 |
[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been maintained.
Each page of the original book had a side note stating the time span treated on that page. Those side notes have been deleted.
Bold text has been marked with =.]
STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF KING EDWARD VII
BY
SAMUEL R. GARDINER, D.C.L., LL.D.
LATE FELLOW OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD ETC.
VOL. I.
B.C. 55—A.D. 1509
NEW IMPRESSION (1915)
REISSUE
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON FOURTH AVENUE & 30th STREET, NEW YORK BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS 1916
All rights reserved
WORKS BY SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of James I. to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 1603-1642. With Maps. 10 vols. crown 8vo. 5s. net each.
A HISTORY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR, 1642-1649. With Maps. 4 vols. crown 8vo. 5s. net each.
A HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE PROTECTORATE, 1649-1656. With Maps. 4 vols. crown 8vo. 5s. net each.
THE LAST YEARS OF THE PROTECTORATE, 1656-1658. By CHARLES HARDING FIRTH, M.A., Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford. With 3 Plans. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. net.
A STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. From the Earliest Times to the Death of King Edward VII.
Vol. I. B.C. 55-A.D. 1509. With 173 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 4s.
Vol. II. 1509-1689. With 96 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 4s.
Vol. III. 1689-1910. With 112 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 4s.
Complete in One Volume, with 381 Illustrations, crown 8vo. 12s.
PREPARATORY QUESTIONS ON S. R. GARDINER'S STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By R. SOMERVELL, M.A. Crown 8vo. 1s.
SUMMARY OF ENGLISH HISTORY, based on S. R. Gardiner's 'Outline of English History.' Brought down to the Accession of Edward VII. By W. REEP. Fcp. 8vo. 6d.
A SCHOOL ATLAS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. Edited by SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER, D.C.L., LL.D. With 66 Coloured Maps and 22 Plans of Battles and Sieges. Fcp. 4to. 5s.
LONGMANS' ELEMENTARY HISTORICAL ATLAS, abridged from S. R. Gardiner's 'School Atlas of English History.' Post 4to. 1s.
CROMWELL'S PLACE IN HISTORY. Founded on Six Lectures delivered at Oxford. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.
OLIVER CROMWELL. With Portrait. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.
THE FIRST TWO STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION, 1603-1660. 4 Maps. Fcp. 8vo. 2s. 6d.
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. With a Map. Fcp. 8vo. 2s. 6d.
OUTLINE OF ENGLISH HISTORY, B.C. 55-A.D. 1910. With 67 Woodcuts and 17 Maps. Fcp. 8vo. 2s. 6d.
* * * * *
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789-1795. By Mrs. S. R. GARDINER. With 7 Maps. Fcp. 8vo. 2s. 6d.
* * * * *
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO., 39 Paternoster Row, London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION
The present work is intended for such students as have already an elementary knowledge of the main facts of English history, and aims at meeting their needs by the use of plain language on the one hand, and by the avoidance, on the other hand, of that multiplicity of details which is apt to overburden the memory.
At the close of the book I have treated the last eleven years, 1874 to 1885, in a manner which precludes all expression of my own views, either on the characters of the actors or on the value of the work performed by them; and something of the same reticence will be observed in the pages dealing with the years immediately preceding 1874. We have not the material before us for the formation of a final judgment on many points arising in the course of the narrative, and it is therefore better to abstain from the expression of decided opinion, except on matters so completely before the public as to leave no room for hesitation. Especially is this rule to be observed in a book addressed to those who are not yet at an age when independent investigation is possible.
I hope it will be understood that in my mention of various authors I have had no intention of writing a history of literature, however brief. My object has been throughout to exhibit that side of literature which connects itself with the general political or intellectual movement of the country, and to leave unnoticed the purely literary or scientific qualities of the writers mentioned. This will explain, for instance, the total omission of the name of Roger Bacon, and the brief and, if regarded from a different point of view, the very unsatisfactory treatment of writers like Dickens and Thackeray.
Those of my readers who have complained that no maps were to be found in the book may now be referred to a 'School Atlas of English History,' recently edited by me for Messrs. Longmans & Co. To include an adequate number of maps in this volume would have increased its size beyond all fitting limits.
In the spelling of Indian names I have not adopted the modern and improved system of transliteration. Admirable as it is when used by those who are able to give the right sound to each letter, it only leads to mispronunciation in the mouths of those who are, as most of the readers of this volume will be, entirely in the dark on this point. The old rough method of our fathers at least ensures a fair approximation to the true pronunciation.
My warmest thanks are due to Mr. GEORGE NUTT, of Rugby, and to the Rev. W. HUNT. Mr. NUTT not only looked over the proof-sheets up to the death of Edward I. with excellent results, but gave me most valuable advice as to the general arrangement of the book, founded on his own long experience of scholastic teaching. The Rev. W. HUNT looked over a considerable portion of the remaining proof-sheets, and called my attention to several errors and omissions which had escaped my eye.
The illustrations have been selected by Mr. W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, Assistant-Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries. He wishes to acknowledge much valuable assistance given to him in the choice of portraits by GEORGE SCHARF, Esq., C.B., F.S.A., who is recognised as the highest authority on the subject.
I am indebted to Her Majesty the QUEEN for permission to engrave two of the portraits appearing in the following pages—viz., those of Bishop Fisher, on p. 393, and the Duke of Norfolk, on p. 410—the originals in both cases being at Windsor Castle.
I have to thank Earl SPENCER for permission to engrave the portrait on p. 362; the Earl of ESSEX for that on p. 476; the Earl of WARWICK for that on p. 403; the Earl of CARLISLE for that on p. 459; the Viscount DILLON, F.S.A., for that on p. 376; the Hon Sir SPENCER PONSONBY-FANE, K.C.B., for that on p. 365; Sir JOHN FARNABY LENNARD, Bart., for that on p. 463; Dr. EVANS for those on pp. 2, 4, 6; EDWARD HUTH, Esq., for that on p. 387; Mrs. DENT, of Sudeley, for that on p. 395; H. HUCKS GIBBS, Esq., for that on p. 419; T. A. HOPE, Esq., for that on p. 487; E. B. NICHOLSON, Esq., for the portrait of Lord Burghley in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, engraved at p. 479; the authorities of the University of Cambridge for that on p. 477; of Jesus College, Cambridge, for that on p. 414; and of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, for that on p. 567; and the Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, London, for the portrait of Charles II. on p. 579. I have also to thank Mr. JOHN MURRAY for permission to engrave the figures on pp. 130, 150, 160, 166, 177, 188, 260; Messrs. PARKER & Co., Oxford, for those on pp. 19, 51, 75, 91, 107, 128, 170, 192, 197, 230, 245, 246, 247, 253, 409, 451; Mr. W. NIVES for those at pp. 381, 409, 451; Mr. J. G. WALLER for those on pp. 219, 229, 292, 298, 515; Mr. BRUCE for those on pp. 17, 18, 21; Messrs. POULTON & SONS, Lee, for those on pp. 7, 132; Mr. G. A. NICHOLS, Stamford, for those on pp. 311, 316, Mr. G. T. CLARKE, for that on p. 74; Messrs. CARL NORMAN & Co., Tunbridge Wells, for that on p. 171; Mr. R. KEENE, Derby, for that on p. 318; the Rev. H. H. HENSON, Vicar of Barking, Essex, for the photograph of the monument of Sir Charles Montague on p. 507; the Science and Art Department for those on pp. 371, 440, 518, 612; Mr. W. H. WHEELER, of Oxford, for those on pp. 319, 384; Messrs. VALENTINE & SONS, Dundee, for those on pp. 109, 206, 213, 238, 244, 276, 355, 378, 485, 662, 666, 668, 683, 907, 919, 937, 942; and Mr. R. KEENE, Derby, for those on pp. 466, 467, 469, 471.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME
PART I.
ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
CHAPTER I.
PREHISTORIC AND ROMAN BRITAIN. PAGE
1. Palaeolithic Man of the River-Drift 1
2. Cave-dwelling Palaeolithic Man 2
3. Neolithic Man 3
4. Celts and Iberians 5
5. The Celts in Britain 6
6. Goidels and Britons 6
7. Phoenicians and Greeks 7
8. Gauls and Belgians in Britain 8
9. Culture and War 9
10. Religion of the Britons 10
11. The Romans in Gaul B.C. 55 10
12. Caesar's First Invasion. B.C. 55 11
13. Caesar's Second Invasion. B.C. 54 11
14. South-eastern Britain after Caesar's Departure. B.C. 54—A.D. 43 12
15. The Roman Empire 12
16. The Invasion of Aulus Plautius. A.D. 43 12
17. The Colony of Camulodunum 13
18. The Conquests of Ostorius Scapula 14
19. Government of Suetonius Paullinus. 58 14
20. Boadicea's Insurrection. 61 15
21. The Vengeance of Suetonius 15
22. Agricola in Britain. 78—84 16
23. Agricola's Conquests in the North 16
24. The Roman Walls 17
25. The Roman Province of Britain 19
26. Extinction of Tribal Antagonism 21
27. Want of National Feeling 22
28. Carausius and Allectus. 288—296 22
29. Constantius and Constantine. 296—337 22
30. Christianity in Britain 23
31. Weakness of the Empire 23
32. The Picts and Scots 23
33. The Saxons 24
34. Origin of the Saxons 24
35. The Roman Defence 24
36. End of the Roman Government. 383—410 25
CHAPTER II.
THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS.
1. Britain after the Departure of the Romans. 410—449? 26
2. The Groans of the Britons 26
3. The Conquest of Kent. 449? 27
4. The South Saxons. 477 27
5. The West Saxons and the East Saxons 28
6. The Anglian Settlements 28
7. Nature of the Conquest 28
8. The Cultivators of the Soil 29
9. Eorls, Ceorls, Gesiths 29
10. The Gesiths and the Villagers 30
11. English and Welsh 31
12. The Township and the Hundred 31
13. Weregild 32
14. Compurgation and Ordeal 32
15. Punishments 32
16. The Folk-moot 33
17. The Kingship 33
18. The Legend of Arthur 33
19. The West Saxon Advance 34
20. Repulse of the West Saxons 35
21. The Advance of the Angles 36
22. The Kymry 36
23. Britain at the End of the Sixth Century 37
CHAPTER III.
THE STRIFE OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS.
1. England and the Continent 37
2. AEthelberht's Supremacy 38
3. Gregory and the English 38
4. Augustine's Mission. 597 39
5. Monastic Christianity 39
6. The Archbishopric of Canterbury 40
7. Death of AEthelberht. 616 41
8. The Three Kingdoms opposed to the Welsh 41
9. AEthelfrith and the Kymry 41
10. AEthelfrith's Victories 42
11. The Greatness of Eadwine 43
12. Eadwine's Supremacy 44
13. Character of the later Conquests 44
14. Political Changes 45
15. Eadwine's Conversion and Fall 46
16. Oswald's Victory at Heavenfield 47
17. Oswald and Aidan 47
18. Oswald's Greatness and Overthrow 47
19. Penda's Overthrow 48
20. The Three Kingdoms and the Welsh 48
21. The English Missionaries 49
22. Dispute between Wilfrid and Colman. 664 49
23. Archbishop Theodore and the Penitential System 50
24. Ealdhelm and Caedmon 51
25. Bede. 673—735 52
26. Church Councils 52
27. Struggle between Mercia and Wessex 52
28. Mohammedanism and the Carolingian Empire 54
29. Ecgberht's Rule. 802—839 54
CHAPTER IV.
