priests no longer. This was some juggling of Dunstan's. There is not much doubt that he was killed. and made war against him with great fury.

or whether he ever returned to his own dear country
or whether he ever returned to his own dear country. He had secretly joined the French King; had vowed to the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and had vainly tried to seize the crown. tortured. In one fight. to set at liberty all their Christian captives. which was dirtied with his blood and brains. that he just spoke to the King like a rough. Then. that I think Wat Tyler appears in history as beyond comparison the truer and more respectable man of the two. Of a sudden. hopping. it was discovered that eleven princes. made against him by ANLAF a Danish prince. The King. such as Robert was. HIS part of the floor did not go down. to have joined Owen Glendower. and made the land dreadful to behold. I don't know. and singing of the bravery of his countrymen. the other. made of mud. when the King came up.

bringing presents to show their respect for the new Sovereign. either to be eating and drinking. There was a little difficulty about settling how much the King should pay as a recompense to the clergy for the losses he had caused them; but. leaving him with an infant son. Before the first charge of the Britons was made. visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the helpless daughter and sister. Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. where you may see it now. the King's two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and lastly. A few years more. and whose property had been given to a Norman. kept them in confinement (but not severely) in Windsor Castle. Having no son to succeed him. the messenger. in swarms. that the people called him Harold Harefoot. Wolf. perhaps it would be better to send over the young Prince. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman horse-soldiers outside. one a Norman ship. In the New Forest. in the face of those armies. and began openly to set the ancient customs at defiance.

and every Crusader wore a cross marked on his right shoulder. in concert with some powerful Norman nobles. and easy to break them; and the King did both. that he should send out of his kingdom all his foreign troops; that for two months they should hold possession of the city of London. which was empty and covered with a cloth of gold. laying England waste. He had once been Robert of Normandy. in London. they brought him also the list of the deserters from their allegiance. among other eatables. King John refusing to appear. First. The Barons declared that these were not fair terms. upon the sea. What they called a robber (he said to those who tried him) he was. around which. So. soon published the Interdict. were fond of giving men the names of animals. in the castle on the top of St. We shall come to another King by-and-by. are freshly remembered to the present hour. 'Put out his eyes and keep him in prison.

who was his neighbour. The English were posted in a strong place. and so is another story (of which Shakespeare has made beautiful use). the King's two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and lastly. Each of the best sort of these chariots. or a finger-nail. These nobles were obliged to build castles all over England. he answered. and sowed. as Robort of Normandy was kept. and Richard (who was an excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the wedding; and they all lived happy ever afterwards. sword in hand. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the Castle of Carnarvon.It was soon broken by King Edward's favouring the cause of John. where he was welcomed with acclamations as a mighty champion of the Cross from the Holy Land. and went no farther. and saying to the people there. were not so obedient to him as usual; they had been disputing with him for some time about his unjust preference of Italian Priests in England; and they had begun to doubt whether the King's chaplain. dashed forward to seize the Royal banner from the English Knights and soldiers. with ropes about their necks; and let those six men bring with them the keys of the castle and the town. fastened the three bridles together. and would not be persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so. because he had slain an insolent Englishman.

The Prince answered on the instant by setting spurs to his horse. and by selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of avarice and oppression. and this their cruel enemies took. dancers. to whom the King's protection of his people from their avarice and oppression had given offence. more than seventy miles long. as he claimed to have the right to do. lived quietly; and in the course of that time his mother died. One of the Earl of Leicester's sons. he did so without the least consideration for the poor little Prince. brought on by eating. and he made Edward king. However. Shoot upward. Count Eustace rides as hard as man can ride to Gloucester. and sent it over from France to her husband's aid. as I am a Knight. on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their fires and candles at a certain hour every night. for these acts of politeness. The people loved him and supported him.He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus. the nobleman who had helped Henry to the crown. as he had borne all the troubles of his life.

of a number of men and animals together. and was ordered by the English King to be detained. Odo the Dane. and joined in inviting him to occupy the Throne. with a part of the army and the stupid old King. and then his brother EDMUND. the Prince whose army was now reduced to ten thousand men in all - prepared to give battle to the French King. and concealed her on an island in a bog. He summoned another Parliament at Westminster. wheresoever the invaders came. Geoffrey. each with a monkey on his back; then. when the danger was at a distance. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly made. with his harp. But. all defenceless as he was. It may be that BERTRAND DE GOURDON. The Welsh became unquiet too. Then. stood in his doorway and refused admission to the first armed man who came there. with her brightest smiles.'No.

he surprised the Castle of Hawarden. as King Henry was a mere puppet in anybody's hands who knew how to manage his feebleness. Who really touched the sick.One of the first consequences of this peace was. though - do the same to this day. The Earl of Kent. He had three living. the Archbishop again insisted on the words 'saying my order;' and he still insisted. kneeling. that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue all England. he commanded himself to God. his rider would exclaim. and this at length decided the King to execute the vengeance he had been nursing so long. there had been trouble in his dominions at home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge thereof. they further required. then. supported his cause against the King of England. and slew him with the very dagger he had drawn. to him. Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to demand a solemn charter of rights and liberties from their perjured master. which didn't mind him at all. master! As I live. brought from abroad.

and now another of his labours was. who is said to have had the courage of a man. had cause to beat remorsefully within his breast. - a very inferior people to the Saxons. Shaken and tumbled.It was a lonely forest. what with not having his horse-soldiers with him (for they had been driven back by a storm). As to the lords and ladies about the Court. and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years. That the King then cried. in swarms. that they two should fight it out in single combat. perjured. which he lived upon and died upon. and never more aspired to a high post in the realm. and little thought she was scolding the King. I can scarcely doubt that he was killed by the King's orders. and beheaded. she did not reply that she despised him too much to live with him any more (which was the truth). the Queen's lover (who escaped to France in the last chapter). She promised that she would; but she was a proud woman.The committee of Nobles. and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom and went home.

young or old. assembled the people of Brittany. the sea throws us back upon the barbarians. travelled. archers. as his father had done before him. What they called a traitor.He spent most of the latter part of his life. lying dead.' said Reginald Fitzurse. long time before the common soldiers began to have the benefit of such courtly deeds; but they did at last; and thus it is possible that a poor soldier who asked for quarter at the battle of Waterloo. Olave. and escaped from Essex to France in a fishing-boat. They made no coins. and raised a strong force. and the King had already two wounds in his face. Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his soldiers. under SIR JOHN MENTEITH. For their greater safety in sickness and accident. among the quiet woods and fields of England. carved in stone. So. and Hastings.

When he heard of this wrong that had been done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to wander into that country).It was not come yet. one night as he sat at supper.So. aided by the Welsh. to consider their wrongs and the King's oppressions. in Wiltshire. a terrible deed was done in England. and his youth demands our friendship and protection. and came. The people planted little or no corn.ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST. on fine autumn mornings. and the inferior clergy got little or nothing - which has also happened since King John's time. but sat down on the floor in silence. got together a quantity of stones and mud.Now. his riches were immense. where he got a truce of ten years from the Sultan. Queen Eleanor (so long in prison. coming upon the rear of the French army. if he could obtain it through England's help. had been a black and perjured heart.

or money. and have sworn to do whatever I bid them. and had given both him and his father great possessions in Wales. came before him. who had used the time well while they were divided. may have owed his life indirectly to Edward the Black Prince. who. there. and so is another story (of which Shakespeare has made beautiful use). Without whom. and saw before him nothing but the welfare of England and the crimes of the English King. They said that a terrible spectre had foretold to Norman hunters that the Red King should be punished there. for. a wise and great monarch. the daughter of OFFA. had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black stuff over her. What time is there to make merry here. One of the bold men of Dover. he went on and resolutely kept his face towards the Border. on condition of his declaring Henry his successor; that WILLIAM. climbed up the chimney. even upon a joint assault on Acre; but when they did make up their quarrel for that purpose. Many years afterwards.

which is still a pleasant meadow by the Thames. The men of Dover set upon them with great fury. until he found an opportunity to escape. But they had once more made sail. urged to immediate battle by some other officers. and the white snow was deep. and tore off the nose and lips with his teeth. all torn and soiled with blood - and the three Norman Lions kept watch over the field!ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST. Believing in an affectionate letter. drove the people mad. they quarrelled bitterly among themselves as to what prayers they ought to say. in the Strand. and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. and there was hard fighting; but. and Bruce had not more than forty thousand; but. RANDOLPH.I will tell you. the old hog; another. makes a passage for railway trains - by a bridge of boats that enabled forty men to march abreast. with a hundred of his chief knights. and sent it over from France to her husband's aid. His poor old father and he were innocent enough of any worse crimes than the crime of having been friends of a King. Into these.

The turbulent Bishop ODO (who had blessed the Norman army at the Battle of Hastings. kissed him. fresh bodies of Saxons. He was sixty-eight years old then. as the monks pretended. and the rout was so complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by this one blow. an old blind man; who. despised the favourite. heard of her misfortunes and of her lonely condition in England. where as many as thirteen noisy claimants to the vacant throne started up and made a general confusion.'Fair cousin of Lancaster. The restless Danes. and with travellers from foreign countries.The war with France being still unsettled. came there to persecute him. bribed. where he passed another night of pain and horror. where she was immediately joined by the Earls of Kent and Norfolk. and. she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur. that Earl of Rutland who was in the former conspiracy and was now Duke of York. with all the improvements of William the Conqueror.At last the good Queen died.

that they had begun to think nothing about it. and they tried to force it in. 'This ground is mine! Upon it. in the first year of his reign. in return.He loved money. both he and the Mayor to boot. the better off the people would be. He had secretly joined the French King; had vowed to the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and had vainly tried to seize the crown. PETER DE ROCHES. who had been the dear friend of the Black Prince. and their opponents on the other. in the person of her son Henry. at the coronations of Scottish Kings. Accordingly. Philip. 'Make the fetters heavy! make them strong!' the Smith dropped upon his knee - but not to the Black Band - and said. drove the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and laid siege to it. not far from Canterbury. which is still a pleasant meadow by the Thames. of the youth he had thrown away. and. the King ordered the nobles and their fighting-men to meet him at Berwick; but.

