Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/113

* ENGLAND. 91 ENGLAND. without the consent of (In mail of the nation. All classe9 were protected by its provisions, and n. i distinction was made between Norman and Saxon. Twenty-five barons were constituted a committee to see thai the provisions of the char- ter were observed. .Inhn, however, had no inten linn of keeping his agreement, and the Pope an- nulled the charter and excommunicated the lead- ers in the revolt. The liarons then offered the crown to Louis, son of l'hilip Augustus, who landed in England. Before a decisive combat took place John died. October 19, 1216. See Magna Chaeta. His son, Henry III. ( 1216-72), who was a mere boy, was crowned, and the English barons rallied to his support. Louis was driven from the king- dom, through the efforts of the Justiciar Hubert de Burgh (rj.v. ), and England was saved for the English by the Treaty of Lambeth (1217). For eleven years the country was well governed by William. Earl of Pembroke, and Hubert de Burgh, Then ensued a period of misgovernment under Henry's personal rule. He confirmed the charter repeatedly, but never kept his promises. He favored foreign nobles, allowed English liv- ings to be given to Italians, and was wholly sub- servient to the Pope. In 1258 the barons, exas- perated by his conduct, met in the so-called 'Mad Parliament.' They were led by Simon de Mont- fort, the King's brother-in-law. They demanded a better government and the observance of the charter. By the Provisions of Oxford (q.v.), which they enacted, the government was trans- ferred from the King to a council of barons. Their rule was not successful, however, and in 1204 Louis IX. of France, who had been asked to be the arbitrator between the King and the barons, gave his opinion in the so-called Mise of Amiens that the provisions were illegal. Civil war ensued. Henry was defeated at Lewes ( 1264 ) , and by the "Mise of Lewes' the King was compelled to agree to the demands of the barons. The fol- lowing year Simon de Montfort, who was the real ruler, called a Parliament, to which burgh- ers were summoned, as well as the barons, clergy, and knights of the shire. This precedent was followed later by Edward I. In the same year Simon was killed in the battle of Evesham, in which the baronial forces were overthrown hy the King's troops, under the command of Prince Ed- ward. Simon's son and some of the barons con- tinued the struggle for about a year longer, but all parties were weary of the strife and longed for peace. Under the 'Dictum of Kenilworth' they all surrendered, and in 1267 Henry, by the 'Statutes of Marlborough,' granted almost all their demands. Peace followed, and Edward I. (1272-1307) inherited a united kingdom. He ruled justly, in accordance with the charter and with the aid of Parliament. In 1298, by the Confirmatio Cartariim, he agreed that no tax should ever be levied except by common consent. Prom this time the government was to be man- aged conjointly by the sovereign and Parliament. The latter Edward had strengthened by summon- ing, in 1295, the 'Model Parliament,' which was composed of the tenants-in-chief, representatives of all classes of the clergy, knights of the shires, and two citizens from each city or borough. By his other laws Edward attempted to restrict the power of the clergy and of the barons. The most noted were the Quo Warranto (1278), intended to lessen the local power and privileges of the Vol. VII.— 7. barons; the 'Statute of Winchester' ( 12S.">) . which renewed the 'Assize of Ann-': the Quia Emptores (1290), which restricted subinfeudation; and the 'Statute of Mortmain' ( 1279), which forbade the acquisition of land in 'mortmain' bj the ('lunch. Edward is frequently called 'the English Jus tinian.' lie subdued Wah- between 1277 and 12s:i. and Edward II., born in Carnarvon t'astle (1281), received the titl ' Prince of Wales, which has been home by the heir apparent ever since. In 1200 the Jews were expelled from Eng- land. In the following year Edward claimed the overlordship of Scotland as a preliminary to his acting as arbitrator between the various claimants to the throne, and received the homage of Baliol, to whom the crown was awarded. The Scotch, however, rose in resistance under great leaders like Wallace and Bruce, and Edward's incompetent son and successor, Edward II. (1307- 27), proved unequal to the task of retaining his father's conquests. After various wars (see Scotland), the principal event of which was the battle of Bannockburn (1314), by the Treaty of Northampton, in 1328. the independence of Scotland was acknowledged. Edward II. was a weak ruler, who spent his reign in a continuous struggle with the barons. The general result was a weakening of the royal authority. Mi- wife, Isabella, and her lover. Mortimer, head ed a rebellion against him, and were joined by Prince Edward. The unfortunate King was de- posed by Parliament in 1327, and was soon after- wards murdered. Edward III. (1327-77) at- tempted unsuccessfully to regain authority over Scotland, which was aided in the contest by France. The attitude of France was one of the causes which led to the Hundred Years' War (q.v.). In addition, Edward feared that he might lose Gascony, the most important French pos- session which England had, and that Flanders, the great wool market for England, might be seized by the French King. He therefore laid claim to the French crown, as the grandson of Philip IV. As his descent was through the fe- male line (see Salic Law), and as there were more direct heirs, his claim was not legally good; but it was sufficient as a cause for war. The first period of the war was distinguished by the great English victories of Crt-ey (1346) and Poitiers (1356), and ended with the Treaty of Bretigny (1360). By this treaty Aquitaine was ceded to England, and Edward abandoned bis claim to the French crown. His wars compelled him to seek aid constantly from Parliament, and to grant to it more extensive powers. In the midst of the war England was visited, in 1348 and 1349, by the terrible scourge of the Black Death, which is said to have destroyed one-third of the population. Labor became scarce, and the 'Statute of Labourers' was enacted, for the benefit of the landlords, in 1349, to prevent the peasants from demanding higher wages and to compel them to perform their services as villeins. This caused great discontent, which was fomented by the preaching of the Lollards (q.v.), the follovi ers of John Wiclif. Edward III. was succeeded in 1377 by Richard II. The collection of a poll-tax in 1381 led to the Peasants' Revolt, in which Wat Tiler was one of the leaders. The revolt was suppressed with great cruelty by the nobles. Richard II. was under the control of the great' barons, except for brief periods of personal rule through favorites, until 1389. The barons