THE ENGLISH KINGSHIP AND THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES.
1. The West Saxon Supremacy 55
2. The Coming of the Northmen 56
3. The English Coast Plundered 57
4. The Danes in the North 57
5. AElfred's Struggle in Wessex. 871—878 58
6. The Treaty of Chippenham, and its Results. 878 59
7. AElfred's Military Work 60
8. His Laws and Scholarship 60
9. Eadward the Elder. 899—925 62
10. Eadward's Conquests 62
11. Eadward and the Scots 63
12. AEthelstan. 925—940 63
13. Eadmund (940—946) and Eadred (946—955) 63
14. Danes and English 64
15. Eadwig. 955—959 64
16. Dunstan 65
17. Archbishop Oda 65
18. Eadwig's Marriage 67
CHAPTER V.
EADGAR'S ENGLAND.
1. Eadgar and Dunstan. 959—975 67
2. The Cession of Lothian 68
3. Changes in English Institutions 69
4. Growth of the King's Power 69
5. Conversion of the Freemen into Serfs 69
6. The Hundred-moot and the Lord's Court 72
7. The Towns 72
8. The Origin of the Shires 73
9. The Shire-moot 73
10. The Ealdormen and the Witenagemot 73
11. The Land 75
12. Domestic Life 75
13. Food and Drink 75
CHAPTER VI.
ENGLAND AND NORMANDY.
1. Eadward the Martyr. 975—979 78
2. AEthelred's Early Years. 979—988 79
3. The Return of the Danes. 984 79
4. The Norman Dukes. 912—1002 80
5. Political Contrast between Normandy and England 81
6. Svend's Conquest. 1002—1013 81
7. AEthelred Restored. 1014—1016 82
8. Eadmund Ironside. 1016 83
9. Cnut and the Earldoms. 1016—1035 83
10. Cnut's Empire 84
11. Cnut's Government 84
12. The Sons of Cnut. 1035—1042 85
13. Eadward the Confessor and Earl Godwine. 1042—1051 86
14. The Banishment of Godwine. 1051 87
15. Visit of Duke William. 1051 88
16. William and the Norman Church 88
17. The Return and Death of Godwine. 1052—1053 89
18. Harold's Greatness. 1053—1066 89
19. Harold and Eadward. 1057—1065 90
20. Death of Eadward. 1066 90
21. Harold and William. 1066 91
22. Stamford Bridge. 1066 93
23. The Landing of William. 1066 96
24. The Battle of Senlac. 1066 96
25. William's Coronation. 1066 98
PART II.
THE NORMAN AND ANGEVIN KINGS.
CHAPTER VII.
WILLIAM I. 1066—1087.
1. The First Months of the Conquest. 1066—1067 101
2. The Conquest of the West and North. 1067—1069 102
3. The Completion of the Conquest. 1070 103
4. Hereward's Revolt and the Homage of Malcolm. 1070—1072 103
5. How William kept down the English 104
6. How William kept down the Normans 105
7. Ecclesiastical Organisation. 106
8. Pope Gregory VII. 107
9. William and Gregory VII. 108
10. The Rising of the Earls. 1075 110
11. The New Forest 110
12. Domesday Book. 1085—1086 111
13. William's Great Councils 112
14. The Gemot at Salisbury. 1086 113
15. William's Death. 1087 114
CHAPTER VIII.
WILLIAM II. 1087—1100.
1. The Accession of the Red King. 1087 114
2. The Wickedness of the Red King 115
3. Ranulf Flambard 116
4. Feudal Dues 116
5. Archbishop Anselm 117
6. The Council of Rockingham. 1095 118
7. William II. and his Brothers 118
8. William and Scotland. 1093—1094 119
9. Mowbray's Rebellion. 1095 120
10. The First Crusade. 1095—1099 120
11. Normandy in Pledge. 1096 121
12. The Last Years of the Red King 121
13. The Death of the Red King. 1100 122
CHAPTER IX.
HENRY I. AND STEPHEN.
HENRY I., 1100—1135. STEPHEN, 1135—1154.
1. The Accession of Henry I. 1100 122
2. Invasion of Robert. 1101 124
3. Revolt of Robert of Belleme. 1102 124
4. The Battle of Tinchebrai. 1106 124
5. Henry and Anselm. 1100—1107 125
6. Roger of Salisbury 126
7. Growth of Trade 127
8. The Benedictines 128
9. The Cistercians 129
10. The White Ship 129
11. The Last Years of Henry I. 131
12. Stephen's Accession. 1135 131
13. Civil War 133
14. Stephen's Quarrel with the Clergy. 1139 134
15. Anarchy. 1139 134
16. The End of the War. 1141—1148 135
17. Henry, Duke of the Normans. 1149 136
18. The Last Days of Stephen. 1153—1154 137
CHAPTER X.
HENRY II. 1154—1189.
1. Henry's Accession. 1154 138
2. Pacification of England 138
3. Henry and Feudality 140
4. The Great Council and the Curia Regis 141
5. Scutage 141
6. Archbishop Thomas. 1162 142
7. Breach between Henry and Thomas 143
8. The Constitutions of Clarendon. 1164 143
9. The Persecution of Archbishop Thomas. 1164 145
10. The Assize of Clarendon. 1166 146
11. Recognitions 147
12. The Germ of the Jury 147
13. The Itinerant Justices Revived 148
14. The Inquisition of the Sheriffs. 1170 148
15. The Nobles and the Church 149
16. The Coronation of Young Henry. 1170 149
17. The Return of Archbishop Thomas. 1170 149
18. Murder of Archbishop Thomas. 1170 149
19. Popular Indignation. 1171 151
20. State of Ireland 151
21. Partial Conquest of Ireland. 1166—1172 152
22. Young Henry's Coronation and the Revolt of the Barons. 1172—1174 153
23. The Assize of Arms. 1181 154
24. Henry II. and his Sons 155
25. The Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1187 156
26. The Last Years of Henry II. 1188—1189 157
27. The Work of Henry II. 157
CHAPTER XI.
RICHARD I. 1189—1199.
1. Richard in England. 1189 159
2. William of Longchamps. 1189—1191 159
3. The Third Crusade. 1189—1192 161
4. The Return of Richard. 1192—1194 161
5. Heavy Taxation 162
6. The Administration of Hubert Walter. 1194—1198 163
7. Death of Richard. 1199 165
8. Church and State under the Angevin Kings 165
9. Growth of Learning 167
10. The University of Oxford 167
11. Country and Town 168
12. Condition of London 169
13. Architectural Changes 170
PART III.
THE GROWTH OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUTION. 1199-1399.
CHAPTER XII.
JOHN. 1199-1216.
1. The Accession of John. 1199 173
2. John's First War with Philip II. 1199-1200 173
3. John's Misconduct in Poitou 1200-1201 174
4. The Loss of Normandy and Anjou. 1202-1204 174
5. Causes of Philip's Success 176
6. The Election of Stephen Langton to the Archbishopric of Canterbury. 1205 176
7. Innocent III. and Stephen Langton. 1206 177
8. John's Quarrel with the Church. 1206-1208 178
9. England under an Interdict. 1208 178
10. John Excommunicated. 1209 178
11. The Pope threatens John with Deposition. 1212-1213 179
12. John's Submission. 1213 180
13. The Resistance of the Barons and Clergy. 1213 180
14. The Battle of Bouvines. 1214 181
15. The Struggle between John and the Barons. 1214-1215 181
16. Magna Carta. 1215 182
17. War between John and the Barons. 1215-1216 184
18. Conflict between Louis and John. 1216 184
CHAPTER XIII.
HENRY III. 1216-1272.
1. Henry III. and Louis. 1216-1217 185
2. The Renewal of the Great Charter. 1216-1217 185
3. Administration of Hubert de Burgh. 1219-1232 186
4. Administration of Peter des Roches. 1232-1234 188
5. Francis of Assisi 190
6. St. Dominic 190
7. The Coming of the Friars. 1220-1224 191
8. Monks and Friars 191
9. The King's Marriage. 1236 192
10. The Early Career of Simon de Montfort. 1231-1243 193
11. Papal Exactions. 1237-1243 194
12. A Weak Parliamentary Opposition. 1244 194
13. Growing Discontent. 1244-1254 195
14. The Knights of the Shire in Parliament. 1254 196
15. Fresh Exactions. 1254-1257 196
16. The Provisions of Oxford. 1258 198
17. The Expulsion of the Foreigners. 1258 199
18. Edward and the Barons. 1259 199
19. The Breach amongst the Barons. 1259—1261 199
20. Royalist Reaction and Civil War. 1261 200
21. The Mise of Amiens. 1264 200
22. The Battle of Lewes. 1264 201
23. Earl Simon's Government. 1264—1265 201
24. The Battle of Evesham. 1265 203
25. The Last Years of Henry III. 1265—1272 204
26. General Progress of the Country 206
CHAPTER XIV.
EDWARD I. AND EDWARD II.
EDWARD I., 1272—1307. EDWARD II., 1307—1327.
1. The First Years of Edward I. 1272—1279 208
2. Edward I. and Wales. 1276—1284 210
3. Customs Duties. 1275 210
4. Edward's Judicial Reforms. 1274—1290 212
5. Edward's Legislation. 1279—1290 212
6. Edward as a National and as a Feudal Ruler 212
7. The Scottish Succession. 1285—1290 214
8. Death of Eleanor of Castile. 1290 214
9. The Award of Norham. 1291—1292 215
10. Disputes with Scotland and France. 1293—1295 216
11. The Model Parliament. 1295 218
12. The First Conquest of Scotland. 1296 219
13. The Resistance of Archbishop Winchelsey. 1296—1297 220
14. The 'Confirmatio Cartarum.' 1297 220
15. Wallace's Rising. 1297—1304 221
16. The Second Conquest of Scotland. 1298—1304 221
17. The Incorporation of Scotland with England. 1305 222
18. Character of Edward's Dealings with Scotland 222
19. Robert Bruce. 1306 223
20. Edward's Third Conquest of Scotland and Death. 1306—1307 224
21. Edward II. and Piers Gaveston. 1307—1312 224
22. Success of Robert Bruce. 1307—1314 226
23. Lancaster's Government. 1314—1322 228
24. A Constitutional Settlement. 1322 228
25. The Rule of the Despensers. 1322—1326 228
26. The Deposition and Murder of Edward II. 1327 229
CHAPTER XV.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF EDWARD III. TO THE TREATY OF BRETIGNI.
1327—1360.
1. Mortimer's Government. 1327—1330 231
2. The French Succession. 1328—1331 232
3. Troubles in Scotland. 1331—1336 232
4. Dispute with France. 1336—1337 234
5. Edward's Allies. 1337—1338 235
6. Chivalry and War 235
7. Commerce and War 236
8. Attacks on the North of France. 1338—1340 237
9. Battle of Sluys. 1340 239
10. Attacks on the West of France. 1341—1345 240
11. The Campaign of Crecy. 1346 240
12. The Tactics of Crecy. 1346 241
13. The Battle of Crecy. August 26, 1346 242
14. Battle of Nevill's Cross, and the Siege of Calais. 1346—1347 242
15. Constitutional Progress. 1337—1347 243
16. Edward's Triumph. 1347 246
17. The Black Death. 1348 248
18. The Statute of Labourers. 1351 248
19. The Statute of Treasons. 1352 250
20. The Black Prince in the South of France. 1355 251
21. The Battle of Poitiers. 1356 251
22. The Courtesy of the Black Prince 252
23. Misery of France. 1356—1359 252
24. Edward's Last Invasion. 1359—1360 252
25. The Treaty of Bretigni. 1360 253
CHAPTER XVI.
