granted (Oct. 3, 1254) the principality of Capua to Thomas, Count of Maurienne, the Queen's brother. Aigue-blanche received the investiture of Sicily by a ring, as his proxy, June 22, 1257, not long before the good sense of the English barons renounced the title.

Twice again (in 1255 and 1256) was the great Charter publicly confirmed, and afterwards disregarded; when the barons, whose good faith had been so often abused, at length resolved to secure themselves and the state from the ruinous incompetence of their King. This they put into effect at the great council, summoned at Oxford, in 1258. Their Sovereign

"Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong,

And in conclusion led them to seek out

This head of safety."

HEN. IV. 1

The great civil struggle began in consequence from this period, and before entering into the different events of the contest, it will be well to consider the character of some of the leading actors not before referred to. Among the King's friends, those of superior historical importance were his brother and his son.

The Prince Richard, Earl of Cornwall, prominent by birth and immense wealth', was much superior in capacity to the King his brother, and had on several occasions expressed disgust at his arbitrary conduct. Although, when he confederated with other barons (in 1227, 1233, 1237) to enforce the Charter, he had been as often won back to the court party by personal or other motives, yet he fully shared in

the universal jealousy of the thriving foreigners who surrounded the King. He often sat in council at the Exchequer to advise the King in money-matters1. But he felt so strongly that his influence was not powerful enough to sway the King to better counsels, that, on his departure for the Crusade, in 1240, he confessed his anxiety to be "absent from the sight of those evils which he foresaw would, in consequence, gather upon his family and the kingdom?" Some years afterwards his prudence induced him to repel the offer of the Sicilian throne for himself, but it unhappily yielded to the temptation of another title equally profitless, and he was crowned King of the Romans at Aixla-Chapelle, in May, 1257, by the suffrages of Mainz, Cologne and Bavaria, though never acknowledged by the greater part of Germany. His wealth seems to have been the principal inducement with the electors who raised him to this rank3.

Prince Edward displayed, in early manhood, decided symptoms of sound principle and energy, in remarkable contrast to the King his father, of whom he soon became the ablest defender and friend.

The Horatian maxim of

1 He is recorded as present, 1230, with H. de Burgh, the Justiciary, R. Earl of Chester, G. Earl of Glocester, W. Earl of Warenne, W. Earl of Albemarle, H. Earl of Hertford, J. Earl of Huntingdon, and other barons determining, "quod talliæ factæ ante guerram, quæ recognitæ fuerint de Scaccario et non fuerunt hucusque allocatæ, allocentur;" and on Feb. 12, 1270, making better arrangement for the King's debts in Exchequer, with Walter, Archbp. of York, Godfrey, Bp. of Worcester, Prince Edward, W. de Valence, our brother, Roger de Mortimer, Philip Basset, Henry de Aleman, Robert Aguillon, Robert Waleran and others.-Madox, Hist. Exch. 1711, folio.

2 M. Par.

3 K. Richard presented his regalia, a crown and robes, to the church at

is curiously opposed to the history of British sovereigns. Neither Edward I. nor Edward III. were born of "the great and good;" nor were the dove-like Edward II., Richard II., or Henry VI. true to the eagle-breed of their fathers.

Prince Edward's birth, June 17, 1239, after three years' marriage', had been welcomed with the utmost joy by his father and the nation. When only 15 he was betrothed' at Burgos to the beautiful Eleanor of Castile, receiving knighthood at the time from his brother-in-law, King Alphonso X.3, at whose court his gallant demeanor attracted much admiration; his ample dowry consisted of Gascony, Ireland, part of Wales, Bristol, and other lands, the value of which, if deficient, was engaged to be completed to 15,000 marks (£10,000) a year. Such early marriages, or rather espousals, were then common; but a year elapsed before the bride came (about Michaelmas 1255) to her husband, preceded by her brother Senchius, Archbishop-elect of Toledo, though only in his 20th year. The surprise of the English was much excited by so youthful a prelate, and by the unusual luxury of his domestic habits; they were disposed to scoff when the youth raised his hand with the pastoral ring to bless them, and still more when they observed his lodging at the Temple' with

1 "Natus est regi filius ex insperato."-Chr. Lanerc.

He recorded his assent to his own marriage by a deed, dated Morrow of Saint Mary Magdalen, 1254.— Rymer. Lous IX., when of the age of 19, had married a queen of 13 years. Alexander III., of Scotland, was only 9 years old when he married the daughter of Henry III. The Bishop of Worcester, Peter de Montfort, and Robert Waleran, were appointed to receive King Alphonso's letters of security for Prince Edward's journey (dated Toledo, Kal. Apr.), and they were to deposit a copy of them at Bayonne, before they went into Spain, for fear of accidents. -Rymer, 1254.

