FRANCE AND ENGLAND;

FRANCE (GAUL).

ENGLAND (BRITAIN).

IN the earliest times of the history of the country then called Gaul, the inhabitants were Kelts. The Gael evidently were there first, and left their name to the country, but the Cymry were the staple of the inhabitants when they became known to civilized nations. Their religion was druidical, their government merely the clan system, but they were more civilized than the insular Cymry from contact with the Greek colonies of Massilia and its dependencies on the Mediterranean coast.

The Belgæ had effected a settlement in the marshy lands about the mouths of the Rhine and Scheldt.

B.C. 154.–The Greek colonies of Massilia called on Rome for assistance against the Gauls. The Romans, responding to the call, founded the colonies now called Aix and Narbonne, and gradually extended their territory so far as to own a region there called Provincia, now Provence.

B.C. 113.–The Cimbri and Teutones, a mixed mass of Kelts and Teutons, poured into Gaul from the west, and were eagerly welcomed by all the Gauls, who dreaded the advance of Roman aggression. They routed two consuls and overspread Provincia.

B.C. 103.–They were defeated at Aqua Sextiæ (Aix) by Caius Marius, pursued into Italy, and annihilated at Vercelli.

Provincia became thoroughly Romanized.

B.C. 61.–The Teuton tribe of Schwaben (Suevi, Swabians), under a prince or Heerfürst (Ariovistus), made their way across the Rhine. The Æduan chief Divitiacus came to implore the aid of Rome.

WHEN the history of Britain begins to become known, the island was occupied by Kelts. These seem to have consisted of two principal nations–the Gael, taller, ruder, wilder, inhabiting the north and far west; the Cymry, more cultivated, living under the Druid system of religion, and apparently trading for tin with the Phoenicians.

The Belgæ, probably a mixed race of Kelts and Teutons, were beginning to make settlements on the eastern coast. In all these the nation was divided into clans, with the chieftainship of each inherent in one family. They sometimes coalesced under some chief of superior influence or talant.

B.C. 58.–Julius Cæsar drove back a Keltic immigration from Helvetia, demolished the Schwaben invaders, and gradually extended the Roman dominion over the whole of Gaul, overcoming the gallant resist-

FRANCE (GAUL).

ENGLAND (BRITAIN).

The Emperor Claudius renewed the attempt to subdue Britain, A.D. 43. Colonies were established at Verulamum and Londinum; and the brave Silurian chief Caradog (Caractacus) was brought as a prisoner to Rome. The Isle of Mona was devastated by the Roman governor Suetonius in the endeavour to destroy Druidism, A.D. 59. In the meantime, Boddwy (Boadicea), widow of the chief of the Iceni, suffered insults from the Romans which roused her to revenge. The barbarous tribes under her massacred the colonists at Verulam and Camulodunum, but on Suetonius's arrival were defeated, and Boddwy committed suicide.

Severus repaired the wall of Hadrian A.D. 202, and called it by his own name. He died at York A.D. 211.

FRANCE (GAUL).

ENGLAND (BRITAIN).

CONSTANTIUS Chlorus was appointed Cæsar A.D. 296, and ruled over the whole Keltic division of the empire, until his death, A.D. 306. His son, CONSTANTINE the Great, was chosen emperor by the legions defending the Rhine, became sole emperor, and professed Christianity, A.D. 325. On his death, A.D. 337, the empire was divided among his sons, and became weaker and less efficient under Constantius, the survivor.

Various pretenders to empire unworthy of record rose and fell, and there was no national resistance to either northern or eastern foes. The Picts and Scots, a reflex wave of Cymry and Gael, seem to have been more hated and dreaded by the Romanized Britons than were the Saxons.

Aëtius, an able Roman general, drove back the Franks beyond the Rhine, A.D. 423. Wehrmund (Pharamond), called the first of the Frank kings, is said to have fought with him. Hloter was in alliance with him, A.D. 448. Meerwig (who gave his name to the dynasty) was adopted as a son by Aëtius, who

A.D.441.–The doleful appeal to "Aëtius, thrice consul, the groans of the Britons," was sent in vain. St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, being on a mission

FRANCE.

ENGLAND (BRITAIN).

It is scarcely worth while to trace the various inroads of tribe after tribe who ravaged Gaul, and chased one another out again, without effecting a permanent settlement. The chief of these were the Burgundians, who were the first to establish themselves in burgs, in the country between the Alps and the Rhone, and were already Christians; and the Franks, who came over the Rhine, and whose royal line was properly called the Salic (from the river Yssel), but is also known as the Meerwings (sons of Meerwig), and as the Long-haired, because unshorn locks were a token of royal descent. Provence and the greater part of the south, being full of strong cities, served as a plundering ground for forays, and was never regularly conquered, and the old Cymric province of Armorica, or Brittany, which had scarcely been Romanized, remained free and Keltic.