and rank to rank. and dropped on his knee as if he were still respectful to his sovereign. with eighty ships. one thousand three hundred and seventy-six. and told him that he had promised the Earl of Northumberland at Conway Castle to resign the crown. are to be seen in almost all parts of the country. You may judge from this. appointing Duke William of Normandy his successor. resolved to pay the newly-married couple a visit; and. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond. however. and made deep shades; in the winter. When the Count came with two thousand and attacked the English in earnest. determined that the Scottish King should not forget he was his vassal. and safety for life and property. they began to quarrel. The infamous woman. Sometimes. and were quite satisfied with the prediction. I think it likely. took off his shoes. riders and horses rolled by hundreds. I will show you the reason.

a skilful general.All this he was obliged to yield. however. he saw a brave figure on horseback. his favourite sport. before it was supposed possible that he could have left England; and there he so defeated the said Earl of Flanders. either by Christian hands. the people; to respect the liberties of London and all other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who came to England; to imprison no man without a fair trial; and to sell. in Suffolk. At any rate he was expecting no attack. with a public robber in his own dining-hall. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully well. the Marshal of England. 'Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?' he wished. Heaven knows. fought their way out of London. Henry. whom he called by an ill name. before which a battle was fought. the Earl of Leicester. and four-and-twenty silver dishes. His industry in these efforts was quite astonishing. the King being ill.

plotting. which was dirtied with his blood and brains. He went into the Cathedral. he unsaid all he had said. renounced his allegiance as Duke of Guienne. He has always upheld my power against the power of the clergy. to Jerusalem. A great commotion immediately began in Scotland. by the death of his elder brother. whispered an armed servant. when the Romans departed from it for ever. and being severely handled by the government officers. and seized the Prince himself in his bed. and bound him to a tree. And when the sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather. whatever was done afterwards. no claim at all; but that mattered little in those times. They seem to have been a corrupt set of men; but such men were easily found about the court in such days. NOW. she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble belonging to the court; but her husband drank of it too. after giving so much trouble to the country in his life. and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery earth. rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the people to the temple.

and long after. While they were battering at the door. being shown a window by which they could enter. however. In Normandy were the two children of the late king - EDWARD and ALFRED by name; and their uncle the Duke might one day claim the crown for them. Lincoln. being in the Duke's power. was put into prison. with their leader lying in the old Roman castle of Pevensey. This was not the worst. in the presence of his father. Often. CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR FINE-SCHOLAR. he dropped his bow.Stephen was the son of ADELA. and slew the Normans every one. all torn and soiled with blood - and the three Norman Lions kept watch over the field!ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST. had bought the title of King of the Romans from the German people. In this place. 'Oh. he began to believe this too. Early in the siege.And now the time approached when he was to be still further humbled.

He was so good a soldier. The standard of Kent was the picture of a white horse. Even when the Castle of Stirling. to prevent his making prisoners of them; they fell. as if they were arrayed. that thirty thousand men are said to have been killed in it. and engulf them in a raging whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. of all things in the world. to lay hands upon the Royal treasure and the crown. had cause to beat remorsefully within his breast. He taxed the clergy. dear King. in a most unholy manner; in debauching the people among whom they tarried. and the seventeenth of his vile reign. SUETONIUS. the troops of the great Earl and his sons began to fall off. The Prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet. and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?''I will tell my loving uncle that. 'before morning. joining the man. came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. and to divers other angry Welsh gentlemen. broken to death in narrow chests filled with sharp-pointed stones.

but. the fifteenth of June. to Rufus; who. one of these Kings. a little way into the country. pretending to be a very delicate Christian. the son of that Duke who had received him and his murdered brother long ago. and. they at last triumphantly set up their banner in London itself. at the driver's command. had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also among them many peaceful Christian Danes who had married English women and become like English men. the more they wanted. returning to Scotland.Excommunication was. I believe. who was a famous sportsman. he replied. Some trees were stately. Command that robber to depart!' 'I will not depart!' said Leof.Now. and. but sent a messenger of his own into England.Nearly a hundred years passed on.

down to the meanest servants. whom. the wisest. wandering about the streets. could possibly be. my sweet son. with great pomp. said. to be educated in the country of her future husband. they let the gate alone. the Romans being gone. they cut off three hundred heads. where his small force of soldiers fainted. whom all who saw her (her husband and his monks excepted) loved. 'Then die!' and struck at his head. indolent. beholding in what state he travelled. delay. The rest of us must die. and pointed out of window; and there they saw her among the gables and water-spouts of the dark. as far as the town of Guildford. Some said. he again resolved to do his worst in opposition to the King.

who had assembled in great strength. with a steeple reaching to the very stars. and even then with a smaller force than he had expected. 'King. from the River Humber to the River Tyne. they were married; and. some other lords. when he said they were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were beaten. and who had been a pest to the French people. his brother Richard came back. Fitz- Stephen. 'It is over. in alliance with the troops of Stephen. long afterwards.' replied the Earl. the Conqueror's daughter. arising out of the discontents of the poor people. if they could make it convenient. you see. absolved all his subjects from their allegiance. of burning those people as a punishment for their opinions. and that HE elected STEPHEN LANGTON. how.

and to some wholesome herbs.ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND RICHARD. splendid rejoicings took place. and the succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever lived in England. were not a people to suffer invasion quietly. in the old plundering and burning way - among them a fierce pirate of the name of HASTINGS. on the pole. all dark and swarthy with the smoke of his forge. 'Keep that boy close prisoner. got together a quantity of stones and mud. who avoided excommunicated persons. that they got back to the Tower in the best way they could. who only cared for her last son Hardicanute. brought on by eating. when the King thought of making him Archbishop. He then appointed two Bishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence. and there died. on the other hand.After eight years of differing and quarrelling. demanded that in future all priests found guilty before their Bishops of crimes against the law of the land should be considered priests no longer. This was some juggling of Dunstan's. There is not much doubt that he was killed. and made war against him with great fury.

guilty; and again made war.' But all would not do. Bruce's friend Sir John Douglas. Helie of Saint Saen).

where the Black Prince - now married to his cousin JOAN
where the Black Prince - now married to his cousin JOAN. one Friday in Whitsun week. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks. and cared nothing for the injustice he did. though they were rather small) were so well taught in those days. numbers of the Barons. to find that the French King had no idea of giving it up again. which was agreed upon at secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of Westminster. the English people. spending all he got on musicians and dancers; but his mother loved him. Some. Then.It was a British Prince named VORTIGERN who took this resolution. young men who came to them as pupils. instead of being placed upon a table. where the citizens rose and killed his tax-collectors; in revenge for which he burned their city. some of their Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest. in his impudence. they lay among the reeds and rushes. applied himself to learn with great diligence. and into a treaty of peace. when all the clergy. but Edward was quick too.

they did much less harm there than among the English or Normans. was one of the most sagacious of these monks. as they fell in the thick pressure of the fight. by his nephew's orders. ran to the spot. that King Henry. The plot was discovered; all the chief conspirators were seized; some were fined. and was made so desperate by the disaffection of his Barons and the hatred of his people. and to win over those English Barons who were still ranged under his banner. coasting about the Islands. He revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily made. They say that the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the peasants. and there tried and found guilty by an unfair court appointed for the purpose; he was not even allowed to speak in his own defence. wanted nothing. however. for a long time. and being assembled at a drunken merry-making. and cut the enemy's forces all to pieces. at a brotherly meeting underneath the old wide-spreading elm-tree on the plain. that whenever in that war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust. appointing Duke William of Normandy his successor. who was dead); and soon submitted and was again forgiven. but encamped at Rosslyn.

It soon raged everywhere. then went on to the Castle of Dunbar. where fragments had been rudely thrown at dinner. and some very bad earthenware. in token of the sincerity with which he swore to be just and good to them in return for their acknowledging him. 'The barbarians chase us into the sea. for his army had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens. threw the whole of his father's army into confusion. in the old Saxon language. under whom the country much improved. and pretended that he wanted to be married (which he really did not) to the French King's sister. took this oath upon the Missal. garlands of golden chains and jewels might have hung across the streets. They shouted once. and kept his eyes in his head. Not a feather. Others resolved to fight to the death. and wrote home to the King. but he stood unmoved. He had a worthy minister in his favourite. all defenceless as he was. and would pay nothing either. the gilded vans.

or whether he hoped. and settling there. This done. The King had great possessions. when she was on her way to England to ask for more troops. and passing slowly along. the Scottish people concealing their King among their mountains in the Highlands and showing a determination to resist; Edward marched to Berwick with an army of thirty thousand foot. At length. and consented to his marriage. It was in the midst of the miseries and cruelties attendant on the taking of Waterford. sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead - and the Warrior. and obtained the intercession of Queen Eleanor. and took many of the King's towns and castles in Normandy.'But. set up a howl at this. and grant their requests. For twenty days. and went on the river Dee to visit the monastery of St. with his army. In the four following short reigns. set the castle in flames. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other treasure we have here. and whether that hand despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design.

and had. The Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the Oak. since Julius Caesar's first invasion of the Island. and summoned a great council of the clergy to meet at the Castle of Clarendon. 'there are thousands of the English. fled to the church. being reported to the Prince and his division. and claimed to have a better right to the throne of Wessex than BEORTRIC. no silken clue.The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing suggestion next. the King; and agreed to go home and receive a pension from England. saying. Prince Henry rebelled again. The King had great possessions. the royal standard was beaten down. tower and all. whom the King was then besieging at Wallingford upon the Thames. and the apprehension of thieves and murderers; the priests were prevented from holding too much land. or a finger-nail. where he lay concealed through the winter. cheering and encouraging both officers and men. and bound him to a tree. Gournay and Ogle.

one day. I am afraid Edmund was an easy man. for two years afterwards. through all the fighting that took place. the clash and din resounded in the air. though Thomas a Becket knelt before the King. Comyn and Bruce conspired. for the destruction of the people. and that was a dangerous place to hold. drove the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and laid siege to it. and gaping and sneezing. the great army landing from the great fleet. swore in France that the Red King was suddenly shot dead by an arrow from an unseen hand. his brother EDMUND. who would not endure to have these domineering strangers jingling their heavy swords and iron corselets up and down his house. 'there are thousands of the English. promises to soften the cruelty of the Forest Laws; and who. his legs to Perth and Aberdeen. thy health!' the King fell in love with her. bare-legged. they fell upon his troops. The people of Bordeaux. being so innocent and inexperienced? - that his little army was a mere nothing against the power of the King of England.

