On Evesham's plain is Montfort slain,

Well skill'd he was to guide;
Where streams his gore shall all deplore :

Fair England's flower and pride.

Ere Tuesday's sun its course had run

Our noblest chiefs had bled:
While rush'd to fight each gallant knight,

Their dastard vassals fled;
Still undismay'd, with trenchant blade

They hew'd their desperate way:
Not strength or skill to Edward's will,
But numbers give the day.

On Evesham's plain, &c.

Yet by the blow that laid thee low,

Brave earl, one palm is given ;
Not less at thine than Becket's shrine

Shall rise our vows to heaven!
Our church and laws, your common cause :

'Twas his the church to save; Our rights restored, thou, generous lord, Shalt triumph in thy grave.

On Evesham's plain, &c.

Despenser true, the good Sir Hugh,

Our justice and our friend, Borne down with wrong, amidst the throng

Has met his wretched end.
Sir Henry's fate need I relate.

Or Leicester's gallant soa,
Or many a score of barons more,
By Gloucester's hate undone ?

On Evesham's plain, &c. Each righteous lord, who brav'd the sword,

And for our safety died,
With conscience pure shall aye endure

The martyr'd saint beside.
That martyr'd saint was never faint

To ease the poor man's care:
With gracious will he shall fulfil
Our just and earnest prayer.

On Evesham's plain, &c.

On Montfort's breast a haircloth vest

His pious soul proclaim'd;
With ruffian hand the ruthless band

That sacred emblem stain'd :
And to assuage their impious rage,

His lifeless corse defaced, Whose powerful arm long saved from harm The realm his virtues graced,

On Evesham's plain, &o.

Now all draw near, companions dear,

To Jesus let us pray That Montfort's heir his grace may share,

And learn to Heaven the way.

No priest I name; none, none I blame,

Nor aught of ill surmise :
Yet for the love of Christ above
pray, be churchmen wise.

On Evesham's plain, &c.

No good, I ween, of late is seen

By earl or baron done;
Nor knight or squire to fame aspire,

Or dare disgrace to shun.
Faith, truth, are fled, and in their stead

Do vice and meanness rule;
E'en on the throne may soon be shown
A flatterer or a fool.

On Evesham's plain, &c.
Brave martyr'd chief! no more our grief

For thee or thine shall flow!
Among the blest in Heaven ye rest

From all your toils below.
But for the few, the gallant crew,

Who here in bonds remain,*
Christ condescend their woes to end,
And break the tyrant's chain.

On Evesham's plain, &c. It was a striking evidence of the indestructibility of the principles for which De Montfort had fought and perished, that even in the hour of full success the king did not dare to revoke the Great Charter ; and when he and a parliament held at Winchester passed severe sentences against the family and adherents of De Montfort, he provoked a new resistance, which occupied Prince Edward two years to put down. Kenilworth Castle especially resisted all efforts of the besiegers; and at last it became necessary to offer reasonable terms. The “Dictum de Kenilworth" was consequently enacted, and gradually all parties submitted. And thus ended the last armed struggle in England for Magna Charta.

* The few knights above mentioned who were found still alive among the bodies of the slain.

97.-CHRONOLOGY OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE CONQUEROR TO THE DEATH OF HENRY III.

1066 Coronation of William in Westminster Abbey. 1068 William extends his conquests to Devonshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and

Oxford, and many fortified cities. 1072 William advances into Scotland; subdues Maicolm III. 1073 William lays waste Northumbria; Egelwin, Bishop of Durham, retires to Lindisfarne;

Durham is taken by William and fortified.
Hugh the Wolf, Earl of Chester, invades North Wales and builds Rhuddlan Castle.

Hereward raises an insurrection in Lincolnshire, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. The
English make a fortified camp in the Isle of Ely; William besieges them for three
months; the monks of Ely betray the camp; the English surrender, but Hereward

escapes; he afterwards takes the oath of allegiance to William. William takes with him an English army and reduces Maine.

Edgar Atheling goes to Rouen to William. 1077-9 Robert of Normandy, William's eldest son, claims that province ; he is refused; he

revolts ; William besieges him in the Castle of Gesberoy ; is wounded by Robert; he

abandons the siege; Robert is reconciled to the king. 1085 The Dane-geld again laid on by the king.

The king lays waste a circumference of ninety miles in Hampshire to make a hunting

ground. He enacts the forest laws. 1087 July. William lays siege to Mantes ; it is taken and burned; he receives an injury by

his horse stumbling; he is carried to Rouen; removes to the monastery of St.
Gervas; liberates state prisoners ; bequeathes Normandy to Robert, and gives 5,0001.

of silver to Henry.
Sept. 9. Death of William the Conqueror.
His body is carried to Caen and is buried in St. Stephen's church.
Sept. 26. William Rufus is crowned at Westminster by Lanfranc, archbishop of

Canterbury.
The bishop of Bayeux raises an insurrection in England in favour of Robert of

Normandy.
The Normans are defeated at sea; Rufus calls the Saxons together ; besieges Odo, the

bishop, in Pevensey Castle ; Perensey and Rochester Castles are surrendered to

the king. 1089 Archbishop Lanfranc dies ; Rufus seizes the revenues of Canterbury. 1091 Jan. Rufus invades Normandy at the head of an English army; a peace is concluded

and Rufus retains many towns. Rufus engages in a war with Malcolm III. of Scotland. Nov. 13. Malcolm III. and his son Edward killed at the siege of Alnwick Castle.

Nov. 16. Queen Margaret his wife, the sister of Edgar Atheling, dies, 1096 Robert resigns Normandy to Rufus for a sum of money. 1100 Aug. 1. Rufus is slain by an arrow in the New Forest, shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel.

Rufus is buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Aug. 5. Accession of Henry I.; he is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Maurice,

bishop of London.
Henry grants a charter of liberties ; restores the rights of the church; and promises

to restore the laws of Edward the Confessor.

Nov. 11. Henry marries Maud, daughter of Malcolm, king of Scots. 1101 Henry goes to war with some of his barons; siege of Arundel Castle; of Bridgenorth ;

it is captured ; capitulation of Shrewsbury. 1106 Henry invades Normandy; lays siege to Tenchebray; Robert marches to its relief; is

defeated and taken prisoner, and Normandy falls into the possession of Henry.

A.D. 1106 Edgar Atheling is taken prisoner at the same place; is brought to England, and a

pension is allowed him. Duke Robert is committed to prison for life ; he attempts to escape; is blinded by

order of Henry 1110 Matilda, the daughter of Henry, affianced to Henry V., emperor of Germany, and a

tax laid on the country to pay the marriage portion. 1117 Thomas à Becket is born. 1118 Maud the Good, queen of Henry, dies.

Henry is engaged in a war with his Norman barons.

The Order of the Templars founded. 1120 Nov. 25. Henry sets sail from Barfleur for England.

The Blanche-nef, the ship in which Prince William embarked, is wrecked and all

perish. 1126 Matilda, the widow of the Emperor Henry V., and daughter of Henry I., is declared

the next heir to the throne. 1127 Matilda is married to Geoffrey Plantagenet at Rouen. 1183 Matilda is delivered of a son at Mans, who is afterwards Henry II. of England.

Henry again causes his barons to swear to support the succession of Matilda and her

children.
1135 Robert of Normandy dies in Cardiff Castle.

Nov. 25. Henry is taken sick while in Normandy.
Dec. 1. He dies, leaving all his territories to his daughter Matilda.
Stephen arrives in London, and is acknowledged king by the citizens.
Dec. 26. He is crowned at Westminster.
He calls a meeting of the barons and clergy at Oxford, who swear to obey him so long

as he preserves the church discipline ; the pope confirms his election as king.

Stephen grants a charter of liberties; he allows his barons to fortify their castles. 1136 Stephen goes to Normandy and is received as the lawful successor. 1137 Robert Earl of Gloucester comes to England; swears fealty to Stephen; raises an

insurrection in favour of Matilda; is aided by the King of Scots ; Norwich and

other royal castles are taken ; Stephen regains them. 1138 March. David, king of Scots, invades England.

Aug. 22. The battle of the Standard is fought at Northallerton. 1139 Matilda lands in England ; Stephen surprises her in Arundel Castle; she is allowed

to depart; the barons of the north and west join Matilda.

Stephen defeats the barons at Ely and other places. 1141 Feb. 2. Robert Earl of Gloucester takes Stephen prisoner before Lincoln.

March 2. The Bishop of Winchester abandons Stephen, and the following day gives

his benediction to Matilda in Winchester Cathedral; she assumes royal anthority. Matilda is driven from London by Queen Maud, and retires to Oxford; and thence to

Winchester Castle.
Aug. 1, The bishop besieges Winchester Castle.
Sept. 14. Matilda makes her escape from the castle, and reaches Gloucester.
Her adherents, the Earl of Gloucester, and others are taken prisoners.

