by some one thoroughly familiar with the law of the time
and closely in touch with its enforcement in the king's court.
To us it declares what that law was at the opening of its far-
reaching history, and in its definiteness and certainty as well as
in its arrangement it reveals the great progress that had been
made since the law books of the reign of Henry I. That
progress continued so rapid that within a hundred years
Glanvill's book had become obsolete, but by that time it had
been succeeded by others in the long series of great books
on our common law. Nor ought we perhaps entirely to over-
look another book, as interesting in its way, the Dialogue of
the Exchequer. Written probably by Richard Fitz Neal, of
the third generation of that great administration family
founded by Roger of Salisbury and restored to office by
Henry H, the book gives us a view from within of the finan-
cial organization of the reign as enlightening as is Glanvill's
treatise on the common law.
But besides the growth of the common law, these reforms
involved and carried with them as a second consequence a
great change in the machinery of government and in the
point of view from which it was regarded. We have already
seen how in the feudal state government functions were
undifferentiated and were exercised without consciousness of
inconsistency by a single organ, the curia regis, in which, as
in all public activities, the leading operative element was the
feudal baronage. The changes in the judicial system which
were accomplished in the reign of Henry, especially the
326 HENRY AND HIS SONS 1176
CHAP, giving of a more fixed and permanent character to the courts,
^^ the development of legal procedure into more complicated
and technical forms, and the growth of the law itself in defi-
niteness and body, — these changes meant the necessity of a
trained official class and the decline of the importance of the
purely feudal baronage in the carrying on of government.
This was the effect also of the gradual transformation of the
sheriff into a more strictly ministerial officer and the dimin-
ished value of feudal levies in war as indicated by the exten-
sion of scutage. In truth, at a date relatively as early for
this transformation as for the growth of a national law, the
English state was becoming independent of feudalism. The
strong Anglo-Norman monarchy was attacking the feudal
baron not merely with the iron hand by which disorder and
local independence were repressed, but by finding out better
ways of doing the business of government and so destroying
practically the whole foundation on which political feudaHsm
rested. Of the threatening results of these reforms the baro-
nage was vaguely conscious, and this feeling enters as no
inconsiderable element into the troubles that filled the reign
of Henry's youngest son and led to the first step towards con-
stitutional government.
For a moment serious business was now interrupted by a
bit of comedy, at least it seems comedy to us, though no
doubt it was a matter serious enough to the actors. For
many years there had been a succession of bitter disputes
between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York over ques-
tions of precedence and various ceremonial rights, or to state
it more accurately the Archbishops of York had been for a
long time trying to enforce an exact equality in such mat-
ters with the Archbishops of Canterbury. At mid-Lent,
1776, Cardinal Hugo, the legate, held a council of the Eng-
lish Church in London, and at its opening the dispute led
to actual violence. The cardinal took the seat of the presid-
ing officer, and Richard of Canterbury seated himself on his
right hand. The Archbishop of York on entering found the
seat of honour occupied by his rival, and unwilling to yield,
tried to force himself in between Richard and the cardinal.
One account says that he sat down in Richard's lap. Instantly
there was a tumult. The partisans of Canterbury seized the
1 1 76 HENRY'S SONS IN ENGLAND 327
offending archbishop, bishops we are told even leading the chap.
attack, dragged him away, threw him to the floor, and misused ^^
him seriously. The legate showed a proper indignation at
the disorder caused by the defenders of the rights of Canter-
bury, but found himself unable to go on with the council.
