meet the Earl. The Royalists marched forward toward Henry III. Lincoln with great spirit. They set out from New

ark in seven divisions, with white crosses sewn on A.D. 1217. their breasts, as if they were crusaders; the bowmen went in advance, and the baggage kept at a distance in the rear. Parties were sent out by the insurgents to find out the strength of the King's army. Deceived by the appearance of the baggage, they thought two armies were coming upon them, and they were discouraged. Instead therefore of sending out their horsemen, of whom their troops principally consisted, to meet their enemies in the open plain, where they would have had great advantage

Henry III. over them, they shut themselves up within the walls. A.D. 1217. Henry's troops were admitted into the city by the skilful management of the King's party within the castle, and the crossbow-men quickly began the attack. The horsemen fought the archers in the narrow streets at a great disadvantage, and were soon thrown into confusion. "Then sparks of fire were seen to dart, and sounds as of dreadful thunder were heard to burst forth from the blows of swords against helmeted heads; but at length, by means of the crossbow-men, by whose skill the horses of the barons were mown down and killed like pigs, the party of the barons was greatly weakened." 33 The King's party sallied out from the castle, the insurgents were totally routed, and their leader, the Count de la Perche, with a large number of the barons, was killed. In the quaint language of the old chroniclers, this was called the Fair of Lincoln.

Louis's

army de

feated at Lincoln.

French fleet defeated.

This was a serious blow to the French cause, and a defeat at sea gave it the finishing stroke. Louis, on hearing of the defeat of his army at Lincoln, sent over to his father for help; but he, fearing the anger of the Pope, left it to the Prince's wife to help him, thinking thereby to escape the execution of the Pope's threats. Accordingly, by the efforts of Blanche of Castile, the wife of Louis, a French fleet of eighty large ships, besides smaller vessels, was collected at Calais, and set sail for England under the command of the French Admiral, Eustace the Monk. This Eustace was originally a monk, but, "on the death of his brothers without children he abandoned his monk's habit and apostatised from his order." After squandering his fortune "he became a pirate, and a bloody pirate leader," 34 and was at last made Admiral of the

DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH.

167

French fleet. The English, under the command of Henry III. Philip de Albiney and John the Mareschal, had notice A.D. 1217. of their coming; and, although they met their enemies with an inferior force, yet, by skilful seamanship, availing themselves of the direction of the wind, and by attacking with great vigour, they secured a complete victory.

of the

Thus ended the attempts on the English crown in less than a year from Henry's accession. After the defeat at Lincoln, Louis had retreated to London, where he built up all the gates but one, to secure himself from an attack by the King's forces. But, Departure on hearing of the defeat of the French fleet, all hope French. of success was gone, and he willingly made peace with Henry, and returned to France. According to the custom of the feudal system, which I explained in my former Lecture, it was arranged, that Louis should relieve the barons who had called him to their assistance, of their homage and their fealty; and that Henry should give them a full pardon on their return to their allegiance. Louis also promised that, if ever he came to the French throne, he would restore to Henry all the provinces which had belonged to his father.

Arrangements for the Government of the Kingdom.

and the

Wales

After the departure of the French, Alexander the Se- The King cond, King of Scotland, who had taken part with John's of Scotland opponents, made peace with Henry, and was received Prince of by him with great honour at Northampton; where make peace it is said, by some historians, he did homage to Henry. Henry for the territories which he held of the King of England. Early in the following year, peace was also made, with Llewellyn Prince of Wales, who

with

Henry IIL was intrusted with the custody of the King's castles A.D. 1218. at Caermarthen and Caerdigan, on the understanding

Death of the Earl of

that he should give them up to the King when he came of age. For the performance of these things he gave hostages, "Mailgon the son of Rees, and Rees the son of Griffin, and Mareduc the son of Ren." 1

The young King was now seated on the throne without a rival, but he had not a single relative to advise him. Even his mother, Queen Isabella, who had followed the example of her husband King John, in his profligacy, and had thereby forfeited the esteem of the nation, left him to the care of others, and went over to France to marry her former lover the Count de la Marche. Henry, however, had good advisers. The Earl of Pembroke was a wise and upright man, and the legate Gualo, who had been sent over by Pope Honorius the Third to advise the young King, performed his duty with discretion and fidelity. The Charter, as I have informed you, was confirmed. But it was not without difficulty that order was restored throughout the realm.

In the year A.D. 1218, the kingdom suffered a great Pembroke. loss by the death of the Earl of Pembroke. The goHubert de vernment of the kingdom now devolved on Hubert de Burgh and Burgh, who had just been created Grand Justiciary,

Peter des

Roches succeed him.

Their ri

valry.

and on Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, to whom the care of the King's person was more particularly intrusted. Hence, before Henry had been seated on the throne two years, began a jealousy between foreigners and natives, which continued to disturb the country throughout the whole of his reign. These two ministers were rivals. Hubert de Burgh, the brave defender of Dover against Louis, was the friend of the native families. Peter des

CONTESTS WITH THE BARONS.

169

Roches, a native of Poitou, one of the English pro- Henry III. vinces in France, proclaimed himself a friend of the A.D. 1218. foreigners, who had been hired by John to defend him against the barons, and who had settled in the land. The legate Gualo had returned to Rome before the death of Pembroke, and had been succeeded by Pandulph, who was able to restrain the rivalry of these two ministers, or favourites, within moderate bounds. But Pandulph returned to Rome in A.D. 1221, and after a few years De Burgh got the power into his own hands.

Beginning of Contests with the Barons.

In the mean time, for five or six years, the country was continually disturbed by petty struggles. The King, with his two advisers, went about from one part of the kingdom to another to put down these outbreaks. He "kept his Christmas," as it was termed, and which we may suppose to have meant that he