dissolved. CHAP. 10. Sovereign, determined to bring about a reconciliation between the king and Confederacy his brother, and thus detach the young prince from the confederacy. Prince Richard was offered the lands of the earl of Boulogne, then deceased, and had the dower of the queen-mother settled upon him. Contented with these emoluments the duke of Cornwall thought no more of the restoration of the Charters, and the confederacy was dissolved. Disgrace of Burg. Another In a few years afterwards, the justiciary, Hugh de Burg, fell under the displeasure of the king, who had adopted the counsels of his rival the bishop of Winchester. The earl of Derby was one of those to whom the custody of the disgraced justiciary was committed. The desire of absolute power was, however, the motive of all the measures of the king and his ministers, and a determination was taken by the court to deprive the English barons of all places of trust and to supply their places with foreigners. To strangers from Gascony and Poictiers were committed the most considerable posts and governments. This irritated the barons, who refused to attend at a parliament, which the king, then greatly in want of supplies, had summoned to assemble at Oxford. Troops of foreigners continued to arrive from the king's dominions in France, and many of their leaders received grants of lands and were constituted peers of England, in order to form a powerful court party, until, at length, the English barons met in a body, Confederacy. and sent a deputation to the king, declaring that if he did not discard the bishop of Winchester, and restore the Charter of their liberties, they would disclaim their allegiance to him, and place on the throne a prince who would better observe the laws of the realm. Secure in the attachment of the foreign troops by whom he was surrounded, and on whom he was daily conferring new favours, he seized many of the baronial castles, and compelled others of the nobility to give up their children as hostages of their fidelity. Some voluntarily submitted, and Richard, earl of Pembroke, whose sister had been married to the earl of Derby, finding himself deserted by the confederates, fled to Wales, and there found protection in the court of prince Llewellyn. We shall not pursue the narration of the contest which the earl of Pembroke, almost alone, continued with the king and his ministers, in which that obstinate prince incurred the increasing contempt and hatred of his subjects. Constrained at length, by his pecuniary necessities, in the year 1237, he promised the observance of the Charters, and called the English barons around him, who in consequence of his pretended concessions, immediately voted him the aids he demanded, to be levied the corn, sheep and cattle of the realm. The parliament which made this grant, consisted of archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights and freeholders; but we meet with no mention of representatives of any class of persons nor of the people at large; but there is the trace of such representation in this statute of aid, for it was determined that four knights should be chosen for each county who should state what the inhabitants of such county might be able to pay. Simon de upon Twenty years of weak, though tyrannical government ensued, in which the bishop of Winchester died, and Simon de Montfort, a foreigner by extraction, who had espoused Eleanor, countess dowager of Pembroke and sister to the king, after acquiring wealth and power through the patronage under Mont fort. Oxford. of the crown, became a champion for the liberties of the realm. The CHAP. 10. barons, in 1258, resolved to yield no longer to the protestations and pro- The Barons fessions of a sovereign, who had so repeatedly deceived them, and therefore confederate on being summoned to attend one of the parliaments of that period, which was to assemble at Oxford, they came in military array, attended by their tenants in arms. It was then agreed that twelve commissioners should be appointed on the part of the king and the same number on the part of the barons, who should draw up articles binding between the sovereign and his subjects. Simon de Montfort, who had succeeded his father as earl of Leicester, was made president of this extraordinary commission. The articles were strongly drawn up. They provided that the king should con- Articles of firm the Great Charter: that the office of chief justiciary should be given to a person of talent and integrity, and that the other ministers, including the chancellor, treasurer and justices, should be appointed by the twentyfour commissioners: that the custody of the king's castles should also be entrusted to the superintendence of the twenty-four: and that the parliament should meet three times every year, namely, on the eighth day before Michaelmas, the morrow of Candlemas, and the first day of June, being three weeks before the festival of St. John. These articles or provisions of Oxford deserve particular notice, for, in them, the Commons are expressly mentioned by name. The passage runs thus-" It must be remembered that the Commons elect twelve prudent men, who shall come to the parliament, and other times as matter shall be, when the king or his council shall require them to treat of the wants of the king and of the kingdom. And the Commons shall regard as established that which these twelve shall do; and this will be done to spare the cost of the Commons.”