In 458, HILPERIK I. was king of the Salian Franks. Syagrius was owned at Paris as king of the Romans, by the remnant of Latinized Gauls.

Aëtius summoned the last legions from Britain in 451. According to most uncertain history, a national spirit revived, and Vortigern was elected in 454 Pendragon of Britain, and asked the aid of Hengist the Jute to repel the Scots, rewarding him with the Isle of Thanet.

Haribert died in 567 and Paris fell to HIL-

Within this period the kingdoms of Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), Deerland (Deira), Bearland (Beornia), and Marchland (Mercia), were established by the Saxons, also called Angles; the Kelts were almost obliterated, except in Wales, Cornwall, and Strathclyde, where they continued independent. The Saxon population almost entirely displaced the Keltic.

This period is called in English History the Heptarchy, from there being usually an average of seven petty kingdoms. The most able prince was called Bretwalda, and ruled in some measure over the rest. ÆTHELBERHT, king of Kent, was

FRANCE.

ENGLAND (BRITAIN).

BRYNHILD governed in Austrasia for her son HILDEBERT, and on his death, in 595, for her grandsons, THEUDEBERT and THEUDERIK. She was a high-spirited though fierce woman, and did all in her power to improve her people, and promote Christian learning and civilization. Her grandsons quarrelled, in 612. THEUDERIK was killed, in 617, by his brother, who died the same year, when about to make war on HLOTER, who fell on Austrasia, murdered THEUDEBERT's children, and caused the aged Brynhild to be dragged to death by a wild horse, in 621. DAGOBERT I. came to the throne in 628, and was the best of the Meerwings, merciful to his brother, a protector of the church, especially of SS. Eloi and Ouen, and a brave defender of his kingdom against the Slavonians. He was king of Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, and was called King of the Franks and Prince of the Romans; but the Romans of Aquitaine were really independent. His sons, HLODWEH II. in Neustria and Sigebert in Austrasia, were feeble and helpless, and like all the rest of the dynasty are called Rois Fainéants (Do-nothings). The Maire du Palais ruled entirely, in 655. HLOTER III. reigned in name, in 656, under Ebroin, the maire, who on the king's death, in 670, raised another brother, THEUDERIK I., to the throne. The Austrasian kings had been set aside by their Maire du Palais, PEPPIN l'Héristal, a strong, able man, who went to war with Neustria, and taking Theuderik prisoner, united the kingdoms, and ruled both as maire, though there reigned in name Hlodweh II. (691), then his brother HILDEBERT II. (695), who left a son, DAGOBERT II. (711). He died in 714, in the same year as Peppin, whose authority was so established that he left as maitres to HLOTER III. his widow Plectrude and his grandson. The grandson died in 715. Karl, a son of Peppin, usually called Charles Martel, became maitre. The Neustrians set up another king, and during the war

Pope Gregory the Great did his utmost to bring about improvement, and a strong missionary spirit prevailed in the Irish and Scottish colonies founded by the disciples of St. Patrick, where much of the old Latin learning survived, and whence priests and monks came southwards and did much to Christianize the rude nations of France, England, and Germany. Of these St. Columbanus and St. Gall are the most famous.

RÆWALD, king of East Anglia, a lukewarm Christian, was Bretwalda in 617; but at his court, EADWINE, of Northumbria, met Paulinus, a disciple of Augustine. EADWINE became Bretwalda in 621. He was a zealous Christian and admirable king, but Cadwallader of Wales, and Penda, the heathen king of Mercia, combined, and at Heathfield, on the Trent, Eadwine was defeated and slain, in 634.

OSWALD, his nephew, was a brave Bretwalda; he defeated and slew Cadwallader at Hexham; and brought Aidan, an excellent Keltic bishop, from Scotland, in 638, to instruct his subjects; but he was slain, in 642, in battle with Penda, and only when that Mercian king died (in 655) in battle near York, was he Bretwalda. He was the last to bear that rank, and Northumberland fell in power, while Mercia increased. There was, in the meantime, an entire conversion of the country. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, established dioceses and parishes, in 691, and many monasteries arose. Venerable Bæda wrote his history, in 711; St. Hilda ruled the Abbey of Holy Isle, in 714; and there was much culture and softening under the early monastic influence.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

OFFA the Terrible, of Mercia, made great conquests from the Welsh, in 757. He was a man of great ability, and grasped all the other Saxon kingdoms with a sort of imperial power.