For a year past the young king had been constantly with
his father, kept almost a prisoner, as his immediate household
felt and as we may well believe. Now he began to beg per-
mission to go on a pilgrimage to the famous shrine of St,
James of Compostella, and Henry at last gave his consent,
though he knew the pilgrimage was a mere pretext to escape
to the continent. But the younger Henry was detained at
Portchester some time, waiting for a fair wind ; and Easter
coming on, he returned to Winchester, at his father's request,
to keep the festival with him. In the meantime, Richard and
Geoffrey had landed at Southampton, coming to their father
with troubles of their own, and reached Winchester the day
before Easter Sunday. Henry and his sons were thus to-
gether for the feast, much to his joy we are told ; but it is not
said that Queen Eleanor, who was then imprisoned in Eng-
land, very likely in Winchester itself, was allowed any part in
the celebration. Richard's visit to England was due to a
dangerous insurrection in his duchy, and he had come to ask
his father's help. Henry persuaded the young king to post-
pone his pilgrimage until he should have assisted his brother
to re-establish peace in Aquitaine, and with this understand-
ing they both crossed to the continent about a fortnight after
Easter, but young Henry on landing at once set off with his
wife to visit the king of France. Richard was now nearly
nineteen years old, and in the campaign that followed he dis-
played great energy and vigour and the skill as a fighter for
which he was afterwards so famous, putting down the insurrec-
tion almost without assistance from his brother, who showed
very little interest in any troubles but his own. The young
king, indeed, seemed to be making ready for a new breach
with his father. He was collecting around, him King Henry's
enemies and those who had helped him in the last war, and
was openly displaying his discontent. An incident which
occurred at this time illustrates his spirit. His vice-chancel-
lor, Adam, who thought he owed much to the elder king,
328 HENRY AND HIS SONS 1176
CHAP, attempted to send him a report of his son's doings ; but when
^^ he was detected, the young Henry, finding that he could not put
him to death as he would have liked to do because the Bishop
of Poitiers claimed him as a clerk, ordered him to be sent to
imprisonment in Argentan and to be scourged as a traitor in
all the towns through which he passed on the way.
About the same time an embassy appeared in England
from the Norman court of Sicily to arrange for a marriage
between WilHam II of that kingdom and Henry's youngest
daughter, Joanna. The marriages of each of Henry's daugh-
ters had some influence on the history of England before the
death of his youngest son. His eldest daughter Matilda had
been married in 1168 to Henry the Lion, head of the house
of Guelf in Germany, and his second daughter, Eleanor,
to Alphonso III of Castile, in 1169 or 1170. The ambas-
sadors of King William found themselves pleased with the
little princess whom they had come to see, and sent back a
favourable report, signifying also the consent of King Henry.
In the following February she was married and crowned
queen at Palermo, being then a little more than twelve years
old. Before the close of this year, 11 76, Henry arranged for
another marriage to provide for his youngest son John, now
ten years old. The infant heiress of Maurienne, to whom he
had been years before betrothed, had died soon after, and no
other suitable heiress had since been found whose wealth
might be given him. The inheritance which his father had
now in mind was that of the great Earl Robert of Gloucester,
brother and supporter of the Empress Matilda, his father's
mother. Robert's son William had only daughters. Of
these two were already married, Mabel to Amaury, Count of
Evreux, and Amice to Richard of Clare, Earl of Hertford.
Henry undertook to provide for these by pensions on the un-
derstanding that all the lands of the earldom should go to
John on his marriage with the youngest daughter Isabel. To
this plan Earl William agreed. The marriage itself did not
take place until after the death of King Henry.
An income suitable for his position had now certainly been
secured for the king's youngest son, for in addition to the
Gloucester inheritance that of another of the sons of Henry I,
Reginald, Earl of Cornwall who had died in 1175, leaving
1 1 76 A KINGDOM FOR JOHN 329
only daughters, was held by Henry for his use, and still chap.
earlier the earldom of Nottingham had been assigned him. ^^
At this time, however, or very soon after, a new plan sug-
gested itself to his father for conferring upon him a rank and
authority proportionate to his brothers'. Ireland was giving
more and more promise of shaping itself before long into a
fairly well-organized feudal state. If it seems to us a tur-
bulent realm, where a central authority was likely to secure
little obedience, we must remember that this was still the
twelfth century, the height of the feudal age, and that to
the ruler of Aquitaine Ireland might seem to be progressing
more rapidly to a condition of what passed as settled order
than to us. Since his visit to the island, Henry had kept a
close watch on the doings of his Norman vassals there and
had held them under a firm hand. During the rebellion of
1 1 73 he had had no trouble from them. Indeed, they had
served him faithfully in that struggle and had been rewarded
for their fidelity. In the interval since the close of the war
some advance in the Norman occupation had been made.
