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Contemporaries.-7. Scotland, Alexander III., Margaret, Baliol, Robert I.; France, Philip III., Philip IV.; Warenne, Earl of Surrey; Duns Scotus, a famous schoolman.

At the Reformation the writings of this great man fell out of favour; and his admirers were opprobriously called Dunses or Dunsemen. Hence the modern word "dunce."

EDWARD II., OF CAERNARVON.

Born A.D. 1284; Reigned 20 years (1307-1327).

Family.-1. Edward was the eldest surviving son of the late sovereign. He married Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair, and had four children :-Edward III.; John, who died young; Jane, married to David king of Scotland, and Eleanor.

Chronicle.-2. Edward showed little respect for the last wishes of his father. The war was abruptly brought to a close; Gaveston was recalled, and the money which had been voted for the war was bestowed upon him. This favourite was especially obnoxious to the barons; and they again procured his banishment. But he returned, and was seized by the confederate barons, who thereupon caused him to be beheaded, at a place still called Gaversike, in Warwickshire.

Edward had made him Earl of Cornwall and had enriched him with the treasures of his father. He was brave but insolent, and took a pleasure in nicknaming the barons. The Earl of Lancaster he called "the great hog," the Earl of Pembroke "Joseph the Jew;" and the Earl of Warwick," the black dog of Arden." The latter is said to have sworn, in consequence, that the favourite should "feel the black dog's teeth."

3. Bruce, encountering no resistance, took all the English garrisons in Scotland except Stirling. To preserve this, Edward marched against the Scotch at the head of 100,000 men; but he was totally defeated at

the battle of Bannockburn (1314); and Stirling then surrendered.

Edward escaped with great difficulty, and never halted in his flight till he reached Dunbar. So confident had he been of success, that he had brought with him a poet to celebrate his anticipated victory. Unfortunately the poet was taken prisoner; and Bruce compelled him to write a poem celebrating the English defeat.

The war lasted for some years, but the Scotch were uniformly successful; and a truce was at last concluded, which recognized Bruce as an independent sovereign.

4. After Gaveston's death, Edward chose for his favourites the two Despensers, father and son. Their immense influence over the king inspired the other nobles with jealousy, and led to a confederacy against them. The barons flew to arms, and demanded their dismissal; but Edward defeated them at Boroughbridge in Yorkshire (1322); and caused their leader, the Earl of Lancaster, to be beheaded. Many of those nobles who escaped fled to France.

5. Isabella the queen, who lived on very unhappy terms with her husband, was equally opposed to the favourites; and, while on a visit to her brother, joined a conspiracy of the exiled nobles to depose Edward and remove the Despensers. They landed in England with a small army; and Edward, after concealing himself for some time in Wales, surrendered himself to Isabella. The Despensers were taken prisoners and executed; the father at Bristol, and the son at Hereford. A parliament was assembled in 1327, and Edward was then formally deposed, his son being appointed to succeed him. He was removed after his capture to Berkeley Castle, in Gloucestershire, where he was cruelly murdered.

This crime was committed at the command of Mortimer, and probably with the connivance of the queen, over whom he had gained a pernicious influence.

6. In feature and height Edward resembled his father; but he was very unlike him in other respects, being indolent, cowardly, and a slave to his passions.

In this reign the Knights Templars, on account of their avarice and corruption, were suppressed by a papal bull, issued in 1313. They suffered the most horrible cruelties, both in England and France, and were frequently put to the torture.

Contemporaries.-7. Scotland, Robert I.; France, Philip IV., Louis X., Philip V., Charles IV.; Piers Gaveston; Hugh Despenser; Roger Mortimer, Earl of March; William Tell, the great Swiss patriot.

EDWARD III., OF WINDSOR.

Born A.D. 1312; Reigned 50 years (1327-1377).