A Danish fleet burnt Canterbury in 783.

In 795, BEORHTRIC of Wessex was the most powerful king. He was married to Eadburh, daughter of Offa, a woman of great wickedness. He drank of some poison, meant by her for another, and died in 800.

ECGBERHT returned, obtained Wessex, reduced the other kingdoms, and is counted as first King of all England, in 825, with a power analogous to that of Karl over the various continental Teutons.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

His sons, LOUIS III. and KARLOMAN, reigned together in 879. The one died in 882; the other, KARL (or Charles III., called the Fat), son to Lodwig of Bavaria, and Emperor, reigned over all the Franks, miserably and weakly, in 884. Paris was again beseiged by the Northmen and succoured by Eudes, count of Paris, in 885.

Charles was deposed in 929, and died in prison. RODOLF, count of Burgundy, was chosen king. On his death, in 936, HUGUES and William of Normandy restored LOUIS IV., son of Charles, who was a man of more ability and energy, but unscrupulous and violent, and spent a life of vain struggles against the advancing power of the Counts of Paris. His death, in 954, left his kingdom to his son LOTHAR, and two years later HUGUES Capet succeeded his father, while Lothar continued the struggle, which was not so much of men, as whether the old Frank blood, now separated from the Franks in Germany, could stand against the revival of the Gallo-Romans or true French backed by the Normans.

In 942, William was murdered by the Count of Flanders, and Louis IV. tried to imprison his infant son Richard, and resume Normandy; but the Normans, assisted by fresh Northmen from Denmark, bravely defended their duchy, and finally entirely gained their independence of all but homage paid to the king. Duke Richard the Fearless was an able and much respected and devout prince.

ÆTHELSTAN (924), his son, was brave, wise, and successful, kept England clear of Danes, and raised her power and intelligence, so that no European prince was so highly esteemed. He sheltered Louis, son of Charles the Simple, in his exile; and his sisters were married to all the chief princes of Europe.

EADMUND the Elder, the next brother, succeeded in 940, but was killed by a robber, in 947. ELDRED, the last brother, lame and weakly, left the government to Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury. On his death, in 955, Eadmund's son, EADWINE, opposed Dunstan and quarrelled with the clergy. EADGAR, his brother, was set up (in 957) against him, and prevailed. He made Dunstan archbishop, and, ruling by his advice, was famed for peace and prosperity. He was called Emperor of Britain, and received the submission of the whole island.

Eadgar the Peaceable died in 974, and his eldest son, EADWARD, called the Martyr, was murdered in 979 by his stepmother Ælfrida, to place on the throne her own son ÆTHELRED the Unready. When

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 996, ROBERT succeeded his father. He was exceedingly devout, but weak, and the great feudal vassals were enormously powerful, absolute princes in their fiefs, only following the king's banner in a general war, and having wars among themselves. Other vassals held under them; and were bound to follow them in war: the peasants were serfs. Nobles were trained to fight in their heavy armour, and bound over by oaths of piety, truth, honour, and forbearance, before they received knighthood.

HENRI I. came to the throne in 1030, a dull and feeble king; in fact the Counts of Paris were at first far less powerful as sovereigns than as vassals. The Abbey of Bec was founded in 1031, and became a great centre of spiritual life, leading to a great increase of vigour and holiness in monasticism.

In 1060, PHILIPPE I., a mere child, succeeded. His minority was of less consequence because his power was almost null. The castles which rose on every hill were almost impregnable, and each baron was a little lawless prince. The only check on their violence was in the strong force of their faith. They were often not withheld from great barbarity, but they usually owned their guilt, and tried to expiate it by penances, pilgrimages, and gifts to the Church.

The abbeys were the chief means of good to the country; their lands were respected, and their peasants were less distressed than those of the secular barons. Almost all the piously-disposed of all ranks flocked into the religious orders, as the refuge from doing or suffering violence. They also afforded the only means of education and promotion to the lowly born.

A panic prevailed that the Judgment was to come in 1000. Lands were not sown, and a horrible famine ensued. The Church established that on the three sacred days of the week, and at holy seasons, fighting in private brawls was sacrilegious. This was called the Truce of God, and somewhat mitigated the savagery of war. The Normans became the most ardent of knights. Adventurers from Normandy conquered Sicily and Apulia in 1027. RICHARD II. of Normandy died in 1028, his son RICHARD III. in 1035. ROBERT, the next brother, died on pilgrimage, leaving the duchy to his young child WILLIAM, who had a most perilous minority, but by wonderful vigour and sagacity put down all his enemies, and became the greatest man in France.

