43 chapters
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43 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The “Cameos” here put together are intended as a book for young people just beyond the elementary histories of England, and able to enter in some degree into the real spirit of events, and to be struck with characters and scenes presented in some relief. The endeavor has not been to chronicle facts, but to put together a series of pictures of persons and events, so as to arrest the attention and give some individuality and distinctness to the recollection, by gathering together details at the mo
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
Young people learn the history of England by reading small books which connect some memorable event that they can understand, and remember, with the name of each king—such as Tyrrell’s arrow-shot with William Rufus, or the wreck of the White Ship with Henry I. But when they begin to grow a little beyond these stories, it becomes difficult to find a history that will give details and enlarge their knowledge, without being too lengthy. They can hardly be expected to remember or take an interest in
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CAMEO I. ROLF GANGER. (900-932.)
CAMEO I. ROLF GANGER. (900-932.)
If we try to look back at history nine hundred years, we shall see a world very unlike that in which we are now moving. Midway from the birth of our Lord to the present era, the great struggle between the new and old had not subsided, and the great European world of civilized nations had not yet settled into their homes and characters. Christianity had been accepted by the Roman Emperor six hundred years previously, but the Empire was by that time too weak and corrupt to be renewed, even by the
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CAMEO II. WILLIAM LONGSWORD AND RICHARD THE FEARLESS. (932-996.)
CAMEO II. WILLIAM LONGSWORD AND RICHARD THE FEARLESS. (932-996.)
The Norman character was strongly marked. Their whole nature was strong and keen, full of energy, and with none of the sluggish dulness that was always growing over the faculties of the Frank and Saxon; and even to this day the same energy prevails among their descendants, a certain portion of the English nobility, and the population of Normandy and of Yorkshire. There was a deep sense of religion, always showing itself in action, though not always consistently, and therewith a grand sense of ho
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CAMEO III. YOUTH OF THE CONQUEROR. (1036-1066.)
CAMEO III. YOUTH OF THE CONQUEROR. (1036-1066.)
Richard, called the Good, son of Richard Sans Peur, does not seem to have been in all respects equal to his father, nor did much that is worthy of note occur in his time. He died in 1026, leaving two sons, Richard and Robert, both violent and turbulent young men, the younger of whom was called, from his fiery temper, Robert the Devil. After a fierce dispute respecting Robert’s appanage, the two brothers were suddenly reconciled, and, immediately afterward, Richard died, not without suspicion, on
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CAMEO IV. EARL GODWIN. (1012-1052.)
CAMEO IV. EARL GODWIN. (1012-1052.)
The Danish conquest of England, although the power of the kings of that nation continued but a short time, made great changes in the condition of the country. The customs and laws that had hitherto been observed only in the lands granted by Alfred to the Danes, spread into almost all the kingdom, and the civilization which the great king had striven so hard to introduce was well-nigh swept away. England might be considered to be in three divisions—the West Saxon, subject to the laws of Alfred; t
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CAMEO V. THE TWO HAROLDS. (1060-1066.)
CAMEO V. THE TWO HAROLDS. (1060-1066.)
The death of Godwin did not at first seem likely to diminish the power of his family. Harold, his eldest surviving son, was highly endowed with mental powers and personal beauty and prowess, and was much preferred by Edward the Confessor to the old Earl himself. He obtained all his father’s lands, and, shortly after, distinguished himself in a war with the Welsh, showing, however, that vainglory was his characteristic; for he set up mounds of stones along the course of his march, bearing the ins
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CAMEO VI. THE NORMAN INVASION. (1066.)
CAMEO VI. THE NORMAN INVASION. (1066.)
The Duke of Normandy seems to have considered himself secure of the fair realm of England, by the well-known choice of Edward the Confessor, and was reckoning on the prospects of ruling there, where the language and habits of his race were already making great progress. On a winter day, however, early in 1066, as William, cross-bow in hand, was hunting in the forests near Rouen, a horseman galloped up to him and gave him, in a low voice, the information that his cousin, King Edward of England, w
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CAMEO VII. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. (1066.)