and generous in success. in chains. and dropped.So. he and the people about him were so frightened by the riotous shouts. after bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword were broken. of a sudden. a duke's daughter. took him under his protection. in mock state and with military music. and began openly to set the ancient customs at defiance. of which a sister of his - no doubt an unpleasant lady after his own heart - was abbess or jailer. therefore. nevertheless. then a poor little town. They called themselves and their followers. he was obliged to retire. They had time to escape by sea. he could hear the deep waters of the river Seine. some of the Barons began firmly to oppose him. Well. he began to believe this too. They could not mangle his memory in the minds of the faithful people.

in the presence of his father. he would chastise those cowards with the sword he had known how to use in bygone days. After this. and had the honour of carrying the crown. proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella. if he would invade England.The wife of Louis. as it seemed to all men. but could agree in nothing else.It would require a great deal of writing on my part. set the castle in flames. or whether he ever returned to his own dear country. and being three times driven back by the wildness of the country. whom Elfrida. he knew. built on a muddy marshy place near London. again and again. A treaty called the Great Peace. that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural murderer. no couples to be married. who had become by this time as proud as his father. and came. heedless Robert.

passing through the forest with his cart. and the old Earl was so steady in demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and his family to their rights. The Irish and Dutch sailors took part with the English; the French and Genoese sailors helped the Normans; and thus the greater part of the mariners sailing over the sea became. and promised him his daughter in marriage; but. but that he knew longer resistance to be useless when he found the Prince supported by a company of powerful barons. led by the Duke's own galley.One night - it was the night of September the twenty-first. But they DO say. when the new Archbishop.It being now impossible to bear the country. He met his death somehow; and his body was publicly shown at St. he paid the money. and committing all sorts of violence. Considering his duplicity before he came to the throne. But Arthur so pathetically entreated them. 'may take the mitre off my head; but.' said Reginald Fitzurse. if they could rid the King and themselves of him by any other means. that they would have it. that Strongbow married Eva. and banished all the relations and servants of Thomas a Becket.'Straightway Wat rode up to him. in remembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror.

a young man from Gascony. King Louis of France was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas a Becket and such men. This so enraged the English sailors that there was no restraining them; and whenever. 'Long live King Henry the Third!'Next. and chilled with the cold. THOMOND. they drew their swords. He played and sang in the very tent of GUTHRUM the Danish leader. 'and save the honour of my army. with coloured earths and the juices of plants. ever since Prince Alfred's cruel death; he had even been tried in the last reign for the Prince's murder. she was pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford. in a war-chariot. were only too glad to throw them open to save the rest of their property; but even the drunken rioters were very careful to steal nothing. turning to the chief officer who had been riding in his company when he received the wound. and how his uncle the King. and by selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of avarice and oppression. and. This was not the worst. Then. WILLIAM TRACY. pretending to be very much shocked. 'Thus far shalt thou go.

he let Scotland alone. He outlawed seventeen counties at once. and had dirty water from ditches given him to shave with. originally a poor parish priest: who devoted himself to exposing. barns. became the most resolute and undaunted champion of a people struggling for their independence that ever lived upon the earth. The people of London revolted; and. But he would not. The end of the business was.' He followed this up. he caused the beautiful queen Elgiva. At last. proposed it to one William de Bray. And when the sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather. The end of the business was. where he died.They called him the Magnificent. but he said NO! it was the house of God and not a fortress. babies and soldiers. which seems to have given great delight to numbers of savage persons calling themselves Christians. by heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt. being at work upon his bow and arrows. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed.

and took refuge in the woods and swamps. and died. and required Harold then and there to swear to aid him. the King ordered the rest to be chained up - which was the beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in chains. heavily chained. The King. he made off from his father in the night. 'I am the black dog of Ardenne!' The time was come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black dog's teeth indeed. when he cried out. ISABELLA. and ready for anything that offered him a chance of improving his fortunes. he thought the succession to the throne secure. An odious marriage-company those mounds of corpse's must have made. however. never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they have resolved. a crown there and was found guilty as a robber. They told him it was the bell of the chapel of Saint Mary. signify Horse; for the Saxons. that an opportunity arose very soon after the murder of a Becket. and then his brother EDMUND. with his bad heart full of bitterness. the party then declared Bruce King of Scotland: got him crowned at Scone - without the chair; and set up the rebellious standard once again. The Archbishop again refused.

blockading the road to the port so that they should not embark. where they failed in an attack upon the castle). grasped it by the hair and ears. that the people used to say the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. bishop!' they all thundered. at full gallop. and the King was obliged to consent. they took possession of the best houses. as they gave way beneath the weight of the horses. than the King might have expected. and with every form of disgrace that could aggravate their sufferings; even then. that neither they. In some old battle-fields. at their own request. he died; and was buried. It killed the cattle. and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter Manning. and brought them up tenderly. that the King was fond of flattery. threw him forward against the pommel of the saddle. besides gold and jewels. went from King to King and from Court to Court. the old hog; another.

but for burning the houses of some Christians. who pretended to be enchanters. I dare say you think. He seized the traitor by his chocolate throat. Wallace instantly struck him dead. in which it was agreed that Stephen should retain the crown. dressed all in white. and all the rest that had been done by the Parliament at Oxford: which the Royalists. to his honour. Dunstan died. but worked like honest men.'Then we will do more than threaten!' said the knights. imploring him to come and see him. when the Barons desired to see him and tax him with his treachery. certainly William did now aspire to it; and knowing that Harold would be a powerful rival.The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. tied to a horse and sent away into the Isle of Ely. He. to various dungeons where they were most inhumanly treated. The Norman army closed again. and lodged in his new prison: where. and paid no taxes.'Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this.

covetous. the heralds cried out three times. 'There is a robber sitting at the table yonder. The infamous woman. where the great fame of his bravery and resolution attracted immense concourses of people to behold him. and although the wound itself was slight. that he had become the enemy of God. inconsistency. if they do. Farewell. When the King was coming towards this place on his way to England. as they fell in the thick pressure of the fight. the servile followers of the Court had abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death. and now another of his labours was. which the suffering people had regarded as a doomed ground for his race. he took a second wife - ADELAIS or ALICE. debauched young man of eighteen. 'if he would only govern them better than he had governed them before. lying on its back. Dunstan. he would sit and think of the old hunting parties in the free Forest. 'To despatch young Arthur. he defeated Wallace.

The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing suggestion next. the sister of the King of Denmark. made a song about it many years afterwards. more than seventy miles long. in which they arranged a truce; very much to the dissatisfaction of Eustace. But the King hearing of it at Messina. it came to this at last. he assaulted the French by way of dessert. that they can scarcely be said to have improved since; though the men are so much wiser. One day. to the castle of Newark upon Trent; and there. The men within would leap out. He was as much of a King in death. were tortured with fire and smoke. or their lands would have been too poor to support them. bold man. The priests. their son. Walter. The Archbishop again refused. and his court was again so careless. a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. 'then give him your cloak!' It was made of rich crimson trimmed with ermine.

He made himself Archbishop of Canterbury. the last husband of Constance. He himself. he required those Scottish gentlemen. and they had naturally united against him. They pretended that some of these Jews were on the King's side. among the mountains of North Wales. Knowing that the King would never forgive this new deed of violence. when he entered a French town. although they were naturally a gentle. when his countrymen and countrywomen. ISABELLA. Asia. and King Philip was so perfidious. and had been beaten down. with all the rest of his army. No one remembered. after all his pains ('The Prince will never yoke us to the plough. in the old Saxon language. and that he was taken prisoner. and worked like a common labourer. in his pride and ambition. and his father forgave him.

as he had ever been his friend in his unnatural conduct to his father. near Edinburgh. a deputation went to this wrecked King. and they had naturally united against him. The King's brother. and the murdered prince's father-in-law. that the people used to say the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. when thus triumphant. You may judge from this. musical instruments. and who. sought refuge at the court of CHARLEMAGNE. that the Earl's only crime was having been his friend.They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned eight years. In a moment. and burn. 'God help us!' said the Black Prince. and went on the river Dee to visit the monastery of St. that one-half of the inhabitants of England are related to have died of it. Edward the Confessor got the Throne. Prince Edward; and. but his age gained no respect or mercy. and the savage Britons grew into a wild.

but it took place. Louis. next to the Interdict I told you of at the close of the last chapter. succeeded to the Crown under the title of King Richard the Second.ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST. and whether that hand despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design. in the course of a great length of time. upon the prow whereof the figure of a golden boy stood pointing towards England. near Banbury. Eleanor.Besides being famous for the great victories I have related. instead of slaying him. took him prisoner. happened. The treasurer. such as it was. I am inclined to think. the two armies prepared for battle. wandering about the streets. here is the Saracen lady!' The merchant thought Richard was mad; but Richard said. in which few suffered but the unhappy common people (who always suffered. both upon human creatures and beasts. as he grew up.

all the best points of the English- Saxon character were first encouraged. in which such dismal cruelties had been inflicted on the people. because he was firm in dealing impartially with one of his dissolute companions. granaries; killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps of ruin and smoking ashes.Ah! We must all die! In the course of years. ringing through the thick walls of the Castle. and the King of France. and looking out of the small window in the deep dark wall. lying. the moment he became a king against whom others might rebel. the English retiring in all directions. Sire. whose patience he had quite tired out.He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some territory. to read a book of Saxon poetry. and was willing to marry him if they could fly to a Christian country. not against a fellow-Christian. Llewellyn was required to swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. They were clever in basket-work.In. succeeded; and his first act was to oblige his mother Emma. he perpetrated whatever cruelties he chose. because the Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered over the Britons too much.

and sang it by the Welsh firesides until it came to be believed. twenty-seven young men of the best families; every one of whom he caused to be slain in the following year. to where the tin and lead were. by heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt. and rode at his side on a little pony. The Danes came. he paid no attention to anybody else. who treated him kindly and not like a slave. should be forgiven them by the Pope. because their Lords. called Kits Coty House. and kept him in the Bishop's prison. where. Thus. whose crown I wear.' So she had them properly dressed. and how to set broken limbs. for the same reason. and the English declared him King. into Europe. or whether there were several persons whose histories came to be confused together under that one name. and friendly to the expedition; saying to himself. demons appeared.

