Scarcely less important was the consent given by the Council of Regency, during the absence of Edward, to an addition to Magna Charta, whereby it was provided that no taxes should be levied upon the nation without the consent of land, is killed by William Tell, (1307). Parliament. This measure, which we owe mainly to the influence of the patriotic Archbishop Winchelsea, and to the firmness of the Constable and Marshall, Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, was reluctantly confirmed by Edward in Flanders:

Edward established the famous society of Merchant Adventurers; abolished the office of Grand Justiciary; defined the jurisdiction of the Courts of Justice; 1306. He marches northwards to oppose Robert introduced the practice of entailing estates; and by the "Statute of Winchester,' Bruce, and dies near Carlisle.

Alphonso, who died young. EDWARD (II.). Eleanor. Joan. Margaret. Elizabeth. Married, 2nd, MARGARET of France. Issue, Thomas Earl of Norfolk. Edmund Earl of Kent.

Principal Events.

ACCESSION A.D. 1307
DEPOSED

Observations.

SUCCEEDS to the throne at the age of twenty-three, EDWARD II. received the surname of "Caernarvon" from the place of his birth.
and abandons the war with Scotland.
He was the first son of an English sovereign who bore the title of Prince of
Wales, an end having been put to the native race of Welsh princes on the
execution by Edward I. of David, brother of Llewellyn.

1308. He entrusts the government to his favourite Gaveston, during his visit to France, where he marries Isabel, daughter of Philip the Fair.

Coronation of the king and queen at Westminster, (Feb. 24th).

1310. Edward is forced by the nobles to banish Gaveston, and to vest the government in a council of twelve of their number, called "THE ORDAINERS." 1312. Edward recalls Gaveston, who is seized at Scarborough, by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, (son of Edmund Crouchback,) and is executed.

1314. The English are defeated at BANNOCKBURN by the Scots under Bruce, (25th June).

The influence given by the feudal system to the barons, though attended at the time with great evils, and though inconsistent with the conduct of the government under a feeble prince, was, meanwhile, useful in keeping in check the power of an arbitrary sovereign, while it gave time for the middle classes to rise in importance, and for property, by the extension of trade, to pass into their hands.

20 YEARS

43 YEARS

Contemporary Events.

KING OF SCOTLAND,

Robert I (Bruce).

Henry VII. (of Luxembourg) 1313
Louis IV (of Bavar.a).

Origin of the republic of Switzerland, by the union of the three cantons of Schweiz, Uri and Unterwalden, (1308).

Removal of the Papal See to Avignon, where it remains sixty-eight years, (13081377).

Philip IV. of France summons the third estate to the National Assembly, which had hitherto consisted only of the nobles and clergy, (1308).

Ferdinand of Castile takes Gibraltar,

and reduces part of Granada.

Under pretence of settling a dispute between her husband and brother about the province of Guienne, Queen Isabel, in the year 1325, visited France. There she collected around her the partizans of the late Earl of Lancaster. To obtain the person of her son, Prince Edward, she proposed that the province of Guienne should be surrendered to him, in order that he might perform homage for it to the French king. To strengthen her cause still further, she affianced the young prince to Phillippa, daughter of William, Count of Hainault, and by the assistance of this noble she obtained the services of three thousand men, with whom half-brothers of the king, as well as by the Earl of Leicester, the brother of she landed at Orwell Haven. She was joined by the Earls of Kent and Norfolk, Lancaster. The opposition to Edward was now formidable. Disappointed in the hope of finding support in the west, whither he at first retired, the king took shipping for Lundy Island, at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. Driven back by adverse winds, he landed at Swansea; but, finding concealment impossible, he, before long, surrendered himself to the barons, and was conducted to the Castle of Kenilworth. From Hereford, where a temporary parliament had been held, Isabel repaired to London. The incapacity of Edward was insisted upon by the adherents of the queen in a parliament summoned by her at West-pressed by Philip the Fair, (1312). 1326. Treason of the queen, who, under the in-minster. Prince Edward was proclaimed, and the peers, with the exception of four prelates, swore fealty to him. fluence of Roger Mortimer, a former adherent of Lancaster, raises a foreign army, with which she lands in Suffolk, (24th Sept.), and joins the barons, by whom the De Spencers are seized and executed. Attempted escape of the king, who is captured in Wales.

1315. Edward receives the De Spensers into favour. 1322. The insurgent nobles are defeated at Borough Bridge, and the Earl of Lancaster, who is taken prisoner, is convicted of a treasonable alliance with Bruce, and is beheaded at Pomfret.

