THE REIGN OF HENRY II. (_concluded_).
Events in Ireland--The Irish People--Henry's Designs in
Ireland--Nicholas Breakspeare (Pope Adrian IV.)--The King of
Leinster's Outrage--Dermot obtains Henry's Patronage--Siege of
Wexford--Strongbow in Ireland--Siege of Waterford--Henry and the
Norman Successes in Ireland--Arrival of Henry near Waterford--His
Court in Dublin--The King Returns to England--His Eldest Son
Rebels--The Younger Henry at the French Court--The English King's
Measures of Defence--Defeat of the Insurgent Princes--Success of
the King's Cause in England--Henry's Penance--Capture of King
William of Scotland--Revival of Henry's Popularity--The King
Forgives his Rebellious Sons--Period of Tranquillity--Fresh
Family Feuds--The King at Limoges--Death of Princes Henry and
Geoffrey--Affairs in Palestine--The Pope's Call to Arms for the
Cross--The Saladin Tithe--Richard's Quarrel with his Father--Henry
Sues for Peace--The Conference at Colombières--Death of the
King--Richard before his Father's Corpse--Character of Henry
II.--The Story of Fair Rosamond.
While the life of Thomas Becket was drawing to a close, events were
taking place in Ireland which led to the submission of that country to
the English crown. It does not fall within the scope of this history to
relate in detail the various internal quarrels and disturbances which
ultimately placed the island at the mercy of a small invading force; it
is sufficient to glance briefly at the condition of the people, and the
position of affairs at the time to which we are now referring.
The inhabitants of the island, called in ancient tongues Ibernia, or
Erin, were undoubtedly of Celtic origin, as the language still spoken
by a majority of the people serves to prove. The dominant race were
known as the Scots or Milesians (horsemen), and from them came the
settlers who gave Scotland its name. The Irish were distinguished from
the Germanic races by their strong passions--either of love or hate--and
their enthusiastic temper. Previous to the introduction of Christianity
their condition appears to have been entirely uncivilised; those old
fragments of Irish history which would lead us to a different conclusion
being little else than fables and bardic traditions. When Christianity
was carried into the country, the people embraced it readily. Poetry and
literature were cultivated to a greater extent than in any other part
of western Europe, and remained in a flourishing condition, while the
learning of the Continent was on a decline. This advance of civilisation
is to be referred to the labours of the celebrated St. Patrick, who
was born at Bonavem Taberniæ, probably identical with Kilpatrick in
Dumbartonshire. He entered upon his apostolic mission in 425, and died,
at an advanced age, in 458. The immediate results of his teaching
were seen in the erection of many churches and monasteries, in which
literature was cultivated with so much success, that students repaired
to the Irish schools from all parts of Europe. This state of things
endured for several centuries, until a permanent check was given to the
progress of learning by the incursions of the Northmen, who, from the
year 748 to the middle of the tenth century, continually visited the
country.
At the period of the English invasion, the people of Ireland are
described as being of tall and elegant forms, and having a ruddy
complexion. Their clothing was of the simplest kind, and was spun from
the wool of their sheep. The art of war had made little progress among
them; and their arms consisted of a short lance, or javelin, a sword
about fifteen inches in length, and a hatchet of steel. Their houses were
built of wood, interlaced with wicker-work, in a manner which displayed
considerable ingenuity. They were extremely fond of music, and in the use
of their favourite instrument, the harp, they excelled the neighbouring
nations. Giraldus Cambrensis,[33] who has left us an account of the
conquest of Ireland, admits their superiority in this respect.
When Henry ascended the English throne, he entertained the project
of taking possession of Ireland; and, following the example of the
Conqueror, he first took measures to obtain the sanction and assistance
of the Pope to his enterprise. The papal chair was at that time occupied
by Nicholas Breakspeare, called Adrian IV., the only Englishman who
ever wore the tiara. He was a man of obscure birth, but of considerable
intelligence, who had quitted his native land at an early age, and
travelled through France to Italy, where he entered an abbey as
secretary. Unaided by wealth or connections, his abilities gradually
raised him to the dignity of abbot, from which he rose to be bishop,
and ultimately Pope. Adrian assented to the request of Henry, and
issued a bull, authorising him to undertake the conquest of Ireland.
The king, however, was deterred, by the advice of his counsellors, and
by the urgency of other affairs, from entering upon the expedition at
that time, and the papal bull was deposited in the royal treasury at
Winchester, without being promulgated.
[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF WATERFORD. (_See p._ 201.)]
Fourteen years later, some Norman and Flemish adventurers, who had
previously settled in Wales, were invited to Ireland by one of the native
princes. Dervorgilla, a lady of remarkable beauty, wife of Tiernan
O'Rourke, a powerful chief, was carried off by Dermot MacMurrogh, King
of Leinster. Dermot, who was a man of cruel and arrogant temper, had
many enemies, and he now found himself attacked on different sides
by O'Rourke, and those who supported his cause. Ultimately a general
combination was formed against the King of Leinster, and he was compelled
to quit the country.
He proceeded to ask the support of King Henry, who was then in Aquitaine.
Henry, occupied at that time with other affairs of importance, received
him graciously, and gave him letters, authorising the subjects of the
English crown to take up arms in his favour. Furnished with these, Dermot
returned to England, and, after some delay, he obtained the assistance
of Richard de Clare, surnamed Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, to whom he
promised his daughter Eva in marriage. Subsequently he made arrangements
with Robert Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Fitz-Gerald, to whom he agreed to
give the town of Wexford, with other rewards, in return for the services
they were to render him.
