The Intermediate Education History of England

Part I. The Intermediate Education History Of England

PART I. TO

A.D. 1485. BY EDMOND WREN, M.A., Lond. DUBLIN: M. H. GILL & SON, 50 UPPER SACKVILLE-ST. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. ; BURNS & OATES. I8.8I. FRISTED BY M. B. GILL AND SON, 50 UPPER SACKVILLE-ST., DUELIjV.

Preface

. The present work has for its main object to supply to Irish schools what has long been an acknowledged want, a manual of English History which, while free from all passages of offence and misstatement shall, at the same time, in matter and arrangement, be fully abreast with the knowledge and requirements of the time. It aims especially at supplying a trustworthy handbook to students preparing for the annual examinations of the Board of Intermediate Education. In its preparation, original authorities have been largely consulted, especially for the Eoman and Saxon periods, of which a more than usually full account is given. Of modern writers, though the great and yet unrivalled work of Dr. Lingard has in the main been followed, the author is also under obligations to the writings of Lappen berg, Turner, Palgrave, Kemble, Pearson, Freeman, and others.

The sections on Legislative and Constitutional History appended to the various periods are much indebted to the learned work of Professor Stubbs. The Tables of contemporary Sovereigns, as well as the numerous Chronological and Genealogical Tables, will be found of special use to the student, while the marginal notes afford not only a convenient index to the subject matter, but read in order may be made to serve the purpose of a useful abstract of the events of each reign. VI

PREFACE.

. Endeavour has been made throughout to render the narrative as full and connected as the condensation im posed by the limits of the work permitted. But while nothing has been allowed to interfere with this primary requisite of a clear and accurate record of historical facts, it has been thought both desirable and practicable, even in a manual like the present, to do something more : to pass from the facts themselves to their relations and laws ; to point attention to the underlying forces that urge and mould the successive phases of social progress. The author's grateful acknowledgments are due to the Eev. J. E. Eeffe, of the French College, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, to whose valuable suggestions and advice a large part of any merit the book may possess must be ascribed. E. W. CONTENTS OF

PART I.

D T, PAGB Roman Britain : .17 Cæsar's Invasion . . , . , .IS Origin of Britons . . . . . .22 Druids ... . . , . . 24 Arms and Mode of Fighting of Britons '. .' . 27 Britain from Julius Cæsar to Claudius . . .27 Invasion of Claudius— Caractacus . . . .29 Suetonius Paulinus — Boadicea . . . . .32 Agricola . .... . . 34 Hadrian's Dyke and Wall of Antoninus . . .37 .Severus in Britain . . . . . .38 Boman Government of Britain . . . .40 Picts and Scots . . . . . . .41 Departure of the Romans from Britain . . .44 Introduction of Christianity . . . . .45 Boman Provinces . ' . . , . 47 Roman Cities and Roads in Britain . . . .50 Saxons : Accounts of Saxon Conquest . . . . .55 Formation of the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy . . 55 Bretwaldas ...... .61 Heptarchy ....... 61 Monarchy . . . . . . .72 Danes : . . . . ... .97 Saxon Line Restored . . . . . .101 Saxon Institutions . . . . . .114 Normans : William the Conqueror . ... . . 131 Notes on the Character and Result of the Conquest . 143 William II. . . . . . . .156 Henry I. ....... 163 Stephen ..... ...

CONTENTS. PAGE Plantagenets : Hem-y II. \™ . Legislative and Judicial Aspects of his Reign . . ,_Z Richard I. }™ John j,f. Henry III *£* Notes— Taxation in Reign of Richard I. ■ ' „~ The Great Charter . . . • ■ *«? Progress of Representation . ■"''» Edward 1 231 Legislation of the Reign . . . • • r*> Edward II. . . . . • • • 24b Edward III 255 Legislation of his Reign . • ■ • .271 Richard II. . 275 House of Lancaster : Henry IV 287 Henry V. . . . . . • -292 Henry VI 300 House of York : Edward IV 316 Edward V. ... .... 325 Richard III 329 Sketch of the growth of the Constitution from Edward III. to Richard III 339 Genealogical Tables : Descent of Egbert from Woden .... 114 Table of the Danish Kings of England . . .115 Earl Godwin's Family ..... 116 Kings of Wessex from Egbert to Edward the Confessor . 117 The Conqueror's Descent from Rollo ....