1327. Usurpation of royal power by the queen, by whom a parliament is summoned, which deposes the king, (7th Jan.), who resigns the crown to his son, Edward, (20th Jan.), and is soon after cruelly murdered, (21st Sept.).

While the kingdom was torn with internal feuds, Robert Bruce had driven
the English out of the greater part of Scotland, and, by the battle of Bannock-
burn, one of the greatest defeats the English had ever sustained, he established
himself on the throne of that country. By the result of this battle, his wife and
daughter, who had been prisoners since A.D. 1307, were restored to liberty.

In this reign an alteration was made in what was known as the "Staple."
In the fourteenth century, all commodities upon which duties were payable had
to be brought to some central place to be measured and taxed, before being
exported. This was called the "King's staple." The merchants engaged in
this traffic were incorporated by a charter granted by Edward II. (A.D. 1313) as
Merchants of the Staple." The staple had been at first fixed in England, but
within the kingdom.
it was now transferred to Antwerp. Before long, however, it was again fixed

One of the greatest famines ever known in England occurred in this reign.
It began in 1314, and lasted for three years.

The Teutonic Knights make Marienburg the seat of their government, (1309).

Rhodes is taken from the Saracens by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The order of Knights Templars is supBattle of Morgarten, where the Austrians are defeated by the swiss.

. died A.D. 1308

NAMES OF NOTE.
Duns Scotus, Phil.
Fordun, Hist.
Winchelsea, Archbp.
Raymond Lulli, Phil.
J. de Joinville, Hist..
Dante, Poet
Robert Manning, Poet, fl.

1308

1313

1315

131

1321

Married, ISABEL of France. Issue, Alphonso, died young. EDWARD (III.). John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall. Jane, married to David Bruce of Scotland. Eleanor, married

to Reginald, Count of Gueldres.

Principal Events.

Is proclaimed king at the age of fourteen, the government during his minority being carried on by the queen-mother and Mortimer.

An unsuccessful war with the Scots is terminated by a treaty recognising the independence of Scotland, which is soon followed by the death of Robert Bruce. 1329. Arbitrary measures of Mortimer, who puts to death the Earl of Kent, brother to the late king. 1330, Edward assumes the government at the age of seventeen.

1333. He supports the claims of Edward, son of John Baliol, to the throne of Scotland against David Bruce, and defeats the Scots at Halidon Hill, (19th July).

1338. He claims the crown of France in right of his mother Isabel, and invades that country without

success.

ACCESSION A.D. 1327.
DEATH.
Observations.

REIGN 50 YEARS

On the deposition of Edward II., although a Council of Regency was appointed,
all real power was in the hands of Queen Isabel and Mortimer. In his eighteenth
year, Edward III. resolved to shake off this authority. Mortimer was seized in
the castle of Northampton, and was justly condemned for the murder of the
late king and other crimes. The queen, whose guilty passion for him was well
known, resided during the remainder of her life at the Manor of Risings.

In the war with Scotland, the Scots were led by the veteran Earl of Douglas,
who nearly captured the young king. Crossing by night the river which
divided the hostile armies, he deceived the sentinels by imitating the voice of
an English knight, and reached the tent of Edward, who was rescued with
difficulty by the heroism of his chaplain.

The claim of Edward to the crown of France was founded upon a pretence to the inheritance in right of Isabel, his mother. Philip the Fair had left three sons, all of whom succeeded him, without leaving male issue, and a daughter, Isabel. By a decision of the States, females had been declared incapable of inheriting the French crown. It had, therefore, been conferred on Philip of Valois, nephew of Philip the Fair. Edward contended, that, although females were excluded from the throne, yet this exclusion did not extend to their male descendants; and he maintained that, as the heir male nearest in blood to the late king, Charles IV., he was the lawful successor. It was on a similar ground that Robert Bruce had rested his pretensions to the Scotch throne, and on this ground the crown of Sicily had been awarded by 'Edward I. The French campaigns of Edward were at first unsuccessful. At length, after seven years, he gained a signal victory at Cressy, a village on the mouth of the Somme. On the morning of the 26th of August, 1346, Edward drew up the English army in three bodies on the side of a gentle hill. The command of the first division was given to Edward, Prince of Wales, then only sixteen. The French lines arrived in confusion in the presence of the English. At three They were thrown into confusion by the English bowmen, when the foremost o'clock in the afternoon the attack was commenced by the Genoese archers. lines under the command of Prince Edward became engaged with the French cavalry. So great was the inferiority of numbers on the side of the English, that, in spite of the valour shown by the prince, a knight was sent to ask for 1344. The Statute of Provisors is passed, prohibit-aid from the king, who watched the contest from a hill. "No," replied Edward, ing the presentation by the Pope to vacant ecclesias- "tell my son that I intend to leave him all the glory of the victory." The tical benefices in England. success of the English was decisive. On the side of the French there fell 30,000 men, many of the nobility, and the aged king of Bohemia, whose crest, "Ich Dien," was afterwards adopted by the Prince of Wales.

