genet, had, as I related to you in my first Lecture, Henry III. larger possessions in France than William. He was A.D. 1216. lord of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Aquitaine, and Poitou; but he did homage for them to the King of France, as his feudal superior. During the absence of Richard the Crusader in the Holy Land, Philip Augustus King of France, endeavoured to seize these provinces; but John, when he succeeded to the throne, ruled over nearly the whole of the French coast, from the borders of Flanders to the foot of the Pyrenees. John had derived this dominion from his how acfather Henry the Second, who received Normandy quired, from the Conqueror; Aquitaine and Poitou from his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the divorced wife of Louis the Seventh of France; and Anjou, Maine, and Touraine from his father Geoffrey Plantagenet. But he soon lost the greater part of his French possessions. It was the great object of Philip Augustus to increase the royal domain of France, which, at his accession, consisted only of a small extent of territory round Paris, and indeed in no way representing the territory we mean now when we speak of France.

"If one compares the power of the King of France, to that of the King of England (in France), at the accession of Philip Augustus, A.D. 1179, one is surprised at the disproportion. The Boulonnais, Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Brittany, formed, to the north of the Loire, a sovereignty, compact, and superior in extent to that of the King of France, which comprised only the Isle of France, and a part of Picardy and of the Orleannois. While, if Henry the Second divided with his suzerain, or feudal lord, the sovereignty of the provinces north of the Loire, he was almost sole possessor of the provinces to the south,

Henry III. or which extended between the Rhone, the Loire, the A.D. 1216. Pyrenees, and the Western Ocean. Touraine, Poitou, Angoumois, Saintonge, Guienne, Gascony, le Berri, la Manche, le Limousin, and the greatest part of Auvergne belonged to him. The Count of Toulouse did him homage for that province, of which he had always defended the independance; and the possessions of the King of Aragon, along the Mediterranean, from Perpignan to the mouths of the Rhone, were placed, by treaties of alliance, in a sort of dependance on him. The power, or influence, of England, thus extended over forty-seven of the departments, while Philip Augustus hardly ruled over twenty." 1

and

how lost.

Philip Augustus desired to obtain possession of the whole country. The various duchies, which only feudally submitted to him, had maintained an independance which he wished to destroy; and whenever he had, for a time, subjected them, they soon began to be dissatisfied with his government, and welcomed back John. But Philip Augustus took nearly the whole of Aquitaine from John, in the beginning of the 13th century; and by a treaty signed at Parthenay, in 1214, a truce for five years was agreed on between John and Philip Augustus, the conditions of which were, that John should give up all his possessions north of the Loire, viz. Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. Thus Philip Augustus greatly increased the domain of the King of France, and Henry the Third, at his accession, possessed only Gascony, and part of Guienne. He probably held some castles, and had some indefinite hold on parts of Poitou, but the province itself, as a whole, had submitted to Philip Augustus.

We must now see what success Louis had obtained

in England. He had landed at Sandwich, and had Henry III. then laid siege to, and taken, the castle of Rochester. A.D. 1216. In London, he had been received with open arms, quisitions barons and citizens meeting him in procession. All in Eng

French ac

land.

Siege of Castle. (From Royal MSS. E. G. 6. St. Denis,
343. Brit. Mus.)

the counties, in the neighbourhood of the capital,
submitted to him, and the men of Lincolnshire and
Yorkshire declared in his favour. He possessed a
great part of the open country, but every fortress
of importance was garrisoned by Henry's troops, or
was in the possession of those who had been John's
partisans.

Henry's Position on his Accession to the Throne.

This was a difficult position for the young King. At John's death Henry was only nine years old. while John was still alive, Louis had turned

But,

away

King.

Henry III. many barons from his own cause by his profuse gifts A.D. 1216. of power and honours to his countrymen. He had made the Count de Nevers, Earl of Winchelsea, and Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln. Many powerful barons had in consequence returned to King John, who was very liberal of promises to those who came to his help. From these causes, at Henry's accession he had a powerful body of friends to support him, and his youth enlisted others on his side. Many were naturally touched with the helplessness of the youth, willing to support him in defence of his throne against a foreigner, and hopeful, that from him they might obtain those rights, which his father had wrested from them. Henry too was sure of the Pope's support, which in those days was a matter of great moment. The Pope had excommunicated Louis, and all John's opponents, and of course lent his spiritual aid to the young King.

The Earlof Pembroke appointed

William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, a powerful baron, who had remained true to John, was appointed guardian. guardian of the kingdom, and the young King was placed under his care. He was a man of great ability, and it was mainly to his wisdom, that Henry was indebted for the speedy possession of his throne.

So soon as the death of John was publicly known, the Earl of Pembroke summoned the earls, bishops, and barons who had remained true to the late King, to meet him at Gloucester; whither he had taken Prince Henry. He then addressed them, and said: "that, although they had persecuted his father for "his evil deeds, yet the son was innocent of his "father's faults; and that therefore they ought to have "pity on his tender age and make him their King, and

"expel Louis the son of the French King." "Let Henry III. "him be made king," was their answer; and a few A.D. 1216. days afterwards he was crowned at Gloucester: but, Coronathe crown itself having been lost with John's baggage, young King. a plain circle of gold was used in its stead.

tion of the

The first act of Henry's reign, performed of course Confirmaby the advice of his guardian, was the confirmation Charter. of John's Charter. No time was lost in binding Henry to govern according to its provisions.

Military Operations of the French and the
Barons against the King.

Louis carried on the war with vigour. At John's death he was besieging Dover. In full expectation that the King's death would discourage its defenders, he summoned Hubert de Burgh, the constable of the castle, to surrender; promising him great honours if he yielded. But Hubert replied, that “although his master was dead, yet he had left sons who ought to succeed him;" and he resolved to hold out. Louis therefore raised the siege, and marched to London; from whence he proceeded to Hertford, the castle of which he took after a stout resistance. He then went on to Berkhamsted; where, it is related, the barons of his party pitched their tents on the north side "towards the forest." He took this castle also; and then, having secured possession of what were probably the two most formidable castles near London on the north side, he returned to the capital. But, on his way, he forced the abbot of St. Albans to pay him a large sum of money, under a threat of burning the abbey and the town. This was about Christmas time, and a short truce was consequently agreed on.

The

French be

siege Dover, but fail

to take it.

They take Hertford and Berkhamsted,

and levy St. Albans.

money on

Short

truce.