* This clause was not intended by the barons to be favourable to the people, for it is manifest that the first twelve representatives of the Commons were chosen by the barons themselves out of their own body. Among the names of these we find Thomas Gresley, who was of the elder branch of that family, since known in Derbyshire: during the next year he was appointed, probably by the twenty-four commissioners, warden of the forests south of the Trent, but he died during the subsequent civil war. His son married Avisa, granddaughter of Hubert de Burg, who has been mentioned as the grand justiciary of the realm. By the provisions of Oxford, the realm, though nominally a monarchy, had become an aristocracy, and the government was almost wholly in the hands of the twenty-four commissioners, at the head of whom was the earl of Leicester. London had declared itself in favour of the barons, and the cinque-ports, in obedience to the commissioners, fitted out a fleet, to prevent the king from receiving aid from abroad. Still the king's party was strong and there were rising jealousies among the barons: it was also perceptible that however inclined a wealthy corporate body like the capital might be to take part with the aristocracy, the people at large were, for the The original is in old French, and stands thus in the Annals of Burton. —" Si fet a remembrer ke le Commun eslise xii prodes homes ke vendrunt as Parlemenz, et autre fez quant mester serra quant le Roi u sun Conseil les mandera pur treter de beseingnes le Rei e del Reaume. E ke le Commun tendra pur estable cer ke ces xii frunt. E cco serra fet pur esparnier le cust del Conmun." mission of Barons. CHAP. 10. most part, attached to the government of the sovereign. We may, indeed, The Com- be permitted to remark, that an aristocratic republic is always more hateful to the lower and laborious classes, than an absolute despotism. The forces of the king were daily augmented, and prince Edward, his eldest son, afterwards Edward I. with a chosen body of men, entered London, and seized the treasure of the knight's templar, which he conveyed to Windsor castle in order to supply the immediate wants of his father. Negociations nevertheless continued, and the barons began to show symptoms of disaffection to the earl of Leicester, but he, without further delay, convened a parliament, in which the provisions of Oxford were again confirmed: the barons were called upon, by the twenty-four commissioners, to raise an army; and of this army the earl of Leicester was nominated general. A scene of fearful devastation ensued in every quarter of the realm. The foreigners were slaughtered without mercy, and the estates of those who adhered to the king were confiscated. Robert de Civil War. Among the most ardent of those barons who distinguished themselves in the confederacy, was Robert de Ferrers, the young earl of Derby, who had not attained the age of manhood many years, when he levied a large force from among his tenantry, and having ravaged the neighbouring counties, he besieged and took by assault the city of Worcester. A wealthy portion of that city, called the Jewry, was plundered and destroyed, as were the religious houses and other edifices. He was joined there by the baronial army under the earl of Leicester, who had made himself master of the city of Gloucester, after a siege of four days. The united forces then marched upon Shrewsbury, Hereford and Bridgenorth, from which the king's adherents were speedily driven, and then marching southward, they were everywhere received with submission and even with joy. In the midst of this success, the earl of Leicester and his advisers, with a show of moderation, which was intended to throw the odium of the war upon the king, sent a deputation to Henry, who had fortified himself in the tower of London, offering to annul some of the most obnoxious of the provisions of Oxford, provided he would discard his foreign counsellors. The king, who was closely besieged, promised every thing required of him, but he was no sooner in the hands of his own party, than he put foreigners into his castles, stored them with provisions and prepared for war. During the progress which the earl of Leicester made in the counties bordering on the Severn, prince Edward led the royal forces into Staffordshire and Derbyshire, where the possessions of the earl of Derby were given up to the pillage of the soldiery, and the castle of Tutbury was seized and demolished. The prince proceeded to Bristol and afterwards to Windsor, but he was compelled to surrender the strong castles of those places into the hands of the confederated barons. After a short cessation of hostilities, the king and his son having received an accession of foreign troops, and having also been joined by some barons who had taken umbrage at the authoritative behaviour of the earl of Leicester, advanced into the heart of the kingdom. They seized upon Oxford, and expelled from the colleges the students, who had displayed great ardour in the cause of the barons. The town of Northampton was taken by assault; in which fifteen barons and sixty knights were made prisoners. CHAP. 10. Among these was William de Ferrers, brother of the earl of Derby, and Civil War. the ancestor of the branch of that family which settled at Groby in Leicestershire. The taking of Northampton was followed by the surrender of Nottingham, while prince Edward, having marched into Kent, compelled the barons to raise the siege of Rochester and to retire to London. These successes induced the king to march hastily upon the metropolis, which he expected to enter without resistance, but finding the citizens drawn out, in arms, and ready to encounter his troops, harassed by the rapidity of their march, he withdrew during the succeeding night, and proceeded towards the coast of Sussex, where he expected to find a re-enforcement of foreigners. He was closely pursued by the earl and confederate barons, together with fifteen thousand Londoners who had assembled in arms at the approach of the king. Leicester, by the advice of Clare, earl of Gloucester, and of Ferrers, the young earl of Derby, sent to the head quarters of the royal army some proposals of accommodation, but the