Table of the Plantagnets from Henry II. to Edward HI. . 175 Tables illustrative of the claims of Baliol, Bruce, and Hastings to the Scotch throne, on Death of the Maid of Norway ...'.. 235 Descendants of Edward III. ..... 254 Table illustrating claim of Edward III. to French throne . 258 Descent of Henry VII. and the Duke of Buckingham from John of Gaunt ..... 331 Table showing the connexions of the Nevils, Poles, and De La Poles with the House of York .... 338 Chronological Tables : Of Roman Period . . . . . .47 Of Saxon Period . . . . • .118 Of the Conqueror's Reign ..... 154 Of the Reign of Henry II. .... 191 From Richard II. to Richard III EEEATA. Page 33, line 3, lor Camulodonum read Camulodunum. ,, 35, „ 9, „ a.d. S9 „ a.d. 82. ,, ,r „ 29, ,, which „ who. „ 85, „ 12, „ Aulaff „ Anlaflf. ,, 90, ,> 39, ,, chose ,, choose. ,, 110, „ 10, ,, Fitzasbern „ Fitzosbern. „ ,, ,, 29, ,, Paladius ,, Paladins. „ 126, 11, 13, ,, sole-land „ sole-land. „ 193, ,, 32, „ Lacy „ Lucy. ,, ,, „ 52, „ centage ,, scutage. ,, 194, 1 and passim, talliage „ tallage. ,, 216, „ 42, ,, refusel „ refusal. „ 226, footnote „ Starnes ,, Staines. „ 237, „ 35, „ to Forth „ the Forth. ,, 244, ,, 22, ,, lenity ,, no lenity. ,, 306, „ ,, ,, 1413 „ 1431. „ ,, margin for Congress of Arras, a.d., 1450, read Congress of Arras, a d. 1435. ,, 343, line 31 for have read has.

Chapter I. Roman Britain

B. C. 55 TO A. D. 449. A reference of the Greek historian, Herodotus, to the Notices of Cassiterides or Tin Islands, identified afterwards with the ?£"* wStin! Scilly Isles, off Cornwall, is the earliest notice by the ancient writers of any part of Britain. Tin was, in early times, more valuable than now, on account of its use in the manufacture of bronze ; and the Phœnician colonies on the coasts of Spain and Africa, as the supplies of the metal from the Spanish mines began to diminish, sent out expeditions to discover new sources of supply. To one of these was probably due the discovery of the Cassiterides, the secret of whose position and character the Phœnicians long preserved from the knowledge of other nations. Strabo gives an illustration of the strength of the national jealousy on this head.

A Phœnician shipmaster, finding himself followed by some Roman vessels, ran his ship upon the rocks, and so not only sacrificed his cargo, but risked his life rather than divulge by his capture so important a secret. For this conduct his country indemnified him by a grant from the public treasury of an amount equal to the value of the lost cargo. The historian Polybius observes that when, later on, the Greeks had discovered the situation of these islands, they were as anxious to conceal the knowledge from the Romans as the Phœnicians had been to conceal it from both. Aristotle is the earliest* writer who mentions the British Islands by name ; he calls them Albion and Ierne. Hamilco, a Carthaginian general, who * There is a reference to Ireland, under the name of lemis, in the Greek poem, " Argonautica," supposed to have been written about the time of Pisistratus, in the fifth century B. c. had been sent by his government on a voyage of explora tion along the coasts of Western Europe, in the fourth century b. c, also discovered the Tin Islands, which he calls Œstrymnides, and which he describes as situated near Britain and within two days' sail of " the sacred isle of the Hibernians."

