<p><span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-020.png" width-obs="600" height-obs="355" alt="Henry the Third." title="" /></div>
<div class="sidenote"><span class="smcap">a.d. 1216.</span></div>
<div class='cap'>HENRY THE THIRD was crowned at Gloucester when he was only
nine years old. You remember that King John's crown had been
lost in the Wash with his other treasures, so they crowned Henry with a
gold bracelet of his mother's. The lords who attended the coronation
banquet wore white ribbons round their heads as a sign of their homage
to the innocent, helpless child. They made him swear to do as his father
had promised in the great charter sealed at Runnymede; and the Earl of
Pembroke was appointed to govern the kingdom till Henry grew up.</div>
<p>Henry grew up unlike his cruel father. He was gentle, tenderhearted,
fond of romance, music and poetry, sculpture, painting and
architecture. Some of the most beautiful churches we have were built in
his reign. But, though he had so many good qualities, he had no bravery,
no energy and perseverance. He was fond of pleasure and of the beautiful
things of this world, and cared too little for the beautiful things of
the soul. He was fond of gaiety, and his young queen was of the same
disposition. She was one of four sisters. Two of these sisters married
kings and two married counts, and the kings' wives were so proud of
being queens that they used to make their sisters, the countesses, sit
on little low stools while they themselves sat on handsome high chairs.<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>Henry's time passed in feasts and songs and dancing. Romances and
curious old Breton ballads were translated into English, and recited at
the Court with all sorts of tales of love and battle and chivalry.</p>
<p>The object of chivalry was to encourage men in noble and manly
exercises, and to teach them to succour the oppressed, to uphold the
dignity of women, and to help the Christian faith. And chivalry was
made attractive by all sorts of gay and pretty devices. Knights used to
wear in their helmets a ribbon or a glove that some lady had given them,
and it was supposed that, while they had the precious gift of a good lady
in their possession, they would do nothing base or disloyal that should
dishonour the gift they carried.</p>
<div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-021.png" width-obs="254" height-obs="375" alt="Page" title="" /></div>
<p>Each young noble at twelve years old was placed as page in some
other noble household. There, for two years, he
learned riding and fencing, and the use of arms.
When the lord killed a deer the pages skinned
it and carried it home. At a feast the pages
carried in the chief dishes and poured the wine
for their lords to drink. They helped the ladies
of the house in many ways, and carried their
trains on state occasions.</p>
<p>At fourteen a page became a squire. He
helped his lord to put on his
armour, carried his shield to
battle, cleaned and polished his
lord's armour and sharpened his
sword, and he was allowed to
wear silver spurs instead of
iron ones, such as the common
people wore.</p>
<p>When he was considered
worthy to become a knight he
went through a ceremony which
dedicated him to the service of
God.</p>
<p>The day before he was to
become a knight the young man<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></SPAN></span>
stripped and bathed. Then he put on a white tunic—the white as a
promise of purity; a red robe—the red meant the blood he was to shed in
fighting for the right; and he put on a black doublet (which is a sort of
jacket), and this was black in token of death, of which a knight was never
to be afraid. Then he went into the church, and there he spent the night
in prayer. He heard the priests singing their chant in the darkness of the
big church, and he thought of his sins, and steadfastly purposed to lead a
new life. In the morning he confessed his sins, walked up to the altar,
laid down his belt and sword, and then knelt at the foot of the altar
steps. He received the Holy Communion, and then the lord who was to
make him a knight gave him the accolade—three strokes on the back of
the bare neck with the flat side of the sword—and said:</p>
<p>"In the name of Saint George I make thee a knight,"—and bade
him take back his sword—"in the name of God and Saint George, and
use it like a true knight as a terror and punishment for evil-doers, and a
defence for widows and orphans, and the poor, and the oppressed, and the
priests—the servants of God."</p>
<p>The priests and the ladies came round him and put on his gilt spurs,
and his coat of mail, and his breastplate, and armpieces, and gauntlets,
and took the sword and girded it on him. Then the young man swore to
be faithful to God, the King, and woman; his squire brought him his
helmet, and his horse's shoes rang on the church pavement and under the
tall arches as his squire led the charger up the aisle. In the presence of
priests, and knights, and ladies assembled, the young knight sprang upon
his horse and caracoled before the altar, brandishing his lance and his
sword. And then away to do the good work he was sworn to.</p>
<p>Many, of course, forgot their promises and broke their vows, but in
those wild times many a rough man was made gentle, many a cruel man
less cruel, and many a faint-hearted one made bold by the noble thoughts
from which the idea of chivalry sprang.</p>
<p>Now, you know, England is governed by the Queen and Parliament.
But in those old days England was ruled by the King and by such nobles
as had money and strength enough to be able to rule by force. These
nobles were indeed a terror to the people. They lived in strong, stoutly-built
castles, with a great moat or ditch round them, and having always
many retainers and armed servants, they were often able to resist the<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></SPAN></span>
King himself. It was the growing
power and riches of the
King which they most dreaded,
for he only could do them harm.
