The long list may be broken off with the confession made by a contemporary1: Mout furent bons les Barons, Mès touz ne sai nomer lur noms, Many and good were the barons bold, At the risk of weariness, the fortunes and alliances of the principal actors in the battle of Lewes have been thus purposely detailed: such facts may teach us a livelier sympathy with the historical characters of former days, whom we are too apt to consider only as so many bright names", instead of men having the same domestic ties, and passions, and motives as ourselves; they are interesting also as the remote ancestors of many families still existing among us, and as enabling us to note, from the frequency of their intermarriages, how few in number the great nobles then were, and how sternly they held themselves, as a class, apart from all such connection with the people at large; but a higher and more solemn duty would also seem to require the particulars of these opposing kinsmen, in order to bring home the evils of civil war more pointedly to the feelings of all who know how to value those links of kindred which were designed to "knit society into a willing harmony." According to the proverb of the clans, "Blood is warmer than water;" but even the genial warmth of family love is too readily overpowered by the feverish passions of civil discord, and it is but seldom that the glory of success can compensate on such occasions for the stifling of the earliest and best emotions of our nature. 1 Polit. S. from Roll, thirteenth century. For a very curious list of the barons and knights of Durham who fought at Lewes, see Hutchinson's History of Durham, Vol. 11. p. 219, ed. 1787, and MS. Bodl. Laud. 1. 52, by Bishop Tunstall, temp. Hen. IV. This reflection is ably urged by Professor Creasy in his "Spirit of Historical Study;" and on this principle he recommends the detailed examination of a detached portion of history, rather than the hurried view of a wider sphere-a practical suggestion, of which the author of these pages has experienced the benefit. CHAPTER X. THE BATTLE OF LEWES. Hæc Angli de prælio legite Lewensi, Polit. S. from MS. Harl. 978. Read, Britons, of the Lewes fight, AFTER these dispositions of the barons' forces were made, their march was continued towards Lewes, along the smooth declivity of the Downs; and, according to one account, some parties were sent forward, with the hope of driving the King out of the town by setting it on fire at several points. The royalists, however, although in haughty security their preparations had been loosely made, were not inactive as soon as their scouts had aroused' them from their beds to a knowledge of the impending crisis. It was but two days before (May 12), that the King had sealed at Lewes letters patent to confiscate the lands of John Cobham and William Say of Kent, for having opposed him at Rochester, and to grant them to Prince Edward, in the easy confidence of victory. Another remarkable document was now drawn up, on this morning of 1 "Per castra expergefacti quantocius in arma colligunt."-Chr. Roff. MSS. Nero D. II. Rot. Pat. 48° H. III. It will be seen, however, that William de Say made his peace with the King, as he headed a body of Royalists in their retreat from the battle of Lewes. approaching battle, bearing evident signs of haste and confusion; and, indeed, the parties who witnessed it never met again on that day or for a long time afterwards. It is endorsed, as having been drawn up irregularly, and was probably intended to be sent abroad by some one who was prevented by the issue of the battle. After reciting the 5th Article of the treaty with the French King, before referred to, by which the sum for the maintenance of 500 horsemen for two years was to be settled by commissioners, King Henry thus proceeds : "Whereas we, not caring to wait for the arbitration of others on this matter, came to this amicable conclusion, by the advice of worthy men, and by common consent, that the said Lord King should be held bound to us for 134,000 livres Tournois, to provide for the expence of 500 soldiers as before said; We have since received all the sum, and acknowledge that full satisfaction has been made to us by the said King concerning it, giving quittance for ever to the said Lord King of France, on behalf of ourselves and our heirs; but since we have already expended a great part of the said total sum of 134,000 L. T. for the advantage of the kingdom of England, we promise that we will expend the remainder of the same money in the service of God, or of the Church, or for the advantage of the kingdom of England, as we are bound to do, and as is more fully contained in the form of the treaty. "In testimony of which matter, given at Lewes, on the 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1264, and in the 48th year of our reign, by the King himself, by the King of Alemain, by Roger de Leiburne, and