HENRY THE SECOND, RICHARD THE FIRST, AND JOHN.--1154 TO 1216.
[Illustration: JOHN SIGNING THE MAGNA CHARTA.]
1. As soon as Henry the Second came to the throne, he began to set
things to rights again. He had all the new castles pulled down, and
made the bad men who had lived in them, leave the country; then
he set people to work to rebuild the towns that had been burned
down in the late wars; and ordered that the judges should go on
circuits; that is, travel to all the cities, and hold assizes, two or
three times a year, as they do now, to see that justice is done to
everybody.
2. But it was not quite so easy to do justice then; for, as long as
the feudal laws lasted, the rich could always oppress the poor, and
every great man had an army of his own vassals, who would do any
thing he bade them, whether it was lawful or not.
3. Now the king wisely thought that the best thing in the world for
the country would be to give more freedom to the people, so that the
Barons might not have quite so much power.
4. He, therefore, granted charters to some of the cities, which made
them a little more independent; but it was by very slow degrees that
the people of England became free, although this happy change was
beginning to take place.
5. Another thing the king wanted to do, was to make the clergy
answerable to the judges for any bad acts they might commit, instead
of having particular laws and judges for themselves; and, I am sorry
to say, they sometimes did very wicked things, for which they were
not punished half so severely as other people would have been for
similar offences, which certainly was unjust.
6. But the bishops were unwilling to let the king have any thing to
do with church affairs, and the Pope encouraged them to oppose him,
in this respect; for the Pope, in those days, had more power over all
Europe than the kings themselves, who seldom dared to disobey him.
7. The person who quarrelled most with Henry about these things was
Thomas à Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, a very proud man, who
wanted to rule both king and state his own way.
8. The king was so much annoyed at the opposition he constantly met
with from the archbishop, that one day, in a fit of passion, he said
he wished that troublesome priest was dead; on which some persons,
who heard these incautious words thinking to get into favor, rode off
to Canterbury, and killed the archbishop in his Cathedral.
9. But they gained nothing by this wicked deed; for the king was
shocked when he heard of it, and sorry for what he had said; which
shows how wrong it is for people to use violent expressions when they
feel angry.
10. One very remarkable event which occurred in this reign, was the
conquest of Ireland. That country had been, for many years, divided
into several small kingdoms, and the disputes of the chiefs had often
given rise to warfare among themselves; but it now happened that the
king of Leinster, having been deposed by another prince, went direct
to the king of England, to beg his assistance, which Henry readily
promised, on condition that, if he were restored, he should hold his
kingdom as a vassal of the English crown.
11. Dermot, that was the name of the Irish prince, agreed to these
terms, and several English knights and noblemen undertook the
enterprise. After a great many interesting adventures, which are told
in the history of Ireland, Dermot was replaced on his throne; but
other quarrels arising among the chiefs, the English continued the
war, and, after some time, the Irish chiefs acknowledged the king of
England as a lord and master of Ireland, which has been under the
authority of the English government ever since.
12. Henry the Second died in 1189, and was succeeded by his son
Richard, who was called Cœur-de-lion, because he was very brave, so
that everybody said he had the heart of a lion.
13. Now it is a very good thing for men to be brave, for I do not
know what we should do without brave men for soldiers and sailors,
to fight for us; but it is not the most useful quality a king can
possess; and I think you will agree with me, when I tell you that
Richard the First, instead of staying at home to make good laws, and
take care of his subjects, went away to fight, or gain glory, as
fighting was then called, in the Holy Land, while all things were
going wrong in England, for the want of somebody to keep order.
14. But there was some excuse for him, as everybody in those days
thought that the most praiseworthy act princes and nobles could do,
was to fight for their religion against all persons who believed
differently from themselves; so Richard was very much admired by his
people, although he did nothing for their real benefit; but, on the
contrary, caused them very much misery, and great distress.
15. Another evil was that the Barons, who went with him to the
Crusades, took all their own money as well as all they could get from
their tenants, to support themselves and their fighting men abroad,
so that the generality of the people were left very poor.
16. A great number, indeed, obtained their freedom, by giving up
all they had to their lords; but then they were left without money
or employment, and many turned robbers, to save themselves from
starving; therefore, you see, it was not always a good thing, at
first, for the bondmen to be set at liberty; but it was good in the
end, for their children were born free, and, as times got better, the
free middle classes began to be of some consequence, and have gone
on gradually increasing in wealth and importance, till they have now
become the best safeguard and support of the country.
17. While Richard was gone to the wars, his brother John, who was a
very bad man, wanted to make himself king in England, and there were
some of the nobles who encouraged him, while others defended the
rights of the absent monarch; so that there was great confusion, and
the laws were sadly disregarded.
18. At last, Richard heard of all these bad doings, and left the Holy
Land, intending to come home as fast as he could; but, unfortunately,
he was made prisoner, on his way, by the Duke of Austria, and
confined in a castle in Germany for some time before the English
people knew what had become of him.
19. Richard knew this duke was his enemy, because he had affronted
him when in the Holy Land, so he had taken the precaution of
disguising himself in passing through his dominions, and took with
him only a single page; but, one day, being tired and hungry, he
stopped to rest at a village near Vienna, and sent his page into that
city to buy some provisions.
20. The youth, foolishly, hung a pair of handsome gloves in his
belt, and as gloves were, in those days, only worn by persons of
the highest rank, this circumstance excited suspicion, and he was
arrested, and obliged to confess the truth.
21. The duke immediately sent a band of soldiers to seize the king,
whom they found busy turning some meat that was roasting at the fire.