The Papacy began to be renovated by the great monk Hildebrand, who took the election of the Pope from the Emperors and restored it to the clergy of Rome, represented by the Cardinals. He perceived how to make the Pope the final appeal for Church matters, and judge of sovereigns, and through the ecclesiastics whom he successively raised to the Papacy did much to establish the principle.

Archbishop Ælfhæg was slaughtered in 1008. Æthelred fled to Normandy, in 1012. SWEND was owned king of England, in 1013, but died the same year. His son KNUD and EADMUND Ironside, son to Æthelred, fought until a treaty was made, and was followed by EADMUND's murder, in 1017. KNUD married Emma, ruled well and beneficently, became a Christian and went on pilgrimage to Rome. He died in 1036, and HARALD Harefoot reigned like a savage Dane till his death, in 1039, when his half-brother HARTHAKNUD succeeded, but on his death, in 1041, EADWARD, son of Æthelred, was restored by the great Earl Godwine. Having been bred in a Norman convent, he was very pious, and devoted to the Normans. He brought many to England, and hence arose fierce quarrels with Godwine and the English party. Nor near kinsman remained to Eadward, and he longed to make William of Normandy his successor, but died, in 1065, undecided between him and Harald Godwineson. HARALD was elected in 1066 by the nation, but William of Normandy, invading England, defeated and killed him at Hastings, and was crowned WILLIAM I.

WILLIAM I. endeavoured to reign as a native hereditary king, but the violence and rapacity of his Norman followers, provoking the discontent of the English, drove him to severity, until all the chief English nobles had fallen. The remnant of the old royal line took refuge with Malcolm Cean Mohr in Scotland, and there were great English settlements in the Lothians; but though harsh to all, William repressed the Normans as much as the English, and made it his great object to prevent the nobles from fortifying their castles, and becoming as powerful as they were elsewhere.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

War broke out between Philippe and William respecting the county of Le Mans. William burnt the city of Mantes, but there received a hurt which caused his death in 1087. He left the fief of Normandy to its natural heir, Robert, his eldest son.

In 1073, Robert, William's eldest son, demanded the dukedom of Normandy, and being refused, rebelled, was defeated, and went into exile. Domesday-book, a census of the kingdom, was drawn up by the king's orders, and he did all in his power to promote order and justice. The Church, hitherto slack and ill-disciplined, was brought into closer connection with Rome, and reformed by Lanfranc, the king assisting with real faith, devotion, and conscientiousness.

William I. died in 1087, leaving the crown of England to his second son, WILLIAM II. (Rufus), an able man, but impious, violent, savage, and tyrannical, and much hated both by Normans and English. After Lanfranc's death, in 1089, he kept the see of Canterbury four years vacant. At length, under terror of death from severe sickness, he appointed Anselm, abbot of Bec. MALCOLM CEAN MOHR invaded England, but was killed at Alnwick, and his kingdom fell back into its savage Keltic state.

In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Peter preached enthusiastically; hosts assumed the cross in pledge that they would free Jerusalem. Robert of Normandy pledged his dukedom to William II. to equip himself for the Crusade.

In 1097, Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, was chosen leader of the crusading army. Bohemund and Tancred, Apulian Normans, were the chief heroes; and after a march overland, and severe warfare, Jerusalem was taken in 1099, and Godfrey elected king of the Latin kingdom there established.

William's brutality drove Anselm out of the country.

Philippe I. died in 1106, and LOUIS VI. reigned alone, and with much superior ability and vigour. He first began to obtain some influence for the French crown, and was assisted by the counsels of Suger,

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1108, several cities in the rural fiefs were obtaining charters by which they were erected into communes, and obtained the right of self-government, and freedom from the interference of the court upon the payment of a fixed tax.

In 1125, Henry caused all his vassals to swear fealty to his daughter Maude, widow of the Emperor Henry V., and gave her in marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of Foulques of Anjou.

In 1136, Louis le Jeune was married to Alienor, the heiress of the great dukedom of Aquitaine.

In 1137, after long feebleness, Louis VI. died. LOUIS VII. succeeded at seventeen, the affairs of the kingdom being still conducted by Suger.

In 1145, a second crusade was preached by St. Bernard, and the king and queen eagerly took the cross in 1147. A brilliant victory was gained in 1148 at Nicæa, and Damascus was besieged, but

Normandy was desolated by the war between the partisans of Stephen and of Maude, but it chiefly adhered to the latter and her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet.

The whole duchy accepted their son HENRY as their lord.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1152, Alienor's conduct was so disgraceful that Louis divorced her, though he thus lost all her huge domains.

In 1158, his second wife brought him only daughters, and he was weak, depressed, and unable to assert his rights, being constantly overreached by Henry, and little regarded by his other vassals, so that he was losing all that his father had gained for the crown.

