moderate tempers, and to wish that gentle remedies might be applied,
talked now in another dialect both of kings and persons; and said
that they must now be of another temper than they were in the last
parliament.”--Clarendon.
[112] The Nineteen Propositions fairly express the views of Pym
and Hampden at this time on the supremacy of the Commons. The main
proposals were the authority of parliament: in the _sole_ choice of
the ministers of the crown, in the regulation of state policy, in the
management of the militia, in the education of the royal children, in
the remodeling of the discipline of the Church of England; and the
guardianship by parliament of all forts and castles. It was of first
importance in Pym’s mind that parliament should have the control in
military matters. Without the power of the sword the House of Commons
could not ensure the personal safety of its members or the privileges
of free debate against the enmity of the king. To command the army was
to govern the country.
[113] See G. P. Gooch, _History of Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth
Century_.
[114] “By its injudicious treatment of the most popular man in England,
parliament was arraying against itself a force which only awaited an
opportunity to sweep it away.”--G. P. Gooch, _History of Democratic
Ideas in the Seventeenth Century_.
[115] “Advocating direct government by a democratic Parliament and
the fullest development of individual liberty, the Levellers looked
with suspicion on the Council of State as a body which might possibly
be converted into an executive authority independent of parliament,
and thoroughly distrusted Cromwell as aiming at military despotism.
Well-intentioned and patriotic as they were, they were absolutely
destitute of political tact, and had no sense of the real difficulties
of the situation, and, above all, of the impossibility of rousing the
popular sympathy on behalf of abstract reasonings.”--S. R. Gardiner,
_History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate_.
[116] S. R. Gardiner.
[117] The movement “had sprung into existence in response to a widely
spread apprehension that the victory of the people might be rendered
fruitless. Its call had found an echo in the ranks of the army, and by
its admirable organization it had insisted that the leaders should hear
what it had to say. It had powerfully influenced their conduct and had
introduced a radical element into their programme. When this had been
done, the soldiers felt that its _raison d’être_ as a separate party
had come to an end. The battle had been fought, and the victory, at
least for the time, had fallen to Ireton.”--G. P. Gooch, _History of
Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century_.
[118] “In other words, not only Cromwell and Ireton, but also Fairfax,
who had recently been elected a member of the House, were to be
summarily cashiered.”--S. R. Gardiner, _History of the Commonwealth_.
[119] See the pamphlet “A Petition of Well-affected Women,” 1649. There
is something curiously familiar in the exhortation to the women.
[120] “Unfortunately his friends, in petitioning for his release,
rested their case on the ground that all sentences given by a
court-martial were made illegal by the Petition of Right and the law
of the land. Such a doctrine would have dissolved the army into chaos,
and when Lilburne and Overton wrote to Fairfax, threatening him with
the fate of Joab and Strafford, all chance of pardon was at an end.
Lockyer firmly believed himself to be a martyr to the cause of right
and justice.”--S. R. Gardiner, _History of the Commonwealth_.
[121] See Whitelocke’s _Memorials_, “The Army’s Martyr,” “A True
Narrative,” and “The Moderate” (1649).
[122] “So die the Leveller corporals. Strong they, after their sort,
for the liberties of England; resolute to the very death.”--Carlyle.
[123] Lilburne’s attitude to Winstanley’s propaganda was similar to
the attitude of the political Chartists in the 19th century to Robert
Owen’s socialism.
[124] “Then ensued a scene, the like of which had in all probability
never been witnessed in an English court of justice, and was never
again to be witnessed till the seven bishops were freed by the verdict
of a jury from the rage of James II.”--S. R. Gardiner.
“In a revolution, where others argued about the respective rights of
king and parliament, he spoke always of the rights of the people. His
dauntless courage and his power of speech made him the idol of the
mob.”--Professor C. H. Firth, “Lilburne,” _Dictionary of National
Biography_.
[125] See L. A. Berens, _Digger Movement in the Days of the
Commonwealth_.
[126] _Clarke Papers_, vol. ii.
[127] Government rarely distinguishes between different schools of
agitators.
[128] Between 1710 and 1867 the number of acres so enclosed was
7,660,439.
