Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/708

686 legislation in favour of Reformation principles. Though England was in a somewhat unsettled state, this did not prevent him from planning an expedition against Scotland, on account of that power refusing to fulfil a former treaty by which a marriage had been agreed upon between Mary Queen of Scots and Edward. He defeated the Scots at the battle of Pinkie Cleugh, September 10, , and next year captured Haddingtou ; but, on account of growing dissensions at home, he was compelled to give up all further attempts against Scottish independence. His brother, who had been created Lord Seymour of Sudeley and made lord admiral of England, was suspected of being at the head of a plot to overturn his authority, and with something of bravado admitted as much as was sufficient to criminate himself, although he refused to answer in regard to the more serious charges. In the House of Lords a bill was framed against him which passed the House of Commons almost unanimously, and, it being assented to by the king shortly afterwards, he was executed on Tower Hill, March 20,. In the following summer the distress consequent on the depreciation of the currency and the wasteful expenditure of the court awakened a general discontent, which in different parts of the kingdom broke out into open insurrection. The protector, instead of repressing the rebellion by vigorous measures, gave con siderable concessions to the demands of the populace, his sympathy with whom he openly admitted. By such an avowal he necessarily alienated the nobility, and they speedily planned his overthrow. The council, headed by Dudley, earl of Warwick, declared against him, deposed him, and imprisoned him in the Tower, October 14,. He regained his freedom shortly afterwards, but a plot which he was concocting for the overthrow of Warwick having prematurely come to light, he was again arrested in, and being convicted of high treason, he was executed on Tower Hill, January 22,. The king, who, except where his religious convictions were concerned, was a mere puppet in the hands of the faction which at any time was paramount, yielded his assent to the execution, apparently without any feelings of compunction. Warwick, some time before this created duke of Northumberland, now exercised absolute sway over the affairs of the kingdom, but he was hated by the populace, and distrusted even by the friends who had raised him to power. He found it necessary, therefore, to take further steps to guarantee the stability of his authority. The king was dying rapidly of consumption, and his sister Mary being heir to the throne, Northumber land could not hide from himself the probability that his own overthrow would follow her accession. He therefore took advantage of the king s strong religious prejudices to persuade him to make a will, excluding Mary and Elizabeth from the succession to the throne on the ground of their illegitimacy, and nominating as his successor Lady Jane Grey, who was married to the duke s eldest son. The arbitrary urgency of Northumberland and the religious obstinacy of Edward prevailed over the strong objections of the judges, and letters patent being drawn out in accordance with the king s wishes, passed under the Great Seal, and were signed by the chief nobles, including, although only after repeated endeavours to alter Edward s determination, Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Edward died July 4,. There were some suspicions that his death had been hastened by Northumberland, but although his malady showed at last some symptoms of poisoning, it is now believed that these were caused by accidental administrations of over-doses of mineral medicine. The early age at which Edward VI. died makes it impos sible to form a confident estimate of his character and abilities. The exceptional talent which he manifested iu certain respects may have been due largely to the precocity caused by disease. He was undoubtedly highly accomplished, but there is some reason for suspecting that he was defective in force of character, and that he was too much of a recluse to have become a successful ruler. His own writings show that he was fully aware of the abuses which had crept into the administration of affairs, and that he was conscientiously desirous that they should be remedied; but they leave it uncertain whether he had the practical sagacity to discern the true causes of these evils, and whether he had sufficient energy to remedy them even had he known the proper remedies.

1em  EDWARD (–), son of  of England, and of Philippa, was born at Woodstock, June 15,. In he was created duke of Cornwall. He was appointed guardian of the kingdom during the king s absences in France in, , and , and on his return in was created prince of Wales. In he accompanied his father s fourth expedition against France, when the division led by him bore the chief brunt in the battle of Crecy. In he shared with his father the glory of defeating the Spanish fleet at the battle of &quot; L Espagnols-sur-Mer.&quot; In he commanded the principal of the three armies raised by the English for the invasion of France, and lauding at Bordeaux captured and plundered the chief of its southern towns and fortresses. In the year following he gained the great victory of Poitiers, and took King John prisoner ; and returning to England in, he entered London in triumphant procession, accompanied by his illustrious captive. During the pause of arms which followed the treaty of Bretigny he was married to his cousin Joan, commonly called the Fair Maid of Kent, of whom he was the third husband. This event took place in. Shortly after, he was created duke of Aquitaine, and he set sail for his new dominions in February. Here his life was spent in comparative quietude until Pedro, the deposed monarch of Castile, sought his assistance to remount the Spanish throne. Trusting to Pedro s promises to defray the cost of the expedition, the Black Prince agreed to his request. He marched across the Pyrenees, defeated Don Henry with great slaughter at the battle of Navarette, and two days afterwards, along with Don Pedro, entered Bourges in triumph. Don Pedro, however, speedily forgot the promise of payment which his distresses had induced him to make, and after the Black Prince had waited some months in vain for its fulfilment, lie was compelled to return to his duchy, having lost four-fifths of his army by sickness alone. To defray his expenses he found it necessary to impose on Aquitaine a hearth tax, and the Gascon lords having complained to the king of France, he was summoned in to Paris to answer the complaint. He replied that he was willing and ready to come, but it would be with &quot; helm on head, and with 60,000 men.&quot; War was con sequently again declared between England and France. Two simultaneous invasions of English territory were planned by the French the one under the duke of Anjou, the other under the duke of Berri. The latter laid&amp;gt; siege to Limoges, which by the treachery of its bishop basely surrendered. Enraged almost to madness, the prince swore by the &quot; soul of his father &quot; that he would recover the city, and after a month s siege fulfilled his oath. Surprising the garrison by the springing of a mine, he carried the city by assault, and massacred without mercy every man, woman, and child found within its walls. This terrible act of cruelty, attributable, it is 