CHAPTER VII. THE CROWN AGAINST THE CHURCH-II. BECKET. 1. The House of Anjou-Henry II. 2. Rise of Becket. 3. His Mode of Living. 4. His Policy as Archbishop. 5. The Constitutions of Clarendon. 6. The Reconciliation Dec. 1154 A.D. 3 7. Murder of Becket. 8. State of Ireland. 9. Strongbow's Expedition. 10. Homage from Ireland. 11. Henry's Penance. 12. Homage from Scotland. 1. HENRY II.1—A new dynasty begins with Henry II. He was the first of the Angevin2 Kings, being son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. Young Henry had a brilliant prospect before him. In France he held some of the fairest provinces, all the western coast owning his sway. Along with his Queen, Eleanor, he received the crown of England at Westminster. During several years, he was engaged in redressing the evils which had sprung from the turbulence of Stephen's reign. He issued new coins; drove from England the foreign hirelings, who had swarmed into the land during the civil war; and-hardest task of all-set himself to destroy the castles of the barons. 2. The story of Thomas Becket (or, à Becket) fills nearly one half of the reign. His father was Gilbert Becket, a Port-reeve, or, as we should now say, Mayor, of London. To his mother, Robese, a pious woman, he was indebted for his early training in religious principles and in good works. While in Italy, young Becket obtained from the Pope a bull forbidding the coronation of Eustace, Stephen's son. This, which gained for him the favour of Henry, may be regarded as the first step of his preferment. By the advice of the aged Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry appointed him Chancellor, and tutor to his son, and he speedily became chief favourite. 3. He outshone even the King by his magnificence. He had in his train thousands of knights, and lived in the height of the luxury which the times afforded. His table was free to all: the 1 3 Henry II.-Son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and of Maud, daughter of Henry I. Married Eleanor of Poitou and Aquitaine. Reigned 35 years. "Angevin.-Of the House of Anjou. Plantagenet.-This name is derived from Planta genista, the Latin term for the shrub we call broom; which, as an emblem of humility, was worn by the first Earl of Anjou when a pilgrim to the Holy Land. uninvited guests were often so many that there were not seats for all, and numbers sat on the floor upon clean straw or rushes. 4. On the death of Theobald, Becket became Archbishop of Canterbury, then, as it is now, the highest dignity in the Church. At once he changed his conduct. He resigned his Chancellorship, became as frugal in his style of living as he had formerly been dissolute and luxurious, and exchanged his gay train of knights for the society of a few monks. 5. From this time he began to lose the favour of the King. Dislike deepened into hatred; hatred burst into open quarrel. The rights of the clergy formed the immediate subject of contention. Becket, though of Norman parentage, was the first man born on English soil who obtained the primacy under the Normans. He therefore enlisted the sympathy of all his countrymen, English as well as Norman, in his struggle against the royal power. Henry required that priests accused of crime should be tried by the royal judges. Becket opposed him, maintaining the right of priests to answer for their conduct only to the courts of the Church. A council 1164 held at Clarendon in Wilts, where the articles known as the Constitutions of Clarendon were enacted, decided in Henry's favour. Becket yielded at first; but the struggle was resumed, and he fled to France to escape ruin. A.D. 6. After six years he was reconciled to Henry, by Pope Alexander III. and Louis of France. Returning to England, he found the domains of his see forfeited. Henry seemed unwilling to restore them, and this renewed the quarrel. Becket then excommunicated all who held lands belonging to the See of Canterbury. 7. The King, who was in Normandy when the news of this reached him, happened to say, "Is there none of the cowards eating my bread who will free me from this turbulent priest?" Four knights, who heard him, took an oath to slay Becket; and, travelling to England, they burst into the Cathedral at Canterbury, where they cruelly murdered the prelate, 1170 scattering his brains on the steps of the altar. The A.D. scene of the murder, and the saintly reputation of the victim, deepened the horror with which the people looked upon this crime. The tomb of Becket became a resort of pilgrims. 8. One of the chief events of Henry's reign was the invasion of Ireland. The island was then divided into six provinces, the dignity of Ard-riagh, or supreme monarch, which was then claimed by the O'Connors, Kings of Connaught. The ports were in the hands of Ostmen, or Eastmen, descended from the Danish pirates, and were very prosperous, the commerce of Dublin rivalling that of London. But the mass of the people lived by feeding cattle. Their clothing was spun from raw wool. Their houses were built of wood and wicker-work. Like the Welsh, they excelled in the music of the harp. 9. A feud arose between Dermot Macmorrogh, King of Leinster, and O'Rourke, Prince of Breffni or Leitrim. Dermot had carried off O'Rourke's wife; but she had been recovered by the aid of O'Connor, the Ard-riagh. War ensued, and Dermot was driven from the island. From Henry he obtained leave to enlist soldiers in England. Richard le Clare, Earl of Pembroke, (surnamed Strongbow,) Robert Fitzstephen, and Maurice Fitzgerald accepted his terms. Fitzstephen landed at Bannow Bay (Co. Wexford) with 40 knights and 300 archers, and Wexford fell before him. Fitzgerald followed. 