[129] _Clarke Papers_, vol. ii.
[130] See Graham Wallas, _Life of Francis Place_.
[131] “Disappointment bitter and wide-spread was following closely upon
the inevitable failure of the extravagant expectations and overheated
hopes which the agitation for parliamentary reform had kindled.”--F.
York Powell, _The Queen’s Reign: a Survey_.
[132] See Graham Wallas, _Life of Francis Place_.
[133] Herbert Paul, _History of Modern England_.
[134] _Ibid._
[135] “Want of leaders and organization, and the great difference in
objects among the Chartists themselves, led to their failure. For a
while Chartism was stayed.”--Professor T. F. Tout, _England from 1689_.
[136] The differences between the two became more acute when Feargus
O’Connor started his land colonization schemes a few years later.
O’Brien opposed these schemes, which all ended in heavy financial
losses, and urged sticking to political reform. From 1842 O’Brien was
practically outside the Chartist movement, though it was not till 1848
he formally retired. He died in poverty in 1864, after giving some help
to the middle-class radical movement for household suffrage.
[137] A similar impulse fifty years later brought “Labour Churches”
into existence.
[138] “The ministers had met the Chartist outbreaks with strong,
repressive measures, and here they had the concurrence of parliament,
which had no sympathy with the movement. The House of Commons,
indeed, had little understanding of the processes that were maturing
outside its walls. The industrial and the social evolution went on
almost unnoticed by statesmen and politicians absorbed in the party
controversy.”--Sidney Low and Lloyd Sanders, _Political History of
England_, 1837–1901. See also Hansard’s _Parliamentary Debates_ for
these years.
[139] “The least satisfactory feature of English life in 1846 was the
condition of the labouring classes. Politically they were dumb, for
they had no parliamentary votes. Socially they were depressed, though
their lot had been considerably improved by an increased demand for
labour and by the removal of taxes in Peel’s great Budget of 1842. That
was the year in which the misery of the English proletariat reached its
lowest depth.”--Herbert Paul, _History of Modern England_.
[140] Stephens, a “hot-headed” Chartist preacher, put the case as
he, a typical agitator of the day, saw it in 1839: “The principle of
the People’s Charter is the right of every man to have his home, his
hearth, and his happiness. The question of universal suffrage is after
all a knife-and-fork question. It means that every workman has a right
to have a good hat and coat, a good roof, a good dinner, no more work
than will keep him in health, and as much wages as will keep him in
plenty.”--See R. G. Gamage, _History of the Chartist Movement_.
[141] Charles Kingsley, who is said to have signed the petition, gives
his view of April 10th in _Alton Locke_.
[142] See Hansard, June, 1849.
INDEX
Adam of Marsh, Franciscan friar, friend of Grosseteste and
de Montfort, 120, 130
Aldrich, an Alderman of Norwich, 229, 231
Alexander III., Pope, 45, 56
Anselm, Abbot of Bec, 8;
called to court of William II., 8;
appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, 9;
refuses to give up church lands, 11;
firm attitude at Council of Rockingham, 15;
semblance of peace with the king, 16;
leaves England, 18;
returns at request of Henry I., 19;
his services to the king, 21;
dispute with the king, 23;
reconciliation, 26;
his death and character, 27–30;
his birthplace, 30
Appleton, William, 161
Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury, impeached for treason, 174;
murdered at Erdington, 175
Bailey, John, hanged by Cade, 184
Ball, John, itinerant priest from York, preaches social
revolution, 143;
released from Maidstone prison by Wat Tyler, 153;
preaches to Tyler’s followers at Blackheath, 153;
hanged as a rebel, 167