The first Greek who visited Britain was Pytheas, a citizen of the Phocian colony of Massilia (the modern Marseilles). He is the first who gives any account of the inhabitants ; he adds also estimates of length, breadth, and extent of coast line. The Greek geographer, Eratosthenes, is blamed by Strabo for following the inac curate account of Pytheas, though both were more correct in their notions than Strabo himself, who places Ireland to the north of England. Polybius, the friend of the younger Scipio, devoted two books to the British islands. These books are now lost, and the only allusion to the subject of them that remains is in a passage where he intimates his intention of treating of several matters, and among them of Britain and the manufacture of tin. Another Greek geo grapher, Artemidorus, who wrote about b. c. 104, alludes to an island near Britannia in which sacrifices were offered to Ceres and Proserpina, as in Samothrace.

He is believed to refer to Ireland. of The first knowledge of Britain by the Romans was due °- to the invasion of Julius Cæsar. That general, pausing in his career of conquest in Gaul, conceived the desire of extending Roman sway over the strange and mysterious land whose white cliffs he could discern from the Gallic Invasion Cæsar, B. 06. coast. The Britons, who had heard from traders of his intentions, desiring either to appease him or to gain time for preparation, sent to him ambassadors with hostages and offers of submission. Cæsar received the ambassadors kindly, and on their return sent with them Commius, Eling of the Atrebates, to exhort the people to continue friendly to the Romans, and to announce his own approaching visit. On attempting to do so, however, Commius was seized by the enraged Britons and loaded with chains.

In the mean time, Cæsar, having collected a fleet of about a hundred vessels, embarked from the coast of the Morini and directed his course to the shores of Britain, which he reached in a few hours. The place not being suited for a landing, and multitudes of the Britons crowding the cliffs, the Roman fleet proceeded some seven or eight miles further along the coast. Their movement was followed by a corresponding movement on the part of the natives, who, with loud shouts and fierce gestures, hurled defiance at the invaders. This strange spectacle, as well as a certain superstitious fear of offending the gods of this unknown region, for a time in timidated the Romans. Soon, however, the standard bearer of the tenth legion, leaping with his eagle into the sea, called on his comrades to follow him in avenging the insolent taunts of the barbarians.

This appeal was eagerly responded to ; the soldiers gained the beach, and, after a short struggle, the Britons were completely defeated. The joy of the Romans at this success was damped by disastrous paip> accidents to their fleet. A squadron of some eighteen vessels, bringing the cavalry from Gaul, was entirely scattered, those riding at anchor driven out to sea, while those which had been drawn up on shore became filled with water. The depression produced by these untoward circumstances was perceived by the British chiefs who had come to the camp to solicit peace, and encouraged them to withdraw without executing their mission. Hostilities were renewed by a sudden attack on the seventh legion, which, while foraging, had been set upon, and was only saved from annihilation by the arrival of the rest of the army.

This was followed soon after by a general attack on the Roman camp, which, though unsuccessful, brought forcibly to Cæsar's mind the critical nature of his situation, the possibility of having his communication with the con tinent cut off by boisterous weather, and the consequent danger of being confined during the winter in an enemy's country, and without supplies of any kind. Moved by these considerations, he was glad to accept the semblance of submission from a few of the natives, and returned with his army to Gaul. Little reason as he had to congratulate himself on the result of the expedition, it was magnified by his friends at Rome into the conquest of a "new world," and the Senate decreed a thanksgiving of twenty days to the immortal gods in honour of it. "Winter was spent in pre paration for a new and more formidable invasion, which was carried into effect in the following spring.

An im mense fleet of eight hundred vessels, carrying five legions and two thousand horse, set sail once more from the coast of Gaul. The approach of this huge armament so terrified the natives that they at once turned and fled to their woods. The landing was thus effected without opposition, and on the same spot as on the previous year. Cæsar His second immediately set out in pursuit of the natives, but on the campaign, f0]jowjng day news of a disaster to his fleet recalled him. A storm had destroyed forty vessels, and driven many others ashore. Cæsar directed that the remaining vessels should be drawn up on the beach, beyond the reach of the tide, and that they should be protected by a fortification. This entailed a delay of ten days, after which the army resumed its march into the interior.

