Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/347

Rh was obliged to fight against the barons. They succeeded in 1215 in forcing King John to sign the Magna Charta; this was followed by another civil war, during which the barons solicited the aid of the King of France. The strife continued when Henry III ascended the throne, his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, heading the rebellion. Victorious at the battle of Lewes (1264), Simon de Montfort summoned Parliament, and in 1265 the House of Commons met. Edward II had to fight against Roger Mortimer; the King was defeated, deposed by Parliament, and committed to Berkeley Castle, where he was murdered (1327). In 1381 began the agitation for the abolition of villeinage. The head-tax caused the discontent which had been fermenting among the serfs and free laborers to burst forth; they rose up in arms at the voice of Tyler and John Ball. For three weeks the mob was in possession of London; they pillaged and burned houses; beheaded the Lord Chancellor and the chief collector of the odious head-tax; destroyed all the law papers they could lay their hands on and murdered a number of lawyers; "for the rioters believed that the members of that profession spent their time forging the chains which held the laboring class in subjection." The revolt was crushed and the peasants were mercilessly put to death; their blood flowed freely. But the sacrifice of so many lives was not in vain; for the days of villeinage were numbered; they would ultimately succeed in ridding themselves of this institution and reestablishing the dignity of man. Although he was successful in subduing the uprising of the serfs, Richard II was unable to maintain his authority. Henry Bolingbroke rose against him. Richard was defeated, deposed by Parliament (1399), and confined in Pontefract Castle, where he was murdered.