his whole family; and, what was still more extraordinary, several princes were not ashamed to support this ab surd and unnatural rebellion!-Not only Lewis, king of France, but William, king of Scotland, Philip, earl of Flanders, and several other princes on the continent, besides many barons, both English and Norman, espoused the quarrel of young Henry and his brothers 20. In order to break that alarming confederacy, the king of England humbled himself so far as to supplicate the court of Rome. Though sensible of the danger of ecclesiastical authority in temporal disputes, he applied to the pope to excommunicate his enemies, and by that means reduce to obedience his undutiful children, whom he found such reluctance to punish by the sword. The bulls required were issued by Alexander III. but they not having the desired effect, Henry was obliged to have recourse to arms and he carried on war successfully, and at the same time, against France, Scotland, and his rebellious barons in England and Normandy. Meanwhile, the English monarch, sensible of his danger, and of the effects of superstition on A. D. 1174. the minds of the people, went barefooted to Becket's tomb; prostrated himself before the shrine of the saint; remained in fasting and prayer during a whole day; watched all night the holy reliques; and assembling a chapter of the monks, put a scourge of discipline into each of their hands, and presented his bare shoulders to the lashes which these incensed ecclesiastics not sparingly inflicted upon him!-Next morning he received absolution; and his generals obtained, on the same day, a great victory over the Scots, which was regarded as a proof of his final reconciliation with Heaven, and with Thomas à Becket". The victory over the Scots was gained near Alnwick, where their king was taken prisoner; and the spirit of the English rebels being broken by this blow, the whole 20. Benedict. Abbas. R. Hoveden. W. Neubrig. 21. Ibid. kingdom kingdom was restored to tranquillity. It was deemed Having thus, contrary to all expectation, extricated himself from a situation in which his throne was exposed to the utmost danger, Henry occupied himself for several years in the administration of justice, enacting of laws, and in guarding against those inconveniencies, which either the past convulsions of the state, or the political institutions of that age, rendered unavoidable. The success which had attended him in all his wars, discouraged his neighbours from attempting any thing against him; so that he was enabled to complete his internal regulations without disturbance from any quarter. Some of these regulations deserve particular notice. As the clergy, by the constitutions of Clarendon, which Henry endeavoured still to maintain, were subjected to a trial by the civil magistrate, it seemed but just to afford them the protection of that power to which they owed obedience: he therefore enacted a law, That the murderers of a clergyman should be tried before the justiciary, in the presence of the bishop or his official; and besides the usual punishment for murder, should be subjected to a forfeiture of their estates, and a confisca tion of their goods and chattels 23. He also passed an equitable law, That the goods of a vassal should not be seized for the debt of his lord, unless the vassal was surety for the debt; and that, in cases of insolvency, the 22. R. Hoveden. 23. Gervase. Diceto. rents rents of vassals should be paid to the creditors of the lord, not to the lord himself. The partition of England into four divisions, and the appointment of itinerant judges, learned in the law, to go the circuit in each division, and to decide the causes in the counties, after the example of the commissaries of Lewis VI. and the missi of Charlemagne, was another important ordinance of the English monarch; a measure which had a direct tendency to curb the oppressions of the barons, and to protect the inferior gentry or small landholders, and the common people in their property25. And that there might be fewer obstacles to the execution of justice, he was vigilant in demolishing all the new erected castles of the nobility, in England as well as in his foreign dominions. Nor did he permit any fortress to remain in the custody of those he found reason to suspect". But lest the kingdom should be weakened by this peaceful policy, Henry published a famous decree, called an Assize of Arms; by which all his subjects were oblig. ed to put themselves in a situation to defend themselves and the realm. Every person possessed of a single knight's fee, was ordered to have a coat of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance and the same accoutrements were required to be provided by every one, whether nobleman or gentleman, for whatever number of knight's fees he might hold. Every free layman, who had rents or goods to the value of sixteen marks, was to be armed in like manner: every one that had ten marks was obliged to have an iron gorget, a cap of iron, and a lance; and all burgesses were to have a cap of iron, a lance, and a coat thickly quilted with wool, tow, or some such materials, called a Wambais". While the English monarch was thus liberally employ. ed in providing for the happiness and security of his subjects, the king of France had fallen into a most abject 24. Benedict. Abbass. 25. R. Hoveden. 26. Benedict Abbas. 27. Annal. Waverl. Benedict. Abbas. superstition; superstition; and was induced, by a devotion more sincere than Henry's, to make a pilgrimage to A. D. 1179. the tomb of Becket, in order to obtain his intercession for the recovery of Philip, his son and heir. Lewis, as the sagacious Hume remarks, with no less ingenuity than pleasantry, probably thought himself entitled to the favour of that saint, on account of their ancient intimacy: and hoped that Becket, whom he had protected while on earth, would not now, that he was so highly advanced in heaven, forget his old friend and benefactor: the young prince was restored to health; and, as was supposed, through the intercession of Becket. But the king himself, soon after his return, was struck with an apoplexy, which deprived him of his judgment; and Philip II. afterwards surnamed Augustus, took upon him the administration, though only fifteen years of age. His father's death, which happened next year, opened his way to the throne; and he proved the ablest, and the greatest monarch, that had governed France since the age of Charlemagne. The superior age and experience of Henry, however, while they moderated his ambition, gave him such an ascendant over this prince, that no dangerous rivalship, for some time, arose between them. The English monarch, instead of taking advantage of Philip's youth, employed his good offices in composing the quarrels which arose in the royal family of France: and he was successful in mediating an accommodation between the king, his mother, and uncles. But these services were ill requited by Philip; who, when he came to man's estate, encouraged Henry's sons in their ungrateful and undutiful behaviour towards their father 28 A.D. 1180. The quarrels between the king of England and his family, however, were in some measure quieted by the death of his two sons, young Henry and his brother Geoffrey, who had both been in open A. D. 1187. rebellion rebellion against their parental sovereign: and the rivalship between old Henry and Philip seemed, for a time, to give place to the general passion for the relief of the Holy Land. Both assumed the cross, and imposed A. D. 1188. a tax amounting to the tenth of all moveables, on such of their subjects as remained at home29. But before this great enterprise could be carried into execution, many obstacles were to be surmounted. Philip, still jealous of Henry's greatness, entered into a private confederacy with prince Richard, now heir apparent to the English crown; and by working on his ambitious and impatient temper, persuaded him to seek present power and independency at the expense of filial duty, and of the grandeur of that monarchy which he was one day to inherit. The king of England was therefore obliged, at an advanced age, to defend his dominions by arms, and to enter on a war with France, and with his eldest surviving son; a prince of great valour and popularity, who had seduced the chief barons of Poitou, Guienne, Anjou, and Normandy. Henry, as might be expected, was unsuccessful; a misfortune which so much subdued his spirit, that he concluded a treaty on the most disadvantageous terms. He agreed that Richard should receive the homage, an oath of fealty of all his subjects, and that all his associates should be pardoned: and he engaged to pay the king of France a compensation for the charges of the war30. A. D. 1189. But the mortification which Henry, who had been accustomed to give law to his enemies, received from these humiliating conditions was light, in comparison of what he experienced from another cause on that occasion. When he demanded a list of the persons, to whom he was to grant an indemnity for confederating with Richard, he was astonished to find at the head of them the name of his favourite son John, who had always shared his 29. Benedict. Abbas. 30. M. Paris, Bened. Abbas. R. Hoveden. confidence; |