THE REBELLION OF THE YOUNG KING
Henry had left Ireland, as we have seen, on 17th April 1172, and about
the second week in May he crossed from Portsmouth to Barfleur with a
considerable following, at least twenty-five ships accompanying him. On
17th May he met the cardinals at Savigny, and was informed by them of
the terms offered by the pope for his reconciliation to the Church. It
would seem that these included the entire abrogation of the
Constitutions of Clarendon, and to this Henry absolutely declined to
consent, declaring that sooner than accept these conditions he would
return to Ireland. The diplomatic Bishop Arnulf of Lisieux now
intervened and succeeded in effecting a compromise, and on Sunday, 21st
May, Henry came to the cathedral of Avranches and was absolved from the
guilt of the murder of Becket on a promise to comply with the modified
requirements of the legates. He was to find the money to support two
hundred men-at-arms for one year in the Holy Land, to go for three years
on Crusade, to restore the property of the church of Canterbury, and
take back into favour all who had suffered for their support of the
archbishop; he was also to support the claims of Alexander and his
successors against the schismatics, to permit appeals to the pope in
ecclesiastical causes, and to abolish all customs injurious to the
Church which had been newly introduced in his reign. The wording of the
last clause left matters exactly as they were at the beginning of the
quarrel with Becket, for the whole point of the dispute was Henry’s
contention that the Constitutions were in force in the time of his
grandfather. The final issue of the conflict was thus decidedly in
Henry’s favour, and the murder, instead of proving, as it must have done
in the case of a less able man, disastrous, had actually been
beneficial. The king’s strength is also shown in his dealings with the
four knights who had murdered the archbishop; a weaker man would almost
certainly have sacrificed the murderers to appease public opinion, but
Henry, admitting that they had acted on his behalf though not in accord
with his intentions, took no action against them, possibly not sorry to
let ecclesiastical claims reduce themselves to a logical absurdity by
showing that the Church could only deal with the ecclesiastical offence
of the murder of an archbishop by the ineffective method of
excommunication.
The young King Henry was present at the ceremony at Avranches and joined
with his father in swearing to obey the terms imposed, so far as they
were not personal to the elder king; but it would seem that the
representatives of France and other important personages were absent,
and it was therefore arranged that the ceremony should be repeated at a
later date at Caen. The absolution was duly repeated about Michaelmas,
but whether at Caen or again at Avranches is not quite clear. Meanwhile
Henry had arranged for the deferred coronation of his son’s wife
Margaret, the daughter of King Louis. It has already been mentioned
that, much to her father’s anger, she had not been crowned with her
husband, but it would seem that Henry had had the genuine intention of
allowing her to be crowned subsequently. He appears to have promised
Becket that he should officiate, and it may have been for this purpose
that Margaret crossed over to England in September 1170. She remained at
Winchester until 3rd April 1171, when she crossed again to Normandy, and
was no doubt with her husband at Christmas that year, when the young
Henry held his court at Bur-le-Roi, to which flocked the chivalry in
such numbers that it is recorded that in one hall there dined together a
hundred and three knights whose Christian name was William. In August
1172 Margaret and her husband went back to England, and on the 27th of
that month they were crowned together in Winchester Cathedral by Rotrou,
Archbishop of Rouen, and the Bishops of Evreux and Worcester. Their stay
was not of long duration, as early in November they were summoned back
to Normandy by the old king. They obeyed unwillingly, but instead of
joining the English court paid a visit to King Louis, who seized the
opportunity to urge upon the young Henry that he should demand from his
father the complete sovereignty of either England or Normandy, or at any
rate something more substantial than the shadowy royalty which he had
hitherto enjoyed. The counsel fell on willing ears; the prince had long
smarted under his father’s strict control and the surveillance of
ministers who were practically his masters, and he was in no mind to
remain a king without a kingdom and without even a sufficient income.