In 1165, Philippe, the son of Louis, was born.

In 1154, Stephen died, and HENRY II. continued the Norman policy of repression of the barons, and strict observance of law, showing great vigour, resolution, and astuteness.

In 1161, Thomas à Becket was made primate, and resisted the demand of the king at the Council of Clarendon (in 1164), that the clergy should be subjected to secular law. Being driven into exile, he appealed to the Pope; and Henry, being in fear of excommunication, caused his eldest son, Henry, to be crowned in 1170, to reign jointly with himself. A partial reconciliation was effected, and Becket returned to England, but was immediately after murdered by four of Henry's knights.

In 1179, Louis crowned his son PHILIPPE II. (Auguste), and soon after died (in 1180), leaving the throne to a successor of much greater abilities and stronger determination, resolute to recover the power of the crown.

A treaty was made at Vezelay between Philippe and Richard.

In 1173, Ireland having been partially conquered by Richard, earl of Pembroke, and other Norman adventurers, was united to England, and Henry took the title of Lord of Ireland.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1191, on his voyage to Acre, Richard conquered the isle of Cyprus.

On Agnes' death, in 1201, he took back Ingeborg, and the censure was removed. This anxiety ended, he again supported Arthur against John, giving him a small army, but Arthur, while attacking the castle of Mirabeau, in 1202, was surprised by John, made prisoner, and put to death secretly. Philippe summoned John, as his vassal, to answer for the murder, and on his non-appearance declared his fiefs forfeit to the crown, and seized Normandy, Anjou, and Poitou, in 1203, with little endeavour on John's part to defend them. Guienne and Brittany passed to Alix, a sister of Arthur, on the mother's side.

Philippe had thus made a great step in exalting the power of the crown. The great fiefs of Normany,

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1217, the troops of Louis were defeated at Lincoln, by the barons, and his fleet bringing reinforcements by Hubert de Burgh, off Dover; whereupon he resigned his pretensions and left England. Young Henry was protected by the Pope as a Church vassal, and was under the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh, who governed well; but the country suffered much from papal exactions, and the wastefulness of the king and his court.

His reign was one of justice and mercy, and he was infinitely beloved by his subjects, and respected in all Europe.

In 1257, Richard, earl of Cornwall, was elected King of the Romans by the Pope's influence in Germany. The knights of the shire and burgesses assembled in Parliament.

In 1258, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (in right of his mother), organized an opposition of the barons to the king's illegal proceedings. All came armed to Oxford, to what was called the Mad Parliament. It was established that no grant of

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

HENRY III. died in his absence (in 1272).

In 1274, EDWARD I. returned home, and was crowned. He was the first to see his true strength as head of the English nation, and to heed home rather than foreign politics. He ruled well and wisely, and knew where to give way to his nobles. Good order and justice were established. After much treachery and violence from the native princes of Wales, he subdued them in 1277, and the Principality was given to his son, Edward of Caernarvon.

In 1294, PHILIPPE IV. invaded the dominions of Guy Dampierre, count of Flanders, Edward's ally. Edward endeavoured to succour him, but his hands were tied by his Scottish war and by the refusal of his barons to serve beyond the sea or grant supplies. He gave up attention to the Continent to concentrate it on England, and after a voyage to Flanders, when want of means crippled him, he made a truce with Philippe.

Pope Boniface VIII. interfered on behalf of Guy of Flanders, but in vain. Philippe made peace with Edward, giving him his sister Margaret as a second wife, and betrothing his daughter Isabel to Edward of Caernarvon in 1303. The treaty of Monbreuil was signed, by which Edward left Philippe almost all he claimed in France.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1314, the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burnt at the stake only a few months before Philippe's death.

In 1308, in the first year of Edward II., it became understood that a law was not valid without the assent of Parliament. EDWARD II., weak, licentious, and led by favourites, neglected the Scottish war. His first favourite, Piers Gaveston, was murdered by the barons in 1312, and he afterwards led an army to Scotland, but was utterly routed at Bannockburn in 1314.

Philippe was an uncertain, violent man, with some flash of chivalry, but very unjust.

The Count-dauphin of Vienne left his county to Jean, son of the king, and thence "dauphin" became the title of the heir-apparent.

In 1333, after Bruce's death, the Scots broke the truce, upon which Edward set up Balliol's son as King of Scotland, and, while DAVID II. (son to Bruce) fled to France, endeavoured to subdue the country.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1346, David II. invaded England, but was defeated and made prisoner at Nevil's Cross, in 1347.