REIGN OF EDWARD III. AFTER THE TREATY OF BRETIGNI.
1360—1377.
1. The First Years of Peace. 1360—1364 254
2. The Spanish Troubles. 1364—1368 254
3. The Taxation of Aquitaine. 1368—1369 256
4. The Renewed War. 1369—1375 256
5. Anti-Papal Legislation. 1351—1366 257
6. Predominance of the English Language 258
7. Piers the Plowman. 1362 258
8. The Anti-Clerical Party. 1371 259
9. The Duke of Lancaster. 1374—1376 260
10. John Wycliffe. 1366—1376 261
11. Lancaster and the Black Prince. 1376 261
12. The Good Parliament. 1376 262
13. The Last Year of Edward III. 1376—1377 262
14. Ireland from the Reign of John to that of Edward II. 264
15. The Statute of Kilkenny. 1367 265
16. Weakness of the English Colony. 1367—1377 265
CHAPTER XVII.
RICHARD II. AND THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION.
1377—1381.
1. The First Years of Richard II. 1377—1378 266
2. Wycliffe and the Great Schism. 1378—1381 266
3. The Poll Taxes. 1379—1381 267
4. The Peasants' Grievances 268
5. The Peasants' Revolt. 1381 268
6. The Suppression of the Revolt 269
7. Results of the Peasants' Revolt 269
8. Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' 270
9. The Prologue of the 'Canterbury Tales' 270
10. Chaucer and the Clergy 271
11. Roads and Bridges 272
12. Modes of Conveyance 273
13. Hospitality and Inns 274
14. Alehouses 274
15. Wanderers 274
16. Robbers and Criminals 275
17. Justices of the Peace 277
CHAPTER XVIII.
RICHARD II. AND THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
1382—1399.
1. Progress of the War with France. 1382—1386 278
2. Richard's Growing Unpopularity. 1385—1386 278
3. The Impeachment of Suffolk and the Commission of Regency. 1386 279
4. The Lords Appellant and the Merciless Parliament. 1387—1388 279
5. Richard's Restoration to Power. 1389 280
6. Richard's Constitutional Government. 1389—1396 280
7. Livery and Maintenance. 1390 281
8. Richard's Domestic Policy. 1390—1391 281
9. Richard's Foreign Policy. 1389—1396 282
10. Richard's Coup d'Etat. 1397 282
11. The Parliament of Shrewsbury. 1398 283
12. The Banishment of Hereford and Norfolk. 1398 283
13. Richard's Despotism. 1398—1399 283
14. Henry of Lancaster in England. 1399 284
15. The Deposition of Richard and the Enthronement of Henry IV. 1399 285
16. Nature of the Claim of Henry IV. 286
PART IV.
LANCASTER, YORK, AND TUDOR. 1399—1509.
CHAPTER XIX.
HENRY IV. AND HENRY V.
HENRY IV., 1399—1413. HENRY V., 1413—1422.
1. Henry's First Difficulties. 1399—1400 289
2. Death of Richard II. 1400 291
3. Henry IV. and the Church 291
4. The Statute for the Burning of Heretics. 1401 292
5. Henry IV. and Owen Glendower. 1400—1402 292
6. The Rebellion of the Percies. 1402—1404 293
7. The Commons and the Church. 1404 294
8. The Capture of the Scottish Prince. 1405 295
9. The Execution of Archbishop Scrope. 1405 296
10. France, Wales, and the North. 1405—1408 296
11. Henry, Prince of Wales. 1409—1410 297
12. The Last Years of Henry IV. 1411-1413 298
13. Henry V. and the Lollards. 1413-1414 299
14. Henry's Claim to the Throne of France. 1414 300
15. The Invasion of France. 1415 301
16. The March to Agincourt. 1415 302
17. The Battle of Agincourt, October 25, 1415 302
18. Henry's Diplomacy. 1416-1417 303
19. Henry's Conquest of Normandy. 1417-1419 303
20. The Murder of the Duke of Burgundy and the Treaty of Troyes. 1419-1420 304
21. The Close of the Reign of Henry V. 1420-1422 306
CHAPTER XX.
HENRY VI. AND THE LOSS OF FRANCE. 1422-1451.
1. Bedford and Gloucester. 1422 307
2. Bedford's Success in France. 1423-1424 307
3. Gloucester's Invasion of Hainault. 1424 308
4. Gloucester and Beaufort. 1425-1428 308
5. The Siege of Orleans. 1428-1429 309
6. Jeanne Darc and the Relief of Orleans. 1429 310
7. The Coronation of Charles VII. and the Capture of the Maid. 1429-1430 311
8. The Martyrdom at Rouen. 1431 312
9. The Last Years of the Duke of Bedford. 1431-1435 312
10. The Defection of Burgundy. 1435 313
11. The Duke of York in France. 1436-1437 313
12. The English Lose Ground. 1437-1443 313
13. Continued Rivalry of Beaufort and Gloucester. 1439-1441 314
14. Beaufort and Somerset. 1442-1443 317
15. The Angevin Marriage Treaty. 1444-1445 317
16. Deaths of Gloucester and Beaufort. 1447 318
17. The Loss of the French Provinces. 1448-1449 318
CHAPTER XXI.
THE LATER YEARS OF HENRY VI. 1450-1461.
1. The Growth of Inclosures 320
2. Increasing Power of the Nobility 321
3. Case of Lord Molynes and John Paston 321
4. Suffolk's Impeachment and Murder. 1450 322
5. Jack Cade's Rebellion. 1450 322
6. Rivalry of York and Somerset. 1450-1453 323
7. The First Protectorate of the Duke of York. 1453-1454 323
8. The First Battle of St. Albans and the Duke of York's Second Protectorate 324
9. Discomfiture of the Yorkists. 1456-1459 325
10. The Battle of Northampton and the Duke of York's Claim to the Throne. 1460 326
11. The Battle of Wakefield. 1460 327
12. The Battle of Mortimer's Cross and the Second Battle of St. Albans. 1461 328
13. The Battle of Towton and the Coronation of Edward IV. 1461 328
CHAPTER XXII.
THE YORKIST KINGS.
1461—1485.
1. Edward IV. and the House of Commons. 1461 329
2. Loss of the Mediaeval Ideals 330
3. Fresh Efforts of the Lancastrians. 1462—1465 331
4. Edward's Marriage. 1464 331
5. Estrangement of Warwick. 1465—1468 332
6. Warwick's Alliance with Clarence. 1469—1470 332
7. The Restoration of Henry VI. 1470 333
8. Edward IV. recovers the Throne. 1471 334
9. Edward IV. prepares for War with France. 1471—1474 334
10. The Invasion of France. 1475 336
11. Fall and Death of Clarence. 1476—1478 336
12. The Last Years of Edward IV. 1478—1483 336
13. Edward V. and the Duke of Gloucester. 1483 337
14. Fall of the Queen's Relations. 1483 338
15. Execution of Lord Hastings 338
16. Deposition of Edward V. 1483 340
17. Buckingham's Rebellion. 1483 341
18. Murder of the Princes. 1483 342
19. Richard's Government. 1484—1485 342
20. Richard Defeated and Slain at Bosworth. 1485 343
CHAPTER XXIII.
HENRY VII. 1485—1509.
1. The First Measures of Henry VII. 1485—1486 343
2. Maintenance and Livery 345
3. Lovel's Rising. 1486 346
4. Lancaster and York in Ireland. 1399—1485 346
5. Insurrection of Lambert Simnel. 1487 347
6. The Court of Star Chamber. 1487 348
7. Henry VII. and Brittany. 1488—1492 348
8. Cardinal Morton's Fork. 1491 349
9. The Invasion of France. 1492 349
10. Perkin Warbeck. 1491—1494 350
11. Poynings' Acts. 1494 350
12. Perkin's First Attempt on England. 1495 351
13. The Intercursus Magnus. 1496 351
14. Kildare Restored to the Deputyship. 1496 352
15. Perkin's Overthrow. 1496—1497 352
16. European Changes. 1494—1499 352
17. Execution of the Earl of Warwick. 1499 354
18. Prince Arthur's Marriage and Death. 1501—1502 354
19. The Scottish Marriage. 1503 356
20. Maritime Enterprise 356
21. Growth of the Royal Power 356
22. Empson and Dudley 357
23. Henry and his Daughter-in-law. 1502—1505 357
24. The Last Years of Henry VII. 1505—1509 357
25. Architectural Changes and the Printing Press 358
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
1. Palaeolithic flint scraper from Icklingham, Suffolk 2
2. Palaeolithic flint implement from Hoxne, Suffolk 2 (From Evans's 'Ancient Stone Implements')
3. Engraved bone from Cresswell Crags, Derbyshire 3 (From the original in the British Museum)
4. Neolithic flint arrow-head from Rudstone, Yorks 3
5. Neolithic celt or cutting instrument from Guernsey 3
6. Neolithic axe from Winterbourn Steepleton, Dorset 4 (From Evans's 'Ancient Stone Implements')
7. Example of early British pottery 4
8. 9. Examples of early British pottery 5 (From Greenwell's 'British Barrows')
10. Bronze celt from the Isle of Harty, Kent 6
11. Bronze lance-head found in Ireland 6
12. Bronze caldron found in Ireland 6 (From Evans's 'Ancient Bronze Implements')
13. View of Stonehenge 7 (From a photograph)
14. Part of a British gold corselet found at Mold, now in the British Museum 9 (From the 'Archaeologia')
15. Bust of Julius Caesar 10 (From the original in the British Museum)
16. Commemorative tablet of the Second Legion found at Halton Chesters on the Roman Wall 17
17. View of part of the Roman Wall 18
18. Ruins of a mile-castle on the Roman Wall 18 (From Bruce's 'Handbook to the Roman Wall,' 2nd edition)
19. Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester 19 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 6th edition, by J. H. Parker)
20. Pediment of a Roman temple found at Bath 20 (Reduced from the 'Archaeologia')
21. Roman altar from Rutchester 21 (From Bruce's 'Handbook to the Roman Wall', 2nd edition)
22. Plan of the city of Old Sarum 34 (From the Ordnance Survey Plan)
23. View of Old Sarum 35 (Reduced from Sir R. C. Hoare's 'History of Modern Wiltshire. Old and New Sarum')
24. Saxon church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts 51 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 6th edition, by J. H. Parker)