CAMEO VII. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. (1066.)
The first night after leaving London, Harold slept at Waltham Abbey, and had much conference with the Abbot, who was his friend, and appointed two Monks, named Osgood and Ailric, to attend him closely in the coming battle. On the 12th of October, Harold found himself seven miles from the enemy, and halted his men on Heathfield-hill, near Hastings, the most advantageous ground he could find. On the highest point he planted his standard bearing the figure of a man in armor, and marshalling his Sax
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CAMEO VIII. THE CAMP OF REFUGE. (1067-1072.)
CAMEO VIII. THE CAMP OF REFUGE. (1067-1072.)
In the fen country of Lincolnshire, there lived, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, a wealthy Saxon franklin named Leofric, Lord of Bourn. He was related to the great Earls of Mercia, and his brother Brand was Abbot of Peterborough, so that he, and his wife Ediva, were persons of consideration in their own neighborhood. They had a son named Hereward, and called, for some unknown, reason, Le Wake, a youth of great height and personal strength, and of so fierce and violent a disposition, that h
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CAMEO IX. THE LAST SAXON BISHOP. (1008-1095.)
CAMEO IX. THE LAST SAXON BISHOP. (1008-1095.)
The last saint of the Anglo-Saxon Church, the Bishop who lived from the days of Edward the Confessor, to the evil times of the Red King, was Wulstan of Worcester, a homely old man, of plain English character, and of great piety. The quiet, even tenor of his life is truly like a “soft green isle” in the midst of the turbulent storms and tempests of the Norman Conquest. Wulstan was born at Long Itchington, a village in Warwickshire, in the time of Ethelred the Unready. He was the son of the Thane
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CAMEO X. THE CONQUEROR. (1066-1087.)
CAMEO X. THE CONQUEROR. (1066-1087.)
In speaking of William, the Norman Conqueror, we are speaking of a really great man; and great men are always hard to understand or deal with in history, for, as their minds are above common understandings, their contemporary historians generally enter into their views less than any one else, and it is only the result that proves their wisdom and far-sight. Moreover, their temptations and their sins are on a larger scale than those of other men, and some of the actions that they perform make a d
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CAMEO XI. THE CONQUEROR’S CHILDREN. (1050-1087.)
CAMEO XI. THE CONQUEROR’S CHILDREN. (1050-1087.)
The wife of William of Normandy was, as has been said, Matilda, daughter of Baldwin, Count of Flanders. The wife of such a man as William has not much opportunity of showing her natural character, and we do not know much of hers. It appears, however, that she was strong-willed and vindictive, and, very little disposed to accept him. She had set her affections upon one Brihtric Meau, called Snow, from his fair complexion, a young English lord who had visited her father’s court on a mission from E
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CAMEO XII. THE CROWN AND THE MITRE.
CAMEO XII. THE CROWN AND THE MITRE.
Great struggles took place in the eleventh century, between the spiritual and temporal powers. England was the field of one branch of the combat, between Bishop and King; but this cannot be properly understood without reference to the main conflict in Italy, between Pope and Emperor. The Pope, which word signifies Father, or Patriarch, of Rome, had from the Apostolic times been always elected, like all other bishops, by the general consent of the flock, both clergy and people; and, after the con
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CAMEO XIII. THE FIRST CRUSADE. (1095-1100.)
CAMEO XIII. THE FIRST CRUSADE. (1095-1100.)
In the November of 1095 was seen such a sight as the world never afforded before nor since. The great plain of La Limagne, in Auvergne, shut in by lofty volcanic mountains of every fantastic and rugged form, with the mighty Puy de Dome rising royally above them, was scattered from one boundary to the other with white tents, and each little village was crowded with visitants. The town of Clermont, standing on an elevation commanding the whole extent of the plain, was filled to overflowing, and co
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CAMEO XIV. THE ETHELING FAMILY. (1010-1159.)
CAMEO XIV. THE ETHELING FAMILY. (1010-1159.)