In 1348, Edward tried to marry his daughter to the Count of Flanders, but he escaped, and threw himself into the arms of France. A truce was made, partly from the exhaustion of both countries, which were alike ravaged by the terrible pestilence, the Black Death.

In 1349, the Order of the Garter was instituted. William of Wykeham was chancellor.

England was proud of the victories, though there was great want of money and scarcity of labour.

In 1355, Edward espoused the cause of Charles I. (the Bad), king of Navarre, who claimed fiefs in Normandy, as Count of Evereux, and was the bitter enemy of Jean.

In 1357, the dauphin Charles governed France. His third brother, Philippe, married the heiress of Burgundy, and founded a great ducal house. There was a terrible insurrection, called the Jacquerie, of the oppressed peasants against the nobles.

In 1360, a treaty was signed at Bretigny ceding Aquitaine to the English princes, as vassals to the French crown. Jean was released, giving his sons as hostages.

The Jacquerie was put down, and savage execution done on the peasants.

In 1364, unable to obtain fulfilment of the treaty by the French, Jean returned to captivity, and there died the same year.

CHARLES V. succeeded, a wary man of great ability, but feeble of health. At Cocherel the troops of Charles of Navarre were defeated, and the Gascon, Captal de Buch, the Black Prince's friend, made prisoner.

The bands of Free Companions roamed the country, living lawlessly on the people. The great Breton

At Auray the fate of Brittany was decided in a battle where young Montfort, under the care of Sir John Chandos, defeated and slew Charles de Blois.

This was a period of great prosperity and much progress in literature. Geoffrey Chaucer was writing his poems, Wickliffe denouncing the vices of the wealthier clergy.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1375, Lancaster marched from Brittany to Bordeaux without once meeting an enemy, but arrived exhausted in men and money.

Pope Gregory V. again removed to Rome; but on his death two parties arose. One elected a pope willing to remain at Rome, the other one desirous to remain at Avignon. Thus arose the Great Schism. The English held with the Roman pope, the French with the antipope at Avignon.

In 1372, the Black Prince returned to England in broken health and spirits, to find his father prematurely aged, and his next surviving brother, John, duke of Lancaster, in great power.

There were evil influences about the king, against which the prince strove in vain till his death, in 1376.

In 1377, Edward III. died, and was succeeded by his grandson, RICHARD II., at twelve years old, under the tutelage of his uncles of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester.

In 1379, there was a great revolt of the Flemish towns, who expelled their Count, Louis le Mâle.

In 1380, Charles V. died, leaving his son, Charles VI., nine years old, to the guardianship of his uncles of Berry, Burgundy, and Anjou. Duguesclin died before the Castle of Rendom, and Clisson became Constable.

In 1382, young Charles was conducted to put down the revolt of the Flemings, who were overthrown at the battle of Rosbecque.

In 1388, the gallant chivalrous skirmish of Otterburn was fought between English and Scots.

In 1389, Richard tried to regain his power, but was too unpopular to succeed except by the support of Lancaster, who aided him against Gloucester's ambition. Gloucester stirred up the discontent of the country against the cessation of the war, and constantly browbeat his nephew the king.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1398, Henry, son of the the Duke of Lancaster, accused Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, of treason, and offered to prove it by wager of battle; but Richard prevented the fight, and banished both.

In 1399, on his father's death, Henry returned, ostensibly to claim his inheritance; but, finding the great family of Percy and the people willing to join him, he obtained the crown, and deposed Richard, who perished in captivity, in 1400.

In 1402, the Scots were defeated at Homildon; but HENRY IV., demanding the custody of the prisoners, offended the Percys, who turned at once against him, taking up the cause of the direct heir, Edmund Mortimer, who had been set aside.

Henry V. asserted the old claim of Edward III. to the French crown, and was replied to in foolish bravado by the dauphin Louis. He landed (in 1415) in Normandy, took Harfleur, and gained a splendid victory over Louis and all the French nobility at Azincour, making prisoners young Orleans and half the nobles of France, whom he refused to ransom.

In 1415, Richard Plantagenet, who had married the sister of Mortimer, plotted to obtain the crown, but Mortimer revealed the treason, and Richard suffered death, leaving a son, Richard, duke of York.

The English were in raptures with Henry's conquests, and supplied him with men and money.

FRANCE.

ENGLAND.

In 1421, Scottish warriors came in large numbers to assist the French.

In 1428, the English endeavoured to extend their conquests beyond the Loire, and besieged the city of Orleans, defeating the French, who tried to cut off their supplies, at the Battle of the Herrings, in 1429. The peril of the country roused high religious enthusiasm in a peasant girl named Jeanne d'Arc. She roused such spirit in the army that she saved Orleans, and conducted Charles VII. in triumph to be crowned at Rheims; but the French king and nobles never really appreciated her, she was ill-supported, was taken by the English and Burgundians, who put her to death at Rouen as a witch in 1431.