In the year 1169, Fitz-Stephen, with his companions, accompanied by 140
knights and 300 men-at-arms, crossed over to Ireland, and landed at
Bannock Bay. MacMurrogh, who had previously returned to the country, and
had remained in concealment, advanced to meet his friends. The combined
forces having attacked and reduced Wexford, advanced against the Prince
of Ossory, whom they defeated with great slaughter. The Normans slew
their adversaries, who possessed no defensive armour, and cut off their
heads with their battle-axes. It is related that three hundred bleeding
heads were brought and laid before MacMurrogh, and that he turned them
over to see which of his enemies had been slain. On coming to the head of
one against whom he had a mortal hatred, he took it up by the hair, and,
"horribly and cruelly, tore away the nose and lips with his teeth." This
savage chieftain, however, had a regard for his plighted word, and he
fulfilled his promise of placing Fitz-Stephen in possession of Wexford,
while districts on the coast between Waterford and Wexford were given
to others of his allies. These gifts of territory to foreigners called
forth the utmost indignation among the Irish confederate chiefs, who, at
a council held at the royal seat of Tara, in Meath, declared the King
of Leinster to be a national enemy, and prepared to make common cause
against him.
Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, did not set sail for Ireland until 1170.
He landed near to Waterford, with a force of two hundred knights and
two thousand men, and was immediately joined by the Normans who had
preceded him. The combined forces, having been arranged in battle array,
and with banners flying, advanced to attack the city. The citizens made
a gallant resistance, and were probably excited to desperation by the
ruthless character of MacMurrogh, and the fate which they expected would
await those who might fall into his hands. The Earl of Pembroke, who was
well skilled in the art of war, had command of the forces, and led the
assault. A little house of timber, standing half upon posts, was observed
without the walls, and the assailants having hewn down the posts, the
house fell, together with a piece of the wall. The troops poured through
the breach thus made, and captured the city, killing the inhabitants
without mercy.
Leaving a strong garrison, the Normans marched to Dublin, which town,
as well as that of Waterford, had been founded by the Danes. Supported
by reinforcements raised by MacMurrogh, the invaders took the city of
Dublin with little resistance, and, elated by a course of uninterrupted
successes, made incursions upon the surrounding country. King Henry,
however, received the news of these events, and his jealousy being
excited at such an important conquest being attained by his vassals, he
issued a proclamation forbidding any vessel to leave his dominions for
Ireland, and ordered all his subjects then in that country to return
to England by the next Easter, on pain of the forfeiture of all their
estates, and of perpetual banishment from the realm. A consultation was
held among the Normans, and Raymond Fitz-William, surnamed Le Gros,
nephew of Fitz-Gerald and Fitz-Stephen, was dispatched on a mission to
Henry, to prevail upon him to recall the proclamation, and to remind him
of the letters he had given to MacMurrogh, authorising Englishmen to
take up arms in his cause. Henry received the message without returning
any answer, or, according to some of the chroniclers, he replied by
confiscating the estates of Strongbow in Wales.
While the earl thus found himself cut off from all reinforcements of men
and arms, the Normans in Leinster were suddenly attacked by the men of
Danish race who were settled on the north-east coast of Ireland, and who
now allied themselves with the natives against the new invaders. They
attacked Dublin, but without success. The Normans, however, dreading
the formidable league against them, made a second application to Henry
through Hervey Fitz-Maurice. Strongbow himself was then ordered to
proceed to the court, and after some delay he obtained an audience. The
earl agreed to surrender to the king the town of Dublin, with the larger
of the other towns on the coast; in return, Strongbow was permitted
to retain his other acquisitions in Ireland, and was restored to the
possession of his estates in Wales.
MacMurrogh having died previously to this interview, Strongbow had
assumed the title of King of Leinster, in right of his wife Eva; and he
now found himself reduced from the condition of a sovereign prince to
that of steward of the English crown. In the year 1171, Henry set sail
from Milford to take possession of his new territories. The royal force
consisted of 400 vessels, containing about 5,000 men, among whom were
500 knights. Henry landed at the Crook, near Waterford, October 18th,
and was received by the Norman chiefs, who tendered him their homage.
The army commenced its march, by way of Cashel, to Dublin, meeting with
no resistance. The inhabitants, overawed by the numbers and the martial
equipment of their enemies, fled in dismay before the advancing troops,
and the native kings of the south had no other alternative than to
surrender at the summons of the conqueror, and offer their allegiance to
him.
Having established his court at Dublin, Henry styled himself King of all
Hibernia, and summoned the whole of the Irish chiefs to his presence.
Many obeyed; but the Kings of Connaught and Ulster, entrenched in
their native mountains, refused to acknowledge his authority, and the
sovereignty of Henry was limited by a line drawn across the island,
from the mouth of the Shannon to that of the Boyne. All the pomp which
distinguished the Plantagenet court was displayed in Dublin, and the
Irish people--lively, impressible, and fond of novelty--derived pleasure
from contemplating the splendid appearance of the Norman arms, horses,
and accoutrements of war. The majority of the clergy also gave their
support to the invader, and welcomed him as one bearing the authority
of the Church. Henry promulgated the bull of Pope Adrian; and various
reforms and observances of canonical discipline were introduced into the
Irish Church.