25. Saxon horsemen 53
26. Group of Saxon warriors 53 (From Harl. MS. 603)
27. Remains of a viking ship from Gokstad 56 (From a photograph of the original at Christiania)
28. Gold ring of AEthelwulf 57
29. Gold jewel of AElfred found at Athelney 59 (From 'Archaeological Journal')
30. An English vessel 60
31. A Saxon house 61 (From Harl. MS. 603)
32. A monk driven out of the King's presence 66 (From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
33. Rural life in the eleventh century. January to June 70
34. Rural life in the eleventh century. July to December 71 (From Cott. MS. Julius A. vi.)
35. Plan and section of a burh of the eleventh century at Laughton-en-le-Morthen, Yorks 74 (From G. T. Clark's 'Mediaeval Military Architecture')
37. Glass tumbler 76
38. Drinking-glass 76
39. Comb and case of Scandinavian type found at York 77 (From the originals in the British Museum)
40. Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes 82 (From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
41. First Great Seal of Eadward the Confessor (obverse) 86 (From an original impression)
42. Hunting. (From the Bayeux Tapestry) 87 (Reduced from 'Vetusta Monumenta,' vol. vi.)
43. Tower in the earlier style, church at Earl's Barton 91
44. Tower in the earlier style, St. Benet's church, Cambridge 91 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 6th edition, by J. H. Parker)
45. Building a church in the later style 92 (From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
46. Normans feasting; with Odo, bishop of Bayeux, saying grace. 93 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
47. Harold swearing upon the Relics. 94 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
48. A Norman ship. 95 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
49. Norman soldiers mounted. 95 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
50. Group of archers on foot. 96 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
51. Men fighting with axes. 97 (From the Bayeux Tapestry)
52. Death of Harold. (From the Bayeux Tapestry) 98 (Reduced from 'Vetusta Monumenta,' vol. vi.)
53. Coronation of a king, temp. William the Conqueror 99 (From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
54. Silver penny of William the Conqueror, struck at Romney 101 (From an original specimen)
54. Silver penny of William the Conqueror, struck at Romney 101 (From an original specimen)
55. East end of Darenth church, Kent 107 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 6th edition, by J. H. Parker)
56. Part of the nave of St. Alban's abbey church 109 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
57. Facsimile of a part of Domesday Book relating to Berkshire 112 (From the original MS. in the Public Record Office)
58. Henry I. and his queen Matilda 123 (From Hollis's 'Monumental Effigies')
59. Seal of Milo of Gloucester, showing mounted armed figure in the reign of Henry I. 125 (From an original impression)
60. Monument of Roger, bishop of Salisbury, died 1139 127 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
61. Porchester church, Hampshire, built about 1135 128 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 7th edition, by J. H. Parker)
62. Part of the nave of Durham cathedral, built about 1130 130 (From Scott's 'Mediaeval Architecture,' London, J. Murray)
63. Keep of Rochester castle, built between 1126 and 1139 132 (From a photograph by Poulton & Sons, Lee)
64. Keep of Castle Rising, built about 1140-50 133 (From a photograph)
65. Tower of Castor church, Northamptonshire, built about 1145 136 (From Britton's 'Architectural Antiquities')
66. Effigies of Henry II. and queen Eleanor 139 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
67. Ecclesiastical costume in the twelfth century 142 (From Cott. MS. Nero C. iv. f. 37)
68. A bishop ordaining a priest 144
69. Small ship of the latter part of the twelfth century 146 (From 'Harley Roll,' Y. 6)
70. Part of the choir of Canterbury cathedral, in building 1175-1184 150 (From Scott's 'Mediaeval Architecture,' London, J. Murray)
71. Mitre of archbishop Thomas of Canterbury, preserved at Sens 153 (From Shaw's 'Dresses and Decorations')
72. Military and civil costume of the latter part of the twelfth century 154 (From 'Harley Roll,' Y. 6)
73. Royal Arms of England from Richard I. to Edward III. 159 (From the wall arcade, south aisle of nave, Westminster Abbey)
74. The Galilee or Lady chapel, Durham cathedral, built by bishop Hugh of Puiset, between 1180 and 1197 160 (From Scott's 'Mediaeval Architecture,' London, J. Murray)
75. Effigy of a knight in the Temple church, London, showing armour of the end of the twelfth century 162 (From Hollis's 'Monumental Effigies')
76. Effigies of Richard I. and queen Berengaria 164 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
77. Part of the choir of Ripon cathedral, built during the last quarter of the twelfth century 166 (From Scott's 'Mediaeval Architecture,' London, J. Murray)
78. Lay costumes in the twelfth century 168
79. Costume of shepherds in the twelfth century 168 (From Cott. MS. Nero C. iv. ff. 11 and 16)
80. Hall of Oakham castle, Rutland, built about 1185 170 (From Hudson Turner's 'Domestic Architecture')
81. Norman house at Lincoln, called the Jews' House 171 (From a photograph by Carl Norman, Tunbridge Wells)
82. Effigies of king John and queen Isabella 175 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
83. Effigy of bishop Marshall of Exeter, died 1206 177 (From Murray's 'Handbook to the Southern Cathedrals')
84. Parsonage house of early thirteenth-century date at West Dean, Sussex 179 (From Hudson Turner's 'Domestic Architecture')
85. Effigy of a knight in the Temple church, London, showing armour worn between 1190 and 1225 182 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
86. Silver penny of John, struck at Dublin 184 (From an original example)
87. Effigy of Henry III. (From his tomb at Westminster) 186
88. Effigy of William Longespee, earl of Salisbury, died 1227, from his tomb at Salisbury, showing armour worn from about 1225 to 1250 187 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
89. Effigy of Simon, bishop of Exeter, died 1223 188 (From Murray's 'Handbook to the Southern Cathedrals')
90. Beverley Minster, Yorkshire, the south transept; built about 1220—1230 189 (From Britton's 'Architectural Antiquities')
91. Longthorpe manor house, Northamptonshire, built about 1235 192 (From Hudson Turner's 'Domestic Architecture')
92. A ship in the reign of Henry III. 193
93. A bed in the reign of Henry III. 196 (From Cott. MS. Nero D. i. ff. 21 and 22 b)
94. Barn of thirteenth-century date at Raunds, Northamptonshire 197 (From Hudson Turner's 'Domestic Architecture')
95. A fight between armed and mounted knights of the time of Henry III. 201 (From Cott. MS. Nero D. i. f. 4)
96. Seal of Robert Fitzwalter, showing a mounted knight in complete mail armour; date about 1265 202 (From an original impression)
97. Effigy of a knight at Gosperton, showing armour worn from about 1250 to 1300; date about 1270 203 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
98. Building operations in the reign of Henry III., with the king giving directions to the architect 204 (From Cott. MS. Nero D. i. f. 23 b)
99. East end of Westminster abbey church; begun by Henry III. in 1245 205 (From a photograph)
100. Nave of Salisbury cathedral church, looking west; date, between 1240 and 1250 206 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
101. A king and labourers in the reign of Henry III. 207 (From Cott. MS. Nero D. i. f. 21 b)
102. Great Seal of Edward I. (slightly reduced) 209 (From an original impression)
103. Group of armed knights and a king in ordinary dress; date, temp. Edward I. 211 (From Arundel MS. 83, f. 132)
104. Nave of Lichfield cathedral church, looking east; built about 1280 213 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
105. Effigy of Eleanor of Castile, queen of Edward I., in Westminster abbey 215 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
106. Cross erected near Northampton by Edward I. in memory of queen Eleanor 217 (From a photograph)
107. Sir John d'Abernoun, died 1277, from his brass at Stoke Dabernon; showing armour worn from about 1250 to 1300 219 (From Waller's 'Monumental Brasses')
108. Edward II. from his monument in Gloucester cathedral 225 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
109. Lincoln cathedral, the central tower; built about 1310 227 (From Britton's 'Architectural Antiquities')
110. Sir John de Creke, from his brass at Westley Waterless, Cambridgeshire; showing armour worn between 1300 and 1335 or 1340; date, about 1325 229 (From Waller's 'Monumental Brasses')
111. Howden church, Yorkshire, the west front 230 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 7th edition, by J. H. Parker)
112. Effigies of Edward III. and queen Philippa, from their tombs in Westminster abbey 233 (From Blore's 'Monumental Remains')
113. A knight—Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, who died 1345—receiving his helm and pennon from his wife; another lady holds his shield 236 (From the Luttrell Psalter, 'Vetusta Monumenta')
114. William of Hatfield, second son of Edward III., from his tomb in York Minster 237 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
115. York Minster, the nave, looking west 238 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
116. Royal Arms of Edward III., from his tomb 239 (From a photograph)
117. Shooting at the butts with the long bow 241
118. Contemporary view of a fourteenth-century walled town 243 (From the Luttrell Psalter, 'Vetusta Monumenta')
119. Gloucester cathedral church, the choir, looking east 244 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
120. The lord's upper chamber or solar at Sutton Courtenay manor-house; date, about 1350 245
121. Interior of the hall at Penshurst, Kent; built about 1340 246
122. A small house or cottage at Meare, Somerset; built about 1350 247
123. Norborough Hall, Northamptonshire; built about 1350 247 (From Hudson Turner's 'Domestic Architecture')
124. Ploughing 248
125. Harrowing; and a boy slinging stones at the birds 248
126. Breaking the clods with mallets 249
127. Cutting weeds 249
128. Reaping 249
129. Stacking corn 250
130. Threshing corn with a flail 250 (From the Luttrell Psalter, 'Vetusta Monumenta')
131. West front of Edington church, Wilts; built about 1360 253 (From Rickman's 'Gothic Architecture,' 7th edition, by J. H. Parker)
132. Gold noble of Edward III. 255 (From an original example)
133. Effigy of Edward the Black Prince; from his tomb at Canterbury 256 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
134. William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester 1367-1404; from his tomb at Winchester 260 (From Murray's 'Handbook to the Southern Cathedrals')
135. Tomb of Edward III. in Westminster abbey 263 (From Blore's 'Monumental Remains')
136. Figures of Edward the Black Prince and Lionel duke of Clarence; from the tomb of Edward III. 264 (From Hollis's 'Monumental Effigies')
137. Richard II. and his first queen, Anne of Bohemia; from their tomb in Westminster abbey 267 (From Hollis's 'Monumental Effigies')
138. Portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer 270 (From Harl MS. 4866)
139. A gentleman riding out with his hawk 271
140. Carrying corn, a cart going uphill 272
141. State carriage of the fourteenth century 273
142. Bear-baiting 275 (From the Luttrell Psalter, 'Vetusta Monumenta')
143. West end of the nave of Winchester cathedral church 276 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
144. Meeting of Henry of Lancaster and Richard II. at Flint 284
145. Henry of Lancaster claiming the throne 285 (From Harl MS. 1319)
146. Effigy of a knight at Clehonger, showing development of plate armour; date about 1400 287 (From Hollis's 'Monumental Effigies')
147. Henry IV. and his queen Joan of Navarre; from their tomb in Canterbury cathedral church 290 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
148. Royal arms as borne from about 1408 to 1603 291 (From a fifteenth-century seal)
149. Thomas Cranley, archbishop of Dublin; from his brass at New College, Oxford, showing the archiepiscopal costume 292 (From Waller's 'Monumental Brasses')
150. The Battle of Shrewsbury 294
151. Fight in the lists with poleaxes 297 (From Cott. MS. Julius E. iv. ff. 4 and 7)
152. Costume of a judge about 1400; from a brass at Deerhurst 298 (From Waller's 'Monumental Brasses')
153. Henry V. 300 (From an original portrait belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
154. Effigy of William Phelip, lord Bardolph; from his tomb at Dennington, Suffolk 304 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
155. Marriage of Henry V. and Catherine of France 305 (From Cott. MS. Julius E. iv. f. 22)
156. Henry VI. 308 (From an original picture in the National Portrait Gallery)
157. Fotheringay church, Northamptonshire; begun in 1434 311 (From a photograph by G. A. Nichols, Stamford)
158. and 159. Front and back views of the gilt-latten effigy of Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, died 1439; from his tomb at Warwick 314, 315 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
160. Tattershall castle, Lincolnshire; built between 1433 and 1455 316 (From a photograph by G. A. Nichols, Stamford)
161. Part of Winfield manor-house, Derbyshire; built about 1440 318 (From a photograph by R. Keene, Derby)
162. The Divinity School, Oxford; built between 1445 and 1454 319 (From a photograph by W. H. Wheeler, Oxford)
163. A sea-fight 325 (From Cott. MS. Julius E. iv. f. 18 b)
164. Effigy of Sir Robert Harcourt, K.G., showing armour worn from about 1445 to 1480 326 (From Stothard's 'Monumental Effigies')
165. Edward IV. 330 (From an original portrait belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
166. A fifteenth-century ship 333 (From Harl. MS. 2278, f. 16)
167. Large ship and boat of the fifteenth century 339 (From Cott. MS. Julius E. iv. f. 5)
168. Richard III. 341 (From an original portrait belonging to the Society of Antiquaries)
169. Henry VII. 344
170. Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII. 345 (From original pictures in the National Portrait Gallery)
171. Tudor Rose; from the chapel of Henry VII., Westminster 346
172. Tower of St. Mary's church, Taunton; built about 1500 353 (From Britton's 'Architectural Antiquities')
173. King's College Chapel, Cambridge; interior, looking east 355 (From a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Dundee)
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
I
ENGLISH KINGS FROM ECGBERHT TO HENRY I.