In 1429, the rule was established that knights of the shire, i.e. members of Parliament, must be elected by freeholders.

In 1436, a brilliant chivalry began to grow up around Charles. The Count de Richemont was the ablest of his leaders, and many irregular enterprises were undertaken, usually to the profit of the French; but the lawlessness and insubordination were extreme, and the country was dreadfully pillaged and oppressed, until Charles, reviving from his sloth, modelled his army, brought the men under discipline, and put down the bands of marauders, in 1440.

The Parisians opened their gates to the troops of Charles and expelled the English. The Duke of York, under Gloucester's patronage, became regent in France, but the public service was impeded by jealousies between him and the Duke of Somerset, head of the Beauforts. Cardinal Beaufort made an attempt at negotiation in 1439.

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Immediately after, Suffolk was impeached for treasonable dealings with the French about the queen's marriage; he was unfairly tried, exiled, and murdered on his passage to Calais.

In 1450, the Kentish peasants revolted under Jack Cade, complaining of the French queen's government, and of the exactions in courts of law. They sacked London, committed some murders, but soon dispersed.

Louis the dauphin was continually quarrelling with his father, and lived in a state of constant enmity to Charles in his own county of Dauphiné, always carrying on intrigues.

In 1456, the jealousy and suspicion between Charles VII. and his son became so great that Louis withdrew to Burgundy, and lived there under the protection of Duke Philippe.

Charles VII. was called le bien servi, and his nobles were certainly men of distinguished courage and patriotism. The discipline he had established in his army rendered his soldiers some of the best troops, and his guard of Scottish archers rendered him able to exert his authority. The kingdom began to recover prosperity, and was in a better state than since the English wars began; but the king lived in a state of miserable suspicion, and died at length in 1461 from fear of taking food lest he should be poisoned.

LOUIS XI., cunning, hard-hearted, and grossly superstitious, but hypocritical, set himself to reduce the feudal privileges of the nobles, and to overthrow all whom he feared by his crafty but cruel policy.

In 1461, Margaret fled to Burgundy, and thence to France, with her son.

In 1452, York claimed to be acknowledged as heir to the crown before the Beauforts. He raised an army but was made prisoner and forgiven. Henry fell into a state of imbecility, during which a son (Edward) was born to him in 1454. Meantime York acted as regent until Henry recovered in 1455, and recalled the Duke of Somerset, on which York took up arms, and fought at St. Alban's, where he obtained possession of the king's person, and held the government for a year; when Henry, recovering, tried in 1456 to bring about a reconciliation, and a festival called the Love-day was held, when York, Somerset, and all their partisans swore amity; but Nevil, earl of Warwick, brother-in-law to York, was the bitter enemy of the queen and Somerset, and the disputes broke out again. In 1459, at Blore Heath, a victory was gained by the Yorkists, and the next year at Northampton they made the king prisoner; and at a parliament held shortly after, it was determined that he should retain the crown for his life, but that York should succeed him. On this, Margaret, hotly indignant, raised an army in the north, and defeated and slew York upon Wakefield Bridge. But he was quickly revenged by his son Edward, who in 1461 defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross, St. Alban's, and at Towton Moor, the bloodiest of English battles; threw the king into prison, and was crowned as EDWARD IV. He was a youth of great talents, but proud, licentious, and indolent. He married, secretly, Elizabeth Wydville, widow of Sir John Gray, a Lancastrian knight.

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Quickly rallying, however, Edward returned in 1471, defeated and slew Warwick at Barnet, and at Tewkesbury made prisoner and slew Edward of Lancaster. Henry VI. was privately put to death in the Tower. The king was much swayed by the kinsmen of his wife, the Wydvilles and Grays.

In 1474, Louis stirred up the Swiss republic to attack Burgundy. The city of Brisach, in Alsace (which Duke Sigismund of Austria had pledged to Charles), revolted with Swiss aid, and murdered the Burgundian governor, calling back Sigismund. On this Charles invaded the electorate of Cologne, but he was routed by the Swiss at Morat, and was detained eleven months by the siege of Neuss, and was forced to give it up.

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Lorraine, the inheritance of the wife, and through her of the grandson, of Réné of Anjou, had been seized by Charles of Burgundy, who offered to buy off his claim; but young Réné, the true heir, leagued with the Swiss, and Charles suffered at their hands a terrible defeat at Granson in 1476. All Lorraine revolted, and the gates of Nancy were shut against him. He laid siege to the place in 1477, but there were traitors in his camp, and he was surprised in a night attack, and found lying slain by many wounds among the fugitives.