1340. Aided by James Van Artevelde and the Flemings, he gains a great naval victory over the French at Sluys, which is followed by a truce, brought about by the Papal legates.

1341. He summons a parliament which, in return for concessions from the crown, grants him 20,000 sacks of wool.

1346. Edward renews the war with the French, whom he defeats at CRESSY, (26th August), and marches to Calais.

The Scots are defeated at Neville's Cross, (12th October), by Queen Philippa, by whom David Bruce is taken prisoner.

1347. Calais, after a lengthened siege, surrenders to the king, (4th Aug.).

Edward advanced immediately to Calais, which was bravely defended by John de Vienne, who was, after eleven months, forced by famine to offer terms that six of the citizens should suffer death, and that their lives were saved by of surrender. It is said that Edward only accepted these terms on condition the entreaties of Philippa, who arrived at this time at Calais, after the defeat of the Scots at Neville's Cross.

The rejoicings caused by these triumphs were damped by the appearance of a disease called the "Black Death," which swept over Europe. By this plague 50,000 are said to have died in London alone.

64

Othman is succeeded by Orchan as Sultan, (1328).

Randolph, Earl of Murray, is appointed David II., (1329).

Regent of Scotland during the minority of

Rise of the family of Visconti in Milan.
James Van Artevelde, a brewer of Ghent,

expels the Count of Flanders and governs
that province as a Republic, (1330).

The Swiss Confederation is joined by Lucerne, (1332), Zürich, (1351), Zug, (1352), and Berne, (1353) Marriage of Joanna 1. of Naples, fourth descent from Charles of Anjou, with Andrew of Hungary, (1333), who is assassinated, (1346).

in

Edward Balio! is expelled from Scotland is disputed between John de Montfort and by the adherents of David II. (1334). The succession to the Duchy of Brittany Charles of Blois, nephew of Philip of Valois, (1341).

Cannon are first used at the battle of

1349. Return of Edward to England, and institution of the Order of the Garter.

1351. Parliament passes an act, limiting the cases to which the penalty of High Treason is attached. 1355-56. War with France is renewed under Edward Prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince, by whom John of France is taken prisoner at the battle of POICTIERS, (19th Sept.).

1357. A treaty, restoring to England all the provinces held in France by Henry II., signed by John, is rejected by the Dauphin, his son, and by the

States of France.

1360. Liberation of John, on the conclusion of a second treaty of peace at BRETIGNY, by which Guienne and other provinces are ceded to the English.Edward renounces his claims to the crown of France, and the ransom of the French king is fixed at three millions of gold crowns, (about 1,500,000 pounds). 1362. Edward forms Guienne into the principality of Aquitaine, and confers the sovereignty of it on his son, the Black Prince.

1363. From inability to fulfil the conditions of the treaty, John voluntarily returns to England, and dies at the Savoy.

1369. War is renewed with France.

Six

In 1350, Philip of France died, and was succeeded by his son, John.
years later, Edward was induced, by the intrigues of the King of Navarre,
again to invade France; the army intended to carry on the war in the south
being entrusted to the Black Prince. It was on this occasion, that, after a vain
attempt by the clergy to stop the shedding of blood, the battle of Poictiers was
fought. The English were again victorious; and, notwithstanding the valour
displayed by him, the French king was taken prisoner.

After the conquest of Guienne, the Black Prince lived usually at Bordeaux,
where he held his court. He had espoused his cousin Joan, commonly called
"The Fair Maid of Kent," widow of Sir Thomas Holland, daughter of the
Duke of Kent who had been beheaded by Mortimer in the beginning of this
reign. By her he left a son, afterwards Richard II. The English successes
in France were terminated by the death of the prince in 1376, the famous
Captal de Buch, his companion in arms, surviving him only a few days.*

Faction of the Jacquerie in France, and

revolt of Marcel, (135).

