy.

In 1291, King Edward began to meditate the conquest of Scotland, which employed him during the rest of his life; but which, though that kingdom was by him reduced to the greatest distress, he was never able to accomplish. At the same time, he was engaged in expensive contests with France; and these multiplied wars and preparations for war, by obliging him to have frequent recourse to parliamentary supplies, became the remote causes of great and important changes in the government. The parliament was remodelled into the form which has continued ever since. As a great part of the property of the kingdom, by the introduction of commerce and improvements in agriculture, was transferred from the barons to the lower class of people, so their consent was thought necessary for raising the supplies. For this reason, the king issued writs to the sheriffs, enjoining them to send to parliament, along with two knights of the shire, two deputies from each borough within their county; and these provided with sufficient powers from their constituents to grant such demands as they should think reasonable for the safety of the state. The charges of these deputies were to be borne by the boroughs which sent them; and so far were they from considering this deputation as an honour, that nothing could be more displeasing to any borough than to be thus obliged to send a deputy, or to any individual than to be thus chosen. The authority of these commoners, however, increased through time. Their union gave them weight; and it became customary among them, in return for the supplies which they granted, to prefer petitions to the crown for the redress of those grievances under which the nation was supposed to labour. The more the king's necessities increased, the more he found it necessary to give them an early redress; till, from requesting, the commons proceeded to requiring; and having all the property of the nation, they by degrees began also to be possessed of the power.

Edward I. died of a dysentery at Carlisle on the 7th of July 1307, as he was leading a great army into Scotland, against the inhabitants of which he had vowed the most dreadful vengeance. He was succeeded by his son Edward II. whom he had charged with his dying breath to prosecute the war against Scotland, and never to desist till he had finally subdued the kingdom.

England. kingdom. But the new king was of a very different disposition from his father. The Scots gradually recovered their power; and in 1314 gave the English such a terrible defeat at Bannockburn, that for many years no superiority of numbers could encourage them to look the Scots in the face. See

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Discontents of his subjects.