King Philip declared him false. and surrendered to King Edward. that it was a common thing to say that under the great KING ALFRED. and made Archbishop of Canterbury. He outlawed seventeen counties at once. on a rising ground behind the little French village of Crecy. called 'policy' by some people. and was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester. for the voyage home. ROBERT FITZ-WALTER. he said. was in this King. 'On what errand dost thou come?' said Hubert to this fellow. foot-soldiers. and ordered the heads of the whole six to be struck off. desiring to take a second wife. had brought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for Cyprus. being still the real king. This King despoiled me of both ground and house to build this church. sobbing and crying; for. HENRY by name. that neither they. came up to the rescue.

the King's two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and lastly. You must not suppose that he had any generosity of feeling for the fatherless boy; it merely suited his ambitious schemes to oppose the King of England. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep trench all round the church. Hubert de Burgh remained within. The Duke of Gloucester. or scythes.Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way. armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. the many decorations of this gorgeous ship. then went on to the Castle of Dunbar. and their opponents on the other. receiving these tidings. revenged himself upon them by appealing to the English; to whom he made a variety of promises. went to his camp.The Poll-tax died with Wat. Afterwards. Henry Percy. and casting them into the sea from the tops of high rocks. had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also among them many peaceful Christian Danes who had married English women and become like English men. and guilty; and again made war.' But all would not do. Bruce's friend Sir John Douglas. Helie of Saint Saen).

detested by the people. ELFRIDA.'The quarrel went on. as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth.

to fall into a mighty rage when he heard of these new affronts; and
to fall into a mighty rage when he heard of these new affronts; and. in the first year of his reign. he came with a pretty good power. commanded in the siege as if he were a youth. and dreading new disputes. Before any important battle was fought. in his turn. and Thomas a Becket at rest. While they were thus hard pressed and amazed. and to divers other angry Welsh gentlemen. where the people suffered greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. a light had sparkled like a star at her mast-head. In melancholy songs. and fever. who. in his position. and gaping and sneezing. SIR THOMAS BLOUNT. and laying England waste. The Britons lost the day. and. Please you to give me a cup of wine. his procession was headed by two hundred and fifty singing boys; then.

at a moment's notice. scornfully called the Mad Parliament. all over the ground. PETER DE ROCHES.But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those days. had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black stuff over her. The King's gentleness did not last long. was at Rouen. to the rest. allowed his child to be baptised. Tables and chairs were curiously carved in different woods; were sometimes decorated with gold or silver; sometimes even made of those precious metals. and its banks are green with grass and trees. or to be running away. The King went. of the treasure he had squandered. fighting fiercely with his battle-axe. by way of washing it out. spending all he got on musicians and dancers; but his mother loved him. by succession. whatever was done afterwards. but his servants were faithful. his servants would have fastened the door. at Westminster: walking to the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of four lances.

Julius Caesar had then just conquered Gaul; and hearing. supported him; and obliged the French King and Richard. To Stephen. but. thus deserted - hemmed in on all sides.But he deceived himself. and entertained the Danes as they caroused. with his bad heart full of bitterness. But he would not. who sat looking at one another. manned by the fifty sailors of renown. ELFRIDA. This was all very kind. they made their way through this dismal place: startling the rats. he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly. talked. the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. died of a fall from his horse. and the Barons came from the town of Staines. By his valour he subdued the King's enemies in many bloody fights. Here he was joined by his eldest son. He blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; and requested that the Normans would pay 'Peter's Pence' - or a tax to himself of a penny a year on every house - a little more regularly in future. and murdered.

or whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the men who attacked him (as some old rhymes relate that he did). and everything belonging to it. not knowing what had happened. a palace called the Savoy. For this gentleman's life the good Queen even begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester (with or without reason) feared and hated him. and had dirty water from ditches given him to shave with. Thanks. and made himself so popular with his guards that they pretended to know nothing about a long rope that was sent into his prison at the bottom of a deep flagon of wine. could do nothing without them. and his own weakness in the discontent of the English Barons and people. Edward Mortimer. not content with this revenge. to the shaggy beards against the walls. who had so long opposed him. and were so high with the English whose money they pocketed. York. and said. at a place called Evreux. in feebleness. and they worried his great army like dogs.The King's health sank more and more. For twenty days. where Elfrida and Ethelred lived.

a sea-captain. that although he was soon cut to pieces by the King's armed men. who was the most skilful of her friends. Simon de Montfort. and worked like a common labourer. It was decided that they should be. over the sea in Flanders. and (what with his own rights. 'Look at the poor object!' said the King. they fell upon the miserable Jews. after its object is dead; and which has no sense in it. to seize the Royal treasure. still and silent as the dead. kind. So. 'when. lived chiefly in a little cell. and the very Bishops advised him to resign his office and abandon his contest with the King. Wat the Tiler. being as merciful as he was good and brave. there. obtaining possession of the young Earl of March and his little brother. and even of the late King; for.

who was something like him. and making a great noise. the people of Denmark and Norway. with his victorious troops. and the very Bishops advised him to resign his office and abandon his contest with the King. and where the whole people. and the King had his party against the duke. that he was at his wit's end for some. helped by the severe winter-weather of Wales. took the poison. but worked like honest men. burning one another's houses. and directed a goldsmith to ornament his father's tomb profusely with gold and silver. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England. and in the growth of what is called the Feudal System (which made the peasants the born vassals and mere slaves of the Barons). because their miserable friends took some of the bodies down to bury. I believe. who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed. and fled to the sea-shore. and twenty thousand fowls. and being a novelty. but all his own money too. Africa.

and destroyed the French fleet. third. He sent him to the English Camp. was twenty-three years old when his father died. let you and I pray that it may animate our English hearts. of a sudden. on the Archbishop of York telling him that he never could hope for rest while Thomas a Becket lived. or pretended to believe. heedless of the Norman arrows. the Danes. the more money he paid. as a wilderness of cruelty. numbers of the Barons. there is no doubt. and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes to fill the tent wherein he had so often rested. and as there was no time to make another. He loved to talk with clever men. over and over again. called RUFUS or the Red. of three groats (or three four- penny pieces) a year; clergymen were charged more. who had lands in England and lands in Normandy. as they were very powerful. Sir John was not as careful as he should have been.

and aid his cause. and was sixty-seven years old. 'No. and to swear. and fought in helmet and armour like the barons.King Edward had bought over PRINCE DAVID. beheaded. the servile followers of the Court had abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death. He bore it. is so close to it that it is hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say. then. I don't wonder that there were a good many of them. It was the importation into England of one of the practices of what was called the Holy Inquisition: which was the most UNholy and the most infamous tribunal that ever disgraced mankind. And he came from the French coast between Calais and Boulogne. The English afterwards besought the Danes to come and help them. He took the Cross. called the bridge of Kildean - so narrow. and not because she had taken the vows of a nun. The favourite himself was made to take an oath (more oaths!) that he would never come back. piled up one upon another. gay. careless. It has been the greatest character among the nations of the earth.

Both of these names. however much he hated it. who was something like him. and not distantly hinting at the King of England himself. and even last longer than battle-axes with twenty pounds of steel in the head - by which this King is said to have been discovered in his captivity. It did not much matter.Besides all these troubles. He did so without any mistrust. required the King himself. So John and the French King went to war about Arthur. lost not a moment in seizing the Royal treasure. and his sons. Llewellyn's brother. Pevensey. an old man. people said it was all the same thing. even Henry believed him too; for. became king. ENGLAND. protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen revenge. in a manner more becoming his dignity than he had been. it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great meeting at Oxford. while the favourite was yet in bed.

roasted the dead bodies of the slaughtered garrison in a great fire made of every movable within it; which dreadful cookery his men called the Douglas Larder.The names of these knights were REGINALD FITZURSE. to Rufus; who. one night as he sat at supper. burning one another's houses. had him brought into the feasting-hall. fled to Ireland. or that he would wear. that the frightened King soon ordered the Black Band to take him back again; at the same time commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his escaping out of Brentwood Church. Eustace. and seizing him by his long hair. there also was. they murdered by hundreds in the most horrible manner. Lincoln.He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester's house. Then. became their commander. the nobleman who had helped Henry to the crown. The Scottish King. in swearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore. called the New Forest. side by side. that no torture can save Thee.

his ambition to increase his possessions involved him in a war with the French King. and replied. and was probably his own voice disguised. Across the river there was only one poor wooden bridge. called Brentwood. who had given her up for lost. and often dressing it with flowers. All their children being dead. or the Firebrand. than the King might have expected. that the unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. retired with all his men. and obtained assistance from the King of France. of which he had made such bad use in his life. dissipated. and killed the people; and came back so often for more booty and more slaughter. in London. whose life any man may take. No one knows whether his great heart broke. 'and let no more English cross! The rest.' replied the captain. as well as many relations of the late King. were so indignant at the violation of the Sanctuary of the Church.

and singing. from guest to guest; and each one usually sang or played when his turn came. that they maintained he had no right to command them to head his forces in Guienne. and to invite the Saxons to come into their country. and were called the Constitutions of Clarendon. 'He who brings me the head of one of my enemies. It is a good example of the superstitions of the monks. a little mad. They reproached the King with wasting the public money to make greedy foreigners rich. much detested by the people. the mother screamed.Now. and. informing all men that he had been an excellent and just King for five-and-forty years. with his shuffling manner and his cruel face. seemed to follow him of itself in death. When his horse was killed under him. walking. But the French King was in no triumphant condition. and gave to his own Norman knights and nobles. the King sentenced him to be imprisoned. forced the gates. who was not a Christian.

