BOOK IV. ENGLISH KINGS OF IMPERIAL POLICY. CHAPTER I. Edward I. of Westminster. 1272-1307. 1. After visiting the King of Sicily, Edward went to see the Pope at Orvieto, and thence passing through_North Italy, he came over Mont Cenis on his way into France. As he was travelling by Châlons, the earl of that place challenged him and his men to a tournament. Nothing loath, the prince agreed, and on the day set the struggle began between the English and Burgundian knights. The earl charged through the English array till he reached Edward, when, dropping his sword, he clasped the prince round the neck with his right arm, and tried to pull him from his seat. But Edward sat still without moving till he felt that the earl had got firm hold, and then he clapped spurs to his horse, and dragging the unlucky Burgundian out of his saddle, shook him off by main force, so that he fell headlong to the ground. The Burgundians grew angry when they saw their lord's overthrow, and the game turned to earnest. Ere long the English knights were hard pressed, and many men were wounded and slain. And now the English archers, who stood outside the lists looking on, drew their bows and shot down the foreign knights' horses. The earl set upon Edward again, but the prince handled him so roughly that he was glad to surrender himself his prisoner, whereupon the fighting ceased, but not before good knights had fallen on either side. King Edward's home-coming, 1272-1274. After this little battle of Châlons Edward went to meet Philip the French king, and did homage to him "for all the lands he ought to hold of him." He then passed into Gascony to put down a rising which was headed by Gaston of Bearn. Next autumn, having made an agreement with the Countess of Flanders on behalf of English traders to the Flemish towns, he crossed to England, August 2, 1274, and was crowned at Westminster, with his wife, amid great rejoicings. The Duke of Brittany, and Alexander, the King of Scots, with their consorts, Edward's sisters, his brother Edmund (titular King of Sicily), and his mother, Eleanor, were all at the feast. There were great halls of timber built for the guests, who were many more than could be seated in Westminster Hall, the fountains at Cheapside ran all day with red and white wine instead of water, and two hundred fine horses were turned loose among the crowd to be scrambled for. 2. But Edward soon turned his mind to his royal duties. While he was away, the regents, Walter, Archbishop of York, Roger Lord Mortimer, and Robert Burnell had ruled well and kept the peace. By the help of Burnell, whom he made chancellor, of John Kirkby the treasurer, and of Francis Accursi the counsellor, son of the famous Italian lawyer, Edward now set about devising new laws for the common good of the whole realm, awaking old Acts which had fallen asleep during the troubles of the realm, putting right those things which had gone wrong through misuse, and making clear those rules and customs which had grown dark and hard to understand. Year after year till 1293 King and Parliament laboured for the commonwealth, for it was Edward's pride and pleasure to follow the example of his great kinsmen, S. Louis of France, Alfonso the Wise of Castile, and the Emperor Frederick the Wonder of the World, all of whom were famous for their wise laws and the good order they kept in their kingdoms. And it was in Edward's reign that the English constitution, which had been fixed by Henry II., was finally put into the shape in which it remained unaltered for two centuries. 1274-1290. In 1274 an inquiry into the rights of the feudal lords and of the counties was ordered. In 1275 was Edward's passed the First Statute of Westminster, which reforms, re-enacts many of the best clauses of the Great Charter, fixes the amount of the feudal burdens, aids, and reliefs, declares that common justice shall be done without respect of persons, and ordains that elections shall be free, forbidding any man to trouble them by force, craft, or threat. In 1276 the Rageman Statute appointed judges to settle all suits touching encroachments made on the land or rights of private persons since 1261. In 1278 the Statute of Gloucester regulated the private courts of justice and the lords' rights in the hundred and manor courts, and an order was given to the judges to inquire, under a writ called Quo Warranto, by what right the lords held the private jurisdictions which they claimed. For the king wished to bring the whole land as far as possible under his own courts and judges. But the great lords did not like to lose their power over their tenants, and when the Earl of Warenne was called before the judges to prove the rights he claimed, he pulled out an old rusty sword, saying, “See, my lords, this is my warrant. My ancestors came over with William and won their lands with the sword, and with the sword I will keep the same against any one that wishes to seize them. For the king did not overcome and win this country by himself, but our forefathers were with him as partners and helpers." And many of the other nobles said that the earl had spoken well, so that the king when he came to hear of it, fearing their displeasure, let this matter drop. But in the same year all gentlemen who had land to the value of £20 a year were ordered to receive knighthood or pay a heavy fine. The nobles did not like this measure either, for it brought their tenants into contact with the king, and showed them that Edward meant to rule for the good of all rather than for the benefit of a few great folks. One day as the king went out of Parliament to hear evening service there were some of the nobles' sons waiting on him as pages, and he began talking to them. "What do you boys talk about when you are waiting outside the hall where