It was then for their own sakes—to
guard their own persons,
to protect their own property
against the King—rather than
from any desire to help the
people, that the barons resisted
first John and then Henry.</p>
<div class='center'> <table class="throne" summary="throne">
<tr><td align='left'><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>
<div class='blockquot3'>But among them was a
noble, unselfish man, who loved
his fellow countrymen, and who saw, that to make people rich, and
happy, and prosperous, they must be allowed to share in the government
of the country in which they live. This noble Englishman, Simon de
Montfort, was called the great Earl, and it was he who headed the
resistance to Henry the Third, when that King tried to escape from<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></SPAN></span>
keeping the promises contained in the Great Charter which he had bound
himself to obey.</div>
<br/><br/></td></tr></table></div>
<p>The resistance grew so strong that at last there was war in England.
At the Battle of Lewes, Simon de Montfort defeated Henry and took him
prisoner, and with him was his son, Prince Edward. Then at last a
Parliament was called. Two knights were sent to it from each county,
and from every town two citizens. It was chiefly to get these towns
represented in Parliament that the great Earl opposed the King.</p>
<p>Prince Edward was very anxious to escape and fight another battle
for his father. So he pretended to be very ill. When he got better he
asked his gaolers to let him go out riding for the benefit of his health.
They agreed, but of course, they sent a guard of soldiers out with him
to see that he did not escape. Prince Edward rode out for several days
with them and never even tried to get away. But one day he begged
them to ride races with each other, while he looked on. They did so,
and when their horses were quite tired, he shouted, "I have long enough
enjoyed the pleasure of your company, gentlemen, and I bid you good-day,"
put spurs to his horse, and was soon out of their reach. His friend,
the Earl of Gloucester, joined him, and they soon raised an army and
defeated the great Earl at Evesham.</p>
<div class="sidenote"><span class="smcap">A.D. 1265.</span></div>
<p>"Let us commend our souls to God," said Simon, as Prince Edward
and his men came down upon him and the little band of knights who
stood by his side. One by one the knights fell, till Simon only was left.
He hacked his way through his foes, and had nearly escaped when his
horse was brought to the ground, and a death wound was given him from
behind. "It is God's grace," he said, and died. But though the leader
died, the work was done, and a Parliament established in England.</p>
<p>Some of the priests in England had grown very wicked and greedy.
They neglected their duties and thought only of feasting and making
themselves comfortable. But some good monks came over from Rome,
and determined to try to show the English priests what a Christian's
duty was. They made a vow to be poor, and to deny themselves
everything, except just enough food to keep body and soul together.
They would not even have books at first, but spent all the money they
could collect on the poor. They nursed the sick and helped the
unfortunate. They would not wear pretty clothes or beautiful vestments,<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></SPAN></span>
but were dressed in plain grey or black serge, with a rope round the
waist, and bare feet. Although they were foreigners and could speak
but little English, they encouraged people to write in the English
language instead of in Latin or French.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-025.png" width-obs="600" height-obs="374" alt="In bed" title="" /></div>
<p>It was a favourite dream of the early English and French kings to
take Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Saracens, and
to let Christians be the guardians of the place where Christ lived and
died. To do this they were constantly making war on the Saracens, and
these wars were called Crusades, and the knights who went to them
Crusaders. Crusaders carried a red cross on their banners and on their
shields. The Saracens' banners and shields had a crescent like a new
moon. For two hundred years this fighting went on, and the last of
our English princes to take part in it was Prince Edward. He had only
three hundred knights with him, and was not able to attack Jerusalem,
because he could not get together more than seven thousand men.
His knights went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but he stayed in his
camp at Acre. One day a messenger came into his tent with letters,
and while he was reading them the wicked messenger stabbed him. He
had been sent to do so by the Saracens, because they were afraid of this<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></SPAN></span>
brave prince. The prince caught the blow on his arm, and kicked
the messenger to the ground, but the man rose and rushed at him
again with the knife. The dagger just grazed the prince's forehead,
and seizing a wooden footstool Prince Edward dashed out the messenger's
brains. His wife, the Princess Eleanor, was afraid the dagger was
poisoned. So she sucked the blood from his wound with her own
lips, and so most likely saved his life. But he was very ill in spite
of this, and England nearly lost one of her best and bravest princes.</p>
<div class="sidenote"><span class="smcap">a.d. 1272.</span></div>
<p>As soon as he was well enough to travel, he set out for England,
and on the way he was met with the sad news that his father and two
of his children were dead. So he became King of England, and he was
the father of the first Prince of Wales.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i-026.png" width-obs="194" height-obs="200" alt="PRINCESS ELEANOR" title="" /></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/chapterbreaks.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="92" alt="Border" title="" /></div>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.