Henry's former haughtiness towards the clergy, and his resistance to
the encroachments of the papal see upon the rights of the crown, had
now disappeared. Not only did he require the support of the bishops to
secure his new conquest, but the popular feeling excited throughout
his dominions by the death of Becket rendered it necessary for him to
conciliate where he had formerly threatened. This course of action met
with temporary success, and Pope Alexander III. issued a bull confirming
that of his predecessor, Adrian, and ratifying the king's title to the
possession of Ireland.
After he had remained in the country for a few months longer, Henry
received news which compelled his immediate return to England. Having
appointed officers to the chief places of power in the island, he sailed
from Wexford on the 17th of April, 1172, and landed at Portfinnan, in
Wales.
At this time the king had four legitimate sons living--Henry, Richard,
Geoffrey, and John, of whom Henry, the eldest, was eighteen years of
age. Equitable provision had been made for each of them, it being
intended that Henry should succeed to the English throne, as well as
to the territories of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine. Richard, who was the
favourite of his mother, was to receive her estates of Aquitaine and
Poitou; Geoffrey, who had married the daughter of the Duke of Brittany,
was to succeed to that province; and John was to be made King of Ireland.
During the archbishopric of Thomas Becket, the king had taken measures to
show his authority by causing his eldest son to be crowned king by the
Archbishop of York. The political enemies of Henry exerted themselves
to turn this impolitic measure to their own advantage, by exciting the
son to rebellion against the father, who was now called the elder king.
In these attempts they were seconded by Queen Eleanor, whose affections
had been alienated from the king by his numerous infidelities. She was
a woman of strong passions, and determined to make her children the
instruments of her vengeance. Through her efforts the people of Aquitaine
and Poitou attached themselves to the cause of the younger king, and many
of the nobles of those provinces became his counsellors and confidants.
They spared no pains to excite the ambition of the youth, and persuade
him that his father had abdicated the throne in his favour, and was no
longer entitled to hold the sovereign authority. At the coronation of
Prince Henry, his wife Margaret, the daughter of Louis of France, was
not permitted to receive the crown with her husband, and this omission
was resented by the French king, to whom it afforded a pretext for
embracing the cause of his son-in-law. A peace having been concluded
by the intervention of the Pope, the wrong was repaired, and Margaret
was crowned queen. Henry then permitted the young couple to visit the
French court, and during their stay, Louis continued to foment the
dissatisfaction of the son, and to excite him to rebellion against his
father.
On his return to England, the younger king did not hesitate to demand
that his father should resign to him either the throne of England or
one of the two duchies of Normandy and Anjou. Henry advised him to have
patience until the time when all these possessions would become his. The
son quitted his father's presence in anger, and from that day, in the
language of an old historian, no word of peace ever more passed between
them.
In 1174 young Henry sought refuge with Louis VII. at St. Denis. On the
news of this escape being brought to the old king, he displayed all the
energy of former years, and, mounting on horseback, he proceeded along
the frontier of Normandy, inspecting the defences, and preparing against
attacks. Messengers, with a similar object, were also dispatched to
the captains of the royal garrisons in Anjou, Aquitaine, and Brittany.
Meanwhile the two princes, Richard and Geoffrey, followed their brother
to the French court. Henry now sent envoys to the French court, demanding
his son, and also requiring to know the intentions of the King of France.
The ambassadors were received in full court, in the presence of young
Henry and his brothers. When, according to the usual form, they commenced
their message by enumerating the titles of their royal master, they
were interrupted by Louis, who declared that there was but one King of
England--namely, the young prince now standing before them.
Young Henry was recognised by a general assembly of the barons and
bishops of France as having the only lawful right to the English throne.
Louis VII. made oath to this effect, and after him the brothers of Henry
and the barons of the kingdom. A great seal was made with the arms of
the King of England, in order that Henry might affix that sign of royalty
to his documents of state.
His first acts were grants of land and estates to the barons of France
and the enemies of his father who were willing to join the confederacy.
Among these were William, King of Scotland, who was to receive the
territories of Northumberland and Cumberland, conquered by his
predecessors; Philip, Count of Flanders, to whom was promised the earldom
of Kent, and the castles of Dover and Rochester; and the Count of Blois,
who was to have Amboise, Château-Renault, and five hundred pounds of
silver from the revenues of Anjou. Other donations were made of a similar
kind, and the young king sent messengers to Rome to obtain the sanction
of the Pope. Meanwhile the cause of the rebellious son was embraced by
many powerful chiefs, even among the vassals of the English king. Not a
few recalled former acts of arrogance or oppression for which the present
occasion offered the prospect of vengeance; others, who were young in
arms, and of turbulent and adventurous spirit, were easily induced to
take up arms in favour of the gay young prince. In England the Earls of
Leicester and Chester were the principal supporters of his cause.
Henry, who was then in Normandy, found himself deserted by many of the
lords of his court, and it is said that even the guards of his chamber,
those who were entrusted with the care of his person and his life, went
over to his enemies. In circumstances such as these, with dangers and
anxieties thickening around him, the indomitable character and powerful
mind of the king--now in his prime--were displayed to their full extent.