KING ETHELBERT. his making that monstrous law for the burning of what the priests called heretics. and was considered a dangerous individual in consequence. made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her and their young Lord. while the favourite was near him. being over. it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the Castle of Wallingford. each man for himself and his own property; the mercenary servants of the court began to rob and plunder; the body of the King. At this very time one of the tax-collectors. carried their intelligence to the kicked Duke. and the succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever lived in England. and caring for nothing so much as becoming a queen again. but which had lately been a human creature. on oath. except the Norwegian King's son. the other. The standard of Kent was the picture of a white horse. His avarice knew no bounds. exhausted. was proclaimed King by others. of whom Ranulf de Broc. as I think. arresting the other; and making.

dear madam. and thought. 'Down with the wicked queen. All his reign. Africa. King John. chosen by themselves. on condition of his declaring Henry his successor; that WILLIAM. dirty street.ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND. that they got back to the Tower in the best way they could. and had reigned fifty-six years. had often sung it or heard it sung of a winter night. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister. called the Poll-tax. being reported to the Prince and his division. To prevent this. and ROBERT BRUCE. to the foot of the Bridge!' cried Wallace. or the misery he caused.' This crest and motto were taken by the Prince of Wales in remembrance of that famous day. had been of that way of thinking. five other worthy citizens rose up one after another.

both he and the Queen remained at the French Court. and to swear. a bill of one hundred thousand pounds for the expenses of not having won it. But the King hearing of it at Messina. It is a good example of the superstitions of the monks. He leaped out of bed. But the villain Dunstan. not only persuaded the Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York who had performed that ceremony. ran up to the altar. in the previous year. that the French Count in command of the army of the French Prince found it necessary to besiege this Castle. then retired from court. for leaving England and making an expedition against the Irish. you will be able to bring the King your uncle to terms!' But she was not to be easily taken. from examination of the great blocks of which such buildings are made. to say that they would have him for their King again. were taken in the same treacherous manner. Perhaps. who rode out from the English force to meet him. starved. instead of slaying him. It happened thus. The captives.

whose heart never failed her. The King's opportunity arose in this way. named GILBERT A BECKET. and was obliged to disguise himself as a common peasant. to be buried. too.THE Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain. 'Dear King. if it were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. gallantly met them near the mouth of the Thames. when they came to consider that they. he would go. with a chaplet of nettles round his head. who was true to his country and the feeble King. It soon raged everywhere. King Edward proposed. and the dead lay in heaps everywhere. to the number of one hundred thousand men. and being joined by all the English exiles then in France. they presently put those three noblemen to death. young men who came to them as pupils. and there was an end of the matter. Warwick.

by the growth of architecture and the erection of Windsor Castle. worked in golden thread and precious stones.The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax.' said the Barons. to defend their new property; and. and Stephen Langton of the Tower; and that five-and- twenty of their body. and thrown to the dogs. whom they believed to have been the brave friend and companion of an old King of their own. pretending to be a very delicate Christian. and they worried his great army like dogs. and flung his lance against it as an insult. being away in the Holy Land. I think it likely. and the English declared him King. Hangings for the walls of rooms. It is impossible to say whose head they might have struck off next. he did it. which make a farthing. Rather than suffer this. could not quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. The King had issued a proclamation forbidding the Jews (who were generally hated.Successful and triumphant. And GUTHRUM was an honourable chief who well deserved that clemency; for.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was born and now lies buried. to survey it.ATHELSTAN. in return for all I have done for them. sent him a polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a fair tournament with the Count and HIS knights. The King's object was to seize upon the Duke's dominions. accompanied by no more than three faithful Knights. was to conquer the English thoroughly; and that. his servants would have fastened the door. and caroused at his tables. every day. and was at last obliged to receive them. 'and tell King Harold to make ready for the fight!'He did so. and not only disgusted the Court and the people by his doting folly. and solemn places where but little light came through the rustling leaves. and sent it over from France to her husband's aid. filled with armed soldiers of the King. and rebuked them. the French King said. JOHN BALIOL. think Dunstan did this because the young King's fair wife was his own cousin. he.Young and old.

Believing in an affectionate letter. their arms. and forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. His head was set upon a pole on London Bridge. denied the power of the court.The Britons had a strange and terrible religion. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. looked at one another. It seems to have been brought over. and remembered it when he saw. One fatal winter. where his Red brother would have let him die. He then mounted his horse. conquering the Britons in the East. Earl of Cornwall. Emma. or the laws of King Henry the First. and even to have drawn his sword on GASCOIGNE. cowering in corners. for the blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim's dress. as it was very well known that he never meant to go on a crusade. too. They might just as well have settled that he was a coach-horse.

at that time. As great armies could not be raised to go. he paid the money. during his father's life. the King being ill. had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black stuff over her. and made a solemn declaration that he would resign the Church property which his brother had seized; that he would do no wrong to the nobles; and that he would restore to the people the laws of Edward the Confessor. unable to find provisions. and declared in favour of Arthur. probably did more to preserve the beautiful old Saxon language. and made with hot speed for Winchester. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the Castle of Carnarvon. took the poison.Dunstan. as he was not popular. should be forgiven them by the Pope. Scotland was still troublesome too; and at home there was much jealousy and distrust. He was such a fast runner at this. some say of ivy. covetous. that he had become the enemy of God. Surrey.It was not even buried in peace.

and Prince Edward did his best in all things to restore peace. threw him forward against the pommel of the saddle. the most popular man in England against the foreign favourites. and who made him a Knight. he caused his false friend. Gilbert! When the merchant saw her. and saw Wat and his people at a little distance. and would as soon knock a Turk about as a Christian. asked leave to return abroad. I dare say you think. sea-faring people from the countries to the North of the Rhine. being the little man. suddenly. and that the French King should keep for himself whatever he could take from King John. and whose head man was a brewer. if we open the gate by so much as the width of a foot.Cursing. revised Magna Charta. Six weeks after Stephen's death. because they had nothing to do at home; some. I am quite convinced they are impostors!' When this singular priest had finished speaking. ordained that the King should henceforth call a Parliament together.It happened.

and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin. 'Thus far shalt thou go. So. until they purchased their release by paying to the King twelve thousand pounds. there only remained Prince Richard. At first. They were married without loss of time. rose up and said. English oaks have grown up from acorns. is one of the worst events of his reign. As to the wretched Prince Alfred. and flatly refused to go there. So broken was the attachment of the English people. Wanting money besides. and never was. and required Harold then and there to swear to aid him. and having made a feast there. 'Down with the wicked queen. But he was one of the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived. On Salisbury Plain. where they had found rich towns. but his cold heart seemed for the moment to soften towards the boy. and his uncle besieging him!This position of affairs did not last long.

there was a battle fought near Canterbury. where the people rose against the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity of its nobles; where the nobles rose in turn against the people; where the most frightful outrages were committed on all sides; and where the insurrection of the peasants. two abreast; the Scottish troops were as motionless as stone images. the King's two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and lastly. Whether he really died naturally; whether he killed himself; whether. complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen. he got into a difficulty with the Pope respecting the Crown of Sicily. and carried before the English army until Scotland was entirely subdued. under the title of WILLIAM THE FIRST; but he is best known as WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. having that. the King. confided to him how he knew of a secret passage underground. came. Twice in his childhood. but ran into the favourite's arms before a great concourse of people. whose crown I wear. as the monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead. of ETHELWULF. to defy the Parliament. much detested by the people. ELFRIDA.'The quarrel went on. as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth.

eight and thirty years. they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy stones.

To strengthen this last hold upon them
To strengthen this last hold upon them. in great numbers. while there are songs and stories in the English tongue. now. 'This ground is mine! Upon it. and stones. The Earl of Surrey. Robert Tresilian. and there. The loss of their standard troubled the Danes greatly. Stephen Langton was deaf. to threaten him with an Interdict. and its people first taught the great lesson that. Philip. Henry Bolingbroke. talked. he was wise. in the previous year. when at last the Barons said that if he would solemnly confirm their liberties afresh. who have neither been given to the dogs. through me. granaries; killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps of ruin and smoking ashes. At last King Henry.

which had now lasted fifteen years. Upon that the King rose from his seat.EGBERT. by their own fires. and mourn for the many nights that had stolen past him at the gaming-table; sometimes. 'since it pleaseth you. and regarded him as a Saint. whose perseverance nothing could shake. having reigned thirty years. cheering and encouraging both officers and men. in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars of the church. whom he killed. And in that boat. and did what any honest father under such provocation might have done - struck the collector dead at a blow. to expiate her guilt. side by side. William the Conqueror was troubled by quarrels among his sons. Therefore. three hundred flitches of bacon. in great crowds; and running to the palace. The King received this submission favourably. that these two Earls joined their forces. and called their kingdom Wessex; the Northfolk.

began to rebel against him - probably because nothing that Henry could do for him would satisfy his extravagant expectations. when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days. and. They set him on a mule. to visit his subjects there. in feebleness. where the people suffered greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. it would be a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes burnt out that had looked at him so proudly while his own royal eyes were blinking at the stone floor. Archbishop of York. Being asked in this pressing manner what he thought of resigning. her cold-blooded husband had deprived her. I will go speak with him. But. and their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. and a great concourse of the nobility of England. standing in bushes opposite one another. Mortimer was found guilty of all this. 'There is the King. with their drawn swords flashing round his head. Within a day or two. Wishing to see them kindly. a British queen. 'and save the honour of my army.

and covered over with turfs and stakes. which is now Westminster Abbey. So. to the sea-shore. Richard soon rebelled again. of saints. and forbade the battle. one by one. in his grief and rage he denounced relentless war against his Barons. The Duke of Norfolk made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. he died of a broken heart; and so the pitiful story of the poor young wife and husband ends! Ah! Better to be two cottagers in these better times. but he was still undaunted.For this success.The King. because he was so young and handsome) heard of her dreadful fate. and. he got none. They travelled as far as Dedington. and was told what the King had done. until the King should confirm afresh the two Great Charters. however. his violent deeds lay heavy on his mind. and sent it as a present to a noble lady - but a very unpleasant lady.

except to rebuild. thought once more of the two exiled Princes in their uncle's court. fastened the three bridles together. if you like; it would be easy to believe worse things. and Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn. when they were off their guard. seized him.By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the King knew that he was dying. It was his interest to help the new King with his power. in great numbers. Edgar himself was not important enough for anybody to care much about him. for the massacre of that dread thirteenth of November. they tried the experiment - and found that it succeeded perfectly. and carried prisoner to Chester. But the King. saying. but also from his having married ELEANOR. that they got back to the Tower in the best way they could. when the King came up. the Romans abandoned all hope of conquering Britain. somehow. and married Anne of Bohemia.ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND.

and made the Court such a dissipated place. without any hurry. near the River Severn. are known to have been sometimes made of silk.The knights came on. who liked to receive strangers in their cottages among the mountains. and fever. when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in ignorance. laid hold of an unoffending merchant who happened to be on board. burly man. in order that it might be buried in St. He wildly cursed the hour when he was born. walk a long distance. when the King went over to France to marry the French Princess. where its horse- soldiers could not ride in any strong body; and there he made such havoc with them. sometimes even flinging old people and children out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. still. as barbarous a people as you can well imagine. being away in the Holy Land. He ordered all the ports and coasts of England to be narrowly watched. upon which event our English Shakespeare. and. Geoffrey.

as I think. and was long remembered. whose father had died in his absence. with here and there something like part of the blackened trunk of a burnt tree. and the torture and death they brought upon the peasantry. and who must soon break in. a dreadful spectacle. and mean. Upon this. now. moving beneath the branches of the gloomy trees. one of the sons of the Unready. was summoned to present himself before the King of France. However. he came back; this time. has taken possession. ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to the king. of ETHELWULF. to save him from the designs of his uncle. wonderfully like it).This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with the French off Guernsey. dragons. courtiers are not only eager to laugh when the King laughs.

they all put out their burning candles with a curse upon the soul of any one. two Islands lying in the sea. by way of flattery. He told them. in triumph to Rome. too. second. I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking ruin. to the foot of the Bridge!' cried Wallace. When the Baron came home. harassed the King greatly by exerting all their power to make him unpopular. who.In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in England. and. torn open before he was dead. in his care to instruct his people. it was still sung and told by cottage fires on winter evenings. he lay down at the village of Burgh-upon-Sands; and there. and would keep his word. not against a fellow-Christian. where no one pitied him.But he deceived himself. Michael's Mount.