The contests that followed were for the most part of a desultory character, and on several occasions the natives seem to have had the advantage. The tactics they pursued were the best they could have adopted. They studiously avoided a general engagement, but harassed the Romans incessantly by cutting off all stragglers, and attacking small bodies, where numbers assured them beforehand of success. Their chief warriors fought from chariots, which they managed with a skill and boldness that astonished the Romans. The steepest inclines did not check their movements, while such was their agility that in the midst of the fight, or on the most rapid movement, they would run along the chariot pole, jump on the ground and back again to their seat, whenever an opportunity appeared of striking a sudden blow.

At length their partial successes over detached parties emboldened them to attack a considerable body of Romans who, having been sent out to forage, seemed by their loose order to promise hopes of an easy victory. At the first onset they broke the Roman ranks, and had penetrated to the eagles in the centre, but the steady valour, coolness, and discipline of Cæsar's veterans soon turned the scale ; the Britons were totally defeated, and many tribes were so disheartened that they abandoned further resistance and returned to their own districts. This defection, however, was but partial, and Cassibelanus, King of the Cassii, the most powerful of the allied tribes, continued the war. Cassibelanus had, cwsioeianns. Def ore the arrival of Cæsar, obtained considerable influence by his victories over his neighbours, and on the arrival of the Romans he was chosen chief leader by the tribes on the right bank of the Thames.

On the desertion of his confederates, Cassibelanus crossed the Thames, and had stakes driven into the bed of the river at the only ford that existed ; he then lined the banks with palisades, and drew up his army behind them. These measures were, however, of no avail against the Romans, whose cavalry dashed into the stream and was followed by the infantry, wading shoulder deep in the water. This resolute conduct dismayed the natives, who forthwith fled without a contest. This is Cæsar's account, but the flight of the army of Cas sibelanus is ascribed by another writer, Polyænus, to the panic produced by the sight of an elephant in the army of the Romans. On the appearance of this huge animal, carrying a tower filled with armed men, and with its sides covered with polished steel plates, the Britons were panic stricken, and took to precipitate flight.

Cassibelanus, nevertheless, continued to resist. He laid waste the coun try before them, and with an army of 4,000 chariots hung around them, watching any opportunity of dealing them a blow. He had, however, enemies, and among them the Trinobantes, whom he had formerly subdued and whose king he had slain. These people now sent offers of submission to Cæsar, if their late king's son, Mandubratius, were restored to his father's government. The example of this tribe was followed by others, and by them Cæsar was led to the capital or chief fortress of Cas sibelanus, near the site of the present town of St. Alban's. Though surrounded by marshes and fortified with a ditch and rampart, the Romans captured it without difficulty, and with it the cattle and other property of the king. This brave leader did not even then despair; he sent secretly to the chieftains of Kent to make an assault on the Roman camp and to burn their ships.

The attempt failed, the men of Kent were defeated, and Cassibelanus at length sued for peace. This Cæsar, who was anxious to CæsM. dep„t, return to Gaul before the approaching equinox, readily srom Britain. granted on the conditions that he should live in friendship with the Trinobantes, should give hostages, and should contribute his share to the yearly tribute about to be imposed on the country. This treaty ended the invasion of Cæsar, who immediately marched back to the coast and embarked with his army for Gaul. Besides hostages, he took with him a tribute of grain, as also a corselet deco rated with British pearls, which he dedicated to Venus. The promised tribute, however, soon ceased, and for one hundred years Britain was untroubled by another in vasion. Although the effect of this famous expedition was unim portant from a political or military point of view, it had one result, that of drawing the attention of the writers of Greece and Italy " to the new world" of Britain, as Cæsar himself, in his letters, called it.

To what remains of their works, and especially to the victor's own commentaries, we owe whatever knowledge we possess concerning the appearance and the population of the country. The Britons themselves, we are informed, considered it unlawful to set down in writing the deeds of their kings and heroes, or indeed any matters but such public and private accounts as absolutely required preservation. For these records the Greek characters were used. ""-'Britons01* As to the origin of the name of Britain, various conjectures have been hazarded. Camden resolves it into Brith or Brit, a Celtic word signifying painted, and Tania, a Greek word meaning a region or country : so that Britannia would mean the country of painted people. A ridiculous myth, started by Nennius, and reproduced some centuries later in the history of Geoffrey of Monmouth. and the "Brut d'Angleterre" of Wace, ascribed the name of the island to Brut, the great grandson of Æneas, who, after the fall of Troy, at the head of a band of Trojans, took possession of the country.

