between him and his subjects. Richard was induced to aspire to the imperial dignity, and bore the title of king of the Romans, but derived little else from his profuse expenditure of money abroad. He fought on his brother's side at Lewes, and was made prisoner. He died at his manor of Berkhampstead, in 1271. He married first Isabel, daughter of William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, and secondly Sanchia, sister of his brother's wife, Eleanor of Provence. He had several children, of whom one, Henry, was murdered in a church at Viterbo, by his fugitive cousins the Montforts, in 1271, and another, Richard, was killed at the siege of Berwick in 1296.

Arms of
Richard, earl of Cornwall.

John left three daughters, of whom Joan was married to Alexander II. of Scotland; Eleanora, first to William Marshal, the younger, earl of Pembroke, and next to Simon de Montfort; and Isabel, to the emperor Frederick II.

This king had many illegitimate children, of whom may be mentioned, Richard, who put to death Eustace the Monk; Oliver, who served at Damietta in 1249; and Joan, married to Llewelyn II. (ap Jorwerth), prince of North Wales.

The arms borne by John are the same as those used by Richard I. in the latter part of his reign, "Gules, three lions passant gardant in pale, or." His badge appears to have been a star issuing from between the horns of a crescent.

going on the crusade; "from one archdeaconry only," says Matthew Paris, "he is said to have carried off £600." William Longespee also raised money by like means, but he expended it in the holy war.

No English king has been handed down to us with so bad a character as John, but we can hardly expect a perfectly fair account, when we remember that all our early historians belong to a body with which he was at open variance for the greater part of his reign. The treachery and ingratitude which he is accused of displaying to his father and his brother Richard seem undeniable, as well as a licentious life, and many acts of cruelty when he had become king; but he probably was not the cowardly, incapable ruler which he is usually represented by English writers; foreign annalists, on the contrary, speak of him as a fierce and warlike king. It is certain that he made campaigns in Scotland and in Ireland with success, and if he was less fortunate in France and in Wales, the cause is probably to be found quite as much in the disaffection of his followers, as in any want of courage or conduct on his own part.

A.D. 1199. Earl John is received as duke of Normandy at Rouen, April 25. Arthur, his nephew, is acknowledged in Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, and supported by the king of France (Philip II.)

Archbishop Hubert, Geoffrey Fitz-Pierre, and William Marshal, being despatched to England, obtain the recognition of John as king at a council at Northampton.

John lands at Shoreham, May 25; is crowned at Westminster, May 27 (Ascension-daye); he returns to Normandy before the end of June.

A.D. 1200. John comes to England in February, and makes a progress through the country; meanwhile, the king of France garrisons Arthur's possessions, and attacks Normandy.

John goes to Normandy at the end of April; Philip makes peace and acknowledges him as king, May 23.

John divorces his wife, and marries Isabel of Angouleme, who was betrothed to Hugh Lusignan, count de la Marche; is crowned with her at Westminster October 8.

The king of Scotland does homage to John at Lincoln f, Nov. 22.

A.D. 1201. John returns to Normandy in May; visits the king of France at Paris in July, and endeavours to induce him to abandon the cause of Arthur.

A.D. 1202. The king of France, urged by Hugh, count de la Marche, makes war on John, and endeavours to establish Arthur in Poitou.

Arthur and Hugh besiege Queen Eleanor in the castle

The years of his reign are calculated from one Ascension-day to another, and as this is a movable feast, their commencement varies from May 3 to June 3.

' English and Scottish historians differ as to what lands this homage was for; but as Richard I. had formally abandoned all claim to homage for the kingdom, (see p. 267), it could hardly be for anything more than the earldom of Huntingdon and other lands in England.

of Mirabeau. John marches to her relief, defeats the French and Poictevins, July 31, capturing Arthur and his sister Eleanor, Hugh de Lusignan and his brother, and above 200 other knights.

A.D. 1203. John, on the complaint of the bishop of Rennes, is summoned by the king of France to answer for the presumed death of Arthur; he neglects the citation, and at length is branded as a felon and traitor, and adjudged to have forfeited all his lands in France.

The Bretons take up arms in the name of the princess Eleanor, and the king of France invades Normandy. John passes his time idly at Rouen for a while, and then retires to England in December.

A.D. 1204. The conquest of Normandy is effected by the king of France in July; Anjou, Maine, and Touraine also submit to him.

A.D. 1205. John prepares a force for the invasion of Normandy in May and June, but abandons the design. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, dies, July 13. The monks choose one successor (Reginald, their sub-prior), the king another, (John de Grey, bishop of Norwich,) but both are set aside by the pope (Innocent III.) in favour of Stephen Langton, which gives rise to a breach between the king and the Holy See.

Arthur was sent to Falaise, and thence to Rouen, and, although the particulars are not known, there can be no reasonable doubt that he soon came to an untimely end, probably in April, 1203; his sister was removed to England, and kept sometimes at Corfe Castle, sometimes at Bristol, until her death in 1241; from entries on the Rolls she appears to have been treated as became her rank. Many of the other prisoners were confined in Corfe Castle, where they are believed to have been starved to death; and there is proof on the Patent Rolls that Hugh de Lusignan was long kept in fetters at Caen.

A.D. 1206. John invades France with a large army, landing in the neighbourhood of Rochelle, in June; he captures Montauban, Aug. 1, and burns Angers in September; concludes a two years' truce, by which he renounces all the country north of the Loire, and returns to England in December.

A.D. 1207. The king seizes a thirteenth part of all property, whether secular or ecclesiastical; Geoffrey, archbishop of York, in consequence excommunicates the king's advisers, is deprived of his see, and flees to France.

The monks of Canterbury, having accepted the pope's nominee, are expelled, and their possessions seized by the king, July 15.

A.D. 1208. The pope places England under an interdict, March 23.

John exacts a fresh oath of allegiance from his subjects, and demands bonds and hostages from his barons; "but the more powerful nobles, when the king required hostages, refused them to his face, saying, 'How can we trust him with our children, when he wickedly slew his nephew with his own hand?'" Some strengthen their castles, others flee to Ireland or to Scotland. Many of the bishops also leave England.

A.D. 1209. John marches into Northumberland, and obtains homage and tribute from the king of Scotland1, in August; the fugitives retire to Ireland.

John is excommunicated by the pope in November. He continues his exactions from the Church, and also

He died in exile in Normandy, Dec. 18, 1212.

He is also said to have captured Berwick, and to have built a castle there.