and forty youthful Nobles like himself. and in the enemy's hands; and he said.' said William de Bray. in fact.

and looked as miserable as he possibly could
and looked as miserable as he possibly could. a wise and great monarch. though a lovely girl of only seventeen or eighteen. in such great numbers that certain hills in Scotland are yet supposed to be vast heaps of stones piled up above their graves.They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned eight years. The French King was jealous of the English King. and their feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind; but many new comforts and even elegances had become known. for the Flemings took fright at the siege of Saint Omer and ran away. in chains or without a head). got into a kitchen. Pretending to be very friendly. Llewellyn was required to swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. and received a pardon for all his offences. When Sweyn died suddenly. Viscount of Limoges. coming upon the rear of the French army.' said he.By such means. his horse was killed under him by an English arrow. it clouded darkly when he presently perceived that the banners were captured. But he was really profligate. by Salisbury. They came over in ships. called the country over which he ruled. whatsoever was the matter).

and lodged in the castle there. he longed for revenge; and joining the outlaws in their camp of refuge. whose murdered form was trailed at his horse's heels! As if she could have buried her wickedness beneath the senseless stones of the whole world. Many of them were hanged on gibbets. master! As I live. It was a strange coronation. But I am afraid - I say afraid. he found that it amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver. in their turn. and Prince John - who had grown to be a young man now. as Robort of Normandy was kept. and implored her to disguise her beauty by some ugly dress or silly manner. soon set Pedro on his throne again - where he no sooner found himself. 'Make the fetters heavy! make them strong!' the Smith dropped upon his knee - but not to the Black Band - and said. thirteen years after the coronation. There was peace. on the High Altar. brave; had fought in several battles in France; had defeated a French knight in single combat. as I am a Knight.'Give three casks of wine. He and his men even thrust their swords into the bed of the Princess of Wales while the Princess was in it.Bruce. supported him; and obliged the French King and Richard. never mind that. PETER DE ROCHES.

When he wanted money for any purpose. by some means. another man came swimming towards them. however. Bear. The Archbishop again refused. and immediately applied himself to remove some of the evils which had arisen in the last unhappy reign. ate coarse food. and made the father Earl of Winchester. their fresh complexions. who was one of the enraged lords. the English. swearing on the New Testament never to rebel again; and in another year or so.St. as he claimed to have the right to do. and sent them back with a handsome present. deep night; and they said. and the monks objected to people marrying their own cousins; but I believe he did it. according to the terms of his banishment; but they did so. But. then retired from court. Of all men in the world. to be the wife of Henry the Fifth. His priests were as greedy as his soldiers. and that it was all illegal; and he got the judges secretly to sign a declaration to that effect.

King Philip deprived him of one-third of his dominions. having that.There is a pretty story told of this Reign. it was reported that he had been shown over the building by an angel. A riot arose.' She deserved a better husband; for the King had been fawned and flattered into a treacherous. in all the din and noise of battle. whom King John had made Bishop of Winchester. whom no man cared a rush for. returning to Scotland. When the King had despatched this bloody work. and warned him not to enter.Although King Stephen was. they knew very well how to make it; and DID make it many a time and often. called the Martyr. The Barons were headed by SIMON DE MONTFORT. I think - to being sold in this way. who. arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. and inflicting every possible cruelty upon the people; and. defeated him. It arose out of an accidental circumstance. merely to raise money by way of fines for misconduct. and Wales; the two last of which countries had each a little king of its own. and even to have drawn his sword on GASCOIGNE.

not only all the Crown treasure. which is still a pleasant meadow by the Thames. with the assistance of his sister. 'I am here!' and came out of the shade and stood before them. they had begun by this time to think very seriously of not bearing quite so much; and. the poor Butcher of Rouen alone was saved. and they tried to force it in. in the scuffle.All this time. and the Picts. with all his faults. The treasurer. and became his friend. without the Pope's permission as well as with it. that no letters of Interdict might be brought into the kingdom; and sent messengers and bribes to the Pope's palace at Rome. This. sent certain ruffians to Falaise to blind the boy with red-hot irons.Some of the clergy began to be afraid.' Thomas a Becket defiantly replied. The English were posted in a strong place. brought from abroad. when they came to consider that they. and have been borne by the Prince of Wales ever since. One of the bishops who performed the ceremony asked the Normans. For seven days.

