CHAP. I. of the king. of foreigners promoted in the country was already beginning to cause discontent; only the year before, the clergy, with the archbishop at their head, had refused 1215-1232 a demand from Honorius III for two prebends in every cathedral. The position was difficult, and required first of all things in the ruler a strong and steadfast policy. But that was not to be. Whatever Weakness had been the faults of her princes, England had not since the Conquest felt the want of a king with a will of his own; but this king was all his life the plaything of his favourites. It was a bad omen when, in July of this same year, an injustice done to his own brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, for the sake of one of his creatures, produced a general rising of the great barons, with the Earl of Cornwall at their head, who with sword in hand compelled the king to make restitution of his brothers rights.' influence of It was not long before the other great cause of Growing dissatisfaction, the kings subservience to the Court of Rome. Rome, made itself felt. Gregory IX had been made pope the year Henry came of age, and the excommunication of the Emperor Frederick II, which soon followed, showed that the policy of Innocent III, a policy so disastrous to England, was to be resumed. Next year Stephen Langton died, and in him the staunchest bulwark of English freedom disappeared. The Pope kept up the precedent of his appointment by quashing the election of one of their own number by the monks of Canterbury, and choosing Richard le Grand, Chancellor of Lincoln, who was proposed by 'Matt. Par. 337. Several names, conspicuous thirty years later, appear here the Earls of Gloucester, Warenne, Hereford, Derby, Warwick, and others. CHAP. I. 1215-1232 Papal exactions, the laity. the bishops of the province'; a man of energy and high principle, but without the broad views and commanding ability of his predecessor. His firmness was soon put to the test. The Pope demanded a tenth. of all moveables from laymen and clergy throughout England, to prosecute his war with the Emperor. After showing great reluctance the clergy yielded, Henry having, it was said, consented through his opposed by proctors at Rome; but the laity obstinately refused, and the old Earl of Chester went so far as to forbid any of the clergy in his County Palatine to pay the tax. The baronage was not inclined to pay for the quarrels of Rome, especially those with the Emperor, with whom negotiations had been entered into five years back, to end in his marriage with the kings sister six years later. The whole story throws a remarkable light on the position of the parties concerned the use which the Curia made of English gold; the subservience of the king; the reluctant concessions of the Church; the opposition of the laity. It was a mournful foreshadowing of the evil to come. Henry quarrels with Hubert de Burgh. Still Henry might have staved off much trouble. had he had the wisdom to cling to his faithful minister. It was at the outset of the unfortunate expedition to France that his fickleness and ungovernable temper led him into what seems to have been his first quarrel with Hubert de Burgh. Irritated, it appears, by the want of transport, the king, in one of those sudden bursts of passion which characterised him, called him a hoary traitor, who had betrayed The theory that the right of appointment to the archiepiscopal see rested with the pope was still more strongly illustrated in the choice of his successor, Edmund Rich, in 1234, after the rejection of three other candidates. СНАР. I. 1215-1232 Expedition his country for French gold," and, drawing his sword, would have rushed upon him had he not been prevented by the Earl of Chester. The expedition was only postponed, to be taken up next year (1230). to France. The complete want of success which attended it, in spite of the disadvantages under which the French laboured, showed the want of administrative power in the Government, and the incapacity of the king as difficulties a commander. When he returned, after much loss Pecuniary both of honour and money, he found difficulties on begin. all sides. He had with some trouble obtained an aid before starting. It was voted by the clergy only after deliberation, and with mention of their rights. At the close of the war they refused altogether, on the ground that their assent did not depend on that of the laity, but in spite of their opposition the king got the money. Up to this time the efforts of the clergy were mostly confined to resisting the king, while the lay barons made it their business to oppose the Curia; it was not till many years later that the coalition of the two exactors rendered a hearty alliance of clergy and laity inevitable. Popular opposition to Rome. It was however already felt that the great contest between the papacy and the empire was draining the in life-blood of England. A kind of secret society was established, which affixed letters to the doors of monasteries and other ecclesiastical buildings, threatening speedy punishment if the clergy gave way further to the exactions of Rome. Armed men with masks on their faces pillaged the granaries of Italian dignitaries, and gave away or sold the corn cheaply to the neighbour. hood. Meanwhile financial difficulties, caused by the Matt. Par. 363. CHAP. I. war with France and thoughtless liberality towards continental favourites, pressed heavily on the king. 1215-1232 In the midst of these troubles his evil genius, Peter Dismissal of Hubert de Burgh, a new period. des Roches, reappeared. He regained his influence over the king by persuading the magnates to grant a fortieth, and shortly afterwards succeeded in ousting his old rival Hubert de Burgh, who was dismissed by his sovereign with undeserved contumely and ingratitude. With him went the only remaining security for good government, for the Earl of Chester died about this time; and the king delivered himself hand and foot to the ruinous counsels of his favourite. At this the mark of point may be said to begin a new period in the history of the reign: Henrys worst tendencies, till now somewhat kept in check by his minister, ran their course without restraint; collisions between the monarchy and the baronage became more serious and more frequent; the claims of the latter and their constitutional ideas became more definite. Henry had held the reins of government for five years, and the sketch I have attempted to give of that period will perhaps suffice to show that all the elements of future disaster were already distinctly visible. It cannot have needed very great political insight to foretell that with such a king a rupture was inevitable. But before 1232 the man who was destined to play so important a part in the struggle had already appeared upon the scene. 31 CHAPTER II. FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF SIMON CHAP. II. 1028-1128 Montfort SIMON DE MONTFORT was the descendant of a family which took its name from a stronghold known still as Montfort l'Amauri. The little town so called is situated on the high ground between the valleys l'Amauri. of the Eure and the Seine, in the south-east corner of Normandy. At a point on the northern slope of this ridge, whence the eye ranges freely over the broad valley of the Seine below, and a little river hastens down from the wooded uplands of Rambouillet to meet the larger stream, lies the village which perpetuates the family name. Close by this village is a ruined castle, whose weather-beaten remnants crown a hillock, probably the natural fortress, the 'strong mount,' which attracted the attention of the first Amalric. Montfort l'Amauri lies just half-way between Paris and Chartres, and the railway joining those towns now passes within a short distance. On the same line of railway, about ten miles to the southwest, at a point where three streams meet and flow towards the Eure, lies Epernon, the other principal possession of the house of Montfort before they acquired the county of Evreux. |
