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LEFT ENGLAND 17 ENGLAND government with great moderation; but being obliged to reward those who had assisted him, he bestowed the chief offices of government on Normans, and divided among them a great part of the country. The revolts of the native English which followed were quickly crushed, conti- nental feudalism in a modified form was established, and the English Church re- organized under Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury. At his death, in 1087, William II., tommonly known by the name of Rufus, the conqueror's second son, obtained the crown, Robert, the eldest son, receiving the Duchy of Normandy. In 1100, when William II. was accidentally killed in the New Forest, Robert was again cheated of his throne by his younger brother Henry (Henry I.), v/ho in 1106 even wrested from him the Duchy of Nor- niandy. Henry's power being secured, he entered into a dispute with Anselm the primate, and with the Pope, concerning the right of granting investiture to the clergy. He supported his quarrel with firmness, and brought it to a favorable issue. His reign was also marked by the suppression of the greater Norman nobles in England. In 1135 he died in Normandy, leaving behind him only a daughter, Matilda. By the will of Henry I. his daughter Maud or Matilda, wife of Geoffrey Plan- tagenet. Count of Anjou, who had first been married to Henry V., Emperor of Germany, was declared his successor. But Stephen, son of the Count of Blois, and of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, raised an army in Normandy, landed in England, and declared himself king. After years of civil war and blood- shed it was agreed that Stephen should continue to reign during the remainder of his life, but that he should be suc- ceeded by Henry, son of Matilda and the Count of Anjou. Stephen died in 1154, and Henry Plantagenet ascended the throne with the title of Henry II., being the first of the Plantagenet or Angevin kings. A larger dominion was united under his sway than had been held by any previous sovereign of England, for at the time when he became King of England he was already in the posses- sion of Anjou, Normandy, and Aquitaine. Henry II. found far less difficulty in restraining the license of his barons than in abridging the exorbitant privileges of the clergy, who were supported by the primate Becket. The king's wishes wei'e formulated in the Constitutions of Clar- endon (1164), which were at first ac- cepted and then repudiated by the pri- mate. The assassination of Becket, how- ever, placed the king at a disadvantage in the struggle, and after his conquest of Ireland (1171) he submitted to the Church and did penance at Becket's tomb. Henry was the first who placed the common people of England in a situa- tion which led to their having a share in the government. The system of frank- pledge was revived, trial by jury was instituted by the Assize of Clarendon, and the Eyre courts were made perma- nent by the Assize of Nottingham. To curb the power of the nobles he granted charters to towns, thus laying the foun- dation of a new order in society. Richard I., called Cceur de Lion, who in 1189 succeeded his father, Henry II., spent most of his reign away from Eng- land. Having gone to Palestine to join in the third crusade he proved himself an intrepid soldier. Returning homeward in disguise through Germany, he was made prisoner by Leopold, Duke of Austria, but was ransomed by his subjects. In the meantime John, his brother, had aspired to the crown, and hoped, by the assistance of the French, to exclude Richard from his right. Richard's presence for a time restored matters to some appearance of order; but having undertaken an ex- pedition against France, he received a mortal wound at the siege of Chalons, in 1199. John was at once recognized as King of England, and secured possession of Normandy; but Anjou, Maine, and Tou- raine acknowledged the claim of Arthur, son of Geoffrey, second son of Henry II. On the death of Arthur, while in John's power, these four French provinces were at once lost to England. John's opposi- tion to the Pope in electing a successor to the see of Canterbury in 1205 led to the kingdom being placed under an inter- dict; and the nation being in a disturbed condition, he was at last compelled to re- ceive Stephen Langton as archbishop, and to accept his kingdom as a fief of the papacy (1213). His exactions and misgovernment had equally embroiled him with the nobles. In 1213 they re- fused to follow him to France, and on his return defeated, they at once took measures to secui'e their own privileges and abridge the prerogatives of the crown. King and barons met at Runny- mede, and on June 15, 1215, the Great Charter (Magna Charta) was signed. It was speedily declared null and void by the Pope, and war broke out between John and the barons, who were aided by the French king. In 1216, however, John died, and his turbulent reign was suc- ceeded by the almost equally turbulent reign of Henry III. During the first years of the reign of Henry III. the abilities of the Earl of Pembroke, who was regent until 1219, kept the kingdom in tranquillity; but