History of England

Contents

PASE

Chap. i. — the ancient britons, - - - - 1

ii. — king alfred and the saxons, - - - 11 iii. — godwin the swineherd, - - • 26 iv.— william the conqueror and the normans, - 38 v. — henry fitzempress and thomas a becket, - 53 vi, — richard the lion-hearted, and john the craven- HEARTED, - - - - - 67

Chapter I. — The Ancient Britons

For tlie earliest accounts of our country we are indebted to the Romans, that extraordinary people of antiquity, whose love of conquest was so great, that they could not rest until they had brought almost the whole of the then known world under their dominion. After having conquered Gaul, as France was then called, they must needs have Britain too : so in the year 55 before our present era, Julius Caesar, their general, fitted out a fleet, with which he crossed the Channel, and landed on the coast of Kent. But the ancient Britons, though rude and barbarous, loved their independence, and fought bravely for it ; and the Romans did not then succeed in subduing them. About one hundred years afterwards, however, the Britons, who were divided into many petty tribes, each ruled by its own chief, quarrelled among themselves, and one of the chiefs begged the Romans to come and help him against his countrymen ; and the foreigners, having once got a footing in the I country, gradually made themselves masters off it, in spite of the desperate resistance of the various tribes, and the repeated revolts of those already subjugated.

At that time our beautiful England was very different from what it is now. Comfortable homesteads; highly- cultivated fields, teeming with the various grains and vegetables fit for the food of man, and regularly separated by verdant hedgerows ; rich meadow-lands, affording pasture for herds of splendid cattle ; populous towns and villages, noisy with the sounds ol industry and commerce — did not then, as now, meet the eye on every side. The country was covered with extensive marshes, large tracts oi wild heath, and immense impenetrable forests, in which bears, and wolves, and wild-boars had their lairs ; while the habitations of the natives were little better than those of the

THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 3

wild beasts. Some of the Britisli tribes, who dwelt on the coast opposite France and Belgium, having probably had intercourse with the more civilised people of those countries, had indeed profited by their example. These wore woollen garments of their own manufacture, decorated their necks and arms with ornaments of brass and iron, and dwelt in regular houses built of wood, raised on circular foundations of stone, and covered over with thatch. They also knew how to till the ground and raise corn, which they preserved from one harvest to another, by storing it in pits dug in the earth, or in the cavities of rocks. But in the remoter parts of the country the people were clad in sheepskins, lived in rude huts, constructed of the branches of the foresttrees, and fed upon flesh and milk alone, as they knew not how to grow corn or make bread. Their only riches were their flocks of sheep, which they pastured on the downs. In the north of Britain the people were in a still more savage state ; they possessed not even flocks of sheep, but roamed about half-naked, and lived by the chase, being but little superior to the brutes they slew for their subsistence.

Among a people so low in the ^ale of civilisation there was not of course any regular system of government ; yet there was among the Britons one class of men to whom all the others bowed in submission, and to wdiom they applied for advice and guidance in matters of importance. These were the Druids, or priests, who presided over their religious ceremonies, and who governed by means of the superstitious awe they inspired. These Druids dwelt apart from other men, in the deepest recesses of the forests, or in dark caverns where no other human foot ever penetrated. They never appeared before the people, except when in the act of chanting their wild hymns to their deities, or in offering up sacrifices to them under some mighty oak of the forest, or on one of those great piles of stone which served them as altars, and which still survive in some parts of the country, presenting memorials of what it once was. Of the nature of the religion taught by the Druids little or nothing is known, for its doctrines were kept strictly secret by the brotherhood ; but it sanctioned the horrid custom of human sacrifices, and altogether had a character of ferocity and gloom. Over the imaginations of the people it exercised a powerful influence; and the Romans,

THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 5

thinkino: that the extermination of the Druids could alone insure the subjection of the Britons, undertook an expedition against their chief seat — the island of Anglesey. With desperate bravery the Britons defended this stronghold of their ancient superstition ; the women mingled in the carnage, exciting the men to die rather than submit ; and the Druids gathered round the sacrificial fires, and rent the air with their wild incantations. But Roman discipline and skill triumphed over barbarian enthusiasm. The faithful Britons were cut down, the sacred oaks of the island felled to the ground, and the Druids immolated on the altars they had raised for their victims.

