trust their French allies, crosses the country, and captures Lincoln, Sept. 22.

He marches southward, ravaging the country, and reaches Lynn Oct. 9, where the inhabitants welcome him2, and remains there three days.

He loses much of his baggage and treasure in his march on the shore of the Wash towards Wisbeach, Oct. 11.

Is seized with illness at Swineshead, Oct. 12, proceeds through Sleaford to Newark, Oct. 16, and dies there Oct. 19; he is buried at Worcester, according to his own wisha.

The town received from him its present name of King's Lynn, and also a sword and cup, which it still preserves. Indeed, however hated by other classes, John seems to have been attached to, and a personal favourite with, the seafaring people, much of his time in each year being ordinarily spent on the coast, as appears from the Close and Patent Rolls; this probably gave occasion to the statement (now known to be incorrect) of Matthew Paris, that the king, immediately after the granting of Magna Charta, retired to the Isle of Wight, and there passed his time in familiar association with mariners and fishermen.

a He bequeathed his body to St. Wulstan, the patron of that cathedral, although he had before founded a Cistercian monastery at Beaulieu (near Lymington, in Hampshire), intending it for his place of burial; in 1228 his son made application to the pope for permission to transfer the body to Beaulieu, but the removal was not effected.

HENRY, the eldest son of King John and Isabellao f Angouleme, was born at Winchester, Oct. 1, 1207. The kingdom to which he succeeded in his 10th year was little more than nominal, but the vigour and ability of his guardians, Gualo, the papal legate, and William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, soon effected a change; they regranted Magna Charta, on which the English barons, distrustful of their French allies, very generally returned to their allegiance, and Louis, the dauphin, retired from the field.

a He was the son of John the Marshal, a zealous partisan of the Empress Maud, and obtained the earldom of Pembroke by marrying Isabel, daughter of Richard de Clare. He

served the young Henry, Richard, and John, with great fidelity, and received from the latter king a grant of the whole province of Leinster. On John's death, he took such measures as caused the youthful Henry III. to be received as king, and acted as Protector of the kingdom until his own death, which occurred in the year 1219. He left, beside daughters, five sons, who all in succession became earls of Pembroke. See p. 314.

Arms of the Earl Marshal.

On Pembroke's death, Hubert de Burgh (formerly seneschal of Poitou)b and Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, ("a man well skilled in war",") shared between them the rule of the kingdom for a while, and, though hostile to each other, they kept the refractory barons in check; but as they failed to observe the provisions of Magna Charta, fresh quarrels continually arose, Des Roches was obliged to go on a pilgrimage, and De Burgh at length was deprived of power and imprisoned.

Henry, now freed from tutelage, shewed himself quite unequal to his station, and the whole after-part of his long reign presents a melancholy picture of the evils that may occur to a nation from the weakness of its rulers. He engaged in tedious wars with France for the recovery

b Hubert de Burgh was the nephew of William Fitz-Aldelm, one of the earliest Norman settlers in Ireland. He was frequently employed in foreign embassies by King John, and strenuously supported his cause against the barons. He was the chief ruler of the kingdom during the early years of Henry III., held a number of the most important offices, (as justiciary, warden of the marches of Wales, constable of Dover and other castles, and sheriff of several counties,) and received the earldom of Kent; but at length he fell into disgrace, was accused of enormous crimes, stripped of most of his possessions, and thrown into prison. He escaped into Wales, and after a time was restored to the king's favour, but again falling into disgrace, through marrying his daughter Margaret to the earl of Gloucester without the royal licence, he was obliged to surrender several strong castles, and died shortly after, May 12, 1243. He had been married four times, one of his wives being Isabel, the repudiated queen of John, and another, Margaret, sister of Alexander II. of Scotland.

He was a Poictevin, and a knight, being styled Sir Peter des Roches, but obtained the see of Winchester in 1205 by a papal provision. He was long the rival in the government of Hubert de Burgh, but being at length driven from court, he went to the Holy Land; he again became a courtier, was again expelled, and died soon after, June 9, 1238. His numerous benefactions to religious houses are praised by Matthew Paris, who adds that notwithstanding "he left to his successor a rich bishopric, with no decrease of its plough

cattle."

of Normandy, but only succeeded in endangering Guienne; took part with the popes against the emperor Frederick II. and his family, although that emperor was his brother-in-law; made frequent attacks on the independence of Wales, "but without effecting anything worthy of his rank;" chose his counsellors and servants rather among foreigners than Englishmen; and, to supply means for all these idle projects, so grievously oppressed every class of his people, and so utterly disregarded all his oaths and obligations, that in 1258 he was in fact deposed, all power being placed in the hands of twentyfour councillors, of whom the chief was his brother-inlaw, Simon de Montfort d.

In 1261 Henry attempted to resume the royal power, but was soon obliged to give way.

His queen and his

d Simon de Montfort was the son of Simon de Montfort, so well known for his crusade against the Albigenses, and who had possessed the earldom of Leicester in the time of King John, but had forfeited it on a charge of treason. On occasion of a quarrel with the queen of France, he came to England, was favourably received by the king, recovered (with the consent of his elder brother) the earldom, had important posts bestowed on him, and at length by marrying Eleanor, the widow of the earl of Pembroke, became allied to the royal family. He governed Gascony with vigour and wisdom for several years, also made a journey to the Holy Land; but being at length deprived of his province, he headed the discontented barons, received also the support of the great body of the clergy, expelled the king's foreign favourites, and may almost be said to have ruled in his stead. Some of his confederates, however, deserting him, Mortimer and the marchers made head against him, and defeated and killed him at Evesham, Aug. 4, 1265. His body was barbarously mutilated, and denied Christian burial by the victors, while his partisans esteemed him a martyr, and circulated reports ascribing miracles to him.

Arms of De Montfort.

son Edward, however, procured the aid of Mortimer and the other marchers, and in 1264 Henry again took the field; he was defeated and taken prisoner at Lewes, May 13, by De Montfort, and compelled to accompany him to Wales in a campaign against his own adherents.

In 1265, by a sudden change of fortune, De Montfort was killed at Evesham, and the king set at liberty, but the war lasted nearly three years after. At length some judicious concessions were made to the malcontents, and the few remaining years of Henry's reign passed without any very memorable incident. He died Nov. 16, 1272, at Westminster, and was buried in the abbey church there four days after.

Henry married Eleanor, the daughter of Raymond V., count of Provence. She appears to have been a woman of beauty and spirit, but the excessive partiality of the king for her kindred rendered her unpopular, and she was once in danger of her life from the hatred of the Londoners. She became a nun at Amesbury in 1286, and died there June 24, 1291.

Their children were, beside Robert, John, William, Henry, and Catharine, who died young,

1. EDWARD, who became king.

2. Edmund, earl of Lancaster, born 1245. The title of King of Sicily was bestowed on him by the pope (Alexander IV.), but he never obtained possession; he went to the crusade with his brother Edward, and died in 1296, while commanding an army in Gascony. One of his sons was Thomas, earl of Lancaster, who bore so great a part in the troubles of the reign of Edward II.