Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/209

A.D. 1172.] and were probably excited to desperation by the ruthless character of MacMurrogh, and the fate which they expected would await those who might fall into his hands Earl of Pembroke, who was well skilled in the art of war had command of the forces, and led the assault A little, house of timber, standing half upon posts, was observed without the walk, and the assailants having hewn down the posts, the house fell, together with a piece of the wall The troops poured through the breach thus made, and captured the city, killing the inhabitants without mercy.

Leaving a strong garrison, the Normans marched to Dubiln, which town,as well as that of Waterford had been founded by the Danes. Supported by reinforcements raised by MacMurrogh, the invaders took the city of Dublin with little resistance, and, elated by a course of uninterrupted successes, made incursions upon the surrounding country. King Henry, however, received the news of these events, and his jealousy being excited at such an important conquest being attained by his vassals he issued a proclamation, forbidding any vessel to leave his dominions for Ireland, and ordered all his subjects in that country to return to England by the next Easter, on pain of the forfeiture of all their estates and of perpetual banishment from the realm. A consultation was held among the Normans, and Raymond Fitz-William, surnamed Le Gros nephew of Fitz-Gerald and Fitz-Stephen, was dispatched on a mission to Henry, to prevail upon him to recall the proclamation, and to remind him of the letter he had given to MacMurrough, authorising Englishmen to take up arms in his cause. Henry received the message without returning any answer, or, according to some of the chroniclers, he replied by confiscating the estates of Strongbow in Wales.

While the earl thus found himself cut off from all reinforcements of men and arms, the Normans in Leinster were suddenly attacked by the men of Danish race who were settled on the north-east coast of Ireland, and who now allied themselves with the natives against the new invaders they attacked Dublin, but without success. The Normans however, dreading the formidable league against them made a second application to Henry through Hervey Fitz-Maurice. Strongbow himself was then ordered to proceed to the court, and after some delay he obtained an audience The earl agreed to surrender to the king the town of Dublin, with the larger of the other towns on the coast in return, Strongbow was permitted to retain his other acquisitions in Ireland, and was restored to the possession of his estates in Wales.

MacMurrogh having died previously to this interview, Strongbow had assumed the title of King of Leinster, in right of his wife Eva; and he now found himself reduced from the condition of a sovereign prince to that of steward of the English crown. In the year 1171, Henry set sail from Milford to take possession of bis new territories. The royal force consisted of 400 vessels, containing about 5,000 men, among whom were 500 knights. Henry landed at the Crook, near Waterford, October 18th, and was received by the Norman chiefs, who tendered him their homage The army commenced its march, by way of Cashel, to Dublin meeting with no resistance. The inhabitants, overawed by the numbers and the martial equipment of their enemies, fled in dismay before the advancing troops, and the native lungs of the south had no other alternative than to surrender at the summons of the conqueror, and offer their allegiances to him.

Having established his court at Dublin, Henry styled himself King of all Hibernia, and summoned all the Irish chiefs to his presence. Many of them obeyed; but the Kings of Connaught and Ulster, entrenched in their native mountains, refused to acknowledge his authority, and the soverignty of Henry was limited by a line drawn across the island, from the mouth of the Shannon to that of the Boyne. All the pomp which distinguished the Plantagenet court was displayed in Dublim, and the Irish People—lively, impressible, and fond of novelty—derived pleasure from contemplating the splendid appearance of the Norman arms, horses, and accoutrements of war. The majority of the clergy also gave their support yo the invader, and welcomed him as one bearing the authority of the Church. Henry promulgated the bull of Pope Adiran; and various reforms and observances in canonical discipline were introduced into the Irish Church.

Henry's former haughtiness towards the clergy, and his resistance to the enroachments of the papal see upon the right of the crown, had now disappeared. Not only did he require the support of the bishops to secure his new conquest, but the popular feeling excited throughout his dominions by the death of Beckett rendered it necessary for him to conciliate where he had formerly threatened. This course of action met with temporary success, and the Pope Alexander III. issued a bull confirming that of his predecessor, Adrian, and ratifying the king's title to the possession of Ireland.

After he had remained in the country for a few months longer, Henry received news which compelled his immediate return to England. Having appointed officers to the chief places of power in the island, he sailed from Wexford on the 17th of April, 1172, and landed at Portfinnan, in Wales.

At this time the king had four legitimate sons living—Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, of whom Henry, the eldest, was eighteen years of age. An equitable provision had been made for each of them, it being intended that Henry should succeed to the English throne, as well as to the territories of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine. Richard who was the favourite of his mother, was to receive her estates of Aquitaine and Poitou; Geoffrey, who had married the daughter of the Duke of Brittany, was to succeed to that province; and John was to be made King of Ireland.

It will be remembered that during the archbishopric of Thomas à Becket, the king had taken measures to abolish the primacy, by causing his eldest son to be crowned king by the Archbishop of York. The political enemies of Henry exerted themselves to turn this impolitic measure to their own advantage, by exciting the son to rebellion against the father, who was now called the elder king. In these attempts they were seconded by Queen Eleanor, whose affections had been alienated from the king by his numerous infidelities. She was a woman of strong passions, and determined to make her children the instruments of her vengeance. Through her efforts the people of Aquitaine and Poitou attached themselves to the cause of the younger king, and many of the nobles of those provinces became his counsellors and confidants. They spared no pains to excite the ambition of the youth, and persuaded him that his father had abdicated the throne in