Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/620

 608 ENGLAND barons, who had risen to high power during Stephen's reign. The young king was the founder of the royal family of Plantagenet, which held the English throne 330 years. He had Saxon blood, his great-grandmother being a Saxon princess, descended from Alfred. There have been few abler monarchs than Henry II. He was duke of Normandy and count of Anjou, and, having married Eleanor of Aquitaine, was also duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou. Maine belonged to him. He undertook the conquest of Ireland. Had it not been for his dispute with Becket, and do- mestic troubles at a later period, he might ap- parently have conquered the whole of France. The crusades, too, were prejudicial to his in- terests. He died in 1189, and was succeeded by Kichard I. (Coeur de Lion). The English are proud of this chivalrous king, yet he was a Frenchman, could not speak the language of the island people, and kept out of England whenever he could. His brother and succes- sor, John, who ascended the throne in 1199, was one of the weakest and most wicked of kings ; he is one of the few men, eminent either from talent or position, who, after hav- ing been long regarded as monsters, have had nothing said in their favor by modern writers. His French rival, Philip Augustus, was an able statesman. Their contests were ruinous to John as a continental sovereign. Normandy, Brittany, and Anjou were' lost, and the Eng- lish Plantagenet had little more than England for his dominion. His continental possessions were all to the south of the Loire. The insu- lar Normans were thus separated from the continental Normans, and were compelled to have the same interests with the mass of the people. From this came the series of events that led to the concession of the great charter, June 15, 1215. John was involved in disputes with Pope Innocent III., to whom he afterward resigned his kingdom, and received it back on terms which made him a vassal. In a contest with France his troops shared in the loss of the battle of Bovines. The barons called Louis, the son of the king of France, to their aid, and he at first was successful; but evin- cing a partiality for his countrymen, he lost ground, many of his first supporters joining John, who was about to fight him, when he died, Oct. 19, 1216. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry III., then nine years old. The government was conferred on the earl of Pembroke, who compelled the French to make peace and to leave the country. On Pem- broke's death power passed to the hands of Hubert de Burgh and the bishop of Winches- ter, but the former was soon compelled to re- sign it. The reign of Henry III. is the longest in English history save that of George III., and it was passed in constant troubles. The favor shown to foreigners caused much irritation. There were frequent disputes with the barons, liich led to important consequences. Under the lead of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leices- ter, the barons defeated the king at Lewes in 1264, and took him captive ; and under Leices- ter's rule, the first English parliament in the modern sense was assembled in 1265. But in the same year the party of Leicester was over- thrown, and the royal authority seemed firmly established. Prince Edward, the son of Henry, who had effected this, set out to join the last crusade. Henry's weakness encouraged his enemies, and the country was relapsing into confusion, when he died in 1272. Edward I. ascended the throne without opposition, and proved himself a good sovereign, founding per- manent legal institutions which have ever since been spoken of with respect. He con- quered Wales, annexed it to England, and con- ferred the title of prince of Wales on his son and heir, which has ever since been borne by the eldest son of the sovereign of England. He sought to conquer Scotland, and at one time appeared to have succeeded ; but the re- sistance of the Scotch, first under Wallace, then under Corny n and Fraser, and finally under Bruce, saved their country from becom- ing an English dependency. Edward was in- volved in a war with France, which had seized Guienne, one of the few remaining possessions of the English on the continent, but it was restored under papal mediation. His wars made him dependent on parliament, the power of which was much increased in his reign, the commons first sitting in a separate chamber in 1295. This has been considered the first ses- sion of the commons, though perhaps that dis- tinction belongs to the parliament summoned by Simon de Montfort under Henry III. Ed- ward violated the great charter, and for a time showed every disposition to reign arbi- trarily ; but the opposition he experienced was not to be overcome, and he gave way before it. While marching to meet Bruce in Scot- land, he died, July 7, 1307. His successor, Edward II., was unable to comprehend or to accomplish his father's designs. He was gov- erned by favorites, whose insolence provoked the barons, by whom the chief favorite, Gaves- ton, was put to death in 1312. The king was induced to lead a great army to Scotland in 1314, which was completely defeated at Ban- nockburn, an event that established the Scot- tish nation and the throne of Bruce. At the instance of Edward's queen, Isabella of France, parliament deposed the king, who was soon afterward murdered, September, 1327. The government was now nominally in the hands of Edward III., a boy of 15, but in reality it was wielded by Isabella and Eoger Mortimer, her paramour. These rulers were unpopular, and their unpopularity was increased by a treaty which they made with Scotland in 1328, re- nouncing all claim to superiority over that country. Mortimer was able and unscrupulous, and the young king conspired against him. The queen mother and her lover were seized, and the latter was executed. The reign of Edward III. is one of the most brilliant in Eng-