Barton, Elizabeth, “Holy Maid of Kent,” 206
Becket, Thomas, his parentage, 33;
early years, 34;
appointed Chancellor of Canterbury, 34;
ordained priest and appointed to Archbishopric, 38;
dispute with the king, 41–45;
yields to king’s demands at Council of Clarendon, 47;
refutes charges at Council of Northampton, 49;
leaves England and appeals to the pope, 55;
reconciliation with the king, 57;
lands at Sandwich, 57;
ill-will of the bishops, 58;
Henry’s sudden rage, 59;
his murder, 63;
his canonisation, 64
Belknap, Chief Justice, 147, 148
Berksted, Stephen, Bishop of Chichester, 128
Bigod, Hugh of Norfolk, 121
Bigod, Roger, 126
Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury, 110, 131
Bradshaw, John, 297
Buckingham, Duke of, 249, 250, 251, 252
Burdett, Sir Francis, 313
Burley, Sir Simon, 148, 163
Cade, Jack, leader of the revolt of Kentish commons, 1450, 173;
uncertainty as to real name and family, 176;
marches to Blackheath at head of 46,000 followers, 177;
draws up and presents petition to Henry VI., 178;
no answer returned, 178;
withdraws to Sevenoaks and defeats small body of Henry’s
troops, 180;
gathers reinforcements in Kent, 181;
Henry VI. treats with him fruitlessly, 181;
enters London without opposition, 182;
preserves strict discipline in his force, 184;
forced to levy toll for support of his followers, 185;
after first good reception London turns against him, 187;
unsuccessful fight for London Bridge, 187;
treats with Henry’s representatives, 188;
many of his adherents return to their homes, 189;
refuses to lay down arms till parliament issues legal pardon, 189;
proclaimed a traitor, 189;
defeated at Queenborough, 189;
dies fighting as a fugitive, in Sussex, 189;
head exposed on London Bridge, 190
Cartwright, John, enters Navy and begins promising career, 308;
it is cut short by his siding with the Americans at outbreak of
war, 1776, 308;
trains the Nottinghamshire Militia, 309;
pioneer of political reform, 310;
writes and speaks on the subject, 310;
unsuccessful efforts to enter parliament, 312;
at age of 80 charged with sedition and fined, 313;
known as “Father of Reform,” 315
Catherine of Aragon, 203
Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester, 122, 126, 133
Cantilupe, Thomas, Chancellor, 128
Cave, Robert, 148
Chalton, Sir John, Lord Mayor of London, 183
Charles I., 250 _et seq._, 280, 282
Church, Corporal, 286
Clarendon, Earl of (quoted), 262
Clarendon, Council of, 46
Clarkson, Thomas, 313
Cocke (or Cooke) Thomas, friend to both Henry VI. and Cade, 182
Cod, Thomas, Mayor of Norwich, 228, 229, 231, 232, 233
Coke, Lord Justice, 252
Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s, 199, 212
Conyers, Dr., Vicar of St. Martin, Norwich, 231
Cranmer, Archbishop, 204
Cromwell, Oliver, 279 _et seq._
Cromwell, Thomas, 208
Crowmer, Sheriff of Kent, 180;
arrested and sent to Tower, 181;
beheaded by Cade’s orders, 184
Curtis (Girste, or Ghirstis) City Merchant, 186
De Burgh, Hubert, 95, 107
De Gray, John, Bishop of Norwich, 81, 82
De Morville, Hugh, 59–63
Derby, Henry, Earl of (afterwards Henry IV.), 157, 163, 170
Despenser, Henry, Bishop of Norwich, 168
Des Roches, Peter, Bishop of Winchester, 82, 94, 107, 108
De Tracy, William, 59–63
De Valence, William, 123, 132
Eadmer (quoted), 6, 7, 14, 17, 26
Edward, Prince, son of Henry III., afterwards King-Edward I.;
takes oath of reform to barons, 123;
takes Gloucester in civil war, 126;
taken prisoner at Battle of Lewes, 127;
escapes to Welsh marshes, 132;
intercepts de Montfort’s relief force at Evesham, 133
Eliot, John, enters parliament as member for St. Germans, 249;
knighted and becomes Vice-Admiral of Devon, 249;
captures the pirate Nutt, but eventually finds himself in Marshalsea
prison over the affair, 250;
released and is returned for Newport, 1624, 250;
quarrels with Buckingham and insists upon his impeachment, 251;
