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CHAP.

VII.

1258-59

Popularity

reforms.

with the sheriffs, the expulsion of the aliens, and the like, which met with popular approval. The form of government was popular, or at least tolerated, only so long as it appeared to be successful. The joy of the of the country was great, but it was premature. The city of London welcomed the Provisions, and the mayor and citizens swore to observe them. The first measures of the barons, we are told, raised great hopes. The expulsion of the aliens made men hope that a similar end would be put to all papal and legal exactions.1 The relief was sudden, 'like the waking out of sleep ;' 2 the gratitude to the reformers was proportionate. Great and arduous are the matters to be settled, and such as cannot be quickly or easily brought to an end,' writes one to the monks of Burton; 'the barons go boldly forward with their task: may fortune favour them.'3 It might have been apprehended that King Richard would make some opposition to the movement; but it was not in his nature to be irreconcileable. His return to England in January 1259 re- Return of moved all fears on this head. He was not allowed to land till he had taken the oath to the Provisions, which, after some show of reluctance, removed by a letter from the king, he consented to do. After this he consents concession his arrival in London was a matter of visions. great joy to the citizens, and it was doubtless hoped

Bonæ leges constitutæ sunt.'-Ann. Wigorn. 445. 'Statuta

facta ad utilitatem totius regni.'-Lib. de Ant. Leg. 54

* Ann. Wav. 350.

* Ann. Burt. 445. This letter describes the immediate intentions of the barons, and incidentally shows that the words 'de hospitio regis' in the Provisions refer to the household, not the hostelry, of the king. See Mr. Luards translation, Ann. Burt. 504.

Fœd. i. 380, dated 23 Jan., 1259. A letter had been sent him as early as 4 Nov., 1258, bidding him take the oath.—Roy. Letters ii. 132. Lib. de Ant. Leg. 39.

King

Richard;

to the Pro

CHAP.
VII.

1258-59

Beginning

of a re

action its

causes;

the barons,

that he would play his old part of mediator with

success.

But already there were signs of discontent visible. Every element of royalistic feeling was sure to grow stronger while the monarch was powerless; loyal sentiments, latent conservatism, fear of the untried, sympathy for the conquered, all worked in the same direction. The throb of joy with which the reformers had been greeted in the first flush of victory was followed by a steadily-increasing reaction. Their own violence of violence was probably that which turned the wavering scale. A strange instance of the blind hate with which they pursued the aliens was to be seen in the decree passed at Winchester, by which it was forbidden to sell wool to foreigners. But if the principles of free trade had to wait nearly six centuries for recognition, it is no wonder that in the heat of the conflict such laws were considered the height of wisdom. So bitter was the popular hatred of the very name of alien that a short time after this an Italian, whom the Pope had promoted to a prebend at St. Pauls, was murdered in broad daylight in the streets of London, and not a hand was raised to stop the murderers.2 More annoying than the ignorance of political economy appear to have been the proceedings of the justices. Hugh Bigod incurred considerable odium in London by holding pleas in the city, which according to the charters were to be held only by the sheriffs, and by the severity and arbitrary nature of his sentences. He seems to have shown too little regard for privileges, probably as having been conferred by

proceedings of the justices,

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CHAP.

VII.

Causes of

1258-59

action: pro

ceedings

justices;

the king. Complaints of him in this respect were made both by St. Albans and Dunstaple; in the latter place he enforced a fine by seizing all the property of the monastery till the fine was paid. On the rethe other hand, his activity was commendable; he journeyed with two associates through every county, and, according to some authorities, did justice well, hearing the complaints made through the four knights, and redressing many old wrongs.2 But the difficulty of keeping the judicial system in proper order must have been immense. The unlettered barons were but poor lawyers, and yet would naturally have avoided employing the officials of the former régime, who, though creatures of the Court, were probably the only persons sufficiently acquainted with the law. Nature too increased the trouble. After the famine in the early part of the year, an continued unusually fine crop gave hope of some compensation; but it was almost entirely destroyed by heavy rains and floods. Corn in great quantities had to be brought in from abroad to keep even the wealthier classes from starvation. A pestilence broke out, which carried off the Bishop of London and many less lence. noble victims. There were doubtless many then, as there would be some even now, to lay the blame of such calamities on the Government.

famine,

and pesti

But the great difficulty was caused by the dis- Disunion union which was already creeping in among the among the leaders, and the inclination already shown by the

1 Ann. Dunst. 212.

2 Matt. West. 283; Matt. Par. 977 says that the sheriff of Northants, who had followed in the steps of his predecessor, was deposed and 'duro ac diro carceri mancipatus.' See p. 163, note 3.

Р

harons.

CHAP.
VII.

de Mont

fort.

king to break loose from the Provisions. Soon after the Parliament of Oxford, some of the barons, yield1258-59 ing, according to one chronicler, to their own wicked impulses and the promises of the king, deserted their The inveterate hostility of Henry towards Hostility of party.' Henry to de Montfort, a feeling certainly not very unnatural, was shown by an incident which took place in the summer of 1258.2 The king in passing down the Thames from his palace at Westminster was caught in so violent a thunderstorm that he was obliged to land at a spot which happened to be close to the palace of the Bishop of Durham, then occupied by the earl. On hearing of this Simon at once went and offered him shelter, telling him there was no cause for alarm, as the storm would soon be over. The king, by no means in jest, but in grim earnest, replied, Thunder and lightning I fear exceedingly, but, by the head of God, I fear thee more than all the storms in the world.' To which the earl quietly answered, Sire, it is unjust and incredible that thou shouldst fear me, who am thy true friend, and loyal to thee and thine and to the realm of England; but thy enemies, those who ruin thee and tell thee liesthem thou oughtest to fear.' The incident, we are told, caused great anxiety in the minds of all who had their country at heart. The oath, by which the king bound himself to look on every one who opposed the Provisions as a public enemy, must indeed (as Wykes says) have been grievous to many besides himself.3 The general conviction, that the despotic power of the barons was an usurpation, was

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CHAP.

VII.

1258-59

Ambiguous

of Earl

Simon:

increased in the case of Simon de Montfort by a glaring anomaly in his position. He, an alien by birth, however true an Englishman at heart, had been foremost in expelling aliens; he who had threatened position William of Valence with death if he did not give up his castles, had only given up his own to receive the custody of the fortress of Winchester.' It was noticed, with the suspicion which springs out of mere uncertainty, that he tarried long in France, whither he had gone in the autumn of 1258, on the embassy to which he was so often appointed, and was not present at the council which consulted on the return of King Richard.2 He had never been on very good terms with his English peers; his ability and foreign influence made them envious; his undeniable ambition provoked the old cry of upstart; his broad constitutional principles made him in their eyes a traitor to his order. These feelings were only temporarily smothered by common effort, and Simons own unselfish acknowledgment of foreign extraction at the Parliament of Oxford.

not in

At first the Earls of Leicester and Gloucester were his chief coupled together in popular estimation as the saviours of supporters their country, but the union of these two leading nobles, power. the object of so many hopes and fears, was to be of very short duration. The classes whom Simon made it his special object to protect, and among whom his chief power lay, the clergy and the smaller barons, were neglected in the new scheme of government; thus

1 See Pauli, Simon von Mont., 90.

2 The ambassadors sent on this occasion to a great council, to be held at Cambray, were the Bishops of Worcester and Lincoln, and the Earls of Leicester and Norfolk. Matt. Par. 979 says they were unsuccessful.

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