He possessed in a high degree those political and military talents which
were hereditary in the family of the Conqueror, and although the loss of
his followers was to him a cause of the greatest grief and despair, yet
he preserved a calm and cheerful countenance and an admirable temper,
pursuing his usual amusements of hunting and hawking, and showing himself
more than usually gay and affable towards those who came into his
presence.
Allusion has already been made to the animosities existing between the
different races inhabiting the Continental territories of Henry II. The
rebellion of the princes fomented this national hatred, and opposing
nations took part in the contest, and having once drawn the sword, were
not easily induced to lay it aside. While the King of France and Henry
the younger were marching an army into Normandy, Richard had gone to
Poitou, where most of the barons entered the field in his cause. Geoffrey
met with similar success among the people of Brittany, who, with their
former readiness for revolt, entered into a confederation for the purpose
of securing their own interests, while ostensibly supporting the cause of
their duke. The old king thus found himself attacked at several points
simultaneously, while the troops whom he had at command were chiefly
the Brabançon mercenaries, who, though valiant men-at-arms, were in
fact little better than banditti. With a division of these troops Henry
opposed the advance of the King of France, and ultimately compelled
him to make a rapid retreat. Another division, which had been sent
into Brittany, met with equal success against the insurgents, and the
adherents of the princes were defeated wherever they showed themselves.
King Louis, who possessed little persistence of character, soon grew
weary of this war, as he had done on former occasions, and advised
the rebellious sons to seek a reconciliation with their father. Henry
consented to a conference, and the two kings met in a wide plain near to
Gisors, where there was a venerable elm, whose branches descended to the
ground. In this spot from time immemorial all conferences had been held
between the dukes of Normandy and the kings of France. It had, however,
no result; and a desultory war, in which no engagement of importance took
place, was continued during the rest of the year.
The Scots, who had begun to make forays upon the lands in their
neighbourhood, were now assuming a dangerous attitude; but were repulsed
by Richard de Lucy, the king's high justiciary, who burnt their town
of Berwick, and drove them back with considerable slaughter. On his
return to the south De Lucy defeated the Earl of Leicester, and took him
prisoner. The peasantry of England appear to have been indifferent to
these disputes, and, therefore, remained quiet. The people of Normandy,
also, were generally faithful to their sovereign, and it was among the
recent conquests of Henry--in the provinces of Poitou and Aquitaine,
Maine and Anjou--that the rebellion gained ground. Two of the natural
sons of the king, who were at that time in England, exerted themselves
strenuously in the cause of their father, and one of these--Geoffrey,
Bishop of Lincoln--distinguished himself by various successes against the
insurgent barons.
Meanwhile, Richard, having fortified a number of castles of Poitou
and Aquitaine, headed a general insurrection of the people of those
provinces. Against him, in the year 1174, the king marched his Brabançon
troops, having placed garrisons in Normandy to repel the attacks of the
King of France. Henry took possession of the town of Saintes, and also
of the fortress of Taillebourg, and in his return from Anjou, devastated
the frontier of Poitou, destroying the growing crops as well as the
dwellings of the people. On his arrival in Normandy he received news that
his eldest son, with Philip, Count of Flanders, had prepared a great
armament, with which they were about to make a descent upon the English
coast. The king, whose movements on such occasions were unsurpassed
for rapidity and energy, immediately took horse, and proceeded to the
nearest seaport. A storm was raging as he reached the coast, but Henry
immediately embarked; carrying with him as prisoners his wife Eleanor,
and Margaret, the wife of his eldest son, who had not succeeded in
following her husband to the court of her father.
Henry landed at Southampton, whence he proceeded to Canterbury, for
the purpose of undergoing that extraordinary penance, to which some
allusion has already been made. It is related that he rode all night
without resting by the way, and that when, at the dawn of day, he came
in sight of Canterbury cathedral, he immediately dismounted from his
horse, threw from him his shoes and royal robes, and walked the rest
of the way barefoot, along a stony road. On arriving at the cathedral,
the king, accompanied by a great number of bishops, abbots, and monks,
including all those of Canterbury, descended to the crypt, in which the
corpse of Thomas Becket was laid. He knelt upon the stone of the tomb,
and, stripping off part of his clothes, exposed his back to the scourge.
Each of the bishops then took one of the whips with several lashes,
used in the monasteries for penance, and each, in turn, struck the king
several times on the shoulders, saying, "As Christ was scourged for our
sins, so be thou for thine own." The scourging did not end the acts
of humiliation. Henry remained a day and a night prostrate before the
tomb, during which time he took no food, and did not quit the place. The
fatigue which he thus underwent brought on a fever, which confined him
during several days to his chamber. The display of repentance, whether
real or assumed, produced a reaction in the king's favour among the
people, and he at once recovered the popularity he had lost. It happened
that on the day when Henry was thus humbling himself before the tomb
of Becket, one of his most powerful enemies had been taken prisoner.
William the Lion, of Scotland, had made a hostile incursion into the
lands of the English; and on the 12th of July, when he was amusing
himself by tilting in a meadow with some of his nobles, he was surprised
by Ranulph de Glanville, and captured, together with those who were with
him. The English people, deeply imbued with the superstition of the
time, attributed this success to the favour of the martyred archbishop,
and they flocked to the standard of the king. Henry was not long in
recovering his strength; and, taking the field once more, he advanced
against the rebellious barons, who gave way and fled at the sound of his
approach. Many of their castles were carried by storm, and many were
surprised before the inmates had time to escape. So many prisoners were
taken that, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, there were hardly cords
enough to bind them, or prisons enough to hold them.