When, in 1016, the stout-hearted Edmund Ironside was murdered by Edric Streona, he left two infant sons, Edmund and Edward, who fell into the power of Knute. These children were placed, soon after, under the care of Olaf Scotkonung, King of Sweden, who had been an ally of their grandfather’s, and had sent to England to request that teachers of the Gospel might come to him. By these English clergy he had been baptized, and his country converted, so that they probably induced him to intercede with
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CAMEO XV. THE COUNTS OF ANJOU. (888-1142.)
CAMEO XV. THE COUNTS OF ANJOU. (888-1142.)
Having traced the ancestry of our Norman kings from the rocks of Norway and the plains of Neustria, let us, before entering on the new race which succeeded them, turn back to the woodland birthplace of the house of Plantagenet, on the banks of the Loire. The first ancestor to whom this branch of our royal line can be traced is Torquatus, a native of Rennes in Brittany, and keeper of the forest of Nid de Merle in Anjou, for the Emperor Charles the Bald. Of Roman Gallic blood, and of honest, faith
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CAMEO XVI. VISITORS OF HENRY I. (1120-1134.)
CAMEO XVI. VISITORS OF HENRY I. (1120-1134.)
Henry Beauclerc was really a great King. His abilities were high even for one of the acute Normans, and he studied at every leisure moment. He translated Aesop’s fables, not from Latin into French—which would not have been wonderful—but from Greek to English. He seems to have had a real attachment to the English, feeling that, in their sturdy independence, he had the best preservative from the “outre cuidance” of the Normans. Indeed, the English mind viewed Brenville as making up for Hastings. H
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CAMEO XVII. THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD. (1135-1138.)
CAMEO XVII. THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARD. (1135-1138.)
Earl Egbert of Gloucester was the son of Henry Beauclerc and of a beautiful Welsh princess named Nesta, who had fallen into his hands in the course of the war which he maintained for his brother William Rufus, on the borders of Wales. Henry was much attached to the boy, and gave him a princely education, by which he profited so as to become not only learned, but of a far purer and more chivalrous character than was often to be found among the great men of his time. Henry I. provided for him, by
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CAMEO XVIII. THE SNOWS OF OXFORD. (1138-1154.)
CAMEO XVIII. THE SNOWS OF OXFORD. (1138-1154.)
On the 1st of November, 1138, Stephen was set at liberty, and Robert of Gloucester, being exchanged for him, rejoined his sister the Empress at Gloucester; and during this time of quiet her fierce nature seems to have somewhat softened. Stephen, meanwhile, had one of his terrible attacks of illness, in which he lay for hours, if not days, in a death-like lethargy, and, of course, his followers did nothing but build castles whenever the frost would let them work, prey on their neighbors, and make
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CAMEO XIX. YOUTH OF BECKET. (1154-1162)
CAMEO XIX. YOUTH OF BECKET. (1154-1162)
Henry of Anjou showed, in his journey to England, both courage and moderation. He remained there for some little time, and then returned home to join his father in a war against the Count de Montreuil, who was befriended by both Pope and King of France. The Pope excommunicated Geoffrey, but he fought on, and made his enemy prisoner; then, at the command of the King of France, released him. When the Pope would have absolved Geoffrey, he refused, saying he had only done justice, and had not deserv
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CAMEO XX. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON. (1163-1172.)
CAMEO XX. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON. (1163-1172.)
The strife between the Crown and the Mitre was not long in breaking out again. The former strife had been on the matter of investiture; the strife of the twelfth century was respecting jurisdiction. We sometimes hear the expression, “Without benefit of clergy,” and the readers of the “Lay of the Last Minstrel” cannot have forgotten William of Deloraine’s declaration, These are witnesses of the combat between Henry II. and Thomas à Becket. The Church, as bearing the message of peace, claimed to b
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CAMEO XXI. DEATH OF BECKET. (1166-1172.)
CAMEO XXI. DEATH OF BECKET. (1166-1172.)