imprisoned in Tower in connection therewith, but soon released, 251;
refuses forced loan and again imprisoned and deprived of
Vice-Admiralship, 252;
carries Petition of Right, 252;
attacks policy of Laud, 252;
supports John Rolle in refusing payment of taxes, 253;
summoned before Privy Council, imprisoned for fourth time,
and fined, 255;
remains passionately loyal to House of Commons, 256;
health gives way in confinement, 257;
dies in the Tower, 1632, 257;
his son’s appeal for his burial at Port Eliot, Cornwall,
refused, 257
Erasmus, 193, 194, 197, 202, 211, 212
Essex, Earl of, 267
Ethelmar, half-brother to Henry III., 106
Everard, 297, 298
Fairfax, General, 298, 299
Falkland, Lord, 265, 266
Finch, Chief Justice, 262
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 206, 207, 208
FitzOsbert, William, called Longbeard; his early life, 72;
lays his grievances before Richard I., 72;
defies Archbishop Hubert, 73;
his arrest and death, 75
FitzStephen, W. (quoted), 35, 49, 53, 59
FitzUrse, Reginald, 59–63
Flowerdew, Sergeant, 222, 223
Frost, 321
Fulke, follower of Ket, 235
Fussell, 328
Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, 126, 128, 131, 132
Gough, Matthew, 186
Green, J. R. (quoted), 91, 92
Green, Squire of Wylby, 222
Gregory IX., Pope, letter to, from Grosseteste, 102
Grindcobbe, William, supporter of John Ball in Hertford, 143, 146;
follows Wat Tyler, 149;
at Mile End, 159;
hanged at St. Albans, 167
Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, born in Suffolk of humble parentage,
goes to Oxford, rises to foremost honours there, and becomes
bishop, at sixty, 101;
institutes reforms at Oxford, 102;
befriends Dominican and Franciscan friars, 102;
withstands Henry III.’s rapacity, 104;
attends council in London, recites grievances of Henry III.’s
misrule, 107;
resists seizure of English Church revenues by Innocent IV., 108–111;
refuses canonry of Lincoln to pope’s nephew, 111;
Cardinals uphold Grosseteste against Innocent IV., 112;
makes appeal to whole realm on behalf of rights of English
Church, 113;
dies, 1235, and is buried in Lincoln Cathedral, 113;
Edward I.’s application for canonization refused, 113
Gunnell, Tutor in Sir Thomas More’s family, 199
Hales, Sir Robert, Treasurer to Richard II., 146;
advises no conference with Tyler’s followers, 154;
beheaded on Tower Hill, 160
Hampden, John, refuses to pay ship-money, 258;
case decided against him, 259;
acts with Eliot against Buckingham, 261;
strong influence in House of Commons, 262;
prominent work in Long Parliament, 263;
impeached for high treason, 265;
takes refuge from Charles in city, 266;
prepares for war, 266;
raises regiment of infantry in Bucks, 267;
mortally wounded at Chalgrove, 268
Hazlerig, 265, 288
Henry I., 19–26
Henry II.; appoints Thomas Becket Chancellor of England, 34;
their close friendship, 35;
determines to appoint Thomas to the archbishopric, 36;
his dispute with Thomas, and its cause, 41;
draws up the Constitutions of Clarendon, 46;
his dissatisfaction with the result, 48;
charges Thomas with corrupt practices, 48–54;
his sudden rage and hasty words, resulting in the murder of the
archbishop, 63
Henry III.; appeals for money at Council of Westminster, 1244, 104;
confronts bishops with Innocent IV.’s letter exhorting them to give
liberally, 104;
bishops evade coercion, 105;
king again tries in 1252, 106;
bishops, led by Grosseteste, refuse, 106;
his miserable misrule, 108;
dealings with Simon of Montfort in Gascony, 118–120;
his financial difficulties reach climax, 1257, 120;
continued quarrels with barons, 122;
obtains dispensation from promises to barons, 124;
civil war is declared, 126;
defeated by Simon of Montfort, and peace made, 1264, 127;
war again breaks out, 132;
is victorious, 137
Henry VIII., 197, 201, 202, 203, 207, 208
Holland, Sir John, 159
Holles, 265
Horne, Alderman, 182
Horne, Alderman, supports Tyler, and welcomes him to London, 156