[Illustration: HENRY ON HIS WAY TO BECKET'S TOMB. (_See p._ 204)]
Having effectually repressed the revolt in England, Henry passed over
with his army into Normandy. The inhabitants of Poitou and Brittany rose
again in rebellion. Meanwhile the Count of Flanders had resigned his
project of invading England as soon as Henry's return thither, and the
various successes which attended him, were made known. The earl turned
his forces in another direction, and having been joined by Henry, the
younger king, and by Louis of France, laid siege to the city of Rouen.
The attacking forces had scarcely sat down before the place, when Henry,
who had returned in haste to the Continent, appeared on the scene of
action, and obtained possession of the stores of the French army. Louis
and his allies made but a brief resistance, and in a few days raised the
siege. Their numerous army retreated hastily before the forces of the
English king, who pursued his advantage, and compelled his adversaries
once more to come to terms. Louis was again the first to withdraw from
the contest, and proposed a conference for arranging terms of peace, to
which the princes Henry and Geoffrey reluctantly assented.
Richard at first refused to be included in the truce, but receiving no
succour from his allies, he was unable to maintain a defence, and after
the loss of many fortresses, he was compelled to return to his father,
and implore his pardon. The king, stern and unrelenting towards ordinary
offenders, acted with remarkable indulgence towards his rebellious
children. An act of reconciliation was agreed upon, by which estates
and revenues were assigned to each of the princes; and Henry made peace
with the French king and the Count of Flanders, on condition that they
restored the territories which they had occupied since the commencement
of the war. On the other hand, Henry agreed to give up those lands which
he had conquered, and to liberate all his prisoners, with the exception
of the King of Scotland, who had been confined in the castle of Falaise.
In the following month of December (1174), the Scottish king obtained
his freedom by doing homage to Henry, and acknowledging himself as his
vassal--thus sacrificing nominally the independence of his kingdom.
The three princes assented to the terms offered by their father, and
promised future honour and obedience to him, the two younger taking the
oath of fealty. In 1175 Henry returned to England with his eldest son,
and the reconciliation between them was now so complete, that it is
related that they ate at the same table and slept in the same bed.
At length the country enjoyed a short period of tranquillity, and eight
years elapsed, during which there was peace at home and abroad, and the
energies of the king were engaged in promoting reforms in the internal
government of the kingdom. His reputation for wisdom and power at this
time stood so high that the Kings of Navarre and Castile, who had been
engaged in a prolonged warfare upon a question of territory, agreed to
refer their dispute to the decision of the English monarch, and it is
related that he delivered a wise and impartial judgment between them.
In 1182 fresh disputes arose between Henry and his sons. Richard having
been called upon to do homage to his elder brother Henry for the
provinces of Aquitaine and Poitou, positively refused, and immediately
proceeded to put his fortresses in a condition of defence. In the
beginning of the following year, Henry the younger and Geoffrey marched
an army, part of which was composed of the Brabançon troops, against
their brother, and several furious engagements took place between them.
The king, alarmed at the grave appearance of the quarrel, recalled his
two sons, and on their refusal took up arms in support of Richard. The
family war was thus renewed under a new aspect, one of the sons fighting
with his father against his two brothers. Contemporary historians speak
with a fitting horror of these unnatural contests, and attribute their
recurrence to an evil destiny which hung over the race of Plantagenet,
as the result of some great crime which remained unexpiated. Revolting
stories were related of the origin of the family, and of the deeds of its
descendants--stories, of which some are evidently fabulous, and others,
probably, had little or no foundation in fact. One of these, which occurs
in the chronicles of Johannes Brompton, may be given as an instance:--An
ancient countess of Anjou, from whom King Henry was descended, was
observed by her husband to evince great reluctance to entering a church,
and when she did visit one, she invariably quitted the edifice before
the celebration of the sacrament. The husband, whose suspicions were
excited, caused her one day to be forcibly detained by four esquires;
but, at the moment of the consecration, the countess threw off the cloak
by which she was held, flew out of the church window, and was never seen
afterwards. It is related that Prince Richard was accustomed to refer to
this anecdote, and to say it was no matter of surprise that he and his
family, who had sprung from such a stock, should be on bad terms with
each other.
Henry and his son Richard marched against Limoges, which was in the
possession of Henry the younger and Geoffrey. Within a few weeks the
eldest brother deserted the cause of the men of Aquitaine, and gave in
his submission once more to his father. Geoffrey, however, remained firm,
and, supported by the people, continued his opposition. Prince Henry
communicated with his brother through Bertrand de Born, and arranged that
a meeting should take place between his father and Geoffrey, for the
purpose of arranging terms of peace. When the king arrived at Limoges to
attend this conference, he was surprised to find the gates of the town
shut against him; and on presenting himself with a small escort before
the walls, and demanding admittance, he was answered by a flight of
arrows, one of which pierced his armour. An explanation ensued, when
this occurrence was declared to be a mistake, and the king entered the
town, and was met by Geoffrey in an open place, where they began the
conference. During the interview a second flight of arrows was discharged
from the walls of the castle adjoining, one of which struck the king's
horse on the head. Henry ordered one of his esquires to pick up the
arrow, and, taking it in his hand, he presented it to Geoffrey, with
words of sorrow and reproach.
[Illustration: The PLANTAGENET DOMINIONS in FRANCE, A.D. 1185.]