It may be remarked that this notion of being descended from wandering bands of Trojans was widespread among the European nations in the early and middle ages. In England it continued v-^ry late; Edward I., in his letter to Pope Boniface in 1301, gravely rests on it one of his arguments for the supremacy of the English over the Scotch crown. First questioned by Camden, it lingered still in the minds of the learned, and it is alluded to many years later in the " Comus" of Milton. Another account of the matter is that preserved in those curious poetical histories, the Welsh Triads. The first Triad says : " Three names have been given to the Isle of Britain from the beginning. Before it was inhabited it was called Clas Merddin (the Land of Sea-cliffs), and afterwards Fel Ynis (Island of Honey).

When government had been imposed upon it by Prydain, the son of CEdd the Great, it was called Ynis Prydain (the Island of Prydain) ; and there was no tribute to any but the race of the Kymry, because they first obtained it, and before them there were no more men alive in it, nor anything else but bears, wolves, beavers, and the oxen with the high prominence (bison)."* * Among the fossil remains found in various parts of England are those of elephants, bisons, beavers, elks, bears, wolves, tigers, hyenas, and wild horses. The fourth Triad tells us how " Hugh Cadarn, or the Powerful, led the nation of the Kymry from Deffrobany, or the land of summer, where Constantinople now is, over the Hazy (German) Ocean to the uninhabited island of Britain, and to Llydaw (Armorica or Brittany), where they established themselves."

Other triads inform us that the people who next came to Britain were the Lloegrys, who came from the land of Gwasgwyn, or Gascony, and that they in turn were followed by the Brythones from Llydaw. These latter, like the Lloegrys, being kindred of the Kymry, and speaking the same language, the three peoples lived in amity and harmony, and were called the Peaceful Nations. The triads appear to be no earlier than the time of Edward I., but they are believed to embody the popu lar traditions as to the first peopling of the country, and cannot, of course, possess any higher historical value than is generally accorded to such evidence. Several traces of community in name and language seem to connect the ancient Britons with some tribes on the Con tinent. Tacitus mentions that among the Astii, on the shores of the Baltic, a language was in use very similar to that of the Britons.

It is also added that the inhabitants of the western shores of this district were long known by the name of the Cimbri. According to Pliny, there dwelt in Belgic Gaul a people called the Britanni, and it is thought that their memory is preserved in the names of the Flemish towns, Bruges and Bretten, the old name of Mons. Other links of relationship are found in the iden tity of names of many Gallic and British tribes, such as the Atrebates, the Cenomagni, and the Parisi, as well as in the Celtic termination dunum, found in so many places on both sides of the channel. We have the express testi mony of Cæsar that the Belgæ, who inhabited the south east coasts of Britain had come over from the Continent, —JjJiSSgS, and in their new home retained their former names and manners. These he describes as different from those of the interior of the island, the Albiones, who, he was in formed, had sprung from the soil.

Although Cæsar has left it undecided whether the Belgæ, whom he saw, were of Celtic or Teutonic origin, yet the general opinion is that the differences be points out can be accounted for by the fact of a more recent colonisation, and that the Belgæ, like the other inhabitants of Britain, were a portion of the great race of the Celts, which, at the dawn of history, covered the greater part of Western Europe. To which of the two divisions of that race, the Gael or the Kymry, the ancient Britons belonged has been the subject of much discussion ; the prevailing opinion is, however, that they, like the Gauls, were of the Kymry stock, while the Gael had its chief seats in Ireland and Spain. But the strongest link between the Celts of Britain and Gaul was, doubtless, that of a common religion. The Druids, as the priests of that me nmio-i. religion were called, exercised in both countries the most powerful influence not only in religious but in civil affairs.

