of France; and Leicester embraced the opportunity to return to England
and reorganize the association which had so lately been dissolved. His
hopes of success were founded on the pride and imprudence of Prince
Edward, who, untaught by experience, had called around him a guard of
foreigners, and intrusted to their leaders the custody of his castles.
Such conduct not only awakened the jealousy of the barons, but
alienated the affections of the royalists. Henry, at his return, aware
of the designs of his enemies, ordered the citizens of London, the
inhabitants of the Cinque Ports, and the principal barons, and
afterward all freemen throughout the kingdom, to swear fealty not only
to himself but, in the event of his death, to his eldest son the
Prince Edward. To the second oath the Earl of Gloucester objected. He
was immediately joined at Oxford by his associates; and in a few days
the Earl of Leicester appeared at their head. With the royal banner
displayed before them, they took Gloucester, Worcester, and
Bridgenorth; ravaged without mercy the lands of the royalists, the
foreigners, and the natives who refused to join their ranks, and,
augmenting their numbers as they advanced, directed their march toward
London. In London the aldermen and principal citizens were devoted to
the King: the mayor and the populace openly declared for the barons.
Henry was in possession of the Tower; and Edward, after taking by
force one thousand marks out of the temple, hastened to throw himself
into the castle of Windsor, the most magnificent palace, if we may
believe a contemporary, then existing in Europe. The Queen attempted
to follow her son by water; but the populace insulted her with the
most opprobrious epithets, discharged volleys of filth into the royal
barge, and prepared to sink it with large stones as it should pass
beneath the bridge. The mayor at length took her under his protection
and placed her in safety in the episcopal palace near St. Paul's.
The King of the Romans now appeared again on the scene in the quality
of mediator. The negotiation lasted three weeks: but Henry was
compelled to yield to the increasing power of his adversaries; and it
was agreed that the royal castles should once more be intrusted to the
custody of the barons, the foreigners be again banished, and the
Provisions of Oxford be confirmed, subject to such alterations as
should be deemed proper by a committee appointed for that purpose.
Henry returned to his palace at Westminster; new officers of state
were selected; and the King's concessions were notified to the
conservators of the peace in the several counties.
The King now found himself sufficiently strong to take the field. He
was disappointed in an attempt to obtain possession of Dover; but
nearly succeeded in surprising the Earl of Leicester, who with a small
body of forces had marched from Kenilworth to Southwark. Henry
appeared on one side of the town, the Prince on the other; and the
royalists had previously closed the gates of the city. So imminent was
the danger that the Earl, who had determined not to yield, advised his
companions to assume the cross, and to prepare themselves for death by
the offices of religion. But the opportunity was lost by a strict
adherence to the custom of the times. A herald was sent to require him
to surrender; and in the mean while the populace, acquainted with the
danger of their favorite, burst open the gates and introduced him into
the city.
The power of the two parties was now more equally balanced, and their
mutual apprehensions inclined them to listen to the pacific
exhortations of the bishops. It was agreed to refer every subject of
dispute to the arbitration of the King of France; an expedient which
had been proposed the last year by Henry, but rejected by Leicester.
Louis accepted the honorable office, and summoned the parties to
appear before him at Amiens. The King attended in person; the earl,
who was detained at home in consequence of a real or pretended fall
from his horse, had sent his attorneys. Both parties solemnly swore to
abide by the decision of the French monarch. Louis heard the
allegations and arguments of each, consulted his court, and pronounced
judgment in favor of Henry. He annulled the Provisions of Oxford as
destructive of the rights of the crown and injurious to the interests
of the nation; ordered the royal castles to be restored; gave to the
King the authority to appoint all the officers of the state and of his
household, and to call to his council whomsoever he thought proper,
whether native or foreigner; reinstated him in the same condition in
which he was before the meeting of the "Mad Parliament," and ordered
that all offences committed by either party should be buried in
oblivion. This award was soon afterward confirmed by Pope Urban; and
the Archbishop of Canterbury received an order to excommunicate all
who, in violation of their oaths, should refuse to submit to it.