With the Roman dominion Roman civilisation was introduced into Britain. Not only the knowledge of agriculture and its attendant blessings were spread through the land, but the country was divided into regular provinces, ruled by Roman officers ; and stately cities arose, governed, according to the Roman customs, by magistrates chosen from among the citizens. These cities were connected by excellent roads, were adorned with splendid temples and palaces, with sumptuous baths, and theatres of elegant design and structure ; and, when required, were provided with water from afar, conducted by means of aqueducts of scientific construction. Strong walls were built across the north of the country, on different points, to stay the inroads of the barbarian populations of Caledonia (thus Scotland was then called), and camps and fortresses were erected in various parts of the country, to keep the Britons in subjection. Gradually this people, if not won over to civilisation, at least abandoned in part their rude habits, and adopted the dress, the manners, and customs, and in some measure even the language of the Romans, and bent unresistingly under the yoke. Their warlike spirit was broken by the policy of their masters ; while the Christian religion, introduced among them in the second century, no doubt also contributed to subdue the wild ferocity of their character. But after having ruled over them four hundred years, the Romans, being pressed on all sides by the barbarians, whose invasions led to the downfall of the Empire, were obliged to withdraw their legions from Britain. The inhabitants of this country then rose at once in rebellion against the foreign governors who ruled their

THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 7

provinces and cities, subverted the system of government introduced by their conquerors, and gathered again each tribe under its hereditary chieftain. The remembrance of the ancient state of things had been kept alive by the bards, who were the poets and historians of those days ; and who, though they could neither read nor write, transmitted from father to son the songs which contained the history of the past, and sang these to the people to the tune of their harps. But soon the various tribes fell out among themselves. One ruler was indeed elected, who was to be superior to all the rest, and to be king over all Britain ; but then every chief thought himself more fitted for this office than his brother chiefs, and the dissensions became worse than ever. Following this civil discord came famine and pestilence, and carried off multitudes of those whom the sword had spared ; and when the Picts and the Scots — two warlike nations inhabiting Caledonia — broke through the great walls erected by the Romans, the Britons, having spent their strength in combating each other, were unable to defend themselves against these invaders.

In this distress, Grworteyrn, or Vortigern, the chief king of Britain, could think of nothing better than again to invite a foreign people, dwelling beyond the seas, to come over and help him to put down his unruly neighbours. At that very time there had arrived on the coast of Kent three vessels, manned by Jutes and Angles, tribes belonging to a nation calling themselves Saxons, or the men with the long swords, who were spread along the German coasts north of the Elbe, and the Danish peninsula of Jutland. These Saxons were a tall and robust race, with fair hair and blue eyes, renowned for their indomitable courage and great ferocity, and for their love of war, which they made the business of their lives. When, therefore, Gworteyrn addressed himself to Henghist and Horsa, the two brothers who, tradition says, commanded the Saxon vessels, proposing to them to enter the service of the Britons with their men, the brothers readily complied. It was agreed that they should bring over a considerable army of their countrymen to serve against the enemies of the Britons ; that, in return, they should be paid and supported by this people; and that the little fertile island of Thanet should be assigned to them for their dwelling-place. In the isle of

THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 9

Thanet, accordingly, the Saxons took up tlieir abode, and organized themselves, as was their wont at home ; and hence they went forth to do battle against the Picts and the Scots, armed with their formidable battle-axes, and headed by their standard, on which was displayed the figure of a white horse, emblematic of the names of their two chiefs. Their victories over the enemies of the country at first won for them the friendship) and gratitude of the Britons ; but their numbers were daily increased by new arrivals, and their exactions daily became greater. No longer content with the isle of Thanet, they took possession of territories on the mainland also ; and the Britons ere long became aware that, by inviting these allies to their shores, they had prepared anew the subjugation of their country. Thus, indeed, it proved. According to tradition, Gworteyrn, who had married the beautiful Rowena, a daughter of Henghist, did more than he ought to conciliate the haughty foreigners ; and a numerous Saxon population was shortly established on the coast of Kent, with whom the Britons were obliged to treat as with an independent nation. Henghist and ITorsa having matured their plans, at length tlirew off the mask. They invited the leading chieftains among the Britons, to the number of three hundred, to a banquet, and then, in the midst of the festivities, fell upon their unsuspecting guests, and put them all to death. This atrocious act of treachery, instead of intimidating the Britons, as it was intended, roused their spirit. War was at once commenced against the foreign intruders ; but though the ferocious Horsa fell in battle, Henghist survived, and made himself master of the greater part of Kent, which he erected into an independent kingdom, and transmitted to his descendants. Encouraged by the success of their countrymen, new hordes of Angles and other Saxons, under powerful leaders, made from time to time descents upon the British coasts ; made common cause with the Picts and Scots ; expelled or enslaved the rightful possessors of the land ; and established kingdoms, peopled by men of their own race, who came over in ever-increasing numbers. All the bravery and perseverance displayed by the various tribes of Britons in defence of their country proved of no avail ; for, being disunited among themselves, their strength was broken. Each was subdued in its turn ; until, one hundred and fifty years after the first arrival of Henghist and Horsa, the Anglo-Saxons (for under this name the Picts, the Angles, and the Saxons were eventually comprised) were left masters of the country from the coasts of Devon to the banks of the Forth. Such of the Britons who preferred independence, even in a poor and rugged country, to slavery, sought refuge in the mountains of Cornwall and Wales, or passed over to the northern province of Gaul, called Armorica, where they established themselves along the sea-coasts, and gave the country the name of Brittany.

Chapter II. — King Alfred and the Saxons

From the people who thus superseded the Britons, our country obtained its present name of England, which is a corruption of Angleland (land of the Angles), which was first changed into Engleland, and ultimately into England. But this did not come to pass for a very long while ; for many many years elapsed before the various Saxon kingdoms were merged into one monarchy, and the whole country was designated by one name. The Jutes, the Saxons, the Angles, and whatever other Teutonic tribes settled in England, were, as we have said, ferocious barbarians, addicted to war as a pleasure and as a means of livelihood, and were followers of a religion which held up animal courage as the first of virtues, and which taught the existence of many gods, who delighted in turmoil and bloodshed. The immediate effect of the invasion of these people was therefore the introduction of a barbarism almost equal to that which prevailed before the arrival of the Romans. Their manner of proceeding was indeed such as to make it appear at first as if murder and devastation, not conquest, were their object. Wherever they advanced, the flames of burning towns and villages announced their presence ; and the inhabitants, flying to the woods for safety, were hunted like wild beasts ! But gradually this sanguinary fury subsided : the vanquished Britons were spared, as slaves, to cultivate the fields of their new masters ; and their property and habitations were no longer destroyed, but were taken possession of by the conquerors. The Saxons then began to develop in their new country the institutions they had brought with them from the old, and which, though rude, contained the germs of much that was excellent.