ECGBERHT 802-839 AETHELWULF 839-858 + -+ + + -+ AETHELBALD AETHELBERHT AETHELRED AELFRED 858-86 860-866 866-871 871-901 + -+ EADWARD AEthelflaed = AEthelred the Elder (the Lady of Ealdorman 899-924 the of the Mercians) Mercians + + + AETHELSTAN EADMUND EADRED 924-940 940-946 946-955 + -+ EADWIG AEthelflaed = EADGAR = AElfthryth 955-959 959-975 Richard I. Svend Duke of Normandy + + EADWARD AElfled = AETHELRED = EMMA = CNUT the Martyr the 1016-1035 975-979 Unready 979-1016 + -+ + + -+ EADMUND Ironside HAROLD HARTHACNUT 1016 1036-1039 1039-1042 Godwine + + + + -+ + -+ Eadmund Eadward AElfred EADWARD = Eadgyth HAROLD the AEtheling the the 1066 AEtheling Confessor 1042-1066 + + + Eadgar Margaret = Malcolm Canmore the AEtheling Eadgyth = HENRY I. (Matilda) 1100-1135
II
GENEALOGY OF THE NORMAN DUKES AND OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND FROM THE CONQUEST TO HENRY VII.
Hrolf 912-927 (?) William Longsword 927 (?)-943 Richard I., the Fearless 943-996 - + Richard II., the Good Emma = (1) AEthelred 996-1026 the Unready + - Richard III. Robert EADWARD 1026-1028 1028-1035 the Confessor ) ( ) WILLIAM I 1035-1087 King of England 1066-1087 - - -+ Robert WILLIAM II HENRY I. Adela = Stephen Duke of 1087-1100 1100-1135 Count of Normandy Blois 1087-1106 Henry V. = Matilda = Geoffrey STEPHEN Emperor Count of 1135-1154 Anjou HENRY II. 1154-1189 + + + - Henry Geoffrey RICHARD I. JOHN 1189-1199 1199-1216 HENRY III. 1216-1272 - EDWARD I. 1272-1307 EDWARD II. 1307-1327 EDWARD III 1327-1377 - + Edward the Lionel John of Gaunt Edmund Black Prince Duke of Clarence Duke of Lancaster Duke of York RICHARD II. Philippa = Edmund HENRY IV. 1377-1399 Mortimer 1399-1412 Earl of March HENRY V. 1413-1422 Roger, Earl of March HENRY VI. 1422-1461 + - Edmund Anne = Richard Earl of March Earl of Cambridge Richard, Duke of York - + EDWARD IV. RICHARD III. 1461-1483 1483-1485 + EDWARD V. Elizabeth = HENRY VII. 1483 1485-1509 (Descended from John of Gaunt by Catherine Swynford)
III
GENEALOGY OF THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND FROM DUNCAN I. TO JAMES IV.
DUNCAN I. (died 1057) + + -+ Margaret = MALCOLM III.~~~~~~~~~ DONALD BANE sister of Canmore ) 1093-1094, Edgar 1057-1093 ( restored AEtheling ) 1095-1098 ( DUNCAN II. + + + -+ 1094-1095 EDGAR ALEXANDER I. DAVID I. 1098-1107 1107-1124 1124-1153 Henry + -+ -+ + MALCOLM IV. WILLIAM David 1153-1165 the Lion Earl of Huntingdon 1165-1214 + + -+ ALEXANDER II. Margaret Isabella 1214-1249 Devorguilla = John Balliol Robert Bruce ALEXANDER III. 1249-1285 JOHN BALLIOL Robert Bruce 1292-1296 Margaret = Eric, ROBERT BRUCE King of 1306-1329 Norway + -+-+ Margaret DAVID II. Margaret = Walter (the Maid of 1329-1370 Stewart Norway) + -+ ROBERT II., Stewart or Stuart 1370-1390 ROBERT III. 1390-1406 JAMES I. 1406-1437 JAMES II. 1437-1460 JAMES III. 1460-1488 JAMES IV. 1488-1513
IV
GENEALOGY OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE FROM HUGH CAPET TO LOUIS XII.
Hugh the Great (died 956) HUGH CAPET 987-996 ROBERT 996-1031 HENRY I. 1031-1060 PHILIP I. 1060-1108 LOUIS VI. 1108-1137 LOUIS VII. 1137-1180 PHILIP II. 1180-1223 LOUIS VIII. 1223-1226 (St.) LOUIS IX 1226-1270 PHILIP III. 1270-1285 + -+ PHILIP IV. Charles 1283-1314 of Valois + -+ -+ + + PHILIP VI LOUIS X. PHILIP V. CHARLES IV. Isabella 1328-1350 1314-1316 1316-1322 1322-1328 m. Edward II. + + -+ Two Edward III. JOHN Jeanne JOHN daughters 1350-1364 (died seven days old) + -+ -+ CHARLES V. Dukes of Burgundy 1364-1380 Philip + -+ John CHARLES VI. Louis 1380-1422 Duke of Orleans Philip CHARLES VII. Charles Charles 1422-1461 Duke of Orleans LOUIS XI. LOUIS XII. 1461-1483 1498-1519 CHARLES VIII. 1483-1498
SHORTER AND SOMETIMES MORE DETAILED GENEALOGIES will be found in the following pages.
PAGE
Genealogy of the principal Northumbrian kings 41
" " English kings from Ecgberht to Eadgar 56
" " English kings from Eadgar to Eadgar the AEtheling 78
" " Danish kings 83
Genealogical connection between the Houses of England and Normandy 84
Genealogy of the Mercian Earls 85
" " family of Godwine 89
" " Conqueror's sons and children 131
" " sons and grandchildren of Henry II. 156
" " John's sons and grandsons 208
" " claimants of the Scottish throne 216
" " more important sons of Edward III. 265
" " claimants of the throne in 1399 286
" " kings of Scotland from Robert Bruce to James I. 295
" " Nevills 324
" " Houses of Lancaster and York 327
" " Beauforts and Tudors 335
" " House of York 337
" " Woodvilles and Greys 338
Abbreviated genealogy of Henry VII. and his competitors 344
Genealogy of the Houses of Spain and Burgundy 349
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
PART I.
ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
CHAPTER I.
PREHISTORIC AND ROMAN BRITAIN.
LEADING DATES
Caesar's first invasion B.C. 55 Invasion of Aulus Plautius A.D. 43 Recall of Agricola 84 Severus in Britain 208 End of the Roman Government 410
1. Palaeolithic Man of the River-Drift.—Countless ages ago, there was a period of time to which geologists have given the name of the Pleistocene Age. The part of the earth's surface afterwards called Britain was then attached to the Continent, so that animals could pass over on dry land. The climate was much colder than it is now, and it is known from the bones which have been dug up that the country was inhabited by wolves, bears, mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and other creatures now extinct. No human remains have been found amongst these bones, but there is no doubt that men existed contemporaneously with their deposit, because, in the river drift, or gravel washed down by rivers, there have been discovered flints sharpened by chipping, which can only have been produced by the hand of man. The men who used them are known as Palaeolithic, or the men of ancient stone, because these stone implements are rougher and therefore older than others which have been discovered. These Palaeolithic men of the river drift were a race of stunted savages who did not cultivate the ground, but lived on the animals which they killed, and must have had great difficulty in procuring food, as they did not know how to make handles for their sharpened flints, and must therefore have had to hold them in their hands.
2. Cave-dwelling Palaeolithic Man.—This race was succeeded by another which dwelt in caves. They, as well as their predecessors, are known as Palaeolithic men, as their weapons were still very rude. As, however, they had learnt to make handles for them, they could construct arrows, harpoons, and javelins. They also made awls and needles of stone; and, what is more remarkable, they possessed a decided artistic power, which enabled them to indicate by a few vigorous scratches the forms of horses, mammoths, reindeer, and other animals. Vast heaps of rubbish still exist in various parts of Europe, which are found to consist of the bones, shells, and other refuse thrown out by these later Palaeolithic men, who had no reverence for the dead, casting out the bodies of their relations to decay with as little thought as they threw away oyster-shells or reindeer-bones. Traces of Palaeolithic men of this type have been found as far north as Derbyshire. Their descendants are no longer be met with in these islands. The Eskimos of the extreme north of America, however, have the same artistic faculty and the same disregard for the dead, and it has therefore been supposed that the cave-dwelling men were of the race to which the modern Eskimos belong.
3. Neolithic Man.—Ages passed away during which the climate became more temperate, and the earth's surface in these regions sank to a lower level. The seas afterwards known as the North Sea and the English Channel flowed over the depression; and an island was thus formed out of land which had once been part of the continent. After this process had taken place, a third race appeared, which must have crossed the sea in rafts or canoes, and which took the place of the Palaeolithic men. They are known as Neolithic, or men of the new stone age, because their stone implements were of a newer kind, being polished and more efficient than those of their predecessors. They had, therefore, the advantage of superior weapons, and perhaps of superior strength, and were able to overpower those whom they found in the island. With their stone axes they made clearings in the woods in which to place their settlements. They brought with them domestic animals, sheep and goats, dogs and pigs. They spun thread with spindle and distaff, and wove it into cloth upon a loom. They grew corn and manufactured a rude kind of pottery. Each tribe lived in a state of war with its neighbours. A tribe when attacked in force took shelter on the hills in places of refuge, which were surrounded by lofty mounds and ditches. Many of these places of refuge are still to be seen, as, for instance, the one which bears the name of Maiden Castle, near Dorchester. On the open hills, too, are still to be found the long barrows which the Neolithic men raised over the dead. There is little doubt that these men, whose way of life was so superior to that of their Eskimo-like predecessors, were of the race now known as Iberian, which at one time inhabited a great part of Western Europe, but which has since mingled with other races. The Basques of the Pyrenees are the only Iberians who still preserve anything like purity of descent, though even the Basques have in them blood the origin of which is not Iberian.