After Christmas, which the young king and his queen kept at Bonneville
while the elder Henry and Eleanor were at Chinon, the two Henrys went to
Montferrand and afterwards to Limoges to negotiate for the marriage of
John, now six years old, with Alais, daughter and heir of the powerful
Count Hubert of Maurienne, lord of Savoy. The count undertook to make a
most liberal provision for the young couple, but when it came to Henry’s
turn to fix what he would bestow upon them he named the castellanies of
Chinon, Loudun, and Mirabeau. The young Henry at once indignantly
protested that these castles belonged to him as Count of Anjou, and
absolutely declined to make them over to his brother. This, combined
with his father’s action in refusing to increase either his power or his
allowance and in removing from his company certain young men of bad
influence, roused the young king’s resentment, which was sedulously
fanned by his mother, Queen Eleanor. The latter, egged on by her uncle,
Ralph de Faye, urged her son to open rebellion, and afterwards
persuaded his brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, to join him in opposition
to their father. At last, on 5th March, the young king slipped away, and
evading pursuit reached the court of Louis.
The rebellion thus begun bore a formidable aspect and seemed to have
every prospect of success. Young Henry was an admirable centre for the
concentration of the disaffected. Tall, remarkably handsome, and adding
to his father’s charm of manner an open-handed liberality which the
elder Henry lacked, he was already earning the reputation which he
established a few years later as the flower of chivalry, while his
apparently complete lack of solid qualities in no way detracted from his
popularity. In the struggle with his father he could of course count
upon the assistance of King Louis, and though that king was singularly
incompetent his resources were very considerable. The more lawless
English lords, whose wings had been clipped by Henry’s anti-feudal
legislation, might also be counted upon; and in this category were old
Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk, the other Earl Hugh, he of Chester, the
young Earl of Leicester, son of the loyal justiciar who had died in
1168, Earl Ferrers of Derby, and Roger Mowbray. The discontented lords
whose lands lay within Henry’s continental domains were still more
numerous, and included the Counts of Ponthieu, Evreux, Eu, and Meulan,
William de Tancarville, chamberlain of Normandy, and Geoffrey and Guy de
Lusignan. Amongst those who seem to have supported the young king out
of affection for him rather than out of hatred of his father were
William Marshal, younger son of Becket’s adversary and one of the most
brilliant knights of his time, Hasculf de Saint Hilaire, Robert Tregoz,
and William de Dives. Further important allies were secured by
recklessly liberal promises of reward: to Count Philip of Flanders young
Henry promised the county of Kent with the castles of Dover and
Rochester and £1000 of rent; to his brother, the Count of Boulogne, the
county of Mortain and other lands; to Theobald, Count of Blois, the
castle of Amboise and £500 of rents from Anjou; and a little later, when
the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Normandy rendered desirable a
diversion in England, Westmoreland with Carlisle and possibly also
Northumberland were offered to King William of Scotland, while to his
brother David the earldom of Huntingdon and Cambridge was granted.
On the other hand, though his continental domains were seething with
discontent, King Henry could count upon powerful support from the
English magnates. The Earls of Cornwall, Surrey, Arundel, Essex,
Northampton, and Salisbury could be relied upon; Richard “Strongbow” of
Pembroke was loyal, though too much engaged with affairs in Ireland to
be of much assistance; and William of Gloucester, though married to the
young Earl of Leicester’s sister, would be at worst neutral. The best
part of the baronage, headed by the great justiciar, Richard de Luci,
“the Loyal,” were to be depended upon, and included men of the military
ability of Humphrey de Bohun, Robert de Stuteville, William de Vesci,
and Odinell de Umfraville. The kings of Wales, David ap Owain and the
redoubtable Rhys ap Gruffudd, with their hardy warriors, were also
allies not to be despised. The valuable support of the Church was also,
contrary to what might have been expected, strongly on the elder king’s
side, the only conspicuous exceptions being the Bishop of Durham and,
curiously enough, Henry’s former ardent partisan, Arnulf of Lisieux. To
further strengthen his position Henry now filled up the six vacant
English bishoprics, taking the opportunity to promote his faithful
archdeacons; Richard of Ilchester, Archdeacon of Poictiers, receiving
the see of Winchester, Geoffrey Ridel of Canterbury that of Ely, and
Reynold, Archdeacon of Salisbury, that of Bath; Robert Foliot,
Archdeacon of Lincoln and brother of the Bishop of London, obtained
Hereford, Joscelin was promoted from the deanery to the bishopric of
Chichester, and the great see of Lincoln was bestowed upon the king’s
illegitimate son Geoffrey. In this manner Henry showed his obedience to
the papal demand that the vacant sees should be filled, and at the same
time he obtained practical control of the episcopal bench. The primacy
was for a time left unfilled, owing to disputes between the monks of
Canterbury and the bishops of the province, and to other causes; but in
June, Richard, Prior of Dover, was elected by general consent, and, by
a happy coincidence, on the day of his election there arrived a letter
from the pope announcing that the martyred Thomas of Canterbury had been
enrolled amongst the saints.