Seven Anglo - Saxon kingdoms — which are generally by historians comprised under the name of the Heptarchy — were founded in the country, and continued to exist side by side, but not in unity and peace. On the contraiy, the most ambitious among the rulers of these kingdoms were always encroaching on the territories of their neighbours, and endeavouring to rise above the others in strength and power ; and for several centuries after the total subjugation of the Britons, the history of their conquerors is little more than a narrative of bloody struggles for supremacy among the various princes. In the seventh century of our era, however, a change came over the spirit of the Anglo- Saxons. The Christian faith had been partially adopted by the Britons during the Roman dominion ; but this people, now reduced to a state of slavery, were looked down upon with contempt by their oppressors, who would never c have condescended to learn from tliem the Christian doctrines, so much at variance with their own wild and ferocious superstitions. In the year of our Lord 597, however, Pope Grregory I., surnamed the Grreat, sent a party of Christian missionaries, headed by a Roman monk, by name Augustine, to preach the Christian faith to the Anglo-Saxons. Those of Kent and Essex at once received baptism at the hands of Augustine ; churches and monasteries were founded ; and Christianity, and with it a change of manners and morals, spread slowly and gradually through the country. The Anglo-Saxon kings set the example to their subjects.

Frequently educated in convents, or under the guardianship of ecclesiastics, if they did not cultivate learning and piety themselves, they at least learnt to appreciate it in others, and thus became the most devoted servants of the church. They not only ceased to consider warlike courage and acquirements the most meritorious qualities in a prince, but, on the contrary, learnt to look upon those days on which they endowed a monastery or a church, and were present at its consecration, as the most glorious of their reign; for the Christianity they had imhibed was mixed with much of gross superstition, and therefore, in those times, men thought more of endowing the church than of doing what was agreeable to the laws of God. But though the monks and ecclesiastics partook of the superstitions of the times, they were devoted to a life of study and peaceful industry, and to the maintenance of good-will among men, and therefore the establishment of communities of such men throughout the country could not but produce a most beneficial effect. Very soon after their settling in Britain, the Saxons had turned their attention to agriculture ; but under the guidance of the Christian monks, this branch of industry, as well as many others, was greatly developed. The fields were divided by hedges and ditches, and care was taken to sow each seed in the soil best adapted for it. Many of the large forests having been cut down in process of time, in order that more land might be brought under tillage, the patches of wood attached to each farm were now tended with care. Water-mills and windmills were introduced, and cattle-breeding and sheep-breeding encouraged, while immense herds of swine were reared, which found ample nourishment among the forests of oak and beech.

But just as things were progressing thus favourably, and the number of independent kingdoms was gradually diminishing, rapine and carnage, and all the miseries of a foreign invasion, were again introduced into England by, foreign barbarians. These new-comers were the Northmen — Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians — who, sprung from the same root as the Saxons, were very much like what the latter were at the time they invaded Britain. Still fanatically attached to their ancient faith, these men looked with hatred and contempt on those of their race who had deserted their war-gods to bend their knee to the " pale God '' of the Christians ; and when the new faith was introduced into their own country, and measures were taken to put an end to their wild and predatory habits, hordes of them took to their vessels, and sought in other countries the liberty they had lost at home. Some attacked Ireland, others founded the duchy of Normandy in France, and others again, landing on the coasts of England, or sailing up the rivers into the heart of the country, found willing auxiliaries in the Britons, who still nourished an unconquerable hatred to their Saxon despoilers. Thrown back repeatedly by the Saxons, the Danes as often returned ; and at last, having made themselves entirely masters of the kingdom of Northumberland, they marched thence southwards, pillaging the towns, massacring the inhabitants, and setting fire to churches and monasteries ; for to shed the blood of Christian priests, to desecrate Christian temples, they reckoned among their most glorious deeds. East Anglia next came under their dominion, and obtained a Danish king ; and thus two Saxon and two Danish kingdoms now stood opposed to each other.