Henry the younger, finding his attempts at mediation frustrated, declared
that the men of Aquitaine were obstinate rebels, with whom he would never
more make peace or truce, but that he would remain true to his father at
all times. And yet a month had scarcely elapsed before he again quitted
his father, and entered into a league with his adversaries. The Pope
now interposed, and by his command the Norman clergy excommunicated
the disobedient son--a penalty which the perjuries of the prince had
once before called down upon him. It seems improbable that Henry the
younger was in the least disturbed by being under the ban of the Church;
but he was induced by some cause to return to his father, who received
him once more with forgiveness. The prince promised, in the name of
the insurgents, to surrender the town of Limoges; but if he had their
warranty for doing so, they soon repented of their determination. The
envoys of the king, who were sent to take possession of the town, were
butchered within the walls, and the people, whose national spirit was
thoroughly aroused, showed themselves resolved to put down all measures
of reconciliation.
Not long after these events, Henry received a message that his son,
having fallen dangerously ill at Château-Martel, near Limoges, was
anxious to see him. The king, who remembered the former dastardly
attempts upon his own life, as well as the recent assassination of his
soldiers, feared to trust himself again among these conspirators. He took
a ring from his finger, and giving it to the Archbishop of Bordeaux,
desired him to convey it immediately to the prince, with the assurance
of his father's love. The archbishop executed his mission, and Prince
Henry died with his father's ring pressed to his lips, confessing his
undutiful conduct, and showing every sign of contrition. The younger king
was twenty-seven years of age at the time of his death, which took place
on the 11th of June, 1183.
The death of the younger king caused a reconciliation between the several
members of this dissevered family. Even the Queen Eleanor was once more
taken for a while into favour; and in her presence, the Princes Geoffrey
and Richard, as well as their younger brother, Prince John, swore to a
solemn bond of final peace and concord (1184). The king, distrusting the
untamed disposition of his elder sons, appears to have extended his chief
favour and affection towards John. In a few months more the peace of
the family was again disturbed by Geoffrey, who demanded the earldom of
Anjou, and, on being refused, he went over to the French court. Here he
passed his time in amusement and dissipation, waiting an opportunity for
pursuing his schemes of ambition. One day, when engaged in a tournament,
his horse was thrown down, and the prince himself was trampled to death
by the horses of the combatants (1186).
Six years before the death of Geoffrey, Louis VII. of France had died,
and the throne became occupied by his son, Philip II., a young and
warlike prince. He it was who had welcomed Geoffrey to the French court,
and who now invited his brother Richard to enjoy the same honours. The
invitation was accepted, and a great friendship--which, however, was not
destined to endure in after years--sprang up between the two princes.
This state of things displeased Henry, who sent repeated messages to his
son, desiring him to return to England. After various excuses and delays,
Richard set out, apparently for that purpose; but on reaching Chinon,
where one of the royal treasuries was placed, he carried off the contents
by force. The money thus obtained was spent in fortifying castles in
Aquitaine, whither he immediately proceeded. The people of that province,
disgusted with the result of their previous rebellion, offered him no
support, and after a short time he was compelled to return to his father.
Henry, who had learnt to distrust the efficacy of the most solemn oaths,
collected a great assembly of the clergy and the barons to bear witness
to his son's new vows of good faith and duty.
In the following year (1187) the state of affairs in the Holy Land again
attracted the attention of the princes of the west. Jerusalem, with its
sacred treasures and relics, had again fallen into the hands of the
Mahometans, who were headed by a young and warlike prince, Saleh-ed-Deen,
commonly called Saladin. The Christian conquerors of the Holy Land were
suffering repeated defeats and misfortunes, and the Pope sent messages
to the princes of Europe, calling upon them to arouse themselves,
and take up arms in the cause of the Cross. Henry of England at once
responded to the call, and Philip having determined on a similar course
of action, a conference was determined upon between the two kings for
the purpose of arranging a permanent peace. The meeting took place, as
before, in the field beside the elm-tree between Trie and Gisors. Several
envoys of the Pope were present, among whom was the celebrated William,
Archbishop of Tyre. The eloquence of this man is said to have tended
greatly to the success of the negotiations. Suspending the settlement of
their differences, the two kings swore to take up arms as brothers in
the holy cause, and, in token of their pledge, each received from the
archbishop a cross, which he attached to his dress, the cross of the King
of England being white, and that of the King of France red.
Having held a council at Le Mans to deliberate upon the measures to be
pursued for taking the field, Henry returned to England; and a similar
council, composed of the barons of the whole kingdom, was held at
Geddington, in Northamptonshire. The lords determined that a tenth of
all property in the kingdom should be levied to meet the expenses of
the crusade; the tax was known as the Saladin tithe. The men of landed
property who accompanied the royal army were to receive the sum levied
on their lands, to enable them to take the field, the impost upon the
other parts of the country being applied to the use of the Crown. The
sum of £70,000, which was raised by this means, proving insufficient,
Henry extorted large sums of money from the Jews, and the people of that
unhappy race were compelled, by imprisonment and other severe measures,
to yield up their hoards. One-fourth of their whole property was thus
extorted from the Jews, and probably, in many cases, a much larger sum.