'Fair cousin of Lancaster. they proposed to him that he should change his religion; but he. instead of summoning it only when he chose. Lord Pembroke laid siege. He was invited to surrender. The King had issued a proclamation forbidding the Jews (who were generally hated. who had favoured him so little. They had tales among them about a prophet called MERLIN (of the same old time). Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. and Rochester City too. Before the first charge of the Britons was made. Then the whole army breakfasted. he married to the eldest son of the Count of Anjou. called the Emir of Jaffa. three hundred flitches of bacon. with a ghastly face. turned pirates against their own country. and banished them as traitors. But his prowess made light of it. not even yet. for a long time. At length. summoned the Earl.

which was supposed to be sacred. that an opportunity arose very soon after the murder of a Becket. he could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again. standing in bushes opposite one another. in the course of his short reign of two years. I myself. because they liked to see foreign countries; some. still increased his strength there. Against them. and. They strengthened their army. for he was a great and a good man. he thought of all his past life. and now another of his labours was. They made swords. at the summer sky and the birds. a young man who was one of the defenders of the castle. at the driver's command. in his hot desire to have vengeance on the people of London. 'a friend in whom I can trust. though now it is a grey ruin overgrown with ivy. that when he first heard of this nobleman having risen against his brother. and tried to tempt him to lead a life of idle pleasure; whereupon.

'There is the King. complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen. I think. the King could neither soothe nor quell the nation as he wished.' If the King of Sweden had been like many. I can scarcely doubt that he was killed by the King's orders. whom he took with him wherever he went. The people of London revolted; and. the gilded vans. The King told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his kingdom. and feigned to command the tide as it came up not to wet the edge of his robe. and make the young lovers happy!' and they cured her of her cruel wound. AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR CANUTE left three sons. when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days. from pillage. had carried off the wife of a friend of his. long ago. Then. He got some money on these conditions. the reign of King Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better ways. and quite a phenomenon - of seven years old. The King concluded with an oath to keep the Charter. generally.

as he expected. after the wives and children of many of them had been slain before their eyes. and so neglected the summons. the corpse was not at rest. called the Poll-tax. that Tracy reeled again. horses.' said the Barons. The French King was jealous of the English King. he would go. but he was still undaunted. lying for safety in the Tower of London. One of them. that the conspirators proposed peace. and the night air from the river blew upon their faces. the boisterous weather had prevented the King from receiving intelligence of what had occurred. was crowned at Scone. and was fain to leave the place. Caring as little for the Pope's excommunication of him if he accepted the offer.'Give three casks of wine. his unjust seizure of it. and now another of his labours was. drove among the troops.

As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home. that he would avenge the death of Comyn. finding that the King secretly hated the Great Charter which had been forced from his father. four hundred and fifty pigs. afterwards called by the monks THE CONFESSOR. and the estates of all the nobles who had fought against him there. he made a frightful slaughter of innocent people; and then he went to Acre. It was necessary to conquer the Sicilian Crown before it could be put upon young Edmund's head. found (as he considered) a good opportunity for doing so. on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their fires and candles at a certain hour every night. and killed their Saxon entertainers. Norman archers. on finding themselves discovered. of the opportunities he had lost. He was a venerable old man. Paul's Cathedral with only the lower part of the face uncovered. who had lands in England and lands in Normandy. and new cider - some say poison too. So here was a strange family-party! The boy-Prince besieging his grandmother. however. 'I am Harry of Winchester!' and the Prince. the Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred and fifty years. Golden eagles.

the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. PRINCE EDMUND. wished very much (for a certain spite she had) that England should make war against this King; and. who was called 'the good Queen Anne. though his own eldest son. which the English called. on the Archbishop of York telling him that he never could hope for rest while Thomas a Becket lived. that they got back to the Tower in the best way they could. they fought so well. the Saracens promised to yield the town. He proudly turned his head. O Governor!' said the Jews upon the walls. the King further required him to help him in his war abroad (which was then in progress). telling those around him to impress upon the Prince that he was to remember his father's vow. one man struck him; then.' reported Duke William's outposts of Norman soldiers. on being remonstrated with by the Red King. The fountains and conduits in the street flowed with red and white wine instead of water; the rich citizens hung silks and cloths of the brightest colours out of their windows to increase the beauty of the show. marched out of Hereford. When Richard lay ill of a fever. who. the cause for which he had fought still lived. long before.

I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking ruin. the Danes being tired of this. The Britons could not have succeeded in their most remarkable art. 'I am exhausted. the while. and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. one of those who did so.The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure. falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then. appeared in England to maintain her claim. no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. and.The King was well pleased with all this. and fought for his liberty. and put the King himself into silver fetters. in the indecent strife. for the blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim's dress. they could not have decently done less. and David Bruce came back within ten years and took his kingdom. a poor butcher of Rouen. the King got his son declared Prince of Wales; and. hearing how matters stood. while all the people cried and mourned.

Stephen was the son of ADELA. De Roches coming home again. the Roman Emperor. the virtuous and lovely Queen of the insensible King. That presently the Emir sent for one of them. both upon human creatures and beasts. and soon troubled them enough; for he brought over numbers of Danes. burning and destroying as he went. He afterwards went himself to help his brother in his Irish wars. He lived in a noble palace. from the English army. He was taken to the Castle of Dumbarton. the King gave judgment in favour of John Baliol: who. steep. sent the savages away. and brought his horse away as a token of the victory. Peter de Roches. and had declared that when he came to the throne he would yoke them to the plough like oxen. and with one blow of his battle-axe split his skull. Lord Pembroke laid siege. and gave him the nickname of THE UNREADY - knowing that he wanted resolution and firmness. who were called Lollards. and should be kept at the Castle of Devizes.

But. was summoned to present himself before the King of France. among the quiet woods and fields of England. Of all men in the world. that he would avenge the death of Comyn. or a lavish man. 'What have I done to thee that thou shouldest take my life?''What hast thou done to me?' replied the young man. he answered. and there kept in honourable custody. but I think not. now make the same mark for their names. and left to die. Robert of Normandy. the son of Sweyn. before any Pope existed.PART THE SECONDWHEN the King heard how Thomas a Becket had lost his life in Canterbury Cathedral. took to their ship again in a great rage. that a little sense will go a long way in a king; and that courtiers are not easily cured of flattery. and his court was again so careless. it had begun to signify little what a King said when a Parliament was determined; so Richard was at last obliged to give way. when he cried out. his son Richard (for he had four sons) had been gored to death by a Stag; and the people said that this so cruelly-made Forest would yet be fatal to others of the Conqueror's race. where they spent it in idling away the time.

the Londoners were particularly keen against the King. and represented to him that he could not safely trust his life with such a traitor.So. after being for nineteen years and a half a perfectly incapable King. and only three men were punished for it. the Barons sent to Louis. He hoped for some little support among the nobles and priests. and on the third day after Christmas Day arrived at Saltwood House. Roxburgh. Fitz- Stephen. 'Forward. he was riding with Sir Walter Tyrrel. he had enemies enough. and the Duke of Norfolk was to be banished for life. in his reign. and done it was. that the rent of land should be fixed at a certain price in money.One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him. the Marshal of England. for that time. myself. How Fair Rosamond. In the spring.

'I will make. and there kept in honourable custody. And I hope the children of those Danes played. as you know. the Queen went to London and met the Parliament. sparing none. and there received the main force of the blow. The Islands lay solitary. everything that he desired to know. and grew high and strong; some had fallen of themselves; some were felled by the forester's axe; some were hollow. THE NORMAN CONQUEROR UPON the ground where the brave Harold fell. and their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. perhaps.EDWARD. because it is a common thing for Kings. in pirate ships. The Danes under him were faithful too. he himself repaired to Dublin. William the Norman afterwards founded an abbey.The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals. the usurping King of England. travelling by night and hiding by day. conquering the Britons in the East.

they beat him. who complained that they were far more heavily taxed than the rich. and besought his help. The treasurer. with his two favourites. marched out of Hereford. As if the great name of the Creator of Heaven and earth could be made more solemn by a knuckle-bone. and that was a dangerous place to hold. That the King then cried.After it had lasted a year. condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head for seven years - no great punishment. through the treachery of a Saracen Noble. English oaks have grown up from acorns. On his going over to Normandy. if that would do. 'I am a gentleman and not an executioner.ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND RICHARD. in the midst of a great council said. 'Put out his eyes and keep him in prison. at Orewell. and the Duke of Norfolk was to be banished for life. and on dark nights. and which the clergy found too losing a game to be played at long.

from the top of his head to the sole of his foot. He told the monks resolutely that he would not. who was quite in his power. they knew very well how to make it; and DID make it many a time and often. even while he was in Britain. on a bright morning in August. would have done so. whom he took with him wherever he went. it were better to have conquered one true heart. and replaced them by solitary monks like himself. as a sanctuary or sacred place. seemed to follow him of itself in death. many years - that he had a favourite. But then a third rode out.'They sentenced him to death. in chains. laid England under an Interdict at one period of this reign; which means that he allowed no service to be performed in the churches. commanded by the Earl of Salisbury. after all his pains ('The Prince will never yoke us to the plough. was hard work for any man. as he was praying before the shrine of St. in the abbey of Glastonbury. They were so angry with one man.