Nov. 1. Stephen is set at liberty in exchange for Robert Earl of Gloucester 1147 Oct. Robert Earl of Gloucester dies of a fever.

Matilda quits England.
1150 Prince Henry succeeds as duke of Anjou.
1152 Eleanor, wife of Louis VII. of France, is divorced.

Prince Henry marries her, and attains Poicton, Guienne, and Aquitaine.
He lands in England with an army; he is met by Stephen at Wallingford ; a truce is

agreed upon. 1153 Nov. 7. A peace is concluded at Winchester between Stephen and Prince Henry; the

latter is adopted as his son ; appointed his successor, and has the kingdom given to

him after the king's death.
i154 Oct. 25. King Stephen dies, and is buried at Faversham Monastery.

Dec. Henry arrives in England and enters Winchester.
Dec. 19. He is crowned with his queen in Westminster Abbey.

A.D.

1156 Thomas à Becket is made chancellor of England, preceptor to the prince, and warden

of the Tower. 1157 Henry invades Wales; the Welch, after a few months, do homage and give hostages. 1164 Jan. 25. Becket and the clergy sign a series of articles rendering the clergy subject to

the civil courts for felony at Clarendon, in Wiltshire, called the Constitutions of

Clarendon. 1167 May. Becket excommunicates in the church of Vezeley ihe supporters of the consti

tutions of Clarendon ; and several of the favourites of Henry. 1167 Dermond MacMurrongh, king of Leinster, acknowledges himself vassal to Henry, at

Aquitaine, and Henry grants him protection; he comes to England ; engages with
Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, called Strongbow, and Maurice Fitzgerald and
Robert Fitzstephen, for aid in his restoration ; returns to Ireland.

The Empress Matilda dies at Rouen. 1169 Peace is concluded between the kings of England and France: Henry's sons do homage

for their several fiefs, &c. Marriage is agreed between Prince Richard, and Alice,

a daughter of Louis.

Dec. 1. Becket lands at Sandwich ; proceeds to Canterbury. 1170 Maurice Fitzgerald arrives from England. Dublin is reduced.

June 14. Prince Henry is crowned during his father's lifetime by the Archbishop of

York.
July 22. A congress is held on the borders of Touraine, when Henry and Becket are

reconciled.

Becket is murdered in St. Augustine's Church, Canterbury. 1171 Oct. 18. Henry, attended by Strongbow and a large army, lands at Crook, near Water

ford, and receives the submission of many princes and chieftains; all Ireland, ex

cept Ulster, is subjugated. 1172 May. Henry is absolved from the murder of Becket by the pope's legates at Avranches.

Prince Henry is again crowned; his consort Margaret, daughter of Louis of France, is

crowned with him.
Prince Henry demands the sovereignty of either England or Normandy.

He flies to the French court. 1173 March. Richard and Geoffry, the king's other sons, go to the French court, and Queen

Eleanor abandons her husband, but is retaken and imprisoned.
Prince Henry is acknowledged sole king of England by Louis of France; the three
princes swear that they will not make peace with Henry without the consent of the

barons of France.
Henry declares that England belongs to the jurisdiction of the pope.

June. The war commences in Normandy, but the rebels and invaders are repulsed. 1174 July 8. Henry returns to England, and lands at Southampton, bringing as prisoners

his own and Prince Henry's wife; does penance at the grave of Becket. He is scourged in the church. July 12. Ranulph de Glanville takes William the Lion prisoner with sixty Scottish

lords. Henry is reconciled to his children, and peace is restored. Dec. William the Lion is released, on doing homage to Henry, by the treaty of

Falaise. 1175 Henry again at variance with his eldest son ; they are reconciled.

Ireland is subjected to England by treaty; the King of Ireland does homage. 1183 Prince Richard refuses to do homage to his brother Henry for the duchy of Aquitaine ;

war commences between them. 1183-4 King Henry and Prince Geoffry are at war with Prince Henry and Prince Richard ;

Prince Henry submits to his father.
Prince Henry falls sick at Château Martel.
June 11. He dies.
Henry takes Limoges by assault; takes several castles ; captures Bertrand de Born;

pardons him. 1186 Prince Geoffry is killed at a tournament. 1188 Jan. Peace between Henry and Philip; they meet and agree to march to the Holy

Land.