(1359), who conquers Rumania. (1360), and establishes the body-guard of Janissaries,

Accession of Amurath, the third Sultan,

composed of captured Christian youthis. Burgundy is bestowed by John of France upon his fourth son, Phil p the Bold, (1363), whose posterity, in the male line, retain it until A.D. 1477.

The Black Prince supports the cause of Pedro the Cruel of Castile against Henry Najara.-Du Guesclin is made prisoner, of l'rastamere, and gains the victory of (1367).

Pedro is defeated by Henry of Trastamere, who acquires the crown of Castile, (1369).

Philip the Bold of Burgundy marries Margaret, heiress of Flanders.

Casimir the Great, of Poland, the last of the Piast dynasty, is succeeded by his nephew, Lewis the Great, of Hungary, who

Parliaments had been regularly summoned since 1295. Though chiefly convened to vote supplies, they usually seized the opportunity to demand a redress of existing grievances. The "maletolte," or evil toll, on wool was resisted. advice of his council, and to oblige them to swear to the observance of Magna unites Poland and Hungary, (1370). In 1341, Edward was required to appoint the great officers of state with the Charta. The power of the Commons was increasing. Towards the close of this reign they impeached several of the ministers, and obliged the king to remove Accession of the House of Stuart in Scotfrom court his favourite Alice Piers, and the Duke of Lancaster. Another step taken by parliament was to put a check on the system by which lad in the person of Robert II., son of Walter, the Steward, and Marjory, daughter the king's officers seized during his progresses the provisions necessary for the of Robert Bruce (1371). royal household,-called the system of purveyance.

Edward III. was forced to confirm Magna Charta fifteen times. It has been ratified no fewer than thirty-six times by successive kings.

French continued in use in the Courts of Law till now.

In 1363, Edward enacted that all pleas should, for the future, be held in English, but be enrolled in Latin, which language continued in use for this purpose for four centuries. The title of "Duke" was now introduced into England,- -a title which we shall find henceforth borne by the sons of the king.

Edward encouraged commerce. The customs of the port of London alone

1376. Impeachment by the Commons of Lord amounted at this time to 1,200 marks per annum, a sum exceeding the total of Latimer and other ministers of the crown.

Death of the Prince of Wales, followed by reverses of the English, who lose the greater part of their conquests in France.

1377. Unpopularity of the Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward, (commonly called John of Gaunt), to whom the government is entrusted during the last year of this reign.

the customs of all England under Henry III. The chief article of commerce
was wool, which was carried to Flanders. The manufacture of wool had been
introduced as early as the reign of Henry II. by a colony of Flemings, who
settled at Worsted, near Norwich, but it appears to have made hitherto but
little progress. Edward, however, taking advantage of the discontent existing
among the Flemish weavers, invited some of them to settle in England.

In this reign lived William of Wykeham, who, from the revenues of his see,
founded Winchester school, the Hospital of St. Cross, and New College at
Wycliffe, whose views are thought by some to resemble those afterwards held
Oxford; Chaucer, who may be called the father of English poetry; and
by the reformers.

*The events connected with the campaign of the Black Prince in favour of Pedro the Cruel, belong rather to Spanish than to English history.

Married, PHILIPPA of Hainault. Issue, Edward, the Black Prince, died 1376. William, died young. Lionel, Duke of Clarence.

Du Guesclin is appointed constable of France, (1370).

Henry of Castile invades Portugal, (1373).

NAMES OF NOTE.
Langtoft, Poet.
Trivet, Hist.

G. Villani, Hist.
Bradwardine, Archb.

died A. D. 1327

1328

W. Durandus, Theol.
Giotto, Painter
Nicholas de Lyra, Theol.
Richard of Bury, Hist.
Occam, Phil.

1333

1336

John of Ghent, or Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. Joan, married Alphonso of Castile. Mary, married John of Brittany. Isabel. Margaret.

Principal Events.

THE only surviving son of the Black Prince, succeeds to the throne at the age of eleven, a council of fifteen being appointed during his minority.

1381. An insurrection on account of a poll tax levied to carry on the wars with France and Scotland, headed by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, which is quelled by the courage and address of the young king. 1382. Richard marries Anne of Bohemia. 1385. A fruitless expedition into Scotland. 1386. The king is deprived of the royal power by Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, who appoints a Commission of fourteen to carry on the government. 1388. Sir Simon Burley, Chief Justice Tressilian and the judges who declare the late Commission to be illegal, are impeached by five Lords Appellant before the parliament, known as the "Merciless Parliament," and are executed.