by others of the King's council. "And be it known that Master Arnulph, Chancellor of the King of Alemain, dictated and wrote the above letter with his own hands, without the advice and assent of any Clerk of the Chancery, and it was countersigned before the council of our Lord the King, at Lewes, on the day above stated1." The clause in the original treaty, which put the expenditure of this money under the control of the twenty-four elected councillors, had been long disregarded by the King; and it would seem from this document that he still had in hand some portion of this dangerous supply from his brother King, although the two years of the treaty had been long passed; unless indeed, under cover of the stipulation, Louis 1 Rymer. had from political motives exceeded the promised sum thus formally acknowledged1. Prince Edward, issuing from the castle, was promptly' afield, and chose his position at once, on the nearest point to the right, or north, opposite the advancing Londoners, whom he marked out as his personal foes; while around him thronged de Warenne, de Valence, and all the more youthful and ardent spirits of the camp, proud of such a leader. Towards the south the King of the Romans with his gallant son commanded the left wing, and prepared to meet the young de Montforts. King Henry himself, though he had never shewn any talent for war, yet felt all the importance of the struggle, and took up his place as a central reserve; though no longer young, he had yet all the courage and strength fit for a king and soldier on this emergency, and never did he better prove them, or had greater need of them. The great nobles of his court formed a body-guard near his person, and he flung a haughty defiance to the enemy, as his dragon standard was displayed before him : "Ther the bataile suld be, to Leaus thai gan them aile, The Kyng and his meyne were in the pryorie: Symon cam to the feld, and put up his banere, The Kyng schewd forth his scheld, his dragon full austere; 1 By a letter, dated Westminster, May 13th, 1260, King Henry had sent to borrow 5000 marcs, to be reckoned for according to the treaty: by another, Westminster, Dec. 12, 1261, he acknowledged the receipt of 10,416 L.T.; and also 10,000 marcs in 1262.-Rymer, Rot. Pat. "De sua virtute Satis gloriantibus, ut putarent tutè Et sine periculo velut absorbere Quotquot adminiculo Comitis fuere." -V. 109, Polit. S. As some of those who afterwards fled are expressly mentioned as accompanying P. Edward (W. Heming.), it is important to their characters to remark that they could not have fled till the battle was over. T. Wyke, however, places P. Henry with P. Edward. 5 Posterior cohors 400 loricati." -M. West. The Worcester Chr. states the royal army to have been 60,000 men, and the barons' 40,000. This royal banner of the dragon has been noticed by all the chroniclers', as an especial signal of Henry's resolution to give no quarter. Some suppose that he adopted it as the device of the West Saxons (a golden dragon on a red shield), but it was more probably a mere personal cognizance rather than an heraldic bearing. The order for the creation of this "austere" beast is still extant. Edward FitzOdo, the King's goldsmith, was commanded in 1244. to make it "in the manner of a standard or ensign, of red samit, to be embroidered with gold, and his tongue to appear as though continually moving, and his eyes of sapphire, or other stones agreeable to him3:" "Then was ther a dragon grete and grimme, Full of fyre and also venymme, With a wide throte and tuskes grete1." It had been hoisted at Chester" in 1257, previous to an invasion of Wales, and again lately at Oxford :— "With his ost he wende both, and arerde is Dragon 6."-ROB. GLOUC. The dragon may fairly be presumed of heraldic kin to the griffon, of which it is said, that "having attained his full groweth, it will never be taken alive, wherein he doth adumbrate, or rather lively set forth the propertie of a valourous soldier, whose magnanimitie is such as hee had rather expose himselfe to all dangers, and even to death itselfe, than to become captive;" his being rampant being an "evident testimonie of his readiness for action"." In 1264, however, the dragon could be no peculiar attribute of kingly wrath, for it was in common use by other war 1 Oxenede's Chr.: "The dragon, which, when seen in the army, is the sign of death and mighty revenge." W. Rish.: "With outspread banners preceded by the royal standard, which they call the dragon, foretokening the judgment of death." [It had already been displayed on the royal march to Northampton. - Ann. de Dunstapliâ, p. 229.] 2 Lingard's Hist. - Walpole's Anecd. It was to be kept in Westminster Abbey till the King came there. Poem of Sir Degore, in Warton's Hist. Poetry, p. 180. 5 M. Par. 6" With his army he turned about and reared his dragon." 7 This lively adumbration is from Guillim's Heraldry. |