Thanks to his wise policy in encouraging the trading and mercantile
communities and in protecting the small men from the oppression of the
great, Henry had on his side the bulk of the populace and especially the
citizens of London, Rouen, and the other great towns. Finally, he had
great financial resources, and it was this abundance of money that
turned the scale in his favour by enabling him not only to hire large
numbers of mercenaries but also to buy off many of the French nobles who
were supposed to be supporting his rebellious sons.
As soon as it was clear that his son had fled to raise the standard of
rebellion Henry proceeded to Gisors and set that and his other frontier
castles in a state of defence. While he was so doing a rumour reached
the rebels that he was advancing to attack them and they at once
prepared for battle. The young king had not yet been knighted, his
father having intended that King Louis should bestow the dignity upon
him; but feeling that it would befit his position as leader of the army
he now hastily sought the honour of knighthood at the hands of his
faithful comrade and instructor in the art of arms, William Marshal. The
alarm proved false; Henry, so far from attacking, retired to Rouen,
where he spent the greater part of the next four months hunting and
apparently ignoring the outbreak, but really keeping a watchful eye upon
events and waiting the opportunity to strike a crushing blow.
About the last week in June Henry appears to have made a hurried visit
to England, going straight to Northampton, spending four days there, and
then returning at once to Rouen.[32] Affairs in England were calculated
to give rise to some anxiety. Although so many castles had been thrown
down or taken into the king’s hand since the beginning of his reign a
considerable number still remained in private hands, and of these at
least a score were now held for the rebels. On the east coast Hugh Bigot
held Framlingham and Bungay; in the Midlands, Huntingdon was held for
David of Scotland; the Earl of Leicester had Leicester, Mountsorel, and
Groby; the Earl Ferrers Tutbury and Duffield; while Chester was held for
Earl Hugh. In the north the Bishop of Durham had fortified Durham,
Norham, and Northallerton, and Mowbray held Thirsk, Malzeard, and
Axholme; Hamo de Masci had castles at Dunham and Ullerwood, Geoffrey de
Costantin at Stockport, and Richard de Morville at Lauder, and there
were a number of smaller fortresses which might prove centres of
danger. The castles in the hands of the king and his supporters must
have been at least five times as numerous, and the royal officers
speedily set in order those in the districts most likely to be
affected--the south-east, exposed to the raids of Flemish and French,
and the north, where the Scots were to be feared. Porchester,
Southampton, and Winchester were strengthened, so were Arundel,
Chichester, and Hastings; in Kent much money was spent on the castles of
Dover, Canterbury, Rochester, and Chilham; the Tower of London was of
course a centre of activity; at Oreford the outer defences were
strengthened; Walton, Colchester, and Norwich were garrisoned; so were
Hertford, Cambridge, Wisbeach, and Lincoln. Windsor, Oxford,
Berkhamstead, Wallingford, Kenilworth, Warwick, Worcester, Nottingham,
and the Peak carried the chain of royal strongholds across the country,
while in the north were York, Bowes, Richmond, Carlisle, Prudhoe,
Appleby, Wark, and Newcastle. For the present the chief centre of danger
seemed to be Leicester, and it was no doubt as a result of the king’s
flying visit to Northampton that operations were set on foot early in
July against Leicester.