22. He started up, drew his sword, and fought valiantly, but was
captured, and sent to a strong fortress, where he had remained a
prisoner some months, when he was discovered, it has been stated, by
a wandering minstrel, who heard him singing in his prison, and knew
his voice. But this is a fabulous tale.
23. A large sum was raised in England, by taxes, for his ransom,
and he came back; but he did not stay long at home; for he had
quarrelled, while in the Holy Land, with the king of France, and went
over to Normandy for the purpose of going to war with him, where he
was killed by a poisoned arrow, aimed at him from the walls of a
castle he was besieging, in the year 1199, having reigned ten years.
24. Prince John was now made king of England, but he had no lawful
right to the throne, as prince Arthur, the orphan son of an elder
brother, was living, and was the true heir, according to the rules of
succession.
25. But this unfortunate prince was made prisoner, in Normandy, by
his wicked uncle, and most people believe he met with a violent death.
26. It was a very serious misfortune for the country when the king
happened to be a bad man, because the government was, at that time,
despotic; that is, the king made the laws himself, and had the power
of doing whatever he pleased; whereas, now, the laws are made by the
parliament; so that, before any new act can be passed, a great many
good and clever men must agree to it, which is a great protection to
the people.
27. However, king John was compelled much against his will, to make
some very good laws, and the reason of this was, that his tyranny
was felt by the nobles even more than the common people, for their
estates were often unjustly seized, and they were obliged to give
him large sums of money to get them back again; then he would not
let them marry unless they paid him for leave to do so; and if any
person wanted to go out of the country, they were obliged to buy
his permission. In short, no one was free to do any thing till the
consent of the king was obtained by a handsome present.
28. At length, his tyranny was carried to such a height that the
chief nobles resolved to make him act more justly, or dethrone him;
so they wrote down, on parchment, all the things they wished to have
done, or altered, and agreed with each other that, if he refused to
sign it, they would go to war with him, and they took care to have
all their vassals armed, and in readiness.
29. John was very much frightened when he found the barons were in
earnest, and agreed to meet them at a place called Runnymede, between
Staines and Windsor, where, after a great deal of disputing, he was
obliged to sign his name to what they had written, which thus became
the law of the land. An ancient copy of this parchment is now in the
British Museum.
30. It is called Magna Charta, which is the Latin name for ‘the Great
Charter;’ and it was framed with a view to take from the king the
power of doing unjust things, and to make him govern according to the
laws, and not to be able to make new laws, or impose new taxes, at
his pleasure.
31. This famous act is generally regarded as the beginning of the
liberty which all Englishmen are so justly proud of; but the laws it
contained were, in many respects often broken by the sovereigns of
England, for a very long period.
32. The Barons of England still lived in their castles, on their own
estates, in the midst of their vassals and serfs. Their castle-halls
were crowded with knights, squires, pages, and military dependents,
for it was their pride to have as many of such retainers as they
could possibly maintain. The pages were boys of high rank, generally
the younger sons of noblemen, whose profession was to be knight
errantry.
33. Now, in order to obtain the honour of knighthood, they were
obliged to serve some great baron, first as pages, then as esquires,
for several years, and to be very obedient and respectful in their
conduct, and do all that was required of them readily and cheerfully.
34. While pages, they had to wait upon their lords and his guests at
dinner and supper, to carry messages, and perform little services for
the ladies of the family; but they were themselves waited upon by the
domestic slaves, and, when they had finished their day’s duties,
were allowed to mix with the company.
35. They were taught to use the sword and lance, and to manage a
horse skilfully, and were instructed in religious duties by the
priests of their lord’s household.
36. When old enough, they were made esquires, and then their duties
were to take care of the horses and armour, and to attend their lords
on all occasions; which services he usually rewarded by making them
knights, when they were free to go wherever they pleased; and you
have already been told what their mode of life was afterwards.
37. The great people were very fond of hunting and hawking, and
fighting at tournaments; but, perhaps, you do not know what a
tournament was, so I will tell you.
38. There was a place built up, something like a large theatre,
with galleries for the ladies and gentlemen, to sit and see the
combats in the open space below, and this was called the lists.
Then the gentlemen, who wished to exhibit their valour, used to
come in armour, and fight with each other on horseback till one was
conquered, when the victor received a prize from the greatest lady
present.
39. When only two knights fought, it was called a tilt; but if there
were several on each side, it was a tournament; and, although these
combats were held for sport, the combatants were often dangerously
wounded, and sometimes killed.
40. When John had signed Magna Charta, the Barons went home to
their castles, to enjoy their usual pleasures; but the king had no
intention of behaving any better than before, and secretly sent
agents to Flanders, to raise troops of foreigners, promising that
they should be allowed to plunder the estates of the Barons, if they
would enlist in his service.
41. Thus he soon appeared at the head of an army, and went to war
with the nobles, who, in revenge, did a very wrong and foolish thing,
which was, to offer the crown to Louis, the son of the king of France.
42. Louis soon came over with a French army, and, after having in
vain tried to take Dover Castle, he entered London in triumph, whilst
John was obliged to retreat; but the Barons began to think they
had done wrong, and, as John died suddenly, in the midst of this
confusion, they turned their arms against Louis, and forced him to
leave the country.
QUESTIONS.
1. What were the first acts of Henry the Second?
7. Who was Thomas à Becket?
8. How was the death of Becket caused?
10. What conquest was made in this reign?
12. When did Henry die, and who succeeded him?
13. How did Richard employ the chief part of his reign?
17. What occurred in England during his absence?
22. What happened to the king on his way home?
23. State the date and manner of his death.
24. Who was the next king?
27. How did the king act towards the nobles?
30. What was Magna Charta?
40. What did the king do after he had signed that Charter?