4. Celts and Iberians.—The Iberians were followed by a swarm of new-comers called Celts. The Celts belong to a group of races sometimes known as the Aryan group, to which also belong Teutons, Slavonians, Italians, Greeks, and the chief ancient races of Persia and India. The Celts were the first to arrive in the West, where they seized upon lands in Spain, in Gaul, and in Britain, which the Iberians had occupied before them. They did not, however, destroy the Iberians altogether. However careful a conquering tribe maybe to preserve the purity of its blood, it rarely succeeds in doing so. The conquerors are sure to preserve some of the men of the conquered race as slaves, and a still larger number of young and comely women who become the mothers of their children. In time the slaves and the children learn to speak the language of their masters or fathers. Thus every European population is derived from many races.
5. The Celts in Britain.—The Celts were fair-haired and taller than the Iberians, whom they conquered or displaced. They had the advantage of being possessed of weapons of bronze, for which even the polished stone weapons of the Iberians were no match. They burned instead of burying their dead, and raised over the ashes those round barrows which are still to be found intermingled with the long barrows of the Iberians.
6. Goidels and Britons.—The earliest known name given to this island was Albion. It is uncertain whether the word is of Celtic or of Iberian origin. The later name Britain is derived from a second swarm of Celts called Brythons or Britons, who after a long interval followed the first Celtic immigration. The descendants of these first immigrants are distinguished from the new-comers by the name of Goidels, and it is probable that they were at one time settled in Britain as well as in Ireland, and that they were pushed across the sea into Ireland by the stronger and more civilised Britons. At all events, when history begins Goidels were only to be found in Ireland, though at a later time they colonised a part of what is now known as Scotland, and sent some offshoots into Wales. At present the languages derived from that of the Goidels are the Gaelic of the Highlands, the Manx of the Isle of Man, and the Erse of Ireland. The only language now spoken in the British Isles which is derived from that of the Britons is the Welsh; but the old Cornish language, which was spoken nearly up to the close of the eighteenth century, came from the same stock. It is therefore likely that the Britons pushed the Goidels northward and westward, as the Goidels had formerly pushed the Iberians in the same directions. It was most likely that the Britons erected the huge stone circle of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, though it is not possible to speak with certainty. That of Avebury is of an earlier date and uncertain origin. Both were probably intended to serve as monuments of the dead, though it is sometimes supposed that they were also used as temples.
7. Phoenicians and Greeks.—The most civilised nations of the ancient world were those which dwelt round the Mediterranean Sea. It was long supposed that the Phoenicians came to Britain from the coast of Syria, or from their colonies at Carthage and in the south of Spain, for the tin which they needed for the manufacture of bronze. The peninsula of Devon and Cornwall is the only part of the island which produces tin, and it has therefore been thought that the Cassiterides, or tin islands, which the Phoenicians visited, were to be found in that region. It has, however, been recently shown that the Cassiterides were most probably off the coast of Galicia, in Spain, and the belief that Phoenicians visited Britain for tin must therefore be considered to be very doubtful. The first educated visitor who reached Britain was Pytheas, a Greek, who was sent by the merchants of the Greek colony of Massalia (Marseilles) about 330 B.C. to make discoveries which might lead to the opening across Gaul of a trade-route between Britain and their city. It was probably in consequence of the information which he carried to Massalia on his return that there sprang up a trade in British tin. Another Greek, Posidonius, who came to Britain about two centuries after Pytheas, found this trade in full working order. The tin was brought by land from the present Devon or Cornwall to an island called Ictis, which was only accessible on foot after the tide had ebbed. This island was probably Thanet, which was in those days cut off from the mainland by an arm of the sea which could be crossed on foot at low water. From Thanet the tin was carried into Gaul across the straits, and was then conveyed in waggons to the Rhone to be floated down to the Mediterranean.
8. Gauls and Belgians in Britain.—During the time when this trade was being carried on, tribes of Gauls and Belgians landed in Britain. The Gauls were certainly, and the Belgians probably, of the same Celtic race as that which already occupied the island. The Gauls settled on the east coast as far as the Fens and the Wash, whilst the Belgians occupied the south coast, and pushed northwards towards the Somerset Avon. Nothing is known of the relations between the new-comers and the older Celtic inhabitants. Most likely those who arrived last contented themselves with mastering those whom they defeated, without attempting to exterminate them. At all events, states of some extent were formed by the conquerors. Thus the Cantii occupied the open ground to the north of the great forest which then filled the valley between the chalk ranges of the North and South Downs; the Trinobantes dwelt between the Lea and the Essex Stour; the Iceni occupied the peninsula between the Fens and the sea which was afterwards known as East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk); and the Catuvellauni dwelt to the west of the Trinobantes, spreading over the modern Hertfordshire and the neighbouring districts.
9. Culture and War.—Though there were other states in Britain, the tribes which have been named had the advantage of being situated on the south-eastern part of the island, and therefore of being in commercial communication with the continental Gauls of their own race and language. Trade increased, and brought with it the introduction of some things which the Britons would not have invented for themselves. For instance, the inhabitants of the south-east of Britain began to use gold coins and decorations in imitation of those which were then common in Gaul. Yet, in spite of these improvements, even the most civilised Britons were still in a rude and barbarous condition. They had no towns, but dwelt in scattered huts. When they were hard pressed by an enemy they took refuge in an open space cleared in the woods, and surrounded by a high earthwork crowned by a palisade and guarded by felled trees. When they went out to battle they dyed their faces in order to terrify their enemies. Their warriors made use of chariots, dashing in them along the front of the enemy's line till they espied an opening in his ranks. They then leapt down and charged on foot into the gap. Their charioteers in the meanwhile drove off the horses to a safe distance, so as to be ready to take up their comrades if the battle went against them.
10. Religion of the Britons.—The Celtic races worshipped many gods. In Gaul, the Druids, who were the ministers of religion, taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and even gave moral instruction to the young. In Ireland, and perhaps in Britain, they were conjurers and wizards. Both in Gaul and Britain they kept up the traditional belief which had once been prevalent in all parts of the world, that the gods could only be appeased by human sacrifices. It was supposed that they needed either to drink human blood or to be supplied with human slaves, and that the only way to give them what they wanted was to despatch as many human beings as possible into the other world. The favourite way of doing this was to construct a huge wicker basket in the shape of a man, to cram it with men and women, and to set it on fire. At other times a Druid would cut open a single human victim, and would imagine that he could foretell the future by inspecting the size and appearance of the entrails.
11. The Romans in Gaul. B.C. 55.—In the year 55 B.C. the Celts of south-eastern Britain first came in contact with a Roman army. The Romans were a civilised people, and had been engaged for some centuries in conquering the peoples living round the Mediterranean. They possessed disciplined armies, and a regular government. By the beginning of the year the Roman general, Gaius Julius Caesar, had made himself master of Gaul. Then, after driving back with enormous slaughter two German tribes which had invaded Gaul, he crossed the Rhine, not because he wished to conquer Germany, but because he wished to strike terror into the Germans in order to render them unwilling to renew their attack. This march into Germany seems to have suggested to Caesar the idea of invading Britain. It is most unlikely that he thought of conquering the island, as he had quite enough to do in Gaul. What he really wanted was to prevent the Britons from coming to the help of their kindred whom he had just subdued, and he would accomplish this object best by landing on their shores and showing them how formidable a Roman army was.
12. Caesar's First Invasion. B.C. 55.—Accordingly, towards the end of August, Caesar crossed the straits with about 10,000 men. There is some uncertainty about the place of his landing, but he probably first appeared off the spot at which Dover now stands, and then, being alarmed at the number of the Britons who had crowded to defend the coast, made his way by sea to the site of the modern Deal. There, too, his landing was opposed, but he managed to reach the shore with his army. He soon found, however, that the season was too advanced to enable him to accomplish anything. A storm having damaged his shipping and driven off the transports on which was embarked his cavalry, he returned to Gaul.
13. Caesar's Second Invasion. B.C. 54—Caesar had hitherto failed to strike terror into the Britons. In the following year he started in July, so as to have many weeks of fine weather before him, taking with him as many as 25,000 foot and 2,000 horse. After effecting a landing he pushed inland to the Kentish Stour, where he defeated the natives and captured one of their stockades. Good soldiers as the Romans were, they were never quite at home on the sea, and Caesar was recalled to the coast by the news that the waves had dashed to pieces a large number of his ships. As soon as he had repaired the damage he resumed his march. His principal opponent was Cassivelaunus, the chief of the tribe of the Catuvellauni, who had subdued many of the neighbouring tribes, and whose stronghold was a stockade near the modern St. Albans. This chief and his followers harassed the march of the Romans with the rush of their chariots. If Cassivelaunus could have counted upon the continued support of all his warriors, he might perhaps have succeeded in forcing Caesar to retreat, as the country was covered with wood and difficult to penetrate. Many of the tribes, however, which now served under him longed to free themselves from his rule. First, the Trinobantes and then four other tribes broke away from him and sought the protection of Caesar. Caesar, thus encouraged, dashed at his stockade and carried it by storm. Cassivelaunus abandoned the struggle, gave hostages to Caesar, and promised to pay a yearly tribute. On this Caesar returned to Gaul. Though the tribute was never paid, he had gained his object. He had sufficiently frightened the British tribes to make it unlikely that they would give him any annoyance in Gaul.
14. South-eastern Britain after Caesar's Departure. B.C. 54—A.D. 43.—For nearly a century after Caesar's departure Britain was left to itself. The Catuvellauni recovered the predominance which they had lost. Their chieftain, Cunobelin, the original of Shakspere's Cymbeline, is thought to have been a grandson of Cassivelaunus. He established his power over the Trinobantes as well as over his own people, and made Camulodunum, the modern Colchester, his headquarters. Other tribes submitted to him as they had submitted to his grandfather. The prosperity of the inhabitants of south-eastern Britain increased more rapidly than the prosperity of their ancestors had increased before Caesar's invasion. Traders continued to flock over from Gaul, bringing with them a knowledge of the arts and refinements of civilised life, and those arts and refinements were far greater now that Gaul was under Roman rule than they had been when its Celtic tribes were still independent. Yet, in spite of the growth of trade, Britain was still a rude and barbarous country. Its exports were but cattle and hides, corn, slaves, and hunting dogs, together with a few dusky pearls.
15. The Roman Empire.—The Roman state was now a monarchy. The Emperor was the head of the army, as well as the head of the state. Though he was often a cruel oppressor of the wealthy personages who lived in Rome itself, and whose rivalry he feared, he, for the most part, sought to establish his power by giving justice to the provinces which had once been conquered by Rome, but were now admitted to share in the advantages of good government which the Empire had to give. One consequence of the conquest of nations by Rome was that there was now an end to cruel wars between hostile tribes. An army was stationed on the frontier of the Empire to defend it against barbarian attacks. In the interior the Roman peace, as it was called, prevailed, and there was hardly any need of soldiers to keep order and to maintain obedience.
