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France; and while there she persuaded her husband to send over the Prince of Wales, whom she affianced, without his father's consent, to Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault. She also entered into communications with some of the Earl of Lancaster's party, who had been banished, or had escaped to France, and particularly with Roger Mortimer, her object being to overthrow the authority of her husband, against whom she had conceived the greatest dislike. She and her partisans landed in Suffolk, and seized and put to death Spenser's aged father at Bristol; and having captured the king and the younger Spenser, who had both fled to Neath, in Glamorganshire, they imprisoned the former, and executed the latter.

The power of parliament was increased in this reign: "throughout the whole of it there prevailed the assumption that no matter of great importance could be transacted without its presence, interference, and sanction."

The first commercial treaty between England and Venice was signed in 1325.

During several years of this reign there was a grievous famine in England. Constant rains and inclement weather destroyed the harvests, and caused a murrain among the cattle, so that enormous prices were demanded for all kinds of food.

[The papal seat was transferred to Avignon in 1305, and there continued till 1375. The order of the Knights Templars was abolished by the pope, 1312; immediately before, large numbers were atrociously executed in France on groundless accusations. In England their property was confiscated; and their great house, the Temple, was taken possession of by the students of law in the next reign. The Swiss, under William Tell, threw off their allegiance to the house of Hapsburg, and gained the battle of Morgarten, 1315; about seventy years after, they still more signally vanquished their foes at Sempach, 1386.]

Death.-Edward was deposed by parliament, Jan., 1327; and in September, he was murdered in Berkeley Castle.

Brougham's "British Constitution."

EDWARD III.

Reigned from 1327 to 1377.

Birth.-Edward was born at Windsor, Nov. 13, 1312.
Descent. He was the eldest son of Edward II.

Marriage. He espoused Philippa, of Hainault.

Children.-Edward, the Black Prince; William of Hatfield; Lionel, Duke of Clarence; John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Edmund Langley, Duke of York; William of Windsor; Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester; and five daughters.

Important Events.-The government was at first carried on in the king's name by queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer; and peace was concluded with Scotland on terms which the English deemed humiliating, and for which they regarded Mortimer as responsible (1328). Chiefly by his influence, the Earl of Kent, the king's uncle, was executed on a charge of having conspired to replace on the throne Edward II, whom he believed to be still alive (1330). Mortimer's unpopularity enabled the young king to seize the reigns of government in the same year; and the obnoxious minister expiated his usurpation on the scaffold. The queen was ordered to live in retirement on her manor of Risings, in Norfolk.

Not long after the peace was made with Scotland, Robert Bruce died, and his son, David II, a minor, succeeded him. Four years later, Edward Baliol, son of John Baliol, with some friends, invaded Scotland, and, by a victory near PERTH, obtained the crown. He was, however, in a few weeks expelled; and the Scots, believing that Edward III had encouraged Baliol in his measures, ravaged the north of England. This led to a great battle at HALIDON HILL, in which King Edward was completely victorious (July 19, 1333). Baliol recovered the crown, but his subserviency to England made him odious to his subjects; and after a few years David Bruce re-ascended the throne.

F

On the death of Charles IV, of France, in 1328, Edward claimed the crown in right of his mother, Isabella, but he subsequently did homage to Philip IV, the nearest heir in the male line to the late king. In 1337, actuated, probably, in part by the countenance which Philip had shown to Bruce's partisans, he assumed the title of King of France, and quartered in his arms the French lilies with the English leopards. He formed an alliance with Jacob von Artaveldt, a wealthy citizen of Ghent, who belonged to the guild of brewers, and who exercised great influence in Flanders; and in 1340 the English, under Edward's command, gained their first great naval victory over the French at SLUYS. Though the English fleet was much inferior, they took two hundred and thirty sail of the enemy (June 24). Six years later, Edward defeated Philip at CRESSY, where the French lost 1200 knights and 30,000 common men (Aug. 26, 1346).

In the king's absence, David Bruce invaded England; but his army was utterly overthrown at NEVILLE'S CROSS, and he himself fell into the hands of his victors (Oct. 17, 1346).