The barons had already taken their resolution. The moment the decision
was announced to them they declared that it was, on the face of it,
contrary to truth and justice, and had been procured by the undue
influence which the Queen of Louis, the sister-in-law to Henry,
possessed over the mind of her husband. Hostilities immediately
recommenced; and as every man of property was compelled to adhere to
one of the two parties, the flames of civil war were lighted up in
almost every part of the kingdom. In the North, and in Cornwall and
Devon, the decided superiority of the royalists forced the friends of
the barons to dissemble their real sentiments; the midland counties
and the marches of Wales were pretty equally divided: but in the
Cinque Ports, the metropolis, and the neighboring districts Montfort
ruled without opposition. His partisan, Thomas Fitz-Thomas, had been
intruded into the office of mayor of London; and a convention for
their mutual security had been signed by that officer and the
commonalty of the city on the one part, and the earls of Leicester,
Gloucester, and Derby, Hugh le Despenser, the grand justiciary, and
twelve barons on the other. In the different wardmotes every male
inhabitant above twelve years of age was sworn a member of the
association: a constable and marshal of the city were appointed; and
orders were given that at the sound of the great bell at St. Paul's
all should assemble in arms and obey the authority of these officers.
The efficacy of the new arrangements was immediately put to the test.
Despenser, the justiciary, came from the Tower, put himself at the
head of the associated bands, and conducted them to destroy the two
palaces of the King of the Romans, at Isleworth and Westminster, and
the houses of the nobility and citizens known or suspected to be
attached to the royal cause. The justices of the king's bench and the
barons of the exchequer were thrown into prison; the moneys belonging
to foreign merchants and bankers, which for security had been
deposited in the churches, were carried to the Tower; and the Jews, to
the number of five hundred, men, women, and children, were conducted
to a place of confinement. Out of these, Despenser selected a few of
the more wealthy, that he might enrich himself by their ransom; the
rest he abandoned to the cruelty and rapacity of the populace, who,
after stripping them of their clothes, massacred them all in cold
blood. Cock ben Abraham, who was considered the most opulent
individual in the kingdom, had been killed in his own house by John
Fitz-John, one of the barons. The murderer at first appropriated to
himself the treasure of his victim; but he afterward thought it more
prudent to secure a moiety, by making a present of the remainder to
Leicester.[61]
Henry had summoned the tenants of the crown to meet him at Oxford; and
being joined by Comyn, Bruce, and Baliol, the lords of the Scottish
borders, unfurled his standard and placed himself at the head of the
army. His first attempts were successful. Northampton, Leicester, and
Nottingham, three of the strongest fortresses in the possession of the
barons, were successively reduced; and among the captives were
reckoned Simon the eldest of Leicester's sons, fourteen other
bannerets, forty knights, and a numerous body of esquires. From
Nottingham he was recalled into Kent by the danger of his nephew
Henry, besieged in the castle of Rochester, At his approach the enemy,
who had taken and pillaged the city, retired with precipitation; and
the King, after an ineffectual attempt to secure the coöperation of
the Cinque Ports, fixed his head-quarters in the town of Lewes.
Leicester, having added a body of fifteen thousand citizens to his
army, marched from London, with a resolution to bring the controversy
to an issue. From Fletching he despatched a letter to Henry,
protesting that neither he nor his associates had taken up arms
against the King, but against the evil counsellors who enjoyed and
abused the confidence of their sovereign. Henry returned a public
defiance, which was accompanied by a message from Prince Edward and
the King of the Romans, declaring in the name of the royal barons that
the charge was false; pronouncing Montfort and his adherents perjured;
and daring the earls of Leicester and Derby to appear in the King's
court and prove their assertion by single combat. After the
observation of these forms, which the feudal connection between the
lord and the vassal was supposed to make necessary, Montfort prepared
for the battle. It was the peculiar talent of this leader to persuade
his followers that the cause in which they fought was the cause of
heaven. He represented to them that their objects were liberty and
justice; and that their opponent was a prince whose repeated violation
of the most solemn oaths had released them from their allegiance, and
had entailed on his head the curse of the Almighty. He ordered each
man to fasten a white cross on the breast and shoulder, and to devote
the next evening to the duties of religion. Early in the morning he
marched forward, and, leaving his baggage and standard on the summit
of a hill, about two miles from Lewes, descended into the plain.