Family.-1. Edward was the eldest son of the late king. He married Philippa of Hainault, and had ten children, the chief of whom were :-Edward the Black Prince, so called from the colour of his armour; Lionel, Duke of Clarence; John of Gaunt or Ghent, so called from his birthplace; Edmund, Duke of York; and Thomas of Woodstock.

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From Lionel and Edmund the house of York descended from John of Gaunt, by his first wife, the House of Lancaster and by his third wife the house of Tudor. Thomas was the ancestor of the Dukes of Buckingham who suffered death in the reigns of Richard III. and Henry VIII.

Chronicle.-2. Edward was only fifteen years of age at his accession. A regency was consequently appointed to carry on the government, at the head of which were Isabella and Mortimer. The latter soon became unpopular, and in 1330, when Edward attained his majority, he was seized and convicted in parliament of the murder of the late king. He was executed at Tyburn; and Isabella was confined for life to one of her estates in Norfolk.

Mortimer was taken at Nottingham Castle, where the subterranean passage is still shown by which his captors obtained admission. The governor secretly conducted some soldiers through this passage into the castle, where they were joined by Edward. They then advanced to Mortimer's room, and, after killing two knights who guarded the entrance, seized upon the favourite. Isabella, on hearing the disturbance, rushed to implore her son to spare her "gentle Mortimer," but in vain. She survived this event about twenty-seven years, but was never allowed to leave her manor-house.

3. During the first six years of this reign numerous attempts were made to place Edward, son of John Baliol, on the Scotch throne, These, though favoured by the infancy of David Bruce, were generally unsuccessful. At length Edward espoused the cause of Baliol, and defeated the Scotch at Halidon Hill (1333). He then set him on the throne, exacted the oath of homage, and received from him, in return, a large portion of the Lowlands.

David, who was at the time in France, returned in 1341, and drove Baliol from the throne, which he never again obtained possession of.

4. Edward now engaged in a war with France, partly from feelings of jealousy, partly on account of the assistance which the French had lent to the Scotch in the late war, and partly on account of claims which he put forward to the French throne.

From the earliest times, no French sovereign had ever sat on the throne, whose claims were derived from a female branch of the royal family. It will be seen from the annexed table that Edward's claim was opposed to this custom.

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Edward was the grandson of Philip IV.; his rival was nephew. A still stronger objection to Edward's claim was the decision of the French States General, that no foreigner could reign in France.

In 1337 Edward demanded the French crown, and, on being refused, declared war. In the following year he invaded France; but the enterprise proved utterly unsuccessful, and in 1340 he returned to England. The same year he defeated the French fleet at Sluys, in an action which cost the French 30,000 men. The most disastrous defeat which the French suffered in this war was that of Cressy (1346), where 1200 of their knights, 1500 gentlemen, 4000 men-at-arms, and 30,000 common soldiers perished.

In this battle the Black Prince greatly distinguished himself. On one occasion he was furiously beset by the enemy; but Edward refused to send him assistance, saying, "Let the boy win his spurs ; for I am determined, if it please God, that all the glory of the day shall be given to him and to those under him."

The blind king of Bohemia was found amongst the slain. He had ridden into the battle, conducted by two of his knights, and had fallen in the act of fighting. "Gentlemen," he had said to his attendants," you are all my people, my friends, and brethren in arms this day; as I am blind, I request you to lead me so far into the engagement that I may strike one stroke with my sword." His crest, three ostrich feathers, and motto, "Ich Dien" (I serve), were afterwards adopted by the prince of Wales.

Calais was taken after a siege of nearly twelve months (1347), and was retained by the English for more than two centuries.

The inhabitants held out until forced to surrender by famine. Edward then demanded that six of the chief citizens should come to him with halters round their necks, to deliver up the keys of the town, and to undergo what penalties he might think fit to determine on. Eustace de St. Pierre, the richest merchant in the town, and five others consented to go; but through the intercession of Queen Philippa, it is said, their lives were spared.

A truce was now concluded between England and France, which lasted eight years.

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