3 Vedrassi la lussuria, e'l viver molle

Di quel di Spagna."

Par. 19. 124.

4 "Fecit tapeciis, palliis et cortinis, etiam pavimentum nimis pompose adornare."-M. Par. The King by a letter from Nottingham, July 25, 1255, in expectation of the arrival of the Archbishop of Toledo and Garsyas Martini, as ambassadors from the King of Castille, to whom he was anxious especially to do honour (quos rex quam plurimum optat honorari) desires his chamberlain, in London, John de Gysore, to send four casks of good wine to be put in the cellars of the New Temple. By another order of the same date he ordered Richard de Muntfichet, the warden of his forest in Essex, to take ten deer (damos) and cause them to be conveyed to the New Temple. By

tapestry and curtains and carpets. At a time when our kings' palaces were strewn with rushes', and the windows had no glass, the introduction of such luxuries by these children of the South was derided as effeminacy: they had probably adopted the use of carpets from the Spanish Mohammedans, among whom, as among all others of oriental origin, the universal habit of sitting on the ground had made them from the earliest times almost necessaries. King Henry displayed much gallantry in preparing the rooms destined for the Princess in a manner similar to those of the archbishop, and on her arrival she found silken hangings3 on her walls, and carpets on her floors, much to the wonder and envy of the English. Two jongleurs who came in the archbishop's train, received twenty shillings each from the King in return for their entertainment; while another attendant, Garcias Martinez, had an annuity of 100 marcs (£66. 138. 4d.) granted to him.

Prince Edward was soon forced into conspicuous action by the circumstances of the court. Some Gascon merchants, who considered themselves entitled to his special protection against some illegal exaction, obtained redress by his bold. reproaches, although this soon rendered him an object of disfavour at court, and of this he became so conscious that he kept a guard of 200 horsemen about his person. These military comrades unfortunately behaved with so much insolent licence towards the people, helping themselves to the horses and vehicles of other persons with violence and cruelty, that

another order, July 26, he desires the mayor and sheriffs of London to receive the said ambassadors with courtesy and honour, and to proclaim that no insult should be offered to any of their suite.-Rymer.

1 In 1222 there is a grant to Richer de Fonte of 3s. 8d. for rushes to the King's two chambers, and 38. 4d. for rushes for his great chamber. In 1223, 3s. 11d. for rushes for two chambers, and 158. 9d. for rushes for

the King's houses.—

Brayley's Westm. 31.

The Chinese are to this day the only Asiatics who habitually use chairs. Even at Troy, King Priam selected a dozen carpets for Achilles, probably small ones, for sitting.-II. xxiv. 230.

3 "Holosericis palliis et tapeciis, ad similitudinem Templi appensis, etiam pavimentum aulæis redimitum, invenit."-M. Par.

some disrepute was reflected back upon the Prince. Though his income was so large, yet his expenses exceeded it, and he was obliged, in 1258, to pledge some of his estates to William de Valence, for a supply to his extravagance'.

It is but due, however, to the reputation of a Prince who became one of the boasts of British history, to remark that his household as King was both well-regulated and economical; in proof of which may be quoted the account of his expenses during three successive weeks in Lent, 1290, at Langley, co. Bucks. In the first week they were £7. 10s. 41d., in the second, £5. 19s. 14d., and in the third, £51. 2s. 2d.; or, to take a period of four months, they were but £81. 5s. 10d., a rate of domestic expense which, even allowing for the great difference in the value of money, must appear very small.

From the same account it appears that among the provisions for his Lenten fare, were some strange fish for a King's table; besides the "Aberdeens" (herrings cured there), salmon pasties, oysters, eels, lampreys, pikerels, gurnards, "troites" (trout), and "morud" (cod), there are also mentioned congers, whelks, and a gallon of "menus" (minnows). To complete the picture of these olden times, may be added the weekly charges for "litter for the hall and the chamber twenty pence, and for rushes sixteen pence"." Such was the luxury of the thirteenth century.

1 The Prince also endeavoured to raise money by alienating to his uncle Guy de Lusignan the island of Oleron at the mouth of the Charente, which had been granted to him as dower on his marriage. The King wrote to the mayor and prudhommes of Oleron (Westm. 26 Oct., 42°, 1257) stating that such grant had been procured wrongfully (alio modo quam bono) without his assent, and desiring them not to obey Guy. He again wrote to the same effect, (Winton,

July 11, 420, 1258,) and Prince Edward was obliged in consequence to acknowledge his forgetfulness of the clause of non alienation in his own grant, and to revoke the life-grant to Guy, from Sutwerk, Iv. Nov. 43°, 1258. The King wrote again to assure the authorities of Oleron that he would never alienate them from the Crown, in consequence of their fidelity.-Rymer.

2 Archæol. 5. 15, from Rotulus Familiæ MS. in the Tower.