failing them, to his brothers and sisters. London obtained a new charter in 1189, by which the citizens were to be governed by a mayor instead of a portreeve. The first mayor was Henry Fitz-Alwin, who held the office for more than twenty-four years. It was at this period that the famous outlaw Robin Hood, and his lieutenant Little John, are said to have lived. Their usual retreat was Sherwood Forest, which then stretched from Nottingham to the centre of Yorkshire. According to tradition they robbed only the rich, and distributed their superfluous booty among the poor.

Death.-Richard was mortally wounded by an arrow while laying siege to the castle of Chaluz, a few miles from Limoges. He died eleven days after (April, 1189). The French historian, Sismondi, truly says of him that he was a bad son, a bad brother, a bad husband, and a bad king,

JOHN (LACKLAND).

Reigned from 1199 to 1216.

Birth. John was born at Oxford, December 24, 1166. Descent. He was brother of the late king, and youngest son of Henry II.

Marriage. His first wife was his cousin Hadwisa (granddaughter of Robert, Earl of Gloucester), whom he divorced; his second was Isabella, daughter of the Count of Angoulême.

Children.-Henry, who succeeded him; Richard, Earl of Cornwall, elected King of the Romans; Joan, who married Alexander II of Scotland; Eleanor, who first married William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and on his death Simon de Montfort; and Isabella, who married the Emperor Frederick II.

Important Events.-John was readily recognised in England, Normandy, and Aquitaine; but the people of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine preferred the claims of Arthur, the son of Geoffrey, an elder and deceased brother of the king. Philip espoused the cause of the young prince, and attacked Normandy; but

after a short war peace was agreed to, and Arthur did homage to his uncle for the duchy of Brittany.

The precipitate marriage of the king with Isabella, who was already betrothed to the Count de la Marche, led that nobleman to supplicate the assistance of Philip against his rival, who was now ordered by his suzerain to give up all his continental possessions, except Aquitaine, to Arthur. On his refusal the youthful duke besieged Eleanor, who energetically supported the interests of John, in her castle of Mirabeau, in Poitou; but her son hastened to her relief, and a battle being fought (1202), Arthur and his sister Eleanor fell into the hands of their uncle, who is said to have put Arthur to death (1203). Eleanor, the Maid of Brittany, was brought to England, and remained in confinement at Bristol till her decease in 1241. Philip, as John's feudal lord, summoned him to appear at his court, to answer for the death of Arthur; and, as he refused to do so, he was adjudged to have forfeited the possessions which he held by homage in France. In the course of two or three years Philip obtained forcible possession of all his vassal's continental lands except Guienne.

In 1205 Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, died; and the pope, Innocent III, taking advantage of a dispute between the monks of St. Augustine's abbey and the king, relative to the election of a successor, declined to recognise John, Bishop of Norwich, the nominee of the sovereign, and induced the monks to choose Stephen Langton (1207). This papal usurpation so irritated the king that he banished the monks and appropriated their revenues. In the following year the pope placed the country under an interdict; in 1209 he excommunicated the king; and in 1212 he declared him deposed, and offered the crown to Philip, who accordingly prepared to invade England. John's fleet, however, suddenly destroyed the French vessels collected at Fécamp, and inflicted other damage; and Pandulf, the papal legate, having persuaded the king (who was suspicious of the fidelity of his subjects) to surrender his realm to

the pope, and to hold it of him as a vassal, Philip was ordered to abandon his enterprise (1213). As he continued his preparations, John sailed over to Rochelle, and gained some successes; but an Anglo-Flemish army was completely overthrown by Philip at BOUVINES, a village between Lisle and Tournay, (1214), and the English monarch found it necessary to sue for peace.

Almost immediately after, the barons, headed by Stephen Langton, the archbishop, resolved to obtain from the king (who was obnoxious to them on account of his oppression, profligacy, and cruelty) a redress of grievances; and as he was deserted by nearly all his nobles, he agreed, though reluctantly, to sign, at Runnymede, the famous Magna Charta. Among the provisions of this most invaluable basis of English freedom were the following:-That no aids nor subsidies should be levied from the subjects, unless in a few special cases, without the consent of the great council; that all the privileges granted by the king to his vassals should be communicated by them to their inferior vassals; that one weight and one measure should be used throughout the country; that all men should pass from, and return to, the kingdom at their pleasure; that all cities and boroughs should preserve their ancient liberties; that the Court of Common Pleas should be stationary; that freemen should be fined only in proportion to their offences, and not to their utter ruin; and that no free person should be tried or punished, except by the judgment of his peers and the laws of the land.