There seemed to be a prospect that both the south-west and
the north-east — the southern coast of Munster and the eastern
coast of Ulster — might be acquired. Limerick had been
temporarily occupied, and it was hoped to gain it perma-
nently. Even Connaught had been successfully invaded.
Possibly it was the hope of securing himself against attacks
of this sort which he may have foreseen that led Roderick of
Connaught to acknowledge himself Henry's vassal by formal
treaty. If he had any expectation of this sort, he was dis-
appointed, for the invaders of Ireland paid no attention to
the new relationship, nor did Henry himself any longer than
suited his purpose.
We are now told that Henry had formed the plan of erect-
ing Ireland into a kingdom, and that he had obtained from
Alexander III permission to crown whichever of his sons he
pleased and to make him king of the island. Very possibly
the relationship with Scotland, which he had lately put into
exact feudal form, suggested the possibility of another sub-
ordinate kingdom and of raising John in this way to an
equality with Richard and Geoffrey. At a great council held
at Oxford in May, 1177, the preliminary steps were taken
330
HENRY AND HIS SONS 1177
CHAP, towards putting this plan into operation. Some regulation
^^ of Irish affairs was necessary. Richard '' Strongbow," Earl
of Pembroke and Lord of Leinster, who had been made
justiciar after the rebeUion, had died early in 11 76, and his
successor in office, William Fitz Adelin, had not proved the
right man in the place. There were also new conquests to
be considered and new homages to be rendered, if the plan
of a kingdom was to be carried out. His purpose Henry
announced to the council, and the Norman barons, some
for the lordships originally assigned them, some for new
ones like Cork and Limerick, did homage in turn to John
and to his father, as had been the rule in all similar cases.
Hugh of Lacy, Henry's first justiciar, was reappointed to
that office, but there was as yet no thought of sending John,
who was then eleven years old, to occupy his future kingdom.
It was a crowded two years which Henry spent in Eng-
land. Only the most important of the things that occupied
his attention have we been able to notice, but the minor
activities which filled his days make up a great sum of work
accomplished. Great councils were frequently held; the judi-
cial reforms and the working of the administrative machinery
demanded constant attention ; the question of the treatment
to be accorded to one after another of the chief barons who
had taken part in the rebellion had to be decided ; fines and
confiscations were meted out, and finally the terms on which the
offenders were to be restored to the royal favour were settled.
The castles occasioned the king much anxiety, and of those
that were allowed to stand the custodians were more than once
changed. The affairs of Wales were frequently considered,
and at last the king seemed to have arranged permanent
relations of friendship with the princes of both north and
south Wales. In March, 11 77, a great council decided a
question of a kind not often coming before an English court.
The kings of Castile and Navarre submitted an important
dispute between them to the arbitration of King Henry, and
the case was heard and decided in a great council in London
— no slight indication of the position of the English king
in the eyes of the world.
Ever since early February, 11 77, Henry had been planning
to cross over to Normandy with all the feudal levies of Eng-
1 1 77 A TREATY WITH FRANCE 331
land. There were reasons enough for his presence there, and chap.
with a strong hand. Richard's troubles were not yet over, ^^
though he had already proved his ability to deal with them
alone. Britanny was much disturbed, and Geoffrey had not
gone home with Richard, but was still with his father. The
king of France was pressing for the promised marriage of Adela
and Richard, and it was understood that the legate, Cardinal
Peter of Pavia, had authority to lay all Henry's dominions
under an interdict if he did not consent to an immediate mar-
riage. The attitude of the young Henry was also one to
cause anxiety, and his answers to his father's messages were
unsatisfactory. One occasion of delay after another, how-
ever, postponed Henry's crossing, and it was the middle of
August before he landed in Normandy. We hear much less
of the army that actually went with him than of the sum-
mons of the feudal levies for the purpose, but it is evident
that a strong force accompanied him. The difficulty with
the king of France first demanded attention. The legate con-
sented to postpone action until Henry, who had determined
to try the effect of a personal interview, should have a con-
ference with Louis. This took place on September 21, near
Nonancourt, and resulted in a treaty to the advantage of
Henry. He agreed in the conference that the marriage
should take place on the original conditions, but nothing
was said about it in the treaty. This concerned chiefly a
crusade, which the two kings were to undertake in close alli-
ance, and a dispute with regard to the allegiance of the
county of Auvergne, which was to be settled by arbitrators
named in the treaty. After this success Henry found no need
of a strong military force. Various minor matters detained
him in France for nearly a year, the most important of which
was an expedition into Berri to force the surrender to him of
the heiress of D^ols under the feudal right of wardship.