In 1166, Pope Alexander III. returned to Rome, after many vain attempts to reconcile the King and Archbishop, and it was determined that Becket should pronounce sentence of excommunication on the King and his chief followers in his uncanonical proceedings. Henry was at this time seriously ill, and Becket therefore did not include him under the sentence; the others were excommunicated, and this so exasperated Henry, that he intimated to the monks at Pontigny that he should seize all the possessio
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CAMEO XXII. THE CONQUEST OF IRELAND. (1172)
CAMEO XXII. THE CONQUEST OF IRELAND. (1172)
Few histories are more strange and confused than the Irish. The inhabitants of Ierne, or Erin, as far as anything credible can be discovered about them, were of three different nations, who had in turn subdued the island before the beginning of history. These were the Tuath de Dunans, the Firbolg, and the Scots, or Milesians. Who the two first were, we will not attempt to say, though Irish traditions declare that some of them were there before the Flood, and that one Fintan was saved by being tr
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CAMEO XXIII. THE REBELLIOUS EAGLETS. (1149-1189.)
CAMEO XXIII. THE REBELLIOUS EAGLETS. (1149-1189.)
“The gods are just, and of our pleasant sins make whips to scourge us.” This saying tells the history of the reign of Henry of the Court Mantle. Ambition and ill faith were the crimes of Henry from his youth upward, and he was a man of sufficiently warm affections to suffer severely from the retribution they brought on him, when, through his children, they recoiled upon his head. “When once he loveth, scarcely will he ever hate; when once he hateth, scarcely ever receiveth he into grace,” was wr
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CAMEO XXIV. THE THIRD CRUSADE. (1189-1193)
CAMEO XXIV. THE THIRD CRUSADE. (1189-1193)
The vices of the Christians of Palestine brought their punishment. Sybilla of Anjou, Queen of Jerusalem, had married the handsome but feeble-minded Guy de Lusignan, who was no match for the Kurdish chieftain, Joseph Salah-ed-deen, usually called Saladin, who had risen to the supreme power in Egypt and Damascus. The battle of Tiberias ruined the kingdom, and the fall of Jerusalem followed in a few weeks, filling Christendom with grief. The archbishop and historian, William of Tyre, preached a Cru
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CAMEO XXV. ARTHUR OF BRITTANY. (1187-1206.)
CAMEO XXV. ARTHUR OF BRITTANY. (1187-1206.)
The son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Constance, Duchess of Brittany, was born at Nantes, on Easter-day, 1187, six months after the death of his father. He was the first grandson of Henry II., for the graceless young King Henry had died childless. Richard was still unmarried, and the elder child of Geoffrey was a daughter named Eleanor; his birth was, therefore, the subject of universal joy. There was a prophecy of Merlin, that King Arthur should reappear from the realm of the fairy Morgana, who h
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CAMEO XXVI. THE INTERDICT. (1207-1214.)
CAMEO XXVI. THE INTERDICT. (1207-1214.)
The election of bishops still remained a subject of dispute in the Church, in spite of the settlement apparently effected in the time of Archbishop Anselm, when it was determined that, on the vacancy of a see, the King should send a Congé d’élire (permission to elect) to the chapter of the cathedral, generally accompanied with a recommendation, and that the prelate should receive investiture from the Crown of the temporalities of his see. However, in the case of archbishoprics, the matter was co
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CAMEO XXVII. MAGNA CHARTA. (1214-1217.)
CAMEO XXVII. MAGNA CHARTA. (1214-1217.)
The first table of English laws were those of Ina, King of Wessex. Alfred the Great published a fuller code, commencing with the Ten Commandments, as the foundation of all law. Ethelstane and St. Dunstan, in the name of Edgar the Peaceable, added many other enactments, by which the lives, liberties, and property of Englishmen were secured as soundly as the wisdom of the times could devise. These were the laws of Alfred and Edward the Confessor, which William the Conqueror bound himself to observ
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CAMEO XXVIII. THE FIEF OF ROME. (1217-1254.)
CAMEO XXVIII. THE FIEF OF ROME. (1217-1254.)