Henry's foragers had discovered and announced his approach; and the
royalists in three divisions silently awaited the attack. Leicester,
having called before the ranks the Earl of Gloucester and several
other young noblemen, bade them kneel down, and conferred on them the
order of knighthood; and the Londoners, who impatiently expected the
conclusion of the ceremony, rushed with loud shouts on the enemy. They
were received by Prince Edward, broken in a few minutes, and driven
back as far as the standard. Had the Prince returned from the pursuit,
and fallen on the rear of the confederates, the victory might have
been secured. But he remembered the insults which the citizens had
offered to his mother, and the excesses of which they had lately been
guilty; the suggestions of prudence were less powerful than the thirst
of revenge; and the pursuit of the fugitives carried him with the
flower of the army four miles from the field of battle. More than
three thousand Londoners were slain; but the advantage was dearly
purchased by the loss of the victory and the ruin of the royal cause.
Leicester, who viewed with pleasure the thoughtless impetuosity of the
Prince, fell with the remainder of his forces on Henry and his
brother. A body of Scots, who fought on foot, was cut to pieces. Their
leaders, John Comyn and Robert de Bruce,[62] were made prisoners: the
same fate befell the King of the Romans; and the combat was feebly
maintained by the exertions and example of Philip Basset, who fought
near the person of Henry. But when that nobleman sank through loss of
blood, his retainers fled; the King, whose horse had been killed under
him, surrendered; and Leicester conducted the royal captive into the
priory. The fugitives, as soon as they learned the fate of their
sovereign, came back to share his captivity, and voluntarily yielded
themselves to their enemies.
When Edward returned from the pursuit, both armies had disappeared. He
traversed the field, which was strewed with the bodies of the slain
and the wounded, anxiously, but fruitlessly, inquiring after his
father. As he approached Lewes, the barons came out, and, on the first
shock, the earl Warenne, with the King's half-brothers and seven
hundred horse, fled to Pevensey, whence they sailed to the Continent.
Edward, with a strong body of veterans from the Welsh marches, rode
along the wall to the castle, and understanding that his father was a
captive in the priory, obtained permission to visit him from
Leicester. An unsuccessful attempt made by the barons against the
castle revived his hopes; he opened a negotiation with the chiefs of
the party; and the next morning was concluded the treaty known by the
name of "the Mise of Lewes." By this it was agreed that all prisoners
taken during the war should be set at liberty; that the princes Edward
and Henry should be kept as hostages for the peaceable conduct of
their fathers, the King of England and the King of the Romans; and
that all matters which could not be amicably adjusted in the next
parliament should be referred to the decision of certain arbitrators.
In the battle of Lewes about five thousand men are said to have fallen
on each side.
By this victory the royal authority was laid prostrate at the feet of
Leicester. The scheme of arbitration was merely a blind to deceive the
vulgar: his past conduct had proved how little he was to be bound by
such decisions; and the referees themselves, aware of the probable
result, refused to accept the office. The great object of his policy
was the preservation of the ascendency which he had acquired. To
Henry, who was now the convenient tool of his ambition, he paid every
exterior demonstration of respect, but never suffered him to depart
out of his custody; and, without consulting him, affixed his seal to
every order which was issued for the degradation of the royal
authority. The King of the Romans, a more resolute and dangerous
enemy, instead of being restored to liberty, was closely confined in
the castle of Wallingford, and afterward in that of Kenilworth; and
the two princes were confided to the custody of the new governor of
Dover, with instructions to allow of no indulgence which might
facilitate their escape. Instead of removing the sheriffs, a creature
of Leicester was sent to each county with the title of conservator of
the peace. This officer was empowered to arrest all persons who should
carry arms without the King's special license; to prevent all breaches
of the peace; to employ the _posse comitatus_ to apprehend offenders;
and to cause four knights to be chosen as the representatives of the
county in the next parliament.