At this time the crown of Wessex (West-sex), one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, devolved upon the head of a prince whose name stands preeminent in the history of our country during this period. In the year 871, Ethelred, king of Wessex, fell in battle against the Danes, and the people elected in his place his brother Alfred, a young man of two-and-twenty years of age, whose military skill and personal bravery seemed to qualify him for the kingly office in such troublous times. The young king did indeed for a time succeed in holding in check the fierce invaders ; but in spite of his abilities and bis virtues — and he was the ablest and the most virtuous of his time — ill-will arose between him and his people. King Alfred knew not only how to read and write — an uncommon thing even for princes in those days — but he was well versed in Greek and Latin, and acquainted with the best authors in those languages ; and proud of his own acquirements, he looked down with disdain on the illiterate people over whom he reigned. Though he governed wisely and equitably, he did it in a manner which was at variance with the notions and the feelings of his subjects, and they hated him for his justice. But Alfred, who kept haughtily aloof from high and low alike, perceived it not until seven years after his accession, when a formidable invasion of the Danes again threatened his kingdom with ruin. According to ancient usage, the king sent round his messengers from town to hamlet, bearing in their hands a naked sword and a pointed arrow, the sign of war, to proclaim, " Let every man who is not a nithing (a good-for-nothing), be it in borough or in open country, come forth and aid the king ! " But the people responded not to his call, and the

Danes, profiting hj tlieir apathy, overran the country. Alfred, who would not submit, and who could offer no resistance without the aid of his people, then fled to the woods ; and for months the king of the land, disguised as a shepherd, had no other shelter for his head than the miserable hut of a poor cow-herd, who kindly took him into his family without knowing who he was. Here Alfred was obliged to perform the menial services of the house — to bake the bread, and cook the broth ; and here he learned to know how much goodness of heart and other excellent qualities may be found in connection with ignorance and poverty ; and he longed to save his people from the oppression of the Danes, and to be their father as well as their king. In the meanwhile the people, on their side, had felt the difference between the government of a just and enlightened, though proud and haughty prince, and the rule of barbarous foreigners. Alfred was thus enabled to gather round him by degrees a faithful band of warriors, with whom he harassed the Danes until he should be sufficiently strong to venture a decisive battle. At length he determined to make an appeal to the country, and with the forces he could gather, to make an attack upon the camp of the enemy, situated on the borders of Wiltshire and Somersetshire. Before doing this, however, and to make sure of the victory, Alfred, disguised as a harper, entered the camp of the Danes, and amused them with his ballads and songs, until he had made himself fully acquainted with their position. He then returned to his followers, who were concealed in the forest, and sent out his messengers to the Saxon inhabitants of the surrounding country, desiring them to meet him on the eastern borders of Sel-wood. During three consecutive days small bands of men were seen moving to this spot from various directions. At length all were gathered at a place called Egbert's Stone : the royal banner of Wessex was unfurled ; Alfred, at the head of his troops, attacked the Danes, and after the carnage of the day, was again the powerful sovereign of a numerous people. The Danes failed to rally, peace was concluded, and the Danish kings were compelled by treaty to pay tribute to the Saxons. The united kingdoms of Sussex and Kent now likewise proclaimed Alfred king, and all those parts of England which were not occupied by the Danes were, for the first time since the Saxon invasion, gathered under one crown. All misunderstandings between Alfred and his people were now at an end, and so totally forgotten, that history hardly makes mention of them, but attributes to this king everything that was excellent and wise in the Anglo-Saxon institutions.

During their establishment in Britain, the Saxon chiefs, who were originally elected for an indefinite period, had assumed the character and power of hereditary kings, round whom gathered a warlike nobility, who likewise transmitted their wealth and their privileges to their posterity. But the Saxon people never abandoned the right, possessed by all nations of Teutonic descent, of voting the laws by which they were governed ; and the power of the Anglo-Saxon kings was therefore always limited by that of the national assembly, called "Wittenagemot (assembly of the wise men), in which originally all freeborn men had a seat and a voice. However, when tribes extended into nations, and the limits of the kingdom widened, the number of such individuals grew too great to admit of all being present in the assemblies, and representatives were therefore elected ; and eventually it- came to be only persons holding a certain rank and property who were represented or sat in the "Wittenagemot. As long as the country was divided into many independent kingdoms, each kingdom had of course its particular Wittenagemot : but when all were merged into one monarchy, one assembly did the chief business of the nation ; while each province or shire continued to have its local assemblies, called Sheremot (shire meeting) ; and each minor division of the country its Folkmot (people's meeting), for the discussion and settling of local aifairs. The people were divided into four classes : the nobles, the freeborn men, the freedmen, and the slaves.