1389. Richard obtains possession of the government, and removes from office the Duke of Gloucester, who dies, some years later, at Calais.

1393. A fresh statute against Provisors, called that of Præmunire, is passed.

1396. Richard makes peace with France, and marries Isabel, daughter of Charles VI.

Observations.

THE rising spirit of liberty in Europe, which had led to efforts on the part of
the commons in Flanders and in France to extend their rights, was felt also in
England. Though many of their demands were just, the conduct of the in-
surgents in this reign was marked by great violence. The archbishop, Simon
of Sudbury, and many persons of rank were murdered by them. At this crisis,
Richard, only fifteen years old, granted them a conference at Smithfield. During
the interview, Wat Tyler, while threatening the king, was killed by Walworth,
the Lord Mayor, and Richard, by assuming the office of leader, restrained the
insurgents from further violence The promise of vigour shewn by Richard on
this occasion was not realized during the rest of his reign; and his partiality to
De Vere (Earl of Oxford), and De la Pole (Earl of Suffolk), added to the un-
popularity caused by his extravagance and exactions. Suffolk was impeached,
and De Vere, who was created Duke of Ireland, was forced by the Duke of
Gloucester to flee to Flanders, (A.D. 1388), where he died some years later.
The hostilities with Scotland during this reign arose mainly from the rivalry
of the powerful nobles who lived on each side of the border. Chief on the English
side were the Percies of Alnwick, the head of which family had been created
named Hotspur. To him was opposed the Earl of Douglas at the battle of
Earl of Northumberland. Henry, his eldest son, was, from his valour, sur-
Otterburn, or Chevy Chase (1388), in which, though Douglas was killed,
Hotspur was made prisoner by the Scots.

Among the chief causes of the difficulties of this reign must be mentioned the
ambition of the families of the Dukes of Lancaster and Gloucester. The power
obtained by the latter was short-lived, and the execution of Sir Simon Burley,
the companion in arms of the Black Prince, casts a lasting disgrace upon his
memory. The charge that Gloucester was murdered in prison by the orders of
Richard rests on insufficient evidence.
The efforts of the Duke of Lancaster were, after 1386, chiefly directed
towards the acquisition of the throne of Castile by right of his second wife,
Constantia. By his first wife, Blanche, daughter of the Earl of Lancaster, he
1397. Parliament annuls the acts of the late Com-left a son, Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, known in history as
mission.
Henry IV. He had, also, by his third wife, Catherine Swinford, two sons,
who took the name of Beaufort from the place of their birth.
In 1396, the Duke of Lancaster died, and his estates were seized by the king.
Under pretence of recovering his inheritance, Hereford collected some forces in
Brittany, and landed in Yorkshire. He was joined by the Percies and other
nobles, and was soon at the head of 60,000 men. Richard, on his return from
Ireland, landed at Milford Haven, and soon fell into the power of his ambitious
rival. A parliament was summoned, thirty-five articles of impeachment were
brought against Richard, and the unfortunate king publicly resigned the crown,
which was assumed by Henry.

1398. Richard prohibits a single combat between Henry of Bolingbroke, son of the Duke of Lancaster, and Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, who are banished. 1399. He embarks to quell an insurrection in Ireland, leaving the Duke of York guardian of the

realm.

He returns to oppose the invasion of Bolingbroke (now Duke of Lancaster), who lands at Ravenspur. Seized at Flint by the Earl of Northumberland, Richard is given up to Bolingbroke, is deposed by parliament (19th Sept.), and is sent a prisoner to Pontefract Castle, where he is afterwards murdered.

Mortimer. This nobleman was son to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, by
In 1384, the crown had been settled on the rightful heir of Richard, Roger
his wife Philippa, eldest daughter of Lionel of Clarence, the third son of
Edward III. Roger fell in the Irish wars. His two sons died without issue, but
his daughter married the son of the Duke of York, the fifth son of Edward III.,
and Richard, the issue of this marriage, inherited the claims of Lionel.

Commencement of the great schism of the

West by the election of Urban VI., and
Clement VII., (1878-1417).

Wenceslaus, son of the Emperor Charles
IV., inherits Bohemia, (1378).

(1381), which he leaves to his son Ladislaus.

Charles III. of Durazzo obtains Naples,

Louis the Great is succeeded in Hungary by his daughter Maria, married to Sigis

mund, younger son of Charles IV., (1982).

Accession of John I. of the house of Aviz, who established the independence of Por

tugal by the victory of Aljubaroth over the

Castilians, (1385).