Page:15 decisive battles of the world Vol 2 (London).djvu/72

64 England. One language had, in the reign of Henry III., become the language of the land, and that, also, had then assumed the form in which we still possess it. One law, in the eye of which all freemen are equal without distinction of race, was modelled, and steadily enforced, and still continues to form the groundwork of our judicial system.

1273. Rodolph of Hapsburg, chosen emperor of Germany. 1283. Edward I. conquers Wales. 1346. Edward III. invades France, and gains the battle of Cressy.

1356. Battle of Poictiers. 1360. Treaty of Bretigny between England and France. By it Edward III. renounces bis pretensions to the French crown. The treaty is ill kept, and indecisive hostilities continue between the forces of the two countries. 1414. Henry V. of England claims the crown of France, and resolves to invade and conquer that kingdom. At this time France was in the most deplorable state of weakness and suffering, from the factions that raged among her nobility, and from the cruel oppressions which the rival nobles practised on the mass of the community. "The people were exhausted by taxes, civil wars, and military executions; and they had fallen into that