The Fief of Rome! For many years of the reign of Henry III. England could hardly be regarded in any other light. Henry’s life was one long minority; the guardians of his childhood were replaced by the favorites of his manhood, and he had neither power nor will to defend his subjects from the bondage imposed on them by his father’s homage to Innocent III. The legates, Gualo and Pandulfo, undertook the protection of the desolate child, and nominated to the government the excellent William, Earl of
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CAMEO XXIX. THE LONGESPÉES IN THE EGYPTIAN CRUSADES. (1219-1254.)
CAMEO XXIX. THE LONGESPÉES IN THE EGYPTIAN CRUSADES. (1219-1254.)
The crusading spirit had not yet died away, but it was often diverted by the Popes, who sent the champions of the Cross to make war on European heretics instead of the Moslems of Palestine. William Longespée, the son of Fair Rosamond, was, however, a zealous crusador in the East itself. He had been with Coeur de Lion in the Holy Land, and in 1219 again took the Cross, and shared an expedition led by the titular King of Jerusalem, a French knight, named Jean de Brienne, who had married Marie, the
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CAMEO XXX. SIMON DE MONTFORT. (1232-1266.)
CAMEO XXX. SIMON DE MONTFORT. (1232-1266.)
The lawlessness of John Lackland led to the enactment of Magna Charta; the extravagance of Henry of Winchester established the power of Parliament, and the man who did most in effecting this purpose was a foreigner by birth. Amicia, the heiress of the earldom of Leicester, was the wife of Simon, Count de Montfort, an austere warrior, on whom fell the choice of Innocent III. to be leader of the so-called crusade against the unfortunate Albigenses. Heretics indeed they were; but never before had t
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CAMEO XXXI. THE LAST OF THE CRUSADERS. (1267-1291.)
CAMEO XXXI. THE LAST OF THE CRUSADERS. (1267-1291.)
A hundred and seventy years had elapsed since the hills of Auvergne had re-echoed the cry of Dieu le veult , and the Cross had been signed on the shoulders of Godfrey and Tancred. Jerusalem had been held by the Franks for a short space; but their crimes and their indolence had led to their ruin, and the Holy City itself was lost, while only a few fortresses, detached and isolated, remained to bear the name of the Kingdom of Palestine. The languishing Royal Line was even lost, becoming extinct in
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CAMEO XXXII. The CYMRY. (B.C. 66 A.D. 1269.)
CAMEO XXXII. The CYMRY. (B.C. 66 A.D. 1269.)
In ancient times the whole of Europe seems to have been inhabited by the Keltic nation, until they were dispossessed by the more resolute tribes of Teuton origin, and driven to the extreme West, where the barrier of rugged hills that guards the continent from the Atlantic waves has likewise protected this primitive race from extinction. Cym, or Cyn, denoting in their language “first,” was the root of their name of Cymry, applied to the original tribe, and of which we find traces across the whole
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CAMEO XXXIII. THE ENGLISH JUSTINIAN. (1272-1292.)
CAMEO XXXIII. THE ENGLISH JUSTINIAN. (1272-1292.)
Never was coronation attended by more outward splendor or more heartfelt joy than was that of Edward I. and Eleanor of Castile, when, fresh from the glory of their Crusade, they returned to their kingdom. Edward was the restorer of peace after a lengthened civil strife; his prowess was a just subject of national pride, and the affection of his subjects was further excited by the perils he had encountered. Not only had he narrowly escaped the dagger of the Eastern assassin, but while at Bordeaux,
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CAMEO XXXIV. THE HAMMER OF THE SCOTS. (1292-1305.)
CAMEO XXXIV. THE HAMMER OF THE SCOTS. (1292-1305.)
The gallant line of Scottish kings descended from “the gracious Duncan” suddenly decayed and dwindled away in the latter part of the thirteenth century. They had generally been on friendly terms with the English, to whom Malcolm Ceanmore and Edgar both owed their crown; they had usually married ladies of English birth; and holding the earldom of Huntingdon, the county of Cumberland, and the three Lothians, under the English crown, they stood in nearly the same relation to our Anglo-Norman sovere
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CAMEO XXXV. THE EVIL TOLL. (1294-1305.)