In that assembly a new form of government was established, to last,
unless it were dissolved by mutual consent, till the compromise of
Lewes had been carried into full execution, not only in the reign of
Henry, but also of Edward, the heir-apparent. This form had been
devised by the heads of the faction to conceal their real views from
the people; and was so contrived that they retained in their own hands
the sovereign authority, while to the superficial observer they seemed
to have resigned it to the King and his council. It was enacted that
Henry should delegate the power of choosing his counsellors to a
committee of three persons, whose proceedings should be valid,
provided they were attested by the signatures of two of the number.
The King immediately issued a writ to the Earl of Leicester, the Earl
of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Chichester, authorizing them to
appoint in his name a council of nine members; nor were they slow in
selecting for that purpose the most devoted of their adherents.
The powers given to this council were most extensive, and to be
exercised without control whenever the parliament was not sitting.
Besides the usual authority it possessed the appointment of all the
officers of state, of all the officers of the household, and of all
the governors of the royal castles. Three were ordered to be in
constant attendance on the King's person; all were to be summoned on
matters of great importance; and a majority of two-thirds was required
to give a sanction to their decisions. Hitherto the original committee
seemed to have been forgotten; but it was contrived that when the
council was so divided that the consent of two-thirds could not be
obtained, the question should be reserved for the determination of the
three electors, an artifice by which, under the modest pretence of
providing against dissension, they invested themselves with the
sovereign authority. By additional enactments it was provided that no
foreigner, though he might go or come, or reside peaceably, should be
employed under the government; that past offences should be mutually
forgiven; that the two charters, the provisions made the last year, in
consequence of the Statutes of Oxford, and all the ancient and
laudable customs of the realm, should be inviolably observed; and that
three prelates should be appointed to reform the state of the Church,
and to procure for the clergy, with the aid of the civil power if
necessary, full compensation for their losses during the late
troubles.
The earl was now in reality possessed of more extensive authority than
Henry had ever enjoyed; but he soon discovered that to retain the
object of his ambition would require the exertion of all his powers.
The cause of the captive monarch was ardently espoused by foreign
nations and by the sovereign pontiff. Adventurers from every province
of France crowded to the royal standard which Queen Eleanor had
erected at Damme in Flanders; and a numerous fleet assembled in the
harbor to transport to England the thousands who had sworn to humble
the pride of a disloyal and aspiring subject. To oppose them Leicester
had summoned to the camp on Barham downs, not only the King's military
tenants, but the whole force of the nation,[63] and, taking on himself
the command of the fleet, cruised in the narrow seas to intercept the
invaders. But the winds seemed to be leagued with the earl; the
Queen's army was detained for several weeks in the vicinity of Damme;
and the mercenaries gradually disbanded themselves, when the short
period for which they had contracted to serve was expired. At the same
time the Pontiff had commissioned Guido, Cardinal Bishop of Sabina, to
proceed to England, and take Henry under the papal protection; but,
deterred by the hint of a conspiracy against his life from crossing
the sea, he excommunicated the barons unless before the 1st of
September they should restore the King to all his rights, and at the
same time summoned four of the English prelates to appear before him
at Boulogne. After much tergiversation these obeyed, but appealed from
his jurisdiction to the equity of the Pope or a general council; and
though they consented to bring back a sentence of excommunication
against the King's enemies, they willingly suffered it to be taken
from them by the officers at Dover. Their appeal was approved by the
convocation of the clergy, and Guido, after publishing the
excommunication himself at Hesdin, returned to Rome, where he was
elevated to the chair of St. Peter by the name of Clement IV.
