Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/657

 HENRY II. (ENGLAND) HENRY III. (ENGLAND) 643 nc

decided by the verdict of twelve lawful .men, d if found to be a lay fee, the cause should be determined by the civil courts ; that laics should not be accused in spiritual courts, ex- cept by legal and reputable witnesses; that no chief tenant of the crown should be excom- unicated, nor his lands be put under an in- rdict, except with the king's consent ; that .o person, particularly no clergyman, should leave the kingdom without that consent ; that the civil courts should decide all suits concern- ing the advowson and presentation of church- should not be granted in perpetuity with- t his consent ; that the revenues of vacant sees should belong to the king, that the election to such sees should be held by the king's con- sent and in his chapel, and that the bishop elect should do homage to the crown; that goods forfeited to the king should not be pro- tected in churches or churchyards ; and that archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual digni- taries should be regarded as barons of the realm, possessing the privileges and subject to the burdens belonging to that rank, and bound to attend the king in his great councils, and as- sist at all trials. The power of excommunica- tion was lessened, the clerical privileges re- specting the collection of debts were annulled, and the sons of villeins were forbidden to be ordained clerks without the consent of their lords. Three copies of these were the next day, Jan. 26, presented for subscription. When the primate was asked to affix his seal, he re- fused, saying that he had performed all that he had promised. When, afterward, the pope officially disapproved of these constitutions, Becket retracted his former promise. The quarrel between him and the king was renewed, and lasted for seven years, when Becket was killed by four Norman barons (Dec. 29, 1170). During the quarrel Becket was banished, the king of France began hostilities with England, and the war lasted three years. The murder of Becket annoyed Henry, as he feared the pope would carry out his threat of excommu- nication ; but his negotiators succeeded in con- fining the papal anathemas to those who had committed the crime. In 1171 Henry under- took the conquest of Ireland, the expedition being approved of by a papal bull in 1156, and a few of his subjects having already waged a successful war in that island. He met with little resistance. Having taken a solemn oath that he had not instigated Becket's murder, and having made various concessions to the church, he was confirmed by Rome in the grant of Ireland. The troubles in his family, which clouded the latter portion of his life, now commenced. He had associated with him his eldest son, Henry, in the government of England, Normandy, Anjou, and other territo- ries; Richard was made ruler of Guienne and Poitou ; Geoffrey was to be duke of Brittany ; and John was to receive Ireland. But from 1173 these sons gave him much vexation, be- ing encouraged to rebel by their mother, who was enraged by Henry's conjugal infidelities, by the French king, who was the father-in-law of the eldest, and by the nobles in various parts of his dominions. Henry now did pen- ance at the tomb of Becket, fasting and pray- ing there, and submitting to flagellation at the hands of the monks. The Scots, having in- vaded England, were defeated, and the rebels, including his sons, returned to obedience. The king of Scotland did homage to him, and sur- rendered portions of his dominion. In the in- terval of quiet that followed, Henry made sev- eral legal reforms. The disputes that broke out in his family were fatal to his peace. His sons quarrelled with him and with each other. The eldest died in 1183, and Geoffrey was killed in 1186. In 1188 Richard rebelled, and was aided by France, though both Henry and the French king had taken the cross, intending to embark for Palestine. Henry was beaten, and submitted to the terms dictated by his enemies. Shortly after he died of a fever brought on by mental irritation. HENRY III., son of John, king of England, and of Isabella of Angouleme, born Oct. 1, 1207, died at Westminster, Nov. 16, 1272. He became king Oct. 17, 1216, being then but nine years old. The desperate state to which Eng- land had been reduced by the misgovernment of John makes the period of the accession of Henry III. the darkest in English history; but, owing to the talents and wisdom of the earl of Pembroke, who was protector, the state of the country was rapidly improved. He confirmed Magna Oharta, conciliated the discontented barons, defeated the French both by sea and land, and restored peace. Pem- broke soon dying, power passed to the hands of the bishop of Winchester and Hubert de Burgh, the latter being justiciary and having most weight in the government. They had not the influence of Pembroke, and could not control the barons. War was made with France, but it was found impossible to recover the French provinces lost by John. In 1231 the jus- ticiary, who had received large gifts and been made earl of Kent, was overthrown, and Win- chester, an able but unprincipled man, monopo- lized power. He was a Poitevin, and many of his countrymen going over to England, they were intrusted with office, to the discontent of the English of all ranks, whom they op- pressed and plundered. This evil was aggra- vated by the marriage of the king in 1236 with Eleanor of Provence, many of whose country- men came to England, and shared in the king's bounty. An expedition into France in 1242 terminated disastrously. The pope offered Hen- ry the crown of Sicily for his son Edmund, and the king was involved in debt by his endeavors to support the claim. The chief interest of his reign belongs to the disputes between the king and the barons. These came to a head in 1258, when Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, was chief of the baronial party and held possession
 * that the churches belonging to the king's