Among the freemen, from the king to the ceorl, the lowest in the scale, there were gradations in rank, each rank having its peculiar privileges and its peculiar duties. Highest in rank after the king were the ealderinen, or earls ; after these came the gerefas, or sheriffs ; and then the thegnes, or thanes. The ceorls, though freemen, had no rank. Below these were the serfs, or slaves, who counted for no more than brutes, and might be sold like cattle; yet it seems that they were in general humanely treated, and not often disposed of except along with the lands on which they dwelt, and which it was their vocation to cultivate. Originally all trades and handicrafts w^ere performed by slaves, but as it became more and more customary to liberate slaves, or to allow them to purchase their own freedom, these men gradually settled in towns, and commenced business on their own account, placing themselves, however, under the protection of the king, or some other great lord, and paying in return certain dues and services. These men became, in consequence, what were called free burgesses ; and among these burgesses of towns soon ensued associations for the promotion of trade and commerce, called guilds. These guilds or corporations came in course of time to possess many political privileges also, and became important institutions in the state. Among the remarkable ordinances issued by Alfred to insure the public peace and the safety of individuals, was that of subdividing the shires or counties into hundreds, comprising one hundred families, and these into tithings, comprising ten families, and making each hundred and each tithing responsible for the acts of the individuals belonging to it.

In spite of their excellent political institutions, the Anglo-Saxons had been too much occupied with war to attain a high degree of social refinement ; and their manners were rude, and their homes uncomfortable, though in some arts they were considerably advanced, and in dress, and in the costliness of their weapons, they were even luxurious. Their workers in metal, their weavers, dyers, and embroiderers, were in high repute ; but when King Alfred wished to divide his time regularly, so as not unconsciously to give an undue portion of it to his dearly -beloved books, none of his subjects could present him with a clock, or even a sundial. The king was obliged to have recourse to an expedient of his own invention. He had rushlights made, sufficiently long to burn from one sunrise to another. These candles he divided oif by notches into a certain number of parts, and by the consumption of each part he calculated the flight of time. But Alfred soon perceived that the current of air througli crevices in the walls made his candle flare out, and upset his calculations ; so he bethought him of hanging up pieces of tapestry to keep out the draught, and this is said to be the origin of tapestry hangings in England. To King Alfred is also attributed the foundation of the English navy, and of the university of Oxford.

In spite of all that Alfred the Great did to promote enlightenment among his subjects, by establishing schools and universities, the science of law, and of the administration of justice, were in a state of infancy among the Anglo- Saxons, as among most of the other European nations of that period. "When the judges, in their ignorance, and with the imperfect means at their disposal, found it difficult to deteraiine who was the guilty person in an intricate case, recourse was had to what was called the judgment of God. In these cases the guilt or innocence of the accused was proved by their subjection to certain ordeals, such as single combat, in which the innocence of the victor was considered established by the fact of his having conquered his opponent. At other times two pieces of wood, wrapped up in wool, one of which was marked with the sign of the cross, were the means employed. Prayers having been pronounced over the bits of wood, the priest took up one, and if it happened to be that with the mark, the accused was acquitted ; in the contrary case lie was declared guilty. In otlier instances the accused was made to hold in his hand a bar of red-hot iron, or to merge his hand into boiling water, when his innocence or guilt was proved by his coming off scathed or unscathed from the ordeal. Sometimes the sinking or floating of the accused, when thrown into cold water, was the test ; and at other times means still more absurd and futile were adopted.