Burgundy, as a male fief, reverted to France, but Flanders and Holland remained with Charles's daughter, Mary, who married Maximilian, heir of Austria. In 1478, Louis marched an army against her, but it was defeated by Maximilian at Terouenne.

In 1480, old king Réné died, having given up his right to Provence and to the kingdom of Naples to the king. A truce was concluded between Louis and Mary of Burgundy, by which his young son, Charles, was to marry her daughter, Margaret of Austria.

In 1482 Mary of Burgundy died from a fall from her horse, leaving two children, Philippe and Margaret.

In both countries this was a time of much corruption in religion. The long wars in each had demoralized the people, ruined the churches, and involved the abbeys deep in debt. There was much ignorance among the lower clergy, and the higher were generally statesmen. Though the Great Schism had long been ended, the mischief it had done was not repaired. Printing had been invented, and under the patronage of the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy many English works were printed by Caxton.

In 1478, George, who had never been trusted by Edward since his treason, was sent to the Tower and there put to death.

In 1480, there was a short war with Scotland.

In 1484, the States-General were convoked, and relaxed the most oppressive ordinances of Louis, releasing his victims from captivity. There was a great conspiracy against the power of Anne of Beaujeu on the part of all the princes and nobility, but she repressed them with great ability, though they continued full of discontent, and continually forming plots against her. The Duke of Brittany and the Duke of Orleans (next heir to the throne) were jealous of her authority, and were resolved on striking a blow for the old influence of the great princes of France.

In 1484, the Duke of Brittany, François, received and sheltered Henry Tudor.

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In 1489, Henry VII. joined the alliance for the defence of Brittany.

The resources of the Crown had been much diminished by the wars of York and Lancaster, and Henry was forced to be very parsimonious. He was also very grasping, and was always unpopular, though the country was too weary of civil war for a serious rebellion; and the great nobles, who ever since Magna Charta had domineered over the Crown, had been almost entirely broken in strength.

In 1491, Henry, on pretext of the French war, levied large contributions from his people by the name of benevolences.

A Fleming, called Perkin Warbeck, patronized by Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy, professed to be the young Duke of York killed in the Tower.

America was discovered. Alexander VI. was elected pope. He was a Spaniard of the House of Borgia, and his flagrant wickedness greatly corrupted the whole Church.

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In 1513, Julius II. died. Leo X., magnificent, expensive, and worldly, was elected. Henry VIII. crossed to Calais, and laid siege to Terouenne. He defeated the French, who tried to relieve it, at Guingatte, in what was called the Battle of the Spurs, joined Maximilian, and together took Tournai.

In 1518, Maximilian's death brought his grandson CHARLES V. to the Imperial throne. He was already lord of the Low Countries and king of Spain.

In 1520, Henry and François met to concert measures against Charles at Ardres, near Calais, each displaying such splendour that the place was called the Field of the Cloth of Gold; but Wolsey being in Charles's interest brought about a meeting between

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Far too much influence was allowed by the king to his mother, Louise of Savoy, a vain and dissolute woman.

In 1522, Leo X. died, and Adrian VI., Charles V.'s tutor, was elected to the Papacy. Henry VIII. joined the league with the Emperor against the French.

In 1525, François marched into Italy and besieged Pavia. In a battle with the Imperial forces, headed by the Marquis of Pescara and the Constable de Bourbon, he was defeated, wounded, and made prisoner. He was sent to Spain, where he fell sick, and was visited by his sister Marguerite, who negotiated for his deliverance.

The classical taste was at its height in Italy, and painting, sculpture, and architecture were all grand, though without the religious spirit of the Gothic.

Henry VIII., afraid that Charles V. was becoming too powerful, and dissatisfied with his conduct, deserted him, and allied himself with France.

In 1527, a German army of adventurers, led by Bourbon, marched to Rome. He was killed in the assault, but the city was taken and sacked, and the Pope became a captive.

The French were becoming much more influenced towards a reform of the Church by John Calvin, who founded a sect more removed from Rome than the Lutheran.

In 1530, Henry began to try to obtain a judgment from the universities against his marriage, and the legitimacy of his daughter Mary.

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In 1537, a conference was held at Nice, where the Pope tried to reconcile the king and the emperor. They would not meet in his presence, but did so immediately after at Aigues Mortes, where a truce was made, but without ending the quarrel. All this time François cruelly persecuted the Calvinists in his own kingdom.

He was a great lover of art, and patronized the great Italian painters, Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaelle.