Principal Events. INHERITING Normandy from his mother, Anjou from his father, by his marriage with Eleanor, (1151), the divorced queen of Louis VII., he had acquired Aquitaine, and thus possessed nearly a third part of France. He holds a Great Council, in which he resumes the grants of land made by Stephen. 1156. He obtains from Malcolm of Scotland the three northern counties, and confirms to him, the Earldom of Huntingdon. He does homage to Louis VII. for his French possessions, and represses the attempts of his brother, Geoffrey, on Maine and Anjou. 1157. He reduces the Welsh to submission. 1159. Hostilities with Louis VII. with reference to the town of Toulouse, which Henry claims in right of his wife, are terminated by the Pope's mediation. 1160. He contracts his son Henry in marriage with Margaret, the daughter of Louis VII. 1162. Appointment of Becket to the primacy, the disputes between whom and the king are terminated only with the death of the former, (1170). 1165. He takes possession of Brittany, as guardian of his son Geoffrey, who was contracted in marriage with Constance, heiress of that province. 1172. He visits Ireland, after its conquest by Strongbow, and receives the submission of the Irish princes. 1173-1174. Unsuccessful revolt of the princes Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, aided by Louis VII. and William the Lion of Scotland, the latter of whom is made prisoner at Alnwick, and is forced to do homage for his crown as a vassal. 1189. The second revolt of Prince Richard is terminated by a treaty, which is soon followed by the king's death. Married, ELEANOR of Guienne. Issue, Henry, died 1182. A.D. Observations. ARTFUL and licentious in conduct, a redeeming trait in the character of Henry was his affection for his children, whom he frequently forgave for their acts of rebellion. Henry and Geoffrey died during the lifetime of their father, the latter leaving by Constance of Brittany an infant son, Arthur. 35 YEARS 58 KINGS OF FRANCE. Louis VII. (the Young). died A.D. 1180 Philip II. (Augustus). EMPEROR OF GERMANY. Frederick I. (Barbarossa). The orders of the Knights of Calatrava, Spain, (1175). Origin of the League or Hansa of the free towns of the north, (1164). The Guelphic League of the Lombard cities for the independence of Italy, against the Emperor Frederick I., (1167). Saladin pute an end to the Fatimite Thomas-a-Becket had filled the office of chancellor. The revenues of this office, one of the highest a layman could hold, (Becket was not yet ordained a priest), enabled him to live with a splendour which no Saxon had exhibited since the Conquest. At the same time his justice and purity of life endeared him especially to his Saxon fellow-countrymen. On the death of Theobald, Henry had resolved to raise Becket to the primacy. This dignity Becket was unwilling to accept. Grateful for the favours conferred upon him, he was not, as chancellor, called upon to oppose those changes in the laws of the Church which it was the intention of Henry to effect. But he knew that, if archbishop, (1164), and of St. Iago, are instituted in his duties would be different, and that he could not retain the favour of his benefactor. His objections were unheeded, and he became primate. His first offence was the resignation of the chancellorship, an office which he considered unsuited to an archbishop. The "CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON followed, (1164), enactments, which, while they lessened the power of the Church, were certainly based upon a false representation of the existing state of the law. Becket repented his signature to these enactments, and retired into exile. The obnoxious clauses were, after five years, in accordance with the will of the nation, withdrawn by Henry, who expressed a wish for a reconinsincere, resolved to return to England. He was received everywhere with ciliation. Becket, though he knew that the professions of the king were triumph. Fresh cause of offence soon followed, when Henry, who was then in Normandy, exclaimed, "Will no one rid me of this troublesome prelate ?" Four knights immediately hastened to Canterbury to murder the archbishop. Though well knowing their purpose, he went to the cathedral at the hour of vespers, forbidding his attendants even to fasten the doors. At the entrance of the four knights with drawn swords, he moved towards them a few steps from the altar, and there received his death blow. The king, it is believed, sincerely regretted the deed, which exasperated the nation, who saw in Becket the only man his penitence for the crime, (A.D. 1174). capable of asserting their rights, and he consented to express by a public act By Rosamond Clifford, who died many years afterwards a penitent at Godstow Nunnery, Henry left two sons, Henry Longsword, and Geoffrey, Archbishop of York. Ireland, which had been peopled by a Celtic tribe, was at this time divided into six kingdoms. Dermot of Leinster had been driven from the Island for carrying off the wife of a chieftain named O'Ruarc. He sought the assistance of Henry, who allowed Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, to espouse his cause. Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, landed with twelve hundred men. Dublin and Waterford were taken;-the English conquests in Ireland were extended, and Henry received the submission of most of the Irish princes. To improve the administration of justice, Henry employed Ralph de Granville to digest the laws of England. He was the first prince who divided the country into circuits, which were visited by royal justices. Caliphs, and becomes master of Egypt, (171). Origin of the ceremony of the marriage of the Doge of Venice with the Adriatic, (1173). The Lombard League is victorious at Legnano, near Como, (1176). Henry (Guelph) the Lion of Saxony de prived by the Emperor Frederick 1. (Barbarossa) of his possessions, (1180). Peace of Constance, by which the Lom bard cities acquire freedom, (1183). The South of Italy passes under the dominion of the Hohenstauffens, by the marriage of Henry, son of Frederick 1., with Constance, daughter of Roger 11, of Sicily, (1186). Saladin defeats Guy de Lusignan, and captures Jerusalem, (1187). NAMES OF NOTE. Wace, Poet Pe er Lombard, Theol. T. A'Becket. Archb.. died A.D. 1155 1164 RICHARD (I.) Geoffrey, died 1186. JOHN. Eleanor, married Alphonso of Castille. Matilda, married to Henry the Lion of Saxony. Joan, married to William II. of Sicily. Principal Events. ACCESSION A.D. 1189. Į DEATH. 1199. Observations. 10 YEARS 42 YEARS THE third but eldest surviving son of Henry II., is THE pretext for the revolts of Richard and his brothers, which had embittered crowned at Westminster, (3rd Sept.). the last years of the late king, had been the refusal of their father to bestow upon them the actual government of the provinces with the lordship of which favourite son, John, among those who had sided with Richard in his second they had been invested. The grief of Henry II. at finding the name of his revolt, is supposed to have hastened his end. On his accession to the throne, Richard is said to have shown regret for his misconduct towards his father. 1190. He joins Philip II. of France in the third Crusade, having entrusted the government of England to Longchamps, Bishop of Ely, and Hugh, Bishop of Durham, and having sold the vassalage of Scot-witnessed the cruelties committed by the Mahometan conquerors of Palestine, land. He winters at Sicily, where dissensions between him and Philip are fomented by the Duke Tancred. He marries Berengaria of Navarre. 1191. On his voyage to Palestine, he punishes the Prince of Cyprus for an insult offered to the English fleet. 1192. He takes Acre, and defeating Saladin, with an army of 300,000 men, near Ascalon, he concludes a truce. Philip, aided by the treachery of Prince John, invades Normandy. Richard, on his return through Germany, is seized by Leopold, Archduke of Austria, who resigns him to the Emperor Henry VI., by whom he is detained prisoner for nearly two years. 1194. Ransomed for 150,000 marks, Richard returns to England, and engages in a war with the King of France, which, four years later, is concluded by a truce. 1199. Besieging Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, a rebellious vassal, he is mortally wounded before the castle of Chaluz. An obscure French hermit, who had visited Jerusalem, (A.D. 1094), and had sought on his return the protection of Europe on behalf of Christian pilgrims. The appeal of Peter the Hermit led to THE CRUSADES, an enterprise rendered necessary, in fact, to check the growing power of Mahometanism, which, commencing in Arabia, had swept over Asia, and threatened danger to the whole Christian world. The Crusades are generally reckoned as seven in number:The first, in 1096, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem, and the establishment of a Christian state under Godfrey of Boulogne, who had seven successors, the last of whom, Guy de Lusignan, was made prisoner at the battle of Tiberias. The second, in 1147, under Louis VII. and Conrad III. of Germany, after the fall of Edessa. Premislaus Ottocar becomes the first king of Bohemia, (1198). Artois is annexed to the French crown by marriage, (1198). The third, in 1189, under Richard I., Philip of France and Frederick BarDeath of the Emperor Henry VI. Contest barossa, after the victory gained by Saladin at Tiberias. between Philip of Swabia and Otho of The fourth, in 1202, led by Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, and Boniface, Marquis Brunswick, son of Henry the Lion, for the of Montferrat. The Crusaders, indignant at the perfidies of the Greeks, took crown of