16. The Invasion of Aulus Plautius. A.D. 43.—One question which each Emperor had to ask himself was whether he would attempt to enlarge the limits of the Empire or not. For a time each Emperor had resolved to be content with the frontier which Caesar had left. There had consequently for many years been no thought of again invading Britain. At last the Emperor Claudius reversed this policy. There is reason to suppose that some of the British chiefs had made an attack upon the coasts of Gaul. However this may have been, Claudius in 43 sent Aulus Plautius against Togidumnus and Caratacus, the sons of Cunobelin, who were now ruling in their father's stead. Where one tribe has gained supremacy over others, it is always easy for a civilised power to gain allies amongst the tribes which have been subdued. Caesar had overpowered Cassivelaunus by enlisting on his side the revolted Trinobantes, and Aulus Plautius now enlisted on his side the Regni, who dwelt in the present Sussex, and the Iceni, who dwelt in the present Norfolk and Suffolk. With their aid, Aulus Plautius, at the head of 40,000 men, defeated the sons of Cunobelin. Togidumnus was slain, and Caratacus driven into exile. The Romans then took possession of their lands, and, stepping into their place, established over the tribes chieftains who were now dependent on the Emperor instead of on Togidumnus and Caratacus. Claudius himself came for a brief visit to receive the congratulations of the army on the victory which his lieutenant had won. Aulus Plautius remained in Britain till 47. Before he left it the whole of the country to the south of a line drawn from the Wash to some point on the Severn had been subjugated. The mines of the Mendips and of the western peninsula were too tempting to be left unconquered, and it is probably their attraction which explains the extension of Roman power at so early a date over the hilly country in the west.
17. The Colony of Camulodunum.—In 47 Aulus Plautius was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula. He disarmed the tribes dwelling to the west of the Trent, whilst he attempted to establish the Roman authority more firmly over those whose territory lay to the east of that river. Amongst these later were the Iceni, who had been hitherto allowed to preserve their native government in dependence on the Roman power. The consequence was that they rose in arms. Ostorius overpowered them, and then sought to strengthen his hold upon the south-east of Britain by founding (51) a Roman colony at Camulodunum, which had formerly been the headquarters of Cunobelin. Roman settlers—for the most part discharged soldiers—established themselves in the new city, bringing with them all that belonged to Roman life with all its conveniences and luxuries. Roman temples, theatres, and baths quickly rose, and Ostorius might fairly expect that in Britain, as in Gaul, the native chiefs would learn to copy the easy life of the new citizens, and would settle their quarrels in Roman courts of law instead of taking arms on their own behalf.
18. The Conquests of Ostorius Scapula.—Ostorius, however, was soon involved in fresh troubles. Nothing is more difficult for a civilised power than to guard a frontier against barbarous tribes. Such tribes are accustomed to plunder one another, and they are quick to perceive that the order and peace which a civilised power establishes offers them a richer booty than is to be found elsewhere. The tribes beyond the line which Ostorius held were constantly breaking through to plunder the Roman territory, and he soon found that he must either allow the lands of Roman subjects to be plundered, or must carry war amongst the hostile tribes. He naturally chose the latter alternative, and the last years of his government were spent in wars with the Ordovices of Central Wales, and with the Silures of Southern Wales. The Silures were not only a most warlike people, but they were led by Caratacus, who had taken refuge with them after his defeat by Aulus Plautius in the east. The mountainous region which these two tribes defended made it difficult to subdue them, and though Caratacus was defeated (50), and ultimately captured and sent as a prisoner to Rome, Ostorius did not succeed in effectually mastering his hardy followers. The proof of his comparative failure lies in the fact that he established strong garrison towns along the frontier of the hilly region, which he would not have done unless he had considered it necessary to have a large number of soldiers ready to check any possible rising. At the northern end of the line was Deva (Chester), at the southern was Isca Silurum (Caerleon upon Usk) and in each of which was placed a whole legion, about 5,000 men. Between them was the smaller post of Uriconium, or more properly Viriconium (Wroxeter), the city of the Wrekin.
19. Government of Suetonius Paullinus. 58.—When Suetonius Paullinus arrived to take up the government, he resolved to complete the conquest of the west by an attack on Mona (Anglesey). In Mona was a sacred place of the Druids, who gave encouragement to the still independent Britons by their murderous sacrifices and their soothsayings. When Suetonius attempted to land (61), a rabble of women, waving torches and shrieking defiance, rushed to meet him on the shore. Behind them the Druids stood calling down on the intruders the vengeance of the gods. At first the soldiers were terrified and shrunk back. Then they recovered courage, and put to the sword or thrust into the flames the priests and their female rout. The Romans were tolerant of the religion of the peoples whom they subdued, but they could not put up with the continuance of a cruel superstition whose upholders preached resistance to the Roman government.
20. Boadicea's Insurrection. 61.—At the very moment of success Suetonius was recalled hurriedly to the east. Roman officers and traders had misused the power which had been given them by the valour of Roman soldiers. Might had been taken for right, and the natives were stripped of their lands and property at the caprice of the conquerors. Those of the natives to whom anything was left were called upon to pay a taxation far too heavy for their means. When money was not to be found to satisfy the tax-gatherer, a Roman usurer was always at hand to proffer the required sum at enormous interest, after which the unhappy borrower who accepted the proposal soon found himself unable to pay the debt, and was stripped of all that he possessed to satisfy the cravings of the lender. Those who resisted this oppression were treated as the meanest criminals. Boadicea, the widow of Prasutagus, who had been the chief of the Iceni, was publicly flogged, and her two daughters were subjected to the vilest outrage. She called upon the whole Celtic population of the east and south to rise against the foreign tyrants. Thousands answered to her call, and the angry host rushed to take vengeance upon the colonists of Camulodunum. The colonists had neglected to fortify their city, and the insurgents, bursting in, slew by the sword or by torture men and women alike. The massacre spread wherever Romans were to be found. A Roman legion hastening to the rescue was routed, and the small force of cavalry attached to it alone succeeded in making its escape. Every one of the foot soldiers was slaughtered on the spot. It is said that 70,000 Romans perished in the course of a few days.
21. The Vengeance of Suetonius.—Suetonius was no mean general, and he hastened back to the scene of destruction. He called on the commander of the legion at Isca Silurum to come to his help. Cowardice was rare in a Roman army, but this officer was so unnerved by terror that he refused to obey the orders of his general, and Suetonius had to march without him. He won a decisive victory at some unknown spot, probably not far from Camulodunum, and 80,000 Britons are reported to have been slain by the triumphant soldiery. Boadicea committed suicide by poison. The commander of the legion at Isca Silurum also put an end to his own life, in order to escape the punishment which he deserved. Suetonius had restored the Roman authority in Britain, but it was to his failure to control his subordinates that the insurrection had been due, and he was therefore promptly recalled by the Emperor Nero. From that time no more is heard of the injustice of the Roman government.
22. Agricola in Britain. 78—84.—Agricola, who arrived as governor in 78, took care to deal fairly with all sorts of men, and to make the natives thoroughly satisfied with his rule. He completed the conquest of the country afterwards known as Wales, and thereby pushed the western frontier of Roman Britain to the sea. Yet from the fact that he found it necessary still to leave garrisons at Deva and Isca Silurum, it may be gathered that the tribes occupying the hill country were not so thoroughly subdued as to cease to be dangerous. Although the idea entertained by Ostorius of making a frontier on land towards the west had thus been abandoned, it was still necessary to provide a frontier towards the north. Even before Agricola arrived it had been shown to be impossible to stop at the line between the Mersey and the Humber. Beyond that line was the territory of the Brigantes, who had for some time occupied the position which in the first years of the Roman conquest had been occupied by the Iceni—that is to say, they were in friendly dependence upon Rome, without being actually controlled by Roman authority. Before Agricola's coming disputes had arisen with them, and Roman soldiers had occupied their territory. Agricola finished the work of conquest. He now governed the whole of the country as far north as to the Solway and the Tyne, and he made Eboracum, the name of which changed in course of time into York, the centre of Roman power in the northern districts. A garrison was established there to watch for any danger which might come from the extreme north, as the garrisons of Deva and Isca Silurum watched for dangers which might come from the west.
23. Agricola's Conquests in the North.—Agricola thought that there would be no real peace unless the whole island was subdued. For seven years he carried on warfare with this object before him. He had comparatively little difficulty in reducing to obedience the country south of the narrow isthmus which separates the estuary of the Clyde from the estuary of the Forth. Before proceeding further he drew a line of forts across that isthmus to guard the conquered country from attack during his absence. He then made his way to the Tay, but he had not marched far up the valley of that river before he reached the edge of the Highlands. The Caledonians, as the Romans then called the inhabitants of those northern regions, were a savage race, and the mountains in the recesses of which they dwelt were rugged and inaccessible, offering but little means of support to a Roman army. In 84 the Caledonians, who, like all barbarians when they first come in contact with a civilised people, were ignorant of the strength of a disciplined army, came down from their fortresses in the mountains into the lower ground. A battle was fought near the Graupian Hill, which seems to have been situated at the junction of the Isla and the Tay. Agricola gained a complete victory, but he was unable to follow the fugitives into their narrow glens, and he contented himself with sending his fleet to circumnavigate the northern shores of the island, so as to mark out the limits of the land which he still hoped to conquer. Before the fleet returned, however, he was recalled by the Emperor Domitian. It has often been said that Domitian was jealous of his success; but it is possible that the Emperor really thought that the advantage to be gained by the conquest of rugged mountains would be more than counterbalanced by the losses which would certainly be incurred in consequence of the enormous difficulty of the task.
24. The Roman Walls.—Agricola, in addition to his line of forts between the Forth and the Clyde, had erected detached forts at the mouth of the valleys which issue from the Highlands, in order to hinder the Caledonians from plundering the lower country. In 119 the Emperor Hadrian visited Britain. He was more disposed to defend the Empire than to extend it, and though he did not abandon Agricola's forts, he also built further south a continuous stone wall between the Solway and the Tyne. This wall, which, together with an earthwork of earlier date, formed a far stronger line of defence than the more northern forts, was intended to serve as a second barrier to keep out the wild Caledonians if they succeeded in breaking through the first. At a later time a lieutenant of the Emperor, Antoninus Pius, who afterwards became Emperor himself, connected Agricola's forts between the Forth and Clyde by a continuous earthwork. In 208 the Emperor Severus arrived in Britain, and after strengthening still further the earthwork between the Forth and Clyde, he attempted to carry out the plans of Agricola by conquering the land of the Caledonians. Severus, however, failed as completely as Agricola had failed before him, and he died soon after his return to Eboracum.
25. The Roman Province of Britain.—Very little is known of the history of the Roman province of Britain, except that it made considerable progress in civilisation. The Romans were great road-makers, and though their first object was to enable their soldiers to march easily from one part of the country to another, they thereby encouraged commercial intercourse. Forests were to some extent cleared away by the sides of the new roads, and fresh ground was thrown open to tillage. Mines were worked and country houses built, the remains of which are in some places still to be seen, and bear testimony to the increased well-being of a population which, excepting in the south-eastern part of the island, had at the arrival of the Romans been little removed from savagery. Cities sprang up in great numbers. Some of them were at first garrison towns, like Eboracum, Deva, and Isca Silurum. Others, like Verulamium, near the present St. Albans, occupied the sites of the old stockades once used as places of refuge by the Celts, or, like Lindum, on the top of the hill on which Lincoln Cathedral now stands, were placed in strongly defensible positions. Aquae Sulis, the modern Bath, owes its existence to its warm medicinal springs. The chief port of commerce was Londinium, the modern London. Attempts which have been made to explain its name by the Celtic language have failed, and it is therefore possible that an inhabited post existed there even before the Celts arrived. Its importance was, however, owing to its position, and that importance was not of a kind to tell before a settled system of commercial intercourse sprang up. London was situated on the hill on which St. Paul's now stands. There first, after the Thames narrowed into a river, the merchant found close to the stream hard ground on which he could land his goods. The valley for some distance above and below it was then filled with a wide marsh or an expanse of water. An old track raised above the marsh crossed the river by a ford at Lambeth, but, as London grew in importance, a ferry was established where London Bridge now stands, and the Romans, in course of time, superseded the ferry by a bridge. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Roman roads both from the north and from the south converged upon London. Just as Eboracum was a fitting centre for military operations directed to the defence of the northern frontier, London was the fitting centre of a trade carried on with the Continent, and the place would increase in importance in proportion to the increase of that trade.