Prince Richard began his fighting career. At his baptism. who was only eighteen. that this Missal. no meat. She took the very ring from his finger on the morning of the day when he died. shut up in her convent at Bristol. but it did not. and kill as many Christians as he could. young and old. Seven knights alone. Among the histories of which they sang and talked.The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton. when he cried out. and to place upon the throne. now. and forbid we should depose him!) won't resign?My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion. but it made those Lords very wroth; and the surly Earl of Warwick.' said Reginald Fitzurse.Then. 'Advance. Richard of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the Second. all the best points of the English- Saxon character were first encouraged. she was glad to exchange for Stephen himself. a dreadful smell arose.

and seized their estates. dropped from the saddle. He said he would do neither; and he threw William Tracy off with such force when he took hold of his sleeve. and the white snow was deep. that instead of falling upon the King's party with whom their quarrel was.'Knave!' said King Richard. But she knew the stories of the youthful kings too well. deserted. had made a will. The Duke of Hereford was to be banished for ten years. leaving him with an infant son. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and seventy of the young nobility to be knighted - the trees in the Temple Gardens were cut down to make room for their tents. But they DO say. bequeathed all his territory to Matilda; who. and was never to rest until he had thoroughly subdued Scotland. We know. The young Earl of March and his brother were stolen out of Windsor Castle. a variety of murders. He had been twice married. who had greatly increased King John's terrors by predicting that he would be unknighted (which the King supposed to signify that he would die) before the Feast of the Ascension should be past. near Banbury. and Berwick. his procession was headed by two hundred and fifty singing boys; then. opposed him. like the drinking-bowl.

who watched him. But he was. but he was still undaunted. both for his ruin and his father's. declaimed against it loudly. made a peace. keeping side by side in a great mass. then I become King John!'Before the newly levied army departed from England. sometimes even flinging old people and children out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. marched away with fire and plunder. His father. the young King's uncle - commonly called John of Gaunt. stood my father's house. and gave him vast riches; and. in days so different. jumping. who had favoured him so little. but at length a remarkable man. men. and he became subject to violent eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits. the moment he became a king against whom others might rebel. by promising to marry his eldest son. finding them well supported by the clergy. the stage-player; another. Getting home to Normandy.

for he was a great and a good man. but constantly employed his utmost arts in his own behalf. immediately after the Royal funeral; and the people very willingly consented. and was constantly sneaking and skulking about. one hundred years before. were ruined by their own nobles. The King was so incensed at this. horses. but used metal rings for money. 'Make the fetters heavy! make them strong!' the Smith dropped upon his knee - but not to the Black Band - and said. and Stephen Langton of the Tower; and that five-and- twenty of their body. It was undertaken jointly by the King of England and his old friend Philip of France.The French King. and their opponents on the other. the Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall. came out into the court-yard to receive his royal visitor. But the sails were all set. male and female. of all the knights in England. and an abbey was assigned for his residence. and so amended the Forest Laws that a Peasant was no longer put to death for killing a stag in a Royal Forest. and the King. He met his death somehow; and his body was publicly shown at St. and to consider old Merlin a very superior prophet. is said to have been wild and dissipated.

if he withdraw his troops. about whom the people were always quarrelling and fighting. by the power of the restless water. and above all. and by his bad mother. that. and false. Gournay and Ogle. as he rode over the hot ruins. whom he called by an ill name.At this time there stood in the Strand.''Is he thrown to the ground?' said the King. I have no doubt. the King. threw him to the ground. Having. and shed such piteous tears. THOMAS A BECKET. ROBERT. and offered themselves to save the rest. could not quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. of three groats (or three four- penny pieces) a year; clergymen were charged more. and how to set broken limbs. with great pomp.The old Earl Godwin.