Germany, (1199-1207). Constantinople, and established there what was known as the Latin Empire. The fifth, in 1219, in which Damietta was taken by the French, though it was abandoned by them in 1227. The sixth, in 1248, in which Damietta was again taken by Louis IX., but The terms of the truce concluded between Richard and Saladin were, that the country from Jaffa to Tyre should be held by the Christians, and that protection should be given to all pilgrims to the Holy Land. The Archduke Leopold, by whom Richard was made prisoner, had served under the English king at Acre, but had left the Crusades, indignant at an insult offered to the Austrian banner. Before his liberation, Richard consented to hold England as a fief of the Empire, and to do homage to the Emperor as his feudal lord. The kind of dependance involved in the act of vassalage was rather nominal than real, and can only be understood by a knowledge of feudal law. During this reign lived the famous outlaw, Robin Hood, over whose history a romantic character has been thrown by the popular ballads of the country. At the coronation of Richard, many of the Jews were murdered in a popular tumult. The three lions still seen in the royal shield of England, were now introduced. Married, BERENGARIA of Navarre. NAMES OF NOTE. R. Fitz-Stephen, Biographer died A.D. 1191 1192 1197 William of Newbury, Hist. R. de Glanville, Jurist, fl. Principal Events. BROTHER of the late king, returns from Normandy, and is crowned at Westminster, (27th May). He gains the provinces of Anjou and Maine, which had declared for his nephew, Arthur, who falls, after some time, into his power, and is murdered, (1202). 1200. Edict of Hastings, requiring all ships to strike their topsails to the British flag in the narrow seas. 1203-1204. War with Philip II. of France, who gains the greater part of Normandy, after it had been for three hundred years separated from the French crown. 1207. On occasion of an irregularity in the nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Innocent III. appoints Langton, who is refused admittance into England. ACCESSION 1199. Observations. THIS prince received the name of "Sans-terre," or Lack-land, -a surname By the strict order of succession, Arthur, son of Geoffrey, elder brother of A dispute had long existed as to the right of election to the See of Canterbury 1208. England is laid under an interdict. 1209. Excesses of the king, on whom the sentence of excommunication is passed, which, on his subse-by both parties to make England a fief of the Papal See. The motive for this During the contests between John and the barons, an agreement was made quent submission, is removed, (1214). step was, on John's part, the hope of securing the crown, while the barons 1210. John undertakes a successful expedition to were desirous of obtaining an appeal to the Pope against the tyranny of the Ireland, which is placed under English laws. king. A similar step was taken by the Scotch, when they wished to defeat the claims made by Edward I. to the feudal superiority over their country. 1213. War with France is renewed. 1214. John, with his allies, Otho of Germany and the Count of Flanders, is defeated at Bouvines. League of the barons, who, induced by Langton to demand a charter of liberties, take up arms. Conference between the barons and the king, the latter of whom signs, at Runnymede, MAGNA CHARTA, which twenty-four barons are appointed to see enforced (19th June 1215). 1216. In consequence of the violation of the Charter by the king, the barons offer the crown to Louis, son of Philip Augustus, and, by his marriage with Blanche of Castille, nephew-in-law of John. Commencement of civil war, which is terminated by the death of the king. howevever, declared for him, and John, who, with a large army, was at Lynn, Magna Charta was, in the main, the same as the charter granted by Henry I., During this reign, the right of electing the Lord Mayor was first given to the City of London, and the Cinque Ports, first established by the Conqueror- Married, 1st, AVISA of Gloucester. Married, 2nd, ISABELLA of Anjoulême. Issue, HENRY (III.). The departure of the fourth Crusade from Venice, (1202). and Venetians, who establish the Latin Constantinople is taken by the French Empire in that city under Baldwin and five successors, (1204). The empire of Nicæa is founded by Theodore Lascaris, and that of Trebizond by Alexis Comnenus. The Moors are defeated at Novas de Toloso by Alphonso VIII. of Castille, Sancho VII. of Navarre, and Pedro II. of Arragon, (1212). Institution of the Knights of Alacantra in Spain, (1214). Commencement of the conquests of the Mongol Tartars under Genghis Khan, (1206). Under his grandson, Batou, they subdue Russia, (1235), overthrow the empire of the Saracens, and take Bagdad, and, under Kublai, reduce China, (1279). Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Joan, married to Alexander II. of Scotland. Isabella, married to Frederick II. of Germany. Principal Events. THE eldest son of John, is crowned at Gloucester, after swearing to observe Magna Charta. chester. A.D. Observations. 56 HENRY III. was crowned at the age of nine years. The Earl of Pembroke and crown. During his minority the government is successively conducted by the Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal, By the fall of Lincoln, which had declared for him, (A.D. 1217), and the loss (1219), by Hubert-de-Burgh, Grand Justiciary, of his fleet, Prince Louis was forced to relinquish all hopes of the English (1232), and by Peter-des-Roches, Bishop of Win-the lifetime of John, led to two unsuccessful invasions of that country by Henry. His subsequent refusal to surrender the provinces in France, seized in After many years of negotiation, Guienne and Poitou were restored to England. By the acceptance of the crown of Sicily for his son Edmund, Henry was, in 1252, forced to apply to parliament for supplies. The demand was resisted by the nobles, who appeared in arms at Westminster, and subsequently forced the king to assent to the PROVISIONS of a council held at Oxford, called by the At the head of the barons was Simon-deroyalists the "Mad Parliament." Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who, by his marriage with Eleanor, was brotherin-law of the king. 1230. An unsuccessful expedition to France is undertaken by Henry. 1236. Henry excites dissatisfaction by his favours to the foreign relatives of Eleanor of Provence, whom he marries. 1242. He enters on a war with Louis VIII. of France, which is terminated by his defeat at Taillebourg and at Saintes. YEARS Contemporary Events. KINGS OF SCOTLAND. Alexander II. .. died A.D. 1249 ... Within two years Henry regained his authority. The opposition of Leicester, however, continued, and it was agreed by both parties to abide by the decision of Louis IX. of France. The award of the French king being unfavourable to the confederate barons, civil war was renewed, and at Lewes, 1258. The barons, led by a foreigner, Simon-de-after a severe conflict, the king and his brother Richard were taken prisoners. Montfort, (Earl of Leicester,) in the "MAD PARLIA- agreed that the powers of government should be placed in the hands of Leicester A treaty known as the MISE OF LEWES was now concluded, by which it was MENT at Oxford, force the king to sign a treaty, and his associates, that the matters in dispute should be settled by parliament, which places the government in the hands of twenty- and that Prince Edward should be surrendered as a hostage for the fulfilment of four of their number. the terms of the treaty. The escape, however, at this juncture of the prince, who, by the assistance of the Earl of Gloucester, a former associate of Leicester, comes tributary to the Golden Horde, (1252), was enabled to elude the vigilance of his guards, deranged the plans of the confederates. The bloody battle of Evesham followed, in which no quarter was given. The forces of the barons were defeated; Leicester and his son Henry were slain, and the royal authority was once more restored to the hands of the feeble Henry. 1263-4. The disputes between Henry and the barons are referred to Louis IX. of France, whose decision the barons refuse to accept, and take the king prisoner at the battle of Lewes. 1265. A parliament is summoned by Simon-deMontfort, to which, as well as knights of the shire, citizens and burgesses are, for the first time, summoned. Escape of Prince Edward, who rescues his father at the battle of Evesham, in which Simon-de-Montfort is killed. 1268. The insurgent barons, who had seized the Isle of Ely, are forced to submit. 1270. Departure of Prince Edward for the Crusades, which is soon followed by the death of the king. At the battle of Evesham the life of Henry, who was at that time a prisoner There was little of foreign war in this reign. Commerce was greatly extended, In this reign lived Robert Grossetête, a bishop of great learning and piety, who did much to remove abuses in the Church, and to remedy the disorders of the times. Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia, bePremislaus Ottocar of Bohemia acquires Austria and Moravia. Richard, Earl of Cornwall, is chosen successor to the Emperor Frederick 11. by three of the electors, and Alphonso of Castille by the remainder. lants, (1260). Charles of Anjou receives the investiture of Naples and Sicily, (1262), and defeats Conraddin, the last of the Hohenstauffens, (1268). Haco V. of Norway invades Scotland, and is defeated at Largs, (1263). The seventh and last Crusade, (1270). Married, ELEANOR of Provence. Issue, EDWARD I. Edmund (Crouchback), Earl of Lancaster. Margaret, married Alexander III. of Scotland. Beatrice, married John of Brittany. |