1171 Then came Strongbow with 1,200 men. Waterford A.D. and Dublin were carried by storm; and no efforts of the Irish could dislodge the invaders from the fortresses with which they rapidly secured their conquests. 10. Henry then crossed by the usual route, from Milford A.D. Haven to Waterford; and at Dublin he received the homage of the chieftains. The princes of Ulster alone disdained submission. On his return to England, Henry 1172 appointed Prince John, a boy of twelve, to the lordship of the island. The foolish boy and his Norman train mocked the Irish chieftains as they came to pay homage, insulting them by plucking their beards. Such treatment estranged the natives, and their revolts became fiercer and more frequent. These events are called the Conquest of Ireland, but the final subjugation of the island was of much later date. 11. Four years after Becket's murder, Henry did penance at his tomb. Walking barefoot through the city of Canterbury, he threw himself on the pavement before the shrine, and was there scourged with knotted cords. 12. Immediately afterwards he received news of the capture of William the Lion, King of Scotland, who had been surprised in a mist near Alnwick Castle (Northumberland) by Glanville, the greatest of Henry's generals. This the King exultingly ascribed to the mercy of reconciled Heaven, deeming it, according to the notions of the age, the direct fruit of his penance. William was not released until he had acknowledged his kingdom a fief, and himself a vassal, of the English Crown;—a forced submission which it is important to remember, for on it Edward I. founded his claim to the lordship of Scotland. 13. A law by which Henry substituted scutage, or shieldmoney, for the personal service of the barons, gave its first serious blow to Feudalism. It was followed in 1181 by the Assize of Arms, which required every freeman to serve in defence of the King and the country. Henry also established six Circuits of Justice, with three itinerant judges in each; but these judges abused their power, and the King reduced the number to five in all. About this time London became the capital, the civil wars of Stephen's reign having laid Winchester in ruins. QUESTIONS.-1. What dynasty begins with Henry II.? Whose son was he? What part of France owned his sway? What occupied him for several years? What was the hardest part of the task? 2. Whose story fills nearly one half of the reign? Who was Becket's father? What did he gain from his mother? How did he gain Henry's favour? To what offices did the King appoint him? 3. In what style did Becket live at supreme monarch? What was the that time? state of commerce? By whom was it carried on? How did the mass of the people live? 4. When did Becket become Archbishop? How did he then change his conduct? 5. About what did he quarrel with the King? Whose sympathy did Becket enlist? Why? What did Becket maintain, in opposition to the King? Where did a council decide the matter? What are its articles called? In whose favour were they? Where did Becket take refuge? 6. When did he return? What renewed the quarrel? 7. What hasty words did Henry utter? What effect had they? Where did the murder take place? What did Becket's tomb become? 8. What was one of the chief events of Henry's reign? Into what provinces was Ireland then divided? Who was 9. What led to the interference of the English in Ireland? Who accepted Dermot's terms? What places did the English capture? 10. Where did Henry receive the homage of the chieftains? When? Who was appointed lord of the island? How were the natives estranged? 11. When did Henry do penance for Becket's murder? How? 12. What news arrived immediately afterwards? On what condition was William released? 13. What was the effect of the law of scutage? By what was it followed? What plan was formed for dispensing justice in the country? What led to London being made the capital? 1. THE powerful French Barons who owed allegiance to the Counts of Anjou, could not be expected long to continue their allegiance when the Counts became Kings of England. Even had they been willing to do so, the arrangement must have been repugnant to the King of France, who was their natural liege lord. Before Henry's death, disaffection and intrigue began the inevitable work. The discovery that his own sons had been caught in the fatal meshes broke the old Monarch's heart. Richard, whom he had made Lord of Aquitaine, rebelled against his father, and paid homage to the French King; and the shock of finding his favourite son, John, men1189 tioned in a list of rebels whom he was asked to pardon, threw him into a fever, of which he died at Chinon (Touraine). The Church of Fontevraud (Anjou) received his A.D. |