In the following year, Calais, to which Edward had laid siege after his brilliant success, surrendered. It remained in the hands of the English till the close of the reign of Queen Mary.

A dire pestilence, called the Black Plague or the Black Death, visited England in 1349. So rapid was the progress of the plague, that many who were well one day were borne to the grave the next. A swelling suddenly rising in the groin or under the arm-pits was an infallible sign of death. It is said that in a new burial ground, where the Charter House now stands, bodies were deposited for several weeks at the rate of two hundred a-day.

After some irregular warfare between the French and English, Edward, the Black Prince, encountered king John, the successor of Philip, near POITIERS, and completely routed his army (Sept. 19, 1356). John was taken prisoner, and carried to London. A peace, known as that of Bretigny, was concluded

in 1360, by which a considerable part of France was ceded to England; and John returned to his kingdom. But as his subjects refused to ratify the treaty, he honourably came back to England; and, some time after, he died in the Savoy Palace, London.

The Black Prince injudiciously aided Don Pedro, of Castile, a cruel tyrant, to recover his throne, and gained the battle of NAJARA (April 3, 1367). Don Pedro, however, neglected to pay Edward's troops, and the latter, in order to meet the demand of his soldiers, oppressed his vassals in Guienne. Appealing to the king of France as their feudal lord, Charles V rendered them assistance against the prince; and taking advantage of the failing health of the illustrious warrior, the French made themselves masters of nearly all the English possessions in that country.

The Black Prince spent the last few years of his life in England, where he took a leading part in political affairs. He died in 1376.

Parliament exercised in this reign the right of inquiring into public abuses, and of impeaching ministers for political offences. Many important statutes were passed: such as the statute of treason, limiting the crimes to be ranged under that head; the statute of provisors, checking the papal power in England; the statute of labourers, regulating wages, which had greatly risen after the pestilence; and a statute which directed that pleadings should be made in English.

Gold was first coined in England in 1344. Flemish weavers were encouraged to settle in the country, and the export of wool was prohibited. Thomas Blanket, of Bristol, set up looms for weaving the woollen cloths that bear his name, 1340. The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward about 1350.

Wickliffe, "the Morning Star of the Reformation," distinguished himself towards the close of the reign. He opened the way for the great religious changes which subsequently happened in England, by attacking the authority of the priests and

the jurisdiction of the pope. He founded his doctrines on the Scriptures alone; inveighed against the compulsory celibacy of the clergy, and the forcible imposition of monastic vows as tending to the corruption of manners; censured those who sought the aid of any intercessor save Jesus Christ; and boldly declared that pardons and indulgences were mere forgeries. "They are nothing," said he, "but a subtle merchandise of Anti-Christ's clerks, whereby they magnify their own fictitious power, and instead of causing men to dread sin, encourage them to wallow therein like hogs." Wickliffe's religious writings were numerous, but the greatest service he rendered to the cause of God was by translating the Scriptures into the vernacular tongue. "This translation may justly be regarded," says Le Bas,* * 66 as a glorious monument, not only of religion, but of letters. It exhibits our language in the most perfect form which it had then attained, and might, alone, have been sufficient to save it from relapsing into barbarism." Wickliffe's piety was sincere and earnest, and he performed his parochial duties when minister at Lutterworth with assiduity and zeal.+

*Life of Wickliffe.

It has been conjectured that Chaucer's famous picture of the Village Priest was really a picture of this faithful servant of God.

"A good man was there of religion,
He was a poor parson of a town;

But rich he was of holy thought and work.

He was also a learned man; a clerk

That Christ's gospel truly would preach;
His parishioners devoutly would he teach.
Benign he was and wondrous diligent,
And in adversity full patient.

And such he was proved oft sithes, (times)
For loth were he to curse for his tithes ;
But rather would he give out of his doubt,
Unto his poor parishioners about.

Of his offering and eke (also) of his substance,
He could in little have a suffisance.
Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder,
But he ne'er left, neither for rain nor thunder,
In sickness, nor in mischief for to visit

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