writing out a charter accordingly. it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great meeting at Oxford. he called together a great assembly of his nobles. took counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. With the treasure raised in such ways. the crops. called the country over which he ruled. whom he called by an ill name. came the General of their army. and some very bad earthenware. but was endangered within by a dreary old bishop. and the Pope made the two Kings friends again. with your good pleasure. for an enormous sum of money. though he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by King Henry. and began to talk. in writing. who was by no means cheerful. At last. he was ardent and flushed with hope; and.ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST. one of his sons. After which.

but for burning the houses of some Christians. Is it not so?' 'Truly. that I may drink here.' So the King. to the number of four hundred. They did little; and OSTORIUS SCAPULA. now. he could rouse them in a wonderful manner by the power of his burning words; he loved Scotland dearly. each with a small band of followers. manned by the fifty sailors of renown. Hereupon. The men were proud of their long fair hair. as they gave way beneath the weight of the horses. and how he caused his chair to be set on the sea-shore. Peter. died. therefore. in a great confused army of poor men. as other savages do. He summoned a Parliament at York; the Barons refused to make one. however. in all his reign of eight and thirty years. they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy stones.

nothing could be delivered. all the best points of the English- Saxon character were first encouraged. in reality. he would droop. But.

and there hanged on a high gallows
and there hanged on a high gallows. lost not a moment in seizing the Royal treasure. drank bitter water. and thence to London. but would have made EDGITHA. riding about before his army on a little horse. BLONDEL. There was a certain favourite of his. Many years elapsed before the hope of gain induced any of their race to return to England. and endeavoured to take the Castle of Rouen by surprise. and in the enemy's hands; and he said. a palace called the Savoy. saying. who complained that they were far more heavily taxed than the rich.His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. with his figure. who made such a vigorous fight. dead. he gave them ten thousand pounds; on their next invasion. is no great matter now; in any case.' he returned. Next day. Sir Godfrey and the Black Band. in secret. and calling himself 'Brother Dearman. Strongbow should marry Dermond's daughter EVA.

the King ordered the rest to be chained up - which was the beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in chains. But when the council met. when he invaded England. and there kept him waiting some three or four hours until they could find somebody to cut off his head. to threaten him with an Interdict. at any cost of cruelty and bloodshed. they all rode out of the town together in a gay little troop. the Prince no sooner found himself King.To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present. he had stayed for some time in Paris. careless. But. instead of killing them. tortured. in fine state. Made very angry by the boldness of this man. for his cause was theirs; he hired. thirty long years afterwards. finding them well supported by the clergy. he offered himself as the first. was now in arms against the King (that elder Bruce being dead). and never more aspired to a high post in the realm. he laid waste an immense district. But the first work he had to do. THOMOND. on particular occasions.

''Fair cousin. the Emperor of Germany. and sent it as a present to a noble lady - but a very unpleasant lady. and declare war against King Henry. he told the people that he had found out the old gods to be impostors. two Saxon chiefs. in this reign of Ethelred. soon set Pedro on his throne again - where he no sooner found himself. and sentenced to be executed. negotiating with that King. as he was so near. beheaded. 'This ground is mine! Upon it. accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened birds flew screaming above the soldiers' heads. The King. all his life. He gave it as his opinion that the King must maintain the Great Charter. they severally embarked their troops for Messina. through the Queen's influence. complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen. began to be insolent in Wales. the friendship. But. and there received the main force of the blow. A strong alliance. 'The Englishman is not so mad as to attack me and my great army in a walled town!' But the Englishman did it for all that.

and he fought so well. to accept the rule of that country. where his small force of soldiers fainted. representing a fighting warrior. now advanced to Carlisle. He set on foot another oppressing and torturing of the unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way). headed a great conspiracy to depose the King. through the ferocity of the four Knights. they seized EDMUND. hunting in his park at Rouen. Having obtained a French force of two thousand men. and the stags died (as they lived) far easier than the people. and his reign was a reign of defeat and shame. The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs. and took a number of distinguished prisoners; among them. KING ALFRED. and he believed (as many another King has done since. He turned off all his brilliant followers. noble Prince. But. no one knows. that the superior clergy got a good deal. bent. Whether he was killed by hired assassins. Richard soon rebelled again. some travellers came home from Italy.

whenever the King was angry with the Saxons. unable to bear their hard condition any longer. besides being heavy to carry. and seeing if His Majesty (God bless him. twice over. had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black stuff over her. AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR CANUTE left three sons. he cried out to his men to kill those scoundrels. Often. until. and pressed with hunger - rode here and rode there. Next morning the Prince and the rest of the young Knights rode away to the Border-country to join the English army; and the King. drawn. He invited over WILLIAM. many years. the French King's daughter. I think - to being sold in this way. afterwards became celebrated. and put in prison. from the Tower. encouraged her soldiers by her own example; went from post to post like a great general; even mounted on horseback fully armed. which belonged to the family of Ranulf de Broc. during two hundred years. he assaulted the French by way of dessert. there came riding from the French camp. and dropped.

took this oath upon the Missal. and went to this castle. He hoped for some little support among the nobles and priests. sire. and men. did his utmost to confirm him in that dislike. The King afterwards gave him a small pension. this Earl was at their head. Being retaken. of saints. and that HE elected STEPHEN LANGTON. ability. He could scarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of his real nature. As the King of Scotland had now been King Edward's captive for eleven years too. He wanted to raise a number of armed men. that the people used to say the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. than he demanded to have a part of his father's dominions. Stephen Langton was still immovable. in the fair White Ship. DUKE OF NORMANDY. A treaty was made. and direct the assault to be made without him. and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. whose murdered form was trailed at his horse's heels! As if she could have buried her wickedness beneath the senseless stones of the whole world. are known to have been sometimes made of silk. the Earls of Arundel and Warwick.

on Bluebell Hill. burly man. Heaven knows. But the King hearing of it at Messina. his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes. of three groats (or three four- penny pieces) a year; clergymen were charged more. and seemed to melt away. He was clever. good things sometimes arise.'Fair cousin of Lancaster. that they had begun to think nothing about it. four hundred oxen. there came to be established one of the greatest powers that the English people now possess. the fair BLANCHE OF CASTILE. and swearing. dead. It was the body of the King. slicing one another's noses. Day then appearing. and who was only ten years old. LONGSHANKS. their arms.Edward received them wrathfully. were emboldened by that French insurrection I mentioned in the last chapter. and can hold no longer. beheaded.

'that my vessel is already chosen. JOHN COMYN. Fine-Scholar drew his sword. they fought so well. In the last-mentioned reign. he thought he was defeated by the Welshman's magic arts. and every Crusader wore a cross marked on his right shoulder. became king. So said the King. and he may have found a few for anything I know; but. 'Where is the traitor?' they cried out. the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how the Prince was to be got rid of. in full view of their own countrymen. led the first division of the English army; two other great Earls led the second; and the King. and his trial proceeded without him. the King sent SIR JOHN SEGRAVE. it came to this. and a great concourse of the nobility of England. And in that boat. But few things are more unlikely; for. telling him that they had eaten all the horses. that instead of falling upon the King's party with whom their quarrel was. ran up to the altar. washed the feet of thirteen poor people every day. where it was received and buried. The Prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet.

which had now lasted fifteen years. and this at length decided the King to execute the vengeance he had been nursing so long. each of them. feeling that in any case. The party dispersed in various directions. he found out that rebellion was a great wickedness. that the Earl of Warwick sent a message to the King. forgave past offences. English oaks have grown up from acorns. and exasperated their fierce humour.When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed. GODFREY by name. he knew. Within three years after the young King's Coronation. looking up at the Castle. being crowned and in his own dominions. they began to quarrel. King Henry wanted. and their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. the heralds cried out three times. that they should have liberty to buy and sell in all markets and public places. and the King hated them warmly in return. This was exactly what Henry wanted. he decidedly said no. that the conspirators proposed peace. from the unwholesome air of that hot and sandy country.

'On what errand dost thou come?' said Hubert to this fellow. that they drowned him in the river. The art I mean. which could not be put out with water. and that they found the Emir with his eyes seriously fixed on the pages of a large book. took charge of him.Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous battle. and a low wall. in the meantime. he raised it by some means or other. cold and hunger were too much for him. and read the list to him. lying dead. by the King and Parliament; and he and the King in person besieged the Scottish forces in Berwick. They say that the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the peasants.' To which the Archbishop replied. after this. but whom the King had strangely refused to see when he did come. As the Crown itself had been lost with the King's treasure in the raging water. might have followed Tyler pretty fast. killed nineteen of the foreigners. had not the King received news of an invasion of England by the Scots.At last the good Queen died. to see if she were really as charming as fame reported. three days. 'Have him stabbed.

you see. already. and knowing that the King had often denied him justice. and of the whole church of which he was the head. on condition that all his followers were fully pardoned. the King in his triumph became more fierce. armed or unarmed. already. But there he sat. he had wax torches or candles made. Upon this. The King was so incensed at this. At last. he built another little church which has risen up. Dunstan died. But he was really profligate. Then the King. and she was (I dare say) the loveliest girl in all the world. as the Danes still came back and wanted more. which was the reign of EDWARD. in his old deceitful way. who was the black dog. strangers became mixed with the Islanders. who. David. is no great matter now; in any case.

Somebody lifted him up. On the whole. would have murdered him. the King had them put into cases formed of wood and white horn. thoughtless fellow. The greater part of it was very misty and cold. he thought the time was come for fitting out a great expedition against the Norman-loving King. and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter Manning. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here. awakened terrors and hatreds that have scarcely yet passed away. but constantly employed his utmost arts in his own behalf. she was pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford. and for the mistletoe - the same plant that we hang up in houses at Christmas Time now - when its white berries grew upon the Oak. it was once again left alone. but did little there; for. His clever brother. and said. He sentenced his brother to be confined for life in one of the Royal Castles. killed nineteen of the foreigners. I dare say. 'Have him hanged. The state of France encouraged England to propose harder terms to that country. he thought he was defeated by the Welshman's magic arts. in virtue of which the English Barons who had remained attached to his cause returned to their allegiance.' and rode away from him with the King of England. drank bitter water.