During the summer Leicester had been harassed with repeated
solicitations for the release of the two princes, Edward and Henry. In
the winter he pretended to acquiesce, and convoked a parliament to
meet after Christmas for the avowed purpose of giving the sanction of
the legislature to so important a measure. But the extraordinary
manner in which this assembly was constituted provoked a suspicion
that his real object was to consolidate and perpetuate his own power.
Only those prelates and barons were summoned who were known to be
attached to his party; and the deficiency was supplied by
representatives from the counties, cities, and boroughs who, as they
had been chosen through his influence, proved the obsequious ministers
of his will. Several weeks were consumed in private negotiation with
Henry and his son. Leicester was aware of the untamable spirit of
Edward, nor would he consent that the Prince should exchange his
confinement for the company of his father on any other terms than that
he should still remain under the inspection of his keepers, and evince
his gratitude for the indulgence by ceding to the earl and his heirs
the county of Chester, the castle of Pec, and the town of
Newcastle-under-Lyne; in exchange for which he should receive other
lands of the same annual value. At length the terms were settled, and
confirmed by the parliament, with every additional security which the
jealousy of the faction could devise. It was enacted "by common
consent of the King, his son Edward, the prelates, earls, barons, and
commonalty of the realm," that the charters and the ordinances should
be inviolably observed; that neither the King nor the Prince should
aggrieve the earl or his associates for their past conduct; that if
they did, their vassals and subjects should be released from the
obligation of fealty till full redress were obtained, and their
abettors should be punished with exile and forfeiture; that the
barons, whom the King had defied before the battle of Lewes, should
renew their homage and fealty; but on the express condition that such
homage and fealty should be no longer binding if he violated his
promise; that the command of the royal castles should be taken from
suspected persons and intrusted to officers of approved loyalty; that
the Prince should not leave the realm for three years, under pain of
disherison; that he should not choose his advisers and companions
himself, but receive them from the council of state; that with his
father's consent he should put into the hands of the barons for five
years, five royal castles, as securities for his behavior, and should
deliver to Leicester the town and castle of Bristol in pledge till a
full and legal transfer should be made of Chester, Pec, and Newcastle;
that both Henry and Edward should swear to observe all these articles,
and not to solicit any absolution from their oath, nor make any use of
such absolution, if it were to be pronounced by the Pope; and lastly,
that they should cause the present agreement "To be confirmed in the
best manner that might be devised, in Ireland, in Gascony, by the King
of Scotland, and in all lands subject to the King of England."
These were terms which nothing but necessity could have extorted; and
to add to their stability, they were for the most part embodied in the
form of a writ, signed by the King, and sent to the sheriffs, with
orders to publish them in the full court of each county twice every
year.
It is generally supposed that the project of summoning to parliament
the representatives of the counties, cities, and boroughs grew out of
that system of policy which the earl had long pursued, of flattering
the prejudices, and attaching to himself the affections, of the
people. Nor had his efforts proved unsuccessful. Men in the higher
ranks of life might penetrate behind the veil, with which he sought to
conceal his ambition; but by the nation at large he was considered as
the reformer of abuses, the protector of the oppressed, and the savior
of his country. Even some of the clergy, and several religious bodies,
soured by papal and regal exactions, gave him credit for the truth of
his pretensions, and preachers were found who, though he had been
excommunicated by the legate, made his virtues the theme of their
sermons, and exhorted their hearers to stand by the patron of the poor
and the avenger of the Church.[64] Within the kingdom no man dared to
dispute his authority; it was only at the extremities that a faint
show of resistance was maintained. The distant disobedience of a few
chiefs on the Scottish borders he despised or dissembled; and the open
hostilities of the lords in the Welsh marches were crushed in their
birth by his promptitude and decision. He compelled Roger de Mortimer
and his associates to throw down their arms, surrender their castles,
and abide the judgment of their peers, by whom they were condemned to
expatriate themselves, some for twelve months, others for three years,
and to reside during their exile in Ireland. They pretended to submit,
but lingered on the sea-coast, and amid the mountains of Wales, in the
hope that some new event might recall them to draw the sword and fight
again in the cause of their sovereign.