About the time that Henry returned to Rouen, on 29th June, Count Philip
of Flanders captured Aumâle, probably by the connivance of its defender,
Count William of Aumâle, and, after a more energetic resistance, the
castle of Driencourt. This last success, however, was neutralised by the
death of Philip’s brother, Count Matthew of Boulogne. Meanwhile the
French army under King Louis and the young King Henry was vainly
besieging Verneuil. Hugh de Lacy and Hugh de Beauchamp, who were in
command of the defence, had no difficulty in repelling their attacks,
but after a month’s siege provisions ran short in the outermost of the
three “bourgs” into which the town was divided, and the inhabitants
agreed that if they were not relieved before 9th August they would
surrender, the French on their side swearing to do them no harm. Henry,
realising that instant action was necessary, advanced at once, burning
the Earl of Leicester’s abandoned castle of Breteuil on the way. When
the two armies were in sight of one another on 8th August Louis sent
envoys and obtained a truce until the next day, and Henry, not
suspecting his good faith, retired to Conches. Next day Louis demanded
the surrender of the bourg in accordance with the former agreement, and
at once treacherously set it on fire and, adding cowardice to treachery,
fled back to France, hotly pursued with great slaughter by Henry. The
centre of action now shifted to Brittany, where the turbulent Breton
nobles had risen under Ralph of Fougères and the Earl of Chester.
Against them Henry sent a strong force of Brabantine mercenaries under
William de Humez, who inflicted a very severe defeat on the rebels,
capturing Hasculf de Saint Hilaire, William Patrie and others, and
driving the remainder of the force into the castle of Dol. A messenger
was sent off at full gallop to Henry at Rouen, and by an almost
incredibly rapid forced march he covered the whole distance from Rouen
to Dol, over 150 miles, in two days.[33] Earl Hugh and Ralph of
Fougères, seeing that resistance was hopeless, surrendered on 29th
August, and by this single stroke eighty persons of rank and position
and a number of men of lesser estate were captured and the rebellion in
Brittany stamped out. The time now seemed ripe for a reconciliation, and
on 25th September Henry met his three sons and King Louis near Gisors.
The terms offered by the king to his sons were liberal in the extreme,
but the French king had no wish to see peace restored and he persuaded
them to reject the terms. The Earl of Leicester also, who had all
arrangements made for an invasion of England, did his insolent best to
keep the quarrel alive.
We have seen that early in July preparations had been made for the siege
of Leicester. On the 22nd of that month the town surrendered to the Earl
of Cornwall and Richard de Luci; the inhabitants were allowed to
withdraw to St. Albans and other places of refuge and the town was set
on fire. The castle, however, still held out, and in September news from
the north caused the siege to be raised. King William of Scotland,
having vainly offered his services to the elder Henry in return for a
grant of Northumberland, accepted the younger Henry’s promise of
Westmoreland and assembled a large army to reduce the northern counties.
His first move was against the castle of Wark, where Roger de Stuteville
was in command; Roger obtained a truce of forty days and the Scottish
army passed on, ravaging and burning as they went, and after an
ineffectual attack on William de Vesci’s castle of Alnwick captured
Warkworth Castle. Newcastle, held for the king by Roger Fitz-Richard,
Lord of Warkworth, proved too strong for the invaders, and their efforts
were next directed against Carlisle. Here Robert de Vaux made a gallant
defence, and news arriving of the advance of the English relieving force
the Scots retreated to Roxburgh in full flight. Richard de Luci, with
the troops he had brought from Leicester, and Humphrey de Bohun, with a
detachment of mercenary cavalry, pursued them across the border and
burnt Berwick. But news reached them that the Earl of Leicester had
landed with a force of Flemings at Walton on 29th September. Bohun at
once turned southwards, while Luci negotiated with the Scottish king
before the news of Leicester’s landing could reach the latter. A truce
was obtained to last until January, and by the Bishop of Durham’s
mediation this was afterwards extended to April 1174.
The Earl of Leicester, on landing, had spent four days in a fruitless
endeavour to capture Walton Castle, but finding it too strong to be
taken, although Earl Hugh of Norfolk had brought a siege train to his
assistance, he turned aside and attacked Haughley. This fortress, held
by Ranulph de Broc, Becket’s old adversary, was speedily captured and
given to the flames, and then the earl’s initiative appears to have died
out and he was content to quarter himself idly at Framlingham until Earl
Hugh gave him a strong hint that he was outstaying his welcome. At last
he decided to try and reach Leicester, and on 17th October he started,
with the intention of passing to the north of Bury St. Edmunds. At the
latter town the royalists, under Humphrey de Bohun, had been reinforced
by troops under the Earls of Cornwall and Arundel, local levies under
Roger le Bigod, the loyal son of old Earl Hugh, and Hugh de Cressi, and
a detachment of hardy fighting men from Ireland. Setting out with St.