July 15, 1 178, Henry landed again in England for another
long stay of nearly two years. As in his previous sojourn
this time was occupied chiefly in a further development of the
judicial reforms already described.
While Henry was occupied with these affairs, events in
France were rapidly bringing on a change which was des-
tined to be of the utmost importance to England and the
332 HENRY AND HIS SONS 1179
CHAP. Angevin house. Louis VII had now reigned in France for
^^ more than forty years. His only son Philip, to be known in
history as Philip Augustus, born in the summer of 1165, was
now nearly fifteen years old, but his father had not yet followed
the example of his ancestors and had him crowned, despite
the wishes of his family and the advice of the pope. Even
so unassertive a king as Louis VII was conscious of the secu-
rity and strength which had come to the Capetian house with
the progress of the last hundred years. Now he was growing
ill and felt himself an old man, though he was not yet quite
sixty, and he determined to make the succession secure before
it should be too late. This decision was announced to a great
council of the realm at the end of April, 1179, and was re-
ceived with universal applause. August 15 was appointed
as the day for the coronation, but before that day came
the young prince was seriously ill, and his father was
once more deeply anxious for the future. Carried away by
the ardour of the chase in the woods of Compiegne, Philip
had been separated from his attendants and had wandered
all one night alone in the forest, unable to find his way.
A charcoal-burner had brought him back to his father on
the second day, but the strain of the unaccustomed dread had
been too much for the boy, and he had been thrown into what
threatened to be a dangerous illness. To Louis's troubled
mind occurred naturally the efficacy of the new and mighty
saint, Thomas of Canterbury, who might be expected to re-
call with gratitude the favours which the king of France had
shown him while he was an exile. The plan of a pilgrimage
to his shrine, putting the king practically at the mercy of a
powerful rival, was looked upon by many of Louis's advisers
with great misgiving, but there need have been no fear.
Henry could always be counted upon to respond in the spirit
of chivalry to demands of this sort having in them something
of an element of romance. He met the royal pilgrim on his
landing, and attended him during his short stay at Canterbury
and back to Dover. This first visit of a crowned king of
France to England, coming in his distress to seek the aid of
her most popular saint, was long remembered there, as was
also his generosity to the monks of the cathedral church. The
intercession of St. Thomas availed. The future king of
1 1 79 THE CORONATION OF PHILIP II 333
France recovered, selected to become — it was believed that chap.
a vision of the saint himself so declared — the avenger of ^^
the martyr against the house from which he had suffered
death.
PhiHp recovered, but Louis fell ill with his last illness. As
he drew near to Paris on his return a sudden shock of paraly-
sis smote him. His whole right side was affected, and he
was unable to be present at the coronation of his son which
had been postponed to November i. At this ceremony the
house of Anjou was represented by the young King Henry,
who as Duke of Normandy bore the royal crown, and
who made a marked impression on the assembly by his
brilliant retinue, by the liberal scale of his expenditure and
the fact that he paid freely for everything that he took, and
by the generosity of the gifts which he brought from his
father to the new king of France. The coronation of Philip
II opens a new era in the history both of France and Eng-
land, but the real change did not declare itself at once. What
seemed at the moment the most noteworthy difference was
made by the sudden decline in influence of the house of Blois
and Champagne, which was attached to Louis VII by so many
ties, and which had held so high a position at his court, and by
the rise of Count Philip of Flanders to the place of most in-
fluential counsellor, almost to that of guardian of the young
king. With the crowning of his son, Louis's actual exercise of
authority came to an end ; the condition of his health would
have made this necessary in any case, and Philip II was in
fact sole king. His first important step was his marriage in
April, 1 1 80, to the niece of the Count of Flanders, Isabel of
Hainault, the childless count promising an important cession
of the territory of south-western Flanders to France to take
place on his own death, and hoping no doubt to secure a
permanent influence through the queen, while Philip probably
intended by this act to proclaim his independence of his
mother's family.