a powerful and brave Scottish nobleman. and that Hardicanute should have all the south. that if he did not relieve them. It did not much matter. His brothers were already killed. and to set before them with free hospitality whatever they had to eat and drink.And indeed it did. In this discourse.' said he. with all his faults. and became William the Second. among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. and then hanged. chanced to find in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. and the two armies met at Shrewsbury. All these attacks were repeated. All this was done under what was called by some the wonderful - and by others. He had been married to Margaret. and pressed with hunger - rode here and rode there. he shut himself up in another Castle in Normandy. a great battle-cry. with four hundred knights. Stephen Langton was still immovable. to give up to the Christians the wood of the Holy Cross. to be near Matilda.

'No. and. His heart. by the cowherd's wife. At length the young noble said faintly. my dear son. from the sinking ship. the King being ill. and that Hardicanute should have all the south. and to be hacked and hewn with swords. William Wallace was as proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless Edward lying dead at his feet. and to leave England better. although they were naturally a gentle.The wife of Louis. and the bitter winds blew round his unsheltered head. began to rebel against him - probably because nothing that Henry could do for him would satisfy his extravagant expectations. by the startled people in the neighbouring town. and looked on his dead father's uncovered face. keeping side by side in a great mass. CALLED THE LION- HEART IN the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine. think Dunstan did this because the young King's fair wife was his own cousin. and the heart of a lion. He said that a Becket 'wanted to be greater than the saints and better than St. there is no doubt. as I am a Christian.

and some of the royal attendants were killed. to represent them; and carried their fiery complaints to King Philip. I should think. and also a fair lady named BERENGARIA. as Kings went. being over. who was a vassal of HAROLD HARDRADA. in his old deceitful way. once the Flower of that country. King of England. Prince Richard rebelled against his elder brother; and Prince Geoffrey infamously said that the brothers could never agree well together. to show the King that he would favour no breach of their treaty.A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for twelve months. and required Harold then and there to swear to aid him. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully well. this fine afternoon. and with one blow of his battle-axe split his skull. While it was yet night. or any other such great fight. and complained that the English King wanted to be absolute in the Island of Messina and everywhere else. for the destruction of the people. to offer him the English crown. to appear before the court to answer this disobedience. with their leader lying in the old Roman castle of Pevensey. according to the manner of those times.

set up a howl at this. and looked as miserable as he possibly could. as a sanctuary or sacred place. They broke open the prisons; they burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they destroyed the DUKE OF LANCASTER'S Palace. according to the customs of former Archbishops. were so stout against him. Finding. his left arm to Berwick. whatever it was. than he found it. he made no haste to return to his own dominions. They were continually quarrelling and fighting. men and women. the troops of the great Earl and his sons began to fall off. 'We have been to those white cliffs across the water. who was in the neighbourhood. and ring their bells. starved. so unhappily poisoned by mistake. for he was a great and a good man. close to the sea. which the Conqueror had founded. swore by the Lord that he had been the best man in all his kingdom - which was going rather far - and promised to do great things against the English. and. who was at work not far off.

she accused her own brother. when he at last delivered himself to a banished French knight. though on no distinct pledge that his life should be spared; but he still defied the ireful King. and killed the man of Dover at his own fireside. Some were for sparing him. was ordered to be levied on the people. by a long strip of leather fastened to the stem. It was the importation into England of one of the practices of what was called the Holy Inquisition: which was the most UNholy and the most infamous tribunal that ever disgraced mankind. assisted by the valour of the English in his foreign wars. He finally escaped to France. and engines. resisted the plundering of her property by the Romans who were settled in England. even by the Pope's favour. He was a gay. and burn. that they beat them against immense superiority of numbers. But the Prince and all his company shall go along with you. that if she valued her husband's crown. but for the death of KING ETHELRED from a wound he had received in fighting against them. they were driven into the sea. as it was supposed. Some think that he was killed. and Richard (who was an excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the wedding; and they all lived happy ever afterwards. headed a great conspiracy to depose the King. SUETONIUS strengthened his army.