Edmund’s banner at their head they came upon the Flemings at Fornham-St.
Geneveve. In actual numbers the advantage lay with the Earl of
Leicester, but his followers were almost entirely infantry of poor
quality, quite unfitted to cope with the powerful cavalry opposed to
them, and it was only a matter of minutes before the Flemings had been
ridden down and scattered, a prey for the country people, who bore them
no good-will. Earl Robert and his cousin, Hugh de Chastel, were
captured, and the gallant Countess Peronelle, clad in mail, falling into
a stream in her flight, was with difficulty rescued from a death which
she preferred to the disgrace of surrender. A halt was now made and
forces collected to crush Earl Hugh, but with the aid of his wealth he
bought a truce for himself and permission for the Flemish mercenaries
still in England to leave the country unharmed.
Henry, having seen the captured earl and countess safely lodged in the
castle of Falaise, led an army into Anjou in November and captured
Preuilly, La Haye, and Champigny with a large number of men of rank. The
year 1173 thus ended favourably for the elder king, and truces with the
kings of France and Scotland ensured peace until the close of Easter,
31st March 1174. But with the beginning of April the struggle began
again. The Scottish king crossed the border and besieged Wark, raiding
as far as Bamborough, where William de Vesci’s castle proved too strong
to be attacked. Roger de Stuteville offered a vigorous defence, and the
besiegers’ artillery proving more deadly to themselves than to the
garrison, King William abandoned the siege of Wark and concentrated his
efforts on Carlisle. He had been joined by Roger Mowbray and Adam de
Port, a Norman baron who had been banished and deprived of his English
estates in 1172 for conspiring against Henry, and his army included the
inevitable execrated Flemish mercenaries. Ruthless as these Flemish
adventurers were, they were less inhuman than the savage Highlanders and
men of Galloway who accompanied them. From Carlisle plundering bands
ravaged and destroyed the northern counties, while more warlike
expeditions captured the border forts of Liddel and Harbottle. Far more
serious was the tame surrender of Appleby Castle: the aged Gospatric,
son of Orm, the English constable of the castle, was possibly too old
for his responsible position, and his lack of confidence would seem to
have affected the garrison, amongst whom were the steward of Hugh de
Morville, the murderer of Becket, and one John de Morville, probably
connections of Richard de Morville, who was a prominent supporter of the
Scottish king. This success was followed up by the capture, after a
desperate resistance, of Brough-under-Stanemore, and the general trend
of affairs induced Robert de Vaux to obtain a truce for Carlisle on
undertaking to surrender at Michaelmas if not relieved before that date.
Henry, after assuring himself of the loyalty of Maine and Anjou in the
spring of 1174, had entered Poitou and inflicted a crushing defeat on
the troops of his son Richard at Saintes in May. Messages had been
reaching him for some time past from the justiciar, who was besieging
Huntingdon, urging his return to England, and on his arrival at
Bonneville in Normandy on 24th June he was met by Richard of Ilchester,
bishop-elect of Winchester, with news of the gravity of affairs. There
was no mistaking the significance of the selection of Richard--“they
could not have sent a more urgent messenger, unless they had sent the
Tower of London”--and Henry at once prepared to cross to England. He
accordingly embarked at Barfleur on 7th July, and being determined to
leave no centres of disaffection behind him, he carried with him the
Earls of Chester and Leicester, Queen Eleanor, who had been captured the
previous year trying to reach the French court in male disguise, and
Queen Margaret. The weather was stormy but the wind was in the right
direction, and Henry bade the shipmen set sail, saying solemnly, “If
what I purpose is for the peace of Church and people, and if the King of
Heaven has decreed that peace shall be restored by my coming, then in
His mercy may He grant me a safe passage. But if He has turned His face
from me and has decreed to afflict the kingdom with a rod, then may it
never be mine to set foot on shore.” The voyage to Southampton was
accomplished in safety, and Henry at once proceeded, fasting and with
all signs of humility, to Canterbury, where on 12th July he performed
public penance at the tomb of St. Thomas. The Bishop of London delivered
an address on the king’s behalf, disavowing all share in the murder, but
admitting that his rash words had been the actual cause of it; then,
after long remaining in prayer at the tomb, the king submitted to a
ceremonial scourging at the hands of all the monks of the convent of
Christ Church. Finally he made a grant of lands to the monastery in
memory of the martyr, and probably at the same time settled a small
income upon Becket’s married sister, Roese,[34] his other sister, Mary,
having been appointed in the previous year Abbess of Berking.
The news of Henry’s landing put an end to the plans of the younger king
for an invasion of England, which he had contemplated in company with
Philip of Flanders. He had even gone so far as to send over three
hundred picked Flemish knights under Ralph de la Haye in June. They had
landed at Orewell, placed themselves under the command of Earl Hugh of
Norfolk, and, after being repulsed from Dunwich, had captured the
wealthy city of Norwich by treachery and gained thereby great plunder if
little military advantage. This occurred on 18th June, and the news
apparently caused the justiciar to relinquish the siege of Huntingdon,
leaving Earl Simon of Northampton, who claimed the earldom of
Huntingdon, to win the castle and the county for himself. As we have
already seen an urgent message was despatched to the king, and about the
same time Robert de Vaux obtained conditions for Carlisle. The Scottish
army being thus set free for fresh enterprises Roger Mowbray urged King
William to move southwards to his assistance, his strongholds of Axholme
and Malzeard having fallen before the troops of Geoffrey, the king’s
illegitimate son, the young bishop-elect of Lincoln, and Thirsk being
threatened. William preferred the less hazardous course of keeping near
his own borders, and laid siege to Odinal de Umfraville’s castle of
Prudhoe. The castle was strong and well provisioned, and Odinal
succeeded in getting away to raise forces for its relief. Preparing to
retreat into his own country, the Scottish king sent detachments of his
army under Earl Duncan, the Earl of Angus, and Richard de Morville to
ravage the country, while he with a small body of knights made a
demonstration against Alnwick. The English forces under Ranulf de
Glanvill, Odinal de Umfraville, Robert de Stuteville, William de Vesci,
and Bernard de Baillol left Newcastle at daybreak on 13th July, and,
favoured by a mist, surprised King William and his attendants close to
Alnwick. William the Lion did not surrender tamely, but, mounting his
horse, led his men against the foe. The odds were too heavy, however;
the king’s charger was killed and he himself pinned to the ground by its
fall, Roger de Mowbray and Adam de Port fled for safety, but the
Scottish knights fought for their lord so long as resistance was
possible. Thus on the day, possibly even at the hour, on which Henry
completed his penance at the tomb of St. Thomas his most dangerous
opponent was made prisoner. The good news was despatched at once by a
mounted messenger, who found Henry resting at London, where he had had a
most enthusiastic reception upon his arrival. The king, who was unwell,
was asleep, but the messenger would brook no delay, and the news of
William’s capture, which Henry could at first hardly believe, proved
good medicine for the sick man. The nobles at court were at once told
the news, and next day
[Illustration: SEAL OF WILLIAM THE LION (1/1)]
all the bells of London’s six score churches rang in joy that the
rebellion in England was at an end.
A few days later the king advanced to Huntingdon, which surrendered to
him on 21st July. He then turned to attack Earl Hugh’s castle of
Framlingham, and by the 24th had advanced with his siege train as far as
Seleham; but next day the earl met him there, gave up his castles of
Bungay and Framlingham, and agreed to pay a heavy fine for his offence
and to make amends for the damage wrought by his soldiers; he was at
once restored to his earldom, and his Flemish troops were permitted to
leave the country unmolested, but not to take any property with them.
During this interview, which took place on horseback in the open air,
the king was kicked on the leg by the horse of Tostes de St. Omer, a
Templar of prominence, but the injury did not prevent his going on to
Northampton, where the last act of the rebellion in England was played.
Bishop Hugh Puiset, who had brought over a detachment of Flemings under
command of his nephew, the Count of Bar, on the very day on which the
Scottish king was captured, had sent back the infantry at once, but had
retained his nephew and his men-at-arms until the fortune of war had set
definitely in Henry’s favour; he now made submission, gave up his
castles of Durham, Northallerton, and Norham, and dismissed his foreign
allies. The Earl of Clare, who was believed to have been plotting action
with Gilbert Munfichet when the latter fortified his London castle,
tendered assurances of loyalty. Roger Mowbray surrendered Thirsk;
Ansketil Malory, who had defended Leicester so well, and had even
attacked and defeated the loyalists at Northampton, gave up his master’s
castles of Leicester, Groby, and Mountsorel; and Earl Ferrers, who not
long before had sacked Nottingham, gave up Tutbury, which had been
besieged for some time past by Rhys and his Welshmen. Rhys was rewarded
by a grant of the castle and district of “Emelin,” while the loyalty of
David ap Owain of North Wales was recompensed by the hand of Emma, King
Henry’s half-sister.
Although affairs in England had been settled so satisfactorily there was
no time to be lost; taking advantage of Henry’s absence King Louis had
pressed forward with the young King Henry and invested Rouen. The town
was devoted to the elder Henry’s interests; it was well provisioned and
was in no great danger, but it was clearly desirable that it should be
relieved as soon as possible, and on 8th August Henry sailed for
Barfleur, carrying his more important prisoners with him and taking back
not only the Brabantine mercenaries he had brought over in June but also
a number of Welsh troops. These latter on 12th August, the day after
their arrival at Rouen, crossed the Seine and made a bold and successful
raid on the French camp, and next day a sally from the town resulted in
the easy destruction of the defensive works of the besiegers’ camp. When
the war had opened just a year before, in August 1173, with the siege
of Verneuil, Louis had shown a blend of treachery, cowardice, and
incompetence, and now that the war was closing with this siege of Rouen
his conduct displayed the same features. Just before Henry’s arrival, on
St. Laurence’s Day (10th August), the French king had declared a truce
in honour of the saint and then made secret preparations for storming
the city; fortunately some priests, who happened to be on the belfry
looking at the view, saw the movement in the enemy’s camp and rang the
tocsin; the citizens flew to arms, and the French took therefrom no
advantage but dishonour and disgrace. On the day after the successful
sally the French burnt their siege engines and fled, Louis staving off
pursuit by proposing a conference at Malannai next day, but again
breaking his word and flying into France.
Negotiations were opened on 8th September at Gisors, but as Richard was
still defying his father in Poitou a settlement was postponed and Henry
went in pursuit of his warlike son. A couple of weeks sufficed to bring
Richard to terms, and on the last day of September conditions of peace
were drawn up. The followers of the young king were released from the
allegiance they had sworn to him, and were received back into the king’s
favour and as full possession of their lands as they had at the time war
broke out; prisoners were released without ransom, except such as had
already come to terms and also excepting the King of Scotland, the
Earls of Leicester and Chester, and Ralph of Fougères; all castles that
had been built or strengthened during the rebellion were to be restored
to their former condition, and, indeed, so far as possible everything
was to resume its previous existence. The young King Henry was granted
two castles in Normandy and a yearly allowance of £15,000 Angevin money
(£3600 English); Richard should have two castles of no strategic
importance in Poitou and half the revenues of that province, and
Geoffrey half the inheritance of Constance, daughter of Count Conan of
Brittany, and the whole when he married her. At the same time the young
king agreed to the bestowal upon his youngest brother, John, of the
castles of Nottingham and Marlborough, and £1000 from the English
revenues, as well as castles and rents in Normandy, Anjou, and Maine.
Richard and Geoffrey then did homage to their father, but this ceremony
was dispensed with in Henry’s case out of deference to his rank of king.
Finally, in December, King William the Lion obtained his release from
the prison at Falaise by becoming the vassal of Henry and undertaking to
hold Scotland under the English king. To ensure the fulfilment of this
treaty the castles of Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, and
Stirling were surrendered to Henry. The close of 1174 thus found Henry
completely triumphant and the formidable combination of his enemies
absolutely shattered.
[Illustration: SEALS OF GEOFFREY, SON OF HENRY II, AND CONSTANCE OF
BRITTANY, HIS WIFE (1/1)]