These rapid changes could not take place without exciting the
anxious attention of the king of England. His family interests,
possibly also his prestige on the continent, had suffered to
some extent in the complete overthrow and exile of his son-
in-law Henry the Lion by the Emperor Frederick I, which had
334 HENRY AND HIS SONS 1180
CHAP, occurred in January, 1180, a few weeks before the marriage
•^^ of Philip II, though as yet the Emperor had not been able to
enforce the decision of the diet against the powerful duke.
Henry of England would have been glad to aid his son-in-law
with a strong force against the designs of Frederick, which
threatened the revival of the imperial power and might be
dangerous to all the sovereigns of the west if they succeeded,
but he found himself between somewhat conflicting interests
and unable to declare himself with decision for either without
the risk of sacrificing the other. Already, before Philip's
marriage, the young Henry had gone over to England to give
his father an account of the situation in France, and together
they had crossed to Normandy early in April. But the mar-
riage had taken place a little later, and May 29 Philip and his
bride were crowned at St. Denis by the Archbishop of Sens,
an intentional slight to William of Blois, the Archbishop of
Reims. Troops were called into the field on both sides and
preparations made for war, while the house of Blois formed a
close alliance with Henry. But the grandson of the great
negotiator, Henry I, had no intention of appealing to the
sword until he had tried the effect of diplomacy. On June 28
Henry and Philip met at Gisors under the old elm tree which
had witnessed so many personal interviews between the kings
of England and France. Here Henry won another success.
Philip was reconciled with his mother's family ; an end was
brought to the exclusive influence of the Count of Flanders ;
and a treaty of peace and friendship was drawn up between
the two kings modelled closely on that lately made between
Henry and Louis VII, but containing only a general reference
to a crusade. Henceforth, for a time, the character of Henry
exercised a strong influence over the young king of France,
and his practical statesmanship became a model for Philip's
imitation.
At the beginning of March, 1182, Henry II returned to
Normandy. Events which were taking place in two quarters
required his presence. In France, actual war had broken out
in which the Count of Flanders was now in alliance with the
house of Blois against the tendency towards a strong monarchy
which was already plainly showing itself in the policy of
young Philip. Henry's sons had rendered loyal and indispen-
ii82 CIVIL WAR IN AQUITAINE 335
sable assistance to their French suzerain in this war, and now chap.
their father came to his aid with his diplomatic skill. Before ^^
the close of April he had made peace to the advantage of
Philip. His other task was not so easily performed. Troubles
had broken out again in Richard's duchy. The young duke
was as determined to be master in his dominions as his
father in his, but his methods were harsh and violent; he
was a fighter, not a diplomatist; the immorality of his life
gave rise to bitter complaints ; and policy, methods, and per-
sonal character combined with the character of the land he
ruled to make peace impossible for any length of time. Now
the troubadour baron, Bertran de Born, who delighted in
war and found the chosen field for his talents in stirring up
strife between others, in a ringing poem called on his brother
barons to revolt. Henry, coming to aid his son in May, 1182,
found negotiation unsuccessful, and together in the field they
forced an apparent submission. But only for a few months.
In the next act of the constantly varied drama of the
Angevin family in this generation the leading part is taken
by the young king. For some time past the situation in
France had almost forced him into harmony with his father,
but this was from no change of spirit. Again he began to
demand some part of the inheritance that was nominally his,
and fled to his customary refuge at Paris on a new refusal.
With difficulty and by making a new arrangement for his
income, his father was able to persuade him to return, and