Notwithstanding all these preparations, and the solemn oath of the
two kings, the money thus obtained was not applied to the conquest of
Jerusalem. A quarrel took place between Prince Richard and Raymond of
Toulouse, and the people of Aquitaine, once more roused to rebellion,
profited by the dispute to form new leagues against the Plantagenet
government. The King of France joined the insurgents, and attacked
various castles and towns in the occupation of Henry. At length, after
a profitless contest of several months, the two kings met once more
under the old elm-tree, resolved to arrange a peace. No mockery of solemn
engagements took place on this occasion, and Henry and Philip separated
in anger, without having been able to come to an agreement. The young
King of France, enraged at the failure of the conference, cut down the
elm-tree, swearing by the saints that never more should a parley be held
under it.
This latter revolt, on the part of Richard, however unjustifiable it
might be, was not without some pretext. According to an agreement, made
in former years, between Henry II. and Louis VII., it had been determined
that Richard should marry Alice, King Louis's daughter, and the young
princess was placed in the hands of Henry, until she should arrive at a
marriageable age. The war, having broken out afresh, and the princes of
England being separated from their father, the marriage was deferred,
and it was currently reported that Henry had grown enamoured of her, and
even that she had become his mistress. It is related that, at the time
when his sons were at war against him, the king had determined to make
Alice his wife, and that an attempt which he made to procure a divorce
from the Queen Eleanor was to be attributed to this partiality. The court
of Rome, however, rejected his entreaties and presents, and refused the
application.
What degree of truth may have existed in these reports cannot now be
determined, but it is certain that Henry detained the princess for a
number of years, resisting the demands of Philip, and even the order of
the Pope, that the marriage between her and Richard should take place.
Another plea urged by Richard in justification of his rebellion, was
his belief that his brother John was intended to succeed to the English
throne. No circumstances, however, are related by the historians giving
reasonable grounds for such an opinion. In November, 1188, another
conference took place, and this time at Bonmoulins, in Normandy. Philip
demanded that his sister should be immediately delivered up to her
affianced husband, and that Richard should be declared heir to the
English throne in the presence of all the barons of the two countries.
Henry, remembering the events which had followed the recognition of
the claims of his eldest son, refused to repeat an act which might be
attended with similar disturbances. Richard, enraged at this refusal,
turned from his father, and placing his hands in those of the King of
France, declared himself his vassal, and said that he committed the
protection of his hereditary rights into his hands. Philip accepted his
oath of fealty, and, in return, presented him with some towns conquered
by the French troops from his father. Henry quitted the spot in violent
agitation, and, mounting his horse, he rode to Saumur, there to make his
preparations for continuing the war.
[Illustration: HENRY RECEIVING THE NEWS OF JOHN'S TREACHERY. (_See p._
210.)]
At the news of this fresh rupture, the Bretons, who had been quiet for
two years, rose once more in revolt, and the men of Poitou declared for
Richard so soon as they perceived him to be finally separated from his
father. Many of the nobles and knights of Henry began to desert him, as
they had done before, and the party of his son, supported by the King of
France, increased in strength daily. On the other hand, the greater part
of the Normans remained faithful to their sovereign, and the Pope granted
Henry his assistance, causing sentence of excommunication to be declared
against all the adherents of the rebellious son. But Henry was no longer
young. The repeated vexations and misfortunes he had undergone--the
wounds he had received from the disobedience of his children--at length
produced their effect, and he resigned himself to sorrow, leaving to the
legate of the Pope and to the priests the care of his defence.
The French king attacked his territories in Anjou, while the Poitevins
and Bretons, headed by Richard, seized the royal towns and castles in
the south. The old king, whom grief and failing health had reft of all
his former energy, was compelled once more to sue for peace, and offered
to grant whatever terms might be demanded. Philip and Henry met, for the
last time, on the plain of Colombières, Richard remaining at a distance,
waiting the result of the interview. Philip demanded that the English
king should give in his allegiance to him, and place himself at his
mercy; that Alice should be committed to the care of persons appointed
by Richard, until his return from the Holy Land, whither he intended to
proceed immediately; that Henry should give his son the kiss of peace,
in token of entire forgiveness of the past, and should pay to the King
of France twenty thousand marks of silver, for the restitution of the
provinces which he had conquered.
According to Roger of Hoveden, a contemporary historian, the two kings
were talking in the open field, when suddenly, although the sky was
without a cloud, a loud clap of thunder was heard, and a flash of
lightning descended between them. They immediately separated in affright,
and when, after a short interval, they met again, a second clap, louder
than the first, was heard almost on the instant. The conference was
broken off, and Henry, whose weak state of health rendered him liable to
be seriously affected by any violent emotion, retired to his quarters,
where the articles of the treaty, reduced to writing, were sent to him.
Thus the historian would have us believe that Heaven itself interposed
to prevent the dishonour of the English king, and his submission to the
crown of France.
The envoys of Philip found the old king in bed, and while he lay there
they began to read out to him the articles of the treaty. When they came
to the part which referred to the persons engaged secretly or avowedly
in the cause of Richard, the king desired to know their names, that he
might at least learn who they were who had been his enemies. The first
name read to him was that of his youngest son, John, whom he had so long
believed to be loyal and dutiful. On hearing this name, the old man was
seized with a violent agitation or convulsion of the whole frame. Raising
himself half up, he exclaimed, "Is it, then, true that John, the joy of
my heart, the son of my love, he whom I have cherished more than all the
rest, and for love of whom I have brought upon myself these troubles, has
also deserted me?" Then falling back on the bed, and turning his face to
the wall, he said, in words of despair, "So be it, then; let everything
go as it will. I care no more for myself, nor for the world!"