They were not merely priests, but also judges and instructors of youth. They dwelt apart from the laity in huts or caves in the midst of the forests ; they were exempt from military service and taxes ; they were under the government of a chief or arch-Druid who was usually elected by themselves, though occasionally the occupant of the position was determined by an armed contest. The Druids worshipped the same gods as the Romans, but under different names. Their chief deity, according to Cæsar, was Mercury, of whom they had many images; they regarded him as the inventor of arts, the guide of travellers, and the patron-god of wealth and commerce. To Mars, or the war-god, at the opening of a campaign they vowed such spoils as might accrue during the war. Cæsar, speaking of the Gauls, alludes to the "large heaps of spoils laid up in their sacred places, which none dared to touch, for the most terrible torment was the sure punishment to be expected by those detected in the perpetration of that crime."

Apollo was worshipped under the name of Belenus ; he was the god of medicine, and a favourite of the Britons. Among the other deities were Jupiter, worshipped under the name of Toramis (the Thunderer), Janus, Diana, and Minerva. The religious ceremonies of the Druids were solemnized in the midst of groves of oak, a tree which, with its para _., _, site, the mistletoe, was regarded by them as sacred. Oak Tneir sacn- 7 i n i . -o ■ flcsi. leaves ornamented all their sacrifices, among which were frequently human victims. These unhappy beings were, for the most part, either criminals or captives taken in war. In the absence of such, however, the innocent were occasionally immolated. In their larger sacrifices they were accustomed to frame huge idol-figures of wicker-work, whose various members were then filled with living human beings, after which a fire was applied, and the whole mass perished horribly in the flames.

Private persons, too, had sometimes recourse to this dreadful practice. Those ex posed to war and other perils, or labouring under a severe illness, would either offer, or vow to offer, a human victim to propitiate the gods and ensure their safety. In such cases they employed the Druids to perform the sacrifice. This custom was grounded on the belief that a human life could only be preserved by the loss of another. One of the chief religious festivals was at the gathering of the mistletoe. When an oak bearing it was discovered, the people were summoned, and, having first observed that the moon was six days old, two milk-white bulls, such as had never borne yoke, whose horns were then, and not till then, bound up, were sacrificed under the tree. A Druid, habited in a white vestment, then ascended, and with a golden knife severed the sacred plant, which was received in a white woollen cloth by those below.

Many incanta tions were muttered, after which it was deposited in safety, and the ceremony concluded with feasting and rejoicing. Among the doctrines taught by the Druids was the immortality of the soul; but to this they joined that of metempsychosis or transmigration of souls. Man, according to them, is placed in the circle of courses ; good and evil being open to his selection : if he choose the former, death transfers him from earth to the circle of felicity ; should he choose the latter, death returns him to the circle of courses ; and, after having done penance for some time in the body of some animal, he ultimately regains the human form. The penitential process may be repeated, but in the case of the most vicious there was ultimate purification, and, after a certain number of transmigrations, permanent restoration to the circle of felicity.

This belief that death was at worst but a passage of the spirit from one body to another was thought to account for much of the reckless valour which characterised the Celtic nations. Tnelr doctrines. The Druids professed a knowledge of the motions of the heavenly bodies and of their influence on men, of the countries of the world, of the properties and healing qualities of herbs and plants, and of the virtues and powers of the gods. Magic and divination were also practised by them. In their schools, to which only the youths of noble families were admitted, instruction was entirely oral; moir system "writing, as before remarked, was forbidden, lest the sacred ot teaching learning might become known to the profane; and lest such an aid might weaken the memories of the pupils. The process of study consisted in getting by rote many thousands of verses recited by the teacher.

Twenty years were not deemed too long for full proficiency in this mystic lore. Though Gaul was in many respects much more civilized than Britain, yet the Druid schools of the latter country had the higher reputation, and Gaulish youths desirous of perfecting themselves in sacred studies were accustomed, in Cæsar's time, to cross over to Britain for that purpose. The general aim of the Druidic system is placed in a very favourable view by the two following triads, the first of which proclaims that the obj ects of the order are " to reform morals, to secure peace, and to encourage goodness." The second says, "The three first principles of wisdom are — obedience to the laws of God, care for the welfare of mankind, fortitude under the accidents of life." Next in importance to, and indeed flowing from, their The Druids religious influence, was that which they exercised as judges. as judges.