I am in counsel with your fathers?" The boys looked at each other and did not speak, till one, bolder than the rest, answered, "You will not be angry, sir, if I tell you ?" "No, indeed," said Edward. "Then, my lord, we amuse ourselves with singing, and this is what we sing 'The king he wants to get our gold! Will give us all enough to do!'" In 1278 Pope Nicholas III. sent for the Archbishop of Canterbury to Rome and made him a cardinal, and the king had the chancellor, Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath, chosen to fill his place; but the Pope did not wish to have one who was mixed up with State affairs as head of the English Church, so he quashed the election, and set John of Peckham, a Grey Friar, a pupil of Adam Marsh, a Doctor of Theology of Paris, and a Reader of Oxford, in Robert's room. Brother John was kindly, generous, hard-working, zealous for his order and for his see, a lover of peace, a good scholar, and a famous hymn-writer. He tried to strengthen the power of the Church courts by certain Articles passed at a Church Council at Reading, 1279. But Edward made him give up these Articles, and passed the Statute of Mortmain, which forbade persons granting or receiving lands so that they came into mortmain [the dead hand], i.e. became the property of corporations as endowments. This Act was especially aimed against the clergy, who were now the owners of more than a quarter of the land of England. For not only did pious people willingly give their estates to monasteries or churches, but many who wished to escape from feudal obligations would surrender their lands to a religious body, bargaining to get it back to be held of the new owners on easier terms. However, the archbishop held another Church Council at Lambeth, 1281, and there declared that all cases touching Church patronage, or property held by Churchmen, belonged solely to the Church courts. But the king, justly angry at this encroachment on the rights of his royal courts, compelled him to drop these claims also. In 1283 the Statute of Merchants, giving traders easier means of getting their debts, was put forth, and in 1284 the Statute of Rhuddlan, which settled what kind of cases were to be tried in the Exchequer Court. In 1285 the two important Statutes of Westminster the Second and of Winchester were passed. The first made great alterations in the land law, enabling estates to be settled in a family from parent to child for ever, by the clause De Donis Conditionalibus [of Gifts on Condition] amending the law of dower, of Church patronage, of mortmain, and making great improvements in the assize and manor courts. The second was meant to put down the lawless bands of clubmen, old soldiers, outlaws, and sturdy beggars who had taken to robbing in gangs, and living upon the country. It makes the Hundred responsible for robberies committed within it, deals with the keeping of watchmen in towns and villages, the pursuit of thieves, the safety of the highroads, provides for the proper arming and calling out of the militia, and forbids markets to be held in churchyards. In the same year Edward by his decree and the writ of Circumspecte agatis settled the proper province of the Church courts, confining them, as of old, to cases touch M* ing wills of goods, marriages, perjury, libel, tithes, Church matters, and wrongs done to clergymen. In 1289, in consequence of complaints against the judges for bribery, they were tried before a commission under Burnel, and all save two found guilty, turned from the bench, fined, and banished. Next year the Statute of Westminster the Third was passed, by a clause of which (Quia Emptores) every freeman is allowed to sell his land, or part of it, as he likes, but the man to whom he sells it is to hold of the seller's lord and not of the seller. This Act stopped the making of new manors, and tended to bring most landholders bit by bit into direct tenancy from the Crown. But with this wise measure was passed a cruel and unrighteous one, namely, the expulsion of the Jews from England. They were given three months to leave the realm, they were allowed to take all their movables with them, and had free passes to France at the king's expense. More than 16,000 left the country. A number of the rich London Jews were treacherously drowned on the shoals at the Thames mouth by the captain of the ship that was to take them over sea. But his wickedness was found out, and he was tried and hanged. The people were glad that the Jews had gone, for they did not see that it was unwise to drive away clever and wealthy merchants who added to the riches of the country, and only remembered the high prices they had paid to them, and the strict law of debt which the Jews had used against them. It was more than 350 years ere the Jews were allowed to set foot in England again. With this Act the first period of Edward's reign closes, and he was now called away to do other work no less important, however, his greatest and most needful reforms had been successfully carried out, and were working well. deaths of those who had gone through the burden and heat of the day with him-his beloved wife Eleanor (died 1290), the "friend of the English, the peacemaker, the stay of the realm," his trusty and far-sighted minister Burnell (died 1292), and his faithful treasurer Kirkby (died 1290)--left him to face his new troubles almost alone, for of all his old friends only Anthony Beck was left, the rich and wise Bishop of Durham, whom the Pope in 1305 made Patriarch of Jerusalem, because of his wealth and power. The 3. While engaged upon his reforms, Edward had also been much taken up with the troubles which ended with the death of the last North Welsh princes and the resettlement of their conquered country. How this came about must be |