Feeling that he grew rapidly worse, Henry caused himself to be conveyed
to Chinon, where he arrived in a dying state. In his last moments he
was heard to utter maledictions on himself as a conquered king, and to
curse also the sons he was leaving behind him. The bishops and lords who
surrounded him exerted themselves in vain to induce him to retract these
words, and he continued repeating them until death laid its finger on his
lips (July 6, 1189).
No sooner had this great king breathed his last, than his servants and
attendants, one and all, deserted his corpse, as had happened a century
before to his ancestor, William the Conqueror. It is related that these
hirelings stripped the body of their royal master of the very clothes
which covered him, and carried off everything of value from the chamber.
King Henry had desired to be buried at the abbey of Fontevrault, a few
leagues to the south of Chinon; but it was not until after considerable
delay that people could be found to wrap the body in a shroud, and convey
it thither with horses. The corpse was lying in the great church of the
abbey, waiting the time of sepulture, when Richard, who had received the
news of his father's death, arrived at Fontevrault. Entering the church,
he commanded the face of the dead king to be uncovered, that he might
look upon it for the last time. The features were still contracted, and
bore upon them the impress of prolonged agony. The son gazed upon the
sight in silence, and with a sudden impulse, he knelt down for a few
moments before the altar; then, rising up, he quitted the church, not to
return. An old superstition of the North, which had descended alike to
Normans and Saxons, was to the effect that the body of a murdered man
would bleed in the presence of the murderer; and some of the chronicles
relate that from the moment when Richard entered the church, until he
had again passed the threshold, blood flowed without ceasing from the
nostrils of the dead king. Thus it is evident that contemporary writers
regarded the conduct of the sons as having accelerated, if indeed it did
not cause, the death of their father.
Henry II. died on the 6th of July, 1189, at the age of fifty-six, having
reigned nearly thirty-five years. Of the king's personal character, very
different estimates have been formed by different historians. Those who
look at a many-sided character from their own narrow standpoint, will,
necessarily, paint that side only which is presented to them, leaving
the rest in shadow; and thus we find Henry II. described on the one hand
as a man almost without blemish, and, on the other, as utterly destitute
of public or private virtue. It appears probable that he had little
abstract regard for the welfare of the people, but he was fully alive to
his own interests, and he perceived those interests to be bound up in
the national prosperity. He therefore laboured to promote the well-being
of his subjects, as absolute monarchs, in later times, have done from a
similar motive. He was inordinately ambitious, and was heard to say, in
moments of triumph, that the whole world was a portion little enough for
a great man. He was skilled in the arts of diplomacy, and accustomed to
use dissimulation and falsehood whenever an advantage was to be gained
thereby.
Instances have been given of the ungovernable fits of passion to which
Henry in his younger days was subject; these appear to have been much
less frequent as he grew past middle age. Without any self-control in
moments of anger, he was at other times remarkable for acting with calm
judgment and calculation. In his relations with women he was extremely
licentious. Among his mistresses was one who has been celebrated in
various romantic tales, most of which are without any foundation in
truth. "Fair Rosamond" was the daughter of Walter Clifford, a baron
of Herefordshire, whose castle was situated on one of the heights
overlooking the valley of the Wye, between the Welsh Hay and Hereford.
Henry fell in love with her before he ascended the throne, and she
bore to him two sons, who have been already mentioned as aiding their
father at the time of the partial rebellion in England. One of these was
William, called Longsword, from the size of the weapon which he carried,
who married the daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, and succeeded to his
estates; the other was Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln, and subsequently
Archbishop of York. While Henry was still a young man, Rosamond retired
to the convent of Godstow, near to Oxford, where, after a few years, she
died. During her residence there, Henry bestowed many valuable presents
upon the convent for her sake, and the nuns, who seem to have been
actuated by a personal regard for her, as well as by a recollection of
the benefits she had conferred upon them, buried her in their choir,
burning tapers round her tomb, and showing to her remains other marks
of honour. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, twenty years afterwards, gave the
nuns to understand that one who had led an impure life, even though
the mistress of a king, was not worthy to lie in the sacred edifice.
The repentance of Rosamond, which appears to have been sincere, was
not permitted to wipe away the shame of the past, and her body was
removed and buried in the common cemetery. The nuns, however, feared
no contamination from the poor remains of their frail sister, and they
secretly collected her bones, strewed perfumes over them, and buried
them once more in the church. The story of the bower of Rosamond, and
of the poisoned bowl forced upon her by the jealousy of Eleanor, cannot
be traced to any contemporary source, and must be rejected as devoid of
truth.
Whatever may be the view we take of the character of Henry as a man,
there can be no doubt that, as a king, he deserves a high place in
English history. In the stormy times of the Middle Ages, better were the
wrongs inflicted by an ambitious monarch, than the national corruption
and decay which attended the reign of a weak one. Under the rule of Henry
Plantagenet, the country made rapid strides in power and influence, and
reached that high position among the nations of Europe which it was
destined to maintain in later times.
[Illustration: CROWN OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY (_From the Tomb of Richard I.
at Fontevrault._)]
[Illustration: ST. CLEMENT'S, SANDWICH, SHOWING THE NORMAN TOWER.]