CHAP. XII. 1266-67 The Disin herited in Ely: sooner were the Disinherited suppressed in one quarter than they reappeared in another. John d'Eyville collected the fragments of the force that had been defeated at Chesterfield, and, attacking the Isle of Lincoln, massacred the Jews and plundered the city. Thence he marched southwards, and, with the connivance of the inhabitants, occupied the Isle of Ely. There, in the district where Hereward so long bade defiance to the Conqueror, the Disinherited fortified themselves in the midst of impenetrable marshes, and blocked all the avenues so that none could approach without their will. As their forces increased they became bolder, and there was hardly a town in the eastern counties which did not suffer from their raids. They even attacked the important city of Norwich, and, meeting with no opposition, carried off everything of value in the town. As long as the royal forces were occupied with the siege of Kenilworth they pursued their trade unchecked, and even after the conclusion of the siege they successfully defended themselves some time longer. The king, who had. removed to London from Kenilworth, was obliged, old and weary as he was, to enter in the depth of winter upon a new campaign. The Lent Parliament was summoned to meet at Bury St. Edmunds; Henry, with a large army, took up his quarters at Cambridge, and sought to reduce the defenders of Ely by blockade. They however showed no inclination to yield, rejected the legates exhortation to surrender,' and defeated with great loss a fleet which besieged by the king; See the, perhaps rather apocryphal, account of their answer to the legate, in which they defend their orthodoxy and the justice of their cause, in Rish., de Bellis, &c. 62. CHAP. XII. 1267 their suc resistance. had sailed up the Ouse from Lynn, Yarmouth, and other ports to attack them. Difficulties with the clergy, who refused to pay the tenth for three years, and other taxes which Henry demanded for the sub- cessful jection of the Disinherited, hampered the efforts of the royalists and emboldened their enemies.1 Meanwhile the attention of Prince Edward was called away by disturbances in the north. He soon succeeded, by combined activity and clemency, in quelling them; but in his absence nothing could be done.2 Revolt of the Earl of Matters were in this state when suddenly, without any warning, the Earl of Gloucester took up arms and marched on London. Pretending that he was come to support the just claims of the Disinherited, which he had hitherto been foremost in rejecting, and to secure the fulfilment by Edward of the oath which he had exacted from him when he escaped from Hereford, he entered the city (April 10), and was he occupies favourably received by the democratical party, whom London. fear alone had kept quiet during the past year. What was the real motive which urged the earl to this step it is impossible to say; but one can hardly refrain from a suspicion that he merely used the cry of justice for the Disinherited as a pretext to cover a change of sides prompted by some personal grievance which he had, or thought he had, against the king. Of honest effort for constitutional reform there is hardly a trace The kings demand and the reply of the clergy are given in Rish., de Bellis, 60. See throughout the account in T. Wykes, 192, seq. 3 According to Rish., de Bellis, &c., 59, a quarrel had broken out at Kenilworth between him and R. Mortimer, and they had retired from the siege. Ann. Dunst. 245, imply that he was jealous of Mortimers influence with the king. Cf. Stubbs, Const. Hist ii. 297. CHAP. 1267 Revolt of he occupies London, in his whole career, except for the brief space when he was under the influence of Earl Simon. Naturally however he at once became the head of the malthe Earl of contents, who streamed to him from all sides. John Gloucester: d'Eyville and other chiefs of the Disinherited left their stronghold and joined him in London. He lost no time in fortifying the city, and in summoning the legate to give up the Tower. The legate refusing, he began the siege in regular form; but the fall of the fortress, which seemed imminent, was prevented by the arrival of the king. where he is besieged by Edward. Prince Edward, immediately on hearing of the outbreak, had hastened with his usual rapidity from the north, and, joining the king at Cambridge, continued his march upon the capital. He at once released the legate, and threw into the Tower a strong body of troops. Then he withdrew to a short distance from the city, and waited for an opportunity. It was a curious repetition of the events of 1264. The citizens, emboldened by the respite thus allowed them, marched out and pillaged the neighbouring country, wrecked the palace of Westminster, and murdered many who were suspected of royalist proclivities. Meanwhile those who had been left in the Isle of Ely, under the leadership of Henry of Hastings, one of the defenders of Kenilworth, renewed their ravages. The king was in sore want of money, and could neither pay his French mercenaries, nor supply his own troops with food. At length, when both parties had begun to weary of the fruitless struggle, discussion took the place of war, and after some trouble, neither side being willing to yield, a compromise was effected, through the mediation of CHAP. XII. 1267 Peace King Richard, Henry of Almaine, and others (June While Henry rested from his labours in the capital, Edward, indefatigable as ever, completed the work of pacification by reducing the last stronghold of opposition, the Isle of Ely. Bringing together all the neighbouring population, he prevailed upon them by promises and good words to set their services and local knowledge at his disposal. He was thus enabled to construct causeways over the morass, by which horse and foot could approach close to the island itself. The work was made easier by the dryness of the season, and the connivance of Nicolas de Segrave, who allowed the royalists to pass the outposts which he guarded. Edward then, having made all the preparations necessary to ensure success, issued a stern proclamation, threatening death to any one who should offer further resistance. This measure produced the desired result. The defenders immediately laid down their arms, and placed themselves at his mercy. They received a free pardon, and the permission to redeem their lands according to the Dictum of Kenilworth, and were allowed two days to depart. The conqueror entered Ely amid 1 T. Wykes, 198, seq.; Ann. Dunst. 245 ; Rish., de Bellis 59. Edward re duces the Isle of Ely. CHAP. 1267 Llewelyn makes peace. General peace. the applause of the inhabitants. Only one element of disturbance remained, Llewelyn, Prince of Wales. An army was sent to Shrewsbury, which compelled him, towards the end of September, to sue for peace. Through the intervention of the legate, his lands, which had been declared forfeit, were restored on payment of a heavy fine, and peace was made.1 Before the winter began the country was again, after nearly five years of open or secret warfare, and incessant anxiety and trouble, completely tranquil. A plentiful harvest went far to repair the damages caused by the civil war, and universal exhaustion to some extent allayed the passions to which it had given rise. A spirit of compromise had for some Parliament time been gaining the upper hand. In the Parliaborough. ment held at Marlborough, in November of the same of Marl Edward goes on crusade. year, at which it seems probable that some repre- It The first part of his work was done, and he was able, three years later, to carry his victorious arms to the assistance of the Christians in the Holy Land. T. Wykes, 209; Ann. Dunst. 246; Nic. Trivet, 246. 2 Statutes i. 19; cf. Stubbs, Const. Hist. ii. 97. |