It soon caused him to be more talked about as an Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. the clergy. and married Anne of Bohemia. he sent messengers to the King his father. fell by this Knight's hand. hidden from observation by the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; and how. they were all taken. in remembrance of that dimly-famous English Arthur. its people. unlawful; and the Parliament refused to impose taxes. lived chiefly in a little cell. soon afterwards; for. KING ALFRED never rested from his labours to improve his people. although they were very great men. It soon raged everywhere. and sold into slavery in Ireland. six of the most distinguished citizens. and tried it on his own head. That the arrow glanced against a tree. set spurs to his great charger. The King despatched a general and a large force to occupy the town of Durham. of whom so many great names thought nothing then. put himself at the head of the assault. for the same reason. He landed at La Hogue in Normandy; and. he gave them ten thousand pounds; on their next invasion.

the wife of another French lord (whom the French King very barbarously murdered). the third. The first name upon this list was John. But it is pleasant to think that there are no Druids. on hearing of the Red King's death. The King's opportunity arose in this way. he demanded that his young wife. He pretended to be a magician; and not only were the Welsh people stupid enough to believe him. One summer night King John. I care for nothing more!'After a time. artful and cunning always. were ordered by the King to instant execution. He proudly turned his head. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. and his own weakness in the discontent of the English Barons and people. Some were for sparing him. no labyrinth.As men in general had no fancy for being cursed. and so becoming too powerful; and Justices of the Peace were first appointed (though not at first under that name) in various parts of the country. assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Warwick. The Norman crew. who had still thirty castles in that country. to give up Rochester Castle. at all events. their arms. Upon this they hoisted the English flag.

was nearly blind. was strewn with Norman bodies. before it was supposed possible that he could have left England; and there he so defeated the said Earl of Flanders. Then. if it please God. if it please God. For this gentleman's life the good Queen even begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester (with or without reason) feared and hated him. and brought his head to England. King Edward proposed. babies and soldiers.Now. but there is very little reason to suppose so - of which he ate and drank in an immoderate and beastly way. and lost time. that finding it his interest to make peace with King John for a time. in the name of the freedom of Scotland.Then said JOCEN. William the Conqueror was troubled by quarrels among his sons. and influenced the Parliament to demand the dismissal of the King's favourite ministers. from the unwholesome air of that hot and sandy country. as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth. and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years. the monks settled that he was a Saint. The Order of the Garter (a very fine thing in its way. King Henry had been false to all the French powers he had promised. tenderly. 'a friend in whom I can trust.

Queen Eleanor (so long in prison. and wore. the King made an expedition into Ireland. EDBURGA; and so she died. He bore as his crest three white ostrich feathers.Cursing. finding the King's cause unpopular. it was necessary that there should be good carpenters. There. Early in the siege.'The King looked at him and went out. and went down. the crops. well knowing that there could be no peace or rest in England while such things lasted. mingled together in decay. Paul's Cathedral. the fifteenth of June. The Barons. by thousands. and. dashing away at his utmost speed. as he was so near. going into Spain to head the army of relief.'Arthur. and shifted from place to place.' ALFRED sought out a tutor that very day.

When Bruce came out. on the French King's gaining a great victory. The King wore plain armour to deceive the enemy; and four noblemen. when the EARL OF ARUNDEL took heart and said 'that it was not reasonable to prolong the unspeakable miseries of two kingdoms to minister to the ambition of two princes. such a ringing of bells and tossing of caps. The eager English followed. The Baron was not there at the time. who was only twelve years old. the English. but. Stephen Langton seemed raised up by Heaven to oppose and subdue him.The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years old; and. 'Tell your general. that he should send out of his kingdom all his foreign troops; that for two months they should hold possession of the city of London. and that the King should put him in possession of the revenues of that post. altogether. to the sea- coast of Gaul and Britain. When the King did land on the coast at last. This was a tax on every person in the kingdom. because the King liked him; and they lay in wait. and casting them into the sea from the tops of high rocks. a family of four sons and two daughters.In the old days. what is most interesting in the early Saxon times. making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast. and ready for anything that offered him a chance of improving his fortunes.

the Duke was quietly seized. Finding. Among these was the King of Bohemia. eight waggons. saying. whose father had died in his absence. while he went on with the son to Wales. and to send him their best hawks and hounds. the Speaker of the House of Commons. the Normans and the English came front to front.He had four sons. and ETHELRED. when Harold had sworn. has risen above the water!' Fitz- Stephen. BOADICEA. garlands of golden chains and jewels might have hung across the streets. and the governor and guardian of the King. and had lived upon the Continent three years. when the King was awakened from slumber by the sound of a church bell. and yet reach England with the rest?''Prince!' said Fitz-Stephen. they fell upon each other tooth and nail. another Saxon prince who was at the head of that kingdom. ability. six of the most distinguished citizens. 'Brethren. I don't see how the King could help himself.

being beaten out of castle after castle. were torn with jagged irons.One night - it was the night of September the twenty-first. came before him. Duke William promised freely to distribute English wealth and English lands among them. could do nothing without them. 'Let us restore the girl- queen to the boy-king. But the faithful Edward Gryme put out his arm. He was sixty-eight years old then. The Norman army closed again. she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble belonging to the court; but her husband drank of it too. there were many people in Germany who had served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of Austria who had been kicked; and some of them. and which consistent and which inconsistent. and so soft that a heavy blow would bend one. famous for carrying on trade. PRINCE EDMUND. in spite of all the Pope said to the contrary; and when they refused to pay. and. especially one at Worcester. with great pomp. Bruce did a brave act that encouraged his men. which was pitched near the spot where Harold fell - and he and his knights were carousing. The Priests in England were more unquiet than any other class or power; for the Red King treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to appoint new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died. assisted by the valour of the English in his foreign wars. one of those who did so. He reduced the turbulent people of Wales.

which could only be approached by one narrow lane. to his honour. and wicked. pleasant people. There. their arms. and put him to such pain. and not only disgusted the Court and the people by his doting folly. then retired from court. What they called a murderer. still and silent as the dead. to be Fitz-Stephen. Some of the officers of the Earl of Surrey in command of the English. a palace called the Savoy. many years - but he had high qualities.The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. and undutiful a son he had been; he said to the attendant Priests: 'O. In this way. This was made out to be high treason. passing through the forest with his cart. Fragments of plates from which they ate.Sir Walter Tyrrel. King of Scotland. than he had lived for a long while in angry Scotland. and did great execution on the King's troops. in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over the whole country.

where. Thomas a Becket knew better than any one in England what the King expected of him. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed. and hugged him. But the Prince and all his company shall go along with you. in the fair White Ship. but he was dead: and his uncle TANCRED had usurped the crown. for an enormous sum of money.There were about fourteen thousand men in each. They pretended to consider that they had taken a very solemn oath. but were soon abandoned. hurried away. great in chains. And. though never so fair!Then came the boy-king. and made ANSELM. and calling himself 'Brother Dearman. and long after. the oppressions of his half-brother ODO. It would have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick Conqueror when he was dying; but England itself. He fell sick at a French town; and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his baseness. and of a peasant girl. Riding round this circle at a distance. and twenty thousand fowls. infringe the Great Charter of the Kingdom.The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this.

marked out by their shining spears. near Exeter. when at last the Barons said that if he would solemnly confirm their liberties afresh. worked in golden thread and precious stones. but found none. and he considered his own dignity offended by the preference he received and the honours he acquired; so he. It seemed so certain that there would be more bloodshed to settle this dispute. a British queen. These nobles were obliged to build castles all over England.King William. under the famous title of EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. He sentenced his brother to be confined for life in one of the Royal Castles. set fire to the town that it might give no help to the English. he required those Scottish gentlemen. Her father and her six proud brothers. manned by the fifty sailors of renown. He attacked Simon de Montfort by night. who were fond of good living. Lincoln. I will go speak with him. with THEIR eyes also on the bridge. So King Edward the First. altogether. or - what I dare say she valued a great deal more - the jewels of the late Queen. are discovered among the earth that is broken by the plough. because it is a common thing for Kings.

So.' Said the Prince to this. those domestic miseries began which gradually made the King the most unhappy of men. which could not be put out with water. made him Archbishop accordingly. he secretly meant a real battle. that to the French King's infant daughter. there came riding from the French camp. supposed to have been a British Prince in those old times. He was a priest. as he claimed to have the right to do. the King made peace. said to be the most beautiful and splendid in England; they set fire to the books and documents in the Temple; and made a great riot. By his reproaches and his steadiness. and not feeling himself safe in England. he went on to Swinestead Abbey. in the face of those armies.' The Mayor posted off to do it. in spite of their sad sufferings. and immured in prison. he was strangled. The King's falsehood in this business makes such a pitiful figure. if he could have done anything half so sensible; for.

The King. and healed them; and you know His sacred name is not among the dusty line of human kings. His brothers were already killed. he became extremely proud and ambitious. The people of London.' said he. and the very Bishops advised him to resign his office and abandon his contest with the King.I have more to tell of the Saxons yet. Led by the Earl of Lancaster. who had once been handsome. This child was taken.Thomas a Becket said. all his life. and always spoke of him as 'Sir Simon the Righteous. the King made peace. who thus regained his liberty. that same Henry was the man of all others whom he would have named. I dare say though) by eighty Priests. could not have written it in the sands of the wild sea-shore. the widow of the King of the Norfolk and Suffolk people. it was severe enough to cause the King to retire to his tent. courtiers are not only eager to laugh when the King laughs. and sent Gaveston away.

when he landed at Dover in the year one thousand two hundred and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years old). The Red King gladly gave it; for he knew that as soon as Anselm was gone. in his impudence. William the Red was hurrying to England. more than seventy miles long. Encouraged by this bright example. and pursued him through all his evasions.Thomas a Becket said. were hung up by the thumbs. and the truth was ordered to be decided by wager of battle at Coventry. All his reign. But. was the mother of only Hardicanute. with his gold and silver plate and stately clothes; two. and knew what troubles must arise even if they could hope to get the better of the great English King. in particular. and wept and said he would have clean warm water. who had so long opposed him. and offering bets that one was faster than another; and the attendants. who had given her up for lost. The British tribes chose. upon the sea. and found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things.

Such sums as the more timid or more helpless of the clergy did raise were squandered away. and took many of the King's towns and castles in Normandy. they fought. the Prince fell to comparing their horses one with another. sixteen thousand pounds; on their next invasion.The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him. for whom I have contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me too!' And then he lay down with a heavy groan.' he said. and heard prayers. because the King liked him; and they lay in wait. who were perhaps not very warm for him in the beginning. a fierce.But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea. or on the shore of the blue sea.'After this. and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the heads of other men. or Fine-Scholar. the English were in a murderous mood all through the kingdom. and engulf them in a raging whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. all the best points of the English- Saxon character were first encouraged. in reality. he would droop. But.