26. Extinction of Tribal Antagonism.—The improvement of communications and the growth of trade and industry could not fail to influence the mind of the population. Wars between tribes, which before the coming of the Romans had been the main employment of the young and hardy, were now things of the past. The mutual hatred which had grown out of them had died away, and even the very names of Trinobantes and Brigantes were almost forgotten. Men who lived in the valley of the Severn came to look upon themselves as belonging to the same people as men who lived in the valleys of the Trent or the Thames. The active and enterprising young men were attracted to the cities, at first by the novelty of the luxurious habits in which they were taught to indulge, but afterwards because they were allowed to take part in the management of local business. In the time of the Emperor Caracalla, the son of Severus, every freeman born in the Empire was declared to be a Roman citizen, and long before that a large number of natives had been admitted to citizenship. In each district a council was formed of the wealthier and more prominent inhabitants, and this council had to provide for the building of temples, the holding of festivals, the erection of fortifications, and the laying out of streets. Justice was done between man and man according to the Roman law, which was the best law that the world had seen, and the higher Roman officials, who were appointed by the Emperor, took care that justice was done between city and city. No one therefore, wished to oppose the Roman government or to bring back the old times of barbarism.
27. Want of National Feeling.—Great as was the progress made, there was something still wanting. A people is never at its best unless those who compose it have some object for which they can sacrifice themselves, and for which, if necessary, they will die. The Briton had ceased to be called upon to die for his tribe, and he was not expected to die for Britain. Britain had become a more comfortable country to live in, but it was not the business of its own inhabitants to guard it. It was a mere part of the vast Roman Empire, and it was the duty of the Emperors to see that the frontier was safely kept. They were so much afraid lest any particular province should wish to set up for itself and to break away from the Empire, that they took care not to employ soldiers born in that province for its protection. They sent British recruits to guard the Danube or the Euphrates, and Gauls, Spaniards, or Africans to guard the wall between the Solway and the Tyne, and the entrenchment between the Forth and the Clyde. Britons, therefore, looked on their own defence as something to be done for them by the Emperors, not as something to be done by themselves. They lived on friendly terms with one another, but they had nothing of what we now call patriotism.
28. Carausius and Allectus. 288—296.—In 288 Carausius, with the help of some pirates, seized on the government of Britain and threw off the authority of the Emperor. He was succeeded by Allectus, yet neither Carausius nor Allectus thought of making himself the head of a British nation. They called themselves Emperors and ruled over Britain alone, merely because they could not get more to rule over.
29. Constantius and Constantine. 296—337.—Allectus was overthrown and slain by Constantius, who, however, did not rule, as Carausius and Allectus had done, by mere right of military superiority. The Emperor Diocletian (285—305) discovered that the whole Empire, stretching from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, was too extensive for one man to govern, and he therefore decreed that there should in future be four governors, two principal ones named Emperors (Augusti), and two subordinate ones named Caesars. Constantius was first a Caesar and afterwards an Emperor. He was set to govern Spain, Gaul, and Britain, but he afterwards became Emperor himself, and for some time established himself at Eboracum (York). Upon his death (306), his son Constantine, after much fighting, made himself sole Emperor (325), overthrowing the system of Diocletian. Yet in one respect he kept up Diocletian's arrangements. He placed Spain, Gaul, and Britain together under a great officer called a Vicar, who received orders from himself and who gave orders to the officers who governed each of the three countries. Under the new system, as under the old, Britain was not treated as an independent country. It had still to look for protection to an officer who lived on the Continent, and was therefore apt to be more interested in Gaul and Spain than he was in Britain.
30. Christianity in Britain.—When the Romans put down the Druids and their bloody sacrifices, they called the old Celtic gods by Roman names, but made no further alteration in religious usages. Gradually, however, Christianity spread amongst the Romans on the Continent, and merchants or soldiers who came from the Continent introduced it into Britain. Scarcely anything is known of its progress in the island. Alban is said to have been martyred at Verulamium, and Julius and Aaron at Isca Silurum. In 314 three British bishops attended a council held at Arles in Gaul. Little more than these few facts have been handed down, but there is no doubt that there was a settled Church established in the island. The Emperor Constantine acknowledged Christianity as the religion of the whole Empire. The remains of a church of this period have recently been discovered at Silchester.
31. Weakness of the Empire.—The Roman Empire in the time of Constantine had the appearance rather than the reality of strength. Its taxation was very heavy, and there was no national enthusiasm to lead men to sacrifice themselves in its defence. Roman citizens became more and more unwilling to become soldiers at all, and the Roman armies were now mostly composed of barbarians. At the same time the barbarians outside the Empire were growing stronger, as the tribes often coalesced into wide confederacies for the purpose of attacking the Empire.
32. The Picts and Scots.—The assailants of Britain on the north and the west were the Picts and Scots. The Picts were the same as the Caledonians of the time of Agricola. We do not know why they had ceased to be called Caledonians. The usual derivation of their name from the Latin Pictus, said to have been given them because they painted their bodies, is inaccurate. Opinions differ whether they were Goidels with a strong Iberian strain, or Iberians with a Goidelic admixture. They were probably Iberians, and at all events they were more savage than the Britons had been before they were influenced by Roman civilisation. The Scots, who afterwards settled in what is now known as Scotland, at that time dwelt in Ireland. Whilst the Picts, therefore, assailed the Roman province by land, and strove, not always unsuccessfully, to break through the walls which defended its northern frontier, the Scots crossed the Irish Sea in light boats to plunder and slay before armed assistance could arrive.
33. The Saxons.—The Saxons, who were no less deadly enemies of the Roman government, were as fierce and restless as the Picts and Scots, and were better equipped and better armed. At a later time they established themselves in Britain as conquerors and settlers, and became the founders of the English nation; but at first they were only known as cruel and merciless pirates. In their long flat-bottomed vessels they swooped down upon some undefended part of the coast and carried off not only the property of wealthy Romans, but even men and women to be sold in the slave-market. The provincials who escaped related with peculiar horror how the Saxons were accustomed to torture to death one out of every ten of their captives as a sacrifice to their gods.
34. Origin of the Saxons.—The Saxons were the more dangerous because it was impossible for the Romans to reach them in their homes. They were men of Teutonic race, speaking one of the languages, afterwards known as Low German, which were once spoken in the whole of North Germany. The Saxon pirates were probably drawn from the whole of the sea coast stretching from the north of the peninsula of Jutland to the mouth of the Ems, and if so, there were amongst them Jutes, whose homes were in Jutland itself; Angles, who inhabited Schleswig and Holstein; and Saxons, properly so called, who dwelt about the mouth of the Elbe and further to the west. All these peoples afterwards took part in the conquest of southern Britain, and it is not unlikely that they all shared in the original piratical attacks. Whether this was the case or not, the pirates came from creeks and inlets outside the Roman Empire, whose boundary was the Rhine, and they could therefore only be successfully repressed by a power with a good fleet, able to seek out the aggressors in their own homes and to stop the mischief at its source.
35. The Roman Defence.—The Romans had always been weak at sea, and they were weaker now than they had been in earlier days. They were therefore obliged to content themselves with standing on the defensive. Since the time of Severus, Britain had been divided, for purposes of defence, into Upper and Lower Britain. Though there is no absolute certainty about the matter, it is probable that Upper Britain comprised the hill country of the west and north, and that Lower Britain was the south-eastern part of the island, marked off by a line drawn irregularly from the Humber to the Severn.[1] Lower Britain in the early days of the Roman conquest had been in no special need of military protection. In the fourth century it was exposed more than the rest of the island to the attacks of the Saxon pirates. Fortresses were erected between the Wash and Beachy Head at every point at which an inlet of the sea afforded an opening to an invader. The whole of this part of the coast became known as the Saxon Shore, because it was subjected to attacks from the Saxons, and a special officer known as the Count of the Saxon Shore was appointed to take charge of it. An officer known as the Duke of the Britains (Dux Britanniarum) commanded the armies of Upper Britain; whilst a third, who was a civilian, and superior in rank over the other two, was the Count of Britain, and had a general supervision of the whole country.
[Footnote 1: There were also four smaller divisions, ultimately increased to five. All that is known about their position is that they were not where they are placed in our atlases.]
36. End of the Roman Government. 383—410.—In 383 Maximus, who was probably the Duke of the Britains, was proclaimed Emperor by his soldiers. If he could have contented himself with defending Britain, it would have mattered little whether he chose to call himself an Emperor or a Duke. Unhappily for the inhabitants of the island, not only did every successful soldier want to be an Emperor, but every Emperor wanted to govern the whole Empire. Maximus, therefore, instead of remaining in Britain, carried a great part of his army across the sea to attempt a conquest of Gaul and Spain. Neither he nor his soldiers ever returned, and in consequence the Roman garrison in the island was deplorably weakened. Early in the fifth century an irruption of barbarians gave full employment to the army which defended Gaul, so that it was impossible to replace the forces which had followed Maximus by fresh troops from the Continent. The Roman Empire was in fact breaking up. The defence of Britain was left to the soldiers who remained in the island, and in 409 they proclaimed a certain Constantine Emperor. Constantine, like Maximus, carried his soldiers across the Channel in pursuit of a wider empire than he could find in Britain. He was himself murdered, and his soldiers, like those of Maximus, did not return. In 410 the Britons implored the Emperor Honorius to send them help. Honorius had enough to do to ward off the attacks of barbarians nearer Rome, and announced to the Britons that they must provide for their own defence. From this time Britain ceased to form part of the Roman Empire.
CHAPTER II.
THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS.
LEADING DATES
Landing of the Jutes in Thanet A.D. 449? The West Saxons defeated at Mount Badon 520 The West Saxons take Sorbiodunum 552 Battle of Deorham 577 The West Saxons defeated at Faddiley 584
1. Britain after the Departure of the Romans. 410—449?—After the departure of the Romans, the Picts from the north and the Scots from Ireland continued their ravages, but though they caused terrible misery by slaughtering or dragging into slavery the inhabitants of many parts of the country, they did not succeed in making any permanent conquests. The Britons were not without a government and an armed force; and their later history shows that they were capable of carrying on war for a long time against enemies more formidable than the Picts and Scots. Their rulers were known by the British title Gwledig, and probably held power in different parts of the island as the successors of the Roman Duke of the Britains and of the Roman Count of the Saxon Shore. Their power of resistance to the Picts and the Scots was, however, weakened by the impossibility of turning their undivided attention to these marauders, as at the same time that they had, to defend the Roman Wall and the western coast against the Picts and Scots, they were exposed on the eastern coast to the attacks of the Saxon pirates. |
|