proposal irritated the king's favourites and advisers, whose conduct was severely reprehended in the petition, or rather, remonstrance delivered to the sovereign in their presence. Prince Richard, the brother of the king, had been elected king of the Romans, and in accepting that foreign honour he lost sight of those claims of the barons which he had formerly espoused. He declared the representations of the barons to be false, and uttered threats against the confederates, in which he was joined by prince Edward. Both armies were then in the neighbourhood of Lewes in Sussex, and Battle of were about six miles apart; but immediately on receiving intelligence of Lewes. the reception which their offers of accommodation had met with, the earl of Leicester gave the word to advance. The battle began with ardour on both sides. Prince Edward, having vowed vengeance against the Londoners, who formed the left wing of the baronial forces, attacked them with such impetuosity that they gave ground and fled before him, while with more impetuosity and rancour than prudence he pursued them several miles, slaughtering all he could overtake. But while the young prince thus gave the reins to his vengeance, the other divisions of the confederate army gained a complete victory over the king and his brother Richard. King Henry surrendered himself to the earl of Leicester, and the king of Henry the Romans to the earl of Gloucester. The castle and town of Lewes sub- taken mitted to the barons, who conveyed Henry and his brother, as prisoners, to the priory. Prince Edward, returning from the pursuit of the Londoners, was speedily surrounded by the troops of the victorious barons. In this condition he reluctantly subscribed to whatever terms were dictated to him. These terms, which are called the Mise of Lewes, insisted upon the inviolable observance of the Statutes of Oxford, and required that the prince, together with his cousin Henry, the son of Richard, king of the Romans, should remain as hostages in the power of the confederates, until a parliament should be called which might settle the affairs of the nation, and determine what should be done with the royal prisoners. The parliament was called by the earl of Leicester, in the name of the king; and it was on this occasion that knights of the shires are first dis prisoner. the Shires summoned. CHAP. 10. tinctly mentioned. This assembly nominated nine barons, to whose hands Knights of the administration of public affairs was to be entirely entrusted; under the appellation of the counsellors of the king. To this, Henry and his son Edward were compelled to submit, and a government, sufficiently aristocratic as to its form was established, but of which the powers were exercised by Montfort, earl of Leicester. Escape of Battle of The barons had not, however, confederated themselves against the exorbitant dominion of the crown, in order to place an authority still more exorbitant in the hands of the earl of Leicester. One of the first who publicly censured the conduct of Montfort, was the brave young earl of Derby; and for this he was seized and committed to the tower. Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, resented the arrest of his young friend, and by so doing drew upon himself the wrath of Montfort, who did all he could to exclude him from the public councils. Irritated at such behaviour, the earl of Gloucester sounded the dispositions of others, whom he found equally alarmed at the ambition of Leicester: he formed also an alliance with the lords of the Welsh marches, and having raised a considerable body of forces, contrived to afford prince Edward the means of making his escape. Many of the confederate barons immediately joined the banners of the prince, who, being called upon by the earl of Gloucester, in the presence of the leaders, to declare that he would restore the ancient laws of the realm, took an oath to that effect. The command of the army was instantly resigned to him by the earl, and he determined to give battle to Montfort, who retreated before him from the banks of the Severn to the eastern extremity of the kingdom. Montfort having received re-enforcements from the Londoners, made a stand at Evesham. The battle that ensued was fought on the 4th of August, 1265. The adherents of Leicester were totally discomfited, and he and one of his sons fell on the field of battle. The king, who, as a prisoner, had been compelled to accompany the earl of Leicester throughout his harassing retreat, was wounded in the shoulder, and would have been slain by a common soldier, had he not exclaimed, "I am Henry of Winchester, thy sovereign." He was conducted to his son, who received him with filial exultation as an assurance of victory. This battle, which completely subverted the government established by Montfort and his confederates and restored the king to the throne, was fought fourteen months after the battle of Lewes, in which the king became a prisoner. Henry was not a sovereign who could be taught by adversity to respect the rights and interests of his people. On the contrary, his impatience for revenge was excessive. He called a parliament subservient to his views. The estates of those who had opposed him were confiscated, and the city of London was deprived of its privileges and compelled to pay the sum of twenty thousand marks. This conduct drove the vanquished party desperate. Simon de Montfort, son of the earl of Leicester, fortified Kenilworth castle and seized upon the isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire, from which station he carried on a series of ravages by land Ferrers, Earl and by sea. The earl of Derby armed his tenantry in Derbyshire, and being joined by Baldwin de Wake, who had held large possessions in Lincolnshire, and by John D'Ayville, an aged and turbulent baron of Hode of Derby. |