Hotham, Sir John, 267
Howe, Lord, 308
Hugh of Lincoln, 77
Herbert of Bosham (quoted), 38, 58
Iden, Alexander, 189, 190
Innocent III., Pope, 77, 81, 83, 95
Innocent IV., Pope, 104, 106, 110, 111, 113
Ireton, General, 280, 286
Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, 144
John, King, refuses to acknowledge Stephen Langton’s appointment to
archbishopric, 81;
seizes estates of Canterbury, and drives chapter into exile, 82;
is excommunicated, 83;
meets primate at Winchester and is formally absolved, 85;
strife with barons, 86;
his campaign to recover lost Angevine provinces, 87;
capitulation to the barons, 90;
signs the Great Charter, 91;
his death, 95
John of Gaunt, calls parliament at Northampton, 147;
his unpopularity with the people, 151;
his palace of the Savoy and its valuable contents destroyed, 157
John of Salisbury (quoted), 56
Jones, Ernest, 324;
joins Chartist movement at 27, 325;
son of an officer and educated abroad, 325;
works with Feargus O’Connor, 325;
attends Chartist convention, 327;
addresses large meetings in London, 328;
arrested, tried, found guilty of seditious speech and
imprisoned, 328;
on his release Chartist movement declining, 329;
contests Halifax unsuccessfully, 330;
gives support to advanced radicals, 330;
stands twice unsuccessfully for Nottingham, 330;
dies suddenly at the age of 50, 330
Kemp, Cardinal, Archbishop of York, Chancellor to Henry VI.,
187, 188, 190
Kent, Earl of, 159
Ket, Robert, landowner in Norfolk, a tanner by trade, 223;
sympathies on the side of the people, 223;
offers to lead the movement against enclosures of land, 224;
he is eagerly accepted as captain, and leads large army towards
Norwich, 224;
issues manifesto attacking landlords, 225;
advances to Mousehold, and his force increases to 20,000, 228;
sends statement to Edward VI., 229;
king replies by herald, 229;
sets about organising and victualling his followers, as he is not
content with vague promises, 230;
arrests landowners, 231;
repudiates king’s “pardon” as being a just and innocent man, 232;
his arrest ordered by king’s messenger, but impossible in the
presence of his followers, 232;
friction arises between Norwich authorities and the rebels, 232;
fight ensues, Norwich in his hands, 233;
unsuccessfully opposed by Marquis of Northampton, 234;
commands in Norwich for three weeks, 235;
disappointed at rising not becoming general, 236;
negotiates with Earl of Warwick, sent to suppress revolt, 237;
abrupt conclusion, and battle follows, 238;
his mistaken tactics and defeat, 239;
his followers surrender to Warwick, 239;
his flight and capture, 239;
tried, found guilty of high treason and condemned to death, 241;
hanged in chains in Norwich, 241
Ket, William, 223, 239, 240, 241
Knolles, Sir Robert, 156
Knyvett, Sir Edmund, 236
Langham, Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 144
Langland, Robert, 145
Langton, Stephen, appointed to archbishopric of Canterbury against
King John’s wishes by Innocent III., 81, 82;
is driven into exile by the king, 82;
returns six years later, 85;
starts the movement for the Great Charter, 86;
frames articles for the Charter, 90;
disagreement with papal legate, 94;
works for preservation of peace during early years of Henry
III.’s reign, 95;
his character and place in history, 96
Laud, Archbishop, 252, 253, 256, 257, 260, 262, 272
Legge, John, 147, 160
le Despenser, Hugh, Justiciar, 126, 128, 134
Lilburne, John, apprenticed to a cloth merchant in London and becomes
friend of Prynne, 278;
charged before Star Chamber with circulating unlicensed books, and
sentenced to be whipped, pilloried, and imprisoned, 278;
released by order of Long Parliament, 278;
fights at Edgehill and Marston Moor, where he is taken
prisoner, 278;
leaves army in 1645 rather than take the Covenant, 279;
resists the tyranny of parliamentary government, 279;
heads the party in the army called the Levellers, 281;