CAMEO XXXV. THE EVIL TOLL. (1294-1305.)
Unlike the former Plantagenets, Edward I. was a thorough Englishman; his schemes, both for good and evil, were entirely insular; and as he became more engrossed in the Scottish war, he almost neglected his relations with the Continent. One of the most wily and unscrupulous men who ever wore a crown was seated on the throne of France—the fair-faced and false-hearted Philippe IV., the “pest of France,” the oppressor of the Church, and the murderer of the Templars; and eagerly did he watch to take
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CAMEO XXXVI. ROBERT THE BRUCE (1305-1308.)
CAMEO XXXVI. ROBERT THE BRUCE (1305-1308.)
The state of Scotland had, ever since the death of the good King Alexander, been such that even honest men could scarcely retain their integrity, nor see with whom to hold. The realm had been seized by a foreign power, with a perplexing show of justice, the rightful King had been first set up and then put down by external force, and the only authority predominant in the land was unacknowledged by the heart of any, though terror had obtained submission from the lips. The strict justice which was
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CAMEO XXXVII. THE VICTIM OF BLACKLOW HILL.
CAMEO XXXVII. THE VICTIM OF BLACKLOW HILL.
“The foolishness of the people” is a title that might be given to many a son of a wise father. The very energy and prudence of the parent, especially when employed on ambitious or worldly objects, seems to cause distaste, and even opposition, in the youth on whom his father’s pursuits have been prematurely forced. Seeing the evil, and weary of the good, it often requires a strong sense of duty to prevent him from flying to the contrary extreme, or from becoming wayward, indifferent, and dissipat
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CAMEO XXXVIII. BANNOCKBURN. (1307-1313.)
CAMEO XXXVIII. BANNOCKBURN. (1307-1313.)
While the son of the Hammer of the Scots wasted his manhood in silken ease, the brave though savage patriots of the North were foot by foot winning back their native soil. Lord Clifford had posted an English garrison in Douglas Castle, and reigned over Douglasdale, which had been granted to him by Edward I. on the forfeiture of Baron William. It sorely grieved the spirit of James Douglas to see his inheritance held by the stranger, and, with Bruce’s permission, he sought his own valley in disgui
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CAMEO XXXIX. THE KNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE. (1292-1316.)
CAMEO XXXIX. THE KNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE. (1292-1316.)
Crusades were over. The dream of Edward I. had been but a dream, and self-interest and ambition directed the swords of Christian princes against each other rather than against the common foe. The Western Church was lapsing into a state of decay and corruption, from which she was only partially to recover at the cost of disruption and disunion, and the power which the mighty Popes of the twelfth century had gathered into a head became, for that very cause, the tool of an unscrupulous monarch. The
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CAMEO XL. THE BARONS’ WARS. (1310-1327.)
CAMEO XL. THE BARONS’ WARS. (1310-1327.)
It was the misfortune of Edward of Caernarvon that he could not attach himself in moderation. Among the fierce Earls, and jealous, distrustful Barons, he gladly distinguished a man of gentle mould, who could return his affection; but he could not bestow his favor discreetly, and always ended by turning the head of his favorite and offending his subjects. There was at his court a noble old knight, Sir Hugh le Despenser, whose ancestors had come over with William the Conqueror, and whose father ha
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CAMEO XLI. GOOD KING ROBERT’S TESTAMENT. (1314-1329.)
CAMEO XLI. GOOD KING ROBERT’S TESTAMENT. (1314-1329.)
As England waxed feebler, Scotland waxed stronger and became aggressive. Robert’s queen was dead, and he married Elizabeth, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, thus making his brother Edward doubtful whether the Scottish crown would descend to him, and anxious to secure a kingdom for himself. Ireland had not been reconciled in two centuries to the domination of the Plantagenets. The Erse, or Irish, believed themselves brethren of the Scots, and in all their wanderings and distresses the Bruces had f
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