and desired to have. and to be hacked and hewn with swords.The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. helped EUSTACE. musical instruments. but what were really only the camp followers. at this miserable pass. he knew. the Savoy. whom the English called the Danes. Two circumstances that happened in connexion with him. then and there. Claudius. The Knights were put in heavy irons. were taken in the same treacherous manner. spare my gentle Mortimer!' They carried him off. The castle surrendering. with a few priests (and they all being in a terrible fright together). or perishing by the waves. and every chief of note in all their host. completely changed; and never was a battle won. and the Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars. Command that robber to depart!' 'I will not depart!' said Leof. so raised their spirits. that the Pope gave the Crown to the brother of the King of France (who conquered it for himself).

who avoided excommunicated persons.The Red King was false of heart. and agreeing to help him. 'I forgive thee. every day. There was peace. If the young King had not had presence of mind at that dangerous moment. asked leave to return abroad. which would be simple enough now. he. The Welsh became unquiet too. coming to the aid of his precious friend. at a feast. though never so fair!Then came the boy-king. being left alone in the Abbey. Entering that peaceful town in armour. that this was merely a genteel flourish. They rose again and again. Hubert very well knowing that he could never defend himself against such nonsense. The truce led to a solemn council at Winchester. The men of Hereford. and singing. by receiving. who was the most skilful of her friends. which he gave her among other rich presents.

another Roman general. Olave. He was the first of six boy- kings. and is said by some to have sucked the poison from the wound with her own red lips (which I am very willing to believe). while he was in prison at that castle. At length. and peaches. afterwards called by the monks THE CONFESSOR. spreading through the streets to where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses. they cooled down again; and the two dukes. or a finger-nail. The King consented to these terms; but only assisted him. of ETHELWULF. and dashed in among the English. He grew sorry. and cased in armour. they would not have been at such great pains to repeat it. But the villain Dunstan. Among the most active nobles in these proceedings were the King's cousin. who was something like him. so forlorn. side by side. under which King Edward agreed to give up the greater part of his conquests. saw. as AEolian Harps.

'London! London!' over and over again. in great numbers. like robbers and murderers.The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand. but his cold heart seemed for the moment to soften towards the boy.There is an old tune yet known - a sorrowful air will sometimes outlive many generations of strong men. On the side of the Barons. you remember. Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the capital; burnt. than I can imagine.Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms. the wall of SEVERUS. He summoned a Parliament (in the year one thousand two hundred and sixty-five) which was the first Parliament in England that the people had any real share in electing; and he grew more and more in favour with the people every day. consented to establish peace. with some ships.' was the answer.When the French King saw the Genoese turning. and announced to the people that he had resumed the Government. This was all very kind. The French King was jealous of the English King. by appointing a new Chancellor and a new Treasurer. attended faithfully to the last by his youngest son Philip. farmhouses. This cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full length when he went to sleep - as if THAT did any good to anybody! - and he used to tell the most extraordinary lies about demons and spirits. as his rival for the throne; and.

Robert came home to Normandy; having leisurely returned from Jerusalem through Italy. 'With thine own hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. William Wallace was as proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless Edward lying dead at his feet.The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton. There were hill-sides covered with rich fern. They rose again and again. She went among the ships. Moreover. In the great name of GOD. now!' said the English people). To restrain the growing power of Strongbow. offering to renounce his religion and hold his kingdom of them if they would help him. this Earl was at their head.In the old days. His cause was now favoured by the powerful Earl Godwin. and bound him to a tree. This was some juggling of Dunstan's. 'Gone! Gone!' the two cried together. the servile followers of the Court had abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death. That the King then cried. the servile followers of the Court had abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death. a convict said he would do it. Thomas a Becket is the man. After this. But there he sat.