again imprisoned and released in 1649, 282;
writes pamphlets against the government and is again
imprisoned, 284;
petition presented to parliament for his release, 284;
tried for treasonable writings, 287;
fined and banished, 288;
goes to Holland, and returns, without permission, to London,
in 1653, 289;
arrested and acquitted, 289;
again imprisoned by Cromwell for two years, 290;
converted to Quakerism, 290;
released and pensioned, 290;
dies at Eltham, 290
Litster, Geoffrey, follower of John Ball in Norfolk, 143, 146;
his death, 168, 217
Looney, 328
Lovett, 319, 322
Luard (quoted), 101–2
Lyons, Richard, 161
Macaulay, Lord (quoted), 264
Malpas, Philip, 185
Martin, Papal Legate, 110
Matthew of Westminster (quoted), 127
Maurice, C. E. (quoted), 95
Mendall, John, a name by which Jack Cade was known, 175
Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester, supporter of Duke of Suffolk, killed at
Portsmouth, 174
Montfort, Henry of, eldest son of Earl of Leicester, 133, 134
Montfort, Simon of, second son of Earl of Leicester, 132, 133
Montfort, Simon of, Earl of Leicester, son of first Earl of Leicester,
marries Eleanor, sister of Henry III., and widow of Earl of
Pembroke, 117;
boyhood passed in France, 117;
leaves for crusades, distinguished career in Palestine, 118;
returns in 1242, 118;
works with Grosseteste in his reforms, 118;
goes to Gascony for five years (1248–53) and deals with turbulent
nobles, 118;
saves Gascony for English crown, and restores order in the
province, 119;
Henry III.’s ingratitude, 119;
recognized leader of the barons on his return to England, 120;
successful in “Mad Parliament,” 1258, 122;
as “foreigner” yields castles of Kenilworth and Odiham, 123;
fresh difficulties with Henry III. in carrying out Provisions of
Oxford, 124;
civil war imminent, 1264;
and many bishops and barons desert Simon, 125;
offers £30,000 to king to make peace and adhere to Provisions of
Oxford--proposal rejected, 126;
Battle of Lewes won by Simon, 126;
peace made, 127;
draws up new scheme of reform, the precursor of later representative
government, 129;
fresh disturbances and defections, followed by renewal of war, 132;
Battle of Evesham, and death of Simon, 134;
interred in Evesham Abbey, 134
More, Sir Thomas, born 1478, member of Cardinal Morton’s household,
leaves there for Oxford, and later studies law in Lincoln’s
Inn, 193;
friendship with Erasmus, 194;
spends four years with Carthusians, 195;
leaves Charterhouse, marries and enters parliament, 195;
opposes Henry VII.’s exactions, 195;
Under-Sheriff for the City, 196;
embassies to Flanders and Calais, 197;
enters Henry VIII.’s service, and rises rapidly to highest offices
of State, 197;
happy domestic life, 198;
withholds support from king on his divorce from Catherine of
Aragon, 203;
resigns chancellorship, 205;
declines to be present at Anne Boleyn’s coronation, 206;
unsuccessful attempt to implicate him in the “treason” of Holy Maid
of Kent, 206;
finds himself unable to take oath denying papal supremacy, and is
sent to Tower, 207;
indicted for treason, 208;
sentenced to death, 209;
beheaded on Tower Hill, 210;
beatified, 213
Mortimer, name by which Jack Cade was popularly known, 176
Mortimer, Roger, 132
Newton, Sir John, Governor of Rochester Castle, taken prisoner
by Tyler, 149;
sent with message from Tyler to the king, 154
Nicholas, papal legate, 86
Norfolk, Duke of, 202
Northampton, Council of, 48
Northampton, Marquis of (William Parr), 234
Oastler, 323
O’Brien, James Bronterre, 320, 321, 322
O’Connor, Feargus, 320, 323, 329, 330
Otho, papal legate, 109, 110
Overton, Richard, 284
Palgrave, Sir Francis (quoted), 22, 23
Pandulf, papal legate, 83, 94
Pankhurst, Mrs., 336
Pankhurst, Christabel, 336
Paris, Matthew (quoted), 100, 105, 108, 113, 117, 124
Parker, Matthew, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, 231, 232
Perkins, Corporal, 286