The faithless monarch obtained from the pope a bull annulling the charter; and, having secured the services of a body of foreign mercenaries, he engaged in hostilities with his barons, who fearing his vengeance, offered the kingdom to Louis (the eldest son of Philip), who landed at Sandwich in the summer of 1216. In a short time the south-eastern districts, as well as the metropolis, were in his possession ; but he injured his cause by the promotion of his countrymen, as some of the barons,

partly on that ground, rejoined the king. John's hope of ultimate triumph was thus increased; but as he was crossing the shore of the Wash, his carriages, treasures, and provisions were swallowed up by the waters; and fatigue and anxiety brought on a fever, to which he fell a victim.

In 1201 John published a law, asserting his dominion over the British seas, and requiring all foreign vessels to lower their topsails to his flag, under pain of capture and confiscation. In 1208 he granted the citizens of London the privilege of annually choosing a mayor; and in 1209, London Bridge was completed-the same bridge over which thousands now living have passed.

John mercilessly plundered the Jews; and it is recorded that he ordered a wealthy member of that unfortunate race, who resided at Bristol, to pay down 10,000 marks, and on his refusal, directed that one of his teeth should be drawn daily: the Jew suffered the loss of seven ere he gave security for the payment.

[It was in the middle of this reign that a crusade was commenced against the Albigenses, a body of people in the south of France, who renounced the authority of the pope, and refused to submit to the discipline of the Romish church. The war was conducted with merciless atrocity. The fourth crusade set out, 1202. The establishment of the Inquisition, 1204.] Death. John's death took place at Newark, Oct. 18, 1216.

HENRY III.

Reigned from 1216 to 1272.

Birth.-Henry was born at Winchester, Oct. 1, 1207.
Descent. He was the eldest son of John.

Marriage. He espoused Eleanor, daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence, and sister of Margaret, the wife of Louis IX.

Children.-Edward, who succeeded him; Edmund, Earl of Lancaster; Margaret, who married Alexander III, of Scotland: Beatrice; and five children who died young.

Important Events.-The king being a minor, the Earl of Pembroke, a nobleman of considerable military and political talent, was appointed regent of the kingdom, and guardian of the king. He soon gained over many of the barons to the royal side, and in 1217 defeated the baronial army at LINCOLN (May 19). This battle was quaintly called the FAIR OF LINCOLN. Three months later, Hubert de Burgh, with a number of vessels belonging to the Cinque Ports, vanquished a fleet sent by Blanche of Castile, in behalf of her husband, Louis, who after this disaster concluded a peace with the royalists, and left the kingdom.

In 1219 Pembroke died, and was succeeded in the regency by Hubert de Burgh, while the guardianship of the king was entrusted to Peter des Roches, a Poitevin bishop. The latter, failing to obtain the chief power, retired from the country in 1224, but returned in 1231, and succeeded in bringing about the disgrace of Hubert, who was charged by Henry with many serious offences, and imprisoned for a time in the Tower.

On several occasions the king proposed to invade France in order to recover the dominions which had been previously lost, but it was not till 1242 that the first serious attempt was made, when Henry landed with a body of troops near the mouth of the Garonne. He was, however, defeated at TAILLEBOURG, on the Charente, by Louis IX, and was in imminent danger of being taken prisoner.

In 1225 the king solemnly confirmed the Great Charter, in the form in which it appears at the commencement of our statute-book, and many times he renewed the confirmation; but, as his subsequent conduct proved, without any intention of being bound by it, for he was most unscrupulous in his exactions from his subjects. In 1254 he was foolish enough to accept the crown of Sicily (offered by Innocent IV) for his son Edmund, and was thereby involved in extraordinary pecuniary difficulties, as Manfred, an illegitimate son of Frederick II, the last occupant, maintained possession of the territory.