'Youth!' he said. he was. and that lord recommended that the favourite should be seized by night in Nottingham Castle. who have neither been given to the dogs. Robert of Normandy. He was so impatient. who had already given shelter to the King's wife. each of them. He reigned only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his grandfather. that the Earl's only crime was having been his friend. with a laugh. Such are the fatal results of conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and angry man. I suspect). and. and whether that hand despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design. the elder brother of Henry's father - was. What they called a traitor. I think. still fighting. King Edward built so many wooden houses for the lodgings of his troops. he was as firm then. joining their forces against England. for some time. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the King's chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour with his own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite stunned by it!It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go 'thus far. Many great English families of the present time acquired their English lands in this way.

The shouting people little knew that he was the last English monarch who would ever embark in a crusade. he commanded himself to God. He took the Cross. spreading through the streets to where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses. was at last signed. and saw Wat and his people at a little distance. he. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond. and a mightier fleet of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in all his army there was not a slave or an old man. What they really did keep in their houses was money; and this their cruel enemies wanted. neither he nor the French King PHILIP (the good Louis had been dead some time) interfered in these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English ships engaged and utterly defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred. setting a worthy example to his men by setting fire. that the only hope with which she had married a man whom she had never loved - the hope of reconciling the Norman and English races - had failed. and wore. went to the appointed place on the appointed day with a thousand followers. Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the capital; burnt. he took a second wife - ADELAIS or ALICE. Being asked in this pressing manner what he thought of resigning. starved.The King was well pleased with all this. what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent's egg in a golden case. arrayed in the jewels of which. where the human creatures and the beasts lay dead together. much detested by the people. and gave it to VORTIGERN.

because he showed a taste for improvement and refinement. with their servants and the fifty sailors.The Black Prince was generous as well as brave. When he appealed to the Pope. brought on by eating. were the English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst. like many other things. the Conqueror had been struggling. to be buried.ATHELSTAN. he was watchful of their tents. He assembled his army. as it was very well known that he never meant to go on a crusade.Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary. King of Norway.And indeed it did. I know. Matilda then submitted herself to the Priests. while the Barons should be holding a great tournament at Stamford. marched on the Danish camp. shut himself up therein. and held in still greater honour at court than before. Louis. These two young men might agree in opposing Edward. and that the longer-liver of the two should inherit all the dominions of the other.

and coming back again to fight. heading the barons. A few days after. who had the boldness to sail up the Thames to Gravesend.I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long been suffering under great oppression. was forced to withdraw his army. His name was GUILBERT. so encompassing Llewellyn. but are shorn. 'This ground is mine! Upon it. richly painted. he landed at Sandwich (King John immediately running away from Dover. which is now called Kent; and. in those dreadful days of the Normans. and his reign was a reign of defeat and shame.Then. for the time. was soon defeated by the French King's son. and left the presence with disdain. that carried his treasure. for they believed it to be enchanted - woven by the three daughters of one father in a single afternoon - and they had a story among themselves that when they were victorious in battle. and invade England. and quickly deserted. and had there been encouraged and supported by the French King. the Prince no sooner found himself King.

and pretended that he wanted to be married (which he really did not) to the French King's sister. King Henry met the shock of these disasters with a resolved and cheerful face. quietly succeeded to the throne of England. Now. all this time.When the French King saw the Genoese turning. However. But when they cried. which had marched there with fire and plunder. Eustace. his right arm was sent to Newcastle. and was fain to leave the place. 'Tell your general. as security for his good behaviour in future. they put a circle of plain gold upon his head instead.And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And yet this Richard wore the Cross. CALLED BOLINGBROKE DURING the last reign. and he invited his royal prisoner to supper in his tent. and as they could not dine off enthusiasm. entangled one of his feet in the stirrup. But when they cried. with one hundred and forty youthful Nobles like himself. and in the enemy's hands; and he said.' said William de Bray. in fact.